3600 Dwarfs v 3600 Ogres

These young whippersnappers have been keeping me busy doing stuff called NOT playing Warhammer, but Kev the ogre and I decided to correct that so off we went. I wanted to try out the new Dwarf book...yes, it has been so long since I played the Dwarf book is still new to me...

 I wanted to try out the new Irondrakes, etc. I figured he would be playing the Skaven so took a couple cannons, a flame cannon and an organ gun...the cannons would go after the H-Pit Abomination which always rips my lips off, if they found a way of getting it early then I would have something to deal with the Screaming bell and Doomwheel.

 Meanwhile, I put strollaz Runes all over the place so I could Vanguard as many units as possible. I had 2 blocks of Longbeards (20 for potential Watchtower scenario, and 30), a 25 strong Hammerer block, 1 10-strong thunderer, a couple gyrocopters, including one with Vanguard.

 My plan was simple. The Hammerers would go dead-center in my battle line, keeping the other blocks within 12" meant they would be stubborn with a re-roll, allowing me to theoretically whittle them down with shooting and then they would have to slay every dwarf to get points.

 That beardy Kev went and foiled my plan, bringing Ogres and rolling up Dawn deployment.

Most of my rolls were really nice...I planted a cannon in the right corner with beautiful fire lanes and protected by a mysterious river with a 20 strong Longbeard Block with thane to protect it. Next to that was the second cannon and my Runelord on Anvil. Just in front of him were the Irondrakes with Stollaz so they pushed well forward pre-game to control the center.

 In the center were my 30 Longbeards in hoard formation controlling a ton of space. Getting towards the left I had a mini-artillery park of steam cannon and Organ Gun. They were protected by a mysterious forest straight ahead but could easily hit either the killing zone in the center of the table or the left flank should he sweep around that one.

I had one vanguarded Gyrocopter and the Irondrakes, but missed that the 30-strong Longbeards had it. This would turn out to be a fortuitous mistake...

The only problem was the Hammerers, who were meant to be dead center, were stuck on the left flank. Oops...

For his part, his rolls were much worse. His 8-strong (!) Leadbelchers were stuck well off to the left (out of sight on the picture above) and his right flank was very crowded with a stonehorn, unit of...bulls? in fron, another unit of ironguts behind them, and maneaters behind them. He managed to only have 10 units to my 11 so got to go first. Or had to, depending on point of view...

Ogre turn 1
The sinister statue in the center of his line (the OOOOOOLLLLLLDDDD school giant) puts a wound on his regular bulls, then hits the general 4 times....and musters 3 "1"s and a "2". It would be my last bad roll until the game was decided...

The ogre lines made a general advance but had no charges. He gets off Flamestar with irresistible force, only to see the only wound saved, roll an 11 on the mis-cast table essentially making his special character a level 0 speedbump for the rest of the game...

His Ironblaster cannon overshoots the Irondrakes and puts a wound on the Anvil of Doom. His Leadbelchers can only muster 3 hits in 20 shots and kill 1 Longbeard. Overall this turn was a huge fluff for the ogres.

Dwarf Turn 1
I move the 20-strong longbeards towards the Leadbelchers. I really have no interest in getting closer to that firestorm, but this march actually opens an enfilade on his unit of Mournfangs.Ialso do slight retrograde with the Hammerers because I am an idiot.

They are a hard as nails combat unit. Oh, sure, they die easily if anything with decent strength hits them...but they dish out a ton of pain. He has a clogged up flank...I need to keep it clogged.

My cannon enfilade works perfectly as the two cannons both hit the Mournfangs in the flank and there is no more Mournfang unit on the board.

Meanwhile, the Trollhammer Torpedo fires out of the Irondrakes, putting 3 wounds on his Ironblaster and the rest of the unit finishes it off.

The thunderers, organ gun and steam gun combine to take out three bulls.


I have not played a shooting army since trading away the Wood Elves for the Beastmen. This is the most effective shooting phase I have ever had; 3 Mournfangs, an Iron Blaster, 3 bulls, the center of his line ripped out, leaving 8 Leadbelchers with a long shot at some longbeards and 3 bulls to take on 10 Irondrakes...his other flank crowded in on itself...I am instantly in control of this game.

Ogre Turn 2
The dice turn in his favor. His Gorgers, for the first time ever, arrive, 4 strong, and come on my back edge behind my 30 Longbeards. He declares charges all over the field, and they are easy to make charges. It hurts I erred in taking my BSB out of the Hammerer unit thinking A) the Rune of Slowness was on their banner and B) they were going to die to the combined charge they were about to receive. So no -d6" to his charge.

Not that it mattered...he moves forward 1" with the Stonehorn and 2" with the Ironguts as they both fail spectacularly. Meanwhile, his Bulls take 4 wounds when the Irondrakes stand and shoot them to ribbons.His level 0 charges my Gyrocopter and his general breaks out of the now 3 strong unit.

The Leadbelchers get a whopping 34 shots and do a handful of wounds.

The gyrocopter and character cannot hurt each other, but I fail my test, flee and get run down. The Irondrakes beat the Bulls, need a 4 to run down the remaining one...and he lives by an inch.

Dwarf turn 2
Well, that double-failed charge was a stroke of luck, but the Hammerers are still grumbling, knowing they will get smacked around next turn. Where is the rest of the army? Just like those young punks to be off gallivanting doing nothing while the mighty Hammerers do all the work.

At least the BSB rejoined to bolster them and potentially inhibit the forthcoming charge.

I need a 9 to reach his leadbelchers but decide to charge anyway rather than let him keep shooting my Longbeards without fear.

In the center I don't want his Gorgers charging the rear of my Longbeards, and then getting smacked in front by his bulls. I make those combo charges, I don't receive them so needing a 10 I declare the charge.

Both make it.

He needs like 3s to make charges and fails. I need 9 and 10 and make it. Bwoohahaha. As Gimli said, Dwarves are "wasted on cross country. We Dwarves are natural sprinters. Very dangerous over short distances." I am going to count 13" as a short distance...

I have his Gorgers lined up for an enfilade. To cannons speak...4 Gorgers leave the table having done nought but occupy cannons that had no other target.

This lets my steam cannon and Organ Gun concentrate on his general who eats their fire and walks off wounded three times.

In close combat we both expect his leadbelchers to win. This is stupid thinking...I charged (S5) with a strong, tough, armored unit. Sure, he is strong and tough too...but I hit on 3, he hits on 4, we both wound on 5, I have a save.

I beat the Belchers, need a 5 to run them down...he lives by an inch.

The 30-strong Longbeards in the center terrorize his bulls, killing them and running down the BSB. wow, could things be going any better?

Ogre Turn 3
There was an outside shot he could get two units into combat the first turn on my left flank. It is now turn 3 and time for the Stonehorns and Ironguts to charge again.The Stonehorn makes it with ease despite my Rune of Slowness. The Ironguts...are you kidding me? They fail. They needed I think a 4 and could not make it happen even without the rune.

His General charges the hapless Organ Gun. It is not long for this world...

Everyone rallies. Uh oh.

