Battle of the Southern Valley Part One
Note: See army lists and scenario rules above
Prince Sadrin’s Army of Amon had been marching now for just over three weeks. Consisting mostly of desert raised arabs and the rest of hardened veteran soldiers of the standing army, this meant they had covered a considerable distance and had already moved from the rocky deserts into the slightly greener foothills of the World’s Edge Mountains. Each day the column would inevitably become more stretched out then when it set off at dawn, but the Prince compensated by making sure that the crucial baggage train, carrying the victuals of the army without which it could not possibly be expected to fight, was not at the rear and that the regiments behind it were ordered not to move ahead of it. Nor were the artillery pieces allowed to tarry at the rear. This way the slowest elements of the column - heavily laden camels and slaves, and horse teams lugging huge guns - could not become stranded and vulnerable to raiders.
Nevertheless whatever orders were given regarding positions in the column, the events of a day’s march and the varying nature of the troops did mean that during daylight hours the army’s formation could alter. Not that the Prince worried about this, for why concern oneself with things that were impossible to change? Always pragmatic, he simply made sure that he himself rode with his lance armed camel cavalry in the rearguard, thus ensuring he could not miss any troubles that the units in front suffered. Behind him there was only the Elephant and the recently raised handgunners, the latter armed in a fashion that made them perfect for signalling (loudly) if any threat presented from the rear.
There had been reports of wolf-riding goblins for the last four days, and although some scaremongers built such sightings up into tales of armies lying in wait in the hills, most of the warriors of Amon thought they were merely members of the scattered and weak bands of marauders who preyed on caravans throughout the region but would surely not be strong enough to attempt an attack upon an army such as theirs. That said, there was still a distinct air of caution as the army marched, and several small companies of light horse had been ordered to act as outriders, to scour the land upon all sides of the column and race back with reports of any potential danger.
The column was approaching a wide valley, where the going would surely be easier for a little while. What the Prince did not know was that he would be fighting a full scale battle within the hour. The hills upon either side where rocky in places, and patches of soggy mire sat between some of them, but the ground along the middle of the valley was dry enough - whatever river had carved the valley out (if that’s what it was) was long gone. Little water reached the desert from these hills.
Unusually, the limbered mortar led the column, it’s crew having set off with the Swordsmen first that morning. Perhaps they had thought that this way, as the army overtook them later, they would still be somewhere in the middle of the coloumn by the end of the day? The Palace Guard Spear regiment and its crossbow detachment came next, followed by the large body of slave archers. Both cannons were being hauled together behind those archers, followed by the only unit of Light Horse remaining with the column and not out attempting to scout. A third large Foot regiment, the Desert Spears, marched next, ahead of the baggage, then came Gamouzo’s skirmishing tribal warriors.
Behind all of this, yet even to enter the valley, rode Prince Sadrin and his camel cavalry, followed by the war elephant and the handgunners. The mortar was crewed by city soldiers, men who had recently returned from Marienburg with the Prince, having acquired their artillery piece from that northern realm.
The slave archers in the centre of the column might be thought to be poor soldiers - but not so. Each knew that if they did good service upon this campaign then they would be granted full freedom, and even a chance then to enlist in the Prince’s standing army. In the meantime, they had the same rations as all the other foot soldiers, and they knew that their native skill in archery was sufficient to see them through a battle.
The two cannons were mighty pieces indeed, both also from the northern old world, one with a bronze barrel and the other cast iron. Desert warriors formed the crew of these, having been hastily trained in the art of gunnery before this expedition by the master gunner from one of Amon’s warships.
The baggage train was large, not just because the army was large too, but also because of the long distance the Prince intended to travel. Even so, Prince Sadrin knew full well that his men would have to forage and plunder once they reached the jungles. This did not over-concern him, however, because he knew the lush jungle to be fruitful as well as abundant in flesh, fish and fowl. The Wizard Zadra, travelling with Gamouzo looked down upon the baggage in front of him and took its measure. Not that he cared what it was carrying now, rather it was what it could carry back from the city of gold than interested him.
