For those who have been following along, this is part of two wider series on Woehammer where I collect the army I longed for in the 90s, the Grudgebringers, inspired by the video games Shadow of the Horned Rat and Dark Omens.

It’s also the first of hopefully many battle reports to come that will follow the Grudgebringers through our clubs escalation campaign.

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This battle was the first for Dave and I at 500 points using the Battle March rules. This game would go towards our clubs narrative escalation event, the Kasrabad Campaign.

For the first two months, players fight as many 500 point battles as they can, before selecting their best two results to submit to the ongoing campaign narrative. Once that phase ends, each player adds another 250 points to their force and the campaign escalates further.

Each player commits their faction to one of the three that vie for control of Kasrabad, the Nobles, the Merchants Guld and the Revolutionaries.

The Lists and Faction Introductions

The Grudgebringers

Morgan spat into the mud and adjusted the grip on his reins. “Elves,” he muttered, like the word itself tasted sour.

Across Blackclaw Bay sunlight gleamed off the polished armour as the High Elves advanced with all the pomp and ceremony of nobles attending a feast rather than marching to battle. At their head a tall lord in ornate armour, every inch the arrogant princeling. Morgan snorted.

“Look at that,” he said. “Not a speck of dirt on him. Either he’s never fought a battle in his life, or his servants deserve a pay rise.”

A few of his men chuckled nervously. Corporal Fletcher squinted towards the approaching host. “Think they’re here for Kasrabad, Commander?”

Morgan’s eyes narrowed. “Everyone’s here for Kasrabad. Dwarfs, Orcs, Trolls, Vampires, madmen…” he paused. “Now elves.”

Lt Schepke frowned. “Think they’ll negotiate?” Morgan gave him a flat look. “That depends. Do you think that peacock brought his army halfway across the world to talk?”

Schepke considered this. “No.”

“No, neither do I.”

Morgan drew Grudgebringer, the runeblade humming to life as flames licked along its edge and his men stood a little straighter. “I’ve fought greenskins, beastmen, chaos worshippers and worse. Every one of them thought they were something special.” He turned to his men, his voice rising.

“Know what I learnt?” The grin that crossed his face had no warmth to it. “They all bleed. Hold the line men and let them come to us.” He lifted his sword high. “We’ll part flesh with cold steel.”

===
The Grudgebringers [498 pts]
Warhammer: The Old World, Renegade Crowns, Battle March
===

++ Characters [102 pts] ++

Morgan Bernhardt (Renegade Captain) [102 pts]
– Hand weapon
– Heavy armour
– Shield
– General
– The Wandering Diestro [Feint & Dodge]
– Warhorse
– Burning Blade
– Paymaster’s Coin

++ Core Units [296 pts] ++

5 Grudgebringer Cavalry (Freeblade Knights) [112 pts]
– Hand weapons
– Great weapons
– Heavy armour
– Shields
– Standard bearer
– Musician
– Warhorses

10 Grudgebringer Infantry (Sellsword Infantry) [87 pts]
– Hand weapons
– Heavy armour
– Shields
– Officer (champion)
– Standard bearer
– Musician

10 Grudgebringer Crossbows (Sellsword Infantry) [97 pts]
– Crossbows
– Heavy armour
– Officer (champion)
– Standard bearer
– Musician

++ Rare Units [100 pts] ++

Grudgebringer Cannon (Border Princes Bombard) [100 pts]
– Bombard
– Hand weapons
– Light armour

—
Created with “Old World Builder”
[https://old-world-builder.com]

The High Elves

Lord Filanderol could smell Kasrabad even before his keen eyes sighted the foul smoke rising from the city.

He had thought his mission to claim recompense for undelivered goods was beneath him but now he understood the wisdom behind it.

A plea for help, salvation even, had reached him. Written on disgusting filthy parchment, the scratchy writing had said:

‘Betrayal of elf creatures most dire, city Lord highs fallen to chaos things. No safe. We lead, must overthrow bad nobles and nasty merchants. Help-help, come save.’

Filanderol, who is fluent in all of the languages recorded within the White Tower – which of course meant all of them, recognised the thick tongue of the men of the empire.

Kasrabad, or as it should more properly be known, Tor Atora, was a former Elf colony. To have teeming masses of men and their squalid dwellings built on top of, and around the splendour of his ancestors irked him. This colony had been settled by Caledorians. Those brave souls had braved this dismal land with their presence to try and elevate it to something approaching the glory of Ulthuan.

