Again, this blog entry concerns a battle report with my Ogres. This gathering should be fought against the Elven general from my last battle report, Paricidas. As he told me before our meeting, he would bring his Skaven army instead of his more beloved High Elves. So I had to be troubled with Grey Seers, Hell Pit Abominations and Warp Lightning Cannons. Against Skaven, I always have a very bad battle legacy. Their gimmicks combined with endless troops can withstand enormous amounts of damage, while my Ogres were very few instead. So I went to this battle with not a very bold feeling.
The Ogres
Tyrant, General, LA, Giantbreaker, Sword of Striking, Rock Eye – 255 Pts.
Slaughtermaster, GW, Scroll, Lore of The Great Maw – 285 Pts.
Bruiser, GW, LA, BSB, Banner of Eternal Flame – 151 Pts.
9 Ironguts, M – 397 Pts.
9 Ironguts, M – 397 Pts.
9 Ironguts, M – 397 Pts.
1 Sabretusk – 21 Pts.
1 Sabretusk – 21 Pts.
4 Mournfang Cavalry, HA, Ironfist, M, S – 300 Pts.
Ironblaster – 170 Pts.
Total: 2394
I decided to give the third unit of Ironguts a chance because I mistrusted the Maneaters, due to the reason that they die nearly as soon as normal Ogres. The rest was “normal” stuff, nothing really special.
The Skaven
The Ratmen army contained the following:
Grey Seer, General, Spells of Ruin, Skalm, Staff of Sorcery
Chieftain, BSB
Warlock Engineer, lvl1, Spells of Ruin, Skaven Bomb
Warlock Engineer
40 Clanrats, Shields, M, S
40 Clanrats, Shields, M, S
40 Clanrats, Shields, M, S
40 Skavenslaves, Shields, M
40 Skavenslaves, Shields, M
40 Skavenslaves, Shields, M
5 Giant Rats, 1 Packmaster
5 Giant Rats, 1 Packmaster
5 Giant Rats, 1 Packmaster
12 Gutter Runners, Slings, Poisoned Attacks
40 Plague Monks, M, S, C, Banner of Rerolling Attacks and Wounding
Doomwheel
Warp Lightning Cannon
I was glad and surprised that Paricidas didn’t bring the Abomination with him – at least, she is the one threat I cannot ignore. The most serious danger seemed to be the monks, which could have a serious output of damage. The Lightning Cannon was the most important thing the Ironblaster would have to shoot, the Doomwheel close behind.
The battle
I decided to put the units in the centre of the field, to ensure that they could help each other if there was any need for. But with nine Ironguts, they should be able to look for themselves if it was necessary. At last, they faced Clanrats and Slaves, so I was on the side who wanted to get into close combat. With this in mind, I would have to try to rush forward as fast as possible and not be surrounded by diverters.
I made the first mistake right at the beginning of the deployment. I placed the Sabretusks way too near at my other troops – a mistake I’ve already made in the battle before. With the characters, I formed a so-called “bus” in the middle unit of Ironguts.
I got the first turn and moved straight forward. The Ironblaster hit the Lightning Cannon and destroyed her with one single shot. Huzzah! Sadly, the surrounding units didn’t fail their panic tests, but I was very glad with this outcome. The Doomwheel moved forward and shot my right Sabretusk, which caused a panic test for the Mournfangs they didn’t stand (7 without any reroll). Well, my fault. Sadly, the Mournfangs were not able to regroup until they fled from the battlefield.
The rest of the Ogres moved forward as far as possible. Foreseeable, Paricidas placed his small “throw-away” units like the Giant Rat Packs in front of my 300+ point units, so that they either would have to chase them or stand in no-mans-land where they could be attacked. I decided that the big Plague Monk unit in front of the Skaven army would be the only threat to me (especially the nine Ironguts with all heroes in the middle), so that they would have to clear the path. The Ironguts on the right flank “escaped” with a really good charge into a unit of Slaves (the other Slave unit on their flank would not be able to see them for at least one round and henceforth could not attack them, and they were able to commit D3 impact damage per model due to their ramming speed).
Of course, the Plague Monks charged the Ironguts in return. Paricidas decided that now would be the time to use his one-use banner of “I can reroll hits and wounds” (well, it took at least one cigarette break for this decisionJ). Ouch! With this gadget, the Monks clearly overthrew the Ogres, but they were quick enough to flee. The better, my “bus” was ready for a counter charge. With their banner already used and facing a Tyrant with his drinking buddies, the infested rats were no big deal for the Ogres and fled from the battlefield.
Now for the big points! As Paricidas placed all his characters in a unit of Clanrats near to the edge of the battlefield, I knew that I would have to take this unit or could not win the game. The former right Ironguts who were able to eat through the Slave unit charged the Clanrats to pin them down until the big Ironguts with the Tyrant would join the party. But as there is always another rat to take place, the Grey Seer still had enough units in reserve to keep the important enemies away. So the Tyrant unit was charged by Slaves, while the Ironblaster was concerned with his own Skaven units. Surprisingly, the Ogre cannon managed to win against them, but for the Tyrant unit, it was too late to join the important melee. The Ironguts who had charged the Grey Seer unit were charged themselves, while the Prophet of the Horned Rat jumped out of his unit and could save himself. At last, Paricidas gave me his hand and surrendered. He still had the Grey Seer, the Doomwheel and some small Skaven units, while I have lost the Mournfangs, the Sabretusks and one unit of Ironguts at this point.
Afterthoughts
Well, I would have not guessed to win this battle. Skaven are always a tough opponent, and no matter how many you kill, there are always more rats. I was lucky that my Ironguts could deal so well with his Clanrats and Slaves, while the Tyrant and his unit could charge a unit of battle monks with no supporting banner. Magic did play a decent role in this battle; the Grey Seer could save himself with his shadow jump, while my Slaughtermaster supported the Ogre units with a lot of Regeneration, +1 Wound, +1 Strength spells. I also have to admit that I was really lucky that the Skaven could not damage my heroes more – all three characters took a good volume of damage, especially the Slaughtermaster who could heal himself and so absorbed a lot of damage.
The Doomwheel was a serious threat on the right flank and may have caused a lot more trouble – happily, this didn’t happen. The lucky shot which killed the Lightning cannon in round one should also be mentioned, also the impressive fighting skills of the gunner with his Gnoblar and Rhinox.
It was a funny battle (well, it’s easy to say so if you are on the winning side) and I’m looking forward to our next gathering.
Stay tuned!
austrohammer 