by Lord Dagorcam
The Battle of Mountain Pass
( sorry if some mistakes in the report, I memorized it from
yesterday and just wrote it dowwn in one go before if forget the
rest).
The army of Lord Dagorcam had fought its way through numerous
hordes of Orks anf goblins, heading for the Mountain Pass, the
only way that would allow them to reach
Chateau Montagne in time to rescue the besieged defenders,
amongst them his wife, Lady Helena and their children. Only the
Mountain Pass now stood in his way. Behind it
there remained only two days march through cultivated areas. But
in the mountains itself there lived the Orks of Borgorath, the
deceitful black Ork who had once sworn to
leave the citizens of Bretonia at peace and who now was besieging
Chateau Montagne.
Climbing the slopes of the wide pass he sent forth his squires to
investigate if the pass was guarded or not. Soon enough the
squires returned with the news that a mighty
army, led by Borgorath himself, had taken position within the
pass. They reported the army to consist of two war-chariots, one
giant, one regiment of orkish crosbowmen
(130 strong), 250 Grobgitz under Borgorath’s command, 250
Black Orks, two regiments of Nightgoblins, each numbering more
than 200 goblins, 50 goblin wolfriders, 80
wild-ork- boar-riders, amongst them one of their shamans(lv1), a
unit of 180 wildork bowmen amongst them 3 of their shaman. (all
lv.1)They carried a banner that was
constantly sparkling with lightning, and those shamans where
carrying two wicked looking staffs that they where showing to al
the orks and goblins, shouting sth. In their
strange language that the squires could not understand but that
caused great shouts and sneers from the wicked host. Finally a
nightgoblin shaman(4) was seen, who stood
next to the orkish crossbowmen, wearing a staff similar to the
one that Magister Napsirc was carrying( skullstaff?). The report
said nought about all the other magic weaponry
that was hidden within theese ranks………….
Lord Dagorcam mustered his own troops:
One regiment of 60 knights of the realm under the command of Sir
Feodor de Notre Dame at his left flank, accompanied by 50
squires. Next to them the two regiments of
bowmen, commanded by Sir Jean de Degutant and Sir Henry de la
Haute-Lorraine, each numbering 100 men, had taken position,
guarded by the pikemen of Sir Kevin de
Malvoisin, a fine unit of 240 men. Lord Dagorcam had decided to
form the centre of his Ordre de Bataille as commander of his unit
of Knights of the Realm, some 120 knights
altogether. In addition her ordered Sir Creal of Griffon Hill to
his side, a hero of renown, who owned potion of strength and a
magical sword that caused his enemies to stand
in awe and allow him to strike first. Lord Dagorcam knew that the
furor of Sir Creal was hard to resist ( virtue of knightly furor?
Each hit allows another attack). Magister
Napsirc (lv4) joined them( we allowed him to wear the shadow
cloak, even if he was mounted on warhorse, actually he never
needed it, 50 pts for naught), clad in a cloak of
mist, making him difficult to look at. With him he carried his
skullstaff and a scroll of destruction. Finally there was Sir
Silver O’Hawk, the bannerman of Lord Dagorcam,
wearing the banner of the Lady of the Lake, who rode sid by side
with Sir Leon de Bracy, who held the hereditary banner of Lord
Dagorcam, the ‘Schildstandarte’, a banner
that his ancestors had once captured in a battle against the
Empire. Sir Silver was known for his rash mood and his dislike of
being charged. Indeed he was famed for leading
charges against opponents who tried to charge him, breaking the
assault before it started!
Lord Dagorcam himself was known as a man of so strong a faith
that the Lady herself, when she allowed him to drink from the
grail, blessed him with the protection from all
hostile magic. He rather led by presence then by figting, but was
known to be a formidable fighter if need be, the baronial Crown
of Bretonia on his helmet and his magical
sword, Allcallar, made by the woodelves of Loren, both increased
his strength beyond any humans, and legend has it that he once
wrestled against a giant and won. On his
hand he carried the Ring of Corin, a device that allowed him to
destroy the evil magic weapons or other devices that his enemies
used if they came near. ( I thought it was
clever combo, Skullstaff and RoC…)
This mighty unit of knights ( 16 models!)dominated the center of
his army, screende by a force of 50 squires on horse under the
command of Sir Thomas of Selkirk . To his
right hand the 150 archers of Montvillage under the command of
their priest (lv.1 wizard), pater Derguvius, had taken formation,
like al the other archers using the arrowhead.
Next came the royal squires that had lost their mounts during the
long march, nearly 130 of them. They spread out in a skirmishing
mode to keep contact to the right wing
under Sir Percy de Chardinot, a hero of many battles who today
commanded the regiment of Grailknights that accompanied Lord
Dagorcam. This force of 90 knights (
including Sir Percy) was guarding the pupil of Magister Napsirc,
a wizard named Dalaminius, whose name will be praised for
centuries to come by the people of Bretonia for
his sacrifice.
Thus was the situation.
