THE GREAT REBELLION: Part 2

Hell is empty and all the devils are here.

-The Tempest, by William Shakespeare

Part 1 of the Battle Report HERE. 
Part 2 of the Battle Report HERE.
Part 3 of the Battle Report HERE.

All the awesome terrain for this battle provided by Blueforge Terrain.

The old man shook his head.  His ice-white hair flailed about wildly.  Last night, he had stayed awake until the small hours desperately trying to recall the name of his wife and daughter.  He had lost.  Come the morn, his own name had vanished with the dismal starlight.  Every night, he lost that battle.  For years now, everyone simply called him "The Professor."  Why?  He wasn't sure.  During his rare periods of lucidity, he recalled embarking upon a Grand Experiment long ago.  Just what its purpose or goal was, he wasn't sure.

He adjusted his goggles.  The war for his sanity was hopeless; he lost another battle each night.  He cackled.  Did he even have a wife and daughter?  Did he ever?  Or were the two women just images in  painting?  Or perhaps statues in a graveyard?  No matter.  Defeating insanity was not something he was interested in anymore.  The voice inside his skull hissed louder, demanding murder, death.  Two men charged up the cracked stairway towards him.

His sword leaped into his hand.  His age belied a powerful strength and speed.  He drove his sword into the chest of the first man, he fell with a gurgle.  But try as he might, the Professor could not yank it free of the corpse's rib cage.  Blood spattered on the ground, pooling into arcane formulae.  "More data for the Experiment!" he shrieked.

There came the hiss of a taper followed by a crack and a loud boom as the second man fired his pistol.  The Professor felt the ball whizz past his ear, taking a clump of his hair with it.  The voice in his soul screeched, demanding vengeance.  The Professor felt warp energy surge through him.  He cast his sword aside.  With a roar that shook the cobblestones, the Professor flung himself bodily upon the second man.

Moments later, the Professor stood tall and red, covered in entrails and shattered bone.  Aloft he held the man's head.  More of the Empire's mislead soldiers charged at him.  The Professor flung the severed head at the closest.  The voice echoed his laughter.  It made promises of incredible power; of the completion of the Professor's Grand Experiment.  The Professor cackled.

Whenever he fought for his sanity, he lost; whenever he fought for his life, he won.  A most equitable trade.

Holy Army of Magnus deployment.

The Great Rebellion takes turn one and surges forward.

On the East flank Fat Bastard the Ogre; Reavers Finntroll and Amon Amarth; Brutes Jester and Pinhead provide the muscle.  Three henchmen screen them as fall guys and the Great Hoodoo, Carnival Master, leads from the rear.  Next to him tiptoes the timid Averlander Squire Dingwall.  This was to prove surprisingly fortuitous in coming turns...  The entire hellish crew advance up the West flank to engage Magnus and his retinue.

The Beast stampedes forward, backed by Sergeant Macgreggor - once a man, but now transformed into a horrifying possessed.  The lone beastman henchman and the Professor accompany them.  All four charge up the middle, hoping to thread the needle and avoid the Holy Army's powerful flanking forces and slam weaker militia in the center, or flank Magnus himself.

The Beast has taken over leadership of the Possessed after the King in Yellow was killed.  He has the same profile and abilities as a Beastman Minotaur, but can use Lesser magic.

To the East of the Beast and his cohort, the Possessed brethren skulk forward herded into place by Crowley the warlock.  They ready their bows to fire, but all their arrows go wide.  Little do they know that they are really more of a screen against the powerful monsters making up the Holy Army's East flank.

Further East, almost the entirety of the fallen Averlanders proudly advance against the Holy Army's monsters.  They are backed by Sad Face, the Possessed who advances slowly due to an injured leg (hey, two out of three healthy legs ain't bad!).

On the furthest East flank, the daemonic forces of the Great Rebellion advance under the pall of sonorous chanting.

