I don't like that there's no plan for dealing with the Ranaldins, we've kept pushing off dealing with them, for what it seems like no reason. Let's hope this doesn't come and bite us in the ass, this turn.
[X] Plan Setting up Defenses
-[X] Engage with a Noble, Notable or Cult (Count Pfeifraucher of Grissenwald) 1 die
-[X] Family Matters 1 die
-[X] Fortify the Border (Heisenburg Village) 1 die
-[X] Restore the Ranks (The Nuln Ironsides) 1 die
-[X] Restore the Ranks (The Elector's Own Lances) 1 die
-[X] Modify the Company Wagons 1 die
-[X] Riverine Docks (Geschburg) 1 die
-[X] Riverine Docks (City of Nuln) 1 die
-[X] Support the Trantine Canal Project 1 die
-[X] Establish Counteragents (Nuln) 2 dice
[X] Plan Flintlocks
-[X] Family Matters 1 die
-[X] Restore the Ranks (The Nuln Ironsides) 1 die
-[X] Restore the Ranks (The Elector's Own Lances) 1 die
-[X] Modify the Company Wagons 1 die
-[X] Riverine Docks (Geschburg) 1 die
-[X] Riverine Docks (City of Nuln) 1 die
-[X] Support the Trantine Canal Project 1 die
-[X] Develop the Flintlock 4 dice
Electoral Guard
Commander Martial: Grand Count Bismarck von Liebwitz (30)
Unit Rolls: The Greatswords (57), Grand Count Bismarck (43), Baron Johann (72)
Unit Mobility: The Greatswords (+10), Grand Count Bismarck (+16), Baron Johann (+11)
Terrain Modifiers: Glacier (-20 to Infantry)
Army Modifiers: Professionalism (+10 to Iron Companies), Elite Standards (+5 to Greatswords), Unaware (-50)
Resulting Scores:
The Greatswords of the Imperial Palace of Nuln, 42
Grand Count Bismarck, 19
Baron Johann, 43
Necksnapper Tribe
Commander Martial: Orc Warboss (27)
Unit Rolls: Orc Boys (42), Orc Arrer Boys (8), Orc Warboss (3)
Unit Mobility: Orc Boys (+5), Orc Arrer Boys (+5), Orc Warboss (+19)
Terrain Modifiers: Glacier (-20 to Infantry)
Army Modifiers: Disorderly (-10)
Resulting Scores:
Orc Boys, 44
Orc Arrer Boys, 10
Orc Warboss, 29
Passing out from the Dwarf City of Karak Izor proper was a simple affair, the King sending you on your way with a deal hammered out for the upper valley's mining prospects. The surface hold, clinging to the stone as it pierced through the glacier, was navigated with some ease though you were delayed by Baron Johann's need to stop in with a messenger office in the surface hold to receive a report on the canal's current state.
But at last you leave the gates of the hold and go out onto the ice fields around Karak Izor. It is a day and a half by foot to the road that runs through most of the Brenhein Pass, and it is inadvisable to ride while in the ice fields. The glacier shifts throughout the year in cycles that the Dwarfs measure carefully but that are entirely unnoticable on any given day. And it is in the evening the day you leave Karak Izor that the attack happens. Roughly halfway between the City and the Pass.
Orcs cross a rocky ridge to the south-east of you and amidst a hail of arrows the Greatswords drag you and Johann behind them and into some measure of safety. The Greatswords are mostly in full kit, having been trained to travel in a facimile of their full armour to ensure constant readiness, and your journey from Kreutzhofen came with but a single wagon fit for the glacier which contained your own equipment as well as Baron Johann's rifle. Father's Duckfoot was at your hip, and the helm and shield received as dowry before your wedding are under cloth in the back of the wagon. The Dwarfwork of Karak Izor is as much a masterwork when you put it on as it was when you received it and the fact its first sight of battle is within the borders of its creator's kingdom doesn't go unnoted.
