Skyraid on Mattock Mines

Greetings!

Once again the time has come for another Narrative Battle Report. Ever since I started keeping book of my matches in my hold's Book of Grudges, I've received quite a few challenges from the local club. It seems like there are many factions and heroes that want to have their own entries in this tome, depicting all the gruesome ways they have wronged the duardin of Kazad-Zul by.

Well, this battle is the first of those challenges. Some Kharadron Overlords have decided that one of the mines under my clans' control would be better off under their's. We shall see about that.

The Battleplan was Staking a Claim from the Kharadron Overlords Battletome. My duardin expedition is garrisoning a mine that the Overlords want to acquire for themselves by having more models (and no enemy models) within the walled area around the mine at the end of the game. Both sides were also allowed to re-roll any Run rolls in their haste to get to the mines, and any unit standing wholly within the walls becomes immune to Battleshock. We played at 1000 points, still using the older points at the time (not the GHB 2017 ones yet).

Note: My opponent's army was indeed the Kharadron Overlords, but due to the state of his army project and the speed at which this game was agreed upon and set up, his forces will contain a lot of proxies. He has two genuine skyvessels on the board, but his heroes and infantry will be represented by various Dispossessed models. I'll do my best to use the correct unit names during this report in order to make the flow of battle easier to follow.

On with the story!

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Thane Karzug Goldfinder emerged from a sparse treeline with cohorts of warriors marching at his side in no particular rhythm. They had been patrolling the surrounding wilderness for the better part of the morning, searching for any signs of greenskin or brayherd tribes trying to establish hideouts nearby. Karzug did not fancy the task he had been given. He was an impetuous and relatively young lord, and although he knew this duty was every bit as important as the rest it still bugged him that he had not been able to join the great campaign against Waaagh! Urgokh. He had watched the legions march gloriously into the Grudgeforge Realmgate under the direct command of  Commander Ungrim Ironhelm himself, only to return to his outpost the next day.

Each mine, outpost and holdfast of the clans of Kazad-Zul retained a minimal garrison now, the majority of their able-bodied warriors chasing greenskins on the grand campaign. In addition to keeping the mines themselves running, each garrison had been tasked with guarding the lands against any rampaging warbands that might disrupt trade or supply routes. Even at more peaceful times it was difficult to cover leagues over leagues of forests and mountains with limited manpower, let alone now.

Karzug waved to the cannon crew curiously peering down over the edge of the rock they had entrenched their warmachine on. They waved back casually, everything was fine.

Admiral Rangil Isakson stood on the deck of his Frigate as it ploughed through the grey mass of clouds. This raid was not the easiest one to pull through. It made Rangil somewhat uneasy to know that he would be striking against members of his own race, albeit these distant cousins preferred to live under the mountains rather than skyports. A floor hatch opened before him and one of his Arkanauts poked up a goggled head from the heat of the ship's interior.
"We're gettin' close, m'lord. Requestin' a permission to drop altitude an' engage."
"Granted," the Admiral replied before turning to nod to the Skywardens hanging from the railings of the Frigate. The airborne warriors forwarded a series of sharp hand gestures to the Gunhauler vessel flying nearby, and the crew gestured back. The raid was ready to commence.

As one, the skyvessels of the Drakebeards clan dived into the belly of the clouds to re-emerge below them.

"Oh by Grungni's hairy arse, not these wazzocks..." Karzug cursed as two heavily armed and armoured skyships dropped down from the grey skies.
"Alright lads, let's show 'em who owns this mine!"
He drew his hammer and started forward, followed closely by his Thunderers, Longbeards and Warriors while the cannon prepared to fire its first shot.

The skyvessels swooped down onto a rocky hill just across the plain, ropes falling from the sides of the Frigate to land a company of Arkanauts on high ground. Soon after the landing there was a loud boom that echoed across the landscape as the mine's cannon hurtled a shell across the field, scoring a glancing hit on the side of the smaller Gunhauler. The impact and the resulting explosion tore a hole into the ship's hull while the crew hung onto the railings for their lives.

The battle for Mattock Mines had begun.

The Gunhauler fired its own skycannon in return but the shot went wide as the ship slowly began to tip to one side. The hit it had taken had seriously damaged its aiming optics and stabilizers. The larger Frigate was yet unharmed as it floated ominously towards the mines, its heavy gun spitting out a shot that struck the edge of the rock upon which the cannon stood, the shrapnel tearing apart one of the crew members and sending another running for his life.

Almost as an afterthought the Arkanauts still aboard the Frigate opened fire with their carbines, the powerful aethershots tearing into the ranks of the Thunderers to punch straight through mail and flesh.

Yet more ropes fell from the Frigate, landing another company of Arkanauts to assault the Mattock Mines. Under the covering fire of the two skyvessels, both companies ran forward as shells and shots whistled above their heads to strike even more Thunderers from their stunted feet. One aethershot found its mark on Karzug's shoulder, blasting apart his runic pauldron and drawing blood.
"You're lucky I'm not wearin' me favourite suit of armour t'day!" he bellowed amidst the downpour of bullets, cinder and shrapnel.

Every single duardin in Goldfinder's garrison knew the importance of this mine, the wealth it produced and the help it lent to the war effort against the hated greenskins. None would turn their backs and run, the mine had to be held at all costs!

Thane Karzug Goldfinder charged in towards the approaching Frigate, followed by his Longbeards. The Thunderers found cover behind the walls and popped a few shots at the enemy infantry to keep them at bay, causing two Arkanauts to stop dead in their tracks with smoking holes in their skysuits.

