(Completed) Call to Arms! Battle of The Wither Woods (And LDD Ch

[Scarst]

So how many of my men lived?

At the End basically only Jakon and Malcolm were standing all the others were knocked out I don't think any were critically wounded though.

[SkaForHire]

Epilogue

Months after we started preparing, it finally comes to this – the conclusion.

Some observations:

1)I don’t plan on running a 900 -1000 figure battle again anytime soon. The rules allow for very detailed and custom play, but unfortunately large battles can take some time – especially when you work and only can play 2 hours a night a few nights a week!

2)Petera’s side was focused on armor whereas Dugal’s side was focused on manpower. It seems that manpower had the advantage in this battle.

3) Never overestimate the combat ability of a small troop… a swarm of guys is going to kill any small group just with sheer numbers.

So… To the sides:

Starting with the defeated Side, Petera’s forces were effective, and initially did well. The attempt at driving heavy cavalry down the throat of the enemy did not work once the Cavalry were surrounded on the sides (A rules change for realism may be in order here to make a charge less easy to defeat). Their heavy infantry did well, but the flanks with the lighter and more specialized units did not hold. In the end the strategy was flawed, and Elder Logan, Fenghen Wade, and company were routed.

Leaders:

Alden Logan – He was the true overall commander, despite what Wade believed. He sat back most of the time and waited, but his reserve charge never happened. He got away and is now in hiding from the fury of Petera.

Puck Hailfist – recaptured by his father

The commanding knights – Albus Scorpius, captured, Bruno Bare, killed, Duke Carros and Blasphus Balor the Boar fled with Logan.

Mages -- Ravencroft and Avona got into a fight and left the field. The Doomsayer and Shr’krak’gurk’l retreated. Martin Carrolton was captured.

“King” Fenghen Wade: Despite his new claimed title, he was sucked into a planar duel against his old rival Garret Hailfist and was Killed by a very luckily rolled dice. His son Farrion recovered his father’s body and had his men retreat from the field, now claiming to be king of Historica.

Lord Argentus of Grimstone (Dragonfire) was waylaid by Falconi and captured by Dugal personally. His niece and all but one of his men perished. His men had fought on and attacked Jakon’s men at the end of the battle, refusing to surrender.

Sir Rex Marizrack (Garmadon) fought well, he killed a few major figs, such as an Aleenridder. He was captured by the Amazon leaders.

Soraya (Gideon) got revenge on the assassin that killed Herrick, and then fled the field when things got bad.

The Cyclops Tribe’s (Gideon) Matriarch was the first to die by arrow, and she was raised as undead and followed the necromancer and Falconi around. Her men went into battle against the amazons and held their own for a while, three were captured.

Ediz Falconi and the Arkbri Falcons (Gideon) participated in the battle, but never put themselves at risk until the end when they were teleported by Ravencroft behind the lines. Unfortunately, Dugal was in that teleport too. After Falconi lost two of his men, he helped Argentus surrender. The Falcons were released, as no one would have paid their ransom (mercenaries after all…)

Torsten of Horssten (Horssten) was engaged in battle from the beginning, he was one of the leaders against Heinsen’s ill-fated early attack. He personally killed a few of those troops, and conducted himself well. However, his mentor Herrick, who was tucked away in the mill was found by an assassin and killed. Eventually, after the fall of Scorpius and Hataman, two of the groups he was following after most of his men were killed, he surrendered to the Paladin Romak Norr. Norr has not alerted command to what has become of Torsten.

Gad (Kai NRG) the nimble danced, dodged, and diverted every attempted blow to his person. He surrendered after his flank was defeated, then learned that he had been fighting for the wrong side the whole time. Gad was released.

Beleg of Midgardia (Legopanda) was a beast. His archers did very well against Dugal’s, clearly winning the showdown while outnumbered 2 to1. It was only when Rakath Assassins showed up behind him that his men were felled. His melee friends were both killed taking on Cannondale. Beleg was revived and held prisoner by the Leander forces, when he was turned over to the care of Masa’s men on the field.

The Yukar (McCoyed) fought like true honorable warriors, Hataman was the second to be brought down, but his men fought to the end where they were forced to put down their weapons. Due to his valor, Hataman was revived and offered land near Queenscross by Paulos to settle down and lend protection to the city in the future.

Captain Anton Wyles (Qiandris) Fought hard, and was the only commander left on Petera’s right flank, the rest were dead or fled. He was responsible for the death of an Aleenridder, along with many of the amazons. He eventually had to surrender to the Aleenridders, where he is now in their custody. His assassins did not fare as well, they initially took down two mages on the right flank, only to be fireballed by the third. The Necromancer Kharkhon led his undead to be part of the vanguard on the right flank, they fought well, but eventually he abandoned them to follow Falconi around, he fought to the bitter end in the middle, raising four undead warriors to his last call.

The 1^st Eastgate Infantry: “The Red Guard” were mostly decimated. They had served as the vanguard on the right, and the meat in the middle of the line and as the attack on the near left flank. They held their own, but were mostly outnumbered at all times. Their commander Captain General Flint was forced to surrender. He was brought before Al’Eden Mantherin and summarily executed.

