Skink
LizardPadre
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Some of you guys seemed to like my recent Bat Rep. With that in mind, I thought you wouldn't mind if I put a Bat Rep involving my own 'counts as' Lizardmen army that I did a couple of months ago.
Rumble in the Jungle
Conrad was not unused to the heat – he had sailed along tropical coasts for many a year in search of prey and loot – but this was new. It was so damp, the air so still, like nothing he had ever had to endure aboard a ship. He was as sodden as every man in his force, and he knew full well that if they were to linger overlong in this swampland half of them would be dead of fever within two months.
But such concerns, he now reckoned, were behind him, for he had found what he was after.
It was a temple, obviously ancient and surely built by the lizardmen, and it looked undisturbed. If so, if no robbers had been there before him, then there must be riches inside, gold a plenty and worked artefacts covered in precious stones. These temples were renowned always to hold such things. It had been long known that the ancient Lizardmen used gold as men of the Empire would use pewter or brass; used diamonds, rubies and emeralds as a Bretonnian brat might play with clay marbles.
Of course his men had yet to break their way into the temple, but with powder and skill, that would be easy enough. He had ordered several of his gunners to fashion up fireworks, while the rest of his force busied themselves with cleaning their weapons, scouring the rust of their blades and greasing and oiling their handguns. On the journey the army’s matchcord had been kept dry in glass bottles, their locks rust free with tallow. Now the match was being distributed and the tallow wax removed, for Conrad was certain that the jungle would reveal some sort of defence force. He had heard enough sailors’ tales to known that although the settlements of the Lizardman might appear abandoned, jungle monsters always appeared when the looting began.
Let them come, he thought. Let them face a firestorm of lead.
His confidence was not unfounded. He had four companies of handgunners – Estalians, Pirates and Corsairs. He had crossbowmen and pistol wielding duellists. He even had two light cannons that had somehow been dragged through the steaming tangle of the jungle from the boats. On top of all this, Long Drong’s Slayers were apparently festooned with more firearms than the rest of his army put together, which was saying something.
And this was not all. He had three fighting regiments, two of seamen regimented under pirate colours and one of the best Corsair Swordsmen Sartosa had to offer. And if all this proved insufficient, if the jungle hurled magical assaults at him, he had two wizards to divert and disperse its fury.
Yes he was ready for monsters and jungle beasts. What he didn’t expect was what his scouts came to tell him.
“Captain General, enemies approach from the south.”
“I knew they would come. What are they?” asked Conrad.
“They look like, well, halflings,” explained the scout. When he saw Conrad’s surprise, he went on, “But they have monstrous creatures with them – huge hairy brutes like giant cousins of the Sartosan apes, and massive lizards, that both crawl and fly. And a huge horned brute, with a platform upon it’s back.”
“Well, the beasts I expected, but halflings – I never thought … Still, send word to my commanders. We shall array upon the hill, facing the foe. Use the slopes and the steps of the temple to bring more guns to bear. They might be harder to hit if they are so small, both they will fall all the easier if they are hit. Concentrate the fire upon the monsters, once they are dispatched it shouldn’t be difficult to see off the halflings.
The field of battle would be the large clear area before the temple, swampy but at least clear of trees and the tallest of jungle plants.
Conrad’s army was quick to form up. Every man knew he would get a share of the treasure, and what with that reward being so close, all were keen to see off any who thought to deny them their prize. The handgunners and artillery positioned themselves obediently upon the hill and the temple, while the foot regiments took up positions upon the flank. On the far left the Corsair crossbowmen stood in an extended line, their colourful garb and copper adornments bright in the midday sun. Conrad joined the Black Swordsmen, his Sartosan elites, whilst shouting orders at all those around him telling them to load every weapon they had with extra powder and extra ball. Two or three balls went down every handgun, and swan shot besides.
______________________________________
The great Skink Priest, Tehenhauin, had known now for three days that the men were getting closer to the temple. He and his two followers, the last of the Skinks to dwell in this almost forgotten corner of the land, had thus had time to prepare.
Tehenhauin (left) and his two priests (centre and right):
All three of the local pygmy tribes, each of which considered him a living god, were ordered to muster. The northernmost brought their Terradons, which were the first to arrive. They were dispatched immediately to report on the enemy’s progress through the jungle. The other two tribes brought Salamanders, Gorillagors and a mighty Stegadon – the only one of it’s kind to dwell in this land for decades now. The Pygmies themselves came in large numbers, bringing either javelins and shields or blowpipes. Those with the former arrayed themselves in ranks and files around the giant gorillas. Those with deadly, poison tipped blow pipes made up two companies of skirmishers. The boar riding warriors, the strongest of all the pygmies, joined in one huge body, with the skull topped standards of all three tribes held aloft.
The army moved as one forwards, with the three Skink chiefs amongst them (two with the skirmishes and Tehenhauin with the massed ranks of Pygmy shield warriors. Out to the far left of the line the four Terradons flew low through the jungle trees, each mounted pygmy clutching a woven net of vines filled with rocks.
