Ill Tides: Trapped

Armada / 250 points / Trapped Isle / Abyssal Dwarf Win

No one would remember his name mused the admiral, unlike that Peacock of an Ironcaster, that moron Ironjawz - what kind of a sobriquet was that anyway?  The small flotilla under his command was groping around in the shroud misted expanse of the grey salty waste, waiting, or so it seemed to him, to be devoured by an unseen piratical elven menace.  Unless…….unless the Ironjawz could stop preening himself and mobilise the cream of the Hell Forged fleet and serve those Corsairs to the Mighty Kraken, something he himself has abjectly failed to do on a number of occasions resulting in imminent doom.

Scanning the horizon the elvish host is sighted.  They’ve split their forces, a grin spreads momentarily across the admiral’s craggy face, THEY’VE SPLIT THEIR FORCES!  Hope surges through his squat frame as if Ironjawz were reanimating one of the undead scum with his lightning bolt.

To the south the pirates deployed the bulk of their force - a  Soulbane, Butcher, Needlefang and Gordrake.  To the north a Butcher and Needlefang.  The dwarves saw their chance.  The wily old admiral would block the southern force with the Leviathan of The Deep - the indomitable Arbiter of Pain and The Infernox while the remainder of the flotilla would head off the smaller northern force to prevent them combining and doing for the elite of the Hell Forged Fleet.  It was a high risk strategy, especially as the dwarves are so ponderous, but they too had support from the skies with the devilish Caged Gun Worm to rain down terror.

All started well, the Butcher and Soulbane, enticed by the prize of the Arbiter of Pain sailed straight towards her.  An attempt to grapple by the Butcher failed although some minor damage was caused from a salvo.  The Arbiter of Pain in turn failed to land a devastating ram to put paid to the ambitions of the upstart captain of this vessel.  However the infernox lashed itself to the hapless Butcher.

 

Meanwhile the Butcher from the northern push was managing to outpace the dispersed rest of the the dwarven flotilla - Angkor, Katuschan and Decimator.  The Angkor inflicted an inconsequential hit as they passed but nothing to arrest their murderous mission.  However the nimble Katuschan, channelling the rage of Ariagful, landed a devastating blow from it’s mortars and set the Butcher fully ablaze - that should slow the corsairs somewhat.

It was clear the action would hinge now on the fate of the Arbiter of Pain.  The two Butchers and Souldbane were now circling the impregnable behemoth like rabid gutter dogs.  The Infernox boarded the first Butcher with a blood frenzy and slew many crew but was ultimately overwhelmed by the vastness of the buccaneer crew and not their resolve to resist.  The elves though were mortally imperilled from this encounter and it was clear they would play little further part, although not NO part!

The ensnared Arbiter of Pain was now tying up the main elven force all by itself.  It was bombarded by all three main battle ships sustaining crippling damage as well as being set ablaze.  Nevertheless it ploughed on like a great Hellfane in the throes of embattled death determined to take as many enemy as possible with it, aiming to ram The Soulbane.  Yet again the craven elvish pirates - not up to engage even a weakened Arbiter of Pain - steered away preferring instead to use their guns to inflict the coup de grace along with their brethren on the barely functioning Butcher.  This limping hulk seriously needed putting out of it’s misery……

The plucky and nimble Katuschan, had been badly damaged by fire from the Needlefangs and the Butcher, was despatched finally by the Gordrake.  However the Angkor, Decimator and Caged Gun Worm were now too far from the guns of the main ships of the elven fleet to be stopped from linking up with the main fleet sent by Ironjawz.  To rub Sea Salt into superating wounds the Caged Gun Worm, at immense peril to itself, despatched the injured Butcher to at least try and balance the scales after the tragic loss of The Arbiter and Infernox - brave heroic dwarves one and all - but all in pursuit of a tremendous dwarf victory! 

The remaining Butcher was towards the West surrounded now by ghostly hulks.  The vaunted Soulbane was steering a course of South-South West leaving it’s flimsy Needlefangs and Gordrake to fend for themselves.  Despicable behaviour!

