On the Plains near Spikehole

Skaven (Mike) vs Vampire Counts (Tim)

Calamity was befalling the Undead Nation.

When Fortress Malefic had fallen to the Skaven the strength of the Vampire Counts within the Border Princes was severely weakened. Although the greater strength of their armies lay hundreds of miles away to the south in the Land of the Dead, without a stronghold to act as a staging post and strategic headquarters, full scale war was not tenable. Worse, the Vampire Counts were soon going to run out of time. With supply lines disrupted there was only so long before the armies of the Vampires could no longer support themselves.

However Nagash had a plan that he had already been manoeuvring towards. Calling on his Tomb King allies for support, the Vampire Counts would launch an all but simultaneous assault to both retake Fortress Malefic and capture Spikehole, the Skaven capital. In these actions, the Vampires would not only cripple the Skaven forces but triple their own power. With the support of the legions of the Tomb Kings there was no stopping them.

With his southern armies marching on Fortress Malefic commanded by Rebecca, Nagash himself led a vast horde of shambling zombies and creeping ghouls toward Spikehole.

But the vicious ratmen knew of their approach. They had long anticipated it and prepared for it, bolstering their forces with reinforcements. And the Skaven did not wait for the Vampire Counts to arrive. A gargantuan army of ratmen scampered from the depths of Spikehole and formed ranks in the marshy fields before it: a larger army of Skaven than had ever been seen before within the Border Princes.

The armies met, locking in battle quickly, and Nagash’s powerful minions immediately seized the initiative: a mighty Vargulf bounding forward to rip into the enemy ranks, the deadly Black Coach speeding alongside it and eerie Cairn Wraiths gliding nearby. As they tore into the rats, Nagash confidently summoned his powerful magic while ordering his zombies forward. He laughed, knowing his period of weakness was over.

But the laugh crackled and fragmented as he saw the Skaven Plague Furnace plough into the huge unit of zombies. The corrosive fumes coming from the censers, coupled with the frenzied attacks of the Plague Monks ripped the zombies apart far faster than the vampires and Nagash could bring them back. And the Skaven were doing so much damage, the unnatural instability of the zombies was causing them to break up. In seconds, almost fifty zombies were obliterated by the Plague Furnace and its deadly worshippers as the Plague Priest onboard screeched in triumph.

And while this was happening, Clanrats and Gutter Runners were hacking undead limbs from their bodies; giant rats crawling all over the remains. Suddenly Nagash realised that he might not win; suddenly he realised he could not risk himself: he had to fight more cautiously; avoid being locked in combat with the Plague Furnace and its unbreakable troops.

The Vargulf, Cairn Wraiths and Black Coach were still slaying more than their share of ratmen but across the rest of the battlefield the army was being wiped out. And then worse: almost indomitable by himself, Nagash was brought down – not through wounds and combat but by the same instability that had crippled his zombies. Overwhelmed by numbers, he could no longer maintain his corporeal form and had to slip way on the dark magic winds.

And without Nagash, the entire army started to crumble.

Instantly the battle was lost, and worse, within minutes the army of the Vampire Counts was utterly annihilated; wiped from the map as though they had never been.

And with them all hope.

Nagash would reform – he could not be so easily defeated – but the loss of one third of his armies was devastating. More than anything, the Vampires needed to capture a capital fortress. Not only had they failed but now they only had two armies remaining. Their chances of maintaining any presence at all within the Border Princes, with nowhere to generate new forces now, were now close to zero.