Battle of Thundercrown

Port District

With Firetooth pouring out of the gates just behind them, the wing of Wastelander cavalry had only one way to go: North.  Enemy troops were sallying there too, but they would have to cover much more distance to cut the cavalry off.  Those soldiers who still had flammable material to discharge onto city buildings did so as quickly as possible, and the mass of warg riders galloped North at full speed.  They only stopped when absolutely necessary, when there were barriers they could not circumvent that needed to be removed.

The light cavalry had no interest in engaging the Firetooth in an urban battlefield.  Whatever it took, they were determined to get out of here.  Of course, the terrain did have at least one advantage: The wastelanders were free to fire their arrows over the rooftops, whereas the Firetooth would need to get very close before they could have a clear line of fire with their muskets.  So they peppered their foes to the Northeast with arrows as much as possible in their retreat, hoping to slow them down enough to make it out.

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East Field

When Yontai Furtaker spotted the human cavalry massing, his reaction was quick and decisive.  "Captain! For the love of Kor'Nezagh, tell the shamans and archers on the right flank to change their marks and hit the cavalry!"  As the order was carried out, directing streams of arrows and thunderbolts away from the giants and towards the wave of imperials, Furtaker took some initiative of his own.

"Shield militia on me!  Defend da right flank!"  He personally lead the action, rallying three-thousand roundshiers to form a shield-wall facing the impending cavalry onslaught.  The general was beginning to accept that he would probably die today, and he wanted to be remembered for something besides his defeat and capture by the Blood Dancer.  If he could help it, the Furtaker clan would have a glorious tale of battle to its name.

Further North, effectively outside Furtaker's range of communication, the infantry continued with the last orders they had received.  Archers poured volley after volley into the Jotun North flank, and the block of pikes and swords advanced with all haste to hit the giants while they were disorganized.  These troops, unlike their commander, believed they could win.  The battle was too loud and they were too far away to register the immense cavalry charge coming their way.

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South Field

Seeing the gates opening before them, the detachment of pikes guarding against a sally advanced with spearheads pointing forward in a wall.  The enemy had superior numbers, but the wastelanders had a bottleneck where they could effectively fight the Firetooth on even terms.  And, ironically, their position right under the palisades gave them excellent cover against the enemy cannon.  The supporting archers continued to fire in support, suppressing the musketeers on the wall to minimize the impact of their fire.  They would certainly lose the engagement eventually, but they had every advantage possible to help hold off their foes for a very long time.

Hulgark's main army, on the other hand, had more of a dilemma.  Now that the Ikegami had decided to charge, Hulgark needed to choose where to concentrate his forces.  He couldn't hope to break both armies, but if he could break one his troops would have a path of retreat.  With Jodsar's forces already engaged, Hulgark liked his chances against the Cerdigonians.

The High Chief turned to one of his runners.  "Front line infantry will advance, and the archers and catapults will keep supporting them.  Everyone else on me."

In accordance with their supreme commander's orders, five-thousand infantry began their attack.  Pike squares widened into rectangles to fill the front ranks, backed up by roundshiers on the rear and flanks.  The only exceptions were the shock troops massed on the right flank.  They would handle their section on their own with their own, less sophisticated methods.

"FORWAAAAAAARD!"  Thousands of pikes swung down until they were nearly parallel to the ground, presenting a nasty wall of spikes to whoever faced them.  Then the march began.  In what some outsiders would consider an uncharacteristic move for the wastelanders, the pike-line moved at a measured pace that prioritized cohesion over speed.  Their job wasn't necessarily to rout the enemy with a powerful smash, but rather to hold them off.  To do this, their spear-wall would have to stay level and their ranks would have to stay in tight order.  They would be helped by the volleys of arrows and catapult-stones flying over their heads. 

Of course, the thousand man-hackers on the right flank would use a different approach: As the enemy line drew near, they accelerated from quick-step to a full charge to meet their elven roundshier counterparts.  They might die before the pikes did, but they would have glory to their names.

Hulgark's own force, a mix of pikes and shield militia and man-hackers accompanied by shamans, would be using this style of attack in full.  Thousands of troops sprinted to meet the Commonwealth lancers and tear them off their horses -or just kill the horses and let the pitiful riders writhe in pain from broken legs.  During the run, the shaman-folk readied their spells with incantations, and then, right before the charge connected, they loosed all the thunder they could store at the Commonwealth knights specifically.  This was for two reasons: to save the infantry from dealing with too many elite warriors, and because the elves and horses were easiest to fry when they were in full metal armor.

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-- Light cavalry to the Northwest press North with all haste while suppressing the sallying Firetooth with arrows.

-- Yontai Furtaker (27) rallies the three nearby Roundshier units for a last stand against the incoming Survaekom cavalry.

