So once again the forces of Nordland have to deal with a problem of chaos cultists on the mines near their headquarters for the campaign we're playing with a group of friends based on blood in the badlands. The khornite warriors are stirring up some problems and must be put down. Rumor is they're being led by a muscle head of khorne, all horns and rage.
The campaign lets you add points to your army or get the heroes free magic items. On the case of my General he has a free cloak of ulrich, dragonhelm plus a VHS. His Demon prince has a free sword of +1 attack i believe.
So the lists, the battle is 2100 of empire troops vs 2300 khorne troops.
Expeditionary forces of Nordland
General of the Empire on griffon. Fencer blades, VHS, cloak of ulric, dragonhelm
Wizard lord, lvl 4 metal
Mounted BSB, mounted warpriest
11 ICK, champ, standard
5 vanilla knights, lances, no command
10 archers plus 2x5 archer detachments
4 Demi gryph knights
2 Hellblasters + 2 master engineers
1 Steam tank
Warriors of Chaos/Khorne:
Demon Prince of Khorne, +1A sword, some armor, some flaming ward save.
Sorcerer of metal with that chaos armor thingie (boy he'll regret that one in turn 2...)
24 warriors of chaos, khorne marked, halberds
1 exalted BSB
5 chaos knights
3 skullcrushers of khorne
1 hellcannon
1 chimaera (botched up and put it as a manticore on the map, but you get the idea
)
2x5 warhounds
The deployment
Meeting engagement can really mess up your day before the battle even begins, same with dawn attack, but there i can at least rely on the high mobility on my cavalry to get where they're needed, here you're at the dice mercy.
I could only deploy my block of ICK with the priest and captain (thank God...), one of the hellblasters, the mage (but no archers), plus the two master engineers and the General on his trusty feathered steed.
The WoC on their side deploy 2 packs of hounds, a spawn, 5 knights, 3 skullcrushers, and a chimaera camouflaged as a manticore (put the wrong name on the chronicler, so M= C on this map...) the sorcerer and the BSB deploy along the center to hitch up a ride with the reserves: their beefy demon prince of khorne, 24 chaos warriors of khorne with halberds and a cannon. First round goes to the Empire.
Turn 1 - Empire 
The chaos vanguards both his hounds directly towards the hellblasters, probably to get the ICK off for 1 round.
Empire Panzers roll on! the ICK charge the hounds straight, hoping to overrun into the knights behind to put the pressure and caught them off guard. The Griffon flies into the heal to provide a rear-end support charge next turn.
The armored divisions enter by the south-west, 5 knights position themselves on the left hoping to eat themselves a charge that'll throw the skullcrushers out of the field. the DGK enter, position themselves and brace for a charge. The Tank just pops in.
Skirmishers and hellblaster enter left of the first war machine and assume firing positions for the next turn.
Magic: 2+1 dice and i manage an additional channel. Gehenna's golden hounds on the skullcrusher champion sees him eaten by some pretty angry dogs. Next spell is a searing doom on the chimaera which takes off 2 wounds from it.
Shooting: the HVG opens fire on the spawn and melts it, it's way too ugly to exist on this battlefield anyway and must be purged. The archers open fire on the unengaged hounds and kill 3, forcing them to flee.
Close combat: no surprises here, the knights roflstomp the hounds and try to overrun into the knights but land short (needed like a 10 so it was a vain hope)
Turn 1 - Chaos
Lotsa charges! the skullcrushers go straight to the tank to keep it out of helping the other 2 guys, the chimaera and the knights charge into the DGK who go all out "COME AT ME BRO!" on them. The hounds rally and turn again to stare at the archers. From the north comes the hordes of chaos! warriors, cannons led by a ton of muscles and claws, the daemon prince. The BSB joins the warriors.
Magic: 2+1 dice again, the sorcerer manages to land a plague of rust on the DGK.
Close combat: The skullcrushers bounce on the tank and no wounds are made. The chimaera and the knights on the other hand go to town on the DGK. I think i didn't realize they were going to throw 16 WS5 S5 attacks my way, plus the plague of rust they take away half of the armor save. of the chickens. They land a bizillion wounds and i manage to save all but 6. In return i only manage to kill 1 warrior, losing the combat badly and fleeing. Both chimaera and knights overrun and go off the table.
I'm pretty sure i had some DGK around here... who went poof.
Turn 2 - Empire
I was definitely not expecting my DGK to take such a beating. The 5 vanilla knights flank-charge the skullcrushers, and the Steam tank grinds three wounds into them as well. The ICK reform to face whatever pops back on next turn. The general flies behind the mage to threaten it.
Magic: magic is slow on this game, but i manage to sneak a gehenna's golden hounds on the chaos sorcerer and kill him.
Shooting: As everything is out of range, the archers kill the remaining hounds.
Close combat: The skullcrushers kill 3 knights and lose combat due to being flanked, so much for frenzy. They do hold however.
