The Battle of Osterwald - Part 6

This is the final part of our battle report. You can find the previous part here, or go back to the start here.

Orcs Final Turn

Across the battlefield, the Orc and Goblin was simultaneously in disarray and on the attack. The general route near the centre of the line continued, with 2 mobs of night goblins fleeing from the field and the trolls following in that direction.

The flagellants and orcs continued to hack and flay each other, with several falling on either side and neither giving an inch.

At this point the flagellants still had Speed of Light affecting them, but without Frenzy or flails, there was little they could really do.

The Battle of Osterwald - Part 5

This is the continuation of our battle report. You can find the previous part here, or go back to the start here.

Orcs Turn 5

Azhag the Slaughterer had fallen, but the battle continued. The fleeing night goblins on the eastern side of the forest rallied, however their kinsmen continued their retreat. The orc horde also regained its composure right in front of the flagellants, but the now-leaderless trolls continued their shambling advance in the wrong direction, with little hope they would ever recover.

Most of the units in this picture were fleeing at the start of the turn, and only the orcs and one of the night goblin regiments managed to rally.

The Battle of Osterwald - Part 4

This is the continuation of our battle report. You can find the previous part here, or go back to the start here.

The main battle lines had made contact, the Empire line was wavering, and the emperor himself was fighting a challenge he was losing, watched hungrily by an entire horde of trolls...

Orcs Turn 4

On the eastern flank, the boar boyz charged in alongside the embattled chariots, but their arrival proved to be more hindrance than help as the Knights Panther, led by the grand master, carved apart most of the orc cavalry before they could strike a blow in anger. The few survivors immediately turned and fled, but were ridden down by the knights. The chariots also fled, however one turned straight into a rogue fanatic and exploded spectacularly.

Some rescue party. It's hard to find good help. I had hoped this combat might panic the orcs out of the tower, but it was not to be.

The Battle of Osterwald - Part 3

This is a continuation of our battle report. You can find the previous part here, or go back to the start here.

It's all happening!

Orcs Turn 3

With the swordsmen in the centre having fled, the Orcs and Goblins now had control of the high point in the centre of the field. A goblin scurried up with a torch in hand, and even as Azhag rejoined the fight, a second wyvern swept down through the clouds and tore apart one of the few remaining Empire cannons.

Azhag's plan continues to bear fruit as a black orc warboss descends upon a hapless cannon.

The Battle of Osterwald - Part 2

This is a continuation of the battle report that started here.

What in Sigmar's name is that thing?

The opening blows had been exchanged, and already Azhag's plan was coming together. As the clouds swirled and the shadows of griffons and wyverns drifted in and out of view, a greenish glow appeared beneath him. He swept down toward it, and as he drew nearer he could make out a goblin standing atop what appeared to be the roof of a tower, frantically waving something that appeared to be a glowing green stick overhead. He appeared none too happy to be holding the thing, but when he caught sight of Azhag approaching, he jumped up and down and pointed down into the mists. Azhag smirked as he followed the goblin's directions. It was time to make his entrance.  

Orcs Turn 2

This can't end well...

The Battle of Osterwald - Part 1

It has been a while since I reported a larger game on this blog, and given the club is moving to a new location, we decided to give the old one a send-off with a proper multi-player battle. We didn't really have a long time to plan (or play) this one, and we lost a couple of participants to illness and work commitments, but we still managed to cobble together a (roughly) 17,000 point game. To ease preparations a bit, we decided just to use my Orc and Empire armies - it meant they could be packed properly onto movement trays ahead of time, to give us a chance of getting through the game (thanks to Pete for doing the bulk of that whilst I was away on holiday!) We used a scenario that encouraged holding control points in the hope that it would give the battle a little focus.

As usual for these reports, I'll break things up into multiple posts. It's just too much content for a single page, and it means I can start posting a bit sooner.

Thanks to Pete, Tim, Noakes and Josh for playing, Sean for standing in as an emergency scribe with no warning, and to everyone else who helped out on the day.

The Battle of Osterwald

Prologue

The cold morning air buffeted Azhag as he soared over his hordes. They were marching south once more, but Azhag could still smell the whiff of the smoke from the burning village behind him, and the screams of the puny humans still rang in his ears and warmed his evil green heart. It was a good morning. Beneath him, his tide of warriors was now stomping their way through rich green fields as they more or less followed the road out of town. Ahead he could see a series of farmsteads along the road. They were probably abandoned by now, but this felt like a civilised area. With any luck they might find another town to pillage and burn before the day was out...

