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First Prologue:

Aboard the Terrible Corsair

Herman Gouma was getting annoyed.

“I’ll have you know I’ve been seeing ‘em all morning,” he insisted, “and I won’t stand for you calling me a liar.”

Stefanus wanted him to be wrong, and was now beginning to realise it was this urge that was making him disbelieve his friend.

“I ain’t saying you’re not seeing something, just that it’s most likely some monkeys or lizards or some such creature.”

“I know the walking dead when I see them. Besides, I recognised one of ‘em.”

Stefanus fell silent. Now he really wanted Herman to be wrong. “It just doesn’t make sense. I know we’re fighting the current and the tide, and I know the wind is against us and them that are on the oars are tired, but how could anything move through that tangle of green fast enough to keep up with us?”

Herman rolled his eyes. “How can they move at all? They’re dead! But they do, so what’s a bit of jungle to them when they shouldn’t be walking at all?”

“Give me the glass,” demanded Stefanus. “I’ll look for myself.”

He rubbed the end with his shirt sleeve then placed the instrument up to his eye. First he saw just the river water, then the dense greenery came into view. Nothing.

“There’s nothing I can see, not even monkeys. How many did …Wait! Wait a moment. Ho! I see something!”

“Told you so,” muttered Herman.

There was movement in amongst the leaves and vines, then suddenly a man stepped out almost into full view. His putrid flesh was an awful shade of green and his eyes stared blankly out while his mouth hung open. He wore a jerkin of leather over a torn shirt of linen. In his hand he clutched a pistol, which he suddenly lifted up to aim out at the Tabrizian fleet of smaller ships and boats making their way upriver. Then he stood, the pistol swaying about as if he was drunk, and gave every appearance of watching.



“I see one, and I think another behind him.”

“Is it Kurt?” asked Herman.

Stefanus took the glass from his eye. “It was Kurt you saw?”

“Aye, and he didn’t look too well.”

Replacing the glass, Stefanus now began to move it along the river’s edge. More undead appeared, a whole bunch of them: one pointing a rusted blunderbuss, another with an arrow stuck right through his belly!

img]http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i49/padrissimus/TabrizPic6f.jpg[/img]

“Manaan save us! They’re there alright, and umpteen of ‘em. I reckon the whole army is following us.”

Then he saw another three, the two at the front just as green as the first he saw, but behind them, still wearing his blue head scarf, still clutching the huge bone he used as a club in fights and almost the same colour he had been when alive, was Kurt. They’d left him on the dunes with a cutlass thrust into his back and zombies scrambling over him. Now here he was following them.



"I can see him now."

“Do you think he’s changed sides, then?” said Herman.

Stefanus was not in the mood for jests and asked, “D’you think we’ll end up like that?”

“It’s not what I’ve got planned. I wants a proper share of the gold, then a fine time turning it into hot liquors while I play with the wenches in Tabriz, and in the end to be put in the ground, all nice and restful.”

Stefanus listened absently to Herman’s words whilst scanning further along with the glass. Suddenly he gasped, a fearful chill coursing right through him as he saw the monstrous face of Grand Admiral Galdabash himself looking right at him!



“Manaan and all the gods protect me!” he prayed as he whipped the glass from his eye. After gulping and steadying himself on the gunwhale, he handed the glass back.

“Here, Herman, you keep at if you want. I’m done with looking at the jungle.”


Second Prologue:

The Jungle

The birds and monkeys had been behaving unusually for two days. Something in the air disturbed them, some smell or sound that only they could sense. They became quiet, still and watchful. This odd behaviour in turn had an effect on the pygmies - though their response was to become agitated and fearful and pray to their gods.

One of their living gods, Bontanoan, pondered upon what all this might mean. Unlike the older generations of Slann, he did not ponder long - a minute or so was long enough for him. Being a larval Slann* sparkling thoughts danced about his young brain rather more quickly than an adult, perhaps because they were of a less deep and complicated nature. Not that he was infantile compared to the lesser races’ adult forms: he had some mastery of magic and considerable knowledge of many arts. It was more that what cleverness he had was nimble in form, and not lumbered by a great weight of knowledge garnered over centuries. Bontanoan had a more instinctive intelligence than his aged father, and he was in many ways more in tune with the song of the jungle.

