Skeleton Crew 2/3

I finished Screaming Skull Catapult crew #2 (still not done with the actual catapults). With those finished I can focus on getting my 'Skeleton Guard' (Oathmark Revenants) off the pain(t) station, and I expect to show them off tomorrow.

More Skeleton Archers

I don't know why the pic is partly unfocussed, but, well ...

I finished painting the four archers today (I did not paint the leader, he was already painted when I purchased the job lot back then, so I have only rebased him), and all in all this is now a valid minimum unit for WoE.

As my Undead warband is licking its wounds somewhere in the Northern Wilderness, I have time to reconfigure it a bit before Emil and I can meet up for another tussle.

I expect to field Archers and Skeleton Guards along with a Giant Scorpion next time we play, but I am still pondering what opposing force to build - maybe Elven reinforcements have arrived from the Capitol, or some Wood Elf tribes are gathering in support of the Allies.

2022-10-19, Warlords of Erehwon Campaign: The Battle of Temple Hill

It's been a while as I have been busy getting the living room ready for this Hell'O'Weekend, tidying up after several gaming sessions and decorating with all kinds of dead things.

But the day after Emil and I duked it out at Knightsbridge, Kevin visited my humble abode for an introduction to WoE.

After their defeat at Knightsbridge, the Dwarves of Hammerdeep fell back along the track towards the Heartlands of the Elven Realm, and at the intersection of Temple Hill they met the pickets of a Human force arriving from the Northwestern Jarldoms.

The two forces assembled just Southwest of Temple Hill and awaited the arrival of the Undead horde with grim determination.

And, arrive they did along the same path from the Northeast as used by the Dwarves.

While the Allies deployed from the Southwest.

Both sides used the first turn to deploy further. The Skull Chucker got a shot in on some Vikings with its Howling Horror ammo.

On Turn 2 I had a blunder. My Skeleton Riders advanced too soon, which made them vulnerable to an attack from the Hounds of Odin, who would soon annihilate my Zombies.

Lots of carnage on my right flank. The Skeleton Riders aren't all that tough when they don't get to charge (Str+1) with their lances (SV3), and their low number dwindles quickly against a numerous adversary.

A unit of Skeleton Spearmen finished off the Wolves, while the rest of my force attacked head on over Temple Hill.

Which, in retrospect, was a mistake; too many missile armed units on the other side got a chance to shoot at a single target all the time.

At the end of Turn 3, my army had taken serious casualties, and even my Undead Champion failed to do much damage in a brawl with the Dwarven Hero.

In Turn 4, my warband broke, and the Dice Gods did not let me have a last chance to even the score a bit. My Champion even got banished by some Vikings.

I made two grave mistakes in this game: Not keeping my shock cavalry back to strike at the enemy with a charge, and pressing on across the hill. Being heavily 'outgunned' by the opposing force I should have stayed behind the hill and let the enemy come to me, so I could chose how to respond, but I got cocky because of the three concecutive victories of the Undead, and I paid the price.

The Defiler fell back into the Northern Wilderness to regroup and plead for reinforcements from his master, the Necromancer.

Skeleton Crew

I have had these guys in my possession for more than 30 years, so I think it was about time they got painted and saw some action (well, actually, being dead they probably didn't notice, anyway ...).

It is the crew for one of my three Screaming Skull Catapults (of which one is missing a vital part, namely the (literal) arm), and they have already been fielded a couple of times in WoE games, but the first time I had not completely finished the paintjob on the operator (some mail and the fur edge on his expensive rags had to be drybrushed).

But, here they are in all their Undead splendor. I have another crew in the painting queue at the moment, but they will have to wait until the next archer group has been shifted.

An Archer Unit for Argonor's Undead Host

I have felt the need to field some additional ranged firepower in my Warlord's og Erehwon games (a small catapult just doesn't cut it against Vikings and Dwarves with a lot of bows and javelins).

I worked on this group as an 'unofficial' left hand job in between other hobby tasks - and, lo and behold, all of a sudden I had a new unit ready for the table, without any actual effort (or so it seemed).

A lot of bone, gold, and red, and a generous amount of Agrax Earthshade, and Bob's your uncle!

