8th Edition Dwarf BRP Thread (Razakel)

[Razakel]

Dwarves versus Ogre Kingdoms

Hi everybody, I don't know how many people will be interested, but my last thread seemed reasonably successful. Anyway this is my 8th edition battle report thread, I hope you guys will like it. I'm hoping to do a battle report every week (possibly two weeks) but I'm not giving myself a 100% set in stone deadline since I know I'll fail to meet it if I do.

A Dangerous Road

The Dawi were approaching Parravon now, after the defeat of the Wood Elves Durgaz had allowed himself a rare few days of relaxation. The mind of a Dwarf Lord would always be occupied with war and danger, but for now the Dawi were safe, the Wood Elves would present no further threat. He just had to deliver some weapons, shoot some Orcs, drink some terrible manling beer as a gesture of goodwill and be on his way back to the underground. He let out a deep sigh of satisfaction as he ran his fingers over his father's priceless ring, an emblem of the Dragonback clan. Grikk seemed to sense his anticipation at having this debacle be over and voiced his thoughts
"We'll be right back on our way to the hold, after snapping that witches neck I think I'll need a few casks of ale" Grikks face was hidden behind his faceguard, but Durgaz knew he was happy, all the Dwarfs had been filled with mounting unease as the days passed into almost two weeks, but they were no more than a day from Parravon now, this venture would soon be behind them, and he'd have some manling gold to soothe his nerves.


"Aye, she was a fast one, thanks for shutting her up, once at for all" came the hearty reply as Durgaz drank deep from his mug and carefully hooked it back onto his belt.
Then all of a sudden for no discernable reason Durgaz' sense of unease returned to him all at once. He put his fist straight up and motioned for the column to stop, he heard murmuring behind him as Dwarfs carefully loaded their crossbows and handguns. Both he and Grikk at the head of the column listened with great care and smelt the filthy woodland air.


Grikk spoke first "Pig grease? Sweat? With a distinct scent of blood and dye" Grikk sounded uneasy, but Durgaz knew his fear was poorly founded
"It's either a very large Orc or more likely..." Just as Durgaz was about to finish speaking a number of Trollslayers strolled out from the thicket, causing raucous laughter to burst forth from the chest of several Dawi.


The largest and most psychopathic looking of the Slayers spoke first "Hail lord Durgaz, when we heard you were on the road hunting Orc that was an opportunity for a great doom one does not oft get." He was by a long shot the loudest slayer Durgaz had ever heard. His father had warned him about the doomseekers, they were only concerned about their own deaths, and their part in a battle plan could be placed in jeapordy if some large monster presented itself at the wrong time. Still he thought, slayers had a knack for killing such beasts, perhaps they could be useful.


"Aye doomseeker, you should join us, though we go to a human city to deliver weapons, we will fight only if the people are being overwhelmed, there is no sense in wasting Dawi lives. Your doom is your own business, and there will be Orcs for you to kill, give me your word you will come with us to Parravon and you can do what you will after that." The help of these doomseekers would be well received, slayers were fearless individuals, having sworn to die a noble death in battle. They would do just about anything to alleviate their shame... but slayers were still dwarfs, though some of them were oathbreakers or worse, their word still meant something, and they could be counted on. That is until the pact had expired, then they would roam the world searching for more monsters to bring about their doom.


"Very well, but if we are to help you on your way, we ask for payment for our part in this venture" Durgaz let out a derisive snort, he should've known. Dwarfs were still Dwarfs, and the Dawi were expert dealmakers, even a slayer, with little time to live would find use in his gold. Using it to travel to the most dangerous parts of the Old World, and keeping themselves drunk along the way.


"We'll give you twenty pieces of gold each for your services, and your assistance, we shall need to know your names to pay your families in the event you that you die - Grikk take their names"


Grikk unslung the Dragonback clans book of days, as its name suggested, it was to record the day-by-day events of the clan, and prepared to take down the names of the slayers involved. It was dwarf custom to pay the family of said dwarf in the event of a death. Even in the case of particularly unstable, or shamed dwarfs, it was still right to stick by tradition.


After a brief murmuring to themselves, the slayer with the longest beard spoke "Aye lord Durgaz, we'll agree to these terms, my name is Thruk Veinbreaker"
Durgaz almost regurgitated his ale "of the Karak Azul Veinbreakers?" the Veinbreakers had a reputation for being some of the finest miners in all the Old World. Even among Dwarfs they had a rare and fantastic amount of skill with a pickaxe. They were often hired out to oversee expeditions and mining crews, to ensure the greatest amount of wealth could be found in the shortest amount of time. Then the slayer revealed his axe, there was more to this dwarf than met the eye. That axe could be wielded by none other than a Daemonslayer, it was inscribed with the most powerful runes of smiting and unbinding. Designed in the elder days to undo the magic that bound daemons to the mundane world. He expected it would fare quite well against non-magical creatures too.


"Aye the very same, anyway let us march on - time is short and I sense my doom is finally near at hand, and Durgaz the road ahead is dangerous, we should be careful, there's been sightings of Ogres around here recently" Gold was exchanged and the slayers gave their word to defend the honour of the Dragonback clan in battle, at least until Parravon was finished.


An hour later the small army entered a clearing, Durgaz looked to the distance and he saw smoke rising from Parravon, the city looked like it was still in human hands, the walls were still standing and Orcs were brutal ignorant creatures, they would tear down everything before they left the place. Durgaz let out a sigh, "with haste now brothers, let us go, win the battle and be back to the hold to feast and drink" the word was passed back and the other Dwarfs murmured in agreement.
The Veinbreaker captured Durgaz' attention and pointed straight down at a nearby watchtower, Durgaz was about to dismiss him, but then he saw what the slayers giant finger was indicating. There were Ogres down there, lots of them, and they were getting closer. Durgaz walked out in front of his Throng, he knew Ogres were fat, stupid and greedy, and that they could be reasoned with if enough gold or food was offered. He'd dig up his father's bones and piss on them before he gave these ugly savages any Dwarf ale though.


Durgaz shouted for the attention of the Ogres and he saw the gigantic brutal animal that led them. It was a frightening monster, it had all manner of cleavers, knives, axes, meat tenderisers and other blades that he didn't even have names for strewn across its body like some kind of a meat soaked bandolier. It grinned as it saw Durgaz approach, the Dwarfs and Ogres were close now, no more than 100 paces. The Ogre raised a finger, pointed at the Dawi and uttered a single word


"MAAAAAAAW!!!!"


With that the nearby Ogres were roused from their orgy of inward bound gluttony and violence, and were determined to direct such forces outward instead.
Grikk and Durgaz began to run back to their own lines and Grikk muttered "I suppose that concludes negotiations"


"A dangerous road indeed" said Durgaz as he ran back to the Dwarf lines which were already forming up to meet the Ogres head on. Would Durgaz even have enough Dwarfs to keep his word and defend Parravon? Only time would tell.

2,250 Dwarf Army


Characters: 668

Daemon Slayer (Thruk Veinbreaker) - 205
• Rune axe inscribed with the Master Rune of Smiting & Rune of Might

Dwarf Thane (Durgaz Dragonback) - 129 General
• Great Weapon
• Gromril Armour inscribed with a Master Rune of Steel & a Rune of Stone
• Runic Ring (talisman) inscribed with a Rune of the Furnace

Dwarf Thane (Grikk Goldridge) - 185
• Army battle standard bearer
• Gromril Armour inscribed with a Master Rune of Gromril & a Rune of Resistance
• Warhorn (talisman) inscribed with the Master Rune of Dismay
• Oath Stone

Runesmith (Finn Rockbeard) - 149
• Great Weapon
• Runestaff (talisman) inscribed with a Master Rune of Balance & a Rune of Spellbreaking

Core: 1240

30 Dwarf Warriors - 325
• Great Weapons
• Full Command

30 Dwarf Warriors - 325
• Great Weapons
• Full Command

20 Quarrellers - 285
• Great Weapons
• Full Command

20 Thunderers - 305
• Full Command

Special: 220

20 Slayers - 220

Rare: 120

Organ Gun - 120

Total: 2248

Glugg the Feasters Ogre Horde, 2,250 Ogre Army

Characters: 580

Slaughtermaster (Glugg the Feaster) - 375 General
• Fencers Blades
• Power Stone
• Talisman of Endurance
• Ironcurse Icon
• Level 4


Firebelly (Skren the Burning) - 205
• Level 2
• Great Weapon
• Crown of Command
• Talisman of Protection

Core: 766

8 Ogres - 283
• Additional Hand Weapons
• Full Command
• Standard bearer has a look-out-gnoblar

8 Ogres - 283
• Additional Hand Weapons
• Full Command
• Standard bearer has a look-out-gnoblar

40 Gnoblars - 100

40 Gnoblars - 100

Special: 764

3 Leadbelchers - 139
• Bellower

5 Maneaters - 415
• Full Command
• All equipped with a brace of Ogre pistols
• Heavy Armour
• Standard bearer has a look-out-gnoblar
• Standard Bearer has the Dragonhide Banner
• Snipers
• Stubborn

5 Sabretusks - 105

5 Sabretusks - 105

Rare: 130

Gnoblar Scraplauncher - 130

Total: 2240

[Razakel]

Scenario: He allows me to roll, I get a five so it's a Meeting Engagement
Table Size: 6x4
Points Per Side: 2,250 (equal)

Terrain: I let him make the first terrain roll (D6+4), he rolls a 2. So we set up 6 pieces of terran. The terrain, in the order we got it (starting with my roll) was:
#1: Watchtower
#2: Steadfast Sanctum - Grail Chapel
#3: Sinister Structure - Tower of Blood
#4: Sinister Structure - Tower of Blood
#5: Mysterious Forest
#6: Obstacles - Blazing Barricade, Wall, Blessed Bulwark

We roll off, and I score higher - so I get to place the first piece of terrain, a Watchtower. I put it in the centre of the board, it looked cool, and I didn't want him to have the advantage in case he won the roll to go first.