No! Hissed the voice in his head. He felt the usual waves of impatience emanating from the crown on his brow. No more delays. We must hurry south.

Azhag grunted. They were heading south. He didn't know what the crown wanted of him. He was headed in the right direction, and he could hardly be blamed if the foolish humans kept building settlements along this perfectly good road...

A glint in the cold morning sunlight suddenly caught his attention, and he found himself leaning forward in Skullmuncha's saddle as the wyvern's wings beat the air steadily. What was it that he was seeing? There was movement in the distance, a little way off from the road ahead. He blinked wildly, trying in vain to get his eyes to see further than they could.

Something akin to a sigh of frustration hissed in his head, and he felt a sudden lurch as the crown drew energies through his body before unleashing them upon his own mind. Everything went black for a moment, and in a panic he thought the crown had finally snapped and was attacking him. But no; a moment later things began to brighten again. Everything had a weird purple hue and black swirls swam around the edges of his vision. Looking down, he could see his hands desperately clinging to his saddle as he fought to retain his balance. He felt a little ill.

Look! Commanded the voice, and he felt his gaze dragged toward the movement he had seen earlier. This time his gaze seemed to travel far further than before, and he gave a bark of surprise as he found himself looking directly into the face of a moustached human with a strange eyeglass over one of his eyes. He wore a helmet on his head, and seemed to be swaying about strangely. Azhag felt his stomach starting to lurch sympathetically, and he blinked hard and shook his head. When he looked back again, the man was still there, but a lot further away. And he was not alone. All around him rode rank after rank of armoured knights, and the man himself was swaying about atop a clanking, hissing steam tank!

Azhag felt waves of concern from the crown, even as he himself grew excited at the prospect of a proper fight. He allowed his gaze to roam further up and down the lines of the enemy, and his excitement only grew. There were a lot of them! This would be a proper scrap! Hauling on Skullmuncha's reins, he turned the beast directly toward the approaching army. 

No, hissed the crown's voice in his head. This is not the way! That army could defeat yours! Azhag sniffed derisively at this suggestion, but the crown would not be so easily dismissed. Against his will, he felt his gaze dragged to the skies over the human army. His brain rebelled as he tried to fight this puppetry of his own physical movements, but he still caught sight of something that demanded his attention. Wings seemed to fill the sky over the enemy army. His vision swam, and the swirling in his peripheral vision threatened to overcome him as he tried to stare harder at what he was seeing. Griffons. They had to be griffons. But how many? How many could there possibly be?

Yesss, hissed the crown. A level of satisfaction seemed to flow from it, or possibly it was smugness. There are too many, great warlord. Too many even for you. Best not to engage. Better to keep moving south.

Azhag stared uncomprehendingly for a moment at the seemingly endless sea of griffons filling his vision. But the harder he tried to focus, the more things swirled until at last he felt his vision darkening once more. The spell was ending.

Confusion and anger warred with the excitement in Azhag's head. What was happening? How did the enemy have so many wings? Why was the crown to pleased with itself? Just as his vision was about to fade completely to black, a sense of frustrated rage exploded within him. With a roar, he seized the powers that the crown had summoned, and twisted them to his own purpose. A thick blanket of fog erupted before him and sped outward, toward the human army.

That's good, the crown muttered, possibly to itself. It seemed confused, like it was trying to figure out what was happening. They won't be able to see us, and we can easily avoid them now.

"No," growled Azhag out loud, as his vision finally returned to normal. "We are not goin' around. We are gonna smash dem humies and the silly birdies will never know what is goin' on below dem."

A wave of alarm surged out from the crown. What about you and your wyverns? You'll be trapped up here in the fog too! Now is the time to escape!

Azhag grinned, ignoring the crown's apparent panic. "Not to worry. I 'ave a plan".

He could have sworn the crown's wail was actually audible as he guided his wyvern down into the mists.

Scenario

This game is a pitched battle, with one notable exception. All flying units begin the game "flying high", trapped above the impenetrable barrier of low cloud that Azhag has spread across the battlefield. Across the field are spread 3 "signal" points, which are the high points on the field. Control of one of these points will allow a model to get above the clouds and signal in one of their trapped flyers, via semaphore, interpretive dance, or some other arcane means. Each point is controlled by having an unopposed unit within 3".

For each signal point controlled at the start of the player's turn, they may elect a single flying model to land anywhere on the battlefield. This may be a charge, as per the rules below. If the model is not charging, it may go anywhere it could legally be placed (not within impassable terrain, within 1" of another unit, etc).

