It took me some considerable time to find the time to game with the ,,diminutive" armies, that means playing the Warmaster Revolution. For those that don't know the game, it is a 10 mm size game from the Warhammer universe, representing a battle of enormous armies that are led by their courageous/well, in theory, some leaders lead best from the rear :) /leaders. Units are composed from several stands, each of those representing hundreds of soldiers on the battlefield.
I have chosen the army of Skaven. By its composition, it is more of a horde army, with their main tactic composed of overwhelming the enemy under weight of bodies and slowly dragging them down into their inevitable defeat. Low number of elite units, some warmachines and a score of leaders are its core components. Mine list was as follows:
Skaven, 2000 points
Warmaster Revolution
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320 - 8 Clanrats
165 - 3 Stormvermin
210 - 3 Plague Monks
150 - 6 Rat Swarms
220 - 2 Rat Ogres
250 - 2 Doom Wheel
125 - 1 Screaming Bell
160 - 1 Grey Seer
- 1 Orb of Majesty (30)
290 - 4 Hero
- 1 Sword of Might (10)
110 - 2 Warlock
- 1 Ring of Magic (30)
- 1 Scroll of Dispelling (20)
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2000 - 25/13
A lot of cheap infantry, supported by Doomwheels and elite infantry in the form of Rat ogres, all under the guidance of the magnificent Grey seer and his lackeys, who will try to defeat the army of Gobbos. I am restricted by the reach of my heroe`s orders, which is only 20cm. Gobboz are as well an army, who is not of the elite kind, and rather on the horde side, with support of fast cavalry and chariots, with some complements of large monsters such as Troll and Giants. The enemy went as follows:
Goblin, 2000 points
Warmaster Revolution
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240 - 8 Goblins
440 - 4 Trolls
240 - 4 Wolf Riders
320 - 4 Wolf Chariots
150 - 1 Giant
160 - 2 Doom Diver
180 - 1 Goblin Warboss
- 1 Crown of Command (100)
130 - 1 Goblin Hero
- 1 Wyvern (80)
- 1 Sword of Fate (5)
140 - 3 Goblin Shaman
- 1 Ring of Magic (30)
- 1 Scroll of Dispelling (20)
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2000 - 23/12
The same amount of cheap infantry( squig units are counted as goblin units),
with trolls as the main punch, and fast units suitable for flanking the enemy,
the wolf riders and wolf chariots in this matter. The main problem of the gobbo
army is their terrible leadership, therefore the units more often than not
don't reach the area their leaders would like them to.
We are playing the basic mission, kill points, therefore who loses as
the first player more then half units, the game ends, we count up the points
for destroyed units and the wictor is chosen. The game is a part of an ongoing
campaign, to who we joined some guys from the city of Brno, in Czech Rep. /All
hail the almighty Ales :) /
The roll for the first turn is won by goblins, and we deploy each of us
one unit at a time. I decide to split the army into 2 parts, one led by the
general, Grey seer Thanquol (GST for quotes), the second by his trusted lietnauts ( well...).
The support will be by two wizards, who will either support my units, or make
the enemies life's more miserable. /GST: We have borne-suffered much-much, but all is past-gone! Now there are no
more traitor-meat among us! With the blessing of the Horned One, we shall
overcome! We shall be victorious! Long-long have I wanted to tell the Horned
One that this land belongs to him. The hard-long battle will be difficult.
Many-many will sacrifice for the glory of the Horned One! Never will their
scent be forgotten! Those who die-fall will be martyrs to skavendom! Rise! Rise
from tunnels and kill-slay! Kill-slay all small-green-meat! Kill-kill!
Kill-kill!/
Right flank is composed of several units of Clanrats and Rarswarm (they
will protect other units from shooting, and then will support them in close
combat). Supported by units of Rat Ogres, Plague Monks and doomwheel.
