Ogre Firebelly

Ogres vs. Wood Elves – twice

In preparation to an oncoming tournament in Styria, – one of the biggest in Austria – I tested my Ogres in my local gaming Club. The first two battles should be against Wood Elves, as the new release of the Wood Elf army book encouraged some players to field them. So the local metagame is kind of shooty and pointy-eared these days.

Tyrant, General, 2xHw, LA, Giantbreaker, Rock Eye – 243 Pts.
Slaughtermaster, 2xHw, lvl4, Lore of The Great Maw – 287 Pts.
Bruiser, GW, LA, BSB – 141 Pts.
Hunter, 2xHw, Longstrider – 153 Pts.
Firebelly, GW, Scroll, Lore of Fire – 154 Pts.
9 Ironguts, M – 397 Pts.
9 Ironguts, M – 397 Pts.
10 Gnoblars – 25 Pts.
4 Mournfang Cavalry, HA, Ironfist, M, S, Standard of Discipline – 315 Pts.
4 Sabretusks – 84 Pts.
1 Sabretusks – 21 Pts.
1 Sabretusks – 21 Pts.
1 Gorger – 90 Pts.
Ironblaster – 170 Pts.

Total: 2498

I wanted to test the Hunter, for his abilty to operate in a group of Sabretusks should make a small but decent melee unit. The rest is nothing special, all centred around three units who could fight or at least give the characters a place to hide.

The opponents army was a big unit of Thornsisters, carrying two Level-4 Magicians with the Lore of Death and Shadow. Two small groups of Wild Hunters added some severe melee power, while two eagle ensured that I would not come into close combat too soon. Some small units of Bowmen rounded this setting up. This fight would be a tough one.

Round 1

The game started with some skirmishing, an attempt to raise the ballistic skil of the Waywatchers was banned by me. A toughness decrease for the Mournfangs wasn’t rolled high enough, so the first magic phase was generously short.

The Bowmen shot at the Gnoblars and the Mounrfangs, the Greenskins panicked and run away.

At my turn, an attempt to boost the toughness of the Butcher’s unit was banned, but I was able to cast regeneration at the Mournfangs. Also, an automatic panic test was forced on the Waywatchers by a Butcher’s spell, but the high morale of the Elves made this attempt a feeble one.

Round 2

The Wild Hunt attempted to charge the Hunter and his Sabretooths, but rolled to low. On the other hand, both ambush units of the Wood Elves entered the battlefield. A bonus to the Ballistic Skill at the big unit of Bowmen wasn’t succesful due to low dice, the Miasma was banned. A Toughness Decrease at the Mournfangs forced me to use the Dispell Scroll, for they would suffer too many casualties in the direct fire of the Waywatchers. And they would have to endure this shooting for at least this round, so I thought this banning to be important.

The shooting phase saw the death of two Sabretusks and two inflicted wounds on the Mournfangs.

In his countercharge, the Hunter reaches the Wild Hunt. But before he was able to kill four of these Elves, they managed to cause the death of three Sabretusks by themselves.

The Ironblaster aimed at the Sisters of Thorn and tried to sniper at one of those Level 4 Magicians. Sadly, he managed to pass his Lookout Test succesfully.

Round 3

Before the Ogres could reach them in close combat, the Sisters of Thorn and their lead managed to outflank the Ironguts and be safe for at least this round. The Bowmen got a magic increase to their ballistic skill, while the “Walk between Worlds”-spell was banned. The Ironblaster suffered 2D6 S4 hits, and this, together with the shots from the cavalry units, was enough to kill him.

The Toughness Decrease at the Mournfangs, combined with the final shots from the Waywatchers, forced them to panic and run.

At this point, we shaked hands and ended the battle, for the outcome was pretty clear at that time.

Sadly, the Hunter and his Sabretusks were a waste of points (which I was told several times by everybody, but I was too stubborn to listen to them). Shamefully, a model solely useful for the showcase.

At the very least, it didn’t look like a total defeat on victory points. I would have never been able to get a decent number of points, but the important Irongut units were still standing (with the Mournfangs showing their low reliability again).

Game Two

Next week, the same opponent (with exactly the same army), a new concept on my side. This time, the Hunter was exchanged to a unit of six Maneaters, a unit I love for it’s appearance, but never convinced me by it’s performance on the battlefield. I would have liked to bring a Battle Standard Bearer, especially in an Ogre army, but I also didn’t want to cut the budget of the other stuff. So Iwould have to trust in my good dicing ability.

