Alaric83 Posted December 27, 2019 Share Posted December 27, 2019 (edited) Hello everyone, This army will be my first introduction to Age of Sigmar. In 40k I play Demiurgs (space dwarves), so it was logical for me to play Kharadron. However, I do not like the mobility nor the focus on super-massive airships (amazing in lore, a pain to transport). I thus made an army that uses Dispossessed / Cities of Sigmar rules, but still with a lot of Kharadron bits. I much prefer the resilience of classic Dwarves, rather than the 5+ armor of most of the Kharadron units. With the new battletome this January, perhaps I’ll switch to Kharadron rules? These are just crunch issues. In the fluff, the Stormbreakers are a unique division of Barak-Thryng’s Grundstok mercenaries. While the conservative skyport’s Grundstok Academy trains its fair share of classic Grundstoks, they also honor the old ways through the Stormbreakers. These elite duardins fight in defensive formations, similar to the underground mountain kingdoms of ancient times. By combining Kharadron technology and duardin heavy armor, they take the best of both world and form an unbreakable anvil on the field of battle. Aboard their dedicated Grundcarrier, the Iron Cloud, they travel the realms to sell their capacities to the highest bidder. However, if the choice appears to help fellow duardin or another race, these mercenaries will almost inevitably help their brethren. The Stormbreakers are dividided into two groups: The Steelrain and the Steelbastion. The former is an airbone assault division, while the latter is a defensive formation. The Steelrain focuses on large number of armored infantry being deployed through transport aethercopters, as well as a large number of close-air-support aircrafts. Extremely offensive, the Steelrain is highly sought after by those wealthy enough to pay for its service who need to capture a particularly resilient stronghold. What got them famous was the assault on the Blackstone Tower, a sorcerous pillar impregnable to any land-base attack. The Steelrain, dropping their forces through the roof and the side of the fortress, brought it to its knees in three days. The Steelbastion, on the contrary, is an expert in fortifications. Its experimental artillery weapons can be quickly deployed to reinforce a city or a fortress under siege. The sheer amount of firepower that the Steelbastion can muster, as well as numerous regiments of unbreakable Steelwardens, make it one of the most popular mercenary formation for the lords wishing to hold a key position. Led by the Grundcaptain Alaric, they got their nickname of Stormbreakers at the beginning of the Realm Wars. The Skyport of Barak-Thryng still had a fortified outpost in Chamon, at the peak of a snow-capped mountain. Even before the arrival of the Age of Sigmar, the traditionalist of Barak-Thryng were looking for ways to take back what was lost. Not long after the Sigmar’s first assaults on Chamon, a moderately large force of Stormcast presented itself at the gates of the fort, asking for alliance and protection. In front of the stubbornness of the duardin, the Stormcast offered an ultimatum: If these duardin were not to ally with Sigmar’s chosen, then it meant they had been corrupted by the ruinous powers, and were to be exterminated. Barak-Thryng responded by deploying the Iron Cloud, as well as a large Grundstok support fleet. It arrived in the middle of the battle, as the Stormcasts were breaching the outer walls of the outpost. The Steelbastion deployed all of its forces in the inner sanctum of the fort, unleashing a constant barrage of artillery upon the armored champions of Azyr. Meanwhile, the Steelrain and other Grundstok regiments airdropped in the rear of the Stormcast positions, putting them between an artillery anvil and an aetherpowered hammer. Despite the tremendous duardin losses of the battle, all the Stormcast sent to the mountainpeak died that day, and the honor of Barak-Thryng was saved, and the mercenaries gained the nickname of Stormbreakers. When, later, the Kharadron race as a whole accepted to ally with the Stormcast, the Stormbreakers violently protested, but could not oppose the decision of so many other skyports. Now, decade laters, they still harbor a grudge for Sigmar’s chosen, though to be fair the Stormbreakers hold a grudge against pretty much every living race. A few years ago, most of the Stormbreakers perished during the naval battle that saw the whole Barak-Thryng fleet assault the Skaven skyfortress of Skitterfort. While the fortress was destroyed, only one Stormbreaker out of ten made it back. Since then, they have been slowly rebuilding with the Grundcaptain Alaric at their head, training a new generation to defend the honor of the Ancestor-Gods. Grundcaptain Alaric (=Warden King) Spoiler Front view Rear view Aetherhammer (=Hammerer) Spoiler Front view Rear view Thunderdrake (=Irondrake) Spoiler Front view Rear view Stonebeards (=Longbeards) Spoiler Front view Rear view Edited December 27, 2019 by Alaric83 putting the images in the right order 4 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kenshin620 Posted December 27, 2019 Share Posted December 27, 2019 Nice fusion! