Kings of War: Elves vs Orcs

Warning, this is another one of my long waffling type battle reports, not the more reader friendly format of mostly pictures and a bit of text. The latter are quicker to do, but revisiting my old orc army got me feeling nostalgic.

If you particularly prefer one style over another, please leave a comment.

Boðvoc and I met up for another game of Kings of War recently. He used his recently triumphant elves, and I used my orcs; a combination of my lockdown force and a few bits I've added to it as part of my Orctober 26 challenge. 

As Boðvoc has been working through the scenarios in order (nice logical mind) we played Dominate with 1200pts a side. 

The Orc Horde of Hurglik the Vile

My choices were partly dictated by my lockdown force, (750 points). I based and rebased a couple of extra units and painted up a new unit to give the orcs a bit more sticking power. 

Hurglik theVile, Orc Krudger 95

Vespa, Orc Flagger 50

Bagragh, God Speaker with Drain Life spell and artifact 95

War Drum with Sacred Horn 95

Troll Horde 190

Gore Rider regiment with Healing Potion 190

Two Ax regiments 130 points each (The Blackshields and the New Ax)

Morax troop with artifact125

Skulk Raider troop 100

The Elven Host of Lord Cadvan Dunmail 

Lord Cadavan Dunmail, Elf Prince 

Eritas the Scribe, Archmage 

Army Standard Bearer

Kindred Tallspears regiment 

Kindred Gladestalkers troop 

Kindred Archers troop

Forest Shamblers horde

Silverbreeze Cavalry troop

Drakon Riders regiment with Diadem of Dragonkind 

Bolt Thrower 

Set up

Boðvoc had set the table beforehand, apparently based on a battlefield from a magazine. As guest, I had choice of table side. 

I was trying to be vaguely tactical, in that I positioned the Krudger and Flagger for best Inspiring effect, the Godspeaker to benefit from Tribal Magic, and the War Drum to boost as much of the Horde as possible.

Boðvoc seemed to have a better grasp of his army's capabilities, and certainly made better use of the woods.

The field of battle

The Elven Host

The Orc Horde

Another view of the elves

Opening Moves 

The Skulks crept into the far woods and the Glade stalkers occupied the near wood.

The scouts do their thing

The Elven far flank advanced, their arrows targeting the Morax, though the Elven wizard proved singularly ineffective. The Morax quailed under the onslaught, but the stern gaze of Hurglik kept them in place.

The Gladestalkers similarly shot the Trolls while the Elven centre stood, giving the greenskins the chance to close the distance; the Drakon Riders hopped over the woods to face the Trolls.

In response, the Skulks edged through the woods, hoping to surprise the Elven far flank and loosing a few shots at the Kindred Archers. The rest of the orc horde steadily advanced, the Gore Riders threatening the elven far flank.

End of turn one

The Archers entered the far woods and shot the Skulks, causing them to mill around in confusion.

The Silverbreeze backed off, shooting the approaching Gore Riders, the Archmage added a Lightning Bolt, and the Bolt Thrower also shot them. Despite the damage, the Gore Riders were unfazed. Hurglik was watching!

The Gladestalkers damaged the Trolls further, but the bigger threat was the Dragon Riders who flapped over to the orc line, then turned to threaten the Troll flank. Unfortunately for them, they'd moved too hastily to use their fancy Diadem of Dragonkind*.

The encounter in the wood

End of elf turn two

The Trolls turned to face the new threat, while Bagragh flung a Fireball at the winged menace. Alas, so far from the rest of the Horde, his magic was underpowered, and only a few flames scorched the scaly beasts.

While the Skulks dithered around, hoping they could withstand the inevitable Elven attack, the rest of the horde moved up, the Morax peeling off towards the wood. Could they get to help the Skulks in time?

The Gore Riders smashed into Eritas, the Elven Archmage, pulping him into the earth. They'd aimed for the Silverbreeze, or failing that, the Bolt Thrower, but they stumbled to an embarrassed halt, just short of the Elven line.