Tyrant, General, LA, Giantbreaker, Sword of Striking, Rock Eye – 255 Pts.
Slaughtermaster, 2xHw, lvl4, Lore of The Great Maw – 287 Pts.
Firebelly, GW, Scroll, Lore of Fire – 154 Pts.
9 Ironguts, M – 397 Pts.
9 Ironguts, M – 397 Pts.
4 Mournfang Cavalry, HA, Ironfist, M, S, Std. of Swiftness – 315 Pts.
6 Maneaters, 6 x 2xHw, Immune to Psychology, Stubborn, M, S, Standard of Discipline – 347 Pts.
1 Sabretusk – 21 Pts.
1 Sabretusk – 21 Pts.
1 Sabretusk – 21 Pts.
1 Gorger – 90 Pts.
Ironblaster – 170 Pts.

Total: 2475

The Wood Elf Mages knew the spells Warp between Worlds, Arcane unforging, Drain Magic, Soul Quench, Shadow Pit, -D3 Toughness and -D3 WS/BF

Round 1

Again, I placed the center of my Army in the right corner of the battlefield, with the Maneaters holding the left flank. The Wood Elves, on the other side, were able to spread much further.

First, the Mages casted -3 Movement to the Firebelly unit, while the attempt to inflict a decreased Toughness to the Maneaters had too little energy. Arahains Curse was banned with all my Banning dice. In the shooting phase, I lost three Maneaters to the Bows of the Wood Elves. At least, I was able to cast the Toughness Buff at the Mournfangs.

Round 2

The Ogres tried to gain some field control over the battlefield and moved forward. Naturally, the Wood Elves tried to avoid melee at that moment and moved sidewards, shielded by a piece of impassable terrain.

The Shadow Pit was casted with good energy, so I had to use by Dispel Scroll that early in the game. Drain Magic at the Sisters wasn’t succesful. One Sabretusk and two more Maneaters were shot down. I tried to cast the Panic spell to the big unit of Wood Elves Bowmen, but had not enough power. The Fireball was also banned. To complete this pityful turn, the Ironblaster took his chance to fail his shot and broke his Cannon in two pieces.

Round 3

The Gorger finally showed up to force the Wood Elf units to a halt (or something like this…). The Firebelly-Ironguts were rearranged so that they faced the unit of Elven riders who came from behind. The Shadow pit had to little energy, the second Sabretusk was shot.

Round 4

My attempt to increase the Slaughtermasters Toughness was banned. In return, 2D6 S4 hits to the Slaughtermaster casted by the Wood Elf Mages inflict three Wounds. The Firebelly-Ironguts had to suffer – 2 Movement. My opponent rolled too bad for the Walk between Worlds. All Bowmen turned to the Slaughtermaster and finally shot him.

Round 5

The Shadow Pit is casted on the Tyrant’s Ironguts, which killed four of them.

Again, another game against Wood Elves which we didn’t need to play until the sixth turn to see a certain outcome. The combined moving and casting ability clearly is something I can’t cope with at the moment. While theyr miniatures and Fluff are beautiful, I feel like Sixth Edition, when Wood Elves were one of the dominating tournament armies thanks to their flexibility with wooden terrain. And I certainly don’t miss these times. May all Treemen burn in Hell.

ETC 2014 – Last training before Novi Sad

It’s the last day before we travel south to Novi Sad, so it was a great opportunity for a last training battle before it get’s serious.

Spanish Ogres

Firebelly: General, lv1, Great weapon, Crown of Command, Shielding Scroll
Firebelly: lv1, Warrior Bane, Dispel Scroll, Potion of Toughness
Bruiser: BSB, Great weapon, Light Armour, Rune Maw
60 Gnoblars. Musician, Champion
9 Ironguts: FCG, Look-out Gnoblar, Standard of Discipline
3x 1 Sabretusk
9 Leadbelchers: Musician
7 Maneaters: Musician, Light Armour, Poisoned attacks, Sniper, 6x Brace of Ogre Pistols, 1x Great Weapon
2x 1 Ironblaster