When he had most things running, it looked good. I still do not think I can stand up to him face to face in combat...Ogres are fast, tough and strong. With bad WS.

His name character enfilades the Longbeards with a breath weapon and kills 5.

The Stonehorn does 3d3 Impact hits. He gets...9. Max possible. He does fail to kill 1, but before the battle with his most fearsome troop starts I am down essentially a third of my unit, from 25 to 17. He then fluffs most of his attacks and does no further wounds, and the Hammerers kill the Stonehorn outright in one go.

Wow. behold the power of multiple attack S6, high WS guys v low WS.

Dwarf Turn 3
I charge his Leadbelchers again on the right flank with my Longbeards. Not much else they can do...he wins a shooting battle between his 20-30 shots/turn v my 0 shots, but I figure to do okay in cc. I do NOT charge his 1 bull with my Irondrakes. I want to fire that Trollhammer Torpedo again!

Meanwhile, my Longbeards charge his Level 4 wizard...that should end well for me I should think.

I fly the gyrocopter over to look at his single bull.

Shooting is pretty awesome as I take out his level 0 wizard, kill the single bull with the Trollhammer. His level 4 also dies. His Leadbelchers lose but refuse to break.

 Ogre Turn 4
Two turns too late his Ironguts charge the Hammerers. His general and some random unit of Bulls make a combined charge on the Flame cannon, the Bulls in front and General to the side.

Improbably, the Flame cannon survives and stands. Even more improbably the Hammerers take out his Ironguts in one go. I have no explanation for this.

Dwarf turn 4
The game is flying as there is little left to do. With him having no wizards left I am DOMINATING the magic phase...getting off the armor save boost has twice saved multiple Longbeards, the Wrath and Ruin is wounding Maneaters, Bulls, etc left and right...

I have very few targets left with the cannons as all but one of his 5 remaining units are engaged in combat and that one is behind a forest.

I charge my Thunderers into the Flame Cannon battle thinking I have Resolute and a chance...

The Longbeards force the Leadbelchers to flee off the table and are basically out of the game themselves, being in the far right flank across the board while the only remaining ogres are in my left flank deployment zone...

He finishes off the flame cannon, does lots of wounds to the Thunderers but they stick around.

Ogre Turn 5
His 2 Maneaters charge the flank of the 30-strong Longbeards. Why not, they have nothing else to do...

His Great Weapon Ironguts (?) charge the meatgrinding Hammerer unit. They battle fiercely, heavy losses both sides, I am down to 3 guys, he has 2, both wounded. Unfortunately, his unit Champ killed my BSB in a challenge. Fortunately, I passed the break test.

My General takes his champion in a challenge, he needs 6s to save the 2 wounds, gets them both, then adds insult to injury by wounding the general but I win combat anyway and reform to face them.

He wipes out the thunderers but gets stuck in the worst place possible...in front of the cannons.

Dwarf Turn 5
Unopposed, the Anvil Wrath And Ruins his bulls to death. The Cannons take out his general. The Hammerers and ironguts, both having great weapons, strike simultaneously. He does three wounds, wiping out my Hammerers. I do about 5 wounds...killing his last two unit members as well. Simultaneous mutual death. It was awesome.

His Maneaters break and get so far away that next turn would be me charging, him fleeing, then regrouping. Actually, they went through a mysterious forest, so I probably could not have seen them...we called it off since that was all he had left on the table.


What Went Right
Multiple wound-causing cannons getting enfilades on his Mournfangs and Gorgers before they could engage was unbelievable. I think he made a mistake not taking into account his positioning would allow me to shoot down his flank...but I made the right decision on  what to shoot at.

Additionally, when his already-clogged flank failed charges 3 of 4 attempts it allowed my single unit of Hammerers to take them on piece-meal and grind up the entire left flank, thus allowing the rest of my army to overwhelm him.

Finally, hitting those two low-percentage, high-risk, high-reward charges was a game-winning bit of luck. It got me out of precarious situations...if his leadbelchers get to sit back taking 20,30, 35 S4 shots a turn my Longbeards are going to die.

Meanwhile, multiple multi-wound causing weapons is a REALLY bad match for the ogres. If I enfilade a skaven unit, sure, I might do 5 or 6 casualties...who cares? Do 5-6 wounds (or 16...) to a Mournfang unit or Gorgers...well, that is a different story. I actually thought I would see skaven and against them the cannons would be nice but not stupid powerful. As it was, I think I fired the cannons 4 times each, had to reroll thanks to rune of forgning at least 5 of the 8 shots....and ended up never having a misfire, leading to some HUGE damage.

What Went Wrong
I definitely showed some rust in several decisions, but really, very little went wrong. I had a couple fluffed rolls but they were at times and places that did not hurt me overall.

He did a TON of damage. My 25 man Longbeards ended with 6 or 8 guys left...my 30 strong had I think 14 or so guys left...my hammerers, thunderers, gyrocopter, BSB, Steam cannon and Organ Gun all died...but the damage was spread out.

Really, I think it came down to my cannons being able to enfilade his key units and those failed charges. Do less cannonball damage and he can do some things. Get the Hammerers in a tough spot against a Stonehorn and Ironguts turn 2 and suddenly I don't have one unit holding up 3-4 units.

Final Thoughts
Overall, it was a really fun game. I love that I was able to vanguard 2 9and should have been 3 units, though if my Longbeards were further forward it would not have let me kill his Mournfangs, overshooting into his Maneaters...)

I like the Dwarf army has the option to push forward far enough to not have to sit back and gunline. At the same time, I kind of feel like I might have taken too much artillery...it was nearly 20% of my points, I just added it up. Sadly, Dwarfs are so expensive that taking say 2 less pieces would not let me take another combat unit. As is, nearly 50% of my points were in cc units and, including characters designed to make them even more CC oriented, well over 50% of them.I only had one unit of Thunderers so maybe a second one of them, but the nerf-bat they took makes that questionable.

Regardless, Kev said he liked the combat feel of the army and did not feel overwhelmed by the artillery/shooting and, in fact, thought he had more overall shooting. Not sure about that, though the 8 leadbelchers putting out 8d6 shots, his Ironblaster...they were fierce.

Anyhow, great time with great opponent. Looking forward to the next game. At this rate, that will probably be about 2016...

2500 Dwarfs v. Wood Elfs

Recently I have been watching a lot of How to Train Your Dragon, Despicable Me, Toy Story 3, Iron Man, and Iron Man II. I know all the movies quite well by now, so it allows me to free part of my mind to do other things.

One thing to do is something I generally consider pure drudgery. Put together army lists. So I did. I pretty much have standing lists at virtually any point level for my beloved Warriors of Chaos. I know what units I like to use and those go in regardless of how weak they are considered this edition.

But I want to mix it up a bit, play some other armies. So I sat down and made Wood Elf lists for 1k, 1500k, 2k and 2500.

Then I did the same with the Dwarf army. I even made a couple different versions at some of the point levels.

Obviously I am making "all comers" lists. These are not lists specifically designed to fight any of the armies I routinely have as potential opponents: Lizardmen, Skaven, Dark Elf, Ogre Kingdoms, Bretonnians being the most likely, with Empire, Beastmen being next most likely and the seldom-seen Tomb Kings and Orcs and Goblins bringing up the rear.

