The Battle of Three Armies, Part 2
You could try to push your name forward, but there is little point in that. You wouldn't know how to fully utilize all these soldiers of the south properly, not with more study. It's not that you aren't an incapable general, but you've heard of Rommel. He kept his province going against Drachenfels for a good while longer than anyone else would have before Magnus was able to arrive. Quite the fighter, both personally and as a tactician. As such, when many of the southern Elector Counts turn towards him, you do so as well, though you can feel some of your men flick their eyes to you and back before they accept that they won't be fully under your orders for this fight.
He nods, once, and immediately begins barking out orders, sending a wave of activity rippling along the armies assembled. The Reikland, Averland, and Middenland detachments are bunching up for a similar charge as taken by Reiksmarshal Drakenhoff, in order to further relieve the burden on Nuln, while you, Adolf, and Rudolf shall take your forces and follow behind in a thicker wedge, breaking apart the greenskins flanks to prevent them from reassembling again. You, personally, having brought the most cannons and possessing
Foot detachments…get to sit in the back. You're sure that Rommel didn't mean anything by it though it sure does grate to know that you will be at the far back, and are to advance slower than anyone else to allow your cannons 'to be used to their full effectiveness.' At the least everyone looked quite strangely at Urgdug and his small group of Thunderbringers, and a few look honestly outraged at the sight of your female engineers on the cannons. On the one, they don't quite know what to make of the new weapons your engineers have designed, though they
look like cannons, and on the other you have blatantly gone against all normal conventions and allowed
women into your engineer corps. Thankfully Rommel commands enough respect to have everyone ignore their prejudices for a bit while at the same time deferring their own cannon groups to you, so in the end you are in charge of about fifty of them; or seventy five if you count the Thunderbringers.
Rommel opens his mouth to give a speech, so you decide to drink and gird yourself for the grinding slog ahead. Blood has already soaked the grounds outside of Wissenland, the churning of tens of thousands of feet ripping apart the fields of the province into a blood mud swamp. Gulping down some ostka, you spit to the side at the sight of the meat grinder, before shrugging. Urgdug doesn't drink as casually as you, but he does grip his Bull Cannnon just a bit tighter as the energy builds. It always does in situations like this. Looking out across the battlefield now, you are
very happy that you didn't bring Natasha. This far south she would not even be close to useful, bereft entirely of her Ice Magic. But then the energy seems to be building to a point, and you refocus on Rommel.
"-and know that you die gloriously! Now! Sons of the Empire!"
Some of your female engineers snort, others hawking gobs of mucus onto the ground. Clearly, by letting them learn at the feet of a Slayer who is a drunkard by
dwarven standards, something that would be impossible for anyone who wasn't planning on dying as violently as possible, their personalities have been somewhat affected.
"CHARGE!"
(Relieving Nuln, Cavalry Charge 29+12Personal Rommel+WeakenedFlankofEnemy5=46/100)
Oh they do their best. As you order the cannons to begin a scattered firing pattern across the greenskin lines and pull your army about you as a protective shield while the artillery goes to work, you get a nice view of the cavalry charge slamming into the milling backs of the greenskins. They run down the first…maybe five ranks before their momentum slows, and then goblins begin leaping out from the legs of the orcs, accompanied by even smaller goblinoids. The ones called grots you believe. Horseflesh is torn off in gobbets by brutal and savage little claws, whirling orcs realize that they have a foe in their midst that they can actually get at, and a veritable hailstorm of spears and javelins are thrown with the haphazard accuracy and brutish strength of greenskin arms.
But Rommel is not done, nor is he out. The ground
shakes as seventy five cannons tear into the WAAGH! with such volume and devastation as round shot goes bouncing through their lines and striking with enough force to pulp multiple ranks of orcs that the horde cannot possible ignore you. So much so that after a moment many of the stymied cavalry charge's assailants are turning towards you. You can feel the counter charge before it actually happens, in the stamping of orcish feet and wails of the goblins. Rommel whips his head around to see you as the greenskins begin to swarm
past him instead of towards him, toward the artillery which was at the rear of the train.
