The Empire vs Dwarfs 2000 pts battle report

warhammer fantasy battle report :-

"The Knights finished the Quarrellers outright and overran into the Longbeards. They killed nothing, but they didn’t need to, the Steam Tank took 10 down by itself." [Ed. Ouch !]

(a well written and engaging report. It makes for a great read)

source : bugmansbrewery.com

credit : Karzaki_Darstok

13-Mar-2009

A thick broth of mist swirled fitfully at the foot of the watchtower, gradually burned away by the sunlight of an early spring morning. Runelord Breigor the Sullen had brought his forge outside and was working to unlock the secrets of an ancient, rune-encrusted axe when the cry went up from the platform at the top of the tower.

"Riders!" cried the lookout. "Riders of the Empire!"

Breigor's beetled brows drew down over his gimlet eyes. The umgi had been harrying at them for several weeks, their fleet-footed riders no match for the stalwart warriors of the Darstok Clan's loyal Hearth Guard. They sought the treasures Breigor had discovered here, they wanted the secrets of the runefang for their own.

"They shall not have it!" he growled. "TO ARMS!!!"

The forces:

The Empire 2000 pt army list

Level 4 Wizard, w/ +1 to cast, Lore of Life (Mistress of the Marsh, Master of the Wood, Howler Wind, Master of Stone)
Level 2 Wizard, w/ Rod of Power, Lore of Life (Mistress of the Marsh, Howler Wind)
Level 2 Wizard, Lore of Death (Wind of Death, Creeping Death)
Level 2 Wizard, Lore of Shadows (Walking Death, Crown of Taidron)

5 Knights w/ Musician
5 Knights w/ Musician
10 Militia
8 Pistoliers w/ Champion, Musician
8 Pistoliers w/ Champion, Musician
10 Outriders w/ Champion, Hochland Long Rifle, Musician, Barding
10 Outriders w/ Champion, Hochland Long Rifle, Musician, Barding
Steam Tank

Dwarf 2000 pt army list

Runelord w/ Anvil, Shield, MroBalance, 2x RoSpellbreaking, RoPreservation
Thane w/ BSB, MroSwiftness, RoCleaving, RotForge

19 Longbeards w/ FCG, Shields, RoStoicism, RoBattle
25 Warriors w/ Standard, Musician, Shields
10 Thunderers w/ Shields
10 Quarrellers w/ Shields
12 Hammerers w/ FCG, Shields, RoCourage, RoDetermination
Bolt Thrower w/ Engineer, RoPenetration
Organ Gun
Gyrocopter


Terrain and Deployment: We played on a 4’x4’ board, making for a fairly cramped table. In the past Ed has toyed with the idea of not putting any terrain down at all as he tends to find it impedes him more than it helps him. He was not so conservative this time, and we had five terrain pieces down, including two large woods in opposite ends of no-man’s land, a hill in each deployment zone and a tower between the hill and wood in my deployment. Most of Ed’s units deployed on the left, partially behind the hill or blocked from line of sight by the left hand wood. On the right he had a single unit of knights with the steam tank deployed right of the hill. My Runelord, Warriors and Gyrocopter deployed behind the left hand wood and tower. My missile troops went on the hill with the Longbeards behind them. The Bolt Thrower and Hammerers swung out onto the right flank while the Organ gun deployed on top of the tower (we have a house rule allowing this provided the war machine does not move during the game). All done and we rolled for first turn. I won the roll and opted to go second. I had nothing withing range but the Quarrellers and Bolt Thrower, and targets were limited. The only possible advantage to going first would be any panic checkes forced on the tightly clumped left flank with my steam gun. Going second would give me greater options.


Turn 1, Empire: First of all Ed declared his intention to try and generate 5 steam points. He rolled a five, meaning it was “Full steam ahead!” for the valiant ironclad as it used all its steam points to roll 15” forward. Other moves included both knights units trundling forward into the gap between the woods. The Militia wheeled out to make room for the Pistoliers and Outriders behind them to move up. The more central Outrider regiment moved up behind the knights. The foremost unit of pistoliers made it as far as the edge of the wood while the other unit shunted out of the Outrider’s way. It was looking very crowded on this flank, Ed would certainly have benefitted from playing on a larger table in this game, especially with his long line-abreast formations. In the magic phase he successfully cast Creeping Death on the Quarrellers (which I allowed), killing two. He also cast Howler wind, rendering three quarters of his army immune to my steam gun, Quarrellers and Thunderers (sucks!). Most of his other spells (i.e. Master of the Wood/Stone either did nothing or were dispelled).

Initial thoughts: Ed has a tendency to go all out on one or maybe two aspects of the game with whatever army tickles his fancy. This week it was lots of magic and shooting. He knows from experience that he has trouble going toe to toe with my dawi, but I was a little perplexed by some of his choices with this list, namely the fact that his general was leadership 8 and his Outriders with their barding were no longer fast cavalry. I knew that any panic checks I could force on his units would pay dividends, but unfortunately, I also knew that he knew that… hence the small, expendable units of knights riding down my throat. My plan was to move the Hammerers up the right, covered by the woods. A small unit like this might be ignored in favour of my bigger or shootier units. An anvil fuelled charge could really scupper his Outriders. The rest of my units would remain pretty static. All in all, I wasn’t too worried at this stage, although he had a frightening amount of power dice at his disposal.