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fulcanelli Posted December 30, 2019 Share Posted December 30, 2019 I love your conversions! Where the Thunderdrake's rifles come from? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zilberfrid Posted December 30, 2019 Share Posted December 30, 2019 I love this! You could use Tempest's Eye for this for the Kharadron inclusion, but Living City also has its merits, you could see the deployment as drop pods from the Iron Cloud. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alaric83 Posted December 30, 2019 Author Share Posted December 30, 2019 Thanks! The Thunderdrake's rifle on the picture is simply from the Grundstok Thunderer kit. I also tried to add some variation, with the Grundsergent's rifle or some 3rd party bits, but they are not on this pic. Thanks for the tips about Living City! I did not think of roleplaying the deepstrike as drop pods, but that sounds amazing indeed. I do like Tempest Eye though, as it allows me to play quite a few Kharadron airships. Plus, I already show the air support by customizing the Endless Spells, and showing the "mage" as a tactical coordinator (with radio equivalent). For exemple the Emerald Lifeswarm (that brings dead models back to life in a unit) is shown as a large airship dropping reinforcements, while the Soulscream Bridge is two Gyrobombers customized as dropships, one empty and one full of troops, to symbolize the constant air bridge. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kenshin620 Posted December 30, 2019 Share Posted December 30, 2019 Looks like KO itself will have a sub-faction for all duradin with Barak-Thryng! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zilberfrid Posted December 30, 2019 Share Posted December 30, 2019 32 minutes ago, kenshin620 said: Looks like KO itself will have a sub-faction for all duradin with Barak-Thryng! Yeah, the temptation of switching about is real. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alaric83 Posted December 31, 2019 Author Share Posted December 31, 2019 Well then, good thing I already painted them as Barak-Thryng! If the rules are good I might play them as pure Kharadron. Looking forward to reading the battletome. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alaric83 Posted January 30, 2020 Author Share Posted January 30, 2020 (edited) I played my first Age of Sigmar game ever, using my converted army using Tempest Eye rules. To celebrate that, I wrote a fluffy battle report. The game was played against a "soft" list from a friend who plays Skaven Pestilens. I wrote a little bit around the actual battle (that was played between two 1000points armies) so that it is a bit more epic. My list: 1 Grundcaptain (=Warden King) 1 Runeforger (=Runelord) (general) with hawkeyed 2*10 Stonebeards 10 Steelwardens (=Ironbreakers) 10 Aetherhammerers (=Hammerers) 20 Thunderdrakes (=Irondrakes) He played a Verminlord, a plague catapult, 40 plague monks, 2*5 censor bearers, and a skaven lord that buffed the catapult (don't know the exact name). In the end he tabled me, especially when a single missed dispell caused 14 Irondrakes to die instantly through mortal wounds. Now, here is the fluffier description of the meatgrinder that was the Skitterfort landing operation. --- Thrice did Grundcaptain Alaric discharge his volley pistol into the head of the dying Skaven Stormfiend lying in front of him. That might have seemed excessive to the unexperienced eye, but two duardins died under his command during a previous battle, after considering as dead a Stormfiend with half his skull blasted away. Alaric was adamant about never making the same mistake twice. “Capt’n ?” The voice came from him left. The Grundcaptain instinctively pivoted the optical sensor at the back of his helmet even before he turned his head. He saw gunnery sergeant Gromm closing in with heavy steps, his aethercannon on his shoulder. The acid blood of a Skaven abomination had attacked his mask, but not enough to compromise the sealing of his armor. He was lucky. The atmosphere was too thin here for