Battle Report 3: Orcs vs Dwarfs 20/05/2017

Orc hordes charging a Dwarf castle - the classic grudge match!

This is the second game of last Saturday's Wellington Warlords Super Series tournament (and my third report overall). After a fairly average defeat in game one I was paired up against David Stuart's highly unusual Dwarf list.

I've never played David before but we chatted before the game and both of were in a similar situation, having played a dozen games or so and one local tournament before this one. David's list raised a few eyebrows before the tournament as it has no inspiring (or heroes of any kind), and a huge number of potential 4+ shots each turn.

Personally I'd wanted to face this list because I was intrigued how it would play.

Armies

Orcs
Ax Horde, Blood of the Old King 220
  - Godspeaker, banechant, heal 100
  - Wardrum 80
  - Skulk Troop 75
 
Ax Horde 205
  - Godspeaker, banechant, heal 100
  - Giant 190

Morax Regiment, Brew of Sharpness 245
 - Flagger, Banner of the Griffin 70

Gore Rider Regiment 185
 - Flagger, mounted on Gore  65

Gore Rider Regiment 185
Troll Horde* 190
Orcling Horde* 90




Dwarfs
Shieldbreaker Horde 215
  - Ranger Troop 135
  - Ranger Troop 135
  - Ranger Troop 135
  - Ranger Troop 135


Shieldbreaker Horde 215
  - Ranger Troop 135
  - Ranger Troop 135
  - Ranger Troop 135
  - Ranger Troop 135

Shieldbreaker Horde 215
  - Beserker Brock Rider Troop 135
  - Beserker Brock Rider Troop 135

Mission and Terrain
We were playing on a fairly open snow table, with a pair of height 4 buildings in the middle and a hill on either flank. It hadn't occurred to me at the time but there weren't any obstacles on the board.

The mission was invade - giving me a slight advantage over the slower, shooting orientated Dwarfs.

Deployment

The orc plan was quite simple, based on the placement of the terrain they would march up on the right of the central building. The plan was to charge up using the building and forest as cover and then clear the Dwarfs out of the way and win - a very straight forward and orcish plan :p

The Dwarfs began their deployment, placing one of the ranger troops in the middle. The orcs responded with a unit of Gore Riders on the right. After placing another ranger troop and a supporting cavalry troop the Dwarfs responded by placing all of their remaining units on the right flank.

The orc deployment meant that the Gore Riders were stuck on a very short flank, and there was nothing they could do about the Dwarf units in the centre.

The orc Skulks vanguarded up 6" into the forest and in response the Dwarfs vanguarded all of their rangers up the full 10". This was an interesting decision that put them in range of the orcs if they got the first turn... which they did!

The Dwarfs line up in the snow

Turn 1 Orcs

The orcs relish turn 1 charges!

The Dwarfs' advance had left them within range of both the Skulks and Gore Riders charged units of Rangers. The Gore Riders easily broke the small scout troop and turned toward a second one. The Skulks over-performed but could only waver the troop in front of them.

The heavier orc units followed up the Skulks, however the issue of their deployment became apparent as the two Ax hordes began to get in each others' way... not good

The orcs charge

Turn 1 Dwarfs

The Rangers show that they can fight too

The Rangers had suffered in the initial orc charge but they hit back just as hard. A troop of Rangers rushed in to help their wavered brethren and chased the Skulks off. On the right the rangers were able to waver the first wave of Gore Riders with 6 points of damage.

The other ranger troops opened fire on the Ax hordes but the impact was negligible

The heavy Dwarf units followed up behind the rangers, the Shieldbreakers cresting the hill as the Brock Riders pushed through them.

The Dwarf flanking force moved as fast as they could into the orcs' territory.

The Rangers charge the Gore Riders

Turn 2 Orcs

The orc line becomes increasingly crowded

The Ax horde on the left saw an opportunity and charged the Rangers who had scattered the Skulks destroying them. 

The rest of the orc horde advanced as far as they could as the Godspeakers healed up the damage from the Dwarf shooting.

