Noon at Orosk

"The Temple Guard had pulled back and formed up in a defensive line along the ridge overlooking the hovels that made up Orosk. A makeshift barricade had been erected from the fallen trunks of two trees, pulled into place by Crusaders. Small fires had been set up behind this in an attempt to keep the troops warm. The Harbinger suspected the Temple Guard had used some of Menoth's sacred fire but she forgave the insult. At this point staying warm was too important. The khadorans had also pulled back towards the centre of the village. With no wall surrounding the place it would be hard to defend, thought the Harbinger. A simple flanking move while engaging them lightly elsewhere should sweep them aside. The snow had picked up again and covered the tracks and remnants from the battle. Here and there some blood could still be seen, colouring the snow a disturbing pink. The Avatar had been salvaged but without the Mekaniks who were accompanying the baggage train nothing could be done to prepare it for battle. One of its legs was badly damaged as were the actuators in its shoulders. It would be days before it could be returned to action. The Idrian Scout had been sent to meet Reznik and to order him to speed up and come upon the village from the west. Her zealots had formed a screen in front of the lines ready to disrupt any response from the village. Now she just needed that damned Reznik to get here before the khadorans came at her again."

No one complained about the fiction last time so I decided to continue. It is always interesting to paint a picture of the battle afterwards. They easily lend themselves to a story and as part of the Annihilation campaign they are already linked together. The images are all thumbnails so please click on them to enlarge.

Reznik vs. Karchev

Deployment for this battle was interesting at least from a khadoran point of view. They won the roll to go first and deployed as I expected them to. I was ready for a rush down the centre but surveying the battlefield I then thought that the destroyers would form a firing position and try to take me apart from afar. I set up to ty to flank the khadorans trying to pull them into the centre and then to sweep around at least one side. This would have worked had Karchev come straight at me.Turn one gave me a suprise. The Drakhun began to swap flanks, a move I hadn't suspected. The 'jacks and Karchev moved where I suspected they would. The Widow Makers fell back again suprising me while the Men O' War ran to occupy the hill. It was a quick turn but the army was small so easily moved about the battlefield.For me the turn was also quick. I advanced up. I didn't want to begin in range of the Destroyers so I didn't advance as far as was possible. Next turn I intended to rush forward with everything to exert as much pressure as possible. The zealots moved up as far as possible on both flanks to get them in position to threaten next turn. The Temple Guard advanced and remained in shieldwall. I didn't think there was much point just yet in risking them. They could form a reserve for a later phase in the battle. The 'jacks all moved up and I cast Ignite on the Crusader and Iron Agression on the Guardian.

For the khadorans the turn was pretty short, you may notice a theme! They were definitely playing a cautious game, something I hadn't suspected though with two destroyers they could afford it! The Men O' War remained in position holding the hill and therefore the flank. The Widow Makers dug in behind the barricade. The Drakhun finished his redeployment and now threatened the centre. The Destroyers and Kharchev moved up to hold their barricades and ensure that the 'caster was in the killbox. nothing much else happened.My response was to rush forward and saturate the centre with targets. To an extent it worked but not really in my favour! I upkept the spells and gave out enough focus for everyone to run. The Zealots on the right came under Greater Destiny. They then ran forward. This would allow them to survive the Destroyers attentions. It also put them within bomb range for the next turn. On the otherflank I advanced the zealots throwing two forward to bring the Men O' War down from the hill. At least that way they wouldn't be benefitting from elevation. Int he centre the 'jacks moved up under the influence of the choir which would prevent them from being shot. I put Reznik behind the Vigilant to protect from blasts. The Temple Guard also advanced a little just to ensure that if they were needed they were available.

The game was almost finished this turn. The sneaky khadorans had a good response to my rush though it almost didn't work out for them. Kharchev cast Tow and then charged forward. This dragged the two destroyers along with him. They then activated and with two focus on each of them they were able to aim and shoot Reznik. This left him with two boxes only. I thought he would get some form of defensive bonus from being behind the Vigilant but no they could draw a direct line to him so it was just basic defense. As they both hit there was no benefit from my light warjack. However as Kharchev wasn't killed and he was out in front of his forces he was in trouble, big trouble! The Drakhun advanced to cover the two menite 'jacks and at least force me to have to deal with him. The Widowmakers advanced and the Marksman ran forward. On the left flank the Men O' War killed my two forward Zealots but brought themselves into threat range of the remaing seven.So here was by big chance! I had two heavy 'jacks ready to rumble and only a Drakhun in the way. I upkept Iron Agression but dropped Ignite. The Guardian got three focus and the Crusader got two. The Choir went first and boosted the attack and damage rolls of my warjacks by two. The Crusader moved up and threw the Drakhun. While I couldn't knock him down I could get him out of the way. I was doing the throws wrong before but having looked in the rulebook we figured out what to do. I rolled a two for my strength test meaning the Drakhun only needed a four. Thankfully he didn't get it. I tossed him back towards the zealots a nice five and a half inches. That did mean that with his reach he would still force a free strike. The damage was decent and I took a few pips off of him. Next up were the zealots. I wanted them to bomb him so that the free strike could be averted. They moved up and eventually forced a counter charge. The Drakhun didn't have a choice. Enough holy hand grenades were coming his way via the back arc that he was dead anyway and he might as well tie up the zealots to remain alive and give up the free strike on the charging Guardian. The Guardian charged for free thanks to Iron Agression and with three focus I was pretty confident. I hot with the charge and while rolling straight damage versus Kharchev I managed to get six. With four more attacks, one from the fist and three from the spear, I managed to leave him with eight boxes. Average rolls would have done exactly enough damage to kill him but it wasn't to be! I did crit with the last attack and I threw the warcaster back behind his lines. The roll to hit was a triple six, sadly that wasn't for damage. My Temple Guard then charged the Drakhun. I wasn't sure if I would have been in range but I was for three guys. The first damage roll I got came up a triple six. Damn but the dice gods were having a good laugh. This only did three pips as he was still astride his steed. When he was placed it was possible to put him so that he was out of reach of one of the others. This meant that I wasn't able to finish him off instead leaving him with a few pips! The zealots would be tied up still in the next round. On the neglected right flank my zealots for some reason lined up to pelt the khadorans with grenades. I wasn't paying attention or I would have realised how futile this was. As they were in shield wall I wasn't going to do much damage. I only realised once I threw the first grenade. Too late to go back! I managed to spread some lught damage across the Men O' War but nothing more. Reznik moved behind the Temple Guard to try and get some protection there.

I was now in a vulnerable position. The khadoran response was going to be painful. I wasn't sure but I may have had the Destroyers in melee otherwise their templates were going to take my army to pieces. They got two focus each. Kharchev upkept Tow. On the right the Men O' War engaged my Zealots taking out the majority of them. The the Widow Maker Marksman moved up to shoot Reznik. With only two boxes left it was an easy shot and Reznik went down. I was a little suprised but Owen didn't want to risk the victory as that would have cost him the campaign. He could have, and probably should have, smashed the rest of my army with two templates or tried to take out a 'jack. That would have hampered me a lot in the next battle as most of the remnants of my force were now on the table.

Annihilation Campaign Two:
Battle One: A chance encounter at Orosk