The slaughter at Orosk

Smoke rose from the centre of the village. Something was burning but the Harbinger coudn't make out what. The snow swirling around had reduced visibility to the point that seeing the smoke was almost impossible. Reznik should still be circling around Orosk she thought. The smoke told her otherwise. It looked like the situation was turning, Reznik had gone in alone and now was paying the price for his impetuousness. Quickly she assembled a paltry force from what she had. The Avatar was still being repaired so he was no use, the damage from the morning had been far more extensive than initially thought. All that was left in terms of Warjacks were an old Crusader, a Revenger and a Guardian. The Crusader was a sad reflection of its former glory but the old battlehorse wasn't ready to be scrapped just yet. He had accompanied her from Sul if she remembered correctly. Back then the 'jack was fresh from the Vassal Mekaniks assembly plant. In terms of infantry should couldn't justify bringing everyone. The Templeguard would be used to hold the line on the ridge so that they could make an effective retreat if needed. The zealots wouldn't be much use in defense so she called to their leader to assemble. If only the Errants had arrived she could storm the village and wipe out the defenders. Now she needed to be cautious and tentatively test the defences in the hope she could get to Reznik in time. With the ever ready zealots and her bodyguard of Paladins she descended from the ridge to discover exactly what was transpiring in Orosk."

The Harbinger of Menoth vs. Karchev the Terrible

The deployment was interesting due to the terrain. There was a house right in the centre of my zone which would split my army a little. I aimed to load one flank and advance into the killbox on turn one. The house would protect the Harbinger until I needed to bring her out and hopefully the Khadorans would come close to me so that I wouldn't leave her exposed to the inevitable fire from the Widowmakers. The khadorans spread across their zone evenly which suited me. This means that some of the elements on the right would take a little longer to reach my army. Clicking on the screen shots will pop them up good and big so you can follow the action a little better.

My turn was nice and quick. I advanced as planned into the cover provided from the building. The zealots seized the opportunity to race up the left flank. This would give them a good flanking position if the chance arrived. Everything else also advanced along with the Harbinger.The khadoran turn was swift. The 'jacks advanced up into position a bit more hesitantly than I thought they would. I really wanted them to pile up the middle. The Widowmakers went straight forward getting into a good position for when I came out from behind the building. That was something I didn't want to do. At least until the time to strike came. I noticed that I had the paladins too far back at this point and I was going to struggle to use them effectively without some luck.

I didn't take a screen shot after my turn. I was too engrossed in the action to think of it. You can extrapolate my positions from the wreck markers! Anyway the Zealots continued up the field activating Greater Destiny this turn. This put them into a perfect flanking position. I had to keep the spread to avoid shots from the Destroyers, or at least that is what I thought. Karchev can make weapons magical so I thought they could be damaged. I realised later that they couldn't be. The Guardian ran forward towards the Great Bears. I needed his arc node! The revenger also moved out to block a charge straight into my centre. I was pretty sure he would be smashed but at least then I knew that Beast O' Nine would be right beside the wreck marker. The Paladins moved up but I was too cautious. I should have ran them to get them into positions where I could really use them. The Harbinger then cast Fear of God on the Great Bears which prevented them from using special attacks or taking orders. He then acted againas an arc node allowing the Harbinger to cast cataclysm on the Widowmakers. Sadly I was a hairs breath out of range and I missed. That nice 5" AOE should have toasted them all. Sadly on a miss the spell doesn't scatter. At this point I should have feated. Anyway the khadorans responded well. Karchev feated and with Tow he brought all his jacks forward. Turning his back on me he got them right into a great position to cause some harm! Beast O' Nine charged and failed to wreck the Revenger though he did pull the shield off. The two destroyers charged the Guardian and thanks to a nice critical managed to amputate an arm giving them just enough damage to almost wreck him. The arrival of the Great Bears sealed his fate barely. The Widowmaker Marksman then shot the Revenger and wrecked it. The rest of the widow makers moved to shot the zealots but killed none of them due to my martyring of the Harbinger.

I have to admit I thought I had won the game at this point. The Zealots were in a prime position to fire bomb Karchev. I activated them first and moved in to start throwing. A few were not in range due to the fact that I had spread so far out before. Of the five that could throw three hit. I smattered some damage on the 'caster. If that was a normal caster I think I would have been pretty close to killing them. However Karchev has thirty four damage point. So I really didn't get the result I was expecting! The Crusader charged Beast O' Nine and did some respectable damage. I was very close to removing his arm and his cortex. The Paladins then ran to get into position tieing up as much of the Khadorans as possible. The Harbinger then moved out of hiding and cast Cataclysm on Beast. A terribly low roll and bad position of damage meant neither his arm or cortex were in trouble. Once again at this point I should have feated. Now I was in more trouble than I realised. I thought I could weather what was coming. Karchev gave some focus to the Destroyers and both of them turned to shot the Harbinger. Sadly my attempt to tie one of them up didn't work and I was just short on melee range with my Paladin. The two shots hit and left the Harbinger on a single damage point. Then the Widowmakers moved up and killed her with a single shot...apt. So the lesson I learned from this: play like a muppet and you will lose!

Annihilation Campaign Two: The battle of Orosk
Battle One: A chance encounter at Orosk
Battle Two:Noon at Orosk