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

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!)