The Campaign E-Mail

Okay, gang, the more I think about it the more I think the small campaign might be a bit too complicated with some of the newer players to the game and so forth so I am instituting the following changes effective immediately. First, no more "hidden movement". Here are the starting locations (which have changed in the interests of better balance)

Cris, Vampire Counts, Constantinople
Drew, Greece, Wood Elfs
Josh, Holland, Dwarfs
Kenneth, Marseilles, Tomb Kings
Kevin, Paris, Skaven
Liam, Sevastopol, Brettonia
Phillip, St. Petersburg, Empire

The starting locations all give access to either 1250
or 1500 points adjacent assuming the supply centers are worth 500 and the non-supply centers worth 250. . Every starting location has at least 2 viable starting strategies. I determined them by going through the entire list, figuring out how many points each Supply Center was adjacent to and found the closest to having 6 or 7 starting locations with identical options. I could not do that but came real close.

You need to e-mail me at least 2 War Banners in the next week.

1) Your home War Banner. This consists of 1500 points that must adhere to your army restrictions with the following single exception; Your King may be a non-special Lord-level character of no more than 250 points, absolutely no fudging; if you make it 251 points, you will be disqualified, for example. 250 points is a hard cap, as is the 1500 points. This War Banner cannot leave your home territory but serves as the home defense force. Later, you may receive the ability to move your King, but that will be several turns in.

2) You have an additional 750 points to make as many War Banners as you wish with that 750 points, though each War Banner must conform to your proper army restrictions with the following exception: the Tomb Kings have no chance whatsoever without their Hierophant and Liche Priest, so they may always include a basic, no tooling up version of each even if that means they will not then have enough points to fulfill their core requirements. If you feel your army has a special need I am unaware of, please let me know and I will consider it on a case by case basis.
Note: this does not mean you can have 3 750 point War Banners. It does mean you could choose to have a 500 point and a 250 point, 3 250 point, a single 750 point, or any other combination that totals 750 points or less and conforms to your army restrictions.

Note; Everything is unique; for example, if I were playing the Warriors of Chaos, I could have 1 Wulfrik the Wanderer in War Banner A but in no other War Banner. I could put the Staff of Sorcery on a Wizard in War Banner B but not in any other War Banner; it is unique. So no putting your favorite Magic Item in every War Banner, sorry.
All War Banners when first formed must conform to your legal Army restrictions with the single exception addressed above.

Feel free to e-mail one another suggesting alliances, deals, etc.
If anyone does not see the potential strategies I was discussing for their starting location, feel free to e-mail me as I will have access to e-mail this week...just not the map, though I have a fairly good memory of it.

By the end of this month we will close off all diplomacy and War Banners will be locked in place. At that point, you will have one week to e-mail your moves to me. On the first Saturday of September, I will post the battles that need to be fought on http://starvingcrazedweasels.com/ (assuming Phillip can help me figure out how to do it).

Here is a sample if I were playing the Warriors of Chaos and starting in London.

London War Banner, the Legions of Pyrrhus
General: Pyrrhus
Chaos Lord on Chaos Steed, Shield, Mark of slaanesh, 249 points
Core:
12 Chaos Warriors w/Shield, Great Weapon, mark of khorne, full command 276 points
12 Chaos Warriors w/Shield, Great Weapon, mark of khorne, full command 276 points
7 Chaos Warhounds 42 points
Special:
5 Chaos Knights w/full command, mark of khorne 280 points


Chaos Sorcerer on Chaos Steed w/mark of tzeentch, 2 Dispel Scrolls 206 points
Exalted Hero on Chaos Steed w/shield, khorne, Golden Eye of tzeentch 166 points
Total: 1500 points

War Banner 7; The Regiments of General Custer
Exalted Hero George Custer on Chaos Steed w/shield, mark of tzeentchcollar of horne, 166 points
Exalted Hero on Chaos Steed w/Shield, mark of khorne 146 points
Core:
18 Chaos Marauders w/light armor, shield, great weapons, mark of nurgle 156 points
12 Chaos Warriors w/Shield, Great Weapon, mark of khorne, full command, 276 points
total: 744 points (note: Marauders are 7 points apiece as configured above, so one more would "only" put me over by one point; but it would also make me illegal. 750 points or less, no going over. Period.)


As you can see, there are serious limitations to small point totals. I have no Knights, no Shaggoth, etc. But everyone else will have the same issues, so it is all good, right?

So there you have it. The campaign is officially begun. Look forward to putting together some games, send in your War Banners, questions and comments ASAP.

