Deathnarok; Pictures of a mis-built model

As always, click on them to expand to full size. This could have been a cool looking model if I had not put a leg in an eye hole...been completely unsure of what piece was what body part...had a steady hand and/or the patience to paint it up properly...

2800 Orcs and Goblins V. Empire

I have been furiously painting and assembling Orc models for a while, excited about trying them out. There are three models in particular;

First, Gorbad Ironclaw. He "unlocks" my ability to make any number of units Big Uns which to me are well worth the points. So really I am paying 375 points to make 2 extra units Big Uns. That is how much I believe in that extra pip of strength...

Second, the Arachnarok spider. Assembling it is a pain in the rear, painting it not fun...but I want very much to try it out.

Third, the Mangler Squig.

So I made my typical "take on any army in any scenario" army and headed off to battle Fullur.

We rolled up Watchtower. That is one thing I LOVE about 8th Edition. Instead of endless, repetitive "Battle Lines" there are things like Watchtower and Blood and Glory, easily my two favorite scenarios from the new edition which make it a different and, in my opinion, better game.

I felt fortunate to "win" the right to occupy the tower. I had included a unit of Savage Orc Big Uns for this express purpose; with Frenzy and Extra Hand Weapons they can deal out 31 S5 attacks in close combat as long as they have 10 guys (including champion), and with their 6+ Warpaint save, they can take a pounding as well. In the tower they went.

He planted a largish Greatsword unit with 2 detachments slightly off center. I then experienced something I rarely face; I had too many units to be useful. I typically play elite armies where I can deploy everyone. However, with massive amounts of terrain on the field, I was going to struggle to defend the watchtower.

In the end I decided to use my Trolls and Mangler Squigs as a sort of "screen" and planned to rush my close combat units as quick as possible to keep him from assaulting the tower.

He outsmarted me in set-up. It has been a long time since scouts have ben an issue for me. This time he spotted my Doom Diver alone on my left flank and put his scouts 12-1/4" away. Oops.

Empire Turn 1
Leitdorf passes his test. The Steam Tank dials up 4 Steam points. He moves his cavalry on my right flank forward, then tank blows forward 12" on my left flank, his greatswords and scouts make minimal advances. Perfect.

He is set up to draw me into the center and ave hard-hitting units on my flanks in a "pincer" movement.

The Winds are great for him; he rolls double 3s, I channel one to get to 4 and he channels 2, plus has the Magic Arcanum.  Still, the only one I care about is Wyssans, thinking it is Remains in Play so I stop it and do not bother trying to block anything else.

Then he shows the strength of the Empire. The Volley Gun opens up on the Watchtower, followed by 2 units of handgunners.e kills 6 of my garrison in one go. Uh-oh.

His cannon picks off one Spider Rider due to unlucky bounce roll and his Skirmishers cannot wound the Doom Diver.

Orc Turn 1
My 100 man unit of Night Goblin archers promptly fails their Animosity test. Gorbad's special rule turns the result into a Waagh so they instantly turn and start heading towards his Skirmishers.

In the process they hit the Mysterious River and gain a benefit. The Spider Riders dash over to block him off and also find a benefit.

I move my Mangler on the right and put the trolls spaced so if he wants to charge he has to hit a troll or the Mangler. I thought he would have my troll flank if he charged with his knights...but really, it is a Troll. Do I care if he is on the flank? Not really....and if he charges, wins...now his flank is there for me to charge or he can reform to face me and my Tusker charge will mow him down.

If he has a brain fart and charges the troll with his Greatswords, the Mangler is there so an over-run hits it...my plan is in place.

Time for Magic. His Steam Tank is going to be a problem on my left flank. I do not bother to read Curse of the Bad Moon but instead think it will wipe out the Steam Tank. I get it off successfully on the boosted version without mis-casting...but mis-place it to hit his Steam Tank and Organ Gun.

Better placement would have been to hit his handgunners. It does but one wound...so even if both Steam Tank and Organ Gun are hit (they were...barely...) they do not reduce his shooting whereas the handgunners reduce his volume on a one for one basis.
Anyway, I do take a wound off the steam tank but not the Organ Gun.

Shooting is a huge disappointment; the Animosity failure pulled the Archers out of position. The Spider Riders cannot wound a scout. This, by the way, is one reason I never take Spider Riders; their role is shooting harassment...which their stat line means they cannot fulfill. If they were 5 or 6 points each they MIGHT be a unit I take. In this case, they are double that or thereabouts; I took them (and the wolf riders...and Night Goblin Archers...)because I had the models and they were painted.

Empire Turn 2
Leitdorf fails his roll and grants Gorbad Hatred towards him. They will never meet so it is irrelevant...


The Steam Tank generates just 3 for fear that wound I put on it will matter. It does not as he rolls the 10. He ends up adding an extra steam point but taking wound 2. His knights charge my right-most troll which is in the bog that grants regenerate. His Steam Tank angles to hit my wolf riders with his shot.

His Knights charge my troll but prove to be in his front arc. I am not worried; my Regenerate should keep me alive long enough to attack back. I just want to Troll Vomit him, then flee and get the charge with my boars. Insert evil cackle here.

He rolls a whopping 3 for the Winds. I plan to stop Wyssans and play it by ear on anything else; I do have a Dispel Scroll.

Instead he gets Irresistible Force and the Knights have Wyssans. The Calamitous Detonation should hurt though; his Wizard and Battle priest fail their Look Out rolls; but the wiz is not wounded anyway. In fact, of the 12 potential S10 wounds...5 fail. 5. Still, he did 7 wounds to himself...so that was good.

Meanwhile, his wall of fire takes down 3 more of my Garrison. I was lucky there;
See, his well-positioned Steam Tank rolled perfect, hitting a full rank of 5 Wolf Riders and the building. But he rolled 2 ones to wound, so only 3 wolf riders died (thanks to the River spell, they auto-passed their LD test) and he rolled a "1" for how many guys in the building were hit.

But then his Handgunners, needing 7s to hit, manage to hit with a third of their shots and wound two more; I get some justice when I ward save one of them.

His scouts kill 2 of my Spider rides.

Meanwhile, Leitdorf wounds my troll 3 times. I regenerate one which means his knights get to fight; 4 wounds, none regenerated. Oops.

His overrun proves my plan worked, though; he hits the mangler Squigs; 9 of the 10 ensuing hits wound; he gets some luck as the bog's regenerate keeps 3 of them alive. Still, he cannot stand the heat and flees.

