Our first battle

Our first battle was truly epic.   Bo was ready to get underway...

We were besieged from the north and east.  On the lower left are our units, after assigning them out we put them all in the castle.  The 2 units of Satyxis Raiders with a Sea Which leader were on the two ends of the enemy lines, and proved very effective against or  infantry.  They also shot the three catapults which inflicted heavy damage.  The Mechanithralls were in the middle concealed in the trees.  The Sea Which for the raiders and the concealment for the mechs meant we were forced to go out to engage them.

On the first turn the three catapults killed tons of guys in the castle.  Matt's Iron Fang Pikemen survived ok with shield wall, but Marc's mechanics and both a field gun and mortar where lost almost before the battle began.  Here we are putting some of the pikemen back in (after realizing they survived because of shield wall)  The places where you can see green in the castle are where guys used to be...

Jared and AJ charged their 'jacks out the west gate which Jared's mechanics in toe, and Froese lead the way out the east gate with his pikemen and officer.

The second wave of catapult fire brought down the north-east tower.  Unfortunately Matt's Doom Reavers were in the holding cells below (they terrify even their allies) and half of them were killed in the collapse.

On the west side, Matts pikemen followed the 'jacks as they engaged the raiders.  The raiders couldn't penetrate the armor of the 'jacks, but the 'jacks had no success hitting the dodgy raiders...

Rob's Winterguard Infantry also came out the west gate.  Retreat was not an option as the Mortar crew parked right in the doorway.  It was promptly destroyed by a stray catapult fireball.

At this point the Mechanithrals (with 3 Brute Thrall attachments each) emerged from the forest and prepared to charge.

The west gate force formed up with Schrag's Widowmakers supporting Froese's pikemen.  Ben's Kommandos are there also.  In the castle you can see that my shocktroopers are struggling to get down the stairs to get out to the battle.  Matt's surviving Doom Reavers charge out the hole in their cage.

On the west side, AJ's Juggernaut is still unable to make much headway on the raiders, but is undamaged, however Jared's Destroyer is shredded by the Brute Thralls. (they are the green guys)

The Mechanithralls sacrificed a couple guys to setup a charge into the Winterguard and devastated their ranks.  The Necrosurgeon and his minions dutifully made new Mechanithralls out of the corpes from both sides.  The Brutes continue to pound on Jared's Destroyer.  They used their *Combo Attack (a.k.a "Double Punch") to get through the armor and eventually scrapped the 'jack.  That was a huge blow to the good guys.

On the northern front Froese engaged the raiders.  This proved to be a very bad match-up for the pikemen. The high defense of the raiders coupled with their two attacks, one ignoring shield wall would later spell the brave pikemen's doom.  Schrag was only able hit the raiders with his aiming bonus due to the high defense and Sea Which +2 to ranged defense.  It looks like my shocktroopers are going to get out of the castle, but they change their mind at this point and go out the other door...

With some great rolling Froese did take out quite a few raiders, things looked good for awhile.  Aaron's shocktroopers (guys with the blue feathers) setup to defend the against the Brutes.  This turned out to be a very bad match-up as well.  The Brutes charged and "Double-Punched" through the shieldwall and ultimately crushed the normally un-killable shocktroopers.

Meanwhile my shocktroopers have finally gotten out of the castle...

Back on the north, however, things go south quickly as the Brutes run down the shocktroopers and Froese's dice go cold and the raiders overwhelm the pikemen.  Schrag shot one of Aaron's guys in the back of the head on accident.  Ah.. good times...
At this point Ben's Kommandos got their chance to shine.  The gassed the brutes and took them down.  It was an important point, however it would not be enough to keep the Mechanithralls of Schrag's Widowmakers....

The raiders finished off the pikemen and the Mechanithralls outnumbered Ben's guys whose ranks were diminished by catapult fire.  Once Schrags guys were engaged it was just a matter of time.  Eventually they became corpses for the Necrosurgeon...

On the west, AJ repairs his 'jack and my guys finally make themselves useful.  Rob gets around and rockets the catapult.  Things are looking up on this side...

The 'jack charged across the battlefield taking heavy damage from direct hits from the two catapults.  My guys did a conga line to slowly get over there.

AJ's 'jack continued to soak up the damage as waves of Mechanthralls changed him for boosed "Double-Punches."  Things looked bad there but he was able to get his mechanics up there to repair and keep it fighting.  My guys sacrificed one guy to setup the counter-charge and it looks like the shocktroopers where the right unit to fight those raiders.  Rob flanked the catapults, wrecking one and engaging the other. It was a huge move because I'm not sure how much more AJ's 'jack could have taken...

Rob sacrifices his last guy to engage the catapult and saves the Juggernaut.  The shocktroopers clean up the remaining guys.

The final blow mercifully came at nearly 1:00am, the exhausted survivors were vastly outnumbered by the fallen.  Khador is victorious, but at what cost?