Grey as a mouse
Khabaal is feeling confused. He has been directed to act under the orders of F’Khaar, the rogue Prince of Khand, but the tall, taciturn assassin lord has yet to give any orders at all and Khabaal ,with his Battle Company, finds himself following the silent man and his three associates away from the scarlet camp and across the wide plain of Ithilien. That evening, Khabaal approaches F’Khaar at the fire side and asks “Lord, we have walked all day, we are moving away from the approaching battle, I know not what it is you require of myself or my men Lord. May I ask, what is it you desire of us?”
F’Khaar does not look up but stares into the flames “First of all obedience Easterling, and your life if I should command it, I suffer neither fool or weakling. I hope you are neither; I have heard good things of you but I trust no man’s opinion but my own.”
He lifts his eyes from the fire to stare into Khabaal’s face “Tomorrow you shall meet the Gods” his voice sneers “or those that are revered as Gods, do you think you are worthy? In the morning we shall find out”
Realising he is not going to learn anymore, Khabaal returns to his warband, as he walks, he passes through his mind the little he knows of this strange, cold man.
He knows that F’Khaar left home at an early age following the sudden death of his sadistic mentor to study at the Umbar school of assassins. He has lived a nomadic existence since, there are rumours that he has travelled the coast lines of all the Southern lands with the corsairs, that he has ventured across the mighty deserts with the nomads and has lived with the brigands that dwell there. It is said that few men can best him with a blade, that he is skilled in the use of all weapons, however, he famously prefers his oversized two-handed scimitar Shamshir, which he handles with the dexterity of a much smaller blade.
The next morning Khabaal is wakened by strange bellowing and a rumbling roar that reverberates through the very ground. Standing he is amazed to see Mumaks, two of them! He has never seen one before this moment but everyone knows about the Mumaks! The gigantic Oliphaunts of the Haradrim Empire, the heaviest of heavy cavalry, the terrifying gargantuan creatures that are celebrated as Gods, Revered as Gods, each revered as a different Immortal being.
The Mumakil are the ultimate weapon of war in the Southron armies. A mighty elephant standing 16-18 feet at the shoulder with an unstoppable charge and a bad attitude. The Mumakil are treated as representatives of the Gods and as such they are draped in rich cloth bearing symbols of the deity they represent. Each massive creature is named for a different God. Some of the tribesmen pray to them or avert their gaze as they pass. In battle they are terrifying, trampling their opponents under foot or gouging them with their massive tusks. Horses that are not trained to accept their presence are greatly unnerved by them and often flee at the sight of them. Their one weakness is a tendency to stampede when they become as much of a danger to their own troops as they do to the enemy.
Their crews, the Mumakrim, are elite warriors, picked from the most noble families. They are taught to fight with many different weapons. They are schooled from a young age to ride the terrifying beasts. From their lofty positions, the crews rain a heavy fire down onto opponents, each of the mighty animals having their howdahs stocked with a good supply of arrows and darts. They can deploy ropes to quickly descend to the battle field and provide an extra reinforcement at a critical point in the battle.
Each of the elephants is named for the deity they represent. They are each equipped, trained and decorated to reproduce the character of each god. Azoth- god of pain and hate, represented by the scorpion. Akhivashir- the scarab, God of fortitude, perseverance, survivor. Othbaal-the sick moon, god of fate and prescience. Shokkoth- the serpent, god of cunning and hidden weapons, treachery and assassination. The assassin’s god.
Khabaal stands transfixed. His body is not his own, he is incapable of movement, even of thought, he is awed by the sheer size, the vast presence of these huge beasts. He feels the ground shake to their foot fall as they move. The first of the two, the Mumak revered as Akhivashir, passes by him blotting the sun from the sky, the prehensile trunk sniffing at the ground as it walks, he is stunned by its impossibility, no living creature could be so huge, no mortal beast could grow thus…..no mortal beast….
He is caught in the moment, gaze fixed on the image of the Scarab on the elephant’s silk hangings, his mind cannot, will not, comprehend what his eyes are telling him.
In the distance, a world away, a voice raised, a shout, he is vaguely aware of someone calling him, a desperate shout, as he turns towards it, his world grows dark as Shokkoth, the largest of the Mumak towers over him.
