Total War: Warhammer Dwarfs vs OnG game play

As release day gets closer, The makers of Total War have released some pre Alpha game play of the Dwarfs gaining a narrow victory over the Orcs and Goblins.

I can see myself losing several months of hobby time exploring this game. 

It still does my head in that this game is being released after Games Workshop canned WHFB. There was a large influx of 40k players from the Dawn of War series, and one would expect that Total Wars offering would have had a similar effect... 

Oh! My bad. I forgot that Games Workshop don't make games, its a model company...

Classic Tui add there.

NZTC Recap - Day 1

So a few weeks ago New Zealands WHFB community descended on an unsuspecting hall in our capital city for the first inarguable New Zealand Team Championship, and what a success it was!

Huge thanks to Pete for organising this event!

I was invited to attend by some friends in Christchurch, on the condition I would captain the team. Alan, Damon, Mike and I rocked into the capital with Empire, Lizardmen, Orcs and Goblins, and my new army Chaos Dwarfs. 

Our army composition was not really based around any great strategy as a team. It was more a case of Mike was bringing Orcs and Goblins regardless, Alan only had Empire, Damon wanted to bring Wood Elves, leaving me to fill any perceived gaps. Mike had a list that he refused to change, not for a lack of trying by the rest of the team! Alan only managed to paint up 4 chickens, and after some discussion at Guardcon last year, Damon opted for pink lizards! over the woodies. This left our team with two armies which where more conservative in approach, and one that should be a good kicker for short wins, (despite its lack of Doom Divers...). We really needed something that could chase the big wins, so I took the opportunity to try out my Chaos Dwarfs. I geared the build to specifically take on Daemons, as I suspected most teams would roll out triple letter lists. It gave the build some inherent difficulties playing cannons, which also meant avoiding Ogres, which would be another big contender.

So Round one we drew Cut the Mustard. We thought this was favourable to us, but the one problem was the Ogres. 2 cannons meant the CD needed to avoid Ogres. However the other three armies that was a favourable matchup. 

We ended up with the following:

Chaos Dwarfs vs Vampire Counts

Orcs & Goblins vs Daemons

Empire vs Ogres

Lizards vs Wood Elves

Mike got a solid victory going 12-8 over the Daemons. Damon scrapped out a 13-7 win despite not being able to finish everything off. Alan got overrun by the Ogres 0-20. We really thought he had the big high strength blocks to win combats. I pulled a lucky 18-2 win over the VC. I managed to double flank the infantry blocks and used the artillery to decimate them before wiping them out on the charge. A good round overall and a nice first outing for the Evil Stunties (it was my first game ever with them!)

We finish the round 43-37. We where looking for more here but didnt expect the complete collapse of the Empire/Ogre match. 

Second round was drawn and one of the harder matchups came to fore. We got the Nerdymen and what was going to be not the best round. My Chaos Dwarfs needed to avoid Rory's VC, his bus and general would just steamroll my entire army by itself. Nobody else wanted to face the Daemons so that was the perfect match. Mike got the Warriors which was a good match, and we threw Alan to the Ogres again. Hopefully this time he would have some better luck and get a draw which his army should be capable of. This left Damon to the VC, and with lore of Metal and being able to pass off miscast to Rory's lord, we thought we had got a good round of matchups.

Chaos Dwarfs vs Daemons

Lizardmen vs Vampire Counts

Orcs & Goblins vs High Elves

Empire vs Ogres

Once again Alan had a terrible game against the Orges. He really needed a second unit of Chickens. Some more terrible luck but managed to conserve 1 point with a 1-19 loss. Mike played a great game again and only went down 9-11. With some doom divers he could have collected a 12-8 win easy, well not according to him anyway. Damon's stratergy collapsed and the Knight Bus got through unmolested. I had a fairly easy game with a really favourable matchup. Daemons de-materialised to the artillery, I held up the blocks and worked one at a time, finishing them off with double charges by the Taurus and Kdaai. 19-1 to me

We finished round to going down 35-45. Not to bad, definitely could have been worse. If we had the right build (read Doom Divers) we would have tried to get Orcs vs the VC, giving Lizards the Ogres. 

Round three and half way through the long day. Kapiti Krushers pop up on our radar and another challenge for our team. We angled my Evil Stunties to the Daemons again, nobody wanting to take on the triple letter hoard but me. We tried to get Mike the mirror match, and put him and Alan up vs the Orcs. Damon took the match vs the Darkies in the end

Chaos Dwarfs vs Daemons

Lizardmen vs Dark Elves

Orcs & Goblins vs Warriors of Chaos 

Empire vs Orcs & Goblins

All in all a good draw. Only thing we really wanted to change was swapping the matches for Mike and Damon. Cant have everything go our own way however. I had another great game, controlling the board from the beginning of the game and working on one letter hoard after another. 19-1 win to me. Damon had a terrible turn of events in the last turn or so, with a critical combat that should have been in his favour turning against him with him going down 3-17 instead of the opposite number. Massive last turn swings thanks to mindrazor... Mike didn't have any luck in his match either, with the Warriors of Chaos being to fast for his army and taking the flanks and the eventual victory 1-19. Alan on the other hand took a steady hand and notched up 14-6 win against the Orcs. 

So this round finished with our team losing the round by three points 37-43. Thanks mindrazor! Not.

So we go into the last round of the very long day. We havn't gone down big in any round but havn't managed to climb out from practical draws. Seams we are not the only ones. The team games have a away of evening things out it appears. Team OMEN is next in our crosshairs and we are looking to get this one right. Once again I looked to avoid the VC list with its Vampire of Doom, and the Empire list with all its cannons. We thought the OnG would be a good match here despite the lack of Doom Divers. We aimed to get the mirror match with Alan. The round broke down to the follwoing:

Chaos Dwarfs vs High Elves

Lizardmen vs Dark Elves

Orcs & Goblins vs Vampire Counts

Empire vs Empire

I was not looking forward to this. Not only was it the 4th game of the day, I had managed only 5 hours sleep the last night. I turtled and threw some dice about not expecting much, as the High Elf match was not good for my list. But when James failed a few charges, and I managed to kill his dragon with rockets, things looked up a little. My Infernal Guard dealt to his BSB on eagle who was left to fend for himself thanks to the failed charges, and my hobgoblin archers shot the High Elf general that was now dragonless after fending off eagles in combat! Not only that, James fluffed the white lions combat vs the K'daai, allowing it to got on a rampage. I still don't know how I got a 19-1 win. Damn lucky dice. Alan and Joels Empire off resulted in a predictable 9-11, with Mike leaping to new strengths pulling a nice win from the VC 13-7. Damon discovered the Cold One Bus was immune to his magic but despite than managed to get the 11-9 win. 