At the end of his brief contemplation he decided there must be something new in the jungle nearby, something the birds and monkeys found disturbing, so he called for his two spawn brothers. His shrill, piercing cry could be heard for more than two miles and perhaps made the fauna even more nervous. He then waited, standing upon the huge stone dais that served as his temple, his only companions a handful of pygmy servants and guards.

The pygmy Chief Atta-ooga had to steel himself not to cover his ears as the living god Bo-Tana-Oon gave a cry like the brightly feathered Jallo birds, though much more powerful (of course). No magic was used in making the call, not that Chief Atta-ooga could sense, nor was any animal horn or shell employed. His totem bearer flinched by his side, no doubt making the dried-bean filled skulls on the totem rattle - not than any of the pygmies could hear the sound over the heavenly screeching.

The cry ended abruptly, not so the echo, but eventually there was silence. Not one beast, fowl nor crawling insect sullied its god-given potency. Then there was a new sound and Chief Atta-ooga felt a surge of anger at what he thought was irreverence, sacrilege even - until he realised it was made by the brother gods Ta-Dino-Po and Go-Akill-An. Of course they, and only they, had the right to impose themselves on Bo-Tana-Oon in such a manner. The two leapt lithely onto the dais then suddenly came to a halt to enter a stance so still that they appeared to have transformed in a flash into statues. This heavenly talent to instantly remove themselves from the world of motion, to enter a state in which time itself seemed to have no dominion over them, had always impressed Atta-ooga. It was considered a sacred trait, so much so that in the last season three children had been fed to the Salamanders for playing a game in which they mocked this very trait.

Bontanoan greeted his two siblings with a blink of both eyes. Like them, he was garbed in ornate armour which to warm-bloods’ eyes looked to be fashioned of silver, but it was not so. Rather it was made of a beaten core of gold upon which mercury was made perpetually to shimmer and flow magically. In this way it looked as damp as the flesh of the larval Slann, and although it had nothing like the strength of steel armour (nor its magically distracting properties) it at least protected the thin and delicate larval skin from thorns and barbs, and sometimes the fluid surface deflected enemies’ blades, making them slide over the surface harmlessly.

Bontanoan carried ceremonial daggers of obsidian, and a mace of gold silvered with mercury just like his armour. His sibling Tadinopo carried a staff topped with a sharp blade taken from a warm-blood (Tadinopo had always been fascinated in the warm bloods); while Goakitlan carried a mace that had once been born by a mighty lizard warrior in the age when they Saurus and Skinks had dwelt in the jungle outside of his father’s city.



“Something is close. Something the jungle fears,” announced Bontanoan.

Tadinopo blinked his acknowledgement, while Goakitlan waited for more to be said.

Bontanoan had known this was exactly how his siblings would respond. “I do not know what, but it is large or numerous enough to have a wide effect. And it is near the great river. We must learn its nature before it comes any closer to our father’s city.”

Again the blink, this time from both siblings.

“It is agreed, then. I shall go, and I will take the warriors of the Atta tribe with me. I will discover what it is that approaches.”

Goakitlan beat his mace on his shield. “I will go with you, brother Bontanoan.”

Tadinopo beat his staff on the stone ground. “Take the Olobol tribe also, then you will have sufficient force to attack whatever it is. This way they might be stopped from coming closer. I will warn our father, and will summon the warriors of the more distant tribes. If you fail, then whatever approaches will face yet another army when they arrive, and a third if they dare to come close to our father’s city.”

* Game Note: My ‘larval’ Slann are 1980’s Slann models and count as skink priests - exactly the same stats, points and abilities. Bontanoan and his two brothers, recently spawned Slann, are an incredible rarity, but their ‘father’ was forced by necessity to create them because he was the last surviving Slann for thousands of miles. He takes his role as guardian of the ancient city and its secrets very seriously - enough to do what was not only distasteful to him but something that is considered highly dubious behaviour by most Slann.