He places the Grail Chapel out on right side of the board near enough to the table edge. Interestingly he places it horizontally rather than vertically, which means it blocks more of a firing arc. I also imagine he expected that by placing it out that far I would be unwilling to go it. Not a bad expectation I must say.

I place the first tower of blood deep in the northern deployment zone, hoping that he'll do the same on the southern end so then I'll have a defensible position. Sadly it is not to be, and he places it closer to the middle of the battlefield. It should also be noted that the right side of the battlefield is a bit of a mess at this point. Any lane of fire has been effectively destroyed.

I place the mysterious forest in the southern deployment zone, I didn't really have any logical basis for this, that side of the field was just looking a bit barren.

He places the Blazing Barricade between the watchtower and the forest. I place the wall in the northern deployment zone. He places the blessed bulwark in the southern deployment zone.

Seems like a reasonable amount of terrain, see the link for the terrain before deployment.

http://imageshack.us/f/412/dwarfbattlereportsterra.jpg/

Deployment: I win the roll for deployment, and elect to set up first. In accordance with the scenario, you roll a dice for each unit in your army (including characters) and any rolls of 1 mean that unit is kept in reserve, to appear later on in the battle. I (miraculously) don't roll a single 1! So I deploy my entire army on the southern half of the map.

Only a single unit of his basic ogres (bulls) fail to get to the field in time, and instead deploy as reserves. See attached image for complete deployment picture.

http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images...eployment.jpg/

The plan:

Hey Raz, I remember that army, it's the one I picked out when I ate the mushrooms that were growing on the rug in my bathroom. Fear not my panicky chum, I picked this army for a few (good reasons). #1: I wanted to have fun, taking power armies and trying to wreck your opponent is fun in some contexts (tournaments) but I've never fielded this combination of units, and never played a game as Dwarves without a special category artillery choice. Also, whens the last time you saw a Daemonslayer? Those guys are serious badasses, we should use them more.

#2: It was a friendly, but I knew at heart he would think I'd be taking a lot of artillery, and I was trying to outthink him by taking only a single war machine. I was right, he took a lot of anti-artillery stuff.

Anyway onto the battlefield discussion.

Given how threateningly he deployed, I was going into this a bit worried. He had Sabretusks on his flanks, though there was no Hunter, so they should run away easily enough. His Slaughtermaster AND Firebelly joined the same Ogre unit, which he shielded with a unit of Gnoblars. That unit is 100% targeting priority. If only I had brought my cannon! However, I have a plan for those devils. I'm going to get my Daemonslayer into combat with them, and slice them up in a challenge. He does D6 wounds, at strength 8, I'm pretty sure he'll kill any Ogre he touches (above T5 anyway!). My plan is comparatively crude: get into combat and grind him down with my superior infantry and try to use my Daemonslayer to kill off his characters. My Thunderers garrison a tower of blood, and my Warriors garrison the grail chapel. I hope you guys will enjoy this battle report!

My Daemon Slayer joins the Trollslayers.
My Thane & Runesmith join the second Warrior unit
My BSB joins the first Warrior unit

His Slaughtermaster & Firebelly join the first Ogre unit

Magic: He rolled for magic before deployment and got Bullgorger (+1 strength); Braingobbler (panic test); Trollguts (regeneration) and The Maw (lots of dying going on with this thing).

His Firebelly rolls and gets Cascading Fire Cloak (any unit in contact takes 2D6 s4 hits) and Piercing Bolts of Burning, but he swaps this for Fireball, the lore of fires signature spell.

Battlefield Keys:
ST 1 & 2: Sabretusk units 1 & 2
L : Leadbelchers
M: Maneaters
GN1 & GN2: Gnoblar units 1 & 2
S: Scraplauncher
OG1 & 2: Ogre bulls units 1 & 2
Q: Quarrellers
TH: Thunderers
DW1 & 2: Dwarf Warriors units 1 & 2
OG: Organ Gun
SL: Slayers
As he was the second player to deploy, he rolls a dice, anything but a 6, and I get to choose who goes first. He gets a 2, so I get to choose, and I take the first turn.


The Throng of the Dragonback Clan, Turn One:

I'm quite happy with the way the battlefield has lined up, I move my Slayers and my Clansdwarfs forward a few inches to threaten the central tower and take some position in the middle of the map.

I have no magic phase so we move right onto shooting. Due to the good fortune of pre-measuring I find out my Organ Gun is out of range, and so cannot shoot this turn. I'm not too bothered by this, it's guarding an entire flank quite well so I'll wait for enemies to come to it.

My Thunderers turn out to be barely in range of the nearby Gnoblars, so I open fire. Each tower of blood has three floors, so 15 Thunderers can shoot. Out of 15 shots, I manage an unbelievable 12 hits at long range! This translates into 8 kills, two short of a panic test.

On the left flank, my Quarrellers open fire on the Leadbelchers. Though the Leadbelchers are behind the Blazing Barricade (soft cover) and at long range. I only manage two hits, but both wound, leaving one Leadbelcher perilously close to death.

There is no combat so my first turn ends and I await the barrage of magic and knives (stupid scraplauncher).

http://imageshack.us/f/442/turn1thethrongofthedrag.jpg/

Glugg the Feasters Ogre Horde, Turn One:

He begins by marching pretty much everything as close to me as possible, his Sabretusks in particular begin to threaten my flanks, my Organ Gun and Quarrellers particularly. His second unit of Ogre bulls show up, entering from the long table edge, between the Sabretusks and the rest of his army. His line is complete now and I'm feeling just a bit intimidated (I might be playing it down). I'm hoping the extra points I paid to equip my Quarrellers with great weapons will pay off in the ensuing combat.

So here we are, my first 8th edition magic phase. This ought to be fun. He rolls a 6 for the winds of magic, (a 4 & 2) so I get 4 dispel dice. Neither the Firebelly, nor the Slaughtermaster are able to channel the winds of magic this turn. Much to my relief. So he has 6 power dice, I have 4 dispel dice. But the Master Rune of Balance siphons off some of his power, and balance's (get it?) things out at five dice each.

He elects to use all his power dice to use the beefed up (20+) version of Trollguts. Just for clarification, this would give regeneration to: both units of gnoblars, both units of ogre bulls, the scraplauncher, and the Maneaters. He fails to meet the casting value of the spell... but rolls a double six for irresistible force. So about half his army gets regeneration, but I lick my lips in anticipation of the impending miscast. Fortunately for him, he rolls an 8, magical feedback. Both the Slaughtermaster and the Firebelly suffer a wound though the Firebelly regenerated his, courtesy of the Trollguts spell! And the magic phase ends.

In his Shooting phase, the Leadbelchers open fire on my Quarrellers and get 11 attacks with their giant cannons. However, due to long range, only two shots hit, and it scores only a single kill. The scraplauncher fires at my Quarrellers, however the shot scatters backwards 6" and misses completely.

There are no combats, so his first turn ends.

http://imageshack.us/f/535/turn1gluggthefeastersog.jpg/

The Throng of the Dragonback Clan, Turn Two:

With every unit I want to shoot under the effects of regeneration, I'm feeling uneasy about combat, and not for the first time. But it would take more than that to undermine solid Dwarf determination. I declare a charge with my Slayers against his rightside Gnoblars, and do the same with my Warriors against his leftside Gnoblars. I make both charges (with the warriors rolling an astonishing 11!). I decide to have my second Dwarf Warrior unit leave the grail chapel and move up to protect the flank of the Slayers. I want them to stay alive long enough for the Daemonslayer to chop up some Ogres. Of course, both units of Gnoblars flee, not entirely unexpected, now his units are exposed to my shooters, so I'm hoping to cause some damage before he charges me and hits my units too hard.

In the shooting phase, I fire my Organ Gun at his nearby Sabretusks, I roll a 4 for my first set of hits, but I discard that, praying for a higher result and get a six. Which is nice enough. I cause four wounds, killing two Sabretusks, the ensuring panic test routs them from the field. Safeguarding my right flank... for now.

The Thunderers open fire on his unit of Ogres containing the Slaughtermaster. I roll 11 hits, and 9 wounds. His armour save, naturally, is cancelled and regeneration only saves two wounds. So my Thunderers shout Timber! and two ogres come crashing down. Leaving a third dangerously close to death. He (just about) doesn't have to take a panic test, so they stick around, and my Slayers brace for their impending deaths with glee.