The round finished as a nice, although unexpected win 52-28 to us. Great way to finish the day. We had gone in thinking 40 would be nice. Luck still has a lot to do with this game 

So day one ended with us on a grand total of 167 points. I think this was top half of the table. Not to bad considering our lists. Like I said I thought we would be gunning for 5th to 6th place and was happy to with our first day haul. We headed off home very tired and hungry. We all had a sneaking suspicion we would be playing the Von Trapp family next round...

NZTC - team Shaken, not Stirred

Well its the first of the month and we are now two weeks away from the first ever New Zealand Team championships! So you know what that means. Smack talk time....

There are 10 teams entered into the event, to be held in Wellington on the 16th and 17th of February. There are some very strong partnerships attending including a combo from across the ditch. I welcome our Kangaroo cousins to the bottom of the tables...

Having been invited into a team and promptly made captain, I present to you:

Shaken not Stirred:

Our first team member is Alan Redmond, which will arrive in all his glory, leading the grand army of the Empire to a tabletop near you. With a  couple of lazy cannons and some chickens he is sure to keep the local population happy.

Mike Stewart is our second team member. Hailing from the swampy badlands outside of Christchurch at the head of a Savage Hoard of Orcs and Goblins, he is eyeing up last nights dinner whilst holding onto the chains of his pet squigs

Damon Quaid rounds out the last of our Christchurch compnent to our team, fresh from the Southern Jungles on New Zealand. Damon has been working on multiple new poisons for his skinks all the time contemplating what pie to eat for breakfast for the last 4000 years. 

And lastly there is me. My legion of Dawi Zharr is coming for you. I am short of slaves down here in the desolate plains of the south and I drag behind me devastating weapons powered by the damned themselves whilst riding to war atop a daemon of fire and fury.

Latest FW News Letter - Warhammer Forge Update

Warhammer Forge Newsletter # 34

11/01/13

	Hi there,             Over the past few months we’ve had some great Warhammer Forge releases, most on a monstrous scale! This week we’re going to shrink things down a little with the release of a new resin character set for the malicious and spiteful Night Goblins, which is available to pre-order now. Night Goblin Command Set Prevalent throughout the Old World, the Night Goblins of the Worlds Edge Mountains have developed into a sun-hating sub-species of the greenskin race. Considered particularly vicious and cruel for their kind, they are infamous for their cultivation of dangerously hallucinogenic fungus and their skill at rearing the bizarre and improbable Cave Squigs. Individually cowardly, when Night Goblins gather in massed ranks they are renowned for their maliciousness, and it is the Night Goblin Warbosses and Big Bosses that most epitomise this bullying spite, having risen to their position through treachery and backstabbing. In battle it is common for one of a Warboss’s underlings to be given a tattered, filthy and terribly ostentatious battle standard. Unlike the proud colours carried by other armies, the primary function of this banner is not as a symbol to rally around, but instead to boast of the power and majesty of the Warboss himself. The most powerful (or most foolhardy) of these warlords sometimes ape the heroes of other races, and ride to battle on Great Cave Squigs, hand-reared at the cost of many dozens of Night Goblin handlers. The natural ferocity and toughness of these obnoxious beasts is also often augmented by crude armour plating, bolted and nailed to the Squig’s thick hide. Night Goblin Shamans are sinister and crazed individuals, due to their consumption of huge quantities of the powerfully hallucinogenic fungus for which the Night Goblins are renowned. Their spells are malicious and spiteful, much like the Goblins themselves, and often accompanied by unnecessary additional effects such as puffs of oddly coloured smoke, obnoxious smells, and overly loud bangs. The Night Goblin Command Set, designed by Keith Robertson, contains three multi-part resin models: a Night Goblin Warboss on Great Cave Squig, a Night Goblin Boss carrying a Battle Standard, and a Night Goblin Shaman. All are packed with fantastic and characterful details, from the severed beards and skulls of slain Dwarfs, to the heroic, martial pose of the Warboss and the malicious grin of the Squig he’s riding, to the sign of the ‘bad moon’ forming in the smoke billowing from the mouth of the Shaman. This fantastic character set is available to pre-order now for despatch from Friday 25th January. Thanks, Ead Brown Customer Service Manager Forge World

Guardcon 2012 - Battle Reports Day 2

Its day 2 and I arrive early (those that know me would realize what a feat this is) and hang around talking till the round starts.

As mentioned this is a custom scenario that the tournament organiser has developed. I presume it has arisen from some sort of hate towards the watchtower, and this has come to be some sort of intermediate. Seriously the watchtower isn’t that bad guys. Can’t move the unit in the watchtower? Just ignore it and apply your superior numbers to wipe out the rest of the opposition!

Now the basis of King of the Hill is there is a hill in the centre of the board, and then it is basically like watchtower, ie you need to hold/capture the hill. It is worth 400vp at the end of the game so significant enough to swing a game. Now the problem comes is that the scenario favours a few armies far more than others, and several problems came about such as charging off the hill first turn, something you cannot do in watchtower. IMO this makes the scenario very unbalanced and I don’t think it has any place in the tournament scene in its current form. Just use the book scenarios guys. There not that bad! At least everyone knows what to expect… /end rant =)

Game 4 – Ogres – Simon Kwok

Scenario: King of the Hill

Now, onto the game… Simon’s Ogres consisted of a large unit of 9 Ironguts that get loaded with characters, 6 bulls, an 8 man unit of Maneaters also with an assortment of characters, 2 units of Mournfang, a single Ironblaster, and the standard 3x1 Sabretusk’s. Now, Orges are a hard matchup at the best of times, and drawing the worst scenario to face them against is pretty much icing on the cake. Having not rolled Purple Sun on my death mage, I went into the game very conservatively, and would be relying on the first few turns magic/ranged fire to decide the outcome.