Runefangs do not travel without an army, such is the nature of relics with so much history and political legitimacy bound up within them. You've trained of late with Bloodbringer but for a diplomatic visit to Karak Izor you've made do with a standard longsword. Should any of the Orcs come so close... Well you'll probably still go for the Duckfoot first.
With yourself ready you look out across the ice field at the approaching surge of Orcs, a hulking creature leading them across the ice under the cover of their archers though they seem somewhat innaccurate. Certainly no Iron Company of archers, if there still were one, would be so lacking. As they approach the Greatswords push you towards one side of the ice field where a jagged wall of rocks awaits and Baron Johann has already moved away towards them. A wall that should protect the backs of the half a cohort of men intending to hold off against almost three and a half cohorts of Orcs.
A brief thought passes through your mind as you slip across the ice, a gauntleted hand on your shoulder, as to whether the Orcs actually have any standardisation of military unit such as Cohort or Regiment before the obvious answer of no flitters in and brings you back to the approaching battle.
You assess the foe, largely unarmoured with shoddy weapons and small numbers. A local tribe perhaps, degraded by Karak Izor's patrol of the road and too distant to have been drawn into the Waagh! Zurgad down the eastern slopes and a few hundred miles beyond. The sort of small, unstrength group of Orcs that woud be trouble for a trader but should be unable to overcome Imperial Palace Greatswords. If victory feels certain then the question will become, who and how many of the party will die before the Orcs withdraw.
Round 2 - With a Crash
Electoral Guard
Commander Martial: Grand Count Bismarck von Liebwitz (30)
Unit Rolls: The Greatswords (80), Grand Count Bismarck (66), Baron Johann (87)
Unit Melee Defence: The Greatswords (+30), Grand Count Bismarck (+16), Baron Johann (+11)
Terrain Modifiers: Glacier (-20 to Infantry)
Army Modifiers: Professionalism (+10 to Iron Companies), Elite Standards (+5 to Greatswords), Duckfoot (+5 to Grand Count Bismarck)
Resulting Scores:
The Greatswords of the Imperial Palace of Nuln, 135
Grand Count Bismarck, 97
Baron Johann, 108
Necksnapper Tribe
Commander Martial: Orc Warboss (27)
Unit Rolls: Orc Boys (71), Orc Arrer Boys (33), Orc Warboss (21)
Unit Melee Attack: Orc Boys (+15), Orc Warboss (+19)
Unit Ranged Attack: Orc Arrer Boys (+0)
Terrain Modifiers: Glacier (-20 to Infantry)
Army Modifiers: Disorderly (-10)
Resulting Scores:
Orc Boys, 83
Orc Arrer Boys, 30
Orc Warboss, 47
And then the enemy was upon you. Greatswords bracing with their weapons for the initial charge sliding swiftly into great sweeping arcs to buy space with the limps of Orcs. Area control is something a Greatsword is trained in rigorously, not just because of their weapon of choice but also since the primary duty of the Company is the protection of the Electoral Family.
There's not so much direction for you to get to grips with as the nominal commander of the force but there's a tide of greenskins for your duckfoot to tear through. The three barrels kicking at once and sending balls of lead out into the clashing lines as the Orc tribe's warriors encircle the protective barrier of Greatswords. The fighting is fierce in the initial brawling as the Greatswords are distracted by the twin tasks of pushing back the first wave and ensuring that you're kept safe.
Several Greatswords fall, some even still alive simply unable to handle the ice fields underfoot. None of those who fall make it back up to their own two feet however, crushed underfoot or assaulted on the ground. Fortunately the ice fields seem to affect the enemy just as much, if not more, their charge might have been buoyed by the slippy surface perhaps but actual line fighting certainly was not. The difference between trained skill and brute strength is rarely so clear as when ice is involved you note.