Next time Ambush: Wrack & Ruin

8th Army: 11th Sikh Regiment

Something a little different to my normal Sci-fi or Fantasy fare with the first of the troops for our planned venture into North Africa for the desert campaign.

We plan to play the new V for Victory rules by Studio Tomahawk which pits platoon sized forces against each other in a mainly infantry skirmish. The rules contain lists for Europe 44-45 so we will need to do a little bit of adaptation, but not much.

For my forces I've gone with Perry and their excellent range of plastic and metal WW2 miniatures. Part of that range is some rather nice metal Sikh heads to fit on their plastic box set and Sikh crewed heavy weapons. Given the active part the Indian Army played in the desert battles then it seemed like an excellent chance to paint something a little different and get the men of the 4th Infantry Division on the table. These will represent men of the 4th Battalion, 11th Sikh Regiment.

The rules need you to keep a track of team leaders with most sections being split into two Teams each with a leader who you do all the measuring and LOS determining from. So first up is the HQ section which consists of a 2nd Lieutenant on his own (it's lonely at the top) and a second team of a Sergeant and two men.

In this case my C/O is actually from the mortar set but with his commanding presence and binoculars he looks just the man to carry the Indians to victory.

I've also painted up no.1 section which again is split into two teams. The first team is lead by a Corporal and contains the Bren gun and two riflemen with the second team being lead by a Lance Corporal accompanied by three riflemen. All the team leaders have (or are counted as having) Thompson SMG's which give extra close range firepower in the rules.

I'll go into the force building another time but you can reinforce your sections and also add more Thompson's is you want to build a more close assault orientated force.

I've also been working on some terrain for the troops to hide behind and as well as buying some of the new desert hills from S&A Scenics I've also repurposed some of the old green ones I had to make into wadi sides. I did this by cutting them in half and repairing the sides with some Polyfila. This gives a reasonable effect with minimal effort, always a good result.

Ill Tides: A Draw from the (Iron) Jawz of Defeat Ambush/995 points/Caravan Ambush/Draw

What magnificence, what could Sycorax do with just one of those beasts? The other Iron Casters would bend to his will! But no, individual glory must be set aside now to thwart the blind greed and hubris of those piratical scum at whose head that She-Devil shrieks. Those Elves must be stopped from harnessing the power of those beasts otherwise Sycorax's plans will be nothing but charred embers in the fires of the Abyss.

Zor'damos was clearly planning on the deftness of her horde to slip past the lumpen squat menace in her way. This would be easy. The dull-witted Sycorax had drawn up that vile unimaginable foulness on the right by the wood along with the Molten Menace - the so-called Infernox - the Gargoyles and those lumbering and greatly overrated stone trolls. This was an obvious mistake and weakness. She would rely on her vaunted Princes of Death, the Impalers, and terrifyingly spectral Phantoms to control these worms.

On the left Zor'damos was bringing the majority of her host to bear. Her beasts of war capably corralled and protected by intimidating phalanxes of Corsairs and if this wasn't enough yet more Corsairs were trembling at the back content to let their less craven kin push the dwarves aside and no doubt fall in the process. The flying cutters too were here in support but are always wary of a hearty clash preferring to leave the dying to others.

Opposing this Sycorax had bristling fire from the Decimators, the phlegmatic resolve of the Blacksouls and the blood frenzy of his own Beasts of Hell. His place was here with his own kind.

The dwarves were cautious in their advance not wanting to overcommit. On the right the Princes of Death were hesitant, seemingly wary, initially, of the monstrous fiends forged from iron and flesh.

On the left those brigands were swept up in a tsunami of hubris and one band was shattered by the inferno unleashed by the Decimators', a sole mauling Beast and the righteous fury of Ariagful himself wielded by Sycorax - perhaps this would be harder than thought Zor'damos mused.

