Edge of the Abyss

The Barony of Hochland once part of a mighty empire in years past. This mighty empire fell into despair and ruin, its different regions forgetting old oaths and alliances in a bid for personal survival. The Barony of Hochland was no different in these times, but had the advantage of its sheltered location surrounded by mountainous areas, hills and plenty of forest. It barely survived the incursion of the abyss and it’s ancient enemies the orcs.

The people of Barony of Hochland were ever a hardy and rugged people, so when the devastation passed they rebuilt and now a thriving “Kingdom among the hills” stands. Intent on seeing this crisis through, not by self-preservation as ages past, but through uniting with their fellow nations and fighting this incursion- no matter its form!

The current Elected Grand Baron (or Count for shorthand reference) of Hochland has dispatched his armies to stall the orcs of Ironheads tribe advance through the Ardovikian Plain. Simply not trusting the ogres to do their job properly, he is determined that men should look to the defense of men.

The Hochland defense force readied themselves, for the clash of steel with their ancient enemies, and all men of the army, were eager to hurl them back, from whatever foul pit that spawned them.

For Hochland and Count!

Deployment:

Kingdoms of men deployment aimed to present a weak delaying flank so the orcs would have to fight through multiple cheap units of troops and then be punished by artillery, bows and fireballs when they broke through. The other flank had the knight regiment, foot guard and Beast of War to punch though the right orc flank and give aid to the beleaguered shield wall that had to hold the middle.

Orc deployment

Vanguard moves:

KOM: The mounted scouts moved eagerly forward to use their pistol on the orc skulks.

Orcs: Both skulks units moved forward to get in better positions to shoot.

Turn 1 – Kingdoms of Men

The general was confident that he deployed his army correctly, he sounded the advance of his army.
The Kingdoms of men army had a general move order with nearly all units moving forward with the exception of the Beast of war and the bowmen troop. Only the Foot guard eager to capture the hill moved at the double.

Then the Shooting started
The Beast of war shot first at the orc skulks unit in front of it but missed all its shots.
The bowmen had different luck and managed to hit the skulks 4 times with resulted in 2 wounds.
The Mortar (siege engine) shot at Morax troop in front of the trolls hoping to expose the trolls to later volleys, the crews aim were true as they hit their target but the blast damage was lacking and only 3 hits were caused but luckily were all wounding.
the mounted scouts shot at their intended target the skulks in front of them, and hit 3 times which turned to 3 wounds.

The skulks hit by the bowmen held the line, while their counterpart shot by mounted scouts was wavered by the precise shooting. The Morax troop was unconcerned, with the exploding mortar round and held the line.

Turn 1 – Orcs

Cautious of the threat of human cavalry the orcs moved forward

The Orcs also called a general advance of the army with the exception of the chariots who knew they could not move much before being charged by the human knights.

The skulks returned fire on the bowman troop managing 3 hits and then 3 damage on the bowmen, the bowmen stood firm against the arrow storm and held the line

Turn 2 - Kingdoms of men

The general was slightly surprised by the orcs show of restraint and their cautious advance. He called a halt for his main battle lines in response, careful of the orc charge.
With the Knights in a commanding position and the infantry in close proximity to the center line the army halted. Clearly to force the orcs forwards into range of a charge with shooting. The only charge was from the mounted scouts wishing to punch though the orc skulks to get behind the orcs main line. The wizard moves up to lob a fireball toward the orc army.

The bowmen decided to return the favor to the orc skulks, and shot them again this time getting an impressive 5 hits but sadly only 2 wounds. The orc skulks held the line yet again unfazed by the accurate human bowmen.
The beast of war shoot the Morax troop getting only 1 hit and 1 wound, the wizard threw a fireball on the unit too, also only getting 1 hit and 1 wound, but it was enough damage to rout the unit, even with inspiring and the rout exposed the trolls behind.
The mortar missed the Ax horde.

The scouts clearly show that they were meant as a ranged cavalry unit and only get 1 hit, but it luckily also wounds the skulks which is enough to rout them. The scouts reform to face the orc army.

Turn 2 – Orcs
The orc army rushes forward eager (or desperate?) to close the distance

The orc army is issued an army wide at the double move order. The orc commander realizing the humans plan, is eager to get into "safe" combat distance no matter the cost. Watchful of the mounted scouts and his limited options to deal with them now. He charges his Krudger into them and reforms the Morax troop to deal with them too.

The skulks are eager to get back at the human bowmen and shoot them, getting 4 hits and 3 wounds on the unit. Confident he now won that shooting duel, the orc commander is defied by the iron will, of the bowmen with a roll of snake eyes and the unit holds.

The Krudger lay waste to the light armored scouts getting 5 hits and 5 wounds on them, but he is also defied by the iron will of men, with the scouts holding their ground against him.

