Curious how, in your example, said officer is clearly showing up as himself. After all, if he were here as an officer of the army, he wouldn't be alone, would he?
We literally answered "my own" when asked "on who's beard are you here". Literally.
I don't know what more you could want. Of course what we do reflects upon the institution we are a part of, but we clearly have claimed any and all credit to ourselves.
@edit: Well, auto-correcting 'behalf' to 'beard' is surprisingly appropriate.
Curious how, in your example, said officer is clearly showing up as himself. After all, if he were here as an officer of the army, he wouldn't be alone, would he?
Individual officers are sent to serve embedded in other nation's military all the time.
In this case, Mathilde is in charge of five lesser wizards, which is terms of force multipliers pretty much is an army.
This would be the case for all wizards, but from what I recall Grey Wizards more specifically are permitted even less autonomy than normal. They're servants and instruments of the Empire, that's their justification for existing at all, rather than being burned. They aren't considered independent agents. Mathilde shouldn't be here on her own behalf, as she doesn't get to have a behalf of her own.
Adhoc vote count started by Night_stalker on Apr 30, 2018 at 1:14 PM, finished with 18173 posts and 59 votes.
[X] Plan Rout the Enemy
- [X] [Mathilde] Striking at enemy lines wherever they seem most vulnerable
- [X] [Esbern & Seija] With the Demigryph Knights
- [X] [Panoramia] With Ulthar's rangers
- [X] [Maximilian] With Codrin's archers
- [X] [Johann] With the Siege Engine crews
[X] Plan Highly Visible Ninja Wizard
-[X][Mathilde] Striking at enemy lines wherever they seem most vulnerable
-[X][Esbern & Seija] With the Demigryph Knights
-[X][Panoramia] With Titus' skirmishers
-[X][Maximilian] With Codrin's archers
-[X][Johann] With the Siege Engine crews
[X] Plan Wizard Hunter
-[x] Trying to flank the enemy to strike at spellcasters and siege weapons
-[X][Esbern & Seija] With the Demigryph Knights
-[X][Panoramia] With Titus' skirmishers
-[X] [Maximilian] With Titus' skirmishers
-[X][Johann] With the Siege Engine crews
[X]Plan Leeroy
-[X] Mounting your Shadowsteed and fighting with:
- [X] The demigryph knights
-[X] With you
-[X] With Titus' skirmishers
-[X] With Ulthar's rangers
-[X] With the Siege Engine crews
[X] Plan Wizard Shipping
-[X][Mathilde] Striking at enemy lines wherever they seem most vulnerable
-[X][Esbern & Seija] With the Demigryph Knights
-[X][Panoramia] With Codrin's archers
-[X][Maximilian] With Codrin's archers
-[X][Johann] With the Siege Engine crews
[x] Plan Strike Team and Buffs
-[x] {Mathilde} Trying to flank the enemy to strike at spellcasters and siege weapons
-[x] {Esbern and Seija} With the Demigryph Knights
-[x] {Panoramia} With you
-[x] { Johann} With the Siege Engine crews
[X] Plan Specialists to their specialties
-[x] Mathilde: Mounting your Shadowsteed and fighting with:
--[x] The Winter Wolves
-[x] Esbern and Seija: With the Demigryph Knights
-[x] Panoramia: With Ulthar's rangers
-[x] Maximilian: With Codrin's archers
-[x] Johan: With the Siege Engine crews
[x] Plan Gank the Mages
-[x] Trying to flank the enemy to strike at spellcasters and siege weapons
-[X] With you
-[x] With Codrin's archers
-[X] With Ulthar's rangers
-[X] With the Siege Engine crews
[X] Plan Rout the Enemy
- [X] Striking at enemy lines wherever they seem most vulnerable
- [X] With the Demigryph Knights
- [X] With Ulthar's rangers
- [X] With Codrin's archers
- [X] With the Siege Engine crews
[X] Plan Austria
-[X] Mathilde striking at enemy lines wherever they seem most vulnerable
-[X] Amber Wizards with the Demigryph Knights
-[x] Panoramia: With Ulthar's rangers
-[x] Maximilian: With Codrin's archers
-[X] Johann with the Siege Engine crews
[X] Plan Rout the Enemy
- [X] [Mathilde] Striking at enemy lines wherever they seem most vulnerable
- [X] [Esbern & Seija] With the Demigryph Knights
- [X] [Panoramia] With Ulthar's rangers
- [X] [Maximilian] With Codrin's archers
- [X] [Johann] With the Siege Engine crews
[x] Plan Strike Team and Buffs
-[x] Trying to flank the enemy to strike at spellcasters and siege weapons
-[x] Esbern and Seija: With the Demigryph Knights
-[X] With you
-[X] Johann with the Siege Engine crews
[X] Plan Linebreaker
-[X] Joining the fighting wherever it's thickest
--[X] Fighting among dwarves
-[X][Esbern & Seija] With the Demigryph Knights
-[X][Panoramia] With Titus' skirmishers
-[X] [Maximilian] With Titus' skirmishers
-[X][Johann] With the Siege Engine crews
I think that we're in the position of the Flying Tigers in WW2 honestly. A volunteer group that's both part of the government and also not at the same time.
