"Winstanley, old chap. Glorious, glorious, glorious" and Lord Chelting pumped his hand repeatedly. "So disappointed I wasn't there to be a part of the whole thing. Technical hitches, you know."
"Yes, my boy, truly splendiferous" from Sommerville. "The General will be overjoyed with the news, and so proud" and he raised his glass again. "To our hero of the day"
"To our hero of the day" voices chanted in unison.
"Smithers, a refill, quickly, man" and Corporal Smithers leant over the Brigadier's left shoulder as he poured more claret into the Brigadier's glass. "And the others, man, keep up, for goodness sake."
"As you please, sir. It's hard to keep up with such appetites fuelled by victory" and he turned away to refill other glasses, muttering between his breath "goodness knows such appetites are rarely found in this 'ere camp."
"Yes indeed, and well done again, everyone. Dumnorix, you say? By goodness, what a great day this is. And what say you to his actions tomorrow?"
"Ah, he'll not be seen again Sir, mark my words, he'll not be seen again. A damned fine thrashing."
But return he did, and in force once again. Such was Sommerville's concern, he ordered the mechanical dragon to be mobilised to support the battle.
The commander managed to get the dragon fired up and ready for battle, able to make an early appearance on the battlefield.
The dragon commander made a quick attack across the barbarian lines, looking to strike early.
Smarting from the previous day's defeat, Dumnorix opted to try to attack the mechanical daemon before it could attack the remainder of his troops.
 |
| Action was joined |
 |
| Gah, the commander of the dragon opted to withdraw.. defeated in combat |
The British left was however a tougher nut to tackle, shooters using the bad terrain to good effect.
 |
| Action was joined in the centre |
 |
| And Winstanley and the Doctor recoiled under the shock of the impact of the barbarian war band, but the line held |
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| The centre looks secure, supported by shooters in the woods |
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| The Doctor tried his magic on Dumnorix, while shooters on the British left forced the mammoth behemoth back |
There's a tussle on the British left
Sommerville works hard to defeat Dumnorix' centre
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| The Barbarian behemoth mammoth is destroyed in the centre |
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| The tussle on the British left continues, but a unit of lancers succumbs to the mammoth |
They battle it out in the centre ...
And half of the assaulting war band are destroyed as Sommerville makes cunning use of his shooters to support him in his own attack
With nothing left to lose, the last Barbarian war band push forward against the Doctor.
A last combat, and the Doctor is forced from the field
 |
| The classic 1:6 die result meant the loss of the magician |
"Sir
"Forces of the Eastern Task Force today engaged the barbarian horde in a battle most vicious. We destroyed much of the barbarian force in an action that cost us dearly in life and machine.
We were forced to yield the field for the day, knowing that we will be in a better position on the morrow to secure the eastern boundaries of our conquered lands, and so the ultimate security and prosperity of the empire.
"God Save The Queen
"I remain your humble servant
"Brigadier Sommerville"
So the game ended. It had hung in the balance for several turns, both sides having lost 10 AP. The outcome was bad luck for Nick, in command of the British; any other result and it would still have been game on. Overall his position was much stronger than the Barbarians. The war band in the centre were exposed, and I pushed them forward aggressively, knowing that it was all or nothing.
The armies were:
Barbarian:
4 x warband
2 x riders
1 x hero general
2 x behemoth mammoth
For the British:
1 x hero
1 x dragon
1 x magician
2 x knights
2 x blade
2 x shooters
Yark!
ReplyDeletevery good !
ReplyDelete