The Routing of the Beastmen
Stephen surveyed the approaching horde of beastmen. The army was large, with many more men than vanguard he brought with him to clear the path. But he was unafraid because he had brought with him a large contingent of knights, and their armor and lances should easily break the ranks of the beasts.
After breaking camp this morning Stephen marched his army west along the Arabyan Trail in hopes of establishing a messenger post along the road. After marching for twenty miles a scout had hurriedly reported the movement of beastmen marauders moving aggressively towards the column. Stephen quickly organized a group of 48 knights and a small group of pilgrims to meet the beastmen in combat. He also brought with him the beautiful lady of the beastlore, Lady Caitlin.
Where the two armies met was a relatively flat section of the Trail. Two cusps of trees broke up the grasslands, but otherwise the soon to be battlefield was almost completely featureless. Stephen organized his army into three parts. He and his King Guard's adviser, Sir Rodurk, rode with a group of twelve experienced knights and Lady Caitlin. Sir Anders rode with eighteen knights of the quest, broken into two lances of equal size, and was supported by a group of grail pilgrims. The last section was a lance of fifteen errant knights that Stephen tasked with storming the weak flank of the enemy.
Stephen sent his core of knights of the quest and pilgrims directly up the trail to tempt to horde. Sir Anders was trusted to lead this section of the line and to hold the horde in place long enough for his lance of knights to crush the flank of the beastmen expedition. The errant knights were told to attack the opposite flank and to quickly turn to trap the core of the beastmen army.
The beastmen took the bait. Two large groups of Gor marched directly down the Trail to match the knights led my Anders. On the left flank of the Gor herd, directly in front of Stephan and Rodurk, was a unit of five minotaurs, and squirmishing line of Gor rangers and two chariots. Stephan's lance would need to quickly charge and overwhelm the minotaurs before they had a chance to hit the flank of Sir Anders. It was far for him to see, but Stephen could see that all the errant knights would have to face was a unit of chaos warhounds, which should be an easy task for the inexperienced knights, given they don't charge too eagerly.
Stephen could see that Anders and his knights took the moment to offer a prayer to the Lady of the Lake. Sir Rodruck also led the knights riding with them through the prayers to the Lady. The herd of Gor foolishly allowed the knights their rites and waited for them to remount before marching to battle. Anders and his men rode furiously forward. At that Stephen led his knights towards the minotaurs. He could see them within charge range, but a spawn of chaos blocked the way.
The knights errant rushed to the right flank, but were far from the hounds.
Anders and his men hit the first horde of Gor, all eighteen questing knights hitting together. It was a beautifully executed charge but left the pilgrims far behind.
Stephen charged at the spawn of chaos while Lady Caitlin weaved magic together. Her spells gave him an increased feeling of strength of speed. Without a break in stride Stephen cut the chaos spawn in half. Galloping ahead the lance of knights crashed into the minotaurs, who were too slow to react before the knights attacked with their lances.
Meanwhile a skirmishing line of Gor rangers emerged from the highgrash and charged at the left flank of the lance. They exposed themselves too early and the knights on the left easily lanced or ran down the Gor before they had a chance to disrupt the charge.
Stephen swung the Questing Sword of Gilles with an untapped reserve of fury and strength granted to him by the magics of Caitlin. At his side was Rodruck, who swung his own magic sword with such precision it was maddening. Stephen was unafraid of the minotaurs, but in fact inspired by such a ferocious enemy. He personally slayed two minotuars while Rodruck and the other knights ran down the other three before they were even swung at.
As the swirling melee against the minotuars came to a close Stephen had a chance to survey the field of battle. Their charge had brought them just behind the enemy line and directly ahead stood a beastman shawman who was unaware of the approaching knights. Anders and his men had broken the first line of Un-Gor, but had fallen into a trap as a larger horde of Gor led by a savage beastman lord charged into them and gained the momentum. Stephen just caught a glance of the beastman lord cutting Anders from his horse.
The errant knights had also charged into the warhounds and were just now running them down. But as the rushed forward a unit of Gor, a chaos spawn, and a chariot also trapped the inexperienced knights. Meanwhile the pilgrims had finally reached the fight and killed a unit of Gor rangers, but as they ran the rangers down they charged into a unit of Chaos Warriors. Surely they could hold long enough for Stephen and Rodruck to reach the lines and save Anders.