Dwarfs, Turn 1: The Hammerers advanced with a slight wheel in towards the centre. The Warriors behind the tower moved to intercept the pistoliers headed for the left hand wood. The Gyro lofted into the middle of the Empire formation to block marchers, but due to the unnatural winds would not be able to use its steam gun. In the shooting phase I tried to slow the knights headed for my bolt thrower, but the Runelord mistruck and would have to take another turn to recover. The Thunderers and Quarrellers were limited in what they could shoot at, and so had to go for the right hand knights, but all their efforts were shrugged off. The Organ Gun had more success, killing two of the left hand unit of knights (who weren’t protected from the war machine by the wizard’s Howler Wind). Likewise, the Bolt Thrower proved its worth by taking the maximum three wounds off the steam tank.


Turn 2, Empire: Taking a huge risk, Ed declared “Five steam points, please!” and promptly rolled a 2, meaning the charge declared on the Thunderers would definitely be in. They stood firm and unloaded on the charging metal monstrosity, failing to even scratch the paintwork… In other moves he advanced the foremost pistoliers into the wood, with the other unit angling in behind, facing out towards the central clearing. The left hand outriders stayed where they were, while the militia changed formation in front of them so they could get more shots at the Gyrocopter. Again the two knights units advanced, the left one lining up on the Quarrellers, the other angling to bypass the Hammerers and go for the bolt Thrower (although they were still in the Hammerer’s charge arc, the distance looked too close to call). Some of his wizards changed units, Ed succeeded in getting himself all confused over who did what during the first couple of turns, which played in my favour as he’s wanted to have more of an effect in the magic phase. As it was, he managed to kill a couple more Quarrellers with the Creeping Death and cast another Howler Wind. The central Outriders unit reduced the Quarrellers to four models while the champions in both units used their Hochland Long Rifles to try and pick off the crew of the Organ Gun. One of them succeeded. The other Outrider unit only managed to remove a single wound from the Gryocopter as the militia were still handily blocking the line of sight for most of the unit. In combat the Thunderers were slain to a dawi, meaning the steam tank would be a viable target in my turn.

I had been expecting a lot worse this turn and still felt good about my position. The two knights units I could handle and with a bit of luck the steam tank would soon be rendered much less effective. I think my confidence when to my head a little… you’ll see why!

Turn 2, Dwarfs: Foolishly I declared a charge with my Gyro onto the militia. I don’t know why, must have been the beer! My Hammerers also declared for the knights, who opted to flee. We measured the charge range and they were millimetres out, which led to much forehead-slapping from my opponent. The Knights plonked themselves right in from of the central Outriders unit, which was a shame as I would have liked to see a panic check here. The Warriors moved up towards the wood ready to charge the Pistoliers next turn. My Miners also arrived and moved on along my own board edge to threaten the Steam Tank. In shooting, my Bolt Thrower missed the Steam Tank, while the Organ Gun failed to kill any Knights. The Quarrellers were about as effective. In combat, the Gyrocopter pilot fluffed his attacks and lost by two, which resulted in him fleeing and dropping down just behind the fleeing knights, smack bang in front of the Outriders. I realised at this point what a rooky mistake I’d made, and proceeded with a forehead-slapping moment of my own.


Turn 3, Empire: Ed had a cunning plan this turn (they’re always cunning, just not necessarily good!) [Ed. Lol :)]. Charges included the Steam Tank at the Longbeards and the left hand Knights at the Quarrellers. Stand and shoot did nothing and the blasted Steam Tank managed to generate full steam again (something fishy going on here!). The other unit of Knights rallied. The Pistoliers in the wood had been effectively blocked by my Warriors so stayed where they were. The other unit swept into the gap between the hill and the tower, joined by another of the wizards (it now included the Death and Shadow casters). The left hand Outriders moved up slightly, changing formation to make sure they weren’t slowed by terrain in the next turn. The other unit remained where it was. The Militia commenced a conga-line trundle up behind this unit, headed for the far right board-quarter, but they’d had to change formation so were fairly slow. Ed commenced his magic phase with a couple of castings, including Creeping death on my Organ Gun, which was dispelled, followed by the Wind of Death, also dispelled. He then cackled with glee as he managed to cast Crown of Taidron on his Shadow caster. Here is a rought transcript of the conversation that followed:

Matt: What’s that do then?
Ed: Every unit within 12” takes D6 strength 4 hits.
Matt: What, ALL units?
Ed: Yep, friendly units included.
Matt does some quick mental arithmetic. Dwarfs have base toughness 4 and generally good armour, four units in range. Empire have base toughness 3 and generally poor armour (at least in this army), he has potentially seven units in range.
Matt: Okay, I’ll let you have that one!

The result was two Quarrellers and a Longbeard slain. Oh and let’s not forget four Pistoliers from the left hand unit, three from the Wizard’s own unit and an Outrider. That’ll be panic checks for the Pistoliers then. The left hand unit passed and Ed tentatively reached for the dice a second time, rolling for his Wizardy unit… who ran off the table in a blind panic!

Nice one, Ed! That’s one for the annals and no mistake!

Then we moved to shooting, nothing of note occurred as the rallied Knights were more or less covering the Gyro and those that could see it fluffed it. The Combat phase was a little more decisive. The Knights finished the Quarrellers outright and overran into the Longbeards. They killed nothing, but they didn’t need to, the Steam Tank took 10 down by itself. I had two ranks, outnumber (thanks to stoicism), standard, Battle standard and a Rune of Battle and I was on a hill, meaning he won by three (I was mightily impressed that it was only three, and fairly confident that I could hold since the BSB was still alive. So I went and rolled up two failures and the knights ran them down, pursuing off the table and capturing two banners. Isn’t that just typical?