A charge from flying high must be declared on the front of a unit, unless the front is fully engaged, in which case it may be upon a flank (or rear if no flank is available). A charged target must take any appropriate leadership test and may make a normal charge reaction. If they flee, the charger will land on the originally nominated spot, but may face in any direction.

No victory points are awarded for models that remain trapped in flying high at the end of the game.

The Orcs deploy first, and have the first turn.

Armies

The armies were largely selected based on the models that I had available, with a couple of the usual guiding principles for larger games (eg ignoring very small units, like 5 cavalry or 20 infantry, and keeping heroes in units as glorified champions to avoid small nuisance elements running around).

I made an effort to ensure the Orcs would have the means to face off with hordes of 40 knights, in the form of a huge regiment of Black Orcs, a horde of River Trolls and the Rogue Idol. I also lumped the Boar Chariots into loose units, again in an effort to avoid clutter on the field. The Trolls got a bonus Warboss to lead them, when we realised that Azhag's leadership would not be on the field, and they'd be completely useless without a decent leadership value.

The Empire got a few sneaky things that aren't technically in their list, but which I've never used before - so the Landship (from the Tamurkhan rules), the War Wagon (using the rules from Warhammer Armies Project) and their own Giant, who was much too dapper to leave out.

At the end the Orcs got a bonus regiment of mercenary Ogres to roughly even up the points, and then all the flying models were put aside until someone could call them in.

Waaagh Azhag!

• Az Azhag the Slaughterer
  on Skullmuncha with Slagga's Slashas, Azhag's 'Ard Armour, Crown of Sorcery
  550 points, FLYING HIGH
• Wy1 Orc Warboss
  on Wyvern with Great Weapon, Armour of Fortune
  316 points, FLYING HIGH
• Wy2 Orc Warboss
  on Wyvern with Great Weapon, Armour of Destiny
  331 points, FLYING HIGH
• Wy3 Black Orc Warboss
  on Wyvern with Armour of Gork
  420 points, FLYING HIGH
• Wy4 Black Orc Warboss
  on Wyvern with Heavy Armour, Talisman of Endurance
  350 points, FLYING HIGH
• GS1 Savage Orc Great Shaman
  Level 4 with Lucky Shrunken Head
  255 points
• GS2 Night Goblin Great Shaman
  Level 4
  175 points
• GW Goblin Warboss
  on Gigantic Spider with Light Armour, Shield, Wizarding Hat
  221 points
• WB1 Black Orc Warboss
  with Heavy Armour, Battleaxe of the Last Waaagh!
  260 points
• BSB Black Orc Big Boss
  on Boar with Heavy Armour, Battle Standard, Dawn Stone, Dragonhelm
  166 points
• WB2 Badgutz Trollbreath
  Orc Warboss on Boar with Great Weapon, Talisman of Preservation, Charmed Shield
  195 points
• OB1 60 Orc Boyz
  with Choppa, Light Armour, Shield, Full Command. Led by Black Orc Big Boss, Orc Shaman (Level 1)
  610 points
• OB2 60 Orc Boyz
  with Choppa, Light Armour, Shield, Full Command. Led by Black Orc Big Boss, Orc Shaman (Level 1)
  610 points
• OB3 60 Orc Boyz
