This is the first part of a battle report covering multiple posts. You can find the navigation page here.
Prologue
The
Dwarfs maintained a relentless pace as they emerged from the
foothills of the Black Mountains into the green farmland of the
southern reaches of the Empire. The path they followed was ancient
and well-worn, but the recent passage of the Orcs they pursued had
left fresh scars upon the crumbling paving stones.
At the
head of the column, Lord Dungrim swayed atop his enormous shield as
its loyal bearers stepped carefully around discarded scraps of
whatever the greenskins had been eating, as well as other signs that
their digestive systems were in full swing. The Dwarfs had been
marching for hours, and whilst this would normally be of no account
for such hardy folk, the shieldbearers were starting to puff a
little. It was a point of honour for Dungrim that he never dismounted
from the shield whilst outside the comfort of his home Hold, Karak
Hirn. Bearing one's Lord into battle was normally a much sought-after
position amongst a Dwarf throng, but competition for such an honour
when Dungrim marched forth had been decidedly thin of late. He could
have sworn he heard his current bearers muttering to each other that
they hoped this pursuit would soon be over, but it was hard to tell
in between their wheezing and gasping. Dungrim had hand-picked these
two from those who had been slowest to step back when volunteers were
called for, and he had hoped they would display more enthusiasm when
bestowed with such a noble duty. He made a mental note to choose the
long way home once this dirty business had been dealt with and the
Orcs run to ground.
Broken
weapons and pieces of armour littered the path as they marched. It
was a source of continual amazement to Dungrim that Orcs could leave
so much rubbish in their wake, and yet still have weapons and armour
to bring to bear when the time for battle arrived. He was beginning
to wonder if they set out with extra supplies just so they could
discard them during their travels.
Even if
they did not leave so much trash along their route, this particular
war band would have been particularly easy to track. A pair of great
furrows had been gouged into the earth all along the path. Apparently
the Orcs had some of their crude catapults with them, and it was
clearly beyond them to use wheels or any sort of sled to ease their
passage. The things had been dragged for untold miles, which was an
impressive display of brute strength and endurance. Most likely a
pack of Trolls or Ogres was doing the heavy lifting – either that,
or the Orcs they pursued were far more numerous than the Rangers had
led them to believe.
Speaking
of Rangers, as they followed the path around the curve of a hill,
Dungrim found a pair of them standing in the road before him, waiting
for the column to arrive.
“Lord
Dungrim,” one of them addressed him with a complete lack of
ceremony. If anything, he had a slight look of distaste upon his face
as he took in the sight of the noble Dwarf Lord in his gleaming
gromril and his wheezing, staggering shieldbearers. “We have caught
up with the Orcs. They stopped to attack a manling farmstead just off
the path. I don't know why, but they seem to be taking a long time to
move on.” As he spoke he gestured toward a trail of smoke that
could be seen rising in the distance. “We can be upon them in a
matter of minutes.”
Lord
Dungrim was sure he imagined the sigh of relief that seemed to
emanate from his shieldbearers.
****************
A few
miles away, chaos reigned around the small human farm. The humans had
fled hours before when the first howls of the Goblin Wolf Riders
began to echo around the valley. They had little time to grab their
belongings, and they had been forced to leave their livestock behind.
Now the farmyard was swarming with Orcs, and if the deafening
cacophony of roars and bellowed insults was anything to go by, a riot
was about to break out.
The
subject of their argument now huddled in the centre of the farm's pig
pen. Several full-grown and rather fat pigs were keeping as far away
as possible from the seething, bellowing mass of tusks and weapons
that milled about the outside of the fence.
At the
centre of the roaring mass of greenskins, a pair of barely-dressed
Savage Orcs had each other by the throat. Their warpaint-smeared
faces were inches apart as they snarled and bellowed. Wotgit, boss of
da tribe's boar riders was having a disagreement with Grobsnak, boss
of Da Kleenskin mob. Wotgit (along with all of the other Boar Boyz
and many of the other surrounding Orcs) was of the opinion that the
pigs should be eaten immediately. Such compelling arguments as “Dey
look so tasty!” and “Dey iz too fat to run away!” could be
heard.
But
Grobsnak had other ideas. “Dey iz humongous piggies! Az big
as your boar, Wotgit! I wanna ride 'em! We can all be piggy
riderz!” Apparently the shared ancestry of domestic swine and wild
boars was not lost on Grobsnak, although his idea of what made a
suitable mount perhaps betrayed his current status as a foot-slogger.
