The Cult of Crimson Dusk
Sir Gindle gazed into the star filled sky, his mind going over current events as he casually noted constellations in the yonder above him. His searches for the Shroud had been halted for a brief period because he was needed here, in the inhospitable region of the Irrana Mountains. his mission was to destroy a large number of armed men coming over the mountains from Tilea.
Scouts had spotted the force as it crossed the border and began its slow march over the mountains, seeing this, a messenger had been sent immediately to Sir Gindle, who was in command of the closest armed force in the region and was given the task of destroying the warband.
The armed force was identified as a portion of the Cult of Crimson Dusk, a troublesome cult of misguided fools who had ravaged Tilea for many months. Now they were fleeing from a particularly weathly merchant prince's armed forces after a raid into the prince's territory. The Cult was led by a mysterious woman named Myrel who was said to have the power to raise the dead and gift her followers with extended life. Now a large warhost of Cultists were attempting to begin their attacks on Bretonnia, and it would not be allowed...
In the pitch-black of night, the horrific figure known only as the Dusklord to the Cultists surveyed the pass before him, which was the only pass through the Irrana Mountains for miles, his was the task of protecting the lady Myrel, it was a task he relished and many would-be assassains and heroes had been felled by his scything blade. His lady had gifted him with immortallity against both the malice of weapons and the passing of time, only one thing could slay him in his now awesome form: a blade forged by magical means.
Dusklord's keen eyes spotted an approaching force of Knights and Men-At-Arms, a grim smile crossed his lips before he let out a chilling bellow to alert his fellows to the presence of this enemy. The blood of these fools would fuel the power of his lady, he was sure.
He did not see the small, blue forms of Will-O'-Wisps gathering behind the Bretonnian army...
This battle was to be a straight Pitched Battle.
My opponent used the Index Von Castein Army List from the Vampire Counts Army Book. I used the Warhammer Chronicles Bretonnian Preview Army List.
The Undead Army:
- Myrel (Necromancer, General) with Hand Weapon, Level 2 Upgrade and Black Periapt. (115 points)
- Dusklord (Wraith) with Great Weapon, riding on an Etherial Barded Nightmare. (102 points)
- 20 Zombies with Musician and Standard Bearer. (135 points)
- 20 Free Companies with Two Hand Weapons, Light Armour, Musician and Standard Bearer. (135 points)
- 20 Free Companies with Two Hand Weapons, Light Armour, Musician and Standard Bearer. (135 points)
- 6 Huntsmen with Marksman, Longbows and Hand Weapons. (65 points)
- 6 Huntsmen with Longbows and Hand Weapons. (60 points)
- 5 Black Knights with Full Command, Hand Weapons, Heavy Armour, Lances, Shields and Barded Nightmares. (165 points)
- 1 Dogs of War Cannon with 3 Crew (85 points)
The Bretonnian Army:
- Sir Gindle (Paladin, General) with Hand Weapon, Heavy Armour, Shield, Lance, riding on a Barded Warhorse and carrying the Sword of Might and the Mithril Greathelm, Grail Virtue. (154 points)
- Sir Darrius d'Fin (Paladin, Battle Standard Bearer) with Hand Weapon, Heavy Armour, riding on a Barded Warhorse and carrying the Valourous Standard, Grail Virtue. (148 points)
- Lucinda Lightsoul (Damsel) with Hand Weapon, Dispel Scroll and Level 2 Upgrade. (120 points)
- 10 Knights of the Realm with Hand Weapons, Lances, Shields, Heavy Armour, Barded Warhorses and Full Command. (259 points)
- 21 Men-At-Arms with Spears, Light Armour, Shields and Full Command. (172 points)
- 10 Will-O'-Wisps. (150 points)
We did not realise until after the battle that Huntsmen were a 0-1 choice.
THE BOARD:
On the south-west edge of the board was a large hill that looked like a promising position for archers or my opponent's Cannon. In the centre of the board rested a huge rock that forced anyone travelling beyond its position to take one of two passes around it. The western pass took anyone travelling it close to a ruined farm and barn that stood against the extreme west edge of the board. The eastern pass led all too close to a thick patch of forest.
