“The fact that the Undead were again active in the area was a well-known fact. My cohort, sent by Ser Brennan, included a good amount of artillery and arrived under the command of Father Tylo. We were stationed at a small fort and had for a week or so been sending out patrols to find and destroy small groups of Undead. We were aided in the task by a group calling themselves the Cleansing Flame. Everything seemed to be going well until the hunters of the Cleansing Flame streamed out of the woods with word that the Undead were marching towards us. The true scale of threat did not become apparent until a group of Elves from the Woods approached to offer their help and, the leader of the zealots, a man truly deserving of his moniker of the fiery-tempered, didn’t scorn their offer. Even Darius Starchaser openly showed himself, and the Witch Hunters didn’t even acknowledge his presence.”

Empire + Wood Elves
Ser Brennan’s Forces
16 Spearmen (plus command)
15 Halberds (including command)
16 Handgunners (plus a Marksmen with a repeating Handgun)
10 Greatswords (including command)
1 Mortar
1 Great Cannon
1 Helblaster
Brother Tylo (Warrior Priest)
Darius Starchaser (Lvl 2 Heavens Mage)
[1000 points]

Cleansing Flame
Brother Piotr the Unyielding (Battle Priest, Great Weapon, AoMI, Sigil of Sigmar)
24 Halberdiers (including command) with detachments of 10 Free Company, and 5 Archers
Brother Boleslav the Fierce (He of the Fiery Temper)- Battle Priest, Doomfire Ring, Hammer of Battle, Heavy Armour, Shield
24 Free Company (including command)
10 Crossbows
5 Huntsmen
8 Witch Hunters (DoW Duellists-, Pistols) including an Inquisitor (Blademaster)
[916 points- I forgot a unit of archers at home]

Wood Elves
6 Wardancers
2X10 Archers
8 Scouts
Telyvas Windsong- WE Hero (HoDA)
[584 points- to make up for the archers I forgot]

Total- 4 Power Dice, 6 Dispel Dice

VAMPIRE COUNTS [Blood Dragons]
2X6 Dire Wolves
2X6 Black Knights (with command) (one with Barrows Banner, one with Screaming Banner)
13 Ghouls (with ghast)
18 Ghouls
15 Grave Guard
3 Bases of Bat Swarms
20 (approx.) skellies (command and Vampire on foot)
2 Mounted Vampires
20 (approx.) zombies
3 Necros [all lvl2, one with power familiar, one with RoFD]