Turn 2 Dwarfs

The lines engage

The Ax horde's successful charge had opened them up to a multi-charge from two troops of Rangers and the Brock Riders. However even the combined might of three dwarf troops could only do 5 points of damage - too little to worry the pressed mass of orcs.

The Rangers continued to press the Gore Riders, but only added two points of damage to them, allowing the orc cavalry to regain their nerve.

The last troop of rangers in the main line fired at the Giant, doing minimal damage to the monster.

The flanking force sighted the Wardrum but also only did one point of damage.

The Dwarfs learn how tough Ax hordes can be

Turn 3 Orcs

The Dwarfs' first line breaks

The orcs continued the push in the centre - the Gore Riders punishing the Rangers for their failure as the Ax horde slid over to destroy another troop of Rangers. The opened up space for the Trolls to charge the Brock Riders. Both hordes successfully annihilated the smaller dwarf troops.

The orc characters pushed up to hide from the flanking force, and the Orclings turned, staying just inside the forest to prevent the Brock riders hitting the orcish rear. The Godspeakers did a small amount of damage to the Shieldbreakers on the hill.

The orc hordes advance

Turn 3 Dwarfs

The Dwarf heavy units charge

The dwarfs' heavy second line finally engaged the orcs. The Shieldbreakers charging down the hill. One horde failed to break the determined Gore Riders. The central unit also unsuccessful, only doing a couple of points of damage to the Ax horde.

The last troop of front line rangers charged into the Trolls, trying to sell their lives as dearly as possible.

The flanking force pushed around the house, and the rear troop fired on the orclings, doing two points of damage to the diminutive orclings.

Turn 4 Orcs

The scrum continues

The orcs love a scrum - the Ax horde returning 8 points of damage to the Shieldbreakers. However, the Trolls were less successful, failing to break the Rangers.

The Gore Riders continued pushing, this time into the Shieldbreakers, doing 6 points of damage to them, selling themselves dearly.

The Dwarf line thins

Turn 4 Dwarfs

The Dwarfs stall the orc advance

The Dwarfs continue the scrum and are able to make progress. The Shieldbreakers did another 8 damage to the Ax horde, waving them as both Ranger troops combined to try and break the Trolls.

On the far right the Shieldbreakers finally finish off the lead unit of Gore Riders.

The Brock Riders were more successful, despite charging into the forest they did 8 points of damage and wavering the Orclings.

The rangers in the flank peppered the Wardrum, doing another two points of damage to it.

The orcs are flanked

Turn 5 Orcs

Trolls in the thick of it

The Gore Riders open up a gap in the dwarf line

With the Ax horde wavering the main orc advance stalled. The Trolls however were still able to fight - chasing down one of the Ranger units as the Godspeakers charred the other engaged unit.

On the right the Gore Rider reserves were able to smash through the Shieldbreakers, becoming the first orc unit in Dwarf territory. The Morax saw an opportunity (should the game go into its seventh turn) and moved into the gap.

Turn 5 Dwarfs

The Shieldbreakers hold the line

The hole on the right didn't concern the remaining Dwarf infantry, instead it encouraged them to break both the Ax horde and the Trolls.

The Brock Riders finished off the Orclings and turned to face the rear of the orc lines.

The Shieldbreakers finally destroy the orc lead units

Turn 6 Orcs
Things were looking less certain for the greenskins with their lead units routed. However this opened up a charge from the second Ax horde.

The Giant and Wardrum also charged the Shieldbreakers to protect the flank of the Ax. Lastly both Godspeakers turn to face the slightly damaged Brock Riders.

At this point I knew that I would win if the Ax horde could finish off the Shieldbreaker horde with 8 wounds on it, and I rolled anything but a 1 on the advance, or if there was a seventh turn, or if the Giant and Wardrum somehow broke the other unit of Shieldbreakers. I would also draw if the Godspeakers were able to break the Brock Rider troop, although given that they only had 4 points of damage on them that last one was unlikely...

