Map - Year 5, Turn 6

History of the Sundered Isles – The Forty Second Year of the Second Age. Macdanalus, scrivener to the King. The Fifth Year and Sixth Campaign Month of the Great War.

It was eerie. Kugath Skulltaker looked out over the Altdorf battlements at the assembled undead
horde and sighed. The horde had arrived at the walls seven days previously. There were no fires at
night... none. Nor were there the usual sounds you would expect from a camp at rest. Nothing...  His
troops were getting restless and fights were now breaking out almost daily between off duty Norse
and Druchii. All they could do was wait... it was interminable. Why wouldn’t they just attack! He
needed to get drunk.

It happened on Geheimisnacht. At precisely the witching hour a torrent of dark energy exploded
out from the Lost City like an ink stain over the sky. The tendrils of dark energy surged across the
sky south toward Kanesdue and east towards Smith’s Isle. A mere five minutes later the blight had
reached Altdorf and the Ogre’s Great Hall. The wave of power seemed to earth itself over the forces
of undeath to the horror of the troops behind the walls. The ground shook as ancient beasts and
bones rose from beneath the earth. Long cursed and long dead armies vomited forth from the cold
black earth and creatures of the night were drawn to the mystical energy as it re-coalesced as green
lights in the eye sockets of the horde. On two separate continents, without a single sound, and at
the exact same moment, the undead advanced in lock step toward the walls. They were met by a
roar from the walls as battle was finally joined.

The fate of the sundered isles would be changed utterly by the events that followed.


The Siege of Altdorf
Defenders: 1200pts of Warriors of Chaos and 545pts of Dark Elves.
Vampire Counts have announced they are attempting to storm the walls.

It is a siege battle. The Dark Elf King is present.
The main defender (Warriors of Chaos) gets a maximum of 1745pts of defensive siege.
equipment from the following list (rules are in Blood in the Badlands – or ask GM).

• Wizard’s Tower (tower upgrade) = 500 points
• Witches Cauldron = 500 points
• Cauldron of Boiling Oil = 250 points
• Hell Gate = 250 points
• Warded Tower (tower upgrade) = 250 points
• Sally Forth! = 250 points
• Flaming ammunition = 100 points per unit
• Haunted Mansion (tower upgrade) = 500 points
• Tower of Blood (tower upgrade) = 500 points

The Siege of Blood and Bone
Defenders: 350pts of Ogre Kingdoms and 200pts of Warriors of Chaos.
Vampire counts have announced they are attempting to storm the walls.

It is a siege battle. Ogre Kingdoms get a 300pt muster.
Vampire Count battery is unsuccessful thus:

• The main defender (Ogre Kingdoms) gets a maximum of 550pts of defensive siege equipment from the following list:

• Wizard’s Tower (tower upgrade) = 500 points
• Witches Cauldron = 500 points
• Cauldron of Boiling Oil = 250 points
• Hell Gate = 250 points
• Warded Tower (tower upgrade) = 250 points
• Sally Forth! = 250 points
• Flaming ammunition = 100 points per unit

Far to the north the Bretonni continued their annexation of the Isle of Mists as they stormed in to
seize Bjornling (B13) and Skaeling (C13) from the Norse. Back on Norslatch the Bretonnian 4 th army returned home to the capital while the 1st army rushed in to reconquer Lyonesse (D8). The forces of the rebel duke fought a hard rearguard action and the Bretonni suffered 250 casualties before finally subduing the province.

Elsewhere the Dwarfs, Undead and Norse repositioned their fleets to Eataine (K10), Baersonling
(E14) and Hersig (F11) respectively, while the random movement of the storm of magic moved it
north to the Bastion Hills (H12).

Conquest
Bretonnians take Bjornling (B13) from Warriors - fortress
Bretonnians take Skaeling (C13) from Warriors - village
Bretonnians take Lyonesse (C13) from the Duc De Lyonesse - village
  
Tally of the Dead
Bretonnians lose 250pts

Map - Year 5, turn 5

Macdanalus, scrivener to the King. The Fifth Year and Fifth Campaign Month of the Great War,

It was as though peace and dull normalcy had returned to the land. The long siege of the Great Hall
(I7) continued with the Ogre and Norse alliance using up their last baggage. Elsewhere on Kanesdue
the Dwarfs of Tor Achare (I10) were caught in torrential rain and trapped in the villages. Offshore
the Dwarf fleet steamed from Slave-Slaughter (I9) on a pleasure cruise to Avelorn (J10) while on
Kinsblood the daemon army once again returned to the Fortress of the Dawn (J12). The slow Undead
progression up Smith’s Isle continued with both armies at the Walls of Azul (F13) and a third army
disgorged by the Undead fleet all shambling into Nordland (E13) where they left a red ruin of the
province. To the east the Druchii and Norse outriders observed and awaited the siege of Altdorf.
Meanwhile the Norse fleet sailed on to Osthof (F12) while in the north the Bretonnians in Manbane
(D12) marched into Beast Rock (C12). However, there was a scouting problem in Hellcoast (B12) and the Bretonni were held in position. All exploration attempts failed.