My good friend Liam stepped up to the plate and asked if I would mind if he played the Wood Elf army. I laughed at the irony of me finally getting around to building a list and then someone else getting interested and hastily agreed. I would play the Dwarf list v. his Wood Elf list at 2500.

I have two units of 10 thunderers apiece, 2 cannons and an Organ Gun. Not all that much shooting. The Cannons both have the Rune that makes their shots flaming and are there explicitly to deal with Hydras, HP Abominations, Stegadons, and anything else that has high T, multiple wounds.

The organ gun is there because I thought a Grudge Thrower might be a bit too much shooting.

Leading my army with a noble means I can have core Longbeards and to me the extra S is well worth it. So my line troops all end up with the parry save and S4 but are going to be outnumbered.

We rolled up the Meeting Engagement and he planted a big unit of glade guard in a tower in one corner, 5 or 6 treekin next to them, some Dryads in a forest next to them, about 14 more glade guard, and on the far right flank a Treeman.

Lately I have A) not been able to play much and B) been lackadaisical about my deployment. Since I really count on my Knights, Dragon Ogres, and Shaggoth with WoC, deploying on the wrong flank is no big deal. I simply take a turn and a half to get where I want to be. It is lazy, it degrades my playing and usually makes the game tougher for me.

That is not a mistake I can make with the Dwarf army. But I did. I made sure to set up over 30" from his big glade guard block, and starting on my left put my Ironbreakers, planted my cannons one on each side of the organ gun and looking at his treekin, guarded their flank with side by each units of thunderers, then the miners, then on the far right flank my Longbeards. Only my Rune Lord showed up late.

Mistake #1. My miners should have come on via their ability per my initial plan. But...having played the Wood Elf army, I know the power of their shooting. The thought of coming behind the building, taking 28 S4 shots, charging, him testing on re-rollable steadfast, taking another 20 - 25 shots, charging, him testing on re-rollable steadfast...I chickened out and posted them.

Mistake #2. In the wrong spot. It extended my line even further so my General and BSB-reinforced Longbeard horde was on my far right flank. Where his Treeman could flank them in turn...

He then dropped a scout on my back line. I had forgotten the new scout rules. Or that people use scouts...



WE TURN 1

He flies his eagle out behind my Longbeards and makes a slow advance in general. He rolls almost no PD, I forget my Rune Lord is not on the table and steal one, he has just 3 PD now and gets something irrelevant off which I dispel on my turn.

His lone scout unleashes the Hail of Doom at my center most Thunderers. He gets 13 shots, 12 of them hit and 7 wound. I save just one. Not a problem, I have a 9. And roll an 11. I am about 1" outside of BSB range...remember that mistake in planting the Miners there? Costly.

They break and run towards the center of the field. His Glade Guard then shoot the other thunderer unit, causing 3 wounds, but I save 2.

This is funny because if it were my Knights with a 1+ save I would fail 2 of 3. Or all 3. Because on the rare occasions the Knights get hit with a weapon that actually allows an armor save I routinely fail 90%. Not usually relevant since 90% of the time when they get hit they are not allowed a save anyway.

But because I have a 5+ save...I save 2 of 3. Whatever. Dwarf armor for the win.

His Waywatchers then hit the Ironbreakers 7 times, can only muster 2 wounds. Here I have a 3+ save...and fail them both. Bwoohahahha.

I should point out...my thunderers that got hit with Hail of Doom were in range of all his shooting. He did 9 casualties this turn. That Thunderer unit still had 4 guys in it at this point and ended the game with 1, so he got no points.

Strategy suggestion; armies with shooting need to concentrate their fire. Wiping out that unit would be a great way to go. And would force other panic tests, which I have already shown I can fail with ease.

Dividing fire helps your opponent more than it helps the person firing. By having the wounds spread out, I was able to absorb a lot of punishment throughout this battle without the damage adding up as quick as it might have.

Dwarf Turn 1

Dwarfs are good at holding grudges.I have no charges, the Thunderers rally, much to the surprise of no one and start walking towards their own lines.

The other unit advances to get within 24". So they march as far as they can.

The Longbeards measure. If I march forward, I am about 1/4" short of being past Treemans line of sight. So I reform to accept his charge.

I debate what to do with the cannons. But the whole point of them is NOT to take shots at Glade Guard in buildings or the open, Dryads I have no fear of, or even Waywatchers. No, I had a great target in the Treekin. That was the proper shot.

One cannonball later, he had one dead Treekin and two wounds on another. Would have been one wound, but he reminded me flaming doubles the wounds.

I only shot one cannon...I moved the other to guarantee my Organ Gun had a clear shot at his Hail of Doom scout. I PROBABLY had one anyway...but because I made such big bases for scenic purposes, I wanted it to be clear. (as you can see, the bases are designed with "scenes" in mind. An Arachnarok Spider could not be bigger...)

The Organ Gun unleashed the full 10 shots, and 7 wounded. One dead scout. It was now imperative for him to finish off my Thunderer unit or I would have enough points for a victory right there.



Wood Elf Turn 2
His Eagle wants to march but he rolls boxcars. He just flies behind the longbeards. His Glade Guard realize they will take no part in this entire battle, so they exit the building.

At this point I notice I forgot to bring on my Rune Lord...which is when I realized I had illegally stolen one of his 4 PD. Fortunately my inadvertent cheating would have no real effect on the game.

He makes a slight advance, gets Throne of Vines off. I save the only wound his Waywatchers shooting does, save the one wound his small Glade Guard unit is able to lay out.


I think this was partially due to his inexperience with the Wood Elf army. I, knowing how slow Dwarf armies are, would probably have moved to just within 15" to get that key additional S point with the Glade Guard and Lethal Shot with the Waywatchers, knowing they can retreat 5" per turn and still fire with no penalty whereas the Dwarf army can only advance 6" per turn total!

I suspect he also knew his 30" Longbows out-ranged my 24" Thunderers. However, by this point I had 9 and 4 thunderers...so it might have been worthwhile to have a closer range duel. Maybe not. Hindsight is 20-20 and I know how it turned out...







Dwarf Turn 2

This time I bring on my Rune Lord straight away. I am not much bothered by his Eagle. I have no clue what he is planning, I kind of hope he charges one of my units. Any of my units. I will be so far ahead based on static combat resolution alone that I am almost guaranteed points for the eagle. Unless he charges by whittled-down Thunderer unit...

The Longbeards tweak their line to prepare to move if the Treeman ever is no threat. The Miners advance.

I easily Dispel Throne of Vines.

The cannons both roar and two more treekin go down. The Thunderers only have the Waywatchers in range and that extra -1 ensures my firing is worse than worthless. Gunpowder costs gold...gold that could be used in that Dwarf Alehouse on my left flank!

Wood Elf Turn 3

I was a championship chess player at one point. Won plenteous awards. Mostly because the other guy might see two or three moves ahead, but I would see ten, fifteen, twenty moves ahead at times.

