On 8th Edition

I enjoy playing the 7th edition of Warhammer.

Partially this is because of the group I play with. Very relaxed, easy going, with the process (that is, the playing of the game) meaning a great deal more than the outcome.

Not that the outcome doesn't matter...if it did not, then we would not tally up points at the end.

But I think all of us would vastly prefer a tightly contested game with many wild swings of fortune than a game that is predetermined.

Now, there are exceptions; whether it is in my head or somewhere else, I really believe I have no chance against the Dark Elf army when using the Warriors of Chaos. I have yet to even give them a game. It has reached the point where even when building my list, I know the game is lost.

Conversely, when playing the Empire (pre-Steam Tank acquisition) I just assume a win. They do not match well with the Warriors of Chaos.

Most of the time, however, when going into a game, I look forward to the process...the unexpected Foot of Gork taking out 60% of the Dragon Princes on turn one, having 3 of 5 Chaos Knights fail a 2+ armor save, and so forth.

Working to get a positional advantage or to overcome the vagaries of misfortune that turned a brilliant battle plan into a desperate situation.

Not to say there were not flaws...the books are FAR from balanced and, more importantly to me, there are key troops in every army purely not worth taking.

For example, when building a Lizardman list, I pure and simple cannot see myself ever taking Saurus Warriors.

This is partially predicated on how I play the game. I assume my opponent is at least as skilled as I am and will no more make a mistake than I would.

The Saurus are so slow they will only ever get into close combat in unfavorable circumstances. They are not rugged enough to withstand a charge from any real cavalry, so they become nothing but "free" points for the opponent as they never, ever, ever get to even attack back. Doing 5 casualties to Saurus is not hard.

This, by the way, is why with the Warriors of Chaos I very seldom take Warriors of Chaos. The only time they have gotten into combat has been when I was charged by Cold One Knights (I did not get to attack back), by Grail Knights (I did not get to attack back), and when I was able to pin an opponent with my Knights.

In short, there are certain troops that at any cost over zero are priced too high for what they do. Note; not what they are CAPABLE of, but what they DO.

I also, as part of my love of fantasy, want to have magic and dragons.

Magic, to put it mildly, has been ineffective for me. I have had 12 levels of magic shut down by 3, for example.

None of this is to say I am crying for infantry to play some huge role or for the game to degenerate into Wizard v. Wizard with everyone else irrelevant.

But in reading over the 8th edition changes now that they are confirmed, I am starting to really get excited.

First off, I love epic combats. Although the outcome was a foregone conclusion, (largely because in something like 8 rounds of combat his 'elite" Temple Guard got to attack me like once), perhaps my all-time favorite game moment was a Shaggoth v. Temple Guard v. Chaos Knights and Dragon Ogres v. Terradons v. Saurus v Chaos Marauders.

It was such a memorable moment I still have it as a picture on my phone (though the Brandon Roy dunk of the year remains my screen saver).

Second, I do not mind losing models...in fact, perhaps my biggest complaint has been that games are heavily weighted in favor of whoever can get off a charge, and any unit not engaged in setting up and executing the charge is just filler.

It certainly appears to me that this specific issue has been addressed in 8th. With the return to the "step-up" rule and the addition of the "steadfast" rule, the idea of my "filler" actually getting to fight instead of having the giant "we are free vp with almost no risk" stamp is in an iron lung breathing its last.

Instead, I actually see a real use for Marauders and Chaos Warriors.

I have to laugh about the complaints that "true line of sight means no more screening units " as the ridiculous "people on a hill have no targeting restrictions" rule meant I was able to actually screen maybe twice. Ever. So there is really very little change.

When it comes to the charge, at first I hated the random add. But the more I think about it, the more I like it.

I have had several games, particularly with the Ogre Kingdoms and Bretonnians, where a bulk of the game was playing chicken to see who would first either maneuver their opponent into being forced to receive a charge or else giving up and allowing the opponent to charge.

At the same time, armies faster than my own (Wood Elf, Skinks, Dark Elfs) were all but un-touchable for me as they were able to elude me through wise use of skirmishing and/or the ability to force me to either give them the charge (which I could not stand up to) or die without responding under missile fire. (though the Skinks, wisely, have yet to charge me)

The ability to reach further than a static distance alters every one of those scenarios. In the ones where I held the advantage, I still do but now, between random charge distance and the altered importance of the charge (striking in I order rule), it is not an unbeatable advantage.

Conversely, when I am at a disadvantage, I am still at a disadvantage, but now it is not un-overcomable.

Whereas before if the Grail Knights charged me I typically would lose anywhere from 3 to all 5 Knights without a chance to attack back, now I have a chance to at least fight, for example.

So overall, although my favorite army elements (the Knights, Shaggoth, Dragon Ogres) got weakened in some respects, the prospect of some massive, epic combats with units I regularly took, but only to weaken my army, like Marauders and Chaos Warriors, makes me excited.

Moving on to magic, I like the limit of scrolls (and hope they eliminate stuff like the High Elf item that makes any double an auto-miscast...at 100 points, it is far too strong for the points, especially with the new mis-cast table) and the way being a higher level actually means you are stronger than a lower level.

Not sure how I feel about some of the super-powered spells, but love that you should get some stuff off...no more total wall of shut-down.

Basically, 90% of what I heard are rules adjustments I really, really like.

The main downside? Until they release the box set with the small rulebook...I will be playing 7th.

4999 Warriors of Chaos versus 4999 Ogre Kingdoms

Lately all I have been able to get in have been small games. Not that there is anything wrong with that...I enjoy the occasional 750 point or 1500 point game. I have even been toying with the idea of some more War bands experiments.

But there are times you want something big, epic...more akin to something out of Herodotus than the petty squabbles of smallish games.

So I sat down, looked at all the models I owned, and put together a list that incorporated all the models I wanted to play except one (I wanted to put in the Giant, but did not want to go over 5K...and he was the one I least wanted to play so out he went.)

It was not a particularly well-designed army...too many expensive troops, little flexibility, and no real focus.

But it would be fun. My goals were simple....get off that one epic charge that resulted in ridiculous numbers of casualties.





The Set-Up


He placed first and dropped his Yehtees on my extreme left flank. I had my plan in place before he ever placed a model...a small blocking force on the left, push my real power through on the right.

The Warriors of Chaos are better than almost any other configuration at pounding mass quantities of lethality into a small frontage than almost any other force. With a village in the middle and a forest on the right, I would be able to force the action to my advantage. Any and everything he sent after my left flank was to my advantage.

So I responded by placing a unit of Marauder Horsemen off to the left opposite the Yehtees. They were just a ruse...their job would be to sweep up around the village and turn him back towards the right.

