SkaForHire

RESULTS! By popular vote, Nocturnus beat Avalonia in the Great Naval Arms Race 14 to 6, and Kaliphlin has trumped Mitgardia 13 to 0! [because as we all knew, Kali rules the waves!] After a tough round of judging, final winners are as follows (drumroll please!): Kaliphlin: >Tomas of Tortuga takes the title of Admiral of the Marine! (Honorable mention goes to Gabe who actually had highest score in this category, but as he can’t win two we picked the second highest Kaliphlinian to carry our standard.) In the Warship Category, >Gabe is proclaimed Admiral of the Kaliphlin Fleet, >Kai NRG becomes Vice Admiral of the Kaliphlin Fleet, and >Qiadris attains the positon of Rear Admiral of Kaliphlin Fleet! Mitgardia: >Garmadon is now Admiral of the Marine! For the Warship, >Infernum snatches the title of Admiral of the Mitgardian Fleet, >Etzel pulls out as Vice Admiral of the Mitgardian Fleet, and >Sigolf Brimabane becomes Rear Admiral of the Mitgardian Fleet! Avalonia: In the Ship of the Isles Category we have >-Carson Haupt-, who now has the title of Commodore of the Isles Flotila! And on the Warship end, we have >Hammerhand as Admiral of the Avalonian Fleet, and >Gilbert Despathiens as Vice Admiral of the Avalonian Fleet! Nocturnus: >MassEditor has earned himself the title of Commodore of the Swamp! And >Emma is now Admiral of the Nocturnian Fleet! The winners of each category in each guild will have a shield coming their way in the near future! Special thanks to Da Gothia and Kai who helped judge, and Kai who played secretary for the competition. PM Kai NRG if you're interested in seeing your score and/or judges comments. (She did not judge Kaliphlin, but has the scores for all of them)

+1 UoP

Yes, I hope to get the siege for Eastgate running by end of October -- Depends on how long it takes us to build the part of Eastgate that the battle will be featured in. Go right ahead. I hope that brings more people to the forum and to GOH! He was too likable to kill. Plus, he was too damn hard to kill. I am sure money could be found to fight in the siege of Eastgate.

He is on Dugal's side. I think his body is the crown knight king, his armor is all brickforge... This is him sans armor: DSC_0739 by skaforhire, on Flickr (red cape guy) Yes, I will do an epilogue here, maybe tonight.

Paulos is this guy in the weird armor and helmet at the center of this picture DSC_3623 by skaforhire, on Flickr Or not in combat: DSC_0928 by skaforhire, on Flickr

You had them ride to aid Petera, so they fought on that side of the battle. However, Hataman was critically wounded but not instantly killed. He was captured and is under the care of field nurses. (whether he lives or dies is up to you) After seeing their bravery and honor in battle, Paulos has approached him and offered him and his tribe land outside of Queencross if they will swear to become part of the defense of that city if needed. Four Yukar warriors went into battle, one was killed outright, another was lightly injured, one unscathed, and Hattaman is touch and go (all up to what you want to do here). They fought well, took down many soldiers, and had a hand in killing one of the Aleenridders. Overall they did pretty well against the toughest flank of the battle. P.S. The drake lived. I will post when we do put them up. I can't upload pictures on Flickr right now, so I can't throw up a picture of your guy's stats right now.

