The Black Venom War: The Karak Hirn Campaign
Conrad learned that the Army would not be celebrating the victory at Steingart. Because they had taken little casualties the army would immediately rush to capture Karak Hirn from the Black Venom tribe. Conrad had never been to the mountains, though he had lived in their shadow most of his life. The mountains were the realm of greenskins and dwarfs, and men preferred not to interfere in their never ending wars. But now that the greenskins had attempted an invasion of Empire lands, their settlements in the Black Mountains, so close to the southern border, could no longer be tolerated.
The march into the mountains lasted two months, during which the air grew colder and colder. The pack on Conrad’s back was heavy with gear but he also had to carry more provisions than normal, as resupply in the mountains was difficult. Vegetation began to disappear the higher into the mountains they got. And the ground became rocky and unfertile. Patches of snow dotted the landscape and everywhere they looked they could feel the greenskin scouts watching. Victor had warned them an ambush was likely so so they stayed alert and moved slowly. One day as they walked Conrad looked up, and what he saw took his breath away. Built into the side of the mountain, almost as if it had always been a part of it, was a city. Walls taller than anything he had ever seen built by mankind. The architecture was the definition of perfection, and the precision with which each stone was carved seemed almost impossible. Conrad heard footsteps next him, crunching the gravel under their feet. “Welcome to Karak Hirn” Victor stated. “Goblins built this?” Conrad asked. “No. They stole it. What we see now is just a shell of the glory that the dwarfs were once capable of. Many of the old dwarf holds are now home to greenskin usurpers. One of many reasons the two races have been at war endlessly.” Conrad felt sympathy for the dwarfs. This would be mankind's future if they could not succeed at defeating the greenskins.
Gelt ordered a camp to be set and for the men to rest. The following week they would make the rest of the journey to the Karak and begin their siege, but for now they had the pass blocked sp the greenskins could no longer retreat. Just as the encampment was being prepared drums could be heard in the distance. Getting closer. They echoed off the sides of the pass, and the men looked around fearfully. Bugles began to sound and everyone in the camp dropped what they were doing. The greenskins were marching out of the Karak to meet them in the open field, and they were just barely ready.
The army had formed up in a standard three tier formation. Archers formed the front line, and swordsmen the second. Behind Conrad's company which was stationed on the far left, Gelt and his bodyguards were ready to rush to where they were needed most. On the right flank was a squadron of outrider cavalry equipped with handguns, and a company of crossbows,whose longer range would assist in taking out any flanking threats from the right flank. As the greenskin army advanced conrad could see that a large portion of it consisted of basic orc infantry. The army had never faced orcs in battle, and most of the army still had not been tested in combat. Conrad began to doubt their chances at victory. Then he realized another grim fact. The army facing him outnumbered the forces of the empire by almost two to one. The army of man still wasn't at full strength and only had 1300 soldiers. The orc forces appeared to number about 2000. Conrad grimaced. Retreat wasn't an option, they were in hostile territory and the terrain played to the greenskin advantage almost everywhere in the mountains. The army would have to stand and fight, and if they lost, they would be wiped out.
The mortars began to rain fire down on the advancing mob of orcs and goblins . Inflicting massive casualties, but against so many it barely matterred. As the greenskins advanced Gelt moved himself and his bodyguard to take up the left most position, just left of Conrad's company. The crossbows also shifted to take up a position behind Getl and Conrads forces. As the enemy drew closer the outriders rushed out and began to fire on the advancing right flank of the greenskin army, drawing off three companies of infantry and a squadron of melee cavalry. These greenskins forces gave chase to the outriders as they continued to fire on them throughout the battle. Once the greenskin lines were in range the archers began to fire, getting off two volleys before falling back behind the second line of swordsmen. Conrad drew his sword and braced himself. There was no doubt about it this time. He would see combat. The greenskin force continued to run towards the sword line and began to split. A large force of about four companies of orcs and goblins veered left and then charged gelt and his bodyguards, choosing to focus on them. Another six companies of orcs focused on the center and right flank of the sword line. Surprisingly Conrad’s company did not have the bear the force of an infantry charge against them. Then Conrad realized why. A sharp whistle sounded overhead and he heard Victor shout “Shields!” Conrad lifted his shield above his head just as the first arrow struck it, making a loud thud as it bounced off the steel. The man next to him was not so lucky. And arrow struck him in the shoulder and buried half its length into his body. Conrad watched as the man fell and blood began to pool around him, soaking into the ground. Behind him Conrad could hear the crossbows beginning to fire, and after a few seconds the arrows raining down on his formation began to lessen, until they finally stopped altogether. Victor turned towards the men and Conrad saw him point his sword to the left, towards Gelt, and the mass of orcs surrounding him. Then he saw Victor mouth the words charge.