End of orc turn two

The Main Battle 

The Archers took aim at the Skulks, loosing a deadly volley and wiping them out. The Silverbreeze just sneak in against the flank of the Gore Riders, doing little damage. The Forest Shamblers crash into the New Ax regiment, causing enough casualties to waver them, but failing to wipe them out. 

The Tallspears charge the Blackshields' front, while the Gladestalkers take them in the flank. To make sure of victory, the Drakons ignore the Trolls and fly over them to catch the chance doomed Ax Regiment in the rear.

Unsurprisingly, the orcs are quickly demolished.

End of elf turn three

Things are looking grim for the orcs. Half their infantry are gone. What remains is damaged, and the trolls are stuck out on a flank, facing the wrong way.

Still, orcs don't give in (unlike myself, who was just about ready to concede), so time to fight back.

The Morax charged into the wood. Despite the undergrowth hindering them they made short work of the Archers, then turned to face the main action. The Gore Riders quaff their Healing Potion then turn to face the Silverbreeze and are similarly successful, then completing the manoeuvre to face the main battle.

The New Ax are unable to do anything to the Forest Shamblers, but Hurglik charges into their flank, though does little damage.

On the near flank, Bagragh once more Fireballs the Drakons, but again causes very little damage. The, by now quite dizzy trolls spin round to face the action.

End of orc turn three

The centre of the action

The Drakons once more fly over the ground sloggers and smash into the Morax, crushing them completely. The Forest Shamblers turn to face the Orc leader, sure that the Tallspears could deal with the Ax. They damaged Hurglik, but he just laughed it off.

The Tallspears caught the Ax in the flank, but a combination of tough orc flesh and armour, and simply not hitting enough, meant that the orcs survived.

The Bolt Thrower crew grinned, those Gore Riders didn't stand a chance. Unfortunately, they missed! The Gladestalkers shot Vesp, but he shrugged of the minor damage.

Drakon Vs Morax

End of elf turn four

The big fight again

Bagragh uses his magic to hurt the Tallspears, then redirects their vital energy to heal the Ax who have turned to face the elves. Vesp runs in too, but despite his dubious assistance, the elves remain, bloody but unbowed.

The Gore Riders are more successful, charging in alongside Hurglik, between them they smash the Shamblers into kindling.

The Trolls, furious at being kept out of the action for so long, charge the Gladestalkers and make short work of them.

The orc fight back begins

End Phase (apologies, only one photo from the very end)

The Elven so called heroes back off. They are wise enough to know when their cause is doomed.

The Bolt Thrower crew haven't got the message, and plug away, cheering when their bolts hit, but groaning when the huge arrows bounce off the rubbery Troll hide.

The Drakons again bring Death from Above, wiping out the Gore Riders, while the Tallspears continue to fight the Ax, finally finishing them off.

Bagragh lobs a Fireball at ASB, but misses. Vesp and Hurglik smash into the Drakon Riders, as does the War drum (I'd assumed it was a War Machine and thus unable to fight, but it classes as a monster, so time to get in on the action). This unlikely combination finishes off the wannabe dragons. 

Not to be outdone, the Trolls charge the Tallspears. They take out their frustrations on the poor elves, leaving nothing standing.

Seeing what little remains of the proud Elven host, Lord Dunmail slinks away, accompanied by his trusty banner bearer and the crew of the Bolt Thrower.

All that remains

After Action 

Well, a well fought battle that we both really enjoyed. The game certainly had it's ups and downs for both sides. The Elven elite rule was very effective, I think it gained at least one hit every time.

My Inspiring was also effective, especially given the Nerve boost granted by the War Drum (which managed to avoid the curse of the newly painted unit). I think it was this combination that gave me victory; several units were saved by it and went on to cause considerable damage to the elves.

You can read the elven report over on The War Crow

I took more care over deployment than I usually do; I had grand plans involving combinations of troops, heroes and artifacts. But no plan survives contact with the enemy, and mine started falling apart long before contact. Two of the artifacts never got used (but then, neither did the Drakon Riders Diadem). The Sacred Horn definitely proved it's worth though.

