Birdmen of Catrazza

''They came out of a clear blue sky, showering crossbow bolts onto our packed ranks. But before we could react they’d flown off only to return from a different angle, emptying their quivers into our unprotected backs once more. Of course we surrendered.''

The mercenary Gunter-Friesheim, in his account of the Crookback Pass fiasco.

Daddallo was a well-known craftsman and windmill builder in the city of Verezzo. He became obsessed with trying to fly like a bird after he acquired some lost manuscripts of Leonardo da Miragliano. Inspired by the ideas these contained, he began experimenting with flying devices. Only later did it emerge that these manuscripts were clever forgeries. However, by then it was far too late; Daddallo’s obsession had quite taken over his life, ousting any vestige of common sense from his fevered brain.

Daddallo’s early attempts to fly met with no success. His efforts caused much amusement among the citizens who gathered in the piazza to watch him jumping off various towers. Fortunately for him, Daddallo’s version of Leonardo’s parachute was one thing that did work!

Daddallo fell foul of the powerful Batta family of Verezzo when he plunged through the roof of their country villa and landed in the marble bath of the mistress of the house while she was bathing in it. Quite apart from this impolite intrusion, Daddallo landed on top of the captain of her bodyguard (who for some reason or other was also in the same bath), killing him outright. Daddallo was immediately imprisoned in the leaning tower of Verezzo, to avoid further embarrassment to the Republic.

Determined to escape, Daddallo whiled away the days by ingeniously constructing a pair of wings using bed sheets stretched over a framework of wooden spindles cut from the furniture. Soon he was ready to jump from his prison window, which had no bars since it was so high up that it was thought no one could escape! Daddallo’s exit was rather spectacular. Miraculously, he swooped over the rooftops to freedom instead of plummeting to his death in the piazza!

Flying into exile, Daddallo spent the whole of the following year training a mercenary band of his ‘Birdmen’. Only the best and thinnest marksmen were chosen. This was so that the Birdmen could shoot at enemy flyers even whilst they were flying high in the air.

The Birdmen went into action for the first time at the battle of Motta Zorella and snatched victory by descending on the enemy general and carrying him off into captivity. Daddallo’s Birdmen were immediately hired by Alfeo Romeo of Remas. Alfeo was determined to rescue the beautiful Isabella Dellecta from the bent tower of Catrazza, where she had been shut up by here family until she agreed to an arranged marriage to Grobbo, a rich, ugly, and cruel merchant from Miragliano. Daddallo’s Birdmen succeed in this dangerous task despite a number of marksmen guarding the tower. Henceforth, the regiment took the name ‘Birdmen of Catrazza’, and is much in demand.

Source

 * Warhammer: Regiments of Renown