|
Sorry it's been a while, guys. I've been busy lately and our internet hasn't been working too well either. Anyway, here it is. Brace yourselves, it's a long read.
The aftermath of the battle was consisted mostly of Annon receiving strong embraces. Celis and Yaron, the only two who had seen Gasil fall, rushed over to help him and called for the others to come and help.
"Oh, stop fussing over me like some mothers over a tripped child." Gasil said, young and proud as he was.
"I think you should learn to be more appreciative, regardless of its seriousness." said Yaron sternly.
"You're probably right as usual, I suppose." Gasil sighed, "but I think we should move on, I'm sure there are more unpleasant and hungry things lurking around here. Just being here gives me an uneasy feeling, like there's something haunted about this place."
"Which would explain the frequency of the orcs, though I think it served us rather than cursed us in this case, the wargs seemed terrified of the place which must have given us that fairly easy victory. Come." said Annon offering Gasil a hand which he reluctantly took as he stood up.
"Where to now?" asked Elenoth, "there's no chance that we'll catch those orcs now. I suppose they have some vital information by now."
"You presume too much my friend," interupted Annon "I haven't told them anything, though they tortured me. They had just started when, what seemed like a messenger, rode towards the group on a warg. He said something to them, doubtless in the black-speech which I have yet to learn. He seemed to be in a hurry and before I knew it, they were on the move. One orc, also speaking in that foul tongue pointed at me and asked, what I presumed was "What shall we do with the ranger?" the other replied something along the lines of "Leave him, he will burden us and he probably dosen't know much anyway."
"But why would they withdraw like that?" Bayarn inquired
"Hopefully we will find out why. But the hour is late, we must find somewhere less uneasy than here to set camp." Annon replied
"And we still haven't got our dinner." Baroth complained and at which everyone laughed.
Baroth and Celis returned to the camp with a rabbit flung over each of their shoulders.
"Not much but it is all we could get in the little time we had." said Baroth laying down the rabbits by the deliberately small campfire.
"I think that will do us well enough for tonight." said Yaron, who was tending it.
Eventually, the hearty stew that Yaron had cooked up was ready and they all tucked in, famished after the day's excitement, though not too famished to not boast about their accomplishments in their skirmish. Suddenly, there was a snap of a twig behind them. In an instant Annon was on his feet and aiming his bow.
"Who goes there?" he asked at the mysterious figure.
"A friend." it replied in a low, coarse voice. When it came through the bushes, they saw he was another ranger.
"What is your name?" Annon continued lowering his bow.
"Denach, I have come to inform you. Our forces have managed to get a foot-hold in an area not far from here. Our leader would like you to meet up with our troops there. It will also be an opportunity to refill with supplies."
"Very well, show us the way."
"Yes, we must hurry, I'm sure there are many evil things lurking in this area."
"We've noticed." added Yaron.
They started at a fair jog bounding over fallen logs with Gasil falling behind from his minor wounds but refusing any assistance. It was around midnight as they reached the camp. Everything was quiet except for some muttering among some of the restless soldiers. Denach beaconed the others to find themselves some sleep in the tents nearby and for only Annon to follow him into a largish tent where they saw an older man in a thick leather jerkin and a full brown beard.
"Annon!" he exclaimed as they exchanged embraces, "How it warms me to see you again."
"And to see you too, father." he replied in amazement "but why are you here? I thought you were holding the reserve which was defending our main camp."
Annoral (for that was his name) let his son go and looked down and stroked his beard. Then he stopped and looked up. "You don't know do you?" he said solemnly
"Know what?"
"This is the reserve."
"But what happened to the main force?" he cried in shock
"The main force is gone." he said, "as we were arriving to reinforce them, knowing nothing of the action, we came over a hill when we saw fire in the distance. We saw black figures swarming over a camp which, we knew, was the one we were to reinforce. There was a terrible horde of them we could see as watched in utter shock as the faint scream of women and children echoed towards us. The horde was colossal, at least 3 times the size of the entire camp. We knew we couldn't do anything to stop them and going to it would be suicide and that most of them would be dead by now. So we moved on, away from the camp."
