Friday, July 26, 2013

Rise of the Master of Sorrow (Part 1)

Myself and JD, have begun a new campaign with the VSF one winding to a close,  this time the setting is a familiar one....  Warhammer Fantasy Battles !  

The location is in the Mountains bordering Troll Country.  
The Armies are  "The Legion of Sorrow"  or Warriors of Chaos,  played by yours truly and Tzeentch worshiping Skaven/ Warriors of Chaos.

This campaign is obviously going to be told from the perspective of my troops, since this is my blog. Do keep in mind that we will be bending and stretching rules for "cool factor" , for instance, Alliance rules are not strictly adhered to, Eye of the Gods table results are for the duration of the campaign, not per battle etc.

Without further ado....  

The Legion of Sorrow.  


Men hailing from the brutal northern lands near the worlds edge mountains are typically hardy. Having
to fight marauding monsters, orcs, Imperial patrols, and each other.  It is no suprise to say they have
a deep hatred for men from the "soft" and "lazy" realms.

The Legion is being born in these lands, a generation after the glorious warlord Asvar Kul was slain at the gates of Kislev
, men and families from the baggage trains of his mighty host inhabit many areas that the army crossed over in its invasion
of the south. At its head is Renga Ungolmesh, a leader of the most powerful tribe in the region, who is seeking to do what
even Asvar Kul could not, to rule the south lands.  Renga has united the warriors and knights of his tribe to forcibly pacify local
lords into submiting to his will.  Already many Orc, human and dwarven groups have thrown down swords to his superior generalship, and
regional security of a sort may at last be attained if Renga can topple the last obsticale in his way... The Skaven

Having fortified a mountain along a key pass into Bretonnia, the rat men have been stealing merchants goods
from both the Empire and the Bretonnians, becoming prosperous. Though this group of skaven appear to have been exiled from the Skavenblight
they are not to be taken lightly, the armies of this Skaven exodite state are powerful, well drilled and equipped by constant spying and skirmishing with
the armies of the Kingdoms of Bretonnia, and the Imperial Provinces.

Regimentals Historica. 


"Men of Sorrows Gait"
- Led by Renga's half brother Iglak Wol, the men of sorrows gait form Renga's bodyguard in the field
perhaps someday these men may incur the favor of the gods of chaos and become elite chosen knights. The Regiment currently has
no particular following to a single god of chaos as of yet currently prefering to favor all equally.  Nor does the regiment have a formal banner
but they remain ever aspirant of deeds worthy of such a standard.


"Apostles of Jealousy"
-Led by Jagg Lugo, the Apostles, are a devoute band of knights, following the daemon  Ugl'akath'tzearacht  or "It that spreads Jealousy". A powerful daemon of chaos, Ugl'akath'tzeracht has
not yet been summoned unto the material world, though the Apostles are intent to gather enough sacrafices to appease their black master and bring him forth to led them in glorious battle and guide their
sermons.  The apostles do not have a formal banner yet, as they are not of note high enough to afford such a standard.


"The Wolves of the North"
- a pack of warhounds harnessed by the legionnaries in the northern wastes, they have been "tamed" to a degree that
their ravenous aggression and bloodthirst can be saited on the enemy rather than their own men.



Battle in the Valley of the Ruined Keep.


It was as Renga had suspected.
The Skaven of the mountain had swarmed from hiding when he detached his small vanguard of elite knights from the main army, marching into one of the forgotten and cursed passes as the full body made forth to siege the lower reaches of the rat's domain.
Not doubt thinking to kill him while he was "weakest", he smiled through his skull shaped helm. "Oh what pathetic folly these rats show"  he thought with a small chuckle hefting his axe and bellowing the advance to his loyal bodyguards.

