The Power of Ale! A single player campaign.

[SevenSins]

tough on the big'uns, shot to pieces before they got to hurt anything

Can't wait to get a few 8th games with OK even so

[Toshiro]

Tough shooting, but was nice to see how the dawi and ogres fared under 8th ed rulesets. About the argument, I'd say the armybook takes precedence until an faq/errata comes out, that's how it always is

Good game and good fluff, easy and fun to read

[grumbaki]

2000 Points, Dawi v. Beastmen

Dawi
The dwarfs of clan Cold’un marched into the woods that day with grumbling stomachs and parched throats. The surrounding countryside had been devestated by famine, and most of the local farmers had long since fled. The dwarfs were going to war for but one reason though. The town of Swartzburg, where the famine hit first, was now overrun by beastmen. In times past it was reknown for its temple of Shallaya, in which a fountain ran with eternally clear water. Runelord Thurst believed that another piece of ancestreal lore could be found there, and they would challenge the beastmen for its possession.

• Runelord: Master Rune of Gromril and Resistance, Great Weapon, Anvil of Doom
• Thane: Battle Standard, Gromril armor with the runes of Stone and 2x runes of Iron
• Thane: Great Weapon, Gromril armor with the rune of Stone
• 24x Warriors: Shields, Full Command
• 24x Warriors: Shields, Full Command
• 10x Quarrellers: Shields
• 10x Quarrellers: Shields
• Cannon 1: Engineer with brace of pistols, Rune of Reloading
• Cannon 2: Engineer with brace of pistols, Rune of Forging
• 20 Slayers: FC, 3x Giant Slayers
• Organ Gun

Beastmen
The beastmen were not going to give up their possessions without a fight. Slugtongue, a follower of the chaos god Nurgle, had called together the herds to whipe away the offending image of purity forever. Following him were two great shamans, who as per his visions, had murdered the chieftains and taken the herds for themselves. They knew the dwarfs were coming, and looked forward to eating their raw flesh and sucking the marrow out of their bones.

lvl 4 wizard: Fly, Lore of Shadow, 1 use item that messes up shooting
lvl 2 wizard: Lore of Beasts, bound item (5d6 str 1 hits)
Slugtounge (or whatever the special character is called)
25 Bestigors: FC
25 Ungors: Musician
25 Gors: FC, extra handweapons
25 Gors: FC, extra handweapons (ambush)
Jaberslythe

Terrain and Deployment
Little was left of Swartzberg, as the beasts put most of it to the torch. All that still stood was the temple of Shallaya, which had thus far resisted the worst of the beastmen’s efforts. How long that would last though was anyone’s guess.

There was a temple in the north-west, and two woods in the east. In the dwarf deployment zone there were some burned out ruins. No units ever entered terrain, so it really didn’t play a role in this battle.
The beastmen (west-east): Gors, Jaberslythe, lvl 4 (temple), Bestigors, Ungors.
The Dawi: Slayers, Organ Gun, Crossbows, Reloading Cannon, Crossbows, Warriors, Warriors, Forging Cannon, Anvil of Doom (behind trees)

Turn 1
The dwarf throng was smaller than it could have been. Their supplies had run out and there was little to forage in the land. As such, Thurst had sent back a number of dwarfs to bring back more supplies, which included some crossbowmen, the organ gun to see off any ambushes, and a number of engineers to drive the steam powered carts. This left the artillery dangerously undermanned, but it beat starvation. With the beastmen coming towards them, the dwarfs made a shield wall and waited for the coming conflict.

The Dawi went first. He used his one use item to give me -1 to hit with my crossbows and needing 4+ to shoot my cannons/use my anvil. The reloading cannon misfired and the forging cannon couldn't shoot. The anvil of doom misfired and couldn't be used for two turns, while all 20 crossbowmen failed to kill a single bestigor.

The beastman player then remembered that slugtounge has an ability where, due to famine, it kills off enemy units. I allowed him to use it. Both cannons took 3 wounds, the organ gun was destroyed and I lost 2 crossbowmen. All in all, not good. Everything moved up except for the jaberslythe, which stayed hidden behind the temple. Magic went off, but for the most part it just buffed his units for a turn and I stopped any direct damage spells.