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ARMY LISTS

'When Two Tribes go to War' (The Atta & Olobol)
A 2035 pt ('counts as') Lizardman army (Pygmies & Larval Slann)

Bontanoan (as Tehenauin) General, Tide of Serpents, Blade of Serpent's Tongue, Plaque of Sotek
Goakitlan (as Skink priest) Lvl 2, Piranha Blade, Plaque of Tepok
Pygmy Shaman (as Skink Priest) Lvl 2, Diadem of Power, Cloak of Feathers
Pygmy Chief (as Skink Chief) Scimitar of the Sun Resplendent

25 Pygmies (as Skinks) with FC
20 Pygmy Skirmishers (as Skink Skirmishers), FC, Blowpipe
20 Pygmy Skirmishers (as Skink Skirmishers), FC, Blowpipe
22 Pygmy Dwarf Boar Riders (counts as Saurus Warriors), FC, spear, shield
4 Terradon Riders with Brave
3 Jungle Swarms
3 Jungle Swarms
3 Salamander Hunting Packs (4 handlers each)

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Grand Admiral Galdabash’s Zombie Pirates Total Points = 2052
(A White Dwarf #306 Luthor Harkon Zombie Pirates List)

Grand Admiral Galdabash (as Luthor Harkon)
Vampire Fleet Captain (Brace of Pistols, Moonshine)
Vampire Fleet Captain (Brace of Pistols, Bloody Norah)
Vampire Fleet Captain (Battle Standard, Dead Man’s Chest)

25 Zombie Pirates Deck Hands Mob (Musician)
25 Zombie Pirates Deck Hands Mob (Standard, Musician)
25 Zombie Pirates Deck Hands Mob (Standard, Musician)
10 Zombie Pirates Gunnery Mob
2 Bloated Corpses
14 Scurvy Dogs (with Bad Dog)
5 Animated Hulks
2 Carronades
5 Bases of Razortooth Rats
1 Rotting Leviathan

Battle of the Swamps Part One: Deployment

The Atta and Olobol tribes gathered every warrior they could when the living god Bo-Tana-Oon, with his brother Go-Akill-An by his side, ordered it done. The youngest braves amongst them were excited for they had never been commanded in battle by one of the gods, while the older warriors wondered at just what it was they were going to do for they had never been led in battle by two of the gods together. None had much time to ponder, however, for Bo-Tana-Oon led them away before nightfall, and then all their concentration was on not getting lost or separated from the army as they moved through the jungle.

By dawn, they had left their own realm far behind and had moved into the southern reaches of the swamp, where the great river wended is sluggish way across the land. The broken edge of the jungle ran along to the west of them, and the air was filled with the familiar foetid smell of the noisome swamp waters. But there was another odour assailing them, much worse than that of the land itself - the stench of death.



The larval Slann Bontanoan and his spawn brother Goakitlan could now see the foe over the flat land, and both decided that this was an enemy they could fight. He began signalling the warriors, his brother’s shrieks and cries joining in harmoniously and with precision. The Pygmies noticed this, and some wondered whether the god Go-Akill-An knew exactly what his brother was thinking. (And he did - it was a magical ability the two siblings had been practising for some time now.)

Most of the Pygmies’ strength gathered in the centre and on the left the line. Twenty blowpipe armed skirmishers moved boldly up on the far left flank, led by Goakitlan; then came the main band of tribal warriors, with Chief Atta-ooga and Bontanoan himself in their front rank. Two large swarms of jungle creatures moved ahead of this regiment. The hardest hitting unit, the dwarf-boar riders (Saurus equivalent), advanced in the centre, with the terrifying fire-breathing salamanders on their flank, prodded forwards by a mass of pygmy braves armed with javelins.



Out on the far right another large band of skirmishers crept through the cover of the jungle, while four Terradons and their Pygmy brave riders swooped forwards to their left.



Bontanoan had brought only those who could move relatively quietly on this journey, for he had thought that if the enemy proved too strong he would retreat from them all the wiser and then gather the other tribes. Thus he commanded no Stegadons or Gorrilagors (aka Kroxigors). Still, he was confident, for the foe were a pathetic looking band of warriors, held together by some sort of curse, but nevertheless presenting a shambling and rag tag appearance. They moved slowly (what wits they might once have possessed were long since gone) and although they were walking dead, the cold blooded larval Slann and the stubborn little pygmies (counts as skink cold blooded rule interpreted as ‘stubborn little buggers’!) gave it hardly a thought.

