[HH] Crimson Crusade stage 1: Winter War

[Bragallot]

Plot: The war with Kerrat has come to a standstill, but the Falx incursions into the Kingdom's lands continue. With no word from Sir Garth's Northern expedition to destroy the Undead, Queen-Marshal Lara wishes to end the foreigner's threat as soon as possible. To this end, she has called the Crimson Crusade, gathering her followers for a counter-attack into Falx lands.

Intro



Princess Lorreaine: "You called for me, my queen?"

Queen Lara: "The time has come. Tell the men to get ready to leave, and send me General Kage and General Fishstache. I have need of them."

"As you wish."



"Greetings gentlemen. I'll have to inform you, the Falx have created another large portal."

Jubei: "What? We've smashed their positions countless times! They couldn't possibly have had the time to build one!"

"Indeed you have, but I let them set up this one, pretended I failed to notice it. For our invasion of their world, we'll need to capture a portal of our own, and it's beyond our abilities to make one. I want you and your Hitokiri, along with Fishstache's Water Demons, to go there and drive out the Falx. My mages will guide your way, but none of our other forces will interfere."

"Milady?"

"We'll move through as soon as you capture the portal. I want my forces to be fresh when we reach the other side, as there's no telling what will be waiting for us. You'll stay behind and guard the portal. If our Crusade is beaten back, you are to destroy the portal."



"We'll depart immediately!"

Falx encampment, a few days later



Captain Mustachio: "Sir, a large group of Hitokiri is headed this way."

General Alejandro: "Hah! Tiresome gnats! They are too late! Take half of our forces and go drive them out!"

"Shall we abandon our fortifications?"

General Alejandro: "Don't tell me you are afraid of these barbarians, captain! The men are yearning for a fight, so go!"

Some time later...



Alejandro: "Back already?"

General Croses: "It's me. You let our men walk into a trap, General. More enemies appeared as if out of nowhere. It's too late to fall back. Do I need to remind you one more defeat will mean I'm to take your place?"



"What?! Gather the rest of the men, we'll drive those barbarians out of the hills!"

Set-up soon

[Predator]

[Bragallot]

Set-up

A short time later



"For the memory of Marshal Grim, for the Republic!"



"What a douchebag."



Alejandro's point of view.



Jubei's point of view.



The Falx have been trying to fortify this valley, but haven't proceeded much with their work yet.



Those small lakes were used by the Water Demons to ambush the Falx.



Apart from their regular forces, they have a domesticated Yeti and an enslaved ice giant in their ranks.



Captain Mustachio commands the left flank.



This battle will be fought slightly differently than you're used to.



To keep an army's turn from lasting too long (since they're both huge) or doing too much damage to the other army before it can move, instead each army moves one squad / unit in turn until all have been moved. This will happen mostly clockwise so we could keep track of which units had already spent their action.



The red guys are Falx levies, I really wish I had more shields for them.



The Falx on this side outnumber their enemies, but since those enemies are Hitokiri, they'd better not get too comfortable.



General Croses leads the cavalry. They are Falx lancers, again without shields, but trained to be able to use their lances even when they're not charging. This makes them potentially devastating, if more vulnerable than normal cavalry.



They're faced by the main body of the Hitokiri army, the Ashigaru.



Who are supported by cavalry. I'm glad I finally managed to get them in a fight. I had to remove the Bigger Hats though.



Falx positions behind the river. Their ballista is slightly larger than the Hitokiri's. It's operated by two barbarian slaves.

So, that's the set-up, part I soon.

[Bragallot]

Round 1



This battle was played with two people I'll refer to as D and Al Bundy. I played the Falx, D the Hitokiri and Al Bundy the Water Demons. D and I decided it would be cool if the battle were to start of with a duel between the two best warriors on both sides, so Jubei and Croses dismounted to have a fight. Jubei has the advantage because of his 3d6 damage turquiose katana (1d6 more than Croses' Bloodstained Blade), but that doesn't scare the Falx General.