@BoneyM how many favors/gold would it cost for us to set up a residence in Karak Eight Peaks? Nothing fancy, just a backup bolthole/extra lab type thing?
Weirdly, I can see a very touching scene between Belegar and Mathilde about the desire for a secure home of your own. The College twice, Stirland, we've kind of been told "Thanks, but take a hike" a lot.
Actually, officers going of to help, train and even lead other nations armies of thier own accord happened quite alot Irl. Most countries up until the napoleonic wars (and some up to the Victorian era) had a significant proportion of thier officer Corp made up of foreigners.
The whole, officers and generals can't hop around between countries doing as they please is a relatively modern phenomenon.
Prussia had two thirdish of it army and officership made up of hires from the rest of Europe.
Actually, officers going of to help, train and even lead other nations armies of thier own accord happened quite alot Irl. Most countries up until the napoleonic wars (and some up to the Victorian era) had a significant proportion of thier officer Corp made up of foreigners.
The whole, officers and generals can't hop around between countries doing as they please is a relatively modern phenomenon.
Underlying that is another relatively modern phenomenon: until recently, there was much less of a distinction between armies and mercenaries. The Knightly Orders seem a good example of this middle ground - they're not national, but not exactly for hire either.
[*] Plan Rout the Enemy
- [*] [Mathilde] Striking at enemy lines wherever they seem most vulnerable
- [*] [Esbern & Seija] With the Demigryph Knights
- [*] [Panoramia] With Ulthar's rangers
- [*] [Maximilian] With Codrin's archers
- [*] [Johann] With the Siege Engine crews
You have a word with Uthar and Codrin, and the two accept the placement of your journeymanlings within their formation. Esbern and Seija need no introduction, being boisterously welcomed by the knights and their steeds alike. And Johann's position is already won, and he takes it up without trouble, the dwarves having grown used to his presence. The final preparation to be made is placing your familiar with the halfling civilians and telling him to stay put. The next morning when you prepare yourself for battle, you do so alone, and with your weapons and talismans in place you find your way to the assembled leaders.
The East Gate, according to legend, was the site of the final battle of the fall of Karak Eight Peaks, when the last king sealed the armouries, treasuries and tombs and cleared a path out and to Karak Azul for the survivors of the two-century siege. Since then, the narrow valley between Kvinn-Wyr and Karag Nar has been squabbled over, battered down and rebuilt time and time again, and any trace of the original stonework is buried under crudely-carved stone blocks and lashed-together wood festooned with greenskin sigils, and countless crude greenskin hovels are built against the mountain walls. The gates will, no doubt, be utterly swarming with greenskins, as not even the infamous stupidity of the orcs could fail to miss the significance of a dwarven warhost moving down Death Pass.
The army gathers in rough formation; most of the dwarves in the center, rangers and halflings on one flank, manlings on the other. The core of the army is Clan Angrund, so thoroughly clad in runes that your hair stands on end when you approach. Belegar stands at the head of the army, a runic speaking-trumpet in hand to let his voice reach each set of ears of the hundred thousand that have rallied to his call and marched for ten long weeks to reach here.
"Dawi," he calls, and a hush settles on the assembled forces. "For three thousand years, we have been carrying the weight of the greatest grudge of all: the fall of the City of Pillars. For three thousand years, the Karaz Ankor has been shrinking, beset on all sides by enemies - urk and grobi, thaggoraki and uzkular, and countless others. For three thousand years, the Golden Age has slipped further from memory and into myth. So I say to you: not one year more!" There's a low grumble of approval from the dwarves, as weapons are battered against shields and chainmail. "My call to arms was answered by every hold of the Grey and Black Mountains, even those that were founded long after the City of Pillars had fallen. Karak Izor!" A cry of approval from the center. "Karak Hirn!" The rangers call their approval. "Karak Norn, Karak Azagaraz, Karak Angazhar, Karak Gantuk!" Cries answer each, though some from only a few hundred throats. "And not only dwarves answered the call, as we all well know. It is often that the Dawi stand alone, but we do not do so today. Manlings of the God of Wolves, sing out!" Near twenty thousand Ulricans give their battle cries, intermixed with the howl of wolves. "The Emperor Sigmar swore upon Ulric that man and dwarf shall be friends until the end of time, and it is the Ulricans, not the Empire, that honour that oath today. But those are not all: Manlings of the Stir, sing out!" Thousands more voices call out, and the Stirlandian battlecry among the clamour brings memory of battle. "Untold generations in the shadow of the Uzkulaz have forged a hardy people that know no fear in the face of mere grobi. And mirroring the oldest allies of dwarves are the newest, the Halflings of the Moot, who will win for themselves a new home in the cradle of the Eight Peaks!" A final cry, but one you know not to take lightly; the halflings have proven surprisingly savage in battle. "It is a new world we fight in this day. No longer do we live through the long decline of the dwarves. The coming battles will be our crucible, and we will emerge reforged!"