Phillip, if you want, feel free to add this under a campaign page on the website. If not, no big deal.

See you guys in two weeks.

Lessons from a Massacre

This is really more of what I learned from my game fighting the Dark Elves rather than an actual battle report. Me, still being a newbie to Warhammer, haven't gotten all the kinks out in my strategy.

1. The most important thing I learned is never, ever, ever send your most powerful unit along with general and army standard bearer chasing after a flying unit. They should be facing your opponents main hammer unit. I wasted 4 turns manuevering them after the Crone on a manticore while the rest of my army was getting whalloped by the Cold One knights.

2. Bowmen in skrimish formation can do alot of damage in large numbers. For 150 points, the twenty-five peasants I had did more damage and got me more points than all of the Dark Elven side's shooting. This leads me to my next point.

3. The board is smaller than you think. Longb0ws with a range of 30" can cover atleast half the board if not more.

4. Probability is a fickle thing. Don't expect the numbers to always go your way because thats what probability says. And if they even go your way, don't get used to it.

5. Have fun. Even though I got completely massacred and was loosing pretty badly from turn 3, I still had alot of fun.

Warhammer Tactica: Chaos Marauders

Chaos Marauders are an interesting troop. Their stat line is rather pedestrian. They are average or worse across the board. On the bright side, they also are very cheap, checking in at only 4 points, a number that in a vacuum sounds to cheap until you put it in the context of an army who has only one other selection under 13 points apiece.

This indicates the Marauders can be used in a similar way to Goblin line troops: pure bulk and numbers. Unlike Goblins, however, the Marauders have nothing like a Fanatic to provide a little bit of punch unless they are backing up a Chaos Hero, perhaps an Exalted Hero or something along that line.

To be most effective at doing that, they need to be tooled up to make them a little more rugged. After tooling up, they then become close in points to far superior troops such as the Chaos Warriors. So how best to use them?

First, lets look at their capabilities. We will start with their special rule, The Will of Chaos.

The Will of Chaos allows them to re-roll failed Panic tests. With a standard Leadership of 8 and 2 rolls, that means they have an 89% chance of staying in place against even the highest casualties.

With a movement of 4" per turn (8" if marching) and no rule such as Fast Cavalry, Always March or Skirmish at their disposal, that means they must account for crossing movement-blockers such as rough ground or obstacles that force them to move around.

As a result, their best formation is 5 or at most 6 models wide. This will provide the best coverage for troops behind them while providing them with the maximum maneuverability.

This limits their effectiveness as a shooting shield. They still are quite effective in front of Chaos Warriors, who have the same limitations, but are far less effective when trying to protect Chaos Knights, for example. Their slow movement will only inhibit the Knights from doing what they do best; rapidly getting into combat.

Their effectiveness as shooting shields is further limited by their squishy nature. With a toughness of 3 and at best Light Armor and Shield, they will be wounded by better than 50% of the shots that hit them and since most shots have a -1 due to armor piercing (with many missile weapons having a S4 in addition, the effectiveness of Light Armor and Shield is completely nullified), their save rate will be somewhat less than 18%.

As a result, an average weapon firing on even a low average Ballistic Skill of 3 with a S3, Armor Piercing will do 13.5% casualties, though the overall number suffered from shooting is likely to be closer to 20%.*

With limited maneuverability, limited frontage, and limited survivability, their effectiveness as shooting shields is probably best served in the minimum unit size of 10 models with no upgrades. Checking in at a minimal 40 points, they will prove their value often enough to justify the expense only if used virtually error-free.

However, a 10 man unit with no upgrades fulfills very few other useful battlefield functions. Their close combat capability is quite limited as their kill rate is only .95.

This is not to say 40 point 10 man units do not have their uses. They are excellent for at least two things.

First, they provide cheap cover to Wizards. If you have an unmounted Wizard, placing him in a small unit of Marauders keeps him from being targeted by enemy fire and also gives him the benefit of the "Look Out Sir" rule.

Second, they are excellent for contesting table quarters and seeking out objectives. The typical Chaos army will have vastly superior targets and Marauders can often sneak by unnoticed. Even if the opponent attacks them, they have to do 5 casualties to get just 20 points and have to completely wipe them out to get a pointless 40 points. I will happily risk 40 points to gain 100.

It is therefore clear that unaugmented, minimal units of Marauders have very limited uses and only fit in a few armies.

A little tooling up, however, can turn them into a lethal force. This can be particularly effective with one of their best uses: a Static Combat Resolution bonus for Wulfrik the Wanderer.