He then put some Bulls behind the Yehtees and I put some Knights to the right of the Marauder Horsemen. Again...turn him back to the middle. The Knights were strong enough to be a legit threat (the Marauders more just redirect than anything).

I then put another unit of Marauders behind the village...it would not impeded their progress at all. Soon after, I deployed the troops I had planned all along...12 Knights with a Juggernaut riding Exalted, my Exalted hero with Banner of Chaos, etc.

At some point my brain cramped and I threw a unit of 25 Marauders on the extreme left. I still cannot explain why.

Ogre Turn 1
He moves forward somewhat faster than a walk but slower than a march. I stop most of his magic, but he DOES get off the gut magic that makes his Rhinorx stubborn with enhanced Toughness. No big deal...I will just dispel it on my turn.

Warriors of Chaos Turn 1

My games with Kev often have a turn or two of chicken..who can maneuver JUST SO to get the charge, as an Ogre bull charge is not a good idea to receive...but neither is receiving a charge from ranked up Knights with a couple heroes in the unit.

I get a break as I roll on Wulfrik and his band of Marauders. They come on directly behind Greesus.

On the downside, Sigvald the Magnificent manages to roll an 11 and is Stupid.

I slowly advance, setting up counter charges for about turn 3ish.
I do get off one bit...a nice combo charge with Galrauch and the Dragon Ogres against his Giant (Shaggoth had declared a charge against some Bulls, but he chose to flee and hung Shaggy out to dry.

I had Galrauch and a level four Prince as well as a second level Wizard on a Disc with Infernal Puppet...as many dice as I intended to be casting, I figured to have a couple of mis-casts.

Sure enough...my first attempt of the game was Galrauch mis-casting. No damage as it did not wound him. The Prince gets off Infernal Gateway, but he Scrolled it and I get nothing else useful cast successfully.

I fire the H-cannon. My guess drops it all but on the head of Kev's leading unit, it scatters 2"...and lands in between three units, touching none of them.

On the left, I do manage to kill a Gnoblar with a throwing Axe, but they bounce off the Rhinorx like snowballs off a furnace...and it is about this point I remember I forgot to Dispel his unit buff.


Galrauch manages to hit just twice and only one wounds. The Dragon Ogres get the Giant twice. 3 wounds...pathetic. I should have done 5 with 6 attacks needing 3s to hit and 2s to wound and another 6 tries with the same numbers.Instead, 12 S7 or S8 attacks against a lower WS result in 3 wounds. Then the Giant does 6 wounds back, killing one Dragon Ogre outright and putting two wounds on the second.

It is now that I roll an 11 for the Dragon Ogre break test, but have a re-roll because of my Battle Standard Bearer. So I roll a 10...even on their Stubborn re-roll, they properly (at the time I thought improperly) break and run. Ouch.

Ogre Turn 2

His Gorger arrives and comes on ready to counter-charge my Marauders. His Gnoblars on the left charge my Marauder Horsemen, his Rhonorx charge the other unit. His Irongut fail their Fear test and cannot charge my massive Knight unit (both Exalted heroes caused Terror) and his Hunter failed another Fear test and could not charge Shaggy. Would anyone ever pass a Leadership test?

Meanwhile, his scraplauncher careened into my 12 knight unit.

My Marauders stand and shoot down a whopping 4 Gnoblars in five attempts.

Then Magic starts. I have a history of losing the magic phase...such as having 14 levels of magic, facing 4, and getting crushed. So it is no surprise when he gets off Brainbustah to kill two Chaos Warriors and then casts Troll Guts on his biggest unit.

In close combat, I get a surprise. His Gnoblars fail to wound my Horsemen, in return the Horsemen and Horses slew 4 apiece. The Static Combat Resolution advantage of +4 meant nothing, the Gnoblars broke.

I restrained from pursuing. It was a (near) perfect plan. He would kill my other horsemen, over-run, and clip these Horsemen, allowing me to Combo-charge with my Chariot and 5-Knight unit.

To the surprise of...well...nobody, the Rhinorx wreck the Marauder Horsemen. My other unit passes a second Leadership test and my trap is set up.

His Scraplauncher does 6 Impact hits. Wound this be a bad time to point out I have had three Chariot charges...with Scythes...for a combined SEVEN impact hits? Whine, whine whine.

Anyhow, he does 5 wounds with them and I save 3. His crew and beasts fail to wound. My Exalted hero does 4 wounds back and he breaks.

Galrauch manages to hit the Giant thrice, but only 1 wound. The Giant wounds him back and, worse yet, the result means Galrauch cannot fight next turn. I am in deep, deep trouble.

The charge of my Knights on the left is something that has less than a 50% chance of winning. I should probably make him chew through the horsemen first, but I want the epic charge. So I am likely to see the left flank disintegrate, lose my biggest point model, and I am not overly confident in the ability of the Dragon Ogres to rally.

Warriors of Chaos Turn 2
The Warriors of Chaos have a simple game plan. When in doubt...charge. When in trouble...charge. When desperate...charge. When you have the advantage...charge and over-run.

Unless...of course...Greesus uses his ability to make you stupid, which he did to Sigvald.

Wulfrik considers charging out of the Marauders...I was thinking Greesus was like the Cauldron of Blood and removed rank/standard bonuses. Ultimately I left them with him. He charged in.

Shaggy charged in on the Giant. I forgot the Knights would not leave room for the Chariot...a bit rusty. So I charge them in anyway and move the chariot to counter-charge if I lose.

the big Knight unit charges his big block of Ogres.

Galraugh has his Infernal dispelled, but the Prince gets it off on a big unit. Unfortunately, it only does 5 S5 hits...and the Luck Gnoblar saves the only wound it does. I get Treason off and his unit wounds its champ once and one regular guy once.

Shaggy does his job, killing the Giant to save Galrauch. He then fails his restrain roll (on a ten!) and overruns into the forest.

In a challenge, the Exalted Hero kills the Ogre champ. The other Exalted hero does nothing, the Knight champ and 2 other Knights and their horses combine for a rather pathetic 3 wounds total. His Butcher kills one Knight in return. He breaks and flees. My plan is now working to perfection. I am wiping out the right flank while holding off his forces on my left.

Wulfrik goes bananas, hitting Greesus all four times and even getting 2 wounds to go through. Because he had to challenge, it was only those two fighting. Greeses enacts bloody revenge, hitting just once, but that one wounds and multiplies into 3, killing Wulfrik. Still, Greesus falls to Static Combat Resolution. The Marauders follow and hit his Bull unit, getting out of the way of the Gorger in the process.