On the north-west board edge was a smaller hill. Everything else on the board was grasslands.
My opponent chose the northern table edge to deploy on and I deployed on the southern board edge.
DEPLOYMENT:
I deployed my Knights of the Realm (with the two Paladins) in the Lance Formation pointing directly towards the eastern pass, they would need to get to grips with the enemy quickly and could not afford to tarry with a Cannon on the board. The Men-At-Arms with Spears (and the Damsel) set up facing the other pass, their job would be to stop anybody attempting to get behind the Knights and stop any enemy units claiming the southern table quarters whilst my Knights were away.
The Will-O'-Wisps deployed in between the Knights and Men-At-Arms, I was hesitant to place them in view of either the barn or the forest, knowing that the enemy Huntsmen could bring a quick end to their role in this battle. Once the game started it would be their job to get rid of the Cannon and hopefully take advantage of any promising situations that appear.
The Huntsmen without a Marksman took up position in the barn on the eastern pass while the Huntsmen with a Marksman hid in the forest, whichever pass I chose to take, these annoying archers would harry me with arrows as I went. More worrying was the fact that they could panic my Will-O'-Wisps with their archery, I would need to be careful.
The Cannon was placed on the small hill, giving it free line of sight over the entire battlefield. The two units of Free Companies were place with one facing each pass. The Zombies were placed in the centre and the Necromancer was with them. The Black Knights with the Dusklord (he was going to be a tough nut to crack) set up on the far west of his deployment zone, facing the pass my Knights were going to be travelling through but hiding so that my Knights could not see them.
Myrel the Necromancer rolled up the Invocation of Nehek and the Curse of Years as her spells. Lucinda Lightsoul received the Forked Lightning and Uranon's Thunderbolt spells.
With that, I took the Blessing and the Undead took the first turn...
VAMPIRE COUNTS TURN 1:
Dusklord spurred his ghostly steed onwards as the Black Knights (Dusklord included) and one of the Free Company units moved towards the eastern pass. The other unit of Free Companies marched full speed towards the western pass, chanting prayers to their Necromantic master. The Zombies, with Myrel travelling aside their decaying forms, shambled forwards slightly, waiting for a clear path through either one of the passes and groaning unearthly sounds of undeath.
The black-cloaked Crew of the Dogs of War Cannon stood aside as the Cannon roared to life and let a deadly payload loose with a thunderous boom, the unholy war machine overcame the Lady's blessing and the guess of 35' towards my Knights of the Realm was true. It was only the heroics of a brave Knight of the Realm that saved Sir Gindle's life (Sir Gindle was saved by the "Look out, Sir!" roll) from the cannon ball, though the valourous Bretonnian Knight who saved Sir Gindle lost his life to the cannon ball in the process.
The Huntsmen who were in the barn let their arrows fly at the Men-At-Arms with Spears, 4 shots hit and in the end, 2 Men-At-Arms fell lifeless to the grass, killed instantly by well-placed arrows. On the other side of the battlefield, the other Huntsmen (this one with the Marksman) attempted to add more Knightly deaths to the toll that the Cannon had started. The combined presence of the Blessing and the high armour saves of the Knights saw no arrows find a true target.
Myrel successfully cast the Invocation of Nehek spell but Lucinda Lightsoul's considerable magical skill managed to dispel the attempt.
No Combats happened this turn.
BRETONNIAN TURN 1:
Unafraid of the unholy war machines of the enemy, the Knights of the Realm (with Sir Gindle and Sir Darrius) urged their steeds into the east pass, they were mindful not to allow themselves to fall within range of the Black Knight's charge arc, however.
The Men-At-Arms marched full speed towards the west pass, attempting to get to grips with the enemy as quickly as possible to gain revenge for their fellow soldiers' deaths.
Working to my plan, the Will-O'-Wisps silently glided to within 2' of the barn that the enemy Huntsmen were hiding in, there the mysterious balls of light hovered, beginning to grow brighter and brighter until...
