Version 1.1 of the Order of Solland
The Order of Solland history
1707 - the Battle of Solland’s Crown: the last count of Solland, Eldred, is killed in battle by Gorbad Ironclaw. The few surviving knights in his retinue flee to the Reikland and Altdorf
1712 – The surviving knights fight in the siege of Altdorf and only four knights survive. Hugo Shnieder, Gerath Eastwald, Yarrik von Esterkal, and Erik Jünger.
1730 – The knights dedicate themselves to training the next generation and passing on the ideal of Solland.
1782 – the Original knights make the trip to Pfeildorf aided by their younger knights. There they found the Order of Solland’s Headquarters. Hugo dies shortly afterwards.
1830 – Erik Jünger, last of the four, rides off at an incredible old age. He is never seen again.
1840-1875 – the Oder grows in number as other surviving Sollanders flock to Pfeildorf. At this time the order is headed by a council of knights.
2006 – A small troop of the order ride to the aid of Bretonnia. They battle alongside the knights of Repanse de Lyonesse and are granted a small amount of land in both Brionne and Montfort
2050 – Knights of the Order ride to aid Altdorf against Vlad von Carstein
2067 – the Castle of Nagrifal in Montfort is sacked by Orcs. The Fortress of Tyra in Brionne sends demands to the Headquarters in Pfeildorf for independence.
2099 – Greth Ultigen is appointed the first Hochmeister of the Order. He allows Tyra to become more independent and allows them to elect their own Großkomptur to govern the province.
2100 – Greth leads members of the order in battle against Konrad von Carstein.
2132 – Greth leads the knights in battle alongside the empire forces against Manfred von Carstein. He elects the next Hochmeister before leading his personal retinue to join the battle at Hel Fenn in 2145
2232 – Estalia invades Brionne, the Britonnian order is hard pressed to defend Fortress Tyra
2244 – Knights from Pfeildorf are hired by Verezzo to retake the island of Sartosa. However the knights can only afford boats for half the army. When the duke refuses to lend boats for travel the army lays waste to the countryside. The Duke is hauled out and executed publicly. The knights establish the Fortress of Venitzia to maintain a pernament presence in Verezzo
2257 – The Knights of Tyra invade northern Estalia and burn the city of Graus, They are stopped when Novareno allows them to form an order Castle (El doro) in Azuara. This begins the expansion of the order in Estalia.
2301 – great war against chaos sweeps into the Empire. The entire order is marshaled into a single host for the first time. Almost 1000 knights ride to the aid of Kislev and help break the army of Asvar kul.
2325 – the Kislev incident: a detachment of Knights is sent to aid the Kislevites in defending against incursions from Chaos warriors and Beastmen. The order acquires almost a fifth of Kislev and large portions of the Troll country. However after battling chaos the leader of the knights, Darak-kal (also known as Darak the Dark) becomes corrupted and leads his knights on a rampage throughout Kislev, the Baersonlings, and even parts of the Empire. He is defeated at the Battle of Galicia where a massive force of skaven from Hell Pit annihilates his force. Darak-kal escapes and is thought to be building a kingdom in the Border Princes.
2350 – a Crusade is launched on distant Cathey in an attempt to help gain the wealth and glory for the Order. The Crusade ends in disaster when it arrives during the opening stages of the Nippon/Cathey wars and is decimated by both forces. On it’s long sail home the crusaders are lost in a storm and are never seen again. It is rumored that they crashed somewhere in the new world or perhaps Albion.
2429 – The order allows mages to join its ranks. However a strict lore is forced upon those that do.
2456 – The Order Locates Darak-kal and marches an army against him. The resulting conflict sees Darak the Dark killed and vengence for the order. The Greatest Knights of the Order adopt the horned helms of Darak’s forces. All the better to taunt Chaos.
2467 – The Order is reformed to have a Hochmiester for each human nation. The four Hochmiesters act independently of each other
2495 – The garrison at Fortress Venitzia is overwhelmed by Miragliano and the fort is ruined.
2504 – an army is sent to Fortress Venitzia under Hochmiester Marcus to reclaim it for the order. Verezzo is subjugated again and the Tilean sect of the order is reestablished.
2521 – The Storm of Chaos: The entire order is marshaled once again to ride out and confront the armies of the Everchosen.
