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[Battle Report] Towers of Udayra - Blackbloods vs. Firstborn

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Horned Owl:

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TURN TWO

Before running toward the cover of a large rock formation at a lumbering gallop, the Myrmadons sent two more volleys of grapeshot against the towers, forcing the defenders on the parapets to abandon the catapults and take cover, but failing to make a dent in the granite walls.

The middle of the field saw frantic action as the Cobra archers sent more volleys into the rearguard, wounding two crossbowmen and killing the leader. That proved too much for them: dropping their wounded, they were routed and tried to flee, but with the red-fletched hail scything into their position, they had no option but to to throw themselves prone and pray. The Firstborn swordsmen likewise were pinned down by the arrows, and even though the Thane exhorted them to stand firm, their will to fight seemed gone. The rearguard was in tatters and ripe for an overrun.

Spurred on by their havildar, the Cobra regiment´s swordsmen marched briskly forward, ever closer to the Firstborn, presenting a long line of red-painted shields. Already they could see the whites in the eyes of their hated enemies. The sight of the Earl and the Legion´s colours galvanised one of the fleeing crossbowmen´s units, who turned and raised their weapons. Deadly bolts thudded into shields and felled one of the Orcs´ standards, but a swordsman caught the pole as it fell from the bearer´s nerveless hands and raised it again.

Then the Trolls emerged from their hiding, falling on the crossbowmen with great leaping strides. The Firstborn lines wavered, and the retreat became a rout. The crossbowmen lost their nerve, falling back before the bellowing creatures. Their retreat carried them into the macemen, who just threw down their arms and scattered. The second macemen warband was overtaken and cut down. In what seemed like an instand, the field was strewn with wounded and dead Firstborn, as the Trolls herded the few cowed survivors into a ragged line of prisoners.

The surviving Repulsar tried to stand but was still pinned down in a pile of debris. Opposite him, the Goblins had regained some sort of order, but were now faced with the attack of swift horsemen. The light horse flanked the Asp, taking cover in a copse of palm trees, and at the Thane´s command, the Outriders gallopped up and sent a withering rain of bolts into the Goblins. Boulders rained down from the towers´ catapults, killing more. Visibly shaken, the spearmen closed their ranks around their wounded. The Goblin advance was checked by the relentless hail, unable to move, and would soon face a fierce attack from the Firstborn horsemen.

Braving the catapults, the two remaining Myrmadons dashed forward, one carrying the Ogre Khan. From their howdahs, the assault warriors loosed their arrows at the Thane who was frantically trying to keep his routing troops together. Red shafts pierced him and his aide and sent the remaining horseman panicking down the line. A flurry of signals from the Khan´s tower was answered with a nod by the Orc havildar. Brazen signal horns merged with a great shout from the swordsmen. Both warbands surged forward and drew their falchions. The Firstborn rearguard gave, but were caught by the pursuing Orcs. Falchions rang on shields and ripped through flesh as the knights and crossbowmen were overwhelmed. The Firstborn centre had ceased to exist.

The exultant cries of victory died on the Orcs´ lips when, with a great crash, the Myrmadon next to Golgan Khan´s mount toppled against the ridge, its skull smashed by a catapult´s rock. The tower was split open, and with the sound of overripe melons, warriors were dashed against the rock. A single Goblin mahout and a small band of three assault warriors fought clear of the wreckage, dazed and visibly shaken.

Horned Owl:
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TURN THREE

The light horse broke from the woods. Drawing their swords, they spurred their horses into a trot, then into a full gallop, straight at the Goblins´ line. One of the warbands shied away from the spears, but the other crashed into the Goblin archers, who, rather than hold the line, fell back and let themselves be chased down almost to the army standard´s position before surrendering and pleading for mercy.

A huge gap had been opened up in the Asp company´s centre. The Thane had his hornblower signal for general pursuit, but caught up in their own fight, the light horse failed to heed. The only thing that saved the Firstborn cavalry from a vicious counterattack was the fact that the Goblin line was still too stunned to move by the barrage they had received.

Behind the light horse, the Outriders slowly closed on the centre, aiming their powerful crossbows at the victorious Trolls. One Troll stumbled with a leather-fletched bolt embedded deeply in his flank, but the other bolts fell among the prisoners and killed two Firstborn knights. The Blackbloods roared defiance before being forced to duck as the towers´ crossbowmen sent a second shower of bolts their way. The swordsmen were decimated, losing almost half their number and most of their morale.

The Orc archers loosed at the Repulsar´s position. The range was long, but they managed to drive the marksman back into hiding, just as he had worked himself free of the rubble.

As the towers´ catapults had fallen silent, Golgan Khan sent two of his remaining three Myrmadons dashing towards the towers. The wounded Myrmadon limped forward, and the tower´s top swiveled to bring its huge cannon to bear. Another huge explosion belched from the muzzle, and the tower came crashing down – the shot had cracked its foundation with a lucky hit! A mighty cheer went up from the Blackbloods´ host.

Horned Owl:

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TURN FOUR

The light horse rounded up the Goblin captives and beheaded them, drawing slightly back out of range of a possible counterthrust by the Orc havildar´s warband. The other horsemen found their nerve and spurred their horses against the Goblin spearmen and the Asp´s havildar, who gave and were overrun. The Thane gallopped forward to keep up with his men while the remaining Goblin archers were still trying to come to their senses.