Conquest
Vampire Counts take Nordland (E13) from Warriors – village


Tally of the Dead
None – are we actually playing a campaign or just dicking around?


Misc
Ongoing siege at The Great Hall (I7) – Ogres and Warriors use up 1 baggage each.
Nordland (E13) is razed.

The Battle for Altdorf

"Look for yourself","GO ON",the language was thick and unnatural in his elf throat.  You didn't live for 500 years without learning languages but he never liked this northern gibber with so many words for death and suffering.  He handed over the spotting scope. A younger version of him would have applied something lethal to the eyepiece but not today.  old assassin habits die hard, even when you become king.

The northern lord was no fool, he sniffed the eyepiece, grinned then squinted through it.  as he focused he could take in what the elf had spoken of, not far away a huge force of undead was assembling, dust clouds rose as the relentless march of rotted and skeletal feet pounded the dry earth. Spectral ships could be seen gliding in from the sea and unloading more and more troops.

"As I have said we can fight this out now, but whomever wins will face THAT", he pointed west.  the northern lord continued to look through the scope ignoring the elf.

He had gotten this far with what remained of his army. His men were tired and hungry, but he knew they would fight to the last if he called upon them to do it. Not today he hoped.

Finally the northern commander snapped the scope closed, fixed the elf with a look then slowly regarded his arrayed army, looking back at the two chaos armies behind him. He sniffed the air and then with a signal and a snort horns sounded in the ranks of the northerns.  The elf could sense the disappointment among them. From their bulk and stance he could tell it had been a while since they had last fought.  No matter there would be plenty of time to fight when the undead arrived.  The horns sounded again and the gates of the city cracked open and widened.  The chaos warriors started to disperse heading for the city

The elf king signed his men to follow and at an easy walking pace he steered his mount towards the city.  His fingers relaxed around the poisoned dart in his sash.

 Strange bedfellows indeed he thought to himself as he followed the chaos armies into the interior of the blackened city.

----------------

The ramp crashed down into the surf, and Pieter surged down onto the beach on his nightmare. The beast snorted and gnashed as it caught the scent of the living, many miles North. Waiting on the beach was a hooded figure. It regarded Pieter with Elven eyes.

"Your presence here tells me our mutual acquaintance has performed as expected. Can the Northerners really be so foolish? I must admit though, I can't see how this warlord turns so many to his cause when the only benefit is a slightly quicker death. Hmph. Mortals, who knows what they'll do next eh?"

The elf remained silent. Now that it's work was done, the glamour giving it the illusion of life was sloughing away, revealing the drowned horror beneath. 

The vampire turned to regard the landing troops. Rank upon rank of skeleton warriors marched up from the beach, clouds of ghosts swirling in their wake. Mortis engines slowly drifted over the waves and as he watched, a wight unfurled the Dreux standard and hoisted it aloft. Out to sea more ships were bearing toward land.

Pieter hoped it would be enough to see Altdorf burn.

Map - Year 5, turn 4

History of the Sundered Isles – The Forty Second Year of the Second Age. Macdanalus, scrivener to the King. The Fifth Year and Fourth Campaign Month of the Great War.

This was the final gambit of the Witch King. He knew that Kinsblood Isle was overrun and had
abandoned his positions on Naggarond and Lothern. He looked north to Altdorf (F14). It was less
well defended than the more southern thrones and it would be a serious blow to the Norsemen if
he could take it. It would split their empire and perhaps begin their downfall. He made the order. His
troops would strike north from Talabheim (G14) in the morning. At the same time the Exalted Leader
of the Norse 8th army in Nordland (E13) was getting his own orders to return to Altdorf...

And so it was that the Druchii, outnumbered 2 to 1, marched forth to Altdorf. The Norse lord smiled
and ordered his troops out to meet the Druchii on the plain outside the city.


