Warhammer Fantasy Battle Report summary:-
The ebb and flow of battle, don't underestimate anyone (a nice "all round" battle report)| source : bugmansbrewery | credit : Durak | 18-Dec-2008 |
Master Engineer Svarn Irontooth of Karak Thingaz snarled in anger as he saw smoke rising from the east. The orcs had moved faster that any had imagined and had reached one of the small dawikoni villages that surrounded the hold. It was an ancient agreement between the men and the dwarfs, that the men would concentrate on farming and would use their produce to support the hold. In return, they could shelter in the hold during times of trouble and would be protected from harm. It was now up to the dwarfs to uphold their oath. Leading them to the village were a small number of dawikoni warriors. They had watched their homes burn, but fortunately for them the village had time to evacuate before the horde arrived. Grim looks of hatred covered the faces of these 'almost-dwarfs'. Svarn understood their anger, and was determined to uphold the honor of Karak Thingaz by destroying any who would dare harm its people.
It has been awhile since I played warhammer last, so I was a bit nervous walking into this game. It was a scheduled game between my dwarfs and some greenskins. The lists looked like this:
Orcs and Gobbos Army list:
(This was his 'campaign' army, from a campaign that was wrapping up. He refused to change it to face my dwarfs, and thus was decked out in anti magic equipment. I tip my hat to my opponent for having the courage to do this.)Heroes
Lvl 4 Orc Shaman (Warpath, A d6 s6 hit spell, WAAAGH!, a fourth spell...)
Lvl 2 Orc Shaman (Warpath...only spell he ever used)
Lvl 2 Orc Shaman (WAAAGH!, the d6 s6 hit spell)
Core
* 20 or so savage orcs
* 20 or so night gobbos with nets and 3 fanatics
* 20 or so night gobbos with nets and 3 fanatics
Special
* 20 or so black orcs
* 20 or so black orcs
* 2 spear chuckas
* Stone thrower
Rare
* 2 goblin doom divers
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Dwarf Army List:
(Thanks to Lord Azagul for his advice on this list!)
Heroes
Thane: Great Hammer, Gromril Armor with the rune of stone, master rune of dismay (99)
Thane: Battle Standard, Gromril Armor with the rune of stone and two runes of iron, Sword with the rune of speed (130)
Master Engineer: Gromril Armor with the rune of gromril and resistance, great hammer (124)
Runesmith: Two runes of spell breaking, shield (122)
Core
22 Warriors: Hand Weapons, Shields, Heavy Armor, Full Command (223)
22 Warriors: Hand Weapons, Shields, Heavy Armor, Full Command (223)
22 Long Beards: Hand Weapons, Shields, Heavy Armor Full Command, runes of stoicism and battle (339)
Special
20 Hammerers: Great Hammers, Shields, Heavy Armor Full Command, rune of courage and battle (345)
10 Miners: Mining Picks, Heavy Armor (110)
20 Slayers: Slayer Axes, 3 Giant Slayers (265)
Bolt Thrower: Runes of immolation and penetrating. Engineer (115)
Bolt Thrower: valiant rune and penetrating (90)
Rare
8 Duellists (Dawikoni) Hand Weapons, Shields, throwing daggers (64)
(See the article here on Dawikoni to know who they are: http://www.madalfred.darcore.net/Articles.html Basically they are humans who live in the dwarf realms)
Total Point Cost
Total: 2249
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Deployment and Scenery: (^=trees, x=impassible terrain)
--------- Orc Side ---------
[Hill]..............................................
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...[^^^]......[xxxxxx].........[^^^]
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.................................[hill]..............
-------- Dwarf Side --------
Orc Deployment (left to right)
Left Flank:
Black Orcs (with lvl 4 shaman), Savage Orcs (with lvl 2 shaman),His lvl 4 with the black orcs and the savage orcs with the lvl 2 shaman will be affectiontly known as the left flank, as they were deployed on the left side of the impassible mountains.
Right Flank:
Black Orcs (with lvl 2 shaman), artillary and night goblins, more artillery and more night goblins.
The night goblins filled in the narrow points, but the black orcs ended up stuck behind his artillery.
Dwarf Deployment (left to right)
Left Flank:
Dawikoni
Right Flank:
Hammerers, Slayers, Warriors, Warriors, Longbeards. Artillery on the hill.
The Battle Report
The left flank, turns 1-6
Things here could not have gone better. The orcs charged up and got distracted by the dawikoni, who ran circles around them. Eventually the orcs tired of this and moved off towards the big fight, but by then it was too late. Neither unit never saw any combat (or took too many casualties). Besides for magic, they were pretty much out of the game.
The Right Flank, Turn 1
The orcs got the first turn. The gobbos moved up and magic/shooting commenced. Gork stomped the hammerers (who lost 3 dwarfs from the irrisitable force spell) and then stomped the stone thrower. The gobbos hid under it and avoided any damage. Shooting was deadly, as his guesses were spot on. Many warriors from Warrior Unit 1 died from the onslaught.
The dwarfs countered by grimly marching forward. The hammerers got stuck behind the slayers, and were thus unable to keep up with the line. Shooting took a wound off one of the doom divers.