The soldiers of Stirland and Talabecland grimly align themselves for this, before finding themselves pushed aside as twenty five ogre bulks shove their way to the fore. Urdug roars, and in unison the Thunderbringers unshoulder their weapons, shove shot inside along with a painstakingly memorized amount of gunpowder, and light them. As they do so, a great wave of green bursts from the mass towards you, a river born of an ocean, waving scrap metal weapons and rocks all the while. Piggish red eyes shine with glee at the prospect of getting to grips with your forces, while your ears are forced to tremble under the weighty volume of the iconic greenskin yell.
"WAAAAAAAAAAGH!" they scream.
"RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGHHHH!" Urgdug bellows louder in return.
(We Bring The Thunder! 90/100)
At this close, you can see some of the greenskins ears go 'pop' from the noise of twenty five cannons going off in their faces. You also get to see actual greenskin
bodies go pop. The roar of the Bull Cannons is absolutely immense, and the gore created when twenty five round shots strike a mass of charging
anything is beyond anything you dreamed of. At long distance you had watched bodies be crushed and broken by cannon fire, at close range the effect was magnified to an almost unholy amount.
The greenskin counter charge is not broken. It is one hundred percent
eliminated. The orcs that are not killed instantly are left with mortal chunks torn from their bodies or are flung away so hard that bones shatter. The less said about the goblins the more you'll be able to eat later. The clash that the pikes, halberdiers, and swordsmen had been expecting disappeared in front of them. What few survivors remain are gunned down by the many handgunners you purposefully recruited before coming here. For a moment the greenskins draw back, as a speck of confusion and fear battled for dominance in their thick skulls. Unfortunately the latter rarely percolated a greenskins mind for longer than a few seconds, as they quickly reassert themselves in order to charge again.
That is about the same time as when the Thunderbringers, who had not been affected in the same manner after training for a year with their weapons, fired again without delay. The same change from mass of roaring orcs and goblins to mobile wet chunk filled charnel house is only slightly less instant than before. At this point however, the gunners get into it, unleashing quite a fusillade upon the enemy. Looking up, you see that Rommel has extricated his cavalry and pulled forward to the aegis of Nuln's cannons and magic users, which is great for him, but worse for you as all the greenskins nearby turn to you. By now they have thoroughly been disabused from approaching Nuln itself, so the only open target is…ah.
Luckily you have all these cannons, which you redirect from scatter fire to the groups directly in front of you. You think you hear Rommel redirecting his cavalry to come about and charge back through to try and rescue you, but he won't get here before the orcs do. It's a shame, it really did seem like a good plan, it just sort of fell apart the moment contact was made with the enemy. Which…is the fate of most plans, now that you think about it.
"WAAAGH!"
The ground shakes wildly from the near-simultaneous firing of the cannons, the stampede of the greenskins, and the roars of two armies. You spit to the side, putting away your flask early this time to prevent it from getting destroyed again, and roll
Brain Wounder and your hammer a bit to loosen your shoulders and arms. Urdgug and the Thunderbringers manage a third volley before being forced to back up a bit, while the handgunners do their best to get at least one more shot off. All of it a stopgap, one that just didn't work when the orcs were this close to entering hand to hand combat.
(Clash of Steel and Green 69+11=80/100)
You feel the now familiar sensation of force meeting force. Halberdiers and pikes stab out, impaling and ripping great holes in the enemy, but they are not enough. Too many goblins are small enough and quick enough to dodge around them. Plenty orcs are capable of just accepting or ignoring the fact that they will die of their injuries and push forward regardless. Wolves howl as their riders push them to leap and bite, and through it all, interspersed throughout, are the disgusting and smelly trolls, wielding clubs big enough to knock knights back and forth with ease.
So yes, they make it past the pikes and halberds…initially. Then they meet a line of Ostland swordsmen, Bull Warriors, and ogres. Cannons continue to fire, either towards the enemy directly in front of them or if doing so would result in friendly fire then out into the greater teeming masses. Your runefang cuts an orc nob from shoulder to groin, while your hammer cracks open a goblins skull, and that's the last majorly dramatic 'move' you get to make before you enter that 'timeless' state of battle. When the bodies are so thick around you that you can barely breathe, that from one blink to the next an enemy could be in front of you or no one at all.
