Hi Dakkites,
My regular gaming buddy, Nick, and I were flicking through the narrative battles section of the
BRB looking for an interesting scenario when Nick asked why he always ended up being the attacker in these battles. So the gauntlet was thrown down, could my dwarves with no war machine support charge up and capture a hill from a shooty skaven army? So we played King of the Hill, the defender (Skaven) only gets 75% of the attackers points so it was 3000 vs 2250. The battle uses
vps with a bonus 500 if you control the tp of the hill at the end and +1 combat res in every combat to the side that controls the hill (we forgot this most of the time but it wouldn't have made much difference in the end). So we set abut creating some fluffy army lists and got down to a game!
(The army lists are below the report)
The Battle of the Kazrak Gates
Prologue
Warlord Haskeer’s plans were nearing fruition. After years of clawing, squealing and much courageous looting of corpses he had brought clan Bisskitt to prominence, and now the wealth and security of the ancient hold of Karaz a Kazrak was nearly within his grasp. The dwarf-things had scattered piteously before his army as they pushed through the mountain passes and tunnels leading to the hold, and now, with the outer defences destroyed, all that stood in between Haskeer and the glory he had dreamed of were the huge gates of Karaz a Kazrak.
Meanwhile within the hold Lord Lakski Stonefist ruminated on his situation. He and his dwarves were trapped, skaven now infested the tunnels in the lower reaches of the hold and the enemy was preparing to assault the gates. He doubted the quality of the rat-men’s war machines but knew that the gates, sturdy as they were, would not hold out forever. Grimly he gathered his finest troops around him and laid the situation out before them… he saw only one plan of action. Leaving what meagre men he could afford to continue the fight below ground Lakski prepared to sally forth and take the besieging army by surprise, or else die a noble death defending his ancestral home.
Deployment
Turn1
Dwarf 1
Lakski and his men burst from the gates and began charging head long at the enemy position, singing their battle songs, while a gyrocopter took off from its hidden spot atop the hold and whirred overhead. Ahead of them the skaven had prepared a formidable position atop a rocky hill, this would be a tough fight indeed.
Skaven 1
Haskeer peered curiously at the onrushing dwarves, he had not expected
them to attack
him!. No matter he thought, they would have to be taught that courage was not, in fact, a virtue. As his men moved into position Haskeer’s new hireling warlock Trajjik turned his attention to the gyrocopter rushing up their left flank. The warlock gathered up his power, the arcane machinery carried on his back pulsing with energy, and unleashed a bolt of emerald lightning that smashed the flying machine to kindling. Haskeer smiled, but then noticed that Trajjik seemed to be in some distress as his warp-energy condenser continued to glow brighter and brighter, sparks began jumping from the machinery and showered down on the over-sized and unstable looking rocket hanging from the warlock’s belt. Haskeer shielded his eyes as the warlock was enveloped in an incandescent fireball. Once the smoke had cleared Trajjik and fully a third of his unit lay dead along with one of the jazzail teams nearest them. (First spell of the game and, after successfully channelling with the condenser, Nick IF’s warp lighning on 4 dice with the warlock and rolls dimensional cascade, the warlock gets sucked into the warp and takes 11 clanrats, a jezzail and his un-fired doom rocket with him! I hate doom rockets
btw). The rest of the skryre contingent fared little better, the jezzails concentrated their fire on the ironbreakers on the dwarf left but only succeed in downing one and the warp lightning cannon over shoots the warriors on the right taking down three as the bolt catches the back of the unit. Haskeer considered he may have to rethink his contract with clan skryre, he did not trade good slaves for this!
Turn 2
Dwarf 2
Lakski took heart as he saw an explosion and rising coil of smoke coming from the top of the hill, his war machines may have been lost with the outer defences but it appeared the rat-men would do their work for them. With a rousing cheer the dwarves rushed onwards as fast as their legs would carry them.
