The Night Queen at Torrosa (Estalia vs. Vampire Counts)

The Night Queen at Torrosa

In late 1899 with the threat of Skaven growing more pronounced by the day, the forces in the Tilean Capital of Miragliano under Borgio the Besieger sought to secure the city and performed a thorough sweep to ensure all rat holes were sealed and that there were no infiltrators present.  During their sweep, they discovered the vampire covens of the Strigoi vampire Rametep Biscione and the Lahmian Vampiress only known as The Night Queen.  It seems the two covens had been gathering strength, yet dueling with one another for sole claim to the city. 

Once they were located, it didn’t take long for the City Guard and the paid mercenaries of the city to flush the vampires out and pursue them across Tilea until they crossed into Estalia via the Taranto Pass. 

Somewhere in Estalia the covens diverged and went in search of a new place to establish themselves.  After bypassing the Estalian Capital of Magritta, they crossed the Rio Tagos and came upon the town of Torrosa in May, 1900.

Without a force large enough to directly assault the wooden palisade surrounding the town, she spread her force thinly around it and began a small siege.  The garrison inside the town sent a unit of Jinete Fast Cavalry east to Magritta for assistance.  The fast horsemen had no problem riding through the shambling Undead and out-running the Black Knights of the Night Queen.

The Night Queen’s army began gathering supplies to build a stone thrower.  With this, they would easily knock down the palisade and storm through the gap to take the town.  On June 19, help arrived under the command of Alfonso the Battler.  It was only 1,000 points, which was less than the besieging force, but it was all that could be spared from the Capital with Norse Raiders active in the area.

The weather became extremely hot and it appeared that the Estalians were going to be handicapped even more, since their Knights of Santiago, the large elite unit of heavy cavalry, couldn’t function in such extreme heat.

Alfonso awoke pre-dawn on the 20^th to a mild 63 degree morning but with steady wind gusts to help against the heat, so he ordered the attack. 

The Undead would have to be dispersed by noon before the day got too hot.  But at least the troops could remain fully armored until that time hit.

The Scenario

This is a Breakthrough scenario from the WFB 6^th Edition rulebook with a bit of a twist.  The 1,170 point Vampire Counts force will be starting in a narrow strip across the middle of the table, wedged between the palisade wall of the town and their 390 point garrison, and Alfonso’s force of 1,108 points (since the Jinetes are with Alfonso).  The battle is 7 turns long, however, since the weather will prevent some (or all) of the attackers from marching, the attacker may extend the battle to 10 turns.  We are counting 1 turn as an hour, so Turn 7 marks noontime when intense heat will kick in and the troops will be handicapped for the remaining 3 turns of the game.  The objective is for the Estalians to have 365 points of their force in the besieger’s zone at the end of any turn starting with Turn 7.  Characters do not count.

Since this is a campaign battle, there are several other factors to consider:

1). Heavy losses by either side will not be acceptable and as soon as one side sustains 25% casualties they will begin testing to see if they break off the battle (better to live to fight another day).

2). The Stone Thrower under construction is on the table.  It does not function, but the Estalians have the ability to destroy it during the battle if they don’t believe they can achieve a victory. 

Alfonso the Battler joined the large unit of the Knights of Santiago just to the left of the road with 2 units of handgunners ready to form up behind them once they jumped off.  To the left of them, near the ruined temple was the lone cannon.  A unit of 20 swordsmen formed up in column on the road.

To the right of the Estalian line Idarin the Level 1 Alchemist joined a unit of duelists and the Jinetes took the far flank (depicted in my army by Riders of Rohan).

Most of the Torrosa garrison starts the battle in reserve since they didn’t know when the attack would come (and to make the sides even at the start of the game). Desidirius, the level 1 light wizard took up a position on the wall awaiting the rest of the garrison to mobilize.  I wanted to have his Dispel Dice in the game as early as possible even if the Undead were out of range of his lone magic missile spell.

The rest of the garrison in Torrosa consisted of Captain Benito on a Pegasus along with a unit of crossbowmen and swordsmen.  I would begin rolling for them on Turn 2.

In the center of the battlefield, the Night Queen positioned her Black Knights almost back-to-back with the rear-facing unit looking to head off any units from Torrosa that come out to claim victory points late in the battle.  In the center she placed two small units of skeleton spears and a unit of 8 dire wolves on the far end with their backs to the marsh.

The Night Queen herself joined the forward-facing unit of armored centaurs (Black Knights).

Turn 1:

[Above] Alfonso the Battler leads the Knights of Santiago into battle.

