Let's Rip Off Something Awful - Dark Omen or No Love For 56K

This is so weird. I played the next battle with infantry - 12 dead men, 9 infantry. I replayed it with infantry. 9 dead men, 8 of them infantry.

I replayed the mission without the infantry...

1 dead man, a crossbowman. I am so bad at this game that I am good at it again! Next chapter tomorrow, I think.

Chapter 7 - "The Glorious Five"

Welcome back to Let's Play Dark Omen. Let's not waste any time, since typing this stuff up is the longest part of LPing, to be frank, and when you'll be at the end of this post, I'll have edited and written on this forum post for about ninety minutes. Let's go!

Last time we met, the grand magic foozle of the emperor consulted the Liber Mortis.

Let's see if that was any use, huh?




:idea: (Wizard) That was a hazardous consultation of the Liber Mortis my Lord, an ordeal of high and low doom. The moment I approached the book it bit me most ferociously. I must apologise for the explosion that blew off the door to the Chamber Unbreachable [!] but the simultanous release of seventeen demons from the book's spine caused a spiritual detonation in the soul-stored air of the room. This was a most unpleasant thing, one only I could have survived, and even I suffered a minor damnation and my soul is twisted as a corkscrew.
:!: (Emperor) I suggest you keep the state of your soul to yourself and inform us instead what you have gleamed from the grimoire.
:idea: Well, there was mentioning of an obscure horror, the Dread King, but of his nature or kingdom I learned nothing. But there is rather more- something about three objects that are related to the present threat of the empire. The first of these is the Jewel of Moresleep, apparently located in the East of Sylvania. The second is the Hand of Nagash, rumoured to reside in the region of Kisleth, and the third is the Black Grail which might conceivably be found in Bretonia.
:!: These objects must be investigated. Commander, I give you the task of seeking them out. As Countess Isabel was captured by Carlstein of Sylvania I suggest you first move to Castle Drakenhof, deep in Sylvania. It would seem the most likely location for the Jewel as Count Carstein is clearly involved in this matter. Also, it is imperative that you rescue the Countess before the Count gives her the Kiss of Blood and makes her his vampire slave.
:evil: (Morgan) I'll save her, whatever it takes. This... is personal.
:!: Volkmar... What more can you tell us of the Jewel of Moresleep?
:idea: All I know is that the Jewel is most certainly in Sylvania. It is, so the Liber Mortis says, a special evil.
(Inquisitor) A spiritual avatar like Bernhardt isn't capable of completing this mission unaided. The path with be ripe with undead most foul, infernal traps and devilish spells. I, however, pure in spirit, am immune to all demonic tricks. I also have excellent contacts in Sylvania [Hmmm...] which I am sure Bernhardt has not. I'll ride up ahead and... (noticable pause) ... ...spy out the land. [Aside:] ...just as soon as I burned a few heretics...
:evil: Do what you must, Mathias... just don't get in my way. And call me Commander.
:!: Whatever quarrel you have with the Witchhunter General, leave it aside for the moment. You must direct all your attention to finding the Jewel and rescuing the Countess. Good fortune- though it won't be easy to find in Sylvania. Farewell.



:riding noises:



Undead forces ahead!
:evil: Prepare to engage!

Battle 8 - The Trap




This is the only enemy regiment, and it's right next to a treasure chest containing gold. Hmm.




Between those wights that sparkle blue - a clear sign of them carrying a magic item - there are many of those abandoned hill graves. Wait... hill graves? Surely that doesn't mean...




...that undead will swarm out of them!? We hastily retreat the Bright Wizard and pelt those minor undead with the cannon, spells, the Grudgebringer sword and the crossbows.




As you can see by the swiftly dwindling numbers of undead, ranged attacks are very effective. Also, our crossbowmen leveled up last battle, so they are about 33% more accurate, resulting in even more ranged carnage. The undead follow the wizard, giving the crossbows ample time to decimate the undead while the cavalry is busy fighting some skeletons.




Soon the crossbows destroy the minor undead and are ready to deal with the new threat- skeleton archers our cavalry can't deal with... yet.




Weakened by bolt and cannonfire, the skeletons offer no challenge to our Grudgebringers.




Remember that treasure chest? We teleport the wizard right next to collect it and to scout the area- seems like there's more undead. Luther is going to like this next bit.




Look, a new enemy regiment-




Additional damage to fire, huh? Well, that can be arranged.








We (ab)use the Bright Wizard- he lures the undead around in circles, occasionally burning a few, while the cannon and crossbows target everything dumb enough to get into range.




More undead from the east- a regiment of skeleton archers. A direct cannon hit killed six of them, the cavalry finishes them off. Take note of how we keep guiding the surviving undead from southwest to southeast with the wizard.




The wights from the beginning and some more skeletons join the fray. Our cavalry with maximum armor and wearing the enchanted shield is less than impressed.



Score!




This magic item is a double-edged sword- since it prevents the wearer from running away, ever, that means a regiment carrying it could very easily be completely destroyed if you're not careful. Anyway-








There was a lot of rejoicing and maybe some celebrating, but not for long- duty called us further, to the east.




