Betrayal at the Border (Chaos Wars Battle Report)
"Marshal always said 'Trust your fellow Man and little else.' and sure enough, he was right. Damn Elves! We'd heard reports that a large force from somewhere was moving up from the coast. We figured the damn Bestials had somehow captured boats and had made a landing. But no.. it was Elves!
In Blue and Green, but these were different -- they had bronze weapons and ocean creatures... on land somehow! Seeing that huge squid and underwater dragon was a shock. We ran into the fort and prayed the Marshal would arrive in time..."
On 25 Summer, 59 AD, a small outpost inland from the southern coast of the Southron Duchy came under a surprise assault by the Sea Elf King Orenal. The King had managed to persuade a few Land Elves to join his cause, and together, they sought to establish a beachhead. The Land Elves told the Orenal about the Southron fort nearby and the King led a force to overrun it.
The Marshal had been told of a mysterious army that had landed "somewhere" along the coast, but he was unable to find them. His forces were stretched thin and his response to the attack on the outpost was definitely disorganized!
King Orenal arranged his forces in a typical Sea Elf line. Meanwhile the few troops of the Southron 14th Regulars looked in shock at the large foreign army approaching them.
King Orenal moved his forces aggressively towards the humans. The Southron forces moved their archers and catapult inside the outpost and closed the doors. The palisade provided them with a great deal of protection, while allowing them to rain missile fire down on the advancing army. Spear infantry and swordsmen braced themselves for the assault which came quickly.
To the left, the Southron spearmen were crushed quickly by Orenal's infantry, which left the palisade walls free to the enemy! On the right, the 14th Swordsmen attempted to stop a cavalry flank, leaving the 14th Auxilary - mostly militia and conscripts - to hold of what was Orenal's finest troops - his pikemen!
Soon enough, Southron reinforcements appear! The Marshal had sent his second-in-command, Second James Relee, along with the mage Nimarco and cavalry. Upon seeing the army commander take to the field, King Orenal called out a challenge!
"O enemy of mine, I challenge thee to a duel before our forces, so that I might crush thee and thine under my heel! Stand forth and deliver!"
The duel was inconclusive, with the skilled Relee dodging Orenal's swings but only causing light wounds in return. Once the duel ended, the attack resumed!
The swordsmen were routed by the hard charging Sea Elf cavarly and a flank attack by Sea Elven infantry. The 14th Auxiliary, bolstered by the 14th Regulars Cavalry charging next to them, were quickly enveloped and overwhelmed. Orenal's troops delivered devestating attacks and counterattacks, with the King himself leading the way.
Finally, the 14th Heavy Infantry arrived, just as the last of the other 14th infantry and cavalry fell. Second Relee was killed facing down Orenal's troops. Despite the heavy opposition, the Southron forces in the palisade had managed to defend the outpost against troops and an attacking Kraken with minimal losses! The swordsmen had finally regained their mettle and were turning to re-engage.
The battle ended with the Southron forces heavily opposed by the Sea Elves, but managing to keep command of the outpost! Orenal's attack had been blunted, although he still had the majority of his troops left.
I ran this game on Sunday morning at Little Wars. I had a full table and a couple of players who had played Chaos Wars a long time ago when they were called "Rules by Ral"!
I unfortunately did not take as many pictures! Boo!
I felt bad for the human players. One of the players had so many bad rolls, he really started to get upset. It wasn't until he pulled out dice that he hadn't touched for a year that he begin to roll better! By then, though, the battle was mostly over and the humans had been severely mauled. It probably would have come down to whether the forces in the palisade could hold out and kill enough of Orenal's troops.
In Blue and Green, but these were different -- they had bronze weapons and ocean creatures... on land somehow! Seeing that huge squid and underwater dragon was a shock. We ran into the fort and prayed the Marshal would arrive in time..."
On 25 Summer, 59 AD, a small outpost inland from the southern coast of the Southron Duchy came under a surprise assault by the Sea Elf King Orenal. The King had managed to persuade a few Land Elves to join his cause, and together, they sought to establish a beachhead. The Land Elves told the Orenal about the Southron fort nearby and the King led a force to overrun it.
The Marshal had been told of a mysterious army that had landed "somewhere" along the coast, but he was unable to find them. His forces were stretched thin and his response to the attack on the outpost was definitely disorganized!
King Orenal arranged his forces in a typical Sea Elf line. Meanwhile the few troops of the Southron 14th Regulars looked in shock at the large foreign army approaching them.
King Orenal moved his forces aggressively towards the humans. The Southron forces moved their archers and catapult inside the outpost and closed the doors. The palisade provided them with a great deal of protection, while allowing them to rain missile fire down on the advancing army. Spear infantry and swordsmen braced themselves for the assault which came quickly.
To the left, the Southron spearmen were crushed quickly by Orenal's infantry, which left the palisade walls free to the enemy! On the right, the 14th Swordsmen attempted to stop a cavalry flank, leaving the 14th Auxilary - mostly militia and conscripts - to hold of what was Orenal's finest troops - his pikemen!
Soon enough, Southron reinforcements appear! The Marshal had sent his second-in-command, Second James Relee, along with the mage Nimarco and cavalry. Upon seeing the army commander take to the field, King Orenal called out a challenge!
"O enemy of mine, I challenge thee to a duel before our forces, so that I might crush thee and thine under my heel! Stand forth and deliver!"
The duel was inconclusive, with the skilled Relee dodging Orenal's swings but only causing light wounds in return. Once the duel ended, the attack resumed!
The swordsmen were routed by the hard charging Sea Elf cavarly and a flank attack by Sea Elven infantry. The 14th Auxiliary, bolstered by the 14th Regulars Cavalry charging next to them, were quickly enveloped and overwhelmed. Orenal's troops delivered devestating attacks and counterattacks, with the King himself leading the way.
Finally, the 14th Heavy Infantry arrived, just as the last of the other 14th infantry and cavalry fell. Second Relee was killed facing down Orenal's troops. Despite the heavy opposition, the Southron forces in the palisade had managed to defend the outpost against troops and an attacking Kraken with minimal losses! The swordsmen had finally regained their mettle and were turning to re-engage.
The battle ended with the Southron forces heavily opposed by the Sea Elves, but managing to keep command of the outpost! Orenal's attack had been blunted, although he still had the majority of his troops left.
I ran this game on Sunday morning at Little Wars. I had a full table and a couple of players who had played Chaos Wars a long time ago when they were called "Rules by Ral"!
I unfortunately did not take as many pictures! Boo!
I felt bad for the human players. One of the players had so many bad rolls, he really started to get upset. It wasn't until he pulled out dice that he hadn't touched for a year that he begin to roll better! By then, though, the battle was mostly over and the humans had been severely mauled. It probably would have come down to whether the forces in the palisade could hold out and kill enough of Orenal's troops.
Many gamers are so superstitious about their dice, and many believe that one can roll well or poorly. It's random . . . at least it had better be. Lady Luck is in charge, if you don't like it, don't pick them up. I'm just as bad, I have many sets of dice, but I prefer my clear blue ones. I've also got a black set which I use from time to time which my players call my Doom Dice, I don't think that the Doom Dice are balanced well, they do appear to hit target numbers way too often. I've looked into those Science Dice, but man are they expensive. For the most part I wish that everybody would use the clear jeweled dice, but that's not going to happen.
ReplyDeleteAnother great read Wiz!
Well, I have to tell you that it was pretty true - once he switched dice, his rolls were really good. Or at least, more evenly random than the amount of suck he had rolling my dice. It was night and day.
DeleteThanks for the kind comment :)