On the left, my Champ faces his Rhinorx riding champ in another challenge, but fails to wound, then rolls a 1 and therefore does not save. The spell he cast on the first turn I twice failed to save makes my job tougher, and the Knights only get off 4 wounds, 3 of which are saved. I save everything else he throws at me and my gamble, while it had low reward, still works as it holds him up for a turn.

Ogre Kingdoms Turn 3

When in trouble, the Ogre Kingdoms charge. When they are bored, they charge. When they have the advantage, they charge. So...in a shocking maneuver in a game between the Ogre Kingdoms and the Warriors of Chaos...they charge. And Charge. And charge. It was like a WASP in Saks Fifth Avenue.

He rallies Greesus, but the intentional fleeing Bulls decide they have business elsewhere and fail to rally.

I stop all his magic.

His Leadbelchers unleash at my H-cannon. His first one mis-fires and does 4 wounds to him. However, he does put 2 wounds on the cannon and kills a chaos dwarf cannon-guide.

His Gnoblars throw sharp stuff at the Chaos Prince, but he Ward Saves the only wound they inflict.

In close combat, he gets just wound off on Shaggy, who responds with 3 wounds to him.

My Exalted hero and Juggernaut, in a challenge, combine to do just one wound and take one back. That is...well...disappointing. My close combat troops are combating the idea of actually doing damage...

The other exalted, the Knights and their mounts combine for 6 wounds...not terrible, but not close to their capabilities, either. He kills another knight, but it is a foregone conclusion he is running.

The Gorger can only put one Marauder down, and they go to work with their Great Weapons, wounding him twice.

His Sabertooths attack my Dragon Ogres, wounding once, but I wound them twice and over-run.

Against the Rhinorx I cannot wound him even once. He only wounds back one time...but his new charges put down all the Marauder Horsemen. He overruns with the Leadbelchers and yehtees...but I am fine with that. they are out of the game for yet another turn.

Warriors of Chaos Turn 3

He makes Galrauch and Sigvald stupid with Greesus...yes, Sigvald has now been stupid a tidy three out of three turns.

I respond by charging Greesus with the D-Prince and H-cannon. The khorne-marked chariot charges his Rhinorx.

Time for Magic. The prince rolls 5 dice for Infernal Gateway...and gets 4 '1"s and a "2". I roll on the chart...an 11. I use Infernal to make it a 12, thus getting it off irresistibly. 7 S8 hits...and I get just 3 wounds out of it. I say "just" because with 78 dice needing 2s, I expect a little more than 3.

I FINALLY remember to dispel his Super-Rhinorx spell.

Shaggy wounds the champ a couple times, but takes a couple wounds in return.

The D-Prince puts down Greesus, which causes a 5 man unit behind him to break, they run into the Marauders and are destroyed.

The Marauders wound the Gorger once again.

The Chariot, for me, does a record 3 impact hits. Only 1 wound goes through, the Warriors put 2 more wounds on him and even a chariot horse wounds them, putting down a Rhinorx (finally). He returns fire, killing both Chaos Warriors and taking out the chariot.

Ogre Turn 4

His Gnoblars want to charge my Dragon Ogres but fail their fear test. He does, however, put a lot of pressure on Wulfrik's Marauders, hitting them in the flank with Maneaters, a Tyrant, and a Butcher.

His other Gnoblar unit throws enough sharp stuff to wound a Dragon Ogre.

Then he opens fire with his Leadbelchers against the Maraude4rs who have been wandering around my back flank.

The first one mis-fires, wounding him once. The second one...mis-fires, doing another 5 wounds, killing 2 Leadbelchers. His shots do just 2 to the Marauders, his Leadbelchers fail their break test and flee.

And never come back.

Yes, for the price of 2 7ish point Marauders, he loses an entire 4-man unit of Leadbelchers.

This, for all intents and purposes, is game. He does not move his Rhinorx again, I am able to get my Cannon and Prince into combat with the maneaters (the Marauders being Stubborn due to proximity to my BSB).

I get his Yehtees in a corner, charge them with my Marauders and wipe them out.

Sigvald goes stupid twice more (for a total of 5 of 6 turns he was Stupid) and Galrauchs' breath weapon fails, but the game turned ugly.

The Warriors of Chaos mop up the Ogres. But they never see Shrek...

Overview

During the game, it felt like the game was on a razor's edge through about 4 turns. Looking back it looks a little different.

At the time, I was bummed that my Dragon Ogres failed, that none of my charges was very effective, and that the left flank was doing exactly what it was intended to do...get chewed up slowly, holding superior forces in check while I used over-whelming force to obliterate the right wing.

The fact my plan was working slower than intended, combined with him forcing the Dragon Ogres to flee and Galrauch being in danger meant it FELT a lot worse than it was.

Meanwhile, the 12-Knight unit was chewing through everything in sight. I was crushing his stronger flank while using throw-away points to slow him down. My left flank had just about 800 points and was doing a great job of keeping his Rhinorx, leadbelchers, 2 units of Gnoblars, the Yehtees, and a unit or two of Bulls occupied....which meant I had a nice advantage on the other flank.

The Traditional "We Bring Carnage and leave with mayhem" Survivor Photo

I guess more important than anything else, it was a very pleasant 4 or 5 hours gaming with one brother next to me playing another game (their epic Steam Tank v Grail Knight grind-fest should be detailed!) and, in our post-battle redux, all involved copped to having a really great time.

Ultimately, that is the point of the game. Did we have fun? And the answer was a resounding yes.

1500 pt O&G v. High Elfs

I ponder how to set up my mighty forces, feeling mighty spiffy in my rocking pink collar.
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As with much of the Warhammer universe, our group takes a dim view of the abilities of the Orc and Goblin army. There is a reason for this.

On any given turn, on average close to 1/3rd of your army will be operating outside your complete control due to animosity/Waaaagggh non-sense. This is compounded by low leadership and sub-par strength of attacks.

The result is a hard to control army subject to fleeing at inopportune times and struggling to wound tough enemies.

On the flip side of the coin, they have some very fun stuff. I played a game (no report written) a couple weaks ago at 1000 points versus the Beastmen. I had a jolly good time with the Doom Diver, the Iron-Back Boar impact hits, the Squig Hoppers, and the Fanatics. In fact, the Squig Hoppers saw off one unit on turn two and, when defeated in turn three, led their pursuers too close to the Night Goblins, thus seeing the Fanatics whirl in and finish him off (they took out his best unit which included his general and another key character so we packed it in after I think 2 turns since the game was, for all intents and purposes, over) (thus the lack of report...short game.)