Total- 9 Power dice, 6 dispel dice

     “Our artillery was deployed along the walls of the fort [Dwarven fort terrain piece, in the centre of the empire deployment zone]. On the north side of the fort rose a hill, crowned with a small copse of trees. This hill stretched away to the east, cleared of forest for a full bowshot. On the hill deployed the crossbows and Free Company, along with brother Boleslav, the war dancers, some wood elf archers, and the spearmen and Halberds. The south was flat and open and was occupied, by the halberds of the Witch Hunters and their detachments, more wood elf archers, with their hero, the greatswords and Father Tylo [bad mistake as Tylo as acting as the general for his forces, but was quite a distance from them]. Just in front of the fort our handgunners and the small group of Witch Hunters stood ready. The Undead came from the forests in the east. On hill in the north were two groups of heavy horse, and 2 packs of wolves. The zombies and bigger gaggle of ghouls were in the centre of the battlefield, while on the south were the bat swarms, a smaller gaggle of ghouls, the skeletons and the wights. A small stream blocked most of southern approach, but though shallow it did have a bridge and so wouldn’t completely stall the advance.
     The Witch Hunters scouts worked their up to a copse of trees on the southern side about midway between the forces, while the Wood Elves scouts concealed themselves behind a hedge on the northern side.
     To my horror, the Undead were moving before our preparations were complete. Everything advanced, though, thank Sigmar, most were slowed by the trees and underbrush. The Wights headed towards the bridge, while the skeletons and zombies angled themselves to meet and advance together in the corridor bordered by the stream and the hill. The smaller group of ghouls stayed on the extreme south of the battlefield, while the other stayed on the zombies north flank (on the slope of the hill). The Wolves and knights were a bit boxed in by the terrain, and the wolves advance was disrupted to allow the heavy horse room. The wizards shouted obscene curses and nonsense. In answer to their calls, the ground split open and 10 zombies rose just to the north of the stream. -- Our lines showed little movement. The War Dancers and duelists both advanced, while the Huntsmen moved around the edge of the forest. Each of the priest’s in turn shouted “May Sigmar the Protector shield the pure” and in response each was encased in a nimbus of holy light which resembled armour. Darius was not so successful. (2nd sign cast, 2 re-rolls, Thunderbolt was a 6 and 2, re-roll yields another 2- an omen of things to come). We shot at the foes, but the night and swampy ground did much to hinder our efforts. The mortar killed only a single wight. The cannon was accurately aimed, but the ball plowed deep into the boggy ground and killed only a single ghoul. The crossbows managed to shot down a black knight. The Wood Elves killed a single zombie and a ghoul. The handgunners killed 3 zombies, and the detachment of archers killed 2. Somehow the unit that had just appeared was not returned to their rest.
     The Undead advance continued with one group of knights and a pack of wolves charging the Wood Elf scouts. One handgunner was consumed in a gout of flame, but the rest held their ground. The zombies which had just been shot down, rose and re-joined their unit. Despite the protection of the hedge, the scouts broke from combat and were run down by the wolves.-- Using the results of our first shots, we were better able to aim the second ones. The cannon blew apart 4 zombies, while the mortar killed a like number and a ghoul. I was just complimenting our gunnery master when disaster struck. The Helblaster next to us was not sealed properly, and a spark hit their ammunition. One of the crewmen managed to jump free, but the machine and both of the other brave men manning the machine were consumed in the explosion. Elsewhere, the handguns dropped another ghoul, while the x-bows killed another knight and the wood elves killed two of the wolves.
     The Wolves howled and charged the crossbows. One was felled by a bolt but the rest reached the unit and tore apart one of the crossbowmen. One more Handgunner is consumed by fire and after seeing the Helblaster destroyed, the rest flee. The wizard’s chant more strangeness and Darius reads from a scroll to block their power. Under his breathe I heard him muttered something about a curse and old age.  More zombies rise to join the unit closest to out lines (6).-- Seeing the handgunners run, I though the battle was lost. Nothing stood between our gun and the zombies and ghouls in the middle of field. I hid while Josef and Master Penrod fled. The Handgunners though managed to control their fear and rallied. Brother Boleslav led a charge against the wolves’ flank to save the crossbows, and though he bellowed at his Witch Hunters to charge the ghouls, they stayed rooted to the stop (failed fear test). The Huntsmen moved far enough to threaten the wights, but stayed out of sight of the ghouls, while the archers made way for the halberds to advance and prepare to meet the first wave of zombies. Though Boleslav’s prayer sounded loud over the field, the dark power of the wizards stopped it from reaching Sigmar’s ear. Our men must have been demoralized by that as despite all the arrows and mortar shots, only a single ghoul and number of bats fell (4 wounds). With the failure of his prayer, Boleslav became enraged and none of the wolves survived.
     The Witch Hunters showed a distinct lack of courage and fled from the ghouls (2nd failed fear test) while the detachment of archers fled from the swarm of bats. The dark knights spurred their horses towards Brother Boleslav’s company but fell well short. The wolves charged into the War Dancers. The flames which had before been directed at the Handgunners now consumed two elves, but they proved braver than the Handgunners and held their ground. No spells strike our lines, though Darius was again forced to use a scroll. One War Dancer was killed by a wolf, but the others hack the unholy beasts apart and in their enthusiasm run into the black knights flank.--The Witch Hunters manage to rally (thankfully), but the archers do not. The Huntsmen moved out to stand before the wights. Brother Piotr followed his commander’s lead and the halberds charge the zombies. As they reached the abominations, he shouted out “Let me be the hammer of Sigmar the Avenger!” and a storm of holy fire engulfed him. When it cleared, half (7) of the zombies had been reduced to ashes. Darius too called on Sigmar and bolt of lightning flashed from the heavens (IF), but it failed to hurt and of the walking dead (1 hit, and a 1 to wound). The mortar killed 5 zombies, while the Handgunners and archers combined to kill 5 ghouls but the normally cowardly creatures were unwilling to flee (2 on the panic test). The Halberds managed to down all of the zombies and their momentum carried them forward into the swarm of bats. The shadows reach up and coiled around the War Dancers and the black knights and I feared the worst, but when was able to finally see them, none in that battle bore even the slightest scratch.
     The wights tried to charge the huntsmen, but the nimble forest men out ran them. The black knights are Ser Brennan’s halberds and the ghouls charged the handgunners. Three more of vile creatures fell on the way in, but so close to food, they could not be stopped (3 on the panic test). The flames turned on the Witch Hunters, later Boleslav would say that they must have turned to Chaos- explaining both their cowardice and the fact that they were hurt by flames- and killed 2 of them, but the others stood firm. With his unit shrunk to almost nothing, one of the wizards managed to construct 9 whole, or almost whole, bodies and force them to join his bodyguard. The knights broke and ran down the halberds, though with Boleslav nearby, no one panicked. The ghouls savaged 7 handgunners and the rest ran, just outdistancing the ghouls who were too busy eating to put full effort into the pursuit. The Halberds hacked down great numbers of bats (5 wounds), though one of their own number fell.-- Little could be done. Most of the undead were still out of reach. The mortar destroyed 8 zombies. The Wood Elf unslung a special arrow, but the vampire who was his target emerged unscathed from the hail of doom (7 arrows, 7 hits, 2 wounds, both saved). The halberds continued to hew through the bats, but a few remained (1 wound left).”
     Most of our forces were still on the field and in reasonably good shape. I began to hope that the battle might still be won, but when I looked behind, I saw another group of undead coming through the trees. As I fled, I screamed a warning. I hope that more than I managed to withdraw”.

One turn was left in the game, but the store was closing so we had to quit. The last turn would have been interesting. After the bats were finished off (in the Vampire turn) my halberds would have been in position to charge the skellie unit with the necromancer that the vampire had just left. The opponent felt that his Grave Guard could have charged my halberds’ flank in his turn, but I am certain he was short [the Huntsmen’s flee roll told me so]. However, on the other side there would have been a black knight charge against my Free Company (with general), that would have been very close (5 knights, plus vampire vs. full ranks, and outnumber, plus Warrior Priest). So, the battle was still in the balance. As it was though, we totaled up the victory points and the Undead won a minor victory (338 points) [by 1 wound on the Bat Swarms, aaarrrggghhh!], meaning that in the upcoming siege, the Empire, though defending, will only be able to field a single warmachine (the road to Nuln has been closed).
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