Nothing for it. Zor'damos herself threw herself against the encouraged Decimators who were clearly thrown off balance and failed to dispatch her to the fiery furnace with her brethren. The mauling beasts swept from the hill against the pirates but they held only to destroy these hell hounds in turn. The redoubtable Blacksouls were driven on by Sycorax to avenge their beastly comrades but by who knows what devillry the buccaneers prevailed just long enough for the Void-Skiffs to crash into their exposed flanks and victory now was surely all Zor'damos's. Or was it?

On the other flank the sentinels of the rocks inexorably shuffled to where Zor'damos had eyed the escape of her beasts - this would be a close run thing.

The Princes of Death spied an opening to engage the Grotesques and catch them part in the open - the margins of war are cruel - and these tortured beasts, deprived of their hideous charge, were eventually overwhelmed. The Molten Menace made short work of the Phantoms and like Hero's of old crashed into the Impalers to pin them in place.

Seemingly Zor'damos had not accounted for the dextrosus Gargoyles who swarmed the rear of her column - Sycorax was in sight of destroying this horde but a lone wiccan with her shameful sorcery got lucky and deprived the dwarves of delivering a fearsome blow.

All was in flux, all was in the balance....

Sycorax himself hurled molten boulders in fury against those beasts - in his black heart he wanted them for himself for his own dastardly ends - and his efforts reflected his own confliction. These largely span off or landed harmlessly. The stone golems though were not to be so conflicted - they hurled themselves against one of the magnificent creatures without pity or admiration, tearing it asunder.

The cowardly flying elves targeted The Ironjawz himself causing him to leave his beleaguered force in some peril with the Titans of Rock standing between the Void Skiffs and total Elven victory....And stand firm they did, literal Pillars of the Earth.

Zor'damos managed to extricate one of her prize only before night fell and she was forced to remove the remainder of her host lest greater loss befell them.

The Elves had one of these creatures now but two were now beyond their duplicitous reach - for now.

Sycorax knows he has to regroup and fling those privateer scum back into the cold dark oceans to realise his own majestic plans.

Next time: Armada - Trapped!

Giant Sumo Lizards, in Spaaaaaceeeee!

Over the last few weeks I've been busy working on some Matsudan reinforcements for my Firefight/Deadzone Asterian forces. Mantic recently released a hard plastic kit containing three ranged and one melee option. This kit can be used to build up the bulk of your Matsudan forces and the rest can be fleshed out with either resin models or some Asterians.

Your average Matsudan being a giant sumo lizard is pretty tough being more in line with an elite option, they aren't the best shots but they are tough with plenty of hit points.

Firefight Squad

Deadzone Options

I wanted to paint up enough extra models to take my Matsudan Firefight army up to 1500 points, this meant painting around 30 Matsudan and an extra robot to make up the points.

Firefight List

As a result of that I ended up with more than enough options to make some lists from the new Matsudan choices in Deadzone.

Deadzone List

Fluffy Deadzone list

Here you can see a closer picture of the 4-legged Diadarabotchi war-bot in it's support configuration. I'm thinking it will be a hard boy to shift as it has plenty of armour and wounds.

Ill Tides: The Haunted Isle

Armada / 250 points / The Haunted Isle / Twilight Kin Win

Tales of a haunted isle rich with ancient treasure had reached Sycorax's ears and so eager to claim it for himself he had set his fleet to sea. Unfortunately since the hated elves had won the last naval engagement they had been keeping a close eye on the dwarfish port and had trailed his force to the island.

When they arrived he'd noticed what looked like ghostly ships guarding the shoreline and surely their presence had lead the captains of his smallest ships (two Blacksouls) to charge recklessly out in front of the rest of the fleet and allow themselves to be picked off by the concentrated fire of the Twilight Kin fleet. Just as unwisely two of his captains had decided to break away from the protection of the mighty Arbiter of Pain which no elven captain was brave enough to close with.

