Edge of the Abyss

Texakl took a glance at the tyrants again. The monstrous beasts were occasionally roaring and restlessly stomping from one foot to the other. Battle was imminent. And every member of his salamander forces knew it. In the not too far away distance he could see the goblins amass their forces. It was surprising to him that the goblins were able to field a force to repulse his expidition force that quick and in such a size. When the Salamanders had decided to send him to the Galahir forests in order to attack the goblin hinterland by surprise while their main forces were occupied with the elves, neither they, him nor their elven friends had expected that the goblins would be able to react that quickly. Not that it mattered. His forces would prevail and then they would harass the goblin supply lines and hopefully put so much pressure on the goblin armies that they would need to abandon their offensive. His people were motivated and they were fresh from the shores of (?) and the goblins must have been surprised by his forces. He assured himself again: victory was at hand. From the distance, he decided to examine the goblin army more closely. It was an impressive sight, he had to admit. They had a horde of goblin spearman and bowmen and were deploying 3 ballistas strategically over the battlefield. A mass of trolls was strolling in position. But the most impressive sight was a giant that was walking along in the lines of the goblins. This huge creature would need to be taken down fast. He instructed his sky raiders to try to focus on the ballistas. This would keep the enemy occupied. As for the rest, well... he now needed to decide how he would deploy his forces.

__NOTES_ON_THE_BATTLE__
As this was my first game after more than a year and the first game of my opponent we decided to play the "Kill" scenario to keep

things simple. unfortunately we did not find all our figures, so the goblins needed to use some broken and non-painted artillery

pieces and only 3 trolls could be set up (however they present a horde) and the salamanders ranks were a bit thinned too... the

ghekota warrior lines are bolstered up with bowmen and only one fully painted skyraider was found, so the other one skyraiders are

represented by a single unpainted model. A pity... I should have enough models for both sides and nearly all painted...
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BATTLE PROGRESSION
Salamander go first; the skyraiders go for the two closer together standing goblin artillery pieces. For protection, the Flaggit and the Fleabag ride cavalry are standing by for protection.
In the middle the Saurus Unblooded and Tyrants march forward, leaving the Komodo and the hunters behind. On the other flank, the massive salamander force closes the gap to the goblin lines.

Goblins react accordingly. The goblin kings strategy is to let the salamanders come to him while they get peppered by his superior firepower! Only in the middle of the battlefield, he orders the Mincer and the Giant forward. The ceremonial guard gets hit by a mass volley of arrows but holds steady.

The gaps between the armies close...

On the left the artillery gets harassed by the skyraiders. However they are able to shoot back and wound the skyraiders. The ghekkotah hunters fail to hit their target. In the middle, the Salamander Unblooded Regiment gets attacked by both the giant and the mincer. that is an onslaught that annihilates the hole regiment! the mincer turns around to face the second skyraider while the giant turns to face the ghekkotah hunters and the mighty Komodon just beside the hunters.

***
Texakl watched in horror as the brave salamander regiment was stomped by the roaring giant. The few how managed to avoid the enormous monster where nearly all caught by the blades of the horrendous war machine the goblins had brought to the battle. This was a mighty blow. After some consideration, he ordered the Tyrants around to deal with the threat while starting running. This Mincer as the goblins called it had big shields on the front, but after the slaughter of the salamander regiment, it turned back to face the skyraiders.... how weak was it from the sides? He ran for some ruins to get in the flank of the Mincer and ordered the whole firepower of his army onto this terrible warmachine. He himself unleashed fireball after fireball from his blessed warbanner infused with magic. In the meantime the Komodon hit Mincer from the other side with a deadly volley. Finally the machine crumbled to a halt and started to burn.
That still left the Giant looming in the center though...
***
Unimpressed the giant moves forward to take on the Komodo. The Komodo takes the attack and the giant gets attacked on 3 sides (Komodo, Tyrants and a skyraider) and is annihilated in a single round. Now the center of the goblins is non-existent... on goblins the left flank, the skyraider harrassment goes on while on the other flank the mighty armies clash: The Goblin Sharpsticks fail their yellow bellied roll which brings the Trolls into an uncomfortable position. The trolls get attacked and... are wavering, which leads to the Wizard rushing forward to take the next attack by the Salamander Primes. The Salamander Primes attack the Goblin Wizzard... which holds bravely! The Trolls regenerate some health but the Ghekkotah Warriors kill them off and march further forward.
Close by the Goblin Spitters pepper the Ceremonial Guard which holds bravely. Finally hand-to-hand combat ensues. The Salamander Mage-Priest as the general of the army gets epically attacked by the Golbin king but fails to kill his opponent. The Wizard finally is killed but the Golbin Sharpsticks take on the Salamander Prime horde and kill them off. A Skyraider that assisted in the destruction of the Giant comes close for suppporting the flank. The Ghekkotah Warriors take on the Goblin Spitters after the Ceremonial Guard is finally down. The Goblin king is attacked, but cowers wavering behind some ruins. Nightfall and therefore the end of the battle is close... the Tyrants and the Fleabag riders are closing the gap to the heat of the battle on the right flank of the goblins, but they are too late. The night falls and the battle is over.

Goblin victory!

No luck for the salamandor shots... Goblins scored a hit on a skyraider... what you cannot see: the second skyraider hid behind some ruins on the right: unable to be shot at by the Sharpstick Throwers, but guarded by the Flaggit and Fleabag Riders

...and on the other side the Ceremonial Guard gets peppered

In the middle the mincer and the giant make a devastating combo... on the right the skyraider comes out of hiding but misses his shots. The small Fleabag Troop gets shot but holds. On the right the Trolls make 9 damage to the salamander horde!

Its way after midnight and we both need to work tomorrow. So we are both more than glad the game only lasts 6 rounds!
Alex counts up the points and its a Goblin victory. We shake hands and he leaves. Unfortunately he took the sheet with the exact calculations of victory points with him (at least i didnt find any). We both thought, if my general had been killed and thus maybe the Spitters in the last round it would have been a draw.