Stephen swung his sword at the shaman as the knights galloped ahead, cleaving him into two. The knights continued to charge into the herd of Gor that had earlier retreated from Anders' knights. They quickly crushed what remained of the Gor and galloped past the melee where Anders had fallen. They needed to save the errant knights so that they could swing back and save what remained of the questing knights.
Ahead were the errant knights, tied up in a melee with a herd of Gor, the chariot and a chaos spawn. While ineffective themselves, the young knights' armor saved them from any fatal blows. Stephen and his knights slammed into the unaware flank of the Gor and trampled them under the hooves of their warhorses. After crushing the Gor the lance of knights made a swift maneuver to turn towards the melee where Anders and the other knights had fallen. Sir Rodruck broke off of the lance to instead help the errant knights finish killing the chaos spawn.
Ahead of Stephen the melee was over. The pilgrims had shattered and left exposed the questing knights flank. They all lay broken and bloody on the ground while the beastmen reformed their line to meet the incoming bretonnian charge. Stephen and his knights galloped forward.
Stephen roared a challenged to the beastlord. He broke into a gallop to be ahead of the rest of the knights, while the beastlord charged to meet Stephen before the melee broke out. Stephen gave a mighty swing with the Questing Sword of Gilles and lopped open the guts of the beastman lord. But the savage beast returned a blow and gave Stephen a mighty gash on his shoulder. After bringing down the beastmen Stephen could see that his knights had broken the last of the Gor horde.
The remaining beastmen left the battlefield in complete chaos.
Stephen dismounted and began to search through the fallen soldiers for his cousin. He found him, still breathing, but with a broken arm and ribs. "Our knights held longer than I expected," grunted Anders through his clenched jaw.
"Do not speak," replied Stephen, "We won. They won't be taking your head today." He then lifted Anders up onto his horse and laid him across the saddle. "Lady Caitlin!" He yelled for the prophetess in the hope that she knew some healing magics.
The lady came riding over. "Oh lord, does he still live?" She asked.
"Yes, but barely. Is there anything you can do?" demanded Stephen.
"I do not know any healing spells. Let me grant him strength from his inner beast and we can rush him back to the camp. Hopefully his inner fury can keep his heart beating long enough for a Lady of the Life to heal him." She replied.
"Then let's go," Stephen said. He mounted the warhorse and the two of them rode back to the camp at a full gallop. As he rode past Sir Rodruck, he commanded, "Tend to the wounded knights that you can. We will bring back the healers."
The two rode with Anders for close to thirty minutes before the reached the camp. Peasants made way for the galloping riders as they hurried for the healers tents. When they arrived a group of orderlies helped Anders off of the horse and led him into the tent.
The healers were able to keep Anders alive. But not all the other knights were so lucky that day. Eighteen knights of the quest were wounded, but only eleven recovered from their wounds. Also five knights errant fell in battle, but luckily only one died that die. No one knew how many of the pilgrims lost their lives.
They were able to keep the beastlord that Stephen defeated in personal combat alive. He was shackled and imprisoned while the army awaits an offer of tribute before deciding his fate.
After breaking camp this morning Stephen marched his army west along the Arabyan Trail in hopes of establishing a messenger post along the road. After marching for twenty miles a scout had hurriedly reported the movement of beastmen marauders moving aggressively towards the column. Stephen quickly organized a group of 48 knights and a small group of pilgrims to meet the beastmen in combat. He also brought with him the beautiful lady of the beastlore, Lady Caitlin.
Where the two armies met was a relatively flat section of the Trail. Two cusps of trees broke up the grasslands, but otherwise the soon to be battlefield was almost completely featureless. Stephen organized his army into three parts. He and his King Guard's adviser, Sir Rodurk, rode with a group of twelve experienced knights and Lady Caitlin. Sir Anders rode with eighteen knights of the quest, broken into two lances of equal size, and was supported by a group of grail pilgrims. The last section was a lance of fifteen errant knights that Stephen tasked with storming the weak flank of the enemy.
