Edge of the Abyss

The Ironheads tribe having recently suffered a defeat, at the hands of Ogres commanded by Ozlir.

Decieded it was time to use cunning, the Krudger commanding the new vanguard force, skirted around the ogre defense, when they busy killing other orcs, in hope of easier pickings.
The Krudger was delighted to see his plan working and was positively giddy with the excitement of looting the human kingdoms. What delighted him even more, was the fact that a green and red clothed human army was blocking him. Always eager to kill some humans, the Krudger readied his force for a bloody combat.

Deployment:

Having fewer units than the humans, the krudger knew that the humans would be able to place their knights on any flank they wanted. The Krudger tried to present a wide and equally strong battle line, so the humans would be pressured everywhere.

Vanguard moves:

KOM: The mounted scouts moved towards the orc skulks, on the left flank
Orcs: Both skulks units moved forward, to bait the humans and do some occasionally shooting.

Turn 1 – Kingdoms of Men
The human general sounded the advance of his army.

Almost all units in the Kingdoms of men army moved forward, with only the foot guard doing at the double move.

Then the Kingdoms of men started Shooting
The Beast of war shot at the orc skulks, unit in front of it, with its light ballista, but missed all its shots.
The bowmen were very accurate, and managed to hit the skulks 4 times getting 2 wounds. The orc skulks nerve was fine and they held the line.
The siege engine shot at Morax troop in front of the trolls, it hit their target but the blast damage was fortunately poor and only 3 hits were caused but the high piercing insured all were wounding. With typical orc bravery, the Morax ignored the damage and held the line.
the mounted scouts shot at the skulks in front of them, and hit 3 times which turned into 3 wounds. The skulks lost their nerve and was wavered by the pistol shots.

Turn 1 – Orcs
Very aware of the human cavalry, the Krudger moved his army forward under the hail of fire.

Being cautious of the advance of the human infantry, and with the painful experience of an ogre charge, the orcs only advanced the army forward. The chariots having no desire of moving forward at all, due to the human knights.

The skulks furious at the bowmen troop, decided to silence them and shot at them with 3 good hits and wounding them 3 times. The bowmen weathered the arrow fire and held the line.

Turn 2 - Kingdoms of men
The general halted his battle line, clearly not wishing to close the distance and while he still could shoot.

The cowardly humans halted their advance, with almost all units halting or reforming for the orcs inevitable charge. The only unit who sort of showed some backbone was the mounted scouts as they charged the wavered skulks.

The bowman shot back at the orc skulks, getting a lucky 5 hits but the arrows had trouble killing the orcs and only wounded 2. The skulks held the line, clearly not wanting to end this shooting duel yet.
The beast of war shot at the Morax troop getting only 1 hit and 1 wound, with the wizard casting a fireball on the unit as well. The spell was weak and only hit 1 and 1 wound, the Morax troop routed and even the inspiring flagger could not stop them. The Mortar ended the shooting with a miss on the ax horde.

The mounted scouts had trouble with orc skulks and only 1 hit and 1 wound was caused. This routed the cowards.

Turn 2 – Orcs
The orc Krudger angrily realizing the cowardly human generals plan, rushed his army forward.

In response to the kingdoms of men army, clearly not wishing to engage in an honest brawl with the orcs, the Krudger, commanded his force forward. They all moved at the double hoping to force a charge from the humans. With the Krudger himself charging the mounted scouts not wishing them getting behind his lines. A morax troop reformed as well to deal with them, if the krudger failed.

The skulks shot at human bowman again, in a bid to win the shooting duel. They got an impressive 4 hits and 3 wounds on the bowmen. The orc skulks cursed when the bowmen, held their ground unshaken (rolled snake eyes).

The Krudger intended not to fail in his task, and hit with all his 5 attacks and wounding 5 times on the scouts. Yet again the orcs were defied by human courage and the scouts held their ground.

Turn 3 – Kingdoms of men
The human army seize the advantage from the orcs with a well-coordinated charge.

The knights charge the orc chariots, while the beast of war and foot guard do a combined charge against the troll horde. The militia mob troop move into a protective position for the bowmen and the general going for a flank charge against the trolls. The shield wall horde charges the Ax horde with the wizard and army standard moving behind them for protection. The pole block troop and militia mob troop charge respectively the Orclings horde and Morax regiment, clearly doing a delaying action. With the shield wall troop readying themselves, for when the Militia mob troop routs. The mounted scouts continue to show backbone and charge the Krudger.

The wizard tries to bane chant the Shield wall horde but fails, and with the siege engine not seeing anything the shooting ends.

The charge of the knights manages 10 hits on the gore chariots, and getting 5 wounds, which is still enough to waver the chariot. The foot guard gets 8 hits and 5 wounds on the trolls, thanks to the fire oil item. The beast of war only gets 5 hits and does 4 wounding hits. The general adding another 3 hits and 3 wounds thanks to his beast slayer sword. The trolls showed more courage than expected before this brutal attack and only wavers. The flagger does not inspire the trolls for fear of making it worse.
(Brutal was forgotten here on the BOW which would have turned this into a rout – my opponent chose to keep going, since it was his mistake)
The Shield wall in an impressive display of skill gets 12 hits and 7 wounds on the ax horde, the ax horde still held their ground though.