I am not that guy anymore.

It is on this flight of his eagle that I realize...he is going to charge my cannon. Next turn. This is bad.

He disengages his Level one wizard from the Treekin unit to hide behind the building, inches forward marginally.

He rolls a 6 and 5 for the Winds of magic. I steal one, add 2 for my Rune Lord...he has 10 power dice, I have 8 Dispel.

He is out of range for Dwellers. He gets Throne with Irresistible, and Throne protects him from the miscast. That means I have so many Dispel Dice he has no chance of getting anything off.

I should point out...I had the Rune of Spellbreaking unused at the end of the game. He never had a single spell in use when it mattered. Magic v. Dwarves is an exercise in futility.

He unleashes his big block of Glade Guard on the cannon, but only gets 1 wound through. I do not save.

His 13 Glade Guard wound my block of 4 Thunderers 3 times, I save zero. Down to one guy. That guy is worth 150 points to one of us...

His Waywatchers shoot at my big block of Thunderers and I save the only wound.

Dwarf 3

I, uh...I need to do something about that Eagle. I advance a bit on my right flank. This will prove to be a mistake. Had I marched this turn and both turns 4 and 5 as well on turn 6 to get a charge off. If not marching...i should get back behind the hill. Like my one Thunderer starts to do.

I do charge my Thane with flaming and a couple strength modifiers to help the cannon. But I am going to be too late. Not thinking about the eagle might cost me.

My cannons do finish off his Treekin unit. He is now in a big hole. I have the points for them and the scout. he has zero points and has not advanced any close combat troops. He will not have enough time to shoot any of my units into non-existence barring some bad break tests.

The Organ Gun only gets off I think 4 shots and does one wound to the eagle. My Thunderers manage to kill a Waywatcher.

Wood Elf Turn 4

The Eagle charges my cannon. He gets 11 PD, no magic off successfully.

His 28 Glade Guard volley for the first time; 24 shots, 11 hits, 2 wounds, 1 save. That cannon has lost 2 guys now. But I do have an Engineer there...

His other Glade Guard unit kills 2 Thunderers and the Waywatchers get another. I am losing that shootout for sure, even with him being S3 and me having armor!

The Eagle can only slay one cannoneer, but he has done his job..he silenced half my artillery!

Dwarf Turn 4

My thane needs a 10 to make it into the cannon battle...and I roll...a ten! Yes!

Everyone else starts moving backwards. Make it as hard as possible for him to shoot me. I cannot reach him even if I march the rest of the game.

My cannonball at his Level 4 in the big glade guard unit gets ward saved.

His Eagle uses its initiative to kill the two cannoneers. He has points! My Thane then kills his Eagle.

Wood Elf Turn 5

His Waywatchers kill another thunderer, his Glade Guard get 2 more. My guys are getting thin.

His big unit of Glade Guard hits my last cannon 17 times. Needing sixes, he gets six wounds on me. Needing sixes, I decide to be unreasonable and save two of them...but not enough. He doubles his point haul, wiping out my second cannon.


Dwarf 5

Run! Get out of sight of those horrible woodie bows. They are sticking arrows in everything!

The only unit not moving directly away is my Ironbreakers, heading towards the Dwarf Ale House.

Wood Elf 6

He advances to take one last stab at points. Every shot he has goes against the Organ Gun. 1 wound goes through but it is not enough.

Dwarf 6

I basically just take a group photo of my survivors.

I mistakenly give him points for the unit of Thunderers with one guy left, making it look closer than it was at 534-395. But because the one guy survived and there are no half points, the actual score was 534-245.

Recap

This was two guys who have not played all that much lately using armies they are not overly familiar with and playing them poorly.

I mentioned some mistakes in set-up. Now lets go over mistakes during the game.

1) I should have marched my close combat troops forward. I would have taken more casualties...bit horded up Longbeards v. Waywatchers or Glade Guard is a match up I like. So are max-ranked Ironbreakers v. Glade Guard.

I should have sent my Miners after the Treeman and swung my Longbeards behind them. But I forgot how slow 6" a turn is. By the time I realized it, it was too late.

Initial deployment and 2 or 3 turns of letting one Treeman hold an entire flank turned this game into a shooting skirmish.

2) I was never sure what to do with my Thunderers. I should have moved them forward twice or gotten them behind the hill. They were never going to wipe out an entire unit sniping away needing 4s, 5s and 6s to hit. Instead I risked them to no purpose.

3) I ignored the one viable threat he presented for far two long. My Thane should have been close enough to deal with the Eagle the turn he arrived, not the next turn. I should have protected my cannon better.

4) When it became obvious the Treeman and Longbeards were just going to move back and forth, I should have gotten my BSB towards the center along with my General to give a re-rollable LD 10 bubble instead of a one-shot 9. It did not cost me...but it could have. Just because the results were good does not mean the play was.

Things I did well;

1) I chose the correct target with my Cannons. Shooting the Treekin completely away was total win. There was no point to using my big guns to pot-shot away 2 or 3 glade guard or Dryads per

turn. Target selection +1

2) I saved points by getting my Thunderer out of harms way ASAP.

From where I sit, things Liam might have done better:

1) The big block of Glade Guard should have exited maybe one turn sooner.

2) I think he dispersed his fire a bit more than he should have. Had he finished off one Thunderer unit, then turned everything (including the big GG unit) on the second one, we might have had a draw.

3) He took a Treeman, Treekin, and Dryads. None of them every advanced on me. Having close combat troops you are unwilling to put in close combat may or may not be prudent.

If he marches his Treekin towards my Ironbreakers, I might not have them weakened enough with cannon fire. His Treeman and Dryads, if they combo charge the Ironbreakers, MIGHT be okay...maybe not. I may have played it the same way.

4) When the Treekin were getting plunked by laser guided cannon fire, he probably should have run them behind the building to save the points.

What he did well

1) His inital setup was excellent. His shooting troops were protected, he put his guys where they should be, and got me to make some mistakes in my own deployment.

2) He shot. Every turn. He took some shots at causing panic.

3) He thought about whether it was worth the Treeman getting hit with a cannonball just to strangle-rrot attack and made the right decision.

4) He chose the right spell to attempt every time. That they never got to remain in play is irrelevant. He made the correct plays.

All in all, as battles between he and I tend to do, it was mostly a war of maneuver and little bloodshed. If we played it again...I think that would change.

First, my miners would go outside of the Longbeards and go after the Treeman. This means my Longbeards would go after his Waywatchers. I probably wipe them out and his small glade guard as well. But I do not go into the forest after his Dryads. Not sure why...

Second, my left wing would also advance. I would take on his big block of Glade Guard, with the cannons hopefully rendering his Treekin insignificant.

All in all, a fun game I enjoyed a great deal.

Tavern Talk: List building

When I sit down to build a list, it is typically something I try to get done as quickly as possible. There are certain parts of the hobby I enjoy. Those are playing the game and talking about it with my friends.

Then there are certain parts of it I do not enjoy. Generally, that means everything else. Specifically it includes setting up and taking down the game, painting, assembling figures, and list building.