Austrian Vampires

Vampire Lord: General, Magic Level 1, Lore of the Vampires, Aura of Dark Majesty, Great Weapon, Talisman of Preservation, Glittering Scales, Scroll of Shielding
Master Necromancer: Magic Level 4, Lore of Death, Obsidian Lodestone, Sceptre of Stability
Necromancer: Magic Level 2, Lore of the Vampires, The Book of Arkhan
Necromancer: Magic Level 1, Lore of the Vampires, Dispel Scroll
Tomb Banshee
Tomb Banshee
2 x 28 Zombies: Standard Bearer, Musician
20 Zombies: Standard Bearer, Musician
36 Skeleton Warriors: FCG, Banner of Swiftness
3 x 5 Dire Wolves
8 Crypt Horrors: Champion
2 Fell Bats
Terrorgheist
Mortis Engine

An interesting matchup between two seasoned tournament players.

Merlin, planning some cunning moves.

Meni (right) didn’t look that happy.

Due to the fact that one player fielded a different army, he had to prox some models. In the end, he played with an army containing models from seven different races.

Sadly, the Vampire lost the initiative-punishing Sun spell and had to try to outmanoeuvre the Irongut Bus. So it was kind of a one-sided battle.

Ogres vs. Empire

Well, this is going to be a short one. Ogres versus Empire is a pretty straight-forward battle. Either the Ogre is able to reach the lines of the Empire in time to rip the humans in melee, or the Empire manages to outflank and shoot (add magic missiles for that purpose) the melee-oriented Maneaters. So the one or the other, it would be a tough and edgy play.

The Ogres

Tyrant, General, LA, Giantbreaker, Sword of Striking, Rock Eye – 255 Pts.
Tyrant, 2xHw, LA, Arabyan Carpet, Charmed Shield – 268 Pts.

Bruiser, GW, LA, BSB – 141 Pts.
Firebelly, GW, Scroll, Lore of Fire – 154 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 – 290 Pts.
1 Gorger – 90 Pts.
3 Maneaters, 1 x 2xHw, 2 x GW, Immune to Psychology, Stubborn, M – 184 Pts.

Ironblaster – 170 Pts.

Total: 2388

My list was a test for a tournament upcoming next sunday. The flying Tyrant sure was the “cheesiest” of choices, due to the small use of his shield when he was targeted by a fireball or arrow before the cannon would aim at him. But somehow I thought to be more clever than the artillerists of Nuln itself.

The other “new” choice was the Gorger, who would need a little bit of luck to survive one round of shooting before he could eat through the backside of the imperial lines.

The core units were pretty standard – with a limit of 400 points per unit (due to the restrictions for the next upcoming tournament), you can do nothing wrong with a block of nine Ironguts and a musician for those challenging quick reform tests. I didn’t have much trust in the Mournfangs, as they proofed to be very fragile – both in close combat and morale – in the last games. But at least they would give the opponent something to think about.

The Empire

Arch Lector, General, Altar – 250 Pts.
Wizard Lord, lvl4, Lore of Life – 200 Pts.

Captain of the Empire, BSB – 85 Pts.
Battle Wizard, Lore of Light – 65 Pts.
Battle Wizard, Lore of Light – 65 Pts.
Battle Wizard, Lore of Light – 65 Pts.

40 Halberdiers, M, S, C, 5 Archers, 5 Archers – 340 Pts.
15 Archers – 105 Pts.
5 Knights of the Order, Lances, Ritter d. Inneren Zirkels, M, S, C – 155 Pts.

5 Demigryph Knights, M, S, C – 320 Pts.
Great Cannon – 120 Pts.

Helblaster Volley Gun – 120 Pts.
Steam Tank – 250 Pts.
Celestial Hurricanum – 130 Pts.

Light spam all the way. The steam tank is still a nuisance with his ability to charge without sight. The Demifgriffons seem to be updated Mournfangs, and the small light wizards are all shooting platforms for themselves. And the Halberdiers with the Griffons and the Hurricanum formed a decent semi-Dark Elvish Cauldron-like passive-agressive trap. You can clearly seee that my self-confidence was overflowing at that moment. But as I wrote at the beginning of the text, the Ogres could still be a threat to the Humans with their speed and nasty tricks like tunneling Gorgers (reminds me of my beloved Dwarven Miners).

