Summer 1001 - Apocalypse Now

"My Emperor," the messenger announced, "I have news of the war with the Mangu hordes."

The Emperor paused briefly as he swallowed the soft flesh of the nectarine.

"Proceed."

"My Emperor, we have defeated them and driven them back. Our domination of Mangu will soon be complete. They have fewer places than ever to retreat and their army is in disarray. Victory will soon be ours. My scouts also report that Altengard has lost ground to both Treyine and Tereken. The jackals fight among themselves and make our next task easier. They will be easy pickings once Mangu is disposed of."

The Emperor nodded, the nectarine in his hand forgotten as he envisaged ultimate victory.

"There is one thing more, my Emperor. The general commanded me to bring this to you."

He waved his two companions forward to join him with a large shrouded package.

The Emperor looked warily at it, but the captain of the palace guard knew what to do without instruction. He ordered two of the guards to take it and open it. When they did so, the court wizard's eyes widened. He strode forward from his place at the left hand of the Emperor and examined it.

"My Emperor," he declared, "This appears to be genuine. This is the third artefact. We now possess all three: the Amulet of Sorbrowane, the Brazier of Durmun and the War Horn of Naz-Goth. Our victory is assured for the prophecies all foretell how the world shall bow before you when you present these artefacts to the gods on the peaks of Gorath. It is fortunate that you had the foresight to conquer that land so far in advance. That will make our task so much easier."

The emperor's eyes widened.

"So, it is true then? I shall rule this world? Make the preparations. We march to Gorath as soon as you can organise our forces. This world shall be mine!"

And so, the campaign ends with all three artefacts in the possession of Mirish and the Emperor of Mirish soon to declare himself God-Emperor of Talomir. The End of Days is here. Prophecies foretell that the owner of the artefacts cannot be defeated and will rule all Talomir. Other prophecies declare that the final battle between the Red Sun and the Black Moon will happen when the artefacts' power is invoked on the peaks of Gorath, and the Creators will walk Talomir once more, but I don't think that the court wizard told the emperor those ones.

So, that is this chapter of Talomir Tales complete. We only used the north of Talomir for this campaign, and found that a little unwieldy at times; too many nations and not enough players. Still, it has been great fun, and I think it is quite the achievement keeping a campaign going for eight years. Even with occasional breaks that is still better than any other campaign I have tried. There is still room for a game or two in this campaign. We could fight out the last battle as an epic gods and heroes game, or we might have sneaky spies trying to steal the artefacts in Warrior Heroes skirmish games. It's a fairly long trip to Gorath from the Mirish capital, and there is plenty of room for extending the campaign at a later date with these additional games. I'm not going to do that immediately. It is time to let Mirish bask in its victory for now.

ALL HAIL THE NEW GOD-EMPEROR OF TALOMIR!

Spring 1001 - Tereken vs Altengard - Pfannkuchen Flachland

Feels like it's been awhile since I did one of these.

Sorry for the delay, my hobby stuff has become a shambles and I had trouble finding various things and carving out space to even play the game.

My son helped my by being official die roller and we had some fun playing out the battle.

I hope you enjoy it.

Altengard lost one Infantry, the Mercenary Horse Archers and the White Company Archers in the pursuit from Tereken. It is possible Herr General Rudolf Von Gelstorf dropped the Spear of St. Lindorf and the Fiddle of Calling when his men routed.

I chose to use the "Painted 3" filter as it obscures the fact that half, at a minimum, of my figures are unfinished.

Thanks for looking.

Mangu versus Mirish - Magic Unleashed

Mangu has drawn together the most Magic Users I've ever seen assembled on one side. A Level 3, a Level 2, and 3 Level 1s giving the Mangu virtual unlimited Magic.
After three rolls for terrain, the Mirish were forced to accept the last table or watch a season pass in the Campaign. The terrain was clear except for a large patch of woods in section 5, the center. As  both armies are mounted, this resulted in splitting the battle field in half.

