In this series of articles, I plan to write narrative styled battle reports following the games of myself and a friend, Dan, as we work through the Black Tide campaign for Warmachine.
I am playing Orgoth as the Invaders, and Dan is playing Cygnar as the Defenders.
In this first game, it recounts the first landfall of Orgoth; a scouting party ahead of the main invasion to soften up and prepare for the main force to follow. The key objective here is to destroy a lighthouse that will see the invasion coming and warn the townsfolk.
The Sea Raider Invaders are:
Sabbreth, The Eternal Annihilation
-Inviolable Resolve, Redline, Windstorm
Jackal
-HEAD – Arc Node
-RIGHT ARM – Mace
-LEFT ARM – Heavy Bolt Thrower
Tyrant
-HEAD – Hunter
-RIGHT ARM – Scything Flail
-LEFT ARM – Ripper
Reaver Commander
Strike Reavers & Reaver Standard
Ulkor Barragers
Warwitch Coven
COMMAND CARD
Blessing of the Gods
Careful Reconnaissance
Hit & Run
Old Faithful
Power Swell
And the Cygnar defenders are:
Lieutenant Alistair Caine
Ace
Centurion
Triumph
Trencher Master Gunner
Trencher Cannon Crew
Trencher Long Gunners
Sabbreth: It was the middle of the night, but fortunately the cloudless skies gave enough light from the moon and stars that they wouldn’t need to use torches or anything else that would give them away. Scouts had determined that this would be the best place to start the invasion, defenses were weak and lacking though there was a single lighthouse that would be able to spot the large ships of the main invasion force approaching. Sabbreth took a small and fast ship, to deal with this complication while the rest of the fleet were just over the horizon.
The invasion was due to start just before dawn, which gave her not much time to destroy this obstacle. Eyes were all on her as the invasion was her idea and she was in command, while Horruskh and Kishtaar, who were sent to support her would be eager to usurp control if anything didn’t go exactly to plan, to take more glory for themselves. After all, the humiliating retreat and failure of the previous invasion had happened under the nose of one of Horruskh’s past lives, and that stain on his honour chafed at him constantly.
Sabbreth led her landing force up the beach as quietly as possible, but the noise of her two Warjacks was almost impossible to conceal, and it was no surprise to find some local military rousing as she got to the top of the rise that the lighthouse was built upon.
Spurring her Strike Reavers ahead to cross the bridge in a shield wall to protect the hulking Ulkor Barragers, she bolstered their armour with an Inviolable Resolve spell. She also covered their approach with Fog of War, and took refuge on a rocky outcropping overlooking the battle for a good vantage point. She was joined on the hill by the Warwitch Coven and Reaver Commander, as her Warjacks went around the bridge – the Tyrant to the left, and the Jackal to the right.
Caine: While initially annoyed at being roused this early in the morning (fortunately, last night didn’t have too much local ale involved…), his combat instincts kicked in as he realised that they were under attack. When he had been deployed to this post a few weeks back on his normal rotation, he had had local troops dig a trench near the lighthouse after seeing the general weakness of this part of the coastline. Admittedly, it was mostly just “make work” to keep the troops busy and away from bothering the local tavern, given the period of peace and recovery following the Infernal war, but it seemed to have paid off!
Seeing shapes moving up the beach in the darkness, and hearing the sounds of Warjacks, he quickly cast Snipe on the Cannon Crew before ducking behind the bulk of the lighthouse, using it as cover while he checked his Magelock pistols were correctly loaded. Whilst it was very dark, obscuring his vision, something seemed off – the sounds of the Warjacks weren’t right, and the silhouettes didn’t match up to anything he had seen before. A heavy weight was beginning to settle in the pit of his stomach.
With a gentle mental nudge, Caine directed his Centurion to move giving him additional cover. He had a really bad feeling about this…
Shouting orders to the Cannon Crew, they advanced and fired at the centre of the massed figures crossing the bridge, sending one member of the shield wall flying, opening a hole for the second shot as the Master Gunner shouted at them to reload and shoot again. With a grunt of pain, one of the other shield wielding foes droped, diving in front of the flag bearer to protect them from the flying shrapnel.
Looking to take advantage of some pre-dawn mist that was coalescing, Ace runs into a concealed area to further conceal his frame as he prowls towards the enemy Jackal. Multitasking mentally, Caine directed Triumph to shoot at the Jackal too, making it reel with a bestial and unnatural howl on a direct hit, in order to distract these unknown foes from his troops running and diving into the trench they had been digging just days before.
Sabbreth: Siphoning off some of her magical power to keep her spells in play, Sabbreth considered the losses she felt very keenly. Not for the sake of her troops, they were as dedicated to the cause as she was, and the Felgoeth cult of Internals cared not whose souls they received, just that they kept flowing. No, her concern was losing control of *her* invasion plans. With the advancing enemy, she allocated some additional Focus for the Jackal; that cannon was a surprising nuisance, and had to be dealt with!
With a command barked by the Reaver Commander, the Strike Reavers broke formation and charged ahead, diving into the trench with the rifle wielding infantry. It was a short bloody skirmish, a quick bash with the shield to the face, followed up by a close range shot from their Bolt Thrower as the local militia lay stunned on the ground. The speed and ferocity of the Reavers was no match for these bleary eyed and still sleepy militia. If this was the level of military that the Orgoth fleet would find in the morning, it will be a very quick invasion. Not even Horruskh could deny her glory then!