In fact, he scores the first hit as he lunges for Kage and stabs him through the gap in his armour (-1 HP).



Kage responds with a whopping 15 damage, but Croses blocks just enough of it to avoid damage.



The fight goes back and forth for a while, both heroes trying to strike at each other or use heroic feats to get free hits... (I think there were 2 more rounds of combat)



... until a successful feat by Croses finishes Kage off. At this point I feared D was going to ragequit, but he staid calm, vowing to make Croses' death his ultimate goal this game.



The hydromancer is the first to act, creating a layer of ice on the hardened skin of the elite axemen, giving them +1 armour.



Mustachio buffs his archer's skill, giving them bonus accuracy.



The axemen charge the wall of pikes and are met with a hail of crossbow bolts, but they are so they charge right through it.



The clash is brutal. The axe men fight well and kill all but one of my halberdiers with some ridiculous damage rolls, but Al Bundy finds out charging a wall of pikes is dangerous as he loses all four of his men. I recall both of us were happy with the outcome.



Alejandro tries to buff the armour of the levies facing the Hitokiri to even up the odds, but fails and finds their armour decreased instead!



Fat Olaf runs into the water and tries to taunt my centurion into attacking him, which would of course drown him.



The feat fails and the centurion gets so pissed off he shoots Olaf for 1 HP of damage.



On my turn I have the centurion charge in anyway. Steel clashes against steel repeatedly, but the fight remains undecided.



Al's halberdiers try to take advantage of the levies' lowered armour, but piss poor damage rolls mean no one dies after even 2 rounds of combat.



My scouts fire into the fray, and have the same problem with damage.

More soon.

[Predator]

That's a pretty badass fight you have there.
Watching

[Killer Karetsu]

Kage win?

[Bragallot]

Round 1 continues!



The flamer kills two of my scouts.



The Yeti advances to support the beleaguered flank.



D sends his Nodachi-wielders charging for Croses as he promised, but one misses and the Falx General parries the other.



D was very wary of pike formations after he saw what had happened to Al's axemen, so he proceeds cautiously and has his archers pick off one of my halberdiers while the others protect them.



My cavalry has little space, so I reposition them, waiting for the ideal moment for a charge.



Al Bundy advances Fishstache and his men, who pick off another conquistador.



Much to D's dismay, Croses kills one of his Nodachi-wielding men.



He also succeeds his feat to retreat from combat unharmed, mounts his horse and gallops away to safety.



Or so you would think. D rolls up his ballistae and has them fire on the general...



Terrible, terrible damage puts an end to Croses.



Some retribution is achieved when my crossbowmen kill no less than three of the flintlock Ashigaru.



D advances most of his troops. Since it's only movement we agreed he could just move them all together.



My Falx Highlord (the Titan) bellows for Croses to stand up in fight. He is miraculously rejuvenated, coming to life again, though 'only' with two remaining HP.



The flintlock Ashigaru try to get some retribution against my crossbowmen, and fail.



Al Bundy cleverly uses his Water Demons' special ability (free movement through water) to reach my crossbowmen in one go with his swordsmen, who go on to slay half of them.



My other crossbowmen fire a volley from the wall in return, putting one swordsman in the grave.



My centurion kills a sword Ashigaru while my ballista fails to hit anything.



I keep my assassins back safely, wary of the Kingdom's many ranged units.

Round 1 overviews

[Bragallot]

Round 2!



The Yeti is just out of reach as he closes in to give the hydromancer, who has started channeling a spell, a big hug.



No one manages to force a breakthrough in the duel between Fat Olaf and the Centurion until Fat Olaf fumbles a feat and takes a hit (-1 HP).



Mustachio takes a feat to have his remaining men lined up on the Kingdom's flank, and with combined fire they put a stop to whatever the hydromancer was trying.



D's flamer torches another one of my scouts. The last one fires back unsuccessfully.



Adding the banner carrier to the squad really seemed to help, as the levies proceed to massacre all but one of the halberdiers without losses on their side.