Wulfrik has 3 excellent uses; he can attack the back line of heavy missile fire builds. His ability to enter from any table edge gives him the ability to target those deadly War Machines and gun lines that can be so problematic for the Warriors of Chaos. Second, he can seek out and often kill specific troublesome enemy characters. Third, he can come on either side of the board to threaten an enemy flank.

Alone, however, he is susceptible to being killed simply by losing combats to Static Combat Resolution (SCR). If he runs into a unit 2 ranks deep with a standard, the best he can hope to do is tie the combat as his 4 attacks would all have to slay just to equal the enemy SCR.

Marauders roaming around with him can offset the outnumbering and rank bonus deficits he would face on his own. A basic 20 Marauders with Standard Bearer is just 88 points and gives you either a +4 or +5 SCR bonus depending on whether you outnumber the foe or not.

They still have the problem of not doing damage, however. So what happens if we tool them up a little bit?

First off, you need to be able to survive long enough to strike back. That limits one to either the Mark of nurgle or the Mark of tzeentch. The latter mark gives a 6+ Ward Save meaning slightly less than a 17% save rate. The nurgle mark makes them more difficult to hit by 17%. It is therefore slightly more effective.***

Second, when you do strike back, the Marauders need help with their strength. They average slightly less than 50% wound rate since opponents average a Toughness 3.33. Therefore, an increase in strength is paramount. Giving them Heavy Weapons increases their Strength score to 5 at the cost of striking last. When they do hit, though, they become quite likely to wound, needing just a 3 or even sometimes a 2 to wound.

So a tooled up unit of Marauders with nurgle, Great Weapons, and possibly even Light Armor and Shield for options when you run into weaker horde armies means a unit of 20 Marauders with Standard Bearer is only 168 points, less than the cost of Wulfrik alone and well worth it for their ability to give him significant help in close combat. Here we find a great use for Marauders.

But there is a second use that will often be equally effective in another support role. Enter the Chaos Spawn. Spawn are often sent out to hold up tough units and maybe do a little damage on their way out the door. However, with a little support these rather sporadic troops might be able to not just hold up an individual unit, they might be able to define the events in a table quarter. Even the most expensive Spawn is just 85 points. Now, add the same Marauder unit we saw above for Wulfrik and you have a potentially devastating combination.

By moving the Marauders whatever distance the Spawn moves or as close to it as possible if he rolls 9 or above for movement, you have ready-made support troops. The Spawn is likely to hold the enemy in place long enough for the Marauders to maneuver to get in a flank or even rear charge. With their SCR and the Spawns unbreakable nature, you are likely to get a combat win with a significant modifier to their leadership (assuming they are neither Unbreakable orStubborn, of course).

This requires a bit of practice to learn how to maneuver them and you also have to be willing to watch your Marauders occasionally be the unit that is fleeing as, after all, they are still Marauders and really just cheap meat shields.

So now we have seen at least 4 regular good uses for Marauders.

1) Cheap cover for Wizards.

2) Cheap units to seize table quarters and objectives.

3) Inexpensive but potentially devastating support for Wulfrik.

4) Inexpensive but potentially devastating support for Chaos Spawn.

Ultimately, what use you generate for them will therefore depend on your over-all army composition. Use your points wisely and soon you will find Marauders in almost every list you put together.

* 100 shots needing 5s to hit (assuming over half range, move or fire, or some other -1 modifier) are going to hit approximately 33 times, wound 16.5 times, and kill about 13.5 times. Missile troops generally line up about 10 wide in our local play area, so it will take about 10 turns to cause those casualties, thus giving shots needing a 5 to strike with a Kill Rate of .74. (Kill Rate is expected casualties per full-strength turn. Simply divide the casualties caused by the number of turns it took to cause them.)

The numbers are even worse if they need 4s which will be quite common against Elf or Dwarf armies where in some cases, the number will be 3 to hit. With a 4 needed, they will be hit 50 times in 100 shots, wounded 25 times and slain 20.5 times, resulting in a Kill Rate of 2.05.

In cases where a 3 is successful, 67 hit, 33 wound, and 27 kill. This is an impressive 2.7 kill rate.

Thus we see sub-standard troops will kill Marauders on 13% of their shots whereas good shooting troops have a 20% kill rate and elite shooters have a 27% kill rate.