Boðvoc was very canny in his use of flying troops, to which I need to find a counter. Orcs have little opportunity to take to the air: likewise ogres. Something to think about in my new army.

* I thought this was a great choice of item to give them. The poor Drakons can't breathe fire, so their riders carry an item so it looks like they do. They might even tell the Drakons that it's them doing it. 

Kings of War Undead vs Kingdoms of Men

My son and I managed a game the other day, 1000pts of his Undead vs 1000pts of my Kingdom of Karpath.

An opportunity for him to try out his new big nasty, and for both of us to see if we could still remember how to play. 

We played using 3rd edition; neither of us have yet tried 4th edition, although I do have the new rules. 

Partly because it's been a long time since we played, we were rather slow and had to stop after five turns.  We played the Kill Scenario.

Here's the photos I took, plus a very brief account of the game. 

And apologies to my Alt Text reading fans, there isn't much for you this time.

Set Up

The field of battle with the armies poised for action

The Armies

The human army consisted of a regiment of Bowmen, two Spear Phalanxes, a regiment of Knights (borrowed from my Empire army to make up the points) and a troop of Mounted Scouts. They were led by General Anichka, accompanied by Artem and the wizard Mayster

The Kingdom of Karpath

The Undead included a regiment of Ghouls, a regiment of Revenants, a Goreblight (a lovely Reaper Bones undead giant), a regiment of Skeletons with spears, a regiment of Mummies and a troop of Wraiths. They were led by a trio of necromancers.

Most of the Undead force ...

...plus the Mummies (a troop of Wraiths lurk off to the right)

Turn One

I moved first, though I kept most of my troops back, merely dressing the line somewhat as I tried to anticipate where the biggest threat would come from. The exception was the Scouts who set off on one of the flanking moves that I think are really clever tactics, despite all previous evidence to the contrary.

The enemy was too far away for any missile or magic use.

End of KoM Turn 1

The undead shambled forward, the exception being the Ghouls who swung round to meet the threat of the Scouts.

The Necromancers all used their magic to move certain units forward.

End of Undead Turn 1

Turn Two

The knights charged the Revenants, arrogantly expecting to wipe them out. Unfortunately they failed to do so, and this melee would drag on.

The Knights charge the Revenants, expecting an easy victory

Mayster responded to the advancing enemy by conjuring a wind to blast the undead spears backwards. 

I think I found this funnier than my opponent did. This is a sample of my rolling for Wind Blast.

Needing a 4+

End of KoM Turn 2

Fortunately for the Knights, the Revenants were unable to damage them (for two turns they were unable to crack that 5+ Defence). Meanwhile, the Goreblight circled round to their rear and the rest of the Undead force advanced, in some cases assisted by the Necromancers.

End of Undead Turn 2

Turn Three

The mounted scouts continue their ride, always managing to stay out of danger from the ghouls, who kept turning to try and keep them in sight, but never getting the chance to shoot at them. 

The Knights continue their combat with the Revenants, slowly whittling them down and eyeing the advancing Goreblight.

At the other end of the field, Mayster once again pushes the Skeleton Spears back, while the Bowmen discover that the Mummies are tough.

End of KoM Turn 3

The Undead continue their slow advance, the Wraiths flying dangerously close to the Bowmen. 

The Goreblight proves deaf to the entreaties of two of the Necromancers as they urge it to smash the Knights while they are trapped in melee (two Surge spells provided about 2" on top of it's normal move. I was delighted).

Adding to the Undead woe, the Revenants once more failed to damage the Knights.

End of Undead Turn 3

Turn Four

As the undead continue their slow advance, the bowmen try to pick off the Wraiths. Alas their targets are too tough, and very little damage is inflicted.

Mayster casts a Fireball at the undead spears, which proves much more effective (needed a double six on the Nerve test).

The Nerve Test

A Spear Phalanx (I must come up with names to differentiate between the two) charges the Mummies, but they are tough opponents and take little damage. The Bowmen frantically loose at the Wraiths, but most of their arrows pass straight through.

