My friend and I are building two armies from scratch with 500 point intervals. After three months we got to play our first game detailed below. Hope you enjoy the narrative...
The Death of Sir Hopkinder
Having sold his men into the service of the Elector Count of Nordland, Sir Matthias and his troop were sent to patrol a backwater stretch of coast. Upon arriving at his post and meeting up with local militia units, Hopkinder assumed command and sent his scouts, hoping to spot an enemy that would give him battle.
Three months passed
(building, painting and basing models) , full of preparation and vigilance, until Sir Matthias got his wish.
A raiding party that would become known as the Red Flood landed about ten miles from Hopkinder’s position and destroyed the village of Neuenweg. Hopkinder and his men marched with all haste to find the raiding party still committing atrocities on the few surviving villagers. Wasting no time, Hopkinder drew his men up for battle.
Sir Matthias’
(Empire Captain with full plate, dawn stone, enchanted shield and sword of might) plan was simple; position the cannon on the left flank covering the open ground with the light cavalry
(5 pistolliers with outrider upgrade) supporting them and who could also quickly cross over to the right to support the swordsmen
(20 swordsmen with full standard bearer and musician) on the right flank.
From the smoked wreathed remains of the village emerged the enemy. On the left a grotesque creature
(Chaos Spawn), twisted in berserk rage, tumbled forward while in the centre, marauder horsemen
(5 marauder horsemen with full command) charged forward towards the light cavalry of Hopkinder’s force. Finally, on the right flank the enemy lord revealed himself
(Hero with double weapons and Chaos armour), flanked by warriors
(10 Chaos Warriors with full command) wearing baroque armour and preceded by snarling hounds
(5 warhounds) that dashed forward eager for blood.
As the marauders crashed into the light cavalry the battle got underway properly. Hopkinder’s pistolliers held themselves well, killing one of the horse bandits without loss but in the face of such fury the pistolliers lost all heart.
Their position was poor due to the inexperience of their outrider and they out of the battle before Hopkinder could do anything to prevent it. Worse still, their flight took them through the cannon’s position making them break as well.
Before he had issued an order, Sir Matthias’ army had vanished leaving him and his Salt Swords alone on the field.
Whether it was pride, shame or the financial implications that made Sir Matthias not withdraw will never be known but instead he roared the order to charge, hellbent on fighting the champion in single combat. The Salt Swords smashed into the hounds; Sir Matthias gutted two with his mighty sword and his men cut down two more. The last pitiful beast rushed back to his master and the men of the Empire were amazed to see the warriors turn and run.
If they had been caught, the battle and what happened after would have been so much different but it was not to be. At some pre-arranged signal the armoured warriors regained their composure and snapped back round in perfect unison to meet the Empire’s charge.
The Salt Swords fought like heroes, their shields splintering from the tremendous impacts that fell upon them but not one of the men fell. However, the ancient armour of their opponents easily deflected blow after blow. This struggle was played out in a smaller, yet not less vicious scale, between Sir Matthias and the Chaos champion. Three times they faced each other with swords clashing and sparks flying through the air but neither could hurt the other. It was after the last of these clashes that Hopkinder knew he had been drawn into a trap.
The disgusting spawn has stumbled from the left and straight into the rear of the swordsmen. Powerful limbs tore through the weak armour of the empire soldiers, flinging limbs and gore on to the blood soaked earth. Hit from both sides the swordsmen could not hold.
Seizing their lord they tried to drag him to safety but there was nowhere to go and the thunderous roar of charging warriors, eager for the kill, was the last thing they would hear.
After many hours had passed and the Red Flood had departed, the broken men of the militia returned to the field to find their lord. Sir Matthias Hopkinder’s broken body was discovered surrounded by his murdered soldiers. His heart had been ripped from his chest and his head severed from his body, no doubt taken for grisly trophies. Upon their gruesome find the survivors fled to spreading the news and panic of the threat to come.
