Ill Tides: Ragnarök

Kings of War: 3000 points of Control
Armada: 300 point fleets

Arlantrix grimaced, this was it, she'd managed to entice the short-arses into a pitched battle and now all she had to do was emerge victorious. In months of skirmishing on land and at sea neither side had managed to gain the upper hand (or paw in the case of the Dwarves) but with their last victory on land her forces where on the ascendancy. Now she had complete victory within her grasp and was determined to take it. Triumph here would make her foremost among the Crones of the Conclave.

Her grand army was arrayed against the enemy who had been forced into deploying units of Human slaves only recently taken prisoner and off shore she could see her reinforcing fleet arriving with even more units. The short-arses also had a fleet but Arlantrix had ordered Zor'damos and her Heartseeker to make sure they did not interfere with the land battle. 

Over to her left Arlantrix could see the fleets getting closer, most of her fleet headed towards the stinking-smoking Dwarven ships on an intercept course whilst the troops transports headed straight for the beaches. The Dwarves seemed to have decided on a similar plan and a clash seemed inevitable. 

Looking back to her front Arlantrix could sense that Sycorax had hesitated at this most vital junction so giving the signal to advance she urged her forces onwards towards the enemy lines hoping to force them onto the back foot. 

At sea her ships had miss-timed their approach to the enemy and allowed them to concentrate fire on the end Butcher, Arlantrix could see smoke pouring from it's gun ports and starting to lick the ends of the sails. She'd been in enough naval battles by now to know that the ship had but moments to avert disaster. But with both fleets heavily engaged their respective transports made full sail towards the coast, only the Heartseeker looked to have the speed to try and stop a transport.

But Arlantrix did not have the time to watch the naval engagement unfold her attention was now focued entirely on the land battle as the first units started to engage. Her Phantoms floated forwards with deceptive speed and caught first one then another unit of foul Gargoyles at the halt, allowing her slower infantry to push onwards into striking range. The advance was not without it's casualties however as concentrated Dwarven fire evaporated a entire regiment of Corsairs holding the right flank.

Arlantrix heard and felt the explosion of the Butcher but did not have time to look and see it's fiery death (*I seem to have forgotten to take the Armada photos*) but she could well imagine the pieces of the former ship being thrown high into the air in a massive fireball.

She could make out the first of the reinforcements coming ashore just as the main battle lines started to clash. As she had hoped her army still had the initiative and all the fighting was taking place with the short-arses well and truly on the back foot. Even the earlier loss of the Corsairs had not stopped her armies advance as the mighty Gordrake had launched itself into the gap left by their deaths.

Looking to her left Arlantrix could see more and more units pouring ashore on both sides of the port, including Zor'damos who should have been onboard the Heartseeker but who instead had been on one of the transports. No wonder the fleet was performing so badly and hadn't even managed to stop one enemy ship. Arlantrix promised to make her pay if she emerged victorious. 

Thanks to her leadership the land battle was going much better than the one at sea, after the initial clash of lines her forces had slowly started to break down the Dwarven lines with gaps now appearing all along the battle front as the cowardly short-arses broke and ran or where totally annihilated. 

The gaps in the enemy lines started to grow larger and larger as her units doubled up on the enemy and totally broke their formations. At last Arlantrix could start to relax with victory seeming to be totally within her grasp. Most of the enemy units where by now broken with just a single winged halfbreed left to cause a serious threat, best not to be eaten at the very moment of her triumph.

From atop a hill Arlantrix paused to gaze out to sea and surveyed the remains of the fleet. The second butcher had gone the way of the first at some point and a smoking hull was all that was left of the fearsome fighting vessel. The Dwarves had certainly gained the upper hand at sea but not without a few losses and their flag-ship was beached in easy reach of her land forces.

On land the victory was complete with hardly any Dwarves left standing, Sycorax looked like he was about to be taken prisoner and the winged halfbreed still flitted about but otherwise victory was total. Nothing would now stop her from ravaging what was left of the human lands and then returning in total triumph to her home lands. The campaign had been a success and she would return back with many slaves and large quantities of valuable materials to continue the reconstruction of Ileureleith, one day it would rise again and all of Panithor would bow to the Twilight Kin, and hopefully Arlantrix.

Ill Tides: Push

Push / 1500 Points / TK Victory

Arlantrix desperately needed a victory, after a series of humiliating defeats her grip on power had been almost completely eroded. Zor'damos and her famed crew had at first been undefeatable and had threatened to outshine Arlantrix but her fall had also threatened to drag Arlantrix down to the depths along with the Heartseeker. 

Now instead of having to put her faith in the captain and crew of that ship she had instead laboured long and hard to summon forth the most hardy and viscous fighters from within the Void. Creatures that had been bent to her will and would fling themselves against the hated Dwarfs as long as her mental dominance did not waver.

Sycorax and his minions did not seem unduly concerned by the change in the enemies forces and pushed forwards by the arrogance of recent victories advanced steadily towards the Elven lines.

