First off, my painting progress. It's been a whole two days since my last game, so I didn't have a lot of time. Managed to add one Dwarf Warrior to my painted total. He's fun because he's an old metal model, which I have mixed in with the newer models. I love the random and personal look of mixing models from different eras: it's what makes Dwarfs such a great force (my Skaven too... the new with the old can have a neat feel if the colors fit). Here he is pictured next to the piece of terrain that would become the definitive bit of the battle"
Speaking of old, classic models. That fold-up paper house that was converted to the brewery is from a long-distant Warhammer 5th edition box set--the one with Bretonnians and Lizardmen.
I showed up with 2,500 points of Dwarfs, and found out I was facing: Dwarfs. Already laughter ensued because Dwarf-on-Dwarf violence is equal parts silly and devastating. The mission was a Dawn Attack, which made everything more complex--that mission you roll randomly for each unit to determine which part of the battle line it must be placed in: Left, Right, or Center. We started rolling our lists, and deploying the forces.
My Dwarf Throng, in beautiful panoramic view
So I decided to try panoramic photos to do army deployments, so I could get closer to the models. I'll see how it turns out on the finished blog and whether I like this method or want to simply use multiple close-ups instead. The photo above is my 2,500 points--the same 2,000 I fielded last game with 500 additional points: a Dwarf Lord on Shieldbearers, a unit of Dwarf Warriors with hand weapon and shield, and a Bolt Thrower.
Tom's Dwarf Horde
Tom's Dwarfs had some similarities and some differences to mine. His force was led by Belegar Ironhammer, but also included Queen Helgar--the classic old female Dwarf mini. A core of Longbeards, Ironbreakers, Trollslayers, and three units of Thunderers composed his battle line. These were supported by two Organ Guns and a Gyrocopter.
Because of the randomness of Dawn Attack, it happened that my entire left flank was really only one unit of Quarrelers, while his entire right flank (after the Organ Guns were destroyed by deadly-accurate Grudge-Thrower shots) was one unit of Thunderers. The two units pretty much plinked at each other across the Ye Old Ale building for the entire game. Thus, the game was quickly named the "Shootout at the Brewhaus". (side note: it ended with my unit of twelve Quarrelers down to just two, but his unit of ten Thunderers retaining a robust five models... Maybe guns are better, or maybe they just wanted the booze more)
My first-turn artillery proved to be brutal, with the Grudge Throwers wiping out his war machines, and my Bolt Thrower lining up a perfect shot on his Gyrocopter. One hit, one wound, and d3 becoming 3 wounds later the 'copter crashed to the ground in a flaming wreck.
On my army's right flank was a Statue of Khaine, which granted Frenzy to all four of the melee units in my army. Belegar crashed forward with his Ironbreakers, but fell short with two successive charges in trying to reach my Irondrakes. While the Irondrakes had the Rune of Slowness they didn't even need it's effects--as charge rolls were one the first (of many, many) moments when double 1's plagued the enemy Dwarfs.
The opposing Trollslayers reached their target, my horde of Great Weapon Warriors at the center of my line. Between the deathblow attacks and the fact that he chose to fight with two hand weapons, I started losing a surprising number of Warriors. While they won the combat, it was barely in their favor--the Trollslayers were going to be a grind of a fight.
Tho nothing would prove to be as much of a grind as the battle between my Ironbreakers and the enemy Longbeards. My Dwarf Lord general challenged his character: Queen Helgar. Both forces proved to be utterly solid and defensive, and two whole turns of combat went by before a leader struck a single wound against the other. Finally, my Dwarf Lord got two wounds from a lucky shot from Queen Helgar's mighty axe. Yet the Ironbreakers kept managing to win combats, usually due to rank advantage and a single casualty. With both units benefiting from the Stubborn special rule, it meant that the fight was going to take a while!
My Runelord struck his mark again and again on the Anvil of Doom, but it was slow going getting any castings off against rival Dwarfs. He did manage to cast the Rune of Wrath and Ruin on the opposing Runesmith who was out wandering about on his own. The burst of energy inflicted two wounds, but the Runesmith revealed to be thoroughly protected with a 1+ armor save. And of course, the curse of the double-ones struck again--landing two wounds onto the enemy character. However, he managed to fight on with one wound left thanks to the Rune of Iron.
