Spring 991 - The Battle of Dat Look Like A Hill

Da Moon

All da noos what is fit to scrawl

GOBCHA!

In a feat not seen since the days of Nurg the Slowhand and Arg the Screamin’ Axe, our boys has gone out and dun us proud.

The two battle lines form up

Lining up against the massive army of invading goblins, our few brave lads looked firm with their 3 dinners on my shirt, war costume, sponsored by Umtroll. At the shout from King Pagash the Great Wind, the fearless bunch moved up in 11-0-0 formation at the sneaky goblins.

The goblins headed towards our brave lads and the two met on top of Dat Look Like A Hill. While our archers caught their archers on Dat Anuvva Hill. Our archers soon showed them what shooting is about and they ran off, like the little girlies they is.

The two battle lines meet

The damage after the first round of combat

And then we took reaction tests.

And then we fought another round of combat

The goblins then tried sneaking some wolf riders round the back, but out fearsome hero, Hogash, raced round the back to chase ‘em off. Funny that was the only time Pagash looked worried all day.

The End

The two armies put up a right good fight with toing and froing all along the line, but the lads betta training showed and class will out. Soon the goblins were running off the field carrying the fallen figure of their leader with them. Several of the dire wolf lads and the buggies got carried away and chased them back to their burrows. The screaming continued long into the night, as we celebrated our glorious victory in true orcish style. Goblin taste yum.

Like a sleeping giant we is now awake and are going to go on and bring orcish rule to the world.

Poor Goblins. Their lower Rep really told in this battle. They actually did more damage early on but soon started to suffer. It's a shame the skirmishers all routed from the first volley fired at them. Had they stayed on the field, they might have made a difference. Ah well, pity the poor Goblin nation which is no more. The Goblins are now Orcish slaves. Time to write a mixed Goblin and Orc army list so the Orcs can use the Goblins as cannon fodder.

Spring 991 - Mirish and Lothgolin - Part One

Editor's Note: Follow the link to a free Rally Round the King Player's Aid. It's a great cheat sheet to help you get your battles going.

By the Numbers Player Aid for RRtK 

Here's a link to what transpired before the battle

Infidel 

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I want to thank Ruarigh for allowing me to take over Mirish as a player in the continuing campaign.   I also wanted to post detailed battle reports to help players to and enjoy the game as well as clarify rules as they come up. So enough of the chatter, on to the game!

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The newly appoint Mirish General Pereira sat on his horse and surveyed the field. He had deployed his forces in three bodies 1200 yards from the Lothgolin line.

Across the field the Elf army, greatly outnumbered, was drawn up in a classic defensive posture.

The General nodded to the Holy Man. With great flourish he unwrapped a long pole. Atop it sat the Crystal Light of Yakub, shining in all it's glory in the mid day sun! A roar of enthusiasm went up as the Holy Relic was revealed.

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The Crsytal of Yakub is one of three Holy Relics (page 64). The relics are usually kept safe in the capital province of the possessor but if they are removed from the province they must be "revealed". Doing this immediately gives all affected units a +1 when checking Reaction. The Crystal does  not affect the Jurgen and Goblin units. 

The main body activates and moves forward. The front line, skirmishers, move at full speed towards the Elf battle line while the rest of the body moves deliberately at 1/2 the speed of the slowest unit. The Elven army waits bracing for contact.

 On the following turn Pereira activates his body of cataphracts and moves at half speed behind the main infantry. The infantry continue their movement forward at the slow pace. The clibinarii, heavy cavalry, activate and trot forward.
With a rush all the skirmish units move forward to overwhelm the right flank of the Elves.

 Light cavalry can move very fast (16"). In addition, skirmish units can move in any direction they want, including turns, and end facing how they want (page 33). As they did not start in charge reach of a facing enemy (page 32) they could move as desired. The two units move around and behind the Elf right while the three skirmish infantry follow. Note how they are all in one body as they are still in base to base contact. This allows them to act together but more importantly provide support when taking Reaction Tests.Tactically speaking, always place your lower Rep units on the ends of the line and never in the middle.


The soldier unit in the second line of the Elf army about faces to defend from the light horse. This triggers a Threat Test and the skirmishers fire, which causes a test and a charge, that results in the skirmishers firing and retiring. Both units have suffered a loss.