We rest in a town called Kemperbad for the night and witness this little episode-

A regiment of Imperial Greatswords has been waiting for us. They've been instructed to join your army and fight with us to the very end. That's the good news.
:evil: And the bad news?
The Kemperbad townsfolk have sighted undead in the surrounding countryside-
I have to leave you for a while to... eh... pursue my mission; the mission of saving souls.
:evil: That's good news for me and bad news for the souls. Ready the men, Klaus! We march for Sylvania!

:!: New Unit :!:



I like them about as much as the Grudgebringer Infantry. Though doing more damage, they are more fragile and have just as low morale. In addition to being unable to wear much armor, it also happens that they will ALWAYS attack after the enemy, taking losses no matter what. I hate infantry. If only there was some cool infanty, like, I don't know, mercenary trolls or maybe some crazy berserker squard that wears no armor but is actually powerful... Too much to ask for, I guess.

:riding noises:




Who the hell are these maniacs? Oh no- they're flagellants, about to whip themselves into a frenzy as usual.
:evil: They don't seem too keen on flogging their own backs at the moment.
That's true. Usually flagellants wouldn't do that unless they have an enemy to lash out at instead. I wonder what made them stop... HEY YOU! Are you the leader of this regiment?




:shock: Yessss. I am the leader... Eusebio the name. Can't you sense an evil presence there in the forest? We were marching towards that but we had to stop. They're watching us from the trees... evil eyes, evil eyes!
:evil: There's nothing out there in the forest. You men are frightened by your own shadows!
:shock: Listen to the silence...
[No sound is heard, no owl hooting at the night, no insects chirping, nothing...]
He's right, Morgan. Listen to the silence- something has frightened the animals of the night.
:evil: I see your point. Eusebio- why don't you and your men join up with us?
:shock: Gladly, Commander. Safety in numbers.
MORGAN! Greenskins coming from the trees!
:evil: Greenskins? That makes a change- ATTACK!


Battle 9 - The Dark Forest

First, let's check out the...

:!: New Unit :!:


HELL YEAH

Ah! Finally! An infantry regiment I will use! The Flagellants are crazy sonuvabitches that fight in only robes, so even a stray arrow will kill one of them easily. But unlike our pussy Greatswords or the Grudgebringer Infantry, those guys have great morale and will pretty much never flee. Better yet, they hit HARD. Even powerful enemy regiments go down quickly when the flagellants torment them with their heavy spiked flails. Another advantage: They are very cheap to replace, and their numbers are small, making them easy to maneuver. I'd much rather have a unit of nine useful fellows than one of twenty useless wimps. Grudgebringer Infantry, I am looking at you.
Hell yeah! Let's wreak some havoc with them.




We start the battle "blind", not knowing where enemies will come from. But what's this...

:shock: There! They're to the North!
:evil: No! To the East!
:shock: They're all around us!

Gah! Focus, focus...




Finally we actually see, not only hear some of them. Archers from both sides, and a goblin shaman.




As every other spellcaster in the game, the shaman can easily decimate half a unit in seconds. Cannons! Archers! All fire at the magician! Cavalry! Keep the archers to the east of our backs!




We score some DAMN lucky hits- not only do our crossbows annihilate the archers as well as the shaman, no, better yet, the greenskins don't get to release their "surprise" which hence I'll have to show you another mission. Anyway, the battle rages on- the fallen greenskins are quickly replaced with more from the northwest and some sort of monsters swarming us... like what the flagellants are fighting.




That's right, a monster. Flagellants are excellent at killing them, being able to resist fear well and also happening to be extremely tough.




Meanwhile our archers notice something creeping up on us- Great! A fucking spider!



Yuck!

A lucky cannonball destroys it. Protip: The best and safest way to deal with monsters are cannonballs and archer-fire combined. But there's something even faster- a direct hit with the "Blast" or "Flaming Skull" spell can kill them just as efficiently, at least the scorpions and the spiders. If one doesn't do it, two should.




Barely having caught their breath from fighting the nightgobbos, the cavalry already has to rush to the south-west to catch those scorpions before they charge our cannon crew! Notice the nightgoblins advancing from the south-east and another spider from the north.



:evil: You're TOAST!




All that's left is a spider and more nightgoblins- easy pickings.



More gold!



Well, this sure was worth it.





Another reason to love the Flagellants - 20 gp per man? Hell yeah.


Emerging victorious once again, we continue to ride to the east- only to be interrupted AGAIN.