The Quarrellers fire once more on the Leadbelchers. I reason my stand & shoot will be enough to make them flee, and taking down the Leadbelchers is more important. Their accurate crossbow bolts kill the injured Leadbelcher and bring down a further one. Leaving a single Leadbelcher on his own to contemplate his fate. It's all too much for him and he runs for it! With my second turn over, I brace for the Ogre charge, and wonder if my Slayers can hang on long enough to make it count.

http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images...tturn2the.jpg/

Glugg the Feasters Ogre Horde, Turn Two:

Glugg and his Ogres charge my Slayers, easily reaching, the Maneaters also charge the Dwarf Warriors containing my BSB, and the Scraplauncher joins in. The remaining Sabretusk unit charges my Quarrellers. I hold with my Slayers and Warriors, but stand & shoot with my Quarrellers. The shots are easily enough to force the Sabretusks into a panic test, which they fail (LD4?) and boot it pretty far away (12").

However, his Gnoblar units were both now slightly out of the LD range of his general, so I presumed they would simply continue fleeing. Miraculously the unit on my right flank rallies on its own (LD5) and wheels to prepare to get around to flank my slayers. His newly arrived ogre bulls move around the side to threaten the flank of my slayers, and to prevent my dwarf warriors from achieving a flank charge themselves.

He rolls a 12 for the winds of magic, much to my resentment. He fails to channel this turn again, not that it matters (lol). He uses 5 dice to cast the powered up version of Bullgorger (+1 strength to all friendly units within 12"). I already knew before he cast it I was going to let it go, there are more serious fire related matters for me to worry about. Fortunately for me! He rolls ANOTHER irresistible force, for anyone interested he actually rolled: 6+6+4+4+5 for a total of 25 with his Wizard level it's a 29. Magic is pretty good these days. So now his charging ogre unit will be striking at +1strength. The other turn he got off lucky, losing only a single wound, this time he rolls a 10 - power drain. You lose D3 casting levels and a spell for each level lost. He loses only a single spell (the only he was casting), but I still consider it a major victory. He's down a spell and a wizard level (-1 to his casting attempts).

He uses his remaining six dice to attempt Cascading Fire Cloak with his Firebelly, he easily beats the casting value, totalling at 20 for his casting attempt. However, I am aware that he has no power dice left, so I use all my dispel dice and easily overpower the spell.

So, onto the interesting part, right? In the slayer combat, his Slaughtermaster issues a challenge and I accept with my Daemonslayer. I had to fight to contain my happiness when he challenged, and when he did, he saw the big grin on my face and regretted it almost immediately. His impact hit fails to wound my Slayer, and my initiative is higher so I go first (thank you new charge rules). He strikes four times, hitting and wounding twice (strength 8). The Slaughtermaster fails both ward saves and suffers an amazing ten wounds. Yes, my Daemonslayer just sliced up a Slaughtermaster.

The rest of the combat doesn't go quite so well though. The impact hits kill three Slayers, I elect to fight with additional hand weapons. We have equal initiative and he wins the roll off. His Firebelly's melee attacks kill two more slayers, then his breath attack roasts 6 more, yeah Firebellies are pretty good. His ogres kill 4 more slayers, for a total of 13 dead, and very satisfied Dwarves partying in the afterlife. The remaining slayers get a lot of hits, but only two wounds. Just when it seems the dust is settling, his stomp attacks kill two more. Despite my Daemonslayers grand display of violence the Ogres win combat, but my Slayers are unbreakable and stick around to take another beating.

In the BSB combat his impact hits (from the Maneats & Scraplauncher) kill 4 Dwarfs, which wasn't that bad considering the large number of hits. The gnoblars, rhinox and maneaters kill a grand total of 14 Dwarfs, including impact hits. Damn those Maneaters hit HARD. My Dwarfs strike back pretty hard themselves though killing two Maneaters and taking a wound off a third. I end up losing combat by 3 (or 4?) I can't remember, but I pass my break test on the second go.

A mixed turn, let's see how my turn three goes.

http://imageshack.us/f/836/dwarfdeploymentturn2glu.jpg/

The Throng of the Dragonback Clan, Turn Three:

I start by attempting a charge with my second unit of Dwarf warriors against the Ogres across the wall, but fail the charge . I'm fully expecting my BSBs unit to break in the next turn, so I position my Quarrellers behind the Blessed Bulwark to prepare for the inevitable overrun. At least this way I'll have a bonus.

With my only unit able to hit anything being the Thunderers I train their guns on the unengaged Ogre bulls. I roll poorly though and only inflict a single wound.

Everything else is in combat, so we move onto that.

I issue a challenge with my Daemonslayer, he accepts with his Firebelly. My Daemonslayers initiative is higher, so he chops the Firebelly up into little pieces, scoring 14 wounds and truly sending him to the great maw. This ends the threat of the Ogre magic phase, and I can finally relax at the prospect of yet more irresistible force...

However, he once again rolls higher for initiative and wipes out my Trollslayers before they can strike back. Leaving the Daemonslayer all alone to face the Ogres.

In the other combat the Maneaters kill 10 Warriors, the Rhinox and the gnoblars miss all their attacks. The four remaining Dwarf Warriors kill one Maneater, with the BSB doing another wound. But it's all too much for the Dwarves and they finally break, abandoning the BSB and the clans banner to their doom. However the Maneaters and Rhinox don't pursue far enough to overrun into the Quarrellers, which makes me feel kind of ambivalent, I wasn't going to get a stand and shoot from an overrun anyway, but I do want to see how my Quarrellers will fare.

With the (rather insane) combats resolved, we move onto Ogre turn three.

http://imageshack.us/f/23/dwarfdeploymentturn3the.jpg/

[Razakel]

Glugg the Feasters Ogre Horde, Turn Three:

He wastes no time in declaring all the obvious charges, with all of them connecting, his gnoblars finally flee off the board, but he doesn't care in the slightest. All units of consequence are in close combat, so we move right onto that and let the butchery commence.

His Scraplauncher takes a dangerous terrain test as it's crossing an obstacle, fails, and suffers three wounds. His now depleted Maneaters, also having to deal with the -1 to hit penalty from the defended obstacle kill only two Dwarfs, the Rhinox and Gnoblar crew perform similarly although the impact hits kill 3. In total the Ogres kill 8 Quarrellers, and it really could've been much worse. My attacks back destroy the Scraplauncher & kill a Maneater, leaving the Maneater captain as the lone survivor. However due to charging and the high number of kills, the lone ogre still wins combat, though I pass my break test.

My Daemonslayer easily overpowers his larger opponents and kills two more, the Ogres finally decide they've had enough from this orange maniac and run for it, fleeing through the Gnoblars who pass their panic test (the bravest Gnoblars ever, seriously). The Daemonslayer charges forward into the Gnoblars, who will no doubt tie him up for the rest of the game, but what a hero.

The Northern combat with the remaining unit of Ogre bulls is unencouraging. I declare a challenge since he decides not to, and he accepts with his Crusher. His Crusher wounds my general, but I kill him in return. The ogres, between impact hits, stomp attacks and regular attacks slice up 15 Warriors. My remaining Warriors and the Runesmith hack down 4 Ogres. Leaving the unit totals at: 15 warriors and 3 ogres. He wins combat, but I pass my break test.

http://imageshack.us/f/854/dwarfdeploymentturn3glu.jpg/

The Throng of the Dragonback Clan, Turn Four:

I have no charges this turn, but interestingly my Warriors fail to rally (on LD10) and flee off the board, oh well the points for them were gone anyway (joined by a character with an Oath Stone). We also realise the Ogres only have 2 models left, so they can only rally on a double 1. Which is nice for me.

There are no unengaged targets on the board now, so we skip right to combat. My slayer kills a few gnoblars and they fail to wound him, unbreakable, blah blah. You know how these ones go.

The Maneater captain manages a whooping four kills against my Quarrellers, who deal 2 wounds back to him. He loses combat, but keeps his nerve and sticks around.

In the last major combat the Ogres manage an impressive 8 kills, but the Dwarf Warriors are determined and kill two Ogres, the Runesmith brings the last remaining Ogre to a single wound, the unit breaks and is run down by my Dwarfs.

At this point, I'm feeling like the battle is over, but he wants to keep going, so who am I to argue?

http://imageshack.us/f/99/dwarfdeploymentturn4the.jpg/

Glugg the Feasters Ogre Horde, Turn Four:

He has no units capable of moving, his other Ogre Bulls flee off the board. The Gnoblars again fail to wound the Daemonslayer who kills a few, but without consequence. The Maneater captain kills five Quarrellers (that guy is a SERIOUS) badass. But my last two Quarrellers finally kill him and take the points for the Maneater unit, at this point he concedes, having a single unit of 100pt gnoblars left.

http://imageshack.us/f/256/dwarfdeploymentturn4glu.jpg/

Result:

We didn't even count VPs, it was an obvious win for me, although it could easily have gone the other way and we both know it.

