Welcome To The Jungle Part 5 - Jungle Boogie

The conclusion to this battle report.

Get down, get down...
Jungle boogie, jungle boogie...
Get it on...

The King! The King is ambushed!

The Dwarves in the trench decide to help and leave the safety of their entrenchment.

Some Dire Apes were anticipating they would and charge at them.

Merlin, where are you? Call your Dragon... to weave a mist to hide us! 

The trench fighters are able to fend off the Apes in their way...

... and begin to pick off Apes from behind.

The Apes are confused about where to attack.

No one shall have Excalibur but me.....

Oh... nevermind, we won!

Kilgore: Smell that? You smell that?
Lance: What?
Kilgore: Napalm, son. Nothing else in the world smells like that. 

The Gnome King, The Chaos Dwarf Captain, and the Gnome wizard stand over the bodies of fallen Apes and friends.
Wait....
another wave is coming?!?!?!

All surviving Gnomes and Dwarves decide to hole up in the trench.
Only one barrel left! The wizard has no more spells.
Stuntie bravery and castle forged steel must be relied upon to save them in this wave...
And maybe a good trench!
The Ape army stares at them from across the river.

Koba: Koba fight for apes!
Caesar: Koba fight for Koba.

They come across again in one big mass.

Caesar: War has... already begun. Ape started war. And stuntie... Stuntie will not forgive.

The last barrel is blown.

Up, men, and to your posts! Don’t forget today that you are from old Moria!

And as the battle looked to be the last for many a stuntie...  they look up on the hill and see...

A winged Bear...?

With a roar it swoops down on the back of the Ape formation and crushes them!

Chaos Dwarf warriors are charging from the north!

Immortan Balin: Once again, I salute my Imperator... Furiosa!
And I salute... my half-life War Boys... 
who will ride with me, eternal... on the highways of Valhalla.
I am your redeemer. It is by my hand you will rise from the ashes of this world. 

Balin!  Good ol' Balin!
Up and down the trench line.. the cry goes up,
Its Balin, Lord of Moria!

The Dire Apes scatter like leaves before the storm wind.

A glorious pursuit... the slaughter of Apekind... victory.

The fallen Dwarves are revived and the wounded are looked after.
Then the Dwarf crossbows bow one by one in allegiance to Balin.
The Gnomes vow fealty to Balin, and even their King swears everlasting oaths of loyalty.
Mr Maloonigans continues feasting on Ape meat.

Balin talks to the Gnome wizard who knows the Savage Lands...
He tells him that he seeks the Carrion Caves.  The Wizard knows their location, but warns of great dangers in the Caves.
Balin tells him that he must get the Energon Crystals inside the Caves, so that he might raise Slann allies to help him re-conquer Moria above.  The Wizard says if Balin seeks allies, he should also consider the Troll Market.  A Free City of traders where mercenaries and supplies might be had for a price...

---

So another interesting little battle.  At first I made the Dire Apes "counts as" Beastmen.
Too powerful, so I made them Beastmen with only 1 attack.  Also, after they reach 50% casualties they must test morale every turn thereafter.  Just like Necromunda/Mordheim bottle tests.  They receive no terrain penalties for vegetation: woods, forests, brush, scrub, and the like.

The trench gives a negative modifier "to hit" for enemies and a positive bonus to defender.  There is also a bonus to morale for the defenders.  Plus, defenders do not have to back away 2" if they lose a battle.

As for fluff... looks like Balin is well on his way to building himself an army.  And we will continue focusing on Balin and company for the moment.


 Next post:  Elephant In The Room

Bonus feature: Soundtrack To This Post!
While playing this battle, I listened to:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLUipMnVM0esgmP1P9sD7g0X63KS5eYgWj
Osamu Kitajima ‎-- Benzaiten
Tako - Tako
Suicide - Suicide
Pink Floyd - The Piper At The Gates Of Dawn

PS.  I also did listen to Surfin Bird to get psyched up!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZThquH5t0ow

Welcome To The Jungle Part 4 - Rumble In The Jungle

 The battle continues... The Dwarves are using better tactics, but the Dire Apes are also getting smarter!