The Game

The game started well with all the Ogres moving forward in round one. Sadly, the Ironblaster misfired with its first shot and couldn’t shoot for the whole lasting game. Rats. Anyhow, I had no idea where to put the flying Tyrant (also, he didn’t really have an appealing target in sight), so he barely moved with the big Irongut units in the center.

My first mistake (beside rolling bad on the Ironblaster misfire table) was not to optimize the size of the Irongut unit against the imperial cannons – I let them in a square block while they should have reformed into a two-lined formation. So, the cannons could shoot way more Ironguts.

The first Fireball (biggest size, of course) from the Firebelly against the Archers was banned. The Maneaters made a surrounding movement on the far right flank (I didn’t have too much confidence in their melee power against a steam tank, but I would be satisfied if they could distract him from the real fighting). The Gorger arrived near the Volley Gun. So my first round was over really soon. The steam tank tried to generate four steam points, but also had problems and couldn’t move this turn. The whole imperial sector moved some steps backwards to avoid engagement with the nearing Ogres.

The Empire opened the shooting phase with a shot right at the left Irongut unit and killed four of them straight. Meh. The Volley Gun tried to kill the Gorger, but he survived with two of his four Wounds. Yeah. One other Irongut died from the Archers arrows.

The second turn started with the scratched Gorger charging the nasty Volley Gun. The rest of the horde moved forward or tried to outflank the Empire. The second attempted Fireball from the Firebelly was too complex to cast. I thougth that the Demigriffons had trapped themselves behind one of the Archer detachment, so I placed one Sabertooth before them (just to make sure that they really would be unable to move). The Ironblaster was degraded to his second task, and also moved forward as a Chariot.

The imperial Knights (the one on normal horses), surely frightened by the lonely Sabertooth before them, declared a charge and overrun. The steam tank decided that the crew of the Volley Gun would need help and charged backwards (these tanks really must have good cupolas for being able to look back). The Wizards threw several spells against the flying Tyrant and the Banning Scroll had to be used to prevent any Damage (which would have consumed the protecting Powers from his Shield untimely). A total banishment from the Arch Lectors Altar finished him up causing the loss of ten Wounds. A second banishment killed one of the cat riders, who paniced (despite General and Battle Standard were right beside them) and flew thirteen inches. The cannon killed one more Irongut, and the steam tank buried the Gorger under his weight. So one shooting and casting phase wiped out more than the half of the horde.

Third turn. The Ironblaster and Maneaters declared a charge against the knights, the Tyrant and his Ironguts rolled too low for reaching the Halberdiers. The cat riders composed themselves.. The rest of the battle was over soon. The Firebelly-Ironguts were able to reach the Halberdiers, supported by the Ironblaster who had overrun from the melee with the knights but didn’t cause any serious damage. The steam tank crushed into the Maneaters (and, not surprisingly, was too much for them). The two units of archers really were a pest who prevented several charges. At turn four, we shaked hands because the battle was over.

Lessons learned

The cannon should never have the opportunity to shoot that many Ogres. Against such war machines, I must make the lines thinner and less vulnerable to such threats.

The flying Tyrant served no purpose and so had no chance of doing something interesting. In fact, he was some sort of overpriced Gorger. But I’m not done with the idea of the fying Tyrant, because he clearly is something the enemy has to worry about.

Perhaps a unit of three Leadbelchers would have solved some problems with outlflanking Hunters. Perhaps in the next list. I still have problems to deal with such crap units.

For their purpose, the Maneaters were way too overpriced. Three Ironguts with a musician would have done the job as well (altough the Stubborness and Immunity to Psychology is a real nice advantage at the far side of the battlefield).

Again, I forgot to use the Rock Eye. Either I’ll have to write it on my hand or stop buying this – on the paper – nice and cheap item.

I’m thinking about a setup with a flying Tyrant, two Hunters (one riding a Yak, the other one as a Longstrider with four Sabertooths), another Yak, two Gorgers, and two units of Mournfangs. Should be really fast and fun to play with, but foreseeeable not really competitive. We’ll see.

Dwarves vs. Ogres, Chaos and Empire

It’s time for new battle reports.

Due to my lack of time in the last weeks, I wasn’t able to play as much Warhammer as I would have liked. But now, I’m looking forward to a nice time of gaming and writing about it.

Due to the humble and unfinished state of my Ogres, I fielded the ever-ready Dwarves. I didn’t want to lend miniatures, for I try to finish my Ogre army for a tournament in Munich in April – and perhaps, this could be a good motivation to get the Ogres ready.