Your mind slowly submerges beneath the primal instincts of battle, though you distantly register multiple kills from both of your weapons. The shock along your right arm that occurs when you encounter bone and flesh instead of air on one of your swings or stabs, the muffled ripple through your left forearm as your hammer shatters skulls, slams into throats, or any other number of strikes upon the lightly armored goblins and what few parts of an orc that you can reasonably deal damage to with a one handed blunt weapon.
A few events manage to catch your attention through the crush though the majority of your mind and body is focused on fighting and staying alive.
Urgdug pulped a trolls head with his cannon before wrestling the still flailing body to the ground. With a roar one of his ogres tossed a barrel of cooking oil meant for rations, which was then dumped all about the body and set alight. The Captain then lifted up the now fire covered and still flailing body and threw it vigorously into another troll, igniting that one as well.
Adolf fights a much more conservative battle, but an effective one nonetheless. He stands back, allowing his greatswords to carve a bloody yet protective shell about him, leaping forward to stab faces and bodies with
Stone Breaker. Around him a well-oiled cadre of handgunners carefully sight and unleash their shots with precise direction whenever there is a spot in the fight when they can do so without worry of friendly fire. His remaining eye is like that of an eagle, and with each barked order the Talabeclanders shift as a single group.
Rudolf does his best to fulfill the name of
Orc Hewer. For all that he may not like you for your bettered relations with the Mootland, the grim and stoic personality of a man who directly borders the origin place of the Vampire Wars is a boon on the battlefield. He does not flinch when one of his Greatswords is picked up and swallowed by a troll, instead he only seamlessly moves forward, cuts out the creatures legs from it, stabs and whirls in a flourish from behind opening the things spine and back entirely to open air, and
drags out his Greatsword from the fileted trolls throat before the man reached the stomach. The powerful acids of a troll's stomach are capable of melting just about everything, or so you've heard, and you did not look forward to seeing what it would do to a Greatsword. As it is, the man is dragged back behind your lines to be treated, his already melting armor and weapon stripped and thrown away before his skin is burned down to the bone by what acids already affected him.
Then there is a great bugle call, and as you step atop the now fallen body of an orc, you get to see Rommel charging back through. Except this time, he is accompanied by a far greater force than he had before. For
this one possesses some of the greatest heroes of your time. Loremaster Teclis rides on a magnificent beast, the two elves beside him riding similar pinnacles of equine breeding. Magic burns from their collective staves like the beacons of death they are. Reiksmarshal Drakenhoff raises the runefang of Solland high, unleashing a mighty battle cry as the Reiksguard behind him do the same. Yet in front of them all, in front of Rommel even, is Magnus the Pious.
Clad in the same armor he wore at the Gates of Kislev, he raises the mighty hammer Ghal Maraz to the sky, and you blink as a for a bare second you
swear you see a sort of golden aura surround the Emperor and all those that charge with him. But then it is gone, and you do not know if it is the heat or exhaustion from battle that made you see that. Then the green sea swells again and you lose sight of them, too busy avoiding a blow that would otherwise have disemboweled you. Growling at the chuckling orc, you leap off the body you stood upon with both weapons raised high.
(Relieving Charge 48+12PersonalRommel+Magnus+Teclis+Drakenhoff= 104/100)
You do not have to wait long. Shockwaves erupt from the far side of the greenskin mass, and you see strange lights playing back and forth. Where they go, bodies fall in droves. For a few seconds this comes closer and closer, and then with a visceral explosion of force Magnus the Pious crashes through the enemy, hammer swinging and smashing apart bodies with every strike. Magic strobes back and forth, and green bodies are scorched black, crumble to nothingness, or simply vaporized entirely, there one second and gone the next. The rumors said that whenever Magnus rode out to beat back whatever group of Khornates or greenskins managed to convince themselves to run close enough to Nuln to risk it, that he had obliterated each force. Seeing him now, accompanied by all these warriors, you believe it.
"Stand strong, soldiers of the Empire! You shall not fall this day!"
