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The Necrolian army, led by vampires has entered the capital territory of Beerstein. King James has heard of the attempt of his cavalry to intercept the Black Coaches and has assembled his defence of the castle. He even put together the unit of mixed regimental, not to mention, kitchen staff parentage, 'The Bastards' (excuse me if any of the ladies are reading this). Resplendent in their red coats four regiments of flintlock men, a unit of longbows and another of plate armored knights with halberds are ready.
The Beersteiners are relatively confident despite the fear that the undead usually generate. Beersteiner priests and archbishop are present to protect the troops, with their prayers, and stand, uneasily, with the king's wizard to repel the invaders. The two cannons are also ready to give their 'sermons' to the vampires' army.
The invaders include two units of zombies, two of skeleton warriors, a grave Guard unit in plate and a unit of Undead mounted plate. The vampire Lord is accompanied by a lesser vampire and a Wight King.
SETUP
This is another battle of the fantasy campaign. Mat has moved an army into my Beersteiner capital hex, arriving from the Eastern side. It began its march from a cemetery in Necrolia. This Undead army is not huge, but it includes some tough nuts. However, his supply wagons and Black Coaches are in an adjoining hex, unguarded, something which might lead to 'difficulties' in the future.
The Beersteiners have been reinforced by an infantry regiment, (The Tower Boys), a hero and a priest, who arrived from a Northern border garrison.
I chose as Beersteiner player to establish a firing line, which required half the army to be outside the castle However, the castle also limited this by excluding one shooter regiment which had to be placed on a side wall. On the front wall I placed an archer unit which divided to occupy the two front towers. (More flexibility of deployment and shooting from units is allowed for in buildings. The two cannons were also on the front wall. characters on the battlements included King James the Third, the Archbishop, Roger on the North wall and Captain Axel Hamburg on the Southern wall with The Bastards regiment.
The newly arrived Tower Boys were on the Northern flank lined up away from the castle wall. They were accompanied by the hero, Ferdinand Sourkrout who was in complete plate armor and armed with wheellock pistol and magic sword.
On the Southern flank of the castle were the grenadier regiment (fur hats, red jackets with yellow facings) of Colonel Bighead and the infantry regiment of Colonel Luckless, They were supported by General Ziggy Ironsides.
We rolled the dice for weather and it was a fine day. Mat lost the rolls for setup and first move.
ACCOUNT OF THE BATTLE BY ARCHBISHOP LUCAS
I have long expressed my opinion that thee decline in divine observance has led to the current curse on our land. How else should it be that an evil army of the Undead be at our door? I promised King James to do my utmost in the power of prayer.
The day was very still, with no wind. It was deathly quiet, devoid of birdsong but then we heard it - the clanking of armor, the rattle of bones and the moans of the zombies.
The Undead arrived from the East and across the road which led to our Eastern settlements. God help the poor people of the villagers which they passed through. There were muttering zombies that filled the air with their stench. Skeleton warriors, with helmets and shields in blue, gold and bronze marched in perfect formation. Other skeleton warriors, some on foot and others mounted on ethereal horses were clad in dark plate armor. They were led by a vampire lord, with pale blueish-white skin and clad in dark red armor. He brandished an enormous sword and a black banner featuring a red dragon. His black mount pawed at the ground and the men who survived an encounter, later said it had glowing red eyes and snorted steam. Also present were a lesser vampire and a Wight King. Both vampires were covered by a hovering black miasma which shielded them from the Sun's rays.
Our archers and cannons let lose at the approaching enemy which had paused in its march. Nothing found its mark as the range was still exceptional. The wizard Emmerich also tried his magic and failed to reach the target.
Then disaster struck; one of the cannons, probably overcharged, exploded killing the crew, but thank the Lord the other gun and crew were unharmed. The wizard finally found a target with a magic missile and destroyed six of the undead warriors but the magic power required for the distance overloaded him and Emmerick was left blathering nonsense, incapable of any further spells that battle. (Only the power of God can be relied on. The king should dispense with these magicians as I suspect where their power comes from).
Our men outside the castle had also moved up to establish firing range with their flintlocks. The Necrolians also moved forward. having seen the two blinding flashes in the castle (one from the gun exploding and one from the misspell) I assume they had become more confident. Finally our archers, muskets and remaining cannon began to take a toll on the enemy. but we paid a price.
