Tourneying back the years: the Fox Lord’s battles at Marauder Mayhem tourney

The event – a huge success

My word, what a day! Ever since I first got into Warhammer Fantasy back in my adolescent years, I dreamed of bringing a fully-painted army onto the field of battle to take on themed armies commanded by great gamers. Yesterday, I finally got to do that.

OK, hands up: my “fully-painted” army was mostly my old early-noughties force, but it did the job.

Marauder Mayhem was a Warhammer 6^th edition 1-day tourney that took place in Shepperton (draw a triangle between Heathrow, Kingston-upon-Thames and Woking: Shepperton is bang in the middle, just off the M25/M3). It was brilliantly organised by Albert Barr of Warhammer 6^th edition Facebook fame, who ensured it ran to time, went smoothly and we all had a fun day.

The best thing about the day was that everyone was there for the enjoyment/nostalgia of Warhammer Fantasy. I didn’t come across any power-gamers or rule-quibblers. It made voting to Best Sport incredibly difficult; everyone was so friendly!

How the Fox Lord’s men got on

This was my first ever tourney and my first time playing properly with 2,000pts of Empire. So rather than go through a full narrative, I’ll just give a quick overview of the battles before going into what I learned.  

My army on the day

Battle 1 – Nico’s Bretonnians – Meeting Engagement

I was eager to play armies against which I’ve never been pitted. To my delight, I was to face Brets first. Fittingly for the army which the Perry brothers based on 100 Years French, they were commanded by a Frenchman – the friendly Nico.

The battlefield had ruins to my left and a forest to my right. This created a natural funnel for both armies. I placed my cannon on a hill (surprise!), Hellblaster in the centre and archers to cover the centre too. The aim was to create a killing ground where the Brets would be weakened before my knights – placed either side of the funnel – would slam into flanks. I was going the full Agincourt!

The battle started out extremely cautious, with neither of us wanting to advance into the funnel. The most momentous moment was my wizard miscasting on his very first spell, suffering a Wound but winning me the consolation prize of a Tomb Kings army book!

Happy bunny!

Eventually, Nico decided his softly-softly approach wasn’t very Bretonnian and he charged in. I chipped away at his knights, before they crashed into my spearmen – who had a trick up their puffy sleeves… A Griffon Standard, which doubles rank bonus! My enemy knew his stuff and had anticipated this by equipping his unit with the Banner of the Lady, which cancels rank bonus! Argh!

The three lance formations punched clean through my line. The battle seemed pretty much decided. Or so we thought.

then let the trumpet sound the tucket sonance and the notes to mount!

The three lances in a row presented a target which my canon could not miss! I was pretty chuffed at the damage.

My pistoliers rode to the rescue (you may see a pattern emerge), killing a single character which had kept my Inner Circle Knights locked in ineffectual combat on the right flank. Freed up, the Knights of the Prowling Fox chased after a lance formation which had got bogged down against a detachment of swordsmen – I kid you not! Granted, they had had support in the fight from the griffon, but he ran away while the swordsmen resolutely held firm.

I had by this point lost many men, but my knights and pistoliers fought back so bravely that I clutched victory from the jaws of defeat.

Result: Minor Victory – 1,829 Vs 1,306 (That’s a lot of dead men and horses on both sides!)

Battle 2 – James’ Skaven – Capture

My next battle was against another army I’ve never faced before: Skaven! Their general, James, is a member of the Guildford gaming club and very kindly talked me through the main quirks of Skaven armies, so that I wouldn’t get caught out on a rules point.

Though nervous about facing so many ratmen, I had a clear plan: park a unit of Knights of the Inner Circle on the objective, with my special banner spearmen and griffon general ready to support. The rest of the army would cover the flanks. Then just hope the rats didn’t have any tin openers.

Reader, they had tin openers.

Jezzails, Ratling Guns and Warp Lightening cut down my knights, who failed an astonishing number of armour saves! By turn 3, the knights on the objective had been slain and the captain was fleeing.

