Men And Their Wars ( Mini AAR )

[The Despondent Mind]

Note that this aar is kinda a practice for me .
For something bigger hopefully .

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Life in DrakenHoff

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Morning In Drakenhoff , as the sun rises everything in the Castle is coming to life everything except one man , the appointed Governor of Drakenhoff Fernando Seubersdorf.
He is waking up later much later almost afternoon.

Fernando

Slowly Fernando open's his eyes to see his room trashed with spilled wine ,some exotic food ,certain halucogenics and some half naked girls sleeping in various places .
"Great " he thinks " Another Day , Another GODDAMN DAY IN THIS GODDAMN CASTLE .”
He looks around the room and recalls some events from last night " Those damn Marien burghers and their Imported goods this is the fifth time in a row I wake up like this. .If somebody told me when I was in the Military Academy that I will hate life of Pleasure and Excess that would shame some Slaanesh followers I would call the man a fool and probably get in a brawl with him.
I still cannot believe i miss the solder's treatment in the academy had i still cannot believe that with all my misery and depression in the hated academy I am even more miserable with luxury, vine ,woman and " friends " .
Is my life so hopeless ... When i think I " store safe " a certain amount of taxes for these parties that my Superiors would send me to Norsca if they would discover my " corruption " .
" You have taken the Goods of the State " they would say " Solders around the empire are suffering hunger cause of you " they would say , of course our solders are not that hungry maybe even a bit fat the army is really well supplied but the truth is all the money is poring down in Counts Aldebrands pocket as he isn't having enough of it .
Oh where are my manners " Count Aldebrand the mighty " , my entire life I am hearing stories about his achievements The Stories OF Count Aldebrand, Luthor The Crusader, Luca The Scarred ,Frederick the Crusader etc.
The man is 106 years old and still ruling this accursed empire with iron or should i say " Golden Fist "while Karl Franc is riding across Reikland and probably bores himself like i do , and his using all that gold to Rule beyond it .
Hmmm maybe is that what i want. An Empire to serve me ?An Empire of weaklings who live in luxury because some solders march in the Norcsa Frost or in The Orc desert Heat .

Again I get myself imagining An Chaos storm wiping out these imbeciles ...

Then he hears someone knocking on the door

" Go in " Says Fernando with an bored and slightly annoyed tone .

Some servants entered to clean the room they well knew their lords habits .Along with servants some Encarmine Knights ( Fernando's " Friends " ) entered .

" Good Morning Sunshine " Said Dirk " Your wife won't be happy when she hears you had half Whores in DrakenHoff .
“Of course she won't be happy the other half of whores is not enough for my Dear wife . “
A Laughter broke out , in the meantime servants escorted the girls out of the room.

(Dirk was an unclassical Encarmine knight he rarely tortured those below his rank and he kept his arrogance in control , in his late 20 with an beatyfull long black hair , sweet green eyes, distinctive red lips , for most of people he was the " Pretty Boy "who was a " friend " of many peasant girls and merchant daughters ( and wifes )
Often hotheaded, meeting Fernando as his bodyguard opened some new horizons for him ( like reading books ).)

I have to ask those Marienburghers to sell me those wines when they leave today “ Said Arnold "It will certainly ease my stay in this " exciting " castle .
Then buy some for me Arnie , governing this castle is very " stressful " with all the hard work to me and I really need something to relax .

( Arnold was even more " Unclassical " for an encarmine knight , he read books, rarely spoke loud and had an sarcastic sense of humor .He was the smallest of the three ,with an " boring " appearance of brown eyes with brown middle cut hair , and a face few people remember .
When he meet Fernando it didn't take long for those two to notice other's " Love " for castle life )