a duardin to breath. “Sergeant,” started the Grundcaptain, “You swore that you would hold the Fist of Grudging, and you stood true to your word. You honor your ancestors.” His Skalfhammer in one hand, his volley pistol in the other, Alaric could not properly execute the salute of Barak-Thryng’s Grundstok Academy, so he simply nodded solemnly. The still-burning wreck of the Khrundal-class battleship, the Fist of Grudging, was laying behind Gromm. This massive vessel, flagship of Barak-Thryng’s reprisal fleet, had been shot down during the very first salvos of the air battle. The Skaven stratofortress known as the Skitterfort looked more akin to a floating chunk of rock than a proper fortification, but had in its bowels an experimental electrical weapon that swatted the Fist of Grudging out of the air, cutting it in half. The Gunnery Sergeant’s unit, along with eight other Grundstok squads, had been dispatched to secure the wreck and save the Arkanaut Admiral in charge of the expedition. “Is Admiral Khar-bar safe and sound?” asked Alaric while putting his volley gun back in his holster. Centuries of training and practice at the Grundstok Academy allowed Alaric to identify Gromm’s shame immediately. Shame was common in a sky-port as traditinonalist as Barak-Thryng. Even if Alaric had been a mere Arkanaut crewmember, he would have learned in his young years to recognize when a duardin had a bad news to announce. “Capt’n, we secured the admiral. He is wounded, but will be able to lead the purge of the fortress. The Grundlieutenant, however…” Behind the optical sensors of his helmet, both of Alaric’s eyes opened wide. His mouth looked for words during few seconds before he took back control of himself. “Valgha… Valgha cannot…” Alaric does not have much memory of the following hours. He remembers crossing the battlefield until the field HQ established in the wreck of the Fist. Devastation was obvious all over the surface of the Skaven stratofortress. Gunhaulers were crashed everywhere, not far from the rubbles of ratmen artillery towers. Multiple cruisers had their hull breached and were scattered, while in the distance Skaven skirmiships were still visible, exchanging artillery salvos with pursuing Barak-Thryng ships. At the Fist of Grudging the situation was fairly stable. The Arkanaut companies, mostly through fortified firing nests of aethermatic volley guns, had already established solid defensive positions. Above their heads, a few frigates and cruisers kept a watchful eye on the landing area of Barak-Thryng’s troops. A non-negligible part of the sky-port’s military forces was deployed for this operation, and nothing was to disturb their landing on the Skitterfort. Alaric’s Grundcarrier, the Iron Cloud, was much more a transport than a battleship. It usually stayed away from the battle, letting the rest of the Grundfleet securing the area. This time however, the Iron Cloud was positioned vertically above the Fist of Grudging, and its dozen of aethercopters were constantly making roundtrips between the ship and the landing zone, each time dropping an entire squad of Thunderdrakes or Steelwardens. Not much was left of Grundlieutenant Valgha for Alaric to mourn. When the Grundcaptain started praying the Old Golds, the silence that fell was so heavy that Stormbreakers around him felt as if the sealing of their armor was compromised and oxygen was running low. Alaric woke up from his torpor with the sound of a cannonade outside. A trio of frigates were generously bombarding a Skaven counter-attack while three regiments of Thunderdrakes unleashed volley after volley of aethershots from their grundrifles. “The Thaggoraki will pay,” growled Alaric, “deploy the rest of our reserves as well as the Aetherbomb. We’ll wipe out this rathole.” As an answer, Steelwardens around hit their aetherswords on their skyshields while Thunderdrakes launched a volley of blue-white shots skyward. The Duardin are a grudging people. Barak-Thryng is a sky-port known of its respect of things of old, including the Great Book of Grudges, and none was so comprehensive in their grudgemaking as the Stormbreakers. And that was a grudgin’. [Getting ready for grudge-settling] Spoiler The campaign of the Skitterfort was originally supposed to last for three months, and the objective was to transform the stratofortress into a fortified outpost at the fringe of Kharadron territory. Alaric decided to use their trump cards head-on, and to make it a three days battle. He officially announced to admiral Khar-bar that the Skaven infestation was too deep to purge the floating rock, and that the only solution was to destroy it so