Simon won the roll off and gained the hill. He deployed the 6 Bulls on the hill. He then deployed the rest of his army single file, trying to mitigate any advantage I might gain from my catapults. His Mournfang went to either flank and everything deployed 6” or more apart. I could see this was going to be a very ‘gamey’ game. I deployed centre left with the Tomb Guard closest to the hill, and the rest of my forces staggered and trailing of to a castled deployment. I refused the right flank except for the chariots, which would provide a delaying action or simply finish off any loose ends out on the flank, then support the TG with a flank charge.

So I automatically get first turn, and started by correcting some angles in my movement phase, and positioning horse archers to be as annoying as possible. Having an inherently defensive build my greatest chance would happen in the magic and shooting phase. With low dice I pushed light of death, with one making it through, however thanks to Ld 9 with rerolls it had little effect. My catapults also missed the intended target of the Ironblaster, and my archers failed to make much of an impact on the bulls on the hill. Not a good start. Simon moved all his forces up including the bulls on the hill. He didn’t attempt a charge with them however. The Maneaters made for the hill and the Mournfang ran up my right flank. Simon attempted to fire his Ironblaster which justifiably misfired. The cannon then blew it self up as a result! Huh! Take that most broken cannon in the game. Except the only thing that happens is the thing cant fire for the rest of the game…. Yeah. Broken…

So turn two is more of the same. I get a unit of horse archers in the way of the Ironguts, and that is about all the movement I make. I have another rather unsuccessful magic phase, but manage a few wounds on a Mournfang unit near the centre this time. Shooting is rubbish, however the great bows put a few more wounds on the same Mounrfang the caskets targeted. The 6 man (now 5) Ogre Bulls are still pretty much unscathed. Simon charges into the horse archers with the Ironguts wiping them out, but thanks to some angling reforms instead of overrunning as intended. The Maneaters are now firmly on the hill and almost still at full strength. I’m gauging to see if I can tackle them in a heads up fight.

By the beginning of turn three I’ve decided, mainly thanks to the advancing Ironguts and the position of my army that I am heading towards a major loss, and need to try something to bring the game back in my favour. I commit the Tomb Guard into the Maneaters figuring I can grind them with some luck and magic. I have worked out that a clever placement of horse archers will not only redirect the Ironguts, it will also cause them to be unable to charge my Tomb Guard flank for another turn, and help save my entire left flank from being wrecked. I make it in comfortably and then move the chariots into position to give me a flank charge on the Maneaters if required in turn 4. I manage a smiting on the Tomb Guard but little else. Shooting sees one catapult manages a few wounds on the Ironblaster, and I manage to finish off the Mournfang unit that was damaged earlier with the Ushabti. Close combat was not as rewarding however. I manage to kill a few and receive a lump of casualties back against the Maneaters. It is enough to force a break test on them, but thanks to them being stubborn, they don’t shift. In Simons turn he issues a charge on the Horse Archers with the Ironguts. They get wiped out and he declares an overrun as I had anticipated. As the flank of the Tomb Guard is in front it becomes a declared charge. I then point out it is a failed charge, as Simon has his Ironguts 10 wide, they cannot fit through the gap as they will hit one of my casket of Souls when trying to close the door on the Tomb Guard, or before he even makes contact with them depending on how he try’s to move the Ironguts in. I had pre-measured this in my turn as it is what I had planned. Simon however doesn’t agree, and try’s to demon-straight that he can by repeatedly moving/wheeling the unit. I can’t help but observe that each time he wheels the unit, it moves a little further back and opens a gap to the casket… This may have not been intentional on his behalf, but the result is same. Simon calls the TO over, and he rules to ignore the casket and that Simon can charge. I’m not going to go into this, but this is a very poor call! The resulting combat is decisive and I loose a large proportion of the unit to crumble. It isn’t wiped out yet though.

So turn four starts and I am none to happy. A bad call can ruin a weekend for anyone. I get on with it and try salvage what I can. I try put as much firepower into the Bulls to pick up some extra vp. Simon had gotten a Sbaretusk in the way of my chariot charge into the flank of the Maneaters, essentially cornering them to be wiped out by the Mournfang on the flank. Another disappointing magic phase means I get shut down from regenerating the Tomb Guard unit. All the time I have managed to run my Ushabti out wide on the left flank and they are now hiding in a building. My Hierophant and his unit have moved up behind them in an attempt to save giving away as much vp as I can. I target the Ironblaster with the catapults and Ushabti but luck out. Combat sees the Tomb Guard wiped out allowing reforms all around. The Maneaters remain on the hill with two left, plus the army BSB. Simon charges his Bulls into a 10 man archer unit and wipes them out, overrunning towards a catapult. The Ironguts cannot charge as they are blocked by his own unit. At the end of the turn it looks like a big victory to Simon unless I can finish a few things off…

So turn five starts as the last turn of the game. With nothing on my right flank, the hill firmly in Simons hands, and some Ogre Bulls running through my archery line, things are grim indeed. Idrop out of the building with the Ushabti and move the archers with my Hierophant in instead to safeguard them from any last turn charge. With nothing else to move I try get some magic mojo happening. Light of Death targets the Ironblaster with little success, however I manage to get smiting off on the Ushabti. In my shooting phase I finally get a decent hit! I have targeted the Maneaters and BSB as it’s the most vp that I can gain. The hit kills the BSB outright and causes a further wound on the last two Maneaters, not to mention stripping regeneration off the unit that Simon cast last turn. The champion and standard are each left with one wound, which I promptly strip off with the Ushabti. Success finally! This also has the effect of freeing up the hill. Simon cannot get the Ironguts back onto the hill in his last turn meaning nobody captures it. The final actions of the day are Simon charging the Orge Bulls into a catapult collecting a few more vp for his tally.

Result 9-11 to Simon

Well what can I say? I didn’t enjoy this game from the get go. It was ‘gamey’ starting from deployment, based on a modified scenario that IMO is not balanced, and to top it off, a bad call at a critical moment in the game (IMO) pretty much ruined it for me. Best to forget this one I think. It was always going to be an uphill battle for me, so to come out with 9 points is a rather good result in the end.