"FOR THE GODS !    FOR CHAOS!   ADVANCE! "  


the wolves stampeded through the Men of Sorrows Gait,  jostling the metal armor of his knights and kicking up a  sheet of mud.
Looking through the vision slits of his helm, he could see the skaven forming their ranks down the misty valley, from them, cast in the shadow of the broken keep that gave the valley its name.   As the dogs ran forward he noticed something amid the ranks of the rat men.
"Damnation of these infernal..."  screamed Renga as the first mortar shell landed between the two hosts with a resonating *Krunch*, sickly yellow smoke pouring from the crater.
As if being outnumbered four to one weren't bad enough you could always count of these cowards to bring a warmachine of one sort or the other.
"Disciplined Advance"  he said to Iglak.
"Yes brother." he said quietly before shouting the order, which was repeated across the assembled knights.



as the warhounds tore across the deadly no mans land the Warriors of Chaos would provide a steady and chillingly disciplined wall of metal and precise blades. As they advanced the Apostles took a mortar shell knocking three of the men unconscious by the toxic fumes of the bastard rat things, just as the dogs tore into the crew of the weapon.
Battle was quickly joined,  and for several minutes Renga caught on quick flashes of the wider engagement.
He watched the Champion Lugo trade blows with the Skaven general before a bright burst of electric discharge from the cheiftans armor laid the man low.
he saw the Apostles battling against a seething tide of clanrats, butchering the rats as quickly as they presented themselves.
he looked down to see a carpet of normal rats, forming a living carpet under him and his men,  biting and clawing their armor.   He looked up, seeing a fat rat man holding tightly a book and a glowing staff.
"FIGHT ME YOU FILTHY VERMINIOUS MAGE !"  he said screaming a challenge to the wizard.
"who me?"  squeaked the skaven terrified,  before quickly scurrying to the back of his azure hooded bodyguard squealing "Kill-Kill the man things!!" as the Men of Sorrows Gait descended on them.
moments later the battle ended.
the skaven fleeing in terror at their ambush gone wrong.





He surveyed the field.


the Apostles were picking themselves up most were wounded or shaken up from the mortar fumes. Even Lugo was fine, fortuate.   though two of their number were not so fortunate, laying dead before a mound of dead and dying clan rats.  Those skaven that were found wounded, were given over to the Apostles, for the had suffered the most casualties and slain the most of the enemy, and as such the honor of slaughtering the sacrifices would be given to them.    
before the hour was out the ruined keep would be sanctified by the blood of the captives, and turned into a proper way shrine to chaos undivided.
"You'll want to see this brother" said Iglak.
"what is it" asked Renga walking over to him.
"These rats hold markings of tzeentch..."  whispered Iglak, kicking over one of the azure hooded wizards bodyguards.
"the Gods test us in all things, this is no different.  Their will be done Iglak.  Their will be done." replied Renga, gazing up towards the Skaven stronghold atop the mountain as a delicate mountain snow feel on the blood stained valley.

"Prepare to march. We pursue in one hour"   grumbled Renga walking towards the keep..







Hope you enjoy this format.  let me know your thoughts on it and if you'd like to see a more traditional bat rep.

-Your Favorite Madman-


Wednesday, July 24, 2013

The Road to Orleans: A Corpse Strewn Wasteland...

Unfortunately, i've not been posting with any sort of acceptable frequency.
However, i think this might be due in large part to Excessive backlog from a massive variety of unreported hobby-ing.     To remedy this dreadful situation now (and hopefully for good),  i'm bringing you a synopsis of the battles fought in mine and JD's blood filled VSF campaign.  

The Sheer volume of content i fear might overwhelm,  so i'll be including the photos from the battles at the end (of course labelled accordingly)  with a run-down of the engagements and their tactical importance on the campaign as a whole below.

The Battle of Hyll-Grove

 In an attempt to flank around Saints Hill, troops flood into Hyll-Grove, a massive mining and manufacturing plant, that has cracked open and polluted the french countryside, and is pumping out vast arms, and war material for the French Army. It is a nightmarish hellscape of massive grinding gears and great black factories,  but the worst of all is the secret powering the facility... The sickly bloated and mutated mining foreman,  grossly bloated with sludge and poison to the size of a large town, the necromancy and vile steam engineering of the Hyll-Grove facility is plugged directly into his nervous system...

The game centered around massed infantry combat (though a few vehicles were present),  with troops trying to seize vital areas of the plant.  We determined that as the facility took damage, through tank fire, off board support fire etc.  That it upset the overall stability of the facility, and potentially kill thousands of troops should it suffer a total failure.  

Outcome:  Draw,   150 infantry KIA/WIA/MIA (estimated)   2 Heavy Vehicles,  and 2 Superheavies destroyed.    The Facility was forced to be evacuated by both sides,   the Death blow was delivered later that evening by the French Navy during a 24 hour Ceasefire, to ensure that the mutation beneath was not freed to wreak its sinister revenge. The fires ignited in the toxic marshlands adjacent are estimated to continue to burn until at least 1986....