First turn for the Holy Army of Magnus the Pious!  On the West flank, Magnus holds his hammer aloft and orders the charge.  He is accompanied by the witch hunters Brother Thelonious, Brother Simon and the Warrior Priest Jasper Blackthorne.  The Nameless Dwarf Slayer swears a mighty oath to protect Magnus.  The intimidating, silent presence of three Stormcast Eternals clank alongside; five flagellants round out the powerful flanking force.

Stormcast Eternals in Mordheim are S4, T4 warriors with 3+ armor save.  Their sigmarite warhammers offer +1 to wound against daemons and the Possessed.

The militia, led by Warrior Priest Kurt von Skull, seeing the Beast and his cohort attempting to flank Magnus,  let loose a mighty yell and advance!

On the East flank, the Nightmare Engine fires its gears and pistons with a bestial roar.

The Nightmare Engine is a giant monster as defined in the Serene Annihilation rules.  It is S6, T6 with a 3+ save and 9 wounds - making it a tough nut to crack.  It can fire 2D6 shots with the same profile as a handgun each turn with no need to reload.

Farthest to the East, the Pig-God and Gallows Horse move against the Great Rebellion with ugly snorting and the clomping of hooves.

The Pig-God is a monster as per the Serene Annihilation Rules (not a giant monster like the Nightmare Engine).  He is S6 and T5 with 5 wounds.

An arcane clanging heralds the pounding blasts of the Nightmare Engine's guns!

Sad Face is the unfortunate target!  2D6 shots results in 8 shots fired, six hits and four wounds.  Poor Sad Face is cut to ribbons and sent out of action.

Warp Surge!  Start of the Great Rebellion turn two and they draw two cards for the Dark God's Favor.  The one they select sends Nurgle's pestilent blessings upon the battlefield as five friendly henchmen are transformed into Plaguebearers!  The players select all four Nurglings and one of the Averlander henchmen to become daemons.  This places seven Plaguebearers on the East flank, a worrisome proposition for the Holy Army of Magnus.

All over the rest of the battlefield, the forces of the Great Rebellion advance.

From their vantage point, the Averlander archers fire resulting in two hits on Big Dummy, the Holy Army's ogre.  One wound and one critical later and the monster is out of action!

The Holy Army of Magnus turn two.  Shrieking with mechanical rage, the Nightmare Engine charges!  Activating its whirlwind attack, the giant monster draws in five combatants, including the vulnerable Crowley the Warlock!

In the Serene Annihilation rules, monsters or giant monsters can make special "monstrous attacks" when they charge, or by expending a Presence point.  There are three types: whirlwind, overrun and slam.  "Whirlwind" allows a monster to "draw in" any enemies within 3" locking them in combat with it.  For a giant monster, this whirlwind range is increased to 6".

Rolling seven attacks, the Nightmare Engine knocks down two opponents and stuns another.  Unfortunately, none of its opponents go out of action.  With a lucky roll of 6 to-wound, one of the Plaguebearers wounds the Nightmare Engine and it fails its 3+ armor save, bringing the monstrosity down to 8 wounds.

Across the rest of the battlefield, the rest of the Holy Army of Magnus advances.

In the shooting phase, the Handgunners blast away at the Possessed brethren, taking three of them out of action.

Despite being in combat, the Nightmare Engine takes advantage of its status as a giant monster and fires its guns (giant monsters may still fire while in combat).  It splits its fire this time, sending 3 shots at The Beast and 3 at the nearby beastman henchman.  The shots fired at The Beast go wide, but the henchman catches all three rounds and goes out of action!

Turn three for the Great Rebellion and another card is drawn for Dark Gods' Favor.  This time Dingwall, the henchman suddenly lets out a scream so loud and hard that blood flows from his mouth.  He collapses, clutching at his chest.

When Dingwall once again stands, it is as a terrifying Possessed!  Because of the way the model looked, I ruled that it also had the Great Claw mutation.

On the West flank, the Great Rebellion and the Holy Army square off against one another.  Magnus' forces remain steadfast even in the face of a newly-born Possessed.

In the center, the Beast and the Sergeant cross the bridge to close on the militia.  The Professor follows close behind.

