Ambush on the Pyramid of the Sun

 

"It has been many many months since we departed our dear Altdorf and embarked for Lustria in search of fame and fortune. We landed on this strange land without much trouble, and after trekking inland through the jungle we conquered an immense lizardmen city full of riches. Our success however hasn't been unnoticed, and many foes gather around the Altdorf expedition to take our treasure for themselves: to the north the vile undead roam the land, while beneath us the malign ratmen scurry through the trees. There are even rumours of an army of crazed dwarves further down south, so it appears that this fight has only just begun..."

Journal of Kaspar van Gelt, Feldmarshall of the Altdorf Expedion

Eager to bring battle to the vile skaven I fought during my time in Tilea, I ordered the construction of a road through the jungle to reach their nests in the Pyramid of the Serpent, but while my men were thus occupied the spies discovered that the ratmen had already begun their expansion, marching to the stellar pyramids south of Hexoatl. I couldn't leave this menace unattended, so I led the army southwards to attack the vile mutants before they had time to dug in.

We made a grand show of our advance, burning the rodent nests we found on the way and pushing their scattered outposts before us. I knew that skaven can be an impulsive race at times, and with this provocation I hoped to bring them out of their hovels and into open battle.

it was to be so, for the rats marched forwards to meet us in battle, only to fall in a well planed ambush were we caught them on the road completely by surprise

Proud flew the flags of Altdorf that day, and when I gave the order the guns thundered and the handguns barked, starting the battle with a glorious volley

The ratmen were still positioning themselves when one of our cannonballs blew up a weird looking machine at the heart of their army

The destruction started a massive rout that saw half of the craven ratmen flee the field, running for their lives as the cowards I knew they were

On the other side of the road our mortar scored a perfect hit in the center of a block of spears, sending dozens of rats fleeing and routing the rest

The remaining skaven then charged in desperation towards our wall of fire

But the first loss we suffered was from a carnivorous plant, that ate whole the crew of the cannon who had scored the first lucky hit of the battle

Undaunted I ordered the advance of my flanking force, spearheaded by the steam tank Viktoria, a marvel of engineering that destroyed some massive mutants with its fearsome volley gun

Sigmar be praised, the jungle was equally lethal for our foes, and one of their warlock fell choking on some spores next to a clump of rocks

With one half of their army wiped out by our guns, the infantry charged valiantly into the ratmen

Routing them with ease and sealing their defeat as the sun began to set on the battlefield

With the skaven in disarray the lizardmen temples were ours, and no time was lost in looting their stony halls of gold and jewels. Rich and victorious, I led the host back north, where our foes gather with blackness in their hearts

Warp-lightning cannon

 

My skaven army was 100 points short of the 1500 required for our next campaign, so I scratchbuilt a cannon to give it a bit of ranged firepower. The core of this conversion is the smokestack from the haemotrope reactor, which encases a warpstone chunk made with putty sandwitched between two 35mm bases. I also ransacked by bitz box to add all kind of cables and pulleys to the contraption. 

The carriage is made with strips of balsa wood glued together, with wheels made following the same process adding some thin cardboard for the metal parts. 

I didn't want the cannon to look too clean, so I gave it a liberal wash of vallejo sepia to dirty it up a bit

The final detail was a gunner converted from one of the skaven from the Island of Blood box

Unwelcome to the jungle

With the imperial army complete it was time for a game against my old skaven army. This July we will play a jungle campaign using the Lustria supplement, and this game would also be a testbed for the new rules that spice up battles in the jungle

true to their cowardly nature the skaven hide behind their slaves

While the rest of the army goes deep into the jungle

The imperials seized the first turn and let it rain on the ratmen, cannonballs, mortar shells and musket shot slaughtering skaven in droves

Next, the steam tank and the knights charge ahead of the army, obliterating most of the rat ogres

Who only hold positions thanks to an uncommon display of ratty courage

The jungle is as dangerous ans the enemy gunline, and many a skaven falls prey to the native traps hidden under the bush

The ratmen are not outdone yet, and a block of spears launch a cowardly charge on the knight's flank

While the center a unit of rats adopt open order and march through the rainforest

Up to then things have gone well for the Altdorf expedition, but then a ghastly native totem springs from the jungle floor

Starting a panic wave that sweeps several units

The harquebusiers, a great cannon and even Yennefer rout from the field

A hard blow for the imperial general, who turns on an enemy engineer cutting him in half with the magic sword of might

And while some of his knights fall, he stands defiantly his ground against the sea of ratmen

Giving the steam tank enough time to come to the rescue routing the moulder creatures and blasting the enemy general with 25 hit of its volley gun

All in all an auspicious start for the Altdorf army, with the imperials winning by 745 to 250 on a landslide of a game