Everything seemed to happen in slow motion. The company slammed into the mass of orcs just as they were about to surround gelt and his bodyguard of greatswords. Conrad was one of the first in the fray, and he hacked at the back of one of the orcs as it attempted to strike down one of the bodyguards. Then slowly, the swordsmen began to advance further into the mob, with Conrad and Victor being the tip of the formation. Having been flanked, the first company of orcs began to flee the battle. Gelt used the opening this created to rain molten shards of silver upon the remaining orcs fighting him and his bodyguards. Conrad had not realized how close he was to the wizard in the fighting until he heard Getl yell to Victor. “Assist the main line, me and my men can hold here!” Victor nodded and signaled the men to turn around and engage the Orcs that were beginning to overwhelm the main sword line. The remaining four companies had so far been successful at holding off the seven companies of orcs that had charged them, mostly due to the support of archers firing into the orcs formations over the heads of the swordsmen. But without help they would soon break and the archers would be open to attack.
As Conrad and the rest of the company sprinted to aid the failing infantry line, crossbowmen ran past them the opposite direction, firing into the rear of the orcs that were engaging Gelts force. Conrad then heard the mortars begin firing again, and the explosions sounded directly behind him. “That wizard is crazy!” he shouted to Victor. The mortars were firing into the orc lines while Gelts forces were still engaged with them. Just one wrong calculation and Gelt could lose dozens of men, or even kill himself. Maybe it’s a good thing Gelt ordered them out of that area. The orcs fighting the main line saw that Conrads’s company was rejoining the main battle and they broke contact to counter charge the reinforcements. Conrad’s company and the orcs company met at a full charge on both sides. The sheer size of the orcs surprised Conrad and he had to use his speed to avoid having his limbs torn off by their massive axes. Still running at full speed he ducked under the swing of an orc axe and turned before slashing down on the orcs arm. The orcs went down, blood pouring from its wound. Conrad then turned to face a second orc. It swung at him and he used his shield to block the first blow. The shield rang and he thought his arm was broken from the shock of the first blow. The second blow he sidestepped and then thrust his sword into the orcs throat. Suddenly he felt something slam into him and he was thrown to the ground. A third orc had bashed him with it’s shield and was raising it’s axe for the finishing blow. Conrad frantically searched for his sword but it was out of reach. He looked up and what he saw couldn't have made him happier. A crossbow bolt protruded from the orcs chest and it staggered back before collapsing. Conrad recovered to his feet and looked around. All around the battlefield the orcs were retreating. The army of men had won.
Conrad and the rest of the cherry soldiers who had never seen a large battle let out a large cheer and raised their swords, shaking them at the fleeing greenskins. Conrad felt an arm on his, forcing him to lower his sword. Victor stood next to him shaking his head, staring at the ground. Conrad took a second look around him and noticed why.. The bodies of his comrades were all around him. “After every major battle there is a job to do. The empire needs numbers to record casualties, it needs to know how many replacements to send us.” Victor told Conrad solemnly. Slowly the other men began to realize what Conrad had just realized, and then the counting began. The dead were collected from the field, if they could be found, and lined up according to what company they belonged to. The empire had lost 242 soldiers, a small number given the fact the enemy force had numbered well over 2000. But of those 242, 36 had been in Conrad’s own company. His company had lost over a quarter of its strength in one day, and fifteen percent of all casualties from the battle had been from his company. “So this is war?” he thought to himself as he stared down the line of bodies. Suddenly he wasn't so sure he wanted to prove himself if this was the cost. But what choice did he have?