Lord Dagorcam, a man of sincere faith, insisted on praying before
he commenced into battle, even when his bannermen and Magister
Napsirc pointed out that the enemy had
no war engines and the handful of missiles the enemy had where no
or of little danger to them. But Lord Dagorcam insisted on
praying, for what worth is a faith if you only
turn to it when in need?
So the bretonian forces kneeled down in prayer as the orks and
goblins marched towards them. The chariots where marching behind
the wildork bowmen who faced the royal
squires. The giant marched towards the grailknights, the
wolfriders towards the squires of Sir Thomas of Selkirk
(screening Lord Dagorcam). The Center of the Orks and
Goblins followed them slowly while the wildork-riders advanced
more rapidly towards Sir Feodor and his knights. But still they
where too far away for any missile-fire or
magic.
Lord Dagorcam ordered the squires of Sir Thomas to take a
position in front of the advancing wolfriders, scrrening himself
and the bwomen by doing so, but ordering them to
avoid any ral combat. Sir Feodor was to move forward slowly,
sending his mounted squired to his left and forward to outflank
the boarriders. Sir Percy and his Grailknights
only moved forward very cautiously, as the two chariots and the
giant just seemed to wait for them to come forward.
The arrows of the bretonian archers all fell short of their
targets or where deflected. But now came the time of Dalaminius.
Gathering all the arcane energy he could muster he
cast his teleport spell. To his amazement the mighty shaman of
the nightgoblinclan was not able to find any means to avoid this,
for he should have known better, and was to
stupid to use his scroll of magic destruction. The same holds
true for the wildork-shaman who held a similar scroll. So it was
up to one of the wildorks-shaman to counter it
the conventional way, leaving Dalaminius at an advantage. Despite
all their efforts Dalaminius, using all the energy that he had
left succeeded to cast his spell and teleported
himself directly behind the Grobgitz led by Borgorath, preparing
to attack the enemy singlehandedly! But the Nightgoblins,
marching to the left and right of Borgorath’s unit,
saw the valiant wizard appear on his barded warhorse and
remembered the order they had received: “z soon az yo zee
them iron boyz on horz, let looz the loonyz!”
So forth came the fanatics with their ball and chain, smashing
the courageous Dalaminius and a hundred of the grobgitz as well
as half of their own!
As a result the Grobgtz charged forward to escape the fanatics
while the nightgoblins had to shoot their own to get rid of the
threat! The wolfriders charged Sir Thomas who
ordered the retreat, luring the wolfriders into the range of the
archers and away from the lanceformation.
Mentioned her should be that single goblin ‘big boss’ a
real hero, who attacked Lord Dagorcam, orr rather, tried to do
so. Sir Silver, seeing hin, was enraged at this
impertinence and rushed forward, the whole bulk following him,
but he was overtaken by Sir Creal, for he had the better steed.
So it was Sire Creal who challenged the lone
rider and cleft him in two. The rest of the orkhorde advanced
waryly towards the enemy. Their missiles did no harm to the
bretonian army ( even forgot that I had the blessing
during the whole battle when he fired at my knights! But they
never succeded even with their crossbows, so no harm done).
But then all hell broke loose! The evil spell ‘ Foot of Gork’
could be repelled, but then: The Staff of Osiris and another
staff hammered into my grail knights, killing Sir Percy
and 30 knights, nearly halving their number. The remaining
knights rallied under the command of Sir Louis de Geronaux, the
bannerman of Sir Percy, who carried the magical
banner of battle ( +1 CR).
Under his command they charged the monsterous giant and Sir Louis
managed to inflict a wound, but the giant let out a devestating
roar, filling the air with his foul odor, as he
had rooting flesh still stuck between his teeth. But Sir Louis
managed to hold his men tight and continue the struggle. In the
center Lord Dagorcam outmaneuverd the
wolfriders, leaving them to the bowmen, who killed 30 of them,
while charging Borgorath and his remaining Grobgitz. Sir Feodor
decided to charge the boarriders who took
flight at his sight while his squires charged the lone
nightgoblin shaman who, unimpresed, took out his twohanded sword
and killed two of the squires causing the squires to
flee shamefully. Their vcomrades under Sir Thomas had rallied
meanwhile.
While all this happened Sir Creal, still reveling in his victory
over the lone goblin, called out a challenge to the enemy he
faced, another goblin hero who had justz joined
Borgorath’s unit, presumably to report about the blunder
made with the fanatics, but as none of that unit where caught
alive we do not know for sure. The Goblin, just having
been kicked it the*** by his general had no intention to fight
and fled, under the sneers of the Grobgitz, into the back of the
unit while Borgorath himself stepped forward.
Armed with a magical axe ( of Borg?) both men attacked nearly at
the same time. The Lady that day seemed to favor Sir Creal ( he
won the dieroll) but his attacks seemed to
reflect from the black amulett that Borgorath was wearing,
wounding Sir Creal instead! ( LORD, I hate this amulett and never
used it before myself. Id rather pick that golden
helmet, but next t heart of woe I dislike the amulett. Also I
said _cheeze at the moment it is not, but it is tough to see your
brave little hero go to ground because of this. Sob!)