Meanwhile Baron Johann has an old hunting rifle. It isn't up to the same standards as the Nuln Rifle currently in use in the Iron Companies but several of the noble families are more familiar with older pieces and can't afford or are simply uninterested in buying new from the School everytime someone invents a slightly new way of doing things.
The long weapon is a touch unwieldy and rather inaccurate, no more so than the Orc's own archers though, and Johann manages to put out a fair rate of fire. Neither of you would pretend however that the battle was being won and fought by anything so much as the Greatswords however. The enemy dead began to mount.
Electoral Guard
Commander Martial: Grand Count Bismarck von Liebwitz (30)
Unit Rolls: The Greatswords (9), Grand Count Bismarck (87), Baron Johann (17)
Unit Melee Defence: The Greatswords (+30), Grand Count Bismarck (+16), Baron Johann (+11)
Terrain Modifiers: Glacier (-20 to Infantry)
Army Modifiers: Professionalism (+10 to Iron Companies), Elite Standards (+5 to Greatswords), Duckfoot (+5 to Grand Count Bismarck)
Resulting Scores:
The Greatswords of the Imperial Palace of Nuln, 64
Grand Count Bismarck, 118
Baron Johann, 38
Necksnapper Tribe
Commander Martial: Orc Warboss (27)
Unit Rolls: Orc Boys (5), Orc Arrer Boys (77), Orc Warboss (2)
Unit Melee Attack: Orc Boys (+15), Orc Warboss (+19)
Unit Ranged Attack: Orc Arrer Boys (+0)
Terrain Modifiers: Glacier (-20 to Infantry)
Army Modifiers: Disorderly (-10), Weak Morale Check (-1)
Resulting Scores:
Orc Boys, 16
Orc Arrer Boys, 73
Orc Warboss, 27
And the enemy was approaching a falter. Blackpowder in large quantities was a weapon in more ways than one. Of course the guns do most of the heavy lifting, but the powder itself inspires fear and confusion and can cause an enemy force to tear itself apart long before casualties actually mount. But two guns, both admittedly older, didn't necessarily have as much of an effect.
Still the ready defence of the Greatswords had pushed the Orcs back, there was space now for the enemy to watch masterful swordplay carve through them and the breathing space only revealed the bloodbath of the inital combat. Alas the enemy Warboss rallied the foe with a cry and the battle continued. The hulking brute drove against the line with enough force, and some measure of Orcish skill, a Greatsword lost there before the beast withdrew and allowed his Orcs to take his place.
One consequence of the added space however was that the Greatswords' travel ready kit was sorely tested. Full armour for a Greatsword was ruinously expensive, as the Imperial Palace well knew since it paid in full for the equipment, but it was also terribly heavy. Greatswords could march in their full kit if there was an expectation of battle. But when travelling they had a travel ready kit which provided less protection but was more easily marched in.
For all their inaccuracy there were about two score or more Orc archers and they couldn't miss forever. Their arrows eventually found gaps, the space between the lines buying the enemy more freedom of fire and the Greatswords began to suffer losses at a more steady rate. The enemy needed to be drawn back into closer combat or driven away utterly. And the latter would happen faster perhaps if the former was achieved first.
A few barked orders and the Greatswords allowed the gap to close slightly, the fight turning into something more of a brawl. Each Greatsword was facing up against two or three Orcs at once for a handful of minutes. A handful great enough for their other duty to come into strife, the Warboss crashing through a gap of his own making. The Ambassador-At-Large swung around with his rifle, a deafening shot pinging against the wall beside you and the Warboss roaring in rage as he turned. A Greatsword challenging him as he charged towards Baron von Kalb and managing to deflect the rush into a flurry of blows.
And then the Baron of Kroppenleben fell. An arrow coming down into a space between the shoulder and the neck. Crumpled on his kness, on the ice and against the rock, it was not long before the chaos of the brawl broke your line of sight on the man. And the next anyone recalls seeing of him, he was already dead.
