Massacre in the Wailing Woods

Daemons (Gill) vs Empire (Tim) 

Like silent gliding death, the Screamers of Tzeentch glided through the underbrush, tusks glistening, tails flicking lazily from right to left.

And near at hand, as the last rays of sun dropped under the Black Mountains, the daemons of the Pernicious Host ran forward, jaws gnashing, swords and claws hacking the air in anticipation.

All around the spirits of the woods wailed their lamentation of doom. All around the taint of chaos cut into the noble hearts of the Men of New Sylvania.

But they stood proud and stalwart. In rigid gun lines the soldiers of Malko to the south steadied horses or cocked handguns, awaiting the command of their superiors.

When the call came they let fly with bullet and arrow. The wizards called forth and hurled forward fire and ash. The Daemons were cut down as they advanced but did not balk in their assault. They came and they came and they came, uncaring as their comrades fell to the putrid earth in their passing.

The knights charged forward, slamming into the approaching Bloodletters to the flank but Skulltaker, fiend of a thousand worlds, called out their captain. Refusing the refuse the challenge the captain stepped up to battle but Skulltaker had never been defeated in single combat. The captains head vanished in a flicker of unearthly steel and the rest of his knights were cut down with him.

Bearing strange trophies of men whose clothes had ne'er been seen in this land, the Bloodletters surged forward and with them came a cantering fiend of Slaanesh, its tongue flicking obscenely.

A gigantic clanking and steaming Soul Grinder scuttled up to the battle line, filling the gap formed as the last of the Screamers were incinerated in magical fire.

The Men of New Sylvania had deployed cleverly, drawing the Daemons into a bottleneck, but there were simply too many of the unholy fiends.

The ugly naked devil of Slaanesh snipped the cannon crew in twain, even as they tried vainly to target the Daemon lord. The humans were running all too swiftly out of time.

They're entire plan had revolved around a swift assault to follow a blinding fusillade...

But the fusillade had not been enough.

The Daemons closed on the battle line and literally tore the limbs off ever single man. Swordsmen fell. Handgunners fell. The Wizards and Warrior Priests leading them fell.

Soon all that was left of the invading men of the Empire were the stubborn Greatswords. But soon their flashing swords could barely be seen beyond the closely surrounding Daemons.

And then they could be seen no more.

On the Painting Table: Empire Great Cannons!

My friend Mike's Skaven have kicked my Empire ass several times in a row and it's got to stop! 

This requires some preplanning and army list devlopment. Here's part one of that.

My main difficulty here is with the Plague Furnace (and potentially Screaming Bell). Taking this out is priority one as it makes the huge Plague Monk unit accompanying it all but unstoppable.

 And cannons are the solution to any big problem. 

With luck I'll be able to take it out early on, delivering a blow my opponent can't recover from.

Whenever I do war machines I like to put them on a cirular base and make a little diorama out of them. This cannon was actually one I got cheaply from a stately home shop (an often invaluable source for castle-related toys).

You may recognise the two guys at the back as being old special Bretonnian characters. I can’t remember the names but they’re “inspired” by Little John and Friar Tuck.

The Robin Hood character that made up the three has long since been drafted into my Bretonnian archers as a champion.

I cunningly built my mortar so that the cannon could be swapped in as needed. I’ll experiment with this before deciding how to proceed long term.

It’ll be interesting to see if this development pays off. I love my Empire guys but they haven’t been racking up the wins AT ALL! Though I’m convinced they will do once I get my head round the army as a whole.

And apparently a new army book may not be far off if the rumours are to be believed!

The Deserted Town of Cleft Falls

Tomb Kings (Mike) vs Empire (Tim)

Marcus von Drak had made a grievous error and his people were paying for it. In what might have been an ingenious strategic play, Marcus had ordered his army north west to attack and capture land controlled by the Tomb Kings, but in doing so he had left Aldium to the south exposed and vulnerable. With only part of their vast armies pinned in place by the Empire troops, the Tomb Kings had captured Aldium and subjugated its citizens.

But von Drak’s forces were committed to battle and there was no turning back now!

Deep in the woods north of Aldium was the abandoned village of Cleft Falls, overgrown and ruinous. Knowing the Tomb Kings would use the open ground on its approach as a shortcut to the Old Silk Road and Malko itself, Marcus positioned his troops in ambush, deployed in the buildings. He and his knights took up position in an orchard close to a gap in the tumbledown wall leading onto the lane.

The Tomb Kings approached silently.

The undead were the arch enemy of the entire von Drak clan from hundreds of years earlier but this was the first time they had faced one another since the dark days of the Vampire Wars of Sylvania. Marcus knew a thing or two about taking them down, most important being the elimination of the dark magic user whose power kept them walking. He had snipers positioned throughout his force to eliminate the Liche Priest and as the skeletons marched closer he gave the order and all that could hold a gun opened fire.

Nile, the great Wizard Lord , summoned his magics and leapt forth flame from his fingertips, scorching what foul magics kept bone joined to bone until it gave way. Channelling the winds of magic, he ripped apart chariot after chariot. But while Nile had his successes, Claudette, the Battle Wizard, could not focus her energies to successfully cast the might Transformation of Kador on herself – a magical feat that would have turned the battle.