There was a silence as Annon stood there, stunned with horror when he suddenly broke out.
"So you didn't do anything to help them?"
"Annon, it was suicide..." Annoral interrupted but it didn't stop him
"You let all those innocent people die when you could have saved at least some of those poor souls?"
"Annon, I know..." he tried to interrupt again
"In all my life, I have never seen or even heard of someone so much of a coward as you!"
"Annon!" he suddenly bellowed out incredibly loudly and violently, "you know not what you say calling your own father a coward! This is a war! People die in war! I had a responsibility to preserve the lives of my own men rather than send them out on a hopeless mission in which only more lives would be lost."
"Well at least I would have been noble enough to sacrifice myself for them." Annon replied hotly and turned to leave the tent, spitting at its floor as he left. Annoral turned to his second in command and said, "See to it he does not leave the camp, he has a life ahead of him worth more than to waste on sentimental folly."
Annon did not sleep that night. The horror was too much for him and he was restless. It seemed like weeks before dawn finally broke. He moved out of his tent and saw that breakfast, if you could have called it that, was being served. He saw his father approach him.
"I have nothing to say to you." Annon snarled
"But I have something to say to you" he said "I will get straight to the point. Barbarians have taken a watchtower near here recently, not only is that a good holding point, we cannot afford for it to be reinforced and our position located. I am asking you to go and take control of it. You will gain some reinforcements for this mission as it will be hard."
"Very well but I'm not doing it for you." he replied as he turned to regroup his men. He found them all nearby sitting around a small fire talking quietly.
"Where is Gasil, and where are all the sentries?" Annon asked seeing the area practically empty.
"He may be over there." Yaron said pointing to a crowd of soldiers. Annon groaned in irritation. and headed over there and beaconing for Celis to follow him who was finished with his small meal.
There was loud laughing and jeering coming somewhere from the center. Annon barged his way through the sweaty bodies until he came to a small ring formed from sticks where two men were fighting. A young man was fighting a much larger man who had him on the floor and was pummeling his face.
"That's Gasil!" exclaimed Celis seeing the smaller one.
"Stop!" roared Annon and all the shouting and jeering stopped and the larger man got off Gasil.
"Young fool!" Annon said to him pushing Gasil into the crowd. "What is the meaning of this?" he shouted addressing the whole crowd, "fighting like a vile rabble of orcs. I expected more! Who is responsible for this stupidity?"
"It's the only entertainment we've had in months! We haven't been able to hunt anything bigger than a rabbit further than a mile from this camp!" one ranger said near the front of the crowd, clearly the one responsible. There were mutters of agreement through the crowd. "If you find us something better to do, great, but you haven't. So what are you going to do to stop us?"
"What if I take on your man? Will you stop then?" Annon replied, the crowd laughed a little.
"You can try. But what will be your wager? Ours is this fine set of throwing daggers." he said.
Annon began drawing his sword.
"This filth isn't worthy of fighting you. Let me." said Celis. Annon thought for a moment.
"Very well. You will fight him."
The crowd laughed heavily but Celis ingnored them and drew his long dagger as his wager and stuck it in the ground.
"I'll make mince-meat of this woman!" insulted the large, topless man.
"Why don't you put your fist where your mouth is, or I'll do it for you." said Celis taking his cloak and tunic off.
"Don't say I didn't warn you when I make you cry!"
The two figures, man and elf, approached the middle of the ring. The ranger that was talking earlier declared the rules.
"No weapons, first to make the other surrender. Start in three, two, one, now!"
The large brute threw a heavy punch at Celis' head which he easily ducked and retaliated with kicking him in the stomach, winding him for a moment. The crowd was beggining to get excited. The man backed out a little gaining his breath.
"Ready for more or do you want to give up now." taunted Celis bouncing from toe to toe.