With a loud crack each Will-O'-Wisp discharged its gathered energy into the midst of the Huntsmen hiding in the barn. The power of the attack was not immense but was enough to bring one Huntsman down, clutching the fatal wound which the beam of energy had cut through his stomach, he was dead in seconds. Taking advantage of this, Lucinda Lightsoul summoned up a bolt of Forked Lightning and sent it crashing into the barn, the resulting explosion saw off two more Huntsmen and sent the remaining 3 fleeing towards the Cannon behind them. I was amazed that my opponent had failed to dispel either spell.
No Combat this turn either.
VAMPIRE COUNTS TURN 2:
The panicked Huntsmen failed to rally and continued to run away from my forces, moving 7' towards their table edge. In a simple but effective plan, my opponent placed his Black Knights and Free Companies in front of the eastern pass so that I could not charge the Black Knights, and if my Knights of the Realm charged the Free Companies I would be open to be counter attacked by the undead Knights (and the terror causing Dusklord) on his turn. However, if I did not charge the Free Companies they would be able to charge me, which would keep my Knights in a slow, grinding combat that would nullify them for many turns.
The other unit of Free Companies continued to once more march towards my Men-At-Arms in the western pass, soon battle would be joined and blood would be spilled between these two infantry units, I was sure.
Surprisingly, the Zombies stood still.
The black-clad Crew of the Cannon were overcome by the Blessing and the Cannon was unable to shoot just when they had my Knights in their line of fire. At least for this turn, my Knights did not need to worry about its deadly payload.
Once again the Huntsmen in the forest's arrows failed to strike down any Knights, the combined power of the Blessing and the potent Armour Saves of my Knights making it very difficult for any arrows to find their mark.
The dark energies of death itself were summoned by the Necromancer Myrel, luckily for myself, she failed to cast Curse of Years on my Knights and I was able to dispel her attempt at casting the weakest level of Invocation of Nehek.
No Combats this turn, but next turn would be different.
BRETONNIA TURN 2:
I had two options with my Knights, fall into the Free Company bait trap or pull back and regroup. I was thinking it would be more tactical to pull back away from the Free Companies and charge when the time was right, but then again, would a Bretonnian Knight do that? So, I decided to charge the Free Companies as it was, after all, Sir Gindle who was the General of this army and he would not fall back in the face of mere Free Companies and some black-clad Knights!
My Men-At-Arms moved to within charge distance of the other enemy Free Companies. My Will-O'-Wisps sped a full 20' towards the enemy Cannon and began to again glow brighter and brighter, the Cannon Crew wondered what these strange beings were doing. They would soon find out.
Lucinda Lightsoul tried to save the Knights of the Realm from the trap by hitting the Black Knights with a Uranon's Thunderbolt spell, it was sadly dispelled by the enemy magician. The bright side of this was that it left the enemy Cannon open to a Bolt Spell. As the dust cleared and the result of the hefty magical barrage that the Will-O'-Wisps had delivered became clear, all three Crew lay as corpses on the churned earth, the Cannon now useless to the enemy forces without their technical know-how.
Next, my Knights of the Realm crashed into the ranks of the Free Company of the eastern pass. The price of attempting to enter Bretonnia with hostile intent was made clear as 7 Free Companies were slaughtered on the ends of the Knight's lances, the rest of the Free Companies turned and fled from the chivalrous might of the Bretonnian Knights. I decided not to chase them and instead prepare for the coming counter attack...
Next turn would perhaps decide the outcome of the game.
VAMPIRE COUNTS TURN 3:
The Huntsmen from the barn yet again fail their rally test and continue to run away, ending their move 1' from the board edge! The Free Companies, after breaking and fleeing from the combat as part of a cunning plan, came to their senses and rallied.
Dusklord let out a horrific bellow that chilled the Knights of the Realm to the bone as he lead a full on charge into the Knights of the Realm. The Dusklord spotted the leader of the group, Sir Gindle, and pointed a spectral hand at him, challenging him to deadly combat. Sir Gindle accepted.