I have a long history of models I want to try out stinking up the joint like a frat boy at a bean-eating picnic. Not so for the mangler; did massive damage, changed the momentum, he was AWESOME sauce with a side dish of super cool.
Orc Turn 2
This is the turn a failed animosity test will not matter but failed stupidity will hurt. Evey unit passes, though.

The Troll charges the fleeing knights who of course must flee causing him some anxious moments when it flees through the center of his battle line. The Troll re-directs onto his Greatswords with the Arachnarok following suit.

Meanwhile, the Wolf Riders charge the organ Gun and the Spider Riders charge his scouts.

 Every charge hits home. I am excited; the Arachnarok made it in unscathed. I have high hopes for it. they are little lessened when both his detachments counter charge. I knew that was coming.I plan to have the troll vomit on a character, counting on his regeneration to keep him alive.


I consider declaring the Waaagh. This turn could be key; making his Greatswords flee would be devastating. I need to ensure seeing off that deadly Organ Gun. Ultimately, though, the key turn will include a battle for the Wachtower itself. I decide to keep the Waaagh in my pocket.

I put my Lucky Shrunken Head Savage Orc Shaman in the Watchtower and also one of my Night Goblin Shamans.

I roll double 3s for the winds. He then channels 3 and I channel none. He has as many Dispel as I have magic.Grr. The Vortex stays in place (rolled a hit on the scatter dice) but fails to damage him; it does, however, kill 2 or 3 of my Wolf Riders. I have now done more damage to me than him with it.

I throw Gaze of Mork at the tank thinking I get more than a plus one. In retrospect...I got no bonus at all as no ORC units were in combat. even with my unintentional cheating I fail to wound the Steam Tank.

I then cast Gork'll Fix it at his Greatswords. It goes off irresistibly but I die to the result.I am not happy with that trade.

The Doom Diver hits the Steam tank, gets a 6, and manages to get tough 2 wounds. Sweet. Then my Night Goblin archers use the Volley Fire to get off an impressive 60 shots. Let us not forget they are Night Goblin archers, though...22 hits, 3 wounds, he saves just one. I just put 4 wounds on the Steam Tank in one turn, crippling it.

I consider my order of combats and ultimately decide to work left to right since there are no combats that will see the result of another one affect theirs. I am wrong, but more on that in a bit.

The Spiders kill 2. His character has 3 attacks...and cannot roll higher than a 2. He does kill one, I get another of his with my goblins, he flees, I run him down.

I then discover not only how bad Wolf Riders are (and I knew they sucked) but especially how bad they are against war machines. Only 2 cavalry models get to fght! You choose 6, but each cavalry counts as THREE models, not two. I went in planning 8 goblin and 5 spider attacks and got 3 and 2...with luck I still kill the machine off but am down to 4 wolf riders.

By the way, these will be the next to last points I score in the entire game...

His Master Engineer panics and flees, I over-run to get out of the line of fire of his handgunners. This is another mistake; I want to divert his fire from the tower, I could not care less about these guys. This is residue from playing armies where every casualty hurts badly.


Time for the big gun.

The Arachnarok goes first as his I5 guy had a great weapon. I must choose one attack to be Venomous Surge so I pick on his BSB. And promptly roll a 6 for tat, then a 2...one dead BSB. That was pure luck and pure awesome.

I then get a further 4 wounds from his regular attacks; Gork'll fix it turns three saves into fails on re-roll. I am impressed.

Then his Halberds attack the Troll. 5 hit, 4 wound, and...not one regenerate. Not one.O11 possible Regeneration opportunities, exactly one was successful. Oh, and the 5+ regular save and magic resistance I paid extra for? Neither ever came into play. Trolls are just as awesome as I have always found them to be...

His Halberds on the other side fail to wound the Arachnarok. The Goblins attack them back and do two wounds.

His Greatswords do 3 wounds. Uh-oh...I am actually losing combat by one when standards, ranks, charges are taken into account...but I roll a 3 for Thunderstomp, kill 2 and win the combat. Barely. I determine to seldom if ever again charge the Arachnarok in without some actual support...

Empire turn 3
Leitdorf passes. He calls 2 for Steam Tank points. There is a 5 in 6 chance he will get hurt this turn...but rolls a 2, the only result he could get that did not hurt him.

The Demigryph Knights charge Gorbad's unit.

I use my Dispel Scroll to stop his Wyssans. Everything else my Level 4 v. his level 1 means I can block with dice.

He just gets the Steam Tank into range to use the Steam on the Watchtower. I save one of the 2 wounds thanks to the enhanced Ward from the Lucky Shrunken Head. I save all three wounds his first handgnner unit does, 2 because of the Shrunken Head. Wow. The difference between a 5+ and a 6+ sure FEELS like a lot more than 18%...he does wound another with his other handgunner unit.

Meanwhile, when he charged with his Demigryph Knights, 2 of the 3 failed their dangerous terrain tests and were wounded. Gorbad's always strikes first no armor save attacks do 4 more wounds, so he is down 2 knights. He wounds my rank & file 3 times, 1 Warpaint save, so two down. I wound his last knight twice, he flees, I overrun but lose one of my own Savage Orcs to the dangerous terrain.These will be the last points I score...

Meanwhile, the Arachnarok is less impressive this time; he hits just twice, though that means two casualties. We get to my goblins without him doing any wounds; I put 4 attacks apiece on his battle priest and wizard; 1 wound to each. remember the calamitous detonation? That means the priest dies. Huzzah!

The Greatswords put a further 3 wounds on the Arachnarok; have maybe one turn left before he dies. He has just 2 wounds left...well, Thunderstomp is an unimpressive 2, only one wounds...which means it is a draw...which means his musician is the difference. I pass my break test.

Orc Turn 3
Every unit passes animosity. Well, that is...every unit except Gorbads, which decides to sit on top of the bog staring aimlessly at the edge of the battlefield.

This will mean a wasted turn getting into position.

My big block of savage orcs moves forward to support the Arachnarock. One or two more turns an I will join the combat.

The Spider Riders enter the river, take the shooting spell, 9 hits wipe them out, the Night goblins panic and flee...no wiping out the Steam Tank this turn.

I get Ere We Go off, then Gaze of Mork fails to wound the tank. The Doom Diver misses.

Arachnarok misses on 5 of his attacks...but Ere We Go turns every one of them to a hit. 8 for 8. The Venomous Surge had been directed at the wizard; no surge, but still kills him. he saves just one of the other 7 hits so 6 die.

His Halberds whiff.

