By Jewells Nagy
Hans looked around at his cousin Fritz, standing in the third rank - center. He looked so young; Hans could not remember ever being that young. Fritz smiled back, and then looked behind him. "Enerick, stop hitting me".
"Awe, is da little virgin going to start crying that big mean Enerick is teasing him"
That got a laugh out of the entire group. Hans winked at Fritz; he would take the abuse till the first combat. Until then he was the "unit virgin" and would have to put up with the hazing. Everyone went through it, what he didn’t know was that it served a purpose; made the young guys mad enough that they would want to "show up" the older guys in the first battle and not run. Running was the tendency of newbie’s and this was a good training tool to keep them brave for that first combat.
Hans turned back around and yelled "Fritz, I HOPE that wasn’t you I just heard talking in the ranks"
A small voice came back, "no sir".
He then though about his sister’s warning; "bring him back in one piece and breathing, or else".
It was Fritz’s was the first time out on a patrol with the town guard / militia and Helga (Hans sister / Fritz’s mom) had told him that if anything happened to "her baby" he and the rest of them had better just keep walking north.
So they put him in the center of the third row; a nice "safe" location, as safe as any position could be patrolling through the Drakwold forest. This was especially true in the winter, especially when looking for rampaging Beastmen, unruly Orcs, and Skaven infiltrators.
All of a sudden, a ball of fire came crashing into the knights near the front of the column. The shrieks of dying horses and men intermixed with the smell of burning leather and flesh made his stomach turn. Hans looked at the Captain flying forward on his large white Pegasus and saw him pointing to the edge of a clearing to the right. Hans then yelled for the men to double march right, he told the drummer to beat out "formation 6" so the detachments would know where they should position themselves. Hans looked around at his cousin Fritz, standing in the third rank - center. He looked so young; Hans could not remember ever being that young. Fritz smiled back, and then looked behind him. "Enerick, stop hitting me".
"Awe, is da little virgin going to start crying that big mean Enerick is teasing him"
That got a laugh out of the entire group. Hans winked at Fritz; he would take the abuse till the first combat. Until then he was the "unit virgin" and would have to put up with the hazing. Everyone went through it, what he didn’t know was that it served a purpose; made the young guys mad enough that they would want to "show up" the older guys in the first battle and not run. Running was the tendency of newbie’s and this was a good training tool to keep them brave for that first combat.
Hans turned back around and yelled "Fritz, I HOPE that wasn’t you I just heard talking in the ranks"
A small voice came back, "no sir".
He then though about his sister’s warning; "bring him back in one piece and breathing, or else".
It was Fritz’s was the first time out on a patrol with the town guard / militia and Helga (Hans sister / Fritz’s mom) had told him that if anything happened to "her baby" he and the rest of them had better just keep walking north.
So they put him in the center of the third row; a nice "safe" location, as safe as any position could be patrolling through the Drakwold forest. This was especially true in the winter, especially when looking for rampaging Beastmen, unruly Orcs, and Skaven infiltrators.
All of a sudden, a ball of fire came crashing into the knights near the front of the column. The shrieks of dying horses and men intermixed with the smell of burning leather and flesh made his stomach turn. Hans looked at the Captain flying forward on his large white Pegasus and saw him pointing to the edge of a clearing to the right. Hans then yelled for the men to double march right, he told the drummer to beat out "formation 6" so the detachments would know where they should position themselves.
Hans looked around at his cousin Fritz, standing in the third rank - center. He looked so young; Hans could not remember ever being that young. Fritz smiled back, and then looked behind him. "Enerick, stop hitting me".
"Awe, is da little virgin going to start crying that big mean Enerick is teasing him"
That got a laugh out of the entire group. Hans winked at Fritz; he would take the abuse till the first combat. Until then he was the "unit virgin" and would have to put up with the hazing. Everyone went through it, what he didn’t know was that it served a purpose; made the young guys mad enough that they would want to "show up" the older guys in the first battle and not run. Running was the tendency of newbie’s and this was a good training tool to keep them brave for that first combat.