But still the skeletal host kept coming. With barren reserve, the undying ones kept their march stolid and resolute; not impetuous, hoping to draw their enemies out of cover. And draw them they did! But the undead had not banked on the power of Marcus von Drak! Even with their masterfully planned tactical manoeuvring, pinning von Drak’s knights in place then charging in from every side, the strength and armour of the knights could not be overcome.

But still the snipers could not eliminate the Liche Priest and while he lived, the army continued to march. The skeletons were driving unit after unit from the buildings and soon there would be nothing left to stop them.

Too late, Old Scratch, the Battle Standard Bearer, realised that he had held his Greatswords back too long. The battle would be lost before he weighed his mighty sword into the combat. Already their lines were crumbling.

Roaring in frustration, Marcus von Drak gave the order to withdraw. It had been close fought and almost tied but this was not the place they would win. Once again the soldiers of the Empire had proven nothing but the lack of their strength where it was most needed. They could only hope that attacking anew from a fallback position would win the long battle.

For now the Tomb Kings had won.

For now they were scant miles from Malko and dominion of the centre of the Devil’s Pathway.

Rematch!

Empire (Tim) vs Skaven (Mike)

Desperate to break through the lands of New Sylvania to bolster the defence of Spike Hole, their capital city, the Skaven had already smashed through the strike force sent out to destroy them from the fortress city of Malko. But their victory had left them spent and unable to seize the initiative. The loathsome rat men were not quick enough to carry their momentum forward. Before they could move their forces closer to home the New Sylvanians brought in reinforcements for another attack. There was no way the Skaven were going to have free reign to travel through their land!

The terrain was almost identical to their last battlefield; the armies were also close to the same, but now more reinforcements had been funnelled in. Closer to the city, a larger body of infantry was available and Greatswords and Swordsmen joined the Empire battle line. However the Skaven had a larger body of troops as well; their own forces concentrating into a wedge to force their way through.

The New Sylvanians deployed as far away as they could, forming a gunline, but as before,  Skaven gutter runners closed in from an unexpected angle, throwing their left flank into disarray. The knights galloped forwards once again but instead of pounding through the Skaven lines as they had previously done they found themselves caught, the force of their charge blunted. More Skaven leapt into the fray, dragging the armoured men from their horses and in minutes the best hope of the men of New Sylvania was gone. And the battle was only just starting!

Three powerful wizards raised their hands to conjure magics but the winds of magic betrayed them. There simply wasn’t power enough in the air for them all to send out bolts of force! They floundered, unable to mount any credible defence.

Then the Skaven reached the Empire lines and all was lost if it hadn’t been before. Once again, foul grasping claws and knowing teeth raked into man-flesh. The men of New Sylvania were sent fleeing from the battlefield or else were exterminated piecemeal. They offered only limited and desperate defence before they were completely swept away.

Ultimately only a single sorceress remained, the bulk of the Skaven army bearing down on her. It was hopeless but she started to summon her eldritch magics, knowing she was doomed, using her will to send a message back to Malko to warn them that the ratmen were coming.

The rematch was over and once again, the diabolical Skaven had proven themselves the superior of their human adversaries.

Surely the men of New Sylvania were now doomed!

I'm back!

After one of the worst flus I've ever had I am now back in front of the computer with some nice pictures of my newly finished Empire army.

It adds up to 1647 points (which is a nice size for a good sized game) and though I have more unpainted guys it is now in a fully playable position.

The first new unit is this unit of Greatswords, which you may notice is combined with those Sisters of Sigmar I decided to conscript the other week. Rather than have two ten-man squads I thought I'd try them out together and they look pretty good (if I do say so myself). I also whacked my Battle Standard Bearer in there.

Next up I finished a unit of Swordsmen. With this second block of infantry I'm now in a good position to hold the line once the enemy closes with my ranks.

If you look closely in the front rank you'll spot this guy.

He's a Scibor ministure I'm using as a Warrior Priest that I particularly like.

The great thing about my Empire (ahem) New Sylvanian force is that I have three discreet sets of charactres to lead it, creating three distinct themed armies with variations in between.

1. All non magical characters
2. All Warrior Priests
3. All Wizards.

The basic army I plan to play with next actually combines 1 and 3. The benefit of having different themes in my campaign is that each can represent a different army on the map.

I can't wait to give them a go!

Just have to wait for my wife to recover from the flu now...

On the Painting Table: Empire & Skaven Characters, Sisters of Sigmar and Spiders!

Just a selection of the ongoing projects I've been working on this week...

Click on the image to enlarge it.

A Goth Sorceress from Reaper Miniatures I'm using as an Empire Wizard.

My new Empire Battle Standard Bearer and a Skaven Warlock Engineer



A new use for my Mordheim Sisters of Sigmar! As an Empire unit!

And yet more spiders! That's two fifty strong units - using the rules for Night Goblins with spears and nets (evil laughter).