Grand Admiral Galdabash once again marched with his mighty undead Ogres (the ‘Animated Hulks’), and once again he moved on the flank of the line - this time on the far right. Beside him three large regiments of zombie pirates staggered and splashed through the mire, their strength maintained by the corpses of the pirates who had been left behind during the Battle of the Dunes. Three Vampire Fleet Captains (rather more quick witted zombies than the rest) led them, and an undead Wyvern (‘Rotting Leviathan’) crawled along next to them. The creature had flown in life, but in death its wings proved too rotten and riddled with tears to support it, and so it dragged itself along over the soggy ground like a serpent might slither.

Two bloated corpses struggled to keep up with the zombies, but to their left the two carronades had halted, their crews now busy with loading and no longer concerned with hauling their burdens. In front of these petty cannons swarmed a large mass of Razortooth Rats. Out even further to the left ten Zombie Handgunners formed a line and hefted their rusty pieces ready to fire. Furthest out of all a pack of Scurvy Dogs moved in a strangely quiet manner, quite unlike how they would have barked and yelped in life.



The armies were arrayed, and the battle was about to begin.

To be continued .....

Battle of the Swamps Part Two - Turns 1 & 2

Bontanoan gave vent to a high-pitched shriek that every warrior in his army could hear, even those on the far right, and the entire force began their advance. The Terradons were of course the swiftest amongst them, and they put this quality to good use - flying far out beyond the line with a mind to silence the carronades. The pygmies on their backs had seen such as the carronades before (no-one else in the army had) during their forays out to the coast. There they had espied ships carrying several similar weapons, and watched as they belched fire and rocks at other ships. But they had also witnessed how (like Salamanders) they needed handlers to encourage them. Now they intended kill those handlers.



The pygmy skirmishers of the Atta tribe moved up as best they could through the jungle trees, following the Terradons. In the centre the Salamanders moved forwards while the large regiment of Olobol tribe boar riders expanded their frontage that they might use more spears against the foe (Game Note: Or the player thought to take less hits from the carronades by having less ranks - you decide!)



On the left the two swarms of lizards, snakes, spiders and such like moved towards the massed ranks of zombies, while Bontanoan and his spawn brother led their regiments forwards too to enter the swamp. This might have made the going difficult for many a warrior, but not the pygmies. They were used to such terrain (Game Note and in-joke: The reason the pygmies have the skink equivalent ‘aquatic’ rule = Watersnake! You don’t understand? Here’s the reason again - Watersnake! See?)



It was now that Bontanoan and his spawn brother began to get the measure of the foe - for their magic failed to harm the enemy at all, instead dissipating even as they attempted to stir it up in to existence. These foul creatures of undeath were (perversely) guarded by a powerful anti-magical force, and its source seemed to be the blue skinned demonic creature on their right flank.

The three salamanders opened their mouths to spit gobbets of liquid flame high into the air, singeing the scurvy dogs some way off in front, bad enough to kill two. But no-one else in the Pygmy army was close enough yet to let loose with their missile weapons, neither javelins nor blowpipes.

Grand Admiral Galdabash had never fought an enemy such as this before. This might have made another commander cautious, but not so Galdabash - he was ruled by his passions, much given to whim, and caution was something he had forgotten existed. He ordered his army’s advance with a silent thought, for all were bound to his will. He himself (as if to prove his lack of temerity) advanced with his animated hulks right up in front of the twenty poisoned-dart, blowpipe-wielding pygmies. Let them do what they might, he thought, it was surely not enough to save them.



The two zombie regiments at the front shambled as best they could towards the swarms, for want of anything better to do. They were led by three of Galdabash’s fleet captains, undead seamen with a little more wit about them than the rank and file around them, who were already wondering just how they were supposed to dispatch a mass of skittering, flittering creatures using zombie pirates who did nothing quickly. [Game Note: As the Wh.Dw. Luthor Harkon army list was for 6th ed. rules, then we were employing 6th ed V.C. rules, including brain-dead. I might not do this in future - in a spirit of compliance with the rules, of course, not just to get rid of an annoying limitation.)



The Scurvy Dogs scuttled backwards in the face of the Terradons, trying somehow to get themselves in a position to intercept the flyers and prevent them getting at the brace of Carronades.