Dirk Outbursts " I cannot believe that you two dislike this lifestyle we have . Our only obligations are to have a bit war practice daily ,Fernando only has to do some paperwork " " which is VERY interesting i must say "interrupts Fernando , Dirks stops for a second and continues " Okay
it might not be The Chaos storm but at least it's EASY and after that you have all day to do whatever you want .When you came here you complained about your life in Academy as being the Grandson of Aldebrand you had to two everything twice as hard to prove yourself skill .
And don't forget his Loving wife and Son whom he married in utmost freedom of choice " added Arnold
" Yeah i was forced to marry the and have a son for the "DYNASTY" thought to himself Fernando "

But still she is does whatever she wants and he can do whatever he wants and he's miserable . Dirk was Angry
I can't do whatever I want ,I have to stay every day in this castle and drink myself to sleep after spending time with merchants ,whores , officers and the most elite of them all I must spend time with the delightful
ENCARMINE knights ."said Fernando with a calm sarcastic tone .
Dirk who knew the behaviour of his brother knights couldn't fight back to this remark.
But Arnold " Common we are not so bad at least we promise the peasants to pay them if they fight each other with dead ducks as their weapons ".
Dirk had enough he leaved with " I’l go to find some peasant girls , you two please come to your senses ".

Arnold looked seriously at Fernando and proclaimed " I'm sure you pray to Sigmar he sends to you some Orc horde to fight with you
.Fernando Responded " He can send Aldebrand with half of the empire I would still fight just to have something to do "

Heine The Crossbowmen

Patrolling the walls of DrakenHoff wasn't the most appealing job for Fernando but For Heine it was almost dream come true .Heine joined the army when his parents died of illness and he had no other
skill in life then with crossbow ( He’s father was a hunter ) . The pay was good , work was mostly boring but SAFE .Heine joined the army with great fear , he wasn't the bravest chap in his village .
He only killed once and that was a rabbit but even then he had his eyes full of tears .
The army also toke him far away from his home far away from Midenland which was kind of good for him because he wasn't very popular in his village .
And most of all he finally meet some friends .

While walking on the walls of DrakenHoff he notices some mercenaries .He recognized it was the artillery crew , they ran laughing and threw at each other gunpowder .
He yells " What in Sigmar's name are you doing ?? "
They stop and see the crossbowmen . One of them responds with light womanly voice " Ehh Having fun "
" Shouldn't you be practicing with your cannons in this time of day ?"
"Well we should , but why would we if the officers don't practice , it’s not like a battle is goanna happen here "
Heine was angry , he hated himself for not being able to relax in the army like those Cursed Tileans .

Later when the patrol ended he headed in the closest tavern .
Their he saw he's two friends already sharing pints of beer .

Paul the Swordsmen

Sitting in the tavern waiting for Heine with with Balatriste a mercenary a Braganzian to be more precise , man with more war skill and exp
then those two and most of Drakenhoff inhabitants .Balatriste meet Heine at the practice range , he saw an young scared peasant boy and for some reason he started helping the poor boy,
soon he discovered the boy befriended a lot of solders among them Paul an infantryman.
" Balatriste is this calm and monotony to much for you ? "
" To much for me ? "Responded Balatriste with an calm and sharp voice ( As he always do )
" I mean your profession is war ,maybe even love , isn't this boring to you ? "
" On the contrary this is very very good ,it's not that I am scared of war , I am actually more bored and frustrated in the war times so I enjoy this peace while it lasts .I'm sure that most of bakers don't miss baking
when they are on some kind of vacation "

" You seem to be eager of war young solder ? "
"Well I don't know yet , I have no idea how it's like until my first battle "
Then they see Heine approaching .
" Greetings my friend ,it seems our fellow Balatriste is bored in war so unsurprisingly he likes our current situation "

" Well he's not the first mercenary I meet today enjoying this "responded heine wit joy seeing his friends

"Doesn't wonders me ,most of us like this peace and getting paid for nothing "Said Balatriste with an smile
"But unlike you I can't relax as long as I wear this uniform , I have an feeling the Beastmen are just up ahead waiting . "
" Boy J can't help you but saying that , that fear won't help you much nor in peace nor in battle " Balatriste was serious
" Heine we have to find some whores and get you relaxed , it saddens me that you don't have to deal with my problems of war "
" And they are ? "
"There is none I have no idea what to think about war "

Fernando

Fernando was bored as usual so he was in a walk with Arnold .They watched the few crossbowmen that showed up on training in the practice range .

