The Hykrian wastes - Year 2 - 1699ic - Warmaster - Turn 2-6

 

The 2nd month of the campaign saw the Orcs lose 150points to the Kul-Tor river trying to cross, whilst the Dwarves and Men retreated steadily south. 
 The 3rd and 4th month saw the Orcs begin to starve due to no baggage, losing an additional 150points; turning North East and Storming the Grey tower the hungry Orcs began slaughtering and eating the 200 points of Skaven defenders, the orcs lost a further 150 points in the assault. Turn 5 saw the Dwarves retreat further south whilst the orcs liquidated a Skaven controlled village north west of the Grey Tower.

Whilst all this was happening the Dwarven and Orc fleets swung into position to fight out 2 major fleet actions, the Battle of Balafor and the Twin battle of Karungol.

The Battle of Balafor was auto resolved using the Ships chart in the Mighty empires rules, the Dwarves won an easy victory over the expeditionary Orc Pirates.

We fought a game of Manowar to resolve the battle of Karungol.

The Orcs carried a banner of ground troops, we agreed that gave me d3 extra crew I could allocate to my ships, I got 1 extra crew and assigned them to the red Hulk. The Orc fleet lined up with the expendable Big Chukka ships out front and the troll laden Hulks in the centre with Drilla Killas on the flanks.

I changed my boards around and haven't painted a seascape on this one yet, so we're sailing in a swamp I guess.

The dwarves went for Monitors in the centre with the ManOwars on the flanks. The pushed forward firing their guns engaging the Big Chukkas putting on lots of hits.

The Scrum unfolded on the right flank, the Dreadnought closed and pumped shots into the Big Chukka Squadrons before the Hulk used the Ironclaws to close with the Dreadnought and then MISSED with its smash hammer, unleashing the Troll Pens the Orc Admiral Gorfang Dwarfcrusha lead the assault with trolls and Orcs overruning the crews manning the cannons and pushed deeper into the vessel to clear it out in an orgy of close combat.

After this the Drilla Killas on the Right flank managed to sink the Ironclad after punching a number of holes below the waterline however two of the Drillas sunk in the process.

The Drilla Killas on the left flank closed the turn before the last and failed to penetrate the Ironclad across 3 turns so it was summarily decided the ships was unsinkable and allowed to escape.

After such a brutal turn 4 the game was called and the dwarves sent packing with 2 lost fleets and 1 in full blown retreat to the capital.

The Hykrian wastes - Year 2 - 1699ic - Warmaster - Turn 1

Grimbag Guttas first order of the new year was to erect a mighty set of Waaagh stones, a temple of sorts to the holy war of the Orc race, Gork and Mork would be proud as Grimbag gained 400pts of new followers this year, ready to fight the Stunties. He also got the boys to erect a Great wall made of a ditch and earthen rampart with battlements and towers to block the approach of any Stunties or Humies coming from the south towards the Temple, in addition he also erected a great hill fort to hold the town and protect his Waaagh stones. Finally Using up his total 30 Crowns of revenue Grimbag recruited 250 more points of troops, 5 baggage, a Saboteur, d6 (6) spies and an agent to root out enemy Operatives.

 Gurlog Facemangla Goblin spy master of the Waaagh sent out Sneaky gits, his Sneaky Agents uncovered a conspiracy to sabotage the armies landed along the coast whilst the his own spies reported back on the size and strength of each enemy army.

 Haltrazan Dourhelm had a rough previous year, the Jagged peaks were a desolate place and the unexpected proximity of a Skaven settlement in the Nau-Volten mountains meant the projected revenue was no where near as much as was expected. Using his Meagre 14 crowns Haltrazan Expanded his army with 650pts of troops and built a stone bridge over the Gran-Fluss river. His own Special agents burnt the food stores of the Chaos Dwarfs in the Emerald Isle and assassinated a prophet of the Waaagh! knocking down the banner there to 250points, a real coup. 

The Dwarfs are red and Orcs are blue, the Dwarfs deployed spread out along the Kul-Tor river in 2 800 point armies. The orcs deployed along the coast using their warships. 

Turn 1 the Dwarf armies spread out exploring undiscovered tiles, coming across the City of Grandongrad the Empire troops under their own Commander Lord General Athcon Thanwin burnt the city and looted it for baggage. The burning city was to become a battleground.

Battle for the ruins of Grandongrad

 The Empire army under Lord General Athcon Thanwin was razing the city of Grandongrad for much needed supplies for the coming battles when the force of Orcs under boss Kragak Bonesmasha poured into the region, still looting the burnt out ruins Lord Thanwin formed up his men into defensive positions.

The orcs rushed forward with some great command rolls, all except their big chukka whose lazy goblin crew could not be bothered listening amongst the excitement of lobbin' some 'uge rocks. The Empire maintained their defensive position.

Turn 4 with a lot of Orcs Marchin' and a lot of sittin' from the Humies the battle began proper. The Giant Dakblad moved up then failed his 2nd order, rolling on the giant chart we got a 3 and so the Giant hefting a boukder launched it into the ranks of the knights forcing them back 10cm and confusing them. The Mercenary Ogres took the bait and rushed out of the forest to charge the Boar Boys, the Ogres got off 18 attacks with their battle banner and did 8 wounds total. The boar boys with their 24 total attack did 6 wounds, losing the combat the Boar Boys ran away and being cavalry could not be pursued by Infantry.

 Turn 5 the Boar boys used their initiative to charge, under orders 2 units of boys flanked and charged the Ogres. The Giant Dakblad was ordered but got distracted by the Horses and failed, confused and rolling on the confusion chart we got a 6 so the giant turned into a paintrain with 18 attacks that combat. The remaining Orcs charged the flank of some halbadiers and in the process ran into lord Thanwin forcing him to join a unit, that unit being the Knights.

 The Knights were slaughtered along with Lord Thanwin by the giant Dakblad, the crunch of bones as the gaint ate horses and men freshly trampled by the giants assault spread terror through the other ranks. The Haldbadiers charged in the flank folded like paper whilst the Mercenary Orges and Habadiers charged in the flank collapsed in on themselves and were wiped out by the combined Infantry and Cavalry assault.

Empire Losses

Rolling on the pursuit chart the Orcs wiped out the empire baggage and their loss forced a retreat back to their original tile. It was an extremely hard battle for the Empire army, they were outnumbered almost 2 to 1 with the Orc banner fielding 1500pts and the Empire 800pts. The Loss of almost half the force in particular the Cavalry, Ogres and General is a bad omen for the coming 5 months of the campaign, and a possible Year 2 win for the Orcs.