The man charged, shouting, and threw a flurry of punches, one hitting Celis on the shoulder knocking him down. The brute tried to land on Celis but he rolled out of the way rose quickly and knee'ed him in the back bringing him to one knee. He then followed up with a scissor kick to the back of the head, landed, and then kicked once more by his ear before he fell on his back. Celis was about to jump on him when he grabbed his leg and flung him to the floor. The big man rolled on top of him but Celis gave him a flurry of quick jabs to his face and knee'ed him off him. The man reached over the floor before Celis could get up and he slammed him down again, he got up, picked him up again and smashed him onto his knee, threw him down and kicked him whilst he was on the floor. Celis got up slowly whilst the bigger man was gaining his breath
"Ready to surrender yet?" the big man asked.
Ignoring the pain Celis charged at him, headbutting his chest and punching his stomach furiously, finishing with an uppercut to his jaw bringing him down. The crowd was now roaring with enthusiasm. The man got up again, spitting out a few teeth and wiping his nose from blood. The big man breathed in and roared as he charged, Celis braced himself and at just the right moment, flipped over the larger man using his shoulders as a vault. Behind him, he did a sharp kick to his spine bending him backwards so he was facing the sky and then he leapt slamming both his fists into his face before he landed. The larger man was now groaning on the floor in agony.
"I do believe I have the victory," said Celis, the crowd behind him silent with shock. "get that man a stretcher." he said claiming his prize and putting back on his clothes. The crowd then dispersed slowly and Gasil, Annon, and Celis went back to the others.
Yaron and the others had packed up by then and were waiting.
"What took you, and what happened to you two?" he said looking at the elf and Gasil.
"Celis has been busy performing a minor miracle." said Annon
"And Gasil?" asked Baroth.
"Gasil has been busy doing," Annon paused, "something else." Gasil looked down, ashamed.
Just then, Annoral's second-in-command arrived with some armed warriors behind him.
"These are your reinforcements, they are experienced. Keep them to hold the watchtower until help arrives." he said. "Denach, who I'm sure you are already familiar with, will be your guide again."
"Good." said Annon, "I expect you all know what you are doing?" he said addressing the new warriors. They looked at eachother and nodded.
"Excellent, we have no time to lose, follow our guide's lead."
(Scenario 3: Take the Watchtower)
(Good forces: Annon's hunters+reinforcements
Annon, lieutenant (ranger)
Yaron, sergeant (ranger with no bow)
Baroth, sergeant (ranger with spear)
Gasil (ranger without bow)
Bayarn (ranger)
Denach (ranger with no bow and spear)
Celis (wood elf with throwing daggers)
Elenoth (wood elf)
Reinforcements:
3 warriors of Arnor
2 rangers of Arnor)
(Evil forces: Carn Dum Barbarian scouting band (Haradrim battle company)
Lieutenant (barbarian with bow)
Sergeant (barbarian with spear)
Sergeant (barbarian with spear)
3 barbarians with spears
4 barbarians with bows )
(Note: my brother was allowed 50% bow limit on his barbarian battle company which we thought was fair enough.)
(objectives: if at the end of any turn, if I had one or more models in the watchtower, I won. But if my brother reduced my force to 25% before that happened, he won.)
(terrain: there were forests near the southern board edge in a line blocking view with walls of ruin imbetween the forests making progress tricky. The watchtower was 12" from the northern board edge on a hill. There were also some short walls of ruin scattered between the forest providing good cover.)
(deployment: the barbarians deployed as close as they were allowed to to the tower. I deployed all my archer rangers (including the reinforcing ones) to the south-east corner behind the forests, the elves deployed near the middle of the southern edge, the close-combat troops and Baroth deployed near the south-western corner.)
It was mid-afternoon when they got first sight of the watch tower. Annon brought his men down to cover and briefed them. They all got to their positions and prepared their advance.
(turn 1: Good pri:) They moved swiftly around the woods except for the elves who gracefully bounded through the dense forest. However, luck was against them that day, and the sentry saw the glisten of the warrior of Arnor's armour and called for all his warband to take refuge in the tower.