-- Just South of Furtaker, shamans (29) and archers (2 units) direct all their fire against the Survaekom cavalry.

-- The troops North of Furtaker's sphere (2 pike, 1 roundshier, 3 archer) continue to rush to engage the giants, and the engaged troops keep fighting.

-- Hulgark's front line (2 pike, 2 roundshier, 1 shock) advance in good order to meet the Ikegami charge.  They are supported by the catapults and archers (3 units).

-- Hulgark the Fox (24) personally leads the rest of his unengaged units (shamans, 3 shock, 3 roundshier, 1 pike) in a charge against the Commonwealth cavalry.  At close range, shamans (29) target the knights specifically.

AN arrow passed by Gudrik as he found himself and the greatswords that fought alongside himself and his warriors. He could see the archers to the north hammering his lines. To the south he could see the Imperial cavalry clashing with a mass of wastelander troops, as well as the Vaekirate mounted guard poised to strike at the orcish rear. It made the decision easier. He was closer to the archers and he was sure that Stae would be fine, besides his troops had the numbers in the south and would move to aid the imperials as soon as they mopped up the pike and shock troops they were fighting.

"Lets kill the bow wielding cravens!" A ragged cheer came from his troops. They were tired but they were his. It was also well known that bowmen rarely stood their ground when charged. The prospect of an easy victory appalled to them.

On the Northern battle line another was having similar thoughts. Hudran's jaw and pride still stung from his loss to the Aed lover. His warriors were on the eastern most section and as such were not engaged. he could see the archers raining arrows on his men. He would show those bastards. He'd break the orcs and drive them off, proving he was not simply 'Word-sayer'.

"Secure the docks!" Garlog sent a message to the troops already sallied. They had no need to chase the already-beaten cavalry. Much more important was putting out the fires and killing any stragglers.

But he himself assembled at the southern gate. The battle was almost over, and there's no way Garlog Whiteshot, Chieftian of the Firetooth, was going to be caught inside the walls while everyone else earned glory. As the guns fired overhead he rallied all the melee troops in the keep and lead them charging out of the gate to relieve the commonwealth's lines and strike the wastelanders from behind. His troops were fresh and eager for a battle - a far cry from the tired and exhausted wastelanders.

In the northern section of the battlefield, with no commander to lead the Wastelander forces, the orcs' battle-lines broke into a collection of skirmishes.  The roundshiers facing the Imperial cavalry charge struggled to keep their shieldwall together while their supporting archers tried to give as good as they got in their harrowing exchange of fire with bow-equipped Yvorom.  Further North, as the melee line began to crumble, archers took advantage of their opportune moment to pour in close-range fire while their comrades in the melee could still cover them.  It helped that the archer divisions were staggered: If one had to run from a charge like the one the Blood Dancer was preparing,  another would rain arrows upon the chargers to slow them down and thin them out.

On the Southern Front, the battle was now pitched...and Hulgark didn't like where it was going.  Enemy regiments were approaching his forces from every side, and he had no unengaged banners to meet them with.  Only one shaman remained alive, supported by thousands of archers but under threat by a quickly-advancing mass of human-scum infantry whom they had turned to face.  The orc-priest and his acolytes desperately released incantations to move the winds against the enemy, slowing them and strengthening the force of their comrades' arrows. 

There were no reserves to bring in...except Hulgark the Fox himself and his personal retainers.  The question of where to commit flooded his mind: The nearby Commonwealth knights and their elven leader were the closest danger, but the line facing the Ikegami and the archers in the rear could use his help too.  What decided it was a flash of light he saw from an exceptionally tall figure far ahead.  A giant.  A gods-damned shaman giant.

Of course, Hulgark could have tried to retreat, but what would his title mean then?  Even the sly Fox had honor to defend.  Escaping would save him from a death sentence here, only to condemn his entire clan to a death sentence back home.  No, if he had to die, he would die fighting an enemy champion, and that mage was the one he would fight.

Under cover of his infantry, the Grand Chief of the Wastelands and his guards rode hard around the nearby masses of human rabble, and then through the gap between two enemy divisions, and finally to confront the giant.  Lances swung down, helmets closed, and wargs and riders prepared for impact.

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-- In the North, archers take advantage of support from the melee infantry to ravage the Jotun lines with close-range archery.  The two pairs of archer units will each fight as so: If one unit is threatened and must run, the other will use the opportunity to shoot the chasers, hopefully covering their friends' retreat and damaging their foes.

-- Shaman and nearby archers (3 units) turn and fire on the advancing Vaekirate Guard.  Shaman unit uses power to direct wind against the enemy, in order to (1) slow the enemy down and (2) strengthen the archers' fire.

-- Hulgark the Fox, with a clear path to Haakon Titanhand through his infantry, rushes to attack the giant.