In the rear, the third body of Zombies began moving diagonally across the field, looking for some way to support Galdabash later in the battle, and the undead Wyvern flapped and flopped along beside them, its haphazard motion belying the considerable strength and ferocity it could still muster in anger.



Suddenly a red flowered carnivorous plant snapped open two leaves like jaws and swallowed up a zombie. (Game note: We were using the old Lustria book ‘Encounters’ rules, and this had been placed the turn before by my foe![?I]) At almost the same moment quicksand claimed the lives of three of the warriors in Bontanoan’s regiment, while another carnivorous plant lashed out to kill three Pygmy Skirmishers out on the far right of their line. ([I]Game note: Sweet, if rather randomly generated, revenge!)

Now came the Zombies’ first attempt at harming the foe with gunpowder. This proved somewhat disappointing, for both Carronades failed to reach the Salamanders with their shot (this being the first salvo in what could be described as an artillery duel) while three Zombie Handgunners tumbled to the ground when their own rusty pieces tore them instead of the enemy apart!

Bontanoan did not intend to allow any other warriors to succumb to quicksand, not when there was a foe that needed fighting, so he ordered the regiment to fall back.



As Bontanoan moved away from the enemy, one of his swarms charged into the centremost Zombie regiment, and the tiny creatures ranging from the size of insects to that of bloated lizards skittered and leapt about so nimbly that they bewildered their undead foe. The swarm dragged the army standard bearer down before he could even raise his cutlass, while the other fleet captain only managed to kill two little creatures with a thrust of his rusty blade. Three more Zombies fell, and thus began a slogging match that would last some time, while slowly but surely more and more dim-witted Zombies were dispatched by the fangs, claws, pincers and stings wielded by the swarm.



The Salamanders, Terradons and rightmost skirmishers of the Atta tribe all moved towards the centre of the field (a necessary move considering the enemy was over on that side). Once again all the spells the jungle dwellers could muster fell foul of the powerful dulling of magic that the foe’s presence caused. Goakitlan could only curse, then give the order for his skirmishers to let loose a hail of forty darts - both he and they were certain nothing on the gods’ earth could withstand such an attack. Yet only one of the Hulks fell while another staggered for a mere moment (5 wounds!). Galdabash and four of his Hulks were still coming!



The Terradon Riders skewered one of the unfortunate Zombie Handgunners with a javelin as they passed by. They whooped in delight, but their celebrations were cut short by screams coming from the Salamander handlers nearby whose fire breathing beasts had accidentally killed two of them, as well as failing to send their fire far enough to reach the Zombie regiment ahead.

With all this going on, the Terradon Riders failed to notice the threat from the Razortooth Rats (Game Note: The player forgot they were skirmishers with a 360 charge arc!) and were taken by surprise when the very large (5 bases) swarm set upon them. They tried to flee away from the danger but were simply not quick enough, and the rats overwhelmed them, dragged them down and began tearing at their flesh. Out on the right of Galdabash’s line he himself led his Hulks in a charge against the skirmishers in front of him.



They proved rather more fearless than the Terradon Riders and attempted to fight rather than run, but when Chief Atta-Ooga was brutally and bloodily torn apart by Galdabash and four more Pygmies perished in a similar fashion, the fact that they had managed hurt the foe (4 wounds on the Hulks) was not really foremost on their minds and they too fled, managing to get away. Perhaps, unlike the Terradons, they had realised only too well what was surely to come and had prepared themselves for exactly this flight?



Galdabash pursued and in so doing ended up caught in the quicksand himself. Being a pirate, however, and thus like the rest of his army not wearing armour, this proved no real danger to him. He simply splashed about a bit whilst staring at the enemy up ahead and conjured images in his mind concerning how he was going to rend them limb from limb!

When the Carronades attempted to fire a second time they had a little more success than previously. One did misfire, but the other managed tom wound a Salamander. Their success was bolstered by the continued efforts of the Zombie Handgunners, who also wounded a Salamander and at the loss of only one of their number this time (mind you, their were less of them to lose in the first place!)

Perhaps things were going Galdabash’s way?

Part 3 to follow.

