Battle of la Maisontaal: The Battle of la Maisontaal was fought in 2491, between three seperate armies: a force of Bretonnian Knights led by Duc Tancred, a mass of Skaven under the command of Grey Seer Gnawdoom and Clan Moulder Master Throt the Unclean, and a rattling horde of Undead under the control of the Lichemaster, Heinrich Kemmler.
The goal of all three armies was la Maisontaal; an abbey to the god Taal, presided over by Abbot Bagrian. More specifically, the Skaven and Heinrich Kemmler sought the Black Ark, a chest of warpstone hidden in the vaults of the Abbey, stolen from them by the Abbot. The Skaven actually arrived first, having tracked the Abbot from Skavenblight. Initially they tried to simply steal the Black Ark back, but this attempt was foiled by Bagrian. Heinrich Kemmler and his army of corpses did not appear until later in the night. Amongst Kemmler's minions was the mighty Krell, former Chaos warrior and servant of Nagash, whose will is rumoured to have led Kemmler both to Krell and to la Maisontaal.
Abbot Bagrian sought aid through astral projection and prayer to Taal and found it in the form of the Duc Tancred and his Grail Knights, camped a days march from the Abbey. All it took was the name of the Lichemaster to persuade Tancred to ride to Bagrian's aid.
An uneasy truce between the ratmen and the Lichemaster was short-lived, as the Skaven's warpfire throwers were turned on Kemmler's zombie minions shortly after the arrival of Duc Tancred's forces.
Despite the timeous arrival of Duc Tancred, and his victory over the Skaven and Undead outside the Abbey, the battle of la Maisontaal cannot be described as a total success. The Abbey itself was ruined almost completely. Grey Seer Gnawdoom and a group of Clan Eshin Gutter Runners broke into the vaults and stole back the Ark and slew Abbot Bagrian. Kemmler and Krell escaped unharmed; abandoning the field once they realised that the Skaven had obtained the Ark. Many Bretonnians fell that day, as Kemmler was able to continually raise their own casualties against them, covering his own escape.
The main victory that can be claimed is that the Skaven of Throt the Unclean were virtually annihilated, although Throt himself escaped the field of battle.
Source: White Dwarf: Issue 267 by various, Warhammer Armies: Undead, 4th Edition by various
Submitter: Simguinus
Hive World Terra