Filanderol could see the opportunity here and the true mission that had been given to him, bring back Tor Atora back into the fold.

He would, with the graciousness typical of his kind, offer the rulers and merchants of Kasrabad the opportunity to surrender. If they declined, then he would impose new leadership to rule the city under the guiding hand of Caledor.

He had set ashore with a small bodyguard, leaving the rest of his forces to begin establishing a camp and unload the equipment needed for the coming campaign. A few miles from the beachhead his Reaver knights reported sighting a human warband.

Hoping for contact with his mysterious correspondent, Filanderol proceeded in the open showing no aggressive intent.

The creatures were organising a ragged battle line, one of their crude black powder war machines squatted ugly at the rear. On the right a unit of Swordsmen stared dully ahead, grunting to each other in their crass tongue. Next to them were a unit of Crossbowmen who fiddled with their weapons, perhaps not understanding which end posed the danger. On the far right was a unit of human cavalry, a laughable imitation of his own Silver Helms. the tortured looking horses a poor relation to the glorious horses of Ulthuan.

They didn’t appear to be worshippers of the Dark Gods but the knowledge of the White Tower spoke to him and he recalled that this was not always in the open and, in any case, what difference was there, truly?

His loyal Herald Maleneth whispered to him ‘Grudgebringers my Lord, a mercenary band of Humans we believe,’

Filanderol’s lips curled with disgust, ‘Grudgebringers’ he mused, ‘In league with the Dwarfs then.”

‘Errr, no my Lord, -‘ Maleneth began ‘Nonsense!’ Filanderol responded, ‘Powder weapons and look, some sort of pathetic bound magical blade.’

‘Bold men of Caledor, we see before us these poorly made creatures. Pawns of the Dark Gods, in league with the stunted creatures of the mountains! They would deny us a homecoming to our ancient colony! Force of arms is all these beasts understand, go forth and give no quarter!’

===
High Elf Realms [498 pts]
Warhammer: The Old World, High Elf Realms, Battle March
===

++ Characters [106 pts] ++

Noble [106 pts]
– Hand weapon
– Sword of Hoeth
– Full plate armour
– General
– On foot
– Seed of Rebirth
– Warden of Saphery

++ Core Units [260 pts] ++

14 Elven Spearmen [151 pts]
– Hand weapons
– Thrusting spears
– Light armour
– Shields
– Shieldwall
– Sentinel (champion)
– Standard bearer
– Musician

5 Ellyrian Reavers [109 pts]
– Hand weapons
– Cavalry spears
– Light armour
– Shortbows
– Skirmishers
– Harbinger (champion)
– Musician

++ Special Units [132 pts] ++

9 Swordmasters of Hoeth [132 pts]
– Swords of Hoeth
– Heavy armour
– Bladelord

—
Created with “Old World Builder”
[https://old-world-builder.com]

Deployment

Peter: My plan was fairly simple for this battle, with the objectives only being worth 10 points each per turn, I intend to leave them alone for the first half of the game and plug away with my ranged units to whittle them down (especially the scary Swordmasters) before counter attacking.

With this in mind I deployed my forces quite far back to force Dave an extra round of movement before reaching me.

Dave: High Elves are quite limited (as they should be!) at 500 points. I have a small unit of spears, an even smaller unit of Sword Masters and a yet smaller unit of Reaver Knights.

My General is the Noble Filanderol, a cad and bounder of the higest order, banished from his home for his various minor misdeeds and indiscretions – dalliances with the spouses of various high-ranking houses, ill-treatment (general) of the Lower Orders, burning of Druchii slave barges. The very reasonable defences of ‘I respect their marriages as much as they!’, ‘What do you mean ill-treatment, what’s the point of the Lower Orders then?’ and ‘Burning their captured slaves is simply denying the enemy valuable resources and, in any case, they were from Chrace’.

My plan was to march forward and sieze the objectives, horribly massacring any defenders. My Spears would then hold the left while my swordmasters would push on aggressively and swing across to the centre. The Reaver Knights would push up and pick off a few troops with their bows. They would then charge the exposed flanks of any engaged enemies which my infantry can fix in place.

High Elves Turn 1

The Swordmasters led by Filanderol march towards the furthest objective with the pitiful human line ahead of them still fumbling for their weapons.