The goblins use Ere We go to get all 8 hits successfully, wounding 3, and 2 of those die. when his Greatswords whiff, he passes his tests, but we take stock;

He has plans, nothing to get into the Watchtower, has just a few knights, couple units of handgunners, 2 detachments of Halberds left. Gorbad is around, the big Savage Orc unit and Night Goblin archers (if they come back) are untouched...he cannot take the tower, and if he does cannot hold it. The Arachnarok...or, as Space Monkey dubbed it, Deathnarok should finish off the Greatswords next turn and the Halberds are not getting the job done...we call it.

Conclusion
OVERALL he rolled really well. However, at the key moments he rolled poorly. Also, his army setup which at first scared me might not have been able to take the tower under any circumstances.

As soon as I tied up his Greatswords, there was nothing but shooting left to attack the tower; and with the hard cover granted by buildings, he simply could not generate enough firepower to take them out quick enough.

Even had he finished them off with shooting, I would get my 30 man block in there and be untouchable. Or if he assaulted with a handgunner unit and won, I had plenty of force to evict him.

Second, magic was game-changing. When I hexed his unit in one turn, it cost him about 10 wounds and saves as he had to re-roll numerous successful saves which became fails, hits which became misses and wounds which became whiffs. Deathnarok probably would have died in turn two on his turn and definitely in turn 3 without Gork'll Fix it, and 'Ere We Go was worth a whopping 10 extra wounds in the defining round of combat.

The funny thing about it is I was and am underwhelmed by the overall power of the Big and Little Waaaghs. There was one turn early where he had used all his Dispel Dice, I had three dice left and nothing I particularly wanted to cast...nor did either lore attribute ever come into play.

I still think I would rather have a combat oriented character than another wizard.

Still, there were 4 models that determined this game. Deathnarok, Gorbad, Night Goblin Shaman and Mangler Squig.

The Mangler changed a strong advantage for him into a massive advantage for me. If he hits Gorbad's unit on the charge, all those S6 attacks are going to hurt me badly. Instead they fled and were never a factor again.

Gorbad turned a failed animosity test into a good thing. Ironically, the thing I paid the extra points for...his ability to make any number of Orc Units Big Unz...never mattered as the only unit that saw combat would be the one that is Big Un anyway...

But being the BSB and General, the expanded 18" bubble...those were huge.

And Deathnarok single-handedly reduced the Greatswords and three characters from dangerous battle force to no characters and I think 4 or 5 models...nothing I was scared of even with Night Goblins...

Looking back I see several errors I made. Each was minor and did not affect the outcome...but are things to work on. Target selection is the biggest.

Early on I was sure I was going to lose. His shooting was taking out my garrison at a frightening place, his Steam Tank alone was dominating my left flank and my cramped position was taking me too long to get my Sage orcs and Boar Boyz into action. then he took 3 wounds off my Deathnarok in one go...

Slowly the game turned, though. The Mangler Squig was the key point. It let me get into his Greatswords. I do not know they would have gone after the tower if he had been able to tie up Gorbad and the Savage Orc Big Unz and have the Demigryphs to deal with my 30-strong Savage orcs...but I know that being able to tie them up with the Deathnarok due to his fleeing knights removed that option from him.



Ultimately, this was a very entertaining game and I hope to play many more like it.

Oh, and the irony here? At the moment we called the game, I suspect he was ahead on points; He scored over three hundred, I doubt I had that many...

Empire vs. Ogres 2k 2012-05-19

Marius Leitdorf surveyed the battlefield. Off to his right a village where the Sigmarites used to worship, one of their shrines decaying on the far side. Beyond the village, a mysterious looking river rolled along and disappeared. On his left, a strange looking forest, and beyond it a tomb of skulls where the chaos horde (which had driven out the Sigmarites years ago) used to sacrifice to their evil gods. Beyond, a fence, and beyond that, more forest, a river, and a swamp.  A small lump of a hill rose up straight ahead.

Marius consulted his mount, Daisy. She had given him good advice in the past. Behind Marius, his Unusual Bearer Jorge (other Counts had Standard Bearers. But Marius found that boring) snorted derisively, wondering how he had ended up serving The Mad Count.

After consulting Daisy, Marius began issuing orders. "Steam Tank, right flank, behind that large structure. Handgunners, next to the Steam Tank. Greatswords, center with your Halberdier detachments flanking at four wide. Volley Gun, to the left of the Halberdiers. Knights of the Inner Circle, set up in the forest on the left." Some of the men looked at him askew, but the Knights knowingly regarded the Ranger Standard which would allow them to safely move through the terrain (The Ranger standard gives the unit Strider) He sent Jorge, one of the accompanying Warrior Priests, and another Captain to join the Greatswords. That should allow the center to hold effectively. The other Warrior Priest he had join himself and Daisy accompanying the knights.

The plan was to have the Greatswords hold the center line, while the Steam Tank and Knights circled outside and the shooters chewed up the enemy from afar. Even the thick skin of the Ogres will have a tough time surviving against the deadly bullets of the Empire.

Surveying the battlefield, Marius congratulated Daisy on a sound battle plan. This would be for Blood and Glory!

Looking across the field, Marius finally thought to pay attention to the approaching Ogres. To Marius left, a creature was crawling out of the river. It looked very cold. Absently Marius wondered if he should reconsider the dip in that river he had been planning after the battle. Near the creature, there were three ogres riding large pig looking things. Next to them, a group carrying what looked to be cannon barrels. In the middle of the field, a bunch of tough looking Ogres carrying all manner of fierce looking weapons, including a Butcher and a (whatever their other character type is. Help me out here Kev). On the right, more cannon-weilding ogres and a bunch of small creatures riding on what looked to be a catapult pulled behind another large pig creature.

The Winds of Magic began to swirl. A fiery cloak appeared around one of the groups of Ogres. The Ogre-Mage cursed as a great Maw opened over some of the Ogres, nicking them with its teeth.

The Ogres' center advanced in a rush, brandishing weapons and bellowing voluminously. The pig creatures on both flanks lurched forward, and the creature from the swamp crawled forward. The cannon-weilding Ogres on Marius right blew away 4 of the Handgunners before they could even bring their weapons in line. The other Leadbelchers, as the Inner Circle Preceptor informed him they were called, fired at the Greatswords. One of them fell.

Marius struggled to maintain control, but his insanity got the better of him. He flew into a terrible rage, cursing the Ogre gods and screaming that the Butcher's mother was a half-troll. (I rolled three times for Marius' Mad Count special rule. Every time I failed the leadership test, and every time I rolled Insane Bravado giving him Stubborn, Frenzy, and making it so he could not refuse challenges.)