Since the heat of the day was going to slow down some of the troops and the objective was to occupy space in the middle of the table, most of the Estalian force came marching toward the defenders. Deciding that most of the action was going to take place out of range of his Burning Gaze spell, Desidirius chose to head for the gate and leave the shelter of the town.  Other units of the garrison were sure to follow. Without much for targeting, the cannon put too much powder in the gun and dramatically overshot the catapult under construction; planting the ball in the ground before it hit one of the houses.

With no immediate threat coming from the town, Sarnovich the Necromancer turned his unit of Black Knights around and, using the Book of Arkhan, started their advance around the small wood to cut off the Jinetes on their left flank.  All other units remained stationary as the plan was to “catch” the advancing Estalians and charge their flanks with the armored Centaurs (using Black Knights rules) and Dire Wolves. The Estalian player let the Book of Arkhan go in order to dispel one attempt to Raise Dead by Sarnovich and they used their lone Dispel Scroll on the other cast by the Necromancer Ataman.

Turn 2: Temperature climbing until Turn 7 where units in heavy armor may not March. Gusty winds picking up that vary between turns

The heat slowed up the advance, but the Knights of Santiago were already in charge range of the Undead line.  Alfonso dropped behind the formation to command the rest of the army since Fear is ever present when fighting the Undead.  The Swordsmen on the road reverted back to their standard 5-man battle line.  As the duelists advanced for the woods, the Jinetes ducked around to the inside to avoid the coming Black Knights. The handgunners also advanced to close the distance to the Dire Wolves since long range fire would be precarious in the gusty winds.  Idarin the Alchemist fell back from the advancing unit of Duelists to keep a line of sight on the flanking Black Knights.  However, with only 3 casting dice vs. 4 dispel dice, his Distillation of Molten Silver spell was easily negated.  The cannon misfired and would spend the next turn clearing the barrel to try again.

The armies began maneuvering for the coming clash. The Black Knights continued their movement around the trees on their left flank and Sarnovich dropped out so he could focus on raising more skeletons for the needed battle line.  The Night Queen also dropped out of her cavalry unit and moved into the trees to block the advance of the approaching Duelists or the Jinetes.  The Armored Centaurs advanced slightly along with the nearest unit of skeletons so that the skeletons had room for more heads and the armored Centaurs could still get their charge off without being blocked by the skeleton unit.

On the far right the Dire Wolves formed up to get a flank charge on the advancing knights.  Despite their advantage of 6 power dice vs 4 dispel dice, the Undead magic phase fizzled with no Raise Dead spells being cast successfully and Vanhel’s Dance Macabre cast from the Book of Arkhan was dispelled. The magical charge in the book was vanquished and it would no longer be of service for the battle.

Turn 3: High winds.  No long range missile fire from any weapon using Ballistic Skill; No March Movement; Flying at Half Speed.

To charge or not to charge?  The Knights of Santiago chose not to charge the Undead line since they would be going it alone with no units in support and at least 3 Undead units attacking on 2 sides. That crept closer, but waited for the swordsmen to move up alongside to help protect their flank if it was needed. With the Black Knights rounding the flank, the Jinetes pulled away and turned to face them in anticipation of launching a volley of arrows, Idarin the Alchemist moved back toward the wall and the Duelists headed into the trees where they became visible to The Night Queen.  Captain Benito, the commander of the small Torrosa garrison arrived on his Pegasus and was able to clear the palisade fence before the winds forced him down while Desidirius trudged further into the houses that shielded some of the Undead line.  As before, the magic phase was ineffective and the cannon was reloading.

The Night Queen laughed shrilly as she spurred her horse to charge the Duelists as they entered the woods. Along the main battle line, the Knights of Santiago were too tempting a target for the Undead, so charges were declared by the Centaurs, Dire Wolves and a unit of skeletons.

The Undead were permitted to cast Hellish Vigor on the Night Queen since she was already striking first, so it was only a matter of rerolling misses this turn. Otherwise Undead magic failed to produce a single skeleton to add to their battle line.

Above:  The aftermath of the fleeing knights and the ending position of the units involved.

Rather than tying up his best unit in an overwhelming combat, Alfonso ordered the Knights of Santiago to flee. This would expose the flank of the Centaurs to a charge from the unit of swordsmen while repositioning the knights to confront the Black Knights on the flank.  He wasn’t worried about the rest of his line since he was there to keep them all in order.  Never the less, the Jinetes couldn’t hear his commands to stay as the Knights of Santiago came trampling through, so they fled ahead of them.

The Night Queen made quick work of the Duelists; felling 4 of them and causing the rest to break and flee from the woods.  She easily ran them down as she fled and her charging pursuit forced the Knights of Santiago to flee even further.

Turn 4: High winds.  No long range missile fire from any weapon using Ballistic Skill; No March Movement; Flying at Half Speed.

