A pint of Bugman’s best, please: fighting Chaos Dwarfs is thirsty work!

Neither Hell nor high water

Sunday was, we can all agree, a pretty epic stormy day. I battled my way through the torrential downpour to reach the warmth and relative safety of Bugman’s Brewery, Warhammer World. Pint of Trollbrew in hand, I met up with Tom, a friend who has an amazing Chaos Dwarf army. 

We had previously met on one occasion last year, when our armies had deployed opposite each other in a doubles game. Like me, he is still getting used to the rules and mechanics of Warhammer 6^th edition. Unlike me, he wasn’t able to attend any of last year’s tournaments, so this day would be about gently easing him back into it and generally enjoying the splendour of our settings in Warhammer World.

Tom had an immediate victory over me; his army is fully painted to a lovely standard, whereas mine still has bare undercoat in places. Mea culpa.Head over to Instagram to see the Chaos Dwarfs in all their glory: @filmdegminiatures 

The rosters

We decided to play a small 850 points battle. This is a really fun format, as you can play quickly but still have plenty to think about during the battle. 

Here is the list I went with:

· Ludwig the Lost (captain, lance, full plate, shields barded warhorse) [the Fox Lord doesn’t get out of bed for small gigs and was happy to send his lieutenant out into the rain]

· Wenceslas the Wild (Lore of Beasts, Level 2 wizard)

· 7 Knights of the Prowling Fox (Inner Circle, standard, musician)

· 20 Spearmen (full command, shields)

· 6 Huntsmen (scouts, champion)

· 5 Pistoliers (champion with repeater pistol)

· Great Cannon

Tom’s small (in every sense) but solid force was:

· Hero

· Sorcerer (Lore of Fire, Level 2)

· 10 Blunderbusses

· 2 x 10 Warriors (both units with full command, heavy armour, hand weapon, shield)

· 2 x Death Rockets

· Earthshaker 

Over the hills and far away
The battlefield had two large hills on either flank, though woods and ruins blocked line of sight across the hills. Ruins in the middle of the battlefield also meant careful consideration was required at deployment phase to get the most out of artillery. 

I put my two big blocks – spearmen and knights – in the centre, just to the right of the main ruins, with Ludwig leading the knights and Wenceslas next to the spears. I was nervous about having them too closely packed, as the evil stunties had 3 template artillery weapons, but considered it a risk worth taking in order to deliver one devastating gut-punch at his centre. My cannon went on the hill far on the right, to support the action in the centre. 

Tom put a unit of warriors, his blunderbusses, sorcerer and hero in the centre, opposite my two blocks, with a rocket sheltered away from my cannon but in an excellent position to influence the centre. 

My opponent then made a mistake in deployment which would cost him dearly (but then is that not what practice games are for?); he put his Earthshaker and one of the rockets next to each other, right by a small patch of woods, with a unit of warriors in front of the woods. It was too tempting to refuse and my huntsmen deployed as scouts, ready to pounce. I put my pistoliers on my left, ready to make the most of their 16” light cavalry movement to support the huntsmen.

We rolled for turn 1: he got a 1 and I got a 6. This would turn out to pretty much sum up the Dwarfs’ dice luck for the game.

I opted to go first. 

The Tale of Ludwig the Lost
This was not Ludwig’s first engagement. Many and long were the days since his first foray. Now his hair and beard were grey. Wisdom matched the hunger for revenge which ever burned in his heart since he had lost his own army in that ill-fated battle. He ordered the horn-blowers sound the advance. The spearmen marched forward in the centre. He touched his spurs and led the Knights of the Prowling Fox on alongside them, being careful to put a bit more space between the two units. He had no intention of offering the enemy’s artillery too tempting a target.

Though he could not see it, owing to the ruined temple in the centre of the field, he knew that the scouts would have heard the horns sounding and moved out from their hiding place in the woods. Their targets were the crew of the Earthshaker and rocket launcher which they had reported being deployed there. A glance back confirmed this, as Reinhart’s riders, all armed with deadly twin pistols, galloped up towards the same place. He had ordered them to advance as soon as they saw the scouts, to keep the enemy warriors on that flank distracted.

