Last Saturday saw the conclusion of our small Warmaster campaign ‘War of Albion’.
The day started with smaller battles with 1000 points per player - Demons vs. Chaos, Chaos vs. Orcs & Goblins and Empire vs. Araby.
The highlight of the day and the campaign would then be the final decisive battle - 3000 points Empire & Araby against 3000 points Demons, Orcs & Goblins and Chaos on a 3.20m x 1.20m gaming table.
Warmaster as a multiplayer was indeed new to all of us and we were excited to see if and how it would work - and right from the start: it worked like a charm.
So my demon horde met a force of chaos to settle once and for all who was boss:
The troops have taken up positions, with Helmut's Chaos force in the foreground; my demons have positioned themselves on one flank to support each other.
4 Demon Hordes and a unit of Flyers led by my "Papa Nurgle" himself.
My small mobile brigade - Demon Hounds and Demon Cavalry led by a Sorcerer trying to out-flank the hard hitting Chaos infantry.
Chaos immediately push forward with their infantry brigades ...
... but luckily 2 successful Demon Blasts from both Papa Nurgle and my Sorcerer (generating 4 hits all in all!) later the leading brigade has been split - the Chaos Warriors lost a stand, has been pushed back and are Confused now!
But the Chaos horde was bursting with confidence and one turn later the other infantry brigade advanced - completely unimpressed by the superiority they faced!
However, it ran out of steam and came to a halt just before the phalanx of demons (it failed its command roll to charge)!
Nothing could hold the demons back now, all rushed forward to show Chaos that their gods stood under the Great Nurgle.
The infantry clashed head-on, with the daemons bringing their superior numbers to bear and Demon Hounds and cavalry crashing into the enemy's open flanks.
The Chaos Brigade was completely wiped out, and with it the Chaos General - the remaining Chaos hordes subsequently retreated, leaving the battlefield to the victorious Daemons.
And now for the highlight of the day, the multiplayer battle.
The scenario was a variant of ‘Battle for the Tower’ - in addition to the central object (the demon idol), there was another object on each flank that had to be captured and held.
Demons, Orcs&Goblins and Chaos deployed on the right side, Empire and Araby on the left and as they had lost the Scouting Phase had to deploy first.
My demons were to advance with vigour on our left flank, as the enemy had positioned themselves very sparsely here and their units had difficulty supporting each other.
Our centre was covered by the Orcs&Goblins, an impressive sight for the opponent due to their sheer numbers alone.
The Chaos troops would have to hold our right flank - no easy task, as Araby would attack there with the bulk of his numerically superior force.
That's what my demons faced - several brigades of Desert Riders and Bowmen from Araby, plus Pistoliers from the Empire.
The opposing centre, also an imposing sight - the full might of the Empire.
And on the left flank of our opponents, Araby went on the attack - with Magic Carpets, Elephants and whatever else a general's heart could desire.
Demons pouring over the hill, led by the Great Unclean.
After defeating the isolated Brigade of Desert Rider, the Demons could concentrate nearly all their might on the on the unfortunate brigade of archers who had occupied the edge of the forest, but were now being attacked frontally and in the flanks by a superior force.
Once the forest had been cleared, the demons continued their relentless charge and emerged in the flank and rear of the Empire, which was now forced to regroup its forces in the centre, finally giving the hard-pressed Orcs&Goblins some breathing space.
And so the Orcs&Goblins could finally take and hold the Demon Idol on the hill in the centre.
The Araby Wizard accompanied by a Djinn. He and a unit of Magic Carpets caused havoc and destroyed many of the hard-hitting Chaos units - a real curse of their own.
Last stages of the battle - the last counter-attacks of the Empire to recapture the Demon Idol failed ...
... even though Araby managed to kill den Chaos Generals - it was just too late.
The game ended with a really close victory for the force of Demons, Orcs&Goblins and Chaos, as we were also only just 1.5 points away from our breakpoint.
And so a fantastic day came to an end, bringing our little ‘War of Albion’ campaign to an end.
We fought hard but laughed a lot more with each other and Warmaster Revolution also works very well as a multiplayer game.