Skaven 2
Atop the hill the skaven manoeuvred for position as they realized that the dwarves may in fact make it to the hill after all. The plague priest Kikkit on the skaven left leered at the dwarf warriors from his furnace now that they had made it into range of his putrescent blessings! He wreathed himself in poisonous smoke and then sent it gusting in a cloud over the dwarves, 8 of them slowed their running, spluttered and fell dead and Hjalmar the runepriest leading them had to stop and cough up a lungful of black phlegm before his comrades helped him on. But again all was not well, as the gas cleared Kikkit convulsed and a shock wave of uncontrolled energy exploded outwards from him, wounding himself, damaging his beloved furnace and killing 3 of his own monks. Haskeer noticed this and began to get an un-easy feeling in his stomach, his allies seemed to be merely incompetent but he did not get where he was by trusting his compatriots. Questions would be asked later but for now, as long as dwarves continued to die, he cared little. (Yes, the second spell of the game and Nick once again channels and then IF’s, although this time on 6 dice as the pools ended up 7v7, getting calamitous detonation. At least this time he caused more wounds with plague than he did to his own men…just)
Now however the dwarves had come into range of Haskeer’s firepower! The jezzails poured fire into the longbeards but were dismayed as most of their shots seemed to arc away from the dwarves as they approached and fly harmlessly overhead leaving just one dwarf dead, Haskeer sneered as his acute eyes spotted the standard carried by the nearby hammerers glittering fiercely as the shots came in on the surrounding dwarves. Haskeer ordered the rattling gun to his right tried to lend its fire to help but the crew let out such a barrage of shots that they lost control of their machine and span wildly, firing most of their bullets just past the noses of the warpfire thrower team to their right who, cowering away from the torrent of shots flying around them, lost their aim and fired their weapon into the ground in front of them, falling hopelessly short of the dwarves ahead. Finally the warp lighting cannon, having re-oriented itself, targeted the longbeards but the shot ploughed into the ground short of its target, the hammerer’ standard continued to glimmer proudly and Haskeer let out a howl of frustration.
Turn 3
Dwarf 3
A sound was heard that brought sudden warmth to Lakski’s heart, a blaring horn blast which he knew from its tone to belong to Burnsson’s miners! Lakski rejoiced, Burnsson and his men had been left to defend the lower reaches of the hold almost alone but had fought with such ferocity that they had chased the skaven back through their tunnels to emerge behind the line and join the battle. Seeing the miners appear behind Haskeer and his bodyguard Lakski called to his faithful thane, standard bearer and half-brother Thrummstrum to position his longbeards for a counter charge and then join Lakski and his cadre of hammerers, battle would son be joined in earnest!
Meanwhile on Lakski’s right Grendel the Oathbound and his slayers continued their headlong charge towards Kikkit and the frothing plague monks. As they splashed through a shallow pool in their path a strange sensation overcame them. Grendel peered into the waters and could make out ancient runes glowing softly on the pool’s bottom under the surface, then he turned and refocused his attention on the monstrous plague contraption ahead of him, Grugni had surely sent them his blessing to destroy the infernal machine. (We played the pools as mysterious and as the slayers crossed theirs we rolled up a 6 for a Pool of Light and another 6 for Speed of Light on the slayers!).
Skaven 3
Haskeer was troubled by the arrival of yet more dwarves to his rear when a bellowing from across the field filled his ears and drowned out the sound of the battle around him. He saw the dwarf standard bearer staring intently at him hurling insults and challenges, he tried to shrug off the insults but for some reason they bored into him and attacked an inner pride he didn’t think he actually possessed. His vision became dark and blurred except for the one clear spot where Thrummstrum stood, unable to look away from him. Haskeer snapped, screaming the order to charge the dwarves in front rather than react to those behind, but the dwarves had held back and the distance was too great, they would not make it to their foe in time.
The skaven finally joined battle on their right flank though as the slaves were goaded into the flank of the advancing ironbreakers.
Kikkit desperately ordered the monks to close with the magically enhanced slayers but, weighed down by his huge furnace, they could not make it t the dwarves. Disappointed by his men’s lack of urgency Kikkit tried to bless their weapons with poisonous magic, but Hjalmar was watching him and slammed his staff into the ground at the height of the spell and Kikkit felt the power of the spell drain away. Infuriated he once again summoned up a dark cloud of pestilence and sent it this time at the slayers. The plague ravaged them, wounding Grendel and dropping 7 of his slayers to the ground, but that was not all. As the slayers fell Lakski and the hammerers felt their strength too being drained from them, 7 of the hammerers succumbed as Lakski and Thrummstrum looked on in dismay. Haskeer cackled at the dwarves weak constitution…but then his rat ogre mount sneezed. Haskeer turned around and saw his bodyguard begin to cough and splutter around him, in seconds half of them were dead and his rat ogre was also sick. His heart sank, before he had suspected treachery, now in his black heart he was sure of it! (Hilarious skaven back-fire here! After getting a decent result with plague on the slayers, passing on and doing the same to the hammerers, Nick of course rolled a 1 to bounce it to the nearest friendly unit, which thanks to the failed charge on the challenge
BSB was the stormvermin. Nick then fails 24 of 45 toughness tests, ouch! We did a quick count at this point, 44 wounds suffered by the skaven so far, and not a single one inflicted by a dwarf).