A flash in the pan
He waited for the bang that would tell of the cannon’s first shot; it did not come. He turned to see the master gunner gesticulating at the crew to empty the barrel and reload. He grunted. Wet powder.

Unbeknownst to Ludwig, the huntsmen sent a volley of arrows flying from the woods and took out one of the dwarfs manning the dreaded Earthshaker cannon. The nearby warriors heard the commotion and turned to march towards them, despite the threat of the approaching pistoliers.

Losses from the Earthshaker

Despite the loss of a crew member, the Earthshaker fired. Its name was well earned and the valley echoed with its terrible thunder. As the echoes died away, a new sound could be heard; screams as spearmen writhed in agony. Happily, the rockets failed to hit their targets, giving the centre of Ludwig’s line some respite. The spearmen looked ready to falter, but he bellowed at them to stand their ground. The line of blunderbusses opposite the knights fired. Ludwig grimaced, but luckily the shots fell short.

At last, the master gunner had got his cannon into working order. A ball whistled across the field, bounced ounce, and hit a blunderbuss-wielding dwarf. A bloody wreck showed where the evil wretch had once stood.

Ludwig would have liked to charge the rest down, but his knights were still trying to calm their horses following the Earthshaker’s single blast. Wenceslas muttered an incantation. Out of nearby woods a flock of crows appeared and swooped down as if to attack the dwarfs. A figure emerged from the enemy ranks and chanted some words read hastily from a scroll. A blinding green light shined forth, scaring the crows away.

Ride on time
On the left flank, Reinhart saw the warriors turn their backs on him to face the huntsmen. He shouted a hunting cry and charged into their backs. His men fired their pistols, slaying many of the dwarfs. The rest tried to run, but fell under horses’ hooves to their utter destruction. The crew of the Earthshaker fared no better; the huntsmen ran in among them. The dwarfs panicked and fled the field, leaving the gun silent for the remainder of the battle. The nearby rocket crew decided to err on the side of caution and dragged their weapon away towards the woods. They would later rally and fire a rocket at the huntsmen.  The huntsmen charged them, hoping to dish out the same punishment they had given the Earthshaker. But the Dwarfs stood firm, killing 2 huntsmen and sending the rest packing.

In the centre, Ludwig’s knights suffered a casualty to shooting. In response, the old captain bellowed a war cry and the knights rode down the blunderbuss dwarfs, who stood no chance, despite a desperate last volley against the knights. They were ridden down effortlessly. Not for nothing were these select men known as the Fox Lord’s Inner Circle.

The dwarf’s leader, enraged at what was happening around him, roared an order in his dark tongue. The warriors charged into the spearmen - even the sorcerer joined in the fray. The chieftain himself ran towards Wenceslas, cutting him badly with his axe. It was too much for the forest-dwelling mage, who hurried off to save his life. 

The battle between dwarf warriors and spearmen slogged on, with blow answering blow. Neither side managed to do great harm.

Reinhart's return
Suddenly there came the sound of hooves and of pistols firing. Reinhart had led his rising around behind the dwarf lines to charges the warriors in the rear - this was becoming something of a speciality of theirs, it seemed. The dwarf sorcerer panicked and fled, only to run straight into a cannon ball - ouch!

Eventually the dwarf standard stood alone in a sea of red and yellow tunics. Then it wavered. It fell. And thus the day was won.

Reinhart rode over and handed the fallen flag to the captain. 

“Keep it,” Ludwig said. “And give it to Lord Friedrich yourself. He will reward you handsomely.”

“But what about you, sir?”

The old man chuckled.

“I have my reward already,” he said - and placed a ridiculously oversized hat taken from a dead Chaos Dwarf onto his head. “Let’s see anyone mock my grey hair now!”

When all's said and done
Tom had some really bad luck with the dice. Some of those fights could definitely have gone his way.

The Chaos Dwarfs also strike me as a very tricky force to use. There were no mobile units to cover his artillery. Hobgolin Wolf Riders or archers would certainly prove useful. But then we go to war with the armies we've got, rather than the ones we would like to have or hope to have at a later stage.

The single most important fact, though - indeed the only one which counts in Warhammer - is that we both had tremendous fun. I look forward to seeing Tom return to lead his evil stunties in a bid for revenge!

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.