Stephen sent his core of knights of the quest and pilgrims directly up the trail to tempt to horde. Sir Anders was trusted to lead this section of the line and to hold the horde in place long enough for his lance of knights to crush the flank of the beastmen expedition. The errant knights were told to attack the opposite flank and to quickly turn to trap the core of the beastmen army.
The beastmen took the bait. Two large groups of Gor marched directly down the Trail to match the knights led my Anders. On the left flank of the Gor herd, directly in front of Stephan and Rodurk, was a unit of five minotaurs, and squirmishing line of Gor rangers and two chariots. Stephan's lance would need to quickly charge and overwhelm the minotaurs before they had a chance to hit the flank of Sir Anders. It was far for him to see, but Stephen could see that all the errant knights would have to face was a unit of chaos warhounds, which should be an easy task for the inexperienced knights, given they don't charge too eagerly.
Stephen could see that Anders and his knights took the moment to offer a prayer to the Lady of the Lake. Sir Rodruck also led the knights riding with them through the prayers to the Lady. The herd of Gor foolishly allowed the knights their rites and waited for them to remount before marching to battle. Anders and his men rode furiously forward. At that Stephen led his knights towards the minotaurs. He could see them within charge range, but a spawn of chaos blocked the way.
The knights errant rushed to the right flank, but were far from the hounds.
Anders and his men hit the first horde of Gor, all eighteen questing knights hitting together. It was a beautifully executed charge but left the pilgrims far behind.
Stephen charged at the spawn of chaos while Lady Caitlin weaved magic together. Her spells gave him an increased feeling of strength of speed. Without a break in stride Stephen cut the chaos spawn in half. Galloping ahead the lance of knights crashed into the minotaurs, who were too slow to react before the knights attacked with their lances.
Meanwhile a skirmishing line of Gor rangers emerged from the highgrash and charged at the left flank of the lance. They exposed themselves too early and the knights on the left easily lanced or ran down the Gor before they had a chance to disrupt the charge.
Stephen swung the Questing Sword of Gilles with an untapped reserve of fury and strength granted to him by the magics of Caitlin. At his side was Rodruck, who swung his own magic sword with such precision it was maddening. Stephen was unafraid of the minotaurs, but in fact inspired by such a ferocious enemy. He personally slayed two minotuars while Rodruck and the other knights ran down the other three before they were even swung at.
As the swirling melee against the minotuars came to a close Stephen had a chance to survey the field of battle. Their charge had brought them just behind the enemy line and directly ahead stood a beastman shawman who was unaware of the approaching knights. Anders and his men had broken the first line of Un-Gor, but had fallen into a trap as a larger horde of Gor led by a savage beastman lord charged into them and gained the momentum. Stephen just caught a glance of the beastman lord cutting Anders from his horse.
The errant knights had also charged into the warhounds and were just now running them down. But as the rushed forward a unit of Gor, a chaos spawn, and a chariot also trapped the inexperienced knights. Meanwhile the pilgrims had finally reached the fight and killed a unit of Gor rangers, but as they ran the rangers down they charged into a unit of Chaos Warriors. Surely they could hold long enough for Stephen and Rodruck to reach the lines and save Anders.
Stephen swung his sword at the shaman as the knights galloped ahead, cleaving him into two. The knights continued to charge into the herd of Gor that had earlier retreated from Anders' knights. They quickly crushed what remained of the Gor and galloped past the melee where Anders had fallen. They needed to save the errant knights so that they could swing back and save what remained of the questing knights.
Ahead were the errant knights, tied up in a melee with a herd of Gor, the chariot and a chaos spawn. While ineffective themselves, the young knights' armor saved them from any fatal blows. Stephen and his knights slammed into the unaware flank of the Gor and trampled them under the hooves of their warhorses. After crushing the Gor the lance of knights made a swift maneuver to turn towards the melee where Anders and the other knights had fallen. Sir Rodruck broke off of the lance to instead help the errant knights finish killing the chaos spawn.
Ahead of Stephen the melee was over. The pilgrims had shattered and left exposed the questing knights flank. They all lay broken and bloody on the ground while the beastmen reformed their line to meet the incoming bretonnian charge. Stephen and his knights galloped forward.