Turn 4 saw my griffon and spearmen move up, ready to retake the objective in the next turn. Alas, though I spent the first 3 turns hoping the battle would end quickly, I was gutted when at the end of turn 4 we rolled a one and the battle ended – with the ratmen just 2 inches closer to the objective then me!

To be fair, my troops took a real pasting and my opponent fully earned his victory. The dice could have been more friendly, but that is the game!

Result: Defeat (heavy casualties on my side only, though I forget the exact score)

Battle 3 – Ash’s Bretonnians – Pitched Battle

My final battle was to be against another Bret army, this time commanded by Ash – yet another friendly chap. The set-up was similar to the first battle, so of course I learned from my mistakes… not!

I went with the same Agincourt funnel killing zone strategy, with knights on either side and the weaker of the two spear units out on the left. There were 4 key differences which made it less disastrous in the first half than in my 1^st game though:

1. Ash was terrified on my canon. He hid one of his big blocks of knights behind a tower for most of the game.
2. I used my griffon to take out the pegasus airforce.
3. For some reason, Ash sent in his 2 small Knights Errant units one at a time, so I could deal with them piece-meal.
4. The Hellblaster worked well – before blowing up.

I dominated the centre and right flank, with the pistoliers riding round the tower to fire point blank into the rear of the knights hiding there. The knights fled and were soon destroyed.

But it all unraveled when the Bret knights on my left turned my flank and charge my centre.

Result: Minor Defeat (1,166 Vs 1,677 VP)

All in all, it was hugely enjoyable, with even my defeats being fun.

What didn’t work?

Magic

• Battle 1 (B1): miscast, then offered trebuchet a tempting target.
• Battle 2 (B2): far too ineffective magic resistance Vs warp lightening.
• Battle 3 (B3): didn’t do anything, as combats ended in one turn, so couldn’t cast Beast Cowers.

Answer: place Wizard more carefully & possibly look at another scroll caddy – if points can be found.

Griffon Standard:

• B1 & B3: having made killing zone unpalatable, I should have deployed the spearmen with Griffon Standard on the flank, where the banner would be of greater use. This could have avoided flanks collapsing (and thus won me B3).
• B2: didn’t get into combat.

Answer: put it where it is less expected/can make a real difference.

Elector Count on Griffon

• B1 & B2: spent both games lurking out of sight, making no use of Terror.
• B3: did defeat airforce, but later failed to make many kills.
• B1: when eventually got into contact, failed to make decent kills.
• B1 & B3: fled

Answer: don’t send in unsupported. Consider giving Magic Weapon. Keep trying him to see if worth the points.

Knights

• Failed to do much damage & often too shy to charge in – though they kept big Bret units in check for ages.
• Kept dying against rats through poor armour saves.

Answer: consider equipping a unit with Great Weapons. Combine with pistoliers.

Overall: 

Struggled with low strength attacks. Must get my Greatswords converted and painted.

What worked well?

Pistoliers

• MVP in every single game.
• Turned flanks and took out knights with their 2 x S4 armour-piercing shots.

I really wish I had painted a second unit up in time.

Memory cards

Got asked about these a lot. I have terrible memory and will usually forget to use a magic item/special rule at least once or twice per battle. Didn’t happen once with these memory prompts, though they do clutter the photos. Price worth paying until I get the hang of my list.

Detachments

I bloody love detachments – and that’s all there is to it!

Cautious starts then going for decisive kills

Great generals no doubt love taking the initiative, but until I get better at the game, I’ve found that being cautious and seeing what my enemy does before reacting with committed counter-attacks worked well in this tourney.

I’m sure I will think of far more lessons in the coming days, but that will do for now.

I that’s left to say is a huge thank you to my opponents, to the organisers, and to you for sticking around to read the whole post. Please feel free to leave comments here or under my FB/Instagram post - I'd love to hear your thoughts!