Without the Strike Reavers blocking their way, the Ulkor Barragers advanced and start shooting at the Cannon Crew – evidently they had come to the same conclusion as Sabbreth, and after laying waste, they dispersed to clear the way behind them. One jumping in the trench with the Strike Reavers, and another tumbling into the mist and coming face to face with a light Warjack with a big gun…
Whilst the outcome was what she had hoped, Sabbreth muttered under her breath; she needn’t have diverted so much extra power to the Jackal if she had known that the Barragers were going to succeed to that degree! Urging her Warjacks forward, they both crossed the river flowing out to sea. Spotting movement from one of the dying troops in the trench, the Warwitch Coven dashed forwards and used their magic to Flesh Eater the remaining life from a troop not quite dead, and redirect it into healing the cannon shot damage from a nearby Ulkor.
Not yet ready to leave her commanding view of the battle from the rocky outcropping, Sabbreth channels her magic through the Arc Node in her Jackal to debilitate the heavy Warjack standing infront of the man she took to be the opposing Warcaster. It was holding a spear as long as she was tall in one hand and a huge shield in the other. Anything to limit the damage from that thing was much in need.
Caine: “Damn these brutes are brutal!” he thought, watching the slaughter in the trench. Feeding off his idle thoughts or perhaps darkening temperament, Triumph sent another shot at the rapidly advancing light Warjack. Another unworldly howl. There is definitely something not right here – can’t be Khador, Protectorate are all but gone, as is Convergence. No one had seen the Elves or Cryx lately, so perhaps them? But it didn’t *feel* right, the humanoid shapes looked bigger and bulkier than them. Almost like Skorne, but they didn’t have Warjacks the last had heard. But this didn’t change his plans. He needed to do something to stop them, but without his years of knowledge fighting the other known forces in the area, he was at a loss as to what the weak spot was.
The Trencher Master Gunner was not stuck in reverie, however, and ran towards the flag bearer unloading his shotgun. The blast dropped the flag bearer, but bounced off the shield of the large body behind him.
Ace, meanwhile, was left to his own ministrations – the eagerness to reach the cloud cover meant that he was beyond the range of Caine’s fine tuned control. Swinging his battleaxe at the hulking ogrun like figure before him, he just couldn’t quite connect. A marked difference to the Centurion, who was noticeably slower, under the effects of the enemy spell, but under Caine’s control, he was quick to despatch the two shield wielding figures in front of him.
Caine mentally nudged Triumph, again, directing him to shoot at the light Warjack getting dangerously close, but the darkness and an unnatural haze caused the shot to go wide. Watching through Triumph’s eyes, Caine blamed the Fog of War, and steels himself. Unless he did something all would be lost, and despite the opposing force being unknown, something he did know was that they could still die if enough bullets were applied. With gritted teeth, he darts out from behind the lighthouse and expends all his magic in a burst, causing his pistols to fire and reload in a blur – a true Feat of magical intensity. The barrage of bullets downs one of the lithe witches to his right, as well as headshotting the brutes with the big guns who had demolished the Cannon Crew. Caine’s anger at the loss of the troops whom he had shared some light drinks with the night before, empowering the bullets to destroy their adversaries. Breathing heavily from the effort, he then used the last of his magical Focus to Teleport back to safety – he didn’t fancy facing the retaliation of these savages when standing out in the open; but he had better ideas and a plan forming. Attrition seemed to be leaning in his favour.
Sabbreth: She couldn’t believe it, she had this battle in the palm of her hand, but blinked and watched as an explosion of bullets tore apart her forces! She needed to keep an eye on the prize. It was evident that while the garrisoned forces here were taken by surprise, and out maneuvered by unfamiliar opponents, it was just proven that she was also just as unfamiliar with her adversaries, and couldn’t afford to get complacent.
Taking stock of her remaining troops, and the immutable goal of destroying the lighthouse, she knew that it was now or never. Feeling the constant drain of spells upkept, she allocated out more magical Focus, and charged forwards, unleashing her own Feat of magic to suddenly cast everything she had. Inviolable Resolve onto the Jackal, Windstorm to try and dampen the enemy’s bullets, and Redline to push the Tyrant beyond it’s mechanikal limits. Taking cue from Sabbreth’s rash actions, the remaining Warwitches moved up summoning their Deathly Power to weaken the crumbling mortar at the base of the lighthouse.
With an angry roar, the Tyrant surged forwards, hydraulics screaming as they rattled apart under the extraordinary pressure of Sabbreth’s Redline. It crashed into the base of the lighthouse and by the time it had stopped swinging, the structure had toppled, making a huge cloud of dust and debris.
Mission accomplished, Sabbreth and her forces faded away into the night using the dust cloud, confusion and darkness to escape as anyone who was still asleep in the region awoke with a start to the rumble in the ground of falling masonry.
Caine: More than anything, Caine wanted sleep, and a stiff drink, perhaps not in that order… But the respect he had for his fallen troops, demanded that he saw to recovering their bodies first and foremost. But he couldn’t help but be distracted by his tactical training and intuition – he had noted the weakness of this position when posted here, and destroying the lighthouse would be exactly what he would do if he was planning a larger incursion along this section of shoreline.
Nothing could be done now by its loss, but he sent messengers up and down the coast on fast horses to rouse all of the camps and to raise the alarms. Something big was coming.
Working through the rubble to assist with the recovery effort for the ill-fated Long Gunner unit, he uncovered one of the enemy shield wielders. It looked human enough, but *big*, and the weapons looked close enough to recognise what they were but also foreign in their construction and operation. There was something here that deepened his already dark mood, and then his stomach lurched when the dots connected in his head; this iconography – it’s different, modernised, but there were key, unmistakable, elements that harked back to designs he had seen in his military history textbooks from bootcamp.
The Orgoth had returned.
Domonet 
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