Edge of the Abyss

Scenario - Invade

Brotherhood
Martyr horde
Martyr troop
Spear horde
Abyssal Hunt reg, pathfinder
Redemption reg, strength
Forsaken reg, mace of crushing
2xForsaken beasts, breath & ensnare
Exemp Forsaker, healing brew
Exemp Hunter, wings
Mounted adjutant, lute
Adjutant, griffin

Abyssal Dwarves
3 x Immortal guard reg, mastiffs
2 x golem horses
2 x slave orc cav reg
2 x fire teams
Infernok
Dravek Dalken
Iron caster, surge, fireball, heal, fireheart
ASB

The old man settled himself with a long draw from his tankard before answering the question. “Aye, them were dark days. The Abyss spread like evening shadows, threatening to claim the whole world in darkness. Dark days indeed. The forts had gone, homes burned, comrades slain. In strange lands, under grey skies, we faced the might of the abyssal dwarves. To our left, huge animated constructs were urged forward by iron casters and a cavorting winged imp. In the centre an array of the feared Immoral Guard, no doubt supported by infernal fire engines and to the right slave orc cavalry.“

“On that day, Exemplar Granville told us, all we had left was to keep the faith that a dawn would come. Keep the faith and stick to the plan…”

The plan was simple. Faint left to draw the golems and then strike hard and fast through the centre. To the right, a promising young adjutant was given The Bugle of Insatiable Darkness and command of a horde of spearmen with orders to advance forwards at all costs and not to look back.
The plan was simple. Keeping the faith would be harder.

Granville lead from the front and things looked bad from the start. A horde of golems surged across the field at impossible speeds striking the Exemplar himself. The planned assault could have bogged down there and then, the flank of the golems open and inviting. But the redemption knights kept the faith and the plan, leading the strike against the dwarf infantry as ordered. A troop of martyrs and a beast selflessly sacrificing themselves while Granville re-gained control of his panicked mount and led the Abyssal Hunt to the right.

Without the Exemplar, the central strike faltered. A winged hunter saw his chance and challenged the Infernok to single combat. His battle cries continued long after sustaining wounds that would have instantly slain any normal man. Spurred on by his example, a forsaken beast also willingly went to the mud, battling until it was killed twice over. With the Abyssal Hunt joining the fight, the dwarf infantry line was broken. However, in the close confines of a wood, amidst the smoke of abyssal fires, the knights were unable to clear away the enemy war machines and magicians and needed time to re-group; time that could only be bought at great cost.

In the centre and on the right, the brotherhood had smashed through the enemy lines, however the golems, the winged imp, iron casters and fire teams remain alive and their retribution was swift and fiery.

The Exemplar circled round, but in the confusion was still unable to join the fight. From his winged steed, Granville again urged his forces to keep the faith. In the centre of the field, without support, the martyrs rallied to the griffin banner, but were fighting a losing battle against a horde of golems. The 3 knight units were beset on all sides by abyssal flames, and now the winged imp had joined the fight and was seemingly unkillable.

The Abyssal Hunt were the first to fall. The Exemplar could only look on as the Forsaken and Redemption knights sustained horrific wounds, somehow managing to fight on. The martyrs appeared butchered to a man and yet somehow were still fighting. Sunlight finally broke through the clouds to silhouette the lone adjutant galloping across the field, ignoring orders and sounding the attack, urging the martyrs to one last forlorn charge which finished off a golem horde. Not finished, the remaining martyrs then threw themselves before the second golem horde to hold their advance. It seemed in vain as the martyrs finally fell leaving the golems a clear run into Brotherhood territory… and then in a final sacrifice, the lone adjutant charged the golem horde preventing their progression. Although the redemption knights perished before the assault of Infernok, under the gaze of their leader, the Forsakers just refused to die to Basusu and the Brotherhood carried the day.

Wow – what a great game. Always a pleasure to play the ToiletTroll and his abyssal dwarves came to the table unbeaten, and could argue they were still unbeaten both in terms of kill points and the dice they had. After the successful surge roll at the start (11 from 8 + 8 elite), the big dice rolls seemed to go in the Brotherhoods favour – 4 double ones in total, all in cases where anything but would have done. (The martyrs seem to be making a habit of this !!) I do believe however that dice average out, and the knights in particular were not blessed with good to hit rolls, twice failing to rout individuals and having to spend time repositioning. The surge hit on the Exemplar Forsaker effectively took him out of the game for the next 3 turns. (Yes you can all remind me I said that when I'm rolling the double ones.)

Darth’s army is very hard to beat. The combined shooting of the iron casters and fire teams in particular is something I struggled to deal with. Placing the ‘lone adjutant’ (I need to paint him a black mask) with the lute on the right flank, meant I won the flank, but I desperately needed the bane chant elsewhere (Oh for 2 sources of BC). The big decision point was whether to put the redemption knights into the golems flank on turn 2. I didn’t because I feared my knights would get hampered by Basusu and then into a grind fest on my side of the board with the remaining golems which I suspect I would have lost; especially against Infernok, the combo of Def 6 and fireball/heal with Dravek Dalken is extremely tough. Both he and Basusu finished the game essentially undamaged despite taking multiple hits.

So we kept the faith… and the plan... and the dawn did come – does this signal a turning point for the Lone Battalion’s fortunes?

For those interested the terrain is a Paul Welsh production.