Now… Where did I put my paintbrush?

*The Fox Lord*

Troll Country - Battle 1: Slaanesh Vs Dogs of War

“Oh aye, Willy! They do have fancy armour!” Domnall exclaimed with a big grin. “Now grab your bag and give ‘em a welcome.”

Willy put his blowstick to his mouth, filling his sack. The bagpipes made a discordant sound as if a cat were trying to escape from within, before Willy found the tune he wanted.

“Wha’s wi’ ya, Fingal, my frisky friend?”

The shaman nodded towards the enemy battle line.

“Tha’ fellow there, next tae the dwarves. See him?”

“The man wi’ with the stick and candles? He’s a funny man, is he nae?”

“A sorcerer,” Fingal said curtly. “But no real servant of the dark gods – and no match for a servant of Slaanesh.”

“Right. So nae problem, then.” Domnall raised his axe. “Come on lads! Someone’s come tae pick a fight. Let’s show them how it’s done!”

Fresh meat

Dogs of War are a truly magnificent-looking army!

For my first battle of the Troll Country campaign, I had the pleasure of facing a new adversary. Andrzej had come all the way from Kislev -  sorry, Poland - for a weekend of wargaming. He has a beautifully painted Dogs of War army, with a great selection of units. They're mainly painted in the classic colour scheme from the book - but if it ain't broke, don't fix it, right?

Line Vs columns: I feel like Napoleon - but without the guns or heavy cavalry!

We rolled for the scenario and got pitched battle. Fair enough! this was going to be a good experience. I didn't get many games in back in the day, so am still getting to grips with the rules, as well as learning my army's strengths and weaknesses against different opponents. Andrzej is clearly a good player: he has an excellent grasp of the rules and is fair play; just what I need when I'm learning!

As he won the roll offs, he decided I should deploy and go first. I decided to concentrate my force as much as possible, with only my one cavalry unit far off on the right flank. The great thing about light cavalry, as I have learned in my games against Niklas' Kislevites, is how quickly they can redeploy.

the Dogs of War set themselves out in a gun line. Apart from a small copse in the middle of the field, there wasn't much cover for my men to hide behind. It would just be a question of biting the bullet and charging head on. The only consolation was the lack of enemy cavalry to outmanoeuvre. 

Fingal the Frisky spots an enemy sorcerer across the battlefield

Then let the trumpets sound the tucket-sonance and the note to mount;
for our approach shall so much dare the field, that these dogs shall couch down in fear, and yield.

 I wasted no time in turn 1 to throw my war tribe forwards. They surged out from the ruins at a forced march. The only repositioning was to bring my light cavalry back in from the flank. The Dogs of War has duelists out there, and I didn't feel like wasting light cavalry is a futile charge. Instead, the horsemen would act as a flying reserve, to plug any gaps.

On my left flank, Fingal the Frisky successfully cast Titillating Delusions on the crossbowmen - part of my devious plan, but the enemy sorcerer produced a Dispel Scroll, meaning the delusion vanished before it had fully appeared. 

This was not good - and I should have seen it coming. It left the crossbowmen free to fill Hamish the Hairy Giant with bolts. A cannon ball from the Dogs of War's pop gun finished him off in their first turn. Hamish fell flat on his back with a thud.

Hamish falls, filled with bolts and a cannon-ball!

 Things did not go much better on my right flank.My large block of marauders with hand weapons and shields got peppered with bolts from Ruglud's Armoured Orcs, promplty turning tail. In so doing, the newly arrived cavalry panicked and fled off the field. I hadn't expected my flying reserve to fly away. Oops.

My right flank collapses

Things picked up a little bit during my second turn. Final finally cast Titillating Delusions on the crossbowmen. The illusion of a sexy daemonette temptress appeared behind the tower. The crossbowmen would be forced on their next turn to wheel and march swiftly towards her, meaning they wouldn't be able to shoot. I absolutely adore this spell, which has caused more than one headache in the past for my Kislevite nemesis, Niklas. 