The dwarves appreciate a good metalworking metaphor, and this one is accessible enough that the rest of the crowd understood it, and the cry of approval is long and heartfelt. Then begins the final stretch of the long march: the approach to the Eastern Gates, a long bridge over a deep ravine, the final destination sprouting thousand of greenskin heads as they stare sullenly over the battlements at your approach. The grim tattoo of tens of thousands of feet falling in unison summons more curious heads, and somewhere in the distance a low horn blows.
Far above, the insane cry of a living munition sounds as a goblin is sent skyward by a crude catapult. A small flock of bolts rise to meet it as the creature swoops on crude wings over the army, and this one is impaled mid-flight and tumbles harmlessly into the stone walls flanking the valley. But already a dozen more can be seen, and not all can be intercepted in time, and you avert your eyes as the first of them folds their wings and falls at a literally terminal velocity into a formation of dwarves. The march continues unabated, and the first footfall steps off the bridge and into the valley. The march becomes a charge as the first cannon sounds, and at a thought your jet-black steed begins to gallop.
[Artillery barrage: 46]
The gates are made of sturdy mountain hardwood, and they stand up to the relentless battering of the cannon even as greenskins are shaken loose from the structure. Crude arrows are fired in unaimed volleys of thousands, falling like a terrible rain upon the marching dwarves, and in return bolts and arrows are fired with pinpoint precision, plucking greenskin archers from their positions to fall to their death far below. The cannon volleys traverse upwards, tearing at the greenskin walkways instead of the gates as Belegar and his clan reach the crude structure, and axe and hammer slam home in an outlay of magical energies equal to any you've ever seen.
[A runic battering: 81]
Such is the strength of the combined impact of the runic weapons that the gates are blasted clear off their hinges and fly backwards, magical energies crawling over them in arcs of lightning before earthing on the greenskins gathered behind them. Greenskins scatter in panic to avoid the arcing energies and the falling gates, and into the void pours Clan Angrund, propelled by three thousand years of shame and the promise of redemption. The Gates are built at the narrowest point, and immediately after them the valley widens, and in that area greenskins have been standing waiting: orcs and goblins and trolls and giants and in the centre that rarest of greenskin breeds, the Black Orcs. A great battlecry tears itself from countless greenskin throats, and the strange energies of the Waaagh crackle through the air. Hot on the heels of Clan Angrund are the slayers seeking their own redemptions, and then the forces of Karak Izor, and then you slip through the gates on their heels, your mounted form sticking out from the tide of dwarves. You flinch as greenskin arrows batter against your aethyric armour, feeling no more than the light pressure of drops of rain, and you turn and fire your revolver at the archers clinging to the structure all around you. Each shot claims a life, as even a lightly wounded greenskin is shoved from the battlements by his fellows and falls to be met by the axes and hammers of the dwarves below.
You allow the dwarves to flow around you as you look for any sort of order in the swirling chaos. Battles, you think distractedly, should happen in a flat plain between nice orderly regiments where you could carefully consider the enemy line for defects, but instead there's two almost solid masses of bodies pressing against each other as arrows rain from above. Part of the greenskin-built gantries is torn loose by a barrage of cannonballs and falls nearby, crushing a score of dwarves in an instant, and a score more pour in to fill the void. The noise is deafening, the smell is overpowering, and even your magical senses are drowned out by the runic weapons of Clan Angrund.
[Looking for order in the chaos: Martial, 31+19=50.]