Hans turned back around and yelled "Fritz, I HOPE that wasn’t you I just heard talking in the ranks"
A small voice came back, "no sir".
He then though about his sister’s warning; "bring him back in one piece and breathing, or else".
It was Fritz’s was the first time out on a patrol with the town guard / militia and Helga (Hans sister / Fritz’s mom) had told him that if anything happened to "her baby" he and the rest of them had better just keep walking north.
So they put him in the center of the third row; a nice "safe" location, as safe as any position could be patrolling through the Drakwold forest. This was especially true in the winter, especially when looking for rampaging Beastmen, unruly Orcs, and Skaven infiltrators.
All of a sudden, a ball of fire came crashing into the knights near the front of the column. The shrieks of dying horses and men intermixed with the smell of burning leather and flesh made his stomach turn. Hans looked at the Captain flying forward on his large white Pegasus and saw him pointing to the edge of a clearing to the right. Hans then yelled for the men to double march right, he told the drummer to beat out "formation 6" so the detachments would know where they should position themselves.
"Awe, is da little virgin going to start crying that big mean Enerick is teasing him"
That got a laugh out of the entire group. Hans winked at Fritz; he would take the abuse till the first combat. Until then he was the "unit virgin" and would have to put up with the hazing. Everyone went through it, what he didn’t know was that it served a purpose; made the young guys mad enough that they would want to "show up" the older guys in the first battle and not run. Running was the tendency of newbie’s and this was a good training tool to keep them brave for that first combat.
Hans turned back around and yelled "Fritz, I HOPE that wasn’t you I just heard talking in the ranks"
A small voice came back, "no sir".
He then though about his sister’s warning; "bring him back in one piece and breathing, or else".
It was Fritz’s was the first time out on a patrol with the town guard / militia and Helga (Hans sister / Fritz’s mom) had told him that if anything happened to "her baby" he and the rest of them had better just keep walking north.
So they put him in the center of the third row; a nice "safe" location, as safe as any position could be patrolling through the Drakwold forest. This was especially true in the winter, especially when looking for rampaging Beastmen, unruly Orcs, and Skaven infiltrators.
All of a sudden, a ball of fire came crashing into the knights near the front of the column. The shrieks of dying horses and men intermixed with the smell of burning leather and flesh made his stomach turn. Hans looked at the Captain flying forward on his large white Pegasus and saw him pointing to the edge of a clearing to the right. Hans then yelled for the men to double march right, he told the drummer to beat out "formation 6" so the detachments would know where they should position themselves.
That got a laugh out of the entire group. Hans winked at Fritz; he would take the abuse till the first combat. Until then he was the "unit virgin" and would have to put up with the hazing. Everyone went through it, what he didn’t know was that it served a purpose; made the young guys mad enough that they would want to "show up" the older guys in the first battle and not run. Running was the tendency of newbie’s and this was a good training tool to keep them brave for that first combat.
Hans turned back around and yelled "Fritz, I HOPE that wasn’t you I just heard talking in the ranks"
A small voice came back, "no sir".
He then though about his sister’s warning; "bring him back in one piece and breathing, or else".
It was Fritz’s was the first time out on a patrol with the town guard / militia and Helga (Hans sister / Fritz’s mom) had told him that if anything happened to "her baby" he and the rest of them had better just keep walking north.
So they put him in the center of the third row; a nice "safe" location, as safe as any position could be patrolling through the Drakwold forest. This was especially true in the winter, especially when looking for rampaging Beastmen, unruly Orcs, and Skaven infiltrators.
All of a sudden, a ball of fire came crashing into the knights near the front of the column. The shrieks of dying horses and men intermixed with the smell of burning leather and flesh made his stomach turn. Hans looked at the Captain flying forward on his large white Pegasus and saw him pointing to the edge of a clearing to the right. Hans then yelled for the men to double march right, he told the drummer to beat out "formation 6" so the detachments would know where they should position themselves.