Fingal the Frisky whips out his favourite spell

My opponent's wizard cast Unseen Lurker from the Lore of Shadows on Long Drong's slayer pirates (allows unit to move 8" for free), propelling them through the woods. I was perfectly happy with this, as it meant my ogres could get stuck in. One of them fell in the charge, but they proceeded to slaughter the red-haired little gits. Unfortiunately, slayer are unbreakable, so all it meant was their unit size went down, despite my ogres winning every fight.

My marauders with shields rallied and about-turned to head back towards the enemy - albeit without cavalry support.

At least the ogres get stuck in!

Pivot! Crossbowmen can't resist temptation!

As the last dwarf fell, the last ogre got spooked (I'll be honest - I don't remember what caused the panic, as the battle was 3 weeks ago) and decided to run away.

The crossbowmen continued their pursuit of the sexy illusion, the cannon continued to take pot-shots with surprising accuracy, and the sorcerer went and hid in the woods.

My marauders with great weapons were desperate to actually do some fighting and tried to run after him, but he sensibly ran off, leaving them stranded in an awkward position in the woods.

Having slain the last of Long Drong's slayer pirates, the surviving ogre calls it a day and runs off the field.

 Over on the right flank, my marauders with shields fearlessly rushed into the gap between the copse and the mound to sell their skins dearly. Alas, they all fell under a hail of crossbow bolts and pistol bullets. Not even the greeenskins' animosity could dampen the hail of missiles.

Pistols to the right of them, crossbows to the left. Into the valley of death went the ten!

The duelists then moved in to take out Fingal the Frisky. The game then ended with just the unit of marauders with great weapons stood forlornly in the woods, surrounded by enemies.

In the entire battle, only the ogres actually managed to fight!

Lessons learned

It was a great game, though it was almost over before it started. I want to make sure I learn as much as possible, so will be including lessons learned at the end of battle reps where possible. The main points from this battle were:

• Though I love the theme of my clan, the lack of heavy armour is painfully obvious. I need to make some difficult decisions if it's ever going to hold its own against massed volleys.
• When it's likely my opponent will have either a full sorcerer or a scroll caddy, I need to consider dropping Domnall (my Aspiring Champion of Slaanesh) and including a second sorcerer. Had my opponent been forced to use up his scroll on another spell, his crossbowmen would have been distracted by the sexy daemonette on turn 1 and Hamish might just have survived. Magic is clearly one of the main weapons in the Chaos arsenal, so I really need to use it better.
• Domnall never fights on his own, so giving him the Mark of Slaanesh is a bit redundant, as he can't confer the Immunity to Psychology it give him on the unit he joins. When I do include him, those 20 points could be better spent elsewhere.
• The rush towards the enemy felt slow. It might be worth looking at extra cavalry or possibly a chariot or two to take the fight to the enemy faster.
• Hamish the Giant is a large target. It sounds obvious, but I hadn't considered the implication of crossbowmen being able to shoot in two ranks at him.

I look forward to improving my tactics and army selection. What a fun game Warhammer is; I love the challenge!

Here be trolls: a Border Princes style campaign in Troll Country

Unwanted visitors: the campaign kicks off!

Here be trolls!

"Have ya heard the news?" Willy asked, as he absent-mindedly fondled his bagpipes.

"News?" Domnall answered. "Wha' news might tha' be?"

"The horsemen of Kislev are restless."

"The horsemen are always restless!"

"They've been wanderin' intae Troll Country. And it's no just them. There's talk of men from further south - wi' guns and fancy armour."

"Fancy armour, ey?" Domnall stroked his beard. "Fingal! Where are ya?"

"Here I am, so I am." The priest of Slaanesh appeared by Domnall's side, his great oiled crest glistening in the early morning light.

"Fingal, old Willy here says there are men with fancy armour. Is tha' true?"