So typically when I set out to build a list I have a general idea of what I want to concentrate on. For example, in the list for the game pictured (a 7th edition list) I had just completed painting the Dragon Ogres, the Marauder Horsemen on the gray horses, the chariot, and modifying a Brettonian into my Standard Bearer.

As a result, I wanted to include those elements. I always include a unit of Knights because I love magic and knights. By the time you put in a few knights, some dragon ogres, a chariot, the requisite wizard, and a chariot, you have eaten up close to 1000 points. I believe that one was probably a 1500 point game.

Since I found Marauders in 7th edition to be worse than completely useless since they seldom ever got to attack, it was an easy choice to make it an all-cavalry force.

At that point my list is built and I simply need to figure out how to use it on the field.

When I build a list, this is a pretty typical example. I seldom take into account who my opponent is. In fact, I generally go somewhat out of my way to avoid knowing which army my opponent will use since then it is a truer test of my abilities.

I do, however, put in a battle plan along with my list.

For example, in the above list, the Knights would go straight up the middle while the Marauder Horsemen would guard the flanks. The Chariot and Dragon Ogres would lag slightly behind, planning to either attack anyone who flanked the Knights or, more likely, when the knights swung towards one flank or the other, they would combo charge on the appropriate flank while either the Marauder horsemen or remaining unit would serve as a blocking unit.

Every list I build has similar elements. I find a unit or concept I want to build around, fill it up, then when I have fit in the things I enjoy using, I fill in the "required" slots.

Case in point; I really like my troops to be reliable. As a result, the Crown of Command has quickly become a staple on those (extremely) rare occasions I do not take the Warriors of Chaos item the Banner of the gods.

However, one army (the Dwarves) has a second version, the Master Rune of Kingship. Add the Master Rune of Gromril and the Rune of Resistance and your General will make whatever unit he joins Stubborn.

Add a Thane with the Crown of Command and a BSB and suddenly your battle line is full of T4, LD 9 or 10 re-rollable stubborn troops. The ultimate in reliability short of the crumble-prone undead.

Depending on what points level you are playing, you can still have more than sufficient shooting to soften up the enemy before they crash into your nigh-impenetrable rock of a line.

Of course, despite the improved charge ranges, the Dwarf army is still enough slower (25- 50% slower than virtually any other army) that you need a solid plan.

Set up an Organ Gun between Dwarf Warriors and Dwarf Longbeards with cannons and Thunderers added as appropriate and you have a rock-hard, deadly army. The list built itself. It simply requires a few tweaks for points.*

In short, to build a list, I do the following.

1) Find a concept to build the list around.

2) Build a battle plan around that concept.

3) Include the pieces to fulfill that concept.

4) Add required things such as core troops.

5) Fiddle with the points until they fit.

*Note it DOES leave the army susceptible to magic, but this is somewhat deliberate. I like to always build in a weakness the savvy opponent can exploit.

War of the Shrine turn 4, Dwarfs, part 18

What could be more glorious than finding death in a spectacular one on one duel? The massive Slayer Lord charged towards the effeminate yet deadly appearing northmen hero.



Not to be outdone, the variety of Dwarf heroes left behind to defend the Shrine charged into battle to help their beleaguered Lord Rigal Stonesplitter.

Meanwhile, the gyrocoptors flew off trying to do damage to the biggest threats to the Dwarf lines.

The Dwarf guns opened a deadly chorus. Cannonballs flew in every direction, handgunners took aim at enemies, and smoke filled the field as they unleashed everything they had in a desperate attempt to salvage the situation for the faltering Dwarf army.

They were dismayed when the (WoC) giant shrugged off any injury from not one but TWO cannonballs, but were cheered at the other destruction caused as Chaos Knights, Chosen, and Glade Guard all fell to their firepower.

It was therefore unexpected to see their mighty line of heroes get demolished in close combat, and not even by heroes. Well, some by heroes...but even Marauders were wounding and slaying Thanes. The mighty Dwarf heroes, seeing a couple of their number fall, broke and ran, only to be run down by the lethal Marauders behind them.

And the Slayer failed in his mission. Behind his mystical sword, Prince Sigvald laid him low before the Slayer ever swung his axe.

Even as they broke, the Warriors began falling under the blades of the Marauders and the Hammerers died at the hands of the Dragon Ogres. It was too much for the Warriors who broke, though the courageous Hammerers kept the Marauders from pursuing them.

If there was any good news for the Dwarf army, it was that their Miners withstood the charge of the Savage orcs...though the two Orc warriors crushing every Marauder alongside of them had to be disheartening...as was having the two Boar-riding Orc warriors turn their attentions on the flanks of the Miners.

Even the Warriors facing the Glade Guard could no longer stand the pressure...they broke and ran, only to be run down and have the Glade Guard go on to flank the Warriors battling the Waywatchers to a standstill.

Had Rigal still been around to see the results of his bold move to take the shrine, he would have shed a tear. Though not every unit broke and ran, every one took damage and nowhere were his sturdy warriors able to break an enemy unit.

The future was bleak, indeed for the now much smaller Dwarf force.

Casualties

2 Chaos Warhounds

5 Chaos Knights

2 Chosen

3 Wounds to High Elf Wizard (all from cannons)

4 Glade Guard

1 Waywatcher

1 Marauder

2 wounds to Dragon Ogres

1 Savage Orc Big Un

2 Night Goblin Archers

3 Night Goblin Spearmen

Suffered:

5 Thanes

1 Lord Level thane

5 hammerers

8 Warriors

2 Miners

1K High Efl v. 1k Dwarf rematch

Anger was always near the surface with Rigal Rocksplitter, clan chief of the Hidden Caverns. When he heard of the defeat of a scouting party near the village of...he neither knew nor cared the name, come to think of it...by the pointy-eared, effeminate elves, it got his blood to boiling.

It also gave him an opportunity to show his superiority over his twin, Lagir Rocksplitter. Always the twins competed...for the affection of their parents, for pre-eminence among the dwarfs of the Hidden Caverns, for the respect of the longbeards.

And hearing that the pointy-ears still held the village where Lagir had met defeat brought a smile to his face. He would avenge the defeat suffered by the forces of the Hidden Caverns...and make Rigal look inept in the process.

He assembled his forces and marched forth to wreak his vengeance.



Lately I have been playing a lot of 1K games, most of them with forces set up to be deliberately underpowered. The beauty of it is..against armies built the same way, it results in incredibly fun, entertaining games WITHIN THE CONTEXT OF THOSE GAMES.

At the same time, there is something missing...having no fliers, little to no magic, and using sub-par units almost exclusively takes a certain something away from the overall flavor of the game.

I think both types of games have a place...

Well, we had a day set up where Fixed Dice and Liam would face off over 3K of awesomeness, but Kev would have just a short time to play...so Fullur and I decided on a re-match of the game referenced in the flavor at the opening of this post.

In retrospect, I think the first time we played I counted on him needing 5s to wound and me having 5+ saves or better to eliminate the need for tactics. This time, I set up a bit more strategically.