The GEAR Co. 3^rd Heavy Cavalry, “The Dreadfists” were killed to the man. Their arrowhead attack along the road failed for the most part, and gnomes feasted on their flesh early in the battle.

Lord Baldwin of Avalonia’s men were mostly killed by the Leander mercenaries. He and an aide were captured and handed over the Masa.

The Mandertank Clan, led by Lord Alvis was mostly killed, including their war chief Evan Goldhorn and Lord Alvis.

Most of the Mercenary companies serving Petera’s side, besides the Blue Spears, suffered heavy casualties. The Blue Spears were offered a better deal in the middle of the battle, and those who survived left.

The 3^rd Eastgate Infantry: The Blackguard suffered heavy casualties from the Dwarven Rocket attack, about half of them were captured.

Mikeo and his command squad disappeared with the boat afterthey captured it.

Overall it is estimated that about 250 men were killed on Petera’s Side.

Dugal’s side fared better with about 100 killed in action. Dugal’s strategy was more reactionary and there were strong leaders on every flank. The final blow came when the ships arrived and in one round two rockets, a hail of arrows and a fireball ate away most of Mikeo’s troops.

Leaders:

Dugal – Riding on the left flank first, he found action against the Harold and the Black Boars, one of Petera’s elite infantry. He was then teleported by accident (he was stuck in combat with someone that got teleported) to the middle of the field, but soon forced Falconi, Argentus, and the mercenary captain Drowhunter to surrender.

Paulos – he mostly rode around rallying people, but when he got off his horse on the right flank, he began to help turn that flank back in on the middle.

Garret Hailfist (Scarst) started on the left, helped Jakon, but then was teleported to the right to face his son… but first he was sucked into a planar due with Fenghen Wade, which he won. He then finished the battle on the near right flank with Phrixelle.

Elvrich (Carson Haupt) was effective in the beginning of the battle, he rode around on a chariot unleashing devastating arrows into some of the most heavily armored troops on the board. His men got up and into the middle of the fight and fared well. None of them died. On the other hand Bart Redson and Balgruff the brown were both killed by Falconi and Falconi’s men. Romak Norr was somewhat a celebrity, making his way to the defeated Heinsen’s position in order to save him.

The Aleenridder’s (Maxim I) formed Dugal’s elite bodyguard and rode to the left flank with him. They managed to defeat some of the Black Boars, some of Anton Wyles’ men, and some of the Kaliphlin Stars mercenaries. Unfortunately two of their brothers fell in this battle. They did capture Wyles and still hold him.

The Karshak troops (Dragonfire) fared well, only one fell, and they spent most of the battle fighting against Gad and some strangely clad warriors that no one had any idea who they were.

The Hosehold Guard (Gabe) did very well, only losing two members, but assisting Paulos and the centaurs on the Near right flank. Unfortunately Phrixelle was the target of many Blue Spears lances, being ran down twice. She did run down and capture Gad, but did not get to do much more fighting beyond this. The archers were hit or miss (pun intended) Two of them died permanently to Belig’s attack, while two were revivable. Nammuat healed a total of ten people in this battle, probably becoming the most beneficial healer on the field, although she, herself, was downed once. The assassins were deployed against Belig, and finished off his archers.

Torgonius (Hammerhand) and his men were used as leadership in the very heart of the battle. They were the first engaged in the middle, and did plenty of damage to the Red Guard there. However, Torgonius was injured, then seriously wounded at the end of the battle.

Jakon (Jakon) was probably scarsts pet PC, because he used him in all the daring missions, along with DM’s merc Mark the yeti. They, along with their troops, dominated the left side (I think there was enough said about this in the chapters). They also were the two that hustled back and took possession of the Luck Dragon. So now Jakon and DM have to decide what to do with it. Captain Malcolm was bold, although he lost all of his men, he was at Jakon’s side more of the time, he ended up leading the Black Dragon Mercs into the Cyclops’ line, and won that fight.

Narbilu’s troops, led by Lynrem the earth and nature mage faired very well. They were close combat specialists and were used to take down large, multi-wound, characters. They followed the centaurs around and were used quite often for mopping up stragglers.

Nar Grisan (Niku) was a star with the bow, attached to a fire mage the whole battle, he kept having his bow imbued with magic to devastate the enemies he shot. He dodged a lightning bolt from Avona and was successful in killing the necromancer Kharkon. Salve was slightly injured, but it was Lord Tiven who truck down foes with a vengeance. He followed Romak Norr up the middle to save Heinsen, and along the way he was responsible for the defeat of Hataman the Yukar. The Winged Immortals went 1 for 2, with the second ending one of Falconi’s men at the end of the battle. Both were part of the charge to save Heinsen.

The PGTC troops (Robuko) were effective on the battlefield. The heavy cavalry, although not often mentioned were the backbone of supporting the middle of the field. The mummy infantry were the heart of the near right flank, and were mostly killed, Longhorn and his bulls were the powerful attackers in the middle. Overall there were instrumental on all flanks except the left. One of the lady friends killed Herrick the mage.