The Servant of Slaanesh looked off into the distance. Domnall knew he was hoping the Lord of Pleasure would bring him a vision. No sooner had Fingal glanced away than he began to speak.

"I see glistening armour. I see crossbows and pistols and a gun on wheels. I see mad little dwarfs dressed as pirates."

"Really?" Domnall asked, astonished. The priest's visions weren't usually that precise. "Ya can see all that? Are ya sure?"

"Well, ya can see fer yersen," Fingal said. "Because they're over there."

Domnall followed Fingal's gaze to where a small army was drawing up in anticipation of battle under a red and white striped flag. 

"Aw... Bawls... Where did they come from?"

"From far away. And the Lord of Pleasure wants them dead."

"Aye..." Domnall said. "Well then. We' best be havin' 'em, then."

Troll Country: a popular destination this spring!
Note: these are just the 3 factions from my first 2 days of the campaign.

Our growing Oldhammer community based at Dark Sphere, West London, decided to put together a Border Princes style campaign (see Warhammer 6th ed. rulebook, pp.232-237). The great thing about Border Princes is that you don't all have to be present on the same day (though it is obviously more fun).

We opted to fight it out in Troll Country, that desolate land between the (let's be honest, already quite desolate) plains of Kislev and the Chaos wastes. my Chaos war tribe - the Sarls of Slaanesh - already call that area home. By nemesis (since the start of the year) Niklas plays Kislev. Other factions include another Chaos army and an Empire army - so Troll Country seemed a fitting battleground.

How the campaign system works (basics)

The concept of Border Prince campaigns is really fun:

I. Army selection

• All armies are the same points value (1,000pts for us).
• Armies are restricted to: 
• 1 character (Hero or Lord, representing the player)
• 2 Special unit choices only
• 1 Rare unit choice only
• No skirmishers
• 1 war machine only
• 1 monster only
• 3 magical objects max. with total value of 100pts
• You can change your army list between battles - within the confines of the above rules + territory modifiers (see below). 

II. Territories

• Each player chooses 1 territory from the list on page 237 and gets 2 more generated at random.
• Each territory gives the player in-game bonuses. For example, my territories are: a Town (allows me to take 1 extra character), a River (gives me extra 25 points) & a Village (gives me an extra Special unit slot).
• There is no-man's land between all the players, so each can attack whoever they like.
• If you win a battle, you can occupy one of your opponent's territories for the next battle only. You get the advantage from that territory for your next battle and they lose it for their next battle.
• Grudge points: I'll come onto this in a later post to keep things simple for now - but it's another fun twist.

My army at the beginning

My persona for this campaign:
a sex-mad servant of Slaanesh!

Though I have a unit of Chaos Knights, I wanted to keep the barbarian horde theme strong. I hadn't really tested by Marauders with 2-handed axes yet, so opted to put them in. So here's what my force looked like for the first 2 battles:

• Fingal the Frisky (me), Lvl 2 Slaanesh Sorcerer with Mark of Slaanesh (immune to psychology & has Lore of Slaanesh) Powel Familiar (knows 1 extra spell) & Dispel Scroll
• Domnall the Deviant, Grand Champion of Chaos with Battle Sxord (+1 Attack) [thanks to my +1 Hero town]
• 20 Marauders with light armour, shields & full command
• 17 Marauders with 2-handed axes, light armour & full command
• 5 Marauder Riders with shields & musician
• 3 Ogres (Special choice)
• Hamish the Hairy, Giant (Rare choice)

TOTAL: 1,021 points [thanks to my +25pts river]

How with Fingal the Frisky fare in what promises to be a brutal campaign? Find out soon!

A Call To Arms: Writing the Roster Sheet

Apologies for the gap between posts: real life got in the way.

So far, I’ve been waxing lyrical on theme and creating an army with a vivid back-story. Of course, the aim of Warhammer is to lead men, goblins, rats or even women (shock, horror!) into battle. And if I’m to take to the battlefield, I might as well try and win the odd battle.