Well, by this point I was looking forward to being royally plundered as the Outriders finished what the Steam Tank had started. The centre of my army was gone, and despite Ed’s royal blunder with the Crown of Taidron, things were looking shakey. However, as Dwarfs will do, I knuckled down and swore vengeance upon the Empire for the death of my Longbeards.

Turn 3, Dwarfs: With the Anvil back in action this turn I was determined to make some serious dents in Ed’s fairly fragile force. The Steam Tank had to die, so the Miners walked right up to it, ready for an Anvil fuelled charge. The Hammerers maintained their stoic advance and the Gyrocopter rallied in place. In shooting, the Bolt Thrower hit the steam tank but failed to to any damage. The Organ Gun stripped a further two wounds from the behemoth, but it was still intact. The Miners, determined to finish the job, were helped into battle by the vivifying effects of the Anvil of Doom. They wound three times, but all were saved. I would just have to hope that the damage was already done… I then realised that I’d forgotten to declare a charge on the Pistoliers in the wood, which was hardly surprising as I’d been piling my dead on that corner and got it all muddled up. On this plus side, Ed had also forgotten to shoot with them in his turn. Oh well!


Turn 4, Empire: Ed toyed with the idea of charging my Gyrocopter with his Knights, as if it fled he would probably have the option to go into the Hammerers instead. Personally this is what I would have done with my “expendable” Knights. However, he dithered, moving them out of the way so that his Outriders could finish the Gyro off. He moved his Wizard Lord into the large Outriders unit, with the other remaining mage in the second unit, which was moving around behind the wood to little or no effect. He also decided that his remaining Pistoliers were no longer a viable unit and retreated them back through the wood. The Knights came back on the threaten the flank of the Miners. By this stage Ed’s magical influence was waning. His most useful spells were Master of the Wood and Master of Stone, which achieved the mighty accolade of reducing my Organ Gun Crew to a single model. In the shooting phase he finished the Gyrocopter with a storm of fire from the Outriders. In combat, the Steam Tank failed to generate any steam this turn, leaving it on two wounds remaining. The Miners laid in again, reducing this rare mechanical beast to so much scrap iron. As the steam cleared they were all that was left standing on the hill, grumbling about the inferior machinations of manlings in general. “There’s nought in this world can’t be solved with the precise application of a good Dwarfish pick!”

With the Steam Tank gone, things are looking a bit more equitable, but far from decided. This turn could be the breaker. If My Hammerers can get into the fight they could tear their way through the heart of Ed’s formation, but it will take some true Anvil-striking to get them there.

Turn 4, Dwarfs: My Hammerers marched down the Knight’s throats, wielding their mighty greathammers menacingly. The Miners turned to face the Knights, and I was toying with the idea of using Ancient Power if the war machines couldn’t do the job on them. With nothing else worth moving I went to the shootingphase. The Bolt Thrower had a lovely flank shot on the Knights and managed to miss by a mile. The lone crewman on the Organ Gun swung it round to unload all barrels on the blighters, killing them all and avenging the Longbeards in full. With some modicum of relief I declared a normal striking of the Rune of Oath and Honour on my Hammerers, who smashed into the Knights. They killed two for no return and sent the Knights fleeing through the Outriders. My pursuit move carried my Hammerers into this fresh enemy, putting them safely out of harm’s way from the majority of Ed’s offensive capabilities.


Turn 5, Empire: Ed had no charges. He rallied the Knights on the hill behind the Outriders and directed all his magic and shooting against my Organ Gun and Miners. In the aftermath of this three Miners lay dead and the Organ Gun was scratched. The combat phase was where I wanted to be. Ed declared a challenge with his Outrider champion, who was no match for the Gatekeeper, who struck him down with contempt. Three more fell to the hammers of the unit, it was just a shame that the Mage Lord was tucked well out of the way. The Outriders fled, easily outdistancing the Dawi, perilously close to the board edge. The Hammerer’s pursuit put them an inch away from the rallied Knights who, if they opted to flee, would likely go off the table, along with the Outriders who were also likely to be within the Hammerer’s charge range.

This small unit of Hammerers is a new addition to my generic tournament list and so far I’ve been mightily impressed by its capabilities. Not only had it caused Ed to flee with his Knights early in the game, thereby protecting the Bolt Thrower, they had put that unit and the general’s to flight in just two rounds of combat. I only hope they could keep it up as they were now extremely isolated in enemy territory. Everything else was going well, for me, and I could almost taste victory despite some horrendous losses.

Turn 5, Dwarfs: Without hesitation the Hammerers declared a charge on the Knights, whose only option was to hold in the hopes of protecting their General in a valiant last stand. The Miners moved off the hill to claim or contest my right hand table quarter, comfortably out of sight of Ed’s Outriders. In the shooting phase the Organ Gun crewman busied himself charging the barrels while the Bolt Thrower finally found its mark and killed two Outriders from the unit hiding behind the wood on the opposite side of the table. The Runelord tried to slow them with the Rune of Wrath and Ruin but once again he mistruck, and would spend the rest of the game recovering his wits. In combat the Knights once again broke and ran, losing two of their number for only one casualty in return. The Dwarf pursuit move was typically slow, which was a shame as the General was a very tempting target and a 7 on 2D6 would have been sufficient to see them off aswell. This also left them vulnerable to a heck of a lot of shooting.


