MoD - Battle 1, 2, 3

MERCHANTS
OF DEATH CAMPAIGN

Battle 1





Teams:


Marienburgers
(Me)


Cult of the
Possessed (Staf*)


Greenskins
(Lenny*)





Scenario 1:
Skirmish





The hunched
man were trembling before his master, waiting for him to speak. He dared not
look upon the twisted features of his patron, but could tell from the hairs
standing along his neck that he was looking at him.





“And then
what happened? After you delivered my offer to them?” said a croaking voice.





The hunched
man was stroking his hands together, his tongue as he tried to find the words.





“Well…
master, they ran into each other in the ruins and… “ he smiled to himself as he
knew the news would gladden his master “… and they begun to fight each other”





“Excellent…
“ the robed figure above the hunched man said. “They will be supplying me with
both service and material then” a sinister snicker emerging from his dry lips.


“Tell me
all about it”





“Well…” the
hunched man begun… “The foppish ones, the mercenaries were fielding some
serious firepower. Almost all of them wore rifles or pistols. Those who did not
seemed to be some kind of fencers, y’know, swords and fancy clothes. Anyway,
the humans emerged form the east, with some riflemen taking cover in a small
building.”





“What of
the cult, then?” asked the robed figure





“Yes, of
course… the cult emerged from the south. They were not numeruous, only scoring
about six individuals. Though one of them was a towering possessed freak of
somekind, with giant claws and blackened veins all over! There also two mutant
humans, guarding the black mage leading the lot, and also two crazed warriors
wearing masks and crude armour. Anyway, as the same time as they arrived, the
Greenskins entered the fray from the west. It was very fortunate they stumbled
into each other! I mean, look at the body count!” the man begun snickering,
shaking a little.





A sharp
pain etched itself inside his head





“Sorry,
master! I’ll continue shall I? Yes… anyway, as the Greenskins made their way
along the northern edge towards a giant temple, shots could be heard form the
human mercenaries as they fired at the towering possessed creature as soon as
it emerged! Form my position, I could see a bullet smash into the creature,
wounding it but not taking it down. The black blood sprayed from the wound as
it ran for cover away from the humans. The rest of the cult followed suit, as
the massed firepower of the humans were too big a threat to make a head on
charge effective.”


The robed
man nodded and said “What about the Greenskins. I have four greenskin bodies
here. What happened to them?”





The hunched
man continued:


“Well, as I
said, the cult began moving west, away from the humans and their guns. As they
did so, they stumbled upon a small group of greenskin scouts; Goblins to be
accurate. They managed to fire some half-heated arrows at the possessed beast,
but their nerves broke and they missed. Before anyone knew, the mutant beast
was upon them, flinging them around in a killing spree. There wasn’t much left
of the small greenies after that, and the orc boss, a giant brute with twin
axes, heard the ruckus and sent some of his warriors to cope with the enemy
going round behind them as they circled eastwards, towards the humans
position.”





“The
humans, having now spotted the Greenskins, made their way north to face them.
One of them hid behind a rock, armed with two pistols, ready to fire a
fusillade along with the riflemen as the orcs appeared. Though, fate would have
it otherwise. A pack of four stray dogs appeared behind the humans position
where they were making ready to face the orcs. Before anyone knew, one of the
beasts had jumped upon the pistol wielding young man. You could hear the
screams as the dog tore into the mans flesh! I went there afterwards to pick up
the body, but it was so torn apart you could not recognize the remains as human
anymore. Another dog ran at the riflemen, but before any more harm could be
made, the leader of the humans took aim with his masterly crafted pistol and
fired at one of the dogs. It went down immediately and the three remaining dogs
took flight, escaping the field. However, the plans to ambush the Greenskins
were obsolete, as the humans now had to reload their guns, and being a man
short as well.”





“And the
cult? How did they fare against the Greenskins then?”





“Very well
indeed, I would say. The giant beast pummelled another gobbo to the gorund, and
an orc as well! A fourth goblin fired an arrow but missed, only provoking the
beast further. The few other members of the cult just followed behind the giant
possessed and didn’t break a sweat as the beast seemed to take care of any
opposition.”