My buddy Space Monkey and I decided on the spur of the moment to play a game to get him some experience with the High Elfs. He has his dragon painted and a couple other units that, combined with some stuff I had painted would make for a small but intriguing game.


He wanted to use his Dragon Mage, so off we went.

Contrary to my usual practice, I elected to build a thematic army. Generally, I just build an army by first putting in the units I want to play, then using my remaining points to cover the weaknesses.

This time I chose to emphasize the "no control" theme; all Savage Orcs or Night Goblins.*

In the set-up, I then further went with the theme. The Night Goblins...who universally fear the elfs would be on the right flank. I put 20 bows spread in a thin line anchored on the forest on the hill on my extreme right, with the Spear Chukkah in the forest. The other Spear Chukkah was on my left, and the Night Goblin Spearmen went behind the bowmen. Then the Squig Hoppers went on the extreme right in the forest, their ability to skirmish meaning it would not matter.


On the left I went similar...in front were 13 Savage Orc Bowmen, with 15 Savage Orc Big Uns with extra Choppa in hand, and the Shaman, Big Boss on Ironback Boar and Chariot behind them. The Giant was more or less just between the spear chukkah and the Night Goblins.


He placed a line of Lothern Sea Guard spread in a line facing my Night Goblin bowmen, and behind them his White Lions and Phoenix Guard?

In his hill-top forest went his Repeater Bolt Thrower and Shadow Warriors with his Knights just next to the forest and in front of his Dragon mage.


O&G Turn 1I fail my animosity with the Night Goblin Spearmen (actually, I Waaaghed...but I needed them to NOT move for my battle plan/army theme so I consider it a fail), and make a general advance to get in range. I should have had him go first...*sigh* oh well. I then get the Foot of Gork off with Irresistible force and kill 3 Knights. 1 Spear Chukkah manages to wound the dragon...a great start for the greenskins!



High Elf Turn 1
On my left flank, he moves his Swordmasters forward and runs the Knights forward in front of them. He elects not to move anything on my right flank, though the Dragon Mage does fly off to my extreme right.

He then costs Conflagration of Doom on my Giant with a whopping 16 or so, and I am forced to use my only Dispel Scroll on it.

His Repeater Bolt thrower then fires a spread at my Savage Orc Arrer Boyz, wounding 2, one of which my mighty Warpaint saves.

This is one of those moments that is great about the game.

I, personally, prefer to use RBT to take out tough targets. I would have gone after the Giant. Yet I have seen some pretty solid statistical analysis that indicates the most damage is done by firing it the way he did.

My theory, however, goes thusly. A giant is tough to kill...high T, many W. He only has one or two things likely to have good chances to wound me. a RBT is one of those.

It is interesting to note that I am in the distinct minority even in the Starving Crazed Weasels...most prefer not to shoot when they have but one chance to hit.

I can certainly understand that point of view and do not necessarily disagree with it...however, he had Knights, Swordmasters, White Lions and Phoenix Guard who could all reasonably be expected to wound the Arrer Boyz relatively frequently, but is only a FAVORITE to wound the Giant with the Dragon and RBT. Their higher S (and the RBT ability to multi-wound) mean they are a threat the Giant must respect.

Meanwhile, the Giant was the only VISIBLE thing I had with a reasonable chance to wound his Dragon. If I lose the Giant, his Dragon could conceivably rampage at will throughout my lines. I had nothing else to stop it. Thus, to me, the clear target is taking out the only threat to your dominant advantage.

It all comes down to play style and choices.

I USUALLY go after the most dangerous thing first and then clean up the rest at my leisure. I also realize it is personal preference, and there is no really "wrong" answer here. Both methods have advantages and disadvantages.

His Shadow Warrios also fire at the Arrer Boyz and kill another. His Lothern Seaguard rain 3 hits on the Squig Hoppers, but their S3 proves unable to wound.






O & G Turn 2The Arrer Boyz really have no interest in charging, but my General, being frenzied, is GOING to charge whether I want him to or not...so they might as well to provide him some support. And there are just two knights... so in go the Arrer Boyz.

On the right flank, I demonstrate a complete incompetence in regard to the rules. I think his reckless rule functions like frenzy and that if a flyer flies into trees, it is destroyed like impassable terrain.

So I move my Squig Hoppers towards his dragon mage to force that exact scenario.
I was wrong on every count. He is NOT forced to charge and would stop just short of the trees. Oops.

I manage to get all my magic dispelled, the one that hurt being rolling double 3s, he having just one die left and rolling a six. Grrr.

Shooting not much better as one Spear Chukkah hits, but a "1" means no wounds.

The General does 3 impact hits (Iron Back Boar, but he saves 2 of them, then in the challenge I whiff. Fortunately, I outnumber, and win...they break, I over-run. The Arrer Boyz barely move, but the General over-runs into the RBT. Woo-hoo!

High Elf Turn 2His Phoenix Guard charge the Arrer Boyz, his Dragon mage charges the Squig Hoppers, and his Shadow Warriors reform to flank my General after he over-runs the RBT (assuming he will).

I use all my dice to Dispel his Conflagration of Doom, he gets of Flaming Sword off.

The Lothern Sea Guard kill 3 Night Goblin bowmen in six hits.

Prior to forming up to face the dragon (and showing my one proxy unit...only 2 actual riders)

The dragon tears the Squig Hoppers to shreds, and then pursues leading to one of my favorite moments in recent memory.

Check out the joy on that Squig-hoppers face. He survived the onslaught...will he survive the pursuit?

It also releases all my Fanatics who open up a can of whoop-smurf on his candy smurf. ** They do a whopping 17 hits. 10 on the dragon, doing....ONE wound. ONE. Hence, I will probably need my Giant to do any damage to him... But they do seven wounds to the Mage. He saves 4 but dies, and the Dragon gets the "whimper" result...which means the Fanatic that JUST reached him dies, and in its death throws, he takes another 2 wounds.

Meanwhile, my General kills both Bolt Thrower crew with impact hits, and gets nearly a max over-run, thus escaping the Shadow Warriors.

I kept trying to anticipate his wins and over-runs so I could counter-charge with my Chariot. It never worked...because I kept beating his Elite units with the Savage Orcs.

High Elf Turn 3

His Swordmasters (I think I called them Phoenix Guard earlier) charge my Save Orc Big Uns. I am not too worried...I have a couple ranks, they are my best combat troops, with good S and T and an extra attack from the Choppas and another from Frenzy.

His champ and mine go into a challenge. His General kills one Big Un. In the challenge, I ward save his hit (Go 6+ Ward!) and wound him back 3 times. He saves 2 with his own Ward save but fails the third and dies. The other 3 swordmasters kill 2 Big Uns, my last guy kills 2 of his. I win by 2 but he passes his test.