Post-Game Thoughts:

Well that was fun, my first 8th edition game, firstly I'd like to apologise, to you guys, I know this isn't my usual standard (I'm painfully aware of it). But I just don't know how to make it any better. Usually when I'm about to post it I'm like "yeah, this is pretty good", but right now I'm feeling pretty bad about this one. Maybe it was the battle itself or just my write-up but I'm not happy with it. Oh well.

The battle itself went okay, it could easily have been his victory (two irresistible forces in a row? Come on >_<) but had his magic gone off and actually been effective, I honestly think I would've been screwed. He vastly underestimated the potential strength of the Slayers, and it ended up costing him the game. The Daemonslayer was certainly the dwarf-of-the-match. He cut up about 4x his points worth and almost single handedly won the game for me. In future I'll be going back to a regular army with some artillery and other stuff in it. I'm just glad he didn't have any of the monsters OK players are so fond of now. A stonehorn (spelling?) would have probably wiped me out, the Scraplauncher was enough to make me a bit fearful. Also: be afraid of maneaters, he didn't even get to use his sniper rule, and I was terrified. What if he had targetted my Daemonslayer with them and shot him to pieces before he got to combat? Serious trouble. Anyway with his magic not really doing anything, and my units sticking around JUST long enough to grind him down. Overall it was a fairly close call, but it was a lot of fun and I'm glad I tried out something new.

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Honourable Deaths - Eternal Defiance

The battle was going worse than their previous ones, already a unit of beardlings had broken rank and the slayers had been decimated. Though as more Dawi fell, the remainder fought on with the dour determination and with great vengeance in their hearts. These were two things, perhaps THE two things that characterised the Dwarf race. The might of the Dwarf empire may have been split apart, and they may be few in number, but as long as there was a single Dwarf to take up the weapons of war, the Dwarfs would never be truly defeated. The eternal defiance of the Dwarf race had rarely been personified by any Dwarf better than Thruk, he was quite a sight to behold. Covered in offal and other, far more unidentifiable sorts of meat and bodily fluids. He had a wild look of vengeance in his eyes.


The Ogre leader, the great butcher creature had charged several of his finest Dwarfs and smashed them into the ground, eating the dead much to the horror of the remaining Dwarfs. Sometimes he would chomp down on a bone too hard even for him and he'd spit it back out with a wicked grin splitting his face. Soon there were few left to fight, and fewer still who could face him, that is before the slayer got up near him. The Ogre towered over the diminutive Thruk, he seemed quite amused by this tiny creature waving his axe and shouting boasts at the top of his lungs, so loud even Durgaz could hear them from this side of the battlefield.


The Ogre and the slayer duelled then and there, the savagery of the Ogres against the honour of the Dawi. The slayer was lightning fast, faster than any Dwarf Durgaz had ever laid eyes on. He dodged the Ogres clumsy attacks with contemptuous ease and each time he hacked another lump from the butchers body. This enraged the butcher, causing him to make ever wilder more furious strikes, much to the slayers disappointment, it seemed he would not meet his doom this day. As the Ogre reared back for an overheard strike the slayer darted in, chopping at the Ogres shin the way you would at a large tree. After a long moment the slayer pushed forward with all of his might, cutting straight through fat, muscle and bone - knocking the Ogre onto his back where he was immediately swarmed by slayers. Like tiny orange pebbles they swarmed over this giant creature, tearing, hacking and slashing until the enraged creature finally died. The Daemonslayer claimed the Ogres head and brandished it aloft for all to see.


This was too much for the Ogres, even though they had caused great damage to the Dwarf throne, the loss of their leader was too much. Clearly he was some kind of prophet or thing of importance, even without the slayer holding his severed head up, they had known something was wrong. As if they had been alerted somehow to his death. It mattered not thought Durgaz as the large fat Ogre with a bronze gutplate in front of him turned to run, he sprinted after it, breathing hard, he would not be denied. His clansdwarfs joined in and started the grim process of killing the surviving Ogres who had simply been badly injured.
Durgaz turned around as he heard Grikk approach, still holding the standard of the hold aloft, it made him feel great pride to witness the defiance of the Dwarf race emblazoned upon a single item. Grikk was badly injured though, and he would clearly need medical attention, one of his arms was broken from where he blocked an ogres attack, and there was a small pool of blood forming at his boots. He would not allow himself to rest until Durgaz had given the order though. Durgaz gave him a nod and motioned for the priestess of Valaya to tend to his wounds.


The slayer Veinbreaker approached him then, having spent the day breaking brand new kinds of veins. "You live to fight one more time" Durgaz said, disappointed. This would be offensive to any other creature, but a slayer had no business being alive, his only purpose in life was to die. Durgaz offered him a mug of ale and they both sat down on an ogres corpse, the body was still warm, having only been dismembered a few hours ago. The Dawi had sent runners back to the hold to send out additional dwarfs to collect the bodies of the dead, and also to bring tradesmen, a reasonable seam of gold had been found in a mineshaft near the battlefield. And ogre fat was highly prized in the dwarf kingdoms as a cooking aide, though it could be mixed with blackpowder and certain soapy compounds to create explosives. Durgaz had lost many Dawi here today, all but one of the slayers were dead, a number of beardlings had quit the field, and had earned the ire of the dawi and their own ancestors. They would no doubt shave their heads, take the slayers vow and search for their own dooms.


As the slayer quaffed the ale in one go, he began the process of wiping his axe clean.
"Aye my survival is bad news, but many slayers died here today, that is the good news. They have achieved an honourable death, we should not tarry here too long, Parravon is waiting."


Durgaz looked to the east, seeing the smoke had subsided somewhat, this could be a good... or a bad sign, he wasn't sure yet, but he knew he had to keep his word and continue. The slayer was right, it didn't do to tarry too long.


The sun was beginning to set on the horizon, he looked at the assembled Dwarfs and spoke to those that remained conscious "Make our preparations, we leave at daybreak".

[papabearshane]

Good read, Very nice for your first game of 8th. I Loved the Slayer build and was very impressed with his awsomemess. Cant wait to read more about you Battles.

[Toshiro]

Great to see some more batreps from you Raz, I loved you last thread, your fluff is great!

[SevenSins]

nice narrative and a fine rep, I guess he took the challenge with the firebelly to limit damage to the unit? and on another tack, the new maneaters are indeed excellent

[TsukeFox]

Grats on the victory-do not care for leadbletchers or the organ gun/ rather have a cannon

[Djekar]

When initiative is the same you don't roll off sir - they strike simultaneously. That would have probably helped quite a bit in the combats where you rolled.

Other than that it was a great read and a close match. Thanks for the report!

P.S. what a boss that Daemonslayer is!

[Razakel]

Thanks for the feedback guys, next game is Orcs & Goblins. Didn't know about the simultaneous striking, wow that made me look like a ***** xD

[Djekar]

Hey no worries bro - it's a learning experience. As long as you had fun it's not a big deal. Though, as an O&G player, expect no sympathies when your puny throng cannot stand before the green tide coming your way next!

[MrCarbohydrate]

Top class thread, would read again.

And up with Slayers, darn right.

[lisaundead]

Thanks for the excellent battle report dude, loved reading it.
It has deffo made me wanna crack out my 7th Ed Slayers and give them a run in 8th, see how they do.

The Daemonslayer was truly awesome...will use that build (although I dont usually run a Daemonslayer in my list )

Cheers again

[Confessor_Atol]

Cheers! Great bat rep, and great fluff read.

I'm glad your first 8th ed game was so entertaining.

[Hicks]

Great batrep! My friend is starting Ogres, so I found this very educative as well as entertaining.

[Razakel]

Hi guys, thanks for the positive feedback. I see a lot of faces from my old thread - glad to see you're still playing Warhammer and interested in what I have to write.

Anyway I played a game today and I just started writing it up, but my BRPs take a long time to write, and I don't have it in me to rush myself. Expect it in the next 2 days. Possibly on Monday night / Tuesday morning.

Hope the wait isn't too much for you guys

[Razakel]

Dwarves versus Orcs & Goblins

Hi guys, 2,250 point game played between myself and a friend of mine a few days ago. Hope you enjoy it Sorry for the late post, I was very busy doing thesis work.

Parravon At Last:

There was a long sad procession of Dawi, it was a tradition that, if possible the fallen Dwarfs family would come to claim his body and perform the relevant rituals. Durgaz recalled a conversation between himself and his father, he had placed upon Durgaz great import on the old burial rituals. And that celebration was only permitted once the dead had been paid the proper respect and been ushered to the halls of the ancestors, for they would sit at the tables of the Dawi no more and celebrate alongside their brothers and sisters. He looked around him and saw the devastation the battle had wreaked upon his people and it filled him with grim recrimination. This simple delivery of weapons was quickly becoming a disaster, first the Wood Elves blocked his path, then the Ogres, what next - would an army of Skaven or Daemons burst forth from the ground to impede his progress further? He dared not tempt fate.