Turn 2
The cannons spoke, and when their voice was heard a pair of bestigors were blown apart. Still they came, even as the crossbowmen added their fire. They were confident, and rightfully so, as out of the ruins came another herd of beasts, ready to tear the dawi apart.

My Dawi moved back a little bit to give me some more time. Both cannons fired at his lvl 4 who was behind his units. The reloading cannon stopped 2'' short, but killed 2 gors. The forging cannon misfired. I re-rolled it, got a 2 and it misfired on the bounce too. Pathetic. The crossbowmen took down 3 more gors.

In his turn the ambushing gors came up. He rolled a 6 and put them behind my warriors blocks. Everything else moved up, including his jaberslythe. Magic saw 2 slayers die from his bound item and his bestigors got to use their leadership for strength, and both his bestigors and ungors got to move up d6+1''. The ungors went forward 7'' while the bestigors went 2''.

Turn 3
The dwarfs reacted to the ambush with warcries of their own. They had expected this and acted accordinglly. Half of the dwarven warriors turned around and charged the surprised ambushers, while the other half surged forward into the wall of beastmen. The ambushing Gors were caught by surprise and were hacked apart by dwarven axes. The dwarfs who charged the main body of beastmen went straight for the ungors, and as expected hacked a bloody path through them and out of the trap. This left the elite bestigors bellowing in impotent rage. With their bloodlust up, they charged straight for the crossbowmen who were still firing into their heavily armored ranks.

My right hand warriors charged his ungors and made it, while the other one turned around and was anviled into the flank of his ambushing gor unit. Shooting saw my reloading cannon fire at his lvl 4 again. It hit him and rolled a 1 to wound! The crossbowmen all fired at his jaberlythe, and took it down to 1 wound. In hand to hand combat, my warriors who flanked his gors lost 1 dwarf, killed 4 beastmen and ran the rest down (taking them far away from the bestigors). The other warrior unit killed 3 ungors, took no losses themselves and ran the ungors down (which panicked the lvl 4 and took the warriors out of the charge arc of the bestigors). When shooting lets you down, just go to close combat!

In the beastman turn the remaining gors charged the slayers, the jaberslythe charged a unit of crossbowmen and the bestigors charged the other unit, who fled and were caught. Also his lvl 4 rallied In the magic phase his lvl 2 mage miscasted, wounded himself and slugtounge, and the jaberslythe got to use its leadership for strength. In hand to hand combat, the slayers killed the lvl 2 and 3 gors, but lost 5 slayers for their trouble and the jaberslythe ate 2 crossbowmen, but they held.

Turn 4
The crossbowmen tried to disengage, but it was too late. From the skies a jaberslythe came down, and while it was horribly wounded by the dwarven firepower that was brought to bear, it still landed in their midst. That, along with the bestigors, spelled the doom of the crossbowmen. However, their heroic last stand, coupled with a suicidal holding action by a band of slayers, kept the rest of the beastmen stuck in ferocious hand to hand fighting. And as the swirling melee went on, the victorious dwarven warriors who had broken through went straight for the temple.

Both units of warriors turned towards the big fights and the anvil tried to send one unit into the flank of the bestigors (about 3'' away). I rolled a 1, followed by another 1 and it exploded. In hand to hand combat the jaberslythe ate 2 more crossbowmen, but they held, and the slayers/gors beat each other up some more (I won combat this time but they held). At this point we ran out of time as the store was closing.

Dwarf Casualties:
The dwarfs broke into the temple of Shallaya. The doors came open easily for them, while they had been barred to all of the beastmen’s efforts. Seemingly guided by an unseen hand, the dwarfs went straight for the great statue of the goddess of healing, which was still crying pure water into a fountain. Runelord Thurst climbed up it and prized out of eyes of the statue. The eyes continued to cry their pure water into his hands. They were inscribed with runes. With a smile the runelord unactivated the runes and put them away. The dwarfs had gotten what they were looking for. He signaled for his men to loot the place, so that nothing of value could fall into the hands of the beastmen, and for them to do it quickly. It would not do for them to be caught in the temple when the fighting outside subsided.

