Though he tried to remain impassive, Volker did not disguise his elation well.
     “Volker, how can you smile at such a time? By Sigmar, man, the walking dead have us holed up in this fort and are even now preparing to assault its walls. We are thankful you broke through the cordon to come to our aid, but do you have to look so damned happy?”
     “Peace, Herr Blucher. I realize full well the danger, but when you have bore a burden for as long as I shedding it is not something to be dismissed. In all my years, though I had lost few men to them, I had oft lost battles and was never able to defeat the walking dead- until this day. Besides, with the curse gone, I have nothing but faith in our ability to withstand a siege. Against such a foe as we face, the men need to see their commanders in good spirits or all hope is lost. Perhaps a tale of a victory against the very foe we face would give the men the confidence to see us all through this siege.”
     I hurried north when word of the Witch Hunters of the Cleansing Flames failures reached me, but I did not move recklessly. Thus, my scouts provided me amply warning of the Undead patrol’s approach, allowing me to give battle on a field to my liking. [A 3rd party set up the terrain, and I rolled higher and so was able to pick which side I wanted]. I deployed most of my force on a hill which rose in the south-western corner of the battlefield. There was another steeper hill on our eastern flank, but the treacherous paths would have been too difficult for the warmachines to traverse [I didn’t want to be that cheesy as most of the hill was impassable]. Most of the Undead forces were deployed on a hill which stretched across most of the north of the battlefield. The presence of some frightened human archers within the army gave clear indication of which Vampire family led this march to war. Between the hills were two small and a large group of ruins, with the large group being the eastern most.  The ruins of buildings which had once housed our ancestors, now provided shelter for my scouts.  On our hill, the artillery and crossbows were placed in the centre with Albecht and I nearby. The Free Company held our west flank and the Halberdiers with their detachment our east. The archers deployed across from the large ruins where they would best be able to use their agility to confuse the foe. The Undead, from west to east on the hill consisted some restless spirits, and a group of skeletons acting as a bodyguard for one skilled in the dark art and a blood drinker, a group of former Reiksguard from Sylvania know called upon to guard graves and a group of militia archers pressed into service as living shields for a second practitioner of the dark art.
 [Armies-EMPIRE
1 Volker the Mad Fiddler (Captain) @ 110 Pts
     General; Full Plate Armor; Shield
     Icon of Magnus [30]
     Sword of Might [20]

1 Albrecht Schaar (Battle Wizard) @ 145 Pts
     Magic Level 2; Lore of Fire
(Fireball and Fiery Blast)
     Dispel Scroll [25]
     Doomfire Ring [25]

10 Archers @ 80 Pts
     Normal Bow

10 Crossbowmen @ 80 Pts
     Crossbow

24 Free Company @ 150 Pts
     2ndWeapon; Standard; Musician
     1 Sergeant @ [10] Pts

24 Halberdiers @ 235 Pts
     Halberd; Light Armour; Standard; Musician
     1 Sergeant @ [10] Pts
     Detachment - 12 Free Company @ [60] Pts
          2ndWeapon

1 Great Cannon @ 100 Pts
     3 Crew @ [0] Pts

1 Colonel Saunders and his (Dogs of War) @ 50 Pts
     1 Halfling Hot Pot @ [50] Pts
          3 Halfling Crew @ [0] Pts

5 Huntsmen @ 50 Pts
     Longbow

Casting Pool: 4
Dispel Pool: 3
Total Army Cost: 1000

25% Characters (255 points)- 2 characters
59% Core (595 points)- 4 units (plus Huntsmen)
10% Special (100)- 1 unit
5% Rare (50)- 1 unit

UNDEAD
2 bases of Spirit Hosts
2 Lvl 2 Necros (Black Periapt, and a Spell Familiar, maybe other stuff)
(Spells- Invocation and Van Hel’s, Invocation, Hellish Vigour, Van Hel’s)
1 Vampire Thrall
20 Skeletons
16 Grave Guard
12 Sylvanian Archers (with marksman)]

