BOYL 2014 - The Siege of Avalone - the Aftermath

The dawn was heralded by a watery grey light that struggled to penetrate the louring clouds and already the Carrion Crows were breaking their fast. Bleary eyed troops staggered back to the field of battle and prepared themselves as best they could.

Well that was the scene that I saw in the marquee as we arrived back for the final day's gaming anyway!

So on to the last post for the Siege game - it's been a pretty epic task just editing the photographs and writing the game up I must say!

Sunday saw a few hardy souls drag their hung over corpses back to the table to continue Round 3 of the Siege. The ranks of Generals had thinned somewhat from the crowds round the table on Saturday due to commitments to other games or having to return home. I was involved in a big Epic Game with Chico and others (more of which in the next post) but managed to pop over now and again to take some pics.

I must confess however, that I don't have as good a handle on what went on as I did for the Saturday. So I propose a bit of creative writing based on the pics I took and the main events that I can remember...

Smoke still issued forth from the smouldering remains of the great Ent gathering that had sacrificed itself in blunting the advance of the Horde. The cries of the dead and dying intermingled with the more purposeful shouts of battle-sergeants and discipline-masters as the horde carried on its inexorable advance. Many a foul, and many a noble deed was performed that day.

A second Siege Tower was brought up to the walls by the Orcs whilst the sea of Chaotics continued to surge forward behind them.

Also to earn a place in the annals of Avalone were the noble knights who delayed the terrible Golgfag and his Ogre mercenaries.

Prince Ulther's Dwarves stood firm in the face of the rising tide of evil.

Ugezod's shock troops wrought bloody havoc on the very walls of Avalone.

And its inhabitants shook with fear at the approach of the great War Tortoise Ajax!

Even the lowliest and rudest of peasants acquitted themselves well on that reddest of days. Many a widower found themselves granted freedom from serfdom in gratitude for their husband's deeds.

Despite the crippling taxes and Cannon Levy imposed on the townsfolk to equip and defend the walls with artillery, a lone Chaos Monstrosity made it to the main gates.

Many a poor family were to be bereft of a Father as the Peasant Levy were finally run through by the nightmarish forces of Undeath.

The West Wall suffered most grievously, beset on all sides by Orcs, Daemons and other foul creatures that slithered over the very battlements themselves. 

To this day the Western district of Avalone lies abandoned due to the unnatural pestilences and disease brought into the city by the monsters.

Great was the cheer from the defenders as a great fusillade from the walls brought the War Tortoise to a halt. Many were the fallen among the Giants who had followed the horde into battle. 

As darkness fell and the storm clouds gathered their came a slackening in the assault. Imperceptible at first but by degrees the defenders noticed an increasing quiet settling over the battlefield. One by one the Goblinoids, Ogres and Skaven of the attacking host began to melt away into the dusk, back to whatever barren haunts they called home.

Avalone had proved too hard a nut to crack and for the undisciplined masses there were easier pickings to be had elsewhere. The relief of the defenders was great though the celebrations were tinged with the sadness that loss brings. 

Though they had triumphed in the face of a numerous and powerful foe, subtle enemies were at work. Disease ran unchecked in the Western District of the city and many of the city folk succumbed in their weakened and half starved fate. 

The Skaven, although repulsed from the city, retired underground. Soon the network of tunnels beneath the city came to rival the streets above in complexity and number. It became safe no longer to walk those streets at night and strange disappearances and deaths became all too common. 

Beyond the range of cannon shot there still lurked many of the creatures that had assaulted the walls. The nights were lit up with the burning of the many homesteads and farms and soon the land became a barren waste. 

Avalone soon became just a military outpost as the city folk left in long lines of worry and despair. The city, a forlorn ghost of its former self was eventually abandoned to the creatures of chaos. 

Trolls lurked where once troubadours sang and Goblins frolicked where once children played and below it all seethed the Empire of the Ratmen...