Electoral Guard
Commander Martial: Grand Count Bismarck von Liebwitz (30)
Unit Rolls: The Greatswords (62), Grand Count Bismarck (91)
Unit Melee Defence: The Greatswords (+30), Grand Count Bismarck (+16)
Terrain Modifiers: Glacier (-20 to Infantry)
Army Modifiers: Professionalism (+10 to Iron Companies), Elite Standards (+5 to Greatswords), Duckfoot (+5 to Grand Count Bismarck)
Resulting Scores:
The Greatswords of the Imperial Palace of Nuln, 117
Grand Count Bismarck, 122
Necksnapper Tribe
Commander Martial: Orc Warboss (27)
Unit Rolls: Orc Boys (24), Orc Arrer Boys (53), Orc Warboss (25)
Unit Melee Attack: Orc Boys (+15), Orc Warboss (+19)
Unit Mobility: Orc Arrer Boys (+5)
Terrain Modifiers: Glacier (-20 to Infantry)
Army Modifiers: Disorderly (-10), Weakened Morale (-2), Army Losses (-6)
Resulting Scores:
Orc Boys, 40
Orc Arrer Boys, 47
Orc Warboss, 33
In the aftermath of that arrow the line shifted around yourself at the heart of things. The Greatswords pressed the line outwards in a sort of oval tight against your flanks but stretching forwards where a few Greatswords stood in the centre ahead of you to ensure they could get in the way of any more stray arrows or attend to you in the worst instance, keeping you out of the chaos.
The pressure imposed by the narrow centrepoint of the line cutting forwards seems to have done something to the Orcs, fracturing some part of their resolve. The Warboss takes a brutal cut to the back of a leg and seems to think better of continuing the fight. Or perhaps he also catches sight of the handful of Orc archers who have given up the battle in favour of picking through the wagon still sat on the ice field in the middle distance. You're uncertain exactly what happened to the horse that was there, you don't recall any Orcs riding horses in military manuals on the topic of Greenskin warfare.
With their fearless leader, pushing his way to the back of the melee and towards the ice fields there's a definite shift in the energy of the enemy. The Orcs are less inclined to push against the Greatswords and losses on both sides begins to drop. The archers are sufficiently distracted by the bellow of the Warboss that the reprieve doesn't result in the same uptick in accuracy that was seen before. Indeed your own Duckfoot's plume of fire and smoke is the most deadly thing on the battlefield for a tense minute.
Electoral Guard
Commander Martial: Grand Count Bismarck von Liebwitz (30)
Unit Rolls: The Greatswords (22), Grand Count Bismarck (62)
Unit Melee Attack: The Greatswords (+30)
Unit Ranged Attack: Grand Count Bismarck (+16)
Terrain Modifiers: Glacier (-20 to Infantry)
Army Modifiers: Professionalism (+10 to Iron Companies), Elite Standards (+5 to Greatswords), Duckfoot (+5 to Grand Count Bismarck)
Resulting Scores:
The Greatswords of the Imperial Palace of Nuln, 77
Grand Count Bismarck, 125
Necksnapper Tribe
Commander Martial: Orc Warboss (27)
Unit Rolls: Orc Boys (93) Orc Warboss (89)
Unit Mobility: Orc Boys (+5), Orc Warboss (+19)
Terrain Modifiers: Glacier (-20 to Infantry)
Army Modifiers: Disorderly (-10), Collapsed Waagh (-50), Army Losses (-8)
Resulting Scores:
Orc Boys, 37
Orc Warboss, 47
And then it all comes to a crashing collapse. The Orcs turn and run. Scrabbling across the ice fields after their Warboss, who is himself chasing after the Orc archers that are a few hundred feet from reaching the eastern rise they had attacked from almost an hour ago. The Greatswords hold their position until the enemy are sufficiently distant, hard taught discipline stoppering vengeful or otherwise bloodthirty or panicked attempts to pursue the last Orcs to disengage.