The Duel at Saints Hill. 

With a stalemate on their hands, it was decided that two noble gentlemen from either side would met at the top of the Hill Proper, and engage in a duel of honor.  The victors side would inherit the field and the other would withdraw no less than 25 km from the site.
And so it was that Captain Teague, and Captain Bosch meet in the blood stained courtyard of a broken cathedral....

Outcome:  Teague was victorious, but only barely,  with Bosch escaping with his life.  the British overtake the French lines withing a week and the battle for Orleans proper begins...


The Battle for the Damned City.

In a foolhardy move to out pace Lee's half of the campaign army and "steal the glory"  Cromwell, leads dozens of regiments into the haunted and zombie filled ruins of Old Orleans, beneath the Floating Neo city, that the objective has been all along. With the intention being to use it as a easily accessible location to sieze the lowest sections of the city.  

The Le Bebop, made its first appearance in this battle, with it having severe limitations of course, to represent that Cromwell's  foolish rush had, made him neglect avoiding the French naval troops.

Outcome:  A Slaughter of British force,  nearly the entire assault force is obliterated.  Cromwell is captured, after the entirety of the 7th Dragoons are slain in his defense.  Teague and Matthews are both severely wounded and removed from the conflict for months at the minimum.  However in a spot of luck, Bosch is killed by Teague as the city exploded around them, leaving the RGC leaderless, and sending the French Rebels into immediate action.


The Minute that Shall Live In Infamy. 

With Cromwell captured,  British high command had no choice but to exchange Vesuvius for him, in a humiliating turn of events for the (now former) Lord General.  Left as the only major English officer in the field Lee, orders his men to secure their foothold on a "Sky Village"  that connects to Orleans' central city platform via massive bridge.     The French Rebels took the confusion and disarray of the RGC to strike at the government,  as did The Young Prince, Vesuvias's bastard son, and leader of the German Army.  Through an incredibly calculating a murderous ploy,   Vesuvias lured his son, the British main force, and the French Rebels into the clamp struts for the sky bridge, where he detonated a twisted fusion of high technology and black magic.   Protecting himself and his son,  but shattering 1/4 of Orleans' super structure and ballast rig, and killing/mutating/or wounding hundreds of thousands of innocent civilians and combatants.

Outcome: With Vesuvias making the shattered and magically tainted remains of Orleans his dark capital.  He and his son preside over a massive host of bestial necrophages.  The English high command is totally shot, and those ground forces who survived are in disarray. The only hope for mankind lies with S.O.R.R.O.W.S  or the (Service for Observing Reconstruction and Reinforcement during Occult. Warfare Situations). A secret arm of the English government responsible for isolating and destroying occult threats specifically.



PICTURES

Hyll-Grove









Hyll-Grove Deployment





The Battle in the City of the Damned.









A Battle on Board the Bebop to stop the cannon firing

The Brave English boys are under all that smoke....


The Coward Cromwell surrenders

Teague and Bosch finish their rivalry started since literally the first battle, in perhaps the coolest, place in the most cinematic way possible!

The 7th Fighting to the Last.




While i don't have pictures of the duel and the rather large and apocalyptic final explosion.  Rest assured that it was terrifying and the other members of my house looked on in concerned while both of us screamed "THEY ARE ALL DEAD!!!  EVERYONE IS DEAD!" 


                                  Total Casualties in the Campaign so far...  (real ones)
                                            
                                               1500  Infantry (approx.)
                                                 30  vehicles  (approx)
                                                 -Captain Bosch [Commander of RGC, killed in Orleans]
                    - Xavier La Rouge and His Father [Commanders of the Stark Sires,  both Killed at Saints Hill
                    - Commandant Jarvis  [Commander of the 7th Dragoons,  Killed at Saints Hill] 
                                               
       
                                                  Less Real Casualties...

                                                               A mountaintop
                                              The "Hyll-Grove"  Region of france
                                                The Civilian Population of Orleans



Well i hope you enjoyed this massive titanic post o' doom.  Hopefully we play the conclusion to the Campaign soon and see if the SORROWS team will be able to kill Vesuvias once and for all. 

Fun stuff!   

Stay tuned and hopefully i'll be bringing WFB,  40k,  15mm and much more in the future


-Your Favorite Madman-