Siege of Mac Donaldus Castle

Story:

Several months had past since the Peace Keeper has returned to the Empire. The forces that were stationed on the Falco-Lands were able to withstand all attacks of the Lizardmen from within the walls of Mac Donaldus Castle, a citadel from which the Imperial forces could control the whole coast environment of New Altdorf, the most important harbour of the colonies. The Castle was built by the first governor of the Falco-lands, Ronaldus Mac Donaldus, and had always been of tactical importance to the controllers of the port. Part of the castle consisted of the ruins of an ancient Lizardmen temple dedicated to Tepok. In order to repossess all of the Isles the Lizardmen would have to take the castle, something they didn't succeed in during the last months. After another glorious victory on the besieging Lizards it seemed that these had finally given up their goal and had left the isles. The only thing that remained was a huge wooden statue of Tepok, one of the Lizardmen gods. As the eyes of the statue two large red rubies were placed. The governor of New Altdorf ordered the statue to be wheeled into the castle as a symbol of their victory on the Lizardmen and as a gift for the Emperor Karl Franz.

The night after, when the whole city was asleep and by the light of the full moon, the belly of the statue opened. Several of dozen Skinks eliminated the guards and opened the gates of the citadel. Within a few minutes every soldier was killed or taken prisoner to be sacrificed to the gods. The day after the Lizardmen host had taken control over the whole port and its inhabitants. A young captain was able to escape on board of a small fishing boat. Together with the crew he desperately set sail for the Empire, knowing that the boat wasn't fit for such a long journey. It took exactly one storm to destroy the small ship and he and the first mate of the ship were the only survivors, hanging on too some wreckage... It was only three days after the storm that the two men were seen by a Tilean Trading Galley. They were picked up and without any questions put in chains to serve as rowers. When the ship arrived in the port of Luccini they were to be sold on the local slave market. Two men seemed extremely interested in the captain: a tall man wearing a cape over his head and a fat Arab... As the price seemed to keep going up the man in the cape stepped towards the Arab and seemed to whisper something in his ear. The Arab looked in disbelief towards this stranger and then anxiously stepped backwards... "You lad, come here!" yelled the stranger as he pointed towards the young captain. "Hold up your hands!". A shining blade swung through the air cutting the captains chains in a single blow. The bystanders all stepped back as they recognized the Reikland Runefang. That could only mean one thing: the man with the cape was... Karl Franz himself. All bowed for the Emperor, who loved nothing more than to wander off while he was visiting a neighbouring state or country. He had recognized the garrison clothing of the Falco-lands and had bought the freedom of his officer. Also the first mate was bought free...

"Tell me who you are and how you got here?". "I am Ronny Mac Donaldus, descendant of the Mac Donaldus Clan, which has served as governor on the Falco-Lands for three generations now. The castle and port of New Altdorf have fallen back in de hands of the lizardmen...". "Say no more, we have to take immediate action!" Karl Franz immediately ordered that half of his escort was to accompany Ronny back to the Falco-lands. Further he hired a large number of mercenaries, regiments of renown and ships too embark immediately towards the isles. "Young Mac Donaldus, I give you the command of part of my escort. They will follow you orders as they were my own. Sail now for your home and free them of the followers of the serpent. I hired you one of the finest mercenary generals in the Old World. Together you will free the Falco-Lands once more. May Sigmar be with you..."

After a prosperous journey the alliance landed in the port of New Altdorf. Although they took severe casualties the Imperial en Tilean forces quickly liberated the city. The Lizardmen had withdrawn into the castle. For the first time in history a Mac Donaldus would lay siege on the Castle of his ancestors...

Tactico Stefano:

Ok, let’s face it, being inside the castle without much hard hitting artillery at my disposal required a specific approach.  I figured the enemy would get onto the walls anyway anyhow, so the thing for me to consider was block the enemy from shooting my castle into smithereens, delaying the advancing infantry, and refuse to give in once the enemy reached the castle.

The only thing for me to do about the empire artillery was to include flyers of some kind.  Hoping to encounter some scenery in my favor, I opted for a skink chief with cloak of feathers and extra hand weapon, together with a unit of three terradons.

Some units of skinks and a stegadon hopefully would buy me some extra turns for at least some of the enemy’s infantry blocks.  The skinks could block march moves by sneaking in between them, and maybe force them to take a panic test by hurling loads of poisoned needles at them.  The stegadon on the other hand forces all units within 6” to take a terror test, and if enough units have to take them, for sure one will run away.  And of course, never underestimate the charging behemoth’s impact hits !