Orc & Goblin Turn 4

The Giant charges into the combat and gets in a challenge with Cadryan (?). Foot of Gork stomps the Lothern Seaguard, killing 4, I release my bound spell 'headbuttt to kill another, and then the Gaze of Gork finishes them off. Magic FTW!

In the challenge, Cadryan wounds the Giant. The Giant swings his club, wounding Cadryan thrice, but saved twice, so tied. His Sword masters kill 2 Big Uns, I do 2 wounds back and he armor saves one and ward saves the other. I still win the combat...

High Elf Turn 4

He makes a couple charges on my right flank with his tardily moving White Lions and Phoenix Guard.

Note: he had not played for a while, so this was understandable. In our post-battle discussion, these were the primary topic. He admitted his initial plan was thwarted...and as a result he only began moving them late in the game.
This was a big advantage for me as it allowed my weak flank to hold its own and actually (eventually) take out his dragon mage while my strong flank was allowed to have more strength at each point of contact.

There is a lesson here for every general . Units you place or leave where they are no threat are wasted points and give your opponent an unnecessary advantage. He effectively removed nearly a third of his points from the battle until too late whereas I had just about 10% of my points over there.

This had the same effect as giving me over a 300 point advantage...and in a 1500 point game, that is far too much unless one player is VASTLY superior to the other.

Always make sure you have not just a primary role for each troop, but also a secondary role...never let them just stand around. At the very least THREATEN your opponent with them...maybe a flank charge or even a frontal charge if necessary. A threat is often better than an actual attack because your opponent then has to react.

This is not a shot at Space Monkey. I think it would be unfair to expect someone who had not played in close to a year to play a flawless game (and I have already shown that I hardly played a flawless game...) and this is exactly the type of thing that is more about inexperience and rust than anything.

Anyway, I stand and shoot....3 Phoenix Guard slain, the other 2 break and run. The White Lions make it in.

His Shadow Guard also charge my General.

The White Lions only kill 2 bowmen and take a casualty in return. I am ranked (I had reformed a while before when I had no target and I was thinking about moving my spearmen)...he breaks and flees.

My general kills 2 Shadow Warriors, the other breaks, I overrun him.

Cadryan cannot wound the Giant, the Giant again swings club. Three wounds...two saved, one not. It is enough. Cadryan dies...and does 5 wounds to the Giant with the curse, killing him as well!

This was the highlight of the night, as it was the express purpose Space Monkey included Cadryan, and it worked. He wanted Cadryan to die and take someone with him via curse. Since the Giant was my single most expensive model (by about double!) it was the right one.

No damage from the fall.

His Swordmasters die and we call it.

The traditional "We survived the carnage" photo op.

Overview

My Chariot did lots of maneuvering, but never managed to get into combat. Fail. Well, sort of...it was always a threat he had to be aware of. Would have been nice to get some impact hits...and I kept it from getting charged. But still...fail.

My General, by contrast, rampaged around the field killing indiscriminately. He basically Casablanca'd the entire High Elf army.

The Spear chukkas, for just 70 points total, put a wound on a dragon. The fanatics killed the dragon (and about 6 or 7 Night Goblins) and Mage. Epic success.

The Squig Hoppers lured him to where I wanted him...65 points well spent.

The Savage Orc big Uns were fun (and look cool) but struggled to wound t3 troops. Scary. I can only imagine how ugly it would be against Chaos Warriors or Ogres. Oh, well.

The Savage Orc Shaman and Night Goblin Shaman combined to kill 3 Knights, 10 Lothern Sea Guard, and keep him from getting off Conflagration of Doom.

This was a very enjoyable evening with my favorite Warhammer outcome. Do not know who won...do not care. We both did some casualties, both took some, and had a great time with my good friend playing an entertaining game.

Oh, and...the O&G are quite fun.

* Yes, I realize the chariot and Spear Chukkas do not have options for those things...but they were the only models I had to hand to fill the points.
** Yes, you are welcome for the random, pointless callback to the Great One, the Rock. Do you smell what I am cooking?

Blood Bowl: The Video Game

Way back in the 90s I bought the old Blood Bowl board game. We played it a few times and I have to say...I loved it.

The years marched on, I still have (most of ) the parts and pieces for it, but had not played it in years. When I heard it was coming out for the X-box 360 I was jacked. Really looked forward to playing it.

Still, I showed patience. It came out, I waited, the price dropped...I sprung on it. Bought it. Salivated. Planned to play it as soon as I got home from work.

If you have read this blog for long, you know how it goes for me when I look forward to a new Warhammer-related endeavor. Wardancers with the charge get routed by Night Goblin Spearmen, my power-mages get crushed by scroll caddies, my Dragon Ogre Shaggoth gets killed without getting into combat...

So yeah. I crank up the game, sit down to play the Orcs. The game starts well. I am putting together a great running game, causing mass casualties to the humans, and decide to blitz their guy to clear up a better running lane...only to find out I threw an interception because, without HD tv, the resolution on the tv is not good enough to actually see what is going on.

A couple days letter, I accidentally discover it is also out on the PSP. I ended up selling my DS and games and picking one up. And in the last few days I have been playing the game a lot.

For all the criticism Warhammer receives over balance, there is one critique I seldom hear; lack of fun.

And fun is certainly delivered by this port-over.

The variety is excellent. I read that Chaos is supposed to be a very difficult team as a starter and on the early levels, but narrowed my choices to them or the Orcs. Ultimately, I went Chaos because...uh...well, I just did.

And quickly I found why they are difficult. In the first game my opponents were the Wood Elfs. They scored on turn 2 after making a succession of dodge rolls with 2 and 3 tackle zones on them. Ouch.

I received the ball, marched down the field nice and slow, pummeling my opponents into submission as we went. I scored easily and was smiling. I would get the ball in the second half and do the same...

Except just before I reached the goal line, they got off a successful, if unlikely, blitz and knocked the ball loose. No problem, I had 4 turns to pick the ball up and move two spaces, and only 3 Wood Elf players were vertical.

4 consecutive turns I could not pick up the ball and the game ended in a tie.

It was gorgeous.

Since then, I have won the first two cups and only suffered one other tie.

Along the way, I have faced every type of team and am really enjoying the variety of tactics I face.

Games against the Orcs tend to be brutal, who causes the most casualties affairs.

The Wood Elf, Skaven, and Lizardmen armies are tough early as their incredible speed and ability to dodge through the most tackle-zone areas with ease allow them to threaten to score on any given turn.

