Basics For Beardlings

Heya!

I'm happy to announce that ExtraBushyBeards will pump out a series of narrative tutorials for absolute beginners in Age of Sigmar, introducing different aspects of the game using short stories and lots of pictures. Here's what I had in mind:

Basics For Beardlings introduces the very basic rules of the game, from moving and shooting to charging and fighting. Also includes the use of Cover.

Units For Beardlings delves deeper into different units and model types as well as their roles on the battlefield. Introduces shooting and combat for whole units of warriors along with their Warscroll Abilities.

Heroes For Beardlings shows how heroes affect the flow of battle, casting spells and using abilities to help or hinder units on the battlefield.

Battles For Beardlings draws all the previous ones together, walking the reader through a small battle where each introduced aspect of the game is put into action and some basic tactics are discussed.

Perhaps later on I'll see about doing something similar for painting and such, but for now let us focus on the game.

This is Basics For Beardlings!

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This is an aelven infantry model, a Spireguard

Here we can see his Warscroll, a list of characteristics and equipment the warrior owns. This particular model carries both a bow and a spear, making him equally good at long range and at close quarters. He also carries an Aelven Shield which boosts his defensive capabilities.

Thoriol strode boldly around a patch of forest, arriving at a small bridge that spanned across a wide chasm in his way. The aelf was smiling. Sun glared upon the realm from the heights of the sky, just powerful enough to melt some snow from the branches of the trees and make fat drops of clear water bombard the crust of snow below.

The day was beautiful and Thoriol knew his shift ended soon, his comrade would arrive and relieve him of today's guard duty just in time for him to attend the marketplace before returning to the barracks at Vaulspire. Although he preferred outdoor patrols amidst the ruins to standing guard by the door of some mage's chamber, the young aelf needed his weekly tour in the bustling market square of the nearby city to keep his sanity. All the exotic foods and items from all across the realms laid out before one's eyes were a sight like no other! Wines from the colonies at Bristling Mountains, shabby human fabrics from Ostfort, light-refracting lenses from the Collegiate Arcane, duardin steel from Karak Izor...

A sudden noise snapped Thoriol out of his thoughts. Wood crashing upon stone. His race's innately acute senses quickly traced the sound to the nearby ruins of an old house.

An orange-skinned beast was rummaging through some abandoned barrels and strongboxes inside, so intent on the task that it had not realized the presence of the aelf yet. This was not something too uncommon on patrols in this region, and Thoriol knew his duty required the elimination of the creature. This was no simple wild beast: it was a fearsome Savage Orruk!

This game begins with these two rival models 19" away from each other at the start of the 1st Battleround. Both models will play one turn during each Battleround, starting with the Spireguard in this example.

Thoriol checked his surroundings to see if there were any more of the creatures nearby. Judging he was alone with the one in the ruins, he set about completing the task.

As indicated by his Warscroll above, the aelf has a Move value of 6". This means he can be moved up to that distance in any direction without penalties to his other actions. The distance is measured from the nearest part of the model and no part of him may go beyond the set maximum of 6".

As the distance between the models was 19", the aelf decides to move only 3" as this takes him close enough to  use his Spireguard Bow (range 16"). Any distance in the game can be checked at any time, and the models are not required to use their Move up to the max.

The distance between the models is exactly 16", just within the maximum range of the aelf's missile weapon.

Grabbing the bow from his back, Thoriol took a couple of measured steps towards the ruins. He reached for an arrow from his quiver, nocking it to his bow's string without even having to look down. He'd done this hundreds of times.

The weapon profile for the Spireguard Bow is shown on the aelf's Warscroll. The bow makes 1 Attack, meaning the player rolls one D6 dice and tries to equal or beat the weapon's To Hit value (4+). The aelf rolls a 5, so the arrow has hit the enemy!

Next the aelf rolls the dice again, this time trying to equal or beat the weapon's To Wound value (also 4+). The roll is a 4, indicating that the shot now has a chance to inflict Damage!