Turn 6, Empire: Spurred by desperation at this point, Ed rallied his General’s unit and make a mad land-grab with his other Outrider unit consisting of eight plus the one surviving level two wizard. They exposed themselves to the recharged Organ Gun and Bolt Thrower in the hopes of being able to contest the table quarter. Unfortunately the level two wizard made a grave error when trying to cast a spell which resulted in a strength 6 hit on him and the two men in base contact. Both Outriders were slain, leaving the wizard patting himself down, trying to work out why he was still in one piece… The Hammerers botre the brunt of Ed’s friustrations this turn, losing fully half their number to concentrated fire. This was too much for the doughty warriors and they were put to flight. This piece of luck saved Ed from a more humiliating defeat as it meant his Lord and Outriders were safe.

Turn 6, Dwarfs: At the moment, victory was still a long mile from home, but it was still possible due to Ed’s last minute land-grab and the Wizard’s ineptitude. I quickly rallied my Hammerers, who would spend the last turn contesting a board quarter and little more. The only thing I had to do was unload what shooting remained to me. The order in which I did this was carefully planned. If the Bolt Thrower could penetrate both ranks, this would leave the Wizard and four rank and file, meaning any hits from the Organ Gun would be randomised. With some trepidation I rolled the dice to hit. It came up a six. Both ranks were skewered, meaning the Organ Gun could really win me the game… if only it avoided a misfire! So far the Organ Gun had proved to be distinctly average. Despite a few “what the heck!” re-rolls it had never managed to roll above a four for hits, apart from the single occasion of a six. I was slightly worried that it would choose this turn to misfire. So I rolled the dice and it came up with an EIGHT! WOOHOO! Randomisation put four hits on the wizard and four on the unit. Three Outriders died and, needless to say, the Wizard promptly followed them to the Halls of Morr. The last Outrider saw sense and turned tail.

And with that, we totted up the points. I won by around 450 points making it a minor victory to the Dwarfs, but a victory nevertheless!


Post Game thoughts: As always, Ed suffered in this game because of the terrain and a series of bad decisions. He got lucky with his Steam Tank, and that probably saved him from a massacre, but his wanton use of the Crown of Taidron and his indecisive use of that “expendable” unit of Knights Panther cost him dear in the long run. My own one mistake with the Gyrocopter was unforgivable, but hardly a game breaker, and the Hammerers more than made up for this by tearing their way through the heart of his army… they just couldn’t quite send that rotten Wizard off the board! He and I both thought that this ultimately boiled down to the fact that he lost concentration late in the game, and in general the Fantasy game doesn’t agree with the way he likes to play (he’s more of a 40K player – which is a system I struggle to beat him in). At the end of the day, though, we both had an enjoyable game, and that Crown of Taidron moment will be remembered forever!


Breigor stretched his aching limbs in the afternoon sun, stretching out his arthritic shoulder. Gunder the Gatekeeper approach him with trepidation, wary of the Runesmith's legendary temper.

"We saw them off, Lord."

"As you should have, Gunder, but at what cost?"

Together they surveyed the ruin of the hillside where the bitterest fighting had been fought. Too many doughty warriors lay fallen there, the cost was high indeed. Breigor turned back to the runefang where it lay atop the anvil. It was worth it!

Dwarfs vs Vampire Counts 2000 points

Warhammer Fantasy Battle Report summary:-

"The skellies took the bait and charged, resulting in two set-the-stone reactions."
(some useful lessons to be learned)

source : bugmansbrewery.com

credit : Karzaki_Darstok

09-Jan-2009

Vampire Counts Army List

Level 4 Vamp w/ Master of the Dark Arks, Lord of the Dead, Skull Staff
Level 1 Vamp w/ Black Periapt
Wight King w/ BSB, Nightmare, Magic Standard (Regeneration on unit)
18 Grave Guard w/ great weapons, full command, banner of Strigos (all characters here)
18 Grave Guard w/ shields, full command, banner of +1 to hit
10 Skeletons w/ spears, shields, full command
10 Skeletons w/ hand weapons, shields, full command
10 Skeletons w/ hand weapon shields
3 Cairn Wraiths

Dwarf Army List

Lord w/ OS, GW, RoKragg the Grim, RoFury, RoFire, RoStone, RoPreservation
Thane w/ BSB, OS, RoCleaving, RoFire, MroGromril, RoPreservation
Runesmith w/ shield, MroSpellbinding, RoStone
Runesmith w/ shield, RoSpellbreaking x2, RoStone
17 Hammerers w/ shields, standard, musician, RoDetermination (Lord here)
17 Hammerers w/ shields, standard, musician, RoCourage, RoDetermination (BSB here)
10 Quarrellers
10 Quarrellers
10 Quarrellers
Grudge Thrower w/ RoAccuracy, RoFire
Bolt Thrower w/ Engineer, RoFire
Bolt Thrower w/ Engineer, Flaksson’s RoSeeking, RoFire
Gyrocopter


Terrain:My luck was out from the start as Mark was able to choose deployment zones. He took the side that was the most favourable to my army, with fairly open terrain and a hill. Ideally I would have wanted to go there in order to castle up around the hill. Instead I got the side with a building demarkating the left third of the table from the centre and a hill in the opposite position, just edging into my deployment area… not very good for me.

Deployment: he deployed his screening unit of skeletons centrally in a long line. Behind these went both units on Grave Guard, the right one would play host to all three of Mark’s characters. To either side of the screen went the other units of skellies and the Wraiths deployed behind a wood to the right of his army.

