Another weekend done, but some gaming to show for it.

Played some Warhammer this weekend, with my sadly unpainted Ogre Kingdoms army.

Tyrant (1#, 261 Pts)
1 Tyrant @ 261 Pts
General; Ogre Club; Extra Hand Weapon; Heavy Armour; Luck-Gnoblar (x1); Sword-Gnoblar (x1); Causes Fear
1 Wyrdstone Necklace @ [20] Pts
1 Fistful of Laurels @ [15] Pts

Bruiser (1#, 162 Pts)
1 Bruiser @ 162 Pts
Ogre Club; Great Weapon; Heavy Armour; Causes Fear
1 Greedy Fist @ [20] Pts

Butcher (1#, 185 Pts)
1 Butcher @ 185 Pts
Hand Weapon; Tooth-Gnoblar (x1); Causes Fear
1 Bloodcleaver @ [25] Pts
1 Halfling Cookbook @ [25] Pts

Bulls (6#, 265 Pts)
5 Bulls @ 265 Pts
Bellower Mus; Standard Bearer Std; Lookout Gnoblar (x1); Ogre Club; Causes Fear
1 Crusher @ [55] Pts
Ogre Club

Bulls (6#, 289 Pts)
5 Bulls @ 289 Pts
Bellower Mus; Standard Bearer Std; Lookout Gnoblar (x1); Ogre Club; Extra Hand Weapon; Causes Fear
1 Crusher @ [59] Pts
Ogre Club; Extra Hand Weapon

Ironguts (4#, 257 Pts)
3 Ironguts @ 257 Pts
Standard Bearer Std; Great Weapon; Heavy Armour; Causes Fear
1 Gutlord @ [68] Pts
Great Weapon; Heavy Armour
1 Cannibal Totem @ [25] Pts

Ironguts (4#, 232 Pts)
3 Ironguts @ 232 Pts
Standard Bearer Std; Great Weapon; Heavy Armour; Causes Fear
1 Gutlord @ [68] Pts
Great Weapon; Heavy Armour

Leadbelchers (3#, 165 Pts)
3 Leadbelchers @ 165 Pts
Leadbelcher Cannon; Light Armour; Causes Fear

Gorger (1#, 75 Pts)
1 Gorger @ 75 Pts
Causes Fear; Killing Blow; Unbreakable

Maneaters (1#, 86 Pts)
1 Maneaters @ 86 Pts
Cathayan Longsword (x1); Light Armour; Causes Fear; Immune to Psychology; Stubborn


I was actually playing this army specifically because my planned Warriors of Chaos army was missing pieces due to one player not being able to attend (and he had them). Also, I have been strongly considering selling or trading off this army, because I really haven't played it much, and when I have it wasn't terribly successfully.

This weekend's pair of games certainly altered that.

I played against Mike's Dark Elf army that looked something like:

General with magic sword and armor
20 Black Guard
10 Dark Riders
20 Crossbows
20 Crossbows
2 Repeater Bolt Throwers
20 Corsairs, some banner that caused them to Frenzy
2 Mages
Hydra with handlers
10 Harpies

I've only managed to beat Mike in Warhammer on one occasion that I can recall - my Tomb Kings versus his pre-new-Army Book Dark Elves. Every other match-up against him he has tended to smash me. He's very good with this army, having played it for at least 3 editions of Warhammer now, and he knows the rules better than anyone I know (but for all of that, he's not a rules lawyer - he politely and quietly tells you that you're wrong).

So I was not expecting much good from this match. I expected that my ogres would be full of crossbow bolts and magical wounds and probably I would get torn apart by the Hydra for good measure.

Oh how that did not come to pass.

Highlights of the battle:

1. The really pivotal point of the battle was when his Lord & Black Guard unit and Hydra broke and ran down one of my Bull units, on his turn. The Hydra overran and crashed into my Tyrant and Ironguts. His Lord and Black Guard rolled a 2. Then on my turn, my 2nd unit of Ironguts, this one carrying the Butcher along, slammed into the side of the Black Guard. The Black Guard failed to hold and were overrun. The Hydra whiffed on my Tyrant and eventually it too was broken and run down.
2. My Gorger arrived, attracting the attention of one of the Repeater Bolt Throwers. It took two wounds but then charged and crushed the RBT crew. It overran into the Dark Riders, who were also routed but not run down.
3. My biggest mistake was handling the Bruiser and Leadbelcher unit. They raced up and basically became pincushions, panicked, rallied just in time to get steamrolled by the frenzied Corsairs. They really contributed nothing to the battle except distraction at best.
4. Gut Magic might be better at buffing than offense, but Dark Elves don't really love the 2d6 Str 2 hits spell. I eliminated one of the Repeater Bolt Throwers on some good rolls with that spell.

At the end of the game, the Dark Elf army was in tatters, while I still had my Tyrant, Butcher, Gorger, and the remains of two Ironguts units. I also realized about mid-way through the battle that I had not put the Maneater even on the table. Oops.

After a fine Mexican lunch, I faced Jeff's Dwarves. He brought a very unconventional force of:

Thane with various runes of high armor and beatstickness
20 Hammerers
20 Ironbreakers
20 Longbeards
20 Warriors
20 Warriors
20 Miners

Something to that effect. NO Warmachines and NO Thunderers and NO Crossbowmen... we were shocked. Particularly since the last time I faced his Dwarves his Strength 7 or 8 Bolt Throwers were skewering my Ogres in ways too gruesome to describe.

Today was payback!

Sadly I don't remember all that much of the battle. I do know that I was very surprised to see how poorly the Dwarves fared against my Ogre Clubs and Great Weapons - even his Ironbreakers who typically shrug off the Str 4 attacks of my Chaos Warriors died in great numbers when my Ironguts waded in. It didn't hurt that my Butcher was occasionally able to give them +1 Strength. Largely, though, the Dwarven dispel dice shut down my magic.

The pivotal point of this game was when I managed to pursue a unit of unit of Bulls with the Bruiser into the flank of his Hammerers and Thane, who were facing off against my Tyrant and Ironguts. The Tyrant and Thane had been fighting a challenge when suddenly the Hammerers more or less disintegrated and the game past this point was just the Dwarves trying to stay alive.

I am now investigating ways to make the Ogres even more killy.