 

With the failed charge by the Centaurs, the swordsmen were perfectly lined up to charge their flank.  Alfonso considered charging in, but with no magical items, his role was primarily to offer leadership to his men as they faced a fear-causing enemy.  Therefore, he held in position. Things took a sudden turn for the worse, however, when the swordsmen failed their fear test and would not charge the Centaurs.

Captain Benito charged the undefended catapult and spent the close combat phase putting it out of action. This was a questionable move, since the Estalians could finish it and add it to the garrison if they emerged victorious.  But, with the swordsmen failing their charge and the Knights of Santiago fleeing, the battle was looking precarious for the Estalians.

Luckily the Knights and the Jinetes were able to rally before they left the battle.  The Knights formed up on the smaller Black Knights unit now directly ahead of them while the Jinetes took a position to shield their flank (and the Alchemist) from a charge by the Night Queen. 

Fortune is fickle and it suddenly turned against the Undead.  The alchemist was able to successfully cast Distillation of Molten Silver on the Black Knights, slaying half of the unit (3 of them).  Suddenly charging the Knights of Santiago wasn’t a palatable option.  Although the swordsmen cowered before the Undead Centaurs, the cannon found its range and picked one of them off with a well-placed shot.  The Jinetes were unsuccessful firing at the Night Queen with a -2 modifier due to the howling wind.

The climax of the battle had arrived with the Undead declaring 3 charges.  The Night Queen charged the Jinetes, who stood their ground to shield the units Alchemist hiding behind them.  The Vampiress was too close to allow for a stand & shoot reaction, so they would hope for the best and pray to Myrmidia that their fate would be different from those of the duelists whom she'd run down the turn before.

The Dire Wolves charged Alfonso who stood alone in the center of the Estalian forces and the 4 remaining Centaurs charged the flank of the swordsmen.  The swordsmen still feared the Centaurs, but they had the numbers so they wouldn’t flee from the charge.

Elsewhere, the rest of the Undead force rotated around in a counter-clockwise motion with the skeletons advancing on the combat, Sarnovich moving up behind them for support and the 3 remaining Black Knights returning to find better odds (or for a necromancer to restore their ranks). Sarnovich was able to restore the Centaur to his unit in time for combat and Ataman, who was in a skeleton unit, was able to raise 5 more to add to his unit.  These would be handy before charging in on the swordsmen.

The craziness began in the Close Combat phase.  The Night Queen and her steed only killed 1 of the Jinetes.  In turn, they inflicted a wound on her.  Because they outnumbered her, she lost combat by 1, sustained another wound and was eliminated from the game!  As the General and animating force of the army, this would mean the Undead would begin to crumble and die away.  It looked like the battle would be over as the Estalians only had to wait for the magical instability to cut down their opponents.

Things went just as badly for Alfonso the Battler, neither he nor the wolves caused a wound, but because he was outnumbered he lost combat by 1 to a fear-causing enemy; meaning he had to automatically break.  As Alfonso attempted to gallop away, the Wolves caught him and took him down before overrunning into a unit of handgunners.  Here we were, 4 turns in and neither side had a General (although Captain Benito was still in command of the garrison).

Things went a marginally better for the swordsmen who lost 2 of their members to the charge of the Centaurs. They also broke from combat.  Despite being on foot and the Centaurs being a faster unit, the swordsmen were able to stay 1 inch ahead of the Centaurs as they raced across the battlefield.  At the end of the turn, the Dire Wolves and Black Knights lost only one each due to instability, but the unit of skeletons that wasn’t led by a necromancer lost half of their number with only 5 remaining.

Turn 5:  Continued High winds.  No long range missile fire from any weapon using Ballistic Skill; No March Movement; Flying at Half Speed.

The Estalians led off with Captain Benito charging the dwindling skeleton unit, which consisted of only 4 remaining skeletons.  The swordsmen rallied and turned to face another charge from the Undead Centaurs.  With only a pair of Black Knights hiding behind the copse of trees, the Knights of Santiago set off to turn the flank and occupy the defender’s deployment zone.  At 340 points, this would almost bring the Estalians the victory (365 were needed). The Jinetes moved to flank the Centaurs if the swordsmen were able to hold out for a combat round when they were charged again, while the Alchemist moved to the side to ensure he wasn’t caught up in the next route, should one occur.  The Estalian magic phase was ineffective and, although the cannon was dead on target firing at the larger remaining skeleton unit, the ball didn’t bounce and only ended up crushing one skeleton.

During the close combat phase, the Dire Wolves felled two of the handgunners and, winning combat again, ran down the fleeing survivors as they charged into the cannon.  The Vampiress might be gone, but the remnants of her army was continuing to inflict a lot of damage on the Estalians.