Game 5 – Vampire Counts –  Russ

Scenario: Meeting Engagement

Russ turned up with what is looking like a typical VC list in these parts. A Black Knight Bus filled with Vampires, some direwolves, spirit hosts and zombies for chaff, a skittle bunker for a necromancer and a Terrorgiest. I was fairly confident coming into this match. To win the game I knew I had to break the back of the knight bus, but before I could do this I needed to kill the terrorgiest before it rolled a flank. Having formed a rudimentary plan I figured the best option for me would be to set up at maximum distance and let him come to me, giving me the opportunity to manage the size of his army and channel the combats into situations that advantaged me. The end goal being to get a combat between his knight bus and my TG hoard.

Russ deployed his army as far forward as possible but on his hard left. It looked to me to be an attempt at a flanking move aiming to channel everything down my right with the Knights/Terrorgiest leading the way. I deployed in my corner, using some impassable terrain to my advantage to hold a flank. The Tomb Guard where deployed in the centre of my castles front line with the intention of redirecting the knight bus into the front of them. I had my chariots to the north to protect the flank, and artillery in the back.

Turn one starts with me pushing north with most of my horse archers and shooting Russ’s wolfs. I hold most stuff back and target his high value units with my ranged firepower. Caskets target the Knight bus, and catapults target the Terrorgiest with little success. Russ moves his puppies about to try get some use out of them before they die to my bow fire. His knights and terrorgiest move up conservatively and he keeps them in formation with his infantry blocks. A very quick first turn from both sides.

Turn to is more of the same. I shoot stuff, caskets hit the knights and catapults target the terrorgiest, this time casing a few wounds. Horse archers clean up the pups and my chariots swing around to start threatening the flanks. Russ cautiously moves up again. His spirit hosts hold his flank and threaten my horse archers, while he moves forward. He uses his magic to restore some of the knights he has lost. The Terrorgiest moves up and within strike distance next turn.

Turn three begins with me moving a horse archer unit in the way of his knights, angled back towards my Tomb Guard and potentiality setting up a nice flank. It is an obvious trap, but I am playing off Russ being overconfident with them. Catapults target the terrorgiest again, but the damn thing survives a direct hit that causes 1 wound. It has one left now. Russ charges the horse archers with the knights, and his Terrorgiest charges a 10 man archer unit that will redirect off the board. A small error on my behalf, as it predictably cleans up and overruns off the board, denying my catapults a target next turn. The Knights wipe out the horse archers, but refrain from overrunning. This pretty much leaves us in a stalemate centre board.

Turn four sees me looking at alternatives. I figure that all my shooting will do squat to his Ghoul or skeleton blocks, and this leaves his knights bus. Typically strength 3 shots into a 2+ armour save T4 unit isn’t the best option, however I decide to add the firepower to the catapults and Bowshabti. The catapults fire first, collecting 2 between them. Then I fire about 50 bows at the unit. As I fire each unit, and pick up a wound here or there, Russ manages to find every single 1 he can on his dice, resulting in me practically wiping out the knights with strength 3 shooting… I don’t think he is to impressed with his dice and predict some fun with a sledge hammer later that night. There is a champion and standard left in the unit plus a bunch of characters when my bowshabti let off their double shots thanks to smiting. The -3 save has a good impact finishing off the unit and spreading some wounds around the characters. Fun times. This sees Russ split up the characters in his movement phase as they break for cover. Russ chooses to start withdrawing his skeletons with his level 4 necromancer out of harms way. The terrorgiest appears and moves straight towards my artillery, and with a bunch of bravado it screams like the good wife and a catapult falls to bits on me.

Now its turn five and I’m hunting for VP’s. Most of the characters in the knight bus have found cover behind some rocks, limiting my ranged fire. My chariots execute charge into the Ghouls, cutting the numbers down. Movement is spent getting the firing arcs for the death mage and bow fire, but first I need to take care of some business. My remaining catapult hits the Terrorgiest finishing the last wound and removing the threat. I had backed it up with plenty of bowfire as there was nothing else they could shoot. Caskets failed to find their mark vs the closely grouped characters as did my shooting, which only netted the low level necromancer. Russ continues his flight with the skeletons and level 4 necro. I don’t remember exactly how but Russ manages to pick off my Death Priest. The Ghouls crumble some more to the chariots.

Last turn and it is clear I have a victory. It’s a fast turn for me as I only move what archers can shoot at the characters. All my magic is pumped into the characters netting me a few wounds off some, but no kills yet. Bowfire is pitiful and the catapult is wide of the mark. The Chariots finish off the Ghouls however which pretty much ends the game. Russ’s turn is also short as there is not a lot he can do.

The game ends with a win for me.

14-6 to my legions of the dead.

This was a good game for me overall. Russ was a pleasure to play and had turned up with a tidy VC list using the typical Deathstar/Knight bus. The highlights for me were Russ’s Terrorgiest weathering a hell of a lot of firepower, and the strength 3 massacre of the Knight Bus. Once again I struggled to clean up at the end of the game despite the ranged attacks I had. I have always found the new VC book to be a good match for my army. The result puts me back on the top of the table leading into the last game of the tourney.

Game 6 – (Savage) Orcs & (Night) Goblins – Sam Whitt

Scenario: Battleline

Once again we meet in the top table. Sam had turned up with a list very similar to the one he had at Call to Arms. When played right Orc’s and Goblins can be an extremely competitive army, and Sam for certain knows how his works. With a build similar to the one I ran last year I also knew its strengths and weaknesses. Night Goblins with nets, Troll block and Savage Orc Hoard backed by characters, chariots and plenty of war machines, not to mention the manglers. His list would always be a hard match up for mine. I knew I needed to control the early game and remove as many threats as possible. I did not want to get into combat with a full strength Savage Orc bus, so I formed a battle plan around this. Destroy the catapults, doom divers and chariots first, then weaken the Savage Orcs for a late game combat. To do this I would need to isolate the trolls as I couldn’t deal with both at the same time.

With this in mind I deployed in the corner. In a castle. Behind a river. At max range. Heh. I was playing to my strengths as I thought I could out shoot him, and play the late game combat if possible. Ok so I really was reserved about fighting the Savage Orc Hoard. Full strength it has over 50 strength 5 attacks! Sam deployed in a broad battleline as I chose to deploy my horse archers normally, and combined with the small archer units I had enough cheap drops to not give away my deployment. His Savage Orcs took centre stage, flanked by Night Goblins and trolls to either side. Chariots and mangles filled in the gaps with artillery at the rear.