Firstly the Godspeakers fired at the Brock Riders. The first Godspeaker failed to do any damage, so the second one turned to banechant the Ax horde... but also failed to hit!

The Giant, Wardrum and Flagger also rolled poorly doing a measly 2 damage to the Shieldbreakers.

This left the main attraction. The Ax horde drank the blood of the old king, and charged, scattering the remaining Dwarfs. They then advanced 1 inch! Leaving 3mm of orc out of the Dwarf side of the board.

The Wardrum also bounced, leaving 2mm of a corner in the orc side (thankfully we had a 3rd party on hand to check!)

The orcs finally break through, but they'll need a 7th turn to win

Turn 6 Dwarfs

The Dwarfs' final position

The Shieldbreakers charged the Flagger and the Brock Riders charged a Godspeaker, neither orc hero broke however.

As things stood the Dwarfs were winning 3-2. David rolled for a seventh turn and got a 3, giving the Dwarfs victory!

The final position of the orcs - just short

After-battle thoughts

Congratulations to David, his waves of Rangers proved harder to break down than expected and he played the scenario without getting distracted. He also won his next game against the undead so I think he's got the core of a really nice army in there.

At the time I wasn't sure about his decision to double-time his rangers up. However, on a closer look it did have the advantage of ensuring that the engagements were at the narrowest point which really limited my ability to get units into the fight so there were advantages to the move.

I made some serious mistakes which cost me the game. Most obviously was my choice of the short side which seriously cramped my advance reducing the number of units which could fight and amplifying the impact of wavering units. It certainly reduced the number of shots coming my way, but I think I should have just braved a hail of arrows in the centre of the board. I also missed a few sneaky charges but there you go.

I also really shouldn't have ignored the small units in the middle. Had I placed one of the Brock Rider units and the Giant there with Flagger support I probably could have won the fight and easily taken the game. So there are some good lessons to learn!

I'll be honest that after this game I was feeling pretty bad. Once I broke that Shieldbreaker horde with the Axes I had an 11/12 chance of winning the game odds that I (unfairly) focused on immediately afterward. After a few minutes I felt a bit better about it - luck is part of the game, and it wouldn't be as fun if everything went as expected! (grabbing lunch also helped my mood) Credit to David for being magnanimous as I grumped afterward.

Overall though, whilst I was upset after this game looking back on it it was a fun and tense game to play and I look forward to facing David again.

Tallying up the kills, I had 1255 points left to David's 620 - giving him 10 tournament points to my 6. This left me rock bottom, which meant that I had a bye for the third round. This means that I only have one more report to make from this tournament, against Neil's horse-archer Varangur, which I'll put up on Saturday  

Battle Report 2: Orcs vs Undead 20/05/2017

The mass of Orcs ready to go

Hello again everyone :)

This is the first of three battle reports I'll be doing from the Wellington Warlords Super Series' Autumn tournament.

This was my second tournament (last time I came 9th of 10) and going in I was hoping for a mid-table finish, but realisically not coming last would be the minimum :p

I drew Ryan's undead with night stalker allies for my first game. I'd only faced Ryan once before where I had scraped a really lucky victory against his Varangur thanks to some Orclings who refused to die. I've never faced his this army which is quite a different list.

Armies

Orcs  
Ax Horde, Blood of the Old King 205
  - Godspeaker, banechant, heal 100
  - Wardrum 80
  - Skulk Troop 75

  Ax Horde 205
  - Godspeaker, banechant, heal 100
  - Giant 190

Morax Regiment, Brew of Sharpness 245
 - Flagger, Banner of the Griffin 70

Gore Rider Regiment 185
 - Flagger, mounted on Gore  65

Gore Rider Regiment 185  
Troll Horde* 190  
Orcling Horde* 90  

This is the same army that faced Pete's ratkin. Whilst I'm not convinced by the Gore Riders I've kept them in as another dimension to the army, and I wanted a list that I was familiar with, rather than tinkering just before a tournament.