Following the example of the undead Knights, the cultist Free Companies screamed battle cries and charged towards the stalwart Men-At-Arms with Spears, the Men-At-Arms held fast, ready to die where they stood if need be to protect the Damsel Lucinda Lightsoul.
The Zombies slowly shambled after the Free Companies that charged the Men-At-Arms, Myrel leading the pack of brain-crazed undead.
No Shooting.
Myrel finally managed to tap into her necromantic powers and with a unholy spell 10 Zombies unearthed themselves and joined the Zombie unit. The unit now held 30 Zombies and a Necromancer!!!
The Wight Blade tipped lances of the terrible Black Knights dealt a deadly toll upon the numbers of the Knights of the Realm, two Knights were impaled from their saddles and fell lifeless to the earth below. Dusklord, expecting an easy victory over this hack of a Knight named Sir Gindle, was surprised when his Great Scyth was deflected by the well-crafted armour of the valient Bretonnian. Sir Gindle's retaliation strikes wounded, but did not slay, the monsterous creature that led these undead Knights. Although they did not manage to take down any of the Black Knights, the remaining Knights of the Realm held fast and their determination alone undid the unholy magics keeping the Black Knights alive as two of them crumbled to dust (2 Black Knights died because of CR).
The Free Company charge on the Men-At-Arms was not as bloody, although both sides battled with all their might, only 1 Free Company cultist died and no-one else. Hopefully, next turn would see this combat heat up (We rolled so many 1s and 2s in that fight that it wasn't funny!).
BRETONNIA TURN 3:
The Will-O'-Wisps, their main job completed, changed direction and silently and majestically moved into position next to the battle between the Men-At-Arms and Free Companies in the western pass. I could see a great chance waiting to be taken here, I just hoped that the Necromancer wouldn't dispel it.
The Will-O'-Wisps, attempting to make use of this great chance, used Blinding Spectrum on the Free Companies who were fighting the Men-At-Arms with Spears. Unfortunately, even with Power Level 10, they were dispelled.
The Knights of Bretonnia are not to be defeated lightly, and even though they faced horrors from beyond the grave, they stayed locked in grizzly combat with the Black Knights and the grim Dusklord. Another Knight of the Realm was cut down, this time by a Killing Blow from a Black Knight's Wight Blade sword. Sir Gindle and the other surviving Knights took strength from their need to avenge their fallen brothers-at-arms and in return a Black Knight was unhorsed and smashed into dust by the vengeful blades of the Knights of the Realm.
Sir Gindle's Sword of Might put an end to the unnatural life of the Dusklord. His dying, rage-filled scream echoeing into the ether as he was cut down and disintergrated into specks of grime. The sheer CR against the remaining two Black Knights caused them to explode into a shower of dust.
One Man-At-Arms and two Free Companies perished as the fighting continued between the evenly matched opponents in the western pass.
VAMPIRE COUNTS TURN 4:
The Huntsmen from the barn who were less than 1' from the table edge, rallied! They were only three strong so I wasn't too worried about them, but if they had continued fleeing for one more turn, I would have received 30 more victory points!
Now only 13 strong and without a banner (they dropped it when they fled), the Free Companies who had fled from the Knights of the Realm in the eastern pass tried to escape from the charge range of the Knights who now had a clear line of sight to them. They were clearly unable to succeed and my opponent resigned them to their fate, but had not given up on the battle yet.
The Zombies shambled to right behind the Free Company unit involved in the Men-At-Arms and Free Companies battle going on in the western pass, I had a bad feeling about those 30 Zombies.
To further add to my worries, Myrel the Necromancer raised 7 Skeletons immediately behind the Men-At-Arms! If I did not stop those Skeletons they would rear charge my poor Spearmen! Oh no!
The Marksman in the unit of Huntsmen hiding in the forest of the eastern pass overcame both the Blessing and the armour of a Knight of the Realm and found a weak spot in the armour, the unlucky Knight was slain by the masterfully precise shot.
A coward of a Free Company cultist struck Lucinda Lightsoul and did 1 wound to her! Angered by this my Men-At-Arms cut down 2 Free Companies and chased the rest away, but did not catch them! Instead, my Men-At-Arms overran into the unit of Zombies and now faced a tide of the living dead!
