The fame of Morglum Necksnappa's victory had spread far and wide in the Gobliniod world. Naturally other Gobliniod leaders, heartened by this news, decided it was their turn for glory. One such leader was Nobbla Ghenkius, a charismatic (for an orc!!) leader of the Bloody Mouth goblin tribe. Near his camp Jay the village of Tenobar, a nice fat target but guarded by a company of mercenaries. Recently though, Nobbla had allied himself with a clan of hill ogres under their war leader "Ugly Pepp". So encouraged by this he decided to launch a dawn raid on the village. Unbeknown to Nobbla, the mercenaries at Tenobar had been recently recruiting in the area and had formed both an Elven and Dwarfen company.

The Dwarfen company, en route to the village, had spotted Nobbla's force as it had advanced and rushed to warn the village. After a quick conference it was decided to defend the area of the village by hiding the various companies in the surrounding area. Nobbla was in for a big surprise!!

Preparation The random points of entry for the Gobliniods being decided by a D6, 1-2 = Point A, 3-4 = Point B, 5-6 Point C. Orders were then written for them. The various pieces of cover were numbered and the forces of Solara were diced for to see where they were hidden. I decided that there would be a "Surprise Roll" for me (Gobliniods) whenever an Allied unit first appeared and was within charge range - roll a D6, 1-3 = pull back, 4-6 = stand and fight.

The Forces

Solara's Mercenary Company

Solara, fully armoured female warrior, magic Shield of Deflection and Spear of Might. Solara's Elite is a unit of 15 Valkayries, wearing full armour armed with halberds. The Foresters of Nun is a unit of 10 Elven archers. The Spears of Dawn is a unit of 18 men-at-arms, leather armour and mace. Llandrydd's Steel is a unit of 16 fully armoured foot knights with sword and shield. Llandrydd's Auxiliaries is a unit of unarmoured squires armed with a variety of weapons, 20 in number. And finally the Hybsais is a unit of 15 Dwarfen infantry, light armour, axe and shield. Each unit is led by a leader equipped the same as his men. Total Allies - 100 figures.

Nobbla's Nasties

Nobbia, an armoured orc with a battle-axe. Garbin Gnat, a medium level goblin shaman. The "Jabbers" and "Slashers" are two units of 12 leather armoured goblins armed with hand weapon and shield. The "Stingers" and "Stickas" are two units of bow armed goblins. Nobbla has allied himself with a unit of 12 ogres under command of Pepp. They have light armour and carry shields and two handed clubs. Nobbia's secret weapon is his War Beast, a massive rock dinosaur which has been trained to carry troops into battle. This beast is about the size of an elephant. Finally, Nobbla boasts an artillery piece in the shape of an organ gun, manned by a crew of five. Total figures - 58 Goblins, 12 Ogres and 1 War Beast.

The Plan.

Nobbla's plan was relatively simple, the "Jabbers" supported by the "Stingers" would advance from the west (Point A) and attack the mill. Pepp's ogres would enter at Point B and head straight for the town gates and enter the village while Nobbia and the rest of his troops entering at Point C would also assault the village.

Solara had deployed her troops as follows:-

Position	Troops
2	Levy
3	Dwarfsy
5	Solara and her Elitey
6	Foresters, Spears and Auxiliariesy

The Battle

The sun had just crested the western hills by the time Nobbla was in position. The village looked deserted. Nobbla, now mounted in his war chariot along with the shaman, ordered the attack to commence. The great war beast began to move forward, for all its size soon out-distancing the foot troops.

As the "Jabbers" advanced, their leader was surprised to see a formation of humans on the far side of the bridge. Wheeling his troops round, he prepared to charge them.

Hiding behind the village walls, the allies carefully watched as the goblins advanced. The Foresters, unafraid of the great beast bearing down on them, opened fire with their bows. Four of the arrows hit the great beast in the head, one burying itself in the animals left eye. Enraged with the pain, the beast ran amok - charging straight into the advancing "Slashers". The goblin unit was decimated as the war beast stomped and bit at the hapless warriors, its crew unable to do anything except hang on! Nobbla realised at once he was the beasts next target and whipped his chariot rapidly out of harms way. The pain filled beast next saw the goblin organ gun and charged towards it. The frightened cannon crew did the only thing they could do, - they let the beast have all five barrels at point blank range. The mortally wounded animal crashed to the ground sending its crew flying. Nobbla's 'weapon' was dead.

Meanwhile the "Jabbers" had charged the humans at the bridge and had been met by a volley of arrows which caused them to rout taking the "Stingers" with them.

Solara, hiding in the clump of trees with her Valkayries, waited until the ogres were only 80 paces away before charging at them. The ogres were completely surprised and stunned by their sudden appearance. Nobbla had promised them easy pickings at the village but never said they had to fight a pitched battle first! Pepp was having none of that, he ordered his ogres to fall back.

From his position on the hilltop, Nobbla surveyed the battlefield. To the west the final remnants of the "Jabbers" and "Stingers" were routing the field. In front of him the ogres were giving ground to a handful of fighters and on his left his cannon crew were being picked off by archery fire as they tried to reload the barrels. His only uncommitted unit, the "Stickas", were ready to desert at a moments notice. The attack had failed before it had begun. Nobbla's quest for fame was over.

Aftermath:

When I planned this battle I had visions of the goblin war beast smashing down the village walls and causing terrible casualties on the defenders. But, the Gods were against it. The extremely lucky dice throws by the allies was matched only by the extremely unlucky throws of the goblins.

The allies lost 8 figures, the goblins 25 figures, 2 ogres and their beast besides failing every one of their morale/rout tests. Hopefully Nobbla will get another chance at fame and the dice will be kinder while Solara and her Valkayries advance to the next round. To be continued...