But as the evil Borgorath was occupied killing the poor Sir Creal
the rest of the bretonian knights caused havoc in the lines of
the Grobgitz. Of the remaining 150 Grobitz only
60 remained at the end of this onslaught!!!
Thus even the deed of their leader could not make up for the
horror of the bretonian lance and they fleed with such hast that
even the mounted knights could not catch them (
damn those dice! I missed him by two inces, rolling only a 5 with
three dice!!! A QUESTION: I had the Banner of the Lady of the
Lake, he had a banner to double his
rank-bonus. We decided that both negate each other, very generous
with +6 from me, hehe, but how is sth. like that dealt with?)
The magic phase brought nought so it was the tun of the orks.
Their leader, the sinister Borgorath rallied his 60 Grobgitz, and
the goblin hero, while one of the chariots
charged Lord Dagorcam., only to find himself in the face of over
one-hundred knights furiously charging him! The boar-riders still
fled the field while the blackorks marched
towards the spearmen of Sir Kevin, who had slowly advanced as
well and who now came under fire of the orkish crossbows. The
giant still shouted at the remaining
grailnights but they brave knights managed to resist both,
deafening sound as well as nauseating stench, and held their own.
The chariot that met Lord Dagorcam killed near to
40 knights before it was bereft of its impetus, and then of its
riders. The wolfes fled the knights who refrained from following.
Magic brought havoc amongst the grailknights
once more, killing all save Sir Louis who fled in despair,
followed by the giant who was close at his heels. More magic
killed another 20 knights from Lord Dagorcam’s men.
Still his unit was formidable. Enough to cause the heart of his
opponent to falter. When the Knights of Sir Feodor charged the
blackorks, aided in this by the spearmen of Sir
Kevin, Lor Dagorcam charged the nightgobins in front of him and
the archers of Montvillage and the royal squires sent dozends of
arrows into the giant, wounding him three
times!! He was shaken. Seeing his blackorks being killed one by
one and eliminated after fleeing ( they had no rankbonus because
charged in the side), the slaughter to his
nightgoblins (Lord Dagorcam refreigned from pursuit so that he
could give combat to Borgorath the next round, forgetting that
his ring will not succeed against that axe, as it is
worth 125 pts! But magister Dagorcam managed to cast Fear on the
giant, who deceided to returnhome as his job, eliminating the
grailknights, had suceeded ( he rolled a 12!)
the enraged Borgorath cursed Gork&Mork and the entire
bretonian knighthood before sounding his retreat. Some say he
waited with that until it was clear that his boarriders as
well as the wounded giant ( another 12!) continued to flee the
battlefield, this clearing the way for the army of Lord Dagorcam.
But as he fled he was shouting a challenge to
Lord Dagorcam to meet him at the gates of Chateau Montagne, where
he had another army, thjough slightly smaller, awaiting him ( and
the weakened forces of Lord
Dagorcam).
Thus ended the Battle of the Mountain Pass with a splendid
victory for the Bretonian forces, due to the sacrifice of the
noble Dalaminius, to whom a monument was erected
where the wicked fanatics had smashed him and his steed.
Conclusion: I learned that my combo of Ring of Corin, worn by the
general, and the skullstaff, worn by the lv 4 wiz, who rode two
ranks behind, was no good, for both have
only 12 “ radius, not enough when used with Cav. For I will
be in close combat before I can use the ring, and then it often
is too late. Even worse, I am within 12 “ with the
Ring, but not with the staff, so I do not know what to destroy.
Next time I will just shout out “BLACK AMULETT” and see
what happens, even if I may give away my ring
for nought.
Another thing that I found out to be true is that the virtue of
counter-charge is a blessing beyond prize! Without it the knights
will soon be attacked and killed ( 6th edition: nice
idea that we can charge again if eliminating the enemy, but that
will happen how many times with units of 20+? Not that often, and
then it is only straight ahead, so I thing not
that often will we see this. And once they are stuck somewhere
they are attacked by some rank-bonus unit and bound until
decimated. Only a second lance can break them free,
and then it is up to how stupid the non-bret player is! For they
will use TACTICS as well, be sure!).
What I did not like too much was theese staffs and banner
slashing at my grailknights. Like that song form the McMahons:
“You’ve got NO chance, no chance at all!” they
really had no chance against it, for how can one repel such a
number of attacks? Loads of scrolls?
Anyhow, we arranged a rematch, this time only 2000 pts instead of
3000 pts. To represent the losses on both sides. Any ideas how to
decrease my army are welcome ( I will
dismiss Sir Kevins spearmen and Sir Feodors knights as well as
Sir Silver, that is, this job as army bannerman, rather giving
him Sir Creal's job as bodyguard to the gereral,
but then he will have no furor ( aditional attacks).
Anyhow, hail to the Lady of the Lake who has granted victory to
the bretonian Arms!
Lord Dagorcam