Shortshank redemption pt.16. The rampage of Ale-Axe-Ander!

"Peek a boo!"

Keel Grymm did not know what disconcerted him more; the horrifically scarred form of Ale Axe Ander and his rising blood lust or the drooling, one armed monstrosity that the once proud 'Nailz' had now become. 

If they wanted to admit it or not the result was the same. The extended time thay had spent in this cursed city had had an irredeemable effect on them. Regardless how much Wyrdstone and riches they finally fled this hell hole with they would never be welcomed back by their clan. The taint of this city now run too deep in their veins!

This Friday finally saw my brother and I contest another slice of Mordheim in our ongoing campaign.

The trouble with playing at my brothers is I always leave something behind in my mad rush to get out of the door. In this instance it was the gaming mat. The advantage was we did not have to keep crawling on the floor to see the die roll every time they fell under the table!

The table is set and we roll up an 'occupy' scenario. Four buildings need to be occupied by the eighth turn.

Both Kris and I have had brutal weeks at work and looked like the walking dead as we started the game. Thankfully as things hotted up we got our second wind and were full of piss and vinegar by the final throws of the dice!

In the opening moves I rush my warband through the alley ways to surround the objective buildings. I figure there is no point sniping at this point as the Dwarves have superior range thanks to their Engineer.

Kris follows suit and also charges forward with foul intentions. All that is except 'Nails' who fails his stupidy test and just drools for a bit.

A volley of fire from my shootists proves mostly ineffective apart from nailing Kris' Pit fighter 'Rooster'. At least he never died jumping off a 3" ledge this time!

Kris continues to charge forward into the volley of fire.

Ale Axe Ander surges forward alone to carve a bloody path through my flanking marksmen. Kannon does a great job of stalling out the Dwarfs charge but it is only a matter of time before he is brought down. Rather then support him in combat the other Marksmen attempt to use this brief opportunity to skewer the supporting dwarves.

"say hello to my little friend!"

The rest of my Heros look sheepishly towards Kannon, think "fuck that" and then charge towards 'Billy Cribb' occupying the first of the buildings.

Thankfully Archie and the two new handgunners manage to drop the Dwarf attempting to flank my forces.

'Cairo' and Bill attempt to clear the second of the objective buildings. 'Dildo' the Halfling follows up behind.

Crazy Joe and Lord Crashart encircle Cribb and blast into the building with reckless abandon with their pistols.

As the smoke clears the salty dog Cribb is left standing. At least they did not shoot each other in the crossfire!

Cairo falls to crossbow fire and Bill continues the drive up the middle alone.

Through a system of fire and manoeuvre I have finally managed to expose the majority of Kris' warband despite his expert use of moving through cover.

I now finally get to unleash the full cannoncade of my fire power in an effort to decimate the Dwarves and clear the objective buildings.

Not a single Dwarf is dispatched despite my mass of ranged attacks.. . . . . . BUGGER!

Bill is charged by one Dwarf before being blind sided by a second Dwarf lurking unseen in the shadows.

Despite his myriad of combat skills learnt during his time in Mordheim Bill is hacked down and will not survive the post game injury roll. This will be a real loss to my warband at this stage of the campaign!

Dildo is plugged by a crossbow bolt but the plucky little bastard brushes it off.

Cribb charges in on Crashhart and 'Guapo Joe' and knocks them both senseless. Crazy Joe and Ben are forced to race to their rescue.

Despite his bravado Dildo runs into the cover of the ruined building to avoid any more incoming fire. In his haste he fails to realise he is now in charge range of an irrate Dwarf. . . . . . . . Things do not go well!

"Pick on someone your own size"

Cribb sees off his two aggressors with contemptuous ease. 'The Boar' runs over and curb stomps the unconscious 'Guapo Joe'.

With my casualties rising, Ale-axe-ander rampaging down my left flank unchecked and two heros on the verge of being curb stomped I decide to sound the retreat and bolt for the back table edge.

 

Another blood and thunder game of Mordheim in the bag and the map continues to be balanced on a knifes edge. 

Kris only needs to win one more game to seal the east side of the river and in reality the campaign. 

The trouble is he has really worked out the best way to run his warband so he is really going to take some stopping.

Thankfully I rolled a 'returning a favour' during my wyrd stone hunt so I will have an Ogre bodyguard in tow next game. Maybe he will swing the balance?

Epilogue 

Grymm was not a sentimental soul but even he could feel his bottom lip quivering as they pointed 'Nails' towards the pit and gave him a gentle prod to start his shambling towards his certain doom. 

They had all decided this was the best course of action for the husk of a Dwarf the once proud Slayer had now become. 'A noble and fitting end to finally fulfill his oath' they had decided. 

If that was the case why could none of the warband meet each others eye?

On a postive note Grymm thought at least I do not have to worry about getting his drool on my boots anymore.