Bretonnians vs Dwarfs 2250 pts

Warhammer Fantasy Battle Report summary:-

A big melee in the centre of the battlefield should suit the Dwarfs ! (easy reading)

source : warhammer.org.uk

credit : Atchman

2-Dec-2008

It has been a long time since I wrote a battle report. I’ve taken a little break from Warhammer for the last few months, and have only played in one RTT instead of my usual three or four GTs. Today I had a few of the guys over to the house for some gaming. Since it has been awhile since I’ve tried a new army I decided to play my Dwarfs. I knew that Chaos Dave and Killer Karl, would be bringing cavalry armies, but I was used to playing against them in the old rules.

Dwarf Army list:

Dwarf Lord, Master Rune of Gromril, Light Armor, Rune of Fury, Rune of Swiftness, Rune of Cleaving
Thane, BSB Upgrade, Gromril Armor, Strollaz Rune
Thane, Great Weapon, Shield, Gromril Armor
Runesmith, Gromril Armor, Shield, Great Weapon, 2 x Runes of Spellbreaking
Core Troops:
25 Dwarf Warriors, with Full Command
24 Longbeards, Full Command, Rune of Slowness
10 Rangers
10 Thunderers
Special Troops:
12 Slayers
20 Ironbreakers, Full Command, Rune of Might
1 Cannon
1 Bolthrower, Engineer upgrade, Rune of Penetration
Rare Troops:
1 Organ Gun
2246 Points



Deployment and going for a stroll

I deployed the Organ Gun and the Rangers near the impassable terrain. I was hoping to at least divert the bad guys away from my flank. I put my General in the regular Dwarf Warriors. The BSB went into the Longbeards. Filling up the front rank with characters, I put the Runesmith and the Thane in the Ironbreakers hoping to hold the enemy charge and break them. The Slayers were there to keep the line from being flanked. I put the cannon, the bolthrower and the Thunderers near or on the hill. They didn’t really do anything the entire game.

I think the Strollaz Rune caught Carl by surprise. My strategy as always, against Brets, is to “jam” their lines to keep them in front of you and with very little room to try and get to your flanks. Because of the prayer I got the first turn. My Cannon killed one knight and that was it for my first moves.



Things happened quick!

On turn two I moved up as close as possible to his lines to keep him from maneuvering around the flanks. He responded by charging some Knight of the Realm into my Slayers, a unit of Peasants into my Ironbreakers, his General’s unit into my BSB’s unit (the Longbeards), and finally a unit of Peasants into my General’s unit (the normal clansmen). The Dwarf line held bolstered by the General’s leadership and the BSB. On the other hand the Bretonnian line also held! It was a scrum!

He moved his Pegasus Knights and his Yeomen to contest the Organ Gun.

On my turn, I missed a cannon ball shot down the flank of the Yeomen. When I fired my Organ Gun at the Pegasus Knights I rolled a “10” for the shots, annihilating the entire unit!

During the melee phase I fought off the Peasants opposing my General’s unit. This opened up the flank for of the Bret BSB’s unit for my turn. The Peasants opposing the Ironbreakers were finally broken, but not caught. If I would have rolled an average number for my pursuit I would have hit his General’s unit in the flank.

I did charge into the Bret BSB’s unit, but I couldn’t overcome their tough armor and they held. His Peasants rallied on my flank and I was in serious trouble.



It was finally my turn. The Ironbreakers charged his General’s unit in the flank killing two knights. The return swings did nothing and with overwhelming CR, his General’s unit was broken and killed by crossfire into the BSB’s melee. This allowed the Ironbreakers to pursue into the melee between the Bretonnian BSB’s unit and the Dwarf King’s clansmen. Dice were rolled and the BSB broke, taking the recently rallied peasants with them. The game was over as my foe conceded.

Win to the Dwarfs!

I must admit that my plan worked to perfection. His deployment was just a little too cramped and I was able to jam his army while preventing him from both flanking my army or charging into a single unit with multiple lances.

What would I have done if I were him?

I would have spread out my knights a lot more sending the two small lances on flank runs on the first turn. Instead of trying to take out my artillery with his Trebuchet, I would have tried to concentrate shots into my large blocks of troops. The S5 of the Trebuchet would have left a mark!

Secondly, I would have ranked up the Peasant archers and just used them as diverters. They weren't going to be effective in the shooting phase so why potentially use them to open up a flank? The skirmishing archers would have been perfect opposite of my Slayers.