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.

Ken's pics from 4-10-2010

Here are some (random) pics I took at the games on Saturday, April 10th:

Campaign:Warriors of Chaos versus Dwarfs

After my first win in the big campaign, I had to decide what to do with my points. I am trying to keep my army to few or, preferably, NO proxies. However, all I had to spend were points for Core. So I got a little tricky.



The points permanently lost were enough to get me a Chariot and Level 2 sorcerer on Disc, so I brought them in from my home territory and bumped up my Marauders to 1 25 man and 2 16 man units, my Chaos Warriors to 2 units of 12 and one of 16, and even added in 2 units of 5 Warhounds each.



Someone needed to step up and build a 3250 point Dwarf army, a task nobody was excited about. It is hard to build a fun Dwarf army. To compete with the 70 shot/dragon + manticore + hydra Dark Elf army and also with the Chaos Knight/Dragon Ogres/Shaggoth WoC and also with the Slann-based Lizardman army simultaneously is tough. All too often, in light of the slowness of the Dwarfs, it becomes one massive gunline.




Really, that is what they HAVE to do to be competitive. Say they were facing the aforementioned Dark Elf army. They have no hero who can reasonably be expected to compete with the Hydra/Dragon/manticore...largely because if one was tooled up to face one of them, it could not even catch it.

So to deal with those, they MUST have a cannon and/or bolt thrower apiece to face them. Add in a thunderer apiece to match the 70 shots they are facing and you would not even have space to put them on the table, but 40 - 50 thunderers seems reasonable. So now, they have fewer shots and need lots of luck with their cannonballs to deal with the monsters, and have enough points left over for smallish warrior blocks...which must convince the enemy to come to face them.




And they need the same build to face the Dragon Ogre/Shaggoth/Knight army. So really, their slowness and pedestrian S means to compete, they need 4 + cannons/bolt throwers, a couple organ guns since the Thunderers take so much space, and then they are left with troops that can compete with Dark Elf infantry but not with Chaos Infantry and certainly not with Chaos Knights or Lizardmen Cold One Knights...so why take them when they are basically free points for any troop that will contact them? (Why would I take my Marauders into them when I know even my Chaos Warriors, much less my Knights, are so much faster I can easily hit them with that instead, and usually from advantageous positions like flanks).



The upshot is, for the Dwarf player to have any chance of winning, he has to take a list that is not much fun...lots of shooting, shutting down the magic phase almost completely. Or...he can take a list with little shooting, get out-maneuvered and lose by a lot.



Since I would be facing them, I decided to make a Dwarf army that, while it probably could not WIN, could certainly do lots of damage on the way out the door and was going to see combat. Lots and lots and lots of combat.



I included 40 Thunderers, 2 cannons, an organ gun and a gyrocopter. While not as shooty as any Elf army, it could still do lots of damage in that phase; cannons for things like Shaggoths/Knights/Dragon Ogres, Thunderers to whittle away at Chaos Warriors and Marauders, and then lots and lots of good close combat troops...Miners and Hammerers to face the Chaos Warriors, Dwarf Warriors to face the Marauders, and Slayers to A) hold up flanks and B)have a shot at damaging anything





I knew I would be facing them and hoped to be able to deploy thusly; wherever he dropped a unit of Warriors, I would drop a unit of Marauders opposite. Wherever he dropped the Hammerers, I would drop Chaos Warriors opposite. Where he dropped Slayers I would drop Knights, Dragon Ogres and/or the Shaggoth.

Then we would run pell-mell towards one another and have some smashing good combats, some lasting 3 or 4 turns maybe.

As it turned out...terrain did not allow it.

On the bright side, while there was a hill on his side of the hill, it was outside his deployment zone. A village to the left and some rough ground to the right meant we would be mostly in the center but the sizes of our forces meant the flanks still needed protection.

For the first time in memory, I A) HAD Chaos Warhounds and B) they would be able to serve their function. No hills meant the screens could actually *gasp* screen! I was excited.

I put them in front of units of Chaos Warriors, put Marauder Horsemen opposite his Organ gun and the cannons, ran Knights down my right flank backed up by more Marauders, put even more Marauders way out to the right.

More Marauders and my Chariot went to the left opposite some slayers and, just behind the forest, some Rangers.

Across the table he had his cannons to the left, then 2 units of Thunderers in a line...hidden on rought ground making them tough to get to. Various close combat units were sprinkled around, another Thunderer unit prepared to take the hill and the final one was off on my right flank.

He won the roll and elected to go 2nd.

Warriors of Chaos Turn 1
I march forward. The Hounds should be able to charge his cannons next turn, the Horsemen to take some shots at or outright charge the organ gun, and the Knights are in range if he does take the hill.

Then, stupidly, I decide to try some magic. All I have is a second level guy, really a glorified scroll caddy. He has as many Dispel Dice as I have power dice...my odds are not good. They get worse when I mis-cast...but I survive the S3 hit.

Dwarf Turn 1
One unit of his Miners units arrives and elects to come on my left flank. He advances the slayers up my right flank, the Thunderers crest the hill and he moves a Thane-supported unit of Warriors up to counter-charge anyone who charges the Thunderers.