The orruk has some protection against the shot, however. The creature's has a Save value of 5+, but as the ruins grant it the benefit of Cover, it may add 1 to its roll (meaning that even a roll of 4 is successful). The orruk rolls a 6, avoiding any damage.

Drawing his bow, Thoriol took careful aim at the orange form in the ruins. He was as good a shot as any in his cohort, but a moving target partially hidden behind a wall made it tricky. He loosed the arrow on his next exhale, sending the white shaft surge forth with nothing but a faint whistle from the goosefeather fletchings as the missile cut through the brisk winter air.

For a heartbeat Thoriol's keen eyes saw the arrow flying straight at the beast, set to strike right through the creature's throat. But alas, at the last possible moment the shaft struck the ruined wall, clattering harmlessly to the floor of the building. Thoriol grimaced. Now he had given away his presence and ruined the element of surprise!

This model is a Savage Orruk, an infantry model from the Bonesplitterz faction.

Savage Orruks also have a Warscroll to depict their skills and characteristics. These models can be assembled to use either Savage Stikkas (spears) or Chompas (axes), but they always carry around Bone Shields for extra protection. This particular model is armed with a Chompa and a Bone Shield. Although seeming less armoured than the aelf, you'll note that whereas the aelf's Wound value was 1, this orruk has 2 Wounds, meaning that it must suffer 2 Damage to be slain whereas the skinnier aelf can only take 1 Damage before dying.

Before the arrow on the floor even came to a halt, the orruk had spun around to scan its surroundings. Spotting the lonely aelf, the creature let out a wordless warcry in challenge to the one who would disturb its looting.

With the aelf having moved and shot, but still being too far away for a Charge move, it is now the orruks turn to act. He has a Move value of 5", but as he has no Missile Weapons to use and his adversary is quite far away the orruk decides to Run. If a model Runs, it may add D6" to its Move this turn but may not shoot or charge until its next turn. Running is a good way to close the distance between model faster, especially if they carry no ranged weapons

The orruk rolls a 3 and has now moved 5"+3"=8" towards his foe. Having run, the model may do nothing further this turn. As both players have played one turn, the 1st Battleround ends and the 2nd Battleround begins, starting with the aelf.

Waving its weapons wildly above its bald head, the orruk sprang into action. With terrifying speed it bounced over the tombs and cracks on the ground, eager to get to grips with his foe.

The aelf begins the 2nd Battleround by moving away from the orruk who has now ran closer. The aelf moves into the nearby forest to claim a Cover bonus for the inevitable close combat that's about to commence.

Standing safely by the forest's edge, the aelf checks the distance to the orruk for another shot from his bow.

Startled by the speedy reaction of the creature, Thoriol backed away into the forest behind him. Here he had the advantage of higher ground and he put some more paces in between him and his adversary, buying him more time to try another shot with his bow. He swiftly nocked an arrow and drew back the string. This one had to strike true.

The aelf rolls To Hit with his Missile Weapon (4+), scoring a 4 which is a hit.

With To Wound value of 4+, the 6 rolled next indicates the arrow causing a grievous injury

Once more the orruk may try its Save roll, but without the benefit of Cover he only succeeds on a roll of 5 or 6. He rolls a 2 and takes Damage equal to the Spireguard Bow's Damage value (1). Luckily the orruk has 2 Wounds as discussed earlier, meaning he may still continue to fight.

The white shaft whistled through the air, sinking deep into the orruk's muscled shoulder. The creature let out a howl of pain but did not slow its pace, seemingly ignoring the arrow protruding from its body as it kept running towards Thoriol.

With the aelf unwilling to declare a Charge and staying in the woods, it's the orruks turn to act again. It moves 5" towards the forest but does not Run.

Having moved and not carrying any Missile Weapons, the model now has a chance to declare a Charge. Charge is the only way to move within 3" of enemy models, and it can be declared by a model when there are enemies within 12" of it. The orruk rolls two D6 and compares the result to the distance between him and the enemy. A roll of equal to or greater than the distance is a successful Charge and the model may move that many inches towards the enemy. The orruk rolls a total of 8 and the distance is 6", so the Charge is successful.