Chapter 20 A New Hope In the hand of Darrin Longshot, retainer for Garret Hailfist. (still to his wife, this is the end of the original letter) Fighting for Dugal After the rockets went off and many of Mikeo’s men lay dead, it was evident that the rout was on. We cheered as the rockets fired again, and more of his men fell. Jakon and Mark started to run in that direction to help finish off the survivors. All of the sudden Mikeo and many of his men blinked out of existence… I looked right and saw commotion on board the dwarven rocket ship… They had teleported to our secret weapon! Within moments the ship then disappeared again. We still do not know what happened to it. DSC_3731 by skaforhire, on Flickr Jakon and Mark had made it to the line of Blackguard still standing… and honey, I swear this happened, Jakon did a flip over their sergeant, sliced his head from his body, whirled, cut down three more men, and did not get a drop of blood on him. The head that fell from the sergeants body almost hit the ground in the time it took to kill all four of them. I say almost, because Mark kicked the head straight towards the dragon! The pathetic looking creature turned his head and caught the head, like a dog eating a treat! Mark and Jakon exchanged glances and charged towards the Dragon’s captor. DSC_3743 by skaforhire, on Flickr Almost simultaneously they cut the creature holding the dragon into three pieces. Then the chain fell free, and into Jakon’s hand. I am not sure what he did with the marvelous beast, because at this point I was called to my master’s bidding. There was a lot of after battle activity I had to help with. Hailfist tasked me with taking roll of the prisoners and the injured. We immediately revived Lord Zach, unfortunately sensei did not make it. We also brought up Lady Phrixelle, and a few other nobles. It turns out that the Palidin Romak Norr had already accepted Lord Torsten’s surrender, while the Angels of Death calmed down enough to take Rex’s surrender and tend to their wounded. DSC_3721 by skaforhire, on Flickr DSC_3753 by skaforhire, on Flickr The Gnomes took prisoner (somehow) Victor Victorious, a fellow mercenary. DSC_3764 by skaforhire, on Flickr The Aleenridders lost two of their own, and captured Anton Wyles, who was responsible for one of their deaths. It is unknown what they will do with him. DSC_3756 by skaforhire, on Flickr We had an incident. Aleden Mantherin, head of the Blueguard, our victorious line, captured the Redguard Commander, Captain General Flint. He had him brought before him after the battle. DSC_3747 by skaforhire, on Flickr I got there just as this began. The Eastgate Redguard and the GEAR Co. Blueguard are bitter rivals, and have been for some time. Perhaps that is what spurred this action. As I arrived, Aleden was shouting at his rival. “Fool, you know nothing of loyalty!” I tried to interject here, but Aleden’s temper got the best of him. “Not only were your men worthless when they faced us, they shivered in fear when they met me eye to eye on the battlefield. I sent many of your men to their grave wetting their pants.” He laughed, a long deep laugh. “What do you have to say about your betrayal now?” he said to Flint. Flint waited a second and replied: “Orders are orders, we are always loyal to Eastgate.” Aleden smiled. DSC_3751 by skaforhire, on Flickr With a lightning quick strike, Aleden beheaded Flint. His men gasped, I almost soiled myself. I ran back to inform Garret as soon as possible, but I could not find him. The rest of the day was much calmer, Petera’s forces that escaped were not pursued, as we had many dead and wounded to tend to. We had dealt a blow to Petera’s army, and our forces would not be pinned against the walls of Eastgate during the siege. We were victorious, and in good time we will win the War of the Brothers and rid this realm of Petera and the Valkarian Order! I must finish this letter now, honey, as I think I may still be able to catch Jakon and find out what he is going to do with the dragon. Hugs and kisses, your Darrin

Chapter 19 To the Losers go the Spoils. In the hand of Mikeo MacLean, fighting for Petera. Brother, The ship is safe. You were right, that fool Alden could not lead this battle, and Wade got himself killed from what I heard. After we arrived via your portal, the luck dragon rebelled against his handler. We were victims of incredibly misfortune, as our enemy gained the boons we thought we would have. We did well destroying some of their forces, but after a rocket burst in the center of our line, I had your Efrite Donjini teleport us all to their black ship of death. DSC_3759 by skaforhire, on Flickr I unfortunately had to leave the rest of the blackguard and some of my personal guard, as Donjini was not willing to bring the “inconsequential” among us. Please pay their families well. We easily took the ship as they left it unguarded and only manned by the gun crew. We learned later that most of Dugal’s men fled the ship not trusting the weapon to work properly. DSC_3727 by skaforhire, on Flickr The Efite then teleported the whole ship to our current location, where we await your orders. IF I do not hear from you within two weeks, we will sail to Gearsport as I assume you will have been defeated at Eastgate. Good luck brother. -Mikeo.