To keep the walls clean of enemies, I chose four blocks of sauri, together with a battle standard bearer for the break tests, and an old blood for the hitting power.

Finally, never forget the impact of magic if you are the besieged force ! So I opted for a priest with enough scrolls, and four times a Tepok spawning.

Of course, this is the planning stage.  Let’s move onto the real thing !

Tactico Iano & Chosen of Sigmar:

Our tactics were not so fine tuned. Get as fast as possible onto the walls and win the combat. For this we needed characters who could OR hit first OR take a beating and still strike back. If our artillery could destroy the gate or some walls in the process, it would be more than welcome.

We had also chosen two Siege Towers (because we forgot the real ones these were nicely represented by the Duplo Blocks of Stefano's son, Jasper. Only a couple months old and marked by Warhammer!) which were necessary to scale the walls even faster. The fact that the defenders would be testing on a unmodified leadership of 8 while cold blooded could mean that they had to be annihilated completely before they would give free passage on the walls.

Deployment:

Stefano: Although I spotted two hellblasters, I deployed my sauri on the walls with the boiling oil above the gate, and the salamanders on the towers closest to the advancing siege towers.  All the rest I hid in the courtyard : the skinks and stegadon to get out of the castle as fast as possible, the flyers were deployed to reach the cover of the near woods in their first move, and the general and battle standard bearer flanking the castle doors so they could easily get up the walls or move through the castle gate, whatever was appropriate.

Iano and Chosen of Sigmar: Iano would take the left flank with his Dogs of War as I would take the right. My greatswords had pushed their tower far enough so that we could scale the walls at an early stage. Also Iano's tower (with all his heavy hitters) had a nice advance.

The Battle:

Turn 1 :

Stefano: As turn 1 is for the defenders, I threw a unit of skinks out in the open, ready to take down some humans in future turns.  The skink chief landed near the forest in cover for all shooting, and the terradons readied themselves to charge one of the units on my right flank.  Magic went unfruitful, and with a range of 15”, no harm could be done by the salamanders.  Now let’s see what the besiegers are up to …

Chosen + Iano: The besiegers advanced as fast as possible. Chosen's wizard was able to irresistibly cast Master of the Wood on the skink flyer, killing it outright. The salamander pack in the tower lost a couple handlers to magic as well. The great canons took aim at the gate and scored some hit points but not enough damage was done to give free passage to our men.

Turn 2 :

Stefano: Okay, so they want to start with an irresistible spell destroying my skink chief artillery hunter.  No problem, the artillery barely made a scratch on the walls and gate, so let’s see who laughs last huh ?I started with charging the terradonians into the unit of marauders in an attempt to deplete these troopers in time before they reached the walls.  I also moved the unit “outdoor”-skinks closer to the emperial siege tower to do the same with poisoned darts, and I threw another unit out in the open. Magic again meant nothing, but the combined salamander-skink-shooting took down several great swords.  Alas, they stood fast. Although the terradons took down some frenzied warriors, they were finally beaten in combat by ranks, banner and outnumbering.  Wisely opting for a fallback-maneuver, they landed just outside the castle walls, and rallied immediately. Hopefully the concrete shell around my army can hold it another turn …

Chosen + Iano: We kept advancing. The little stings the Lizardmen gave us, didn't upset us that much and our next turn the siege towers would be charging the walls. In the left most tower magic got rid of the salamander, the canons took another aim at the gate, again not scoring any major hits. A hellbaster misfired and blew up itself when it took aim at a unit of skinks. The other killed some sauri on the wall in front of it.

Turn 3 :

Stefano: Apparently, the Tepok-God and the Artillery-God were playing cards together instead of watching over their followers, for the loss of the salamander on the right tower took away a nice opportunity to thin down the siege tower pushers on my right, and one hellbaster blew itself to pieces. About my right flank, I had no other option but to desperately charge in the remaining terradon. Seeing the load of troopers on that side of my castle, I decided to keep one unit of skinks in the castle, just in case the enemy would seize the ramparts.  After some deep and long hesitation, I also threw the stegadon out in the open.  He might be blown into pulp by the foreign artillery, but on the other hand that’s a cannonball less against the gate.  Anyway, some nearby emperial troopers first had to overcome terror, possibly disarraying the advance to the gate and nearby walls. Skipping the magic phase, salamander on the left tower and the skinks only left but a few great swords remaining. The brave terradon took down another marauder, but had no chance of winning the combat.  After some feinted wing flapping, he landed back into the safety of the castle.
Now it’s time to man the walls, dig in and wait for the charges to come …