Then he flies the Gyrocopter to block the Warhounds. This was a function of not knowing the role of the Copter and not his fault. I should have explained it better.

Now for his shooting phase, the one where the Dwarf army will dominate. His cannon lines up a shot that will tear though warhounds, Chaos Warriors, and maybe even some other stuff. His guess is pretty good...until he rolls a whopping 10 on the artillery dice and it flies right over everything. So far, so good.


Then his Organ Gun opens up on my poor Marauder horsemen...and mis-fires! Yes!

His Thunderers fare better, putting down two Marauder Horsemen and 2 Warhounds. The Warhounds, outside the leadership bubble of my General, roll a 5...and flee. No big deal.

Warriors of Chaos Turn 2
We started with an interesting question. My Knights were just in front of my Shaggoth and frenzied. My Shaggoth could see the Marauders on the hill and wanted to combo-charge them with the Dragon Ogres who were also pseudo-blocked by the Knights. I knew I planned to wheel the Knights and hit the Warriors he planned to counter charge with...could I declare charges on the Thunderers?

We hemmed and hawed, played with the rule books for a while and ultimately decided I could.

On the left, My ranked up Marauders flank-charged his Miners. My Chariot moved into position to counter-charge his Rangers if they flank-charged my Marauders in the unlikely event my +5 S.C.R and Great Weapon attacks did not force his Miners to flee.

Oh, the best laid plans...

The Knight charge goes to perfection and my general gets a challenge with his Thane. The Thunderers....fail their break test and flee. Needing a 9. Ouch. We then debate what the options are for my Shaggoth. Can he redirect his charge to the other side of the hill to hit the Slayers he cannot see until he crests the hill?

It was a classic Starving Crazed Weasels debate. That would be best for me and I was arguing against it while the guy it was bad for and the other observers were arguning I could. So I did. The Dragon Ogres joined the Knights against the Warriors.

Magic...well...was Magic. I failed to achieve the needed score.

I had moved both units of Marauder horsemen into place to throw their axes at the cannons...and completely forgot to even shoot. D'oh. Another nickel in the Stupidity Fund.

Close combat; On the left, my Marauders roll 3 "ones" and a "two", whiffing completely. The Miners strike back, hit twice...and roll double ones. No wounds either side, I have a whopping +6 win, he needs a 3 or below....and stands. Oops...

On the right, it went better. My mighty frenzied Chaos Lord could only muster 2 wounds, both of which were saved. At least the horse got a wound through...and the thane wounded me back. Grr.

The Knights, the mighty Knights, could only muster 2 wounds in about 10 attacks, and only one went through. At least the Dragon Ogres were good, killing 4. He fails his break test, runs into my Marauder Horsemen and is wiped out; the Organ Gun, on a 9, fails their panic test, and breaks. The Hammerers, on a 9, fail their test, and break. Had I not also run into the Marauders, they would have been wiped out. As it was, they lived.

The Shaggoth kills 3 slayers, they do not even get to attack back...BUT THEY DO THEIR JOB. They hold him in position. Being unbreakable, they keep him from rampaging into his other thunderers.

Dwarf Turn 2
The fleeing Thunderers recover. The fleeing Organ Gunners, 1/8" from table edge, recover. The fleeing Hammerers also rally. Clean sweep.

His second unit of Miners failed to arrive, he set up his rangers to charge my Marauders, and time to shoot...though not much shooting left.

First, the cannon....which promptly mis-fires. Then his thunderers manage to kill 5 warhounds this turn.

On the left flank, it goes better for me. THe Great Weapons of the Marauders bite into the Miners, hitting 5 times but only 2 die. Still, it is enough...he breaks, hits his slayers and thus escapes. I hit the Slayers and get the charge on them.

Over on the right, his other Slayers manage to wound the Shaggoth who kills 2 more in return.

Warriors of Chaos Turn 3

I keep advancing up the middle with my Chaos Warriors, though it is obvious by now they will probably never see combat. The Chariot charges into his Rangers. It was a close decision to go Rangers or Slayers, but I actually thought the Marauders could kill the Slayers without help and I needed to hold up the Rangers.

Meanwhile, the rough ground and Marauder horsemen mean my Knights have a wasted turn.

The Chariot is magnificent, doing 3 Impact hits (2 being the minimum it could do...) and the crew killing another 3. Yet somehow he passes his test and now I am in trouble.

Worse, the Marauders show me they are really Marauders, not decent troops. The Champ, in a challenge with the Slayer champ, gets off just one wound, the other Marauders kill nada. He kills 4 Marauders in return and it occurs to me...I am in DEEP trouble over there.

It goes better on the right where the Shaggoth kills 2 more Slayers without taking any more damage.

Dwarf Turn 3

His fleeing Miners rally. Each Thunderer volley slays a single Chaos Warrior. His Slayers kill 5 Marauders . My Chariot kills 2 rangers, the horse kills another, and my Champ yet another.