The spearmen move forwards onto the northern objective eyeing the Human cavalry warily.

The Reavers move down the Elven right flank with the intention to charge the human infantry in the flank. They let loose with their bows on the fly but with the range still quite far, the Humans have plenty of time to raise their shields.

High Elves 20 v 0 Grudgebringers

Grudgebringers Turn 1

Lt Schepke orders his infantry to wheel and make sure that the oncoming cavalry aren’t able to take them by surprise. Otherwise, the Grudgebringer line holds steady, knowing that they currently have the ranged advantage.

“Fire!” Cpl Fletcher shouts, and the Grudgebringer crossbows let loose with their bolts at the Swordmasters, two of the elite swordsmen fall. A look of shock momentarily passes across Filanderol’s face.

A large blast rolls across the valley as the Grudgebringer Cannon opens fire on the Elf spearmen, though the wet weather the day before causes the cannonball to embed itself in the mud a few yards from their front splattering the Elf ranks with mud but little else.

High Elves 20 v 0 Grudgebringers

High Elves Turn 2

Filanderol and the Swordmasters let out a shout and charge towards the Grudgebringers only for them to struggle through the mud, Filanderol orders them to hold once more and redress their ranks with the intention of closing with the Humans a little more before attempting another charge.

The Reavers ride their horses around towards the Infantry and let fly with their bows once more, with the range closer this time the Humans still manager to raise their shields, but one human falls to the ground with an arrow through his chest.

The spearmen remain where they are, building up the courage to take on the Humans cavalry.

High Elves 40 v 0 Grudgebringers

Grudgebringers Turn 2

Sensing the Elves doubt about taking them on, Morgan orders his cavalry forward towards them.

“Fire!” comes Cpl Fletcher’s familiar call once more, and two more of the Swordmasters fall from the hail of bolts.

The Grudgebringer Cannon lines up the spearmen once more and lets fly. But the cannonball once more beds itself in the mud twenty yards short of the Elves.

High Elves 40 v 0 Grudgebringers

High Elves Turn 3

Filanderol lets out his frustration at the humans and he and the Swordmasters charge towards the infantry. But to the Elves confusion the Humans fall back and away from the Swordmasters.

Seeing the cavalry start their move towards them, the spearmen decide to close the gap with them to stop the cavalry gaining momentum. Meanwhile with the human infantry falling back the Reavers switch their targets and see the human cavalry’s exposed flank. They move behind the Swordmasters hoping to catch the Human cavalry flat footed. The Reavers loose their arrows at the cavalry but with the range at the extreme end for the bows their arrows fall short of their mark.

High Elves 137 v 0 Grudgebringers

Grudgebringers Turn 3

Morgan lets out a yell and the Grudgebringers charge into the Elf spearmen.

The crossbowmen let fly at the Swordmasters once more killing another three of the blade masters. The Swordmasters waiver at the bolts, but a shout from Filanderol gives them courage.

On the right, the spearmen brace for the charge and impale two of the riders as they close. The Grudgebringers do little in response.

High Elves 137 v 0 Grudgebringers

High Elves Turn 4

Filanerdol charges his Swordmasters into the crossbowmen, they loose their bolts again as they charge but with their aim rushed the bolts miss their mark.

Following their Lords example, the Reavers follow suit and charge into the flank of the cavalry. The Reavers make short work of the remaining Human horsemen cutting them all down and leaving Morgan alone who cuts down the spearmen champion before fleeing from the massed Elves.

The Reavers gives chase and the spearmen reform with the intention of taking both objectives.

Filanderol cuts down one of the crossbowmen to the south while the two remaining Swordmasters follow suit, but to Filanderol’s suprise one of his loyal guard falls with a knife embedded in his neck. Filanderol orders his Swordmasters to fall back and the Crossbowmen pursue.

High Elves 249 v 0 Grudgebringers

Grudgebringers Turn 4

Morgan flees off the battlefield.

Cpl Fletcher and his crossbows let loose at the Swordmasters fleeing away from them. Their bolts fell the last Swordmaster while Filanderol takes one to the leg.

The cannon fires at the spearmen closing on the objectives but suffers a misfire. The cannonball is still fired and five of the spearmen are turned to paste by the ball. But the crew have to work hard now to remount the cannon before the enemy can advantage.