The Steam Tank's Engineer generated steam without trying to push the boiler too hard, and managed to keep it under control. The Knights and Marius attempted to charge the Ogre-Pig-Cavalry, but were unable to catch them as they fled the charge.

The Winds of Magic swirled again. The Warrior Priests prayed and an ethereal shield (Shield of Faith: 5+ ward in close combat) materialized around the units they accompanied.

The Steam Tank attempted to fire a cannon ball at the larger group of Ogres, but something went wrong with the boiler (misfire). The Tank suffered some damage, but was still quite capable of continuing. The Engineer and the Marksmen from both Handgunner units fired at the enemy standard bearer, all failing to cause any harm. The rest of the Handgunners fired at the same unit, ripping holes through one Ogre. The Volley gun, although one barrel jammed, managed to finish off the injured monster-man.

The Ogres in the center, enraged at losing one of their number surged forward, charging the Greatswords and the Halberdiers to their right. The impact of the charging Ogres felled three Greatswords and three Halberdiers. The Halberdiers to the left counter-charged the Ogres, catching them in the flank.

The Ogre-Mage cursed once again as a great mouth opened up, this time over the pig-knights who had just regained their composure. Again, all they suffered was a nick to one of them too slow to completely escape the great Maw's teeth.

The Leadbelchers opened up again, felling 6 more Handgunners.

The great melee ensued in the center. The Warrior Priest, Jorge the Unusual Bearer, and Captain 13 (as Marius liked to call him) tore into the Ogres, dealing significant damage. The Halberdiers managed to rip a couple holes in the great monster-men as well. The Greatswords and Ogres struck simultaneously. Several times the Ogres struck what would have been crushing blows, only to have their attacks deflected by the ethereal shield the Warrior Priest had summoned. Their were still eight Plate Armored bodies that lay crushed on the ground when the blood-spray cleared. However, there were also four of the great Ogre corpses slashed to pieces on the ground. Unable to stand up to the concept of these puny humans besting them in combat, the Ogres began to flee. Jorge ordered his men to press the attack, but they were unable to catch the fleeing Ogres.

Having been abandoned by their parent unit, the other unit of Halberdiers crumbled under the might of the charging Bull Ogres. All but one of them were killed outright without doing a single wound in return. The remaining soldier attempted to flee, but was trampled to death as the Ogres continued on with the momentum of their charge (they pursued and easily caught him).

The Marksmen in both Handgunner units were just barely able to keep their men under control as they watched the nearby route of their Halberdier brethren. (Rolled 7's needing 7's for both units.)

The Steam Tank's engineer powered up the boiler without incident. Marius once again lost his senses. In a Frenzy he charged forward at the Swamp-thing, leaving the Knights no choice but to follow him. (I notice in the picture my knights are a man down, I cannot recall how that happened, although it was probably the Leadbelchers, or perhaps the catapult.) The Halberdiers and Greatswords charged the fleeing Ogres, the Halberdiers managing to run them down. The Steam Tank rolled forward into the Leadbelchers near them. (This is when I discovered how cool semi-random movement is. There is no charge, so there is no charge-reaction. Kevin wanted to flee which would have resulted in a failed charge. In looking up how far the Stank would go, I discovered that because it is technically random movement there is no charge, and no charge reaction.)

The Handgunners turned to face the Ogres now behind them. The Volley Gun crew wheeled the great gun around to face them as well.

The winds of magic swirled. Once again ethereal shields appeared.

The Hangunners were too preoccupied with their maneuvers to get a shot off, but the Volley Gun managed to get off a sizable volley (22 shots). They killed three Ogres, sending the rest running for the hills.

The Steam Tank ground two of the Ogres into the ground. The third tried to bash the armored behemoth with his cannon. Seeing it was futile he fled, leaving the great metal monster parked on the bodies of his dead friends.

The Swamp-thing and its handlers fought ferociously, but were only able to fell one of the Knights. Marius' Runefang flew about hacking bits off of the monster (3 wounds in 3 attacks with the Runefang. Forgot about Frenzy or it may have been four.) The Warrior Priest was too focused on maintaining his Shield of Faith to manage an effective assault. The Knight Preceptor managed to finish off the creature with his lance.

The remaining Leadbelchers pounded forward and caught up to the Volley Gun. They killed one of the crew on impact. The Pig-Knights charged Marius and his knights trampling some of them.

The sole Leadbelcher continued fleeing. The 3 Ogres who had fled for the hills thought better of it, and turned around to return to the battle.

The Winds of Magic swirled again, and again the Maw appeared, but this time over the Greatswords and Halberdiers! The mouth was much larger this time (cast at the higher value for the 5" template rather than the 3"). When the Maw disappeared, 6 Greatswords and 4 Halberdiers were gone too. They held their ground, but were visibly shaken by the event. (One of them failed the first attempt at the Panic test.)

The Leadbelchers easily killed the crew of the Volley gun, and set about crushing the machine before turning to face the remaining Empire soldiers.

The Pig-Knights proved deadly combatants, managing to slay four of the Knights of the Inner Circle. However, Marius and the Warrior Priest managed to kill two Ogre Knights, with the Empire Knights finishing off the third.

Marius once again began raving, and ordered his men to attack the Ogres who had destroyed the Volley Gun. However, they were unable to set up for the charge, and had to settle for facing them and waiting for an opportunity. The opportunity would not come.

The Steam Tank managed to generate steam without incident and rolled into the Pig-drawn-catapult. The remaining Halberdiers wheeled around and approached the Leadbelchers and Butcher. The remaining Greatswords went to inspect the river beyond the Sigmarite village. (I was trying to hide my standards since they would not be able to reach the enemy without getting shot to pieces.)

The Marksmen opened up at the returning unit of Ogres. They missed completely. However, the rest of the Handgunners managed to take down the unit's standard bearer. Seeing their last standard fall, the remaining Ogres observed the better part of valor, and left the field.

Survivor Shot

1 Stank
3 Knights
1 Marius Leitdorf
2 Warrior Priests
12 Handgunners
5 Greatswords
2 Captains of the Empire (including Jorge the Unusual Bearer)
8 Halberdiers

I had a lot of things go my way in this battle. From Marius getting the best possible result on the Mad Count table every turn, to the Maw misfiring 2 out of 3 times it was tried.

I tried much harder with my deployment, such that I was actually factoring deployment into my army building (I know this is basic, but I don't often do it). I think I did a good job this game. Things broke right for me several times, but I was set up to take advantage of the breaks.