The Warriors saw the Gunhauler was in trouble, losing altitude and tipping to one side more and more. They let out a resounding warcry and charged, surrounding the low-hanging skyvessel from all sides. Grabbing the railings, pipes and gun barrels, some of the Warriors hauled themselves up onto the ship's deck and started laying about them with their axes, cutting down the Arkanaut crew and hacking viciously at any important-looking valves and  engines until the whole thing belched out a cloud of black smoke and dived prow-first into the ground.

The Warriors picked themselves up from the ground, dusted off their gear and turned around to lend a hand elsewhere on the field.

Karzug and the Longbeards ran under the Frigate, seeking to stay out of its cannon's sights. They grabbed the landing ropes that still hung from the vessel's railings and dug their heels into the ground. With all their strength and the weight of their armoured bodies they tried to drag the ship down, or at least hold it in place. The Frigate's engines roared as the crew tried to steer it away, the entire form of the ship groaning under the strain.

Having dealt with the Gunhauler in such a short order the Warriors now charged into the Arkanaut infantry, engaging in a bloody duardin-on-duardin melee where axes, gun butts and cutlasses traded blows.

With the Longbeards holding the Frigate in place, Karzug climbed up the ropes to emerge on the deck of the ship. His eyes locked with those of Admiral Rangil Isakson and he began to make his way to the stern, swatting aside resisting Arkanaut crew members and smashing his runic hammer into the ship's structure every now and then. Each blow from his heirloom weapon struck with the might of a lightning storm, sending cracks spiderwebbing across the surface of the hull from each point of impact.

Just like its smaller counterpart, the Frigate groaned, let out a gout of flame and smoke from its engines and collapsed straight down onto the ground. As Karzug and Rangil both struggled to pull themselves out of the smoking wreckage, the Skywardens who had been floating around the vessel up until now surged down into the Longbeards. They ran their cousins through with long skypikes on the descend, driving their polearms through plate and mail with sheer momentum. WIthout even bothering to recover their pikes from the fresh corpses, the Skywardens drew their vulcaniser pistols and began firing summarily into the mass of steel and duardin.

The Warriors wasted no time in disposing of their opposition. Despite a couple of clansmen falling to cutlasses and pistols, the wall of shields tightened around the Arkanauts and axes swung out in gleaming arcs, wetting the ground with thick duardin blood as the invaders were driven down.

The remaining Arkanaut company saw their Admiral's peril, and as soon as Rangil managed to pull himself out of the Frigate's carcass his subordinates charged into the fray, pistols blazing. The sudden assault of the Arkanauts caught the Longbeards off-guard, their exposed backs getting riddled with holes and vicious cuts.

With a final push the Warriors lobbed off the heads of their last opposition, finding themselves standing upon a mound of bleeding duardin corpses. They had triumphed, yet no victory, big or small, could be celebrated when fought against one's own kind.

Thane Karzug flew into rage at the death of his Longbeards. He shouldered into the enemy formation, swinging his hammer to shatter skulls and cave in armoured chests. A shield to the face, a hammerblow to the head. A knee to the belly, followed by a headbutt. A sideways strike to the neck with the hammer, a shieldbash to push the blood-gurgling foe away.

There was a terrible mechanical efficiency to the way Goldfinder moved as he left a long gory trail behind him.

Karzug stood atop the prone form of an Arkanaut he had just slain, his runic hammer slowly dripping blood onto the ground. The remaining Arkanauts turned and ran in terror, leaving Admiral Rangil and two Skywardens alone onto the corpse-strewn battlefield still bristling with angry warriors from the garrison.

"T'was a grave mistake comin' here to steal our mine. A mistake ye won't be makin' again," Karzug panted from beneath his horned helmet.
"The only mistake I made was not bombin' this place to the ground before launchin' the assault. A mistake I won't be makin' again," Rangil replied. With that, the Admiral took a few backward steps and turned away, his Skywardens jogging away after their lord.

The Skywardens grabbed the Admiral's arms and lifted him off  the ground, flying away and leaving the garrison gazing after them. There was no sense in giving chase, the day was already won.

A group of miners emerged from the mine entrance, the expression on their faces astounded as they beheld the scene before them. Two smoking skyvessel wreckages dotted the landscape, the ground between them littered with slain. One of the miners whistled in awe.
"What is this, Goldfinder, unwanted visitors?"
"Merely a delivery of  metal and weapons, albeit in a less-than-optimal condition," the Thane replied, turning to grin at the miners.
"What are ye waitin' for? Get yer arses over here and start pullin' these things apart. The Ironhold will drink a toast in our name when we send all this in the next supply caravan!"

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A victory to the Dispossessed!

Interestingly enough, I had a unit of 20 Miners in reserve for the duration of the entire game, ready to pop up when needed. Well, as it turned out they weren't needed at all! My army pulled the whole thing off with around twenty or so casualties, as opposed to the opposing army that had nothing but their general and a single depleted unit left at the end of the game. This was the first time I was playing against Kharadron Overlords, so I cannot say what could've been done differently as I am not familiar with the faction's playstyle. More hanging back and just shooting, I guess? It really is hard to say, the scenario required both armies to rush to the target area in order not to lose instantly so perhaps that kind of negated the strongest attribute of the Overlords.

What I did find out was that the Kharadron Overlords are an extremely difficult faction to write a narrative battle report about. Flying skyvessels and floating infantry, how is one supposed to just mow them down with axes in close combat? It took me a good moment of silent thinking but I can say it was pretty entertaining to try and find a way of describing the melees against flying gunships. Not the most flexible subject of action-packed storytelling but what can one expect from a universe of high fantasy!

Next up? The (so far) final part of the Beardling Tutorials, followed by a Path to Glory campaign. Yup, I'm dusting off my Aelves once more, the same army that did relatively well in the local league several months ago. They have been reinforced with some new units and are soon ready to go to the club for some good-natured competition!