I started turn one after winning the roll off. I spent the turn withdrawing the horse archers back top my lines and nudging a few archers into range of threats like mangers and chariots. My catapults targeted his artillery with mixed success, and both caskets got dispelled. Sam responded with the anticipated forward thrust. I was almost fully deployed on the right corner with a river in between myself and the Orc hoard. The return fire from Sam’s artillery found its mark but failed to take out my scatterpults, instead reducing the number of archers my Hierophant could use as a dead shield. All in all an uneventful first turn all around.

Turn two was much of the same for me. Perseverance is a trait needed with my Tomb King build. Whilst consolidating behind my best friend the river, I edged forward my horse archers and chariots to get some more bow fire in range. My magic phase seen me get through a light of death taking out a doom diver and bouncing along Sam’s battleline causing a few more wounds. Shooting resulted in some similar success, with my archers finishing off a mangler in the centre, and one of my catapults managed to take out one of Sam’s, the other preferring to misfire… Under the hail of fire Sam continued to advance, although it did tend to be conservative. With the banter going back and forth I figured Sam was not that keen to find himself in a combat with my Tomb Guard. I had them deployed so that Sam would have no ranks because of fighting in a river, although it was a river of light! Return fire took two wounds of a catapult after a direct hit by Sam. However a buffed Foot of Gork got through in his magic phase and managed to stomp on my Hierophant. However my skittles had been train well in the arts of protecting their masters and I was saved from the worst of it. Sam stomped me twice before rolling a 1, allowing me to stomp him instead. I tried for a rock lobber catching a wound.

Turn three turned out to be an amusing one. I decided to try and push the limits and get some mileage from my chariots. They where in the centre on my table side and there was the threat of loosing them without contributing. I declared a charge on Sam’s Night Goblins forgetting about the effects of nets. The rest of my army held back as I launched a hail Mary. The charge was successful in making contact and aligned to overrun into a pump wagon whilst avoiding a counter charge from Sam’s Boar chariot. I had to clip a forest on the way in resulting in me loosing a chariot, and Sams fanatic managed to account for another. One made contact but if I was unlucky in my dangerous terrain, so was Sam in netting himself! The resulting impacts killed a bunch of goblins and the charioteers managed to kill his shaman. The horses even got in on the action. In return I lost nothing. Sam was still steadfast but was out of BSB and General range. They fled and pursuit caught the goblins then overran into the pump wagon which was cleaned up in the next combat round. Chariots overran out of harms way but close to a mangler! This charge overshadowed the rest of the turns shenanigans. More artillery exchanged fire, and I believe I had to weather another foot of Gork!

So at the beginning of turn four things are set up to maybe commit to a turn five charge/combat. Taking stock I am down a horse archer unit and a catapult at this point. My Hierophant has a wound from a miscast and a few units are below strength. Sam’s missing most of his artillery, a chariot, a mangler, his night goblins and a shaman. I move my Tomb Guard up to temp Sam to commit to a charge. I have some horse archers on a flank to redirect if needed. I continue to target the last remaining artillery of Sam’s with the caskets finally starting to work their magic now that Sam’s general is to far away. Sam is hesitant about committing to a combat with the Tomb Guard. Sam chases the last chariot with his own, and the mangler randomly wandering about near it. The board is set with my castle still pretty much intact and Sam poised to close in with his trolls and Savage Orc Hoard, however the game is late.

Turn five rolls around and I decide to not overextend. I start pulling back the Tomb Guard and attempt to not give away any more vp’s. With this in mind I refrain from my lone chariot charging as it only had one wound left, instead pushing it out to max charge range of the boar chariot and equally as far away from the mangler. I target the Board chariot with both light of death spells and get one through picking up the kill. Sam’s last piece of artillery (a rock lobber) gets taken out by my lone scatterpult. Sam’s army is moved poised to a last turn charge if he wants. We are both in two minds about this, but I figure he cant wipe me out in one round, but there is the opportunity to pick up some character kills with killing blow.

So turn six is rather uneventful. We both know the game has been won by me, as even if Sam managed to clean up my Tomb Guard I was still largely ahead. With this in mind the chariots continues to hide from the mangler, and I spend my magic phase buffing the Tomb Guard with smiting and protection spells. Sam shuts down both casket attempts on the lone mangler. Sam’s turn is equally quick with him deciding on the more conservative route of not engaging the Tomb Guard, his decision helped by the buffs active on them. We call the game and tally the score

15-5 to my dusk raiders…

An eventful game overall for me. We played staring completions with our main combat blocks for the entire game whilst our artillery and ranged forces exchanging blows. This phase of the game was won by me pretty much deciding the match. Ultimately the casket of souls tipped the scales in my favour getting some early kills here. Sam and I talked about the potential outcome of his Savage Orcs vs my Tomb Guard. He was not feeling confident in engaging them heads up and had hoped to bring them down to a more manageable size before committing. I actually thought he had the upper hand in the combat here but I think Sam was more worried about loosing 6 or 700 points of characters to killing blow attacks. Fair enough to, as a lucky KB can swing the game in many ways. A good game for me, and I think we both enjoyed the challenge, but ultimately the ranged factors swung in favour of me, but not forgetting the chariots decisive charge!

With all results in the Tournament was won by my Tomb Kings, with Simons Ogres coming in second place, Russ taking the last podium with his VC, and Sam’s Orcs just getting piped from third place. Although the field was a lot smaller than originally forecast, there was still a lot of stiff competition about (apparently we had 40 signed up with another dozen or so on the waiting list, but 24+ people pulled out last minute!). I get to take home the rather large shield to babysit for a year!

Call to Arms - Battle Reports Day 2 - Games 4 & 5

Game 4 – Chaos Warrior’s – Hamish Gordon

Scenario: Watchtower

Day two started with me facing another Chaos Warriors army. The draw had gone up the previous day so we all had the night to prepare for the second days first match. The scenario being watchtower, one of my armies favorites.

Hamish’s force consisted of two large units of Chaos Knights. These will be enemy no.1. If these things got into my lines it would ruin my party. They where backed up by a block of Khorne Warriors, a block of Tzeentch Warriors, A Sorcerer Lord on Disc, BSB, Hellcanon, and Festus. Interesting. Although the list lacked the usual War Altars, it did have an interesting combo with Festus passing on his 5+ regeneration roll. The Disc lord was taking Tzeentch lore, and Hamish rolled Gateway… A spell that I did not want to see.

