The long bitter taste of defeat is sweetened

By the taste of eventual victory.

An amazing turnaround in the last week of the club campaign saw the Dogs of War finally prove their worth in battle. I decided to discard the Pike block for the last batch of games, as it had underwhelmed against every opponent. In such a small game it didn't seem to earn it's keep. Instead I went with a newly finished unit of knights, and a unit of Ogres seconded from my Orc army.

The results were impressive to say the least. Though not without shortcomings.

Firstly up against the High Elves that had previously given me two good beatings in the campaign, I was able to concentrate my forces, delivering three charges in the same turn to devastating effect. Soon his entire army comprise a bolt thrower and a nervy crew.

In my second game An Orc force almost caught me on the hop, with their surprisingly useful 'Waaagh!' action. Fortunately the centre held for long enough for my cavalry to save the day. Tactically it was more of a gamble but it paid off in the end.

In my third game of the night I faced a Dwarf 'gunline' (Two units of crossbows and an organ gun) which set up way to the back of the table having placed all the scenery on my side of the board. It would obviously be like crossing the Somme trying to attack him, so after one failed attempt, I concentrated on using my Wizard and own unit of bows to wear him down, whilst hiding my prime units. In the end I just did enough by wiping out his artillery crew to claim a draw.

So three games, producing two solid wins and a draw. Sadly I finished last in the campaign, on the basis of losing my previous 7 battles, but having allied with the forces of chaos in the final week, I ended up coming out on the winning side! The surviving mercenaries at least got paid an acceptable bonus.

Other battles obviously; those fine looking wood elves meet the Dwarfs that gave me a hard time later in the evening:

At the end of the campaign the Dogs of War redeemed themselves a little, and I do have a new 1000 point army to show for it. Will I keep them though? I don't know.

As for a format for a mini campaign, either narrative, like this one or map based (with, simple, logistics, as I prefer) border patrol sized games are ideal for rapid progress without getting tied down into a commitment to one game type. Despite the bad start, it was a worthy exercise.

And coming up next is the same for 40k; I'm already preparing my Orks for the challenge!