The skaven war machines again erupted trying to put a dent into the advancing dwarves. The warp lightning cannon was cranked up to full power and blasted a shot through the hammerers and exploding in the longbeards. The hammerers’ magic standard shimmered intensely, protecting many from the blast, but not all, 4 hammerers and 5 longbeards lay dead in its wake. The rattling gun, having noticed the ineffectiveness of the skaven shooting against the magically protected dwarves ahead instead turned and fired on the newly arrived miners, bringing down 4 in a fusillade of fire. To finish the barrage the jezzails and warpfire thrower also opened fire on the hammerers managing to fell another 5 between them
Back on the skaven right the slaves crashed into the ironbreakers but the dwarves cared little, the slaves pawed ineffectively at their armour and the ironbreakers killed one rat in return as they reformed into a better position.
Turn 4
Dwarf 4
Lakski knew that the time was now to hit the weakened skaven line and ordered all the dwarves around him into action. He and his hammerers crashed into the front of Haskeer’s unit, sending the jezzails in their way fleeing, while the miners engaged them in the rear, the longbeards however were slowed by the rocky ground and couldn’t make it into the fight. On the right flank Grendel and his magically enhanced slayers took their chance and threw themselves in Kikkit’s monks. Grendel was disconcerted however to see that Hjalmar was not bringing his warriors in to join the fight, he had expected them to take the opportunity to join the fray but comforted himself that his death, should it come, would be all the more honourable by being outnumbered.
On the left flank the slaves could still not get through the tough hides of the ironbreakers and 5 slaves were killed but they found courage in their numbers and held fast.
Finding himself surrounded Haskeer lashed out with his magic blade, which swelled with jealous power at the proximity of the dwarves’ magical artefacts. Haskeer slew 5 hammerers himself while his standard bearer, bodyguard and rat ogre mount could only account for 2 miners and 3 hammerers between them. When the dwarves’ weapons finally fell they slaughtered the remaining stormvermin, leaving the terrified looking drummer as the sole survivor. Haskeer’s rat ogre panicked and tore through the hammerers to escape. Lakski ordered his men to hold, sure that, should Haskeer escape, a rival’s blade was all his future held.
Meanwhile Grendel and his slayers threw themselves at the frenzied plague monks. Grendel tried to seek out Kikkit and exact vengeance for all his kinsmen killed by the priest’s magic but was blocked by the monk’s champion, temporarily. The slayers rushed up and clambered onto the plague furnace and began hacking at it with their axes but they were unable to bring it down, although it no longer looked sturdy. In return the plague monks took a heavy toll on the slayers, the banner the unit carried drove them into an even greater frenzy than usual and Kikkit and his men gave 9 slayers the death they craved.
Skaven4
Haskeer, having broken free of his encirclement, stopped his flight and turned to view the field. In a very un-skavenlike display of honour, he resolved to restore control of his army and fight on.
Kikkit, sure that his monks would win their war of attrition with the slayers attempted to call down yet another plague upon Hjalmar and his warriors but just then he noticed the now un-engaged Grendel stalking towards him and lost his concentration, his spell fizzled in his hands as he turned to face the dwarf.
Once more the skaven guns boomed but once more Haskeer looked on helplessly as the warp lightning cannon fired short of Hjalmar’s warriors, the jezzails on the hill felled another hammerer (angles are a little off on the map) only for one of their ornate muskets to explode. To add further injury to insult the warpfire thrower, emboldened by the rattling gun fleeing past them rather than shooting at them, put full pressure into their weapon only to have it malfunction and explode in a spectacular fireball. Haskeer hung his head and began dreaming of great vengeances upon clan skryre.
On the left the skaven slaves continued to hammer at the ironbreakers to no avail as the dwarves slew several in return. The slaves looked around nervously, Haskeer and the battle standard nowhere to be seen, but still they stayed in the fight.
Meanwhile on the dwarves right Grendel found his quarry. As Kikkit prepared to defend himself Grendel threw a swing of his axe his way to put the priest off balance and then brought it crashing down again and again on the furnace, not stopping until he had reduced it to a pile of broken wood and metal. Around him more slayers were laid low by the poisonous fumes emanating from the wreckage and the last of them were then cut down by the monks as they redressed their ranks, leaving Grendel alone in front of the baying horde.
Turn 5
Dwarf 5
Lakski could see the tide had turned in his favour but he was not done yet, his dwarves had to seize the skaven position to prevent Haskeer’s army rallying to it. He ordered Burnsson’s miners to engage the clan rats holding the summit while he led his hammerers around the bottom to clear out the last of the skaven there. At the same time Hjalmar, seeing the dire situation Grendel was facing decided that now he would give aid and brought his warriors into the fight with the monks.