Hamish won the roll off and occupied the watchtower with his Khorne Warriors, something I was hoping for. I could easily shoot these guys out within a few turns and take the tower in the later stages of the game. The rest of Hamish’s force was split up on either flank of the tower, with both knight units on my left, and his Tzeentch block to my right. The Hellcanon went centre with the Lord, presumably trying to hide from my catapults.

I deployed my forces to hard counter the tower, as it was worth 600vp for this game. Khalidas archers went centre with catapults and caskets to the rear. My knights held my right flank and the horse archers went left to get in the way of the Chaos Knights, and knowing I automatically had first turn, I deployed one unit 12” away from both of them.

A plan? Shootem of course! I would start with Khalida shooting the tower, caskets and Ushabti target the Knights, catapults hit the Helcannon or tower, and Knights hold the right threatening the Tzeentch warriors flank if they advanced into the tower. The horse archers would simply get in the way as they should. I decided on some priomary targets and secondary targets for all units to maximize the potential impact. I liked the plan, as long as I could contain and deal with the Chao Knights.

Turn one starts well. I predominantly hold back as I only need to make centre table which I can do in the later stages of the game. My Necroknights angle it up and I show Hamish my hand early with them as I want him to consider the threat to his flank. Magic. Well. I roll up a good number of dice and 2 dice an irresistible light of death, which targets his knights, killing 4. It then bounces to the other unit and takes three of them. Hamish shuts down the next casket, but not before smiting goes off on the Ushabti. Khalidas archers remove a bunch of Chaos Warriors from the tower. The Ushabti add their weight to the turkey shoot, targeting his Lord on Disc. They chip off two wounds and the catapults manage 3 wounds on the Hellcannon. One is not in LOS so he drops a rock on the Disc Lord. I get a direct hit but Hamish saves the wound with his 3+ ward. Good Start!. Hamish charges into his first turn and hits the horse archers who where so conveniently angled infront of his Knights. There killed and he overruns out to the far right thanks to my redirect. His tower lads cant do squat this turn thanks to the scenario, but the Tzeentch boys shuffle over towards the tower. His Disc Lord goes and hides behind the tower, but remains 24” from my Necroknights. Hmm, wonder what he is planning… Yup. Gateway on the Necroknights. But I am having none of this, and throw all my dice at it and dispel it easily. His Helcannon then manages to put 2 wounds on one of my catapults.

After a great turn one start I feel I am in a good position. I stick to my plan and move another horse archer unit into assume a redirect position. I get the angle happening on my Knights a little by moving them half an inch backwards, just to force Hamish to expose his Disc Lord. I move the Ushabti up towards the tower as I plan on them occupying it after Hamish looses it. Yes I am that confident at this point. A 6 dice vs 2 magic phase sees me get another casket off on the Knights, reducing one unit down to one model, then bouncing to the other and leaving three in it. The other casket targets the tower, whilst Hamish try’s shutting down smiting without success. In my shooting phase Khalida targets the tower this turn with smiting in effect, and with the help of a catapult, leaves 1 warrior behind. The Ushabti target the 3 Knights and kill two, leaving Hamish with 2 units of 1 knight. The other catapult misfires and cant shoot this turn. Hamish now bails from the tower, presumable trying to save VP’s. I believe he will try and take the tower later in the game with his Tzeentch warriors. He also pulls back his now one man Knight units to attempt to get them out of range of the caskets. His lord dosnt take the bait but gets himself well out of LOS. In his magic phase he targets my other catapult with a nurgly spell (I forget which one) and targets my full health catapult. It’s a stonethower type shot and manages to clip and put two wounds on the other catapult. His Hellcannon misses however.

As turn three rolls around I take the tower with the Ushabti. This I believe was a mistake, as I have a tendency to enter the tower too early, however there was so many tempting targets and I wanted to deny the Tzeentch Warriors the opportunity.  Khalidas band moved up into range of the Tzeentch duders, as my Knights failed their charge into his flank. In my magic phase I try my hand at caskets again. Hamish shuts down the first but the second goes off. Ive targeted the knights again but this time he makes his Ld test. I get a smiting off on the Ushabti which then turn Hamishes Disc Lord into a pin cushion. Heh. These guys are great! Khalida makes a small mark on the Tzeentch warriors but both catapults miss their mark this time. Hamish now charges the building with Festus and his Tzeentch Warriors. His knights run away some more and the Hellcannon stays put. In his magic phase he double6’s on two dice the stone thrower spell again but it scatters wide. The miscast has no I’ll effect on him however as regeneration saves the wound. His Helcannon has better luck and kills a catapult. The Tzeentch Warriors now make their mark, accounting for a couple of Ushabti, with me loosing a further one from Combat res.

Turn 4 starts with the realization that I may have committed to the tower to early, as is usual for me. I figure they can hold for one more turn then I will swap them out for Khalidas Archers. I will also position the Knights in a batter place to regain the flank as a backup plan to pin the Tzeentch Knights and deny him the watchtower. My horse archers are off chasing the Chaos Knights and the last Khorne warrior who had run and hid behind the Helcannon.  The Ushabti Kill one of the Chaos Knight units off and Khalidas archers take there toll on the Tzeentch warriors. Hamish then charges into the tower again and rolls very well. He takes 3 Ushabti out with the last two crumbling after they fluff most of their attacks. Hmm. Not good. Hamish has just managed a 1000 vp swing in his favour and likely tying up the game at this point.

So turn 5 sees me reassessing the situation. I was not expecting the Tzeentch Warriors to gain the tower on turn 5. My Necroknights where now of no use in this fight so then plowed on ahead to tackle the Helcannon, as if I couldn’t remove the Warriors out of the tower, I would need all that I can get. I used a casket to pick off the last Chaos Knight and try for smiting, which is dispelled. The other casket makes itself felt on the watchtower. My last catapult targets the tower causing a few casualties, and thanks to flaming, negates his regeneration. Khalida then maks a big hole in the warriors and reduces the number down. Hamish still holds the tower and its going to be down to the wire on turn six. Theres not a lot Hamish can do in his turn, with the helcannon missing the Necroknights and magic being of no I’ll effect.