On the East flank, the Plague Cart breaks loose and charges into the Pig-God!  Despite its impact hits, no damage is done.  The Pig-God too fails to damage the cart, despite three S6 attacks.  Combat between the Nightmare Engine and the Averlanders and daemons continues with one Averlander henchman going out of action and no damage to the Nightmare Engine.

Despite their numbers being thinned by the Handgunners, the brethren let loose their arrows against Yusef Cask the Pit Fighter hired sword...

...and one critical hit later, he goes out of action!

Watching the carnage, Hawke the Sorceress looses the Fires of U'Zhul on the Nightmare Engine, but is unable to wound the T6 giant monster.

Holy Army of Magnus turn three.  Howling and frothing with righteous fury, the flagellants storm forward...

 ...while the brethren prepare to receive the charge.

And the results are in!  Two of the three henchmen go out of action!

In the center, emboldened by the presence of the Warrior Priest Kurt von Skull, the militia throw themselves against The Beast in an attempt to keep him from flanking Magnus.  Despite many attacks, The Beast is not wounded and in turn takes one of the militia out of action with a critical!  Due to the Daemonic Strength scenario rule, The Beast rips the poor man's head off and hurls it at the closest militia model inflicting a S3 hit.  The to-wound roll goes poorly, and no further damage is done.

On the East flank, the Pig-God and Gallows Horse fight futilely against the Plague Cart.  The construct's high toughness stymies the monsters and keeps them from pursuing other targets.  This proves to be a major tactical error for the Holy Army as rather than simply withdrawing, their most powerful fighters remained in combat determined to destroy the cart.  This slowed the advance on the East flank.

Turn four for the Great Rebellion.  The next card is selected for Dark Gods' Favor.  Finally - the Professor's Grand Experiment comes to fruition!  He howls with joy as he is transformed into a mighty Possessed!  But not just any Possessed - this one had the power of flight with the winged mutation!

On the West flank, the chaos line begins to crumble despite several successful charges.  All the brethren are slain to no losses on the side of the Holy Army.

Meanwhile, in the center things do not go nearly so well for the Holy Army.  The Beast and the Sergeant plough into the militia, ripping heads off left and right and hurling them with hateful joy.

The newly transformed Professor looks upon the West flank: the combat with the Nightmare Engine continues.  The Nightmare Engine crushes one of its puny assailants, but another lucky roll by a Plaguebearer results in the Nightmare Engine loosing another wound and being reduced to 7.

The Professor, rejoicing in his new form, takes to the air to assail the crossbowmen in the windmill.  With a sweep of his claws, he sends one tumbling over the edge to his death!

Turn four for the Holy Army.  On the West flank, Magnus crushes the skull of a Reaver as the chaos forces continue to take heavy losses.  Poor rolling against the Stormcast Eternals results in Pinhead loosing a wound.  Magnus easily strikes down a henchman with his sigmarite hammer.

Magnus the Pious is treated as a Warrior Priest with maximum human stats and a mighty 5 Presence points.  He also knows all of the Prayers of Sigmar and is armed with a hammer, sword and grimoire of true names.

The Great Hoodoo looks on nervously as the righteous forces close in upon him.  He needs a dark miracle...

 The forces of Sigmar rush forward into the gap, breaking through the West flank.

On the East flank, the situation deteriorates as the Nightmare Engine charges again, using whirlwind to draw in Hawke.  Two further opponents are crushed to death, but miraculously Hawke escapes destruction.  But in a real bright spot - one of the Averlanders manages to pick another wound off the Nightmare Engine bringing it down to 6.  He is then crushed in return.  In the shooting phase, the Nightmare Engine fires wildly into the Averlanders, killing another henchman.

Great Rebellion turn five.  The players draw their card for Dark Gods' Favor.  The sky darkens to night, silver lightning cuts across black stars.  Reality burns away in lunar fire as aether pours in like an ocean of acid.  Stepping through the cascade of nightmares blazes forth a greater daemon: Ardan St. Cygnus.

The Great Hoodoo whoops with joy, dancing madly, hopping from one foot to the other.  The chaos gods have answered his prayers - but will it be enough?