Sorry everyone, no more edited photos as for some reason I cannot log onto Flickr to upload them. Chapter 18 The King is Dead, Long Live the King. In the hand of Alden Logan, Second Lord of Eastgate, serving Petera. Continued letter to Lord Petera from earlier… Your brother arrived, and made quick work of most of Lord Zach’s men. I thought that Dugal and Paulos had made a blunder here sending such few forces towards our secret attack. The first set of Titans that attempted to charge were even defeated and an Ice Storm from Mikeo’s hands left many of the Kaliphlin Guard dead. However, this was apparently just a ruse, as the real counter attack came shortly after. The GEAR light horse bowmen opened up a devastating volley of arrows that took the lives of many of the Blackguard serving Mikeo. In the hand of Alden Logan, Second Lord of Eastgate, serving Petera. Then came the dwarven rockets… DSC_3703 by skaforhire, on Flickr A large burst was heard clear as day on my side of the field, this rocked killed almost all of the snake guard with Mikeo, and downed the leader of the Black Guard. DSC_3706 by skaforhire, on Flickr DSC_3707 by skaforhire, on Flickr A final fireball from one of their mages wiped out another half of the blackguard. In 25 seconds we lost our whole counter attack and one of GEAR Co’s finest companies. The Kaliphlin Guardsmen with Dugal mopped up the stragglers. DSC_3773 by skaforhire, on Flickr If that was not enough, I turned to my left and saw the “King’s” body rematerialize next to his horse. That damn honor duel you set up backfired. With all respect, I told you that that man would get himself killed. I guess it is time to think about backing my claims to Cedrica, now? DSC_3662 by skaforhire, on Flickr The son immediately saw this, and was mortified. Some gruff sergeant fighting near him saw the sight, and screamed “The King is Dead!” Panic went through their lines, until the same sergeant yelled, “Long live King Farrion, King of Cedrica, King of Historica, Lord Protector of the Valkarian Order, Grand Caliph of the Fivefold Faith, King of Varlyrio!” His men shouted and cheered with pride. For a second I thought we were going to see an inspired rally. But no… That boy took all of his remaining men and ran away with his father’s body on the back of his horse. DSC_3667 by skaforhire, on Flickr DSC_3672 by skaforhire, on Flickr The Bad News Continued… Lord Ravencroft, after he teleported some of our best troops into a disastrous spot on the battlefield tried to teleport away from the battle, leaving everyone he brought there! Your mistrest, Avona screamed to me that Ravencroft was trying to leave. I told her to stop him at all costs. She said she would nullify his spell. A few moments later Ravencroft teleported next to Avona, knife in hand. DSC_3673 by skaforhire, on Flickr She recoiled from him, and they began a war of wills, no spell successfully going off, as we could see her turn away his icy advanced. They screamed in primal rage as lightning bolt after lightning bold were torn away from the sky just above the opposite caster’s head. DSC_3687 by skaforhire, on Flickr I knew at this point that the battle was lost. Blaspheos and I sounded the retreat and let what was left of the red guard cover our rear. DSC_3774 by skaforhire, on Flickr Finally, Avona created a portal behind her and stepped through it. I have no clue what happened to Ravencroft from then on. DSC_3776 by skaforhire, on Flickr (sorry could not upload the photoshoped version) A this point, we made our way off the field DSC_3763 by skaforhire, on Flickr I assume you must be disappointed. Please take it out on Avona and Ravencroft as neither could put aside their differences and finish off the enemy. One good attack with them working together would have won us the day, instead they worked opposite of each other the whole battle and then came to blows at the end. Your servent, Alden Logan, Second Lord of Eastgate.

Very nice build! I may have to borrow that boat hull idea.. I have a bunch of those sitting around in blue, never thought about using them as roofing! Great job again!

Congrats Mike! I will let you know, right now I am still working on a few things.... I have to get the last battle reports up, do a conclusion moc then get all the story together for our challenge. So, I will start contacting people middle of next month about things that we could perhaps have done in a month or two after that.

She survived. After I finally get done writing the last three chapters, I will do an epilogue that gives a quick rundown where everyone was and what they did.

Good joke... however I must reply that our cities are the oldest and most formidable of all the guilds. And, we didn't get to be the richest without pinching pennies somewhere.

Almost all of my foundations are MBs that i bought years ago for extremely cheap (and new). I use them all the time to save on real bricks.

LOL -- good one. Unfortunately, not in this country. MB are worth more melted down into paperweights.

Ha, nobody could hit him! We gave him too many stats and feats because you had earned them through the previous challenges! He got stuck against a couple of well armored orcs and there he stayed trading blows against armor. I like the idea that he just showed up on the wrong side of the field... fought for a bit, and then was like "wait a second..."