First, I won the choice of sides and took the more open side this time. Second, I lined up 20 Thunderers across to whittle down his forces a bit as he came across the field, then backed them up with the Grungi-runed Hammerers to provide a ward save against High Elf shooting. The Warriors angled to face his Knights where they were set up, and this time I set the Rangers further back into the forest.

The plan was simple: make him come to me (good Dwarf strategy), whittle down his numbers with S4 shooting, when he inevitably wiped out a unit of Thunderers, I would have Hammerers to withstand the charge and then wreck the pointy-eared close combat blocks.

Meanwhile, the Rangers would pseudo-march block his White Lions and hopefully evade them for the entire battle instead of letting him wipe them out in one spectacular charge.


I won the roll and...what? went FIRST? There is a nickel in the Stupidity Fund. For whatever reason I thought his archers had 30" range so I was going to march forward, then when he climbed the hill, I would get first shot.

Dwarf Turn 1
I moved the Rangers back 1-1/2" in the forest...yeah, that would be a fast move! :-) Then marched everything forward.

High Elf Turn 1
He pretty much followed my plan for him, bringing his Dragon princes around the left flank, advancing the Lothern Sea guard and Repeater bolt thrower on top of the hill, moving his White Lions towards the forest and marching his Spearmen forward.


Dwarf Turn 2
I retreated the Rangers another 1-1/2". I let fly with 20 thunderers and watched gleefully as something like 8 Spearmen went down. Ah, yes...this was dwarf-like!



time to take some casualties off the table!

High Elf Turn 2

And now my nefarious plan began to evidence. His Swordsmen were too far from me to see me in the forest due to the 2" rule...but had to stop 1" away. Slowness, they name is High Elfs...

However, he cleverly advanced his spearmen in such a way that only one unit of thunderers would be able to fire. Very crafty, young padawan.

His shooting began to tell, now, as a few Dwarf Thunderers fell to his Repeater Bolt Thrower and Sea Guard.

Dwarf Turn 3
I continued my stall on the right flank, advancing to the rear another 1-1/2" I also reformed my right-most Thunderers to face outside the forest. Perhaps I would be able to enfilade his White Lions in a turn or two...

I also set up my Hammerers, anticipating his Spearmen would break my Thunderers, but planning to flank charge them.

My shooting was point-blank but far less lethal.

High Elf Turn 3

For the briefest moment, Fullur thought he was using the Warriors of Chaos. His Spearmen and Dragon Princes charged the Thunderers and Dwarf Warriors respectively.

He began shooting down my Hammerers and I continued to fail save after save (in the entire game I successfully made I believe 2 of nearly 30 5+ save attempts...)

Close combat went better than expected. He failed to wound a single Thunderer...and in return I did him the courtesy of wounding not one spearmen. I broke to combat resolution and my ploy worked to perfection...he was stuck right in front of the deadly Hammerers.

The Dragon Princes did a couple wounds, but the rank bonuses and outnumbering allowed the warriors to survive the charge.

Dwarf Turn 4

Fullur once had a great line where he made a bizarre tactical decision but explained it by saying, "I did not want to get charged by Dwarfs..that would just be embarrassing."

Fullur...welcome to embarrassment. Not only did he get charged by Dwarfs...he got FLANK CHARGED by my Elite Hammerers. Bwoohahahah.

Another 1-1/2" strategic advance towards my base battle line by the Rangers, another re-form of the Thunderers to get maximum firepower in a turn or so, a successful rally by the thunderers, and it was time for combat.

First, I went with the Hammerers. He struck first, killing 2. Whatever.

I struck back with a fury, hitting 4 times. I needed "2"s to kill.

Yes, all four dice rolled less than a 2.

Frankly, this was among the most dis-heartening moments I have ever had in Warhammer.

Unlike what I often do with the Warriors of Chaos (or, for that matter, the Dwarfs), I did not just "point and shoot". I actually put thought into my plan, deployment, and maneuvers. I set up things to get the combats when and where I wanted them. I even planned for poor rolls so they would not matter.

And then they did anyway. One brutal, unbelievably bad roll put all my plans in danger of failing.

If the Hammerers broke I would not have enough forces to bring his Spearmen to bear, he could happily retreat and shoot me to death. And should, by the way. The game was his.

I do not mind losing in games where I plan poorly, either through list-building or simply playing point and click (strong units, charge. Everyone else, stand around showing off your paint job).

I do not mind when my opponent does something clever and/or outplays me.

I HATE losing to a 1 in 1296 chance when I am actually trying to garner some sort of draw or win. And frankly, I did not have a lot of confidence in the ability of the Warriors, without their full rank bonus and with a wound on my T6 Thane (from a horse, no less), to win against the Dragon Princes.

Now, do not get me wrong...I do not mind losing. In fact, I actually wish I lost a bit more than I do outside of campaign games. But I want it to be reasonable losing, not to ridiculous horrific rolls.

Nevertheless, all my bad feeling was lessened when the combat turned out to be a draw.

On to the Dragon Princes V. Warriors round 2.

This time I was more successful, slaying two of them (after making one of my rare successful saves), and he ran. I ran as well...and ended up an inch behind them.

High Elf Turn 4

he advanced his White lions, started shooting down my heretofore untouched Thunderers before his White Lions emerged from the forest, rallied his Dragon Princes, and he rolled his General behind my Thunderers.

I knew at this moment I could not touch his General in the game, and lost another Thunderer to his S5 shots, and time to go back to close combat.

Another draw between my elite Hammerers on his flank and his 2 guys fighting spearmen. Not good.

Dwarf Turn 5

Outside the forest, the Rangers made a full march move away from the forest. My Warriors charged his Dragon Princes, mostly so they would not get a strength bonus.

Yes, that is two successful charges by my Dwarfs this game :-).

This time, I did a couple casualties to his Spearmen, they finally broke. I also broke his Dragon Princes and followed them off the table.

High Elf Turn 5
Things looked grim. His White Lions finally emerged from the forest, right in front of the Dwarf gunline.

He rallied his Spearmen, then went to work again shooting everything...Repeater bolt Throwers, Sea Guard, and his General, at the gunline preparing to take down the White Lions. Sure enough, he got them down to just 5 men.

Dwarf Turn 6

I turned the Rangers to face the inevitable charge from his White Lions, charged and finished off his Spearmen, and brought the Warriors back on the table.

Then I shot down 3 of his Seaguard, but did just one casualty to his White Lions.

I broke and ran down his Spearmen, and now it was time to see if I could withstand a furious last second attack by the reeling High Elfs.

High Elf Turn 6

Sure enough, his White Lions charged my Rangers...only to lose one of their number to my Throwing Axes.

His furious shooting from RBT, Sea Guard, and general combined to finish off the Thunderers who had been waiting for his White Lions.

The Close Combat was intense. He had 7 attacks. I did not have the advantage I hoped for...my rank bonus and outnumbering were nearly offset by his War banner, so he only needed to do one casualty to tie the combat and 2 to have an excellent chance to win.

He did about 4, I could only do one back. The Rangers broke and the game was over.

The Survivor shot...from the winning side.

And there were some living pointy ears, as well.

In the end, it ended up being I think a Marginal Victory...and that was just about perfect.