My enemy is deployed similarly, on his wings he deployes fast units, and
in the middle of the table there are units of Trolls, supported by goblins. His
support of 3 wizards would be felt indeed, as will the artefact in the hand of
the General, crown that helped him pass the orders. /Gobbo General=GG: Allrigh
Ladz, me iz da bezt, koz i got Da big hat, so lissen up you lot! we iz goin fer
waagh, so smash Da rattiez, we iz gonna eat dem! Trolz in da middle, ladz after
dem to push em ta smash stuff, yo fasta lot get in da flankz of dem rattiez and
start smashin! An`nobody poke da big `un wiw stikazz, or he iz gonna stomp
yer!/
On the hill in the middle the artillery is deployed, who will shoot me
from a great range, and I am virtually powerless against it. It will be
something of a stick in my ass, because to reach them I will have to go through
the toughest stuff from the enemy army. They even get support from the Giant,
which is an additional problem to crack, which I don't know how to deal with.
/Gobbo General: Ahahah, stoopid rattiez, we iz gonna shoot yer ta piesezz!/
The second part of my army is more in the middle, and will wheel and
move according to the needs and what will be required from the flow of the
battle. This is more of an elite formation, composed from Rat ogres, three
units of Stormvermin and two Plague Monk units. Of course there are some
Clanrats and ratswarms and the second Doomwheel, and this one has the Screaming
Bell inside it. /GST: Your doom isss comming, ssssmall-green-thingsss/
TURN 1
Goblins move forwards. Thanks to some bonuses on the Leadership, they
are successful in their movement forward /GG: we iz da bezt, ahahah!/ A brave
tactic, I will not argue against, and the less the distance between us, the
sooner we will commence the battle.
The units move in a coherent line forward to capture the position on the
trading road, some go quicker, some slower. The cavalry manages to fail its
order, so its kinda slower this turn. The giant on the other hand manages a
fast pace and sprints forward.
Artillery takes up the good position, and was getting ready to spray
some rain on my ratties with some long range shooting, but for the time being i
am not in range of their weapons. ( GG: Wat are yo stoopid `unz doin! Start
shootin da gits!) The other mass of trolls and goblins are approaching the
woods, where they plan to hold their momentum until it will be suitable for a
charge or a flanking maneuver. /GST:Come clossser, come sssstupid small-green-things, your end is near./
The cavalry, ordered to move forward, instead decides to start looting
some random bystanding villages and spends the time roasting innocent imperial
cityzens, instead of coming forward to the battle.
And let's go to my part of the turn. My general orders his part of the army
and they are flawlessly moving forward with two successful orders in a row.
This is going indeed very well, excellent. /GST: Great successssss, go-go, forward/ I am rather satisfied, because this
is probably the first time that something like that happened. The success is
magnified by successfully casting a shooting spell at the giant, who is as well
wounded, and he is forced to retreat to his lines and is considerably slowed.
/GG: why is da Big `un going back, stoopid git, get back smashing rattiez,...
Itz coming fer mee, aaarhg!/
Inspired by the success of my general, his loyal /GG: SUre, a loyal
rattie!/ subordinate issues an order. The roll shows a 6 and a 6, which is a
blunder, and therefore not according to the plan. /GG: Ahaha! Dat ratie is
stoopider den da trollz ere. We iz winnin! go fasta and smash em ladz!/
Something went wrong and one unit of rat Swarms receives a debuff of 1 point of
leadership on any order issued to them (and as well on any brigade they are
part off, so they have to go from it very quickly) /GST: What isss going on ? Why they ssstoped ?/
So, after the initial success comes a cold shower, that halts the plan
of the skavens. Thanquol of course knows that some miserable underling has done
some betrayal activities, and is trying to undermine his authority. /GST: Madness !!! Madness !!! Who betrayssss me, who ?/ But just to
be sure he casts the detect dwarf slayer and manling spell, one can no longer
be so sure these days.