I discovered I love the Warrior priests. Diving Fury (Hatred) is strong when it applies not only to the unit he is in, but also any detachments. Also, a 5+ ward in close combat is great against strong enemies. Against weaker enemies I might go for the re-rolling of failed wounds, but in this game the Shield was great. Also, innate bound spells are great! You can roll irresistible and get the benefit, but not the negative. The Volley Gun is a terror when the situation is right. It managed to fell 3 Ogres in one volley due to: short range, 22 shots, S5 and Armour Piercing.

We both did a lot of damage, and we both took a lot of damage. I had a lot of fun in this game. I think Kevin did too.

Finally did some painting

Finally did some painting. Won't win any awards, even if it is a contest full of 10 year-olds, but it is a fully painted unit. :-) Took about 2-2 1/2 hours.

1k O&G V Empire rehash

A couple days ago I published a story-driven version of this report. This will be a bit more straight forward. Well, sort of...many strategy and tactical digressions. And anything else that interests me.

I wanted to try out the O&G book, Fullur wanted to try out the new Empire book. 1k is pretty small but hving played little lately, it seemed about right.

I built three lists; all Night Goblin, all Savage Orc and a mixed Orc and Goblin list. At the last second I went the Savage Orc version.

Pretty compact list; 20 Savage Orcs w/full command and extra hand weapon. This unit fills two rolls; 1, if we roll up Watchtower they are agood starting block and 2, should we roll blood and gloy, they provide a banner.

Next I put in a pair of Savage orc warbosses, one with Crown of Command and the other with battle standard and sword of...might? giving him S5 and S6 on the first turn of combat.

A level 3 Savage Orc shaman for magic defense. An Orc chariot (okay, not ALL savage orcs...this was lone exception) and 10 Boar Boyz rounded out my army.

I am really looking forward to seeing how the chariot and Boar Boyz work. I have a pretty good idea of what the Savage Orcs and Shaman will do.

I specifically built this army with a specific thought in mind. A lot is made on many sites about the importance of "having more drops" than the opponent to out-deploy them.

My force is designed to do one thing; enter combat quick, hit hard, get into the next combat. As a result, I am going to find a place where I can protect one or both flanks, get in combat quick and Hulk-smash stuff. Hey, Orcs and Hulk are all Greenskin, so the analogy works.

The upshot is...I do not much care where or how the opponent deploys. I am basing my deployment on what my army does well. Adopting the Robert E Lee principles that allowed him to constantly have more troops at the point of contact despite being vastly outnumbered overall, I am going to force the action when and where I want it.

In this case, poor Fullur ended up reacting in deployment and cramping himself...thus allowing me to generate exactly what I wanted, a way to force the combats I wanted when I wanted them and where I wanted them.

My deployment would more or less have looked exactly like it did regardless of what he put where.

My flanks are protected, my path to the enemy unimpeded, and I can avoid unneccessary dangerous terrain tests or mucking about with the Mysterious Forests that dotted the field.

We got "Blood and Glory" for a scenario. Cool. 2 unit standards, an army standard and my General...I am covered.

He won the roll to go first.

Empire Turn 1
He walked his archers on the left flank forward to get a shot at my Savage Orcs. The Knights moved forward a bit, the Greatswords behind them.

H started by firing his handgunners at my Boar Boyz. 3 hits, 2 wounds, and I am down to 8. His archers get 4 hits in 10 attempts needings 6s...that is a pretty good roll. He makes up for it by wounding just one Savage Orc who duly finds paint does not protect against iron and dies to the arrow.

Then he opens up with his volley gun. 8/8/misfire. He gets 8 shots. 4 hit the chariot. No problem, I will take a wound or two, I am okay with that...except, needing 4s...he rolls 5/6/6/5 and blows up my chariot. In one go. before it ever moves.

!@#$%^&.

This continues my run of looking forward to trying stuff out. My Shaggoth famously died to Dark Elf Repeater Crossbows before ever seeing combat. Galraug did nothing in his debut. And so forth. Welcome to "Darth Weasel's Hall of Shame", Orc chariot.

On the bright side, Fullur had to LOVE the effect of his @#$%^& Volley Gun.

Orc Turn 1
I want to play the Orcs differently than I do the WoC. Typically with the WoC I play a very conservative game; charges need a high percentage chance of success to be declared. I seldom get into "fair" fights; the outcomes are all but predetermined when the lines crash together.

This time I needed a 9 to charge the knights with my Savage Orcs and I think the same with the Boar Boyz. I declared both charges (and just now note I forgot to declare the Waaaagghh).

This, of course, is because both units passed their animosity test. I actually remembered to roll for it.

The Savave Orcs make it, the Boar Boyz fail by a couple inches and thus move forward just 6"...a good roll on that die. Too bad the other two combined to total less than 3...

I then roll a 3ad 1 for the winds of magic and successfully channel. It is at this point I notice I mis-positioned the shaman. He is out of range to cast his augment on the unit in combat. So instead I Foot of Gork the Greatswords, throwing all 5 dice and forgetting to make it the powerful version. Would have been successful.

A scatter means I hit just 3 greatswords, but they all die.

My general hits thrice, wounds twice, one saved. Uh oh. I was counting on my Choppas rule to help out...falling strength in round two will hurt against his 1+ save.

But the standard bearer shows the power of the Sword of Might/Choppaz combo. He hits thrice, wounds thrice, and that extra point of S leads to 3 kills.

The knights and their horses hit 5 times but cannot wound. The last one breaks...and I pursue all of 3". Whatever.

I feel this means he will have a full turn of shooting at my unit which will whittle them down, then I will charge his greatswords who by then will have both detachments positioned to counter-charge. I would have much preferred a pursuit roll that took me into his next unit.


Empire Two

He chargs his greatswords and one unit of Swordsmen, advances his archers, moves his volley gun.

The handgunners get a whipping 11 hits in 19 tries but kill just 2 Boar Boyz. Still, I have lost 4 of them already, 40%...and am probably two turns from combat. They will not be a force to be reckoned with when they get into combat.

I send my boss after his Captain, but just 2 of my 4 hits wound and one of those he saves. My standard bearer kills a couple greatswords. My unit champ goes after his general but he saves the only wound I get off.

Then my unit opens a can on the greatswords, hitting 7 times in 7 attempts and, even more awesomely, wounding all 7. I had made them Big uns which means I had S5 in the first round...he saves just one wound and is in deep trouble.

The Greatswords get some back, killing 3 savage orcs, his general fluffs all but one attack which kills another, and then the swordsmen detachment wounds 2 more, one of which I save (yeah, I saved 1 time in 11 tries with my ward save...so I expect to get the next one :-) )

He breaks...has just one standard left...game.