  with Choppa, Light Armour, Shield, Full Command. Led by Black Orc Big Boss, Orc Shaman (Level 1)
  610 points
• Big 40 Savage Orc Big'Uns
  with 2 Choppas, Full Command. Led by Savage Orc Big Boss (Great Weapon), Black Orc Big Boss
  644 points
• NG1 60 Night Goblins
  with Spears, Shields, Full Command, Netters, 3 Fanatics
  330 points
• NG2 40 Night Goblins
  with Spears, Shields, Full Command, Netters, 3 Fanatics
  270 points
• NG3 50 Night Goblins
  with Shields, Full Command, Netters, 3 Fanatics
  300 points
• NG4 60 Night Goblins
  with Short Bows, Full Command, Netters, 3 Fanatics
  330 points
• NG5 40 Night Goblins
  with Short Bows, Full Command, Netters, 3 Fanatics
  270 points
• Gob1 60 Goblins
  with Spears, Shields, Light Armour, Full Command, 3 Nasty Skulkers. Led by Goblin Shaman (Level 2)
  390 points
• Gob2 40 Goblins
  with Shields, Light Armour, Full Command, 3 Nasty Skulkers
  200 points
• WR1 12 Wolf Riders
  with Spears, Shields, Light Armour, Full Command
  174 points
• WR2 12 Wolf Riders
  with Spears, Shields, Light Armour, Full Command
  174 points
• WR3 12 Wolf Riders
  with Spears, Shields, Light Armour, Full Command
  174 points
• WR4 14 Wolf Riders
  with Short Bows, Light Armour, Full Command
  184 points
• SR 24 Forest Goblin Spider Riders
  with Spears, Shields, Full Command. Led by Goblin Big Boss (Gigantic Spider with Light Armour, Shield)
  397 points
• BO1 80 Black Orcs
  with Heavy Armour, Shields, Full Command, Standard of Discipline
  1090 points
• BO2 24 Black Orcs
  with Heavy Armour, Shields, Full Command
  347 points
• RT 18 River Trolls
  810 points
• SOBB 19 Savage Orc Boar Boyz
  with Spears, Shields, Full Command, Banner of Swiftness. Led by Savage Orc Big Boss (Boar, Great Weapon) and Savage Orc Shaman (Level 2 on Boar)
  640 points
• OBB1 10 Orc Boar Boyz
  with Spears, Shields, Light Armour, Full Command
  235 points
• OBB2 10 Orc Boar Boyz
  with Spears, Shields, Light Armour, Full Command
  235 points
• OBC1 3 Orc Boar Chariots
  Operating as a single unit
  255 points
• OBC2 3 Orc Boar Chariots
  Operating as a single unit
  255 points
• SH1 54 Squig Herd
  with 40 Squigs, 14 Herders
  362 points
• SH2 20 Squig Hoppers
  Led by 2 Night Goblin Big Bosses on Great Cave Squig with Light Armour, Shield, Spear
  388 points
• GWC 3 Goblin Wolf Chariots
  150 points
• S 8 Snotlings
  240 points
• IoG Rogue Idol of Gork
  Great Idol
  600 points
• A1 Arachnarok
  290 points
• A2 Arachnarok
  290 points
• G1 Giant
  200 points
• G2 Giant
  200 points
• G3 Giant
  200 points
• G4 Giant
  200 points
• MS1 Mangler Squig
  65 points
• MS2 Mangler Squig
  65 points
• MS3 Mangler Squig
  65 points
• MS4 Mangler Squig
  65 points
• DD1 Doom Diver
  80 points
• DD2 Doom Diver
  80 points
• DD3 Doom Diver
  80 points
• RL1 Rock Lobber
  85 points
• RL2 Rock Lobber
  85 points
• RL3 Rock Lobber
  85 points
• SC1 Spear Chukka
  35 points
• SC2 Spear Chukka
  35 points
• SC3 Spear Chukka
  35 points
• SC4 Spear Chukka
  35 points
• IG 10 Mercenary Ogre Ironguts
  Heavy Armour, Great Weapons, Full Command. Led by Bruiser (Heavy Armour, Great Weapon)
  542 points
• Total: 17336 points