The ice is stained red, streaks of blood paint the stone wall behind you and the ice fields are chipped and damaged by the fighting. The bodies of the Orcs far outnumber your own, some two hundred at a rough count. Meanwhile the Orcs seem to have slain only one Greatsword for every ten they have lost. Or there abouts. The final assessment of the battle brings the total casualties to some 25 men. Some Greatswords will be brought back to Kreutzhofen and then Nuln to live out the rest of their days as trainers or inspectors or simply as retired veterans since their injuries will allow no return to active duty.
And you will need to stop at Kreutzhofen to see the Priest of Morr there about the remainder, including the Baron of Kroppenleben and Ambassador-At-Large, Baron Johann von Kalb. Scrabbling to your wagon, manhandling it to the road with the injured and the dead aboard and then crossing the Brenhein is no mean feat. A Dwarfen patrol offers their aid, and a second wagon to separate the two groups and at the toll station no toll is taken by the Dwarfs. One of the seriously injured succombs to his wounds while still in the heights of the Brenhein.
24 Imperial Palace Greatswords
Baron Johann von Kalb of Kroppenleben
The loss of Baron Johann von Kalb brings two questions to the Imperial Palace. When a Greatsword dies in service or otherwise is prematurely retired due to injury in active service their family receives a pension. Should the same be offered to the von Kalbs of Kroppenleben?
[] The Greatsword's Pension
Grant the von Kalbs the same pension as a Greatsword's family. A lump sum of 1,000 Marks.
[] A Noble Ransom
Grant the von Kalbs the same value as the Baron would traditionally have been ransomed for. A lump sum of 12,000 Marks.
[] Not a Greatsword
The von Kalbs are not owed a pension, the members of the council do not gain such privileges as part of their position.
The loss of the Ambassador-At-Large also means that there's an empty spot on the council. The Imperial Palace is home to dozens of ambassadors, emissaries and diplomats at any given time from all across the Old World and there needs to be someone overseeing the chaos of the Ambassadorial Wing as well as your own foreign affairs.
[] The New Baron
Baron Velten von Kalb of Kroppenleben is the son of Johann. He is the inheritor of the Barony and since his father died in your service he might have expectations of appeasement in the form of taking on his father's titles and positions in court. Of Johann's son you know little more than the rumours that suggest he is a man of a martial nature with significant tales of a violent temper.
[] Write-In
Select any noteworthy without a position to invite to the Imperial Palace to take on the duties of the Ambassador-At-Large.
[] Leave the seat empty
Replacing Johann von Kalb is not a simple or easy affair and a decision should not be made in haste. Leave the seat empty and perhaps in the Summer you will reach out for other options to take on the task of Ambassador-At-Large.
[X] Leave the seat empty
[X] A Noble Ransom
We need to find a good one that has Diplomacy as there main skill, so his son with martial nature and violent temper will not do
That battle was pretty one sided on our losses, but losing greatswords and a skilled Baron advisor is not good. A group of low levels are easier to lose than people with this much skill, as cold as it is
I don't mind that much, this isn't really a Warhammer novel, and the characters here aren't legendary characters that can duel orc war bosses by themselves. For the most part, they're just regular mortals in positions of power, so it isn't that much of a surprise that a lucky arrow would kill someone on a battlefield, hell if the archers rolled high enough into a critical they may've gravely injured/killed our MC. Just goes to show how dangerous this world is even if you're in a high position of power, kinda like how Warhammer RP usually goes.
Did we, our MC's description did say that they were just some low-level local tribe not a part of the main WAGG!!!, but then again we did face an ENTIRE TRIBE of orcs outnumbered 3:1 while ambushed and fighting in a snowstorm, so yeah I guess this could spin well for our propaganda when looking to replenish the greatswords. Just wish it didn't cost us an ambassador and a quarter of our most elite troops.
