This is the third part of my account of the recent Big Old Grudges tournament. You can find the previous part here, or go back to the start here.
We were 2 games into the event, and thus far things were not going especially well. But that was OK, it was a 6 game tournament. Plenty of time to turn things around... right?
Round 3: Close Quarters (Strategic Locations 2; Domination)
Adam Gooley - Beastmen Brayherds, Wild Herd
- Beastlord (General) with Shield, The Black Maul, Slug-skin
- Warhoof with Cavalry Spear, Shield, Ambushers, Full Plate Chaos Armour, Gnarled Hide
- Great Bray-Shaman (Level 4, Daemonology) with Hagtree Fetish
- Bray-Shaman (Level 2, Daemonology)
- Bray-Shaman (Level 2, Daemonology) with Chalice of Dark Rain
- Bray-Shaman (Level 2, Primal Magic) with Lore Familiar, Scourge of the Burdened
- Primal Warherd (20x Gor with Additional Hand Weapons, 30x Ungor with Thrusting Spears,Shields) with Foe-render (Great weapon), Standard bearer (Totem of Rust) , Musician
- 25 Ungor Herd with Shortbows, Half-horn
- 5 Gor Herd with Additional hand weapons, Ambushers, True-horn (Great weapon)
- 5 Gor Herd with Additional hand weapons, Ambushers, True-horn (Great weapon)
- 12 Gor Herd with Additional hand weapons, Ambushers, True-horn (Great weapon), Standard bearer
- 5 Centigor Herd with Great weapons, Ambushers, Gorehoof, Standard bearer (The Soiled Tapestry)
- Herdstone
- Preyton with Ambushers, Frenzy
- Preyton with Ambushers, Frenzy
- Cygor
Adam's was a weird army. 4 Shamans who would want to stay near the Herdstone, a massive mixed unit of Gor and Ungor, and nearly everything else in the army was deploying in Ambush. This plan was not at all helped by the scenario, which prevented non-flying ambushers from entering from the short board edges. Well, we did realise that before deployment, but he stuck with his plan of keeping things in waiting. It made for a quick deployment.
All 4 Shaman were in the Ungor, skulking behind the forest. I think there were 3 copies of Viletide at Adam's disposal.
And the only other thing deployed at the start of the game was the Cygor, off by himself over the other side of the field.
Yep, everyone else still waiting in the tray. Their time would come...
Being a sensible, unimaginative person, I deployed my whole army on the table. I didn't have many units, but this still took longer than Adam's deployment. The game was clearly going to be a question of whether I could get to those Shamans.
Adam got the first turn and promptly cast Steed of Shadows and Call of the Wild on the Ungor, thus allowing them to fly 12" and gain Reserve Move. So of course the unit flew over the forest, hammered my larger Mournfang unit into near oblivion with Viletide, then flew back again after they were done, out of my line of sight. I was there. I was able to watch it all happen. But I was powerless to stop any of it. I think my Slaughtermaster might actually have matched the casting roll a couple of times, much good that did him.
In my turn, I decided that those shenanigans were rubbish and could not be allowed to continue. So I advanced, hard.
The Sabretusks made sure to be looking through and around the forest with multiple models, in order to try to prevent the Ungor from finding another hiding place.
In Adam's turn, one of the Preytons arrived to be a nuisance on my flank. Some Gor and Centigor turned up too, but they had to settle for entering via Adam's table edge.
The Cygor made an attempt at self preservation by lobbing a rock at the oncoming Mournfangs, but nothing came of it. The Shamans were similarly unsuccessful. After casting everything they had attempted the previous turn, now they were either failing to cast, or I was managing to dispel. The Sabretusks copped one copy of Viletide and shook it off for moderate damage.
And then I had them. The Hunter and his remaining buddy did not have as much muscle as I'd have liked to bring to bear, but nothing could really fight in that unit, and it was not sporting much static combat res. The Tyrant rode into the huge Primal Herd unit with his Stonehorn, and the surviving Mournfang went in alongside. He was the unit champion, so his presence would prevent any awkward challenges.
Over the other side, the Mournfangs had a go at the Cygor. They half killed him and he fell back in good order. We were not going to be able to catch him because of the terrain, so reformed to ensure they could charge around next time.
This combat was the key to the game. It didn't go as well as I would have liked, with the Sabretusk doing a little before being pulled down and the Hunter only managing a single wound on a Shaman. However, the important thing was that combat was a draw - I had pinned them in place for their turn, and shut down the magic missiles.
This combat was obviously also important, but felt less pivotal to the game as a whole. The Beastlord's Slug-skin woiuld normally have been a big problem, but both the Mournfang and Stonehorn arrived with impact hits that didn't have to roll to hit, and I took a fair chunk out of the unit. The Beastlord cut down the Mournfang, but it was not enough. The unit fell back in good order, and was very lucky to still be on the field. The Tyrant followed up, pleased to be getting another round of impact hits.
Behind all of this, my lines had advanced - they were just hoping to get stuck in next turn.
In Adam's turn, the Centigor got all drunk and feisty, becoming frenzied and charging the flank of the Stonehorn. This could be good, or it could be bad. I don't think either of us could decide.
If the Hunter thought he was doing well, he was about to have an upsetting encounter with a Preyton chewing on his butt. This would prove fatal, but importantly any overruns were going to be toward my Ogres, which Adam didn't seem too keen on.
Over on the other flank, the Cygor decided to try charging the Mournfangs rather than waiting for them to charge him. This made sense in terms of negating their charge bonuses, but ultimately it didn't help him and he was felled.
On the second attempt, the Tyrant on his Stonehorn did just enough. The flanking Centigor did a couple of wounds, but then were wiped out by my return attacks whilst the impact hits squashed a few more Gor and Ungor. It all tallied up to just enough for the unit to be shoved back again - this time off the field. The Tyrant reformed and looked quite pleased with himself for a change.
With the Cygor gone, the Mournfangs managed to control themselves and reform looking at the Centigor Warhoof who had arrived from Ambush.
In my turn things were looking very grim for the Shamans and their Ungor. The Ogre Bulls and my Tyrant were both within reach. We agreed their only real chance was to flee and hope it would get them far enough away, but the Tyrant still got to them and they were wiped out. I don't know why the Preyton also appears to be fleeing here, given it would have been frenzied. I suspect I redirected with the Bulls and we forgot that it couldn't flee.
With the demise of the 2 main units, the battle was all but over. The Mournfangs killed the Warhoof on the charge, and here we had the last real effort by a small Gor herd and Preyton to try to trip up the bulls. My unit was up to the challenge and won the combat, and things were done.
I had lost the Hunter and his Sabretusks (though they were key to me getting control of the game), and the larger Mournfang unit. Adam also had some points from controlling objectives and Domination. Overall though, it had gone very well for our heroes.
Victory Points: 2811-1051
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