The Second Massacre at River's Crook

Beastmen (Tim) vs Tempestrians (Gill)


Lord Ruin stood motionless and silent in the trees, his tough grey hide barely visible in the shadows, surveying the approaching Tempestrian force beyond the river. It was a sizeable army, easily powerful enough to rout the defensive troops he had lying in weight in a straight battle on open ground.

But they had the river to cross. And this was a place they had known devastating defeat already at the hands of Ruin's allies, the Dwarfs of Gorak Duraz.

It was in response to that conflict that he had come himself to the front line with his entourage of roaring Beastmen.

Lord Ruin knew well the Knights of Tempest Falls. Why wouldn't he? He used to be one of them.

Shatana, the Fay Enchantress of the Border Princes, led her archers forward to the edge of the river and bade them take up position, edging forward. The northeast border of Tempestria was imperilled here and a stand had to be made against the foul creatures of the Drak Heart. Complacency and fear could play no part. The dirty beasts had to be routed out and exterminated.

But across the river, the bushes parted and dozens of baying and stamping Gors emerged, clattering their swords against their shields, taunting this invasion force, daring them to cross the river.

They got their wish.

The Knights of Tempest Falls hurdled forward, driving their horses into the shallows at the bend in the river, while the archers shot volley after volley into the air in arcing fire down toward their unclean foes. 

At Lord Ruin's command, the Beastmen remained still but the Bray Shaman behind their ranks whispered foul and forbidden words of power, summoning something dark and terrible from the woods behind the lines of the Tempestrians, something with every ability of the unnatural Jabberslythe but cast into an even more grisly form. The great beast leaped forward on its mighty legs, tearing the crew of of a Trebuchet apart in seconds, even as the Bray Shaman fell to his knees from the power-draining exertion.

The Knights clattered up the opposite banks and charged full on into a pair of Giants, immediately impaling one and bringing it down. Its partner roared in rage, swinging its gargantuan weapons into the horses, slicing heads from bodies despite the magical protection provided by Shatana, the Fay Enchantress.

The remaining giant hacked most of the remaining knights apart then chased down the rest as they tried to flee.

The Tempestrian archers had cleared all attacking forces before them and were approaching the river ready to make the crossing, but they hadn't reckoned on the filthy bloated monster rampaging through their rear.

The beast leaped into their ranks from the flank, devouring some men and simply bisecting others until all were running in terror before its vicious assault. No force could stop this creature. They were doomed!

And as this happened, Lord Ruin himself was tearing apart the other strike force of knights, driving them back into the water and pursuing them there, dragging them down beneath the surface to drown of be crushed.

He surged up onto the opposite bank, right in front of Shatana and there she stood her ground.

Only one unit remained to her now of archers and as these were hacked apart by a speeding chariot and the remaining giant, she took Lord Ruin to battle herself.

It was an impossible fight.

Despite her unrivalled magical prowess, there was no way she could hold her own against the holder of the Dark Heart. Lord Ruin drove her to the ground and it was only her magic that spirited her away before the death blow was struck.

Lord Ruin had led his forces to victory again. Surely the Tempestrians had to have learned their lesson.

There was no route through here!

Massacre on Sunrise Plateau

Gill (Tempestrians) vs Tim (Ogres) 

And so it was that as dawn broke over the Sunrise Plateau in the Black Mountains, the full arrayed might of Tempestria assembled to make battle against the Ogres of the Kingdom of the Great Maw.

But standing against them were a multitude of monstrous creatures, towering Ogres and Yhetees and even a great sabre-toothed predator from the high peaks, trained to attack by one of their Hunters.

The Knights of Tempest Falls thundered into the Ogre assault, foiling their own explosive charges, their lances skewering fur and muscle even as they were hacked from their horse backs themselves. The Blessing of the Lady shone strong, protecting them but these towering leviathans seemed to feel no pain as they fought on.