“Dey
ain't got no tusks!” shouted Wotgit, “and dey is soft and squishy
and fat and juicy...” his remaining words were lost as a tide of
drool rose unbidden at the thought of the feast that awaited them.
Overcome with the desire to eat the pigs, he reached for his knife.
Seeing his hand move, Grobsnak did the same.
This
sudden escalation in the debate was interrupted by an ear-splitting
roar from Gorgor Ironbreaker, the tribe's Black Orc Big Boss and
bearer of the war band's battle standard.
“Wot
iz goin on 'ere?!?” he bellowed. Even with the unbelievable din
coming from dozens of over-excited and rather vociferous Orcs,
Gorgor's earth-shaking voice was enough to bring a sudden stillness
from all in the area. He glared around at the gathered boyz, his huge
axe already drawn and his eagerness to put it to use apparent on his
brutally ugly features.
Next to
him stood the tribe's Shaman and leader, Little Foot. He gazed
inscrutably at the scene before him. His stare lingered upon Grobsnak
and Wotgit, who had now released each other and were standing
side-by-side, trying to look inconspicuous. The longer the shaman
looked at them, the more nervous they became. Orcs all around them
started to shuffle backwards, glancing nervously into the air. Little
Foot was named for his particular fondness for summoning the great
green Foot of Gork and using it to resolve all of his problems in a
less than subtle (and often rather messy) fashion. It would be quite
his style to mash both of the troublemakers into a squishy paste
rather than try to sort out whose side of the argument might actually
have more merit.
As the
moment dragged on and Grobsnak and Wotgit looked increasingly
terrified, a Goblin mounted on a huge wolf raced around the nearest
farm building in a skittering cloud of grass and dirt. He raced
directly toward Little Foot and his off-sider, hauling his panting
beast to a halt a few yards from them. “Boss! Boss,” the Goblin
squealed in apparent agitation, “da Stunties are following us! Dey
iz just over dat hill!” he gestured rather frantically at a large
hill not far from their position.
Gorgor
wasted no time upon hearing the news. “To armz!” he bellowed so
loudly that the Dire Wolf jumped and the Goblin toppled from his
saddle with a squawk. “Get da lobberz and Trollz ready! We got
Stunties to kill!”
Looking
back, Little Foot noted that Grobsnak and Wotgit had had the presence
of mind to disappear when the Goblin interrupted. Somewhat
disappointed, he released the arcane energies he had been gathering
to him. No matter, he would soon have other victims to stomp. There
was something very satisfying about the sound Stunties made when Gork
started to dance...
Mustering
the Dwarf Throng
 |
| Dungrim's Dwarf Throng |
- DtL Dungrim the LonelyDwarf Lord on Shieldbearers with Great Weapon, Gromril Armour, Rune of Stone196 points
-
TS Thori SidesplitterDwarf Thane with Battle Standard, Master Rune of Gromril, 2 Runes of Iron, Great Weapon171 points
-
UI Umrik IronbenderDwarf Runesmith with Gromril Armour, Rune of Stone, Shield, Rune of Spellbreaking93 points
-
War 20 Arri's Hairy MenDwarf Warriors with Heavy Armour, Shields, Standard, Musician and Veteran210 points
-
Quar 12 Peg Leg's CrossbowsDwarf Quarrellers with Heavy Armour, Great Weapons, Crossbows, Standard, Musician and Veteran198 points
-
Th 10 ThunderbringersDwarf Thunderers with Heavy Armour, Shields, Dwarf Handguns130 points
-
Ham 19 Dungrim's GuardDwarf Hammerers with Heavy Armour, Great Weapons, Standard, Musician and Keeper of the Gate296 points
-
Iron 19 Iron GuardDwarf Ironbreakers with Gromril Armour, Shields, Standard, Musician and Ironbeard296 points
-
GT Grudge Thrower80 points
-
BtF Borri the FearlessDwarf Gyrocopter80 points
-
StU Snorri the UnhingedDwarf Gyrocopter80 points
-
OG Organ GunRune of Accuracy, Rune of Forging170 points
-
Total: 2000 points
Finally
we get around to organising a relatively “normal” battle report
(games in excess of 20,000 points don't count)! It has been too long
since I managed to arrange one of these. Hopefully next time the gap
won't be quite to pronounced.