So to hell with it. You reholster your revolver, summon Ulgu to you and shroud yourself in terror, draw your greatsword and allow yourself to rejoin the flow of dwarves, and in a few chaotic seconds you've been propelled into a unit of orcs, and you strike one down as your shadow crushes the life from another. A third orc lashes out and his crude axe smashes against your aethyric armour, driving the wind from you, and a moment later energy lashes out from your runic belt and tears the offending orc almost in two. You only have a moment to catch your breath before more are in front of you, and you lop the head from one before running through a second as your shadow pummels the third, granting the enemy no recourse as the next wave cautiously approaches, and you bisect one with a blow from shoulder to groin as your shadow impales two more, and another orc throws himself forward to throw himself at you but his hasty blow barely glances against your supernaturally-toughened skin.
The orcs hesitate instead of pushing forward once more to fill the void, and they seem on the verge of running when a bellow breaks through the din of battle and the leader of this section of orcs, an overgrown example of an orcish officer known simply as a Boss, pushes through the orcs to take you on. You tighten your grip on your sword and smile grimly as the creature approaches, ignoring the other greenskins who now direct their wrath solely at the dwarves to either side of you; some things are universal, and single combat is one of them. The creature's blows are fast and strong, but you deflect one and allow the other to graze harmlessly off your aethyric armour as you impale him through the chest, your shadow extruding a single thin spear to run him through and prop him up even as you withdraw your blade. The boss tries to pull himself free from the shadowspear but his hands pass straight through it, and your shadow releases him only after he goes limp. The rest of the orcs need no further encouragement to break and try to flee, but pressed in as they are by the crush of greenskins behind them, there's nowhere to run, and they're cut down by their own would-be allies as they try desperately to push through.
Enemy: Orc boyz, two hand weapons
Round 1:
Mathilde charges and thus strikes first.
Mathilde:
3+ to hit: 4 4
2+ to wound: 1 3
Dread Aspect: 1 S5 hit
3+ to wound: 5
Orc Boyz:
One left alive in base-to-base, two assisting from second row.
5+ to hit: 5 6 3 3
5+ to wound: 4 6
4+ Armour save: 1
4+ Shadowsteed save: 3. Mathilde now has 2 Wounds remaining
Rune of Spite, 2+ to wound: 4
Round 2: Challenge? Unit passes leadership, champion decides against it.
Initiative tied, simultaneous attacks.
Mathilde:
3+ to hit: 3 3
2+ to wound: 5 5
Dread Aspect: 3 S4 hits
4+ to wound: 3 1 5
Orc Boyz:
One striking against you, one assisting from second row.
5+ to hit: 3 2 4
Round 3: Challenge? Unit passes leadership, champion decides against it.
Initiative tied, simultaneous attacks.
Mathilde:
3+ to hit: 5 2
3+ to wound: 6
Dread Aspect: 2 S6 hits
2+ to hit: 6 6
Orc Boyz:
One striking against you, two assisting from second row.
5+ to hit: 3 5 4
5+ to wound: 1
Round 4: Challenge? Unit fails leadership, champion manages to rally with a challenge.
Orc Boss with two hand weapons
Initiative tied, simultaneous attacks.
Mathilde:
3+ to hit: 5 2
3+ to wound: 3
Dread Aspect: 1 S1 hit
6+ to wound: 6
Orc Boss:
5+ to hit: 6 3 6
5+ to wound: 3 6
4+ Armour: 2
Boss killed, one wound overflow. Leadership test at -2: failed (3 3).
You use the scant few seconds before the next wave of greenskins pushes forward to take in what you can of the battlefield. All around you the dwarven lines push ceaselessly against the greenskins, and above you archers appear from the chaotic snarl of greenskin constructions to shoot down into the roiling melee only to be picked off by the arrows and quarrels of the Expedition's archers. You scowl in frustration at the chaos of the melee, drawing your revolver and unloading it into a nearby troll, causing it to drop the dwarf it had been about to munch on; one quick reload later, you throw yourself into battle once more at what looks like a buckling of the greenskin lines.
[Looking for order in the chaos, part 2: Martial, 8+19=27.]
[Who are you fighting alongside?: 98]
To your dawning horror, you realize that the lines weren't buckling because of an incipient rout, but because they were being forced to part by the press of the heavily armed and armoured core of the enemy: a unit of Black Orcs, those terribly unnatural creatures that combine greenskin savagery with distinctly un-orcy discipline. Your cry of defiance is matched by one from the Clan Angrund dwarves flanking you, and a moment later the two lines clash in an explosion of violence, one of whom heading for you in particular, standing eye-to-eye with you even though you're on horseback. You parry the flurry of attacks and run the orc through the chest as your shadow reaches out and tears the arms off two more of the brutes, and on your flanks the Clan Angrund dwarves give as good as they get, striking down two even as two of their number are sent flying by terrible blows. Then, with a deafening bellow, the largest Black Orc you've ever seen shoves his way to the fore and calls out a challenge; you're wondering whether you should answer or not when the dwarven lines part and Belegar steps forward. The Clan Angrund dwarves warily eye the line of Black Orcs, but they're as unwilling to tear their eyes from the clash of titans as the dwarves are, and when the two meet all eyes nearby are on them, a small oasis of stillness in the middle of the chaos.