Conversely, the Lizardmen Kroxigor, Orc/Goblin army Trolls and even the Skaven Rat Ogres can cause the Minotaur problems.

But perhaps the best games are mirror matches. Who developed their team better? Can I overcome the 420,000 GP "inducement" money granted to them to make the game more even? Will they have more than three players uninjured by the end of the game?

But enough of my gaming ramblings, lets get down to the review:

Pros:
The graphics are outstanding. The game play is a very real throw-back to the board game, except you always have an opponent. The tournament schedule allows you to play the same team for a long time, allowing you to advance the players and develop a pretty specialized team.

The variety of team make-ups definitely allows for a nice variety. A game against the Skaven plays different than against the Wood Elfs, even though both are speed based, whereas the Orcs and Chaos provide different power-based options.

Cons:
The AI is sometimes not too sharp as the Skinks in particular run backwards with the ball, though otherwise it seems fine. Occasionally they will make SPP-building throws, and apparently for that specific reason.

Also, it is hard to modify your set-up to get specific players where you want them in the initial set-up. The first guy is easy, but moving a second is still a mystery to me.

Those are very minor quibbles though.

Overall, if you liked the board game and want a chance to play a fun-filled football board game of mayhem and death, I strongly recommend picking this up on your platform of choice. It comes with a heavy dose of fun.

Balance; Why it is not such a good thing

What makes the story of Custer great is not that he won his battle but rather the heroic ideal of a last stand against overwhelming odds.

The same is true for Roland...sure, he perished in his attempt to take an outmanned, outgunned force and hold the un-holdable, it was the nature of the doomed hero standing up to his fate that gave him immortality.

One could discuss the 300 or the Texans at the Alamo and again...though defeated, it was the heroic, time-buying stand that led to ultimate victory for their side at the expense of their lives that we remember.

Let us turn now to some of the legendary generals of history. Robert E. Lee won battle after battle despite being out-numbered, out-equipped, and under-supplied. He did it through superior tactics and, occasionally, a lucky break.

Napoleon was great precisely because he could out-maneuver much larger forces to give himself the advantage at the decisive location.

The Spanish Conquistadors used superior fire-power and armor to eradicate the massive numerical disadvantages they faced to accomplish mighty deeds.

Chief Joseph and Geronimo held out against overwhelming odds for large periods of time and even managed to win a lot of fights.

The entire American Revolution was a clash between the under-trained, out-gunned, out-equipped, out-numbered Colonials facing the world's best-trained, equipped and led army and trying to avoid decisive battle until attrition and/or the intervention of the French forced the British to withdraw.


The point is, very seldom throughout history has a battle occurred between two evenly matched armies. Of course, not always has the army with the advantages won.

Many of Napoleons' victories were arguably affairs he should have lost, just as his defeat in Russia was arguably one he should have won. The affairs of Greece changed markedly when the invincible Spartan phalanx was vinced first by tactics and then by skirmishers.


Lee often won battles he should have lost through superior tactical maneuvers (though each time still proved a strategic defeat).

Conversely, I have seen it powerfully argued that, in the plains wars, the only battles Custer won were those where he had overwhelming superiority.

It is not hard to argue that William Henry Harrison was at best a mediocre battlefield general who made his reputation on one demolition of out-matched forces.

Sledge-hammer tactics worked for the Russians in World War II due to overwhelming numerical superiority while they waited for time and space to take its toll on the Germans. Given anything like even forces and the Russian nation might be no more.

In short, warfare is seldom a match between two evenly matched forces. If you were to take most popular gaming systems and match up the points, the times when "2000 points of Roman Legionaries" took on "1982 points of Germanic tribesmen" are few and far between...it was more likely to be "10,000 points of Persians versus 3400 points of Greeks".

Yet when it comes to the table top, we demand something that is historically all but impossible to achieve; a parity of forces. We want 1 point to equal 1 point.

Yet how can you do that effectively? The Conquistadors were able to defeat forces hundreds of times their own size because the weapons of the indigenous peoples could not penetrate the armor of the Spaniards. Even with surprise on their side, the home-field advantage and huge numerical superiority, their attacks on say...the Coronado expedition resulted in huge casualties for the natives and few or none for the Spanish.

Even the famed Desert War saw both sides have overwhelming advantages over the course of it, but never did Rommell and Auchinleck have approximately equal forces (and, Montgomery lovers, neither did he...he always had overwhelming air, tank and fuel superiority).

The point of all this?


Maybe the inherent imbalances of the codexes are not as bad as many forums would have us believe.

Is the DoC Warhammer codex ridiculous? Yes it is. Are other books under powered in relation to the DoC, Dark and High Elfs, Lizardmen, etc.? Unquestionably.

This only matters if you have two gamers of relatively equal ability. 2000 points for me does not equal 2000 points for Joe Mama if I am the more skilled player. Conversely, 2K for me does not equal 2K for Joe Dirt if I am a skilled gamer but he is a master at it.

The games remain unbalanced even then.

Nor do points values take into account two very distinct skills for wargamers.

The first is list construction. Some people are highly skilled at conceptualizing an army build but train wrecks when it is on the field. Others are weak when it comes to building a list, but then more than maximize what they have and outplay their opponent on the field.

The truth is, even if say...any 1000 points of Dwarfs had the exact same capabilities as 1000 points of Orcs and Goblins, the game would still not be even because of the abilities of the gamers.

If you doubt this, build 2 identical lists, give them to 2 gamers, and have them play a dozen games. By the end, they will likely not be 50% win rates...one will have 60, 70, 80% or higher win rate.

Of course, if you then further give the better player the advantage of a codex where base troops have a 5+ ward save, 2 S5 attacks with WS5, and a lower cost than worse troops they are going to win an even higher percentage of the time.

Which brings me specifically to Warhammer.

I have spent the last few weeks carefully perusing the rule books for both Warhammer and Warhammer 40k. I have read most of the codexes again. I have read numerous battle reports.

This was largely spurred by the insistence of multiple people that each "personally know employees at Games Workshop" who INSIST that there is no target market for their materials.

I call shenanigans. The entire body of work has a very clear, oft-cited target audience and that audience is a clear indication that the "need" for balance in their army books is not there.

The casual gamer who is far more interested in the 'look" of his troops and the "fluff" that goes along with them is who the entire Warhammer hobby is set up for.

It is the reason things like the Warriors of Chaos "Forsaken" troop choice exists. It is why Dwarf Slayers, zombies for the Vampire Counts, army rules like the Animosity and Waaaagh for the Orcs and Goblin armies exist.