Just unconscious, you were revived after the battle. The Assassins can go back into stealth if they can get to a location that the enemy can't see (on this field that is pretty much behind one of the big rocks or in a building. The battle did not last long enough to do that though. (Scarst also dropped them fairly late in the game)

Chapter 16 Blood Lust and Spilt Milk In the hand of Darrin Longshot, retainer for Garret Hailfist. The excitement was tense… We followed Jakon and Mark into the heart of battle. They had just finished off the Death’s Head company and some undead, and were looking for the next enemy – the only problem was that there were no more enemies. A series of ships bringing reinforcements to Dugal’s army had landed – Ungrim Ironmaul and the Ghost Stone Dwarves, along with a whole contingent of Cresentthorn Elf Archers unloaded in front of us. DSC_3633 by skaforhire, on Flickr They were equally surprised. Half of the remaining forces seemed to vanish – with Dugal – and what was left were the Black Boars, their leader Harold the Smooth, the Yukar, the mighty Rex Marizrack Torsten of Horssten, a few of Lord Argentis’s men (sans leader) and Costa Ortega’s few men. The army seemed tight, but they had one mage defending against our five on that side, and it seemed that an onslaught would ensue. Then he came. DSC_3606 by skaforhire, on Flickr Playing dead, one of the Death’s head Mercenaries leaped up with a giant battle axe and split Mark’s skull. Jakon behind him gasped and went into a rage. Soon everyone around the poor merc had his sights on him. They cut him down , and one of our healers immediately delivered a healing spell to Mark. DSC_3657 by skaforhire, on Flickr Looking downfield we could see Lisa of the Death Angels enrage over losing almost all of the women under her command. She whirlwinded through the Black Boars, their heavy armor seemed to peel off under her blade. DSC_3565 by skaforhire, on Flickr Soon she got to Harold the Smooth, their leader, and with one swing she dispatched him, cleaved into two crossbowmen, and killed their mage! Who says this woman needs an army? DSC_3639 by skaforhire, on Flickr The Aleenridders back her up, they fought Sir Rex, some of the Black Boars, and Captain Anton Wyles and company. DSC_3559 by skaforhire, on Flickr Unfortunately one of them was killed by Sir Rex (the second Aleenridder to fall in the battle – The first by Wyles’ bowman). DSC_3620 by skaforhire, on Flickr Hattaman the Yukar put up a good fight, but was de-horsed by The “Company of Adventurers” DSC_3621 by skaforhire, on Flickr He was finally ran through by Lord Tiven DSC_3636 by skaforhire, on Flickr A group of men, including the Paladin Romak Norr, took down Lord Scorpius, and Costa Ortega surrendered to them. DSC_3700 by skaforhire, on Flickr It was at that point that I looked right and heard shouting… One of Lord Zach’s men, a man named Captain, was defending a fire mage. It looked like Lord Zach had fallen, and most of his men killed – but they held Mikeo’s advance. DSC_3732 by skaforhire, on Flickr DSC_3676 by skaforhire, on Flickr That is when hell broke loose.