" Imagine those dead chaos warriors and orcs suddenly resurrect and head for DrakenHoff and they are first line of the defense " said Arnold
"That is if they don't flee first after hearing the news " Said Fernando with apathy .

Then they hear panicked galloping .A pistoler was riding towards them , when he approached :
" My...My.... My (taking breath ) My lords ... The ... The ... The Marienburg caravan heading for NachtDorf was attacked ."
Fernando with his face still having the cold mask responded " And ? "
"All Killed "
DAMN! I forgot to buy those wines " Responded Arnold
Untouched by Arnold's Remark Fernando Responded " By whom ? "
The Pistoler looked around in unpleasancy with his eyes full of fear , then responded quietly " UUUUUUNNNNNDEEEAD sir "
Some crossbowmen heard that word and for second they forgot to pretend they aren't listening .
"And how do you know all this ? " Fernando Asked
" Well sir , ehhh i ehhh i followed the caravan to spend time with some " ladies " they brought from Marienburg "the pistoler paused " Then in the middle of the day they where attacked
from all sides but from behind ,some of them were our dead solders from previous wars they slaughtered most of the caravan I had no time to watch sire I had to flee especially when they came ... "
" They ?"Asked Fernando
" Vampires sir , unlike they dead servants they had steeds , they where fast ,precise and horrifying . "
"How many , I mean the whole army ?"
"More then a thousand sir with catapults "
"Solder Find all officers and tell them i ordered to prepare for march "
" Will do My Lord "
After a pause Arnold said
"Happy ? "
" No , I'm just less miserable " .

The March

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

The March

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Paul and Heine

"I am telling you Paul the horsemen said UNDEAD "
"Heine , Heiene I am longer in the army then you are and I know Pistolers are lying wine drinking whore ers , those were probably bandits but he was to afraid to admit
he fled from a gang Bandits "
"But our Lord Trusts him "
"Maybe our lord is a fool that believes in undead , either way an army this large is to big for bandits and to small for undead ."
"Actually " said Balatriste who was listening to their conversation un-interested until now "
It's quite large enough to defeat an undead army of similar size "
"But our they are undead , how do we defeat them , our elders often say they are invincible " Responded Heine scared
"Funny thing about undead , they can die " Paul laughed about Balatriste's comment but Heine was just les scared .


"Lose the fear boy , most of undead won't be afraid of you so I suggest you start not being afraid of them " said Balatriste with his sharp tone
"Most of them ? " Paul Noticed " You mean we can scare undead ? "
" Vampires my young friend , some of those bustards can sometimes flee like every human since they are still afraid of the" Final Death " .
Still don't expect vampire will be scared
of any man in this army . "
A messenger on horse runs along the column .


"BATTLE POSITIONS ,BATTLE POSITIONS Enemy is approaching . "

The Battle

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

The Battle


Fernando

While ordering men in battle for formations , devising tactics Fernando really felt less miserable .


He gained more and more some kind of inner strength .



Arnold just apathetically prepared for the battle without a sign of discomfort or comfort .
Dirk was however not very happy ,
" Please try not to get us killed Fernando ,if you are so eager to die we are not "he said however Fernando's response scared him a bit

" Don't worry Encarmine knights have special place in my heart "



Paul and Heine

Paul was standing behind Heine ready to protect him .
" Is The Fear any less now ? " Paul was wondering

" Actually .... I think it is whatever comes out behind that hill I'm ready for it "

" Good Boy , I hope I am also "

But when the enemy army approached



" Heine ? "
" YYYYYy.....eeee..ssss ? "

" I forgot to ask Balatriste is it normal for a swordsman to piss in his underwear "



The horror they saw was something they only head in the stories .
They where the Undead With their dreadful Masters



The battles started with artillery pounding and an shower of arrows and crossbow bolts .





