2000pts Clan Skrit vs Orcs & Goblins (It Will Live Again!)

[tarrym]

Overview
Scenario: It Will Live Again!
Date Played: 30th January 2011

So having missed out on a Skaven vs Orcs & Goblins match up the previous weekend we arranged a game. During the week GW released their "It Will Live Again" scenario and we thought it might be a fun diversion from the usual pitched battle scenarios in the BRB.

Clan Skrit

Lord

[GS] Grey Seer, Skalm, Talisman of Preservation (315pts)
[WLR] Warlord, War-Litter, Shield, Warlock Augmented Weapon (173pts)

Hero

[BSB] Chieftain, Battle Standard Bearer, Halberd, Foul Pendant (102pts)
[WE] Warlock Engineer, Doom Rocket (45pts)

Core

[SV] 36 Stormvermin, Fangleader, Standard Bearer, Musician (292pts*)
[WFT] Warpfire Thrower, (70pts)
[CR] 30 Clanrats, Clawleader, Standard Bearer, Musician, Shields (155pts)
[PWM] Poisoned Wind Mortar, (65pts)
[SS1] 40 Skaven Slaves, Musician, (82pts)
[SS2] 40 Skaven Slaves, Musician, (82pts)

Special

[RO] 6 Rat Ogres 3 Packmasters (279pts)

Rare

[DW] Doomwheel (150pts)
[WLC] Warp Lightning Cannon (90pts)
[PCC] Plague Claw Catapult (100pts)

Total: 2000pts

* = I realised afterwards that this is 15pts over. Looks like I still had a space reserved for giving the Fangleader some equipment but then never did! Doh - again!!

The scenario prevents the Skaven from taking any HPAs in their list. However they do get a HPA for free!

Orcs & Goblins

Lord

[BOW] Black Orc Warboss, Heavy Armour, Shield (154pts)
[OS] Orc Great Shaman, Level 4 (215pts)

Hero

[BSB] Night Goblin Bigboss, Battle Standard Bearer, Armour of Silvered Steel (110pts)

Core

[OB] 39 Orc Boys, Boss, Standard Bearer, Musician, Two Choppas (303pts)
[OA] 40 Orc Archers, Boss, Standard Bearer, Musician (270pts)
[NG] 49 Night Goblins, Boss, Standard Bearer, Musician, Spears, Netters, 2 Fanatics (301pts)
[SR] 5 Spider Riders, (76pts)

Special

[OC1] Orc Chariot (80pts)
[OC2] Orc Chariot (80pts)
[SC1] Spear Chuckka (35pts)
[SC2] Spear Chuckka (35pts)

Rare

[DD] Doom Diver (80pts)
[G] Giant (??pts)

Total: 2000pts

[tarrym]

Deployment


The scenario dictated the Skaven player deploy their entire army first along the short edge of the board furthest from the HPA. They lined up opting to focus on the left flank while the Doomwheel want for the right in the hope that the Orcs would leave a "gap" (or at least a weak-spot) in their lines for it to push through.


The Orcs opted not to make the most of their deep deployment zone and lined up as close to the Skaven as possible! Luckily (at least that's what I thought at first) they obliged the Doomwheel by deploying only chariots/artillery pieces on that flank.


The Giant was the only part of the Orc army that opted to handle the HPA - which was behind the rest of the Orcs. This also kept it a long way from either the Warp Lightning Cannon or the Doomwheel.

Spells:
Grey Seer: Warp Lightning, Scorch, Death Frenzy, Curse of the Horned Rat
Orc Great Shaman: ?, ?, Fists of Gork, Waagh

[tarrym]

Turn 1 - Clan Skrit


As per the scenario special rules the Skaven went first. They began their turn by rolling for the amount of "energy" that was pumped into the dormant HPA - and got a big fat 2. It would be a while before that monster was going to take part in the game!

The rest of the Skaven army moved up a little cautiously, not wanting to get too many rats killed before the HPA was ready.


The first Skaven magic phase started well with the Curse of the Horned Rat killing a whopping 18 Orcs from the horde on the left flank.


