Warhammer in Tilea, Rearguard Action.

 As Guido del Monte pursues the defeated Empire army his vanguard find a small rearguard holding a narrow pass and some ancient Reman ruins. 

The rearguard consists of the regiment of Dwarfs, Empire spearmen and some handgunners. All of these units are depleted from the previous battle and the dwarfs had taken losses from their scary encounter with the graveyard ghouls.

Del Monte sends back for the rest of his men and attacks before they all arrive.

The Empire rearguard is commanded by Ludwig von Korbruck, the leader of the Empire knights regiment.

He hopes to delay the Tileans long enough for Von Heck to regroup his shattered army.

The handgunners occupy the Reman ruins.

Del Monte has his Tilean crossbowmen.

Plenty of pikemen.

And Braganza's Besiegers slogging forward with their pavises and heavy armour.

Malvolio miscasts a spell for the second time in a row (two 1's) and retires from the battle to re-read his spellbooks!.

The Tilean crossbows take aim.

And kill off three spearmen.

The Empire handgunners kill a couple of Ricco's men.

The Dwarfs and the spearmen brace for the coming fight.

Braganza's Besiegers take aim.

The hail of crossbow bolts is devastating!.

The handgunners fail their panic test and flee.

Crunch time as the Tileans charge home!.

The Dwarfs are a tough nut to crack, they take the charge and manage to break Ricco's Republican Guard. They then manage to sprint 12 inches on their wee legs to catch and destroy Ricco's Regiment of Renown. (Note the dice scores).

The Tilean pikemen roll over the Empire spears, breaking them and cutting them down.

Von Korbruck is forced to flee.

With all the excitement no-one notices unnatural stirrings in the graveyard.

Del Monte is victorious.

The Dwarfs are surrounded.

Del Monte gives them a choice... death, captivity or gold to join his army. I wonder which one they will choose?.

Seven Dwarfs get a fright!.

 

On the retreat from Pavona a group of Dwarfs led by Grok the Dwarf Ranger are scouting a track through a deserted village. 

Hi ho, hi ho...

Heading past the graveyard as night is falling Grok and the other six dwarfs are wondering what may have smashed open the graves.

But they don't see what is lurking in the ruins...

And lurking in the trees...

Watching and waiting...

Then all hell breaks loose.

The ghouls attack from two sides.

The dwarfs are outnumbered.

Grok knocks them down and finishes them off.

The dwarfs have better weapon skill but the ghouls have two attacks and higher initiative.

The fighting is very fierce, the dwarfs are up against it.

Three dwarfs are out of action, the ghouls keep coming and things are looking bleak.

Grok gets wounded, it's a good job he can take two wounds.

Grok kills off another ghoul.

Finally the ghouls lose their nerve and scarper.

Off they go!.

Grok knows how to do it!.

A canny little skirmish, not much manoeuvre though, the dwarfs don't move very quickly.

The road to Pavona.

 The battle on the road to Pavona begins. The Tileans get the first turn and push forward.

  The first dice roll of the game sees the Tilean mortar explode!. Oh dear, it looks like a fried egg!.

We'll try a video, it might look a bit better.

Then the Tilean wizard Malvolio casts the Dark Hand of Death upon the Empire spearmen causing the demise of four men.

The armies are closing.

Tileans led by Captain Guido del Monte.

And the Empire army under Baron Manfred von Heck.

The Empire Knights having endured closing fire crash into Long Drong Slayers pirates.

Two pirates fall and one knight but the pirates don't break.

Tilean swordsmen charge into the Empire halberdiers but are soundly beaten. They flee and are cut down.

Captain Del Monte has to flee from the blood crazed halberdiers but Ricco's Republican Guard charge in to plug the gap.

On the right flank the Empire handgunners are down to half strength but still fighting.

The Empire knights break from the maelstrom of Long Drong's relentless pistol fire.

Ragged Ricco's Republican Guard with their brand new historical Venetian flag trounce the halberdiers, breaking them and cutting them down .

Long Drong and the boys get stuck in again!. They love a bit of fighting. They win this fight and the knights flee the field.

The Tilean pikemen charge into the Empire spearmen.

And roll over them. 

Von Heck and his army quit the field.

The Dwarfs are furious, they never even got a chance to get blood on their new blue jackets.

A very enjoyable evening.

I think a wee skirmish may follow as the Empire army retreats from Pavona.

Happy days.