Here's a rules clarification. The soldier unit started inside 4" of the enemy but was not facing them so was not a threat. As soon as it turned to face it became a threat and this triggered the test.  This is an example when the spirit of the rule was followed as opposed to the letter of the rule. I play when in doubt, default to reality, or what makes the most sense.

 As the Elves activate I roll to see if the Elf Casters can act. A random roll places them with the Marine unit at the end of the line. A roll on the NPC Cast Table (page 48) allows them to cast. Another roll and they will cast a Steel Wind spell. With a success they hit the Jurgen archers and cause them to rout. Note that they scored high enough on their cast attempt that my Casters could not intervene. My magic strategy was to hold my Casters in reserve in hopes of intervening when the Elves cast.

 As Mirish activates they move from right to left. Pereira was placed on the extreme right for a reason. His body activates first and he contacts the main body infantry and they now become one body (page 34). As one body I can now stop the main infantry from moving any farther. They are just outside of bow range.
The clibinarii now  move forward and contact the main body, join it, but also must stop (page 35).
I realize that I misspelled "whole" in the picture above. Undaunted I carry on.

Skirmish fire picks up with three units firing on one target. The 3d6 are added together and 2 casualties are inflicted. As the number of hits scored on a target cannot exceed the number of units firing it's good to look for these types of mismatches where more than one missile casualty can be inflicted.
As the fire intensifies the soldier to the rear wheels to drive off the skirmisher. This results in a Threat test, fire, charge, and fire and retire. Both units gain casualties.The support of another unit as well as the +1 from revealing the Holy Relic allows the skirmishers to fire then retire.

 The Elves activate again and the Casters go to work. This time the spell, determined at random (page 48) is Healing Hands. If successful it will recover some of the loses taken by the Marine unit. It fails horribly and the Level 1 Caster is dragged to safety, all of his Magic Points having been used (page 45).

 The Elf Marine unit has been between a rock and a hard place. It was under fire from three skirmish units and could not return fire. The closeness of the Mirish main battle line effectively preventing it from turning to face the skirmishers (page 32). If they did turn to face they would be charged in the flank and most likely routed.

Now's a good time for natural break in the Bat Rep and some insight as to how best to play solo games. The Elves are in a Static Defense but are in a tough spot. The main body enemy is out of bow range and appear to be content with letting their skirmishers chew up the Elves (1). By the rules the Elves would stay in place and take it but I prefer to do what makes sense for the non-player side as if I was playing it when circumstances dictate.
So what is the Elf King to do?

Watch for Part 2 later this week.

(1) To see an historical battle demonstrating the problems that skirmishers can cause heavy troops if unabated follow the link
Sphacteria

Spring 991. Altengard invades Capalan.

 

 

 

Spring 991 - Campaign Progress

After a hard winter, the nations of Talomir are more than ever seeking to dominate their neighbours and ensure their own survival.

Altengard has chosen to invade the Capalan League from the forest near the coastal town of Gartenmeerstadt. This is rumoured to be a preemptive strike, because the hawks are increasingly vocal in the high council of Capalan.

Mirish has rallied its army and seeks to dislodge the Elves of Lothgolin from their foothold in Mirish territory.

The Orcs of Naz-Goth see easy pickings in their Goblinoid brethren to the west and have invaded Zog-Rot.

The Treyine army is on the march once more. Edward, King of Treyine, has vowed to leave no two stones standing on each other in Seniira until reparations are made for the damage done during last year's Seniiran invasion of Treyine.

The Hykari ponygirls have a real problem too. A large dragon is laying waste to their nation. They must defeat it or suffer.

The armies have been recruited and can be found on the Campaign Armies page.

The battles of Spring 991

Winter 990 - Campaign Update

Winter is coming. Actually, it has arrived already, and with it we welcome Sean and Javier to the campaign.

Javier will control Altengard.
Sean will control Mirholme.
Steve will control Naz-Goth.
I shall umpire and sort out the actions of non-player nations.

The Current Situation
At the end of the Autumn, Treyine had won two battles and driven back both the Goblins and the Seniirans. Mirholme had been united under the rule of Gunnar Broadaxe, while Tereken has been united under the rule of Harold I.

Mirish has been cut in two by the Elven attack.

Character Death Checks
Emperor Cesare Salato of Tropilium has died while being dressed by his nephew, Nic Salato (WR 3). His chirurgeon reports that he died of a surfeit of olives, but rumour has it that he was assassinated, because that is the traditional and proper method of succession.