Last turn! By my figures the game is sitting on a narrow win for me based on vp’s as the tower is worth 600 in this scenario. However, I know I need a big win to keep me in contention at the top of the table, and keep any chance of a podium finish. With this in mind I did not believe a charge by the Necroknights would wipe out the Warriors in the tower. I had to rely on magic and shooting, meaning I could not capture the tower for my own. Instead the Knights charged the Hellcannon. I rolled up a respectable number of dice and threw everything I had at the tower. Khalidas staff, 2 caskets and a smiting all got through making a serious dent into them. Shooting had me use the horse archers to clean up the last Khorne Warrior netting me much needed vp’s. I shot the catapult first netting me some kills, and more importantly no regeneration. The 10 man unit was next and managed to snag a warrior, reducing the number to less than 5 rank’n file. Khalida was up next, and thanks to smiting, easily accounted for about 24 wounds, enough to wipe out the unit. The game then ended when the Necroknights finished off the Helcannon in combat with a plethora of poison hits. Hamish finished the game tabled but nobody held the watchtower.

17-3 to Khalidas Archers!

This game really showed how well Khalida could perform in the right situation. It is a stark contrast to the game against Basils VC where she accomplished nothing. Skittle of the match defiantly goes to the Casket of Souls! They accounted for both Knight units (with a little help from the Ushabti) and caused a ton of damage to units occupying the watchtower. Hamish’s Ld 8 did not help him in this respect. The Ushabti once again bagged themselves another Chaos Disc Sorcerer, proving their worth and gaining them a honorable mention. I did make the mistake again committing to early to the watchtower. This cost me a 20-0 win and lost me the Ushabti. I was to worried about Festus and his unit gaining a foothold into the tower and completely forgot that my catapults (I only had one left at this point) where flaming and would essentially ignore him. Still I gained another Disc Sorcerer scalp so it wasn’t a total loss. Hamish’s list I think was the stronger of the two vs mine based on the greater speed and higher armour overall. The lack of War Alters didn’t seam to be missed at all with his force. The win was enough to put me into 2^nd overall and a face off with current board leader Sam Whitt! He had just narrowly beaten Tom Dunn’s Daemons this round in a very tooth and nail fight. It was boiling down to being a fight between us three for the top step.

Game 5 – Orc’s and Goblin’s – Sam Whitt

Scenario: Battleline

Sam had forgotten something this tournament. He had forgotten his Chaos Dwarfs! I was so looking forward to Khalida turning his K’daai into the biggest pincushion in the old world! Alas, Sam had changed it up and bought along his other love, (Savage) Orc’s and (Night) Goblin’s, complete with Big’Un Bus and more chaff than most could handle. Some people really underestimate how well an OnG list can perform with the right hands at the helm. I know this first hand as I campaigned last year with a similar list to what Sam had made and got a 1^st, 3^rd and 5^th with them at tournaments.

Worst case scenario his Savage Orc Big un’s make contact with Khalida. Best case I get 3 turns of roasting them with poisoned archers.

Sam had 2 Wolf chariots, a Boar chariot, a lone troll and another mob of 8, 2 manglers, a pump wagon, 2 rock lobbers, 2 doom divers, 3 bolt throwers, a large mob o Night Goblins and or course his Savage Orc Bus, or SOB. He complimented this all with an Orc Warboss, Savage Orc Shaman (L4), Night goblin shaman and Black Orc BSB. Damn that’s a lot.

Sam won the roll off for sides and chose the one with the big building half in the deployment zone. There goes that idea. I liked the thought of Khalidas archers holing up in there if things got rough. It was big enough that I probably could have got 25-30 shots per turn. After deployment the table looked favourable. His SOB was behind the building in the centre right, with trolls on the right. He had most of his chaff on the left and opposite most of my stuff. I held the centre with my Necroknights, and deployed Khalida and her archers, the Ushabti and the 10 man archer unit on my left. Both of us deployed artillery to the rear with Sam taking care to set up his Doom Divers out of range of my Catapults. My horse archers had deployed normally to try and get a more favourable deployment. I win roll off for first turn and we get underway.

My first turn started with little in range of Khalida and her archers. I shuffled the Necroknights more towards my right envisaging Sam sweeping through the middle of the board with his trolls and SOB. This way I would be able to threaten his flank meaning he would need to deal with the threat, hopefully giving my archers more time to work their magic. I ran 2 of my horse archers up my right to threaten the doom divers for a turn 2 charge. I used a casket to try zap a doom diver, and the other to chain up his chaff which is mostly out of generals Ld range but both got shut down. Smiting went off on the Ushabti, which in turn shot a mangler off the table. Sam informs me that his manglers have not made it to the enemy all weekend. I was determined not to be the first. I also shoot up a snotling pump wagon and land a direct hit on a rock lobber killing it and ending my turn. Sam moves his SOB into the building, and pushes all his chaff forward. This is a target rich environment! The trolls bumble forward to the right flank of the building along with his boar chariot. Sam rolls up a few dice and in great Orcy fasion, declares a BIG Foot of Gork! With only 2 dispel dice I use my scroll early to stop it. Sams doom divers and a bolt thrower account for one of the horse archer units, whilst his rock lobber misses.

Turn two sees me with plenty of targets. My only real moves are to charge a bolt thrower with my remaining horse archer unit on my right, and another bolt thrower on my left with the other unit. The Knights shuffle over more close to the table edge. Magic rolls low and I only get off Khalidas staff, zapping the other mangler. Khalidas unit takes care of a lone troll and the Ushabti make little impact this turn. I do land another direct hit on the other Rock lobber. That’s 2 for 2! The horse archers take care of their bolt throwers and line up a doom diver on my right, and overrun into a wolf chariot on my left. Sam charges his night goblins forward into my 10 man unit of archers that I had pushed to far forward. They get wiped out in combat. Sam then drops his SOB out of the building bringing it into range of Khalidas archers. I figure I can get 3 turns of shooting into it then finish it off with the knights all going to plan. Magic rolls low again. Sam throws all his dice at Hand of Gork and gets enough, requiring me to roll an 11 on 3 dice. So I roll a 9… and the SOB moves across the board 13” infront of khalidas archers. Ok so maybe one turn of shooting… Sam has some fun with the shooting phase using his DD’s take care of the other horse archer unit. The trolls move up supported by the Orc chariot.

