High Commander Ortolf Von Brennenburg, Helstrom’s 4th Army:
Sir, you will immediately notice that this report is not written in my own hand. I have dictated this dispatch with the assistance of Sir Breman Schwartz of Altdorf, who has penned and sealed this letter under my watchful eye. This anomaly is best explained through my report on our actions of the past several days.
Commander Rodimutz’s herald found me in the forest north of Morr’s Gate two mornings past. He told me of the great offensive moving up the Kaltfluss from the South and I readied the men for a surprise attack from the north. We charged from the forest and surprised a small army of greenskins that were guarding a burned village that was being used as a supply dump between the mountain and their crude harbor. Sir, it was not an easy fight but we got the better of them before the morning was out and sent them running. Brother Lucas was gravely wounded and I lost my finest regiment of Reikland Swordsmen to the thrashings of a furious Giant. I set the men to burning what remained of the village along with the greenskins’ provisions and plunder, reorganized the army and ordered an immediate attack on the harbor. I marched the men hard in an attempt to cross the open plain and sack the harbor before the enemy could reorganize and drive us away. Unfortunately, the enemy numbers were far greater than I had hoped and by the time we were in position for the assault, a huge force of orcs, goblins and evil dwarfs had fortified the port and were sharpening their blades and howling with delight. I pushed my tired men into an all out assault and we charged across the burned ground under a hail of stones from rock lobbers and sinister dwarf rockets that seemed to be guided towards the men by some evil presence only to explode in toxic plumes of fire, cutting down the men with glowing shrapnel. We continued through the killing field and bought our gun crews enough time to hit their marks with counter-battery fire. We were beginning to push the enemy backward, for they were on the very banks of the Kaltfluss when the largest orc I’ve ever seen emerged from behind a unit of Goblins and headed straight towards my bodyguard and me. He rode an evil metal contraption that belched brimstone and had eyes of flame and before we knew it he was upon us, crushing the dwarven plate of my Greatwords as if it were the flimsiest of tin. This orc drew his sword and cut three of my men in half with every swing. We didn’t have time to react, before I could issue a command, I alone faced the monstrosity and it crushed me under its bulk as it ran me over where I stood.
I must confess sir, that I do not recall anything further of the day’s battle and was rescued from the field by the Brothers of Sigmar during a lull in the fighting. My sword arm remains badly broken but much of the rest of my body has been healed due to the constant prayers of the Brothers. I believe my resolute faith in Sigmar is the only reason I am alive today. I was told that by the end of the battle, neither we nor the enemy had gained the advantage though there were horrendous casualties on both sides. The harbor was within our reach but alas, we could not dislodge the enemy and so Thabius did initiate an orderly retreat in the late afternoon. The army did not win sir, but their spirit is not beaten and we have returned to the Talabec Road and are encamped there awaiting further orders.
I must confess sir that my Reiklanders are now so few in number that we are barely fit for active service.
Your Humble Servant,
Commander Dolohev Stonheim III
1st Reiklanders, Helstrom’s 4th Army