The orruk is moved within ½" of the aelf and both models are now engaged in close combat.

With a cry of "Waaagh!" the orange-skinned creature lunged at Thoriol, covering the distance between them in a couple of over-enthusiastic leaps. This close the young guard could smell the foul breath of the beast and see his enemy's bulging muscles as it prepared for its first swing.

The Savage Orruk may strike first as it's currently his turn. First the orruk Piles In 3" towards the nearest enemy model, in this example the aelf. The weapon Range (1") for the Chompa is enough to reach the aelf and the weapon has 1 Attack which means one D6 is rolled. The To Hit value is 4+, so the roll of a 4 is a succesful hit.

The orruk proceeds rolling To Wound, having to beat the Chompa's value of 3+. Alas, he rolls a 2 and the attack sequence ends without inflicting any damage!

A stone axe came swinging his way in a downward arc, forcing Thoriol to take a backwards step to bring his spear up for a parry. The force behind the axe was greater than the aelf's speed, and the jagged blade slid across Thoriol's breastplate to scratch his spear-arm before he managed to dance away from the blow.

A quick glance at his arm reassured the young guard's mind despite the sight of his own blood. It was just a flesh wound!

Although it is currently the orruk's turn, the aelf may now strike back in close combat. He rolls a 5 which exceeds his Silverwood Spear's To Hit value of 4+ and is thus a successful hit.

A further roll also succeeds as the aelf scores a 4 against his spear's To Wound value of 4+. The orruk may now try to deflect the damage with its Save.

The Savage Orruk rolls a 1 for its Save roll (value 5+), suffers 1 Damage from the Silverwood Spear and is slain as it loses its last Wound. The Spireguard is victorious!

Having backed away from his enemy's swing, Thoriol now lunged forth with his spear in retaliation. The leaf-bladed tip deftly passed the orruk's flailing axe and slipped by the ramshackle bone shield to sink into the creature's neck!

As the beast fell on its knees, gurgling blood, the aelf yanked his spear free and gave the orruk a kick on the chest. For a moment the mortally wounded beast struggled on the cracked flagstones before finally succumbing to the loss of blood, laying perfectly still in a slowly expanding pool of its own gore.

Thoriol realized he had been holding his breath and took a few lungfuls of fresh air before checking the carcass for valuables. A single carved trinket on the orruk's ear seemed like it could be of some value, so the aelf removed it from the corpse before dragging it to the chasm and tossing the remains in.

Perhaps this trinket could earn Thoriol his day's lunch at the market?

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Thank you for following through, I hope this was a worthwhile read for veterans and an insightful journey for complete beginners.

In the next "For Beardlings" -tutorial we'll take a look at how units work in Age of Sigmar. Until then!

Smoothsleight Necropolis

Hi folks!

I just picked up my order from the local gamestore, a purchase I justified to myself by repeating "it doesn't need to be painted" in my head over and over again.

A Soulblight Necropolis battlemat!

I was very excited about all the Skirmish releases but the only one I allowed myself to fall for was this gorgeous battlemat. I already own three different ones (snow and grass on canvas, a ruined city on mousepad) but they're all from DeepCut Studios, so it makes this one unique in a way.

Although being a Games Workshop item, the pricing is pretty much on-par with the DeepCut mats. The sewn edges and incredible amount of detail in this battlemat give it a very high quality look and feel compared to my other mats, but I kind of dislike the fact that it came in a box. Wouldn't a tube have been a more eloquent approach, perhaps even saving the mat a few folds and such? Oh well, I guess boxes are easier to store and stack on shelves.

When I first opened the whole thing I went simply "wow!", and not just because of the strong rubber-fumes that exploded out of the box (they dissipated quickly) but for the overall look of the battlefield!

Even with no terrain on it the mat looks like it's ready for a scrap, without still overwhelming the viewer with too much stuff. In the following days I'll have it tested in the fires of battle, acting as a scene for some Skirmish test-runs to see how it performs in action.
What do I expect from the mat? Well, obviously I want it to enhance the overall feel of the game, perhaps making otherwise boring or blank terrain pieces look better and blending them into the landscape. I also want it to be freely modular, meaning that it offers more than a few ways to setup terrain in a sensible way (ruins, walls and forests not overlapping the printed objects too much) so it could be used in a variety of different battleplans and game sizes.