Crossbowmen
˝ Crossbowmen
Organ Gun
Anvil of Doom (grumble)
671 Victory Points

Beastmen Casualties
When the beastmen finally finished off the last of the dwarfs they found that the rest of them were long since gone. The warherd had taken horribly casualties. Both the great shaman and the lesser shaman were dead, and along with them two thirds their gors, half of their bestigors, all of their ungors and their jaberslythe was horribly wounded; possibly fatally. But not all was lost. Slugtongue still lived, and he still controlled Swatzberg and the famine would continue unabated. While victory went to the dwarfs, the beastmen were by no means defeated.

lvl 4 mage
lvl 2 mage
˝ Slugtounge
˝ Bestigors
Gors
Ungors
˝ Jaberslythe
1110 Victory Points (ish)

Minor Victory to the Dawi!

Thoughts

• Damn you dice! My anvil of doom was used 3 times and misfired twice, blowing up on the last try. On the other hand, when it did work it gave me a flank charge and saved me from being charged by his bestigors in the front and his gors in the rear. In a way, it won me the game even when it let me down. Also my cannons...they tried for three turns to kill 1 model and could never do it. Misfires, low rolling on the misfire die (yes, that is what it is) and a roll of 1 to wound.
• My opponent loved the spell that makes you str the same as your Ld. I let it threw everytime because it never changed anything (str 9 bestigors vs. str 7 meant nothing, and str 9 slaberglythe is only a bit better than str 5 when fighting crossbowmen). Magic could have done more if he concentrated on debuffing instead of buffing and direct damage.
• I loved how in 4 turns we got in 6 turns of 7th edition. The new charging rules really help in making the game go faster. Still, I wish we got to finish it.
• I do feel like I won by 'time out' though. Without the anvil flank charge to the bestigors, I might have ended up losing that fight, and eventually my slayers would be taken down (though they'd cripple the gors in the process) and the jaberslythe might have eventually taken down the crossbowmen. In my opinion, a full 6 turn game would probably have been a draw, though I might have won. I really wish we had the time to finish it.

Campaign Progress

The dwarfs won a minor victory. They now have 8 campaign pieces. The humans have not fought yet, so they have 3. 12/15 complete.

Note

I would have been able to play the beastman player again with my Empire with Saturday, but unfortunately other matters have gotten in the way. I really hope that I can finish this all up before I have to go back to school. Wish me luck!

[selone]

Good luck with getting another game in

[Malorian]

Grum... you dice suck... nuff siad

Too bad you ran out of time, but at the same time it seems a lot of 8th ed games are done about turn 4 anyway.

Keep the reports coming

[ImperialTard]

The reports are as informative for a new player as the narrative bits are hilarious. I'm looking forward to seeing this campaign through to the end.

[Gabacho Mk.II]

Is it me or are the battles pretty much a forgone conclusion as soon as the army rosters are consulted?

[grumbaki]

Selone and Malorian: Thanks for your continued support. And yeah, that was alot of bad luck. I've had worse though (6 misfires rolled in one turn), but that still hurt.

ImperialTard: Great praise indeed. Thanks for reading.

Gabacho Mk.II: How so? I will say that I do put thought into my lists, as I don't like to waste points, but I don't think that any game was a foregone conclusion.

[Toshiro]

Another great game Grum! I must say that your rolling was horrendous, talk about bad luck. Oh well, you still managed to scrape a victory from it which I think was a big achievement, congrats!

Also, fluff: superb as always, a great read!

[grumbaki]

Introduction

I was to again play Mike, and this time with his dwarfs. I decided, as I probably won't get another game in, that this would be the decider. As I never used my Empire, their '3' campaign points would be up for grabs. If I win, I get them. If I lose, I lose them. With that in mind, to actually win my campaign I would need to massacre my opponent. Not an easy task, especially when it is a dwarf v dwarf fight.