(turn 2: Evil pri:) The barbarian archers had now reached the top of the tower and with a great bellow, the commander signaled for them to fire. Several arrows thudded into the rangers' thick leather armour but none caused serious injury save for the commander's shot which whistled through the air piercing a ranger through the neck. He fell gurgling with blood in his throat. All the soldiers moved on, spurred on by fear with the elves, ahead of the others, leaping behind cover. Annon calls for a revenge volley but they all clatter against the battlements or merely scratch the well protected barbarians.
(turn 3: Evil pri:) The barbarians re-loaded their bows and the commander signaled for the shots to be taken at the approaching Arnorian veterans. Eager for blood, the commander brings down another warrior, cunningly shooting it imbetween his heavy breast plate whilst his savage comrades brought down another over-whelming him with poisoned black arrows. The rangers were now enraged and shot furiously transforming one barbarian's head into a living pin cushion.
(turn 4: good pri:) Yaron's detachment was quickly closing in on the tower and the elves were very close. Celis threw a dagger but, unused to its mode of flight, it missed one of the barbarians guarding the doorway. The barbarian let loose their arrows again but failed to cause any serious injuries as did the rangers.
(turn 5: evil pri:) The men guarding the doorway stay put deciding it would be easier to hold there. Whilst one was distracted by the oncoming sword-armed rangers, the two elves charge at the other causing him to move back but missing with their daggers.
(turn 6: evil pri:) The guard countercharges the elves thrusting his spear towards them whilst Yaron, supported by Denach's long-reaching spear, charges straight at the doorway bristling with spears like a porcupine. The guard becomes nervous and keeps his spear still allowing Yaron to chop it straight in two. He waits for Denach to follow up with his spear which never comes and glances behind him and sees him collapsed on the floor from a poisoned arrow.
(turn 7: good pri:) The elves charge again at the spear-wall with Celis' dagger grazing his face the man exclaimed and, taking the opportunity, Celis cut him down. Yaron stabs his sword straight at the barbarian. He feints but the sword still slides brutally through his arm as he lets out a scream of pain. Annon and his band continued to approach the watchtower slowly, taking shots at the archers as they went.
(turn 8: good pri:) Yaron and Celis take the opportunity and leap through the door only to be greeted by more spears. Yaron parries just in time but Celis is stabbed and falls back through the door. Yaron was forced to retreat back out again.
(turn 9: evil pri:) The evil men fill out the door way again but are charged by Elenoth and Yaron. However, the spearmen were fresh and Yaron and Elenoth were tiring and so were pushed back.
(turn 10: good pri:) Annon breathed out steadily, raised his bow and shot. The shot was true and it impaled a barbarian's skull, never to rise again. Elenoth and Yaron tried to charge again but were knocked back once more.
(turn 11: good pri:) Determined now, Yaron shouts as he charges. Ducking under the swinging spear and he slashes at his stomach, bringing the evil man down. Annon saw the archers dissapear down a ladder and called his men to pick up pace.
(turn 12 and 13: evil pri:) The archers come down but seeing the door packed with bodies, the commander runs through a secret narrow exit and shouts for his companions, the wounded as well, to follow. One barbarian stood his ground hoping to stall the rangers. Swinging his spear in desperation, the barbarian held them back for a moment before losing his nerve and ran for his life.
(Good victory!)
A moment of amazement and relief overcame Yaron and Annon, they knew that they were strong and that they could do amazing deeds and this emboldened them. Gasil had rushed up to the top floor looking for enemies and action but saw a ranger's lonbow by one of the barbarian's corpses.
"Time that was reclaimed." he thought to himself. He had just taken it when he heard Annon rallying them, he came back down again.
"We must follow them, they have information now. Celis, are you alright?" Annon said.
"Fine, thankyou." said Celis.
"We could do with another body." Annon continued, "you," he said pointing at a younger ranger "come with us, the rest of you, stay here and guard the watchtower until help arrives."
To be continued...
_________________
"War does not determine who is right, only who is left."
- Bertrand Russel
|
{ PORTAL }
Print view
Top
but please enjoy.
) As always i can't wait for another battle report.