** They expect to hit on 50% of their attacks. Assuming an average opponent toughness of 3.333 (averaging the core unit toughness scores of all possible opponents) they will wound slightly less than a quarter of their attacks. Most troops are equipped with at least light armor with some having heavier armor, so an average armor save of 6 is not unreasonable meaning of those approximately 23 wounds, slightly less than 19 wounds per hundred will be done.

However, to strike 100 times is tricky as they will generally lose troops to opposing missile fire while crossing the field and with their Initiative of 4 they will often lose several front line troops before attacking back. With a base unit, they will generally be 5 wide which means it would take them 20 turns of attacking to do those 19 kills giving them a Killing Rate of .95 under the most optimal circumstances.

*** If an opponent hits you at a 50% clip and wounds the same, and you save 17% of the time, 100 strikes will do 20.75 kills. However, if you make it 1 harder to hit, they now are hitting about 33% of the time. Now 100 strikes result in 33 hits of which still 50% wound, or 16.5 kills per hundred. Thus it is obvious that being harder to hit is better than a Ward Save of the same percentage except the exceptions of Magic and Template weapons.

Warhammer Tactics: Warriors of Chaos Marauders

The first in a line of strategy articles for Chaos can be found here.

Warhammer Tactica: An introduction

A vital portion of any Warhammer game is force composition. Battles can be won or lost before the first figure ever hits the table if one General is vastly superior to the other in army composition. All the ability in the world to maneuver your troops into superior position can be pointless if those troops cannot then fulfill their assigned function.

With that in mind it is imperative to comprehend the best use for your potential troops in any given game. To a certain extent, that relies on which opponent you are going to play.

For example, if you know going in you will be facing a Night Goblin army full of 40 strong blocks of Spear-wielding Gobbos with Fanatics a-plenty, you would set up your force to draw out the Fanatics early and be able to deal with a horde army. This could include troops with high rates of fire or large numbers of attacks, template-firing weapons, or even massive blocks of your own troops.

Conversely, if you will be facing a Chaos "3+ Save" Army where every model has a 2+ save in close combat and 3+ against shooting then you would set up models with higher Strength attributes capable of penetrating that armor.

But what if you do not know what army you will be facing? We are blessed with a large gaming group that has the models to play Warriors of Chaos, Lizardmen, Vampire Counts, Ogre Kingdoms, Brettonia, High Elves, Wood Elves, Dark Elves, Skaven, Orcs & Goblins, Empire, Tomb Kings, Skaven, and Dwarfs. We also like to make it more or less random who you will face on any given day.

That requires a very balanced approach to army construction. If you set up specifically to face a Wood Elf shooting army and run into a Dark Elf monster army, you are doomed before the battle begins.

This will be particularly true in our forthcoming campaign. Once a War Banner is constructed, its composition will be more or less complete and as such, a well-constructed War Banner will be able to deal with any situation it comes across. Since we are playing on a "blind" map, we will never know what army we will encounter until the battle is joined.

As a result, flexibility in army construction is at a premium.

Over the next few weeks I will be constructing a series of articles investigating how to maximize the troops available to the Warriors of Chaos.

Ruling on large mounts

I have posted information on large mounts in units at http://www.starvingcrazedweasels.com

I discovered more information on large and monstrous mounts joining units. I have updated the article on our website.

Chaos Versus Dwarf, 1000 point game

Went to St. Helens to work on some songs and, since it got over early, Space Monkey and I decided to throw together a quick game of Dwarfs and Chaos.

I had my Shaggoth at home being painted so he would not make an appearance. I tweaked and tweaked and tweaked until I was able to get a Mounted Exalted Hero with the Armor of Morrslieb and Mark Of Tzeentch, 5 Knights, 6 Warhounds, a single Chaos Spawn with Khorne, a unit of Knights with the Banner of Rage (I had the Mark of Nurgle but never remembered it in the entire battle), and 2 Units of Chaos Warriors with Great Weapons Khorne, 1 being 10 strong and the other 11 strong.

My thought process was simple. My Exalted Hero would have a 3+ Ward Save against all non-magical attacks:thus, I fear no Cannon, Organ Gun, or Thunderers. Nurgle keeps my Knights in good shape against the Thunderers and I wanted to maneuvering in concert with the Spawn.

It was only after Space Monkey told me he had no shooting that I added in the Warhounds to see if I could use their role as Fast Cavalry to negate any flank charges he might try on me.

I took Great Weapons because I thought that would be easier on the Dwarf army than having to bust through 2+ Close Combat saves. I wanted this to be fairly competitive.