Sycorax revelled in the destruction the Arbiter of Pain wrought upon the pair of elven Impalers which had broken off from the main enemy formation but whilst he and the captain of the Decimator poured withering fire into these ships the rest of the enemy fleet was free to act. It was not until the smoke cleared and the bloodlust faded from his eyes that he comprehended the defeat that had been inflicted on him once more.

Arlantrix was pleased with the days work, whilst they had lost both the Impalers in the fleet with the enemies main strength distracted and ghostly defenders of the isle drawn towards the dwarves, the rest of her fleet had performed as planned. The enemy Infernox and then Angkor had been captured and then sunk and her smaller ships had plundered large amounts of treasure from the island. She would have thanked the enemy for leading her to such a rich target if she'd not despised them so much.

Another bonus for Arlantrix was the poor showing by the Heart Seeker, Captain Zor'damos had gotten above her station after her killing spree in the previous battle. It was good to see her taken down a few rungs and that should serve as a useful reminder of who lead this expedition and wielded the true power. 

Next Scenario / Kings of War: Ambush / 995 points / Caravan Ambush - returning from an inland raid the Twilight Kin are once again ambushed by the Abyssal Dwarves.

Ill Tides: A Close Run Thing - Ambush/995 points/Salt the Earth/Draw

The acrid stench of......what, what was it, Zor'damos pondered this momentarily as she considered the flea pit Men call home.

What was it? Treachery, without question; sorcery, no doubt; the capricious Gods and their games? It felt like all conspired against her and her kin.

And yet it had begun as planned, putting that perfidious squat menace to the sword for all eternity.

Zor'damos's horde had ensnared the snivelling wretch humans without incident but of course there are always greater prizes to snatch and Sycorax and his rabble were no impediment to Elvish ambition.  Sure the abominable whelps snarled and clawed and spat and chewed but ultimately to no avail against Zor'damos and her Impalers. Was that all they had scoffed the dark hearted Corsairs?

The much vaunted lumbering stone trolls trudged forward only to be held up by demonic underlings while the flying titan sought to vanquish the heart of the dwarven line, their very own dark hearts - The Blacksouls

The Corsairs were faring equally well against the dwarfs' self-styled 'Slithering Dragon' and it's deadly firepower - the terrifying Decimators.  However poor deployment  by the Decimators and lightning fast advances by the piratical horde negated this potent dwarven tactic and along with the beasts of hell they were soon despatched to their own fiery furnace leaving the way clear for Zor'damos and her band of petty thieves and brigands to inflict yet more misery on those 'men' unfortunate enough to fall prey to their merciless and infinitely cruel enslavement.

And so it seemed destined to be written in the annals of elven self-glorification until what, what exactly happened to puncture Zor'damos's hubris.

The Blacksouls, ravaged and broken by the Goredrake and Zor'damos herself - too craven to engage them alone - on the verge of destruction rallied for one last determined stand which thwarted the flying titan just long enough for the stone trolls to catch the leviathan's flank.  Though not decisive these creatures of infamy on both sides fought one another until by some devilish sorcery the Golems against all expectations smote the mighty winged behemoth.   

In the centre the Corsairs and Impalers were seeking to consolidate their fortuitous gains and realise their despicable stratagem.  Sycorax however had other ideas.  Unleashing a pyrotechnic inferno channelling Ariagful's Flame supported by the Molten Menace himself they made short work of the Corsairs who couldn't stand the heat and fled the cauldron!  The prime of the Twilight battleline - the monstrous Impalers - now found itself in a vice-like grip between the phlegmatic Golems and the fearless and heroic Infernox and they predictably crumbled to a primeval dust.

Zor'damos herself was in no position to assail the now impregnable dwarven position atop the central hill.  The victory, so assured only moments earlier, had eluded her and so had vast quantities of slaves and with it unimaginable wealth and power.

Zor'damos would extricate her shattered horde, regroup, lick her wounds and consider her next moves.

Next time - Armada: The Haunted Isles. Can Zor'damos claw back some wealth and prestige in the form of hidden yet ghoulishly guarded treasure to atone for the slaves lost to fiendish Sycorax?