I was forced to string my Quarrellers out, two units in lines with a clear view of his army with the Grudge Thrower in between and flanked by the bolties. My Hammerer units deployed to either side of this line, a bit further apart than I would have liked. The other unit of Quarrellers stood in ranks ready to move up onto the hill, which would put them much further forward than I wouold have liked. Things are already looking very awkward by this stage. My Lord went in the left hand unit, the Thane BSB in the right. My Runesmiths both joined War Machine crews, one with the left hand boltie and one with the Grudge Thrower. The Gyro went central as far forward as it would go.


Turn 1:

At least I was able to roll high for first turn, even considering Mark had +1 for finishing his deployment first. I took the opportunity to move my Quarrellers up onto the hill with the Hammerers moving through to their left. The Gyro sat in front of the screening unit.

My guess with the Stone Thrower was good, could have been better as it landed smack bang on the guy behind the Vampire General (with scatter re-roll paying dividends). One of the bolties also managed to draw line of sight after the screening skellies were thinned by the two Quarreller units and the Gyro, while the other had to go for the other unit of Grave Guard. In tota

I think four went down in the general’s unit while two went down in the other. Mark managed to replace these losses in his turn while also bulking out the two flanking skelly units and the screen. He declared a charge on the Gyro with the screening unit and the left hand Grave Guard units, from which I fled, meaning failed charges for the centre of his line, but leaving the flanking units free to march.


Turn 2:

The Gyro rallied and swooped in behind the right hand side skeleton unit, ready to steam the Grave Guard’s front rank and force a few “Look out, sir!” tests for what it was worth. A bit more shuffling was required on my right flank, resulting in another turn of the Quarrellers there not firing. I was really struggling to consolidate my position on that flank. In shooting, the Grudge Thrower misfired and, you guessed it, exploded, leaving the Runesmith gawping at the tangle of blood spattered wreckage. That could have gone better! Other damage was minimal, but succeeded in forcing Mark to regenerate wounds in his magic phase rather than casting more offensive magic. The shooting phase wasn’t completely uneventful, though, as my left hand bolt thrower was just able to draw line of sight to the level 1 Vamp in the Grave Guard unit. As he was the only model they could see in that unit, the hit went onto him and he failed his first “Look out, sir!” roll. The vampire was well and truly staked! How appropriate. Also, almost as amazingly, the Gyro’s steam cannon put a wound on the army general… I dunno how that happened! Nevertheless, this wound was promtply replaced in Mark’s ensuing magic phase (I was unable to stop it). The highlights of Mark’s turn were the wraith’s charging my Gyro, but only managing to wound it once. Because we were even on unit strength I wouldn’t auto-break, and promptly passed my break test. The Gyro might be dead soon, but for now he was still doing the job of march blocking Mark’s main offensive line.

The mistake I made in this turn was placing my Gyro poorly. I hadn’t counted on the 12” charge range of the Wraiths and a flee reaction would have taken the Gyro through the Grave Guard unit, destroying it. My magical defences were just about managing to divert all Mark’s power dice into regenerating his units, although at this stage not much of his offensive magic was in range anyway. I was gutted about the Stone Thrower, but these things happen. With a couple more turns of firing this baby I could have really put the hurt on.


Turn 3:

This turn was fairly uneventful. My shooting whittled away at his General’s Grave Guard and screening skellies, but up to now I wasn’t managing to do enough damage to really make Mark worry too much. In this turn I marched both Hammerer units out towards the middle of the table, presenting flanks to both skelly units. They were still quite a way apart from each other, meaning a wide gap between them (and no BSB re-rolls for my General if he should take the bait), but time was running out. The wraiths had managed to wound the Gyro again in their last turn, but were still tied up. This time they finished it off, leaving Mark’s Grave Guard free to march in his turn.

The skellies took the bait and charged, resulting in two set-the-stone reactions. The Grave Guards units advanced, wheeling towards the Hammerers for charges next turn (or this if he managed the use the Dance Macabre). The Wraiths jumped over his general’s unit to cover them from a flank shot at his general’s unit from one of my bolties, but the other was open to my second. In combat, the Lord issued his challenge, only for it to be declined. The Hammerers on the left lost this first combat due to fluffed rolls for me both in the hurting stakes and the armour saves I was forced to make, fortunately the unit held firm. I’d opted to use hand-weapon shield with the unit while my Lord used his great weapon. On the other side I issued another challenge, which was similarly declined. Winning the combat by a small margin had very little effect on this combat.

So the scene was set for the rest of the game. Mark was determined to take down my two big blocks, he’d well and truly taken the bait. The only thing he had left to take out the rest of my army were the Wraiths, who looked set to join the combat with the BSB. I’d succeeded in limiting Mark’s heavy hitters to three turns of combat, not ideal, but at least he was committed. I just had to hope my stubborn troops could hold on and deal out enough damage to win the game. Unfortunately, Mark’s tactic of putting all his eggs in the one basket by placing all his characters in the heaviest hitting Grave Guard Unit (with regenerate) was a sound tactic. He only had to kill one of my units to win…


Turn 4:

Movement this turn was nonexistent for me. Two of my Quarrellers unloaded on the General’s Guard unit, while the other attempted to strip a rank from the other unit headed for my General. They hit loads (as they are wont to do) but casualties were minimal. The left hand bolt thrower took town a Wraith while the other took the flank shot on the Grave Guard, removing that rank but only killing two to do so. Combat was fairly stale, both my units won, resulting in more crumblage, but Mark had increased these unit’s to at least 20 strong before they charged in (I had pretty much allowed him to do so, saving my dispel dice for other things) so they stuck around in both cases.