Things continued to worsen for the Trollslayers. While they kept inflicting lots of wounds, they were only fifteen to the thirty of my horde of Warriors with great weapons. There was a moment when I was poised to wipe out the last of the Trollslayers on their turn, leaving me able to charge the enemy in my turn... and suddenly the axes turned to nerf and I failed to kill the last of them. He hung on for another round--and even took another two Warriors with him as he died.
On my right flank, things were going better. It's the only spot where I won a decisive victory, and even that was closely fought. My sword-and-board Warriors and their Runesmith managed to get a flank charge against Belegar and his Ironbreakers. While the combat took some time, and I lost a round of combat and had to test Leadership on the turn Belegar doubled his attacks, I managed to hang around long enough forcing tests on the unit as they slowly whittled away. Then, with a round of combat where I won by a single point, the Stubborn enemy unit managed to fail their leadership test and be run down by my pursuing Dwarfs.
Finally, both delayed once and forgotten once, the enemy's Miners arrived to wreak havoc on my backfield. They started by throwing their blasting charges at the Grudge Thrower crew, killing two of them. Then a quick charge from them the next turn wiped out the war machine--my counter shooting didn't do enough to stop the resolute Miners.
The wounded Runesmith charged into a flank to try and sway the combat between my Ironbreakers and the enemy Longbeards, but it was to no avail. The battle continued to be a slap-fight, with both sides inflicting very few casualties. It reminded me of one of my favorite Order of the Stick comics in its fruitless ending. A lucky shot (and another roll of a one) from an Ironbreaker managed to fell the Runesmith, but the battle showed no sign of stopping even when the game ended. I continued to win because I had more ranks thanks to early artillery fire and a bit of an armor advantage over the enemy. But Stubborn is stubborn, and neither side was going anywhere until all were defeated--and the game ended with them locked in combat still.
The marauding Miners crashed forward with an over-run movement into the Anvil of Doom. The first round of the combat, they inflicted three additional wounds on the Runelord (to only one loss of their own), and then they finished the Anvil on the second turn. The Anvil was a lot of points to lose, but my Dwarf foes would need more than just that to equalize the game.
The last-chance hope of the enemy. A unit of Thunderers managed to survive a charge from the now-thinning line of Warriors with great weapons thanks to poor rolls on my part and some timely armor and parry saves on their part. Then the other unit of Thunderers charged from the flank. It was that point where my dice choose to go south inflicting not a single wound in combat. However, the banners made it so I didn't lose too badly, and on the last roll of the game my unit managed to hang in the fight despite their losses.
The game ended with me scoring 1451 points and Tom's Dwarfs managing 771. We did the math, and had his Thunderers all accomplished their tasks (killing the Quarrelers in the shoot-out and managing to wipe out my huge unit of Warriors) things would have been much closer. All came down to a few critical dice rolls, and the power of Dwarf leadership to keep things together in the final round of the game--even when losing casualties in combat or taking panic tests from shooting. A great game, as Dwarf-on-Dwarf action is always a challenge. Time to switch things up for my next game!
Battles
Total 2015: 15 (Win/Loss/Tie: 9/4/2)
Total 2014: 15 (Win/Loss/Tie: 8/6/1)
Skaven:
7 Wins (Undead 2, Empire 1, T&T Daemons and Dwarfs, Siege Dwarfs and Bretonnians, T&T Daemons and Empire, T&T Dual Undead)
8 Losses (Lizadmen 1, Skaven 1, Empire 1, Dwarfs 1, Daemons 1, T&T Daemons 1, T&T Dwarfs 1, Special Game Nurgle)
1 Tie (Empire 1)
Dwarfs:
8 Wins (Lizardmen 1, Dwarfs 3, Wood Elves 2, T&T Undead and Dwarfs, T&T Lizardmen and Wood Elves)
1 Loss (Dark Elves 1)
1 Tie (T&T Dual Undead)
Twas a fun game and closer in the end, than the way it started. You have 15 games in and its only Apr 30! You only played 15 all last year. That's great.
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