Wrap-up

This was a very entertaining game. There were moves and counter-moves. At one point he held off a charge I thought he was going to make because he wanted to break off his General from the Dragon Princes.

I was able to set up charges and counter charges, maneuver to get shots at units I wanted to shoot at.

He was very creative in a couple of maneuvers, such as his Spearmen wheel that invalidated half of my front line.

At one point, it looked like another High Elf victory, at another like a crushing defeat for them...but both of us seized the momentum back and in the final turn he pulled in enough points to turn it from probably a solid victory into a marginal.

I would love to see more games like this in play and outcome, regardless of size.

Overall, outside of one soul-crushing moment of discouragement, this was among the most entertaining games I have played in a while.

Rigal looked proudly at his force. The pointy-ears had fought better than he anticipated, but ultimately Rigal's forces held the field. He could not wait to get home and rub his success into the face of his brother.

"Sir, we fought for the village, should we not at least enter it?" asked his lieutenant.

Rigal shook his head. "Let the pointy ears have it. We have a victory feast to attend to."

He turned to go and his foot kicked loose a scroll trod under the hoofs of a Dragon Prince steed. He bent down an picked it up.

It unrolled quickly and easily. He gasped as he saw what it revealed. A smile lit up his face.

Even better than putting his brother to shame was what the map revealed...he instantly knew it for what it was. The path to untold wealth, power, and fame. This would make him the most powerful dwarf the world had ever known...

Showing the Game

Space Monkey and I wanted to show the game to K-girl. We wanted to show movement, the shooting phase, the close combat phase, and keep it simple. I put together the following two armies, trying to be as balanced as possible.

Warriors of Chaos
Exalted hero with shield
He would show the power of a hero and how Armor Saves work.

16 marauders
No upgrades; they would show the power of ranks and numbers and how S3, T3 troops can perform while also showing how fragile unarmored troops are.

(12) Chaos Warriors w/Shield
They would show what 2 attack, S4, T4 troops with good armor save can do.

(5) Chaos Knights
They would show the power of fast, hard-hitting troops (HA!)


Dwarf List
Thane
Gave him a shield; would show how slightly different power levels of heroes can have major impact.

20 Warriors
See Marauders above

10 Thunderers
They would demonstrate the shooting phase, the power of S4 Armor-piercing, and the downside of Move or Fire

(10) Miners
They would demonstrate the power of S5 Weapons when you will strike last anyway

Cannon
This would demonstrate the power of allowing no armor save and the unpredictable nature of stuff that can mis-fire or just plain deviate from where you planned it to go.


The first game would be K-girl and I as Chaos. I handed her the Exalted Hero and the Warriors, not wanting to overload her. I showed her how to put them in ranks of 5 (to maximize the rank bonus as long as possible against the hail of Dwarven lead) and how to "hide" the hero in the unit. They went on the left flank.

I took the Marauders and Knights, putting them on the right flank.

Space Monkey put his Cannon and Thunderers in a line across the center of the field, his Miners opposite the Warriors and his Warriors opposite the Marauders/Knights.

We won the roll to go first.

Warriors of Chaos Turn 1
The value of this game was not, and when teaching someone the game, should not, be in winning or losing but rather showing the basics. So I explained to her the option of Walking forward or Marching forward. She wisely advanced the Warriors 8".

I did the same with the Marauders, then decided to show her how to wheel, so I wheeled the Knights twice, also effectively hiding them from the Thunderers. With marches and wheels demonstrated, we passed the turn.

Dwarf Turn 1
Having learned from his shaky past (:-)), Space Monkey had no movement but went straight to shooting. We showed her the rule that guess-range weapons go first. He then aimed at the Marauders, hoping to bounce-through against the Knights. His shot flew to just short of the Marauders, then only hit 2 ranks of them. This was good, though, as it allowed us to demonstrate the rule on always removing casualties from the back row, even though the Cannon Ball hit in the front.

He then fired on the Marauders with the Thunderers which allowed us to show how to figure to-hit rolls. About 3 more fell, which allowed us to show her the Panic test and Will of Chaos rules. So far, so good.

Warriors of Chaos Turn 2
She already knew she needed to march. I then marched the Marauders forward, and then showed her how to use them as a "screening" unit, advancing my Knights so if he chose to fire at them with the Thunderers, he would have but 3 guys shooting.

Dwarf Turn 3
He knew the Warriors were now in charge range of his Miners, so we showed her the :turn" maneuver, and explained his strategy in a 1-1/2" retrograde movement. This moved him slightly out of charge range with his Miners, but would allow them to flank charge the Warriors if the Cannon crew held for even a single turn.

His cannon shot then flew well over the head of the Warriors, doing no damage. The thunderers continued to chip away at the Marauders.

Warriors of Chaos Turn 4
Here we had a slight delay as we explained her options; she could declare a charge on the cannon, which was almost certainly in range. She asked a good question about the wisdom of just walking forward so she could go after the Miners. We pointed out that would allow him to charge her instead AND allow him another full turn of shooting...which is good for the Dwarfs and Bad for the Warriors of Chaos.


I would be charging the Warriors with both my Marauders and Knights.

She finally elected to charge and of course made it by about a half inch, which showed she would have failed had she charge the Miners.

We showed her the "charge in order you declare charges" rule...and it turned out the Warriors were about 8-1/16" inch away. Maybe less than that...you could have slid a piece of paper between the end of 8" and the tape. If I had straightened my lines at the end of the previous turn, i would have made it. However, this allowed us to show her the effects of a failed charge. Besides, with the Knights charging in, did it matter?

Since the Knights cause Fear we were able to show her a Fear test which the Warriors naturally passed. The Knights charged in.

We worked out that combat first to show her how it worked. The Knights had 10 attacks needing 3s to hit. They only hit 3 times. Uh-oh...and then only 2 of those wounded. Then the horses hit just once and wounded none at all.

With him having three ranks, we had already lost, not to mention being outnumbered.

We showed her how now only 3 Dwarfs got to attack back since the other two had been slain. They could not touch the Knights, but still we lost...and failed the Break test.

And ran about 15".

So we were able to show failed test, breaking, flee and pursuit AND pursuit into fresh enemy as he clipped the Marauders.

On the other flank, her Exalted Hero hit 3 times and slew 2 Cannon Crew and her Warriors finished off the last one. This allowed us to show her the "friendly unit destroyed" break test, but both the Thunderers and Miners passed.

We then over-ran and hit the Thunderers.

Dwarf Turn 4
The only un-engaged unit he had was the Miners, who moved to get an angle on the Chaos Warriors. Close combat saw the Thunderers take a few casualties, break...and flee 2". The Warriors pursued right off the board which allowed us to show her that rule.

The Dwarf Warriors and Marauders had a pointless combat that saw little damage done, and the Marauders passed their break test which allowed us to show her multiple-turn combat.

Warriors of Chaos Turn 5
Since he had turned his Miners, we would be getting the Warriors charged next turn, so she just reformed to face them. The Knights...failed their rally test, rolled another massive 15" run, and fled the board after having done two casualties and taken none. Yeah, they ruled the field....

