Happy Warhammer-day Tyler!

Last weekend was my friend Tyler's 40th birthday. So he got together with Will, James and myself for a day of Warhammer. We booked a couple of tables at our local shop Tabletop Tyrant . We decided to play the same mission on each table and rolled for random opponents; first round was Dwarves vs Undead and Empire vs Empire.

Background
From behind the curtain Shareth watched the Baron. Despite being completely in her thrall he still had a commanding presence. She watched as he marshalled the troops and prepared their commanders for tomorrows battle. If only the assassins blade had found its mark! His accursed younger brother had escaped from the castle only a week ago and already men flocked to his banner. For centuries she had plotter her revenge for the death of her father at the families hands. She was not going to let one whelp ruin her plans now. She felt the blood lust rising. She could feel the heartbeats across the room; pounding in her head like a drum. All she wanted to do was stride out into the council chamber and tear the Barons throat out and drink his hot warm blood. She turned away and walked down the passage way calling for the servant girl to bring her some wine. What did one more corpse matter now. No one would find it until after they had left anyway...

The young boy knelt before Thane Oakenshield. He raised his head slightly and looked up at him. “Rowthan told me you were wise oh Thane. For the honour of your fathers-father as well as mine I beseech thee to join me on the field of battle tomorrow. Let the blood of our clans flow together for freedom else the shadow of the pale moon will fall across us all”. Men of both races cheered as, after a moments thought, the Thane nodded at the wise words he had heard from the young human in front of him. “Rise Baron, for I recognise that title belongs to you, together we will see of this interloper and restore justice to the land.”

Forces of Wytch-Queen Shareth the Heartstealer @1500 points
Shareth - Lvl 4 Vampire Magic, Helm of Command, 4+ Ward
Wight King Morkin Great Weapon (the Battle Standard), Crown (4+ Ward, Stupid)
30 Skeletons with Command & Banner of Hellfire (Flaming Swords)
10 Skeletons with Command & Lichbone Banner.
30 Grave Guard with Great Weapons, Command and Banner of Barrows (+1 to hit)
Five Black Knights of Nee!

Game One: vs Dwarves
Mission: Battle for the Pass
Dwarven Army: Thane, Oath Stone, Great Weapon (General)
Thane, BSB & Runesmith, GW, Rune of Spellbreakng
Two regiments of Warriors with Shields & Full Command
Two regiments of Hammer-men, one with Full Command
10 Thunderers
5 Slayers
Grudge Thrower, & Bolt Thrower

Deployment: Avoiding the mysterious woods the Dwarven regiments set up in a line to the north-east with both war machines and thunders on the two hills to the east. Undead lined up in the west facing them.

Turn One: The Undead marched forward. Scattering the enchanted teeth onto the ground Shareth summoned a horde of Zombies and used the danza macabre to manoeuvre them into combat with a regiment of warriors. The Slayers charged into the Zombies flanks while the other regiments marched forward. The stone thrower dropped a rock on its own head and the bolt thrower killed one of the knights, another was shot to pieces by the thunderers.



Turn Two: The Knights charged into the Warriors flanks while Morkin marched the Grave Guard forward and reformed ready to engage the Dwarves. Unfortunately Shareth's power deserted her (failed the first spell) so the dance of death did not get him into combat. This gave the Dwarves the advantage as they were able to sweep away the zombies and charge into the knights finishing them off. Morkin was also charged by Warriors and Hammer-men.

Turn Three: The skeleton horde failed to charge so Shareth had to waste power dancing them into melee. Unfortunately the Runesmiths power was strong and he countered most of her other spells. Morkin and his men wiped out the smaller Hammer-man regiment.



Turn Four: As the battle grew desperate Shareth charged into combat slaughtering the rest of the slayers and restoring the Grave Guard. She was then charged by the Thane and his hammer-men and forced to flee the battle (combat resolution damage). Morking was left to watch in horror as his unit crumbled around him even though he was able to sent the last of the warriors fleeing the battle.