The picky observer will have noticed some moldlines, and, yes, these were part of a second-hand lot I acquired a couple of years ago, they were already assembled and primed, and rather than going over all those thin limbs with a sharp X-Acto, then having to give them a second coat of primer, I opted to just go with the flow (although it hurt every time I put a brush to one of those moldlines).

I rebased them them on 20mm washers and did my usual filler, sand, paint, and flock job on them, so that they will fit in with the rest of the army.

I already have another unit in the works, going 'on the side' like this one (my 'official' task right now is to paint up some Oathmark Revenants to use as Skeleton Guards in WoE (for now), but they are partially on hold because of the need for more headstones for my Halloween display on the 'Sideboard' (I think it's called in English). Pics will follow, when it is finished in all it's glory.

2022-10-18, Warlords of Erehwon Campaign - The Defense of Knightsbridge

After the defeat at the ancient watchtower, the surviving Elves fell back to the hamlet of Knightsbridge where they met up with a contingent of Dwarves from the mountainhold commonly known as Hammerdeep (situated in the mountains somewaht east of Desolation Pass.

Hoping that the heavily forrested terrain would slow the advance of the Undead host, the allies took up position in and around Knightsbridge.

Unbeknownst to the defenders, though, the Defiler had called upon the foul magic of the Necromancer and made most of his warband 'Spectral', so the woodland did not hamper the advance of the restless dead.

Early on there were clashes on the defenders right flank; the Skeleton Riders and the Dwarves duked it out repeatedly.

A small detachment of Zombies and Skeletons made rapid advance along the trail, being met with a hail of arrows and Baruk Khazâd.

It was clear that the defenders were relying on the hegderows for a defensive perimeter - and for now they succeeded in keeping the shambling horde from entering the fields around the hamlet.

But not for long - to the surprise of the Elves the hedges did not pose any hindrance to the Skeleton Warriors. The archers routed after a brief melee.

Then, the Skellies ran into the Dwarven Hero.

Something happened on the trail ... I need to set the camera to flash in this kind of light condition.

At the end of Turn 3 the defences still held - but for how long?

At the end of Turn 4, the Allies were broken, and the Dice Gods did not favour their attempt to stand fast. The game ended with an Undead victory, but a close one this time, as the forces of Darkness were only one unit away from breaking, too.

The Dwarves fell back along the south-western trail leading from Knightsbridge, hoping to meet up with reinforcements from the Elven heartlands.

Making almost the entire warband 'Spectrtal' was quite expensive, points-wise, and I don't think that is something I am going to do very often, as I prefer using my points for extra troops instead.

This batlle was close, and had the dice allowed for another turn, my warband might well have been broken, which would have meant that we would have to count points to determine the winner.

Emil seems quite keen to get another go at defeating my Undead, and I shall have to find a day for us to get together again for a tussle. In the meantime, I had an encounter with Kevin the day after which I shall write up during the upcoming weekend (we have friends over tomorrow, so I shall not have much time on my hands).

2022-10-14, Warlords of Erehwon Campaign - Battle of the Watch Tower

After the narrow defeat in the Battle of Desolation Pass where the cream of the Elven society in the Northern Province was all but annihilated, the young heir to the fiefdom rallied whatever troops were available, including the Rangers guarding the ruins of the ancient Watch Tower beneath Desolation Pass.

He also sent envoys to the Royal Court, the Jarls of the human settlements on the Western Coast, and to the Dwarven Kingdom of Karakhând in the mountains some leagues east of the Desolation Pass, bringing gifts and pleas for assistance.

The Elven force advanced on the double to meet the shambling hordes under control of one of the Necromancer's vile Captains, the Wraith known to the living only as The Defiler, at the now abandoned Ranger camp close to the old Watch Tower.

Here you can see the two warbands deployed:

Emil took on the role as the young and fairly inexperienced Lord, which was only fitting, as he had not played WoE ever before.

Of course, his inexperience also made him not be fully aware of the importance of using the terrain to cover his units from the Undead Stone thrower ... 😟

Turn 1 was more or less a general advance by the Undead Horde, some Zombies soaking up a hail of arrows, and the stone thrower landing a hit on the Elven Guard.

The Defiler raised the skeletons of five lomg forgotten warriors to bolster a five-skeleton Warrior unit.

