Rumble in the Bronx 2014 - Part 4

This post is a continuation of my account of the recent tournament, Rumble in the Bronx. You can find the previous game here.

Game 4: Battle for the Pass

Dave Duriesmith, Ogre Kingdoms

My Boast: Reconnoitre (control the most table quarters at game's end)

• Tyrant with Great Weapon, Crown of Command, Dragonbane Gem, Armour of Destiny
• Bruiser BSB with Great Weapon, Luckstone, Armour of Silvered Steel
• Firebelly (Level 2, Lore of Fire) with Talisman of Preservation, Great Weapon
• 11 Ironguts with Full Command
• 6 Leadbelchers with Musician, Champion
• 1 Sabretusk
• 1 Sabretusk
• 1 Sabretusk
• Gorger
• Gorger
• Gorger
• Ironblaster

Comp score: 3

I had been hoping to avoid Dave's list, because the stubborn Gutstar was something I simply would not be able to crack. Never mind, I'd just have to make the best of it. At least I was guaranteed at least 4 points because of our comp scores...

To his credit, Dave didn't deploy all his characters in the Irongut unit. The BSB went in there, but the Firebelly and Tyrant decided it would be cooler to hang with the Leadbelchers. Or maybe it wasn't really to his credit because he realised he didn't need all that stuff in one place in order to take on my units...

You'd think by now I would remember to take photos before the game kicked off. Hey, it was first thing in the morning. This was during my first turn.

I swept around on the right flank, given I was largely unopposed over there (a single Sabretusk doesn't count).

Dave chose this end because it had a hedge for him to hide his Ironblaster behind, I'm sure.

Look at them all sitting back there, like big, ugly scared little girls.

I lost the roll for table sides and Dave chose the end with a hedge behind which his Ironblaster could hide from the shots of my own Ironblaster (crazy confusing mirror matches). I did get the first turn however, and advanced on my right where my forces were largely unopposed. Our Leadbelchers glared at each other from just outside 30”, ensuring neither party could move into range and shoot in the same turn. My Ironblaster started positively, firing neatly over the hedge and knocking 4 wounds off its counterpart.

Dave barely moved in his first turn, content to sit out of the danger range for the Leadbelchers. He moved his Sabretusks back – that's about all. His Ironblaster didn't perform as well as mine, rolling a 1 to wound when it shot back. Unfortunately a mid-level Fireball reached my Leadbelchers and did 10 hits, killing 2 of them outright! Rather unfortunate, that – my unit didn't have the numbers to absorb that sort of damage.

The Sabretusks all scampering backwards was about the sum total of Dave's movement.

Ouch! Whatever happened to probability? 2D6 hit should not kill half my unit...

In my turn I swung the flying Tyrant up in the lee of the large rock formation anchoring Dave's lines. In doing so, I made a stuff-up. I had subconsciously assumed that the rock would completely block line of sight, and so the only danger was the Leadbelchers swinging around and firing at me. As it was, there was a line straight over the lower part of the rock where he could clearly see me. It was a stupid mistake – if I'd sat back another inch, I'd have been out of both arc and sight. The Sabretusks swept up alongside him, intending to swing around the rock and attack the enemy lines from behind.

In retaliation for the damage Dave's Firebelly had done to my Leadbelchers, I retaliated in kind – only I went for a full power 3D6 hit version of the spell. I was rewarded with 5 whole hits, resulting in a single wound on Dave's Leadbelchers. Hardly the inspiring outcome I was looking for. My Leadbelchers had fallen back in light of the damage they had just taken, and my Ironblaster misfired instead of shooting, spinning itself on the spot to make itself a smaller target for the enemy shots (tactics, y'all!)

Damn it! It was so careless, and so close to being under control anyway...

It was at this point that it became clear how I had messed up with the Tyrant, and was in no position to flee when Dave declared the charge. The Leadbelchers swept around the end of the rock formation and into my rug-mounted general. I challenged and the enemy Tyrant accepted, and in the end we did a couple of wounds each and I lost combat by 2. If I passed the Leadership 7 break test, it would all seem like a wonderful scheme and I would be flanking the unit with my Mournfangs. Unfortunately I failed, fled poorly and was run down. Dave's unit then ran into the flank of the Hunter and his Sabretusks, who were to be the second victims of my mistake.

As it was the second turn, Dave had also been able to roll to see if his Gorgers turned up. All 3 of them did, appearing in a wave across the back of my deployment zone and heading for the rear of my lines.

The Ogres (Dave's, not mine) get reinforcements behind the Ogre lines (mine, not Dave's)... Wait, I am confused.

The Ironguts started to swagger forward at this point, presumably just to keep the BSB within range of the Tyrant and his mates. Or for moral support. Or something.

So not only did I lose my flying Tyrant, but the Sabretusks got to suffer as well. Such a magnificent stuff-up.

In my turn I could no longer charge the flank of Dave's Leadbelchers because their pursuit into the Sabretusks had taken them out of the arc of my Mournfangs (they were skulking behind a hill in anticipation of being shot at before the whole charge debacle began). I was left trying to decide what to do, knowing that in all likelihood the Sabretusks would break, Dave would reform, and I'd be getting charged again if I got too close. In the end I figured things were going badly anyway, so I needed to take some chances. I moved the Mournfangs up pretty close to the Leadbelchers, with the Ironguts positioned to take advantage if they got charged and managed to hold.

My Leadbelchers turned and fired at one of the Gorgers, doing a wound. My Ironblaster turned and fired once more at Dave's, landing another expert shot over the hedge and removing it. Yay, I had killed something! And I didn't even damage the hedge!