Having (hopefully) distracted the Undead for long enough, and no doubt leaving the poor Ghouls quite dizzy, the Scouts gallop off to the other side of the field to lend their doubtful help there.

The knights finally finish off the Revenants and turn to face the approaching Goreblight. They'd already felt it's presence sapping their strength. 

End of KoM Turn 4

The Goreblight finally charges the Knights, while the Ghouls turn to face the tasty humans in their metal cans. The Knights take a beating, but it takes more than that to break Karpath's finest (they benefited from their Indomitable Will).

On the far side of the field, the Wraiths charge the Bowmen, who, surprisingly, manage to hold.

End of Undead Turn 4

Turn Five

The Knights try to take down the Goreblight, but without the benefit of their lances, it's very slow going, and those Ghouls are lurking behind them.

Both the Spear Phalanx and the Bowmen continue to fight their opponents, but do little damage to the Undead.

End of KoM Turn 5

The combined might of the Goreblight and the ghouls finishes off the knights, allowing that flank of the Undead army to face the fighting on the far flank.

Over there the Wraiths quickly finished off the Bowmen, leaving the Foot Guard poised to charge them. The Spear Phalanx held out against the Mummies, but only under the stern gaze of General Anushka (Inspiring reroll requiring a double one).

End of Undead Turn 5 and end of battle

At this point we called the game. Technically it was currently a draw, if slightly in the undead favour, but I think the final turn(s) would have swung it to an Undead victory. The Ghouls and Goreblight wouldn't have made it over to the rest of the fighting, but with the Knights gone, I'd have been struggling against Mummies and Wraiths.

Final Thoughts

It's nearly a year since I played Kings of War, and I'd forgotten how much fun it can be.  We both thought of moves that we might have done differently, although luck seemed to play a big part in the game.

Once again I got stuck in combats that I thought I'd win first turn, I obviously need to readjust my expectations.  

We hope to get a few more games in soon.

What's Next?

Well I've got plenty to paint already, including more of those Wildspire Miniatures and some Undead of my own for the Dark Shadows campaign.

That said, I might take advantage of the Season of Scenery challenge to sort out a set of 28 mm Kings of War terrain, rather like the 15 mm set I did back in 2019.

And it would be nice to have a regiment of Knights that fit in with the rest of my Karpath army.

And a little Carrion Beast tells me that Bodvoc is getting interested in a new Kings of War army, for which he'll no doubt want an opponent.

The Mists Recoil - Dark Shadows Game Reimagined for Warlords of Erehwon

Boðvoc and I finally got around to playing the second game in our campaign based on GWs Dark Shadows booklet.

Boðvoc has done sterling work adapting it for Warlords of Erehwon (henceforth known as WoE). He even wrote a preliminary scenario to determine who was the attacker and who the defender for The Mists Recoil.

NB: I'm having problems orienting the photographs again, so I've removed some of them.  I also forgot to take any of the final turn or two, it was too exciting.

The Scenario 

The original scenario is designed to use the Warhammer Fantasy skirmish rules, essentially those used in Mordheim. We decided not to try to adapt WoE to anything smaller scale; hopefully the rules would be robust enough for our purposes.

The attacker is trying to land their forces in the teeth of an artillery battery and a skeleton defence force (literally, in our case).

The dwarves are arriving in a number of boats at the only safe landing on this stretch of coast. Each unit had it's own boat, a mix of card models, a resin boat and an XPS craft I built years ago for DnD.

In the original, the attacker has 500 points, the defender has three war machines and just 50 points.  Neither side has any magic. 

After working out sample WFB lists and comparing them to the WoE lists, Boðvoc decided on 750 points for the dwarves and 200 for the undead, plus three war machines. 

The invaders are in as many boats as necessary, which move a random 2D6" each turn, with a chance of getting stuck on sandbanks.

He also adapted the Albion weather table, mostly to lessen it's effects on the game (ha).