Grikk approached him, a look of sour contempt on his face as he passed an ogre he had slain the night before. Grikks arm had been severely injured when he raised it to stop an attack, the armour had been pulverised, and had to be carefully removed and stored so that it could be reassembled within the forge of the hold. Grikks bare hairy arm was swollen and purple, but he carried it well, in his other hand was the standard. An ancient heirloom of the Dragonback clan back several thousands of years, it was in legend to have been woven with the aid of the Elves before the War of Vengeance, which the Elves had the audacity to call the War of the Beard. Such rumours were totally untrue - any true Dwarf knew his family history by memory. Durgaz knew the exact day it had been woven by Dwarf tailors and looking upon such an ancient relic filled his soul with pride, as did the great toughness of the Dwarf who bore it.
There was a time when all Dwarf items had runes inscribed on them, cloaks, lamps, banners in rare cases there had been instances of runic books, which captured the foul magics of other races within them and dispersed the reckless energy harmlessly. The method for striking this rune had been lost to the ages, but a similar rune, the Master Rune of Balance was still actively forged in many surviving holds. However, the Dragonbacks runed banner was special, inscribed on it were protective runes of guarding - it was no easy thing to bear the banner of the hold into battle, and every enemy warrior had grand dreams of capturing and desecrating such banners. This rarely ever happened, as the grim Dwarfs would frequently fight with intense ferocity when the relics of old were concerned. They were a doorway to the ancestors, a link with the past - and something like that was more valuable than any amount of gold to a Dwarf. Durgaz reflected on the runes of guarding, he knew it was likely without their protective influence the ogre would have broken through Grikks defenses and killed him. Perhaps a mark of respect from the ancestors, the Runesmiths claimed that though the magic bound into the runes was strong, that it would not protect one who did not have the blessing of the ancestors. Durgaz believed them.


Durgaz saluted Grikk, who returned the gesture.


"Our preparations have been made Lord Durgaz, we are ready to depart at your signal"


The Dawi had been busy during the night, reinforcements had marched double time through Athel Loren, surprisingly the Wood Elves had lost their stomach for battle and hadn't challenged the Dwarf advance again. However soldiers were not the only members of this party. There were many Dwarf butchers, armourers, weapon-smiths, and healers. The Dawi did not nominally have doctors as it was often unnecessary, though humans would sicken and die from disease often Dwarfs were tough creatures. However the Priestesses of Valaya were treated with the utmost respect and were considered fabulous healers, even among the filthy humans or the prancing elves. Among all these specialists were dozens of caravans each with the particular iconography of their clan stamped on the side, they had come to identify and retrieve the dead, and also to consult with the survivors regarding grudges.


Durgaz had supplemented his army with reinforcements from Karaz Izor, it had cost him a few favours and a lot of gold but three more clans had agreed to send Warriors. It was a matter of honour, Durgaz had given his word to the humans that he would deliver the weapons on time, and he would succeed or die. The weapons had remained undamaged, but the cart had lost a wheel in the chaos of the battle against the ogres. According to the driver, an ogre had come upon it believing it was a food storage cart, and on finding swords and axes of steel, not only was the creature unimpressed by the fantastic craftsmanship. It was enraged and in its fury it had smashed the cart until a wheel had broken off and tumbled away. The driver claimed the monster would have continued save the intervention of a Thunderer, who shot it in the eye, putting an end to another foul creature.


Grikks arm was concerning him though, he didn't know if Grikk maintained the capacity to carry the glorious standard into battle, though Grikk had taken the most serious oaths to never abandon the standard to any enemy. Durgaz decided the word of the Dwarf was enough for him.

"Indeed, we are ready, we leave now - the sun is rising over the eastern mountains"

"Aye, we march on Parravon"

Grikks reply was simple, it was clear he was in pain though he was hiding it well. Grikk relayed Durgaz' orders to the rest of the throng, word quickly spread and the Dawi arose with a single purpose: to fulfil the terms of an oath.

The Throng of the Dragonback Clan

Characters: 544

Daemon Slayer (Thruk Veinbreaker) - 185
• Rune axe inscribed with a Master Rune of Breaking, Rune of Striking & Rune of Cleaving

Dwarf Thane (Durgaz Dragonback) - 74 (General)
• Great Weapon
• Gromril Armour inscribed with a Rune of Stone

Dwarf Thane (Grikk Goldridge) - 140
• Army battle standard bearer
• Gromril Armour inscribed with a Master Rune of Gromril & a Rune of Resistance

Runesmith (Finn Rockbeard) - 145
• Runestaff (talisman) inscribed with a Master Rune of Balance & a Rune of Spellbreaking

Core: 960

30 Dwarf Warriors - 325
• Great Weapons
• Full Command

30 Dwarf Warriors - 325
• Great Weapons
• Full Command

19 Thunderers - 310
• Shields
• Full Command

Special: 745

Grudge Thrower - 130
• Inscribed with the Rune of Accuracy & a Rune of Penetrating

Grudge Thrower - 135
• Inscribed with the Rune of Accuracy, a Rune of Penetrating & a Rune of Burning

Cannon - 125
• Inscribed with the Rune of Forging

25 Hammerers - 355
• Shields
• Full Command

Total: 2249

The Orc Waaagh! of Skulltaker Mountain

Characters: 530

Orc Warboss (Boss Skulltaker) - 210 (General)
• Armour of Silvered Steel
• Basha's Axe of Stunty Smashin'

Savage Orc Shaman - 155
• Level 2
• Lucky Shrunken Head

Black Orc Big Boss - 165
• Battle Standard Bearer
• Armour of Destiny

Core: 1285

40 Savage Orcs - 435
• Additional Hand Weapons
• Full Command

70 Night Goblins - 350
• 3 Fanatics
• Standard Bearer
• Musician
• Spears
• Netters

70 Night Goblins - 350
• 3 Fanatics
• Standard Bearer
• Musician
• Spears
• Netters

5 Forest Goblin Spider Riders - 75
• Musician

5 Forest Goblin Spider Riders - 75
• Musician

Special: 105

1 Goblin Wolf Chariot - 50

1 Goblin Wolf Chariot - 55
• Extra Wolf

Rare: 130

Mangler Squigs - 65

Mangler Squigs - 65

Total: 2,250

Scenario: I rolled and got a 5 which is a Meeting Engagement, but since I didn't really want to play the same scenario twice for my first two games - I asked him if we could reroll. He said it was cool so he rolled and the second result was a Battleline.

Table Size: 6x4

Points per Side: 2,250 (even)

Terrain: D6+4 pieces of terrain results in 7 pieces this week. In order of setup:

#1: Three Blazing Barricades

#2: A building which we counted as a Watchtower

#3: Another building which we counted as a large house / mansion

#4: Sinister Structure - Haunted Mansion

#5: Obstacles - Three Ghost Fences

#6: A Hill, which was a Scree Slope

#7: Another building which we counted as a second house (third if you include the haunted mansion)

http://imageshack.us/f/510/deploymentterrain.jpg/

A game of Warhammer with no forests? *Gasp*

Anyway we alternated setting up terrain until we were both satisfied, I was praying to get the northern half of the map when he placed the Scree Slope inside a deployment zone, those things seem insanely useful. In any case, we had lots of buildings and obstacles but no rivers or Marshes or forests so the battlefield ended up looking a bit barren and silly. We added a few consolation shrubs, but we considered them open terrain and they had no effect on the battle itself, which is why they aren't in the diagram. Speaking of which:

Magic: He only had one level 2 Savage Orc Shaman, who was basically there for the Lucky Shrunken Head, regardless he did roll for two spells. He rolled a 5 & 2.

'Ere We Go which is a unit-wide buff for a turn.

And Fists of Gork, which is a self-buff for the Shaman himself.

Two rather fearsome spells, but I had a Runesmith and I was confident I could stop his spells most turns. Anyway, onto deployment.


Deployment: We roll off, I win and decide to set up a unit first, in the order the units were setup: Dwarf Warriors #1, Spider Riders #1, Dwarf Warriors #2, Spider Riders #2, Thunderers, both Wolf Chariots, Hammerers, Night Goblins #2, all my Warmachines, his other unit of Night Goblins, all my characters.

That was the end of my deployment, so I got +1 to the roll for first turn and he set up the remainder of his army. Check the diagram for the specifics on deployment.

http://imageshack.us/f/21/deploymentdeployment.jpg/

The Plan: I have a good feeling going into this game, I think I stand a really good chance of winning, I should note that I'm writing this based on some quick notes and memories I had before I played the game, which was a few days ago. Anyway I had no idea what Mangler Squigs were, but they weren't TOO big, and in the age where the apparently 'rare' monsters like Dragon Ogres, Shaggoths, Araknarok Spiders, Greater Daemons etc. I was quite refreshed to see an army that did not include a huge gribbly. However he told me that Mangler Squigs were a fun unit, nothing for me to be concerned about (you know, because he has a great sense of humour as I found out later). My basic plan was to prioritize targets, I couldn't possibly kill everything before it got to me. I wanted to use my firepower to kill the Savage Orcs first, then the flanking units of Spider Riders and Chariots, followed by his Night Goblins. I wasn't too worried about his Squigs or his Night Goblins though. I figured Mangler Squigs were one of those gimmicky one-hit-wonders the O&G army is so full of, and that I could grind down the Night Goblins with any of my combat units, big as they are, and unlikely as they are to run away. I still reckon I could beat them eventually and make them run. Especially since I was witnessing the hilarious event of an Orc Warboss joined to a unit of Night Goblins. He'll never live that down.