Caught in his reverie, he has not realised he is in the path of the behemoth. He smells the scent of the ancient hide, the exhalation of the monster rumbles through the ground beneath his feet and pounds his chest like the loudest drum, he is only aware of the vastness stretching above him, this beast is bigger than any dwelling he has inhabited, Shokkoth extends his mighty trunk and envelops the man’s head within, inhales a slow deep breath and comes to a halt. Khabaal has no emotion, no sense of terror, no impinging fear, no sense of impending doom, only the sense of now as if all the moments of his life are as of nothing, they have only served to lead him to this point in time, this now, this moment. He can feel the creature’s huge slow pulse in his ears. He will die now, there is no sadness, no grief, just acceptance.
Shokkoth releases him, nudges him gently with his trunk, pushing him out of the road. It is many hours before he can speak, Dhalmud, clearly worried, leads him by the hand offering a constant stream of invective concerning certain “monstrous beasts, that superstitious men would immortalise, stinking foul beasts, little better than the towering piles of dung they produce, stinking, smell them from a league away, dirty , like giant pigs, swine wrote huge, that an imbecile would worship, that a sensible man would avoid, not to be trusted in battle, treacherous, wilful, do not be fooled , they will be the death of us, foul monstrous filthy swine”
This tirade continued throughout the long day’s march until sleep overwhelmed him later that evening.
The next day he is alarmed that his men will not look him in the eye and only the ever cynical Dhalmud can bear his gaze. They are scouting the way for the Mumakil, searching for any ambush that may be laid. The monstrous pachyderms, terrify most living creatures, horses are particularly effected and often bolt at the smell of them, for this reason they travel apart for the rest of the army and this makes them vulnerable to ambush. They have thick hides but are not invulnerable. They must be brought to the battle intact and in good condition.
F’Khaar laughing, smiling, a rare sardonic smile “Truly you are touched by the Gods Easterling” he laughs “Men will see you differently now”
Add Inspiring Presence to Khabaal’s roster
This game is a variant on Ambush in Ithilien from SBG ME Armies. I decided to use different forces for the Evil side, I worked out the point values for the initial forces and realised that it’s way skewed in favour of the Evil force by about 2 :1, assumed that its balanced by the rangers special rules and went for F’Khaar and his three assassin mates and Khabaal’s Company as the initial force.
I wanted to solo it up a bit so I introduced a variable rule for when the Mumak enter the board. I went right OTT with this idea. Each turn, after the first, I would roll d6 for a Mumak to see if it came on 5,6=comes on board, natural 1= no more Mumak, +1 factor each turn. This gives the potential for all four of the Mumak to be deployed!
F’Khaar and the assassins. F’Khaar is another great Wally Harwood sculpt from the Sinbad range at Harwood Hobbies. The assassins are kit-bashed. There’s a non-prize for those who can guess which models were used.
15 Brown cloaked Rangers of Gondor, all metal, original GW range and Faramir who did not die in the previous battle but fell in with Damrod and Madril and three Dunedain .Now garbed as a ranger he leads his force to ambush any who dare enter the wooded hills of North Ithilien.
But wait…what’s that coming over the hill?
12 Green cloaked Rangers from Ithilien led by Madril and two of the Dunedain
Cleverly noticing the presence of twenty-five ton elephants pushing through the trees, Faramir sets an ambush, taking the 15 brown cloaked rangers, Damrod and Tharorn, the Dunedain into the tress on the Eastern side and sending Madril and the 12 green cloaked rangers with the two Dunedain to the Western side.
The special rules for this scenario are that the Rangers get a “free shooting attack” before the game starts. Additionally, for the first three turns of the game, all Good models gain the Stalk Unseen Special rule and may reroll any “ones” to wound when making a shooting attack.
The Free Shooting, pre-game turn 1 phase
Two wounds on Shokkoth, whenever a Mumak is wounded there is a chance it will stampede
The Beastmaster rolls a courage test and passes, no stampede this time round.
Turn 1
Turn 2 Evil win Priority
1/10 Shokkoth turns away from the Eastern side of the board to reduce the number of arrows that can be fired at him
Realising they will be out of range the Rangers advance from the cover of the woods
The Rangers in the Forest on the West side cannot be seen or shot at because of the special rules. Shokkoth takes two more wounds and fails the stampede test!
