Dwarfs vs Orcs

I had a match today over at Paradox against an Orc player. This is my first time going up against the Orcs with my Dwarf army. I finally got to use Ancestral Grudge and re-roll all of my hits against those damn green skins. Sadly, despite my best efforts I my brave Dwarfs were overrun by a formidable green tidal wive.

We lined up our main blocks. His Blacks, Orcs, Goblins, and River Trolls were very nearly directly across from my Warriors, Longbeards and Hammerers. With the exception of his Wolf Riders and Orc Boar Boyz who were placed solidly on my weaker left flank. I'd gambled with my Organ Gun and Long Beards and set them to the right flank for added protection.

Not to say my left flank was unprotected. My warriors and cannon put up a pretty decent fight, a volley of grapeshot and a bunch of little dudes with big axes isn't something to sneeze at. While the cannon crew was able to beat the last remaining Wolf Rider, the Warriors didn't fare as well against the Boar Boyz. Though if it had just been the Boar Boyz it may have gone better.

Orc Boar boyz and Wolf Riders attempt to ride down my left flank as a block of Block Orcs and Night Goblins advance down the middle.

The Black Orcs pulled off one hell of a charge and nailed my Warriors square in the flank. Even though they took 6 Boar Boys with them the Warriors routed and were overrun by the Boar Boys. Who then ran square into my waiting Hammerers.

I should mention while all this was happening I had the opportunity to learn about Goblin Fanatics. I'm not a fan. The little bastard one shoted my well protected Grudge Thrower. The one I loved the most because it had two Runes of Penetration. It was shattered to bits by a freaked out goblin, disappointing.

At this point the Boar Boyz didn't last long against my Hammerers. The Black Dorcas finished off the cannon then came for my Hammerers. They fought valiantly and got a bit lucky. A unit of Orcs that had gotten in their rear failed an animosity check and the remaining River Trolls failed their charge by an inch thanks to a Rune of Slowness.

Now it was turn 5. I only had the one unit of Hammerers left. I knew there was no way I could win the battle. I had a pretty good feeling I could take down those Black Orcs. I'd managed to thin them out with Grudge Throwers and Organ Gun. All the dice rolls up to this point seemed to suggest the battle was written in the stars. Plus, I was super pumped about it because I wanted to see how my new Dwarf Lord with Shield Bearers would fare against an Orc War Boss.

I issued a challenged straight away which was accepted. I was a bit intimated by the giant War Boss's fearsome presence and thought I might lose my general. Thankfully with the help of some runes and good dice rolls I managed to, not come out ahead, but stay alive and put wound on the War Boss as well.

While my general kept the War Boss occupied my Hammerers manages to route the Black Orcs and send them packing. Those Hammerers pack quite a wallop. Not having shields usually means they take quite a few casualties themselves.

That of course was the end of the match. My opponent managed to score a minor victory against me despite the courageous efforts of my Hammerers. Ah well, it was a good game, I can't wait to do it again.

David

P.S. No spells were successfully cast thanks to two Runesmiths and the Master Rune of Balance

Imperial Guard: Update

So I haven't posted in a while. Things have been hectic around here. I've been working a lot and haven't had time to sit down in front of my computer and really hammer out a good article. Anyways, I have some ideas, but they will have to wait until I can really sit down and figure them out. In the meantime I thought I'd update you on my progress on the Imperial Guard army I started.

Bad picture I know, I snapped it this morning before I had to run out the door. I'm still working on getting their weapons magnetized so I can swap out between loadouts. The plan right now is to roll with one Vendetta and two Valkyries in my army list.

As for WHFB, we have started a linked battles style campaign where everyone will get a chance to play each other at least once with a large final battle at the end. We had the first round of battles last Sunday with my match up being Dave and his Dwarfs. It was a bloody battle, and thanks to some unlucky rolling for deployment on the Dawn Engagement scenario, I was able to take a minor victory (his poor warmachines had to deploy without support on a flank). I'll probably put together another post with more details about the campaign later, until then, thanks for reading!

The Dreadfleet and Such

What it's February already?! Man I guess I made it out of the holidays alive. Looks like Valentine's day is just around the corner though so out of the frying pan into the fire I guess.

In last few weeks I've gotten a bunch of work done on my Dwarfs and put together the beginnings of a gaming board. Liable and I also got in a few games of The Dreadfleet. Plus, there's a tournament starting this weekend at Paradox. There's a good bit of excitement and assorted goings on.

I hope to catch some daylight soon and snap some pictures of the progress I've made on my dwarfs. With the  warriors I tried to highlight how they're all citizen soldiers without standard uniforms. This means the whole unit really pops with the variety of colors used.

I mentioned Liable and I have gotten a few matches of The Dreadfleet in. I've loved every game we've played so far. I really love stories about naval combat during the 19th century so the theme alone is a big seller for me. Add in the Warhammer universe and a Dwarf ship that can launch derigibles and it's pure gravy.

Despite my obvious bias I think a lot of people would still like this game. The rules are surprisingly simple without leaving gaping holes yet allowing for a lot of stratgecal depth and creativity. What really surprised is how they managed to engineer the fate cards in such a way as to really make the sea seem like an enemy in itself without it getting in the way of the flow of the game.

The Dreadfleet is fantastic game if you ever get a chance to try it be sure to give it a shot.

David