Meanwhile, the Marauders got to strike first but could not wound, the Warriors did wound, broke the Marauders, and over-ran them.

Dwarf Turn 6
He charged in. This brought the Thane into combat with the Exalted Hero, which allowed us to demonstrate the Challenge rule.

His Thane wounded twice, but she saved both with Armor, showing her the power of a good save. She then managed to get a wound through on the Thane. Her Warriors took a casualty and did one back. We showed her combat resolution which, thanks to outnumbering, favored the Warriors of Chaos. The Dwarfs held, though.

Warriors of Chaos Turn 6
In the challenge, the Exalted hero slew the Thane. The Warriors slew 3 Miners, leaving just one to attack back who failed to hit. The Miners broke, the Warriors ran them down.

Dwarf Turn 6
The Dwarf Warriors were almost to the WoC deployment zone after their pursuits of the Knights and then Marauders, so that was game.

Conclusion
The Knights were 200 points, the Marauders 64, giving him 264 points of a possible 571ish.
the Dwarfs, meanwhile, with same starting total, had 160 points left on the field so about 410-264, a difference of 143 points (we did not count the bonus for killing his general) and spit-balled the result, calling it somewhere around a minor or major victory. We wanted to emphasize the point was to have fun, not win or win by a lot so deliberately downplayed the victory.

It also allowed us to show her how quickly and easily a game can swing. When the Dwarfs had suffered but 2 casualties by the time the Warriors of Chaos had seen their elite Knights and very much not-elite Marauders flee, it looked like the Dwarfs would win via massacre, but a couple turns later, the fortunes were completely reversed.

This was about as good an outcome as you could have for an introductory game. It allowed us to show a lot of rules, get her used to movement and close combat.

Now, if only I had remembered to have her roll on the Eye Table when she slew the Thane....

Game Two: Flipping sides
Since she had experienced moving, this time I gave her the Thunderers and Cannon while I took the Warriors, Thane and Miners.

I showed her how a cannon set up in the corner could still control the whole field, as could Thunderers. This time, we went by rules for set-up. We rolled higher, so had to set up first. She put her Thunderers against the left side of the field. Next to that went the Cannon, then I put the Warriors on our right flank and the Miners between the Cannon and Warriors so they could either refuse the flank if the shooters were heavily attacked or the right flank if the Chaos Warriors rambled through the Dwarf Warriors.

Space Monkey put his Knights opposite the shooting flank and everyone else on our right flank, leaving the middle of the field open. He won the roll to go first.

Warriors of Chaos Turn One
He showed her how fast cavalry can move if not hampered by using infantry as a screen, moving them forward a full 14". He then marched on the other flank (he also had the Exalted Hero with the Chaos Warriors, just as we had).

Dwarf Turn 1
She wanted to move the Thunderers, which gave us a good opportunity to show her the Move or Fire rule. She wisely elected not to move. The Dwarfs hung out getting a sun-tan and getting ready to shoot.

From having watched Space Monkey, she knew she had to fire the cannon first. We explained the options; shoot it towards the Marauders, hoping to penetrate ranks and get some Warriors too, or go after the Knights. She (wisely, in my opinion) went after the Knights. And with a good guess, got the cannonball to hit one, slaying him.

She then fired with the Thunderers. 3 wounds on the Knights, three rolls needing 3s to save. They could have needed 2s and still died as Space Monkey managed to roll triple 1s. OUCH! 4 Knights dead on turn 1!

On the bright side (?), the last one passed his break test...you would have thought with Insane Courage at the rate at which Space Monkey was dialing up the ones. But no.

Warriors of Chaos turn 2
The obligatory charge declared, but the Thunderers passed their Fear test and fired...and this time only 3 wounds. Which was 2 more than they needed, as he failed 2 of them, again rolling ones.

Wow, two games in a row the Knights are eliminated without doing a single casualty! How awesome are those Knights? I know I fear them... :-)

Anyway, he moves his remaining 2 units faster than walk but slower than march. A hasty calculation on my part puts them about 7" away.

Dwarf Turn 2
I move my Miners back an inch and a half to make sure the cannon has a clear shot. Another good guess slays 2 Marauders and 2 Warriors. The Thunderers shoot, but can only take out 1 or 2 marauders.

Warriors of Chaos Turn 3
He sets his Warriors to demonstrate the power of the flank charge, then charges his Marauders into the Dwarf Warriors. Their furious charge slays one or two, the Warriors cannot wound in return, but pass their break test.

Dwarf Turn 3
The Miners get the flank charge on the Marauders.

The Thunderers, with no target, get to move. She is going to wheel, but I show her how a reform will be more effective. She does so, reducing the front rank to 6, but they now have an angle to shoot next turn.

The Cannon shoots at the Warriors...but mis-fires. Those ones must be contagious, because she rolls another one, blowing up the cannon.

The Thane does a number on the Marauders, and between he and the other Miners, 3 Marauders fall. The Marauders whiff completely, and the Warriors do several more casualties. Needing Insane Courage, the Marauders roll a 3 and break.

This allows us to show her the "restrain" rule which the Warriors pass...and the Miners fail.

They pursue a whopping 3"...neither catching the Marauders nor avoiding what we feared. This gives the Chaos Warriors a flank charge next turn.


Warriors of Chaos Turn 4
They have the Miner flank which takes the Thane out of combat. He kills a couple Miners, they break, he pursues and catches them. He also gets past the view of the dwarf Warriors.

And the Marauders rally.

Dwarf Turn 5
I suspect he will advance the Marauders next turn so do not advance the Warriors. The Thunderers shoot but miss spectacularly despite the Chaos Warriors being two inches in front of them.

Warriors of Chaos Turn 6
He declines to advance the Marauders, thus effectively ensuring the Dwarf Warriors and Chaos Marauders will remain untouched. He does, however, charge the Thunderers. Here we see the power of the Warriors of Chaos. Between the Exalted Hero and the Warriors, they kill 8 Thunderers who naturally break. And his pursuit roll falls short.

Dwarf Turn 6
Forgetting the less than 25% rule, we allow the Thunderers to rally. Either way, game over.

Conclusion
200 points for the Knights...a given this day...and 32 points for half unit of Marauders, 232 points total for the Dwarfs. Had the Marauders been caught, would have been exactly what they got in the first game...

Chaos scored all but the Warriors again (though at the time we also thought they did not get 75 for Thunderers since we rallied them) so about 410. Again we did not count the "slain general" bonus, so a difference of 178 points, again coming down per our guess between marginal and solid victory.



Looking back
Overall, I think it proved an excellent introduction. Were the armies balanced? The results were similar in both games, with Chaos pulling out fairly easy wins. Yet both times, the dwarfs had the early advantage as they easily dispatched the unit I almost did not include for fear it would be game-breaking, the Knights.

It was actually the Chaos Warriors who proved an unstoppable Juggernaut.

She got to see how moving, shooting, combat, and LD-based tests worked. She had lots of fun and wants to paint up some of her own guys. And that, to me, means regardless of whether the armies were properly balanced or not, the fun factor was, and that means it was a success.