I was hoping at some point to get a unit into the Tower and keep it for the remainder of the battle, Hammerers would be nice, those guys are pretty hard to shift as it is. And with Garrison bonuses I figured they would be unmovable.

Anyway with no Slayers around my Daemonslayer took cover behind one of the Ghost Fences, my BSB joined the Hammerers, my Thane joined the DW unit, and my Runesmith kept himself safe up on the Scree Slope with the Thunderers.

His Warboss joined the NG unit, his Savage Orc Shaman joined the Savage Orcs & the BSB joined the NG2 unit.

FIRST TURN: We roll off, but even with my +1 from finishing deployment first, he wins the roll and elects to take the first turn.

[Razakel]

Orcs & Goblins - Turn One:

Animosity takes hold of the Savage Orcs as they begin brutally beating the crap out of one another. The Savage Orcs squabble for a turn, bet he wishes he put one of his Black Orc bosses in there now? For those of you who are curious, he didn't because he wanted to have each night goblin unit with reliable high leadership no matter where it was on the battlefield (in case they were separated from his general).
Otherwise movement proceeds in the fashion you would expect it to, he marches up with pretty much everything. The leftmost Mangler moves forward 11" while the other moves 8". His only shaman was in the unit that squabbled so his magic phase ended before it even began. He also had either no shooting or the few units that had bows marched. However the Haunted Mansion inflicts a wound on his Wolf Chariot and kills two spider riders.


http://imageshack.us/f/820/deploymentturn1theorcwa.jpg/


Dwarves - Turn One:

I start by moving my Warriors up behind the Blazing Barricade and my Hammerers a little further into the open to protect my Grudge Thrower from a long distance charge from the Wolf Chariot.
In the shooting phase I fire my Cannon and both Grudge Throwers at the same Night Goblin unit (the green line of sight arrow is just in case you doubt the visibility). I place the Cannon shot 18" forward (8" away from the Goblins). I roll a 6" for the extra range and a 2" for the bounce, but the Rune of Forging sorts that out and I get a 10" on the reroll. The Warboss in the unit passes his look-out-sir roll. The shot passes through all 7 ranks of the unit, getting 6 kills.


My first grudge thrower (the one with more accessible line of sight) fires and scores a direct hit, hitting 19 Night Goblins, getting 15 kills and splattering the poor Goblin who the rock landed on. The second Grudge Thrower lets loose and it scatters 10" away, but the Rune of Accuracy fires up and my reroll gets me another direct hit (feeling lucky?) Killing a further 10 Night Goblins.
To close my turn I let the Thunderers loose on the same Night Goblin unit, which nets me another 8 kills, for an incredible first turn total of 40 kills. This obviously causes a panic test, which is failed on the first try, but under the watchful gaze of the Warboss and the army standard the Goblins keep their nerve. And it's onto Orc turn 2.


http://imageshack.us/f/850/deploymentturn1thethron.jpg/


Orcs & Goblins - Turn Two:

The spider riders fail their animosity but roll a 6 on the animosity table, for those of you who don't know, this means the unit has to march towards the nearest enemy unit, then charge if they're able. The closest enemy unit is the Daemonslayer, so they're forced to declare a charge against the beefy Dwarf slayer. He declares no more charges, leaving the incredibly courageous Spider Riders to their fate. He does a lot of maneouvering to get his Spider Riders & Wolf Chariots around the flanks of my army. He also moves both of his Night Goblin units until they're just in range to release fanatics. The Mangler Squigs also end up about an inch from my Warriors and Hammerers.


The leftside fanatics are released as 4", 10" and 3". So he gets one contact fanatic and two shortfalls. I actually forgot to add fanatics when I was building the army so that's why I'm going to use skulls to represent them. The rightside fanatics go 9", 4" and 6".
In the shooting phase the haunted mansion fails to wound the wolf chariot.


The fanatic that reached my Hammerers rolls 6 hits and 4 kills. The other fanatic goes into the Blazing Barricade and dies since Fanatics can apparently be defeated by a piece of low wall, but not by the heaviest armour in the old world.

In the only combat my Daemonslayer goes first, due to Hatred he hits with everything and kills four Spider Riders. They fail to wound him (T5), then fail their break test and flee off the board. Pretty good for a guy who wants to die if you ask me.

http://imageshack.us/f/847/deploymentturn2theorcwa.jpg/

Dwarves - Turn Two:

I'm faced with a lot of difficult decisions. I have no idea what the correct response is in this situation, sit there and await the charge or charge him first and take the hits from the fanatics and the Mangler squigs?


I decide charging would be insane, I check the angle, my Cannon can see one Mangler squig, and my Thunderers can see the other. I move my Daemonslayers and my Warriors up to guard the flank of my Hammerers, I'm really not all that concerned about the Wolf Chariot at this point.
In the shooting phase my Cannon kills a Mangler Squig and my Thunderers kill the other one. I had never played against them before but my friend was gracious enough to tell me what would happen if they got a successful hit off. I didn't want to experience that, not yet anyway.


I fire both Grudge Throwers at the Savage Orcs, one misfires and can't shoot for two turns, but the other hits and kills 12 Savage Orcs (the 5+ ward save kept 5 of them alive).


With no combats we move onto the big turn, the one with lots - and lots of combat! Here we go.


http://imageshack.us/f/705/deploymentturn2thethron.jpg/


Orcs & Goblins - Turn Three:

To my dismay, none of his units fail their animosity tests, although the dice for the leftmost Night Goblins was spinning on a one, then tipped over onto a four. And I dared to hope!


In any case, he declares charges with everything he has, starting from the left:

The wolf chariot charges into the rear of my Dwarf Warriors and easily makes it.

The Night Goblins charge my Hammerers, presumably just to hold them up, but remember his BSB is in this unit. It's a golden opportunity for me to kill him, although I have no idea at this point how well armoured he is.

His other Night Goblins charge a whopping 15" toward my Warriors, just itching to get into combat with my stunties!

He tries to charge his Savage Orcs into my Grudge Thrower (as the closest target) but rolls a double one for charge distance and fails. Resulting in the unit barely moving from its starting position and making a ripe target for shooting next turn.

His other wolf chariot gets into the flank of my Dwarf Warriors on the right, finally his spider riders charge my Grudge Thrower that the Savage Orcs attempted to get to and roll a 9" (16" with their movement factored in) and miss the charge by 3". Yep he was gambling on a double six to make the charge, wouldn't that have been hilarious?

But now he has a very threatening series of units in the rear of my army, in particular the undamaged unit of spider riders threatening all my war machines.

In the magic phase he rolls a 5" for the winds of magic and I end up with 5 dispel dice and him with 4 power dice. Regardless he attempts to cast 'Ere We Go! with all his power die. On four dice + his power level he gets a 17. I attempt to dispel with all five of my dispel dice and get a 15, with my +2 for Dwarves I get exactly enough to dispel it. Phew that was close!

In the shooting phase, his Night Goblins moved straight through two Fanatics who kill 12 Night Goblins between them before dying of exhaustion, and also being brutally stabbed to death by their friends. The remaining active Fanatic spins back through my Hammerers, hitting both them and the Night Goblins before appearing at the opposite side of the Night Goblins. Killing 4 more Hammerers and 3 more Night Goblins. On the other side the charging Night Goblins lose only two Goblins, despite charging through two Fanatics, a large number of hits and a shocking number of one's later his unit gets into combat almost undamaged.

With all the stupidity of Fanatics resolved we move straight to combat. In the leftside wolf chariot vs Warrior combat, I go last because of Great Weapons, and he has impact hits anyway. The impact hits alone skewer three Dwarves, the crew and wolves despite a lot of hits fail to wound. My attacks back destroy the chariot with ease and my unit is once again free to flank the Night Goblins with my Daemonslayer.
In the Hammerer battle, the Night Goblins go first and net my Hammerers, causing a penalty of -1 strength. Whatever, strength five versus six? Not much of a difference when your opponent is T3 and has almost no armour. Despite going first with a huge number of attacks and having Hatred, a mere 2 Hammerers, the BSB fares little better, killing one more Hammerer. My BSB strikes back, killing two Night Goblins, and my Hammerers kill a whopping 8 Night Goblins out of ten attacks. Not bad for a days work. He loses by a lot, but has more ranks, so steadfast keeps them in the fight... for now, though he failed his first break test, the second one was a double one.

He loses a shocking seven Night Goblins to the magic bound within the Blazing Barricade (s4 hit on chargers) though the chariot escapes this since it isn't contacting the barricade itself. He's now in serious danger of losing his Steadfast and having his entire right flank collapse if he can't kill a lot of Dwarf Warriors. I think this motivated his decision to not challenge me, instead his Warboss directs his attacks at the unit and kills two Warriors, (he missed two attacks, that weapon he has is lethal and right now its priority #1 for me to kill him.) The Wolf chariot kills three Warriors, and the Night Goblins inflict an incredible 9 wounds. Want to know something more incredible ? Rolling a 5+ save for all 9 of those wounds. They don't make heavy armour like they make Dwarf heavy armour!