The battle to follow ….
Rumble in the Jungle
Conrad was not unused to the heat – he had sailed along tropical coasts for many a year in search of prey and loot – but this was new. It was so damp, the air so still, like nothing he had ever had to endure aboard a ship. He was as sodden as every man in his force, and he knew full well that if they were to linger overlong in this swampland half of them would be dead of fever within two months.
But such concerns, he now reckoned, were behind him, for he had found what he was after.
It was a temple, obviously ancient and surely built by the lizardmen, and it looked undisturbed. If so, if no robbers had been there before him, then there must be riches inside, gold a plenty and worked artefacts covered in precious stones. These temples were renowned always to hold such things. It had been long known that the ancient Lizardmen used gold as men of the Empire would use pewter or brass; used diamonds, rubies and emeralds as a Bretonnian brat might play with clay marbles.
Of course his men had yet to break their way into the temple, but with powder and skill, that would be easy enough. He had ordered several of his gunners to fashion up fireworks, while the rest of his force busied themselves with cleaning their weapons, scouring the rust of their blades and greasing and oiling their handguns. On the journey the army’s matchcord had been kept dry in glass bottles, their locks rust free with tallow. Now the match was being distributed and the tallow wax removed, for Conrad was certain that the jungle would reveal some sort of defence force. He had heard enough sailors’ tales to known that although the settlements of the Lizardman might appear abandoned, jungle monsters always appeared when the looting began.
Let them come, he thought. Let them face a firestorm of lead.
His confidence was not unfounded. He had four companies of handgunners – Estalians, Pirates and Corsairs. He had crossbowmen and pistol wielding duellists. He even had two light cannons that had somehow been dragged through the steaming tangle of the jungle from the boats. On top of all this, Long Drong’s Slayers were apparently festooned with more firearms than the rest of his army put together, which was saying something.
And this was not all. He had three fighting regiments, two of seamen regimented under pirate colours and one of the best Corsair Swordsmen Sartosa had to offer. And if all this proved insufficient, if the jungle hurled magical assaults at him, he had two wizards to divert and disperse its fury.
Yes he was ready for monsters and jungle beasts. What he didn’t expect was what his scouts came to tell him.
“Captain General, enemies approach from the south.”
“I knew they would come. What are they?” asked Conrad.
“They look like, well, halflings,” explained the scout. When he saw Conrad’s surprise, he went on, “But they have monstrous creatures with them – huge hairy brutes like giant cousins of the Sartosan apes, and massive lizards, that both crawl and fly. And a huge horned brute, with a platform upon it’s back.”
“Well, the beasts I expected, but halflings – I never thought … Still, send word to my commanders. We shall array upon the hill, facing the foe. Use the slopes and the steps of the temple to bring more guns to bear. They might be harder to hit if they are so small, both they will fall all the easier if they are hit. Concentrate the fire upon the monsters, once they are dispatched it shouldn’t be difficult to see off the halflings.
The field of battle would be the large clear area before the temple, swampy but at least clear of trees and the tallest of jungle plants.
Conrad’s army was quick to form up. Every man knew he would get a share of the treasure, and what with that reward being so close, all were keen to see off any who thought to deny them their prize. The handgunners and artillery positioned themselves obediently upon the hill and the temple, while the foot regiments took up positions upon the flank. On the far left the Corsair crossbowmen stood in an extended line, their colourful garb and copper adornments bright in the midday sun. Conrad joined the Black Swordsmen, his Sartosan elites, whilst shouting orders at all those around him telling them to load every weapon they had with extra powder and extra ball. Two or three balls went down every handgun, and swan shot besides.
______________________________________
The great Skink Priest, Tehenhauin, had known now for three days that the men were getting closer to the temple. He and his two followers, the last of the Skinks to dwell in this almost forgotten corner of the land, had thus had time to prepare.
Tehenhauin (left) and his two priests (centre and right):
All three of the local pygmy tribes, each of which considered him a living god, were ordered to muster. The northernmost brought their Terradons, which were the first to arrive. They were dispatched immediately to report on the enemy’s progress through the jungle. The other two tribes brought Salamanders, Gorillagors and a mighty Stegadon – the only one of it’s kind to dwell in this land for decades now. The Pygmies themselves came in large numbers, bringing either javelins and shields or blowpipes. Those with the former arrayed themselves in ranks and files around the giant gorillas. Those with deadly, poison tipped blow pipes made up two companies of skirmishers. The boar riding warriors, the strongest of all the pygmies, joined in one huge body, with the skull topped standards of all three tribes held aloft.
The army moved as one forwards, with the three Skink chiefs amongst them (two with the skirmishes and Tehenhauin with the massed ranks of Pygmy shield warriors. Out to the far left of the line the four Terradons flew low through the jungle trees, each mounted pygmy clutching a woven net of vines filled with rocks.
The battle to follow ….