My Dwarfs
Clan Cold'un had a dark secret. In the time of the Ancestors, before the coming of chaos, a branch of their clan headed east, to the great skull land. Like all who ventured there, they fell to chaos and became known as the Dawi Zharr...the dwarfs of fire. Runelord Thurst had gathered together all he could to recreate the lost rune, but there was one piece missing. He knew what he would have to do. He would need to gather the clan and march against their twisted kin to wrestle their lost runic lore away. Only in the great Tower of Zulgath could it be found, and it would take a great victory indeed to conquer such a formidal fortress.

Heroes
Lord: Great Weapon, Gromril Armor with the Rune of Stone, Helm with the Rune of Spite
Thane: Battle Standard, Gromril Armor with the Runes of Gromril and Resistance

Infantry
24x Warriors: Shields, Full Command
25x Warriors: Shields, Full Command
24x Hammers: Full Command with the Rune of Grimnir
10x Thunderers: Shields
10x Miners: Prospector

War Machines
Cannon: Engineer with Brace of Pistols, Rune of Reloading
Cannon: Engineer with Brace of Pistols, Rune of Forging
Grudge Thrower: Engineer, 2x Runes of Penetrating
Organ Gun

Total
2000 points

His Dwarfs
Lord Zulgath listened to the reports with mounting fury. First he had sent out the reptilian creatures that he had enslaved in the north, but a contingent of dwarfs defeated them and took the Pass of Bones*, and then when the Wizard-Priests of Hashut led the rest of the slaves out, the dwarfs killed the mages and cleared the way to the tower itself!*

(* While waiting for the game I saw two games in action. In the first, a new dwarf player beat a more veteran lizardman. I take pride in knowing that I told the dwarf player about how he gets +2 to dispel and made sure no shennanigans happened against him. Also, Mike, the person I played against, beat a Tomb Kings army before our game started. With so many dwarven victories, they need a place in the fluff)

The lord of the tower made his decision. Let the traitors come. They would bash themselves against his grand fortress, and he would make sure that their leader would fall to his axe!

Heroes
Lord: Axe with the Runes of Cleaving and Alaric the Mad, Gromril Armor with the Rune of Gromril

Infantry
25x Warriors: Shields, Full Command
24x Warriors: Shields, Full Command
12x Thunderers
12x Thunderers
12x Thunderers
16x Miners: Full Command with Steam Drill

War Machines
Cannon: Engineer, Rune of Forging
Cannon: Engineer, Rune of Forging and Fire
Cannon: Rune of Immolation
Organ Gun

Total
2000 points

Terrain and Deployment
The fortress loomed before the dwarven throng. The tower bristeled with cannons and parapets where handgunners stood ready. But the dwarfs were prepared. They too had brought cannons to bring down the walls down on the heads of their twisted kin, and their own thunderers advanced behind giant shields of their own. It would prove to be a bloody day.

There was only terrain in the center of the board. He had a wall in his deployment zone, there was a bog in the center and I had a forest in mine.

Left Flank
He had a cannon, a unit of thunderers and 1 unit of 25 warriors.
I had a cannon (facing his), and both units of warriors (with my BSB)

Center

He had a cannon and his organ gun.
I had the grudge thrower, and my organ gun.

Right Flank

He had 2 units of thunderers and 1 unit of warriors (with his Lord)
I had 1 unit of thunderers and the hammerers (with my Lord)

Turn 1
The battle began when the dawi unleashed their great warmachines. The tower shook as it came under assault. Slave-made walls crumbled under the onslought, and the careful shots took down two thirds of the dawi-zharr's cannon emplacements. Knowing then that to hide behind their walls would be suicide, the gates to the tower opened and rank upon rank of twisted dwarfs marched out. A well placed shot sent a boulder landing into the tight ranks, and fifteen of the dawi-zharr were crushed. However, thirty five made it out alive, and they went straight for the center of the dwarven throng.