Looking back, I think he lost this game in deployment. He had the wrong units in the wrong place, was too crowded and thus I was able to have huge advantages at every point of contact; roughly 387 points did all my work in this game.

Hthe greatswords been in front, the knights ready for a supporting flank charge and he softened me up with a couple turns of shooting, it might have gone differently.

Instead I was able to get my best combat unit into situations that negated his advantages (his nights got no strength bonus, his detachments were out of position, his archers and volley gun only fired once).

Of course, my Boar Boyz and Chariot were huge disappointments...but I am used to that. Next time they will do better.

I enjoyed the orc army a lot. I like their feel...but never failed an animosity attempt (onl had to roll for each unit once, so...)

Looking forward to more games with them.

1k Orcs & Goblins v 1k Empire

Welcome, stranger. You come to hear how the Orc band of

You might wonder why I, the once-respected chronicler of the Bretonnia Empire have been reduced from the noble halls of my forefathers to chronicling the crass, brutal ways of a small, nigh-irrelevant tribe of orcs rather than toasting the noble deeds of mighty knights.

I myself cannot answer tha question. Perhaps it hearkens back to a drinking session at court. A beautiful maiden that rumor held to be closely related to the King was visiting. Those of us unmarried and hopeful of a prosperous match were taking turns trying to impress her.

As the night waxed late the ale flowed freely and the lies even more so. Libations removed inhibitions and loosened tongues as we began trying to tell stories of our personal might and valor that eclipsed those of our rivals for her affection.

It is possible our stories verged beyond the realm of truth into the impossible. Noble after noble rose to his feet to tell tales of triumph and chivalry against ever more impossible odds. Each story grew more fantastic until, in my turn, I told a tale of defeating hordes of enemies single-handed.

So tall had grown the prior tales that mine, and my hubris, led to an attempt to eclipse them all by including all manner of foes ranged against me and a battle won against impossible odds such that none other might rise after me and put my deeds to shame with a greater tale.

As I wove my story I defeated goblins, trolls, orcs, beastmen, and even managed to best three doombulls in a final confrontation.

The passion with which I wove the story combined with the potent ale to end my nigt in ignominous fashion as I pitched forward in a stupor.

 I awoke from my sleep to find myself  facing a fell wizard. Though I saw not his lips move, yet I knew his intent. As punishment for my extravagant boasting, I was cursed to wander the world telling tales of those truly heroic in battle.

And so have I been. I never know when I will next be swept away to appear in the camp of some battle about to be commenced. At times I take on the appearance, mannerisms and sppech patterns of those I join. At others I retain my own sensibilities.

I feel as if there is a mystical force protecting me. Perhaps I am doomed to this existence forever. Or perhaps I can find peace when I am able to atone for my verbal indiscretions. I know not.

What I do know is I found myself in the camp of Alaric, a minor Orcish chieftain. As is their way, he loved to fight. He sought ways to be involved in more battles. The prior chieftain, whose name I never learned, had just died in single combat with Alaric for his failure to find enough enemies to fight.

Fresh off this, Alaric actually concocted a rather clever plan. The nearby plains were known to have a shrine held in high esteem by the forces of the Empire. Should they hear the Orcs were defiling it, they would doubtless come forth to fight over it.

Alaric donned the warpaint he and his band are so fond of and headed off to desecrate the shrine. His plan worked to perfection as a vainglorious captain of the Empire called Fetterman chanced to be nearby. Hearing of the approaching orc band, he formed a battle line.

I should grieve over his battle plan. On some level I know this, yet I find myself instead entering a sympathetic state with Alaric.

Fetterman anchored his battleline with the left flank of his greatswords against the chapel, the shrine just ahead of them. To allow his handgunners line of sight, he spread them out on the right flank, but this forced his flank protecting detachment swordsmen to stand behind, rather than beside the greatswords.

Furthermore, he put his knights in the center of his line, in front of the greatswords.

On his left flank  he anchored his archers against the building with their detachments again behind them. And on his extreme left he put the fearsome Helblaster Volley Gun.

Thus his deployment left his flanks vulnerable to fast moving Orcs who, should they be willing to risk the foreboding forests, could approach rather close without giving his missiles time to fire while his centre was quite crowded.

Alaric, meanwhile, ordered his Shaman Suevi to the far left flank, placed his boar-riding wild orcs on the left with that forest protecting their right flank. He protected the left flank of his foot-slogging band of orcs with the forest and put his fast moving chariot on his right. He and his lucky standard bearer, the ferocious Ariamir joined the orcs on foot.

As soon as the orcs go within range Fetterman began moving his forces forward. The archers on his left advanced to get a better firing position. His knights and Greatswords advanced and then the battle began in earnest as the volley gun blasted forth almost simultaneously with the handgunners on the right.

As smoke roiled over the flanks of he battlefield, the orc chariot disappeared in an explosion of iron, wood and orc as the volley gun shredded it in one go.
he flight of arrows seemed impressive, but killed just one of the foot Orcs who were heard to knowingly cackle about how "good my warpaint protects me".

Apparently the warpaint on the Boar-riders was not so good as two of them fell to the black-powder weapons.

Paying no attention to their falling brethren, the orc army surged forward. The Savage Orcs smashed into the knights as the Boar Boyz equivocated a bit, starting to charge the knights before slowing and aimlessly milling around.

Suevi eyed the greatswords and summoned the might of his magic, bringing the foot of Gork smashing down on them, slaying three.

As the combat commenced, Alaric saw most of his efforts blunted by the mighty armor of the knights, yet still felled one. At his side Ariamir proved he was more than just a good luck charm as he slew three knights single-handed.

Seeing himself alone and with not a single Orc having fallen to the mighty knights, the remaining knight took to his heels.

Startled by the ease of their initial victory, the orcs chased him for just a handful of steps before suddenly pausing.

Now it was Fetterman's turn to charge as he led his Greatswords and one detachment of swordsmen in a charge against the fierce unit that had just shattered his knights.

I have much to say about Fettermans' lack of skill in deployment but nought but good to sa of his courage for that was indeed a courageous maneuver and upon it the entire battle would hinge.

The handgunners had reloaded and their guns took down two more Boar riders as the archers advanced around the shrine, one dtachment garrisoning the building. The mighty volley gun was silent as it had no targets, so the crew began shifting it to better position.

Alaric went after Fetterman himself who would have died but for the strength of his armor. As it was, he reeled from the blows and blood poured forth from him.

