The Battle of Hel Fenn, Part 5

This post is a continuation of the 20,000pt Hel Fenn battle report. You can find the parent page containing links to each turn here.

Vampire Counts, Turn 5: Here Comes the Sun

Vampire Counts, Turn 5

A more detailed map can be found here.

The Battle of Hel Fenn, Part 4

This post is a continuation of the 20,000pt Hel Fenn battle report. You can find the parent page containing links to each turn here.

Stirland MASH: The Halberdiers tend their wounded upon the hill behind the front lines.

Vampire Counts, Turn 4: The Fall of Stirland

Vampire Counts Turn 4

A more detailed map can be found here.

The Vampire Count lines swept ever onward, encroaching on the defensive positions of the enemy and in places threatening to overrun them. Mannfred could smell the fear of the enemy cattle, and knew that panic would soon start to spread. All it would take was a little more pressure in the right places...

The Battle of Hel Fenn, Part 3

This post is a continuation of the 20,000pt Hel Fenn battle report. For the other turns, head to the parent page of the battle report here.

Along the lines in turn 3

Vampire Counts, Turn 3

Vampire Counts Turn 3

A more detailed version of the map can be found here.

The Battle of Hel Fenn, Part 2

This post is a continuation of the 20,000pt Hel Fenn battle report, part 1 of which can be found here.

Turn 2 under way

Vampire Counts, Turn 2

Vampire Counts Turn 2

A more detailed map can be found here.

Black Knights and Coach to the front, Spirit Hosts to the flank: All in a day's work for an Ironbreaker

The host of the Vampire Counts was advancing rapidly, and already bitter hand-to-hand fighting was erupting up and down the line of battle. The Ironbreakers on the left flank hunkered down behind their shields and braced as Black Knights and a Black Coach crashed into their front, whist a Spirit Host rushed at their flank and howled as their ghostly talons tore at the Dwarfs' armour and weaponry. Though 4 of the Ironbreakers succumbed to the onslaught, the unshakable courage of the comrades showed through and they held their ground.

Fell Bats charge the Dwarf Flame Cannon

The Battle of Hel Fenn, Part 1

A 20,000 point battle report

Setting up took a while

Count Mannfred Von Carstein surveyed his lines as the last of his troops lurched into position. All was in readiness. Turning, he gazed out from the edges of the fenland and across the plain beyond, to the hills on the other side. The remnants of the cold morning mists lingered over the marshland, however he could still make out the shapes of the enemy soldiers as they prepared for battle. His foes also appeared to be ready... Or at least, they thought they were ready.

Mannfred smiled evilly to himself. His enemies thought they had him cornered, at the end of a long and brutal war. For a long time now (years, in fact), he had been making a fighting withdrawal and they thought his strength to be spent. But they had followed him all the way into Sylvania – the seat of the Vampire Counts' strength – and they had no idea what awaited them. The surface of the fens was still, betraying no hint of the restless dead waiting to obey his will. The foolish human cattle thought they had his match today, but he had more than enough forces hidden to change all of that. Once he had dealt with this alliance of Dwarfs and men, there would be little strength to repel him when his legions ventured forth once more. This battle would be the beginning of the end for the vulnerable Empire.

---

Count Martin von Kristallbach stood behind the lines, conferring with his captains and Kallad Stormwarden, the leader of the Dwarf force that stood side-by-side with his own Empire coalition. Kallad was visibly impatient, constantly tensing his grasp on the haft of the axe at his side. Martin understood his eagerness – finally he had the chance to face the Vampires that had destroyed his kin and hold – Karak Sadra would live on in the Great Book of Grudges and the hearts and minds of the Dwarfs, but its people were all but gone. After years of fleeing, Von Carstein had finally turned to fight – a mistake they did not intend to let him live to regret.

The Empire right flank was still a hive of activity, despite the relative calm across the rest of the line. The cavalry arrayed there were late arrivals – the Grand Theogonist Kurt III himself had arrived in the early hours of the morning at the head of a strong contingent of Knights. He had been pursuing Mannfred since besting him at the siege of Altdorf, and his arrival did much for the Empire cause. With his newly bolstered forces, Martin was confident that he finally had the strength available to put an end to the Vampire menace for good.

The thud of hooves announced the approach of a knight in heavily gilded armour, his visor raised to show a dark and grizzled face. “I am Markus Leichhardt, master of the Order of the Divine Sword,” he introduced himself with a curt bow in the saddle. “Herr Count, I place my men at your disposal. We came as soon as we heard that the abomination Gothard the Undying was in the enemy's midst. We mean to put an end to him for good.”

“You and your knights are most welcome, Master Leichhardt,” Martin acknowledged him with a nod. “Reports do indeed put the Wight Lord Gothard at Von Carstein's side.” Beside him, the Dwarf Kallad growled at the mention of the accursed vampire's name. Martin turned to look at him as he continued, “there are many here with a debt to settle with the undead host. I'm sure we'll all get our chance soon enough.”

Even as he spoke, the air over the enemy lines crackled with unnatural lightning, and the deafening peals of thunder that followed all but covered the sound of the undead army as it began its advance. “In fact,” said Martin, “it seems that time is now upon us. Everyone to your posts, and may Sigmar be with us.”

Hel Fenn - coming soon...

Hi folks!

For those of you waiting impatiently for the Hel Fenn battle report, I apologise. The New Year period has been a bit busy and this battle promises to take a long time to write up, if I want to do it justice. Sorting through about 700 images (and culling blurry and irrelevant ones - a symptom of having at least 5 people taking photos) is a bit of work, and then there's the writing and the maps... Rest assured, I will get there. The end product will probably come out on a turn-by-turn basis, as it will be too big for a single post and it might get things online a bit quicker. I hope to have something online before the end of the week. Time will tell exactly how much.

In the meantime, here are a couple of images to help tide you over...

Another full army shot

It's become a habit for me to take a photo every 6 months or so of my Empire army, to show how it has progressed. It's been about 6 months since the last shot, so I figured it was time once more, as the new year approaches.

Unfortunately the photo is not exactly a work of art. I was about to pack up the army into cases so that I could move it in preparation for the Hel Fenn game, and was a bit pressed for time. I still hope to get better at shots like this, but I really need to give myself more time if I want things to turn out properly. The green in the corners is me blotting out all the junk I had sitting in the background...

My Empire army, which is getting pretty big by now.