Within three days, Volker’s army encountered its foe. In the foothills, amongst the ruins of a dwarven logging camp, the scouts of each force met (meeting engagement- 1000 points, all troops must have a MV of 6 or greater, or have the ability to skirmish. Empire used a hero as a general). Soon afterward, the scouts returned to Volker.

(Empire scouts- 2 units of Pistoliers, one with a mage, one with hero as general -charmed shield [Total 10 models in each unit]. 2 units of 5 archers. Unit of 5 Horse Archers. 1 unit of Outriders [4 with champion]. 1 Hero on Peg.- AoF.
Chaos scouts- Sorcerer Champion on a disc. 6 Harpies. 6 Chaos Hounds. Some Marauder Horse. A chaos troll.

“Casualties were light sir, but definite interest was shown by the gods of Chaos (11 Chaos Gifts). Ivor (general), and those Pistoliers with him, suffered from some sort of rotting disease. The Marauders sudden sprouted tails, but also seemed to gain confidence in their fighting ability. A sudden shower of what appeared to be burning blood killed one of the horse archers. And the enemy mage exploded to reveal something resembling a insane cross between a chicken, a mushroom and a scorpion. The battle began with the archers on the flanks- the unit on our left behind a forest and hill, while on our right, they had positioned themselves on a hill.  The horse archers placed themselves beside one of the ruins, and in front of Tancred’s (wizard) pistoliers. On the other side of the same ruins were the Outriders, and behind them, Ivor’s pistoliers. I positioned myself on the far right flank behind the archers on the hill.

A group of hounds deployed across from the left most archers. Beside them were some ruins, then a chariot, the troll, and the thing that the wizard had become. The Marauders were behind the chariot and some Harpies were behind the thing.

Unfortunately, the forces of Chaos reacted before we did. The Harpies descended on the natives of the steppes. The natives had not had their fill of their firewater and their courage was not present (This may have been an error). They fled before any blows were even struck. All the other troops advanced, the Spawn moving surprisingly quickly.

There was nothing for it. Tancred’s pistoliers charged the Harpies, who having no stomach for a real fight, fled. The left most archers entered the forest and quickly scrambled up some trees to both be same from and threaten the Hounds. I took to the sky, ready to help wherever need. The Outriders leveled their weapons at the troll. By the time the smoke cleared, the metal shards from the guns had ripped enough holes in the Troll to overcome even its unnatural vitality (first time my Outriders have killed anything, short range + large target + no movement helps). Tancred attempted to Net the chariot, but the dog demon stopped his spell.

The Harpies decided that they were more hungry than scared and turned back to face the battle. The Spawn attempted to eat the Outriders, but they were unwilling to face it and ran (should have stood and shot). The chariot charged the Pistoliers and they wisely fled. The Marauders moved forward and turned toward the archers, while the hounds made their way slowly around the forest.

All was in order. The winds had been building and the power surrounding Tancred was so obvious and unstoppable that even high above the field I could see it. Yet, those cowardly Pistoliers took it as a sign of Chaos taint and fled the field (ah, Total Power, a Net spell with the chariot in range, all I have to do is rally and everything will be fine). I started to dive on the Spawn, but Ivor waved me towards the Hounds. The hounds though had just eaten and their breathe stunk so badly that Sirocco was sickened and almost crashed into the ground (great, my lance armed hero and the Peg do no wounds), before leaping again into the air to avoid the hounds. Ivor and the Pistoliers expanded into a long line and readied themselves to fire at the Spawn as it approached. The archers killed a couple of Marauders, but they were unconcerned.
 
The Spawn squiggled forward but did not reach the Pistoliers (so no stand and shoot :(
The Marauders turned to face the archers, while the chariot turned towards Ivor, but would not be in range.
 
Things had not gone as planned, but the battle was not yet lost. Ivor charged the Spawn, while the archers dropped behind the crest of the hill to hide from the Marauders. I charged the Harpies, and the other archers shot a couple of hounds, who stood and still were willing to fight. Ivor’s lance barely slowed the Spawn and the guns could not stop it. It ate 5 of the Pistoliers, and the rest fled the battle. When this occurred, we were forced to abandon the field.
 
Volker shook his head slowly. “Very well. There is nothing for it now. Fly to Maximilian and warn him of what is happening here.”

[Aftermath- Well another loss caused in large part by dice rolls and a couple of small mistakes. The mistakes are noted in the report. The dice rolls were my hero on Peg causing no wounds against the hounds, Ivor, the Pistolier champion, and one pistolier only doing two wounds to the spawn (though in retrospect, it was a mistake not stand and shoot with the Outriders as then ended up fleeing the battle anyway), my two units rolling 10 and 11 to rally (especially with the wizard and TP) and his units rolling 2 to rally (Harpies), 4 to avoid panic (hounds) and 3 to avoid panic (Marauders).]

Well, all is not lost, though the forces of Chaos will choose the site for the last battle, we have found a pass through which we can flank them (see next report for the attempt).