So two armies walk into a valley; One Skaven, one Empire...

VS

Here is the battle report between Brock's Empire warband and my own personal Skaven Clan Eshin warband.
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Turn One
Night Fight at 12"















The Empire contingent advanced forward. The Skaven raids had gone on long enough, and the vile rats would be brought to justice! If only they could find them first...

The mortor team approximated the Skaven whereabouts and sent off a warning shot. Unfortunately for the Eshin Gutter Runners, the "warning shot" landed directly in front of their unit! Shards of debris were embedded into one of the Gutter Runners, but before he could scream out in pain, Queetik Eeksteen, Bane of all Man-Things and Chieftain of my Clan Eshin had drawn his blade across the dying rat's throat. The element of suprise would not be lost due to one untimely death. Queetik glared at the rest of the unit, daring any to question what had just been done. After a minute of utter silence, he continued the advance.

Moving forward with the Gutter Runners, Queetik moved further into the forest, ready to ambush anyone foolish enough to pass by. Crouching in the dense trees, he listened for the sound of battle. And as he had suspected, he heard shouts of surprise as his Night Runners undoubtedly caught the mortor crew unsuspecting. The sound of fighting was short lived, as the Night Runners made short work of the crew.

Elsewhere on the battlefield, the sharp-shooting Jezzail teams moved onto the near-by hill in search of a perfect sniping perch. From their position, they could see no movement, no signs of life. Little did they know that not far away marched a unit of Empire Swordsmen, escorting Captain Sigmar Spikes the Rat Slayer. If only the night had not been so dark!

Turn Two
Night Fight at 12"















No mortor shot echoed through the valley. Captain Spikes had given his men explicit instructions to harass the enemy with volley after volley of mortor rounds. He was suspect to the silent war machine, so much that he changed the direction his units were heading, instead moving to investigate the flank where his mighty machine had been stationed. He motioned for the Knights to continue their advance down the center of the valley.

Greybeard the Fire Mage detached from the marching line of the Empire, acting on a hunch that there were foul Skaven waiting on the right flank. Using the night as cover, he moved away toward the hill, intent on gaining high ground, and hopefully a better vantage point. As he crept toward the rocky outcropping, he spotted three Skaven armed with long-rifles taking up position on the top of the hill. He let loose a great fire that shot from his outstretched hand toward the Skaven. For a moment the entire sky was lighted with the image of a burning head before it once again went black as the fire smashed into the protective pivase of the jezzails. The jezzail teams fired back at the Wizard, who had exposed himself with his flaming magic. One of the warpstone fueled blasts hit the mage in his shoulder, but did not take his life. Greybeard moved off toward the cover of the rocks.

The Empire units on the right flank spotted the Night Runners that had slaughtered the mortor crew, and the crossbowmen released a volley of bolts into the midst of the Skaven. Two rat-men fell to the volley, as the others deftly avoided the hail of missle fire. The Swordsmen charged the Skaven, intent on avenging the fallen war machine crew. The Skaven meet the charge, only to be hacked down by the heavy blades of the Empire unit. The rats must have lost their stomach for battle, because they fled from the field, and Captain Spikes issued pursuit as he plunged his sword through the back of a Night Runner.

Queetik had watched as his Night Runner unit was butchered and chased off. He cared not for the lives of the rats, and did not flinch at the screams of agony as they were carried through the cool night air. No, Queetik had expected such. That is why he had positioned his unit at this specific location. After he saw the Empire force begin chasing after the fleeing Night Runners, Queetik led the charge of Gutter Runners. The swordsmen were taken completely by surprise as the ninjas of the night crashed into their flank, blades dripping with both blood and poison. Queetik lived up to his title of "Man-Bane" by thrusting his claw and dagger into the back of one swordsman, using his momentum to vault himself over the head of the dying man, and crashing into two other shocked swordsmen. His flashing blades quickly cut down two on the ground, and as he looked up from the carnage caused by his own hands, he saw the Empire unit turning their backs to the fight and fleeing away from the battle. Queetik ordered the Gutter Runners to give chase to the feerful Man-Things. He wanted their blood to soak deep into the ground.

Turn 3
Night Fight at 6"















The center of the battle, which had remained free of fighting, found the Empire Knights stumbling upon the rat swarms of the Skaven. The rats swarmed the horses, but the Knights expertly guided their mounts about the rodents as they smashed, bashed, and otherwise crushed the petty fuzzballs.

Near the mountain, Greybeard let fly with another flaming head, this time setting one of the jezzail teams ablaze. The smell of burning flesh and fur caused the two remaining teams to flee from the battle field. The mage chuckled to himself as he saudered the bullet wound in his shoulder by touching it with his smoldering fingers. Content that the right flank had been adequately dealt with, he then turned to rejoin the battle on the other side of the valley.

After chasing away the Empire's commander, Queetik returned to the woods to survey the battlefield. His scouts reported that the Jezzail teams had abandoned the fight, and that the rat swarms had been stomped to mush by the might of the Empire Knights. He looked at his unit, their red eyes gleaming with hatred and contempt for the Man-Things. He could attempt to lead an assault against the crossbowmen of the Empire, but feared being attacked from behind by the Knights. He knew his unit's light armorment was no match for the Knights' heavy armor and powerful lances. He had achieved his position as Eshin Chieftan by his cunning, and he did not plan to let it all be for naught. He ordered his unit to creep away from the enemy, and retreat to the depths of the Underhive. "Run away and live to fight another day."
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Ended quite suddenly, didn't it? That's because I had NOTHING that could even come close to touching the Empire Knights. Sure, I could have attempted an assault with the Gutter Runners and Queetik, but that just wouldn't have been Skaven-like. Attack when the odds aren't in your favor... are you kidding me? I did what any true Skaven general would do: for turns 4-6, I hid from the Empire and made my way to safety. I only lost one more rat, and that was to the blasted fire mage and his Burning Head spell.

Player of the Game: Greybeard!















One glaring weakness of my warband was my utter reliance on the Jezzail teams to crack armor. Hoping that three teams of gunners can take out all enemy troops with heavy armor was just asking too much. I look to incorporate Poison Globadiers to assist in that regard. I also might field a mage, as well. Brock's little wizard really caused some problems for me, and so maybe if I had one of my own, I could return the favor next time.

It was a fun battle, even if it was short. I liked the oportunity to create a little story, and look forward to more battles between my Skaven and Brock's Empire. Hopefully next time we will have some actual scenery. Look at that mess! Also, notice that I didn't bring my Jezzail teams with me, so I had to use proxies. Nothing like using a Unicorn, Green Knight Horse, and Eshin Mage as proxies! How cohesive!