TURN 2:Knights won the initiative again (I'm pretty sure this is a record for me...).
The Baron's household doubled up to support the heavily blast-markered mixed knight household and put a few hits on the Mechanized Infantry company, only for the mixed knight company to fail the retain, fail the re-roll to retain, and break (8 blast markers, 8 DC left) and fall back.
The Shadowswords responded and put 6 TK hits on the Baron's household, all saved (my dice run hot and cold like you wouldn't believe). Thunderbolts retain the initiative, kill 2 sentinels and break the formation on the Knights' right flank.
The Crusaders dump 6 BP on the Mechanized Infantry company, breaking it and forcing a retreat.
The second IG thunderbolt squadron responds by breaking the other Sentinel squadron (same results). The garrison fails to retain, and instead shoots the Baron's household, with no damage.
The Lancers activate, get their double, advance through the woods screening them from the Shadowswords (one Lancer lost a DC point tripping over a tree and will be ridiculed by the rest of the squadron for the next month or so...) and unload on the Shadowsword formation... which giggles as the battlecannon shells bounce off their armor.
The Manticores add a few more blast markers to the Baron's household, which is now starting to regret their Fearless Leader's failed attempt to support an assault on the guard line...
And then the rallied rough riders land their charge on the Baron's household. In what can only be decribed as an "epic" battle, a paladin dies to first strike attacks, a few largely ineffective blows are traded, and the Snow Speeders succeed in tripping up and destroying several AT-ATs in the hackdown when the Baron's household loses the assault to some very poor dice. Only the Baron escapes alive.
Sentinels advance behind the Lancer formation and the Regimental HQ advances, cross-firing the Lancers and killing two, breaking the formation.
At the end of the turn, the Knights fail to rally anything (2 sentinel formations, 1 mixed paladin/errant formation, 1 Baron). All but one IG formation rally. This makes turn three relatively quick, unfortunately.
