His cloak wrapped around his face to keep out the unhealthy vapors of the nearby swamp, Volker sat in a creaky chair within the dining hall of his new moldy keep. The wind, which wandered freely through the keep, carried with it the sounds of soldiers drunken revelry. Glumly Volker thought to himself that they were not truly celebrating their victory, though his army had won (finally) and by doing so exiled itself to this tiny hold on the very edges of civilization, but instead they reveled in simple survival. During the decable in the sands, Volker had gained new insights in the hearts of his men and following the now irate Emperor's orders had lead his men here to River Bottem (an actual town name by the way) and Lord Krieghelm's keep.

  Volker's departure from the hall of Karl Franz had hardly been a joyous occasion, but at least now, the Emperor would let him live. Despite fierce fighting, the siege had been successful and the rebellious Lord Krieghelm had been defeated. [What follows is the report of that siege].

Attackers

2 Great Cannons

General- Halberd; shield; Armor of Fortune; Blade of Ensorcelled Iron

10 Reiksguard plus champ            

Hero- Second Weapon; Heavy Armor; Potion of Strength

23 Halberdiers plus champ with siege tower

Hero- Second Weapon; Heavy Armor; Jade Amulet

18 Swordsmen with 5 ladders

Hero- Halberd; Heavy Armor

23 Halberdiers plus champ with Batter Ram

9 Archers Detach.

8 Crossbowmen with Mantlets;

8 Crossbowmen with Mantlets;

Wizard Champion, bow, Rod of Power, Skull Staff            

16 Swordsmen with 4 Ladder(s)           

Total- 2000 points

Defenders

General, Hero, Wizard champion,

16 Handgunners, 16 archers, 16 crossbows (maybe working from memory), each with boiling oil

unit of Halberds in courtyard.

Great cannon

Total 1000 points

Deployment

on the castle wall          (above gate)

archers, general,          handgunners,  hero,       great cannon,   crossbows

Great, swordsmen, (halberds), x-bows, Reiksguard, (halberds), x-bows, swordsmen(16)

cannons, with hero, (with siege tower)     (with batter ram across from gate)

The siege tower and left x-bows rolled forward about the same distance (7 inches), the right x-bows move much more quickly, stopping just short of short range for the handgunners.

With a cry, the defenders rushed to the walls and knowing that the instruments of the Emperor's justice had finally arrived, they darkened the sky with projectiles. The Great cannon took aim and destroyed the siege tower with its first shot. Fortunately, only one soldier was crushed as the contraption collapsed. The archers and crossbows fired to little effect (3 crossbowmen and some swordsmen fell) due to range and the protection of the mantlets. Magic too was a non-factor. My men, save the two units of crossbows, surged forward with little urging, knowing that they sooner they came to grips with the enemies, the sooner they would stop the rain of death falling from the castle. The crossbows combine to kill 2 Handgunners while one cannon shook the castle wall under the archers. Water had found its way into the powder of the second cannon preventing it from firing. Our wizard's attempt to shield the Halbrediers was foiled, but his opponent was not able to destroy the spell.

With the range reduced, the hail of projectiles from the castle was much more accurate and all the archers plus 7 of the 8 crossbowmen on the left side were dragged down beneath it. The last crossbowman stood his ground however. The cannon on the walls spoke again and a halbredier simply vanished as the ball drove him and itself deep into one of the bogs. [misfire on the bounce, Howdy Hoo!]. Magic again proved unexciting.

There was little to do but continue the advance. Casualties had already been bad, and would be worse, but once the siege tower was gone, this was to be expected. The lone crossbowman managed to kill another handgunner, while his mates killed one crossbowman in the castle. The cannons continued to pound the wall beneath the archers and managed to shake the construction enough that the archers would be unable to fire in their next turn. Our wizard first managed to Bless the Swordsmen who were almost to the archers?f wall, then when he again attempted to raise a shield about the Halbrediers his power was total and unstoppable.

The defenders saw that they had little time left and began to panic. The general killed the last crossbowman even as he sheltered behind the mantlet reloading his weapon. Crossbows dropped two of the Reiksguard, but the cannon crew stuffed too much powder into their machine and it overshot our cannons by a large margin. Using a power, which our wizard could not match, the enemy destroyed part of the Halbredier unit near his gate, leaving eight men as nothing but charred corpses. However, he lacked the power to dispel either the Blessing or the Shield.

Charge! The time had finally come. On the left the swordsmen survived, a pot of boiling oil with few deaths (4) and incoming friendly fire which destroyed the ramparts, killing 3 swordsmen and 3 archers and wounding the enemy general in the process, as they swarmed up their ladders. Though a few fell, the rest were glad for the cannon barrage as the loss of the ramparts denied the enemy one of their biggest advantages (we played that the chargers still struck last [had to climb the ladder], but no longer required 6s to hit- was that right?). Despite the lack of ramparts, the archers fought as trapped lions and managed to draw the combat (despite my needing 2?fs to hit and having a hero present). The Halbrediers moved in to climb the ladders behind the swordsmen while the other halbrediers slammed into the gate with their battering ram, splitting the woodwork. The covering of the ram proved well made, as only 2 of the men were burned by the oil dropped on them by the Handgunners. The Reiksguard followed behind the Halbrediers ready to exploit any breach. Meanwhile the other swordsmen advanced towards the walls.

For the defenders the time of reckoning had come. The Handgunners opened fire on the Reiksguard and killed 4, but they finally listened to my shouted commands and stood their ground. The crossbows killed some swordsmen, but they too stood their ground. In HtH the enemy general moved in to engage the swordsmen and killed three, but the remainder managed to kill 3 archers and combat was again drawn. The halbrediers meanwhile continued to pound on the gate and large cracks began to appear in the structure. Destruction was averted by a large expenditure of power, while again neither bless nor shield could be dispelled.

I left the Reiksguard to join the Halberdiers as it was obvious they would soon be through the gate. The last of the swordsmen fell before the general, but he in turn was pushed down the stairs to the courtyard as Halberdiers rushed up the ladders to assault the wall, and the last of the archers fell before them. (He actually made his panic test, but fell back voluntarily so he would not be killed. Actually, if there are challenges on the walls, this was a mistake, but a logical result. With the Flail of Skulls, his general would easily kill anyone in a challenge and therefore would be able to hold the entire wall himself. Seems pretty silly to me. He thought the same thing and fell back.

The other swordsmen charged the wall, but some fell to the last shots of the defenders, then without the benefits of covering fire or magic, they were beaten back by the crossbowmen.

In what would become the last chance for the defenders, Lord Kreighelm gathered his halberdiers and turned towards the unit that was swarming over his damaged wall. The crossbows started to move down into the courtyard, but they would be too late as the gate collapsed beneath the pounding of the ram. With two avenues to the castle now open, and only one unit in position to block them. Lord Kreighelm threw himself on the Emperor?fs mercy and exchanged his surrender for the lives of his men.

Thus the battle ended and Volker sits alone in his new keep brooding. The ill-luck which had seemed to follow him since the battle of Cunrig?fs Pass had not occurred in this battle. However, this was also the first battle he had fought since then in which his foes had not been thoroughly given to evil. He regretted having to fight the battle at all, but could not deny the thrill the victory had given. Still, he sensed something unsettling and foreboding in both his feelings and his environment. Slowly he shook his head and wondered, while high above the keep, an eagle circled and laughed.