Chosen + Iano: Chaaaaaaaaaaaarge! As both siege towers were pushed against the walls also the Paymaster, his bodyguard, the duelists of Fried Saas, the Kislevites and the unit of swordsmen lead by Fille O'Fish raised their ladders against the walls. The other unit of swordsmen declared a charge upon the skinks that had been shooting at the greatswords earlier. They cowardly fled the charge. One of the canons took aim at the behemoth that had left the castle but not enough to kill it. The hellbaster killed several skinks. On the walls the greatswords and Mac Donaldus did enough casualties to win the battle but as we feared the coldblooded creatures easily got their leadership test. At the left de combined forces of Beorg Bearstruck, Lorenzo Lupo and Starbux blew away most of the opposition but not entirely. The Lizardmen again held their ground. Above the gate Fille O'Fish and the swordsmen champion did not succeed in winning the combat but held their ground. The Kislevites were beaten and above that failed their test so fled away.

Turn 4 :

Stefano: Auch !!! I knew the combination of all troopers on my right flank would hurt, but not THAT much ! Luckily my stegadon survived unscratched, as well as all walls, towers and the gate. Time to bring in the cavalry, so to speak ! I charged the battle standard bearer into the fray on my left, and hurried the general to the left, hoping the sauri above the gate would stand fast.  I also declared a charge with the stegadon into the free company, hoping my skinks wouldn’t rally.  This must be the first time I was really happy to see my skinks fail their rally test …
Magic? No magic! After the greatsword decimation, the salamander took some time for himself, and ate two skink handlers.  Hey, one has to eat if one has to flame! Having no skinks in his path anymore (they fled to the nearest table edge), the stegadon stampeded into the free company unit.  I will not publish a picture of that particular battle field spot, for there might be children reading this article.  I’ll just state for the record only four turned tail and ran out of the original fifteen.  The overrun move nicely parked the behemoth into the long drong slayers.  Now this will be a different ballgame! Inside the castle, the battle standard bearer on the left showed the devastating effect of the scimitar of the sun resplended, transforming several greatswords into canned T-bone steaks.  Together with his sauri, they won the combat.  Alas, the emperial captain stood fast. In the centre, both sides took one wound so both sides readied for the next round. On the right, the situation got even more hopeless.  One single lonely saurus survived the multitude of axe, pistol and sword swinging, but held his nerve.  He was able to block the marauders for at least another turn, but could not prevent the duelists and the paymaster with retinue to walk free the next turn. I don’t know what to think of the result.  Three wall sections doing just fine, one stegadon wreaking havoc outside my doors, but one wall completely and utterly messed up.  Let’s hope my skinks and general can kick them out again …

Chosen + Iano: Mac Donaldus was on his own now. Not so good but luckily his armour was impenetrable. The Kislevites and the 4 free companies rallied. Fried Saas and his duelists stormed inside the tower killing the only remaining skink there. Next turn they would attack the only untaken wall of the citadel. The paymaster and his bodyguard took the courtyard. Outside the duelists and remaining Empire troops made their way to the walls. Our artillery now took aim at the tower next to the gate that held the remaining salamander. The tower was shaken but didn't collapse. Lorenzo Lupo and his retinue got rid of the last saurus whereas both Empire Captains (Ronny and Fille) held their ground. This Siege was a tough nut to crack!

Turn 5:

Stefano: Hmmm, I expected my castle to be a nice Gruyère cheese by now, but the enemy artillery decided otherwise …
Back to the courtyard now ! I had to kick out the enemy troops inside the castle as fast as possible if I wanted to keep a chance on victory.  So, nothing else left then to throw my general and the remaining terradon into the large unit with the Paymaster and the Truthsayer.
Magic went as always, so let’s move on to shooting.  Just next to the combat with my general, I urged the skinks to decimate poisonously as much marauders as possible.  They did kill some, but not enough to bring the unit below five models.  The rallied skinks and salamander on my left flank took aim at the nearest empire unit.   Not to my and Chosen’s surprise, they failed their panic test and ran.  Phew, at least no extra charge onto my walls in that neighborhood …
Close combat didn’t work out as I expected.  I wasn’t able to dispatch the emperial captain on my left, and in return he killed my battle standard bearer.  On the other side, the terradon took a wound from the paymaster’s pistol shot, and wasn’t able to hurt a single bodyguard.  My general took down several bodyguards, but in return the terradon saw his life ending by a halberd swing.  Final result : I lost combat by one point.  And guess what ! Even cold blooded on a modified Ld of 7 didn’t save me ! And what even hurts more, he wasn’t able to outrun his pursuers.  Damn, my two saurus characters dispatched in one single turn !
My unlucky situation was a bit eased when the stegadon with crew started to do their thing.  He easily won the combat, but the unbreakable dwarfs couldn’t care less.