The truly talented list builder will seldom if ever take a 25 man block of Chaos Warriors. First, they are too expensive. Second, against good gamers, they suck. They are too slow, not rugged enough, and can either be entirely ignored through maneuver or else devastated with weapons and magic that ignore armor saves.

The talented list builder will never, ever, ever take Forsaken. Ever.

Core Saurus Warriors will seldom be seen. I could go on and on, with examples from almost every book (admittedly, I can find a use for pretty much every unit in the DoC book).

Yet if you read the battle reports, the fluff, and the lists built by the staff that repeatedly, repeatedly, repeatedly says and does things "because it would make a better game", you find numerous instances of most if not all of these things.

Take the "Move and Fire" article in White Dwarf 363. No "good" list builder would find a place for 14 Dark Elf warriors in that list. Or the dragon slayer in the Dwarf list.Nor, from the same issue, would he count on any unit of Beastmen capable of ambushing being also able to do actual damage.

It illustrates an inherent disconnect between how many Warhammer players play the game and how it is set up to be played.

We are assumed to be putting out big blocks of infantry with just a handful of select units that can actually hurt each other. They expect lists that have 50%+ of the points to be spent on core units.

They expect armies that are blends of powerful units with cool units...and there is a clear distinction there.

This is not to say it is the way people should play the game. That is one of the beauties of the game. In our own group, off the top of my head, I can name several over the top, over-powered builds I have seen:

- the 12 levels of Magic including a Dragon and 4th level D-Prince Warriors of Chaos list (which, ironically, was dominated in magic by 4 total levels of Bretonnian Damsels)

- the Dwarf gunline that had no close combat troops and mass overlapping cannons

- the 100+ shot Dark Elf army

At the same time, I have seen a lot of armies that nicely fulfill the ideal they have set forth.

- any Ogre Kingdom army that sees the table
-any all-goblin army that hits the table
- the Wood Elf army balanced between Glade Guard, Dryads, and casualties...err, Wardancers
- the Dark Elf all close combat army
- every Empire army I have seen

and so forth.

But I am not discussing our own little group here but rather the hobby as a whole.

The plain truth of the matter is I have seen games where armies from the first list in the wrong hands were at a disadvantage against armies from the second list in the right hands.

And that is where the game most closely resembles history.

If historical battles are intriguing not when they are between two evenly matched forces, but rather when disparate forces meet and strange outcomes result, why should we not want the same thing in our wargames?

Frankly, the idea that you could strike a correct balance between a 4 point "worthless" model and a 600 point hero is absurd. The idea that you can accurately find a points balance that matches an army with no shooting but excellent armor against an army with multiple great shots and multiple ways to invalidate armor while at the same time matching both of those with an army that has a little shooting, a little armor, a little magic...well, methinks you ask too much and unreasonably.

At some point, it is up to the individual player to decide; will they buy into the Warhammer/Games Workshop philosophy and try to build an army they like the look and feel of regardless of its capability of winning...or will they take a list that ignores the built-in weaknesses and ends up with 2 minimum-point core choices and everything else being a tricked out unit/hero.

There is no right or wrong answer...except in the context of a specific group.

In our group, for example, I would absolutely hate to see someone pick up the DoC because I know it would completely change the way lists are built. I want to see more things like the Doomwheel, the scouting gors/ungors, the Marauders, the Witch Elfs, the skink/Saurus armies.

I want to see games like the WoC/Dwarf game where there were 5 or 6 epic collisions in two turns. I like seeing games where people are arguing for rule breakages that favor their opponent in favor of a better game.

Frankly, between army choices and tactical acumen, I do not believe it is possible for our own little group to have a truly balanced game. There are built-in advantages for some of us do to the armies we play...and for others due to our grasp of how to put a list together or how to use it.

I know the same is true in the larger community. On one of the sites I frequent, I recently put up a few different strategic options and, to my surprise, people really did not understand what blocking forces were, fields of fire, concentration of fire, and a few other strategies I thought were pretty basic.

That means if I were to randomly play any of them, I start out with an advantage, even if they have a marked points advantage. I can echo the tactics of Lee and pull out a victory I have no business winning.

Does that mean the game is broken?

Depends on the player.

If you buy into the GW philosophy and do not cheese out your list...not at all. It just provides more opportunities for you to go all Napoleon on your enemies...until you meet Wellington, anyway.

1000 points of High Elfs

The above is the stuff I personally have painted. I went with a Blue/Purple/White theme using copper and gold for accents.


This picture includes (almost) everything I have that is ready to field for the High Elf army. There are core units of Archers and spearmen, a few White Lions, 5 Dragon Princes, Tyrion, a pair of mages on foor, a Repeater Bolt Thrower, a Mage on horse, a repeater bolt thrower and a chariot.

Overall I am pretty pleased with my progress. At first I did not like the look of the ones I painted, but then I stepped back and they really look nice and cohesive so I will roll with them.

Click on the pics to expand

Battle Report Skaven vs. Brettonians - 3K

Although we normally play campaign games on the 2nd Saturday of the month. Liam and I decided we'd like to play a one-off 3,000 point game. Although we were off to a slow lazy start and had a few (enjoyable) interruptions for Birthday Cake and Pizza for Fullur's birthday, it was a very good time. I took a few notes, but there's still a bunch that I had to go from memory on, so hopefully Liam will comment to correct the errors/omissions that are my fault.


Skaven List

Grey Seer on Screaming Bell - Shadow Magnet & Pipes of Piebald.
Chieftain – Poisoned Attacks, Sword of Battle
Warlock Engineer – Lv. 2 Wizard with a Warp Condenser
Queek
Snikch
Clanrats x25 with Shields,spears, lt. armor and Ratling Gun. Musician & Standard
Clanrats x25 with Shields,spears, lt. armor and Ratling Gun. Musician & Standard
Clanrats x20 with shields, spears, lt. armor & WFT. Musician & Standard
Slaves x20 with shields & spears
Giant Rats x20 & 1 Packmaster
Jezzails x5
2 Rat Ogres & 2 Packmasters
Plague Monks x30 with Musician, Standard and Banner of Superiority
Plague Monks x30 with Musician, Standard and Banner of Dripping Death
Doomwheel
Warp Lightning Cannon
Hellpit Abomination


Brettonian List

A unit of Grail Knights
2 units of Knights of The Realm
2 other units of knights (Yeomen maybe?)
30 Skirmishing Archers
Reliquae unit
~25 Peasants
2 Trebuchets
4-5 wizards
3 Pegasus guys
5 Mounted Yeoman
There was probably more, but I don't really remember much except that he had something like 10-12 PD and around 6 DD. That and the 2 Trebs is what had me concerned the most.

