War of the Shrines Turn 4 Overview

What a miserable turn for the Dwarf army. They broke and broke and broke and kept getting run down. Over half their army wiped out in one turn.

Conversely, the Warriors of Chaos, now having all their forces in play, are roaming the battlefield freely and bringing their skill and power to bear.

In an attempt to mitigate their power, I started deliberately doing some risky, insane things with them..but it worked.

Meanwhile, the Orc half of the army looked to be the equal of the Warriors of Chaos, killing everything it touched.

Unfortunately, the Night goblins began melting down.

The Wood Elfs can do a little bit of damage, but their days are numbered also.

It would be a major, major upset if anyone but the Warriors of Chaos won this thing. But I do anticipate a highly entertaining battle between Savage orcs and individual units of Warriors.

War of the Shrines, Wood Elf Turn 4, part 21

A less disciplined army might have fled altogether when their last hero fell. Not so for the forces of Oakheart Wylde.

Except for the Eagle Riders who, seeing no real opportunity to save their brethren, flew away from the action.

The Treeman and Wardancers, fresh off destroying the Night Goblin Spearmen, turned and looked for their brethren. Seeing the Dryads in trouble, they headed over to help.



They charged headlong into the Goblins pressing forward on the few remaining Dryads.

An angry Treeman is a force to be reckoned with. With the Dryads pressing from one side, the furious Treeman and the deadly Wardancers on the other, it was too much for the goblins who broke and ran, only to be hacked apart by the Wood Elf forces.

Meanwhile, the Glade Guard broke the Dwarfs and turned to face the deadly Northmen. Even then, they knew the end was near.

Casualties:

Large block of goblin spearmen

5 Dwarf Warriors

War of the Shrines, Part 20, Turn 4 orcs and Goblins

With the Night Goblin Archers doing such a surprising job of holding up the Miners, the Night Goblin Spearmen decided to ramble over and see how their brethren were doing against the pointy ears.

This, of course, had nothing to do with the tough army and mighty weapons of the stunties as opposed to the near complete lack of armor and much less lethal looking weapons of the pointy-eared ones. No, it was solely because they were too near-sighted to see what was going on.



Meanwhile, the courageous Thunderers jumped in front of the maniacal Savage orcs, desperate to defend the Shrine.


Even Rockchipper the Slow descended to face Alaquippa and Growling Bear before they could defile the Shrine by riding their filth-ridden boars up it...which they had started to do.

Unfortunately for the orange-clad Night Goblins, the archers chose this moment to see what was going on back in their tents.

Buying the Marauders time, a Fanatic came whirling out upon seeing the stunties. he rolled right through the on-rushing Miners, his ball and chain wheeling death and destruction.

Protected by the magic of the shrine, the Miners made it through almost unscathed to battle the Night Goblins.

Another unit of Night Goblin Spearmen broke. Hoping to save the flank, several Night Goblin heroes sprung into the gap to wreak their vengeance on the pick-wielding Dwarfs.

The goblins continued to battle the Dryads and Glade Guard to a standstill. Soon their superior numbers would begin to tell...

Casualties:

2 wounds to the Dwarf Bolt Thrower

3 Miners

A Unit of Miners who broke under the Savage orc attack

2 Glade Guard

1 Dryad

Suffered:

6 Night Goblin Spearmen

4 Goblin Spearmen

War of the Shrines Part 19, Turn 4 Warriors of Chaos, High Elf

Varangia made short work of the pointy-eared elf and charged onward atop his mighty Juggernaut.

A quick glance back showed his faith in the talents of his men were well-founded as he watched the giant and the Knights charge forward into the lines of Glade Guard as the last remaining Knight from the first unit charged solo into the Wardancers who had just rallied.



Meanwhile, the mighty Chaos Warriors finally swung into action alongside the Marauders who had done such a magnificent job of holding up the Dwarf Warriors. Seeing their doom, the Dwarf Warriors fought with all their skill...but their skill paled in comparison to that of the rampaging forces of Varangia.


Prince Chrysolopis saw the Dwarf Pirates and flew towards them, engaging them in battle.

As he flew, a gesture of his finger sent waves of destruction rushing over the Orc Giant, leaving him a steaming pile of flesh and blood.

They proved rather more rugged than he anticipated, but also unable to bring him to harm.

On the left flank, the Chosen pounded past the High Elf Repeater bolt Thrower to engage the small group of Dwarf Rangers beyond who were soon in full flight.