The Undead 

I had an Undead Hero as the leader of my force. Given the model (a lovely Gary Morley Armoured Wight Champion), I gave it heavy armour. 

The main defence was two Skeleton Bolt Throwers and a Large Stone Thrower (the marvellous Skull Chucker).

I rounded out the force with seven Skeleton Archers. The three war machines are free for this scenario, but I upgraded the stone thrower to a large machine from my small points allowance. 

The Undead Defenders

The Dwarves

Boðvoc had five units; Amlodi Forkbeard, dwarven chieftain,  accompanied by his four drinking companions, Gunnar Funðinsonn Dwarf Ranger and his mates, Ulf the Ranger plus friends (I can imagine some rivalry between these two units), a unit of Archers and a unit of Dwarven Guard led by Brokkir.

Opening Moves 

I threw for the weather, getting 'Misty'; visibility reduced to 1D10+6". Hmm, it looks like the Isle of Albion wasn't quite ready to give up it's secrets to those hairy dwarves. 

This led to a strangely bloodless opening few turns, with the dwarves inching forward while the skeletons scanned the fog, looking for targets.

The Dwarven Fleet sails on

"Row, row, row yer boat"

The Dwarf Guard reach the shore "Land Ahoy!"

The Undead Defenders poised for action

The Main Battle 

Eventually the boats reached the shore.  Brokkir's Guard were first to land, but the mist concealed them as they advanced in the direction of the defenders.  

The remaining dwarves soon joined them ashore, but as the mist thinned, the Skeleton catapult spotted Gunnar and his Rangers.  Fortunately for the dwarves, the shot went wide. In response, the rangers take out one of the catapult's crew.

The dwarven archers target their skeletal opposites, although many arrows seem to strike true, none of the bony lads fall. The skeletons return the favour, but the dwarven armour is too tough for their arrows.

The dwarves otherwise advance towards the cliffs and the undead scan for targets (at this point, most of the advancing dwarves were hidden in the mist).

 

The Dwarves have landed

The mist finally clears, allowing the catapult to target Ulf's rangers, killing four and forcing them to take cover.  Gunnar orders his rangers to return fire ("we've got this for you, Ulf laddie") and take out the remaining catapult crew, neutralising the threat.

The dwarf archers destroy two of the skeleton archers, the bolt throwers target the standing dwarven missile troops, but only 1 of Gunnar's Rangers falls.  The remaining dwarves advance.

The mist rises again.  The dwarven archers finally see off the skeletal archers, but one of the bolt throwers forces Gunnar's Rangers to take cover.  

Amlodi Forkbeard charges up the hill to tackle the bolt thrower behind the hedge, dragging his reluctant guard with him (they had to carry his beer barrel!).  The hedge proves little defence, and the crew are pounded into dust.  In response, the hulking Undead Champion slays one of Amlodi's guard.  The dwarves hear a thin hissing sound as their axes fail to bite on his armour; could the foul creature be laughing at them?  The dwarves cowered in fear, though Amlodi later claimed that it was a bad batch of beer.

The mist turned to drizzle, giving better visibility, though by this stage all troops could see each other.  Brokkir's dwarf guard rushed the bolt thrower facing them, quickly destroying the crew.  Now only the Champion remained to halt the dwarven invasion.

Amlodi was in no state to appreciate his triumph, he lay shivering in the mud with his drinking chums.  Elsewhere, Brokkir and his troops faffed around behind the hedge (slight misreading of the rules on obstacles here).  

The dwarves close in

The End Phase 

With the defenders reduced to just the champion, the dwarves had cleared the way for their army.  But they still wanted to destroy the huge creature.  

Amlodi was to take no part in this, apparently he wanted to see what the rest of his lads could do.  Archers shot, Rangers scrambled up cliffs and hacked, but in the end, the spirit inhabiting the corpse saw that it's task here was over.

It had failed to hold off the dwarves, due partly to the cursed mists.  

His master's new ally, that dark clad stranger, had promised the weather would be to their advantage.  He lied.