Now we come to what I have always struggled with: putting together a competitive force.

You will have read that I will happily weaken tactical options in favour of strengthening the theme. So let’s start with the theme and work back from there.

Difficult decisions are the privilege of rank

Friedrich’s troops live in a forest in a remote northern part of the Empire. Clearly, they wouldn’t be trundling any war-machines through the forest: no steam tanks, mortars or beloved volley guns (sniff!) then. I decided that it would be plausible for Friedrich to have arranged for one single cannon to guard the gate – but no more. Almost no war-machines meant by extension no Master Engineers.

Try getting a steam tank over here!

Likewise, black powder would be at a premium, so would only be used by the most elite troops and heroes. No handgunners with their armour-piercing shots, then.

I know what you’re thinking: that’s an awful lot of things to write-off before even starting on the army list. Luckily, the Empire has access to loads of great troops and the Specials and rare slot system forces Empire general to make tough decisions on what to leave out. At least letting the theme drive these decisions would make the army unique.

"Now who will stand on either hand, And keep the bridge with me?"

So what would Friedrich’s force be likely to include?

To start off, there are some units which I love too much to not include. Spearmen are great for the points and their ability to fight on 2 ranks compensate somewhat for poor (i.e. human) Weapon Skill and Strength. Plus, I already had a block of them from a previous discarded project.

Halberdiers are the Empire for me. Though the 6^th edition Warhammer rules don’t make halberds as effective as they should be, they’re still pretty cool. So a detachment of them would join the block of 20 Spearmen.

It just wouldn't be the Empire without these chaps - right?

To patrol the surrounding forest and swiftly report back would require a unit of light cavalry. My all-time favourites, Pistoliers, would fit the role perfectly. Being formed up of the sons of noble and aspiring merchant families, their status justifies this rare use of gunpowder. Their 2 armour-piercing attacks in the first round of combat would allow me to deal swiftly with enemy scouts and war-machines, as well as supporting the beefier units of the army.

Favourite unit in the game!

Friedrich’s back-story – which I will expand on shortly – describes how he was once a Knight of the Reiksguard turned rogue. He would therefore get a unit of Knights – these would be my shock troops and, along with the Spearmen, form the backbone of the army. It might have made sense for them to be armed with two-handed weapons, as lances are a little unwieldy for the forest. Unfortunately, I didn’t manage to get my hands on any and the arms’ positions meant that these chaps would be quite a bit of work to convert. I’ve learned in previous projects that too much perfectionism can at times cause the entire production to grind to a halt. Lances will have to do!

"Our cavalry will ride them down like grass."

As for characters, I would of course include Friedrich. Maximilian ‘Mad Max’ the Gate-Keeper was a bit of a fun project, but I don’t really see him fitting in my first 1,000 points. Instead, I decided to go for a wizard. The forest meant that one college of magic immediately stood out: the Lore of the Beasts. This ties in particularly well with the theme, as the god revered in Talabecland, Taal, is lord of the beasts. The wizard will form part of a little scenery project, which I will save for another post…

Men in tights, anyone?

Finally, a forest wouldn’t be complete without Huntsmen and their longbows. Hardly the most powerful unit in the game, but with their ability to Scout and their skirmish formation, I’m hoping to irritate my opponents by provoking them into wasting resources and blocking their marches.

You go to war with the army you have. But...

I find it most resource-effective to think about my 1,500pts and 2,000pts lists when writing the 1,000pts list. This avoids buying and painting units for 1,000pts which I then have to drop off for tactical choices when going up to the next step. For example, I desperately wanted 2 units of Pistoliers and worked out how to fit them both in 1,000pts. But then realised I would need another really solid infantry unit in 1,500/2,000pts. So I decided to leave the 3^rd and final Special slot for Greatswords later on. So I spent the remaining points on a detachment of Crossbowmen.