Anyway,
with the arrival of the new Dwarf book, I have been quite keen to
tinker with armies and try some stuff out. Unfortunately I don't have
all the toys painted, and I still haven't even worked out what I am
going to do about things like Gyrobombers and Irondrakes (simply
buying the models would be too easy, right?). Elmo* and I decided to
steer away from the tournament standard army sizes and went for
something a little smaller instead – 2000 points. We felt this
would be enough for it to feel like a proper battle between 2 armies,
whilst being a little different from what people are used to seeing
(I think we're all a bit sick of tournament lists).
2000
points was not going to let me field very many fancy toys in the
list, but given how few of those were painted anyway, that was fine
with me. I decided to try to keep things pretty simple, and to
stretch the points about as far as I could. I started off with a
budget Dwarf Lord. So budget in fact, that he got a massive 5 points
of magic items – the Rune of Stone. I figured the Shieldbearers
would give him enough protection in a game this size, and it would
let me spend points elsewhere. He got a great weapon so he could deal
some damage. The Battle Standard Bearer got slightly better
protection given that I would need him to do some actual fighting. As
such I gave him a 1+ armour save and +1 Toughness and Wound. If
something could drop him now, it was doing pretty well. My final
character was the Runesmith, who I gave a 2+ armour save and a
Spellbreaker rune. He was just meant to stay alive and help toughen
up the front line a little.
Nobody
uses Dwarf Warriors anymore, so I started with a unit of 20 of those.
It would give my little army the cheapest bulk available, and they
would still be pretty hard for most greenskins to shift. I also
bought small units of Thunderers and Quarrellers, with the latter
getting great weapons so they could double as a potential flanking
unit.
Next I
bought 2 Gyrocopters, which I suspect will be a mandatory inclusion
in every Dwarf list we see. They're cheap, fast and tough. The great
eagles of the Dwarf world – doubtless they would live short and
eventful lives. I bought solid units of close to 20 each of Hammerers
and Ironbreakers. The Hammerers were there because they're the most
potent unit in the army, and I like the toughness of the Ironbreakers
despite them being no slouches themselves (especially if they manage
to charge).
The army
was rounded out with a runed-up Organ Gun and a bog-standard Grudge
Thrower. I couldn't justify investing runes in the stone thrower, but
the Organ Gun really needs either an Engineer or the combination of
the Runes of Forging and Accuracy to pull its weight and really scare
people.
When you
get down to it, it was a very standard sort of Dwarf army. A few
solid blocks of troops, some supporting missile units and a couple of
pieces of artillery. But I wasn't trying to do anything fancy – I'm
still getting a feel for how the new Dwarfs perform in their
designated roles.
My
deployment wasn't really fancy. Elmo had a couple more deployments
than me, so I couldn't really do much more than ensure one of my
flanks was relatively anchored and keep my stuff together. I put the
Gyrocopters on the flanks to give them a chance to react to any
sneaky Wolf Rider moves around my lines. And with that, the Dwarfs
were ready to roll.
*Elmo is
really Nick Cook, but since his notes refer to himself as Elmo and me
as Hoodling, I figure I will go with that instead.
Gathering
da Waaagh!
 |
| Little Foot's Orc War band |
- LF Little FootSavage Orc Great Shaman (Level 4 Big Waaagh!) on Boar with Lucky Shrunken Head, Fencer's Blades314 points
-
GI Gorgor IronbreakerBlack Orc Big Boss on Boar with Battle Standard, Heavy Armour, Talisman of Preservation, Enchanted Shield, Armed to da Teef181 points
-
SO1 18 Da Red FacesSavage Orcs with Additional Hand Weapons, Standard, Musician and Boss197 points
-
SO2 18 Da KleenskinsSavage Orcs with Additional Hand Weapons, Standard, Musician and Boss197 points
-
Wlf1 5 Da ProwlerzGoblin Wolf Riders with Light Armour, Spears55 points
-
Wlf2 5 Da PouncerzGoblin Wolf Riders with Light Armour, Spears55 points
-
SOB 9 Da Crimson TideSavage Orc Boar Boy Big 'Uns with Spears, Shields, Standard, Musician and Boss269 points
-
OB 9 Da Bored BoyzOrc Boar Boyz with Light Armour, Spears, Shields, Standard, Musician and Boss215 points
-
Tr1 4 DumbTrolls140 points
-
Tr2 4 DumberTrolls140 points
-
Man Will it Blend?Mangler Squig65 points
-
Rock1 Goblin Rock Lobber85 points
-
Rock2 Goblin Rock Lobber85 points
-
Total: 1998 points
So on
the day in question, after arriving at the Hoodling's house and
finalizing the pre game preparation, the first act of the game was to
determine what spells the Savage Orc great shaman would know. The
roll on the dice was a one, a two and two threes. After defaulting
the one and swapping the second three to a six, he ended up knowing:
Gaze of Mork, Fists of Gork, Hand of Gork and Foot of Gork.