Ironically, his crewmen from the Organ Gun...which never did anything...got a charge (yes, I am blushing...getting my Fast Cavalry charged in the back by Dwarfs is about as humiliating as it gets...especially since I AGAIN forgot to throw their axes) hit my Marauder horseman, killed one, I break and flee and am destroyed. Yes, the Organ Gun crew did more damage than the gun itself.

His Slayers put another wound on the Shaggoth, who kills one back. On the bright side, that was the last Slayer. Free! And his Thunderers are lined up where I can charge next turn...

Warriors of Chaos Turn 4

Finally! My Chaos Warriors, each unit charges a unit of Thunderers. My Shaggoth charges another. The Knights flank the ones in rough ground.

I mis-calculate, thinking my Wizard has 4 attacks, charges the Organ Gun crew.

For a change, I remember to shoot with my last 5 Marauder Horsemen...and miss 4 of the 5, doing 0 wounds.

His stand and shoot against the Warriors goes better, killing 2.

On the left flank, his Slayer champ does nothing, but the regular guys put down 3 more Marauders. I somehow manage to kill one last slayer. The Chariot and horses finish off the Rangers.

The Chaos Warriors then show the difference between Chaos Warriors and Chaos Marauders, doing a whopping 11 wounds to the Dwarf Thunderers, completely wiping them out. The Gyrocopter breaks, I over-run and hit the cannon.

My Wizard gets off 2 hits, but cannot wound...is outnumbered...breaks and flees. Whatever.

The Knights kill 2 Thunderers, they break, flee, I overrun.

The Dragon Ogres hit the Dwarf Warriors again, kill 5, they flee, hit another combat, and die.

Shaggy kills 4 Thunderers. They are ranked, outnumber...and pass their test.

This turn was pretty cool with lots of spectacular combats....and it pretty much shattered what was left of his army.

Dwarf Turn 4

His last unit of Miners arrives.

His rallied Miners flank charge the Chaos Warriors.

On the left 3 more Marauders die but kill a Slayer in return. I need a 3 to stay...and get it!

In the center, the cannoneers hit the horsemen 3 times, killing one and one dying in return.

The Knights, in battle with the Hammerers, see a challenge; Word of Agony whiffs but Mithridateshits 3 times, but only 1 goes through, the horse sees both wounds he inflicts saved...I save the only wound his Thanes does back.

However, the BSB, champ, and Knights manage to kill 9 more, the Hammerers break and flee...

Warriors of Chaos Turn 5

My Sorcerer JUST rallies, I charge the Chariot into the Miners, the Knights are about to charge, we look at it...this game is done. The Dwarfs have little to nothing left.

Mopping Up

Looking back, the army build for the Dwarfs was pretty close to right. They had the capability to handle almost anything AGAINST AN ARMY THAT CAME TO THEM.

It was a horrid build if facing say...Wood Elf, High Elf, Dark Elf shooting armies, Lizardman Skink/magic army, etc.

So for what it was intended, it was brilliant.

It is somewhat unfortunate the terrain did not allow the preferred combats, but there were still some pretty cool ones. Lots of blood all around.

Watching his cannons and organ guns do a combined 5 Marauder Horsemen damage...all in close combat after the Organ Gun was destroyed...was pretty funny. Watching the Slayers go nuts on everyone they faced was pretty cool too.

Overall, pretty fun game with some interesting stuff.

Campaign Thoughts

So to try and spice up the small campaign and make it more entertaining...



the original idea seems to have fallen through. Ideally, I wanted it to be a chance to take our small, secondary armies and add units to our collection as we went:



Example, for my Wood Elf army, I got a Rare option. If I wanted to use, say...an Eagle, the idea was it would be a manageable expense to go purchase one, a short time to assemble and paint it and boom, my army looked better.



Then, if I gained a Special unit, I could go purchase 3 treekin, for example, assemble and paint them in time for the battle.



That, for a variety of reasons, has proven to be an unworkable model for most if not all of us.



The secondary idea was to get people experience with a variety of armies...for example, I normally play the WoC and Wood Elf armies, so it would be a good chance for me to make, say...a Dark Elf or Ogre army, to try some new things.



That has also proven to be an unworkable model.



So I propose that, effective immediately after the conclusion of the currently scheduled small campaign battles, we go to a new model that is this:



Neutral armies will be opponent's choice with a points value + or 1 25% of the Player's army.



Example: I have a 1000 point Wood Elf army moving into London and Kev elects to play against me as the neutral army. Roll d6: on 1-2, he can build a 750 point army. On a 3-5 he can build a 1000 point army. On a 6 he can build a 1250 point army. He can choose any army he wishes with the following restriction: NO PROXIES IN NEUTRAL ARMIES.



Additionally, we would allow an instant reset in out own armies. No more restrictions based on anything other than if your army list allows it. Instead, we switch to a "meets legal army restrictions and no more than one proxy unit" formula.

This will encourage us to use the models we have and clean up the messy book keeping. It will also make it much more about just getting out there and playing games.

So who prefers it the way it is now and who wants to switch to either or both of the new ideas? Let me know in the comments on here.

Thanks