The army list

Anyhow, the army list was pretty “standard” for me: three blocks of melee infantry, a king for the higher morale and fighting potential (well, not really – he is more for getting hurt and absorbing melee hits, but he is a great threat for every unit). As usual in the last year, I didn’t field Hammerers, for their Stubbornness is way overpriced in this Warhammer edition. The massive contribution of (organ) guns was granted by the actual army choice in my gaming club which allowed two of these nice babies. Of course, I was really looking forward for the rare opportunity of fielding four war machines which hit automatically. The Bolt Throwers should also be a threat not to be underestimated, as the Engineers granted them the important additional Ballistic Skill.

Dwarf Lord, General, GW, Shieldbearers, 1 x Rune of Resistance, 1 x Rune of Stone – 206 Pts.
Runelord, Anvil of Doom, 2 x Rune of Spellbreaking – 365 Pts.
Thane, GW, 1 x Master Rune of Gromril, 1 x Rune of Resistance, Battle Standard Bearer – 144 Pts.
28 Longbeards, GW, M, S, C – 389 Pts.
25 Longbeards, Ranger Upgrade, GW, M, S, C – 375 Pts.
34 Miners, M, S, C – 399 Pts.
6 Miners, M, C – 81 Pts.
Cannon – 90 Pts.
Cannon – 90 Pts.
Bolt Thrower, Engineer – 60 Pts.
Bolt Thrower, Engineer – 60 Pts.
Organ Gun – 120 Pts.
Organ Gun – 120 Pts.
Total: 2499

Ogres

The first opponent I would meet was a veteran Ogre player (also playing Wood Elves from time to time). While the unwashed hordes of multiple wounds which moved into my direction were a nice target for the cannons, I had a feeling that there were way too many possibilities where to shoot. Clearly, shooting here and there would be fruitless, so I had to concentrate the fire and hopefully would take advantage of the low Ogre morale.

The Ogre army contained a Tyrant, the unavoidable Ironblaster, a big Ogre carrier for protecting the Characters, two smaller units of Maneaters and Yhetees, a Thundertusk, a middle-sized unit of Ironguts, two Sabertooths and a Firebelly.

The Rangers were put in a wood at the flank of the Yhetees and the Thundertusk, mainly because I thought that their presence could cause a delay in the movement of this flank. Beside this, I felt that they would be of pretty small use when the Tyrant and his massive unit would hit my line.

The Yhetees managed to attack the Organ Gun on the most left position and eat through the artillery base henceforth. And the artillery fire had started so well with decimating the Maneater unit. Sadly, it wasn’t enough.

The Miners were of pretty small use in this battle – or even near to none. While the small Miners managed to enter the battlefield in turn three, the bigger unit was delayed one turn more and could only assist in the big melee which consumed both the Longbeards and the Miners. At least, the six Miners were able to deal with a lonely Sabertooth.

The reasons causing this defeat were various – a poor position for the artillery, which was way too exposed and could be attacked by a small, fast unit. I also felt pretty helpless against the massive amalgamation of Wounds in the big Ogre units carrying the Characters. It’s questionable whether a Catapult causing multiple wounds might have been of better use than the second Organ gun or not.

I think it’s questionable whether such a massive amount of artillery would be successful against the vast speed of Ogres. Surely, one unit can always be decimated while one other is slowed down by the Anvil. But it should be also said that the guns lacked a proper positioning from the beginning of the battle – if they had been directly behind the dwarven units, maybe they could have been of better use. But on the other hand, I feared that the melee units would lack manoeuvrability during the battle and hoped that the Ogres would not be able to overthrow them so fast.

Chaos

The second battle should be against the new Skullcrushers (as if the possibility of fielding entire units of Heroes mounted on these Khornite Daemons wouldn’t be ridiculous enough…). I fielded the same army from the first report and again hoped that the Anvil would obstruct one unit while the artillery dealed with the other unit of daemon-riding Chaos Knights.
The other unit I had to care of was a pretty massive melee unit of ten Chaos Knights carrying a Chaos Lord. Again, I tried my luck with positioning my artillery in one corner of the battlefield and protecting them with my melee units (after a nasty defeat by Wood Elves years ago, I never put my artillery on the edge of the battle line).