For
deployment the Hoodling won both the roll offs for determining sides
and first deployment. For my deployment, I deployed the wolf rider
units roughly on the thirds of the table, to maximize the chance of
vanguard to a useful position. The Hoodling had focused most of his
army to one flank, so I placed the Savage Orc units on this flank so
as to allow for a fast paced game. Next I deployed the Savage Orc
Boar Boyz Big Uns in a central location with the trolls flanking them
to either side. The Orc Boar Boyz went on the far flank in hopes of
surrounding the Dwarfs. Finally the mangler went in the middle of the
table, this was to allow it to bound to the Dwarfs as fast as
possible with minimal risk with the two Gyrocoptors.
The game
was about to begin, the Dwarfs getting first turn due to a slightly
cocked roll on the side of a movement tray.
Deployment
 |
| Deployment, before any Vanguard moves are made. |
 |
| The view across the table with both armies deployed |
 |
| The Dwarf army deployed with the Gyrocopters wide on the flanks |
 |
| The Dwarf centre with Lord Dungrim leading the Hammerers of Dungrim's Guard whilst Thane Thorri Sidesplitter and the Runesmith Umrik Ironbender join the Ironbreakers of the Iron Guard |
 |
| The Dwarfs' view of the Orc deployment |
 |
| The Orcs arrayed, before Vanguard moves |
 |
| Both Little Foot himself and his off-sider Gorgor chose to lead the Savage Orcs of Da Crimson Tide |
 |
| Will it Blend? dozes fitfully in the centre of the line. Probably drugged with mushrooms, or over-fed on something too slow to get away. Like Dwarf. |
 |
| Da Pouncerz sneak forward on the Orc right flank and discover the forest is an Abyssal Wood. |
 |
| Watch out for dem spooky treez, ladz! |
 |
| On the other flank, Da Prowlerz head forth as well. |
 |
| Do you fink dey can see uz? |
Dwarf
Turn 1
 |
| Dwarf Turn 1, including the Vanguard moves of the Goblin Wolf Riders. |
With a
minimum of fuss and little in the way of actual command, the Dwarf
line was soon assembled. The war machines were unpacked and wheeled
into position, whilst the Gyrocopters were fired up and took flight
from their cradles behind the cart ponies, taking positions
protecting the army's flanks. So rapid was the deployment in fact,
that the Orcs were still trying to whip their own lines into order
when Dungrim gave the order to advance.
 |
| Snorri the Unhinged launches himself into the fray |
 |
| Snorri's assault proves too much for Da Prowlerz, who break and race for their own lines, only to be run down by the rapidly moving Gyrocopter |
 |
| Are you sure you want to stop there, Snorri? They can see you... |
 |
| Borri the Fearless also engages, although he has to fly between the trees to do so |
 |
| Only one of the Wolf Riders would perish, but at least it meant Borri would be safely in combat |
Dungrim
decided that the brief respite would have to be enough for his
shieldbearers and ordered his Guard of elite Hammerers forward off
the crest of the hill. The Ironbreakers of the Iron Guard kept pace
with them to their right, and even the Thunder Bringers shouldered
their handguns and advanced slightly before settling into a more
advantageous position, within range of the enemy lines. The crew of
the Grudge Thrower set their sights on one of the Goblin Rock
Lobbers, however they were still finding their range and the shot
landed well off-target. They muttered about the cheapness of Lord
Dungrim and his refusal to furnish them with a properly crafted
machine with runes, but he pointedly did not hear their complaints.
 |
| Can you believe it, boss? Da stunties iz actually walking toward uz! |
Old Peg
Leg's Quarrellers snorted derisively at this potent display of
newfangled technology, then took aim with their tried and true
crossbows. Even at this range they were able to land several telling
shots of the Savage Orcs of Da Red Faces, however their fanatical
belief in the potency of their warpaint and tattoos allowed them to
shrug the worst of it off, “Just a flesh wound! I still got another
arm!” and only one of them fell.
Orc
and Goblin Turn 1
 |
| Orc and Goblin Turn 1. |
On the
left of the line, the Savage Orcs had watched the Dwarf Gyrocopter
savage the Wolf Riders before landing insolently right in front of
their lines. Obviously this could not be tolerated and Da Red Faces
roared and charged straight at him. As crazed as Snorri might be, he
could see where that particular fight would leave him and hauled
across on the stick, sending the Gyrocopter whirring sideways,
directly away from the charging wild Orcs. Even as he did so however,
he found himself face-to-face with yet another regiment of savages.