The Empire

• KF Karl Franz, The Emperor
  Riding Deathclaw, wielding Ghal Maraz
  585 points, FLYING HIGH
• GE1 General of the Empire
  Riding Imperial Griffon with Great Weapon, Full Plate Armour
  280 points, FLYING HIGH
• GE2 General of the Empire
  Riding Imperial Griffon with Great Weapon, Full Plate Armour
  280 points, FLYING HIGH
• GE3 General of the Empire
  Riding Imperial Griffon with Lance, Shield, Full Plate Armour
  284 points, FLYING HIGH
• GE4 General of the Empire
  Riding Imperial Griffon with Lance, Shield, Full Plate Armour
  284 points, FLYING HIGH
• GE5 General of the Empire
  Riding Imperial Griffon with Giant Blade, Shield, Full Plate Armour
  337 points, FLYING HIGH
• BG Balthasar Gelt, The Supreme Patriarch
  Riding Pegasus with Staff of Volans, Amulet of Sea Gold, Cloak of Molten Metal
  360 points, FLYING HIGH
• GT Volkmar, The Grand Theogonist
  Riding the War Altar with the Horn of Sigismund, Jade Giffon, Staff of Command, Light Armour
  350 points
• LS1 Ludwig Schwarzhelm
  Riding Barded Warhorse with Full Plate Armour, Sword of Justice, Emperor's Standard
  185 points
• KH Kurt Helborg, Reiksmarshall of the Empire
  Riding Barded Warhorse with Full Plate Armour, Runefang, Laurels of Victory
  320 points
• GM Grand Master of the Knights Panther
  Riding Barded Warhorse with Full Plate Armour, Ogre Blade, Shield
  199 points
• WL Wizard Lord of the Light Order
  Wizard Lord of the Light Order
  200 points
• BW1 Battle Wizard of the Amber Order
  Riding Warhorse. Level 2, Lore of Beasts
  112 points
• BW2 Battle Wizard of the Bright Order
  Level 2, Lore of Fire
  100 points
• Hal1 60 Ostland Halberdiers
  with Halberds, Light Armour, Full Command. Led by a Captain (Great Weapon, Full Plate Armour) and Warrior Priest (Great Weapon, Heavy Armour)
  534 points
• Hal2 60 Krakenberg Halberdiers
  with Halberds, Light Armour, Full Command. Led by a Captain (Great Weapon, Full Plate Armour) and Warrior Priest (Great Weapon, Heavy Armour)
  534 points
• Hal3 60 Stirland Halberdiers
  with Halberds, Light Armour, Full Command. Led by a Captain (Great Weapon, Full Plate Armour)
  462 points
• HG1 40 Ostland Handgunners
  with Empire Handguns, Full Command
  390 points
• HG2 40 Krakenberg Handgunners
  with Empire Handguns, Full Command
  390 points
• Sp1 40 1st Krakenberg Spearmen
  with Spears, Light Armour, Full Command
  230 points
• Sp2 40 2nd Krakenberg Spearmen
  with Spears, Light Armour, Full Command
  230 points
• Sw 60 Krakenberg Swordsmen
  with Shields, Light Armour, Full Command. Led by a Captain (Great Weapon, Full Plate Armour) and Warrior Priest (Great Weapon, Heavy Armour)
  594 points
• ICKP 40 Inner Circle Knights Panther
  with Lances, Shields, Full Plate Armour, Barding, Full Command
  1030 points
• WWK 40 White Wolf Knights
  with Great Weapons, Full Plate Armour, Barding, Full Command. Led by a Captain (Barded Warhorse, Great Weapon, Full Plate Armour) and Warrior Priest (Barded Warhorse, Great Weapon, Heavy Armour)
  1083 points
• VK 40 Venator Knights
  with Lances, Shields, Full Plate Armour, Barding, Full Command. Led by a Captain (Barded Warhorse, Great Weapon, Full Plate Armour) and Warrior Priest (Barded Warhorse, Great Weapon, Heavy Armour)
  1083 points
• XB1 16 Krakenberg Crossbowmen
  with Crossbows, Full Command
  174 points
• XB2 16 Stirland Crossbowmen
  with Crossbows, Full Command
  174 points
• FC 40 Stirland Free Company
  Stirland Free Company
  270 points
• DK 10 Demigryph Knights
  with Halberds, Shields, Full Plate Armour, Barding, Full Command
  610 points
• RK 16 Reiksguard Knights
  with Lances, Shields, Full Plate Armour, Barding, Full Command
  462 points
• F 60 Flagellants
  with Flails, Prophet of Doom
  730 points
• GS 60 Ostland Greatswords
  with Great Weapons, Full Plate Armour, Full Command. Led by a Captain (Great Weapon, Full Plate Armour) and Warrior Priest (Great Weapon, Heavy Armour)
  834 points
• TG 50 Teutogen Guard (Greatswords)
  with Great Weapons, Full Plate Armour, Full Command. Led by a Warrior Priest (Great Weapon, Heavy Armour)
  654 points
• Pis1 12 Kislev Horse Archers (Pistoliers)
  with Brace of Pistols, Light Armour, Musician, Outrider
  236 points
• Pis2 10 Pistoliers
  with Brace of Pistols, Light Armour, Musician, Outrider
  200 points
• GC1 Great Cannon
  120 points
• GC2 Great Cannon
  120 points
• GC3 Great Cannon
  120 points
• GC4 Great Cannon
  120 points
• GC5 Great Cannon
  120 points
• GC6 Great Cannon
  120 points
• VG1 Helblaster Volley Gun
  120 points
• VG2 Helblaster Volley Gun
  120 points
• ST1 Steam Tank
  250 points
• ST2 Steam Tank
  250 points
• ST3 Steam Tank
  250 points
• CH Celestial Hurricanum
  130 points
• WW War Wagon
  Using WAP 9th Ed Rules
  120 points
• LS2 Marienburg Class Landship
  300 points
• EG Empire Giant
  Yeah, just a well-dressed Giant
  200 points
• Total: 17550 points

Deployment

Deployment, after Vanguard moves.