Chapter 15 On the Brink of Destruction… In the hand of Marty El’Dron, Marksman for Lord Sansael. (Dugal’s Side) DSC_1411 by skaforhire, on Flickr With the onslaught of a new threat coming from our rear, and now a few of these Blue Spears cutting up our men on the high ground with their ridiculously long lances, things looked bleak. However, after the mages in front of the crown finished off the assassins, the red sister with them turned around and healed both Nammuat and the Green mage with us. The Captain of the Blue Spears and a few of his men were bogged down and now facing some of our toughest centaur mercenaries along with Garet Hailfist and Paulos MacLean. DSC_1426 by skaforhire, on Flickr Soon the Blue Spear captain’s horse was killed and he was made an offer from Paulos to serve GEAR Co. after the battle. The filthy Merc agreed and tried to call down his men. DSC_3582 by skaforhire, on Flickr Unfortunately they did not hear his commands. We had to turn a few of his men into pincushions. DSC_3596 by skaforhire, on Flickr At this point I was the only one of our troop still standing, and I was attempting to shoot Belig and his men. DSC_3614 by skaforhire, on Flickr But I got a little help, your dispatch of Rakath Assassins did the trick. DSC_3580 by skaforhire, on Flickr They made short work of Belig Terror of the North. DSC_3665 by skaforhire, on Flickr General Phrixelle was revived by a druid Lynrem, and she continued the fight… DSC_3674 by skaforhire, on Flickr only to be slain by a rouge Blue Spear minutes later. DSC_3675 by skaforhire, on Flickr The Leanders made a final push, and accompanied by the Shadowmere warriors, they were able to finally force the Avalonians to surrender. DSC_3647 by skaforhire, on Flickr On our left Paulos, with the surrender of the Blue Spears, now able to deal with other threats got off his horse and showed his fighting Prowess. Paired with your House Guard Captain and your centaur Mercs he started to make quick work of the enemy. DSC_3623 by skaforhire, on Flickr As the right side of the battle came to an end, we were victorious. The Leander’s revived Belig and took him with the remaining Avalonians prisoner. DSC_3739 by skaforhire, on Flickr General Phrixelle was revived again, and this time she ran down one of the hardest fighting warriors on their side, Gad the Evasive. Not one of our soldiers could touch him, but he was tired and saw that his portion of the battle was lost, so he surrendered. DSC_3752 by skaforhire, on Flickr Thus ends my report, Dugal’s forces successful on the Right Flank, largely due to the Mercenaries Masa sent, Lord Vladius’s men, and your own troop’s efforts. As we took our breath, we looked to the left, hoping they would have as much success.

It probably won't get much more mention, but the Oliphant killed a bunch of Wades men... I killed the riders because Scarst was going to ride back up the rear of my line. I wasted about 10 lightning bolts to do it though... which cost me later on.

Chapter 14 Don’t always accept a Teleport. In the Hand of Ediz Falconi, Arkbri Falcons. (Petera’s side) Fight of flight? I was making this decision as Jakon and his drooling counterpart started to bear down on what was left of our shabby little line on the right. Crushing us even further was an oncoming Amazon full of bloodlust, I could see she was opening Black Boars’ heavy armor as if it were paper. Flight… Definitely flight came across my mind. This side was toast. DSC_1409 by skaforhire, on Flickr Besides the Black Boars, Torin Drownhunter and Lord Argentis, there was barely an army left over there. So I was just giving the command to fall back in an orderly fashion (to the rest of the line, my boys know to run like the dickens), when all of the sudden I felt tingly. Well, I have been teleported once before, so I knew what was happening. I thought that clearly, Ravencroft – who was standing near our flank – had had enough and was going to at least regroup us. So I let my will down, and accepted the teleport. After all, they can’t put an arrow through you if you are defying the laws of time and space to get to your location. This was a big mistake. DSC_3585 by skaforhire, on Flickr We appeared in back of the middle of their line. My men, Ravencroft, Drowhunter, a couple Black Boars, Argentis, his niece, and freaking Dugal MacLean were all teleported to this spot. What the heck Ravencroft was thinking, I will never know. He wasn’t around to ask after the battle. But, there we were. I took this opportunity to kill Bart Redson. That cheeky cleric healed way too many men in front of me. I pulled him down from his horse, and put the sword to him. I am not sure if he survived the battle – I doubt it. DSC_3617 by skaforhire, on Flickr My man, Kermli took down another healer within seconds of the teleport. It was pretty good hunting, and at first I thought Ravencroft was on to something. One of my other boys almost got another mage, but she was a bit spry for him. DSC_3615 by skaforhire, on Flickr That is when things went downhill. One of those Winged Immortals came plowing in on us, leading a charge of Gear Heavy Titans. He took poor Kermli’s head clean off, and downed another one of my men. DSC_3644 by skaforhire, on Flickr The titans ran down another of my men, but also ran Argentis’s niece down in one massive blow. No man should have to see family impaled in this way. He began to rage. DSC_3645 by skaforhire, on Flickr At about this time, Ravencroft swore a little, then teleported away, leaving us there to die. At this point Torin Drowhunter, of the rival mercenary group Kaliphlin Stars looked around and turned to me. I knew he was thinking the same as I. “We are done, aren’t we? “ he said. I replied “Aye” and tried to address the Necromancer Karkhon – however, he was too busy raising my newly decapitated men as zombies to attack Dugal’s men. I turned to Argentis who was beating his sword against Dugal’s incredibly well armored horse. I told him we had lost and it was time to surrender, he did not seem to hear me. I gave Dugal a gesture asking him to stay his hand and give me a moment. I then walked up behind Lord Argentis, knocked off his helmet, and bludgeoned him with the hilt of my sword. DSC_3669 by skaforhire, on Flickr DSC_3670 by skaforhire, on Flickr I thin turned to Dugal and said, “I hope you will accept Lord Argentis’ surrender. “ He nodded, and our day was through. DSC_3642 by skaforhire, on Flickr