Stephen roared a challenged to the beastlord. He broke into a gallop to be ahead of the rest of the knights, while the beastlord charged to meet Stephen before the melee broke out. Stephen gave a mighty swing with the Questing Sword of Gilles and lopped open the guts of the beastman lord. But the savage beast returned a blow and gave Stephen a mighty gash on his shoulder. After bringing down the beastmen Stephen could see that his knights had broken the last of the Gor horde.
The remaining beastmen left the battlefield in complete chaos.
Stephen dismounted and began to search through the fallen soldiers for his cousin. He found him, still breathing, but with a broken arm and ribs. "Our knights held longer than I expected," grunted Anders through his clenched jaw.
"Do not speak," replied Stephen, "We won. They won't be taking your head today." He then lifted Anders up onto his horse and laid him across the saddle. "Lady Caitlin!" He yelled for the prophetess in the hope that she knew some healing magics.
The lady came riding over. "Oh lord, does he still live?" She asked.
"Yes, but barely. Is there anything you can do?" demanded Stephen.
"I do not know any healing spells. Let me grant him strength from his inner beast and we can rush him back to the camp. Hopefully his inner fury can keep his heart beating long enough for a Lady of the Life to heal him." She replied.
"Then let's go," Stephen said. He mounted the warhorse and the two of them rode back to the camp at a full gallop. As he rode past Sir Rodruck, he commanded, "Tend to the wounded knights that you can. We will bring back the healers."
The two rode with Anders for close to thirty minutes before the reached the camp. Peasants made way for the galloping riders as they hurried for the healers tents. When they arrived a group of orderlies helped Anders off of the horse and led him into the tent.
The healers were able to keep Anders alive. But not all the other knights were so lucky that day. Eighteen knights of the quest were wounded, but only eleven recovered from their wounds. Also five knights errant fell in battle, but luckily only one died that die. No one knew how many of the pilgrims lost their lives.
They were able to keep the beastlord that Stephen defeated in personal combat alive. He was shackled and imprisoned while the army awaits an offer of tribute before deciding his fate.
Meta Notes About the Battle
This was my first ever game against beastmen. We played at 2200 points due to some limits on what Justin could fit into his list. I took the following list:
Sir Stephan Schneider - 228 pts
Equipment: Heavy Armor, Enchanted Shield, Barded Bretonnian Warhorse, Hand Weapon, Sword of the Quest
Vow: Questing Vow
Virtue: Virtue of Audacity
Lady Caitlin: Lvl 4 Lore of Beasts, Warhorse, Earthing Rod - 265 pts
Sir Anders Leslie - 112 pts
Equipment: Heavy Armor, Barded Bretonnian Warhorse, War Banner
Vow: Questing Vow
Virtue: Virtue of Duty
Grail Paladin (Sir Rodruck): - Grail Vow, Warhorse, Sword of Striking, Shield - 147 pts
12 KOTR: Full Command - 312 pts
15 Knights Errant: Full Command - 321 pts
9 Questing Knights: Full Command - 279 pts
9 Questing Knights: Full Command - 279 pts
Grail Reliquae with 21 Battle Pilgrims - 253 pts
Total: 2,196 pts
I do not know the exact composition of Justin's Army. I know he had:
Beastlord - Magic Items and Equipment Unknown
Bray-Shawman - Magic Items and Equipment Unknown - Lvl 2 Lore of Beast
Wargor - Battle Standard Bearer, Items Unknown
Gor herd - Maybe 40 members? Full Command?
Gor herd - Maybe 25 members?
Gor herd - Maybe 25 members?
Un-gor herd - Maybe 40 members? Full Command?
Un-gor raiders - 10 Ungor
Un-gor raiders - 10 Ungor
Tuskgor Chariot
Tuskgor Chariot
Tuckgor Chariot
Chaos Warhounds - 12 Hounds maybe?
Chaos Warriors - 12 maybe?
Minotaurs - Five of them, with greatweapons
Chaos Spawn
Chaos Spawn
I had rolled as my random event this campaign turn Prepared Ambush, so I got to choose my scenario and if I wanted to set-up first or second. I choose the basic battleline and to let him start setting up first.