the ratmen would not use it any longer. In truth, vengeance was blinding Alaric’s judgement. While wave after wave or Barak-Thryng’s Arkanauts were deploying to secure the surface and probe the Skaven’s inner defenses, the Grundcaptain assembled the entirety of the Stormbreakers. More than ten thousand duardin, all member of this elite corps. Enough to carve a path into the heart of the stratofortress. The Stormbreaker’s tactic was simple enough: A massive singular unit, impossible to stop. The Steelwardens and their antimagic defenses were spread out on the outer perimeter, stopping the Skaven attacks with their skyshields. Just behind them were the Aetherhammerers, ready to obliterate any ratman resilient enough to withstand few seconds of contact with the Steelwarden. In the center were the Thunderdrakes, shooting in all directions, including above the army, and focusing down the larger Skaven flesh-abominations. In the back, the Stonebeards were forming a rearguard and supporting the other Stormbreakers wherever they were needed. For hours the Skaven could barely slow down this Dawitide, delving deeper and deeper in the large main avenue of the Skitterfort. [Alaric’s subdivision of the Stormbreakers spearhead] Spoiler “How much deeper, Gomril?” shouted Alaric while swapping aside three clanrats in a single blow of his Skalfhammer. The Grundcaptain had lost track of where he was exactly, and trusted his Endrinsmith to make all the calculations for him. The Stormbreakers had just entered an absolutely massive inner cave, looking like a small city or workshop. Plague-ridden corpses were left to decompose in the streets, and the Thaggoraki had decided to put up a serious resistance here. The Endrinsmith pulled many exotic measuring device in the middle of the mayhem. Alaric could not see his face behind his mask, but he knew his friend was making calculations. Overhead a salvo of green balls of filth flew across the battlefield, crashing into the melee of Steelwardens and Clanrats. “Plague catapults!” shouted Gunnery Sergeant Gromm, “Mortars, focus fire!” Endrinsmith Gomril boosted the volume on his mouth-speaker so that he could be heard by Alaric. “Grundcaptain, this will do! We are deep enough in the Skitterfort. The Aetherbomb will obliterate the stratofortress!” That was all he needed to hear. “Sons and daughters of Grungni!” roared Alaric, “This is where we stand! This is where we break the vermintide!” [The sons of Grungni on the warpath] Spoiler Every duardin knew the objective there. To hold long enough so that the Aetherbomb could be weaponized. The many regiments of Stormbreakers started to deploy across the plague-city, knowing they would win or die here. Alaric trusted his Grundlieutenants to command their forces efficiently. He took his own forces, put the Stonebeards at the front, and charged through the center. “Khazukan Kazakit-HA” yelled all the duardin as a single voice. The impact was awe-inspiring. Fifty skaven censor-bearers jumped from behind ruins, rushing an advancing regiment of a hundred Stonebeards. Bracing for impact did little for the duardin, who were slaughtered by the frenzied assault of the vermin. “Reinforce that flank!” Steelwardens and Aetherhammerers poured in the breach, massacring the censer-bearers to the last rat. The poisonous fumes of the Pestilens had injured many surviving Stonebeards, most of which could barely walk. Even the protective craft of the accompanying Runeforger could barely delay the infection. “Bring them back to the ship,” ordered the Grundcaptain. “Quarantine them, treat them, and back to Barak-Thryng. I won’t sacrifice duardin lives for nothing.” “Captain !” shouted one of the Aetherkeeper – the leader of an Aetherhammerer squad. “Here they come!” A wave of filth and decay came over a series of crumbling building, the wet wood of the houses creaking under the weight of four hundred plaguemonks rushing over the roofs. “We’ve had worse!” grunted the Grundcaptain, “It’s not a few hundreds of Thaggoraki that will-“ He could not finish his sentence before an explosion of raw warpstones obliterated the regiment on his right. Hundreds of Stormbreakers perished in an instant when the whole group of Grundlieutenant Kormaz was erased from existence, replaced by a being of pure malevolence. They were all trained for this kind of situation, but this was too much. “That… That’s…” started the Runeforger. Way behind them, a team of mortar-equipped Grundstoks launched a salvo of explosives on the newly appeared daemon, destroying what was left of the neighborhood where he appeared, but inflicting no apparent damage. “Verminlord!” cried