=====================================================
With Magnus and all those he brought with him, pulling the remaining soldiers of the Empire towards Nuln was trivial. The flanks of the WAAGH! had been destroyed, and though they were now fully aware that the 'Impy boyz' had decided to finally become a challenge, wobbling that many orcs and goblins into making a proper fight of it rather than the ragged bands who noticed the massive Imperial force slowly trundling through their lines. Multiple times it was Urgdug and the Thunderbringers who broke enemy charges, and you could see the considering look in the eyes of your peers as the ogres went about their grisly work. Yes, it did seem silly to give them such powerful weapons, even modified for ease of use by ogre hands. To
them. Down south, the usual ogres that people saw were mercenaries from the Mountains of Mourne. Likely due to Tilea and Estalia being so nearby.
In any case, you soon broke through back to Nuln proper. Unfortunately, the size of the armies were such that shoving them all inside of Nuln would not be a very intelligent or easy affair. Too much space would be needed for different formations, the cramped spaces of the city would remove the main benefit of having so many soldiers in one place by breaking them up too greatly. Instead, you assemble at the front gates, facing outward. The cannons continue to sound off, blowing trenches and furrows into the enemy lines, but they continue to slug it out against the Khornates. You have yet to actually see any of Thorgar's forces, but you can
feel them in your gut, just on the other end of the greater mass of greenskins. More and more of them are turning towards Nuln however, now that theirs an army on the outside of it. In a few minutes, they will have fully brought significant attention upon you. Personally, you are not looking forward to seeing one of those rock giant…
things…rumbling towards you.
As for tactics, you are all drawn together by Magnus, who takes command. Rommel graciously and humbly acquiesces to this, personally apologizing to you, Adolf, and Rudolf. The charge
should have worked, it just didn't this time. He feels that he is responsible for endangering your lives, and bows his head to you before closing his helm fully to conceal his face. It appears he does not like failure, especially when it is his own.
Magnus, ever the diplomat amongst the Elector's, asks for opinions instead of steamrolling over everyone. He
could do that, and easily, which everyone knows is true. But he chooses not to. In the meantime, Teclis stands nearby, and you get the unique experience of feeling the weight of his personal attention falling onto you for a few moments before it drifts away. Aurelion nods at you, though you realize that she does look a bit tired. Understandable, given the fact that they've been fighting for a good long while.
[] The Best Offense Is A Good Defense: By staying back and leveraging your archers, handgunners, cannons, Thunderbringers, and the magical might of the Imperial Wizards and Archmage Aurelion (Apparently Teclis and his male companion must conserve their energies for…something) You can tear great big holes into the enemy lines. Your forces will have to be a bulwark during this, so basically this will be an endurance test. – Supported by Talabecland, Stirland, and Wissenland.
[] The Best Offense Is Offense: With the greenskins still trying to wheel about combat elements to strike your now assembled forces, this is the perfect time to try and keep them off balance. Sally forth with knights and such to crush any attempts by the greenskins to bring their forces to bear on you fully. If done correctly, it will allow the majority of everyone's forces to rest easy while the cavalry takes the brunt of it all. At the opportune moment, say if Gorebash reveals himself or Thorgar does, you can descend on them with a mighty strike. It is the way of greenskins and Chaos that if the head of the snake is slain, the body flails, flees, and dies. – Supported by Reikland, Averland, and Middenland.
[] Something Else: Write-In
Allied Forces:
Army of Ostland/Army of the Forest/Nordland and Ostermark Detachments (85%)
Army of Reikland - Count Present (60%)
Army of Stirland - Count Present (70%)
Army of Averland - Count Present (75 %)
Army of Middenland - Count Present (75%)
Army of Talabecland - Count Present (80%)
Army of Nuln - Count Present (55%)
1 Arch-Lector of Nuln
1 Reiksmarshal Drakenhoff
1 Loremaster Teclis
1 Archmage Aurelion
1 Loremaster Finreir
1 Magnus the Pious, Emperor
Total: 106500
WAAAGH! Gorebash:
Orcs
Savage Orcs
Goblins
Trolls
2 Idols
1 Warboss Gorebash
1 ????
Total: 100,000
Thorgar's Legion:
Marauders
Chaos Warriors
Chaos Knights
Bloodletters
Bloodcrushers of Khorne
Bloodbeasts of Khorne
Flesh Hounds of Khorne
1 Blood Lord Thorgar
1 ????
1 ????
Total: 70,000