Arlantrix had initially held her forces back to tempt the Dwarves forwards and to try to avoid the worst of the shooting they had to offer but once they had committed themselves forwards her lines swung into action. First to strike where her flying elements with the mighty Goredrake launching itself into the flank of the Dwarven Grotesques. The had rushed forwards and unwisely left their flank open to attack. With a sound like a thunderclap the Goredrake had descended upon them and it's mighty jaws had scattered the feeble Grotesques to the winds. If this wasn't enough bad news for Sycorax then the Phantoms routing half of his Decimators with a single charge was. The once well ordered Dwarven lines now looked very exposed and fragile.

Next to be dispatched where the mighty Golems, these had caused many problems in past battles so Arlantrix was careful to ensure she committed more than one unit to their destruction. They could not stand up to the attentions of both the Impalers and Soulflayers and again a Dwarven unit melted at first contact.  

Now she felt she could not lose this battle as her forces began to rampage through the Dwarven lines.

The Infernox that had proven to be a dangerous foe in the past was at first pinned by the Goredrake and then faithful Khresh on his Soulbane had charged into it's rear to complete the kill.

The Dwarves did still have some fight in them as the Corsairs found to their cost, their charge had failed to scatter the Dwarven foot guards who had in return wiped the skiffs out, but this was of little consequence as the remainder of the Dwarven force was wiped from the battlefield.

And as night fell it was left to a unit of Impalers to inflict the final blow on the Dwarves who they wiped out with a single charge.

 

So, at the end of the fight some prestige had been recovered by Arlantrix and she's gained a much needed victory to turn a worrying trend of losses around. Her decision to side-line Zor'damos had been  vindicated. Now she felt was the time to double down on her advantage and launch a full scale, winner takes all assault. The Heartseeker and her crew would have a chance to redeem themselves and Arlantrix felt confident that she could wipe out Sycorax, his Dwarves, and anyone stupid enough to do a deal with them all in one fell strike.

Next time : 3000 points KoW and 300 points Armada at the same time!

Ill Tides: Compass Points

 KoW / 1500 points / Compass Points / TK Win

It had all started well enough thought Arlantrix, a Void-skiff patrol has spotted a large dwarven army heading inland towards the hill range. Seizing the chance to ambush her opponents for once she had gathered the available crews of the ships she had to hand and set off after them. Considering the shortness of their legs the dwarves had moved quickly and by the time her force had caught up with them they where already grubbing around in the dirt.

Arlantrix had no idea what it was they sort but the presence of their Leader, Sycorax, indicated that at least he thought it was important enough to lead the force himself. 

Arlantrix had noted the large number of guns her enemy had brought with them and ordered Zor'damos  and her corsair crew to hold back as long as possible to try and draw the dwarfs forwards.

She had placed herself on the of the army along with Khresh, a Soulbane who had proven himself in previous battles and been awarded a mighty Nightmare to ride into battle. Along with a couple of Void-Skiff squadrons she hoped to close on the enemy and ride them down.

It had started off well enough with a dwarven unit being routed in the first assault, she'd also caught the enemy unaware with a new spell. Since the last encounter when she'd been personally assaulted by a hulking monstrosity Arlantrix had been searching for a way to turn the enemies strength against them, and she'd found it. A spell called the Alchemist's curse, the more heavily armoured the opponent the stronger the force of the spell against them. With this she's attacked the enemies animated Golem's, threatening to turn them back into piles of rocks.

Things had however taken a turn for the worse when first one and then the other Void-skiff squadron was turned into splinters by the enemy Golems and worse followed. Somehow the dwarves had found a way past her defences and hexed her. Even thinking about casting a spell gave her a blinding headache and uttering one was much worse. As soon as she'd completed the Alchemist's curse Arlantrix was wracked with unimaginable pain and a being of lesser willpower would have collapsed. She however clung to consciousness.

In the centre the dwarves had been tempted forwards to get into range to unleash their fire-storm and at the last moment possible Zor'damos had lead her corsairs forwards into the enemy. As gunpowder exploded and fireballs splashed across her troops Zor'damos launched herself into the enemy ranks headless of the danger. The dwarves had also unleashed a new weapon on her troops, a device witch spewed forth great streams of flame.

Despite the torrent of fire the corsairs launched themselves into the enemy ranks and started to cut down the cowardly dwarves who had sought to hide behind their guns. At this point Khresh had appeared behind the dwarven lines and despite being subjected to attack by the flame-throwing weapon had launched himself back into combat.

At this point Arlantrix had staggered out of the woods, covered in her own blood that she had vomited up due to the pain of casting spells she was barely able to stay standing but through her iron-like willpower she remained upright. She had just enough energy to cast one final spell on Sycorax which saw the dwarf collapse as the last of his troops around him where massacred. 

The only thing left to complete the victory was to cut the dwarfs heart out with her knife but as she staggered over to his body she was foiled. Out of the skies swept a troop of Gargoyles which had hovered on the side of the battle without committing themselves. Now they sought to gain some measure of forgiveness by stealing away the unconscious dwarf leader from the massacre.

And now the battle was done, Arlantrix slumped wearily on the ground, unable to care about her troops seeing her brought low. The willpower it had taken to fight through the hex had all but drained her strength and it would take some time for her to regain her strength.

Next time: Armada / 250 points / Prize Salvage