Winning Vote
You curse loudly before running up the hill towards the embattled artillery.
As you run up, you take stock of the situation ahead of you.
(Roll, Miners vs Demons: 2 +10[Runic Picks] =12 vs 46 +15[Bloody Strength] =61)
It is carnage.
The miners held in reserve are being decimated wholesale by the swarm of Khornate daemons spawning in their midst. A battle line cannot form in this madness, and with no shields to defend them the miners are dangerously exposed.
Desperately you look to the quarrellers and release a small sigh of relief
(Roll, Quarrellers vs Daemons: 29 +5[Runic aid] =34 vs 12 +15[Bloody Strength] =27)
The fighting is ugly but in their favour. Their Thane having led a charge with his honour guard, giving his clansmen time to form up into a shield wall. It leaves the Thane and his men smack in the middle of a horde of daemons however.
This wouldn't do.
(Roll, Wrath and Ruin: 74 +30[Runelord] =104)
As you run past the quarrellers, cleaving your way through daemons on the way, you tap your axe and bring ruination upon the daemons assaulting the Thane and his bodyguard. The sudden increase in weight and broken limbs among the daemons giving the isolated dwarfs reprieve and his clansmen the ability to break through and reach him.
You look back and nod at them before continuing on.
Again and again, you cast the Runes, strengthening isolated pockets of beleaguered Dawi and smiting daemons as you make your mad dash up the hill and towards the uncontested portal.
(Roll, Reform the line: 46 +15[Turning Tide] +15[Inspiring Runelord] =76)
Though you are far from it, you hear cheers and shouting. Thanes ordering the line be reformed through the din of battle and to march towards the portal.
You cannot wait for them however. The longer that portal stays active, the less tenable this situation is.
(Roll, Runesmith Casualties: 2)
As you run past the dead you take note of the sight of two young runesmiths lying still in the bloody snow, and take a small detour to wipe out the daemons encroaching on their bodies before having to move on. This battle was taking its toll.
...
Eventually, you find yourself at the hill's apex, the portal only 15 meters from you, cut off from the rest of the throng when the trap is sprung.
A bit of a shoddy trap, to be honest, didn't even try to hide its purpose, then again you sprung it anyway so the bait was at least solid.
The portal edge runs red with dripping blood, the air crackles as 7 of the largest Bloodletters you've seen in your (considerably long thank you) life jump out one after the other.
They look familiar.
"YOU!" one screams.
A towering daemon bursts out of the forge.
"WE REMEMBER YOU," a second continues.
-a jagged line down her torso, then kicks her into another building.
"
MURDERER."
Hate and anger.
"
KILLER."
You swing, an arm breaks. A scream.
"ONCE WE WERE EIGHT, NOW. WE. ARE.
REDUCED!
BECAUSE OF YOU."
-metal clad fist breaking bones and bruising flesh
"
WE, THE BROKEN BAND WILL HAVE VENGEANCE."
A hand falls limp.
"YOUR SKULL WILL ADORN HIS THRONE ALONGSIDE YOUR WIFE!"
You very nearly break the handle of your axe again.
Now you know, now you
remember, who they are. You know what one of them
did, and now you have a chance to exact vengeance sevenfold.
(Roll, Snorri Vs The Broken Band: 52 +15[
Really Old Grumbler] +15[Old Grief Renewed] =82 vs. 2 +20[Heralds of Khorne] =22)
"Get out of my way," you whisper as you charge them with a speed you never knew you had.
"Get! Out! of! My! Way!" You bellow each word in between your attacks, slaughtering a Herald with ease. Your axe digging into the head of the one you just killed, lifting it up then throwing it at another.
You run over to the fallen Herald, smash its head in with your hammer while your axe breaks the blade blocking it, finding purchase in another daemon's chest.
Three down.
The remaining four charge you as one, finally reacting.
It does not save them.
A shove into one, pushing it onto its ally while your arm carries through and the axe disembowels it, four. You continue your movement, your body still turning so that you slice off an arm and pulp a leg as your weapons follow through. The heralds try to reform, to coordinate an assault against you.
You do not let them.
You axe beheads the limping one, five. Your hammer caves in the chest of another, six. Then with a furious bellow, you charge the last Herald head down, goring him with the horns of your helm, seven.
You are twelve meters from the portal.
(Roll, Wave 2: 7 Sacred plague interrupt!)