Turn 3 – Kingdoms of men
With a smile the general call for his army to charge the orcs – hoping his strategy and the bravery of his troops is enough to blunt the orc savagery.

The Knights lead the charge and direct their fury toward the orc chariots, while the foot guard and beast of war do a combined charge against the trolls. The general himself flank the trolls hoping his combat prowess can assure the trolls defeat. The militia mob troop had moved into a protective position, before the general charged assuring the skulks would not get any ideas, or at least had to deal with them first. The shield wall horde charges their orc counterpart the ax horde, while the wizard moves behind them hoping to cast her bane chant on the brave shield wall.
The pole block troop charges the orclings hoping to stem the tide of vicious little greenskins. While the left militia mob troop charge the Morax regiment hoping to dent them a little. While the shield wall troop move up behind them, expecting without a doubt, to be fighting the regiment next turn. The mounted scouts counter charges the Krudger since they have nowhere to go. The bowmen move forward behind the right militia mob troop.

Only the wizard has some shooting in the form of bane chant which fails completely to affect the shield wall. And the mortar can’t see anything the kingdoms of men go straight to combat.

The Knights with lowered lances smash into the gore chariots, and delivers 10 hits with 5 of them causing wounds. The impact wavers the chariots insuring the knights’ momentum for next turn.
The foot guards smash kneecaps and crack skulls on the trolls with their hammers. The foot guard get 8 hits and with their fire oil manage to inflict 5 wounds. The beasts of war only get 5 hits but with high bonuses it gets 4 wounding hits. The flanking General hit the trolls 3 times and with his Beast slayer sword also wounds the trolls 3 times. The trolls are reeling from the attack but only wavers, the orc Krudger, electing not to try to inspire the trolls, for fear it may turn into a rout instead.
(Notice Brutal was forgotten here and would have turned this into a rout- but we chose to keep the game going instead:))

The Shieldwall horde with faith in mighty Taal hacked at the Ax horde with unexpected might. They managed to get 12 hits and 7 wounding hits on the orcs. Though the orcs might have been impressed by the human fury they still held their ground.
The Pole block troop hit the small orclings 5 times, and the crushing halberds caused 4 wounds, but the orclings held the line. The militia mob troop perhaps in divine inspiration or in desperate fury hit the Morax regiment 5 times, but only wounded 2 orcs. The Morax was almost wavered by this but held the line.

Divine inspiration or desperate survival instinct was a theme of the kingdoms of men combat phase, with the mounted scouts hitting the orc Krudger 4 times and wounding him 3 times. He was begrudgingly, impressed by them but held the line, ending the Kingdoms of men grand attack phase.

Turn 3 – Orcs
The Krudger commands his forces to counterattack having gotten the humans in the kind of fight the orcs excel at.

The Krudger charges the mounted scouts hoping to finish them off. The Krudger regenerates 1 wound thanks to his medallion. While the Morax troop sent to help the Krudger turn 180 degrees. The orc Skulks denied their bowman target charge the Militia Mob troop that blocked their line of sight. Orclings, Ax horde and Moarax regiment all respectively countercharge their foes, and the wavered trolls’ regenerates 5 damage.

The krudger return the favor on the scouts by hitting them 4 times and doing 3 wounds which finally routs the brave scouts. The Skulks hit the Militia men 3 times and also caused 3 damage which wavered the militia men. The general electing not to inspire his men, since now at least, they were holding their ground instead of routing. The Orclings perhaps fearfull of the ogre mascot, in the pole block troop only hit them 2 times, which also became 2 wounds. The pole block troop hold their ground against this pitiful counter.

The ax horde not willing to be outdone by the human shield wall hit them 12 times and does 7 wounds. Giving as good as they got, but the Shield wall did not break from this display.

The Morax regiment to nobody’s surprise decimates the poor militia mob troop with 22 hits and 19 wounds. Leaving only a red smear across the Adovikian Plains, to indicate where they had been. The Army Standard did try his best to inspire these remains, but the remains of the militia troop were quite unresponsive.

Turn 4 – Kingdoms of men
With the horrible screams of the militia men echoing across the battlefield, the general charges the orc army again – determined to break their through their line.

The Kingdom of men army arranged a lot of its supporting ranged units. Ready to target the faltering left flank. The wizard moving as fast as she can, to the left side of the battlefield in anticipation for the collapse of the left flank.

The knights charge the chariots again while the beast of war and foot guard charge the trolls, hoping to end them this time. The General charge the orc skulks not wishing for this troop of militia mob meeting the same fate as the last. The shield wall horde counter charge the ax horde while the pole block troop charge the orclings again. The shield wall troop reluctantly charge the Morax regiment.

