(From the A5 campaign. My first Bat Rep. I know I usually do a lot more of these in a campaign, but I have been painting and modelling instead so far!)Scabscar's First BattleWarlord Scabscar had presumed that the first battle against the foe would be fought in the underground realm beneath Estalia, yet here he was leading his vanguard beneath the bright blue sky rather than a ceiling of rock, timber supports and tangled roots. For months now he and almost his entire force had dwelt in the depths of the earth, but now they moved upon its sunlit skin. Not that this worried him, for he knew that this force was more than adequately equipped for a battle above ground. He had ordered that it be so. It was just an unexpected outcome.
Oddly, his own yellow-liveried personal guard of Clanrats were not present, having been entrusted to a task he would not risk giving to any less loyal warriors. Instead he had two of his largest battle regiments, both wearing the dried-blood hued cloth favoured by the majority of his force, and he intended to take the field leading one of these. The rest of his force consisted of a large body of Plague Monks (Clan Pestilens must also be keen to have Clan Skarr subdued for they had generously provided a substantial contingent of their warriors), as well as slaves, giant rats and a variety of Chief Engineer Abdurat’s engines of war. Abdurat himself, unsurprisingly, was not present, and had sent two of his lieutenants to support the vanguard in his stead. Yet one of the Council’s Intermediaries, the Grey Seer Pustulgar the Erudited, had chosen to come along. Hopefully, thought Scabscar, he was here not merely to observe but to lend more active (magical) support.
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Warlord Scabscar’s Vanguard Force (2500 Pts)
Warlord (General Scabscar) Halberd, Hvy Armour, Bonebreaker, Trickster's Helm, Talisman Preservation
Grey Seer (Pustulgar the Erudited) Warpstone Token, Channeling Staff, Pendant, Skalm
Warlock EngineerLevel 1 Wizard, Warp Lightning
Warlock Engineer Level 1 Wizard, Opal Amulet, Warp Lightning
Chieftain Heavy Armour, Weeping Blade, Charmed Shield, Luckstone
ChieftainBattle Standard, Armour of Fortune
40 Clanrats - Full command, Spear, Light, Shield with Ratling Gun
40 Clanrats - Full command, Spear, Light, Shield with Warpfire Thrower
46 Skavenslaves - musician & Pawleader
40 Plague Monks - Full command, Banner of Under-Empire
24 Giant Rats & 4 Packmasters9 Poisoned Wind Globadiers - Bombardier & Poisoned Wind Mortar
Doomwheel Warp-Lightning Cannon 5 Warplock Jezzails _________________________________________________________________________________________________
Clan Scabscar’s foe was to be an army of rebellious skaven, the warriors of an obscure petty clan called Clan Gobdoth, and although in many respects the opposing armies were similar, what with Clanrats and engineers and a Grey Seer in both forces, there were significant differences too. Gobdoth seemed to favour war machines, for it had a brace of Warp Lightning Cannons as well as a pair of Plague Catapults. Even the Grey Seer (the army’s general) apparently had a liking for constructs, for he rode a Screaming Bell. They also marched with more than twice as many jezzails.
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Clan Gobdoth (2500 Pts)
Grey Seer on Screaming BellBook of Ashur, Shadow Magnet Trinket; with 35 Clanrats & a Ratling team
Chieftain with Sacred Standard of the Horned Rat
Chieftain with Golden Sigil Sword & Armour of Fortune
Lvl 2 Engineer with Doom Rocket, Portent of Verminous Doom
Lvl 2 Engineer with Warlock Enhanced Weapon, Warpstone Armour
26 Stormvermin with Ratling Gun team27 Clanrats with Ratling Gun team7 Jezzails & Sharpshooter7 Jezzails & SharpshooterTwo WL CannonsTwo Plague Claw Catapults_________________________________________________________________________________________________
The two forces approached the ground over which they would fight with trepidation - a fairly common feeling for skaven before battle. Every warrior on both sides could smell the fear of those around him, the strength of which, from so many, would in turn stimulate a new emotion, that of bloodlust. A strong smell of fear aroused most skaven, and so a fearful army of ratmen could often become, quite quickly, quite the opposite in what might appear a quite contrary sort of response, but was actually one that had served the race well for centuries. A lone skaven was often a pathetic sort of creature, but in numbers they could become a vicious and unstoppable force.
Scabscar saw the foe was approaching a river and so ordered several elements of his army to make their way quickly to its banks, and others to cross them, all the better to prevent the foe from employing the river as an admittedly soggy defensive ditch. He had every intention of getting to the enemy’s war machines as quickly as possible, and did not want his main regiments slowed down by flowing waters and thus susceptible to more bombardment as they advanced at the foe.
There was a bridge one of his regiments could employ, while he sent those best able to clear the waters relatively hastily towards the stretch of the river closest to the Clan Gobdoth. The rest of the battlefield consisted of a scattering of ancient ruins and some copses of wiry trees. (
Game Note: None of these terrain features were classed as the wacky kinds in the BRB, and we decided the woods would actually - like so often IRL - be dense enough to block LoS.)
His orders given, Scabscar’s army moved accordingly. The Doomwheel and Warp Lightning Cannon flanked his main block of warriors - the Monks, the Clanrats he personally commanded and his slaves - while the second Clanrat regiment headed over the bridge almost in the centre of the line. Giant rats and Globadiers moved up in the bend of the river, towards the flowing water. The latter were pleased to see that the woods concealed their advance from most of the foe.
Gobdoth arrayed themselves symmetrically, with a Warp Lightning Cannon, a Catapult and seven Jezzails on each flank, and the mass of warriors in the centre. Although the regiments were smaller than Scabscar’s, they had better quality troops (Stormvermin) and one of the clanrat regiments was made considerably more battle worthy with the fighting spirit imbued by the Screaming Bell.
Atop his Bonebreaker, Scabscar cursed as he realised that the ruins would either slow down or disrupt his line somewhat (perhaps both) but there was nothing he could do.
Pustulgar the Erudited, perhaps not wanting to wet the hem of his fancy robes, strode at the head of the one regiment who crossed the river by bridge rather than wading it …
… whilst the now dripping wet horde of forty Plague Monks advanced keenly, barely aware of their soggy state, on the right.
For a moment, the army halted as Scabscar took one last look at the enemy. Apart from the underlying noise of hundreds or warriors scratching at the shields, grinding their teeth and clawing at the ground, the only other noticeable sound was the rhythmic hiss of steam from Abdurat’s marvellous engine.
Scabscar hunched forwards, as if moving his head that little amount might bring him closer to the enemy and thus reveal some new detail regarding their composition. As he peered, his hand rested on the lever that worked his stinger, receiving little jolts of energy which made the hairs of his right arm stand and his finger tips sting as if being pricked by the contents of a pin cushion.
He failed to notice these things, however, for he could see the enemy was about to make its move.
(Part 2 next)