out Alaric in alarm, “Support teams, focus fire on this aberration!” This Lord of Filth started spellcasting, preparing what was without a doubt something that would slaughter many duardin. The Runeforger, however, was quick with his wit, and activated his strongest aetherune. The Verminlord, not yet entirely in this reality, did not have enough strength to conjure his spell. The Skaven monstruosity was the biggest danger here, but there was no choice for Alaric except handling the coming wave of Plague Monks. He ordered his own Thunderdrakes to focus down the flagellant of decay, while he sent his Aetherhammerers to counter-charge on their flanks. [Aetherhammerers charge the enemy lines] Spoiler Hundreds of Monks were cut down like wheat by the aethershots of the Thunderdrakes. Those that survived were broken like old fruits by the energy discharge of the Aetherhammerers weapons. In the ensuing melee, half of the duardin that had faced the tide were dead, while the other half were too wounded or sick to continue the fight. The Plague Monks, however, all laid dead on the blood-soaked rocky floor. Alaric barked to the surviving Aetherhammerers to retreat away from the battlefield. [Plague Monks slaughtered by grundrifles and aetherhammers] Spoiler Fifty more plague-censers were coming hard on the left flank of Alaric’s troops, but apart from that, only the Verminlord remained as the main threat. For a second, the Grundcaptain allowed himself to believe they could win. That was before the Verminlord managed to launch his spell, despite the Runeforger’s best efforts. The core of Alaric’s regiment, his Thunderdrakes, started convulsing. Their armor and rifles rusted in a matter of seconds, while gloated sounds emerged from the throats of those that did not die instantly. The Runeforger immediately applied a counter-spell on those he could save, but it was too late: Out of the two hundred Thunderdrakes immediately at Alaric’s back, only fifty survived. This time, however, there was no opportunity to allow the wounded to pull back. [Stormbreakers form a defensive line to stop the Verminlord] Spoiler “Keep firing on that thing!” roared the Grundcaptain, “and establish a defensive form-“ He was once again interrupted when a volley of the plague catapults crashed in the middle of the Steelwardens line. The lucky ones died from the impact while others were infected with plagues to vile to be described by words. Only a few dozen of the elite Steelwarden remained as some sort of honor guard for Alaric. While the last Steelwarden deployed alongside the Grundcaptain to intercept the incoming censor-bearers, one hundred Stonebeards –the last full unit of Alaric’s army- went to charge the Verminlord with the support of the Runeforger. [All-in] Spoiler Alaric did not see in detail what happened to the Stonebeards. He heard his Runeforger screaming under the effort of containing the Verminlord’s magic. Meanwhile, the tail of the monster flapped about, killing few brave duardin each time. But he could not focus on them. He had his own battle to win. He plunged into battle, swinging his hammer left and right. Craven Skaven flew around him, their heads smash in, their bones pulverized. His Steelwardens formed an impregnable fortress around him with their skyshields, intercepting any attack that had a risk of injuring their lord. The Plague Catapults had focused their attention on other Stormbreaker armies, and were now leaving his duardin alone to be slaughtered by the verminlord. When Alaric killed the last of the vermin he looked around him. No censor-bearer had survived, but neither had any Steelwarden. The Grundcaptain swore an ancient Khazalid insult before turning his gaze to the Verminlord. He was still engaging the rest of his forces. [Only one enemy remains] Spoiler In a single second, a fetid gale blew over the remaining Thunderdrakes, tearing the life away from them. All duardin fell on the ground, as if they were mere puppets whose strings were cut all at once. The Runeforger spent much energy trying to intercept this spell, and was left expose to a counter-attack. He blocked a tail attack and staggered back, before being cut to pieces by plaguereapers. Alaric cried out the name of his friend as he charged into the melee. His Stonebeards had surrounded the monster and were attacking him from all side, but they were clearly outmatched by the creature. More and more died, be it by plagues or by blade. Even Alaric, a master combatant, could barely score a hit on the fast-moving daemon. “Kill it! Just kill it!” In his eagerness he left his flank exposed. The Verminlord was about to leap at