Ah, Commander! I am Ludwig van Uberdorf of ze Imperial Army. Our Steamtank's been damaged, can you help us?
:evil: I am not a mechanic.
I meant, can you help protect us vile ve are reparing ze tank?
*chuckle* He knows what you meant. Don't take that straight face of the Commander too seriously. Anyway, what happened to you?
My crew were driving the Steamtank to Blighted Towers. We are part of a force ordered to exterminate a rabble of greenskins that has taken over the tower. But... uhm...
Your tank broke down...?
Ja! Und now ve're isolated. Our escort halberdiers have been killed by orc patrols. Ve're all alone.
:evil: How did you survive the attack that wiped out the halberdiers?
Wir... Ve hid inside the Steamtank until the orcs left. But they could return any moment. Will you aid us?
:evil: Tell me more about Blighted Towers.
Zey are on die way to Sylvania and rise high up into the clouds. But, they can be taken, mylord, with courage and resolve.
Orc ambush!! Watch out!
:evil: Prepare to defend!


Battle 10 - Ambushed!

First off, the new unit-



It's... a panzer!

Now, let's take a look at the area-




We're right below that steep cliff... since we know we're being ambushed, it would be reasonable to assume the greenskins are coming from there- We order all troops to go there. I am using the greatswords so you guys can see how much they suck.




Greenskins! Greenskins by ze dozen! They shall not get the tank!

As you can see, there's a whole lot of orcs right on our necks- We tangle them with the infantry and the suckswords, using the cavalry to strike at their flanks when appropriate. After a short and not very noteworthy battle...




...we pick up this strange glowing banner the Arrer Boyz were carrying.




Today is a good day.




Enemy forces ahead!

Many, many greenskins coming from the north, among them the dreaded Boar Boyz, the greenskin cavalry. As they ride boars with long tusks that count as polearms, charging them with cavalry of your own results in them +8 to their Strength. So, uh, don't do it.




This mission is pretty boring and business as usual- the cannon and the archers keep the orcish spellcaster away and decimate the Boar Boyz...








... and the Cavalry and the Flagellants kill the archers.




Notice how, even though six of their brothers died, the Flagellants just keep on fighting. Awesome. With the last Arrer Boy dead, we win the battle.








Our cannon levels up. +1 Accuracy.

After the battle...




Commander! My crew can reach the Blighted Towers and assault the orc force. But we can't succeed without your assistance!
:evil: Well... it is on our way, and my sword arm could use some exercise... [...despite him having killed twenty-one orcs a few minutes ago...]
If we help you, will you and your crew come with us to Sylvania?
Sorry, but we need to go back to Altdorf after that for essential repairs.
:evil: Somehow I knew you'd say that.
Morgan! We could lose valuable time here.
:evil: And we might gain valuable allies. Let's press on to the towers!

Well... kinda weird, this. It almost reads as if the designers wanted this to be an optional mission that rewards you with the steamtank, but they removed the choice and streamline you into doing it. The difficulty, as you will see, sure would make this worthy of an optional mission.

To Blighted Towers!

:riding noises:




Ze cannon and mortar crews are already here, Morgan, primed to attack the Towers. All they were waiting for was the Steamtank.
Commander! If you join forces with us we have a good chance of wiping the tower clean of orcs!
:evil: Agreed. Launch the assault!


Battle 11 - The Glorious Five

First, let's take a look at the mentioned cannon and mortar!






Not bad, not bad at all.




Since we have to use the Tank and the Imperial Artillery, we might as well leave our own cannon at home. As well as that useless infantry and greatsword units. Bah. We have Flagellants now!




The two ballista-shaped banners represent orc-ballistae- their cannon equivalent, and just as deadly. The banner to the north-east is the dreaded rock lobber, their mortar. It HURTS. Hence, put all your units as far to the south as you can.




I'll use this rapidly advancing regiment of Boar Boyz to show off the Imperial Mortar. Take aim... fire...




...obliterate!




Greenskins try to assault us and fail miserably. Note the fleeing Orc Boyz. The ones closing in will soon follow suit. If you wonder why they are still this big- for some weird reason, arrows had no effect on them. They also drop a magic item when killed, but we're too busy to investigate this further... Also notice that the enemy has a spellcaster and three, count them, three units of archers just waiting for us to move too far to the north.




Our usual approach: Cannonball the hell out of everything and let the crossbows do the rest.




I was going to introduce the orc shaman at this point, but a cannonball to the face killed him before he was noteworthy enough for me to bother making a shot of his profile.




Stalemate. We destroyed most of the orcish mobile defenses, but their archers, ballistae and the dreaded rock lobber, a catapult, are still in place. We'll have to think of something. Our wizard can't teleport this mission.




Remember that magic item I mentioned, and the orcs that weren't harmed by missile attacks? Our cavalry drops their enchanted shield (hold ALT, click on the item) and rushes to the magic item, just north, but in range of the catapult. I do hope they don't get hit! They're so damn expensive.




Almost there, please don't get hit, please don't get hit...




BULLSHIT!

The unit more than cut in half, NINE whole mean dead from a single, direct hit by the orcish catapult, our cavalry finally reaches the item- a magic shield... a familiar shield. We possessed it once, way back in SotHR - the shield of Ptolos, making one immune to archers, crossbows and ballistae...

Unsmiling, the grim Grudgebringers leave their fallen friends behind and ride towards the orc artillery with menacing determination...




And ride right back- More Boar Boyz! Remember, they ride boars, which have tusks, thus giving them the edge against cavalry.