Setup
Terrain favored his (eventual) side with 2 hills in his Deployment zone and a forest on his flank. I ended up on the side with Difficult Ground in front of my left flank, a Building in the middle of my DZ and nothing really in the middle. I placed the Bell in a unit of Clanrats in the middle-left next to the Plague Monks with the Banner of Superiority. Everything else was near by except for my giant rats parked in a corner for Table Quarters and the other unit of plague monks and the WLC at the right flank. I had the Doom Wheel in between where I thought it would be ok.

Rolling for spells went well for me as I got Warp lightning and Howling Warpgale for my Warlock Engineer and Wither, Howling Warpgale, Death Frenzy, & Crack's Call for my Grey Seer. I can't recall all the spells Liam rolled, but the only ones ever cast were Uranon's Thunderbolt and Comet of Casandora.

Turn 1 - Skaven
Since he decides to Pray and I elect to go first & began by completely misunderstanding/misreading the way the Doomwheel moves. For some reason I was convinced that not only was the distance random (3D6) but also the direction. So I played that way the entire game including taking wounds in turn 1 for running into a building and only ever zzzapping my own troops because of the movement. Note to self, fully read and understand the rules and FAQ before playing with a unit that's new to your army. Besides killing itself it ended up mistakenly killing about another 130 points of my other units. Painful learning experience indeed.

To clarify for anyone else as blind as I was. The Skaven FAQ addresses this specifically on page 4 saying that “only the movement allowance is determined randomly.”

Everyone else except the Rat Ogres, Cannon, & Giant Rats marches forward. My Warplock Engineer kills 2 Grail Knights with Warp lightning by getting something like 6(+2 for the condenser) hits and wounding on 5 of them. Their ward save definitely came in handy. Jezzails only kill one of his mounted yeoman.


Turn 1 – Brets
A little posturing and positioning but the only thing of note that happens is Uranon's Thunderbolt Goes of with IF killing 4 of my Jezzails that I'd purposely parked behind difficult ground so they could hopefully kill anyone who came hunting for them. Adding insult to injury the Comet is cast in the middle of about 4 of my units. Also with IF.


Turn 2 – Skaven
The first thing that happens is the comet goes off killing 6 Giant rats (who end up fleeing), the WFT, & 9 Clanrats. I continue to move forward with everything I can. Shooting only kills 2 from his Reliquae unit with the WLC. Good thing to because my mistaken playing of the Doom wheel results in 15 wound's going through to the cannon because of course this would be the time I roll an 8 for strength.

Turn 2 – Brets
8 of his Knights of the Realm charge my unit of Plaguemonks with the banner of dripping death. The won the combat pretty handily, but between the effects of the banner beforehand and the effects of pursuing the banner killed all but his hero and 2 others from the unit. May have played this wrong as we played it such that they only fled from the banner killing so many wounds after overrunning my unit. I'm not sure how correct/incorrect that was.

His knights of the realm charge my unit of clanrats who completely whiff and lose combat. The flee and are overran.

His Grail Knights charge the other unit of Plaguemonks which contain Queek. His character and mine are both forced to declare and accept challenges if at all possible. His strength is enough that it all but negates my armor save and I only lose combat by 9 or so. These combats get my remaining 2 weapon teams to also start fleeing.


Turn 3 – Skaven
I am able to rally 1 Ratling Gun. I ring the Bell for the effect that damages his T7 war machines. Nearly killing it. The Bell unit charges his Peasants. Which breaks and flees. I miss catching him by 1”. My Rat Ogres charge his Knights who were shot at earlier by my Jezzails. They flee into impassable terrain and are destroyed. My Slaves and HPA charge the unit of Pegasus and kill 2 out of 3. He does enough damage back to only lose by one. He passes his test though and stays for a little longer.

Turn 3 – Brets
Magic does not go so well as his Level 4 Caster miscasts and loses Uranon's Thunderbolt and a Magic Level. He positions his Grail Knights and Knights of the Realm to be able to charge my HPA next turn. His Peasants continue to flee toward the table edge and are off it the next turn. He moves his Bowmen towards my slaves but LOS is blocked by a building. The CC with his remaining Pegasus kills my Packmaster, but I do one wound and outnumber. He still doesn't run.

Turn 4 – Skaven
I charge the Pegasus with my Rat Ogres who pass their Stupidity and finally the Pegasus flees, never to recover. My Magic is only useful for getting Death Frenzy on the Bell unit, but otherwise does nothing, while my Doom Wheel still incorrectly moves and kills my own guys.

Turn 4 – Brets
He charges his Reliquae unit into my Bell unit and we both do 4-5 wounds but an Unbreakable vs. Stubborn unit doesn't really go anywhere for a while. Death Frenzy does as much or more to me than close combat does. The Grail Knights and Knights of the Realm charge my HPA. I do a few wounds to him and he gets me down to half wounds in one round of combat. He wins, but luckily I don't run This turn.

Turn 5 – Skaven
My HPA dies and generates 3 Ratswarms which block off his Knights from being able to charge anything else. The Bell/Reliquae combat kills off all his rank and file guys and gets his hero down to ½ wounds. Unfortunately, the Death Frenzy kills of enough clanrats that it's movement will be next to nothing. Additionally, ringing the bell again damages his war machines Killing off the previously damaged one and putting a wound on the other.

Turn 5 – Brets
He takes what will be his last shot of the game with is Trebuchet, but although is range was right on each time, it just didn't do enough to make it's points back. His 2 units of knights charge my Ratswarms and do kill it, but just barely. Unfortunately, his guys are completely out of position to do anything else for basically the rest of the game. His remaining offensive spell that would have any effect (the Comet) fails to be cast so there's not much else to do.

Turn 6 – Skaven
I move a few people to ensure some table quarters and in a last ditch attempt for a few points, Deathmaster Snikch charges out of his unit to fight the crew of the last Trebuchet. They are handily dismissed and luckily I get a few more points.

Turn 6 - Brets
Nothing really happening as nobody is in position to do anything, including magic or shooting.

Victory Points
We count up Victory points and I lose by a little over 700 points which is enough to get him a Marginal Victory. He played excellently and with the only exception of some of his Knights being out of position for a turn or two, but I don't know what I might have done differently myself.

I'm pretty sure we also misplayed somewhat when the unit pursuing my Plaguemonks with the Banner of Dripping Death. In this case they took a panic test, but re-reading the rules shows that you never take a Panic test in the Close Combat Phase. I was more excited about almost killing off his entire unit than I was about any other effects. It's hard to say if the unit could have done much more after that anyway though. Live and learn I guess. In the mean time, I had a blast playing that game and Liam was a great opponent.