him and kill him as he had did with the Runeforger when he received a couple of aethershots to the head. This was enough to delay him, and buy Alaric some precious seconds to counter the blow. Behind him, two surviving Thunderdrakes had risen, stubbornly refusing to die before their enemy. [It just won’t die!] Spoiler Getting tired of this fight and starting to feel he could actually loose hit, the injured Verminlord unleashed yet another plague. All the Stonebeards fell, coughing blood and worse, while even Alaric could barely stand. He intercepted one attack from the vermin, then two, but just when he was about to fall, the Stonebeards standard-bearer –last of his unit- used his weaponized banner to cut deep into the Verminlord’s knee. The creature screeched in pain, uttering what was probably insults in Queekish. Alaric looked at the Stonebeard bannerman, proud to fight alongside this duardin. Grungni would be proud, he thought. “Khazukan,” started Alaric, “Kazak-“ The Verminlord reflex-kicked Alaric away. The Grundcaptain barely had time to put his hammer in front of the blow, and flew for two dozen meters before touching the ground. He bounced a few times, many bones breaking in his body, and finally stopped in the middle of retreating Stormbreakers regiments. Most of the duardin were holding fast against the seemingly endless wave of the Skaven’s elite. They would have to hold at least an hour, he thought to himself. More and more plague monks and censor-bearer were entering the city from the rear, under the fire of long-range Grundstok mortars. Wounded duardin were being evacuated, but most Stormbreakers were dying in battle or of sudden diseases. The last thing Alaric saw before he lost consciousness was the Stonebeard standard-bearer, fighting alone against the Verminlord. To his shock, he was still holding his own. The wounded demon himself appeared more than surprised at his unability to kill a single duardin. No amount of tail lash or plaguereaper blows would be enough. The Stonebeard would intercept them all. Later, Alaric would learn that one of the plague of the Verminlord was needed to kill this single duardin. [The real hero of this battle] Spoiler When he woke up again, Alaric was being carried on a skyshield by four duardin. A mere thousand Stormbreakers had escaped the inner tunnels of Skitterfort, where more than ten thousand had entered. When the Grundcaptain and the survivors arrived near the rallying point of the Iron Cloud, Alaric could see the sadness of the Aethercopters squadron leader. Dozen of those light skycrafts were ready to make rundabouts, their engines running. “That’s it?” half-whispered Zhiflon the squadron leader, keeping his gaze on the tunnel exits, hoping to see a wave of Stormbreakers coming to get back in the Grundcarrier. Around them, the Arkanauts had already finished embarking in their ships, many frigates and ironclads already retreating away from the stratofortress, fearing to be in the blast radius. “That’s it,” answered Alaric, his voice heavy. “Get us out of this hell.” When the Skaven fortress blew up in the sky, clouds turned a sickish green as far as the eye could see. Warpstone energy discharges went in all directions, some touching the smaller gunhaulers, destroying them in one touch. An ironclad, the Grudge Fulfilled, was mortally wounded in its munition storage. Losing altitude rapidly, he plunged towards the ground followed by several frigates trying totow it with their harpoons. More losses before the end of this dark episode of Barak-Thryng’s history. Grundcaptain Alaric had only one idea in mind: To return to Barak-Thryng, rebuild the Stormbreakers, and hunt the Thaggoraki no matter where they might hide. If he did indeed see his beloved, his rest was short-lived. A mere few weeks after the battle of Skitterfort, the most respected duardin of the City of Ancestors came to the Grundstok Academy to pay the Grundcaptain a visit. “Admiral Sternbok!” shouted Alaric, immediately saluting after putting down his precision grundrifle. The Grundcaptain had been surprised in the middle of a firing training. The few Thunderdrakes around him, recruits as veterans, saluted as their leader. “At ease, Grundcaptain.” The voice of the unhelmeted admiral was fatherly and warm. Until today, Alaric had never heard it except through the filters of his voice-speaker. Every Kharadron mask distorted the voice of their users, to different degrees, but Admiral Grymm Sternbok’s voice-speaker had been willingly modified to give him a deep and rocky voice, similar to a stone avalanche. Probably to intimidate his foes, or his allies in the