I won the roll to go first. All my blocks advanced. In the shooting phase my cannons destroyed both of his on each flank and my grudge thrower landed directly on the unit of 25 warriors. It killed 15! Finally my thunderers shot down 2 of his. A good start!

He was going to send his 25 warriors up against my warriors, but decided to instead support his lord's advance on the right. His cannon fired at mine but came up short, while his thunderers took down 3 of the BSB's warriors and 4 of the hammerers.

Turn 2

Even as the artillery barrage continued, skilled dwarven miners dug their way into the tower and made their way to the parapets. The air was filled with the sounds of handgun shots, and more than a few brave dwarfs fell to it. If they were to take the tower, the dawi would have to level it, or take it by storm. However, the dwarfs were not alone in their skill of tunneling, as a host of chaos dwarfs came upon the dwarfs from behind; axes raised and with fire in their hearts.

My miners came up and I put them on the right flank. They marched up directly to the thunderers (so that there was a line of 2 units of thunderers directly in front of them). My hammerers advanced a bit, while my 2 units of warriors advanced too. My shooting phase took 2 wounds off of his remaining cannon and his lord failed a “look out sir!” role. Fortunately he only took 1 wound and lost 2 warriors. My thunderers and organ gun fired at his warriors and took down another 3 or so, while the grudge thrower misfired and wouldn't be able to shoot for 2 turns.

His miners came up too and went right behind my grudge thrower. His warriors tried to charge my hammerers, but came up short, and the remaining 10 warriors stayed pace with them. He decided to forfeit his thunderers and to just keep on firing at my hammerers. This took down a further 5. His organ was out of range of the hammerers and he decided not to fire it (I think he may have forgotten about my miners). His cannon fired at my cannon again, landed 2'' in-front of it, and failed to bounce (it turns out that his last cannon was the one which explodes, so he couldn't re-roll it).

Turn 3

The dwarven miners fell upon the surprised chaos-dwarf defenders in a bloody wave. Of the thirty six handgunners, two-thirds were felled before they even knew what was happening. The parapets ran read with blood as the dwarfs hacked their way through the fortress. However, in the time it took so slaughter their foes, the survivors had set up a firing line...

My miners charged his thunderers, and both units of warriors turned to face his miners. My hammerers stayed put so I could thin out his warrior block a bit more and the grudge thrower moved up 3'' to try and save itself from his miners. Shooting saw my cannons destroy his remaining cannon and organ gun. My thunderers shot down a further 2 warriors and the organ gun rolled a 2 for shots. I re-rolled it and it was a misfire, so no shots were produced. In hand to hand combat my miners killed 2 thunderers, ran down the rest, and hit the second unit in the flank.

In his turn his miners charged my grudge thrower, but failed the charge (leaving them open to a frontal and flank charge from my warriors) and his warriors charged my hammerers (but they rolled a double 1 and failed the charge...again). All he could do at this point was fire his unengaged thunderers at my grudge thrower, which knocked a wound off it.

Turn 4

Elsewhere the fighting turned thick and bloody. The chaos dwarfs who had survived the march to the dwarven lines were now fighting axe to axe against their kin. However they were, for the moment, coming out the worst for it as the chaos-dwarf miners were outnumbered nearly three to one! It was all they could do to fall back in an organized manner. Even Lord Zulgarth was bloody repulsed as he led his warriors against the elite hammerers. Each hammerer was a veteran of countless battles, and they shattered the chaos-dwarf shieldwall. Zulgarth managed to cut down the gate-warden as he tried to hack his way to the general of the dwarfs, but he too fell back rather than be overwhelmed. The remaining dawi-zharr reformed their shieldwall, even as their rearguard fought to the last to give them time.

My hammerers charged his warriors, and both of my warriors charged his miners. For my shooting, the thunderers killed 2 of his warriors and 1 of my cannons killed 3 more. My organ gun misfired again and wouldn't be able to shoot for that turn or the next, and the other cannon misfired but would be ok next turn. In hand to hand combat, my BSB accepted his champion's challenge and killed him, and then we both killed 1 dwarf each. His miners broke, but escaped from my 2 units (who were hot on their heels). His lord issued a challenge, and I let my champion accept it (to see what runes that lord had). His lord killed my champion and I lost 1 hammerers to his warriors. Then my lord killed 2 warriors and my hammerers 6! His unit broke but got away.