The blood begins to turn black and sluggish, putrid green light burns and a host of plaguebearers and nurglings come for you.
(Roll, Snorri Vs Nurgle: 89 +15[
Really Old Grumbler] +15[Old Grief Renewed] =119 vs 11 +15[Bloated Fortitude] =26)
They die.
Eight meters.
(Roll, Wave 3: 5, eh close enough)
As if sensing its impending doom the portal wavers as it shimmers pink, only five of Slaanesh's Heralds dance out of the nothingness this time.
You begin your charge.
(Roll, Snorri vs Slaanesh: 3 +15[
Really Old Grumbler] +15[Old Grief Renewed] =33 vs 90 +10[Unnatural Grace] =100)
(Roll, Daemonward: 85)
Only to hear a screech of pain as the runes on your cloak burn an angry blue. You spin around immediately in retaliation, your axe glancing off the 6th Dancer's blade.
"You were loved~" the others heralds sing in a chorus.
"We will enjoy destroying it~" the one who tried to ambush you says.
You snort.
They come at you at once.
(Roll, Snorri Vs Slaanesh round 2: 24 + 30[Its getting tedious to list the buffs] =54 vs 31 +10[Dancin Daemons Batman] =41)
You'll give them this.
They were better than the nurglites earlier.
You're using both arms at
once for this one.
The daemonettes prance around you, claws and stingers jabbing at you at seeming random. It takes you a second more than you'd like, but you eventually figure it out well enough to literally disarm one of the daemons as they come in for a stab.
Ancestors you hate fighting slaaneshi.
(Roll, Snorri Vs Slaanesh round 3: 80 + 30[Real Angry Old Grumbler] =110 vs 57 +10[Dancin Daemons Batman] =67)
To an outsider it seems like all you're doing is blocking the strikes as they come at you, only reacting to the attacks instead of doing any attacking yourself. The slaaneshi seem to be of the same mind, their infernal giggles growing louder and suddenly the 6 of them jump you at once.
Fools.
With the skill and wisdom only age can give, you duck low, dodging the first dancer even as you raise your axe so that it cuts through her straight down the center. Both halves flying into her fellows, colliding in midair. With a burst of speed that surprises the demons, you quickly end the two downed daemonettes, turning to face the surviving trio, blood sizzling off your still glowing hammer.
Screeching, the three of them come at you, and you are only too happy to oblige.
(Roll, Snorri Vs Slaanesh round 4: 96 + 30[Real Angry Old Grumbler] =126 vs 92 +10[Dancin Daemons Batman] =102)
It seems the daemons have upped their game. The flurry of blows you exchange is devastating. The daemonettes dodge and weave with increasing speed, always a hair's length away from the edge of your axe and hammer. Meanwhile, your Gromril plate lives up to its name, enduring the flurry of piercing blows with nary a scratch, the runes of your cloak burning intermittently to the slaaneshis' anger.
It seems that the melee could go on forever if not for one reason.
The Slaaneshi must dodge every time.
You need only hit once.
It comes suddenly, the second you understand this frantic new pattern, an axe swings out suddenly and out of nowhere, bisecting one of the daemonettes.
Two left.
(Roll, Snorri Vs Slaanesh round 5: 70 + 30[Real Angry Old Grumbler] =100 vs 20 +10[Dancin Daemons Batman] =30)
The other two grow panicky, attacking you with frantic energy, their dances become unhinged, the patterns obvious.
Shoddy.
It does not take long for you to finish it.
You are four meters from the portal.
(Roll, Wave 4 Final Wave: 4 +2[angry troll] =6)
(Roll 1d2, does he arrive?: 1)
The portal goes blue and the get of Tzeentch flood out like a tide. Horrors drop onto the ground and roar at you, while screamers and flamers circle overhead.
But the portal isn't finished.
Grasping hands that seemingly come from nowhere, pull and tear at its edges, widening the gap until it stands a good ten meters from the ground and four meters from end to end.
Something that could actually pose a challenge then.
You watch warily, one eye still on the slowly encircling horde of daemons, as the multihued light of the portal shifts and turns pitch black. Slowly, a voice calls out from the other side, deep and grating to the ears.
"
Do you know..how much of a BOTHER
you've been? How much you've meddled with my plans?"
You stay silent, glaring at the void.