Ok, quiz time (like I’ve done before). You’ve got the lists, terrain, deployment and a full description of the first two turns. So, who’ll win this one?

No-one took a guess!

Battle of the Swamps Part Three - Turns 3, 4 & 5

Now the second swarm of jungle creepy-crawlies hurtled into the leftmost Zombie regiment, where things began to get messy. Between them the two swarms brought down 7 zombie pirates, while the undead only managed to kill one tiny spider (and in truth the zombie did it by falling on it). The swarms were not just holding their own: they were slowly but surely tearing the zombies apart.



Goakitlan managed to rally the fleeing Pygmy Skirmishers so that they now took up position on the left of the large Pygmy Braves regiment led by Bontanoan and Chief Atta-Ooga. Off to their right the Pygmies riding Dwarf-Boars attempted to manoeuvre themselves to lend support.

Finally Bontanoan, Goakitlan and the Pygmy shaman had some luck with their magic and two of the Scurvy Dogs were fried by lightning. This success might have emboldened Bontanoan to take a risk, for he tried to force the spell ‘Bear’s Anger’ to take hold on himself, but the winds of magic remained unreliable in the presence of the blue skinned enemy commander and he ended up hurting himself as he fumbled the spell. Goakitlan winced, for he too felt his spawn brother’s pain.

The Salamanders were now close enough to send blasts of liquid fire over several foes, and chose this time not to aim at the carronades. They hurt not only the rat swarms in front of them, but also the Zombie Handgunners and the Scurvy Dogs. The Razortooth Rats seemed to be spurred into further action by this singeing fire, and charged into the Pygmy Skirmishers on Bontanoan’s army’s right, which made the Pygmy Shaman amongst them fair dance with fury. Of course the blowpipe armed Pygmies attempted a countershot against the swarms (Game note: 34 shots - causing only 2 wounds!)



Grand Admiral Galdabash led his Hulks in a charge against Bontanoan and the Pygmy Braves, with his Undead Wyvern joining in the charge. Somehow the Pygmies and their living god found the nerve to stand against this. The little warriors fell in droves against this onslaught, Galdabash tearing their champion in two and splashing his blood all around. Only one Hulk fell during this brutal affray, and the Braves (failing to live up to their name) fled away in despair, their little legs carrying them just faster than the Rotting Undead Wyvern. Galdabash also attempted to pursue, but such was the width of his unit that he ended up crashing into the recently rallied Skirmishers and Goakitlan (again)!



One Carronade, fighting fire with fire, finally brought down a Salamander, but in the centre of the field Galdabash’s force was not doing well. Once again zombie after zombie was overwhelmed by the jungle swarms, their undead brains entirely unable to contend with the skittering speed of the jungle critters. Yet the swarm of Razortooth Rats could not emulate the enemy swarms’ success, and found themselves being stomped on and crushed by the Pygmies’ nimble feet.

Bontanoan shrieked another of his shockingly high pitched cries and thus willed his warriors to rally. Closer to the centre the Dwarf Boar Riders shuffled about a bit once more, still uncertain of where and how to deliver their attack. As they wondered what it was their living god would want them to do, suddenly Bontanoan himself, still reeling from the after effects of his miscast and trying to re-cast the same spell, somehow messed it up a second time! The resulting wave if undirected magical force washed through his skin to his heart and liver, then gushed outwards in explosive force to tear all life from his frame.

The living god was … well, no longer living!

His spawn brother Goakitlan screeched in despair, a sound entirely different to Bontanoan’s rallying cry of a moment or two before. Distracted, he failed to parry a blow from the shambling undead Hulks in front of him and his blood was also spilled - though he was still (for now) alive. When nigh upon a dozen Pygmy Skirmishers fell to the Vampire Fleet Admiral’s rage and the might of his Hulks, Goakitlan’s wits fled from him. Wounded, bereft of his brother, he joined his skirmishers in flight and when this time they could not escape, he was cut down.

Now the Pygmy Braves found themselves fighting the blue vampire once more, though to be honest they barely noticed, trying to take in the impossible fact that their god had just burst and died right amongst them!



The poor Braves had no chance at all and ten died. They too fled, only to be chased by the crazed Galdabash and his monstrous bodyguards.