The pole block troop hit the orclings 5 times and caused 4 wounds on the orclings. The orclings also held their ground. The militia mob troop in pure panicked desperation managed to hit the Morax 5 times, which luckily only became 2 wounds. The morax held the line against the desperate militia. The mounted scouts also displayed desperate skill, and hit the Krudger 4 times and wounding him 3 times. The Krudger held the line determined not to rout from the scouts.

Turn 3 – Orcs
The Krudger commands his forces to counterattack, having gotten the humans into AX distance.

The trolls regenerate 5 wounds which was desperately needed, The Krudger being equipped with the medallion of life also regenerates 1 wound. Most of the orc army counterattacks their respective foes, while the Morax troop that reformed to help the Krudger, reform again to advance towards the center. The Skulks charge the Militia mob troop blocking them, wishing to bloody their blades.

The krudger return the favor on the scouts by hitting them 4 times and doing 3 wounds which finally routs the scouts. The ax horde also returns the favor on the shield wall with 12 hits and 7 wounds, the shield wall holds their ground against the orcs. The Orclings horde don’t’ do well against the pole block with only getting 2 hits and 2 wounds. The nerve of the pole block is solid and they hold. The Skulks hit the militia mob troop 3 times and causes 3 damage which wavered the milita mob. The human general apparently not rating his chances high for inspiring a better result. The Morax destroys the Militia mob troop with 22 hits and 19 wounds. The army standard tried to inspire the pitiful remains of troop but failed.

Turn 4 – Kingdoms of men
The general order his to charge the orc army again – determined to breakthrough their line.

The Kingdom of men army reformed a lot of its ranged units. Ready to target the faltering left flank. The wizard moving further away from the shield wall. Intent on casting fireballs on the Morax regiment, when they broke through.

The knights charge the chariots again while the beast of war and foot guard charge the trolls. The general charge the orc skulks determined to rout. The shield wall horde counter charges the ax horde, while the pole block troop charge the orclings again. The shield wall troop charge the Morax regiment hoping to delay them a little longer.

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

The combat starts with a weak attempt from the knights, only 6 hits and wounds were caused on the chariots but it is enough to rout them. The general’s attack on the skulks causes 3 hits and 3 wounds which routs the orc skulks. The foot guard hit the trolls 7 times and causes 5 wounds again. The beast of war gets lucky and hits 8 times and wounds them 8 times which is more than enough to destroy the trolls. The flagger not being inspiring enough to change the outcome.

With even more luck, the shield wall horde does 16 hits. The bane chant not helping at all when wounding, and they only get 6 hits on the ax horde. The ax horde gets wavered and the inspiring reroll getting a wavered again. The pole block gets 5 hits on the orcling with 5 wounds. This wavers the orclings and inspiring not within reach. The Shield wall troop get 6 hits in on the morax regiment and causes 4 wounds but the Morax regiment hold against this desperate attack.

Turn 4 – orcs
With annoyance and rage, the Krudger saw the trolls run for the hills again. He turned this rage toward the humans left flank.

With the center line wavered (I forgot headstrong from ale on the ax horde and we forgot the mission special rule) the orcs had no choice but to hammer the shield wall troop with Morax regiment. The krudger advanced toward the center.

The Morax regiment made another impressive charge 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 advanced toward the center, with a new reformed battle line around him.

With a clear sight line to the ax horde flank the foot guard charged while the Shield wall charged the front. The beast of war moved into a shooting position near the general. The knights moved behind the foot guard, while the bowmen reformed. The pole block charges the orclings again.

The Kingdoms of men shooting started with the wizard failing to bane chant the shield wall horde, the siege engine missed the Morax regiment and the beast of war light ballista also missing the Morax troop.

The Shield wall horde fighting the ax horde, made another impressive combat display with 13 hits and 7 wounds, the flanking foot guard unit hit the horde 15 times and added 9 wounds to the already reeling unit. The ax horde routed from this display of violence, the flagger not changing their minds.

The humans’ gods had clearly blessed them this day, with the pole block getting 8 hits on the orclings. But the orclings prove tough to wound and they only take 4 damage. The tiny legs carried the orclings far away in a rout with inspiring again not changing the outcome.

Turn 5 – Orcs
With the humans reforming, the krudger saw his only option to loot some stuff, was to break the humans center himself!

The Morax troop moved slowly towards the center, not keen on getting charged by the beast of war.
The Krudger charged the shield wall horde, hoping to break them. The Morax regiment charged the pole block troop.

The rage of the Krudger helped him deal 4 damage and getting 4 wounds on the Shield wall horde, it initially routed the shield wall horde but the army standard bearer kept them in the fight. The Morax regiment got 14 hits and caused 11 wounds on the pole block troop, and routed them.

Turn 6 – kingdoms of men
The General not willing to risk more of his men before the orcs, put his faith in blackpowder and fire.

Only the Shield wall horde moved, with their counter charge on the krudger.

The shooting saw the mortar miss the Morax regiment, with the bowmen misplaced also unable to shoot. The wizard’s fireball caused 3 hits and 3 wounds on them which routed the unit, but inspiring changed their mind and they held the line. The Beast of war hit the Morax troop with 1 shot which caused 2 wounds, also routing this unit but orc inspiring from the flagger held them in place.

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

Turn 6 – Orcs
With a savage joy the Krudger laid waste to the human swordsmen!

With only the flagger moving across the field, to score some extra points, the Orc krudger and Morax regiment charged the shield wall.

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.

A Kingdoms of men victory with 765 points vs orcs with 435