A long update

This is Vern writing.

It has been a very difficult period for me, my son Christopher is born which is a good and joyous thing.  The challenge is that we have not been very good in reading his crying signs and this coupled with his relative impatience has led to him crying often and having lots of gas in his stomach.  All these meant a vicious cycle for gas in stomach means discomfort and being unable to eat and sleep and in turn leads to more crying and most gas.

In addition to this, I have been very pressured by my frens to get my army up for gaming.  I know they meant well but the specific bunch of frens I am refering to seem to be absolutely oblivious to the stage in life I am going through and seriously do not seem to understand my challenges at all.  I am obliged to support and maintain ties with them as much as I could because I do not want to lose the opportunity to remain in contact as well as being there just to witness and well as being salt and light whenever possible.  Because of my obligatons, I have sink $233 in Eldar Support Platforms and Wood Elves battalions, another $60 bill is coming with the great eagles.  The biggest joke is that I just lost the Asrai finecast mage that I just bought.

So what have I ended up with?  A clash between commitment to family and friends.  Most will have simply advise me to drop the latter but if i do so, I will be wasting more than a year of hard work.  I am trying to hold on as much as I could.

My Byzantines are technically assembled albeit not painted.  I still have unpainted Eldar, Sisters and Asrai miniatures although I kind of put the sisters aside since GW do not seem to bother with them at all.  The Eldar are coming next and I am very wary on how much money I should pump into them as I never know if I ever got the time to do them up at all and to be fair I am still hoping for Sisters to be resurrected.

The good news is the Adran has been very supportive (and I have been supportive of him too) and allowed me to cancel my Warriors of Dale order.

The War with the pirates so far.

The war between the Imperial forces of Vern and the pirate forces of Lord Draken has escalated into big drawn out battles of attrition.  Lots of blood was spilled in battlefields along the southern coast of Greenland and the volcanic island of Iceland as the pirates fought their way to establish a foothold in the interiors of the Empire.  Although Lord Draken lost many warriors in the fighting, he could still easily replace them by recruiting more fighters overseas using the gold he plundered from coastal rates and the seizing of merchant vessels.  Nevertheless, Lord Draken is frustrated by the lack of major success and he intended to send his elite dark Elven fighters in a series of surgical strikes to break the Imperial armies.

On the Imperial side, Command Repanse had dispensed honors to the three armies that had been successful in stemming the tide of foreign invaders, namely the Celts, the Egyptians and the Persians.  The Norse army has not gotten into battle yet as the Imperials staff office tried to avoid the complication of having the Imperial Norse fighting their northern Chaotic cousins.  However if the rumors of the incoming Dark Elven assaults are true, it will be a golden opportunity for the Norse army to flex its muscles.  Meanwhile word arrived that the Babylonians were finishing their pacification campaign in the Fertile Crescent and soon the Babylonian army will be able to lend its strength to the war effort. 

Fight at the Rivers (Resolved using AOE Online)

In response to Lord Draken’s pirate invasion, the Empire mobilize three armies, the Celts, the Egyptians and the Persians, to assist the frontier colonists in dealing with the threat. A fourth army comprising of Greeks was also prepared as a reserve.

 

In the second week of the invasion, scouts reported that a fleet of Norse pirates are trying to bypass the frontier defences by sailing along the northern rivers. Upon receiving the news, the Celts were dispatched to deal with this threat.

 

The Celts quickly identify the location of the enemy base camp and got to work. A small force made a crossing to the Norse side of the river and began to form a bridgehead. Fortifications and watch towers were raised and by the time the Norse pirates realised this, it was already too late. A Celtic camp has been firmly established and Celtic spearmen and swordsmen were quickly dispatched to destroy the pirates’ docks and stores. Pirate foraging parties were also destroyed. The pirates did attempt to retaliate by attacking the fortifications but the Celts were too numerous. Eventually the Celts manage to destroy the pirate base after a few attempts to storm the latter’s camp. A small Celtic fleet was also mustered to destroy what’s left of the pirate fleet in the area.  

 

It is a quick victory to the Empire.

Lord Draken returns

Years have passed since Dark Elven Lord Draken had fled to the pirate lands in the north.  Rather than living a pitiful existence as many had expected, the fugitive used his newly founded wealth to build a power base and before long he has established himself as one of the more powefulr pirate lords in the region.  Flushed with newly founded power bacedk by plundered gold, piracy and trade, the Dark Elven Lord then decided to lead an army to settle the unfinished business of the invasion of the Empire.

As his armada sailed southwards, many joined his ranks.  Centaurs, Norse warriors, Chaos warriors and braves, Chaos Dwarves, human pirates and bandits and other vagabonds.  The only disappointment was that his former allies, the Dark Elves of Ashan had not provided support.  They have reformed their army and cite that it will have minimal contribution to his force.  Nevertheless Draken is confidence of his military strength.

However more obstacles were met.  To his annoyance, the vast forests north of the Empire were no longer vacant as they had been when he first left years ago.  Now the entire region is filled with military colonisst as a frontier defence of the Empire’s borders.  Already an orc force under a mercenary captain had defeated one of his vanguard forces.  

Draken realized that this will be a long war, no longer will the Imperials simply march out and offer battle like the last time.  It will be a campaign of raids, counterraids, sieges and sabotages.  Draken reasoned that he will have to use his mercenaries for most of the operations, leaving his elite dark elven core troops to intimidate and keep the rest of his expedition force in line.