In the combat, my Hunter bellowed a defiant challenge and the Tyrant accepted. I took 3 wounds and got 2 more past Dave's saves, leaving his stubborn general on a single wound. I lost the combat by 4 and was testing on a 5. Unfortunately (though predictably) I failed, and the unit retreated on an angle toward the corner of the table. They were not pursued and the Leadbelchers reformed to face toward my Mournfangs. The Tyrant slunk back to the second rank, able to hide behind the Firebelly, champion and musician when the unit was 3 wide.

The Sabretusks flee whilst the Leadbelchers let them go to turn toward my approaching main line.

My forces advancing as the Leadbelchers reform.

In Dave's turn the Leadbelchers charged straight into the Mournfangs, whilst the Ironguts awoke from their slumber and moved closer to support them. The Sabretusks scattered all over the place made their presence known – 2 of them headed for my sparsely populated left flank where the Ironblaster was looking rather isolated, whilst the other had spotted my fleeing Hunter and his friends, and declared along-range charge to scare them off the table. Boo!

Not really how I wanted things to go. I'd rather be the one charging...

My Mournfangs got smashed pretty badly and failed to hold their position (I don't remember what I needed to roll), although they killed the Leadbelcher champion and did a couple of wounds to the unit (forcing the Tyrant to step up). Dave decided not to pursue (I think it was technically a pursuit, although my unit was gone because the standard bearer died when I broke) and instead reformed to face my Ironguts, 2 models wide so he could keep hiding the Crown of Command on the 1 wound Tyrant.

Photographic proof that Dave is totally "that guy" - the one who will go 2 wide so his stubborn Tyrant can hide behind his betters. No wonder the Tyrant wasn't leading the Ironguts. Can't lead a Gutstar when you've got no guts, right? He had been evicted.

Things are not going well.

It was my fourth turn and things were going very badly. It was time to commit what I had left. The Ironguts charged the stupid formation of Leadbelchers. My regular Ogres moved up and blocked the counter-charge from Dave's big Irongut bus, sacrificing themselves once more. My Leadbelchers decided that charging the flank of the wounded Gorger was better than trying to shoot it and getting charged in return, but that didn't go so well. I did nothing with my impact hits, the Gorger turned and tore the head off one of my guys outright, and I did no wounds in return. Good job, guys. The survivor broke and fled, and actually managed to outrun the pursuing Gorger (this is novel for me).

My Leadbelcher unit, mid-failure. This was followed shortly by unmanly squealing and running for the hills with the Gorger in pursuit.

My Ironblaster ignored the incompetence nearby and turned to blow one of the other Gorgers away, easy as you like. That's how it's done.

The main combat went about the way you would expect. My unit took some damage, but killed all of the Leadbelchers and wounded the Firebelly. The Tyrant and Firebelly held thanks to their being Stubborn, and the combat continued.

The Leadbelchers are gone and the Tyrant can no longer hide.

My Ogre Bulls buy my Ironguts time to address the Tyrant situation.

In Dave's turn the Irongut bus charged and smashed my Ogre Bulls, breaking them and leaving the unit champion fleeing. They elected not to chase so that they could get back on track and face my own Irongut unit. The wounded Gorger continued to chase the fleeing Leadbelcher, and then the remaining Gorger failed his Frenzy test and charged it as well. Somewhat remarkably, the wounded one then rolled the 12 he needed to catch my poor fleeing Leadbelcher and reformed to face my Ironguts.

The fleeing Leadbelcher gets chased and caught by Gorgers. Who gets an 18" charge, really? Note this guy's costume change from the previous pic when I realised it should be the musician that was still alive.

One of the Sabretusks charged into the rear of my Ironblaster whilst the other nipped at the heels of the fleeing Ogre Bull in order to keep him running. The Ironblaster failed to fend off the attacking dog/cat/thing and broke, but managed to escape the pursuit (2 successful escapes in a single game? I don't think I managed another for the rest of the event!)

The fight between Dave's characters and my Ironguts continued, and this time the Tyrant couldn't hide behind his betters and was cut down. The Firebelly was left on a single wound, but despite losing comfortably (I think he was testing on about Ld 4 or 5), he held his ground. That was bad. My unit would lose its chance to escape the approaching enemy reinforcements.

Damn it, if he'd fled like he should have, I might have gotten away.

In my turn I failed to rally my fleeing forces, so it just remained to finish off the stupid Firelly. 16 great weapon attacks. Not even a problem. When I only rolled 3 hits, I started to get worried. 2 wounds, 2 ward saves and suddenly I was left with my butt facing the oncoming Ironguts. The Firebelly was proving a most unfortunate inconvenience.

Much of the table is occupied by fleeing models and Dave's smaller elements trying to run them down.

Dave's Ironguts crashed into the rear of my unit with predictable results, whilst the Gorger charged into the flank. The whole thing was a foregone conclusion. All I wanted was to kill the damned Firebelly, and I did at least manage that. What remained of my unit needed a freak roll to hold their ground, and it was not forthcoming. They were run down and I was left with only a couple of fleeing models. I ended up rallying the Ironblaster right on the table edge, but the remaining Ogre Bull was run down by hungry Sabretusks. I had been just about tabled.

Well that's what you get for diddling about when you should have killed the Firebelly sooner. This combat did not go well.

Rallying within 1" of the back corner of the table, like a boss. See, I was not tabled. Behold my remaining models.

In the end I had lost convincingly, but had done some damage before I went. I was losing 10-6, which became 14-6 after boasts. But then the comp kicked in...

Result: 6-14 (10-10 after comp)

Yeah, that's a big swing. Making a solid victory into a draw seemed tough. But people knew comp would be worth a lot before the event, I guess.

You can find the next game here.