"Zum teufel," he muttered, then more assertively, "Never mind, my Lord, we don't really need the map. All roads lead to Tropilium, as they say, so we should be fine."
The general gave him a withering look and ordered the army to continue to advance down the straight Tropilium road. As they entered the pass between the hills, a scout came racing back and skidded his horse to a halt in front of the command group.
"My Lord, the Tropilium army awaits us ahead. They are about half our number but there appear to be a couple of badly dressed men in point hats with them. Could be wizards."
"Form the troops up. I shall lead our knights on the left flank with Sir Dietrich. Skirmishers on the right. Just harass them and pin them down while we do the heavy work. Infantry in the centre. Pin them down so we can hit them in the flank."
The Tropilium army, meanwhile, had deployed with its medium cavalry on the left and its light cavalry on the right. The imperial general's tactic seemed to be to pin the flanks and drive through in the centre.
As the armies clashed, the Tropilum light cavalry was easily driven off and the wizards with it. The Tropilum medium cavalry drove off the enemy light cavalry and wore out the foot skirmishers but was to exhausted in the end to contribute to the fight. The melee in the middle was a meatgrinder. The Tropilium troops gave as good as they got and might have carried the day had they not been outnumbered 2:1, but it was a war of attrition and they were soon worn out.
The fateful moment came when the imperial general was cut down and then slaughtered (2 hits on the unit. I rolled 2 sixes and had to dice twice on the Leader at Risk table. First result was Out of the Fight. Second result was Dead). A spear through his leg took him down and a peasant with a knife finished him off. At this point the rest of the Tropilium army fled, but the Altengard army was too exhausted to follow up properly. Only the Auxiliary Archers were caught in the pursuit, but this was enough to destroy Tropilium morale completely. The empire gave an unconditional surrender to Altengard. Alas for Tropilium. Its imperial glory has faded and may soon be no more, but at least it will have peace for a short while as a new Emperor is chosen.
Poor Tropilium. Just a husk of its former glory. Pretty soon there'll be no one left for Altengard and Treyine to fight, except each other.
ReplyDeleteThere will be Mirish. I imagine Altengard and Mirish fighting over the rotting corpse of Treyine at the end. Of course, Tereken could gain a new lease of life. The Black Moon army might suddenly trample all before it. Stygustan could rise and crush its enemies under the wheels of its chariots. Mangu might drives its enemies before it, destroy them and enjoy the lamentations of their women. It all depends how the dice fall. But yes, Altengard is becoming rather dominant. I fully expect that to cease as Steve takes over command though. :)
DeleteGo Altengard!
ReplyDeleteDeath to Steve! ;-)
Noooo, Steve must not die. Whom shall I beat each week at games if he is not here? :D
DeleteThere's a cold wind with the smell of death coming down from the north.
ReplyDeleteTropilum lived and died.... Glory to Tropilum (history)
ReplyDelete