War of the Shrine: Turn 1 Overview

Wow. That was...well...AWESOME.

I had certain ideas about how it would go. I hoped to weight things slightly towards the underdogs (any force outnumbered/outpointed by whoever it was facing would receive a minimum 6+ Ward, stuff like that) but still figured the 2 dominant forces would be the Warriors of Chaos and Dwarfs...not necessarily in that order.

The first turn figured to be dominated by shooting. With the table so crowded, it would take a while for the Warriors of Chaos to bring their numerical superiority to bear.










Sure enough, the first turns required some sacrifices of troops and position to present opportunities for turn 3 or 4. They are having to physically obliterate every opponent because, outside of some goblins, NOBODY is running.




The Orcs and Goblins could have wreaked havoc if they had rolled higher, but having to endure Dwarf and High Elf shooting before they started, then getting waffled by High Elf charges really hindered them. Now they are cramped in and will find it difficult to get off the combo charges they desperately need.

On the bright side, the Fanatics have been wreaking havoc.



The High Elf Force was all but demolished in their first turn. Failing a restrain test meant their spearmen had to fight the Chosen on turn one instead of turn 2 which in turn forced the Dragon princes to charge in a desperate, all-or-nothing charge. If they could have somehow defeated the Chosen, it would have completely demolished the WoC battle plan on that flank and the Dwarf army might even have made a move to help as a form of self-preservation.

Instead, the only armored troops the High Elfs have are at the far end. If the Chariot can hold out for a round, they might rally and help there...but that flank is facing some powerful troops in their own right in the Giant and Troll.





The things that went really right were for two of the three weakest armies.

First off, Orc magic was unbelievable with fully 3 units attacked by the ongoing Gork spell, sweeping a unit into action in a favorable position, and just generally wreaking havoc.

Second, Wood Elf shooting did surprisingly well. On the one hand, over half the wounds they did were saved. On the other hand, they still caused 9 wounds with just a single round of shooting.

Turn 2 presents some tremendous tactical decisions, particularly for the Dwarfs.

Do they simply maintain their defensive position around the pyramid, counting on their shooting to whittle down enemy forces and the bonus Ward Save to keep them alive?

Or do they go aggressive:

- Charge the Marauder blocks in an attempt to keep the WoC army bottlenecked as long as possible.

- Swing the Slayers/Warriors who were facing the shattered High Elf army around to block off the WoC army?

- Conversely, swing the other way, make some charges, and try to rapidly wipe out the entire Orc and Goblin army, allowing them to reduce their fronts and concentrate more force but later on the WoC?

- Either way, they simply MUST move towards the Wood Elf army who otherwise will simply sit back and pick them off with bow-fire. The deadliest close combat Wood Elf troops are almost all occupied with WoC and Orcs and Goblins, so it might be a good opportunity.

The WoC will continue their blunt force trauma straight ahead advance, bringing pure power to bear everywhere.

The High Elfs might just try to form a small, tight defensive square and hope nobody notices them.

The Wood Elfs will keep shooting and counting on their shock troops to win that way.

But the Orcs and Goblins...ah, what a choice. Hide behind their wall as they slowly but surely lose a shooting war, then charge in once their bow-packing screen is dead? Or go all Waaaaagggghhh and charge in with true Orcy disregard for chance to win and good planning?