SPECIAL RULES:
Wave of Steel and Iron: Over hundreds of years the soldiers of the order have become some of the most disciplined armies to march across. However in battle the heavily armored foot soldiers crash in a tide of iron against their foes. Units with this rule in the front rank of a Horde formation inflicts 1 impact hit at their BASE strength when they charge.
Full Plate Armour: These all-enclosing suits of armor are crafted by Order master smiths and are kept in high honor by the Order provinces in their personal collections. These suits of armor are very rare, but undoubtedly offer the best protection available to warriors of the Order Army. Full Plate Armor confers a 4+ armor save to its wearer.
Unit entries
Großkompter
The Highest rank officers of the Hochmeisters are the Großkompter. They lead the armies in battle wherever they may go
Special rules: Wave of Steel and Iron
Marshal
The Marshals of the order are the third rank of commanders. Normally found leading small detachments or carrying the Battle Standard of the army
Special rules: Wave of Steel and Iron
War-Mage
The Elite core of mages skilled in the lores of Shadow, Terror, Beasts, and death
Dark Mage
The Weaker mages of the Order, skilled in the lores of Shadow, Terror, Beasts, and death
Black Monks
Black monks channel fury of their kinsmen into a unified force. Sometime aiding with the commanding of the army with less than savory war cries
Special Rules: Blessing of the Abyss: Any unit joined by a Black monk gains the Devastating charge Special rule.
WAR CRIES!!!
at the beginning of the players turn the monk may shout a horrible war cry to encourage his fellow soldiers to battle. The war-cry affects an allied Infantry unit within 12" of the monk. On a 2+ the war-cry is heard and the unit gains +1 to their movement. on a 1 the unit has not heard or misheard the order and it simply makes loud noise. The cry lasts until the beginning of the next player turn. if any enemy unit is withen 12" of the monk the cry is only heard on a 5+ as the battle begins to become to loud to hear him.
Prayers of Darkness: the priest may cast a single bound spell from his list of spells each magic phase.
Crusader Champions
The greatest Crusaders go on to have great songs and tales told of their exploits. these bands of brothers make impressive sights with all their swag and loot.
Special rules: Inspire, any non character unit within 3" gains +1 WS. RitterBrüder may never gain this advantage as they despise crusaders.
Frenzy, 6+wardsave, Unbreakable. Hatred against: Araby, Nippon, Cathey, Ind, Lizardmen, and Amazons
Crusader champions may never join units.
Soldiers of the Order
The soldiers of the Order are non numerous. But what they lack in numbers they make up for in determination, heavy armor, and heavy halberds
Conscript Archers
When the order goes to war it bullies, hires, or recruits a number of huntsmen to feed and fight for the orders needs.
special rules: skirmish, do not cause panic in other units for fleeing or being destroyed. May only have as many archers as you have soldiers
Pikemen of Tyra
The Fortress of Tyra is located deep within the land of Bretonnia, specifically Brionne. While the Order did win the land they have had to defend it from first the Estalians and later the Bretonnians themselves. For this reason the pike has been imported from Tilea and later Estalia to combat the cavalry armies of Bretonnia
Pike: Pikes are very long spears, almost twice as long as a normal spear and longer even than a horseman's lance. Pikes require two hands and fight in 3 Extra Ranks.
A unit of pikemen always strikes first in the initial round of close combat. Models armed with pikes receive a +1 Strength bonus in the Close Combat phase of the turn against anything they are charged by except infantry and swarms. All of these special rules cannot be used against enemy units fighting to the Pikemen's flank or rear.
Pavise-Crossbowmen of Venitzia
When the order expanded south into Tilea, they did what they did best. They constructed the Fortress of Venitzia to monitor the realm of Verezzo. However when Miragliano entered Verezzo in 2495 the Order did not have the force to withstand besieging forces. In a desperate attempt to reinforce the Crossbowmen defending the walls the Order added the Tilean Pavise to their armament. While the adaptors of the large wooden shield would not survive the battle, the idea would.
Pavise: The Pavise is a large heavy shield that grants a 5+ to armor save against missiles, but due to the unwieldy size is unusable in combat. this save can only be gained a turn the unit has not moved unless they pass a leadership test.
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