Out of range from the dreaded rock lobber, our own cannon and mortar pelt the Boar Boyz relentlessly...




Flagellants, Cavalry and Crossbows work in harmony and get rid of all three units of Boar Boyz with no losses at all, our Bright Wizard setting ablaze as many of the fleeing filthy orcs as he can. Finally, they're all dead and only the archers and artillery remain.




:evil: Not for long.




Seeking vengeance for their fallen comrades, the Grudgebringers ride right into the middle of the battlefield, the shield of Ptolos warding them from most of the projectiles. One by one they slay the orcs, cutting each of the greenskins down with quiet fury.




Their rage - after all, nine of their men were just killed by bad luck - makes them careless and we lose even more men... soon there's only five horsemen left alive.
The Glorious Five.
Click for suitable background music.



Driven by sheer hatred, bloody, beaten, battered, the cavalry fights on, fights for the friends they have lost, their swords thirsting for blood.



No prisoners.
No remorse.
No regret.




It is done... and all that is left is a trail of corpses.






We make no profit from this mission. But it was so worth it.




Huh! Morgan! What are you doing here? Indulging in swordplay with the greenskins while the undead march upon the Empire?
:evil: Just passing the time.
You! Cannon and mortar crews, stay where you are!
Taking up war as a profession now, Witchhunter?
As an emissary to the Emperor, I am commandeering one of those war machines for the mission to Sylvania. Now... cannon... or mortar - which one shall I choose?
:evil: You don't. -I- choose.
I can't waste my time arguing with you. I have an urgent mission to fulfill and must leave immeadeately!
:evil: More heretics to burn?
You'll end up in hell, Bernhardt!

:evil: I was born there.




Choice time! Shall we take the cannon, of which we already have one and that can only shoot in a straight line or shall we take the mortar which can shoot in an arc, hence from behind cover? Choose wisely.

A: Take the cannon! The only thing better than a cannon is two cannons!
B: Pick the mortar! Embrace diversity!

First three votes decide. Hurry up, the next missions are great, though I only tried out the next two. After that it's terra incognita.

MORTAAAR COMBAAAAT!

Inarguably mortar. Trust me youll need it .

Wait, how ze hell did you destroy the catapults? Does the shield of ptolos protect from them too?

And how do you kill stuff with so few losses (in other missions)? Even if my cavalry engages an enemy that is weakened by archers, they sometimes lose a man or two.

Anyway, thanks for your time and effort, I am enjoying this immensely!

The cannon, obviously. Who needs mortars in this day and age?

Mortarrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

Fantastic work as always, Commander Jasede.

The catapults? There's only one catapult, the other things are ballistae. The shield protects from ballistae hits as well as mortar/cannon/catapult SPLASH damage, but not a direct hit of the latter.

How I destroyed the catapult, anyway? Why, I charged it head on! That's how the Glorious Five would have wanted it. Catapults/Mortars are very innaccurate. The Glorious Five just charged right through a hail of arrows, catapult-splash and ballistae-bolts into the face without slowing down, thanks to the shield. It doesn't make you immune, but it sets your AC really, really, really high, so it's nearly the same.

About not losing men- Well, look, I also sometimes lose a man or two! You can't prevent it, even if you give them the enchanted shield. All you can do is trying to decimate the enemy as much as you can before engaging and using the Grudgebringer Sword/Lightning Banner/Hellfire sword as often as you can. Here's a hint that might help: Once you get a regiment to flee, it's basically dead if they flee from your cavalry. The enemy must roll a morale check after each combat "round", and this check is harder the less living combatants the unit still has and the more damage you did in a round- hence a wounded regiment at half strength is incredibly easy to make flee and then kill with no losses to the cavalry.

Another thing is- lure the enemy around like I demonstrate pretty often- make them target, say, the wizard and then just keep him moving while the archers kill the enemies following him. No losses at all that way.

And if your cavalry is forced into melee, try helping them by charging an unit into the enemy's back. Since cavalry is expensive, sacrificing some infantry or even crossbowmen to soak up some damage is very acceptable.

Also, you didn't vote.

Have you considered giving the Flagellants the enchanted shield?

Why give them the enchanted shield when they could have the Shield of Ptolos?




That's right, in addition to making you nearly immune against most ranged attacks, it ALSO acts just like the enchanted shield, improving armor!

Aha, I forgot about that basic level of Armour part. Silly me.

But then again, won't your calvary encounter ballistics more often? Usually by the time your Flagellants would get close enough, you'd have decimated the threat long ago. Or am I ignorant of something the future holds due to not playing for years?

How would I know, I haven't played the game past the next mission! But the cavalry already has 5 armor, 6 with the shield, so those whiny, moaning bitches better shut up. In fact, I am prolly going to end up giving the shield to my crossbows [!] because I am greatly enjoying this new game and am going to play it the way it's most fun to me, even if it means making sub-optimal choices (not using real infantry, skimpy on armor, sub-par magic item allocation, and I even missed a potion of strength from the Blighted Towers quest but I reckon I only need two anyway, in case some unit reaches my mortar/cannon so the crew can defend itself until help arrives. Don't tell anyone I missed it. >_>)

I reckon the Flagellants will end up without any shield at all because that's how I like them the most. :D

I'm surprised flagellants can even equip shields.

