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.