The Mangu left flank faced three Elephants and  three units of Clibinari - heavy lance and bow armed cavalry. The Mirish moved forward on both sides of the woods.

 Due to the high Rep of the Mangu units (all Rep 5), no one fled the field. But now they would be limited on what they ould move.

 The Mangu Magic Users crushed three units at the start then continued to rain  down Blast spells. Rolling 8d6 on each spell cast, when the Mirish Magic Users could attempt to interfere, they were solely outnumbered so were of little effect.

 As the victorious Mangu left tried to sweep around the woods and behind the Mirish army, the Mirish force on the other side, advanced, trusting on sheer numbers to overwhelm their opponents.

Despite horrible losses to Blast spells and skirmish fire, the sheer number of Mirish succeeded in forcing the Mangu to retreat. The Mangu Leader was killed, but none of the fast moving Mangu units were caught in the pursuit.

Spring 1001 - Campaign Update

As spring approaches, armies polish their armour and sharpen their weapons. Mirish chooses to continue its invasion of Mangu to teach the upstart steppe riders not to invade Mirish territory. The Tereken warriors, after an extended enforced peace, are itching to see battle again and choose to invade Altengard. Taking advantage of this attack, Treyine declares war on Altengard too.

Wars
Mangu invades Mirish
Tereken invades Altengard
Treyine invades Altengard

Talomir in 1001

Winter 1000 - Campaign Update

The Mangu invasion of Mirish did not go as planned, but it provided a brief respite for Treyine. Both Mirish and Mangu are eager to pursue their hostilities against each other, but enthusiasm for the war against Treyine is waning in Mirish (Pass 1D, NM -1). Before any more can happen, winter sets in and the armies must retire to their winter quarters.

During the winter, a freak snow flurry freezes a Tereken mage in place, and she dies. No other deaths are reported this season.

Through the winter, the doves have the ear of the Grand Vizier of Mirish and morale plummets as a result of this (pass 1D versus Mangu, but 0D versus Treyine). Mirish sues for peace with Treyine and national morale goes down another point. The hawks must hope that a successful invasion of Mangu will restore national pride, and their place of influence.

Talomir in Winter 1000

Hands of the Gods - Mirish and the Mangu

"Why did we not fight to the death, oh Great Khan?"

"The winds blow cold and soon it will be winter. And winter's demands cannot be ignored. Let us see our fate in the Spring."

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Because the Mangu were severely outnumbered I played them and tried some desperate measures. Icy Finger of Death attempt on the Mirish Leader- thwarted by the Mirish Magic Users. Tried to outflank them, get to their leader if I could. No chance. Once they unveiled the Crystal Light of Yakub their morale increased by one and there was no way to resist their frontal assault. Decided to withdraw and hopefully someone in the Mirish leaderships would die. But, there may be another way...

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 I decided to play this one out using my paper armies. The battle lines are set and I send out my two wings. The plan is to get around the flanks and attack the unit with the Mirish Leader. My Casters attempt a Icy Finger of Death spell but are stopped by the Mirish Casters.

The Mirish light cavalry advances and missile fire is exchanged. After a couple of rounds they rout away, but are replaced with Mirish heavy cavalry.

 Inspired by the Light of Yakub (+1 to Rep) they charge home and sweep my flank away. The Mirish center begins to move forward.

Their front line of skirmishers routs off but with nothing opposing them the main line moves towards my leader. I decide to break off and leave the battlefield. As most of my army is mounted Light Cavalry, casualties are zilch.

As winter comes, maybe things will change.

Autumn 1000 - Campaign Progress

Summer saw Treyine lose to the Mirish hordes. In the process, they lost the War Horn of Naz-Goth. Mirish has recovered the War Horn but may not use it for one season.

Come the Autumn, the peace treaty between Mirish and Mangu reaches its end and Mangu immediately launches an assault on Mirish. Elsewhere, Talomir remains quiet as the other nations respect their treaties and lick their wounds.