My plan is also to work out what the final list would be so that I can buy/make both a carry case and a scenic display in which the army fits perfectly. Suffice to say I never did this when I was younger.

I also have ambitious plans to create a scenic base for army, which both fits in the display cabinet and can be carried safely to tourneys.   

Return to Kislev: 1,500pts grudge match

Domnall the Deviant sat by the fire, running his hand through his thick black beard, deep in thought. His tribesmen were busy burying their faces in horns of ale or women’s bosoms, but Domnall was their chieftain – he had more important matters to consider. It had been three weeks since he had led the raid into Kislev. He remembered the surprise of finding a gang of grotesque ogres appear to the east as he headed south. The moment of doubt had been short, for he was a servant of Slaanesh and a hardy man of the North; he would not let the Lord of Pleasure down – nor did he. He smiled as he pictured again the elevation of victory, as he had fended off the ogres and crushed the horsemen of Kislev.

So what next? A shadow stirred beside him.

“Haw there, Fingal. What have ye read in the rune bones this sweet evening?”

“The signs are unclear,” answered the sorcerer. His great crest of hair shimmered in the fire light. It reeked of the animal fat the priest of Slaanesh used to keep it stood up.

“Unclear…” Domnall repeated, weighing the word.

“Aye, unclear,” Fingal said again. “But ‘am afeared the Lord of Pleasure will nae reward idleness. Nor can men fill their bellies wi’out food.”

“Aye… Well… We’ best be away then,” Domnall said, rising and adjusting his tweed and fur cloak. “A’right, men!” he shouted and picked up his twin axes, “we off back south tae give the horsemen a kickin’!”

The night echoed with drunken roars of approval. The snowy plains of Kislev would soon run red once more.

A headache at the start

Having unexpectedly thrashed Niklas' Kislevites and held off the other Joseph's Ogre Kingdom army, it only seemed fair to give Niklas the chance of a rematch - besides, I could do with the practice, as I've yet to (re)acquaint myself fully with the 6th edition Warhammer Fantasy Battles rules.

 I took two main lessons from the previous battle: 1. No matter how terrifying they look, full cavalry armies can be beaten with careful timing and judgement; 2. Light cavalry are FAST!

Deployment therefore gave me a big head-ache; literally. Right in the centre of the battlefield was a huge skull, which split the field in two. I would have to decide during the deployment phase which way Niklas would go, as reforming and wheeling to get past the skull would take time. If there’s one luxury an infantry army without shooters doesn’t have against a cavalry army bristling with bows, it’s time!

Realistically, ‘denied flank’ deployment didn’t seem a great option, as both sides of the field also had small woods, which limited the space. Nor did I want to risk starting even further away from him by sitting in a corner. No – there was only one thing for it: I was going to have to split my army into two equal forces and send each one either side, using the skull to anchor their respective inner flanks.

Niklas mirrored this deployment, with one large lancer block & character on each side, supported by horse archers. The boyars were far back. Bronzino’s galloper gun set up camp in a corner opposite my far left, behind the woods (but with a clear line of fire diagonally).

A predictably annoying start

The right flank (west, facing south)

Learning that light cavalry is annoyingly fast didn’t make it any less irritating to see Niklas (who won the roll off to go first) send the block of lancers which had deployed opposite my right flank back around the skull in preparation of supporting a now obvious all-out attacked on my left flank. He left just 2 units of horse archers in place to whittle down my right flank. They targeted the hounds who were on screening duty. Two of the hounds died and the rest fled. Happily, their low unit value meant no one nearby had to take panic tests. My ogres, giant and block of 20 marauders on that flank were too far to be able to quickly redeploy. The ogres nonetheless about-faced to force march over to the east. I decided to press ahead with the giant and marauders though, rather than present my flank to cavalry in a costly wheel. They would serve as a rear-guard to my left flank – a very points-expensive rear guard.