Turn 2 saw another direct hit on the Elven Guard, and the Elves kept pouring arrows into the ranks of the Dead.

The Elves manuevered a lot, but still managed to get a lot of bows to bear.

The Stone Thrower Template was just forgotten om the table.

On Turn 3, the Skeleton Riders charged the Elven Rangers - and were beaten back!

The Zombie mob in the center finally fell apart under the constant hail of arrows.

On the Elves far right, the Elven Warriors clashed, first with a mob of Zombies (whom they destroyed), then with a unit of Skeleton Warriors (and were annihilated themselves).

The Skeleton Warriors closest to the camera failed to respond to an order to charge the Rangers, and went Down. They never recovered from this for the rest of the battle.

The Stone Thrower missed its target this time, but The Defiler killed some Elves with Chill Wind.

On Turn 4, once more, the Stone Thrower missed the Elven Archers.

The Skeleton Riders charged the Lord's Retinue - and were beaten back again!

The Elves were obviously giving up their right flank and trying to consolidate on their left.

As far as I remember, The Defiler  killed another Elven Guard with Chill Wind.

Turn 5 saw some heroic antics by the young and unexperience Lord, but he ended up skewered on the spears of the Dead.

At the end of Turn 5, the Undead Host had three Down units, but the Elven Warband was Broken, and the die decided that the game was over.

The Sun was really challenging my trusted Canon at this point.

Another Victory for the vanguard of the Necromancer. Will the Free Peoples of the north respond to the call to arms by the now fallen Lord, or will the Royal Court send reinforcements in time?

Stay tuned for the next chapter of this ever-growing saga!

Warlords of Erehwon Solo Game - Turn 5

 Of course, the routing Knights should have been moved before anything else, but I forgot that rule. Instead, I moved tham off the table as soon as I became aware of the error.

But, as you can see, the Guard fired at a Skeleton unit and took out the Leader.

Then, the Elven Hero charged the Undead Champion. The combattants failed to penetrate each other's armour, so both had to take a Break Test (and the Elf automatically passed, due to Haughty Disdain).

Both warriors wanted to push on, so a follow-up combat was fought. Again, no blood (ichor?) was drawn, both passed their Break Test, and the Champion had to Consolidate first.

Then a fresh (?) unit of Skeleton Warriors attacked the hero while hurling their spears at him. The Elf could not ward off all the projectiles, and thus suffered a Wound.

Shaken by the pain, the noble Elf succumbed to the insurmountable odds. Things were looking bleak for the dauntless defenderes of the pass.

To add insult to injury, the Undead horde made the final breakthrough by killing the Elven Lord with their spears while closing in.

The remaining Bodyguard broke and fled the battlefield. By this point, the Elven warband was well broken, and the Elves' only hope now was to kill off as many Undeads as possible.

A decimated unit managed to Rally.

Then, the remaining Elven Cavalry on the right flank fired at the Down unit of Skeletons - and destroyed them, which meant that the Undead warband was now also Broken!

The battlefield of Desolation Pass at the end of Turn 5. With both Warbands broken, a d6 must be rolled to decide if another Turn had to be played (1-3, the Game ends; 4-6, another Turn is played).

Aaaand.. it's Game Over, Man, Game Over!

The last effort by the Elves was too little, too late. 

The Undead had killed off units at a value of 984 points, and the Elves had killed the equivalent of 622 points.

The defense of Desolation Pass has failed, and the path now lies open for the armies of the Necromancer.

Will the Elves of the Northern Province manage to mobilize sufficient forces to stop the advance of the Undead hordes, or wil the region fall under the Shadow?

Well, I already decided that I like this game enough to make this a narrative campaign, and the next installment will be played against a live opponent taking command of the Elvish forces (my pal Emil and I are going to spend an afternoon playing a smaller battle, as the citizens of the Northern Province scrambles to stop the vanguard of the Undead invaders.

My verdict so far:

I really, really like this game. I like the flexible warband-building, and I like the ebb and flow of the game. I have to play a real opponent a couple of times, though, before I decide if Warlords is going to be my go-to fantasy game (but I have a good feeling about this).

In the meantime, thanks for reading, and stay tuned for the next battle!