Heinsen (TUB) and his troop had the misfortune of an unlucky Gleambeam roll. Still, Gleambeam’s first attack was devastating killing almost all of the Mandertank clan. Heinsen and his werewolf generals fought to the very last, but unfortunately the numbers were against them. Heinsen survived the end of the battle and was revived.

The Shadowmere Guard (Vladivus) fared very well. With only one falling at the very end of the battle. Everything they ran into was held up against them until someone with a better weapon could kill it (unfortunately the guard had short swords which were not effective against heavy armor). The orks did not fare as well, they were all downed, and only a few were revived at the end of the battle. They did kill a few of the Avalonians before they fell.

Lord Zach came into the battle a few turns late and started as the reserve in the middle. When Mikeo’s troops were portaled in behind him, Lord Zach turned around and kept Mikeo’s men from attacking the rear of Dugal’s troops. Although everyone except Captain and the Elite guards were killed or wounded, they kept Mikeo from possibly winning the battle for Petera. Lord Zach was revived and is in good condition.

The combined regiments of Gear fighting for Dugal did well, taking few casualties except for the Kaliphlin guardsmen, who lost about half of their number.

Overall, it was a lot of fun and a lot of work, and it is still being sorted and cleaned up so I can get on to building Eastgate for the final battle and some other builds… I hope everyone had fun, and I hope there is this much enthusiasm when we do the next one.

[Lord Vladivus]

Glad to see the Shadowmere Guard gave a good showing- perhaps I should've sent them with spears or axes instead. Shame about the orcs, but they were cannon fodder anyway in Vlad's mind!

Great battle, and brilliant story!

[Mike S]

Am I missing the Golden Masks and Leander band? If they survived, they will be sent to the next battle as well....

Edited September 6, 2014 by Mike S

[Hammerhand]

Great end to an epic battle! That epilogue looks like it took quite a bit of time to write!

[SkaForHire]

I apparently wrote 100 pages of story and stats for this battle... think if that effort was put towards my dissertation...

Mike, I don't know how I missed your guys... Did I miss anyone else?

The Oilaphant, despite losing its rider lived. It crushed a lot of the heavy cavalry from the Dreadfists and Fenghan Wade's party. Sadly, the Golden Masks were kept in reserve most of the battle, Paulos knowing their awesome prowess for battle, and that they were truly a wrecking ball, he kept them in the back to "shore up" any part of the line. None of the line needed that extra "uumphhh" so the Golden Masks mostly swept up the left overs, being fresh still. The Leanders did not take a casualty, the most beat up was their leader, but not one of their shields touched the dirt during the battle.

[Zach101]

Wow, good job, and good luck on the next one

[TheUtilityBelt]

Yay! I'm alive! Great story dude.

[Gabe]

Wow, this battle has been one wild ride for sure! Thanks and mad props to Ska and Scarst for putting so much time and energy into bringing all the action to us. Great wrap up too, i'm inspired to make a small post-battle moc now. Hey Ska, how did my centaur mercenaries fare? Is Leena Thunderhoof still with us?

[Gideon]

Truly great work with this battle, not least the excellent epilogue! Already looking forward to the next battle

If the undertaking of a battle of this scale is a bit too heavy I'd rather see several small battles than rare big ones

[robuko]

An amazing battle, fantastic write up too. Thank you very much to Ska and Scarst!

[Niku]

This battle was chaotic and entertaining, I like a lot how you have developed a system to give a play value use to the minifigs. If possible would be really interesting if shared with all.

I am glad that my men did well, a moc related shall come on that.

Thanks for doing all that work to both of you.

[SkaForHire]

Wow, this battle has been one wild ride for sure! Thanks and mad props to Ska and Scarst for putting so much time and energy into bringing all the action to us. Great wrap up too, i'm inspired to make a small post-battle moc now. Hey Ska, how did my centaur mercenaries fare? Is Leena Thunderhoof still with us?

Not one centaur mercenary fell injured, let alone died! So they are all still alive.

This battle was chaotic and entertaining, I like a lot how you have developed a system to give a play value use to the minifigs. If possible would be really interesting if shared with all.

I am glad that my men did well, a moc related shall come on that.

Thanks for doing all that work to both of you.

I am hoping to release the alpha set of rules before the next battle. Problem is there are a lot of things that need written that are still unwritten rules we developed during test battles...

We are also going to do a special Historica database of characters thread, where you all will get to choose how your characters level up for future battles. And to Gideon's point, I think we are going to run smaller battles most of the time from here on out, more likely that NPCs will have squads instead of whole regiments, and there will be more dungeon crawl like battles in the future.

[robuko]

Could you please let me know which PGTC units fought and survived? They might get home coming scenes one day.

[Gideon]

Dungeon crawl with these rules sound awesome!

[Bregir]

This has been great to follow, and I really hope it will be possible to sign up troops for later battles at some point, since I missed this... Great work!

[narbilu]

What a great battle... my compliments on the story, the pictures and the ending...

Just wow!

[Tomsche]

Et voila, now to get my Nemesis from the wargame days mad enough to sell of his old school Chaos to buy Lego minifigures instead

[Zach101]

I don't mean to be annoying, but any idea on when you will have the rules posted?