Chapter 13 Pushes and Pestering. In the hand of Alden Logan, Second Lord of Eastgate, serving Petera. My Lord Petera, I humbly submit my battle report as follows. You no doubt have received my first report, so I will pick up after the Luck Dragon arrived. As you stated, Wade was led to believe he was in charge of the army – I still do not know why you want him king -- he commanded his heavy cavalry to pick up where the Dreadfists failed up the road, he also commanded the Blue Spears on our left flank to harass the end of the middle line of battle. They did well against the mountain mummies there, but alas, I have no report of what became of them from that point. DSC_3527 by skaforhire, on Flickr I should mention that I wore the Helm of Protection that you gave me, I am pretty sure the enemy attempted to strike me with lightning once or twice, but never did it connect. I thank you my liege. portal by skaforhire, on Flickr In the middle we had a few close calls, but our line pushed back at theirs well. DSC_1404 by skaforhire, on Flickr DSC_1436 by skaforhire, on Flickr DSC_3607 by skaforhire, on Flickr We almost got the sniveling Nar Grisan, who in combination with a mage from their side struck down many of our warriors with lightening arrows. The Wind Clan Centaur you assigned to me almost hit him with a lightning bolt, but he back-flipped off his horse onto one of the rock formations. The horse was killed though. bam by skaforhire, on Flickr bam2 by skaforhire, on Flickr Avona was able to finally stop the Elephant, by killing its riders. bam3 by skaforhire, on Flickr The appearance of the boats on Dugal’s side was an obstacle though. They were unloading fresh troops, but it was the Dwarven rocket ship prototype that was the biggest threat. They must have brought it here while still in dock, because the thing was not finished… except for its weapon. DSC_3632 by skaforhire, on Flickr We did score success in the middle of the line by slaying Torgonius. He had cost us a lot of blood in the middle. And after his death, I was pretty sure we had secured the middle. DSC_3695 by skaforhire, on Flickr To be continued. We did score success in the middle of the line by slaying Torgonius. He had cost us a lot of blood in the middle. And after his death, I was pretty sure we had secured the middle. DSC_3695 by skaforhire, on Flickr To be continued.