The Salamanders, who did not even know they were being led by a god, returned themselves to the artillery duel and laid low one of the carronades’ crew with fire…



… while more and more Zombies collapsed in the fight against the swarms.

The Undead Wyvern joined Galdabash (probably unnecessarily) in the fight against the Pygmy regiment, while over on the other side of the battlefield the Scurvy Dogs threw themselves at the Skirmishers currently fighting the rats. As both Carronades drew blood from the Salamanders (Game Note: Very frustrating - 1 and 2 wounds respectively, from D3 wounds weapons, thus killing neither of the 3 wound creatures!), the Pygmy Skirmishers proved their worth and by killing enough Dogs and Rats they so weakened the curse holding the undead together that the remaining foes collapsed too!

At that moment a Bloated Corpse finally got to the Dwarf-boar Riders. Of course they dispatched the shambling bag of bandages easily, but found out to their cost the danger of doing so. It burst, releasing noisome odours so strong that they killed two of the Pygmies.

By now there were hardly any Zombies left from the two regiments in the centre …



… so the Pygmy Dwarf-Boar Riders turned to face the other regiment that had come around the flank.



The Zombies, however, were still too far away for them to charge, and had stopped moving forwards themselves. Some part of their fragmented minds knew that to get any closer to the Boar Riders would have been a pointless sacrifice. So they stood, motionless, staring with empty (sometimes quite literally so) eyes at the riders.



The Skirmishers on the far right of the Pygmies’ line moved towards the centre a little, felling two Zombie Handgunners with their blowpipes, while the Salamanders advanced and breathed enough fire to kill the remaining two Zombie crewmen on the Carronade they had targeted before. Only one working Carronade now remained.



While Galdabash chased off the last of the Pygmy Braves, the last Carronade tried its luck once more. Apparently, it had none left, for it blew up. A split second later a lesser explosion heralded the rather smaller fracturing of the barrel of a Zombie Handgunner’s piece, and its wielder was also destroyed.

**

Without Bontanoan or Goakitlan to lead them, the Pygmies now began to back off in confusion. Few believed the gods were actually dead, though they could plainly see both had left the vessels they had employed for their earthly manifestation. Whatever the theological truth, the will to fight had gone. They wanted to get away, return to their land, and discover if the third god, Ta-Dino-Po, had also died. If so, then they would have some real worrying to do.

By the time Grand Admiral Galdabash returned to the field the enemy had melted away into the jungle and swamps, and he decided that this meant it was a victory. For the briefest of moments he felt satisfaction, until it occurred to him that he had gained nothing from this battle, but had only been made weaker. He was now less able to fight the Pirates on the river.

Yet even if he was weaker, he hadto fight them now. For only by killing them could he replenish his ranks, repair his forces with zombie pirates, and begin once more his search for the fabled city of gold.




Result:
1572 VP (Pygmies) to 1405 (Zombies) so a winning draw to the Pygmies.

Game notes:
The story reads like it was a win to Galdabash, but points wise it was actually a draw in the Pygmies’ favour. The game actually ended in turn 5 (at the point marked **), for the reason that nothing would happen in turn 6: there was no-one who could or would charge, no-one who could shoot, and no magic wielders left. The Dwarf-Boar riding pygmies could advance towards the zombies, but I was never going to charge them in turn 6 as it would have been throwing away points. Interestingly I don’t think I can remember a game where with so much left on the field nothing could happen to change things in the last turn. Not one VP would have changed!

(Oh, except the last zombie handgunner could have died, giving + 35 VP to Uryens.)

Yet, and I hope Uryens will back me up on this - in terms of the story, it was perhaps more of a win to Galdabash. He still lives, and commands the core of an army. Let’s face it, many of his undead will eventually get up again to fight for him once more! The Pygmies, on the other hand, have lost two of their living gods! Now that has to mean something.

Then again, the Pygmies now know what they are dealing with, and Tadinopo still lives to gather the other tribes. Next time they will have ‘Gorrilagors’ and a Stegadon to bolster their fighting strength. Next time they could sweep the foe off the board!

NB: Like with other campaign games using my figures on both sides, I showed both army lists to Uryens first and described them in full so that he could choose which one he would play. I believe one cannot do fairer than that with such story-influenced (and not remotely tournament style) army lists.