Pistolers started harrasing the Vampires .


Paul watched some Drakwardians running in a frontal charge against vampires horsemen



and he also watched how vampires slaughtered them .


Arnold and Dirk saw the same scenario and Arnold proclaimed
" At least They kill with style "
Dirk responded " I'l try to do the same to them "


Heine Firing some bolts saw a lot of skeletons and some vampires falling .
" Paul ?"
" Yes mighty marksman ? "
"Balatriste didn't told us that " killing " undead is some much FUN "
" Damn you I have to wait for my part "





And it wasn't long when the first row of skirmishers of all sort had to retreat behind the infantry



Then the exchange of steel began .





Fernando charged with his bodyguards and started destroying skeletons of all sort .


"Arnold my friend "
"Yes Lord "
" Killing these things makes me much less miserable "

"How good of you to notice that killing can be quite interesting " Arnold responded and turned around
he saw Dirk . Dirk pointed his index finger on his head spinned it around and
whispered .
" Fernando Lost It "

Eventually some vampires managed to bypass the stakes and attack the archers.

All hell broke lose.







Paul found himself encircled from all sides by undead .

So far he performed good " This isn't fun this is hard work "
thought he .

Fernando while charging saw some halberdiers pointing in distance .










"It seems Our respected Enemy ' Marcus Von Carstein '" remarked Arnold while Fernando and Dirk look surprised on him " yeah his
name is Marcus Von Carstein at least that's what the Vampire I slew few minutes a go said his name was " Dirk interrupted
" You, You Slew a Von Carstein ? "
Yeas I Slew him thanks for your confidence in my fighting skills ,anyway it seems our dear enemy invited his friends for the dinner ."

"His friend will find that this dinner is hard to chew ! " Responded Fernando who was slightly disturbed cause of the new army approaching
Then he heard Dirk babling
" Oh Dear , Oh Dear , Sigmar Help us all "
"What is it now ? "
"Fernando you know I read some books in your library , the ones about folk lore in DrakenHoff "
"Yes so what ? "
" Well if those things are that what I think we can retreat while we are still alive "

" What Are they Dirk ? "
" Those are Knights of The Black Grail " said he with great Awe

"So what they are vampires who like a black armor and seek a stupid relic ? " Remarked Arnold
" You'l see when they start charging ".


The vampire lord was furios at his younger brother for rushing into battle so soon
"Now i have to save the fool , if he's still " alive " "
Thought Denes The Vampire Lord

Charge of his cavalry was a sight .

The fighting continued , it seemed that the first undead army is almost destroyed



However the charge of the second army restored balance .






Heine Thought ' Great just great another army and I just started to like this. "


While aiming he noticed something terrifying on the hill





" SIGMAR HELP US " Said Dirk
" He better hear us " Thought Fernando
They saw Another army approaching form the hill


" AS your Bodyguard i strongly advice you to retread from this one " yelled Dirk
"There are blood dragons and wraths the most powerful undead beings as it is written in the books , the battle is l lost my friend "


" And There comes the Big Boss "Noticed Arnold

"Manfred... " Dirk was pale as chalk
" I have to think " Was only thing Fernando Could say

Balatriste was angry

" How could those pistoler idiots not sight an army as these large as these in middle of Sylvania ! "
"These young boys will die for nothing "

Fernando's army was now pressured from all sides , men were heard screaming when they faced the horrors from Sylvanian graves









Paul's company just slaughtered all undead around them when they saw another skeleton horde charging
He yelled " Boys let's show these old and dead fellows some new tricks "
Remnants of his Unit Yelled in approval and together they charged

The sight was watched by Manfred Von Carstein and commented " How desperate , yet brave. If my skeletons always fought like this I would rule the Old World and beyond "
Same sight was watched by Fernando
" If we want to live our only option is to silently retreat and let the solders keep undead busy ."
"A brave act worthy of your Grandfather " Arnold Commented