Chosen + Iano: Time to continue the massacre of the Lizardmen! The duelists in the tower stormed onto the ramparts in a combined assault with the free companies at the bottom of the wall. Luckily the swordsmen rallied and were in the possibility to still scale the walls on our right flank via the siege tower before the end of the battle... On our left flank the troops that were still outside the walls advanced towards the walls in order to take these by the end of the battle. Our artillery took  aim a the tower with the salamander but didn't do the damage they ought to be doing since the begin of the battle. Why didn't I choose Heavens as lore? The re-rolls really could have come in handy... Beorg, Lupo and their retinue butchered the skinks in the courtyard and continued our advance. The Sauri on the left wall were completely surprised by the combined attack of the duelists and the free companies and suffered great losses. Mac Donaldus on the right wall died a heroic death by the remaining sauri after a long stand. O'Fish also suffered a fatal wound but his bodyguard of swordsmen held the ramparts occupied. Time for me and Iano to discuss our further tactics in taking the different sections of the citadel.

Turn 6:

Stefano: With most of my plans already down the drain, I hadn’t much left than to bash back as hard as possible with my remaining units.  The skinks outside the castle and the salamander did some hits, but not enough to make a difference.  Magic isn’t worth talking about, and although the sauri on the right flank were further reduced in numbers, they kept their nerves for another round.  My warriors on top of the gate section again defeated the swordsmen, but the latter must have eaten some weird mushrooms for they refused to run.  And last but not least, the stegadon continued his occupation of dwarf grinder.  Too bad they are unbreakable …

Turn 7:

Stefano: By the end of turn 5, I didn’t have much hope anymore to win the siege.  However, I was proud the castle still stood firm without even a dent.  Alas, one tower had to feel the full might of a canon ball, reducing the skink handlers to mashed pulp …
Now let’s see what I can do to reduce the enemy’s victory points ! On the left wall section, four sauri were still standing, but alas one short for points.  So I moved my skink priest up the wall and into the unit.  That makes five ! Let’s hope they all survive the incoming charge …
Furthermore, the hero packed marauder unit only counted five models, so I charged my salamander (who happened to pass his “bound monster”-test) into them.  They didn’t fail their fear test, the salamander missed hopelessly, and was mercilessly butchered by the combined hero force.  Again another plan down the drain …
The stegadon managed to finish off the last dwarf pirate, only to find himself as target practice for an assembled force of canons, hellbaster and a unit crossbow shooters.
And as expected, the battle at the gates continued without any party willing to give up.

The End:

Mac Donaldus Castle and New Altdorf were back in the hands of the Empire. The numerous dogs of war troops proceeded into the jungles in search for even more treasures of the old ones. Many entered the vast jungles, only few returned to tell about it. However, Karl Franz succeeded in continuously reinforcing the troops on the Falco-lands so the Lizardmen were never able to take New Altdorf again. In this manner he kept an important entrance towards the Southlands open and was able to keep many trading routes safe... all to the glory of the Empire.

Learning Points:

Stefano :

• I should have placed my general closer to the right wall section that was going to be besieged by three units and as much heroes.  Alas, the fear for a cannonball destroying my gate and enemies pouring in that way left him there.
• Never put a hero all on his own next to a forest when the enemy player has “master of wood”.  There might fall an “irresistible force” out of the sky …
• If not targeted by a horde of cannonballs, a stegadon is well equipped to keep enemies from your door.
• As hoped, poisoned arrows and salamander fire send some units fleeing.  This bought my left flank enough time to keep all enemies out.

Chosen + Iano:

• Great Canons don't always do what they are bought for.
• Lore of Life rocks in a Siege.
• A Beorg and Lupo-combo is deadly
• Swordsmen can take a beating in a Siege.

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