By all means play as you please.

It's a much more entertaining read when you are enjoying the game yourself as it seeps into your writing.

Keep the ze olde Panzere. Steampunk + Dark Ages ahoy!

I recently got SoHR to work with Windows XP. I'm liking it. Reminds me of Myth. And I love Myth.

Nice thread, faggot, BTW.

Love this thread. And go with the mortar. Combined arms, etc.

Also, if you hate the infantry because they're afraid of everything, why don't they get the No Fear banner?

Then they'd still be slow as hell, and weak. The flagellants are also moving slow, roll their attack fast and are powerful as fuck. The greatswords are also strong, but very, very slow and always attack last, hence will always get like half their unit killed, if not more even before dealing some damage. The grudgebringer infantry is neither slow nor fast and only good to catch bullets with. I'd rather wait until I find a regiment that's actually useful to give the banner too.

You best be writing the next chapter with all this free time you are using to reply to us.

MOAR!! :evil:

Uploading now, dude.

Chapter 8 - There Be Vampires

Welcome back. Last update we fought some epic battles. They're only going to get better. You fools decided to get the mortar instead of the awesome cannon. Fine. I am a slave to your decision. Let's see... where did we stop? Ah yes-

We must leave to Altdorf, Commander. Thank you for your help.
:evil: Don't mention it. Klaus! We resume the march to Sylvania... and castle Drakenhof!

Drakenhof reads like an American would pronounce Drachenhof, which could be translated as "Dragon's Court", quite the badass name if I do say so myself.




Imagine a Final Fantasy overworld theme music playing.
http://208.53.158.138/soundtracks/ff4-o ... rkness.mp3




Undead horde waiting up ahead!
:evil: Launch the assault!


Battle 12 - Into the Darkness

Ah... this was one of the most fun battles up until now, and I enjoyed it tremendously.




We begin on the southwest of the map, parted by a river from a vampire's tower and his two skeleton archer guards. Our troops are out of their range, so no worries. Our goal? Kill the vampire lord and all the surrounding undead before they kill us!




Our cannon has a long range and can hit the archers from across the river without giving them any hope of being able to retaliate. After some losses, the AI finally moves their skeletons out of the cannon's line of sight.

:twisted: You will die~

The hollow taunts of the Vampire Lord we can't even see at the moment grieve us deeply.



Meanwhile we send our Bright Wizard to scout out up ahead and see if he can't lure some enemies into mortar-range. But what's this? New spell?




Sweet! This spell with freeze a regiment, any regiment for a few turns. This should come in very, very handy.




The wizard's mission is a success- undead forces are discovered and they follow the mage like the brainless creatures they are.




They follow right into their fiery doom.




A direct hit with the mortar and the crossbows raining death upon the ghouls destroys them rather swiftly- but this other, strange regiment seems impervious to our efforts to destroy it- only magic seems to have an effect. Let's read their blurb.




Damnit! It's true. Only vulnerable to magic weapons... and the only magic weapon we have is carried by the Grudgebringer Cavalry. And guess what? They wraiths are using scythes- polearms. This gives them not only double strength versus cavalry, it also gives them quadruple strength if our cavalry were to charge them! This is going to be a costly battle again.




The battle has settled down- we managed to destroy the wraiths, but lost two good men in the process.




Again, the Bright Wizard is sent to scout. More wraiths and some ghouls- not a problem.




Can you imagine how much I love doing this? Must be the phallic symbolism.




Burning undead to and fro, the wizard finally lures the two units into the range of the mortars and crossbows. Softened up like that they pose no challenge to the bloodlusty flagellants and our trusty cavalry.




Time for a change of paradigm. Instead of careful defensive play, we switch to offense and arrange our troops beneath the hill leading up to the tower. Vampire- we are coming for you!




Not shown: A unit of ghouls and a unit of skeletons we kill along the way, quasi as a diversion. We lost no men to them so I figured it's not important to report. Notice how our flagellants are protected twice: First, the wizard cast Dispel Magic on them, making them immune to the vampire's first three offensive spells, and secondly, they carry the Shield of Ptolos and are, as such, very comfortable with leisurely strolling up that hill.




The vampire is somewhat helpless- since to harm the flagellants he must first wear down the three consecutive spells of Dispel Magic we cast on them, he hurls all his magic at them... and manages to miss most of the time. Your loss, buddy. Flagellants! Charge!




While our crazy maniacs, aka flagellants are busy kicking the snot out of those worthless skeletal archers, our cavalry makes short work of the wraiths that popped up from the north as a last ditch effort to protect the vampire.




