Meanwhile the Vampiric legion advanced on the sleepy hamlet, shambling slowly toward the sleeping citizens, led by Markus Von Sternik himself and his unit of Graveguard.
Fortunately for the Empire defenders at this point help began to appear. First on the scene were some Ogre mercenaries, whom Petre placed on his flanks. More welcome still was the arrival of the mysterious light wizard known only as The Servant of Shem who had been the first to respond to the undead threat, accompanied by a unit of Knights and some stout handgunners. The Servant of Shem immediately showed his worth, invigorating the Ogres with magical energy, ensuring they would surge forward the next time they moved. For the rest of the army it was a rapid advance, most notably from the pistoliers who thrust themselves ahead of the line toward the legions of undeath.
Meanwhile foul Necromantic magic saw the ground before one of the humble cottages spew forth rotting cadavers as Zombies lurched forward to scrabble at the windows. And still the unliving marched relentlessly onward.
Now however they were beginning to come under the range of the Empire guns. First, blood (had their been any to spill) went to the Pistoliers who shot down some ferocious wolves, before destroying them in combat.
The Mortar and The Servant of Shem meanwhile began to take a toll on the fearsome Graveguard unit.
Once more unnatural magics saw zombies thrust up from the ground close to another cottage, whilst supernatural energy saw a skeleton unit ransack another. The first raised unit continued to work their evil way through the defenceless cottage, before stumbling out with flaming torches at the ready, prepared to burn it to the ground.
The final Empire reinforcements trudged onto the field and a firing line formed in the centre of the valley. Once more the burning gaze of The Servant of Shem banished more Graveguard form the field whilst the mortar blew more asunder.
The newly raised Zombies wasted no time ransacking the cottage and instead began to set it aflame. Calling on the energies of light, The Servant of Shem magically assisted the Ogres as they raced into the building and fought back against the mindless servants of undeath.
Nothing could stop the other zombies from igniting the cottage they had already laid waste. However the skeletons had allowed their flints to become damp and so failed to set the second cottage alight.
A murderous fire from the Empire black powder weapons, backed by the Bloody paw tribe Leadbelchers, whittled the Graveguard to almost nothing. The Servant of Shem judged the time right to join the halbardiers as they closed in on the Vampire centre.
The Ogres overcame the zombies trying to destroy another dwelling though the skeletons finally got the thatch to catch on another peasant home.
At this point, seeing his army mauled, the Vampire realised his number was up and deciding preservation was more important than pillage he and his followers melted back into the Hakenholz Forest
The scenario gave us a fun and challenging game. At first the Empire looked to have no chance, but the early arrival of reinforcements, coupled with the lucky chance of getting a light wizard meant the balance began to sway. The spell that sped up a couple of Empire units meant the Vampires struggled to get all the cottages attacked quick enough. The Empire also benefited from a couple of rounds of very strong magic, whilst the Vampires had consistently poor dice throughout.
Overall I was pretty happy with both the scenario and the game.
Now what to follow up with?
I'm thinking of an ambitious pursuit by Petre deep into the Hakenholz Forest, where maybe an ambush or counter-attack awaits. Now to find an appropriate scenario.