The arrows of the Tempestrian archers filled the sky and the Ogres, with no armour to speak of, fell beneath the pointed rain. But still they bellowed and fought on, the Tyrant swinging his lackeys into position to eliminate his colourful enemies.

The Ogres routed or slew formation after formation of the valiant knights but Methuselah, "virtuous" leader of the Tempestrian forces were indefatigable. Every ogre who tried his blade was slain with no blood spilled from the powerful warrior.

The sabre tooth ignored the arrows slicing the air at it and devoured half a dozen archers, sending the rest to rout.

But from the tangled forest materialised the Golden Knight, ghostly defender of the dons of Bretonnia, no matter how distant, and, unable to harm him, the great beast fell to his sword.

All across the battlefield, the Ogres who had seemed at one point to be winning, were hacked apart by the remaining and most powerful warriors of Tempestria, but they were not yet finished.

From behind the Tempestrians own lines loped a massive howling Gorger, swinging the trunk of a tree. He pummelled the crew of a catapult and charged at the archers waiting behind.

But the Golden Knight was his undoing as well. Unable to hurt the enchanted warrior, the Gorger flailed impotently.

Of all the Ogre army he was the last to fall.

But fall he did.

Massacre at the River's Crook

Chaos Dwarfs & Beastmen (Tim) vs Tempestrians (Gill)

Of evil Dwarfs and deadly Beasts this tale tells,
Of a place where the river bends and trees crowd close,

Of valiant men of Tempestria, ranks of archers and noble knights,

Mighty steeds on falcons wing,

Mighty machines of terror and war gushed smoke,

Stunted legs of sinister warriors strode remorselessly,

Howling man-beasts readied to charge,

Hell Hounds bayed as a ord of darkness surveryed his legions,

The great winged bull beneath him breathing steam and flame,

Towering behemoths of steel and heat swung massive hammers,

Striding through the river undeterred,

And as the forces clashed they fought,

Knight's bane man slayers and their victims all,

Dying men, failing virtue, tainted water,

Death and death and only death,

Only of death does this tale tell.

Massacre at the Tower of Hashut

Chaos Dwarfs (Tim) vs Tempestrians (Gill) 

Deep in the Worlds Edge Mountains, eastern rim of the Border Prices, one hundred miles north west of Gorak Duraz, fell capital of the Chaos Dwarfs and close to the eastward border of Tempestria, stands a great tower on a rocky plateau.

This is the dread Tower of Hashut.

Fair forgotten histories of the Chaos Dwarfs tell of the coming of Chaos from the north when yet they remained pure of heart; of a time of perilous need when no allies stood beside them to defend against this coming onslaught of Daemon and evil man. The histories tell of a terrible pact made in these hours with a strange and sinister visitor to the halls of Zorn Uzkull; a pact for salvation from this overwhelming attack in return only for the worship of Hashut: lord of Chaos; lord of Bulls.

Fearing for their lives, the Dwarfs accepted, and were damned forever more.

There is more to this tale; far far more; that is told elsewhere; but it is said that the great and terrible Hashut dwelt then and dwells now in an edifice far south and west of Zorn Uzkull; this place; this tower: the Tower of Hashut.

It is a place of evil; the lands about more barren than the rocks of the mountains themselves. All things good shun it, but it is a sacred site for the Chaos Dwarfs; a place of worship to which they can pilgrimage; to commune with their Lord face to face, to ask for his council or ask for his strength.

No one outside of the people of the Chaos Dwarfs knows the truth now. If Hashut resides in the tower or ever did is a mystery that will stand as long as the tower does, but regardless, those warriors that defend the tower are imbued with vitality; filled with hatred of their enemies and granted the boon of frenzy, such that they may rip out the hearts of any who would dare assault their dark god's home.

And thus is it was; on this day in the present time, that the Chaos Dwarfs of Gorak Duraz, the Cunning Stone, stood ready to defend this holiest of places from their enemies; the proud and strong warriors of Tempestria, to the west.