(Turn 1)
Suddenly a force of Greenskin raiders, much larger than any had thought could possibly muster under one leader in such a barren and sparsely populated place, almost a full Waagh!, came thundering over the hills upon the other side of the valley - threatening the left flank of almost the entire column.
On the Greenskins’ far right flank was a huge and monstrous creature, a wyvern, upon which the leader of the raiding force was mounted, Warboss BoneMawler. By his left side was the first of three wolfrider companies, and then came his three lieutenants (or Big Bosses as the greenskins liked to call them): Dufdig, Erbad and Clubcra. All three were mounted in huge Boar chariots which made a sound like thunder as the trundled along. Two companies of Boar Riders came next in the line, the second being the biggest, meanest orcs in the army. These Big Uns were preceded by the second of the wolfrider companies, and flanked to their left by two wolf-drawn chariots, much lighter than the Big Bosses’ boar chariots. Last (and indeed least) came the third company of Wolfriders, out on the far left flank of the army.
They took the army of Amon entirely by surprise. Without doubt, they must have overwhelmed and destroyed any scouts who had come close to them, for no report of their presence in the vicinity of the column had been brought to the Prince. They probably chose the spot carefully, knowing the land well for it was their land, and thus it was they had managed to get so close and appear ‘out of the blue’ (quite literally) on the horizon of the valley side. Yet some of their surprise was lost by the need to descend down the hill and into the valley, and the arabs of Amon used that time well. (
Game note: the arabs got first turn, and so could manoeuvre their column into better positions before the Greenskins were on them! )
The Army of Amon now sounded drum and trumpet not in alarm but in order to transmit all the signals needed to wheel and reform and create some sort of battle line to meet the enemy. Gamouzo brought his warriors down from the hill to bring them towards the baggage train, hoping to provide some defence for the vital supplies. The train itself reformed and slunk back into the dip between two hills, trying to present as small a front as possible to the advancing Greenskins. The Desert Spears and their crossbow detachment turned to face the foe, one reforming, the other wheeling so as to bring their numbers to bear. Within the ranks of the Desert spear stood the second arab wizard, Mukri al-Hajib, as well as the Agha Qilij ad-Din an-Nasawa, who was the army standard bearer.
The two cannons in the centre hurriedly unlimbered and prepare themselves to fire …
… while the skirmishing archers turned to move towards the enemy, but not so far that they could not employ their bows also. The Palace Spearmen ended up in front of their detachment of Crossbows, due to their haste to get to the foe. Off even further out than them, the Swordsmen wheeled about and the mortar also unlimbered like the other artillery pieces.
The Light Horse, being the fastest and most flexible troops in the line, moved right out towards the enemy, hoping that by doing so they could intercept or at least slow the foe’s advance down. The rest of the army watched in a spirit of awe as these brave riders galloped out far ahead ready to make a lonely stand just to buy the rest of the army time.
But the riders had not gone so far that they could not attempt to shoot with their bows. When they did so they caused the first casualties of the day, bringing down two goblin wolfriders. On many occasions this would have been enough to send such cowardly warriors scarpering off in flight, but these goblins thought differently. Perhaps they had spotted the rich prize and that emboldened them to stay a little bit longer even in a place where their comrades had just died? Apart from these two deaths, the arabs with their magic and shooting could do no further harm to the Greenskins in this opening phase of the battle.
Apart from the goblin wolf riders on the far right, none of other Greenskins fell to squabbling just yet and all made their way forwards. BoneMawler cursed to himself, however, for he knew that there were more arab soldiers off to the right and he had intended to use the squabbling goblins as a distraction to slow them down. Nevertheless, he himself landed his wyvern in the far right - if the goblins could not counter the enemy's inevitable flanking move, then he and his monstrous mount would have to try.
The wolf, boar and chariot mounted warriors moved up, each unit starting to wheel so that they aimed straight at the baggage. Every Greenskin there wanted that loot, and they could think of little else!
The Greenskins could do nothing with arrows or magic (they had no shamans with them, just a magical item or two), but this did not worry them. Like I said, they had loot on their mind and being creatures of little wit, this greedy thought filled what mind they had almost entirely.
