The Chaos Warrior warband of Kurgath Bloodbane is menacing the Dwarf stronghold of Karak-Varg, and so their King, Arngrim Greybeard, has led his forces out to meet and destroy them. A straight ‘pitched battle’, fought on 6x4’ board. It had 7 pieces of randomly generated and positioned terrain on it: 3 big impassable rocks (the peaks), an area of rocky ground, an area of dense undergrowth, a mountain tarn (pond) and an old elven ruin.
Both sides selected their forces.
DWARFS
King Arngrim Greybeard with: shieldbearers, great weapon (rune of fury, master rune of swiftness), full plate armour (master rune of gromril)
Anvil of Doom with: rune of fortitude
Runesmith with: great weapon (master rune of breaking, rune of might), full plate armour
‘Dirty Harri’ Engineer with: handgun (master rune of bursting flame, rune of rapid fire), heavy armour
20 Dwarf Warriors with: full command, spears
20 Dwarf Warriors with: full command, spears
10 Quarrellers with: champion
10 Thunderers with: champion
16 Slayers with: 5 Giant Slayers, all have additional hand weapons
16 Ironbreakers with: full command
20 Miners with: full command, ambushers
15 Hammerers with: full command and banner (master rune of hesitation)
1 Cannon with: rune of forging
1 Cannon with: rune of reloading and master rune of immolation
1 Organ Gun
CHAOS WARRIORS OF KHORNE
Chaos Lord Kurgath Bloodbane with: lance, full plate armour, shield, daemonic steed, crown of everlasting command and giant blade
Aspiring Champion with: heavy armour, shield, sword of might, master of mortals
29 Chaos Marauders with: full command, shields, mark of khorne
17 Chaos Marauders with: mark of khorne, skirmishers
20 Chaos Warriors with: full command, additional hand weapons
20 Chaos Warriors with: full command, shields
10 Chaos Warhounds
2 Chaos Spawn (gor beasts)
8 Chosen Chaos Knights with: full command, full plate armour, shields, lances, mark of khorne
3 Dragon Ogres with: shartak and great weapons
3 Chaos Ogres with: champion, great weapons (Minotaur models as stand-in)
2 Chaos Chariots with: mark of khorne
1 Gigantic Chaos Spawn
1 Hellcannon
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Khorne does what Khorne does... the Dwarfs move to hold the gap between the peaks.
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We used blind deployment, blocking the view along the centre and just
placing all completely, no peaking, and then the big reveal, which is
good fun, and worrying… the Dwarfs looked a bit outnumbered against the
charging frenzied horde. Nothing subtle from the Khornate warband, just
rush them and hit hard, full send. The Dwarf player (me), deployed the
best 2 combat units (Hammerers and Ironbreakers) in the centre in column
of march, either side of the Anvil of Doom, with the plan to march
quickly to face the main thrust (so those knights and chariots), and
using the Anvil’s ‘rune of haste’ bound-spell to get into place, and
drilled, to be back in a fighting formation. Then, hold the line from
the big impact. Either side, the warrior spear-blocks would have the
flanks, and the war engines and missile troops would hammer away,
hitting those very dangerous knights with everything they could as the
priority target, after that… whatever was coming. The miners were held
back in ambush, a risk, but hopefully they could appear quickly
somewhere useful, when we saw the layout of the field - a reserve, if
not a fast one.
Deployments complete, time to cry havoc and let
slip the chaos hounds of war… and they vanguard moved forward to get us
started...
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Dwarf right, around the tarn.
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The first turn saw the Chaos Warriors just advance, en
masse, only the Hellcannon behind, which killed 2 Hammerers with its
first plunging hellfire shot. The Dwarf plan began, marching up in the
centre to align with the gap between the twin Grim Peaks, where the
Chosen Knights were coming, along with a Spawn, Chariot and block of
Chaos Warriors. The cannons roared, killing 1 knight, and the organ gun,
just in range, got another. The bound-spell of haste moved the
Ironbreakers again and they deployed into a fighting formation first,
ready to take the charge. A big lightning blast from the anvil killed 3
more Chaos Knights (a good start, 5 down). The crossbows wounded the
gigantic spawn, whilst the Slayers stepped up to face it, as the close
thing, it would have to come for them.
Turn 2, and the spawns
all moved again, the two smaller ones not quiet making it to a fight,
but the big one barrelled into the Slayers. It then whiffed it attacks
and rolls to-wound and killed 0 slayers (much sadness for them), but the
giant slayers tore into it, did 5 wounds, and it was stone dead… ‘easy,
send another!’.
Now the fight at the peaks started, in rumbled a
chariot (and unlucky on the impact hits, it killed 1 Ironbreaker), the
last Chaos Knights charged too (they had too) and I expected the
slaughter to begin, but the Ironbreakers had the ‘rune of oath and
steel’ to aid them. A landslide of frenzied attacks, and only 2
Ironbreakers were down… take it! The two unit champions were in a
challenge, but couldn’t hurt the other (armour just too good). They
would fight for the rest of the game and still be at it, neither winning
the duel. The Ironbreakers brought down another Chaos Knight and
damaged the chariot, and just won the combat! Yes – the frenzy was
beaten out of the Khorne-worshippers. This would become a real grind of
the combat for the rest of the battle, as other units joined. Sky high
armour saves rule…
On the Dwarf far left, the spear block was
hit by the other chariot and Dragon Ogres, and used their shieldwall to
just give ground after losing it, but they held. The Miners arrived
behind them and marched up to aid, but a Chaos Spawn got in the way, and
had to be killed first – delaying them. The Dragon Ogres and frenzied
chariot was hacking huge lumps from the spear block. Now, ‘Dirty Harri’,
the engineer, scored useful hits, blowing away first 6 Marauders, then 7
Chaos Warriors in 2 rounds, his lethal runic handgun like a mini organ
gun. Speaking of which, the organ gun ripped through the Warhounds, and
they routed… but they would rally and turn round and come back later.