Needless to say, they failed. We mow down the pointy-toothed bastard. And since he's a boss, here's one of my favourite Final Fantasy boss themes: http://208.53.158.138/soundtracks/ff4-o ... ight-2.mp3 :breakingimmersionsince2005:




Two magic items! Score! One was dropped by the archers, the other by the vampire. I wonder what they do...






That's some harsh losses, but this mission paid so well we don't need to care all that much. And check out that sweet, sweet XP.

After the battle...




You're here! At last.
:evil: A battle got in my way. You should try fighting in one sometime. Have you searched the Castle Carstein yet?
The castle is deserted. Empty corridors, empty rooms, empty halls.
:evi: Where's the Countess?
Why are you so concerned?
:evil: It's personal.
It so happens that there was one room that wasn't quite empty. I found the Countess there, alive and well. Here she is.




:wink: Commander! Somehow I knew you'd come.
:evil: I guaranteed your safety with my personal word. I try to keep my promises.
:wink: Here... this is the least I can do: Accept this gift- The Heart of Woe. An item of magical potency.
:evil: A generous gift, Countess.
:wink: I owe you far more than that.
:evil: Think nothing of it. Klaus! Make sure the Countess gets the best care. The very best.
I know, I know, it's personal.
:evil: Mathias! Have you found anything else of value in the castle?
I told you not call me...! *sigh* Nevermind... I found an entrance that may lead under the castle. It just may be the case that Count Carstein is down there, in those tunnels... and perhaps well-equipped.
:evil: Then we'll explore those tunnels... Klaus, ready the men.
We will have to leave the artillery up here- they are unable to negotiate the tunnels... apart from that, the men are ready and willing.

Oh boy. Foreboding tunnels under a creepy castle? Not without my new magic items!



Awesome.




...yes. Blast now costs 1 point of magic. Yes, this means our wizard just turned into a railgun of doom.




I hope it won't come that far.




We swap out some items. Note the levels and XP- The cavalry reached level 2 last mission, increasing their strength by +1. The crossbows are close to level 2, the wizard already reached level 1 himself and gains a new spell per mission and the flagellants and the mortar are getting very close to their first level themselves.


Join me next time when we explore the tunnels under Castle Carstein.

As always, well done. And that's a mighty nice stack of cash you have there.

BTW When I played I always saved the heart of woe on a trash unit for the last battle to distract a ton of baddies and then Kamikaze. It worked well to weaken their forces if you could get enough to follow and kill them. Something to keep in mind.

Thanks. Uploading next update now.

Chapter 9 - Boss Stage




This is it. Castle Drakenhof, nestled deep within the quiet, deadly woods of Sylvania...




Underneath the castle, in the many tunnels...




...the mindless servants of the Count toil in the mines, with no will of their own, no intelligence, and no future... until...




They find it...




"Master... we have... found it..."




The Jewel of Moresleep... an evil artifact of great power.




And HE has it now...
:evil: I don't think so.
Then prove it- kill the count and claim the Jewel, Morgan!
:evil: Damn well I will. Men! Formation! We attack the Count!


Battle 13 - The End of Count Carstein

:evil: Be ready, foul bloodsucker. I will end you.
:twisted: The Jewel is mine! Attack them, my slaves!



We start this battle to the south, from a narrow tunnel our troops entered in. We can't bring any artillery to this battle. You can see the Jewel of Moresleep on the centre of the screen, the undead huddling around it, and the count admiring his find.




After we place our crossbows, flagellants and the wizard, the battle begins. Very quickly the huddle of undead takes a formation and strides to the south, to attack our troops. The count keeps out of the battle for now, safe behind his wraith bodyguards.




They're met with a warm welcome. Heheh, get it? Warm? And he's using fire spells? I am a riot. Please take a look at the spell list. That's right, his killer spells now cost 1 magic point to cast. Yes, that's exactly as useful as it sounds. Observe:


Very warm welcome


Landscape With Charred Corpses IV




The Bright Wizard having killed the first undead horde mostly by himself buffs the crossbowmen with his Dispel Magic. Why? Because I plan to lure the undead into this narrow tunnel- it would make the perfect place to destroy them since they'll be forced to huddle, making it easy for the wizard and the crossbows to hit them.




Once far enough north, the crossbows tease the Count with some bolts and immeadeately retreat back south. The Count must make a decision- either he stays and keeps getting pelted by quarrels or he attacks- he chooses the latter option.




He sends his wraith-bodyguards to our troops- which decimate them easily with Bright Magic and the powers of our magic items, namely the lightning banner.




The Count is unsure- this isn't working out as he planned. Desperate, he sends a regiment of ghouls against us.




Two regiments of ghouls, that is.




Three! A shame though that they are far too slow to be a threat- by the time they are even just halfway on the path to our troops they are already near-death from our constant crossbow fire and the Bright Wizard's magic.

The Count is closing in. (Boss Theme, if you insist)

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Listening yet?
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Prepare for the battle!
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...
That wasn't impressive. The Count didn't keep his Dispel Magic up and by the powers of the lightning banner and our Bright Magic combined, he succumbs to the eternal rest his unlife defied so long.