Having no better plan for the Rangers, I decided that they would be of best use at the side of the bigger Longbeard unit. Sadly, the battle plan proofed to be poor once again. The powers of Chaos granted my opponent the first turn, to protect their servants from an early bath in dwarven artillery fire. The one shooting phase I was granted was useless, as just one Skullcrusher went down. The next decision was born of simple curiosity what would happen if the small Longbeards would attack the Chaos Knights (well, I really should have been able to be at least this prophetical). The Knights defeated the Dwarves severely and overran into the Generals unit. From this onward, it was clear that the battle was lost and I conceded.

Against so much heavy cavalry, the best hope against these daemon riders will be the flank attack granted by the Anvil. Most armies lacking rerolls in melee or the proper spells will have to be very tricky against this new unit.

Empire

The last opponent fielded the Empire. It was a quite nicer list than I had expected (just one unit of Griffon riders, to begin with) and I was really optimistic about this meeting. First, I knew that I would outnumber him with the sheer amount of artillery in my list and second, I knew that he is a “fluffy” gamer who likes to play non-maximised armies. Well, but it still was an army with Griffon Riders, good artillery and a Steam Tank. So anyhow, it would be an interesting challenge.

We started with a pretty balanced field which didn’t give an advantage to both parties. His army contained three “Breakers” – the mentioned Griffon Riders and the Steam Tank and a team of ten knights of the Inner Circle carrying the General (obviously). For flanking and hunting war machines, there were five knights and a Pegasus-riding Captain. A second group of five knights protected the imperial wizards.

The battle was pretty straightforward: the men of the Empire moved with full speed, with one exception of the Steam Tank who accidentally produced too much steam and decided not to take part in this forward movement.
The participation of the tank wasn’t needed whatsoever. Underestimating the seer power of a cavalry attack, the frontal assault proofed to be enough for my Dwarves. The human General killed the Dwarf Lord with some strikes of his armour-neglecting sword while his comrades demonstrated how useful the strike-repeating powers of the Orcanium could be. Confronted with such a poor situation, it was just a drop in an ocean that the Miners wisely choose not to appear at the battlefield. Perhaps, it would have been better to lay fire on the Orcanium rather than trying to shoot my first Steam Tank (who was pretty crushed, but not defeated at the end of the battle). Additionally, the fire of the Organ Guns on the knights was near to useless due to their marvellous 1+ armour.

Deciding that the battle would end sooner than later with a crushing defeat, I surrendered. But I have to say that, beside the poor outcome in statistic terms, the battle nevertheless was a fun one with a relaxed opponent.

I also underestimated the Griffon Riders (which were not that cruel than their counterparts some battle reports ago) while the artillery fire from both armies wasn’t that terrifying, like the magic. The only real bloodshed was caused in hand-to-hand melee – in a battle between Dwarves and Empire, the two classic gun armies, who would have guessed?

Conclusions

Needless to say that the result of the battles speaks for itself – the decision of fielding the whole artillery range just because it was allowed in the army restrictions was pretty foolish. The dice-related war machines were too dependent on good luck and getting the first turn for an additional round. Sadly, war machine hunters found easy prey on my machinists and the Organ Guns seemed to have taken holiday.

Having no possibility for repeating the hitting dices in melee, close combat is also a very uneasy affair due to the heavy points every Dwarf costs. But I don’t want to paint the picture too black – the actual Dwarven army is a really tough stone that is not cracked too easily – if played by a cunning player. Perhaps the points spent in artillery would have been of better use in bigger and better equipped units – taking advantage of the 450 points limit per unit which is 50 points more than in normal Austrian army restrictions.

Next weekend, I will attend the Austrian Team Tournament (the ÖTT in German) in Carinthia with my Ogres. I don’t expect too much outcome for my Ogres but will enjoy the battles and report from the tournament site – and maybe, I can get a glimpse of the Austrian view on the ETC rule set and army restriction as the tournament uses the ETC restrictions. So it will be really interesting next time.

