Saturday, February 27, 2010

Month 1 Year 1: Malkrit's Ruse

Ranging ahead of the main Skaven army, Gutter Runner scouts had alerted Grey Seer Malkrit to the presence of a powerful force of High Elves led by Prince Aethir of Caledor massing at a clearing near Graven Wood.

Sensing an opportunity for a devious ambush, the wily ratman sent his bloodthirsty Assassin Quickslit to ambush the High Elf mage Gilia Tsairith, who had been marching through Graven Wood with his bodyguard of Lothern Seaguard and Archers to join the main Elven contingent.

Anticipating the Elves' movements, Quickslit hid his handpicked Gutter Runner kill teams in the dense undergrowth of the forest, waiting for an opportunity to strike.

Accompanying him was one of Clan Eshin's new innovations -- a towering Assassin Rat Ogre named Sneekrush. The abomination had had the brain of a failed assassin-aspirant transplanted in place of its own, woefully small brain, giving it elementary stealth skills and reasoning.

Taking decisive action, the gutsy Elves manage to evade the Skaven ambush, with Gilia's potent magical skills taking a toll on their would-be assassins. The wizard himself blasts Sneekrush with a spray of branches and woodland debris at pointblank range, leaving the monster floored and apparently dead.

Fearing the day is lost, Quickslit made a valiant last ditch effort, launching himself into Gilia's bodyguard, slaying elves left and right. But the stoic Elves close ranks around their leader, and the assassin is inevitably forced to flee.

In his haste to make good his escape, the assassin drops a precious clue: a map detailing the whereabouts of Grey Seer Malkrit's own army.

Armed with this valuable information, Gilia rejoined Prince Aethir's command, and the hunter now became the hunted.

Surprising Malkrit's army, the High Elves launched a deadly ambush of their own. Arrayed in marching column and unprepared for battle, the Skaven are attacked by Elven infantry on one side, and swift Dragon Princes and a White Lion Chariot on the other.

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Elves to the left of them, elves to the right of them. Rats.

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Elf infantry attacks one flank of the Skaven column...

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... while Dragon Princes burst out of the woods using the Banner of Ellyrion. Sneaky!

Cornered, the ratmen launch a spirited counterattack, but in the end the Skaven are driven from the field, when Malkrit and his Stormvermin bodyguard break ranks, confronted by High Elves both to their front and rear.

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The Skaven fight hard, but the Elves have them by the tail...

The High Elf ambush is not without cost however. Warlock Engineer Kritislik's infernal sorceries and Skryre-crafted wonder weapons leave a great many Elves burned and blasted.

Night falls and Malkrit and his lieutenants retreat into the darkness of the trees, plotting their revenge.

Result:
High Elf victory

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