Merry Christmas 2015

Found this figure amongst some stuff I'd bought a few years back and finally got around to finishing him on Christmas Eve.

I am sure I can squeeze him into a WW2 Game somewhere over the festive period!

As Winter sets in

The quest to unleash the denizens of the dark underworld seemed an insurmountable task. At every turn, and despite a myriad of deceptions being played out, Count Bartholomew's campaign on the mainland had been a fruitless endeavour. The Obdsidian Mausoleum lay in ruins and the forces of the undead had been forced back to Salemere. There were even rumours that the enslaved human populace was becoming restless. Numerous villages on the island had begun to refuse their tax collections and there had even been minor skirmishes between villagers and the Count's Thralls and Revenants.

Militarily the Count could barely pull together a coherent force to defend the Castle let alone police the island. What remained of the Obsidian Order was trapped on the mainland living like fugitives; constantly harried by the Orcs and was probably by now not much of a fighting force.

Bartholomew's one hope lay in his Daughter, the new Queen of  Moulebourg. Her allegiance to the Count was still unknown to the Orcs, however the involvement of the mercenary Dark Elf force which had despatched of the Orc Garrison at Moulebourg so efficiently had come at a steep price; so steep that the coffers were almost empty. The only Liche capable of raising a new and more powerful undead horde was unlikely to be found with such a shortfall of funds.

Back on the mainland, the spoils of war were no fairer on the Orcs of Kragonia. The scorched earth of the wastelands and the horrific casualties sustained in defeating the undead were further compounded by the winter months beginning to set in. Despite these reverses, Knabadug remained defiant continuing to take the fight to the remnants of the Obsidian Order. The Despoiler could proudly boast that other than the Kingdom of the Dwarves (whom no-one had seen or heard from in decades) the remainder of the mainland was now effectively ruled by or subserviant to Kragonia.

The new Kingdom of Moulebourg would need to be watched carefully by Knabadug. No understandable reason had emerged as to what had happened to the Orc Garrison there and the Orc Chieftain was acutely aware that the new monarchs still controlled other renegade Taurian Warbands in the Timberlands. Whilst he could not justify releasing another Orc Legion to Garrison Moulebourg, Knabadug knew that by sending the Goblins back to their enclave he could ensure that Windrider would toe the line with such a powerful Orc ally deployed in what was primarily his own back garden.

As Winter began to set in, the leaders on all sides of the conflict sat back to plan their next moves whilst in the far North East the dull rumbling of something from beneath the ground continued to play a tune like far off thunder.

Dark Ages Irish Fianna

The first four Fianna for my Irish Warband. A bit too heavily armoured for my liking but nonetheless nice figures.

Dark Age Irish Kerns

Some Kerns to join the burgeoning Irish warband.

With the sea at their backs

From their vantage point within the Resurrection Tower, the shadowy figures of Firian Delacroix and Eulisses Cane surveyed the battle lines of the Alliance forces spread out across the featureless plains. Despite the early hour of the day, the temperature was beginning to bake the arid expanse casting a shimmering haze over the battlefield. Troop movements within the Orc lines were clearly visible as dust clouds drifted into the sea breeze from thousands of Orc boots.

Throughout the night reinforcements from Salemere had arrived and had slipped into the desolate town of Camon. Delacroix and Cane were joined by the reinforcements commander, a grizzled, burly figure known as Zane Le Rouge who brought encouraging news direct from Count Bartholomew - the Orc Garrison marching from Praemegoth had been intercepted and destroyed less than a league into their march.

Though outnumbered Delacroix was confident in the strength of the Order. Cane had bolstered the resilience of the Orders Warriors by perfecting their regeneration abilities and Le Rouge's command was proficient in skirmish tactics which would be perfect for holding the town and securing the port.

The Obsidian Mausoleum Force
Undead Lord (1d6) Firian Delacroix, Liche (1d6+2) Eulisses Cane, 1x Crossbow unit, 1x Archer unit, 4x Warrior Units (with regeneration)
498 points

Le Rouge's Undead Horde from Salemere
Undead Lord (1d6) Zane Le Rouge, Necromancer (1d6-1), 1x Crossbow unit (skirmishers), 1x Archer unit (Skirmishers), 3x Warrior Units (skirmishers), 1x Ballistae (defensive)
461 points

Undead Battle Plan
The Obsidian Mausoleum force would naturally seek to defend the Resurrection Tower whilst Le Rouge's troops would seek to defend the twon of Camon protecting the vital port from capture.

Kragonian Orcs
Chieftain 1d6+2 (Knabadug the Despoiler) (Fierce), Shaman 1d6+1, 4x Warriors (Fierce), 2x Archers, 2x Wolf Riders (Skirmishers), 1x Giant
526 points

Yhn Enclave
Chieftain 1d6+2 (Henk) (Fierce), 2x Archers, 3x Warriors (Fierce), 1x Wolf Rider (Skirmish), 1x Giant, 1x Giant Spider, 1x Bolt Shooter
461 points

Alliance Battle Plan
Although confident that he held numerical superiority, Knabadug is no fool and knows that the true strength of the undead lies in defensive capabilities. His plan is to make a cautious approach using skirmishers to probe the defences at the Mausoleum and in probing the apparently deserted town of Camon.

Once he knows the true disposition of the enemy then his main battle lines will seek to press home their advantage by pushing back the undead into the sea at their backs.