Hans turned back around and yelled "Fritz, I HOPE that wasn’t you I just heard talking in the ranks"
A small voice came back, "no sir".
He then though about his sister’s warning; "bring him back in one piece and breathing, or else".
It was Fritz’s was the first time out on a patrol with the town guard / militia and Helga (Hans sister / Fritz’s mom) had told him that if anything happened to "her baby" he and the rest of them had better just keep walking north.
So they put him in the center of the third row; a nice "safe" location, as safe as any position could be patrolling through the Drakwold forest. This was especially true in the winter, especially when looking for rampaging Beastmen, unruly Orcs, and Skaven infiltrators.
All of a sudden, a ball of fire came crashing into the knights near the front of the column. The shrieks of dying horses and men intermixed with the smell of burning leather and flesh made his stomach turn. Hans looked at the Captain flying forward on his large white Pegasus and saw him pointing to the edge of a clearing to the right. Hans then yelled for the men to double march right, he told the drummer to beat out "formation 6" so the detachments would know where they should position themselves.
A small voice came back, "no sir".
He then though about his sister’s warning; "bring him back in one piece and breathing, or else".
It was Fritz’s was the first time out on a patrol with the town guard / militia and Helga (Hans sister / Fritz’s mom) had told him that if anything happened to "her baby" he and the rest of them had better just keep walking north.
So they put him in the center of the third row; a nice "safe" location, as safe as any position could be patrolling through the Drakwold forest. This was especially true in the winter, especially when looking for rampaging Beastmen, unruly Orcs, and Skaven infiltrators.
All of a sudden, a ball of fire came crashing into the knights near the front of the column. The shrieks of dying horses and men intermixed with the smell of burning leather and flesh made his stomach turn. Hans looked at the Captain flying forward on his large white Pegasus and saw him pointing to the edge of a clearing to the right. Hans then yelled for the men to double march right, he told the drummer to beat out "formation 6" so the detachments would know where they should position themselves.
He then though about his sister’s warning; "bring him back in one piece and breathing, or else".
It was Fritz’s was the first time out on a patrol with the town guard / militia and Helga (Hans sister / Fritz’s mom) had told him that if anything happened to "her baby" he and the rest of them had better just keep walking north.
So they put him in the center of the third row; a nice "safe" location, as safe as any position could be patrolling through the Drakwold forest. This was especially true in the winter, especially when looking for rampaging Beastmen, unruly Orcs, and Skaven infiltrators.
All of a sudden, a ball of fire came crashing into the knights near the front of the column. The shrieks of dying horses and men intermixed with the smell of burning leather and flesh made his stomach turn. Hans looked at the Captain flying forward on his large white Pegasus and saw him pointing to the edge of a clearing to the right. Hans then yelled for the men to double march right, he told the drummer to beat out "formation 6" so the detachments would know where they should position themselves.
It was Fritz’s was the first time out on a patrol with the town guard / militia and Helga (Hans sister / Fritz’s mom) had told him that if anything happened to "her baby" he and the rest of them had better just keep walking north.
So they put him in the center of the third row; a nice "safe" location, as safe as any position could be patrolling through the Drakwold forest. This was especially true in the winter, especially when looking for rampaging Beastmen, unruly Orcs, and Skaven infiltrators.
All of a sudden, a ball of fire came crashing into the knights near the front of the column. The shrieks of dying horses and men intermixed with the smell of burning leather and flesh made his stomach turn. Hans looked at the Captain flying forward on his large white Pegasus and saw him pointing to the edge of a clearing to the right. Hans then yelled for the men to double march right, he told the drummer to beat out "formation 6" so the detachments would know where they should position themselves.
So they put him in the center of the third row; a nice "safe" location, as safe as any position could be patrolling through the Drakwold forest. This was especially true in the winter, especially when looking for rampaging Beastmen, unruly Orcs, and Skaven infiltrators.