Undead with Night Stalker Allies

Ghoul Regiment 90

  - Revenant King on Undead Wyrm – Blade of Slashing 195

  - Wraith Troop 140

  - Wraith Troop 140

Ghoul Regiment 90

   - Undead Army Standard Bearer 50

   - Wraith Troop 140

Ghoul Regiment 90

Soul Reaver Regiment – Blood of the Old King 260

Zombie Regiment 80

Zombie Regiment 80

Zombie Horde 130

Wight Horde 235

Doppelganger Regiment 150

Screamer 115

Ryan's list is different to the horde and werewolf undead list that I've faced before, with large quantities of cheap Zombies and Ghouls, fast troops and a couple of really dangerous combat units. The use of Night Stalkers as allies provides another dangerous regiment as well as a ranged attack, and doesn't need to worry about inspiring.

 

Terrain

The first game was going to be dominate - the TO had decided not to roll up missions ahead of time, which added an additional (and welcome) uncertainty to the game.

The Epic Dwarf map pack was used to roll up the terrain. We had an odd shaped hill in the middle, with two height 4 impassible buildings on the right flank, and lower terrain on the left.

Deployment

Ryan deployed his two regiments of Zombies in the middle, and then his Screamer behind the hill before deploying the Wraiths, Zombie horde and Ghouls across the board. He left his valuable units - the Soul Reavers, Wights and Dopplegangers until last.

I deployed in my usual way, first placing the Ax hordes, and then my chaff and support heroes to hide where my more independent elements were going. I left my Giant and Gore Riders until last, and toyed with the idea placing the Giant on the right flank with the Gore Riders. In the end however, I decided to place it between the Ax hordes to provide extra weight in the centre.

As this was dominate both of our deployments were fairly straight forward - a strong centre to push up and take the dominate circle, and fast flanks. The Gore Riders were intended to stop his left from advancing. I'd refused my left because of the difficult terrain, but of course this left the Wraiths freedom to advance up and threaten my hordes.

The Skulks vanguarded 6", just over the obstacle

I won the roll for turns, and elected to go first.

The armies fully deployed

Turn 1 Orcs

The Orcs advance

The orcs marched forward, the Gore Riders reforming to face the hill, whist the Orclings and second Ax horde turning to protect the left flank.

The Skulks fired across the board but didn't do enough to worry the shambling dead.

Turn 1 Undead

The Undead respond in kind

The undead responded in kind and closed the gap.  The undead's left flank repositioned to face the Gore Riders but otherwise stayed stationary.

Meanwhile on my left, the Wraiths pivoted slightly inward.

The Screamer fired at the second Ax horde (I think), but only did a couple of points of damage.

Turn 2 Orcs

The Orcs rethink their advance

Spotting the Wraiths flanking them on the right the Orc advance stalled not wanting to engage too quickly and risk being rolled early in the game.

The cavalry advanced to the hill, relying on it hiding them from charges as they pivoted to threaten the undead centre.

The Godspeakers healed the damage from the Screamer

Turn 2 Undead

The undead are not as hesitant

Whilst the orcs rethought their strategy, the undead forced the issue with the centre pushing up, barring the Zombies on the right who stalled to cover the Wights' flank from the orc cavalry.

On the right the Ghouls moved on top of the hill and the Dopplegangers moved up to the base of the hill to counter-charge anything that attacked the Ghouls.

The Wraiths fully advanced up their flank and nimble-pivoted into place as the infantry in the middle continued their slow shamble into the forests.

The screamer again shot, this time at the Orclings, but was only able to do one point of damage to them.

Turn 3 Orcs

The orc vanguard charges

With the undead now in range, the orcs regained their confidence . The Gore Riders and Skulks smashed the Zombie regiment on the right and reformed to face the Ghouls and Zombie horde.

The Orclings charged into the forest and began hacking at the Zombies within, unfortunately hitting on sixes meant that the charge was almost entirely ineffective.

The Trolls turned to face the Wraiths as the second Ax horde advanced and turned to present its front to as many undead units as possible.

The Godspeakers fireballed the Ghouls screening the Soul Reavers and were able to do 7 damage, wavering them.