With their leader dead, we can advance fearlessly into the middle of the map and kill those of the undead fiends that weren't clever enough to flee.




Wights from the north and skeletal archers from the east- remember that our crossbows are carrying the Shield of Ptolos in this mission and hence pick the latter off easily.




While we weaken the wights with fire, another unit of skeletons shows up, this one from the south. The cavalry shall make short work of it.




The battle is not a fierce one- the undead have lost whatever morale such creatures may have ever had and perish easily.

The stench of rotting corpses in those mines is unbearable. But they no longer move. We are victorious.








Count Carstein destroyed! Mission accomplished! I couldn't have done better if I had been in command myself.
:evil: High praise, coming from you. Now let's return to Altdorf and report our success to the Emperor.
The artillery has been mobilised. Ready to ride, Morgan?
:evil: Ready!




We have a long journey to Altdorf ahead and the men are tired. Tomorrow, we shall report to the Emperor. Good night, soldiers.

To be continued...

Chapter 10 - The Quest for the Hand of Nagash Begins

After a long ride, we and the men arrived back in Altdorf and reported to the Emperor.




:!: I am pleased to see you back in Altdorf alive and well, Commander. As for you, Witchhunter, I believe you bring information.
Indeed my Lord. The Jewel of Moresleep proved to be a warpstone fragment that was mined by Count Carstein's minions. To what purpose I am not yet sure.
:idea: I do know! While Commander Bernhardt was out on his adventurous jaunt, I once more braved the horrors of the Liber Mortis. It is a source of regret to me that the newly repaired door to the Chamber Unbreachable was again blown off as a ravenous chimaera escaped from the grimoire and blasted its foul soul-essence into the mortal world. But- accidents will happen when dealing with the occult. Be that as it may- after a desperate struggle with a monster composed entirely of fingers I finally discovered hints about the Jewel and the Dread King. The Jewel was intended to magnify the Dread King's power, feed him with strength. Dread is the source of the Dread King's power- an aura of dread surrounds him, culling his servants into obedience and unnerving his enemies. It is now apparent that Count Carstein was an arch-servant of the Dread King.
:evil: I don't know about the Dread King, but as for Count Carstein- he has been destroyed and his plans for the Jewel with him.
:idea: Then disaster has been averted. Had the Jewel been passed to the Dread King his power would be formidable.
:!: What of my cousin, the Countess?
:evil: The Countess is safe and with me. On the journey back she told me the Count was about to make her his vampire bride. We arrived just in time to save her from the Count's fangs.
:!: That's a special debt I owe you, Commander, and one I will not forget.
:idea: There still remain two more objects to be investigated- the Hand of Nagash and the Black Grail.
:!: Commander, I think it would be wise to first search for the Hand of Nagash.
:evil: Is anything known of this... "Hand"?
:idea: I can tell you little, except that it is an item of terrible power and is most likely found in the Kislev region.
Kislev? The region is a hotbed of heretics! A man like Bernhardt could easily be led astray by the blasphemous doctrines. He can't be trusted to go there alone- I shall accompany him and give him the benefit of my wisdom.
:evil: Don't put yourself out on my account...
:!: I would suggest you travel to Kislev by way of Talabheim. The people of Talabheim are in urgent need of help. Good luck, Commander.
:evil: Farewell, my Lord.

After a sparse meal we left Altdorf by the north-east gate, following the Talabec river that passes Talabheim. Half-way there, an ogre wished to speak to the Commander.




Morgan! An ogre wants to speak with you. He claims to have vital information.
:evil: Then let's hear him.




Moy name's Urblad Rotgut.
:evil: That's your problem.
It's 'n 'onourable name among ogres moy name is! Moy word can be trusted, moy word can! If you're headin' for Talabheim, the road to it is flooded. Orcs and such barricade the other way to the town, but if you use it you'll have to fight along it.
Hard to believe. I haven't heard reports of a flood. Besides, all ogres are spawn of the Dark One.
If what Urblad says is true he might be saving us valuable time. But I don't know... I never did trust ogres.
:evil: I hardly trust anyone, but I try to keep an open mind. We'll travel with Urblad and see what happens.
Now that you got 'n ogre by your side your enemies will get a real thumpin', you just see if they don't!
:evil: Yes, we'll see.




The Commander allowed Urblad and his two cronies to join the army. The men eyed the new commilitones with suspicion, but who were they to question Bernhardt's will?




Less than two hours later, the men spotted shapes among the distant trees... Klaus was the first to confirm what everyone already conjectured.

Greenskins up ahead!
Told you we would 'ave to fight.
This is folly! Time-wasting folly! I hold you personally responsible for this, Bernhardt!
:evil: Then sit down and write a report about it while the rest of us fight. We attack! NOW!


Battle 14 - Following the River of Death Downstream




The battle begun tamely- two units of orcish bowmen, one to the north, one the east. The maniac flagellants and the ogres marched to meet the orcs to the west while the Commander ordered us, the crossbowmen, to keep focusing on the unit to the north, our magical shield absorbing most of the arrows that would prove to be lethal else.