Turn 3 Good win initiative
Khabaal calls Heroic move so that all can run from the furiously enraged Shokkoth. They all scatter, running into cover where they can.
Shokkoth, bellowing in anger, looks around for a target. There are four in range.
The Gods of Fate (d8 halved) point the finger at Dhalmud and the unfortunate Easterling is chased down and trampled into the ground
The Rangers continue firing at the enraged beast, scoring a further hit. The gargantuan pachyderm now has 5 hits, half of the 10 he started with and he has along way to go to be safe
He passed the Stampede test and his mahout regains control
The reinforcement dice rolls 5! Another Mumak enters the game, a second dice roll makes it the Mumak revered as Akhivashir. The Rangers on the Eastern flank may regret moving in to the open!
The mumak revered as Akhivashir is accompanied everywhere he goes by his devout followers. They believe that only by living a frugal life of suffering and self-denial can they earn the right to an eternity in Paradise. They are often so awed by his presence that they do not eat at all, competing with each other to demonstrate who is most humble before their God. Many have been known to die from starvation in his presence. He is the oldest of the Mumak currently in service to the Emperor and his ancient, gnarled hide has grown thick and strong
Turn 4 The reinforcement dice rolls 1. No more Mumaks this game. The Green cloaked rangers keep firing from cover, the Oliphaunt can’t enter the woods to arrack them but the men can. F’Khaar, Khabaal and his warband enter the woods on the Western side of the board and charge the rangers
Akhivashir takes his first wound
Turn 5 Shokkoth takes another 4 wounds but passes the stampede test. He is near the edge of the table but has only one wound remaining
F’Khaar charges into combat against Madril who has 4 supports, F’Khaar is surrounded but has Preternatural Agility special rule and can never be trapped. The duel is tied on 6’s but F’Khaar’s fight skill wins the day and he cuts down Madril and one of the rangers
Akhivashir takes his first wound and fails his stampede test!
Turn 6 Good win priority
F’Khaar declares heroic move and all nearby run for cover and into combat with the Rangers
Akhivashir spots the unfortunate Khutim who was dismounted by a ranger the previous turn, the poor man becomes a focus for the enraged beast and is trampled.
From the cloud of dust and the ruin of the two-tiered howdah, 6 of the Mumakrim survive, they are not happy
Evil wins priority
Akhivashir continues his stately progress
Half the brown rangers shoot at him, but cause no wounds, half move to keep in range Khabaal’s warband and F’Khaar continue to wound rangers in the woods
Turn 8 Evil Win priority
Rangers fail to score any hits on the Mumak
Casualties 15 Good 5 evil
Good have Break Point of 17
Turn 9 Good win priority
The Rangers score 2 more wounds on Akhivashir who does not stampede
The assassins each kill a brown cloaked ranger Navid and Khalid dispatch the last two Green cloaked rangers
19 casualties to Good they have reached their Break Point!
Turn 10
Good Win Priority
All pass the Stand Fast test. Some scattered firing produces casualties on both sides but no hits on the Mumak who reaches the end of the table Evil win priority for turn 11 and he saunters off the table to force a draw
This was an interesting game. The Mumak were surprisingly vulnerable to the bow fire which are only strength two, although, I suppose if you have 33 archers shooting each with shoot skill 3 you are bound to get a high proportion of hits
Stampede rule works well, better than I expected, I thought the rules were a bit tame when I read them but actually work well. It was amusing to watch the Evil side scatter when the big boys ran amok.
Game Balance. Special rules made a huge difference, doesn’t matter what the disparity in forces if one side can not be hurt! Unable to get at the rangers the Evil side have little choice but to avoid combat and get the Mumak off the table. Should the mumak have charged the rangers in the open? The Rangers are blessed with lots of heroes and would most likely just Heroic move back into cover or out of the way
I could have used the Assassins more productively, overall, they were not used well apart from F’Khaar who is in a different league when it comes to violence
Dhalmud suffered a serious leg wound which is a good result from being trampled.
This was vey enjoyable game, I may well run it again with the other two Mumak Othbaal and Azoth, and the Khultisti, the weird fanatics that follow them, not forgetting of course, the bizarre shaman Sufhi, the seer, Lord of Filth, Scion of Othbaal, the Dunghi, the Muckflinger
The Beast Master is ritually murdered and his body burnt with the Mumak that he served.
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