This is the final part of my report of the recent 8th edition Warhammer Fantasy tournament, Bendigo Besieged. You can find the previous part here, or go back to the start here.
Game 5 - Battle Line
Alex James - Orcs and Goblins (well, just Orcs really)
- Orc Warboss on War Boar with Great Weapon, Shield. Armour of Destiny, Dawnstone, The Other Trickster's Shard
- Savage Orc Great Shaman (Level 4, Lore of da Big Waaagh!) on War Boar with Lucky Shrunken Head, Ironcurse Icon, Sword of Striking, Talisman of Endurance (this array of items baffles me, but anyway...)
- Orc Big Boss (BSB) on War Boar with Great Weapon, Shield, Armour of Fortune, Talisman of Protection (again... 2 ward saves?)
- 46 Savage Orc Big'Uns with Additional Hand Weapons, Big Stabba, Full Command
- 40 Black Orcs with Shields, Full Command, War Banner
- 6 Trolls
- Giant with Warpaint
- Snotling Pumpwagon with Flappas
Deployment of the characters was a bit of a mess. They were all mounted in infantry units, but given their base sizes are compatible, they didn't need to hook on the sides the way Alex had been doing. We sort of fixed that as we went along.
I did not get the first turn. The Pump Wagon rattled around the side of the tower, toward my Dragon Princes.
The rest of the Orcs basically advanced in a solid wall.
The Great Shaman cast 'Eadbutt at the Loremaster and successfully wounded him, but happily only rolled a 1 on the D3 wounds.
In my turn, I didn't mess around. The Silver Helms and Phoenix went straight into the Savage Orcs, where the Frostheart's strength debuff combined with the armour on the cavalry would make the biggest difference.
The Dragon Princes charged the Pump Wagon, knowing it was no threat if they charged, but potentially a problem if it charged them.
It was a one-sided combat, and we reformed as best we could with the tower in the way.
The Loremaster decided to bolster the Silver Helms with Wyssan's Wildform, but unfortunately he lost control (again) and the resulting Dimensional Cascade saw him and the majority of his unit obliterated. The 4 survivors panicked and fled, but rallied right on the table edge. They were out of the battle.
The combat was very, very one-sided. Something like 20 Big'Uns died, for the loss of one Silver Helm and a wound on the Phoenix. As it happened, that one Silver Helm was very important - it was the only reason the Savage Orcs retained steadfast for their break test, and it meant they held.
Having anticipated that the Silver Helms would likely be sitting there with their flank exposed to the Black Orcs, the Spearmen did the brave thing and stepped up in front of the enemy to receive their charge.
The Trolls were continuing to shuffle up behind the Black Orcs, and the Giant had swung around the flank, no longer concerned about the Swordmasters.
Honestly, this could have gone worse. Obviously the Spearmen were badly beaten, but they did take a few Black Orcs with them, didn't get as badly mauled as I had imagined, and then did a good job of outrunning them when they broke.
The other combat picked up much like where it left off. The Savage Orcs (having lost frenzy) failed their fear test for fighting the Phoenix, which meant many of their attacks went awry including the Shaman who had bolstered his profile with Fists of Gork and had been all excited to wallop some Silver Helms. The Orcs did no damage, fled, and were caught by the Silver Helms. Everything reformed to look at the exposed flanks and rear of the Black Orcs...
Dragon Princes into one flank, Phoenix into the other, and Silver Helms into the rear. None of this was looking great for the Black Orcs.
The Giant needed to be dealt with somehow. I figured the Phoenix Guard could wear him down and hopefully shrug off the return damage. It sort of went the opposite of how I expected - I failed most of my ward saves, but only after we did so many wounds that the Giant had to pass 2 warpaint saves to live! He then fell over, passed another warpaint save, stood up again, and was felled by a second turn of attacks.
In the main combat, the Warboss stepped up and bellowed a challenge. I wasn't overly comfortable with it, but my Prince accepted the challenge. Then, in the face of all expectations, the Prince landed 4 wounds and the Warboss failed all of his 4+ ward saves! He was down for the count before the fight had even begun to warm up!
As the Warboss fell, the Black Orcs around him were getting hammered by the charging Elves. I think they lost something like 20 guys in the initial exchanges. They managed very little in return, and collapsed. The Phoenix and Dragon Princes ran them down whilst the Silver Helms turned to face the Trolls who were right behind them.
In the absence of any leadership, the Trolls of course failed their stupidity. It didn't matter, as they were so close that they just staggered into combat.
Having survived their encounter with the Giant, the Phoenix Guard headed for the Arrer Boyz. Over a couple of rounds of fighting, fleeing and engaging again, they were mopped up by the elite High Elves.
The Trolls managed to vomit a few Silver Helms to death, but the Prince did a fair bit of damage and it was too much to take. They ran and they perished.
The final tally was quick. I had lost my Loremaster to a terrible magical mishap, but otherwise my points were still intact. Alex's poor Orcs had been wiped out.
Result: 20-0 Win
And with that, the event came to a close. I didn't finish particularly high on the tables (5th of a small field of 12 players), but I had achieved what I set out to - got some more stuff painted (and was really happy with how they looked on the table), played some fun games and hung out with some like-minded gamers. It was a great event. Thanks to all my opponents, CJ for running the thing, and to those of you who followed along. Peace out!
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