     “Due to our superior scouting, we were prepared for the Undead’s approach and after a few small maneuvers [the Free Company wheeling in to face the main battlefield, the Huntsmen moving to another set of ruins to hide from the archers and slow the Undead’s advance, the archers sliding to the side for better shots], we opened the battle with a salvo. The cannon crew shattered 2 Grave Guard. Saunders swears his aim was perfect, but the Hot Pot failed to hit anything [though my guess, as they would be all day was spot on the shot scattered away]. The crossbows dropped another of the former Reiksguard. Albrecht tried to destroy some of the spirits, but they were out of range of his powers.”
     “The dead advanced. The spirit hosts approached moving uncannily through one of the smaller ruins and the skeletons and wights marching between the two smaller sets of ruins, while his archers matched mine and slid sideways to fire at the Huntsmen. Then, it seemed as if my curse was to rear its ugly head again. Two groups of zombies, each numbering 15, clawed their way from the ground. So strong and urgent was the necromancer’s call that even I could sense the power which compelled the second group. One rose on the hill we occupied, just beneath the artillery. The second appeared in front of the archers. A flight of arrows raced towards the Huntsmen, but sheltered within the ruins, they were untouched.”
     “Undaunted, I ordered the Free Company to charge and, Sigmar bless these brave men, they did so without hesitation. The archers retreated to the south-east and fired at their zombies. They dropped 2, but their ruse to draw the unit away from the main battle failed. The Huntsmen rushed from their hiding place to position themselves between both of the main enemy units, knowing that neither would spare the time to attack them and subject itself to more cannon fire.  Knowing that my blade was one of the few things in our army that could effect the spirits, I approached the battle between the Free Company and the zombies, ready to join the unit as the spirits continued to approach. Albrecht shifted to the east of the crossbows. The movement must have effect his concentration as no spells were cast (rolled a total of 8 on 4 dice- 3 on the first spell, 5 on the second). The cannon was again in target and shattered 3 more Grave Guard. The hot pot attempted to fire on the human archers, but some dark force protected the necromancer in their midst and the pot veered far off course (a 10” scatter, though the guess was great). The crossbows were accurate, but their bolts simply flew between the ribs of their target and stopped none. In melee, the Free Company surged forward and 7 zombies returned to their rightful rest, while the rear ranks of the Free Company rushed forward to join the battle [expand frontage]”
     “The Huntsmen in their midst, the Undead advance slowed and they would be forced to rely on magic. Each unit did steadfastly move forward though [which led to the question, how can the fluff explain Dwarves being relentless while the Undead are not]. The skellies outdistanced the rest of the Undead battleline as the music of the thrice accursed Van Hel guided them forward. Another call sounded to draw the dead from their graves, but Albrecht knowing that the strength of our position could only be threatened from behind read words of light and flame from a rolled parchment and the dark force of the necromancer’s call was burned away. The Sylvanian archers proved more accurate and their arrows felled two huntsmen, who proceeded to make a ‘tactical withdrawal’ [they panic, which actually put them in good position very near both main undead units, and rallied]. In combat, the Free Company continued the hew apart zombies [10 hits, but only 3 wounds] and the rest of the unit collapsed.”
     “The skeletons and their leader were close now. The Free Company were shouting for vengeance, but I restrained them [it was very close as to whether the undead were in charge range, but a failed charge would have left me in a very bad position so I decided to play it safe]. Instead, I personally joined their unit and formed them up to face both the spirits and the skeletons, while the halberds moved into a better charge position on the skeletons. A glowing ball leapt from Albrecht’s hand- the necromancers made no attempt to protect their creations, and three skeletons were consumed in its flame. The cannon crew, flushed with success packed too much powder into their gun and over shot the Grave guard. The Hot Pot though finally proved accurate and 3 archers fell to ground, trying to cool the steaming liquid with clods of earth. The rest panicked and fled [*note- we played this wrong and seperated the necromancer from the unit, when he should have fled with the unit. Instead, the necro went forward to hide behind the ruins and then join the Grave Guard, stopping them in their tracks, when the Huntsmen and arches came to investigate]. With their foes so close that the stench made their eyes water, the archers killed only a single zombie. The crossbows fared better and matched Albrecht, dropping three skeletons.”
     “Fearing the displeasure of their evil master more than the scalding soup of the Halflings, the archers rallied. The skeletons advanced and turned somewhat, trying to keep both the Free Company and the Halberds to their front. The zombies advanced on the Free Company detachment. The spirit hosts must have sensed the threat from my blade and turned to the west, avoiding the charge of the Free Company, but taking themselves out of the battle for the time being. The Grave Guard continued their slow advance. Some flicker of self-preservation must still burn in their breasts for they were worried by the Huntsmen on their flank. This time, the necromancer’s voice was flat and though he tried, the music of Van Hel failed to spur his troops forward.  One of the two calls were answered though and 8 more zombies clawed to the surface to join the unit advancing on the Free Company detachment.”
     “With the spirit hosts no longer a threat, I turned the Free Company and we approached the skeletons flank, ready to charge them regardless of what they did. Albrecht waited and the halberds joined him in a similar position on the skeletons other flank. The free company detachment wisely held their high ground and waited for the zombies to come to them [actually they rolled 12 on their fear test to charge]. The archers ran forward with the Huntsmen to harass the now lone necromancer. Seeing their positions, the necromancers were distracted by the possibility of impending doom and proved unable to match Albrecht’s magical prowess. Another ball of flame consumed 3 skeletons and a second even large blast destroyed 5 more. The cannon continued its methodical work and smashed apart 2 more Grave Guard. The crossbows were unable to match Albrecht, but their heavy bolts dropped 4 skeletons. The necromancer and the vampire suddenly felt very exposed. In a last ditch attempt to break our formation, they ordered their zombies forward, but the detachment of Free Company merely jeered at their charge (2 on the Fear test), and as we closed in, the vampire became nothing more than smoke upon the wind, while the necromancers were borne away on wings of shadow and night. Their powers are so weakened that I would be surprised if they found shelter before daylight.”

[Now that I think about it, I believe the foe quit in frustration, but that he should have kept going as with a successful Van Hel’s, he may have been able to charge and maybe break my crossbows [1 rank, higher ground, and outnumber VS a standard and a vampire] and the pursuit may have taken him out of the halberds charge arc. It was probably at least worth a try.]

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