BRETONNIA TURN 4:
As we expected, my Knights of the Realm charged the Free Companies and made it to them, my opponent did not flee with them and instead hoped to get a lucky kill or two with the doomed unit.
My Will-O'-Wisps moved to behind the newly raised unit of Skeletons, I knew how to stop them but it was very important that the spell I planned to use get through the magical defenses of the Undead.
To do that, Lucinda Lightsoul threw a bolt of Forked Lightning at the fleeing Free Companies that had last turn ran away from my Men-At-Arms. I rolled a high number and my opponent failed to dispel it using all of his dice, 2 Free Companies perished in the blast. I hoped those Free Companies wouldn't rally in the next turn, because they were in the perfect position for a charge into the side of my Men-At-Arms.
The Will-O'-Wisps used their Possession(Enemy) spell to mess around with the magics keeping the Skeletons animated, the resulting confusion in the ranks of the Skeletons forced them to miss their next Movement Phase (and stopped them from charging my Men-At-Arms in the back).
It was then that a great blow was struck against my forces. The evil Myrel drew a dagger from her boot and attacked the Damsel Lucinda Lightsoul, luck was not with my beautiful lady this day and the razor-sharp dagger found its mark, burying itself to the hilt into her body. Lucinda's blood stained form then fell to the earth, and lay there unmoving. The rage this vile action caused in the ranks of my Spearmen a rage that knew no end and 4 Zombies were butchered on the spot and another crumbled to dust as the Spearmen brought terrible revenge upon the heads of the shambling dead.
The thundering charge of the Knights of the Realm, led by Sir Gindle, crashed into the lines of the Free Companies. Sir Gindle and Sir Darrius each slew one opponent and the 5 Knights that they led cut down two more. The death toll grew larger again as an unlucky Free Company cultist was trampled by a warhorse and killed instantly. The remaining Free Companies then broke and were run down, killed to a man.
VAMPIRE COUNTS TURN 5:
The Free Companies who had just fled from the Men-At-Arms in the western pass rallied and turned to face the side of my Men-At-Arms who were battling the Zombies!
The Skeletons could not move due to the possession spell.
The 3 strong unit of Huntsmen gathered on the hill where the Cannon had previously been, they were cornered now and if attacked were sure to either flee or be butchered.
The power of necromancy again flared to life on the fingertips of Myrel and a beam of sickly light washed over the Men-At-Arms in front of the evil lady as the Curse of Years was bestowed upon the unfortunate soldiers. Three Men-At-Arms were overcome by the black magic and aged dozens of years in a single second and died of old age within moments of the spell being cast.
Both units of Huntsmen concentraited their shooting at the Knights of the Realm, and although they were able to overcome the Blessing and hit many times, no arrows found their target because they all were deflected by the Bretonnian's armour.
Seeing both Lucinda Lightsoul and three of their fellows having died at the hands of Myrel, the Men-At-Arms threw aside their reservations about harming a woman and in a set of furious strikes sent her crashing to the ground. The victory was hollow however as the wounded form of the dark necromancer disappeared in a puff of black clouds. Three Zombies were cut down by the continued assualt from the Men-At-Arms and a further 3 Zombies crumbled to dust because of CR.
Due to Myrel's (the General) absence 5 Skeletons crumbled to ashes and 9 Zombies were added to the tally of the slain. My humble Men-At-Arms had managed to destroy a total of 15 Zombies in one turn (it was, after all, their actions which caused the further 9 to crumble).
BRETONNIA TURN 5:
My Knights turned around and faced towards the Zombies, they wouldn't reach the living dead before the game ended, but they looked nice anyway.
I made a mistake at this point in the battle, I could have used Possession(Enemy) on the Free Companies about to charge into the side of my Men-At-Arms, but instead I got carried away and used Bolt on the remaining Skeletons, killing the remaining Skeletons to a man.