The Hitokiri advance, slaying one of my last halberdiers and archering down my last scout, while the Naginata wielders set up a defence against incoming cavalry.



I don't feel much for charging my vulnerable cavalry in there, or through the flames, so I send the ice giant onward to bring down the big guns on the flamer.



Al Bundy sees the threat the right flank is in and realigns his men for an attack on the levies, but all his crossbowmen manage is accidentally shooting down the last water demon halberdier.



The levies stand their ground against the heavy swordsmen as well. Just look at them go!



My cavalry retreats further back. I wanted to keep their charge as an ace.



Nodachi-man charges in and takes down my final conquistador with a fell swipe.



Croses draws back his lance for a throw...



... kabobing two Ashigaru.



He remounts his horse and shoots the final swordsman in the face, ending him.



I know better than to leave Croses to the mercy of D's ballistae again, so I retreat him into cover.



Al Bundy's swordsmen kill my remaining crossbowmen, who fail to fight back.



The Technoviking leading the squad takes a blast from the flintlock to the face, but merely shrugs.



D's ballistae roll up, firing at my cavalry and taking down one lancer.



The unnamed Highlord is none too amused and calls down a...



fireball.



You can imagine him laughing maniacally as the fireball explodes and kills both crewmen, also cutting off the path with fire and damaging each ballista by 1 SP.



The Trogdor continues undisturbed, the others stay back or search another route. D's mounted archers try to take out my centurion, both miss.



Another volley from my crossbowmen is unsuccessful, while the flintlock Ashigaru are not. My centurion bites the dust. Did I forget to take this picture? Aaargh.



D's Flintlock and Firebomb troops are still a little too far away to attempt a charge (even though they're vulnerable) and I have little faith in my war machine's ability to hit anything, so I have the barbarian slaves and the squad push it forward to crush two swordsmen into pulp.



The healer keeps beating the dead guy with his stick, but nothing happens. At this point he was already being nominated for most useless fig on the field.

Round 2 overviews

[Bragallot]

Round 3...!



Mustachio's men advance on the Kingdom's left flank, firing as they go. Fat Olaf died because at this point we realized he'd already taken two hits.



One steals the Hydromancer's equipment.



D realized the levies were a tough nut to crack, so he had his flamer attack them.



Two became barbecue meat.



I tried to have my centurion snipe the little bugger, but he missed so badly his rifle and hand exploded.



D then has his heavy swordsmen, one of the toughest units in the game, charge in, and the results are, well devastating.



I send my Ice Giant after the flamer, but his swing sails past the Hitokiri's head.



Al Bundy has his crossbowmen shoot at the giant in response. They take one HP off of him.



Alejandro manages to buff the lancers.



This alerts D to the fact I'm about to have them charge, so he lines up his troops to prepare for them.



Losses are even. The fight gets over the flamer's head and one lancer also bites it.



Fishstache believes ice is made of water, so he tries to enslave the ice giant.



This doesn't work so well as the giant slashes him down to one HP.



D's Elite Hitokiri charge in and cut at the giant's kneecaps to help the water demon leader out.



The giant takes another hit and is sent tumbling down.



The Trogdor tries to inhale the flames blocking the path, but he can't do even that.



My remaining cavalry charges and deals him a hit.



The Trogdor is none too amused and chomps a lancer.



With their ranks thinned, I send in my levies to finish off the swordsmen. They do an ace job.



D sees little use for his spear Ashigaru, so he had them take the ballistae.



Horse archers and ballista trade fire, and manage nothing.



The firebombers close in an torch a deal of my levies.



Croses avenges them, somewhat.



A mini wielding a dagger isn't exactly enough to take him down.



If you were expecting the healer to become useful, well...

Overviews

[DeltaV]

Whacking stuff with a stick usually doesn't heal anything, the poor guy really needs some medical equipment. Like amputation saws.

[Bragallot]

Round 4



My crossbowmen fail to take out even one heavy swordsman.