Turn 2
The gobbo unit 1 squabbled and couldn't move. The other unit on the far right hand side moved within 8'' of the longbeards. None of the fanatics landed. Besides for that, the greenskins let loose their barrage again. Once again he got off the warpath with irrisitable force, and more dwarfs died from it. His shooting was on again, and a number of dwarfs from different units fell. Mostly though it was from the same warrior unit, who at this point were starting to really hurt.
For the dwarfs, the miners came on the table behind the warmachines. The dwarfs moved forward some more, except for the longbeards. Shooting saw nothing happen, as a bolt from the ME's bolt thrower failed to wound the only gobbo it hit.
Turn 3
Night goblin unit 2 failed an animosity check...with a 6! They had to move straight forward which would land them ontop of their own 3 fanatics! He rolled the dice, and it fell off the table...a 6. As it was off the table he re-rolled it and it came up a 1. "
Then came magic. For a third time, warpath went off with irristable force, and this time stomped 5 miners into the ground. THe lvl 2 shaman tried to call forth the spell again, but miscasted and promptly forgot how to cast it for the rest of the game. Shooting once again brought death to the dwarfs, with several slayers and warriors falling to...well, falling goblins. And rocks (big ones!). The bolt thrower on the far left hit the miners in the flank and killed 2 of them.
In close combat, the gobbos through nets over the longbeards and then stabbed one to death. The Longbeards and thane responded by killed four goblins. With their unit strength doubled and the rune of battle, the longbeards won combat and then chased down the goblins. There we go! The remaining three miners charged the gobbos infront of them, killed two and sent the last one running. This paniced the nearby goblin doomdiver team who ran away as well.
Turn 4
With no squabbling the second night goblin unit advanced towards the slayers. The three fanatics popped out and one smashed through the slayer lines, though the slayers didn't seem to mind. The three fanatics on the right hand side either ran into each other or went off the table. For the first time the magic phase didn't really hurt me. His lvl 4 managed to kill off half of the Dawikoni, who refused to panic. And as he had lost his stone thrower and one doom diver, his shooting phase was lessened. The doomdiver landed on the Master Engineer's warmachine, and managed to kill 2 of the crew. The pair of bolt throwers also finished off the last of the miners.
The dwarf line was a mess, but I did what I could. The slayers waited for the night gobbos to charge them (and hopefully go through the 2 fanatics in the way) while both warrior units headed for the woods to try and go through it. The longbeards went around the woods to face the bolt thrower that had killed the miners. Shooting only managed to kill a few orcs.
Turn 5
The night gobbos rolled a 6 for animostiy! Just like last time, they would run forward and hopefully land on their own fanatics! He rolled a 1. The fanatics scattered, hitting the slayers and the battered warriors. The warriors were now down to 10 models and the slayers down to about 8. Ouch. The gobbos proceeded to charge the slayers. For the first time, magic was shut down completely and shooting failed to make an impact. Onto combat! The night goblins threw the nets on themselves and failed to hurt the slayers (Str2!) In return, 7 goblins were killed and the rest were run down. The slayers overran into fleeing doomdiver crew (who fled again) and into the operational doom diver.
For the dwarfs, the warriors moved into the woods and the longbeard lined up their charge. The slayers killed the gobbos (barely, actually!) and over ran into the flank of the black orc unit that had a lvl 2 shaman in there (he had turned them to wipe out the miners, as he didn't expect the slayers to roll an 12 on their pursuit roll on the night goblins).
Turn 6
The greenskins had little else they could do. The march blocked orcs tried in vain to reach combat, but were too far away. In close combat, the slayers did 1 wound on the shaman and killed a black orc. They lost a slayer in return. Also, the last fanatics went crazy. One smashed into a rock and died, while the other hit the warriors in the woods. Their number went down to 10, but the fanatic died as well.
For the dwarf turn, the longbeards charged the spear chucka, massacred the crew and pursued with a roll of 11! It wasn't enough to reach the slayer-black orc combat. In that combat, the slayers killed the shaman and another black orc, but lost another slayer for their troubles. Combat remained locked.
End game!
We only played by pure victory points, so I first calculated what his army had produced.
* Half of one warrior unit (111.5 points)
* 10 Miners (110 points)
* Half of the Slayers (132.5 points)
* Half of the Duellists (32 points)
- Total: 386
For the dwarfs...
* 2 units of night goblins (215 each)
* 2 captured banners (200)
* 1 lvl 2 Shaman
* Stone Thrower
* 2 Spear Chuckas
* 2 Doom Divers
We didn't count it up as we agreed that the dwarfs won. However, by my estimate, the dwarfs got about 1100 victory points or so.
Result: Solid Victory for the Dwarfs!
Post Game Thoughts
Well, that game was scary. For the first three turns, I thought that I was going to lose. His magic was, literally, stomping me. His fanatics were tearing me apart. His warmachines were getting constant direct hits and my army was going to reach him piece metal. I was thinking, '"I swear too much".'