TURN 2
Goblins are trying an unfriendly and loathsome flanking maneuver /GG:
Koz we iz det sniky and smarta den da ratiez! / around the hill. The fast
cavalry after surprisingly passing a LD6 check has no problem with this.
Additionally, orders get passed here and there and the goblin army moves in a
surprising cooherent formation forward. This is indeed a brave maneuver and not
to my liking, and will require some reaction from my part, as well dividing my
forcess somewhat. /GST: Prepare for attack, ssset the ambussssh, quick-quick./
In the middle of the table the units of trolls and goblins create an
unmovable wall that is slowly descending to me. They are keeping their
distance, so that i will not charge them needlessly and by initiative, and i
will have to do this by using my heroes orders.
/GG : Yez, we iz gonna stomp yer all ta piesuz! Kom an get to da trolz
ya gitz!/ The forest on the other part of the battlefield is sadly lost to
another big brigade that is closely watching for my mistake. Unfortunately, the
enemy shaman manages to successfully cast the Gerroff spell on this unit
Doomwheel, and its crew is forced to retreat due to this spell from their
comrades' lines right at the back of the table. /GG: Look Ladz, they iz Already
runnin`! We iz winnin! push da trolz forward, go waagh!/
This situation requires
action, and in this case to separate the forces and stop the advance of the
cavalry. /GST: Go-go. Bite Kill. Ssslay./ After a series of successful orders i manage to charge the first of my
lines into the cavalry. Unfortunately, Doomwheel was not able to reach them,
but my Rat Ogress supported by Clan rats and 11 extra attacks from death frenzy
spell should do the work. But the dices decide that killing one stand from each
enemy unit is enough, and i suffer two stands of casualties in return due to
stand and shoot and good goblin rolling. i even lose the combat by 1 point.
Well, that didn't go according to the plan.
The rest of the units
moves forward, but as the enemy keeps their distance, it was not possible to
overcome the distance and attack him. /GG: Cause you iz fearin uz! Yez, get da
trollz in iz facez!/
The closely packed line of trolls forces me to split as well the second
part of the army. One with a Bell, Stormvermins and Clanrats is going to the
middle of the field for some much needed help. I approach them as much as
possible, but its still far away for my units to reach them.
On the left flank, i prepare some of the units for the inevitable charge
from the woods. The main problem is the Giant though /GST: Kill that Giant-thing, quick-quick/, approaching me from the
front, as well the cavalry and chariots as its backup I am beginning to fear if
my units are up to the task of confronting this. I am retreating one leader
back, so he can in the next turn order the much needed second Doomwheel back.
TURN 3
I expect a massive assault on my positions. /GG: Yez yoo will, yo
stoopid git. Ladz, get `em! Wat? Den push da trollz and stop muckin about!/ But
on my surprise this doesn't happen, as my counterpart is slowly approaching me
and is not risking additional command rolls with his heroes, which is
understandable. This of course is ignored by the cavalry and chariots on my
right flank, who happily charge my Doomwheel and rat ogres with Clanrats, who
get obliterated in two rounds of combat, unfortunately. Doomwheel had its
chance to survive, but had to roll 7 saves on 4+, which it failed miserably. I
only succeed to kill one stand from one chariot unit.
The trolls and chariots shift slowly forward, staying small bit from my
reach. They are reluctant to go further. That line is terrifying. I really
don`t know how to handle it, but i have to, because its my turn.
The cavalry and chariots are on my mind, they need to be either slowed
or disposed of. Thanks to two successful orders I am able to send there
Stormvermins to the chariots and plague monks to the wolf riders.
As i am out of the options here, therefore i decide to go all-in and try
to smash-force the line of trolls supported by Gobboz. Thenks to several
sucessfull orders, I manage to get in the fight units of Clanrats, Rat Ogres
and two units of Stormwermin, all supported by Rat swarms. This will be a nice Smash-kill-mail-mutilate
situation. /GG: Fight Harda! Yo iz Gobboz, we iz da bezt, stop dying yo stoopid
gitz!/
This is the only detail from the big, fat slaughter. This is where the
history is created, weapons are shattered, and morale is tested. Who gives
ground, will lose.