What I'm a bit afraid of is whether or not this mat makes my battle report pics look incoherent with all those tombs and cracks being always out there among the models themselves. We'll see!

The detail of the battlefield is magnificent. The texture of the mat itself doesn't push through so much that it would ruin the experience, for me at least. The different roads, cracks and tombyards are a nice layout for different battlefields, offering both open space and cramped confines depending on how much terrain the players dare to use. An ideal battlefield for a Skirmish game should offer a bit of both, I think, unless the specific scenario being played calls for a more special arrangement.

There was one thing that left a more bitter taste in my mouth, though...

This. No, it's not my camera that's out of focus. The middle of the battlemat actually looks like that in real life. I don't know if I just hit a bad batch or something, but the altar (or whatever) in the middle seems to be printed out of focus. With all the speech about quality and durability, this one had me blinking my eyes for quite a while before I accepted the truth.

All in all, if one 3" by 3" spot on the mat is a bit blurry and the fact the thing came folded in a box are the only problems I've found thus far, I can say I'm happy with my purchase. I'll still do some research about the blurriness and see if it's something I need to contact customer services about.

The material of the mat is one big, giant plus for the overall product. It folds and rolls smoothly, the rubber surface on the reverse side keeps it from sliding or slipping on the table and yet it's all thick enough to make that satisfyingly muffled sound every time you toss some dice on it!

It says on the side of the box that the mat can be carefully ironed straight, but when I tried it the whole process seemed to have little to none effect on the folds. I'm still unsure if my iron is just too old for the job or if the temperatures they suggest are too low, but I tried several times with different mat sections and iron trajectories. The folds set down a bit eventually, but I couldn't get them all out. Not yet at least.

The box itself is sturdy work, more so than I expected, to be honest. I can definitely see myself storing (and perhaps even transporting) some miniatures in this, but I think I'll keep the battlemat rolled up on a shelf when I'm not using it. Saves me the folds, I hope!

Overall I see the Soulblight Necropolis as a good purchase and I'll give it a solid Duardiness Rating* of 4/5. It's not the best battlemat I can imagine but it's also Realms away from being the worst! Top quality for a decent price that endures comparison to other manufacturers.

Pros:
+ reasonably priced for what one gets
+ there's a definite feel of quality in the product (unless the blur is common!)
+ no sliding or slipping
+ durable as a duardin
+ less intruding to the eye than the previous Khorne-themed mat
+ usable in AoS outside the given Skirmish in Shadespire -setting
+ sure to enhance even the simplest terrain pieces piled on it
+ satisfying muffle on dice rolls

Cons:
- a blurred spot in the middle(!)
- comes in a box and riddled with folds
- the mentioned folds won't set down under ironing (easily, at least)
- fits ill for stuff outside the Age of Sigmar setting
- some players may see the amount of tombs and cracks a little... dense


I hope this review helps some of you make up your minds about this specific Skirmish product. Until next time!


*Duardiness Rating measures the wealth and time put into something compared to its usability, sturdiness, quality and safety.

Watchtower's Watchful Watchers

Halt! Who goes there?

While slowly working my way through the Bretonnian ranks I started a small terrain project on the side for some change to painting endless crowns and coats of arms.

Here it is, a royal watchtower! Painting rough stone and some roof tiles was a nice change of pace to the tabards and bardings of the Bretonnians I've been seeing lately. The building is truly huge (two Men-at-arms by the door for scale) but I found it only refreshing to go through all those bricks one by one with a wide brush!

A different angle here. The model is a resin Torre medieval from Momminaturas and came supplied with four ruined walls, a reinforced door and the tower itself in five pieces. I really like the sturdy yet still majestic look of the entire thing, a perfect terrain piece for my Bretonnian battles (I also have thematic terrain for my Duardin and Aelf armies, but more on those in another post).