Turn Five & Six: Surprisingly Morkin and his Guard managed to make it through two more turns before dying! He killed the Battle Standard Bearer and the Runesmith in this time but was finally lain the rest by the Thane. Meanwhile the forces of light were crushed by the forces of Shadow in the Empire civil war.



Game Two: vs Empire
Misison: A Chance encounter
Empire Army: Combat Lord, Lvl 2 Fire Mage (Fireball & Shield), Lvl 2 Beast Mage
Two regiments of Spearmen, two regiments of crossbows
Two troops of Outriders
Steam Tank & Cannon

Deployment: With the spearmen and one mage in reserve (due to mission rules) the empire set up the Steam Tank in the centre with outriders flanking it. The Cannon set up on the northern edge with crossbowmen on the North-western hill. Shareth and her skelital bodyguard started facing the steam tank. Since the Grave Guard were in reserves Morkin was leading 30 Skeletons protecting her eastern flank with Knights to her west.

Turn One: I won the roll to start (needing a six) so the guard marched onto the field of battle. The Knights failed to charge and two men were sent back to the grave from the outriders stand and shoot. On the other flank Morkin marched his men towards the other Outriders. Summoning her necromantic powers Sharath raised a score of zombies and danced them into combat with the tank. Her attempts to surge Morkin's men into combat were thwarted.

The spearmen marched forward flanking the cannon along with the second regiment of crossbowmen and the Fire-mage. Shareth easily countered the Fireball he tried to summon The Beastmaster toughened the Outriders who promptly shot down a few of Morkin's minions. The rest of the shooting concentrated on Shareth's bodyguard in an attempt to eliminate the Wytch-Queen. Unfortunatly the cannon misfired. The steam tank burnt the zombies down so only two remained.



Turn Two: With only three bodyguards left Shareth joined the advancing Guard. Morkin and the Knights both charged into combat with outriders. Raising the dead Sharath returned her skeletal bodyguards to full strength and created more zombies to fight the tank. She also drained the life from the empire army creating a ghost in the process who attacked the steam tank. Eastern outriders were slain; those in the west lost half there number and fled. Empire shooting killed the knights and few more skeletons. The mighty steam engine was able to obliterate the zombies, but could do nothing to effect the ghost. Shareth easily countered the feeble efforts of the Empire magicians to effect the battle.

Turn Three: In the western flank skeletons charged the crossbowmen. Shareth charged into combat with the Lord and his retinue of spear-men. Morkin failed to charge into the crossbowmen on the eastern flank but a surge of necromantic power pushed him the final steps. Shareth used the rest of her power to replenish her regiments to full strength. Morkin slew the Fire-mage and scattered his men to the winds. Shareth caused the Lord to flee and she surged forward into combat with the other spear-men. These were then slain and she pursued back into battle with the opposing Lord. With both mages dead and only the canon and fleeing outriders unengaged there was little the Empire army could do.



Turn Four: It looked like a complete massacre as Shareth lead her Guard into combat with the Lord and Morkin charged the Cannon. Unfortunately the magic phase turned against the necromancer. She was sucked into the warp and half the Grave Guard were killed! Fortunately the Guard were still able to extinguish the life of the last few Spearmen; Morkin killed the Cannon; the other unit of Skeletons finished the remaining troops.

Turn Five & Six: As Shareth's spirit fled back to its phylactery her minions just had to survive crumbling and a few shots from the Steam Tank (ghosts were dead). Amazingly the Skeletal bodyguard unit did really well rolling 2,3 and 6 for its three leadership tests giving the Undead their first win!



Meanwhile the Dwarves struggled against Shadow magic finding too many of there number were sucked into the abyss. The final standing for the day was

First – James; Shadow Empire (2 Wins)
Second – Tyler; Dwarves (1 Win)
Third – Michael; Vampire Counts (1 Win)
Fourth – Will; Empire (0 Wins)