"
Not even a word? Well then. Here I come~"
A furred arm reaches out, spindly and weak, and grabs the edge of the portal. You watch as a great cloven hoof steps out, the sound of something heavy and metal being dragged across stone starts wracking your ears. The side of a torso appears next, rippling with fur and muscle, in stark contrast to the gangly feathered arm it is attached to. The daemon crouches, the portal too small for it, bending down before revealing the head of something that was once a troll. A snout brimming with jagged, arm-length teeth smiles down at you. A set of baleful red eyes staring straight into your flinty black irises, as long, swept-back horns slowly pull themselves out, the ends rising up to meet the other. Then finally, the other arm appears, a great bulging mass of muscle and fur that drags a blade of brass through.
All of this does not faze you.
What makes you break out into a sneer of such ugly proportions that it could make even a Longbeard wince however, is the crude armour chained to its body. The telltale signs that it has
despoiled the bodies of your kin, fashioning a set of torn plates and chains to protect itself, and on its back a sack made of skin and torn cloth, bulging with what is likely yet more Dwarfen property.
It looks down at you, even hunched as it is, from ten meters in the air.
"
Your plate. I want it. Your axe, I want it. All of your possessions, are mine, I will take them from you all and feast on the flesh for many moons." it says in its guttural voice, greed evident.
"Come and take it then, if you think you're hard enough," you snarl back.
…
(Roll, The Front: 57 +10[Faltering Trolls] =67)
(Roll, The Reserve: 39 +15[Reformed Line] =54)
Things had finally stabilized. Lord Snorri's Runes and elimination of the western portals allowed the left most Longbeards to recuperate and the warriors to swing around and pressure the trolls. From the reports the runners brought you, the demons at the rear were pressing hard, but the reserves were holding firm for now.
"Thane Otrek! News from the backlines!" A messenger shouts as they run towards you.
"Get it out then!" you bellow as you swing your axe, beheading another troll.
"Lord Snorri has charged up the hill where the artillery were Thane, last reports see him closing on the portal before a horde of demons blocked sight of him."
"BAH!" you shout, moving the runner aside and killing the troll about to grab him, "keep your wits about you beardling, this isn't a tavern!"
You ignore his apology, turning to your second.
"ORREK! Who do we have left in reserve?"
"My thane!" the man shouts as he crumples a troll's chest in with his hammer, "Some 200 hundred miners, about 80 quarrellers and the Longbeards on the Left Flank are fresh enough to get back into things!" he concludes before swinging his war hammer at an Ice Troll's scalp.
You imagine the battle in your mind's eye, shouting for a rotation as you do so. You pat the shoulder of one of your honour guards as they rush into the fray.
The left flank was secure, the rear was holding but you weren't sure for how long, and the right was slowly inching its way towards the remaining portals.
If you bring the reserves here you could undoubtedly swing the right flank to an easier victory, mopping up the front and turning back to assist the rearguard. Of course, this relied on the rearguard holding long enough for you to arrive. There was of course the-
(70 vs 71)
(Roll, A Nasty Surprise vs Runic Retaliation: 84 +10[Fel Energizing] =94 vs 15 +10[Runic Might] -5[Flagging Numbers] =20)
-"MORE DAEMONS!" a dwarf yells.
You turn suddenly, seeing the giggling forms of daemonettes grab at the edges of the portals and pull them apart further. Allowing more of their kind into the world.
The remaining runesmiths try to counteract their efforts, but before they do so are pushed back as the trolls suddenly press their lack of attention.
You can only bellow for the front to brace as the Longbeards take on the oncoming tide of slaaneshi.
(Roll, Old Grumblers Vs Daemonettes: 21 +10[Old Grumblers] +5[Braced] =36 vs 54 +10[Unnatural Grace] =64)
And are pushed back. Piercing claws and grasping pincers breaking through even their thick heavy armour.
The right flank loses its momentum, their slow push turning into a bitter stalemate.
The situation has grown even more complex.
Where you do send reinforcements?
[ ]Rear: Who?
[ ]Right: Who?
Note you have 200 Miners, 100 Longbeards and 80 quarrelers still in reserve.
Tactical Situation from Otrek's perspective:
Right Flank: Stalled
Rearguard: Holding, but unsure for how long.
EDIT: VOTE BY PLAN PLEASE.
AN: We're in the endgame now. Sorta funny that the vote is basically the same as the last one. :^I
Anywho, C&C and thanks for reading :^) Not an especially big fan of how this ended but the dice are what the dice are.
Last battle turn will DEFINITELY happen today, then the results. 