For ease of use, storage and transportation I carved some "beds" in the resin for a couple of small magnets, making the whole thing come apart into eight pieces: 3 levels of the tower, the tower roof and 4 ruined wall sections. This way I can use all the walls as separate pieces to get denser terrain for Skirmishes, or I can use the top-third section of the tower itself to use as a temple or something!

Speaking of the tower summit, by removing the roof one can easily slip in a few models to represent the unit that is housed within. There is actually space to put in a good handful of models inside the structure but I think I'll just put a few on the top and move the rest off-table for simplicity and safety reasons.

The barrels and boxes were not included in the set but they looked nice when strewn around the place, making it look inhabited. The watchmen have been known to see better when their bellies are full!

Strike at Gorehenge

Greetings!

I finally took one night off from painting my Svedonnians to walk down to my local gaming store and have a game. I decided to take 1000p of my Freeguilders out for some fresh air and got paired up with some Khorne Bloodbound, which was interesting as my opponent was using the new Blades of Khorne Battletome and I got to see some of its content on the battlefied!

Our gaming table was a bit stretched out but we used lots of terrain to break it apart a bit, and rolled special terrain feature rules for everything except hills and forests. The battleplan was Three Places of Power, for which my opponent's army suited perfectly: he had four heroes in total, as opposed to my two. Every hero was an honest footslogger, though, so no monsters or super-fast objective grabbers on either side.

My list was as follows:
- Freeguild General
- Amber Battlemage
- Freeguild Swordsmen x20
- Freeguild Handgunners x20
- Freeguild Greatswords x20
- Helblaster Volley Gun

My opponent had 20 Bloodreavers, 5 Blood Warriors, 2 Khorgoraths, 2 Slaughterpriests, a Bloodsecrator and a Mighty Lord of Khorne.

Let us carry on to the battle itself!

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General Ludwig Hassenbach had pressed his men hard. They'd been marching for two days with only a brief repose in the night between, obediently following the directions given by the garrison of Ostenfort to find some ancient altar they suspected may have been taken over by Chaos worshipers. The bloody Ostenland cowards claimed to be unable to lend any men for the task themselves, thus making Hassenbach's company responsible for investigating the matter further.

Behind him trotted his brave but unfortunate freeguilders, their weapons shouldered and breath steaming as they trudged along through the patches of snow that covered this barren landscape. Handgunners, swordsmen, artillery and his personal honour guard all followed up in a ragged column, fighting to keep themselves warm and their minds sharp for the task at hand. The company of the Amber Mage was something Ludwig found himself to be the most grateful of.

"Not many miles left, I hope?" he asked the green-clad figure walking beside him.
"No, General. It's just behind that forest," the battlemage replied, nodding towards the treeline they were soon about to enter. The mage closed his eyes and raised his face to the skies, whistling a short tune. A hawk's scream echoed back from the heights.
"There are human forms moving about the ruins, enough to resemble a warband of some kind."
"I see..." Ludwig muttered to the mage before calling out to the sergeant behind him to break the marching formation and spread out the men. The battlemage frowned, his eyes still closed.
"There's something else. Forms much bigger than a man, yet still oddly humanoid," Joshua of the Amber Brotherhood warned as he finally opened his eyes.
"All wildlife have fled the area except for my hawk. There are foul things ahead, General. I'd suggest unpacking that fearsome Volley Gun of yours..."

For a moment the column of soldiers halted, spreading out to form a battleline before pressing on into the woods ahead, and then the ruins beyond.

As soon as the first ranks of the freeguilders emerged from the treeline, a mighty roar went up from the other side of the clearing. Two towering monsters had gotten their scent, alerting the rest of the enemy to their presence with the unnatural howls they emitted.

"By the gods, that's a whole Bloodbound warband!"
"Sigmar preserve us..."
"Join the Guard they said, you'll see the Realms they said..."
Frightened chatter could be heard from among the marching lines, the men cursing their bad luck for having to face the rightly feared zealots of the Blood God in an open battle.