There would be more bodies to inhabit, more battles to fight ere Albion was won, but for now the spirit fled back to it's master to await further orders.

Only the Undead Champion remained atop the hill.

Reflections

Well, that was a great fun game.  I think both of us had a fair idea of how it would play out on the table top, but we were both wrong.  The first few turns may not look like much (the dwarven boats slowly moving forward, concealed by the mist), but it was actually quite tense.

As I expected, once the dwarves got on to the hill, the Undead were doomed.  I hadn't expected the dwarven shooting to be so effective, and I expected a bit more from mine.  I didn't manage to take out a single dwarven unit, though I found the image of the proud dwarven leader cowering in the mud at the feet of the mighty Undead Champion hilarious. I suspect Boðvoc doesn't agree.

We made a few minor mistakes, but we are becoming more conversant with the rules, and they seem pretty good for our purposes.

You can read the victor's account over on The War Crow

A Note on the Terrain 

I was hosting, so the terrain is mine. This is part of my ongoing upgrade of my wargaming terrain.  The baseboard is in the process of being made, for this battle I simply used the three 2' x 4' sheets on the dining room table.  The 'grass' is one of those cheap fake grass mats from Lidl, with the blue cloth I used to use for games of Man o' War for the sea.  The two part hill is a recent build, and not quite finished.  I do intend to rebase those hedges in the near future too.

What's Next?

The next scenario is an Ambush.  The victorious dwarves are pushing forwards, trying to catch the undead already on the isle.  I will have twice the points of the attackers, I guess I'd better get some more undead painted then.

I certainly need a Dark Emissary, and have been collecting bits to kitbash one.

Warlords of Erehwon, the Map of Albion (Dark Shadows Preliminary Game)

Boðvoc and I played the first game in our Dark Shadows campaign.  To get us a bit more used to the rules and how to use our armies we played a preliminary game where both sides raced to get a map to the mysterious isle of Albion. 

Boðvoc used his tin cans dwarves and I used my new undead. 

The Scenario 

As host, and campaign organiser, Boðvoc came with a suitable scenario: both sides were trying to find a thief who had stolen a chart showing a safe route to the mysterious (and misty) Isle of Albion. 

Six tokens represent possible hiding places for the thief, a unit contacting a token reveals it, with a 1 in 6 cumulative chance it will be the thief with chart. 

We each had 500 points, which doesn't buy a lot of dwarves.  My secret weapon was a Carrion Beast, which you can see painted in the previous post. I thought something fast would prove useful grabbing objectives. 

Apologies if the following focuses more on the undead than the dwarves, you can read Boðvoc's account over on his blog.

The Field of Conflict 

The battlefield was suitably busy; ideal for this sort of skirmish. Cliffs blocked the far end if the table, as seen on the photos  -  these were actually the old modular plastic hills from Citadel stood on their side! A track leads along the length of the battlefield to a couple of fields and a farm house, with a hedge extending the line of the track.  A couple of low hills flank the hedge near the centre of the table,  and a couple of woods and a large hill dominate the near end of the table. 

There are a couple of boggy areas, near the cliffs and at the end of the hedge, and minor ruins scattered around. 

Objective tokens were placed in both bogs, both fields, one of the woods and on the rocky hill. 

The undead moved on from the left and the dwarves from the right. 

Opening Moves 

Once both sides had deployed it was clear that most of the action would be over near the cliffs. 

The two sides face off

Initially, both sides moved forward towards the objectives. Makhar boosted the skeleton spears, increasing their number to nine, otherwise it was simply a case of making progress towards the objectives.

Two turns in

The dwarven archers occupied the nearby woods.  They searched in vain, no sign of either thief or chart.

Makhar climbed the hill with his bodyguard.  No sign of the chart here either.  He took advantage of his position to inflict a Chill Wind on the dwarven axe troops, killing four.

The zombies shambled forwards, keen to feast on dwarf. To their left, the skeletons advanced into the field. Hiding in the crops was the thief, and, more importantly,  the sea chart.