Space Monkey was experimenting and deliberately also made a less than optimal army. He took 2 units of Warriors for Core, then a couple units of Ironbreakers, a Thane, a Rune Smith, and...maybe another Warrior or Ironbreaker unit? Do not recall.

We set up the table as a small keep being attacked; on what would become my right flank was a small stream that meandered to the edge of a forest that all but closed off that side of the field. On what would be my left flank was a tower, and in front of that was a small village.

That meant I might have been in trouble against a standard, shooty Dwarf force. That meant the center of the table was a killing zone, the only place wide enough to send full units.

He set up two units of Ironbreakers on my right flank to which I replied with Warhounds in front, Knights behind, then Warriors in line with the Warhounds, Spawn beside, and Warriors behind the Spawn.

Space Monkey essentially did a 2-unit deep battle line across the open area. He won the roll and had me go first.

Chaos Turn 1

I rolled a "6" for Spawn movement so everyone moved forward 6". Wild cheering ensued for this dynamic, exciting, captivating turn.

Dwarf Turn 1

He reciprocated with an equally captivating turn, moving forward 3-5" as he slightly repositioned units.

Chaos Turn 2

Topping my turn 1 roll of awesomeness, I rolled a 5. Again I paced the Spawn with one unit of Warriors beside it and one behind. Meanwhile, I could see where his Ironbreakers could threaten a flank charge, so I marched my Fast Cavalry to get wide of his outside unit which left my Knights well outside 6" but, by the end of their move, inside 14". They would be in combat soon.

Dwarf Turn 2

It was obvious most if not all of my units would be charging next turn. He basically used this turn to give himself good position to receive the charges and, should any of his units hold, get some devastating counter-charges. Good strategy...if he held. Is your heart pounding with excitement from all the awesome action we have already witness? I know, I know, right? No, I am not responsible for damages if this thrilling, epic, action-packed encounter (so far) caused you to be unable to control your bowels and you wet yourself.

Chaos Turn 3

Exhausted by the 3 minutes the first two turns had taken, we considered taking a break for a few weeks to allow our hearts to calm down. But then we bravely decided to go ahead. Warhounds, instead of flanking his Ironbreakers in front in conjunction with the knights were forced by his last adjustment to charge his rearmost Ironbreakers.

My Knights charged head on into his foremost unit of Ironbreakers.

My front Warriors charged into his Warriors.

My Spawn...got a wild hair, rolled an 11(!!!!!) needing about a 5 to reach, and got into combat. Unfortunately, this meant he blocked off my last unit of Warriors. SO I had one unengaged unit and Space Monkey had his Rune-smith carrying unit unengaged. This is the turn we were waiting for! Mayhem about to ensue.

The Spawn rolled a mighty 5 attacks. Sweet! Needing 4s to hit...he hit like 4 times. Because I gave him Khorne he struck with S5 against what I thought would be Toughness 4 Dwarf Warriors, but I guess they only had 3s? So he needed 2s to wound. And did kill 2. With nobody to strike back, the Warriors would hold, and hold they did.

The Warriors fared better. The Champion had a mighty 4 attacks (base 3, 1 for Khorne) and got overkill against his lowly champion. Then my front rank went to work with their own 12 attacks and did about 6 or 7 more casualties. He could not roll insane courage and broke. Being Frenzied meant I had to pursue which gave me the charge into the unit occupying the Spawn...and simultaneously blocking off my other unit of Warriors again.

In the Knights w/Exalted Hero versus Ironbreakers it was more of the same. His Champion could not stand before my Exalted hero, the 16 attacks of the Knights killed 6 or 7, his Ironbreakers fled and got away as I ran into the unit holding his Thane.

That unit was open because they had taken zero wounds from the Warhounds and over run like 2" or some ridiculously low similar amount. That unit had his Thane, so I got the charge on him.

Dwarf Turn 3

My Exalted Hero challenged him, his Thane accepted. I rolled 4 attacks (forgetting the Frenzy was from the banner instead of from the Mark) and, needing 3s, hit 1 time...but did wound. His Thane wounded once, but I saved it. The Knights did a few casualties and took none back. Surprisingly, he stood.

Meanwhile, both his units had rallied and that was good. This time, my Spawn rolled 6 attacks but could only hit once or twice and wounded just 1 Dwarf, my Warriors knocked out 5 or 6 Warriors. One Warrior wounded back the Spawn and they needed Insane Courage to stick around. But they rolled a 3 and so the worst outcome happened; my Spawn caught the fleeing Warriors and my Warriors ran headlong into his freshly recovered unit. He just could not catch a break.

