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

Balthasar Gelt

 

For the local Old World campaign I needed a wizard on pegasus and who better than the supreme patriarch of the colleges of magic: Balthasar Gelt. I never had him back in the day, but thanks to Highland Miniatures I got this nifty wizard model to cast all manner of fireballs and spell on the enemies of the Empire!

Carroburg greatswords

 

One imperial unit that has always had a place in my hear have been the greatswords, what's not to love about some big burly men wielding massive zweihanders after all! These soldiers are recruited by merit from the common rank and file, and serve as the personal guard of the elector counts guarding their persons and garrisoning castles and palaces. For my Altdorf army I went with the Carrobrug Greatswords, a storied regiment that adopted a red uniform after slaughtering a ton of middenlanders during a siege, and who have Karl Franz as their lord and liege.

While not the first time that I paint these guys, I went now for a more canon uniform, taking inspiration from the uniforms & heraldry book both for the paint scheme and the banner design

As with most of my latest empire models these are 3D prints from highland miniatures, namely from the set released this summer and based on the old 6th edition greatswords (my favorite!)

The siege of Iron Rock

Known for its fractious micro states the Border Princes is home to many bellicose principalities such as the Duchy of Ibar, who in our campaign has marched against its dwarf neighbors laying siege to the Iron Rock fortress, a once dwarf hold in the World's Edge Mountains

Behind their walls the stout warriors of Karaz a Karak await the onslaught

looking stoically as waves of human mercenaries march into view

Over the advancing army all kind of warmachines trade shots, including a delicious halfling hot pot!

Joined by quarellers and handgunners on both sides of the wall

At last concentrated fire destroys a dwarven catapult, mortar shells and soup cauldrons taking care of the organ gun too

The humans reach the wall and up they go, only to be routed by the hammerers manning the ramparts

While on the blown up doors a small group of humans makes a suicidal charge against a resolute block of elite warriors

Thing go for bad to worse for the besieger when his grand cannon blows up 

And the mortar gets a bullseye on top of the pikemen block

Finally the duke of Ibar manages to open the gates

Joined in the fight by some elite greatswords

But too few in number and facing an impenetrable defenece the humans break ranks and escape back to friendlier lands

For their part the dwarves inverted their time into attacking the imperials on the Badlands, an unprovoked aggression which is sure to stir Karl Franz to war

August Karlsbach, imperial engineer

Second son of  a middle class family from Altdorf August was enrolled in the imperial college of engineering at an early age by  his family as a way to find him a future in life. The young altdorfer might not have excelled at first in his studies, but his unerring aim soon saw him promoted to elite marksman in the Emperor's armies, where he now directs the barrages of artillery longrifle in hand