As we set up I was shocked at how many more models he had on the table than me. I'd say that Justin should consider increasing the sizes of his units, I think they would fair better in battle. But due to the number of units he had, he got to deploy many more units than me. This meant that I had to be a bit mysterious in how I deployed. I gave an obvious center with my questing knights and pilgrims, while my knights errant deployed to the left of the center, but with a clear intention of marching to the right, while my KOTR deployed far to the left. Anders deployed with one of the questing knights units while the rest of heroes stacked into the KOTR.
I think Justin made many mistakes during deployment by blocking his ability to later countercharge by stacking his line two units deep. He did this in the center, which allowed my questing knights to fight one herd of gor at a time. He also kept two units of Gor off the table in ambush, which didn't work out for him.
I prayed, but Justin still gave me the first turn. This was good because it gave me a chance to organize my lines. As the narrative above said, my KOTR faced a unit of un-gor raiders, a chaos spawn, two chariots and the unit of Minotaurs. I knew that with two heroes and the lore of beasts that this unit would be very devastating, so I wasn't too worried about fighting the minotaurs, assuming we didn't get tied up in a long combat. The errants would have to face just warhounds, I figured they could crush the hounds and escape any possible counter charges are the chaos spawn and chariot on that flank. I was most worried about the center, where the Chaos Warriors, an un-gor herd and the large Gor herd were. But I was anxious to see how questing knights would work as an anvil.
So I marched my knights forward to be roughly 16 inches from his front lines. I wanted to tempt him to charge while making sure I could charge next turn.
Justin didn't take the bait and attempt charges. He had some really ineffective shooting and a bad magic phase.
So in my turn the KOTR charged a chaos spawn in front of his minotaurs. I put Stephen in BtB with the spawn. I also charged all three units in the center, but only the two questing knights made the charge, which the peasants got put in an awkward position behind the line. The errants knights marched to the right. I was careful to place them so that I could charge next turn, and I hoped that his hounds would get a luck long charge.
Justin didn't use his spawn correctly here I feel. He should have redirected my charge by turning the spawn's facing so that this deathstar would hit the un-gor raiders instead of the minotaurs when they overran. That way he could have hit me in the flank with two chariots and then made mincemeat of these knights with a charge from the minotaurs. Instead the KOTR completely crushed the spawn since Caitlin had cast the boosted version Savage Beast of Horros and Wildform on the unit. Stephen was now striking with 7 attacks at I6 and S7. Also he had the questing sword meaning no armor saves. He killed the spawn by himself, allowing the knights to overrun into the minotaurs, stealing the unit's charge.
The questing knights and Anders hit the un-gor herd. Anders killed a few, but the un-gor, being the weaker beastmen, failed their primal fury, and couldn't cut through the questing knights armor. Then the knights devastated the un-gor with their strength 6 attacks. They won the combat and broke steadfast in the un-gor, but the un-gor were able to escape. Unfortunately the questing knights were unable to overrun into any additional units.
Justin's un-gor rallied. He then charged my KOTR with the un-gor raiders, and then the large Gor herd, which contained the BSB and the beastlord, charged one of the units of QK. He got unluckly with magic again, meaning I was able to take this charge fairly well.
Charging with the un-gor raiders was a mistake a think. They were ineffective against my KOTR, and were wiped to the man by the knights along that flank who were still getting their charge bonus due to the overun. Stephen got the bonus of the virtue of audacity against the minotaurs, but with savage beast of horros he was still striking with 7 attacks at strength 7. Since the minotaurs were naturally stronger than him he got to reroll hits and wounds. Thus, 3+ to hit with rerolls followed by 2+ to wound with rerolls, obviously he crushed some minotaurs into dust. The rest of the knights in the lance, and Sir Rodruck cleaned up, Maybe one or two minotaurs still had wounds, but combat resolution put them at double ones, which they obviously failed and were pursued. Thus the combat with the KOTR ended on the beastmen turn with my big bus of KOTR and heros just far enough behind the beastman lines to start making rear charges, and it was my turn.