High Elves 351 v 142 Grudgebringers

High Elves Turn 5

Filanderol turns towards the crossbowmen with hate in his eyes, readying his sword, but before he can the spearmen charge into the flank of the crossbows killing one and forcing them to fall back.

The Reavers wheel around with the Cannon in their sights.

High Elves 361 v 142 Grudgebringers

Grudgebringers Turn 5

The combat between the spearmen and crossbows continue with another human falling to the spears of the Elves.

With the Elves in control of the battlefield, the Humans decide to withdraw leave Filanderol nursing his wounds, but in control.

High Elves 361 v 142 Grudgebringers

‘My Lord, we had them! Why did you halt the pursuit, we could have cut down their war machine crew and the crossbowmen both!’ the herald raged, almost looking like he wished to strike Filanderol himself! Though, of course, the very thought was ridiculous.

‘My dear boy, you must see the game board entire, not just the pieces moving. We would have pursued straight into a Dark Elf trap, there are doubtless more shades ahead of us. Trust me, Maleneth, I can smell a Dark Elf trap a league away’

Crossbows are good now?

Peter: That was great fun and despite the loss I’m really pleased with how the game went. I think I was right to hold my troops in position for a couple of turns to allow my advantage at range to take a toll.

What I didn’t expect was how well the Crossbows would do against the Swordmasters, killing 7 across three turns of shooting was no mean feat. I chose to flee the Infantry deliberately when they were charged purely so that I could shoot the Swordmasters for another turn. I had little hope that if the Infantry had received the charge that they would have taken out any of the Elves. The gamble paid off there.

What didn’t pay off for me this time was the cavalry or the cannon on the other side of the battlefield. I felt the cavalry could have performed a little better in their combat, but Dave’s march to reduce the charge range on the spears and allow them to hit first was a genius move.

The Cannon just suffered with bad dice rolls, but as mentioned the bad dice rolling here was more than made up for by the crossbows. But three shots and rolling three misfires at different stages of the roll was something else!

All in all it was a good fun game, and Morgan lives to fight again.

Dave: Well! That was a game and a half! My poor Swordmasters got shot to bits and Pete completely flat-footed me and them when he fled off the table from their charge.

I absolutely underestimated the crossbowmen. Having played Empire many times I have never had Crossbows perform for me but I hadn’t considered that they’re often at short range in Battle March and the Swordmasters suffered as a result.

Once they did get the charge they were so few that even with the Filanderol present they couldn’t even beat the Crossbowmen (or Dark Elf Shades in disguise!) and I was lucky not to get run down!

The Spearmen didn’t let me down though and, after a cheeky march up to prevent Pete’s knights from getting the full initiative buff for charging, they held the Empire Knights and their Captain (As Filanderol might say ‘Merkin Grungebonger or some such, I forget’).

They held the knights up enough for my Reavers to charge them in the flank and wipe out what remained of them and made Morgan poop his pants. My spearmen reformed looking to claim both the objectives and sadly this was when Pete’s cannon crew remembered which end the balls came out of and killed five of my spearmen!

With the Empire Captain fled off the table I had succeeded in my secret objective, no doubt to great cries of Huzzah from the Reaver Knights.

I should now have charged the cannon but it was a long charge and it couldn’t fire again….. and I had foolishly forgotten that this was the last turn… so, I moved up for an easy charge in the next, non-existent, turn.

I have to say, Pete had terrible luck with his cannon and a little bit more luck could have seen him win this. Clearly, the crew were simply overcome by the glittering majesty of the high elf forces and the tears in their eyes impaired their shooting. It definitely wasn’t me whispering misfire during his rolling.

This was a really fun game and had some good back and forth. I was surprised by how effective my spearmen were, I thought they might be the weak link. In hindsight I think I should have been even more aggressive but I was a bit nervous about Pete’s heavy cavalry.

I have certainly a lot to think about for my next 250 points in the slowgrow but I’m looking forward to getting some more games in with the list too!

Key Moments

• Grudgebringer Crossbows killed 7 Swordmasters across three turns.
• Grudgebringer Cannon misfired three times.
• High Elf Spearmen held against Morgan’s cavalry.
• Reavers successfully flanked and routed the Grudgebringer Cavalry.
• Filanderol survived, though wounded and more convinced than ever of Dark Elf treachery.