Chapter 12 Rise of the King The thoughts of Fenghen Wade, King of Historica. (Fighting for Petera) (For more on Fenghen Wade, if you had time, read the Battle of Khordeem where some of the plot elements are more explained) IT was a beautiful morning. The weather hot, but not too sticky. Everything was going perfectly. Wade had just met with Petera the night before. The Valkarian Order had recognized his claim to the throne of Historica, and were now putting all their backing behind him. It had been a long year. Since the king went missing there had been many pretenders attempting to take the throne. The Avalonian Stewardship was lacking to say the least, and the citizens of Cedrica and its vast territory outside of the city were getting restless with one of the ruled ruling the rulers. The last year a game of houses swept over the capital and into the far reaches of the nation. Wade’s own manner outside the Avalonian border had even fallen into the schemes of many when his banquet was attacked by assassins. The head of his family, his Uncle, was murdered before him, and his second son Farrion (one of the survivors of the Battle of Khordeem) was barely able to fight off his attacker. Fenghen was not attacked however, and the game of houses had begun. The Wades were descended from King Leo, one of the great Historican kings. Although they were long from the throne at the beginning of the Revolword War, things have a way of turning sour quickly. The Wades soon found themselves as a powerful house in the high court governing Cedrica city affairs. It was at this time that Petera, an old friend of his first son, Fenghen II, came to Fenghen to thank him personally for his part at Khordeem. He also told him of the old Valkarian order – an order Fenghen’s father had belonged to long ago – and the order’s plan to seat a new, strong king on the throne of Historica. It just so happened that the Order had decided that Wade’s claim was the most viable. At his instruction, one month ago to the day, Wade announced his title as King of Historica, backed by many of the houses within Cedrica. Although there were naysayers, and surely a larger civil war to come, Petera had suggested that Wade bring his troops to the Wither Woods to establish a support base. Wade was given command of a large army, and was informed by Petera that reinforcements would be arriving via portal. He was also given one of Petera’s generals, Alden Logan, Second Lord of Eastgate, to fight at the front of the line. This was fine, the king was here to inspire, not take an arrow to the neck. He shook his head… battle! He looked before him. The first line moving forward nicely. He had let Logan plan most of the battle, but they both agreed that they would send a heavy cavalry spearhead attack up the road at full charge, and then follow up with Wade gloriously running through the surviving enemy afterwards, and sweeping back around to hit the enemy in the back. DSC_1361 by skaforhire, on Flickr A few minutes later… Things did not go as well as planned, the Dreadfists were skewered by PGTC spearmen and a rabid gnome. They fell quickly, many not surviving the first five minutes of the charge. On Dugal’s side the Titans had counter charged. DSC_3415 by skaforhire, on Flickr It was time for his men to pick up the slack. He sent two squads of the heaviest of his soldiers, the Eastgate Redguard forward in front of him. DSC_1362 by skaforhire, on Flickr He then had them peel off to the right and left, while he sent his nephew Drexis with his heavy cavalry squad up the middle to counter the GEAR Titans. DSC_1406 by skaforhire, on Flickr Although Drexis’ small unit did not fare so well, the second wave would do better. DSC_3473 by skaforhire, on Flickr Just then, the Men of the Golden Mask, some party of zealots from the deep south took action with a second counter charge. They led with an Oliphant – I must get a few of these for the war of thrones -- Though Wade DSC_3488 by skaforhire, on Flickr The elephant crushed his poor nephew under heavy foot. DSC_3610 by skaforhire, on Flickr Still, the middle looks strong, Wade thought. A portal opened almost 100 yards behind Dugal (who wade could see on the other end of the field, because of his large plume.) DSC_3610 by skaforhire, on Flickr portal by skaforhire, on Flickr Out popped Mikeo, the long dead brother MacLean, and a luck dragon --- a LUCK DRAGON. That was a surprise. These troops would probably eat Dugal’s for dinner. It was at this moment that he felt a tingling. The second of Petera’s promises were about to come true. The archmage had promised that his mistress, the feared Stormmistress Avona, to cast a planar duel – a single combat to the death in another tiny dimension – between him and a bitter rival: Garret Hailfist. Hailfist had caused the death of his first son at Khordeem, Fenghen agreed to come to the Wither Woods on the condition that he would get to fight Hailfist to avenge Fenghen II. Petera promised that this could be done. And so he delivered. planar combat1 by skaforhire, on Flickr The world swirled around Wade. Flashes of lightning, mist surrounding him, he was on a crumbling platform in infinite space. Across from him on the platform stood Hailfist. “Now you will die!” screamed Wade. planar combat 2 by skaforhire, on Flickr “Uhh… Who are you?” the enemy muttered. “You know damn well, you killed my son!” Wade said. “Oh, I didn’t recognize you in the King’s armor, I thought only men of integrity and courage wore such garb.” Hailfist said sarcastically. Wade lunged at his enemy to vanquish him from this existence.

I have never thought about that for all those off-colored deep discounted weapons I bought by the 10s. That is a great idea. On another note, I have always been an army builder, starting with pirates. So I have wasted way too much money on minifigs over the years. The main units of Eastgate and Gear for the battle, I got bulk pieces from Germany by the 50 count. For around $215 I made about 150 figs. Of course, unless you are posing unit pics, fighting large battles, or war gaming -- there really isn't much point in having over 20 of the same troop.

I think Mike S, Kayne, and Robuko probably need considered for the title. But I don't give those away, so who knows. It took a while to get Gideons, I know that. It is good to have allies with such forces. We should be marshaling soon, for better or for worse... the Battle of the Witherwoods is over, and the victor was... To be continued...