"Enough! We're here to deal out the Judgement of the God King upon the unworthy. Remember you vows, remember your duty. We'll show these degenerates how a true army wages war!" General Hassenbach bellowed, hoping to instill some courage and confidence to the men although he felt none of it himself. To his credit the soldiers around him cut their chatter and seemed to prepare their minds for the battle to come.

The Bloodbound surged forth with apparent joy, bunching up into loose groups of warriors that began running towards the freeguilders. Only one of their Slaughterpriests remained relatively still, seeming to channel magical energies from the tranquil pool right beside the ring of stone pillars.

"We must stop whatever ritual they're up to. Onwards, sons of Sigmar! Crush them in the name of all that is good and just!" Ludwig shouted out, drawing his sword from its decorated scabbard in one fluid motion.
"Chaaaaarge!"
The Guards and the Greatswords started towards the oncoming enemy while the Handgunners formed a firing line behind a stretch of mossed wall. Immediately they opened fire on the two Khorgoraths stumbling among the stone pillars, causing puffs of smoke and dust spring up all around the gorehenge with only a few shots actually hitting the beasts, sinking into their liquid-looking flesh without leaving a mark. The Helblaster Volley Gun emptied its revolving barrels into a gigantic man carrying a brazen totem of the Blood God, the bullets mysteriously bouncing off the man's skin or missing altogether.
"The blessings of Khorne are with me! None can harm the mighty Ragrax Brassfist!" the totem carrier screamed, laughing at the lead pellets falling to the ground around him like rain.

The Slaughterpriest by the lake seemed to finish some kind of a prayer as he pointed his hand towards the Swordsmen, three of which dropped to spasm on the snow in violent agony as their blood boiled in their veins and poured out of their eyes and ears in great streams. In response to these enemy tricks Joshua the Amber Mage spoke the words of power for a spell that infused the Swordsmen with the spirit of wild beasts, suspending their fears and lending strength and ferocity to their sword arms.

The servants of Chaos pressed on through the field, their leader Galathor Skullcleave leading his Blood Warriors to approach one freeguilder flank while the Khorgoraths advanced on the other. Bloodsectrator Ragrax struck the pole of his totem deep into the frozen ground, resulting in a blast of heat that melted the snow around him. The totem began to glow bright as forged steel, opening a rift in reality to pour in chaotic energies from Khorne's realm into this one. The ground beneath the giant man's feet began to turn into polished brass, the stain constantly creeping outwards to gain more land.

All Bloodbound on the clearing seemed to draw power from the energies that now ran rampant across the scene, their eyes glowing with indescribable frenzy. A group of bare-chested Bloodreavers rammed into the Swordsmen, laying about them with their axes to severe heads and limbs with each swing. Although their numbers were thinning rapidly the soldiers proved to be equal to the task, and with the help of their mage's blessing braced themselves and worked together to dodge, parry and dispatch the barbarians one by one. As the casualties began to pile up on both sides the tide seemed to turn to the freeguilders' favour, and soon the two remaining Bloodreavers found themselves surrounded.

Handgunners fired off another volley into the Khorgoraths, this time riddling one of them with holes that made even a creature of such ferocity succumb to its wounds and drop dead amidst the pillars. The strangely formed rock next to the Greatswords suddenly emitted a flash of green light, leaving the elite soldiers standing stupidly with blank expressions, some of them even losing the grip on their weapons.

"Foul witchcraft!" Hassenbach cursed. His gunners and Swordsmen could hold the left flank but on the right his artillery was in grave danger now that his elites suffered some incapacitating phenomenon. Just as his gaze swept past the Volley Gun he saw the crew trying to unjam the mechanisms of the weapon. It must have been the cold.
"Sigmar preserve us..." Ludwig sighed to himself as the realization dropped on him. The ritual had to be stopped and that Slaughterpriest by the lake seemed to be the centre of it. His right flank was failing him and the enemy forces were still largely untouched.

Ludwig took a deep breath of the brisk winter air and ran into the lake ahead. As the waded through the shallow water and tried not to make eye contact with the malevolent spirits that swam about his feet, the Slaughterpriest raised his head and laughed.
"Is this the challenge Khorne sends here to prove my worth? An old man with a toothpick!"
"I'll show you how proficient I am with this particular toothpick, you malformed dim-wit!" was the response General threw at his opponent before surging in to initiate a duel.