With great vengeance in their hearts, the Dawi strike down the chariot due to it being injured from the Haunted Mansion earlier. Bet you didn't think that'd come into play did you? The Warriors cut down 13 Night Goblins, leaving a mere 18 to continue the fight. He needs double one to stay in combat... and gets it. I was so shocked I had to eat some of my own hair.

With combat resolved we move onto the Dwarf turn three.

http://imageshack.us/f/51/deploymentturn3theorcwa.jpg/

Dwarves - Turn Three:

I declare a charge with my Daemonslayer into the front of the leftmost Night Goblin unit, and charge my Warriors into the flank. He's nearby so I easily make both charges, and he begins to wave goodbye to his Night Goblins and his BSB.
Everything else is in combat or a shooting unit so we move onto that phase.

I fire my cannon at the savage orcs, the shot misfires, no problem rune of forging solves... wait what? It misfired on the reroll and can't shoot this turn. Sad panda

My Grudge Thrower and Thunderers manage 8 kills between them on the Savage Orcs (that 5+ ward save is sick). The unit is now at 20 models (21 with the Shaman) and doesn't scare me nearly as much as it did at the start of the game, though I'd feel much more comfortable if they were all dead.

I won't even describe the details of the leftmost combat, it's really a waste of time, he inflicts a few casualties and I massacre his entire unit, inflicting something in the region of 20 casualties. He breaks and gets run down by my Dwarf Warriors.

In the rightside combat things take a turn for the strange... His netters get my Warriors again, and his general kills four more Dwarves. The Night Goblins, despite not having Hatred now manage an unbelievable 9 kills. Reducing the unit to 14 models. I kill 8 more Night Goblins reducing the unit to ten models. He manages to win the combat on casualties and I pass my break test. With all combats resolved I prepare myself for the next turn, victory should be easy now, his army has been totally devastated. After all... how dangerous can twenty savage orcs be?

http://imageshack.us/f/18/deploymentturn3thethron.jpg/

Orcs & Goblins - Turn Four:

He passes all his animosity tests, and charges his spider riders into my Grudge Thrower. He charges his Savage Orcs into the flank of my Dwarf Warriors, he rolls a 12" for charge distance and contacts easily in my flank, I wave goodbye to my Warriors and salute them for holding my left side for so long. He has no other units left so we move to magic.


He rolls another double six for the winds of magic, and gets off an irresistible Fists of Gork, the miscast fails to deal any damage. He also casts 'Ere We Go! but I use a spellbreaking rune to get rid of it.


In combat he pulverises my Dwarf Warriors, killing every member of the unit before I have the chance to even strike back. Frenzy is pretty good.
His spider riders perform similarly, killing my Grudge Thrower in an orgy of poisoned attacks & easily overrunning into the flank of my Thunderers. He decides not to overrun with his Savage Orcs for obvious reasons.


Now I am worried (just a little bit) but I still have Dwarf Warriors, Hammerers and a Daemonslayer in good position. Plus my BSB is still alive even if my general bit the dust.


http://imageshack.us/f/192/deploymentturn4theorcwa.jpg/


Dwarves - Turn Four:

I start manoeuvring my army to engage the Savage Orcs & Night Goblins. Moving my Warriors around the Tower for a nice possible flank, and my Daemonslayer / Hammerers up next to the tower in order to maintain good position. With movement finished we go to shooting, my Grudge Thrower can finally shoot again, as can my magic-misfiring cannon.


My Cannon kills a Savage Orc & My Grudge Thrower scores a direct hit, and looks set to take 6 kills but the Ward Save stops four of them. What the hell do they put in that Warpaint? Gromril? Kevlar? Uncle Simons magic wombat juice? In any case the Savage Orcs take only minor damage and my Thunderers are in combat, so we move onto that.


The Spider riders take three casualties from moving up a Scree Slope, but kill three Dwarves. I fail to kill anything with my single attack back, he wins combat by a point due to charging but I pass my break test and reform. However since reforming is movement, I have to take dangerous terrain tests for being on a Scree Slope and lose two more Dwarves. We have no other combats, so the turn ends and we go to turn five.

http://imageshack.us/f/411/deploymentturn4thethron.jpg/


Orcs & Goblins - Turn Five:

He passes all his animosity tests, not that there are many left to take. His Night Goblins & Savage Orcs reform to have a frontage of five and move to prepare to charge on his following turn.


In the magic phase he attempts to cast 'Ere We Go! but I dispel it.
In combat the most astonishing thing happens. His five remaining spider riders, hit & wound with their 10 attacks, and I fail 8 saves. My Runesmith kills one, but I fail my break test and get run down, the Spider Riders pursue into my Cannon and lose one more from Dangerous terrain tests. What the hell is going on ?


With that his turn ends and mine begins.

http://imageshack.us/f/841/deploymentturn5theorcwa.jpg/

Dwarves - Turn Five:

I declare charges with my Hammerers against the Savage Orcs, which I miss by 1", I roll a 6", with my added movement of 3" I turn out to be about an inch away. I was just about to wonder if the dice gods had completely abandoned me when I rolled an 11" for my Daemonslayers charge range, getting him into combat and protecting myself from a counter charge for at least a turn. My Warriors try to charge the Night Goblins but fail and move forward 5".

In the shooting phase I fire my Grudge Thrower at the Night Goblins, but the shot scatters off and misses since I had to do it indirectly. There's only so much power in the rune of accuracy.

In combat my Daemonslayer challenges the Orc Shaman, who accepts and get massacred for his trouble. About time an end was put to his magical nonsense. Blah blah, he wins combat, unbreakable. You know the drill.

The Spider Riders kill 2 of the Cannon crew and the third member passes his break test while killing one spider rider in return.

http://imageshack.us/f/846/deploymentturn5thethron.jpg/

Orcs & Goblins - Turn Six:

It's his last turn and he has a lot of important decisions to make. He passes animosity and charges his Night Goblins into the now-exposed flank of my Hammerers.

There's no magic and no shooting, everything is more-or-less in combat, so we go straight there.

He doesn't issue a challenge in the Night Goblin combat, so I issue one with my BSB instead, hoping to halt the murderous rampage of the Orc Warboss with my heavily armoured BSB. I was gravely mistaken, don't underestimate a Strength 7 Warboss with armour piercing attacks, just a snippet of advice to you guys. He kills my BSB but doesn't overkill. Which is probably the best I could've hoped for.

The Night Goblins net the Hammerers, but predictably fail to do anything major, killing a single Hammerer. The remaining 3 Hammerers able to strike back kill 3 Night Goblins. With his flank, charge, standard and wounds he barely wins combat but I hold.

In the other combat with my Daemonslayer I challenge his Savage Orc Boss and kill him, which was very satisfying. Same story, unbreakable, he won combat etc.

The spider riders seem to have finally run out of steam and fail to kill the last cannon crew member. Who kills a spider rider himself, I'm going to have to name this guy.

http://imageshack.us/f/28/deploymentturn6theorcwa.jpg/


Dwarves - Turn Six:


I charge with my Warriors and manage to contact the Savage Orcs.

Now everything is in combat, so let's so how the game finishes.

In the cannon combat, the last crew member kills another Spider rider and actually makes a successful armour save (6+) against a poisoned attack from a spider. This guy is amazing. I'll be taking name suggestions in post-battle comments. The last spider riders nerve finally abandons him, he flees and fails his dangerous terrain test. Though you have to admit, he did get very good mileage out of that spider rider unit.

In the Hammerer combat he nets my unit again, his Warboss kills five Hammerers, and I kill three Night Goblins. I lose combat, but the stubbornness of the Hammerers keeps them in the fight.

Knowing that my charging Dwarf Warriors would probably wipe out his Savage Orcs, he directs 10 attacks at my Daemonslayer, needing 5+ to hit (WS8) and 6+ to wound (T5). He inflicts exactly three wounds and actually kills the old Slayer. My 27 warriors kill 10 of the 11 remaining Savage Orcs with fiery vengeance for the Daemonslayer. They flee but I fail to catch them... meaning he gets full points for the unit at the end of the game. Oh well.


With that, the game ends, an absolute bloodbath, but a great game of Warhammer.

http://imageshack.us/f/560/deploymentturn6thethron.jpg/

Result:

We counted up points but I can't remember what they were, anyway it was a Draw (just barely).

[Razakel]

Post-game Thoughts:

The battle went okay, I think barring some obscene luck from him I probably would've won. Although rolling 9 - 5+ armour saves is something I'll never forget. Fortune favours those stupid enough to leave their warriors exposed on their left flank... I'm fairly sure that's how the old saying goes. I was surprised at his lack of magic, he usually has a few goblin/night goblin shamans kicking around ready to cause some mayhem. In any case that didn't happen here and I feel like he outsmarted me. Knowing that I'd bring a runesmith regardless. The 5+ Ward Save on the Savage Orcs is pretty insane, those guys are so durable with it. In any case I really like the Daemonslayer, he did his bit and prevented a counter-charge when I really needed it, only dying in the very last combat. A true Dwarf hero.