The Sorcerer Prophet watched as the enemy approached atop his Great Taurus, summoning fell magics of ash and fire.

Closer to the tower, the deadly steam-driven war machine known as the Skullcracker, never yet tested in battle, chugged noisily, eager for blood and carnage while flanking the tower strode not one, but two undefeatable K'Daai Destroyers.

The knights of Tempestria charged into battle as the magical bolts and arrows of the foot soldiers and sorceresses filled the air, taking down the Sorcerer Prophet before he could join his legion in battle.

Methuselah crashed into the Skullcracker astride one of his Hippogriffs, denying the momentum of its charge, and both he and the powerful beast scored at the infernal machine, as to his left, two powerful units of knights assaulted the mountainous animated statues of the K'Daai.

But neither Methuselah or his beast were a match for the Skullcracker. His hippogriff was chopped and sliced into ribboned flesh and he was sent reeling and unconscious into the mud to crawl feebly and terrified away as it crunched on, almost unharmed.

The knights fared little better against the K'Daai Destroyers.

Meanwhile, from the flank came a mighty Bull Centaur Taur'ruk. He slew the faltering crew of a towering trebuchet then went on to hack into the archers beyond, bringing them down. And as all this was going on, Daemonsmiths hurled fire and death, while their presence allowed ever accurate Deathshrieker Rocket Launchers to strike unerringly at their foes.

Even with fully half of their stout warriors garrisoning the Tower of Hashut, the Chaos Dwarfs devastated the Tempestrian assault, the Skullcrusher and mighty K'Daai Destroyers, charging on into the back field to hunt down any survivors.

The Tempestrian assault had been a paltry thing; barely a threat.

Within their own realm, the Chaos Dwarfs ruled supreme!

A Knight's Duty

Tempestrians (Gill) vs CHaos Dwarfs & Beastmen (Tim) 

And in the east, as from a dark cloud, the unholy alliance of Beastmen and Chaos Dwarfs descended on the village of Spitbranch, roaring in their against all that lives and loves. 

But the valiant knights of Tempest Falls rode hard to meet them, bringing holy lance to unholy fur and armour. Arrows flew as the filthy ones used cunning to hide their coward faces behind brick and mortar but the fleet hooves of the barded warhorses could not be outmanoeuvred.

The beasts brought down Pegasus Knights and others but a new ally has joined the Tempestrians, taking complete control of all magic on the field, a Fey Enchantress, but one of dark hair who had never been seen before. 

And though the forces of evil were devilish in their ploys, they could not resist the power and will of the forces of order. Skirmish after skirmish fell to the knights, and though the evil ones slayed almost their equal, they were within hostile lands and far outnumbered.

 In time they were defeated. 

And sent back to their murderous hills to plot once more the downfall of mankind. 

On the Painting Table: Bretonnian Reinforcements!

I am doing really well at catching up with the huge backlog of miniatures I have. I’m working on Ogres now (though that’s a story for another day).

Meanwhile, here are my latest offerings to the great god of war.

Bretonnians! Or as I prefer to call them, Tempestrians!

First up with have archers. Lots and lots of archers. These are the old fashioned ones. I picked up a lot of these from two copies of the old Warhammer boxed set from years ago. I had already painted forty but here is the next twenty, taking my total up to sixty! 

These guys kick ASS in the game against unarmoured foes particularly, especially now they have Volley Fire.

Just imagine all those lovely arrows!

 

And then we have my alternative Trebuchets!

I do like the GW one but this PAPO catapult I got on eBay is just lovely. I’ve had one for ages but have finally got round to painting up a second.

My ambition is to have four of these beauties when I get the army up to 3,000 points. Whewee! Imagine the destruction!

The artillery men are Men at Arms. It took me a while to decide on a colour scheme as they looked a bit effete initially. I’m still not that satisfied but they’ll do. 

It’s a shame my wife always plays Tempestrians because I would love to use all this new missile weapons.

I think she’s going to crucify me!