In Mark’s turn he charged both Grave Guard units in and moved the remaining Wraiths around to to the BSB’s flank so that he could get them both in with their great weapons (otherwise he’s only get one). My BSB challenged and took a wound from the Grave Guard Champion before summarily dispatching him. The Unded won this round and I failed my first break test, but passed on the re-roll. That was tense. The Vamps had done a reasonable amount of damage for not much in return. The Lord swung the other combat with overkill. Mark threw the Grave Guard champion in on the offchance that he was able to get a killing blow (which wouldn’t matter as the Lord and BSB were both immune). There was quite a substantial crumble on the skelly unit (which was provided rank bonuses), but the Grave Guard were within BSB range so lost slightly less.

I made a major mistake in this turn, and that was failing to move my Quarrellers up to support the Hammerers. My central boys should have ranked up and moved forward, allowing the bolties to shuffle around ready for next turn. I allowed myself to get fixated on the units that were still in the open, where the damage would have been minimal anyway. My desire to shoot hampered my original plan when I should have just sucked it up and sacrificed the extra shots. In the long run they had very little effect on the game. Sure, Mark’s Wraiths could have taken their pick of targets, but rank and outnumber would stand in my favour in any one of them and that would leave the others free to move in.


Turn 5:

With very little to shoot I was dying to move my Quarrellers up to support the two combat’s swinging the grind in my favour. Unfortunately to do so would have meant blocking my Bolt Thrower’s lines of sight to thw Wraiths. Only the unit on the hill had any scope, so they angled towards the flank of the right hand skeleton unit. Everyone else just ranked up, while the Runesmiths joined the Quarreller units closest to them. In combat the grind continued. My Lord was consistently beating up the Skeleton Champion with massive overkill bonuses and his Grave Guard seemed incapable of rolling any killing blows, meaning they Lord’s unit was winning combat consistently. If only I could stop him regenerating those units these boys were in with a chance of outgrinding their foes. The other combat didn’t go so well. In my turn we held on by the skin of our teeth, but in Mark’s turn he managed to slay my BSB (he was only wounded twice all game, but of course he failed his save on both occasions). This was all too much for the Hammerers and they broke, only to be run down by both units.

My bad luck was Mark’s misfortune in this turn, but I also made a critical error yet again. Knowing that I had no re-roll to fall back on I should have used my Rune of Determination for an auto-hold. This could have meant the different between losing and drawing the game – at this stage there wasn’t much I could do to force the win in my favour. This combined with my other mistakes earlier in the game were a welcome gift for Mark’s Vampire Counts.


Turn 6:

I had to do what I could to win some points back, though things were looking grim by now. My right hand side Quarrellers had a sweet flank on the skelly unit that had just run down my Hammerers. Passing their fear test saw them crash in and win the combat substantively, reducing them to about 10 or 11 models. The Lord carried on the good work he was doing, but Mark finally managed to make some killing blow rolls to reduce this unit below half strength, they didn’t break though. My bolt throwers finished off the wraiths, scoring two sweet hits and causing enough wounds to wipe the unit out. In Mark’s turn he debated using Van Hel’s to get his vampire lord into the other main combat or charging the closest unit of Quarrellers. In the end he went for the Quarrellers, reasoning that I might choose to flee and he could then use the Dance to move his characters. Obviously I chose to hold, as that was the only way I had any chance of denying him full points for the unit and the character. A slim chance, but a chance nevertheless. He killed five Dwarfs and wounded the Runesmith, netting him half points even before the break test… so it was all down to that elusive roll for Insane Bravery! DOUBLE ONE!!! The doughty lads succeeded where the Hammerers had failed and that without the aid of any poxy runes!

With that combat over all that remained was to total up the points.


Victory Points

Mark scored 1322 from me, while I scored 750 from him, making it a 572 difference and a Minor Victory for the Vampire Counts.


Post Game Summary:

In this game I suffered from a number of deficiencies. First of all my deployment area didn’t really suit my army. Perhaps I should have sacrificed some of my shooting in order to have a more cohesive formation from the beginning. My shooting, while fairly lacklustre, did succeed in diverting most of Mark’s power dice into supporting his unit strength, but I have gained some experience in what to let through and what to stop. And that, at the end of the day was my biggest disadvantage: my lack of experience in fighting the Undead. Here is a summary of what I learned:

Selective dispel: some spells can be allowed to get through, others should be stopped if at all possible. Mark’s Skeletons were his main source of rank bonuses, focusing my efforts here rather than on the Grave Guard may have paid dividends. The fact that he had +2 to his attempts to raise Skeletons made it more difficult, and so I was inclined to put my dice where they would have more chance. This may have been a mistake.

A cannon or two with the RoBurning would have allowed me to force more “Look out, sir!” tests on his general (and he failed a couple during the early turns

This could have won me the game before combat was even joined.
Missile troops are little more than a distraction vs the Undead, a third combat block would have given me an enormous advantage. It’s the War Machines that deal out the damage.

All in all it was still an enjoyable game, it had it’s highlights for me with the Gyrocopter lasting a lot longer than it should have, the Vampire getting staked in turn 2 and that Insane Bravery roll in the final turn. My limited experience vs the Undead has generally been of a rather dull grinding match, but Mark is a great opponent and this was his first victory against Dwarfs EVER! So a great game was had by all.