The combat in the center went well. His beastlord challenged, so I took it with the unit champion instead of Anders. The champion was flayed before he could do anything. The unit then slayed Anders and maybe another questing knight. Luckily the unit held their ground despite losing the combat. The low armor saves of the beastman kept saving the day for me since my questing knights had no issues with hitting or wounding them. Thus this combat ended with my questing knights tieing up the big unit of Gor.
So on my turn I charge his exposed Bray-Shawman with my big bus of KOTR. My second unit of questing knights charges into the combat with the Gor to help save the other unit, and my errant knights charge the warhounds. The pilgrims also finally get into the fight by charging a unit of un-gor raiders. I feel that he should have fleed with the un-gor raiders and warhounds, but given their low leadership maybe he was afraid of them not rallying.
The shawman was slayed before he could strike back by Stephen, who had Savage Beast of Horros cast on him again. The unit overran into the unit of un-gor that had earlier retreated from Ander's units. The pilgrim won their fight against the un-gor raiders and ran them down, and then overran into a unit of chaos warriors who were set up for a charge into the flank of the questing knights next turn. I was relieved to see my stubborn pilgrims hit these chaos warriors because I thought they would save the day. The errant knights also crushed the warhounds, but had nothing to overrun into and were in a bad position, about to be counter-charged by a handful of units the next turn.
The melee in the center went terribly, with questing knights failing too many armor saves and another unit champion slayed in a challenge against the beastlord. Luckily both units continued to hold, but the combat was clearly not going my war.
On the beastman turn he charged a chariot, a unit of gor, and a chaos spawn into the errants. I held, but maybe I should have fled. Either way I was nervous that the combat wouldn't end well there.
Now that his shawman was dead and all his raiders were dead he no longer had a magic or shooting phase. Also one of his ambushing gor herds entered the table, but I got to choose, so I picked the table edge that was three turns of marching away from the melee. He got really unlucky on those ambush rolls.
During combat my KOTR crushed and pursued the un-gor herd. I decided to pursue in order to set myself up for a charge that might save the errant knights. The combat with the errant knights went my way due to unluckly dice. They actually won the combat through combat resolution alone. That saved the day I think. The pilgrims were slaughtered and failed their stubborn leadership. Of course they didn't run far enough, or short enough, both getting slaughtered and letting the Chaos Warriors hit the flank of one of the questing knight units.
So on my turn my KOTR charged his gor herd in combat with the errant knights. The combat over there went with the gor herd slaughtered to a man, but the chaos spawn remained, tying up the errant knight unit. The questing knights held one last time.
On his turn he rushed over his unengaged chariots and gor herd. The spawn and errant knights continued to fight without an outcome, but the questing knights were finally slayed to a man.
So on my turn I maneuver the knights around to face the big gor herd with his beastlord. I broke off Sir Rodruck so that he could charge next turn into the spawn and finally end that combat. I set myself up for a next turn charge with the KOTR. At this point I knew I needed to kill his beastlord to win.
So on his turn he organized his line to prepare for my charge. In retrospect he should have forced me to charge his Chaos Warriors instead of allowing me to hit the Gor. He also brought a chariot into the rear of the errant knights. In that melee the errant knights held.
Rodruck charged the chaos spawn and the KOTR charged into the gor herd. His beastlord issued a challenge and I accepted with Stephen. Stephen and the beastlord both attacked at iniative six, but I got off Savage Beast of Horros off on him again. Due to the beastlord's base strength Stephen got the reroll to both hits and wounds in the challenge. He did five wounds, and with no armor save he slayed the beastlord. Luckily Stephen only took one wound back. The KOTR crushed the gor herd in combat and we pursued them down. Also Rodruck crushed the spawn.
At this point we called the game a victory for me.
So what did I learn? First, that beastmen get to field a lot of men but due to their missing armor saves they die easily. I also was impressed by how long the questing knights held the center. I was disappointed in the performance of the pilgrims with my unluckly leadership roll, but if Anders hadn't fallen earlier they would have gotten a reroll. I was also very happy with the way the Lore of Beasts worked with my build. Stephen was a beast in combat, much better than I am used to seeing a Bretonnian Lord perform. I'm happy with this army list and would use it again, maybe with a slight tweak to increase the number of questing knights.
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