Over near the cliffs the Carrion Beast circled round and dropped a rock on Amlodi.  The dwarf hid behind his beer barrel, one of his drinking chums was less fortunate. 

The action hots up, the chart is in bony hands

Main Battle

Shaken by the loss of one of his guard ("he owed me a pint"), Amlodi Forkbeard did little more than check his beer barrel for leaks.

The skeletons withdrew from the field, accompanied by a nervous rogue clutching the map. 

The dwarven infantry moved up, hoping to catch the skeletons with the prize, while the zombies shuffled ever closer.

Makhar scrambled down the hill and caught the dwarven guard in another chill wind, but they were made of sterner stuff and largely shrugged it off. They were less fortunate when the Carrion Beast dropped rocks on them, losing one of their number. 

The dwarven archers shot at Makhar and his bodyguard,  but caused no casualties. 

The undead take shots at the dwarves who desperately chase the the map

The Carrion Beast continued it's bombardment of the dwarf guard, taking out another, as did Makhar's Chill Wind. Seeing the skeletons withdraw with the chart, the necromancer decided to make the dwarves pay for their presumption. Hopefully it would delay any attempt at dwarven expansion into Albion. He ordered the zombies to charge the dwarven guard.  Despite acquitting themselves well, the dwarves were spent from their previous casualties and broke, the survivors fleeing the battlefield. 

The dwarven axes then charged the remaining zombies to avenge their kin and wiped them out. 

Desultory shooting from both lots of archers caused no casualties, but both sides suffered somewhat (a pin each).

The Dwarven Guard have gone to the Halls of the Stone Ancestors, the zombies are destroyed, and neither side's archers are up to much

End Phase 

The dwarven archers crouched down in confusion (failed Order test). Both Makhar and the Carrion Beast slew a dwarven axe, but the dwarves had the effrontary to charge the necromancer.

Dwarven axes vs Makhar and his guard

One of Makhar's bodyguard was smashed to bits by the axes of the dwarves,  but their earlier casualties caused them to break. They kept their discipline,  and withdrew in good order.

The skeleton spears continued their withdrawal,  keeping the chart safe.

Gradual whittling down of both sides

The undead gradually retreat.  Makhar tries a final blast of Chill Wind on the remaining dwarven axes, but they shrug off the effects. 

With no way of catching the skeletons with the chart, and unwilling to risk more dwarven lives (according to some, because his beer barrel had sprung a leak), Amlodi Forkbeard sounded the retreat. 

The Chart is safe in Makhar's hands

Well that was a hugely enjoyable game. I did wonder what Boðvoc has done to upset the dice gods: his luck, especially to begin with, was shocking.  Amlodi failing a Command test when he needed a 9 or less, for example.

Conversely, my rolling was good, especially early on, and I managed to cast every spell, though not always terribly effectively. 

It was my first game using my undead, though I did face them when T'Other One squashed my orcs with them back in November. I was pleasantly pleased with their performance, though a lot of the success was down to avoiding the dwarves.  The scenario helped a lot here, I'm sure I'd have struggled in a straight up fight. 

The Carrion Beast seemed very powerful, essentially being untouchable, as it stayed away from any dwarven missiles.  I predict a lot more archers and rangers, and probably some magical support in the dwarven lines in the future.  

What's Next?

The next scenario is The Mists Recoil, actually the first one in the original campaign.  It's an odd one, designed for individual skirmishing minis using a  system akin to Mordheim. It pits boats full of attackers trying to land opposed by three war machines and a tiny garrison. 

We'll not be trying to do individual minis; so far we are looking at the three war machines and 200 points of undead against 600 points of dwarves in boats.  This may change of course. 

I need an undead champion to lead my skeleton crew, fortunately I've already got one part painted.  I've also got some Grenadier war machine crew, and a complete Skull Chucker catapult.  I'm looking out for potential war machines for the crew, or perhaps some scratch building?

At some point I must paint a banner for the Fantasy Lords standard bearer I painted in December.  Boðvoc has a Spoils chart, and my undead got a magic banner granting Command 10 to all units within 10".