On the right the Gore Riders charged into the Ghouls to buy their compatriots time, and managed to scatter them.

Turn 3 Undead

The Orclings find themselves in trouble

The undead counter-charged the exposed orc units. The Dopplegangers shifting into a hard-hitting cavalry unit to make short work of the Gore Riders on the hill as they and the Wraiths reformed to face inward.

In the centre the Zombie horde stopped slightly more than 10" away from the Ax horde, as the Soul Reavers also pause behind the wavered Ghouls.

The newly exposed Ghoul regiment behind the building charged the Gore Riders but only did a single point of damage.

The undead had better luck on the right as the Revenant King joined the Zombies in the forest to annihilate the Orclings.

The Wraiths re-positioned slightly to remain outside of the Troll's charge-range on the left.

The undead counter-attack

Turn 4 Orcs

The Gore Riders corkscrew the Wights

The orcs found themselves in an interesting position, if the Skulks shifted sideways 3", avoiding the Zombie horde, then the Gore Riders could corkscrew into the Wights. After some discussion we checked with the TO and (after further discussion) decided that the charge was legal, although barely. Fortunately the Gore Riders were able to break the Wights as their maneuver had exposed both their flank and rear to the Ghouls and Wraiths.

However the Skulks' movement meant that the Ax horde was unable to charge the Zombie horde. I think that the other Ax horde was just out of range of the Revenent King so didn't charge.

The Godspeakers fired another volley at the Ghouls, hoping to expose the Soul Reavers and killed the last of them.

The Trolls again repositioned to protect the flank of the Ax horde.

The Gore Riders celebrate after destroying the Wights...

Turn 4 Undead

...but their celebrations are cut short

The exposed Gore Riders were cut down by a combination flank and rear charge and the Wraiths and Ghouls repositioned to face the main body of the orc army.

The Zombie horde also charged the Skulks but were hindered by the forest so despite their numbers could only waver them.

The Soul Reavers decided that they didn't want to move into the Giants' charge range so stayed put as the Zombies and Revenant King moved into a better position.

The Screamer screeched at the Godspeaker who had foolishly moved out into the open to fire at the Ghouls but failed to kill the shaman.

The undead continue the fight on the right flank

Turn 5 Orcs

The orcs re-position on the right

With the Skulks blocking their charge, the Ax horde shuffled to the right to let the Morax move into a better position. However this exposed their flank to the Dopplegangers and so the Flagger moved to slow the monsters for a turn.

In the centre the Giant and Wardrum charged the flank of the Zombies but were unable to do more than a few points of damage to them. The second Ax hore moved up to force the issue on the left, relying on the Godspeakers, Wardrum, Flagger and Trolls to back them up.

Bolstered by the two Ax hordes the Godspeakers fired at the Soul Reaver regiment, but over-estimated their power and only put 4 points of damage on the vampires.

Turn 5 Undead

The Soul Reavers spot a juicy charge

With the orcs moving up, the undead had plenty of charges to choose from. On the right the Wraiths, lacking confidence in the Dopplegangers flank the Flagger and slaughter the lone orc.

This also allowed the Ghouls to charge the Ax, but they were unable to do more than a couple of points of damage on the horde.

The Soul Reavers, offered a juicy flank charge on the Giant took the opportunity, drinking the blood of the old king they cut the beast down with a massive 33 wounds, healing up most of the damage the Godspeakers put on them.

The Reverent King led a mass charge on the left, with one unit of the Wraiths hitting the second Ax horde on the flank, as the other unit charged the Trolls. However despite the weight of numbers the dice deserted the undead and they only did 9 points of damage and failed to break either unit.

The Screamer again targeted a Godspeaker, and was able to waver it, halving the fireballs going the way of the Soul Reavers.

The Zombie horde declined to charge the Skulks, preferring that they continue blocking the orc advance.