The
third turn, and the fight was fully on. The Hammerers and the King
charged into the Chaos Spawn in the big melee between Grim’s Peaks… kill
it easily. The spear block from the right had wheeled round for a flank
charge into the Chaos Knights, again aided by haste and urgency, they
joined the fray too. A lot of tough Dwarfs now blocked that gap. This
left the Khorne cult marauders (skirmishers) free to come round the
other side of the rock, but the Thunderers were waiting and gave them a
stiff volley. Then, a wild shot from the Hellcannon landed on its own
men and killed a few more (friendly fire isn’t!).
So far, so
good for the Dwarfs, the massed combat was going their way, losing only a
couple more Ironbreakers from their ridiculous 2+ armour save, 6+ ward
save with re-rolls from the anvils ‘oath and steel’. They were unmovable
and took so many hits from the Chaos Knights, bouncing most. The Chaos
Warriors now charged into the flank of spears to join the frantic fight,
but they didn’t swing it, winning the melee by just 1, and the Dwarfs,
led by Arngrim, just gave ground.
Out on the Dwarf left the
spear block broke and was run down by the chariot, as it rumbled on. The
Miners charged into the Dragon Ogres and began a melee which it took
them a few turns to finally win, and the last 2 Drogres broke, ran and
were run down (go short Dwarf legs!). In the centre, the Slayers were in
a long fight with the Marauders (and then returning Warhounds), but a
giant slayer won his challenge with the aspiring champion leading the
Marauders and, as losses mounted for both, it was close, but the Slayers
don’t mind dying. They would eventually win, breaking the Marauders,
and killing the last two Warhounds. Only 4 Slayers had failed in their
mission to die… but another melee won.
On the far right, the
poor Marauder cultists charged the Thunderers and lost 5 in the on-rush,
and then the melee, broke, ran and the Thunderers pursued and caught
them too. The Chaos full-send attack was all but spend. The Chaos Ogres
had got behind the Hammerers, but with nothing left for them fight in
the melee, they about faced and took the Ogre charge (Hammerers like
being charged), and the King then got to dissecting the Ogres, as the
Hammers smashed down the last one and wiped them out. These boys are not
to be messed with!
The Hellcannon came good, at last, and
scored a direct hit on the organ gun and it was destroyed in huge
explosion… lucky shot… but sometimes you get lucky.
Last turn,
and the Chaos attack was spend force. The last combats between Grim
Peaks saw the chaos chariot finally smashed, the last Chaos knight cut
down (the champion was still locked in the endless duel with the
Ironbeard). The Dwarfs won the fight by 1 (out-numbering), and the Chaos
troops just gave ground. There was no way through, and the Dwarfs had
won the day, sheer grit (and unreal armour saves).
It was a
solid win…Kurgath’s Khorne warband didn’t have much left bar himself on
his daemonic-dog steed. The men of the match, the Ironbreakers, 6 still
standing, having passed a world record number of armour saves (with the
re-rolls), an immovable object today. ‘Dirty Harri' had done very good
work too, in the end killing 13 Chaos Warriors and about 10 Marauders,
he just lit up his cigar in satisfaction.
Great fun, it seemed
very close in Turns 2 and 3, but the Dwarfs won the attritional grind
(who better?), a victor for the steadfast infantry blocks. Hail Grugni!
Final scores in points of damage – Chaos 730 vs Dwarfs 1668.
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Dragon Ogres on Chaos far right
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Chaos centre, minotaurs as Ogres.
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Main assault force, Chosen Knights, Chariot and Warriors. The 'cultist' marauders skirmishers work round the extreme left.
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Elite Dwarf infantry march columns to get out and hold that gap, aided by runic magic of the Anvil of Doom
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Holding in the elven ruins, Quarrellers, and 'Dirty Harri' with his runic mini-gun of mega-death.
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The gigantic spawn, takes 6 wounds and is dead.. first blood to the slayers.
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Chariot and Knight impact, but the Ironbreakers tank them and hold. Both sides have more units arriving, Dwarf spears and Chaos Warrior block.
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Slugging match. The Ironbeard vs Champion duel, stalemate for 4 turns.
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Miner arrive and deal with a 'gor-beast' spawn, then get after the Dragon Ogres.
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Slayers vs Marauders and hounds... hack and slash, the Slayers get the upper-hand.
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Back at the gap, spears are in th flank, then warriors in their flank, and the grind is mighty. Red gem marks 'oath and steel'... the chariot FBIGO'd, then came back for another go.
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King and his guard turn a-bout-face and take the Ogre charge... and then smash them to bits.
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Still at it, the Slayers doing a great job, killing and dying.
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Hellcannon (scratch-built from bits). It's a bit rubbish, but we don't play that very competitively, but it would be nice if it killed some stuff on the occasional hit. It did directly hit the organ gun and destroy it, but is that enough? Might need a house-rule for more damage.
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Ironbreakers hold the line, the Chaos Lord on his daemon-dog can't defeat their armour saves.
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Chariot round the back of the ruins, but twice fails to march move, and can't reach the anvil by game's end.
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Dr-ogres and chariot hammer the spear block, just as the miners arrive, to the rescue... not in time, that spawn got in the way.
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All in at the Peaks... either side is winning by maybe 1 combat-res point, and nobody is going anywhere. Stalemate is good enough for the Dwarfs.
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Dr-Ogres break and flee, and the miners catch-them... (they rolled a 3!). Eat pick-axe. I like Miners, handy great weapon-armed infantry.
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