This was probably the longest part of the game, with an aftermath where
both sides retreated. In the end, two units of goblins and 2 stands of trolls
gets evaporated, for the cost of an entire unit of Clan rats, and some stands
from swarms and one other Clan rat unit.
On the right, the surprise attack did work somewhat with mixed results.
Stormvermins managed to kill one stand of chariots, while losing one of their
own. Plague monks shows some more prospects, killing 3 stands of Wolf riders,
on their cost of 2 stands of their own.
The second part of the large combat does not so well for me. I am just
unable to inflict enough damage, so my units get obliterated one by one. /GG:
Thats it Ladz, keep smashin da rattiez!/ 4 stands of the Stormvermin goes to
the Horned rat, for some Troll stands that gets removed. But i sense the
looming Giant on the horizon is a bad news for my legions. /GST: The Horned Rat helpsss those, who run the fasssstest./
Thanks to the fighting mayhem I am able to organize the last part of my
army, that is suitably waiting for the best time and place to charge. I feel
better, when Doomwheel returns to its formation. /GST: Now we smasssh-crush sssmall-green-thingsss. Roll over them my brother skavenssss, to inevitable Victory !!!/
TURN 4
Now its the Goblinz turn. The shooting forces 2 Clan rats away on the
right flank, where they watch the rest of the Plague Monks and Storm vermin get
obliterated, but able to drag some chariots stands and rest of the wolf riders
with them. The field is littered with thousands of bodies in these glorious flank
slaughter. The rest needs to be obliterated at all costs.
The trolls and the Giant are able to slaughter some of my units in the
middle and take the Forrest edge, I am able to kill some of the troll stands
and some goblin units as well. The rest is amalgamated into one large
terrifying line. Wolf riders are able to charge an lonely swarm unit, but are
unable to destroy it.
Clan rats are able to destroy the last chariots on the right flank
thanks to the spell from the wizard, who gave them a lot of extra attacks ( 10
), Rat ogres spend their turn chewing
some remnant troll unit, which kept regenerating in their mouths, therefore did
not do much else. /GST: Good-good, my bold-strong litter-kin! The Horned Rat is pleasssed !/ I cant achieve much
more in the woods. As we count the lost stands, we are both approaching our
break points, therefore its a lot intense fight now.
I am trying to obliterate the unit of wolf riders, but Plague Monks cant
achieve it and loose 2 stands, as the rat swarm does. This hurt a lot. I am
really close to my brake point here.
The last desperate attempt /GG: We iz winnin!... Ei! were iz my boyz!/
to change the outcome of the battle. I assault the last formation of the
Goblins, that had not fought so far. Plague monks heartily assault the trolls
and obliterate the whole unit. right next to it is a secondary fight against
the goblins with the Doom wheel with the Clan rats, and from the other the last
surviving goblin stand remains standing. But this assault cost me dearly, one
unit of Clanrats, and 2 stands of Plague monks, which means mine opponent gets
to my breakpoints and the grey seer sounds the retreat horn. /GG: Hey! I did
it! We iz da bezt... ei, were iz everyun..../ and the game is over. /GST: Noooo-nooo, this issss nonsence, I wasss betrayed, someone will pay for thissss .../
So we can go to counting up the points. According to the math, The
Goblin army lost 865 points in units and the Skaven 835, Therefore, even when
my opponent managed to get to my breaking point as first, i managed to kill
more points of his units, therefore the game is a draw. I thank to my opponent
for a great game and I am looking forward for more.
On the end, here is the photo of the armies that fought here today.
SKAVEN
GOBLIN
Thank you for your
attention.
+++ Alessan +++