The last Khorgorath let out a blood-curdling roar as it charged the Handgunners, the bony tentacles on its shoulders lashing out and transfixing the foremost gunner in a spray of gore. The rest of the firing line pulled their triggers in haste, emptying nearly two dozen barrels into the monster at point-blank range. The Khorgorath fell on its face on the run, gliding across the frozen ground to crash into the brick wall and shattering a section of it. The monsters were now dealt with and the handgunners turned their gaze towards the centre.

The Swordsmen finally dispatched the last of the surrounded Bloodreavers, but the effort had been extremely straining. Over a half of their unit now grew cold on the ground amidst the bodies of muscled barbarians. Three of the surviving men still skulked off the battlefield after the fight ceased, their minds broken by what they had witnessed.

All across the clearing the Bloodbound engaged Hassenbach's company. The Blood Warrriors ran into the unprotected Volley Gun and Bloodreavers charged the witless Greatswords.

Ludwig danced deftly around the clumsy strikes of his adversary, his own blade licking out from behind his shield to cut and stab his foe here and there. The sword he held was no ordinary weapon but a relic blade capable of cleaving through flesh as if it were butter. His opponent certainly had the size on him, but armed with the magical blade Hassenbach believed he could wear down the priest and end the ritual.
While masterfully dueling his foe, Ludwig saw another Slaughterpriest approach at the edge of his vision and stepped aside a mere heartbeat before a giant axe would have decapitated him. Distracted by this newcomer, the General gave his original adversary enough time to chant a prayer that sent lances of pain through his body. His blood boiled inside him and flowed out of his ears and nose, but Ludwig made himself keep fighting. He had a duty to fulfill.

The Blood Warriors made short work of the artillery crewmen, running them down like dogs. Beside them the Bloodreavers sliced their way through unmoving ranks of freeguild elite, striking off heads and severing spines with exaggerated swings as they gleefully mocked their defenseless prey.

Ludwig heard the slaughter going on behind him, knowing his right flank was defenseless and about to collapse. He didn't know how long he could hold off the priests here to buy time for his gunners and swordsmen to rejoin the battle. Quickly wiping blood from his nose with his thumb, Hassenbach decided it was time to make an end of this. He feinted to his left, making the blade-armed priest miss a swing as he spun around it and sank his relic blade hilt-deep into the barbarian's bare chest, the tip of his sword bursting straight out of the priest's back. As his foe fell onto his knees before him, the General kicked the carcass to free his blade. It remained stuck.

Joshua the Amber Mage sprinted in between the Khorgorath corpses, seeing his chance to reach the Gorehenge and try to undo the foul ritual. The Handgunners shifted towards the centre and let off a volley that swept down half of the Bloodreavers from around the helpless Greatswords, thus effectively protecting the elites should they ever come to their senses anymore. The Swordsmen also ran to the middle of the clearing, trying to assess the situation and lend help where needed.

Ludwig Hassenbach knew his end had come even before the axe descended. His blade came free at the last possible moment and he turned in against his second adversary just as the Slaughterpriest lunged at him. His sword slid through the man's belly before the great axe struck him across his chest, splitting the breastplate and sending him on his back into the depths of the cursed lake and into the embrace of the malicious spirits.

The Slaughterpriest pulled the general's sword from his torso and tossed it into the lake with the man's corpse.
"Tough old bugger..." he muttered as he turned back to upholding the flow of the lake's magical energies to complete the ritual.

At last the Greatswords came to their senses as the curse of the peculiar rock lifted. There were still Bloodreavers in their midst, striking them down one by one, but now the freeguild elites would be fighting back!

The five remaining Swordsmen saw their general fall and charged across the lake as the Handgunners laid down withering cover fire that cut down the triumphant Slaughterpriest, thus clearing the way for the Swordsmen to reach Ragrax Brassfist. Three soldiers were lost into the lake, however, as the now-fed spirits craved for more human flesh and tore down warriors from the run to pull them into the deadly depths. Only two brave Swordsmen reached the Bloodsecrator and got immediately swatted aside by Ragrax's mace for their efforts.