The Second Battle for Altdorf and the Empire Throne

Dark Elves 2nd Army vs. Warriors of Chaos 5th and 8th armies
• 545pts of Dark Elves

The Dark Elf King is present and has his heirloom
• Both Chaos armies are 600pts. Total = 1200pts

Down in Kinsblood itself the Norse continued to mop up the Dark Elf territories with the 3 rd and 4th
armies in Naggarond (I15) moving out to seize Hag Graeg (H15) and Clar Karond (I16) respectively.
To the west the force at the Fortress of the Dawn (J12) split up, with the 7 th army moving in to
support the Lothern (I11) garrison while the Daemon army marched east into Nagarythe (I13).

Naval manoeuvrings continued with the last Norse fleet sailing east into Hersig (F11) and the
mighty Ogre armada sailing to the head of Tor Achare (I10). Meanwhile the great Vampire armada
continued preparations for the full invasion of Smith’s Isle by sailing north into Osthof (F12) where
the Vampire 6th army boarded the 1st fleet. The two Undead armies on Smith’s Isle advanced into
and annexed the Walls of Azul (F13) from the Norse.

On Kanesdue the Undead maintained their siege of the Great Hall (I7) and opted not to attack the
Ogre throne. Meanwhile the Dwarf 4th army advanced into Tor Achare (I10) to seize the coastal
villages from the Norse.

To the north the Bretonnians continued their conquest of the Isle of Mists, with Bretonnian armies
capturing Hellcoast (B12) and Manbane (D12) from the Norse. Finally, on Norslatch, the army in
Carcasonne (D5) marched north into the Grey Mountains (C5).


Conquest

Dwarfs take Tor Achare (I10) from Warriors – village

Bretonnia take Manbane (D12) from Warriors – village
Bretonnia take Hellcoast (B12) from Warriors – village

Vampire Counts take Walls of Azul (F13) from Warriors – barren

Warriors take Hag Graef (H15) from Dark Elves – village
Warriors take Clar Karond (I16) from Dark Elves – village


Tally of the Dead

None – so far


Misc
Ongoing siege at The Great Hall (I7) – Ogres and Warriors use up 1 baggage each (Vampires immune)

Map - Year 5, Turn 3

History of the Sundered Isles – The Forty Second Year of the Second Age. Macdanalus, scrivener to the King. The Fifth Year and Third Campaign Month of the Great War.

It was a time of dull stagnation, but maybe slow implosion for the Kingdom of Chaos. The Vampire
Count invasion of Smith’s Isle began with the twin fleets depositing their armies ashore at Bilbali
(G12). The armies quickly seized the province before razing it to the ground. Meanwhile the last
Dark Elf army marched north and conquered Talabheim (G14). The Norse 8th army garrisoned at
Altdorf (F14) marched north-west to cow the fearful populace of Nordland (E13) while the remaining
Norse fleet sailed north to Eagle Eyries (G10). To the south, in Kinsblood, the two armies stationed at
Tiranoc (J13) marched north-west into the Fortress of the Dawn (J12).

On Kanesdue the long siege of the Great Hall continued with the alliance of Ogres and Norse digging
deep into their supplies. The main Dwarf army on Kanesdue (J8) struck north-east and captured
Slave-Slaughter (I9) from the Norse while the Dwarf fleet steamed west to meet them at the Slave-
Slaughter coast. The looming Ogre fleet continued its long trek east and sailed into Gash Kardak
(H9).

On Asur’s rest the Vampire lord pulled his army back west to Gash Kardak (H9) while on Norslatch
the Bretonnian army in Carcasonne (D5) had a fruitless search and the army in Quenelles (D6)
pushed east to L’Anguille (C7).

The carve-up of the Isle of Mists continued as the Bretonnians and Vampires yet again ignored each
other. The Bretonnians took Uzkulak (D13) and Hell Coast (B12) while the Vampires took Osthof
(F12).

The storm of magic roiled east into newly independent Cothique (I12).

 
Conquest
Dark Elves take Talabheim (G14) from the Warriors - village

Dwarfs take Slave-Slaughter (I9) from the Warriors – village

Bretonnia takes Uzkulak (D13) from the Warriors – village
Bretonnia takes Hell Coast (B12) from the Warriors – village

Vampire Counts takes Bilbali (G12) from the Warriors – village
Vampire Counts takes Osthof (F12) from the Warriors – village

 
Tally of the Dead
None – and it sickens me

 
Misc
Bilbali villages are razed by the Vampire Counts