But, around turn 4 things really started to look up. I realized that with my dawikoni, his two 'ard units of black orcs would never see combat, and all I really had to do was take out his goblins. With that in mind, my dwarfs ripped apart the night goblins and proceeded to run amuck around his artillery. What it really came down to was that he never managed to actually take out any of my units or characters (except the miners), so he couldn't claim any large amount of victory points. Ironically, it was his goblins that gave me the win.
Some interesting notes:
* Neither my warrior units nor my hammerers ever saw combat.
* Two of his black orc units never saw combat
* My shooting, through all six turns, didn't get me a single point. Not...even...one. My bolt throwers were taken so that they could be monster killers, chariot killers and traps (exploding str 5 hits and a 1+ re-rollable armor save unbreakable ME). Very dissapointing.
* Night goblins are scarier than orcs! It's true. Once you get them in combat though, they arn't as bad, but with fanatics and nets I fear them.
* Even when hit on the flank by slayers his black orcs refused to budge. His goblins though were all slaughtered in one turn of combat. Very appropriate.
* I never used the rune of dismay, because I wanted him to charge me when he did! It is actually very, very funny, but I had no use for it.
Dwarfs:
Man of the Match
* The Dawikoni! These humans more than paid for themselves. By march blocking, and generally annoying the orcs on the left flank, they kept them out of the game. Without them I'd have faced 40 more orcs, which given my broken up battle line I would have been hard pressed to beat. Even without a large amount of kills, without them I might have lost this game.
Biggest dissapointment
* My bolt throwers. Enough said.
Greenskins:
Greenskin of the Match
* His goblins as a whole! His artillery punched holes in my lines and his fanatics tore me a new one. It is only in close combat though that they fell apart.
Biggest dissapointment
* The orcs! They either failed to see combat or were flanked. Most of the battle was left for the gobbos to fight.
Learning Experiences
* Fanatics must charge out of the unit, but he can pick the direction. I need to keep this in mind for future games
* Don't forget that bolt throwers can pivot and shoot! I lost too many miners due to that.
* Never give up! Even if you think the game isn't going your way, keep your shoulders squared and try your best. I thought that I was going to lose but pulled out a solid victory.
* Always try to keep a unit alive. He came close to destroying two units. If he could have taken out the slayers and the warriors, then he would have doubled his victory points that he earned.
* Keep your army together! He failed to do this with his orcs, so in essence I only had to fight half of his army (even though his warpaths kepts hitting me). Those 40 extra orcs would have truly changed the tide of the battle.
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Grimniz roared in fury as another throwing axe bounced off the armor of the black orc to his side. The 'umies were really starting to anger him. Even after he had caused four of their heads to explode they still wouldn't flee, nor would they stand up to a fight. All around the humans there were bellowed war cries as black orcs and savage orcs fought to catch their elusive prey. However, the woods were heavily forested and filled with traps. A few orcs had already been severly wounded. Grimniz roared 'Get me the gobbos!' He didn't have to wait long as a gobbo with blood running down the side of his head ran up to Grimniz. The great shaman grabbed the gobbo and screamed "get the ladz over 'ere and get the 'umies out of this zoggin forest!" The goblin squealed in fright, though if it was at the throwing axe that flew over the head of the shaman or from the shaman's anger it was impossible to say. "But boss, there's no lads left!" Grimniz glared at the goblin and then bellowed "Oy! Shut up!" The black orcs immediately quieted down, but the other shaman had to kill one of the savage orcs to get them to stop bellowing. "What do ya mean there's no boyz left?" The goblin didn't need to answer. With the orc's warcries gone Grimniz could hear the Khazalid warcries ringing in the distance and the screams of dying goblins. With a snarl Grimniz snapped the neck of the poor goblin and yelled out "Forget the 'umies, get the stunties!" With roars of approval the orcs moved towards the battle.
What Grimniz found was a scene of devastation. All of his goblins lay dead on the ground, as did the shaman who he had assigned to lead the gobbos up into the mountains. Along with them all of the artillery was well and truly smashed, his WAAAGH was over before it could even begin. All that was left were the black orc bodyguards of the shaman who were to keep order over the gobbos. However, all he could see fighting the black orcs were a small number of frenzied slayers. Then there were more dwarfs, charging over the bodies of dead goblins with bloody axes raised. Then came more dwarfs around, and then more. He could count at least sixty of them closing around the black orcs, who were already hard pressed just to handle the slayers. Outnumered two to one, and soon to be three to one, Grimniz's black orc bodyguards roared in appreciation. After their fruitless hunt for the 'umies, they were eager to fight an enemy that would actually fight back. As his orcs charged forward Grimniz turned to bellow orders at the savage orcs. They were gone, obviously having found some other enemy to fight. Grimniz spat out a curse, he hadn't reached such levels of power by giving into his base instincs. Already he could see the dwarfs forming a battle line over the bodies of the dead black orcs, even Grimniz's own rushed to their deaths. No, there was no way that the remnants of his WAAAGH! would triumph. Slowly, Grimniz dissapeared into the woods, leaving his army to its fate. It was no matter, there were always more tribes to control and different villages to raze. With such comforting thoughts in his mind, Grimniz paid no attention to the screams of the dying.
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