Even as we fought, we could hear the goblins emerging from the dark woods, ready to surround and swarm us- the Commander quickly struck one of their regiments with admirable force while we tried to kill as many of the fleeing archers we could so we would be prepared for the next wave.




It was hard for us to respect a man in robes that talks as if he was very, very ill in the head, but his strange tactics and his sorcery were frightening to behold and killed many, many greenskins by some fiendish trick: First, he would create some sort of fiery, binding bonds that held the goblins in place...




...and then he would engulf the helpless greenskins in a storm of fire from which they could not ever hope to escape, leaving naught but charred remaints and a sickening smell of burt flesh behind. Meanwhile, the Commander fought most of the irritating greenskins that tried to pincer us from the southwest, working in tandem with those mad flagellants. I can't understand what drove them to their perpetual madness, but when they unleash it on the battlefield, it is quite a spectacle- they never seem to be afraid of anything. Much unlike those damn ogres! They fled as soon as they were outnumbered five to one, abandoning us in the midst of battle!




Now, we had no one to take care of the foul orc archers that arrived from the south-east and who would soon be close enough to rain doom upon our troops! We cried out and reported their arrival to the Commander, who barely heard us amongst the screams of the maddened flagellants and the dying goblins that were no match to their flails.




And Morgan did hear our plea- charging his troops fearlessly into the large unit of orcs, he saved us; even the magic shield of Ptolos can only sap up so many arrows after all. There was a big problem though- unseen and unnoticed, foul orcs riding on boars broke through the forest to the north! We had to watch them charge right into the back of Morgan's men!




The bloodlust-crazed flagellants ran to towards the boar-riders as quickly as they could, but it was a trying time- could Morgan endure the onslaught of orcs both at the front and the back? Blood and drops of sweat were spilled freely on the battlefield.




A sigh of relief went through our ranks as we saw the flail-swinging madmen charge the boar-riders into their backs, breaking their spirit and making the blasted greenskins flee the battle- but it was not a time for rejoicing- arrows were pelting my men and me from the surviving archers, but we paid them right back, quarrel for arrow.




More boar riders attacked Morgan from the south-east. Wisely enough he didn't charge them- it would only get his horses impaled on the long tusks of the foul beasts the orcs rode on.




Another group of archers from the north-east! We took aim...




...and then we heard them. The orcish battlecries, the stampede of their boars right behind us- We didn't notice them earlier, too busy trying to get good shots in! It was a massacre... man after man was cut down by their tusks and their rider's swords as the orcs surprised us from behind. Only by the miracle that is magic am I still alive to tell the tell, and mourn the friends I have lost. The Bright Wizard, Luther Flamestrike, used his magical spell of holding on the murderous orcs so that we could flee from their deadly onslaught.




Luther cried out in sheer crazed joy as he slayed the orcs to give us what we craved for- vengeance. One by one the orcish riders and their mounts were set on fire by terrible blazing skulls he launched at them, the scent of roasted pig mixing with the stench of death and war.




And there were more still. A unit of goblins, more than a dozen, did not have enough sense to flee- they thought the four surviving flagellants would be easy prey. Foolish goblins- the flail-swinging madmen trounced them easily, uncaring whenever they lost a brother. Truly, the flagellants are sick, ill people, but I am glad they are on this side of the battle.




Morgan's men charged in for the coup de grace.

And then it was done and we stood amidst a field of corpses, gathering our bearings...








We were furious that Morgan still kept following those stupid, cowardly ogres... but we couldn't help but smile a grim, sour smile as the commander actually commended them for their prowess in the battle with a face as blank as an empty page. But then realisation dawned on us-

:evil: Since you fought so well, Urblad, you can have this pretty banner.
Uh! Pretty!

That whoreson! He gave them the banner that will surpress all their fear- either he wants to get them killed or he actually believes they could be useful. I am just a mercenary and it's not my job to wonder about that.




After some rest, the ogres led us deeper into the forest...

How much further?
Almost there. You'll like our chief, he's human like you lot. He tells us what to do!
What's his name?
Jurgen Mantz.
Jurgen Mantz! He's notorious! A notorious outlaw! Did you hear that? I am not having any part of this. I am leaving. I am leaving right now! Goodbye!
Don't hurry back... hey, Urblad- what are you getting us into with this Mantz character?
Our chief be likin' to bash a greenskin camp nearby and have himself a piece of the booty. He be thinkin' you might be likin' to have a go at it yourself!
So your chief knows we're coming? Hmm... I bet he knows about it when someone moves through this patch of forest. I'll have to talk to the Commander about this. Morgan!
:evil: What's all this?
I think we're being manipulated. Jurgen Mantz is behind all this. He's the ogres chief. They must have made up the story of the flood to lure us into aiding them in attacking a greenskin camp. I don't know... this could be a real time-waster, and time is often more precious than gold coin...



A - Help the outlaws attack the greenskin camp
B - Ride on to Kislev

Attak!

Also, I'z wanna see sum Ogre acshun! Dey betta git stompy.