Journey of a cartographer: Chapter 1

War in the Reik, the Reikland campaign

We left the Reikland campaign with the move of the Imperial navy against the dark elf fleet in an attempt to relieve Altdorf. 

The imperial navy moves poderously downstream, the greatship Franz's Wrath leads a squadron of lesser wolfships and a little wargalley.

 Against them, the black ark "fortress of pleasure" sails rapidly upstream with it's holds full of monstrosities: a squadron of helldrakes and a death fortress

A storm force erupts over the battlefield, making shots and other actions impossible during one turn

 The black ark closes and unleashes all their monstruous ships against the lone greatship at the head of the imperial formation. The shots from the death fortress inutilize the deathgalley crippling it's mast, oars and cannons in a single salvo. The boarding action is short and bloody, the crew is slain rapidly by the monsters and sinking the franz's wrath. 

 Meanwhile, three projectiles from the black ark hit the aftcastle of one of the wolfships, causing a critical damage... and blowing up the ship as the gunpowder magazines are hitted

 The river flows with the imperial dead

 But the imperial answer is swift and lethal: putting the heart in the oars the two remaining wolfships ram the deathfortress and a hellship firing their powerful frontal batteries at the same time. Before the smoke settles, dozens of imperial sailors jump into the monster's hides cutlass and pistol in hand.

 A hellship is sinked, but one of the wolfships looses it's boarding action against the now damaged deathfortress.

 Seizing the initiative, the surviving wolfship sends the deathfortress to the bottom with the combined effort of it's cannons and crew

 The two remaining helldrakes board the wolfship. Althought one of them dies riddled by canister, the other manages to sink the ship.

The inmobilized wargalley mets it's end under the reaper batteries of the black ark.

After the battle the campaign game continued, turn 2: Sigmarzeit month

 Sigmarzeit Darkness: the dark elf army (in purple) moved to the east, to the wasteland above Grauenburg; in the Reik, the dark elf fleet moved to the harbours in Kemperbad, mistress of the river after the destruction of the imperial fleet. The goblin army sent a small deatachment (a unit of wolf riders numbered 2) to take control of Kemperbad, while the main amy moved north to lay siege to the Castle Reiksguard.

Sigmarzeit Empire: The army of the Great Theogonist (2) kept guarding the Castle Reiksguard, while the army of the Emperor (1) moved northwards into battle with the dark elves, wich will be our next battle of the campaign.

Two man o'war navies

Dark elf fleet:  from left to right: black ark, death fortress, squadron of helldrakes

  Imperial fleet, those ships come from an ancient game about the battle of Lepanto

 Imperial greatship

 wargalley

squadron of wolfships