All of a sudden, a ball of fire came crashing into the knights near the front of the column. The shrieks of dying horses and men intermixed with the smell of burning leather and flesh made his stomach turn. Hans looked at the Captain flying forward on his large white Pegasus and saw him pointing to the edge of a clearing to the right. Hans then yelled for the men to double march right, he told the drummer to beat out "formation 6" so the detachments would know where they should position themselves.
All of a sudden, a ball of fire came crashing into the knights near the front of the column. The shrieks of dying horses and men intermixed with the smell of burning leather and flesh made his stomach turn. Hans looked at the Captain flying forward on his large white Pegasus and saw him pointing to the edge of a clearing to the right. Hans then yelled for the men to double march right, he told the drummer to beat out "formation 6" so the detachments would know where they should position themselves.
The sword company started moving towards a small clearing as a unit of Pistolliers galloped ahead of his unit to scout the interceding woods. Hans was glad they did, as soon as the rowdy horsemen went past a stand of oaks, a herd of gors jumped out and attacks. The man on the right side of the group went down without even knowing what had hit him.
The Gors paid for the ambush, after the retort of a huge number of cracks and pops from many pistols a large host of Gors went down. Just then a horn was heard and a second group of Gors jumped up from a hiding place directly in front of Hans’ unit: they had covered a portion of a ditch with branches and hid under it and were charging forward toward the rear of the pistollier unit.
Seeing that the pistollier were going to be flanked, Hans yelled "charge" and hoped the pistol boys could hold out for a couple of minutes of attacks while his men closed the distance.
He looked to his left and saw detachment 3 running ahead trying to get into position to flank the enemy as they had been taught. Hans thought that if he ended up with some "openings" in his unit he would take the replacements from the survivors of that group; they seem to be "about average" for conscripts.
As the swords jumped the ditch the gors had been in he saw them hit the rear of the pistollier, two more men went down and a third was now fighting on foot, using his dead horse as a defensive works. While there we few men left fighting they did not run, they must have known that running in the woods meant certain death. The Gors were also surprised by this; they had expected the horsemen to run also so they were not is a good position to defend from counter attack.
Hans smiled and yelled, "we got them facing the wrong way, avenge the deaths". Just them the detachment hit the flank of the herd.
As if is slow motion, Hans saw all the Gors look left at the rush of men with an assortment of crude weapons. The he realize they did not see that his unit was there; they were going to surprise the Gor herd.
He was then jolted back to real time when he realized he was in striking distance of a WarGor, he thrust quickly at the base of the skull, the blade sharp blade move easily thought the neck and out the front, slicing the spinal cord at the same time. The weight of the gor falling removed the body from his weapon, allowing him to thrust a second time into the beast to his right, a clean hit in the armpit, over the armor and a second one was down.
The carnage was immense in that initial on rush, as many of the enemy went down. The Gors looked like they would hold and counter, just then detachment 7 to his right started yelling at the tops of their lungs "DEATH AND SIGMAR".
The beast men looked and saw men charging in to the right, men in the rear, men on the other flank and some in the front; it was too much and entire group started running, Before Hans could yell to chase the pistollier remnants had already rode into the running group killing and hacking.
As he turn to look he saw the other beast herd had also broke and tried to get away, only to be hacked down by then detachments.
Hans turned to the drummer, saying; "play ‘main unit reform right, quick step’" which he did. They started moving quickly to the clearing while the Pistolliers and detachment finished the gors off.
When the unit got to the clearing he saw that the fight was already over. Many beast were on the ground and in the distance he saw the Griffons great wings flapping as it killed some chaos horses running from the field.
Just them Father Goldberg rode up, his armor and barding covered with Gor.
"It has been a fined day in the service of the Lord. Bless Sigmar, for he has delivered our enemies into our hands this day."
He then galloped off towards a fleeing minotaur, hammer held high.
Hans turned again to the drummer; "we will never catch up to the battle, drum unit reform around the flag, position 3, we will act as the rear guard for the army till the Captain gives us new orders".
Hans turned and looked; Fritz smiled at him through a mask of fur and gore. He was no longer a virgin.