The left flank (east, facing south)

My best bet was to use the narrow gap between the skull in the centre and the woods on the left to funnel the horsemen towards my lines.

Niklas’ cute little pop-pop gun took out one knight (unpainted and not shown), reducing them to 5 knights. These fearlessly headed into the fray and took on the elite Griffon Legion. On the eastern-most point of the battlefield, my light cavalry headed round the woods to hold up a block of lancers and a unit of horse archers – a big ask, but they only needed to buy me a couple of turns while I dealt with the main chunk of his army in the centre.

The Griffon Legion sent my Chaos Knights packing in the centre.

“Shall we dance?” 

The fight on the west end of the field can be described in few words: 1. horse archers loosed arrows (few casualties); 2. my marauders and giant advanced; 3. horse archers fell back to safety - repeat steps 1 to 3 for the duration of the battle. Highly frustrating. 

The ogres head slowly over to the other end, while the rest plough on.

I didn’t want to show them a flank by attempting to move in support of my force on the eastern side, as flank charges are never fun. Fingal the Frisky lured one unit closer with Titillating Delusions, but to little avail. 

With a mere 184 points, Niklas tied down over 500 points of my army and slowed down the arrival of the ogres (176 points).

Nothing quiet on the eastern front

While this merry dance was going on on the western front, the forces in the east were getting stuck in. 

A valiant stand to hold back the flanking attack round the woods.

My light cavalry performed their office well, holding off the Kislevite flank attack around the woods - and paying with their lives.

My best performing unit was the smaller block of marauders led by Domnall the Deviant himself. They broke the Griffon Legion and sent the unit of boyars on foot packing. Things were looking up.

Undaunted by the fleeing knights, Domnall leads his marauders into the fray.

They beat back the Griffon Legion and take on the boyars.

 They pursued the boyars, but fell just paces (1”) short of slamming into the block of lancers. The next turn was painful, as the general Alekzandr and his winged lancers charged. The ensuing fight was close run, but the marauders broke and were ridden down.

But then fall just short on the lancers who arrived around behind.

A bird's eye view of the eastern half of the battlefield, where it was all being decided.

Bang! Bang!

Around the same time, Bronzino ordered his gun to take a pot shot at Sileas the Seductress. She had been causing a few Kislevite casualties with her Lore of Death spells. The cannon ball flew over her head - phew! - and bounced right into one of the ogres who had been slowly making their way over from the western end. The thug was slain, causing his fellows to promptly panic and run off the field - argh!

Wrong place, wrong time.

Revenge came swiftly, though, as on the next turn the gun misfired and blew up! Luckily for him, Bronzino himself had already left to join Alekzandr’s lancers.

Every gunner's worst nightmare

Sileas’ reprieve was short-lived, as Niklas’ other hero, Ivan, cut her down (helped by me forgetting that Chaos sorcerers have Chaos armour by default - lesson learned).

Ding! Dong! The witch is dead!

A final roll of the dice

Hamish the Hairy Giant and my rallied chaos knights arrived just in time to drive off Alekzandr’s lancers, but couldn’t catch them in pursuit.

A much emptier field...

The battle ended with Hamish being charged on by the other unit of lancers. The hairy giant was slain and fell on the knights, killing two of them.

Err... Yeah... Oops!

A surprisingly balanced game on the left flank thus ended in a massacre - and a grinning Niklas.

Dusk fell once more, as Domnall regained consciousness. The field was covered in the blood of his men. He saw a familiar crested figure walking towards him. 

“Will the lass live?”

“Just abou’,” Fingal said, looking towards the priestess of Death. “Perhaps this will teach her tae serve Slaanesh himself. Though I doubt it.”

“And the giant?”

“Hamish?” Fingal laughed. “Aye! He wasnae hurt. The clumsy oath fell asleep on top of ye knights!”

Domnall grunted.

“Unclear signs, ey?... Well... Next time!”