If only my Hammerers hadn’t run away…

Warriors (Hordes) of Chaos vs Dwarfs 2000 points

Warhammer Fantasy Battle Report summary:-

"Freed from the confines of its earthly existence, the Dragon soared over to sit at the end of my long line of Thunderers." (plain, simple, informative battle reporting)

source : bugmansbrewery.com

credit : Karzaki_Darstok

08-Jan-2009

Had a really enjoyable game against a sterling opponent this saturday. I fear it was a bit of a bad matchup for him, but we had fun anyway. I'm currently trying to fine-tune my tournament army. Here are the lists (I'm a bit vague on what he had, wargear wise):

Dwarf Army

Runelord w/ Anvil of Doom, Shield, MRoBalance, RoSpellbreaking, RoStone
Thane BSB w/ MRoGromril, RoFury, RoCleaving, RotFurnace
19 Longbeards w/ FCG, RoStoicism, RoBattle
25 Warriors w/ FCG
12 Hammerers w/ FCG, Shields, RoBattle
10 Quarrellers w/ Shields
10 Thunderers w/ Shields
8 Miners
Bolt Thrower w/ Engineer, RoPenetration
Organ Gun
Gyrocopter

Chaos Army (Hordes of Chaos edition 6)

Lord w/ Mark of Khorne, Armour of Damnation, Dragon
Hero w/ Mark of Khorne, Crimson Armour of Dargan
Hero w/ Mark of Khorne, wargear unknown
12 Warriors w/ Mark of Khorne, Additional hand weapons
12 Warriors w/ Mark of Khorne, Additional hand weapons
12 Warriors w/ Mark of Khorne, Additional hand weapons
16 Beastmen (half and half, no command)
5 Warhounds
5 Warhounds

Deployment

He deployed his warrior units in an evenly spaced line with fairly spacious gaps in between them, I'll refer to them by their positions (left, middle and right). He also put his two dogs units behind the woods, one on the extreme right flank and the other ready to go around the other side. The beastmen took the extreme left flank to move up behind a hill and the Dragon went behind a wood on the right.

My units deployed deep, Hammerers faced off against the beastmen with the Quarrellers to their right, angled slightly inward and with the Anvil behind them. The organ gun deploy to their right with the Warriors next in line. The bolt thrower sat in between the Warriors and the Longbeards in roughly the centre of my board edge. The Thunderers deployed opposite the wood on the far right, angled slightly inward. The Gyro sat in frot of them, pushed as far forward as it could go.

We then rolled for first turn and he took it, which was fine by me as it would mean I had range with all my guns.


Turn 1 - Chaos

Predictably uneventful. Most units moved their maximum march move forward, being keen to get to grips woith my line. The dogs on the right moved up as far as they could without going into the woods (the gap was slightly too narrow for them and warhounds do not have the fast cavalry rule to allow them to squeeze through). The dragon moved right up to sit behind the wood, facing it.

My opponent made his first mistake here with the dragon. Angling it the way he did meant it was effectively blind. Facing it inward to overlook the van of his army would have made it more difficult for the Gryo to match-block him.


Turn 1 - Dwarfs

I was looking forward to a juicy shooting phase, but had to be patient as there was some important movement to be done first. The Gyrocopter pilot swallowed a bravery pill and landed next to the dragon, march-blocking the Dragon, right warriors and the inner-most dogs and safe from counter charges. I knew he'd have to take a terror test, but was willing to take that chance, I made sure that the angle of flight was safe from any cross-fire nonsense if he scarpered.

In the shooting phase, the Gyro broiled two warhounds. The Thunderers killed two dogs in the other unit, forcing them to run off the table. All other shooting weas concentrated on the central unit of warriors, it was reduced to five men. Pretty good if I do say so myself. Finally, the Runelord struck the Rune of Wrath and Ruin, targeting the Dragon, primarily to prevent it from flying but causing a wound as an added bonus.


Turn 2 - Chaos

Once again, keen to close the gap and get fighting, my opponent's infantry marched as quickly as it could straight up the middle, apart from those units that were march blocked. The Beastmen, wary of the Organ Gun, stayed behind the hill. The Dragon turned its attentions to the Gyrocopter, using both breath weapons but failing to cause any wounds.

I was happy to let my opponent keep his Dragon out of sight behind the wood as it meant I could concentrate more of my shooting on the warrior units. As long as I kept it from flying my line was fairly safe from the marauding monster.


Turn 2 - Dwarfs

A little more movement this turn, the Hammerers shuffled forwards to a point just outside the Beastmen's charge range. The Gyro, after having passed his terror check, moved into a more central position to steam some warriors and march block almost the entire infantry line (all but the unit that had been march blocked the turn before, keeping the line nice and even).

This time my shooting managed to reduce the centrasl unit to just a champion and also reduced the left warrior unit as well. Unfortunately the Runelord's arm wavered and he mistruck the Rune of Wrath and Ruin, but he'd be okay for next turn.

Well, I could have done without the Anvil misfire, but all told not too bad a turn. The one thing I could have done differently was to move the Hammerers forward to receive the Beastman unit sooner, as they were sure to bounce. However, at this stage I had no idea what was in the unit, so caution won out.


Turn 3 - Chaos

Freed from the confines of its earthly existence, the Dragon soared over to sit at the end of my long line of Thunderers while pretty much everything else (except the right warrior unit) was march blocked. The dragon's breath attacks took a mighty seven of my Thunderers down, but the remaining few passed their panic check without recourse to the Old Grumblers rule.


Turn 3 - Dwarfs

This turn was likely to be critical. Target priority would be the key to unlocking certain victory, provided everything worked as it should. First of all, the Gyro headed off to thin out the Beastman herd and give them an alternative charge (one that I would likely escape, therefore keeping the beastmen out of combat for an additional turn). Secondly the Hammerers shuffled back a bit, making the Beastman charge just that little bit iffier, especially if I could kill off some of the Gors with steam. Last, but far from least, the Longbeards reformed to ensure the dragon was in their frontal arc, just in case the Runelord forgot himself again. By the way, the Thunderers passed their terror check.