The shooting phase began in traditional Skaven style with a mis-fire from the Warp Lightning Cannon, once again the new model was proving to be a bad luck charm! (See my previous battle report with Skaven for the history behind that statement).


The rest of the Skaven shooting was pretty ineffectual. The Doomwheel managed to fire off all three of it's shots at one of the Orc Chariots, but rolled 2, 2 and 10 for the strength and failed to wound with all three shots!

[tarrym]

Turn 1 - Orcs & Goblins


With the exception of the Night Goblins, who failed their animosity test, the Orcs moved forwards pretty quickly, hoping to not have to face too many more of the Skaven turns based on their experience so far!

In the far "north" of the table the Giant charged the HPA, hoping to get past the ward save (which it got while dormant as part of the scenario) and damage the beast before it woke up.

On the right flank the two Orc Chariots made the most of the Doom Wheel's poor shooting and charged the giant rat wheel.


In the magic phase the Orc Shaman cast Fists of Gork on the Stormvermin and killed an ominous 13 of the "elite" rats.


The Orcs shooting achieved nothing with all the artillery missing their targets.

The Orc Chariots easily beat the Doomwheel and chased it off the board, narrowly avoiding going off the board themselves.

In the combat with the Giant and the HPA the Giant rolled "Yell and Bawl" missing an opportunity to inflict some damage.

[tarrym]

Turn 2 - Clan Skrit


This turn could easily be called the turn of the big bangs!

The Skaven started by rolling yet another 2 for the energy build up on the HPA. Then the Skaven sent their Slaves on the left flank into what was left of the Orc horde approaching them.

Other than that the only movement was to move the Rat Ogres backwards - they were unable to see the Spider Riders and charging the Orc horde didn't fit with the Skaven plan at the time!

During the magic phase the Grey Seer saw the plight of the Slaves in combat and decided to help - by casting Death Frenzy on the doomed rats.


Then came the bangs!

In the shooting phase the Warpfire Thrower went to shoot the Orcs in combat with the slaves...and blew up.


Then the Poisoned Wind Mortar tried to shoot at the Orc Archers...and blew up.


Finally, there was a template explosion which the Skaven intended to cause. The Warlock Engineer unleashed his Doomrocket on the Orc Archers, killing several of the stinking Orcs.


The rest of the Skaven shooting was pretty boring in comparison, not really killing much (greenskin or otherwise!).

The Giant failed to injure the HPA once again as the HPA passed it's initiative test against the attacks.

The frenzied slaves managed to kill a few Orcs, but lost a large number in return. They were exactly 11.5" away from the Skaven Warlord and so passed their break test. So the cunning plan hadn't quite worked with the Warpfire Thrower blowing up, but at least the Orcs wouldn't be rampaging any closer just yet!

[tarrym]

Turn 2 - Orcs & Goblins


This turn the Orc lines started to form up. The Orc Archers and Night Goblins both moved up, this released the fanatics. One went through a gap between the Orcs and the Night Goblins, but the other hit the Orcs killing several - maybe the Slaves would have a chance after all!

The Orc Chariots moved either side of the building, setting up charges for the next turn.

In the magic phase the Orcs managed to cast Waaagh, sending the Orc Archers into combat with the Slaves on the right and the Night Goblins even further into the woods.

This also had the effect of sending both Fanatics towards the Skaven Slaves fighting the Orcs on the left.


The Orc shooting was pretty ineffectual as the artillery pieces couldn't see very much of the Skaven army!

In combat the Orc Archers and Slaves hacked away at each other, but ultimately the Slaves held their ground. The Warlock Engineer inside them fell, but as he'd already released his Doom Rocket this wasn't exactly a big loss.


On the left flank the Skaven Slaves lost combat, and combined with the casualties from the Fanatic impact earlier there wasn't enough of them left to have ranks or be in range of the Warlord. They predictably broke and took a couple of Orcs and both Fanatics with them.

[tarrym]

Turn 3 - Clan Skrit


The Skaven finally rolled more than a 2 for the energy build up of the HPA - they got a 4! It was looking like the HPA wasn't going to come into the game at all, other than to distract the Orc Giant.