Turn 2 - Chaos
The demon prince rushes into combat south, the warrior block turns to face the griffon. The chimaera and knights show up again on the battlefield.
Magic: the molten slag who used to be the mage bubbles away and no magic is played.
Shooting: the cannon tries to blast the griffon into oblivion but the shot goes wide and nothing is hit.
Close combat: surprisingly, the knights win the combat vs the skullcrusher, they break and are caught.
Turn 3 - Empire
The general measures his chances against a horde of screaming frenzied halberd-wielding chaos dudes and decides to go chase the demon prince. The ICK reform once again to face the coming storm. Steam tank goes straight ahead into the daemon. The archers advance and spread out. the 2 surviving knights stay in front of the chaos knights.
Magic: i botched the first spell with the mage and so much for my magic phase. I threw a ward save on the knights with the priest just because i had like 10 dice left...
Shooting: the HBVG destroy the chimaera and the knights . Archers open fire on the DP and bounce. The tank fires the cannon 6"away from the DP and the shot lands short and doesn't bounce.
Turn 3 - Chaos
I really wasn't expecting a huge monstrous cannon up my griffon's flank, but lo and behold, he made a good charge, i didn't saw i was on his frontal arc and had to take the charge. The daemon prince charges headlong into the knights.
Close combat: The general kills a dwarf and puts one wound on the cannon receiving none in return. He reforms to at least face the cannon. Those chaos warriors behind him put the clock 2 minutes to midnight though... The demon prince challenges and i feed him the champion who gets promptly crushed. The knights hold.
Hammer time!
Turn 4 - Empire
And suddenly... Steam tank! The ST smashes the DP flank and manages to get 2 wounds through. The Hellblasters advance into the enemy to get into range. Archers reposition as well.
Magic: it's now or never, i get around 9 magic dice and after getting a plague of rust on the DP dispelled, i open up with final transmutation on the warriors, taking about 6-7 out.
Shooting: The archers manage to kill one more warrior, because they're that good!
Close combat: the DP goes into challenge with the warpriest now and eats him for supper. The cannon receives another wound while the griffon takes 2 in return. The General still holds!
Turn 4 - Chaos
No surprises here, the warriors flank charge the general and issue a challenge with the champion.
Close combat: My general kills the champion immediately and leaves me with only 2 CR in favor, losing me the combat by like 3 with all the standards, flank and charge. He breaks and manages to run (fly?) away with an 8 vs a 6... phew!
the Daemon prince challenges the captain BSB now, and only does 1 wound to it, so more 1v1 fighting on the next turn!
Not retreating! Merely advancing in a different direction!
Turn 5 - Empire
The general manages to rally, and turns back to those pesky warriors.
Magic: again 10 magic dice and my wizard lord brings all his hocus pocus to bear on the warriors. Final Transmutation kills around 6 warriors now, which opens up to...
Shooting: Hellblasters go Battleship-style on the warriors, obliterating them and leaving only the BSB, who then takes a wound from archers shooting at him. The DP manages to kill the BSB and here we messed up as we were under the impression he had eye of the gods as well, and ascended (again) to demonhood... he pops out of combat and shows up on the knight's flank.
All batteries, open fire!
The BSB never felt more lonely...
Turn 5 - Chaos
His cannon charges the griffon again, while his BSB fails a charge against the knights. His prince has an item that makes him stupid and for the first time fails the check, and drools about near the knights who finally get some relief.
In the close combat phase the general wounds the cannon again and takes no wounds in return. Flank+charge vs 1 wound = he loses combat but still holds.
Turn 6 - Empire
Steam Tank decides to finish the cannon and slams into it. The 2 surviving knights who've been wandering about do a support-charge on the flank.
Magic: plague of rust on the demon prince and everything else gets dispelled.
Shooting: everything fires at the demon and fails miserably to wound it, despite landing like 15 hits with both war machines.
Close combat: The multi charge finally brings the cannon down.
Turn 6 - Chaos
Last turn, last moments and the DP charges into the knights. His BSB charges their rear as well. In the close combat they take down about 10 knights between both, but manage to take a wound in return and the BSB dies. The knights get crushed, break and are caught by the demon. Still, turn 6 is over and most of the empire army is still alive and about, so a solid victory for the forces of Nordland.
Aftermath: The chaos warbands were dispersed by the forces of Nordland who managed to secure the mines they were sent to recapture. Summary executions for all the cultists and any suspects involved hopefully will make them think twice before coming about to stir up trouble again.
The battle was certainly full of randomness that played on my favor. Having his block of chaos warriors out and having to go through the battlefield with little cover, while eating 2 final transmutations and a combined barrage of HBVG fire ensured they couldn't do anything on the match.
The DP is beefy as hell and even though i had the VHS on the general, i couldn't get to use it as i got entangled with the cannon. That movement of the general to threaten his mage was certainly not required and should've just head straight to the DP . The HBVG paid off as usual and even though at the beginning i was thinking on even moar steam tanks, they create a danger zone for the enemy that's really hard to ignore.