The steam took down three Gors and an Ungor. The Beastmen passed their panic check. The Organ Gun, too far away to touch the Dragon, unloaded on the left warriors unit but misfired. The minor malfunction would not prevent it from shooting next turn. Instead, the Quarrellers took up the slack, killing four. The Bolt Thrower also opted to go for this target, reducing the unit down to the hero. The three Thunderers killed another warhound causing the last one to flee. It would be unable to rally due to being under 25%. Once again the Runelord prevented the dragon from flying, but it was bearing down on the poo thunderers.

I was still not overly afraid of the dragon during this turn. The worst it could do in the chaos player's turn, had my Runelord not performed his duty, was charge the Longbeards in the font or the Thunderers in the flank (and an overrun would then have carried it into the front of my Longbeards). I knew that even a Khorne Lord on a dragon would struggle to hold out alone against the ranked up unit of Dwarf veterans, especially as my static resolution was 7). Often the sight of this kind of monstrosity scares a player into making mistakes. With the Anvil of Doom to help me out I knew that it was only so much use, so I wasn't falling for any psychological tricks.


Turn 4 - Chaos

Things were looking grim for the infantry line as they advanced through a hail of bullets and quarrels. The Beastmen, after briefly considering the Gyrocopter, plumped for the Hammerers instead and were found to be in range. Likewise, the central warrior champion was compelled to charge the unit of 25 ranked up warriors in front of him. Meanwhile the Dragon moved 6" towards the longbeards but was still too distant to hurt them. He opted instead to breath on the Thunderers, reducing them to one doughty dawi, who stoically passed his panic check. The right warriors unit would be in a position to charge the Longbeards next turn.

In combat, the Beastmen took two Hammerers down before losing four of their own number to the greathammer-wielding bodyguards. They ran, easily escaping the Dwarfs, who were stopped in their tracks by a Khornate hero jumping up and shouting "Boo for the Blood God!" The lone champion tried his best to kill a Dwarf, unfortunately by this point he was too frnezied and all his attacks went wide. Being such a big scary warrior it was plain that my boys didn't want to go anywhere near him, so we won on static resolution alone to send him packing. Again we failed to catch him, but he wouldn't be coming back so was removed from play.

In hindsight, it was probably extremely foolish to pursue as the warriors opened themselves up for a probable flank charge from the last remaining unit of chaos warriors. However, it proved to be a turning point of the game. My Longbeards would otherwise have got those warriors in the face along with a Dragon Lord, whereas he just couldn't resist that juicy looking flank...


Turn 4 - Dwarfs

Not much happened in this turn as my Dwarf Warriors were now blocking line of sight to the last remaining Chaos Warriors unit, and they didn't have nearly enough movement to get themselves out of the way. I think I also forgot to turn this unit, but again, that played in my favour in the long run. The only events of note were the Bolt Thrower putting a wound on the Dragon, who was again prevented from flying, and my Hammerers losing combat with the Hero. Basically, he challenged and I failed my leadership test for the Crimson Armour, he then tore the champio a new one with plenty of overkill and won the combat. My Dawi stoically passed their stubborn break test (just imagine if my roll for the Crimson Armour had actually been my break test - that would have hurt).


Turn 5 - Chaos

The right warriors unit couldn't pass up the flank charge, from which I tentatively fled, hoping we'd escape. I rolled a 5 and we carefully measured the warrior's wheel. The dwarfs escaped, barely, meaning it was a failed charge. The dragon moved in to breath on the Longbeards, killing four. In combat, the Khornate hero finally folded and fled. The Hammerers held position.

In my opinion the dragon and warriors should have ganged up on the Longbeards here. They probably would have won, netting them 468 victory points and two captured standards. The last turn might have been uneventful as they would likely have pursued off the table, but it might have prevented the massacre to come...


Turn 5 - Dwarfs

Finally my Miners deigned to arrive, lining up behind the dragon lord. Everyone that had to test passed their terror checks and the warriors rallied. The Longbeards turned to face the dragon. In shooting, the Organ Gun opened up on the warriors, destroying the whole unit after I rolled up 10 hits and all of them wounded. The quarrellers missed the lone hero, fleeing for his life, but the Engineer had his eye in and skewered him with a perfect long range hit. Finally the Anvil was struck once more, this time with the Rune of Oath and Honour, spurring the Longbeards into combat with the Dragon. The Thane directed his attacks at the Lord, but due to the Armour of Damnation he failed to hit. The Longbeards, however, managed to put a wound on the dragon, making my final resolution up to 7. In return, the Dragon and Lord had some appallingly average rolls and only managed to kill three in return. Testing at -4 on Ld 9, the Chaos Lord fled only to be destroyed by the Miners.

With that done, the game was over and only dwarfs remained on the board.

I don't think I've every had such a comprehensive massacre, except maybe once or twice. I think I made a couple of small errors, but not as many as my opponent, who was limited in his response, but could have pulled a turn 5 coup-de-grace to my longbeards with a bit more forethought. Nevertheless, it was an enjoyable game and my opponent didn't much mind the result, this was after all a fairly poor matchup for him. Post game the store manager said that Khorne vs Dwarf shooty armies was usually a foregone conclusion, but I didn't think I had a particularly shooty force, it's just that my rolls were probably a little above average to usual. That combined with the anvil makes for a devastating game.