Battle for the Badlands

 

After the battle of last week the dwarves had to defend the northern Badlands from the Empire, and a pitched battle was fought on the territory of the erstwhile Broken Tooth tribe.

The stunties got first turn and destroyed a cannon with the runic anvil

But on the imperial shooting phase their catapult was blown up and several more dwarves fell to handgun fire and mortar shells

Then a unit of miners erupted from the ground intent on destroying the imperial guns, whose crews fled from the charge in order to leave them stranded

Leaving the miners wide open to a steam tank charge that routed them from the field

In the left meanwhile the Reiksguard knights trampled down a small unit of dwarves

Smashing then into a big block of hammerers

On the right flank the battle went also well for the imperials, who saw off a second clan warriors unit 

Having lost their impetus the knights retreated from the stubborn hammerers, but soon regrouped while the dwarves were being pummeled by imperial crossbowmen and the hellblaster gun

Having hid during most of the game, the gyrocopter came out from behind the forest to fire its steam gun, being soon destroyed by a deadeye cannon shot

With less and less dwarfs remaining the battle became a mop up operation for the imperials

With the cavalry deleting the last hammerers

And Karl Franz routing the longbeards at the head of the Carroburg Greatswords

The last straw for the dwarves was the runemaster nuking himself by overcharging the anvil, a disaster that destroyed the last hope of turning the tide for Karaz a Karak

During his campaign turn the dwarf player fortified a castle and attacked the Duchy of Ibar in Reaver's Keep castle, a siege which will be played shortly

The battle of Brasov

With the dwarf player home due to rain we skipped his turn and the war moved on to the village of brasov, where elves and men deployed for a pitched battle 

The day started with an imperial advance along the line

Followed by an artillery and handgun barrage that saw the sea guard routing

And the tank's volley gun explode

In the far right the imperial knights were charged and routed by the dragon princes

While the caledorian dragons came out to play with their fire breath

The imperials lost no time in counterattacking, sandwiching prince Asarnil with a double charge

And killing the elf commander with a volley of lead shot

Karl Franz meanwhile was having a blast slaughtering some poor spearmen

But in the elf turn the dragon made the mistake of spewing flames instead of charging

Leaving himself open to a deadly barrage of cannonballs

Fying the second beast to the pursuit of the battered greatswords

The arrogant elves legged it back to Barak Varr, leaving Brasov and most of the eastern princes in the hands of the Empire

 

Reiksguard knights

 

With all the infantry done it's time to do the cavalry for my Altdorf army, and what better unit to start than with the iconic Reiksguard knights. Founded by the grandfather of Karl Franz as personal bodyguards of the emperor, these noble scions from all over the empire swear loyalty only to the sovereign and are always ready to trample down any threats to his person, both interior and foreign. 

While these noble warriors have an extensive intelligence service in the capital and several secret agents, it is on the battlefield that they truly prove their mettle, charging against the enemy in big waves of gleaming steel and lethal spearpoints that have decided many a battle in favour of the Empire

For the preceptor commanding the unit I went with something special, copying the style of the above Adrian Smith painting that graced the cover of their old cardboard box

Being mostly armour, painting them was pretty easy, with the horses and steel plate done first with details such as laurels and feathers second

Blood in the Badlands

 

With the armies on the move, the war for the Border Princes marches on. During our second campaign turn both slayers and the Duchy dug in on their settlements while the elves grabbed a castle. The stout dwarves of Karaz a Karak for their part attacked the empire, provoking a counterattack led by Karl Franz himself.

Both sides deployed for a pitched battle, and a lively exchange of fire began

With the dwarves nailed to their backline, the imperials move through the forests

A mortar shot got a bullseye on the thunderers, who lost many dwarves 

But then the gyrocopter flew over the canopy and started to shower the infantry with boiling steam

The steam tank also got the pain, both catapult and cannon getting the range and causing it 19 wounds in a single turn

To make things worse Franz's griffon was killed by a lightning bolt from the runic anvil

And the tank's steam gun blew up destroying the machine

That would be the low water mark for the imperials however, who with courage and steel began to recover, destroying the thunderers and sniping the runemaster with a cannon shot

At last, in turn 5 the infantry came to grips

While on the background the hellblaster gun nuked itself yet again

Overwhelmed by numbers and Franz's runefang the hammerers stood their ground

And a big melee erupted on the center of the battlefield

Dodging shots meanwhile the gyrocopter charged and routed the crew of a gun

And the battle ended with a big melee that saw the dwarves routed from the field

With the ground retaken, Franz leds his army north, to fight again with the dwarves for possession of the desolate Badlands