At the start of the Undead turn, instability only cost the army 3 skeletons and a wound to Sarnovich.  Everyone else remained steadfast.  As expected, the Centaurs charged again into the hapless swordsmen while the two remaining Black Knights continued to move around the copse of trees; keeping it between them and the large unit of Estalian Knights. The remaining unit of skeletons was determined to protect the deployment zone as the Estalians were starting to recognize their victory conditions had to be met, but rather than get mowed down by the nearby handgunners, they turned to face them in anticipation of a favorable charge.

Magic continued to be a non-factor, which was having a larger negative impact on the Undead than on the Estalians.  Raising the Dead was part of the Undead battle plan and without favorable Winds of Magic their battle plan was falling apart.  

In the close combat phase, the Centaurs killed another 3 swordsmen who lost combat by one.  Never the less, they still broke and fled only to be run down by the Centaurs. This marked the third unit in the Estalian relief force which would force a route roll at the beginning of their next turn to see if they break off from the battle (a true gift for the struggling Undead army).

The cannon crew fared better.  Against the wolves they lost 1 crewman, but killed 2 wolves, resulting in a draw. They would live to fight on another turn.

Turn 6:  The strong winds reduced to a breeze temporarily, permitting missile fire at long range with additional -1 modifier.

Because this is a campaign battle, there is always the impetus for the ranking commander on the field to withdraw from the battle when casualties get too high.  Better to live and fight another day.  With the Estalians reaching that threshold and Alfonso the Battler gone, the leadership roll fell to the champion of the Knights of Santiago who had a leadership as strong as their departed commander.  The Estalians passed with a leadership roll of a 3 and the battle went on.

Captain Benito charged the rear of the Dire Wolves in an effort to finally dispatch these nuisances. They’d already cost Estalia their General and a unit of handgunners with a cannon crew precariously close to perishing as well. 

The Knights of Santiago moved confidently into the enemy deployment zone and the Jinetes, seeing their opportunity to join them and secure the victory, started around the copse of trees keeping the Knights between them and the remaining enemy units.

This whole time, Desidirius had been trudging out of the town against the wind, looking for his opportunity to contribute to the battle.  He moment finally came.  Sarnovich the Necromancer on his horse were within range and line of sight as Desidirius cleared the last house and he was able to slay the necromancer with his Burning Gaze spell.

[Above] Desidirius the Light Wizard sees the end of Sarnovich the Necromancer (mounted on the horse in front of the cottage).

For good measure, the remaining handgun unit dropped 3 of the skeletons defending their shrinking patch of land.  Lastly, the Dire Wolves killed another crewman, but Captain Benito was able to dispatch the rest.

Taking stock of the situation, the Undead called the battle.  With the loss of their General, a necromancer and both units of Black Knights being greatly reduced, they had nothing to uproot the Knights of Santiago and remove them from their victory zone in the next 2 turns.  The felling of the Dire Wolves prevented the Estalians from making another Route Roll, which was the Undead's last chance at pulling a victory from the jaws of defeat.

Aftermath

The Night Queen and Sarnovich the necromancer never recovered during the post battle sequence.  Losing so much of the force, the army was scattered and would never again threaten Estalia.  For the Estalians, Captain Benito received a field promotion to the rank of General (he was now a Lord Character) and given command of Alfonso’s army to lead them back to Magritta for refitting.  Alfonso was found on the battlefield and fully recovered. For his efforts he was given Benito’s old post in command of the Torrosa garrison. 

Game Master's Note

This was the first battle using my latest edition of solitaire rules and I am quite pleased with the outcome. Even though I, as the Estalian player, was able to pull off a victory, it really came down to passing that last Route Test, otherwise the outcome would have been different. There were several places where I had to use the “common sense rule” to move the Undead it what was an obvious decision, but I feel good about not meta-gaming the outcome.  The Undead strategy had been to hold the Centaurs and Vampiress back and execute a flank charge when the skeleton units were charged.  Unfortunately, the Knights of Santiago made it obvious that the strategy wouldn’t work if they got the charge off and since they crept a little too close before the charge, Common Sense said to declare the charge, which forced them back and almost off the table.

The MVP of the battle was Captain Benito for securing the catapult, eliminating what remained of the first skeleton unit and slaying the Dire Wolves before the killed off the cannon crew and forced another critical Route Roll.  In his honor I decided it was time to buy and convert a Pegasus rider for my Estalian/Tilean armies because it bugged the heck out of me every time I moved the model around when it was obviously an Empire model with the Karl Franz back banner.  It pays to be a winner!