The wizard cast bane chant again on the shield wall horde and this time succeeding.

The combat phase starts with a supremely disinterested knightly attack. Only a few knights deign to strike the chariots with only 6 hits and then causing 4 wounds. It is still enough to rout the chariots and the knights reform. The general’s charge against the skulks, cause 3 hits and 3 wounds, which is finally enough to rout the tough orc archers. The Foot guard smashes at the trolls for 7 hits, which causes 5 wounds. The beast of war hit the trolls 8 times and gets an impressive 8 wounds on the trolls. This finally routs the trolls and the inspiring flagger not changing their mind.

The shield wall horde gets and mighty 16 hits on the ax horde. Even with the bane chant they only manage 6 wounds sadly but this is enough to waver the horde and the inspiring from the flagger still gets the ax horde wavered. The pole block gets and average 5 hits on the orcling with 5 wounds in result which also wavered the orclings. The Shield wall troop in desperation gets 6 hits in on the Morax regiment, which causes 4 wounds but the Morax regiment hold their ground.

Hills being the arch enemy of metal models, the beast of war and foot guard unit, are not in the correct position. Due to the utter terror of them falling down and breaking.

Turn 4 – orcs

With his flank gone the krudger focused his remaining army, on the weak human flank.

With most of orc army wavered (we forgot headstrong on the ax horde from ale and mission rule) there were limited options for the orcs this turn but to push ahead and that’s just what the Morax regiment did, with their charge on the shield wall troop. The krudger and Morax troop pushed towards the center of the field.

The Morax regiment continued their killing spree with 22 hits on the shield wall troop with 13 of them being wounds. This routed the shield wall troop and allowed the Morax to reform.

Turn 5 – Kingdoms of men

The general pleased that his strategy worked, reformed his men around him, ready to charge across the field.

With the troll horde gone it allowed the foot guard to charge the flank of the ax horde, while the beast of war moved into a shooting position. The knights moved behind the foot guard while the bowmen reformed to target the Morax regiment with shooting next turn. The shield wall horde charged into the front of the ax horde, hoping to end them here. The pole block charges the orclings again hoping to rout the unit before being charged by the Morax regiment.

The shooting started with the wizard failing to bane chant the shield wall horde again, the mortar missed the Morax regiment and the beast of war also missing the Morax troop.

The foot guard flank charge hit the ax horde 15 times and caused 9 wounds, with the shield wall adding another 13 hits and an impressive 7 wounds again. on the ax horde. This was more than enough to rout the horde and inspiring was not helping them stay.
The Pole block hit the orclings 8 times but sadly only managed 4 wounds on them. This was still more than enough to rout them even with inspiring.

The flagger being the only orc alive on this side of the table, and the lone foot guard showing the units actual position

Turn 5 – Orcs

With his army routing without his direct leadership, the krudger cursed the human scouts yet again. Then he charged straight at the awaiting humans.

With being limited in moving his Morax troop for fear of the beast of war they slowly moved forward.
The Krudger furious at this turn of event charged the Shield wall horde, while the Morax regiment charged the pole block troop intent on more slaughter.

The Krudger’s charge was impressive and he got 4 hits in on the humans and whit his mighty crushing strength caused 4 wounds. This display of bravery and savagery initially routed the shield wall but the inspiring army standard bearer kept the shield wall in the fight.
The Morax regiment got 14 hits on the pole block troop with 11 wounds caused. The Morax regiment routed their third troop unit this game.

Turn 6 – kingdoms of men
Seeing the terrifying orc krudger charge at his men was a most dreadfull sight, he restrained his knights’ urge to charge ahead and trusted the ranged elements of the army to break the orcs and save his men.

With only a few units moving, the move phase was short, and only the shield wall horde counter charged the Krudger.

The last shooting from the kingdoms of men saw the mortar miss the Morax regiment, the bowmen obscured from any targets did nothing. The Beast of war finally hit something and caused 2 wounding hits on the Morax troop. Which routed the unit, but with the flagger inspiring the orcs to hold instead. The wizard cast a fireball on the Morax regiment and got 3 hits and wounds on them, and routed the unit but leadership from the krudger kept them in fight.

The shield wall with their last charge hit the orc Krudger 10 times but only got 2 telling wounds on the orc and he held the line.

Turn 6 – Orcs
With glee the Krudger saw the terrified faces of the human soldiers, as he charged towards them with his savage Morax orcs.

With nothing really to speak off with movement, except the flagger moving across the field to score some extra points the Orc krudger and Morax regiment charged the shield wall.

The orcs must have been tired from all the killing, if such a thing was possible. The krudger only managed to hit 2 times but both wounded and the morax only getting 15 hits with 9 wounds caused. Still it was more than enough to rout the humans and ending the game.