When suddenly a company of Manfred's Blood dragons charged them from side Arnold and Dirk fell from their horses .
Dirk Yelled " Run Fernando , forget about us "
Fernando would run whatever Dirk said .
Manfried yelled to Fernando
" We'l meet again and I would advise you to be cunning as you are now to run from me , next time we meet . "


The battle turned into a slaughter







"DAMN!" " RETREAT ! RETREAT ! " Yelled Balatriste

Heine was running as fast he could , But an Vampire horsemen knocked him out with his horse , then the Dreaded Rider dismounted to take
special pleasure in killing him .
" I'l not give this bustard a pleasure of butchering me so easy “ thought Heine
He got up took his sword and charged on him , a few quick moves and the vampires sword was firmly stuck in Heine's guts .
" Endgame for you mortal " whispered the vampire with a silent, cold and ruthless voice with an smile on his face .
Heine was slowly dying watching the vampire's satisfied face which suddenly turned into an unpleasant surprise ,
the vampire let the sword then Heine fell on his back to see an bolt pierced in middle of the vampire's chest .The
vampire slowly turned and fell on his knees around to see his the reason of his demise , It was Balatriste with an halberd .
" Meet final executioner Bloodsucker " and the vampires head rolled a few meters from dying Heine .
Balatriste knelled and held Heine's head
" Young marksman " he whispered in sorrow
" I was (blood cough) i wass... I was not Afraid , I WAS NOT AFRAID Balatriste…. "
Balatriste covered his eyes and fled to safety .


Paul was in a berserk he was slaughtering skeletons and grave guards with ease .Only couple of his fellows where still standing .
They didn't noticed the man hunt on the left wing .
Suddenly a hand touched him calmly on his back and he heard a Cold and Calm Voice
" Mortal "
Paul turned and saw BloodDragons

The one closest to him said slowly
" Mortal I challenge you to a duel .
Are you ready to meet certain death ? "

All undead around Paul except of the Challenger started slowly to move away from him .

Paul looker around , took a breath ,smiled and said

"And I ask the same question to you ! And TO your Friends ! "


The battle almost ended with some few routers running .


Manfred was still on the place he warned the human lord when he saw a alive Encarmine knight lying with an sword
firmly stuck threw his leg into ground .
"Mortal you seem to have ended the eternal " life " of one of my knights "
Dirk Responded with shivering

" The bustard got my leg "
"It seems I'l have the honor of your Death “ Said Manfred and pulled his sword

" No Please, please , please my count let live or or or make me an vampire " Dirk begged

" Someone who begs like you Doesn't deserve the gift of Eternal Life "

" But please please please .... "


A Blood Dragon approached Manfred
" My count we routed their army and destroyed a large portion of it " More BloodDragons and other vampires came to him.
"My knights Today it's this battle ,tomorrow DrakenHoff and later who knows what !
This Weakling Empire will bend under Von Carstein Rule " Vampires Yelled in Approval
But Manfred heard somebody laughing
Laughter was interrupted by some blood cough but still it was an laughter of a person who wasn't bothered with vampires around him
he then saw an Encarmine knight with an lance in his guts , it was Arnold laughing .

Manfred approached him trying to keep his temper down
"What is so funny to you Mortal ? "

The knight responded with a smile on his face

" My count you must have had an pretty long sleep ,long enough to not know the current (blood cough) " situation " in the Empire "

" What situation ?? '

" Well you could ask Beastmen,Or The orc Warboss,Or The Chaos lords or The Dark elven princes , that is IF you could find any of those "
Manfred revealed his Fangs

"Or you could just try to find the Counts that ruled this country when My High Liege , Count Aldebrand came here with his army “ Said Arnold with
amusement of seeing the vampire's angry face




Manfred whispered with an repressed rage to his servants " slay all prisoners "and then he turned to Arnold

" DIE MORTAL !!! "

Manfred raised his sword and
Arnold died with a tired smile....

[2Shy]

Nice AAR ! +rep

[The Despondent Mind]

Thank you my bulgarian ally .
More Feedback people .

[Grymloq]

really good!