The battlefield from the Alliance Lines. The Obsidian Mausoleum
and Resurrection Tower on the left and the ruinous town of Camon on the right.
The coastal road runs S - N through the town to the docks.

The view into Camon.
Troop movement can just be made out within the ruins

Henk's Goblins from the Yhn Enclave have the daunting task
of toppling Eulisses Cane from the Resurrection Tower

Le Rouge's reinforcements take up positions in the town

Delacroix's command flank the Mausoleum. Eulisses Cane enters
the Resurrection Tower from where he can rain fire
bolts down upon the enemy

Le Rouge's troop disposition in Camon.

Knabadug the Despoilers command

Goblins of the Yhn Enclave

The Yhn Enclave begins it's advance on the Resurrection Tower

Skirmishers of Knabadugs command skirt the edges of Camon

The Despoiler advances rapidly towards the ruins

Le Rouge's response is tardy. Command and Control problems
fighting in built up areas!

As Henk's Archers creep forward, Eulisses Cane lets rip with the
first of a series of fire-bolts from the tower

The Kragonians exchange missile fire with Le Rouge's skirmish screen

On the extreme right flank a melee breaks out between Skeleton Warriors
and Wolf Riders. Le Rouge has a commanding view of the struggle
from the upper floor of an adjacent building

The archery duel near the monument as more Kragonian Infantry
probe the ruins for the enemy

On the extreme left flank another melee breaks out between skirmishers.
There is something different about the undead horde defending the Mausoleum.
No sooner are skeleton warrior slain, than new warriors  rise to take their place......

Cagey street fighting as both sides skirmishers seek to gain advantage

With Le Rouge's skirmishers beaten back, fierce hand to hand combat
breaks out as the Kragonian's charge headlong at the enemy

The view of the battlefield after several turns. The Kragonians have broken into
Camon and long range missile duels have broken out around the Mausoleum.
If Henk can bring his bolt shooters to bear, the Order of the Obsidian Mausoleum
could be in big trouble

The missile duel at the Mausoleum continues

The Kragonians fight house to house but the going is tough.

The skirmishing spiders and Wolf Riders are losing out to the Skeleton Warriors
but cracks begin to show along the Undead Missile line

Whilst Wolf Riders hold back a support attack from the Obsidian Order,
the Kragonian Shaman gets in on the fire-bolt act

Nasty little hand to hand battles see casualties mount on both sides

With pressure mounting on the Enclave's flank attack, Eulisses Cane throws
more fire-bolts towards Henk's line

Kragonia's Shaman throws his muscle behind the close quarter fighting

And Likewise, Le Rouge's Necromancer boosts
the fighting capabilties of the undead

Enclave firepower begins to tell

The city fight spreads as more and more Kragonians enter the fray

Add caption

Kragonias Shaman unleashes more magical firepower
whittling down the undead numbers

The missile duel at the tower continues.

With their first wave beaten back, The Despoiler throws
the Giants into the fight who charge the ballistae. Kragonian
Archers keep the undead warriors honest - pinning them back
within buildings so they cannot influence the fight

Eulisses Cane finally finds his range unleashing hell within the Enclave ranks

Shaman and Necromancers unleash firebolts like there is no tommorow!

Despite many units being close to breaking, Henk does a masterful job
behind the lines rallying broken units and flinging them back into line.
The Resurrection Tower, whilst impressive is beginning to crumble
under the weight of fire from the heavy bolts

The Kragonian second wave of assaults go in through the streets of Camon

The magical fire from the Tower keeps hitting the Goblins who time after time
manage to avoid breaking by making their saving throws

The street fighting in Camon reaches it's peak as both Le Rouge and
his Necromancer both become embroiled in hand to hand fighting.

Giants from the Yhn Enclave crash into the Obsidian Battle line
but without support and the Obsidians figthing strength being boosted
by arcane magic (not to mention supporting fire from Crossbowmen)
the fight is a tad one sided

Despite individual heroics, the fighting strength of the undead in Camon
is wilting. The Despoiler has done a fantastic job of rallying broken units
and pushing them back into the fray

With the tower crumbling all around him and bleeding profusely from
multiple wounds, Eulisses Cane makes for the rear.
The order, barely scathed despite hours of battle protect his retreat.

Undead heroics in the town peter out as Kragonian numbers
swarm forward to join the fight

With the town in the hands of the Despoiler and the Obdidian Order
in full retreat the Alliance secures another victory, but at a terrible cost......

The town is secure and the Resurrection Tower lies in ruins. The Undead of Salemere have perished and the Obsidian Order is in full retreat towards the coast.

Despite securing both their objectives, the Armies of the Alliance (particularly the Goblins of the Yhn Enclave) are in no state to pursue their enemy. All but two of Henk's units have been decimated and two thirds of the Despoilers forces are below half strength such was the ferocity of the Undead's defence.

The Regeneration ability of the Obsidian Order made the difference ensuring the Enclave paid a bitterly high price for their victory. Only some outstanding rallying by Henk and by Knabadug kept the Alliance in the fight. Had the Undead of Salemere made better progress through the town with their skirmish ability the Kragonians might have paid an even higher price.

Irish Curadh and Family

I fancied a change today from all things Warband and dug out some 28mm Dark Ages Irish I have had knocking about which I originally bought for SAGA.

Having played a couple of Dark Ages games of Lion Rampant, I've been inspired to dig these out an make a start.

A 'pleasant' little family group shot of a Curadh, his wife carrying a bairn, his teenage son and two wee whippersnappers all armed up with rocks to throw at the Vikings....