This is a part two of a two part story, I'm afraid the writing wont be as engaging as the first post as i am only talking about the battle itself and its outcome. However, it is a good lesson in how overconfidence can damn you, how fickle fate is and how perseverance and a willingness to continue to fight even when all hope seems lost can make glorious victory from bitter defeat.
First of all, our armies.
My leader, the chaos lord Galthar wore powerful terminator armor that let him shrug off even the most powerful of blows, he also bore a powerfist in one hand, a dangerous weapon that magnified his strength to the point that only vehicles could survive his onslaught. Assuming i rolled well which... did not happen.
I had a bare bones squad of tactical marines riding in a rhino, which is a glorified bus.
I also had a full squad clad in terminator armor, despite their menacing appearance you will soon see how they failed to do anything meaningful.
Across the table Bonnie's army was lead by a skorhpek lord, a powerful commander wielding a voidscythe, a dangerous weapon that could rip my soldiers apart with ease.
She also had a squad of five immortals, true to their name they refused to die even with a hail of withering gunfire flying their way.
She also had a squad of flayed ones, Necrons that had gone mad and clad themselves in the flesh of dead enemies, they proved to be a ferocious foe in close combat especially with the ghost ark bonnie brought ferrying them across the battlefield. on a side note, unlike my rhino the ghost ark was much more than a glorified bus, it was more akin to a crop duster with guns, very scary.
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| side note, plastic bags make good markers for smokescreens |
The battle started with a roll-off to see who would go first, the dice gods smiled on me and blessed me with a six to Bonnie's four. Taking the opportunity the dice had given me i pushed forwards with my rhino turning it sideways and releasing the soldiers hidden inside, letting them use the large vehicle as cover to shield them from any gunfire. Seeing as my rhino had very little firepower i elected to activate smoke bombs instead of shooting, making a smokescreen that guarded my vehicle.
Seeing my formation Bonnie realized shooting would just be a waste of bullets so she elected to advance her forces, sacrificing firepower for speed. Wisely she kept her ghost ark in the back, a strategy i hadn't thought she would use but i shrugged it off, thinking it wouldn't interfere with my plans, oh how wrong i was.
In the second turn I activated what i thought would be the trick that would win me the game. My terminators, who who had started the game hiding in wait, sprung from the shadows behind Bonnie. I also used the special ability of my warlord to bring him over to my terminators. I let lose a volley of gunfire to weaken the Necron forces and charged with my terminators.
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| Pictured: five terminators moments before disaster |
There was nine inches between me and Bonnie's leader, in one turn i could decapitate the enemy leader and claim victory before the battle truly began, rolling a 9 on two dice is difficult but certainly possible, the dice gods had favored me once and i was sure they would favor me again. As the two dice flew from my hand my confidence turned to horror as their faces showed, 1 and 3, four inches nowhere near what I needed. seeing my plan had failed i dreaded Bonnie's next turn, but it was too late and the full might of the flayed ones was about to show me the error of my ways.
After weakening my terminators with a volley of fire from the ghost ark, Bonnie charged her flayed ones and immortals straight into my terminators and after twelve of the most horrifically unlucky dice rolls of my life, my squad was slaughtered to a man, and Galthar was left stranded in a sea of Necrons that refused to die thanks to some incredible rolling on Bonnie part.
I just realised this post is very long so i am going to make a third one to wrap this up, apologies in advance for clogging up the post.
P.S. on a side note, seeing as Warhammer 40k models cost money and that is a thing i do not have we were using proxies to represent everything, rhino's are not tea boxes and flayed ones aren't harry potter chess bishops but we had to work with what was available.
David, I am just loving your writing style so much. You have a gift. Please keep writing. Your narrator's voice is both dramatic and hilarious. You build tension and revel in either the glory or defeat of the outcome. I can't wait to read part III. And I hope you will start a new story soon.
ReplyDeleteI agree on the drama in your account. Duncan is going to love this!
ReplyDeleteYour introductory paragraph was great, giving a clear idea of the moral of the story with epic terms. The references to the dice gods made me think of the great classical Greek epics, with the breath of the gods filing the sails of the heroes’ vessels.
ReplyDeleteI loved your use of foreshadowing in your narration of the various stages in the battle, as in “a strategy i hadn't thought she would use but i shrugged it off, thinking it wouldn't interfere with my plans, oh how wrong i was,” and “it was too late and the full might of the flayed ones was about to show me the error of my ways.”
I am glad you were able to recruit mercenaries in the shape of Harry Potter chess bishops and others. I knew they would grow up to make something of themselves some day.