The left flank livens up

Turn 6 Orcs

The Wardrum moves to delay the Soul Reavers

By charging the Ax first, the Wraiths on the left had exposed their flank to the Trolls but the dumb beasts could only do 5 points of damage to them, giving the ghosts another chance to charge the Ax. At the same time the Ax horde picked off the Zombie regement (after much deliberation whether to charge them or the tougher King).

On the right, the other Ax horde counter-charged the Ghouls but I forgot they had the blood of the old king and so they only did 4 damage to them.

By sliding across they opened up the Zombie horde to a double charge from the Morax and Skulks. Even hindered the Morax were hitting on 3+ and so they were able to break the zombies.

Suddenly exposed to a mass of slightly charred vampires the orcs' support scattered, with the exception of the Wardrum and the wavering Godspeaker.

Turn 6 Undead

The undead crush the orc left flank

The Revenant King and Wraiths charged Ax horde, finishing them off as the other Wraiths wavered the Trolls.

On the right a combined charge from the Wraiths, Dopplegangers and Ghouls failed to break the other Ax horde, whilst the Standard Bearer waved its flag in the vague direction of the Skulks but didn't bother them.

The Soul Reavers massacred the Wardrum as the Screamer again failed to pick off a Godspeaker, only doing a single point of damage to the individual.

Had the game ended at turn 6 the undead would have won, with the orcs only having the Skulks and morax in the middle, against the Revenant King, Screamer and Soul Reavers for the undead, however there was to be a 7th turn, giving me one last chance to get something out of the game.

Dopplegangers in the flank, and Wraiths to the front, but somehow the Ax horde holds

Turn 7 Orcs

The Morax charge the Soul Reavers

With the Trolls wavered, one of the Godspeakers launched a fireball at the damaged Wraiths, preventing them from entering the circle. It was enough to finish the troop off.



In the middle the Morax charged the Soul Reavers, relying on a lucky role and the support of a banechant from the Godspeaker. Disappointingly the banechant failed and the Morax only did 6 damage to the Soul Reavers, nowhere near enough to kill them.

The other Ax horde remembered that they had the blood of the old king and used it to slaughter the remaining Ghouls, and turned to face the Wraiths and Dopplegangers.

With the Soul Reavers surviving the undead had won, but they had another chance to gain kill points... 

The elite infantry and heroes settle the fight in the middle

Turn 7 Undead

The undead secure the centre

Ryan was also nearly out of time and had already won so opted to only attack the Morax regiment. The Soul Reavers counter charged and the Revenant King joined them, hitting the flank. Together they did 17 damage, more than enough to break the elite Orcs and secure an additional victory point.

After a long battle, the undead claim the hill, as the orcs retreat from the field

After-battle thoughts
Congratulations to Ryan for a solid victory. We added up the victory points and the undead had 1065 points remaining compared to the orc's 755, giving a +1 modifier for the undead.

Overall I enjoyed this game, and Ryan was again a stellar opponent (he deservedly won best opponent) and his army provided an interesting match up to my orcs


Ryan played a far better game than me, controlling the left flank and winning the right, whilst using the Soul Reavers as an excellent late-game hammer in the centre.

My big mistakes were in some of my choices of charges, most obviously the one with the Giant and Wardrum. For some reason I thought that I could break the Zombie horde and turn to face the Soul Reavers. However that was optimistic to say the least and cost me the Giant. I also wonder if charging the Ghouls with the Gore Riders on the right was the best idea or if I should have moved them to block the Wraiths or even just backed off slightly to force the Dopplegangers to crest the hill. Something to work on in the future I think.

That said I also feel that I could have been more aggressive on the left. I think I over-estimated the damage the Wraiths would do, something my opponent pointed out to me after the match.

Despite my questionable plays, the  cavalry had a better than average game, with one unit taking out over 300 points and the other managing to delay the Dopplegangers somewhat.

I could have also done more to play the game, with my moving both Ax hordes out of the centre on turns 5 and 6 meaning that I was reliant on the Morax, Wardrum and Skulks to win the game.


The defeat left me near the bottom of the table, and I would face David's interesting Dwarf list for my second game. I'll aim to get that report finished this week, and the third game soon afterward.