All over the field the forces of Varangia ran rampant. Two of the Shrines were fully in their control and only two Dwarfs remained between the Second Wasteland Marauders and control of the mighty Pyramid.

Even more disturbing for any of their foes who cared to notice...a large portion of Varangia's army was looking for more enemies to slay....

Casualties:
Giant

1 Dwarf pirate

4 Dwarf Warriors

1 hammerer

1 Cannon and crew

the big unit of Dwarf Warriors

the Wood Elf General

the Wood Elf Mage

Suffered: 1 Chaos Knight

High Elf Turn:

The careening Orc Chariot slew the Mage. His morale shattered, the last Dragon Prince fled the field. There were no more High Elves left on the field.

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

Turn Three recap

Things are beginning to clear up.


The Dwarf gambit failed, though not in epic proportions. Their shooting was fairly ineffective throughout the game, even against the Warriors of Chaos (the only army I did not allow Ward saves).

Not only their shooting, but their key charges...as soon as the Slayers failed to do a single wound and the Hammerers could not break the Marauders on the charge, their last flickering hope died. Now it is just a "last stand/do massive casualties as we die" scenario for them.

The Warriors of Chaos are in a dominating position. While the Dwarf lines still have a couple of units holding up the center of their lines, both flanks have dealt with every threat and are ready to bring overwhelming force to bear.

They will capture the left most shrine this turn and most likely the right most shrine in turn 5, leaving only the primary shrine...and by then, they should have Chosen, Chaos Warriors, and whatever else they need to take that.

The High Elf army is down to a single Dragon Prince and a mounted Mage...who just got flanked by an Orc chariot which might, with good rolls, finish him off with Impact hits.

The Orc and Goblin army is in an interesting position. The Archers have surprisingly held up two units of Miners while doing a handful of casualties.

The Night Goblins have been shredded by the treeman and Wardancers, but are still alive...and the goblins are about even money to defeat the Dryads and Glade Guard they are engaging.

Meanwhile, the Savage Orcs have a good chance. If they do enough casualties to the Miners on the charge, they should win the combat. If not...well, the Miners might do them in.

The Wood Elf army is done for. When the Treekin, Treeman and Wardancers were slain or broken, it let the wolves into the henhouse. There is no way a handful of Glade Guard can stave off Varangia, Knights, and the Giant. Their future is bleak indeed.

From a gaming standpoint, turn three was outstanding. It had a bit of everything...surprising combats (Night Goblin archers winning combats against Dwarf Miners), epic, multi-turn combats (Marauders v. Dwarf Warriors, the charges of the Hammerers and counter-charge of the Dragon Ogres), and individual duels of epic proportions.

I particularly look forward to the one on one duel between Sigvald and the mighty Slayer. Sigvald SHOULD win...but the Slayer has the charge and enough attacks to kill Sigvald in one go.

If I were to start over, I might at least approximate the points and make a couple of allies. It does not have to be even, but this game is going to tilt for the Warriors of Chaos simply because they have so many points available that the only army that had a chance was the Dwarf army....but they would have had to solely face the Warriors of Chaos.

nevertheless, I look forward to turn 4. Should be titanic and fun.

War of the Shrines Part 17, Wood Elf Turn 3

The Wood Elf lines were on the verge of disintegrating. So long as they could keep the enemies at bay, their superior shooting and maneuverability gave them hope. But the northmen were killing their dryads, the wardancers had fled...their entire left flank was gone.

Their only hope was to free up the right flank and bring those Wardancers and that Treeman back to face the overwhelming power they were facing.

Unfortunately, the goblins were showing no signs of making their normal cowardly flee maneuver.

The fearless Dryads moved to try and rescue the handful of Glade Guard facing the goblins, charging into the flank.


The few remaining Glade Guard unengaged did what they did best, unleashing a flight of arrows at the Chaos Knights pursuing the rallied Wardancers. They found success as two of the heavily armored foe fell under the expert shooting.

Some how, some way, Oakheart Wylde fended off enough of the blows of Varangia to stay on his feet, though he was wavering and bleeding from two serious cuts.

The Wood Elf line shivered...and held.

Casualties:

2 Chaos Knights

9 Night Goblin Spearmen

Suffered:

2 Wardancers

4 Glade Guard

2 Wounds to Oakheart Wylde