Oh crap. I am in trouble. I start turn three with that heavy sinking feeling. I need to pull one out of the bag and quick. I play around with reforming and moving back but in the end it would just be delaying the inevitable and denying me a chance to shoot. I reform into a wider formation and move 2” back forcing an 11” roll for the SOB. My Ushabti cut across and cover my right flank from the night goblins, and my Hierophant bails out the left side. I toy with the idea of charging the rear of the SOB with my last horse archer unit, but Sam points that since I can’t flee he won’t need to pursue. I get 12 dice in the magic phase vs 6. I cast light of death on one of the Doom Divers to try bait out some dice. I get two, so I cast the other and get some more, but this light of death gets through and I take out one of the Doom Divers. I then get off smiting on the archers but Sam slams it with a scroll. Desiccation also gets shut down which was targeted at the SOB. In my shooting phase I manage to get both catapults on target, both scattering slightly but remaining true. Khalida opens up and all of a sudden Sam is left with 15 Savage Orcs + characters. I have to hope for a failed charge and another round of shooting will see me right. Its now Sams turn and he declares his charges, and the dawn of realisation washes over me as I see the huge mistake I made… Khalidas archers are indeed 15” away from his SOB, however he only needs an 8 to make contact with the Ushabti, and the ensuing overrun will hit my archers. Crap. He rolls the 8 required and brings in the Night Goblins for some netting goodness. The trolls are moved up as is the Boar chariot. Sam works with a few dice and gets Hand of Gork off to move the trolls over. The Ushabti are crushed in combat and crumble allowing the overrun from the SOB into Khalida. The Night Goblins hold and reform.

Turn 4 comes about with a tense situation. The archers could still hold out for the rest of the game. I look at ways to see how I could flank the SOB with the Necroknights, but Sam has placed the Night Goblins well enough to prevent this. I instead charge them. There is little other movement to be made so we move onto magic. I roll a respectable number of dice and start casting with light of death on the other Doom Diver. Sam lets it through so I cast smiting on the archers again with Sam also letting this through. He dispels desiccation on his SOB though. I get the 5+ ward happening to even up the field. My catapults launch into shooting taking out the boar chariot. The other one misfires and destroys itself. We move onto combat with Khalida going first. The combat is slightly skewed with Sam only having 8 models in contact thanks to the overrun. I use my champion to challenge which Sam accepts with his. We both fail to kill each other with me not wounding, and me saving the only wound inflicted on him. Khalida kills 3 or 4 Savage Orcs, and in return Sams characters make short work of several skeletons. The Savage Orcs and Skittles then strike simultaneously with my 5+ ward really coming into itself. I end up inflicting 8 or 9 wounds which Sam only manages to save 2, whilst I saved over half with some tinny rolling much to Sams disappointment. I end up winning the combat by a few but thanks to the crown Sam is stubborn on 9’s. I reform to a deeper formation and so that all of Sams orcs are in combat. Oh yeah, the Necroknights steamroll the Night goblins but they hold. So Sams turn 4 starts with little fanfare, as he only has trolls free to move, everything else is either dead or in combat. We move onto magic where Sam gets through itchy nuisance on my skittles reducing me to I1. My Necroknights destroy the Night Goblins which flee. I elect to pursue which will lead me into combat with the trolls. I need the VP and risk the combat to catch the Goblins, which I do. We move on to the main combat where Khalida makes herself known again and smacks over a bunch more Savage Orcs. Having the frenzy beaten out helps a lot, with the volume of attacks greatly down as is the strength. His characters make up for what the unit was lacking including the champion besting mine in the dual, but I reply with over 40 attacks! Sam is left with a wound on both his BSB and L4 Shaman, and only 2 or 3 Savage Orcs remaining.

Turn 5 would be our last, as time was running out. We both have no movement at all as we where locked in combat, so magic first up. Another ok phase dice wise. This time however Sam is on the money with his dispels. He shuts down everything bar smiting on my archers. We roll around combat in which Khalida finishes off the last few Savage Orcs. Once again Sam bashes a bunch of skittles into powder but cant with the combat. The trolls have more success vomiting on my Knights. He gets 4 wounds and I loose the combat taking another wound. Not so bad, but I would have preferred some magic buffs. In the last turn there is not much to do. Sam has 6 trolls and his 3 Orc characters left, two of which are wounded. His magic phase was low and was easily shut down, as Sam had only one spell that he could cast. I move Khalida over to face off his Savage Orc Shaman which had been wounded. With lightning speed Khalida dispatches her rival with little effort. The rest of the skittles have little effect on Sams characters, but once again Sam makes his stubborn check. The trolls have more success killing another Knight, and forcing enough combat result to crumble another. The game ends with a victory in my favour.

15-5 to Tomb Kings

Now this was a hard fought battle. I really thought Sam had me on Turn three. He managed to shut down the right spells at the right time and push through the ones he needed. Baiting out my scroll first turn was a good move. I made several mistakes in this game. The first was using my horse archers offensively to attack Sams artillery. I did this thinking that Khalidas archers would be able to deal with Sams SOB over the 3 turns he would need to cover the gap. I didn’t count on Sam getting a Hand of Gork off! Lesson learnt, stick to the plan. The horse archers primary role is to get in the way of threats to Khalida, and I needed to stick to that. My next big mistake was moving the Ushabti forward to block the Night Goblins. I didn’t need to do this and it very nearly cost me the game. In fact I will go as far as saying this move cost me an 18+ victory. I know at the time I was ensuring covering Khalida from the night gobos, but did not see the obvious until it was too late. Skelly of the match is a hard one. The catapults did great this match, accounting for much artillery and a chariot. The caskets had a good hand in drawing out dispel dice which allowed me to get though the right spells, and Khalida pretty much saved the day by killing a bunch of Savage Orcs and Sams Shaman. So it goes to Khalida, even though I only got one real round of shooting off. This game marked the first time I had used the archers in combat, and it turn out ok. But only just

With the 15-5 result that put me on the top step, shared with Tom Dunn and His Daemons. We both finished with 74 battle points, 25/25 for sports and full marks for painting. Tom had a great final game finishing with a 20-0 win to share top honors. Sam finshed 2nd, after holding the limelight for most of the weekend, and almost putting to bed the day to jitters he suffers.

Thanks to Wellington Warlords for hosting the event and Peter Dunn for Umpiring. Good weekend by all and even the news channels turned up. (Like the good little wargamers we are, we all went and hid from the cameras whilst volunteering an unsuspecting fellow gamer for an interview!)