In their fight the ironbreakers finally saw off the slaves, killing enough of them that they finally lost their nerve. But before the slaves could flee packs of explosives strapped to their bodies detonated in unison, killing one of the ironbreakers and leaving them momentarily dazed.
On the hill the miners found themselves momentarily winded by their swift ascent and only managed to bring down 4 clan rats, losing 1 dwarf in return and failing to shift them from their commanding position.
Grendel once again tried to seek out Kikkit but he scampered behind the ruins of his furnace leaving his monks to face the slayer’s wrath. The monks pounced on Grendel, swarming over him and stabbing him dead as he took 2 more with him to the grave, safe in the knowledge that his oaths were fulfilled. Hjalmar and the warriors could do little but watch as the few warriors and monks that could reach each other did little damage. The weight of Hjalmar’s unit however tipped the balance, and although the monks held fast they seemed to lose some of their fervour.
Skaven 5
Haskeer felt that now was his final chance to act, recklessly. He drank his skalm to regain his vigour and charged his rat ogre into the front of the advancing longbeards, with the one wretched survivor of his bodyguard in tow. It was not however to be a glorious fight, although Haskeer slew 2 longbeards, his rat ogre, still feeling the effects of its sickness, failed to land any blows. The longbeards' axes wounded him badly in return and killed the last of his stormvermin. Haskeer again turned and fled.
Back on the hill the depleted skaven gunline did its best to salvage some pride, a hammerer was almost felled by a jazail but their blessed standard sapped most of the power from the shot and the hammerer survived. The warp lightning cannon fared better however, evaporating four of the newly freed ironbreakers.
Engaged with the warriors, Kikkit again drew sorcerous energy to himself. He managed to once again augment his monks’ weapons but as he tried to being down yet anther plague on the dwarves Hjalmar muttered his oaths and stifled the priest’s power. The warriors and plague monks continued to hack ineffectually at each other, the monks felling 2 dwarves for 1 loss in return and the fight went on.
In the centre, however, the fighting was decisive, the reinvigorated miners slew 9 of the rats for no losses and broke them. The clan rats fled down the hill, panicking the only recently returned unit of jezzails, who then fled from the field. The miners could not catch the clan rats but were satisfied in their occupation of the enemy’s commanding position.
Turn 6
Dwarf 6
With the peak of the hill secure,Brunsstrom and his miners set about routing the last of the skaven position. They charged left and right trying to bring the skaven to fight but the rat men all fled before them, or, in the case of the warp lighning cannon crew, hid under their machine. Lakski and his men tried to reach the rattling gun but being now exhausted from the battle their progress was painfully slow. The rattling gun took the opportunity to turn on the dwarves but despite unleashing a torrent of fire fail they unfeasibly fail to do any harm to the hammerers (Nick insisted that when I wrote the game up I would use the word ‘unfeasibly’ here. To be fair he did get zero wounds from 15 shots).
On the right flank Hjalmar attempted to finally bring Kikkit to account and Kikkit, reasoning that he had survived the attentions of the far more powerful daemon slayer, accepted his challenge. The two traded blows but neither could do any damage. Meanwhile the monks lashed out with their poisonous weapons but all of their blows bounced off the dwarves’ heavy armour. The warriors brought down 3 monks in return and they finally lost their nerve and fled, easily outrunning the stout dwarves.
Skaven 6
As the dust was beginning to settle both Haskeer and Kikkit halted their flight and back turned towards the battle field, Haskeer to lament and Kikkit to leave the dwarves with one last parting gift. Summoning up the last of his power Kikkit channelled it into one last plague on the warriors which Hjalmar was helpless to stop. Hjalmar spluttered as his second infection from the priest finally laid him low along with 6 of his fellows. Kikkit though had again been reckless with his power and he suffered a second fierce backlash from his uncontrolled magic. Kikkit keeled over dead, leaving his monks also leaderless. Finally the rattling gun fired the last shots of the battle, felling 2 hammerers as the warp lightning cannon crew picked themselves up from under their machine and plotted their retreat.
Rusult: Crushing Victory to the Dwarves!
Unfortunately we completely forgot to add up
vps in the end, we were both knackered, I was still learning with
BC and was doing the maps as we went along, boy did I not know how long that would take! However the skaven only managed to get the gyro, runesmith, slayers and daemon slayer while I got most of his army, and the bonus 500 for controlling the hill, so it was a pretty clear victory.
Thanks for reading guys, feedback always welcome and hope you enjoyed!