Ironblaster Sidewinder

Just a little work-in-progress update from my workbench. As I am still building an Ogre army, I couldn’t wait to build this nice piece of Ogre craftmanship. Sadly, altough the cannon has great rules, the model isn’t really easy to build. In a mixture of inability and insanity, I decided to forget the Howdah on which the cannon is originally mounted and do something very own. Thankfully, the Gnoblars who would have build the construction, are well known for their genius when it comes to improvisation. And so, I can present you an Ironblaster you have never seen before:

As you can see, the Howdah was completely cancelled and replaced with a big rope made of Green Stuff. The Rhinox got a patch on its left eye due to the shells and fire bursting in its near (and because I didn’t want to paint an eye that hidden, of course).

I still have much to sculpt with this model (especially the open gaps everywhere), but I’m also glad that I can field this nice cannon with a proper miniature (if you have read the battle reports with my Ogres, you can see how I substituted the Ironblaster with just the cannon lying on the base) now.

The growing horde

Here I present to you the painted part of my growing Ogre tribe. Due to other obligations, i had little to no time for painting in the last months. Hopefully, my lads will get new reinforcements sooner than later.

The first unit fitting to Army buildung rules – three Maneaters in a very “light” tone. I used white primer, then added just one layer of colour on the miniature, then finished the whole paintjob with a Wash – Ogryn Flesh, of course. I really hope that the new “Shade” Reikland Fleshshade will do the same job than the Wash Ogryn Flesh, but we will see. Until then, i will have to consume the old stuff.

I tried to get a “rusty” and at least partially realistic tone for the metal parts with painting first in Mithril Silver and then overbrushing with Dwarf Bronze.

The next miniature waiting on the paining desk is a Firebelly (half-finished at the moment), so stay tuned!

Ogres vs. Skaven

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!

Ogres vs. High Elves

Introduction

So, this will be my first single-battle report in this blog. I would play against Paricidas, one of the members of my local Warhammer Club, the „WoW/Keepers“ (a combination of two former clubs in Vienna, the „World of Warhammer“ and the „Keepers of Dice“. And yes, we are older than World of Warcraft. ;-)). He is a regular player, but has always stayed a “casual gamer” rather than playing tournaments. You can read about our last battle featuring Dwarves against Skaven here (http://www.tabletopwelt.de/forum/showthread.php?t=144722, if you understand German of course).

I knew that we are at a pretty similar gaming level, so the battle promised to become intense and interesting.

The Ogres

Tyrant, General, LA, Giantbreaker, Sword of Striking, Rock Eye – 255 Pts.
Slaughtermaster, lvl4, Fencer’s Blades, Scroll, Lore of The Great Maw – 345 Pts.
Bruiser, GW, LA, BSB, Banner of Eternal Flame – 151 Pts.
9 Ironguts, M – 397 Pts.
9 Ironguts, M – 397 Pts.
6 Maneaters, 6 x Brace of Ogre Pistols, Poisoned Attacks, Sniper, M – 382 Pts.
6 Maneaters, 3 x 2xHw, 3 x GW, Immune to Psychology, Stubborn, M – 349 Pts.
1 Sabretusks – 21 Pts.
1 Sabretusks – 21 Pts.
Ironblaster – 170 Pts.

The Ogres should be able to cope with most opponents. In our club, the maximum unit size is 40 models/400 points. So the Ironguts and Maneaters were at their maximum size (and I would expect nothing less than my opponent also would play his units at maximum size). The sniping Maneaters were an experiment, as I have never played them before. Perhaps, they would be able to shoot a little Level 2 Mage from his horse. The heroes would be focussed in a single unit, as they could absorb much damage (especially the self-healing Butcher) and grant the so-called “bus” a maximum of security. The Sabretusks would hunt for Eagles or small Skaven Teams, while the Ironblaster was a must-use unit for it could threat everything with multiple wounds.

The Elves

I knew that my opponent would either play Skaven or High Elves, so I didn’t try to build my list against a special kind of army. Against Skaven, I would have to cope with the Hellpit-Breed, while the Elves would tear me apart with their “Always Strike First” rule.

Finally, he brought his High Elves. So it would be a dance around his block of White Lions. His army consisted of

Prince, General, Elven Steed, Giant Blade – 228 Pts.
Archmage, lvl4, Scroll, Lore of Shadows – 280 Pts.
Noble, Elven Steed, BSB, Banner of Sorcery – 172 Pts.
Mage, lvl2, Lore of Fire – 135 Pts.
15 Archers – 165 Pts.
40 Spearmen, M, S, C – 385 Pts.
24 White Lions of Chrace, M, S, C – 390 Pts.
8 Dragon Princes of Caledor, M, S, C – 290 Pts.
Great Eagle – 50 Pts.
Great Eagle – 50 Pts.
Great Eagle – 50 Pts.