Realising that they were running out of time and getting flanked, the Skaven charged what was left of the Stormvermin into the front of the Night Goblins, and the Rat Ogres charged the flank - but fell short, leaving the depleted Stormvermin to fight 40-odd Night Goblins on their own.


In the Skaven magic phase the Grey Seer attempted to cast the Dreaded Thirteenth on the remaining Orcs accompanying their general on the left flank, but even consuming his warpstone token didn't give him enough power.

The combat phase saw plenty of casualties on both sides, but ultimately all units held their ground still.

[tarrym]

Turn 3 - Orcs & Goblins


The Orcs charged the Stormvermin on both flanks. One with the Orc generals unit and the other flank with the Orc Chariot. At the time we forgot to roll for difficult terrain for going into the forest.


With both magic and shooting phases uneventful it was straight onto the combat phase.

We resolved the central combat first, and rather predictably the Stormvermin were wiped out to a man. The Warlord and Chieftain both suffered a wound, but turned and fled.

They escaped, but fled through the Clanrats and Grey Seer - who also then fled! At that point the Skaven resigned.


Game over - victory to the Orcs and Goblins

[tarrym]

Post Battle Thoughts

Clan Skrit
So that scenario was a bit of a duff! The HPA played very little part - other than distracting the Giant for the game but with hindsight the Orc player didn't even need to do that! As for the rest of the game, I thought it started off well but then with the combined weapon team misfires on turn 2 and my artillery's persistence at missing (or misfiring) things went a little awry.

I made a mistake early on leaving a big enough gap between the Rat Ogres and Slaves for the Spider Riders to fit it. The Rat Ogres could have been in the action a lot sooner, and even supporting the Slaves.

I'm not entirely sure about Stormvermin. They seem OK, but against any unit that is half decent in combat (including Night Goblins with spears) they just can't really cut it - not without some cunning trick anyway. By comparison though a unit of Plague Monks can handle themselves for only 30pts extra (Plague Banner).

As for the weapon teams. It's been several games now and in general they haven't exactly earned their points back. I may consider trying a game or two without these. Which is a bit of a shame as I really like the idea of these teams.

Orcs & Goblins
Yet to come.

[vinny t]

Great job! I really enjoy all of your reports a ton! They're really simple to follow and provide some nice insight.

Too bad about the result though, with skaven sometimes the dice screw you over.

[Malorian]

I'll have to look into that mission. Always interesting to try something new, even when it doesn't really work out overall.

Stick with the weapon teams. The warp flame thrower in particular just takes some getting used to, but once you master is you will get your points back in a big way.

[russellmoo]

Not that it effected the game, but FYI

The doomwheel rolls to wound with each bolt seperately however, "To work out how powerful the warplighting is, roll AN artillery dice. If you roll a number (2,4,6,8,10) then this is the strength of ALL the bolts for this turn." Skaven book, pg. 67, last paragraph-

So you only need to roll one artillery dice for the strength of doomwheel lightning- hopefully this makes your doomwheel more dangerous and less likely to explode- thanks for the report.

[SevenSins]

another fine rep.
Now it'll be fun to see how the new o& book will turn your life sour

weapon teams are good, especially the wft

[tarrym]

Thanks for the feedback. It does take some time to prepare the maps and resize/crop images etc so good to know it's being well received.

Will check out the doomwheel rules again as I've been playing it "my way" for ages now. Could explain my random mixed success with the thing! :0)

[Malorian]

Hey tarrym, any chance of a battle report using the new rules any time soon?

[tarrym]

Hey tarrym, any chance of a battle report using the new rules any time soon?

I assume you mean the new O&G rules?

We haven't got any plans for a game just yet. Possibly as we're all busy working etc - and the O&G player is probably busy painting models and waiting for the new book.

Assuming my friend picks up the book reasonably soon after release I'd imagine it won't take him long to read it and be ready for game. Watch this space.

[zork rumpscratcha]

great report. I love the mix of battlechronicler and real pics. I try to do that too. How do you grab the pics from battlereporter? I usually just grab a screenshot and then crop it and export it. Also, I haven't exactly figured out how to embed my pictures and so have been linking them. Any hints?
I have to admit I was routing for the orcs and goblins but jolly good show. You seemed to have be a really great sport about it.