The Tower regiment on our North wall came under heavy attack from a unit of skeleton warrior, a 'Grave Guard' unit (ones in plate armor) a Wight and a vampire. They shot with excellent discipline, even though faced with the fearful Undead. They were fortified by the priest, Linus the Bold. Although a priest he had initially trained to be a knight. His influence on the men was great for he had both a physical and a spiritual presence. His red hood and black robes marked him as a priest of the Red Hood order, but he was a warrior. The more lightly armed skeleton warriors eventually closed with the regiment and a Wight engaged Ferdinand in combat. Despite Ferdinand's imposing height and strength the Wight was about to slay him with a single magic blow. Linus, even as he did battle prayed for Ferdinand and the blow was deflected. I watched this from the North battlement and interviewed Linus when he recovered from a grievous wound.
I might not have had Linus's battle skill, but I had long practice in prayer. I called upon God to crumble the Undead and low and behold the two undead regiments began to do just that. Six crumbled from the front regiment alone. The Wight also fell. (Our men are presently searching the ground near the castle for the Wight's carcass).
The activity on our right flank I only partially observed and rely somewhat on the testimony of Captain Axel Hamburg.
THE ACCOUNT OF Captain AXEL HAMBURG
Oh, what horrors today has brought. Fortunately for my regiment, 'The Bastards' we had a relatively safe position on the Southern wall. There was not much chance of the Undead crossing the castle moat and they lacked siege weapons. Although, admittedly, one never knows with supernatural forces. In fact, we could all have safely sheltered in the castle, but King James wanted to inflict maximum damage on the enemy, so he stationed forces outside the castle as well.
The closest we, in the castle came to harm, was the explosion of one of our guns although I later heard that some of our archers in the North/East tower were killed by a magic missile.
The archers on the eastern wall informed me that dark magic caused extra Undead to arise from the very ground but they quickly shot them down.
Colonel Bighead's grenadiers and Colonel Luckless's infantry moved. in a line to just beyond the front castle wall. General Ziggy, on his horse and in plate armor presented an imposing sight. The men opened up and killed some zombies and skeleton warriors but the Undead mounted plate and the vampire Lord, himself were edging forward, at first, cunningly shielded by a fallen pine tree. A column of zombies accompanied them. The men decided to fire at the vampire Lord but despite the volleys and his body recoiling, he appeared to be unscathed. Then he joined his cavalry. Something then very strange happened to Colonel Luckless's regiment. Some of the men began to drop their muskets, to stumble and finally fall to the ground. More followed. They finally fled in confusion until all had fallen, dead. I could not see from the wall but later I learnt that they were victims of the Vampire Lord's aging spell. Those that had not completely reverted to dust were wrinkled prunes with white hair and withered look.
The Vampire Lord and is cavalry charged the grenadiers. Despite the fearsome enemy they put up a stout resistance, but they were dropping with heads cut from their twitching bodies. Then there was another site I shall never forget; general Ziggy charged the Vampire Lord. Such valor! general Ziggy was known for his boldness and courage but he was no match for the vampire Lord who swing his sword and sliced into the plate armor! Ziggy and his horse both fell, apparently dead.
The king finally ordered a column of halberd plate out of the castle and over the swing bridge. At that moment the Undead, miraculously withdrew. The halberd knights recovered the body of General Ziggy. I saw them bring him in. I also saw the archbishop pray over him. I thought I saw the general's arm move.
FOLLOW UP
Mat and I have another Aztec versus Fezian game to play, a biggy. Then we have map move Seven to do. Included in that will be a round two of the attack on castle Jameswick.
ARMY LISTS End of battle with recoveries
Beerstein
King James the Third
Archbishop Roger
General Ziggy Unconscious
Wizard Unconscious
Heroes: Axel Hamburg
Ferdinand Sourkrout (magic sword doubles attacks)
Priest: Linus the Bold Unconscious
Tower regiment 24 16
Bastards regiment 24 24
Colonel Bighead's Grenadiers 24 0
Colonel Luckless's Infantry 24 0
Colonel Scarlet's Archers 24 18
Artillery 2 guns 8 crew 2 guns six crew
Halberd Knights 24 24
Supply Wagons intact
Necrolia
Vampire Lord
Vampire
Wight King crumbled
Skeletons 24 0
Skeletons 24 21
Zombies 24 0
Zombies 24 17
Grave Guard 24 18
Plate cavalry 12 10
GAME Length
We generally play for 12 moves and then roll the dice to see if the game continues. The game finished on the 12th move. The time it took was about three hours. We were ready to start by about 12:30 PM and finished about 3:30PM.
Looks like Halloween is coming up. Seems like an appropriate time for such a theme and game. I'll be looking forward to read the battle report on how your Beersteiners will do.
ReplyDeleteIt ended up, after a three-hour battle with 12 moves, a stalemate. So, the battle will continue another time. I'll post the photos and summary tomorrow as an extension of the post.
ReplyDeleteNice with your photo updates and further info on the Battle.
ReplyDelete