Al Bundy focuses all of them on the Yeti, who is taken down by terrible, terrible damage.



My remaining officers and the Elite Hitokiri decide to duke it out like men.



The banner carrier spears his adversary.



He is rewarded for his trouble by a lethal volley from the water demons.



Terrible, terrible damage.



The one-handed centurion is less lucky.



Alejandro tries to buff the lancers again, and fails, this isn't going to end well.



Fishstache tries to finish off his enemy by stabbing the ice giant up the rear.



... and is kicked into oblivion as the ice giant starts thrashing about.



Hitokiri and Falx lancers alike die in a bloody struggle.



Despite the negative mod, some stand their ground.



The ice giant cleaves two crossbowmen.



The Trogdor tries to chomp him, but is rewarded by a damaging slash.



Ballistae are finally somewhat more effective, killing two lancers.



My levies try to kill the Ashigaru manning them, but they stand their ground.



The final lancer falls prey to the horse archers.



My ballista takes down a flintlock Ashigaru.



Since he can't fight Croses properly, the firebomber shoves a bomb down the horse's arse instead.



The explosion knocks him back, obliterates the horse and sends Croses flying.



He tries to get up, but faints, and is immobilized for a round.



D sends in his last flintlock Ashigaru to fire at Croses, but he can't hit him even now.



The aggressors are rewarded for their trouble with a volley from the walls which kills them both.



Come on healer...! All you gotta do is a roll a 4!

Overviews

[Bragallot]

Round 5



My crossbowmen remain ineffective.



When Al's swordsmen attack, I lose one.



Alejandro gets into cover and waits.



The water demons open fire on the ice giant...



... killing him. His fall further splatters the unfortunate Jubei's corpse.



The Falx Highlord, one of the Kingdom's final obstacles, closes in and obliterates the last nodachi wielder.



The Hitokiri try to snipe the crossbowmen on the walls, and fail.



One of them falls when my men reply.



The Trogdor tries to breathe fire, but does nothing.



Not much happens, because everyone screws up.



The Elite grabs a nodachi from the ground and manages to pass by the Highlord's defense, evading his shield and beating his armour by one point with his charge.

More soon.

[Rev. Sylvanus]

So many dead horses!

[Silverdream]

This is probably the most painful death I've ever seen.

[Bragallot]

Round 5 continues! ...



The Highlord's armour is once again beaten by one point as a Hitokiri uses the flamer on him.



Archers remain pretty ineffective.



Two of D's Ashigaru get killed trying to take down my last levies.



Hey wait WHAT?!

Round 6!



Mustachio manages to have the men make a safe retreat so they can fire again.



The heavy swordsmen charge with their horns, killing one while most fall short. Mustachio is knocked over but survives.



Alejandro tries to buff the Highlord, and fails spectacularly.



Which eventually plays a role in his demise.



At least he's lucky when someone's aiming at him.



Arrows whizz through the air in both directions, but only Kingdom forces die.



Either these barbarian slaves aren't very enthusiastic about fighting for the Falx, or they just suck.



These crossbowmen advance and set up response fire against my assassins, who are starting to be my last remaining line of defence.



Croses gets up and tries to call over a horse.



He's unfortunate as Jubei's horse is almost the only one still alive, and it tramples him, immobilizing him for another round.



You didn't seriously think he'd be successful twice in a row right?



My assassin swarm the Hitokiri Elite dodging the water demon's crossbows, but he somehow fends them off.



The Trogdor tries to come to his rescue. His fire breathe should be the best weapon on the field to deal with my assassins, but he fucks it up.

Round 6



Mustachio's duel against a heavy swordsman remains undecided...



... until he shoots him in the face.



Two more of my soldiers get butchered while the wannabe hydromancer smashes a water demon's face in.



Alejandro shoots the new flamer in the face. That weapon is cursed! Cuuuursed!



Alejandro takes a hit from the crossbowmen.



Trogdor keeps failing. It was driving D insane.



To the point he didn't even care much when my crossbowmen killed it.