Again Ariamir proved his skill as even the mighty plate armor of the great swords could not keep him from killing two of them. This time the rank and file proved effective, killing or badly wounding another 6 Greatswords to the loss of but 4 of their own.

The carnage proved to be too much for Fetterman. He began to flee. Seeing their mighty greatswords slain or fleeing, the remaining Empire forces took to their heels.

This indeed ended the battle. The orcs held the field covered in human blood and orcish glory. And so began the rise to power of Alaric, Ariamir and Suevi.

Warhammer; 1000 Beastmen v. Tomb Kings

Click on the pictures to see the parts cut out by the post margins....



Well, as you can tell from post links...been a while. Close to a year since I have played. A lot of things have gotten in the way, but I still love the game. Chance came up to play my brother Fixed Dice. We elected to take...lower tier armies, lets say.

Battle report below a line of asterisks, the rest is all preliminary stuff about thoughts  on army building, etc.

His preferred army is the Dark Elf and mine is the Warriors of Chaos. I would argue we play those choices rather well, knowing the ins and outs of what works for the respective choices within our play group.

This time he would be playing his secondary army, the Tomb Kings and I would be playing my secondary army, the Beastmen.

At 1000 points it is tough to fit much in. The Beastmen the way I play them revolve around a horde of Gor buffed with Wyssans Wildform and beast banner to become a tough, hard hitting instrument of death and destruction.

Unfortunately, at 1000 points I cannot fit in my level 4, Herdstone, and barrage of level 1's giving me free power dice. So I looked to a Doombull...and that was too many points.

Nor could I fit in all 5 minotaurs I have painted.

So I started with a Beastlord with Crown of Command and, at the last second, through on the Brass Cleaver. This gave me a LD 9 stubborn general who could dish out several high weapon skill, high strength attacks.

Next I went with a Wargor for my BSB, gave him the ubiquitous Beast Banner, and planted them both in the Gor unit which ended at 29 Gor. So I had above average strength and WS, each front line guy dishing out 3 attacks...well, okay, 2 guys were dishing out 3 (extra hand weapon and the Frenzy offered by the Wargor), 2 were dishing out 4 and one was dishing between 5 and 8. So I had potentially 19-23 attacks S4 or better. That is a pretty stout unit.

4 Minotaurs and, to give me the requisite 3 units, I threw together a 30 point Ungor unit. This was pointless, as Ungor have a 16" range with a low strength bow. They figure to hit less and a third of the time and wound less than half the time they hit. So IF they shot 5 times 6 turns, they figure to hit ten times and wound 5 or less. They are unlikely to shoot more than once or twice so they are the epitome of throw-away points. Honestly, they are something I would normally never take.

Fixed Dice showed up with 2 20 strong and one 21 strong unit of skeletons, 3 chariots, and a  Necrophinx (sic) backed by a level 4.

Just looking at his army I thought I was in trouble. I assumed the skeletons had bows and I knew I would struggle against the sphinx and against his Hierophant's magic. I had to get across the table fast and hit hard when I got there.


*********************************************************************************
We rolled for scenario, got battle for the pass, and, in a rarity, ignored it. Re-roll produced Dawn Deployment. I won the roll and set up first. I rolled both the gor and Minotaur units in the center and the Ungor to the right. As it turns out, I put them where I would have put everything anyway except the Ungor who would have gone behind the fence to my left. As it was, my Gor unit anchored its flank against a building, the Minos against a fence, and a forest directly ahead would give me time to redeploy if he out-deployed me.

He then set u his three skeleton units on my left...one behind a fence, one behind the forest, the other opposite my Gor. His Chariots went on the right (all directions as I look at it) and his Necrosphinx anchored the right side of the line.

So as I looked at it, his best unit was looking at my weakest unit, his center could hit both my units that mattered head on, and he could flank me with his guys on my left flank.

Meanwhile, he could sit back and shoot at me, softening me up as I crossed the field and magicing me to death to boot if he had direct damage spells. Advantage; Tomb Kings.

He failed to seize the initiative and I thought about it for a bit. I figured he should go first, but then thought that might give him an extra turn of magic and shooting. I decided to take the turn and charge ahead full speed.

BEASTMEN TURN 1
I wanted the charge with my minotaurs. For some inexplicable reason, I therefore moved my Gor less than I could. I parked 13" from him, figuring he would need an 8 to reach and therefore probably fail. My Ungor advanced in a vain attempt to prevent his necrosphinx from charging my gor in the flank in combination, and my minos advanced and angled to countercharge his skeletons if they hit me in front of the Gor.

Tomb King Turn 1
He revealed the one small flaw in my otherwise brilliant plan for world domination. He had a different plan than I did. His skeletons (as I now knew) had no bows...and he had no intention of advancing. He tried to charge the Ungor with his Necrosphinx. I was able, thanks to my nearby banner, to stand and shoot...and hit twice, wounding him once. He did not save. He did, however, fail the charge.

Wow, the useless Ungor I took by desperation and did not want have wounded THE nastiest model on the table. I apologize, Ungor. Well done.

Meanwhile, he rolls a 5 and 4 for magic, then channels, giving him 10 power dice to my 5 dispel...and he being a level 4...this could be painful.

He casts righteous smiting on his entire army (healing his Necro...grr...), and the additional attacks mean his bowfire gets 4 hits, but only one Gor dies.


Beastmen Turn 2
I move forward to get into charge range. My Ungor look to see if they can protect the Gor flank from the necro. Not really but they advance, fire their bows...and wound his chariots twice. They have demolished my super low expectations, already outperforming the most optimistic expectations anyone could ever have for them, dealing out 3 wounds to tough opponents.

Tomb King Turn 2

His Necro needs snake-eyes to hit the Ungor this time. His Chariots charge the Gor front. The theory is the Necro will wipe out the Ungor, flank the Gor, get to fight twice and with his Chariot impact hits, Sphinx, and regular attacks, he will do LOTS of damage to my Gor unit.

Again my Ungor outperform themselves, hitting just once with their stand and shoot...but that one wounds. Yep, the Ungor have now put two wounds apiece on the necrosphinx and his chariots. Best 30 points I have ever spent.

At this point I am pinning my hopes on the Gor takg all that punishment, passing my stubborn 9 break test, and the minotaur swinging the battle in my favor by smurf-slapping (Minotaur-slapping?) his Chariots in the flank next turn.

Things grow bleaker when he rolls 6 for power dice and again channels. His righteous smiting goes off irreversibly.

An so the chariots and Necro are back to full strength, in the key turn of combat he has extra attacks for all concerned...