Da Kleenskins followed the lead of their comrades and launched
themselves at the fleeing Dwarf who hurriedly yanked the machine
around and fled headlong for his own lines. His hasty reactions saved
him and none of the charging Savage Orcs could match the pace of his
retreat.
 |
| Da Red Faces charge at the Gyrocopter, which prompts Snorri to flee right into the path of more Savage Orcs... |
 |
| ...who also rush toward him, resulting in him turning and heading straight for his own lines |
 |
| All under control, nothing to see here. |
Perhaps
distracted by the spectacle of the wildly enthusiastic Orcs tripping
over each other in their efforts to get to the fleeing Dwarf flying
machine, the Goblin crew of the Rock Lobber behind them failed to
notice that one of the Trolls who had helped haul the thing into
position had also absent-mindedly wiped some of its corrosive drool
on one of the upright posts. The roughly hewn timber was no match for
the damage this caused, and though it held together as the Goblins
loaded the machine, the force of its release was too much and the
catapult splinted to pieces in a shower of broken components and
squealing, fleeing crewmen.
The crew
of the other Rock Lobber saw this mishap and were far too busy
checking the workings of their own machine to actually care about
where their first shot landed. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the wildly
fired rock landed nowhere near their original target of the enemy
stone thrower.
 |
| The Mangler Squig heads straight for the centre of the Dwarf lines, who brace themselves for the potential impact. |
Gorgor
did his best to ignore this awesome display of greenskin engineering
and instead grunted and gestured an order at the nearby Trolls. His
intent was apparent, and one of them stepped across and punted the
tribe's enormous Mangler Squig (known affectionately as “Will”,
which is short for “Will it Blend?”) up the backside. The beast
had been dozing fitfully, but snapped away with a roar, even as it
was propelled toward the Dwarf lines. Unprepared as it was, it still
managed to bite off the leg of the Troll that had kicked it as an
appetiser. The Troll toppled over unceremoniously, but immediately
dragged itself upright again, during which time a new leg had already
grown to replace the first one. The Trolls stomped forward behind the
tumbling Mangler Squig, completely unconcerned about the whirling
mass of teeth and general grumpiness.
Da Bored
Boyz on the right flank yawned disinterestedly and nudged their boars
forward around the Wolf Riders as they struggled with the Gyrocopter
attacking them in the forest. “Dis ain't much of a battle eh,
boss?” asked one of the Orcs. “I seen better,” agreed their
leader.
The lack
of interest displayed by da Bored Boyz apparently got Little Foot's
attention, and he decided it was time to wake them up a bit. With a
strange growl and wave of his staff, he summoned forth the Hand of
Gork. An enormous, eerie green hand descended from the clouds above
and scooped the regiment up before dropping them rather more roughly
than was necessary, threatening the flank of the Dwarf Thunderers. It
was probably for the best that they were now out of earshot of their
Shaman, given their reactions. “Well I guess dat was a fing eh
boss,” grunted the first Orc. “Wake me when somefink interesting
'appens” replied their leader with another yawn.
 |
| Da Bored Boyz arrive magically in the flank of the Dwarf army, with the Thunder Bringers in their sights |
Summoning
the Hand of Gork was all well and good, but it was not where Little
Foot's heart truly lay. With far more enthusiasm than control, how
bellowed another chant and gestured wildly as he swayed on the back
of his boar. Glowing green energy surged through him and blasted the
orc behind him from his saddle, but his warpaint saved him from any
real harm himself. With a final wave and a roar, he unleashed an
unstoppable Foot of Gork upon the hapless Hammerers of Dungrim's
Guard. They saw it coming, but there was little they could do, slowed
as they were by the exhausted shieldbearers still staggering under
the weight of their Lord. Gork's aim was less than perfect, but the
damage was still considerable and a dozen of the finest warriors in
the Dwarf army were pulverised by Gork's great warty, taloned foot.
 |
| Playing footsies: Foot of Gork minces most of Dungrim's Guard |
 |
| Borri fights on, trying to hack his way free of Da Pouncerz so that he can intercept the advancing Mangler Squig |
 |
| Snorri heads for his own lines, chased by multiple packs of lunatic primitive Orcs |
Nice! I have both Dwarf and O&G armies...I am hoping for a Dwarf victory here, though.
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