(Turn 2)
The three Big Bosses in their hulking chariots trundled forwards, their drivers’ long whips cracking at the tough hides of the boars. The lashes did not cause much pain to the boars, but registered enough to at least steer them, and the line of the three chariots was unusually neat (and, like the rest of the army, headed directly for the pack camels and mules).
With a huge roar accompanied by the fast beating of kettledrums, the rear of the Arabyan column entered the field of battle.
The handgunners scrambled up the hill and formed into a double line so that they could fire salvos employing every piece down at the foe. The war elephant, closest to the huge wvyern but entirely unafraid of it, perhaps helped by the fact that it towered over the winged serpent, turned to block the War Boss’s path. The crew had not thought what they would do if the wyvern simply flew over them, as it so obviously intended to do! Prince Sadrin and his elite regiment of camel riders took up position on the elephant’s right flank, planning to charge at any foe approaching Gamouzo and his tribal warriors who had now bravely moved in front of the baggage.
The light horse in the very centre of the battlefield speedily reformed so that they could launch a cloud of arrows at the wolf riders attempting to run right by them. These arrows were joined by twenty more coming from the slave archers, which all added up to kill all but two of the goblins. This last pair fled away, and much to the Big Un’s annoyance, their flight put them right in the way of the boar riders’ intended charge into the exposed flank of the light horse. (
Game Note: There ought to be a army book rule about this sort of thing - would these orcs have halted a charge because a couple of gobbo’s might have been hurt? I mean really? Then again, as you’ll see soon, they didn’t get in the way in the end!! )
Out on the far right of the newly formed Arabyan line the swords and spears did what they could to approach the side of the field where the fighting was to happen. The two wizards now attempted to employ what magic they could, but although they managed first to gift Gamouzo with the strength and ferocity of a lion (
Note: Bear’s Anger) Zadra then fumbled over the words of his next spell and the resultant wild magic struck him bloodily and collapsed the spell on Gamouzo!
The artillery proved a lot more effective than the wizards. Not the mortar, for it misfired (its crew having been over hasty in unlimbering and preparing to fire and somehow botching the procedure). It was the cannons who came good. Both sent their iron balls right into the wyvern and in that one dual blast tore through its chest and passed through its heart (amongst other major organs). War Boss BoneMawler now found himself lying on the ground beside his dead mount. As he got to his feet he silently cursed, and vowed vengeance on the Arabs for what they had done.
As ever with Greenskins, even in the midst of battle, arguments have a tendency of breaking out, as one goblin annoys another or one orc takes offence at another’s face. Thus it was now, even in sight of the foe and the rich haul of baggage, that the lesser of the two boar riders’ units, and the wolf riders out on the farthest left, chsoe to squabble amongst themselves instead of advancing. If the wolf riders had not been so distracted, they might have driven the skirmishing archers away, and the board riders may even have reached Gamouzo. One unit, however, the Big Uns, chose this moment to close on their foe with renewed vigour, and pushed right through the pair of fleeing goblins before them to close right up to the horse. (
Game note: We decided that in a compulsory move like this, two goblins would not force a big unit of Big Un’s to go around them and so we just pushed the two goblins out to the side)
When the Big Un’s launched their inevitable charge the light horse chose to flee but they could not outrun the enraged boars and were slaughtered in flight to a man. The Big Un boar riders trampled bloodily over their broken bodies, their momentum barely lessened, and smashed right into the huge block of Desert Spears.
Already the Greenskins were reaching the foe. Perhaps even with a wyvern lying dead on the field they could salvage success from this? BoneMawler moved himself over to to the elephant’s flank, not wanting to face a charge from such a monster, while the three Big Boss Chariots advanced once more. The wolf riders on the right flank advanced, perhaps thinking about attempting to aid their War Boss (but being goblins, probably having no such loyal action on their mind.)
The Big Un’s on boars hit the Desert Spears very hard, their Boss challenging and fighting the wizard, the rest slaying the Amon army standard bearer Agha Qilij (
Game note: That Griffon Standard, if still there, would have saved them from running!) and killing the entire front rank. Although the Arabyan second rank thrust their spears forwards at the orcs, they could not harm them. This was a brutal blow the men of the desert could not withstand, and they broke and fled and were cut down just like the horsemen.
Final part to follow (when I've had time to write it!)
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