The Warboss approaches with a massive axe in each hand, but the creature is caught unprepared as Belegar lashes out. With supernatural speed, the hammer that gives Belegar the name of Ironhammer catches the unsuspecting Warboss in the stomach, driving him to his knees; a second blow on the chest causes black blood to spill from the orc's lips, and a third blow caves the creature's face in with a crunch that resounds over the din of battle. The warboss collapses forward, and a groan of dismay sounds from the Black Orcs; but they aren't running yet, and the dwarven lines press forward once more and you with them. Your sword crunches against the side of a black orc's face as the dwarves beside you stand firm under a barrage of blows and lash out in return to strike down even more, and the black orcs waver, being unable to hold their own against one mounted manling and a line of dwarves a third their size. Then they're running, and unlike the other orcs, when a black orc runs other greenskins get out of the way. Their flight punches a hole straight through the press of greenskins, and though they're easily able to outstrip Clan Angrund your shadowhorse gives you the advantage in the sprint and in an instant you're among them, laying about you with your sword and causing even greater panic among them. Any hope of their rallying is dashed by your presence among them, and with the warboss dead and the black orcs fleeing the rest of the greenskin forces begin to follow suit. This stage of the assault is all but won.
For this battle, you and the columns to either side of you will be simulated two deep, for a total frontage of 5.
Code:
Clan Angrund Dwarf:
M WS BS S T W I A Ld
3 5 3 5 5 1 2 1 10
Rune Weapon and Shield (effects worked into statline)
Runic Armour (counts as Gromril)
Black Orc:
M WS BS S T W I A Ld
4 4 3 4 4 1 2 1 8
Armed To Da Teef - can choose between Two Hand Weapons, Hand Weapon and Shield, or Great Weapons
Heavy Armour
Choppas (+1S in first combat round)
Round 1: Black Orcs using two hand weapons; simultaneous attacks.
Mathilde:
Hit on 3+: 6 2
Wound on 2+: 5
Dread Aspect: 3 S6 hits
2+ to wound: 6 2 5
Clan Angrund Dwarves:
Hit on 3+: 4 3 5 3
Wound on 3+: 2 3 6 1
Black Orcs, first two target you:
Hit on 4+: 1 2 4 3 4 1 4 6 4 2
Wounds on 4+: 1 4 2 5 5
4+ Armour: 3 5 3
Duel Interlude:
Code:
Belegar Ironhammer
M WS BS S T W I A Ld
3 6 4 4 5 3 4 3 10
The Hammer of Angrund: Always strikes first, +1 to wound
Shield of Defiance: 4+ Ward Save
Gromril Armour
Black Orc Warboss
M WS BS S T W I A Ld
4 7 3 5 5 3 4 4 9
Armed To Da Teef
Choppa
Heavy Armour
Leadership test: 4 3, the Black Orcs remain in the battle
Round 2: Black Orcs using two hand weapons; simultaneous attacks.
Mathilde:
Hit on 3+: 2 6
Wound on 2+: 2
Dread Aspect: 2 S3 Hits
Wound on 5+: 1 4 2
Clan Angrund Dwarves:
Hit on 3+: 2 1 6 3
Wound on 3+: 4 3
Black Orcs, first two target you:
Hit on 4+: 3 1 5 6 5 4 1 4 2 6
Wound on 4+: 1 6 4 5 5 5
3+ Armour: 1 4 6 5 2
Black Orcs lose combat by 1
Leadership roll: 6 4
Black Orcs break!
Flight roll: 6 6
Mathilde's Pursuit: 6 6 4
Clan Angrund Pursuit: 6 1
[ ] Seek and slay bosses and other important targets among the fleeing greenskins
[ ] Take the opportunity to strike down fleeing trolls and giants
[ ] Strike at any of the enemy that look like they might be rallying
[ ] Pursue standard carriers and seize greenskin banners
[ ] Leave well enough alone; rejoin friendly lines
[X] Strike at any of the enemy that look like they might be rallying
I have no Idea what we can really do against trolls and giants. Hamstring them maybe? Other than that I don't fancy our odds against any bosses or have any ideas about banner carriers.
[X] Strike at any of the enemy that look like they might be rallying
I have no Idea what we can really do against trolls and giants. Hamstring them maybe? Other than that I don't fancy our odds against any bosses or have any ideas about banner carriers.
