Wednesday, March 13, 2013

A Rare Outing

I realised as I prepared for this game, that it was my first Warhammer battle in around four months.  
[This section of text has had to be removed, due to adverse reaction].

Presently there is only one player who I enjoy games of Warhammer with, as he is not of a competitive leaning,  my infrequent games of WFB seem to be at Jason's welcoming abode alone presently.

Our most recent game, was a stunning display of preparatory slackness on my part too.  I simply took the same list as last time; having found it in the army book where I left it.  Jason on the other hand took the new-ish  Tomb Kings army; one I've only rarely faced.  My deployment was linear, but with the bulk of my Orc and Goblin horde on an open plain in the centre of the battlefield.


My overall commander, Skarsnik, managed to delay a couple of the key Tomb King units and so Jason's line looked patchy at first.  As ever I took the first turn when the dice permitted me to, and made a swift advance against the Undead legions.  As is often the case, my Orcs and Goblins do one thing well above all others, and that is passing Animosity tests.  I recall failing two in the game, which at 4000 points is not too shabby...


One issue with Jason's 10 foot wide table is exposing your flanks to the enemy.  I think to minimise the impact of this we both went with a compact centre, and a handful of minor units to cover the other half of the board.  I was relying on my light cavalry to cut down the scale of the field.  But Jason was able to stop my stronger right flank (closest to the camera) with some tiny, but resistant units.


In the centre the Orc Giant led the assault, with artillery fire from Doom Divers and Rock Lobbers covering the attack.  But the Reserves of Jason's army were arriving fast:


His Snake riding knights (real name escapes me) made short work of a sacrificial unit of Savage Orcs I hoped might delay them whilst I reached the main line of the enemy.


But the Undead were not for making my life easy, and indeed my flank attacks on his right, along with Jason's fear of 'Hand of Gork' thrusting my units right into his path caused him to hold back whilst his fearsome snakes did their merciless work.


When they finally countered, once my Giant had been killed, the Undead charged and swiftly destroyed - thanks to powerful magic - Skarsnik's huge unit of over 90 goblins.


By now I had cleared the flanks, but my centre was collapsing.


I conceded after five turns, knowing that whatever totting up the points of the battle may have suggested it was clear that I had lost on the battlefield.  Yet for all it's onesidednesss, it was a great fun experience.  Magic was a major factor in the game, I got few spells off but those I did helped stem the tide, and I was able to contain some of the Tomb Kings magic, but their spell to increase their fighting abilities did for me.  The Snake riders proved absolutely lethal, and something to deal with more robustly next time.

But mainly I think I lost by spreading my flanks out too far, costing me the ability to counter my opponent.  It turns out, several lessons learned.




3 comments:

  1. Treading on Lego is more fun than tournament gaming... of a certain type ;)

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  2. I am so with you on the tournament mentality. Even if you wish to be competitive I believe it can be done without ruining the play of the game :/

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