Three is a re-occuring number in the Zombie verses Men-At-Arms fight in the western pass fight, because yet again my Men-At-Arms managed to destroy three Zombies. Unfortunately one of my own men was dragged down and killed in the fight. Two Zombies were destroyed by CR and left only six Zombies to go. My opponent still had a full unit of Free Companies ready to charge into my Men-At-Arms unit's side next turn though, and that would be very, very bad.
Only time would tell if my Men-At-Arms would weather the storm or be washed aside by a tide of enemy warriors...
VAMPIRE COUNTS TURN 6:
Three Zombies are destroyed because of no General being present on the battlefeild, leaving only the Standard Bearer, Musician and a single other Zombie alive.
Angered by the loss of their leader, the Free Company cultists charged full speed into the side of the Men-At-Arms unit, causing them the flee for their lives in a panicked state. The Men-At-Arms were quick on their feet though, and escaped the vengeful blades of the enemy and fled 7' away from both the Zombies and the Free Companies.
The Huntsmen in the forest of the east pass let their arrows fly at the Men-At-Arms and two of the warriors were taken down by the skillful shooting, the Huntsmen on the hill were not as lucky and failed to kill any Knights with their shooting.
No Combats.
BRETONNIA TURN 6:
The Men-At-Arms rallied and thus denied my opponent many victory points, with nothing left to do in the game they merely turned to face the Free Companies and Zombies who had chased them away.
I tried to charge my Knights of the Realm into the Zombie unit's back but as I expected, they failed to reach the target and only managed to meander 8' towards the enemy.
My last real action of the game was moving behind the Zombie unit with my still full-strength Will-O'-Wisp unit, if the Bolt spell I was planning was able to get through and cause 3 or more wounds, I would get myself some extra victory points, and that's always good!
Flashing brightly and again discharging beams of light into the enemy ranks, the last three Zombies of the once 30 strong unit were scythed down in a hail of energy and the last of the foul undead crumpled to the earth.
With that, the game ended.
THE END OF THE BATTLE:
Bretonnian Victory Points: 1109
Vampire Counts Victory Points: 449
Bretonnian Kills: 72
Vampire Counts Kills: 15
Bretonnian Survivours: 27
Vampire Counts Survivours: 23
The result was a Massacre, victory for Bretonnia!
That was a great battle! The result was not such a "Massacre" as the victory points indicate, and the game was great and we both enjoyed ourselves very much.
As the last of the Cultists fled from the battlefield, Sir Gindle dismounted from his warhorse. He looked in horror at the scene before him, a throng of corpses, both rotten and freshly dead, were sprawled upon the earth in heaps and their blood stained the grass where they had taken their last breaths. It was not those things that horrified him however, as he had seen them many times before in his past battles, it was the vision of a young Men-At-Arms soldier cradling the shattered body of Lucinda Lightsoul in his arms that shocked the Knight to his core.
"Sir, the....the woman who led the corpses, she...she used a dagger to murder Lady Lightsoul..." Stuttered the young man. "...She... I think L...Lady Lightsoul is dead.....by the Lady!" continued the frightened Man-At-Arms, before Sir Gindle raised a gauntleted hand and spoke. "Calm down, she is not lost to us yet...". The young man, looking as if he was in a deep state of shock, managed to say "What....what is to be done, sir?" . "Quickly, give Lady Lightsoul's body to Sir Darrius, tell him to take her to the nearest Grail Chapel, he will know what to do, and make haste!" Ordered Sir Gindle, gesturing to Sir Darrius behind him. Sir Gindle hoped to the Lady that she would survive the injuries, but if she did indeed die then the surviving members of the Cult of Crimson Dusk would know no rest from his avenging sword. To that, Sir Gindle promised both himself and the Lady of the Lake.
Myrel the Necromancer glared hatefully at the Bretonnian force as it marched back towards Bretonnia, they had destroyed her cult and her bodyguard but had failed to slay her. Her body had recovered fully from the wounds caused by the feeble spears of the enemy with a few simple Necromantic spells, but her pride was badly scarred and she would make Bretonnia pay for destroying her cult and slaying her adoring cultists.
This was not the last Sir Gindle would see of Myrel...
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