On the other side of the field, my Exalted Hero made up for a poor first turn by wounding the Thane 3 times in 5 tries (I remembered the Banner of Wrath rule) and the Horse did another. Having slain him in a challenge, I got to roll on the Eye table for the second time and rolled a "3", gaining +1 toughness. Cool!

Meanwhile, the Knights killed a few Ironbreakers, took none in return, they broke, I pursued into his freshly rallied unit.

Dwarf Turn 4

His Rune Smith accepted the challenge of my unit champion. It was here I realized how good the Chaos Warriors with Mark of Khorne and Great Weapons are...IF they can get into combat.

The Rune Smith is a Hero level character. The Unit Champion is not. My Unit Champion was equal on WS and superior in attacks, strength, and had just one fewer wound with equal armor.

My 4 attacks hit 4 times, wounded 4 times, one dead Hero. My unit champ did not just kill his hero he got overkill! How stupidly awesome is that?

The Warriors killed lots, he could not roll Insane Courage, I caught his fleeing unit.

My Knights did what they do on his other Ironbreakers and they ran. He had just one paltry unit of maybe 5 or 6 Warriors left on my left flank and about the same on my right flank.

Chaos Turn 5

My Warriors had to charge, so did my Knights. It was fast and bloody. After 4-1/2 turns, the casualty count was as follows: Chaos had lost 6 Warhounds and 1 wound to the Spawn. The Dwarf army was 100% dead.

Recap

Okay, first what went right. I discovered a new and awesome build for the Chaos Warriors. For the campaign, I think I will give them both Shields and Great Weapons so they can adjust to who they are fighting; Ogres, Dwarfs, and monsters will see Great Weapons. Elf armies, Lizardmen, Vampire Counts, Tomb Kings will see shields. Khorne will see blood. Lots of it.

The Spawn moving in conjunction with the Warriors is perfect. He can protect their flank if I just adjust to whatever he rolls and he can be far enough out to keep enemies from march-blocking me. Being Unbreakable, he stands an excellent chance of pinning the victims....err, enemies, long enough for me to charge in and support him with the Warriors.

Kev, if you read this, I would suggest similar tactics with your Gorger; unsupported, he can hold up a unit. Bring him help and he wins combats and kills enemy units.

Second, getting enemies in crowded fields where they have to put one unit behind another means I will consistently get the charge. At one point I got charged by one of his freshly rallied units but they were mere Warriors, did no harm, and I ran them over. It did not make the report because I was going from memory and had no notes but I think it was about turn 4. Anyway, by always getting the charge, never needing worse than a 4 to hit, having 16 or so attacks and wounding on 2s, I found the Warriors and Knights both to be unstoppable forces, dealing out 6, 8, 10 casualties at a time.

Third, the mounted Exalted Hero in the unit of Knights is a great combo that makes them even stronger than they already are. Good stuff.

Downsides:

1) The Warhounds, whether do to the constraints of the field or my poor maneuvering or just pure worthlessness were yet again disappointment. They did not hold up his unit, do any casualties, and were unable to threaten his flank due to his ability to extend his lines...and the Dwarf army ain't particularly fast if you know what I mean. That forest was in my way...

Second and more importantly, balance issues. Now, to be fair, that was a very sub-optimal Dwarf army. No Cannons or Organ Guns controlled the center of the field. I had to face no Thunderers. Dwarf armies need to soften up with ranged attacks before they close to hand to hand. I closed at full force and got the charge all but 2 times. The outcome was fore-ordained. Even with some very poor rolls (needing 3s I often hit only 6 or 7 out of 15 or 16ish attacks) I demolished him.

My goal is to find an army composition that can compete with any army but also that virtually any army can compete with.

So perhaps I need more squishy Marauders. The Spawn I think are a good choice because they allow me to protect flanks but are not particularly devastating. I shudder to think how long a combat could go between a weak-swinging Spanw and a weak-swinging Gorger. They could roll through 6 or 8 rounds of combat on any given day.

I think the Warrior as core might be fun for me but I am suspecting they are too strong for some armies and so that might need change.

Ultimately, whether I win or lose, I want my army to be fun to play against...and right now I am not convinced that is the case.

I did enjoy getting into so many close combats. There must have been a dozen over the course of the game. At the same time, I would have preferred to take a few casualties. Unfortunately, he so seldom got even a chance to strike back as I would wipe out his whole front line that I was going to be hard-pressed to take any.

I will keep tweaking and enjoying. Hopefully everyone else does too.