Ripley: They cut the power.
Hudson: What do you mean, "*They* cut the power"? How could they cut the power, man? They're animals! 

 Get back to the trench!

 The brave Dwarves hop into their trench and continue firing away...
But the Apes keep getting closer.

 The Gnome wizard gives the signal.  Everyone in the center backs out of the trench.

 The Dire Apes move forward.

Snakebite leader, Bravo Six, for the record, it's my call. 

Dump everything you got left on my POS.
I say again, I want all you're holding inside the perimeter.
It's a lovely war. 
 Bravo Six Actual Out.

 And the Dwarves ignite the barrel.  Apes are caught in the blast that would have also engulfed anyone in the center of the trench.

 With the explosion over, the stunties hop back in their trench.

 Just in time!  The Apes swarm all over them.

 They drag out the Gnome carpenter and maul him.

 They are in the trench attacking the wizard.

 One of the Chaos Dwarves are also dragged out and massacred.

 Defend the trench!

We shall defend our island, whatever the cost may be, we shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender.

Success again!  But at what cost...

Another wave approaches... Again, they place barrels and two Dwarves cross the river.

In the trench awaiting another wave of Apes.

We got Apes in the perimeter...
They gonna go up and down this line all night tryin to get through. 
So stay cool and stay tight in your trench!

Here they come!  But this time only 2 Apes near the barrel.
The Dwarves decide to not blow it yet, waste of a barrel for only 2!

Then only 2 more appear.  They are learning!  They are only coming through 2 at a time.

One Ape gets to the Chaos Dwarves.

Run buddy!  I cant get away now!  
If I'm gonna die, I'm gonna die historic on the fury road! 
Witness me...

I live, I die. I LIVE AGAIN! 

I am the man who grabs the Sun... WHILE RIDING TO VALHALLA! WITNESS ME! WITNESS! 

He detonates the barrel manually and takes 3 Apes with him.

His mates yell back:  Witness! You will ride eternal, shiny and chrome.

In the north, the Apes are probing the defenses and the Dwarves begin just detonating the barrels even just for 2 Apes.

And again, 2 Apes!  We are running out of barrels...

A horde of Apes up north are running past.

And in the south, they run past as well.  What are they up to?

The horns of the beast!  They are attacking the "Alamo".

Defend the King!

Next post:  Welcome To The Jungle Part 5 - Jungle Boogie

Welcome To The Jungle Part 3 - Planet Of The Dire Apes

The battle in the trenches intensifies...

Dead Apes roll down, but more Apes arrive to take their place.

FIRE!   RELOAD...!  FIRE AT WILL!

The Gnome ambush is an exercise in failure!  The Apes are not slowed by terrain.  They leap over the tall grass and spot the Gnomes.

(Gulp)  Sarge!  What do we do now?

Apes are attacking the flank!

Fight for your lives, you Gnomes!

Meanwhile, back at the trench...
They break the will of the Apes!

Taylor:  Take your stinking paws off me you damn dirty apes!

One of the Gnome crossbows has been knocked out.

And the third casualty in the Gnome ambush means... morale check.

They fail and rout!

The Gnome King himself stops their rout!  Of course that bonus modifier helps!

And just in the nick of time too.  The Apes are right on top of them!

The engineers must fight.

The King rallies his troops and engages the Apes flank.

An Ape takes an axe to its snout.

The Apes break!  The battlefield is clear of them.   For now...

Wave 2 is approaching!  The engineers put out new explosive barrels in the field.

This time 2 Chaos Dwarves go across the river.  They can ignite a barrel in front of them...

and another thats further away.

In the center and north, more barrels are placed.

The engineers have moved upfield and are taking positions at the trench.

Here they come again!  First barrel is detonated...

And the two Dwarves run across the river!

Hot on their heels are an army of Apes!  Luckily, there is another barrel...

And it is fired on and detonates, for a whopping 6 Apes!

Next post:  Welcome To The Jungle Part 4 - Rumble In The Jungle