The Prince and the Battle Standard Bearer wore +1 armours, but unfortunately, I can’t remember the other magic stuff. Looking at his army, I had most respect before the White Lions and the Level 4 Archmage. Well, at least I had a Level 4 for myself and his Dispel Scroll.

The big block of Spearmen was quite surprising. Sure, with the right spell from the shadow lore, they could become one of the toughest units imaginable. But with our casting cap (meaning a maximum of four power dice per spell), I don’t think that my opponent would rely on this tactic.

The Battle

While I tried a balanced deployment of my units, Paricidas wanted to hit me with a “hard right”, so he positioned his two important melee units at his right flank, with the shadow mage in the Lions and the Prince and the Noble in the Dragon Princes. The Fire Mage stood behind the battle line in the archers.

The battle was opened by the Elven archers who shot my poor left Sabretusk. Predictable. My Ogres turned left to face the elfish units in melee. The Ironblaster tried to shoot in the flank of the Riders, but shot too short. All ogrish Heroes were gathered in the big Irongut unit on the right flank (I have to admit that I didn’t really have a plan where to put them besides keeping them together).

My left Irongut unit managed to attack the Riders (they had to throw a 7+ to do so) and hit them with D3 wounds per hitting Ogre! Sadly, only one of the noble-born Elves died because of this. In the end, the Ogres turned their cheeks and had to run. Happily, they were better runners than fighters and managed to escape (well, there were only two left out of nine). Meanwhile, in an attempt to blast a fat chicken (eagle) to hell, the Ironblaster blew himself off and only left a decent crater. So much for this.

But not everything was lost. The Sniper Ogres decided that they would win far more glory in melee and attacked the Dragon Princes in the flank. Sadly, they lost too, but stood in melee because of the Stubbornness the Slaughtermaster had casted on them before. Eat this, Elven Prince!

The rest of the battle was short and bloody – my general unit was too afraid (and outflanked by eagles) to cope with the forty thieves, ehm, Spearmen and was of no use in any form. The Maneaters dealed with the Dragon Princes with their Lords and managed to kill them at last. But in the meantime, the White Lions were busy themselves ad attacked the two surviving Ironguts and smashed right through them in an attempt to catch the more pricely Maneaters.

Finally, I got his General, the Battle Standard Bearer and their unit of Dragon Princes, while he could get my whole army. I would like to say “bad luck”, but I’m realistic enough to see that there were too many playing mistakes to speak of luck. Anyhow, I have to congratulate my opponent. He played well and never failed to use his units to their best efforts. And he didn’t complain and cursed when his general unit was eaten, a skill most underestimated in our days.

Afterthoughts

Well, this didn’t go too well. I made some big mistakes (especially in the movement phase) which were avoidable. Hopefully, I can use the Sabretusks better next time. In most battles, they have been cheap points for the opponent and causing panic tests in my line whenever they were shot. So I definitely will have to think about their use.

The Sniper Maneaters didn’t perform as I have expected, but their maximised numbers of attacks have been quite useful in melee. Despite the outcome of the game, I enjoyed fielding this force and think that I will play the next battles with a very similar list. And perhaps I will be able to reduce my gaming mistakes.

Stay tuned.

Painting a Ninja Maneater

This lad is the newest paint job for my Ogre army. I used Games Workshop colours, a white undercoat, and just one layer and washed the whole thing with “Ogryn Flesh”. The included colours were Iyaniden Darksun and Red Gore (trousers), Snakebite Leather (shirt), Chainmail and Dwarf Bronze (metal parts), Chaos Black, Kommando Khaki (bandages), Vermin Brown and Dwarf Flesh (obviously the skin parts).

Although I don’t really enjoy painting (for I find it rather boring compared to playing), I’m quite content with the result. The final Ogre will have to get a decent basing, but I think I will wait until the whole army is ready for it. Until now, I’m quite not sure how the army will be based, perhaps a grassland or rubble basing.

So, with the Ninja Maneater completed, the growing horde consists of:

Painted:

3 Maneaters (Pirate, Ninja, Arabian)
2 Ironguts
3 Sabertooths

The next modeling/painting job will be something with two horns, so stay tuned.