The great Mirholmen hero Torfi has died of wounds received in an attack by person or persons unknown. His sword had blood on it, so the assailant(s) was wounded. Olaf Squinteye is the main suspect in this case.

The Tropilian wizard Pherros has perished in an alchemical experiment that created a large crater in the middle of Tropilium.

National Morale
The winter is hard for Zog-Rot and they sue for peace with Treyine. The peace will last until Winter 992.
Treyine and Seniira are still at war.
The Silver Elves and Mirish are still at war.

Magical Items

The Brethren control The Drums of Doom but have not passed them on to anyone else.
The Fiddle of Calling has been found in Zog-Rot.

Artefacts
The Brazier of Durman has surfaced in Hykar.
With the discovery of an artefact, a rogue dragon has also made an appearance, making its lair in Hykar.

Holy Relics
Treyine still controls The Spear of St Lindorf. 
The Goblins of Zog-Rot control The Book of the Hungry Moon.
Mirish controls The Crystal Light of Yakub. 
 
The current state of the world:

The campaign area at the end of Winter 990

New Armies
No new armies are joining the campaign this winter.

Autumn 990 - Battle for Novempopulania

Princeps Alerio Nequam was convinced that devine providence had selected him to found a new and glorious empire from the husk of the once great Tropilium. Treyine had already shown that the old empire was ripe for conquest. And they had picked off the low hanging fruit.

The province of Novempopulonia lay on the borders of Seniira and Nequam reasoned that if he could defeat Lord De La Warre in battle the people would rise up to greet him as liberator, sharing language and custom with the folk of Seniira.

The battle was joined along the banks of the Phaedrum river. Lord De La Warre had selected an area of  rough terrain, in an attempt hamper the Seniiran heavy cavalry, but Priceps Alerio had skillfully maneuvered to minimise the effects.

Phaedrum River, rocky terrain to the left, gully in the center.

Autumn 990 - The Battle of the Telkar Bird

Spahblod Shahin the Rash, held the perfumed cloth to his nose.

“Can’t you move the blasted Ogres further away, Rashom, even through the perfumes I can smell the thrice damned things,” he growled at his subordinate, “Well at least this battle should be over quickly. The elves have only sent a scouting party.”

 

The battle was fought in the arid regions in eastern Mirish, a land once bountiful but now a dust bowl. It was an utterly featureless landscape. The Elven army comprised six units of battle elves and a small coven of three wizards. Their opponents had eighteen units, including some of the heaviest cavalry in the world. It should be an easy battle for the Mirish.

Set-up

With a signal the army advanced. The Ogres lumbered on ahead straight towards the elves.“See if the pointy eared scum like their smell any better, hey Rashom”, yelled Shahin.

The Mirish army advances while the Elven reserve moves to counter the enemy skirmishers. The Mirish general's unit advances precipitately as a fireball hits them and encourages them to charge to soon

The cavalry followed the Ogres with the skirmish cavalry on the right and the foot skirmishers on the left and the elephants next to his cavalry, the Mirish Army made an impressive sight.

The archers shoot at the ogres while the Mirish army seeks to surround the Elves

As the Ogres approached the Elven lines they faltered and began to shuffle backwards. A fireball arched from the Elven ranks and into Shahin’s unit. Still onward they charged into the Elven line, but instead of falling back they held. Shahin’s men began to panic.

The Mirish general charges the Elven line and promptly routs along with a chunk of his army

Then from out of the blue a huge Telkar bird flew across the sun carrying a young goat in it’s claws. Such an evil omen could mean only one thing, the battle was lost. Shahin and his men turned and fled with many of his other units following.

After the rout few remained

Rashom tried to rally the remaining units, but it was too little and soon the tide of the battle had turned with the Elves in the ascendancy.

It's all down to mopping up now

A brave effort was made to defeat the Elves but the wizards raised the bodies of the dead Mirish to fight the living ones.

Only a few Mirish left.

And then there were just the levies left to deal with

The loss of the Mirish general early on killed the Mirish effort to beat the Elves. They were never able to capitalise on their numbers after that and the Elves just had to pick the skirmishers off piecemeal. The Mirish have sworn vengeance on the Elves and will certainly attack them next year to recover their territory.