Note to self: shoot Orc Warbosses with that weapon in future.

Runic Power:

After many hours of navigating through tedious woodland and negotiating the quagmire of swamps surrounding Parravon, they had finally come to the clearing surrounding the city - and not a moment too late either. There was a siege of significant proportions going on down at the small Bretonnian city of Parravon. He had no doubt that it would fall without intervention but his small Throng was no match for the size of the horde assailing the fortress. Still, the walls had held and though the city was on fire in parts it was practically undamaged. Although he had to allow himself to scoff at the worthless craftsmanship. A Dwarf could never put his name to such shoddy construction. How the manlings could consider such city's mighty was beyond him. As he was brooding on his next move a young Dwarf ranged by the name of Skeggi emerged from a clearing and was running at full pace towards Durgaz making peculiar gestures with his hands, Durgaz was about to shout at the Beardling when he saw a host of Orcs behind the young Dwarf giving chase.


It seemed that not only had his Throng been detected, but the Orcs had broken off a piece of their army to destroy him and reclaim Orc dominance in this region. The Warboss leading the host was no fool, he had at the least a crude understanding of strategy, he couldn't allow his horde no matter how powerful to be outflanked.


In any case, Durgaz had a battle to fight, and he had every intention of winning it. He quickly barked out a number of orders and saw the Engineers were already setting up the Grudge Throwers and Cannons he had requisitioned from the Blackbeard clan, some of the most famous engineers this side of the World's Edge Mountains. He hoped they would be enough.


The battle was as horrific as it was violent. Dwarf against Orc, it seemed his people were fated to be locked in a deathgrip with these disgusting green monsters for all eternity, though it had not always been so. Durgaz hefted his great grandfathers axe and cut an arc through the air, beheading an orc and giving those behind it food for thought before they launched another attack at him. His bodyguard of Hammerers had lost few members and were crushing the orcs with relentless ferocity. Ordinary soldiers wielding such heavy hammers would have tired and been killed by now. But the endurance and fortitude of the hammerers was legendary, and they would not tire for many hours, despite having already fought for three.


The cannonfire and grudge throwers had been unfailingly accurate and as the orc reinforcements continued to file down a narrow pass - the only entrance to the valley that Durgaz had made his stand in, the great rocks and cannon balls were causing hundreds of casualties and the orc line was visibly wavering. Orcs were poor fighters at best, and though Dwarfs did not boast many full-time warriors, even the lowliest Dwarf was a significantly better fighter than the strongest Orc. The Orcs were losing vast numbers of reinforcements, and without those, the superior fighting skills of the Dwarves was slowly turning back the tide of green scum.


Then the Warboss showed himself. Evidently reports had reached his ears of the Dwarf throng, and not the ones he wanted to hear. He heard the slayer laugh like a maniac as soon as the Warboss appeared and he began cutting his way clear to the Warboss. But the Warboss had other ideas, he bellowed orders at a cluster of Night Goblins who began jabbing at the Slayer with their short spears, the Slayer bellowed in fury as he was kept at a short distance by the Night Goblins. And the Warboss made his way toward Durgaz, leering out at the world with his sinister ugly red eyes.


The Orc unslung its weapon and Durgaz felt a growing unease build within him. He was a veteran of dozens of campaigns for the Everlasting Kingdom and had never once felt fear. But there was something about the Orcs weapon... was it Dwarven by make? Perhaps by the Chaos Dwarfs... he tightened his grip on his axe as he thought of those monstrous abominations. No this craftsmanship was too good, the edge was too keen and some of the runes were still active, despite being held by such a foul hand. The haft of the weapon had been horrifically defaced and modified to allow an orc so large to wield it. A part of Durgaz was glad that the smith who forged it originally was probably dead, he would likely have become a slayer having seen his work so defiled. Durgaz pushed his feelings of fear deep down, and took a step forward toward the Orc.


It was very nearly the largest and most fearsome Orc he had seen in a long time. Though he had seen Black Orc Warbosses that were larger. It had overlapping sheets of iron, fastened together with copper. The right side in particular was malformed, it was obvious this was no single suit of armour, but instead had been looted and cobbled from the remains of the armour of other soldiers, soldiers the Orc had probably slain and eaten himself. Durgaz felt his teeth begin to grind as he reminded himself of the ancient grudges against the Dwarf race. So numerous a single Dwarf could try and count them all and die of old age before the task was completed. The fury of the ancestors was with him, he would not fail.


His confidence was misplaced however as the beast struck with the speed of a thunderbolt, no doubt augmented by the rune weapon it wielded, the pace of the battle was being dictated massively by the Orc. It was not going in Durgaz' favour. It wasn't so much that he felt outmatched by the Orcs skill, but its speed was amazing and terrible to behold. For a thing so large it moved unnaturally fast. But Durgaz was no beardling, he was a Lord, second only to the King under the Mountain and he would not die out here to such a disgusting animal. He parried a strike from the orcs massive cleaver and felt a small opening happen, it was less than a second and a warrior with less experience than him probably wouldn't have even noticed it, but he struck hard and felt his axe rebound from the armour in the orcs chest. Grungni's beard, did the beast have a set of magical armour as well? Durgaz and the Orc duelled for many minutes but Durgaz had already been fighting for hours and he was beginning to tire, though he would admit it to no-one, not even himself - his movements were clearly slowing, and a growing part of him knew the Orc would overcome him soon.


He felt his death approaching as the Orc struck hard on his left side and his axe was nowhere nearby, he just had to hope his hardened gromril could stop the attack, but it never landed. Thruk had intercepted the attack with his runeaxe which glowed fiercely blue for a split instant, having fought his way clear from the Night Goblins, but he was greviously injured and in no state to fight. His body was marked with a half dozen spear wounds and he was bleeding freely. The orc, extremely irritated that his duel had been interrupted struck back and beheaded Thruk, then turned back to Durgaz with a crooked grin. However the Orc had underestimated true Dwarf rune magic. As the power bound into the Master Rune of Breaking began to unravel the already-fragile Dwarf runes in the Orcs cleaver. First the weapon began to rust at an alarming rate, then it turned black and disintegrated altogether. The Warbosses grin turned to stark horror as it found itself unarmed. Durgaz screamed the name of the Veinbreaker clan and brought his axe down with all the strength he could muster. The Orc for his part tried to block the attack with his arm, but Durgaz had put the last reserves of his strength into the attack and the axe travelled straight through the Orcs arm and into his head. Killing the towering monstrosity once and for all. The hammerers closed in around Durgaz and continued to push forward.


Their leader dead, the resolve of the Orcs had finally been pushed over the limits of their fragile courage and started retreating. The ones at the front began to push their fellows at the back who did the same, soon the entire Orc line had collapsed but the Dawi would not be denied and though the temper of the Dwarf people burned slowly, once it reached its end the true fury of the Dwarf race would be unleashed. The pursuit was long and it was violent. The few orcs who survived fled into Athel Loren, hopefully the Wood Elves and Orcs would murder each other thought Durgaz to himself.
Though the battle was won, the war was not over, he had reports coming in constantly informing him of each clans active strength and number of casualties. The number was surprisingly low, though he had requested the most able warriors of the three reinforcing clans, so perhaps it was not so surprising after all.
Durgaz knew that even with the Warboss dead, a new one would take his place and the siege would continue. He decided not to waste any more Dwarf lives, they would fortify a position here, and hold until the King of Karak Izor could send reinforcements or possibly come in person to break the siege.


Just as he was brooding on the bargain he had struck with the manlings a mounted human envoy approached him flanked by two Hammerers. He dismissed them and the envoy informed him that the king of Bretonnia, Louen Leoncouer was no more than a day away with a huge army, enough to break the siege easily. He had also been informed the man Durgaz had made the deal with was dead, Durgaz thought that after all this trouble he wouldn't even be getting paid. He was about to reach for his clans book of Grudges, but the human messenger informed him that the King would happily pay him for the weapons, and give the Dwarfs a bonus for their speedy arrival and part in breaking the siege. Durgaz was about to question him about the specifics of "bonus" but decided not to dwell on it. He dismissed the envoy and awaited the king in a few days time. The Dwarfs part to play in this battle was over. He had other matters to attend to as he gazed upon the body of Thruk Veinbreaker, he knew this Dwarf had saved his life, and though he was an exile he had not forgotten his oaths to the Lords under the mountain. He would receive a good burial, at the expense of the Dragonback clan. This was a particularly unusual instance, as a Dwarf would usually only bury those of his own family, and to bury a slayer was even rarer, often their bodies were left to rot in the sun, for they were owed no burial by honourable Dawi. But Durgaz knew this Dwarf deserved better, and he would receive it.

[warmong3r]

I've only read part of the first Ogre report, but i gotta say, WELL DONE! You do a superb job with fluff, and you take a lot of time and effort into putting these reps up. Keep up the good work

[brother_maynard]

+1, good job, your fluff is a great read! nice to see some reports with dwarfs on the scene as well, i will be checking in regularly