“So the
Greenskins was being decimated, then?”





“Well, I
wouldn’t say so. The ones left behind to face the cult was merely meant to slow
them down I think, as their best warriors were up front to face the humans. A
shaman rushed out form the temple to charge two swordsmen, but came up short,
and was counter charged instead. Despite the fins swordsmanship of the humans,
none of them managed to wound the orc mystic, who conjured up a giant club and actually
managed to clobber both a swordsman and mace-wielding warrior into the ground!
Having dealt with the loss of a total of three men, the humans morale began to
falter. The human leaders voice echoed commands, though, and they held firm.”





The robed
man nodded “well, too bad they didn’t die. I don’t see any human corpses here,
save for the remains of the young man, which I cannot use anyway…”





“Yes, too
bad. Though you got plenty of dead Greenskins! The possessed, you see, managed
to kill of another two orcs, and now came upon the temple into which the orcs
had went to attack the humans. Facing opposition form both sides, the
Greenskins leader took shelter in the ruins as he shouted something in his own
language, and suddenly two hidden orcs emerged form behind the possessed and
charged him in the back!”





“I wish
they had been able to take it down… a possessed beast would make a fins
specimen…” the robed man said in a pondering voice.





“Yes, but
at least it gave you another two dead orcs, right? Also, the rest of the cult
finally joined the fray, charging the Greenskins within the temple. And on the
other side of the temple, the orc leader decided the humans were an easier
prey, but as he emerged, the humans fled the field, despite their captain
shouting at them to stay and fight. Now, the orcs were facing only the
possessed, and what a grand battle it was!”





“But not
for the orcs, right?” the robed man said





“Oh no,
certainly not. When the orcs finally fled, their leader AND shaman was down and
out, and the cult had lost not a single one of their already few warriors!”





“I see… so,
how many bodies did we collect today?”





“All in
all” the hunched man smiled “Id say half a dozen”





“Good…” the
robed man said “Then the plans are moving along nicely. And what of the
warriors? How did they fare after the battle?”





“Well, the
rich humans quickly replaced the dead pistol wielding warrior, and was not that
affected by the loss. But the Greenskins though… having lost all of their
goblin scouts, and one of the bigger orcs of the warband, they only just
managed to resupply and get a full number of the leaders retinue again, who, by
the way, was seriously crippled by a blow to the knee. I would say, though, the
winners were clearly the cult of chaos. Having not lost a single member, and
selling a lot of bodies to us, they managed to scrape up quite a good amount of
gold, reinforcing their small numbers into a respectable band of murderers.
Also, their dark gods must have smiled upon them, as many of their warriors
semmed to have gained extra strength from facing, and vanquishing, enemies so
far above them in numbers. I would say, master, the cult will be a difficult
obstacle to overcome if they grow too strong… I suggest we make efforts to
reduce their power…”





“Yes… and I
know just how to do that…” the robed man snickered. “I will make sure some of
the individuals of the cult is persuaded to… run errands before their next
venture into the ruins. Maybe that will even the score, eh?”





“Yes, good
idea! Shall I send them gold to bribe them with? Tell them to make themselves
scarce the next time the warband goes on a scavenge hunt?”





“Yes, you
do that…” the robed man said. “I will get to work on the acquired… matierials…
yes…” he let out a sinister laugh and disappeared into the shadows of the crypt
they were standing in…





(All in
all, the Marienburgers routed first, followed by the Greenskins who got almost
all warriors OOA. The cult won an astounding victory, with no warriors taken
OOA. In the post battle sequence, the Marienburger and Greenskins players
rolled “Bribe” on the “looser” table, bribing the magister and a darksoul from
the cult warband so they wont participate in the next battle. Also, the Cult
warband got “Fame and fortune” on the “Winners” table, making all henchmen
purchased this round half price, quickly getting two beastmen, four brethren
and another darksoul. The cult player also sold four dead bodies to the
Merchants of Death, gaining 2d6 gc per body, and a total body count of four.
One more dead body, and the cult would earn their first Campaign Point.)


Second battle coming up soon...