The silver lining is he got Calamitous something or other, does a wound to his Hierophant and "kills" 4 skeletons (he regenerated 2 of the 6 wounds). So even though my awesome Ungor have done the more impressive wounds, at this point he only actual damage done to him has been done by him, he got the charges he wanted and the game is about to tilt heavily in his favor.

My Ungor fight bravely, hitting him twice, but failing to wound. Oh, well, they had a good run. He has 6 attacks, can hit just twice. 2 dead Ungor. Disappointing, but irrelevant...I will be running almost certainly. His Thunderstomp then rolls a pedestrian 2, killing 2 more. One Ungor left.

Who promptly rolls a 3. With my nearby Beastlord, I lost by 5 and need a 4 to stick around. His poor rolling starts to unravel his plan at the seams. There is no way that Ungor should have lived, much less held him up.

His chariots start to make up for it, doing a whopping 12 impact hits. 7 Gor make their way to the graveyard. He is going to win this combat anyway...

I have higher initiative so go first.

Beastlor opens up a can of whoop-smurf on their candy smurfs. He hits 6 times, 5 of them being wounds that go through, finishing off one chariot and leaving a second with just one wound.

The Wargor hits 3 more times, but does just 1 wound. Still, he is already down to one chariot.

The Gor get ridiculous; mustering 11 attacks, 10 of them hit. They then make up for this great success by dealing just 3 wounds...but that is enough to finish off his chariot.

I then roll insane courage...which means my over-run is a whopping 2". Oops.

Still, what could...and possibly SHOULD...have been a disastrous turn for me turned into a disastrous turn for him. The Ungor standing left my Gor free to try to rampage through his skeletons while the Sphinx was occupied by 30 points.

Beastmen Turn 3
The minos want to charge his middle skeletons that are hiding the Hierophant, but awkward angles make it too tough, so they charge the guys behind the fence instead. The Gor charge the skeletons straight ahead.

For the first time ever, my Minos get their impact hits. It helps as they put down three bundles of bones. The obstacle lowers me by 4 potential hits...but I still wound 7 more skeletons.

He then hits back with 8 successful strikes and 3 wounds. Armor save of 5+; no saves. Parry save of 6+ I roll 5, 6, 6. 2 saves. I then hit with all three stomps, his remaining skeletons crumble and I advance 4" with Bloodgreed.

Meanwhile, the Gor kill 7 skels, the Beastlor dedicates 2 attacks to the champ, wounding once and killing him, and getting 3 rank and file. The Wargor chips in a couple wounds. He kills 3 gor in return and crumbles. I again advance something like 4". I just cannot overrun. Grr.

His Sphinx finally kills the final Ungor, but that unit MORE than did its job. Even though he healed every wound they did, that unit occupied his Sphinx for 3 full turns. Go Ungor!

Tomb King 3
His Necro charges the Gor rear. He thinks for a long time about what to do; charge with the skeletons in support or no. Ultimately he wants to A) keep his Hierophant out of the combat (wise decision probably; my Beastlord would have been rht there trying to kill him) and B) not give me the easy combat resolution, as we both just saw the Gor rip through him by a (Wargor and Beastlord aided) 14-3 margin. He refuses to charge with them.

He then rolls 3 for Winds...they failed him at the key moment. A power-stone aided Cursed Blades makes his Necrosphinx potentially even more deadly, though.

I "make way" with my heroes, a potentially risky move...an enhanced Killing Blow could do a lot of harm to my cause. But with no Wyssans Wildform or other boost, the Gor do not seem like much of a threat.

The Beastlord does okay, hitting just 3 times, but all three go through for wounds. The Wargor hits twice but cannot wound and the Gor cannot wound.

He tries the super slay on the Wargor, hitting him but then rolling a 1 to wound. He attacks my general with the rest but only one hit...and that one is poison, denying him the chance to killing blow, and needing a 6 to save, I do so...he crumbles to resolution.

Beastmen 4
I reform both he mionotaur and the Gor to face his last remaining skeleton unit. It is just mopping up at this point; if his chariots and necrosphinx could only take off 11 Gor and 5 Ungor and his other unit of skeletons could only put one wound on the minotaurs, he stood little to no chance against the inevitable combined charge.

Tomb King Turn 4
He starts to move, then says, "I am just trying to avoid and survive at this point."
"Want to call it?" I ask.
"Sure," he says and I agree. All that is left is seeing if he can run 8" per turn between regular and magic movement and if I can catch him before the end of turn 6.

Mopping up
So what happened here?

First off, he remembered construction rules wrong. He thought he had to have 50% core points. As a result, he built and army where he had no intention of ever using half of it.

Second, his Necrosphinx woefully underperformed. While it did have the only success he experienced, taking 3 turns to kill 5 Ungor whilst taking 2 wounds in the process is...ridiculous.

As a result, he really had no way of actually damaging me. Maybe if he had somehow gotten two skeleton units to simultaneously charge the Gor and had a very fortuitous combat round he MIGHT have won that combat...but that would have counted on me A) being a complete tool with my Minotaurs to allow that, B) failing a re-rolled LD 9 stubborn test to flee IF he even managed to win the combat...which, without help from Chariot impact or Necrosphinx Thunderstomp and power attacks was not going to happen.

Meanwhile, he had no direct damage spells, so although his magic phases helped by giving him a few extra attacks and healing numerous wounds...it was a factor but not a game-changer.

Meanwhile, my Brass-Cleaver, Frenzy-fueled and Banner of the Beasts aided Beastlord ran around making Chaos Lords look wimpy, tearing up everything in sight almost single-handedly. The minos melted an entire unit of skeletons in a good defensive position in one turn. The Ungor looked like a real tarpit unit.

Everything went very, very right for me and it resulted in a surprisingly easy win.

After the game we talked for a while about the Tomb Kings.

I pointed out that with the Beastmen, I knew their weaknesses...an effective range of zero inches, if you breathe on them they die...but I also knew their strengths. Decent toughness, an ability to put out large numbers of decent strength attacks. I knew what they needed to do to win.

What do Tomb Kings need to do to win?

The upshot is...we found some things that MIGHT work, but they rely on A) having lots of points and B) EVERYTHING going right.

In other words, when I look at the Tomb Kings book, one word comes to mind...fail.

And that is in comparison to the Beastmen, typically regarded as one of the lowest-regarded books out there.

On the bright side, he enjoys playing them, so we will hopefully get in a few more games with and against them...though none with a power house like the Warriors of Chaos.


And now time for the traditional "We survived" Group Photo.