Battlemage Joshua reached the Gorehenge and began unbinding the energies the priests had accumulated. The task was enormous and the Amber Mage knew he would only succeed if the remainder of Hassenbach's company could buy him enough time. 

The angered Greatswords slaughtered the Bloodreaver in short order after coming to their senses, but received another charge immediately after as Galathor Skullcleave led his Blood Warriors into the fray. Astonishingly no Greatswords fell in the first fierce moments of the combat, but two heavily armoured Khornate warriors were slain by determined zweihander strikes!

The Handgunners took aim once more and concentrated their fire on the Bloodsecrator that had now picked up his totem and was making his way towards the lake. As before, many shots went wide or bounced harmlessly off Ragrax's armour, but enough bullets found their marks that the giant barbarian was left severely wounded.

The wild hack-and-slash went on between the Greatswords and the Blood Warriors, with the latter side again failing to slay any of the human elite. Truly these warriors had the bravery and skill of Sigmar himself on their side as they cleaved through the red ranks of their foes with hatred burning in their eyes. Even mighty Galathor bled as the Guild Champion's greatblade pierced his armour and sunk into his flesh, the retaliation of his daemon hound harmless against the plate armour of the freeguilders.

The numbers of the Blood Warriors dwindled fast as the fighting drew on, but as their last warriors fell to the foe's zweihanders their own axes claimed a few lives in exchange, evening the odds a little. When the Guild Champion decapitated lord Galathor Skullcleave with one lucky overhead strike, however, the scales tipped permanently for the freeguilders.

No matter how hard he tried, Joshua the Amber Mage couldn't stop the completion of the ritual anymore. He could see the sky darken and sense the overlap in realities the foul priests were trying to accomplish.
"Fall back! All men fall back! This place is soon to be filled with daemons and you don't want to be around when that happens!" he cried out to the Handgunners who passed his warning across to the Greatswords. In good order, the remains of the Hassenbach company withdrew from the field.

Bloodsectrator Ragrax Brassfist stood by the lake, watching the weakling humans retreat into the treeline. The lone surviving Blood Warrior limped next to him, holding one arm over the gaping wound on his bleeding flank.
"Shall we give chase?" the warrior asked, grinning.
"No," Ragrax replied calmly.
"We spilled enough blood for the ritual to be drawn to its inevitable conclusion, and now we wait for His legions to arrive. Then we shall lay waste to this land."

The Blood Warrior stood silent for a moment, his gaze sweeping across the corpse-strewn battlefield.
"I thought the plan was to use these weaklings as the sacrifice, now we've lost our own warband and priests in the process!" the warrior stated, gripping his red axe more tightly.
"Perhaps you're not the one capable of leading this invasion after all..."

A wide smile spread across Ragrax's lips at that.
"Khorne cares not from whence the blood flows, only that it flows"

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A massacre! And by more means than one...

My opponent was left with only 2 Wounds on the table, his 1-wound Bloodsecrator and a 1-wound Blood Warrior, meaning that his army was pretty much destroyed. Yet still he scored 9 points in the scenario whereas I scored only 3, resulting in a crushing defeat for my Freeguild!

The additional abilities and artefacts from the Blades of Khorne Battletome really make the blood flow on the battlefield, granting charge and anti-mage bonuses that combined with the Blood Tithes help getting the melee-focused army into combat faster and safer to use their astonishing amounts of Attacks per model and lay waste to enemy lines.

One of the important factors in this game was army composition in relation to the battleplan, four heroes against two! And as only heroes can score the objectives, the edge they gave is quite clear... yet that did not decide the game. The other factor was the two-turn dizziness my Greatswords experienced that prevented them from rushing into the middle and help stopping the Slaughterpriests from scoring. Also, my Volley Gun jammed and then got slain pretty soon after, making it totally useless to the outcome of this battle.

Oh well, luck is always easy to blame!