Geldraad. “You can call me Grymm. You earned it. You are one of our best duardin.” Not knowing how to react to that, Alaric stood still, waiting to understand why only Delegate of Barak-Thryng came to visit. “You already gave a lot for our sky-port, Alaric,” started the admiral, “but we’ll have to ask you much more. We have a priority mission, highly confidential, and your Stormbreakers are our best bet at succeeding.” The Grundcaptain slowly nodded to show that he heard the Admiral, then waited long seconds –as a sign of respect- before answering. “With all due respect, admiral Grymm,” Alaric started slowly, over-articulating, “the Stormbreakers are but a fraction of what they used to be a month ago. It will take years of recruitment and training before we can attempt an operation half the scale of the Skitterfort invasion.” The silence in the shooting gallery was suffocating. The admiral had a little laugh, looked around at the Thunderdrakes, and then gave Alaric a little pat on the shoulder. “I’m well aware of that,” said the rocky voice of Sternbok, “that’s why you will manage a small ground team. Take your Iron Cloud, and as many of my Arkanauts as you’ll need to keep her steady and repel any boarders. Your Grundcarrier and its escort fleet will go across the realms at very high altitude while your Stormbreakers and you will deploy with aethercopters behind enemy lines. Sudden strikes, unexpected and hard. That was a bold plan to say the least. Alaric was used to this kind of operation. Truth be said, this was what the Steelrain half of the Stormbreakers did best. Massive airdrop operations, such as on the Skitterfort, would not happen in the near future. However, smaller armies of few hundred of Stormbreakers were much more reasonable. When Alaric was still a cadet, he did spend few years in the scouts of Barak-Ziflin’s Grundstok Academy. A mobile and fortified headquarter. Small elite squad ready to be airdropped in the worst combat zones. Small team to remain flexible. Tactical insertion through stealthy aethercopter were his specialty, and so he was excited at the perspective of diving again in the night, hanging from a safety harness at the back of the aircraft, accomplishing critical missions for the vanguard of an army. “That would be my honor, admiral Grymm,” solemnly declared Alaric, “what would the mission be?” Sterbok nodded slowly, a gesture of respect very common in Barak-Thryng. “As I was saying, Grundcaptain, it is highly confidential. Many factions are racing for what you’ll be in pursuit of. Some of our duardin brothers, including Kharadrons, also want it. Let us discuss this outside.” Admiral Sternbok slapped the flat of his hand on Alaric’s shoulder, as much as a sign of friendship and encouragement, as a way to push him towards the exit. Before they went through the doorstep of the Academy’s shooting range, the admiral turned to the Thunderdrakes that were still standing at attention, still as statues. “And you,” roared the admiral, “get ready and tell your brothers and sisters to do the same. The Iron Cloud leaves tomorrow at dusk.” Edited January 30, 2020 by Alaric83 Putting photos in spoiler 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tommy Posted January 30, 2020 Share Posted January 30, 2020 Congrats on your first game! I didn’t read the full report but great pics - wasted behind spoiler tags! 🙂 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alaric83 Posted January 30, 2020 Author Share Posted January 30, 2020 Thanks ! Didnt want to « overcharge » the battlereport with pics. You think it’d be better without spoilers? I’m not used to posting conventions here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zilberfrid Posted January 30, 2020 Share Posted January 30, 2020 3 minutes ago, Alaric83 said: Thanks ! Didnt want to « overcharge » the battlereport with pics. You think it’d be better without spoilers? I’m not used to posting conventions here. The spoilers make reading easy while still having the pictures. I really enjoyed the read! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Public Universal Duardin Posted January 30, 2020 Share Posted January 30, 2020 What a great read! I hope we get to hear more of Alaric and his Stormbreakers in the future - I also liked how you utilised the spoilers/pictures. Keep up the good work! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skreech Verminking Posted January 30, 2020 Share Posted January 30, 2020 That was an amazing story there mate! loved it and I can’t wait to read the next one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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