In his turn the remaining 5 warriors charged the flank of my hammerers, and his lord/miners rallied. Finally, his unit of thunderers turned to face my miners. In hand to hand combat my lord/hammerers killed 4/5 of his warriors, but the last one held!

Turn 5

Lord Zulgarth charged back in, running over the corpses of his rearguard. Finaly he met the the genearl of the throng and the two began their duel. High up in the tower the last of the handgunners opened fire directly into the melee between the miners and their kin, cutting down half of the miners and the last of their embattled comrades. Enraged, the last miners charged the gunline, eager to avenge themselves.

My miners moved up to be within 3'' of his thunderers (I'd rather be shot at once normally then take a stand and shoot and then another possible normal shooting phase) and my warriors positioned themelves to flank his miners next turn (he positioned them in a way that I could only get the front arc, so I planned to take the charge and then flank him). I also moved the grude thrower out of his thunderers range. In close combat the last of his warriors was predicately cut down.

His lord charged back into combat with mine and his miners into my warriors. His thunderers shot at my miners, killing five. In close combat our lords fought it out, but failed to hurt each other. I lose a hammerer, and he was brought down to just one rank, but they held. My miners proceeded to kill 2 thunderers, but took 1 wound back. My miners won combat, but the thunderers held. His miners killed 1 warrior, but took a casualty back and held.

Turn 6
The day was nearly over when the tower fell. Lord Zulgarth was overwhelmed, as the last of his guard were cut down around him. In the tower itself, the miners and the chaos-dwarfs literally fought to their last. Even as the final miner was cut down, the captain of the guards slumped against the wall and bled to death. The tower of Zulgarth had fallen.

My warriors charged his miners on the flank, where they proceeded to beat them and run the miners down. At this point he called the game because A) the store was closing and B) the game pretty much was over.

He was down to his lord with 4 warriors and 8 thunderers who were in combat with 4 of my miners. Everything I had besides the miners was still above half strength (with the possible exception of the hammerers, as they might have been under).

The End

Following the sacking of the Tower of Zulgarth, runelord Thurst gathered the last clue he needed. It still took several years of work, but the quest was complete. Clan Cold'un had recreated the lost Rune of Freshness! For generations the tale of their quest would be retold; with a cold tankard of ale in hand, of course. It had taken the sacrifice of many dwarfs, and many a long, parched road had been walked. But what better reward could there be, and what greater goal could be had? Clan Cold'un had finally earned their name.

I hope you all enjoyed this thread! I'm glad that I got the massacre that I was looking for, but really, without my good fortune it could have gone the other way. Still, just to say it...

Campaign Progress: 15/15!

[Haravikk]

Sounds a fun campaign!

After the game a huge argument broke out in the store. Do runesmiths get +1 dispel dice and do warrior priests? Looking at the rulebook, we found nothing that says they don't as they are not wizards. The rulebook specifically says that dwarfs have no wizards. So the army book applies, right? We had one high elf player argue that dwarfs can only get a dispel dice on a 6 and runesmiths do nothing else besides that. For everyone reading this, what do you think on this issue?

Currently Runesmiths and Runelords just generate 1 and 2 dispel dice each respectively. There's no roll as it isn't the same as channelling, if you have two Runesmiths, and a Runelord, then you'll receive 4 dispel dice in addition to whatever you get when determining the winds of magic.

This may need changing in the next army book slightly, as with the rune of balance, and the rune of spellbinding you can start to stack up some pretty crazy dispel potential, but then that's not really unexpected at the same time.

[Toshiro]

Well done Grum, congrats on finishing the campaign, was really nice to follow

[selone]

Indeed, grats grum!

[warmong3r]

Great campaign grum! Glad to see that your dwarfs got their ale to be as cold as the mountains they live in. Congrats and hope to see more.

[Malorian]

Great finish to the campaign Grumbaki