Then the Orc archers turned and loosed at the light horse, downing two of them and forcing the rest to duck behind their shields. Another command from the havildar, and the second volley finally caught the Repulsar marksman. Two arrows were turned by his fine armour, but the third struck his neck, and he lost consciousness.

The Earl took command of the Outriders, but they were just able to pin the Trolls down with a new volley. Now the victorious swordsmen were gaining on the Earl´s position. In desperation, the towers´ defenders loosed their crossbows at the swordsmen, halting their advance with a shower of bolts that beat out a terrible peal on the Orcs´ shields and killed two swordsmen. Another tower arced a rock at the Myrmadons which took the tip off a tower but failed to do any damage.

Arrows from the Myrmadons´ assault warriors cleared the nearest towers´ parapets of defenders and forced the remainder to duck. The first towers were ripe to assault, but in the confusion Golgan Khan´s signals were ignored, and the opportunity to follow-up was wasted. The limping Myrmadon´s grapeshot cannon spoke again and turned the Earl and his retinue into a bloody pulp. The Firstborn army banner wavered and fell, ripped by shrapnel in a dozen places. A wounded horse rolled on the ground, frantically kicking its legs, while another, riderless, ran wildly between the lines, its eyes rolling.

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TURN FIVE

The Outriders gallopped up and grabbed the army standard before the Orcs could recover and capture the position. The other Outrider warband loosed at the Trolls and killed one of them. Pinned down, the Trolls could do nothing but weather the hail of bolts. The swordsmen, caught between the outriders and the towers, kneeled and assumed a defensive formation, presenting their shields.

The last spearman warband in the Asp regiment finally shook off its daze and marched threateningly towards the light horse, who now were pinned between the Orc archers and the spears of the Goblins. The Cobra havildar was stern as he ordered his archers to shoot and shoot again. Arrows fell thick as rain, and more horsemen were wounded as they tried to get their horses under control. When the relentless barrage finally let up, only the Thane and his men were still standing. Stunned, he retreated his warband into the palm trees, hoping to evade pursuit.

Before the defenders could recover, the first Myrmadon reached a tower. The foundations shook as the huge metal spike gouged a huge piece off the tower. The catapult crew and some of the crossbowmen were killed or wounded as the roof collapsed. The remainder tried to put up a fight, but assault warriors swarmed across the boarding ramps. The few remaining defenders died on their spears or were taken prisoner.

Horned Owl:

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TURN SIX

The remaining three towers threw everything they had against the Myrmadons, but Golgan Khan had cunningly placed his remaining forces out of sight of most of the garrisons. His own Myrmadon was raked by crossbow bolts (being too close for an effective shot with the catapult), and lost a mahout and an assault warrior. A stone broke the leg of the trailing Myrmadon, immobilising it, but not before its cannon wounded another Outrider with a storm of grapeshot.

Golgan Khan´s Myrmadon barrelled into the next tower, its tusks and spike crashing into the granite wall like a thunderbolt. The tower shook and groaned, then slowly, almost gracefully, it toppled. Most of the defenders, as stunned as the assault troops, perished or were wounded in the fall; only a few battered crossbowmen survived.

The Cobra regiment regrouped. The Goblins were done; one look into their eyes convinced the Orc havildar that the fight had gone out of them. He sent them to collect the wounded and get them towards the rear. The swordsmen had their hands full shaking off the effects of the arrows and get moving again, but the havildar sent one unit of archers to chase off the Thane and the other marching forward to join in the decimation of the Outriders and the towers´ defenders.

Faced with the decision between cutting their prisoners loose and being tied down with guarding them, the Trolls slit the Firstborns´ throats and got ready to charge, but were checked by another volley from the Outriders. A bolt clanged off the leader´s shoulder guard. The other band of Outriders, clutching the legion´s banner, turned their horses and gallopped off towards their own lines while their comrades grimly covered their retreat.

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TURN SEVEN

Golgan Khan slowed his own attack to let the other Myrmadon past. Under his command, the other Myrmadon made a huge sprint and charged the next tower. Down came the boarding ramps, and assault warriors surged into a hail of bolts. Their front rank was mown down, and the rest retreated.

The archers and Outriders exchanged arrows and bolts, with warriors falling on both sides. Then the swordsmen charged the Outriders´ position, and the shaken Firstborn lost their nerve and gave ground. Their swift horses outran the jeering Orcs´ pursuit. But their stand had bought their comrades time to save the banner – with a final burst of speed they disappeared into the hills.

The Orcs´ own standard fluttered victoriously in the breeze. The Thane was now cooped up in the stand of palm trees – the archers covered every exit, and he would have to run a gauntlet of arrows all the way back to his own lines if he tried to break out. The grinning Orc havildar had his warband shoulder spears and march toward the center, where he would be able to organise his regiment into something resembling order.

Horned Owl:
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TURN EIGHT

Renewing their assault, the Myrmadon´s warriors finally broke the defenders´ position and took the tower. The other Firstborn outpost was raked with arrows from the Cobra archers, preventing the defenders from sticking their heads out. The swordsmen warbands started collecting wounded and prisoners. The field was strewn with bodies, some still twitching. Quick thrusts with the Orcs´ long daggers disposed of any Firstborn still alive.

The Thane was still contained in the shadow of the palm trees. The rest of the Outriders fled the field, and the final tower surrendered.

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