Warmaster Orcs vs. Skaven 1500pt Battle Report

Chad and I fought a 1500pt battle last night between my SKaven and his Orcs. Unfortuantely, the Bunker closed before we could finish it (silly employees and wanting to see their families!) but here is the report.

The forces of Shaggrudd “Orc-in Man” Dethblasta:

Characters
1 Orc General
2 Orc Heroes
1 Goblin Hero
1 Orc Shaman with Dispel Scroll
1 Goblin Shaman

Brigades, with abbreviations
2 Goblins (Gob1)
2 Goblins (Gob2)
2 Orcs, 1 Black Ork (Black Orks)
2 Orcs, 1 Ogre (Ogres)
2 Boar Boys (Boarboys)
1 Giant (Giant)


Deployment

The forces of Skrrt “Verminator” Slash-Throat:

Characters:
1 Grey Seer with Orb of Majesty
2 Skaven Heroes
1 Warlock

Brigades, with abbreviations
2 Rat Swarms, 1 Rat Ogres, 2 Clanrats, 1 Doomwheel (Col1)
2 Rat Swarms, 1 Rat Ogres, 3 Clanrats (Col2)
2 Rat Swarms, 1 Rat Ogres (Col3)
2 Jezzails, 1 Warp Lightning Cannon (Jez1)
1 Jezzails (Jez2)
1 Gutter Runners (GR)


Deployment

Chad can add his thoughts on force composition later.

My tactics for Skaven are to have what other armies would consider a normal assault type regiment of three lines of troops behind an ablative shield of two Rat Swarms. Rat Swarms are weak (2A, 3W, no armor) but cannot be driven back by shooting, making it difficult for an opponent to move the brigade out of position.

In this case I was using basically every painted unit I have and decided to add a Doomwheel to one column, and a third Rat Swarm to another. This would allow me to do some testing of the 3 columns behind 1 line formation many use versus the 3 line formation I usually use. I was not able to do this for reasons that will become apparent. The third column was essentially the remainder of my basic troops.

I then flank my Columns with Jezzails, usually 2 and a Warp Lightning Cannon, to funnel the enemy towards the assault columns. Again, didn’t work for reasons that I will expound upon later.

Gutter Runners infiltrate in to attack artillery and stragglers.

More soon.

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SG

Ghost's Paint Blog, where everything goes that isn't something else.

Chad Turn 1

Orc Hero got off three orders to Gob1, leaving the gobbos panting, but in dense terrain in the woods, and thus Defended when assaulted.

The Hero, emboldened by his success, then attempted to order the Ogre Brigade forwards, but the dumb brutes were unable to understand the complex plan (“Forward!”).

Other Hero failed to order Gob2.

Goblin Shaman ordered the Boarboys forwards.

Orc General urged the Black Orcs forward successfully, managing to command them twice.

The General then shouted at the Giant until it lumbered forwards twice.

There was no shooting.

During the magic phase, the Goblin Shaman cast ‘geroff on the Rat Ogres of Col2, rolling 15cm for the move back. The Clanrats refused to make way for the Moulder monstrosities, confusing them.


Confusion reigns as Column 2’s Rat Ogres are pushed back by ‘geroff

There were no assaults.


Orcs after Turn 1. This picture was actually taken after my turn as well, but no assaults or shooting occurred during Turn 1, so they are in the same position as after Chad’s turn.

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SG

Ghost's Paint Blog, where everything goes that isn't something else.

Nat Turn 1

Hero 1 failed to order Jezzails 2, with the skittish rats refusing to come out of the safety of the woods.

The Warlock failed to order Jezzails 1, as the Clawleader had a score to settle with him.

Hero 2 ordered Column 3 into the woods in front of them. They rushed to comply; maybe they had an ulterior motive?

Skrrt ordered Column 1 forwards. The rats were more frightened of the horned seer than the enemy; they moved forward twice, ending just in front of the Goblins 1 in the woods.

There was no magic.

There was no shooting due to the incompetence and treachery shown on the flanks.

There were no assaults.


Skaven positioning at the end of Turn 1. Goblins 1 can be seen in front of the leftmost Skaven Brigade.

_________________
SG

Ghost's Paint Blog, where everything goes that isn't something else.

Nice report so far, looking forward to hearing more.

Chad Turn 2

With a bellow, the Giant initiative charges into the flank of the Doomwheel.

The Orcs from the Black Orcs Intitiative charge in to the front of Column 1 with an enormous “WAAAAAGH!”, and the Goblins follow suit with a much weedier war cry.


The Orc Hero shouts his orders. Goblin 1 is advanced forward, but “din’t ‘ear” their second order.

The other Orc Hero commands the Ogre brigade, but the oafs from the north again prove incapable of understanding orders even an Orc would find simple.

The Goblin Hero Commands the second regiment of Goblins from Goblin 1 to support the melee in the center of the board.


The Big One. Column 1 prepares to take on all comers, but will they survive to tell the tale?

With a mighty breath… Shaggrudd inhales an enormous fly, and in his fit of coughing, is unable to command the remainder of the Black Orc brigade.

In the magic phase, the pesky Goblin Shaman again casts ’gerroff on Column 2 pushing the Rat Ogres Back. This time, the Clanrats make way, and the rearmost rank is left hanging off board, though none of the units are Confused.


The rearmost ranks flee the rancid breath of the Goblin Shaman, with mutters of “Brush-brush, green-thing.”

Towards the big furball, the Orc Shaman fails to cast Gotcha!, and more Gobbos plot revolt, as the Orcs are clearly inferior!

No Orc shooting occurs.

In the assault phase, the Orcs do five wounds to the scurrying Rat Swarms, while taking three. The Gobins do four hits, and take no casualties. The first rank of rat swarms are wiped out, and the greenskins advance into the second regiment of swarms

The Orcs do three wounds to the fresh rats, and the Goblins do four. The Rat Swarms do no damage back. (This could have been a notation error, but they certainly did not do enough damage to bring down a stand.) The towering Rat Ogres refuse to make way for the Swarms, and the Orcs and their Goblin compatriots make a show of ‘ead popping as many as they can.


The front ranks of Rat Swarms are gone. Will the Orc-in men be able to take the big ones as easily?

The Giant does four wounds to the Doomwheel for none in return, sending the crackling construct crashing to the ground. Skrrt curses the incompetence of the Skyre Engineer that sold him the contraption as the Giant advances into the flank of the Rat Ogres. He will meet the blades of Skrrt’s Eshin contacts before long!

The Giant does two wounds on the Rat Ogres, and the Rat Ogres, surprised by being attacked from the side, do only one back. However, the Skaven have three supporting stands, and the Giant loses by one. The Rat Ogres decide not to pursue anything bigger than they are, lest they get ‘ead popped too.

The Orcs fall back laterally, ending up at the foot of a hill, and the Goblins fall back to the relative safety of the woods.


Post combat positions, showing how the indomitable might of the Skaven Hordes sent the Orcs running for their collective lives.

I'll try to get skaven turn two up tomorrow night, but my son's Bday party may interfere...

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SG

Ghost's Paint Blog, where everything goes that isn't something else.

Nat Turn 2

The Skaven take the “initiative”.

The Rat Ogres roared and initiative charged into the Goblins in front of them.

The first rank of Clanrats, emboldened by the Rat Ogre’s charge, initiative charged into the Orcs off to their left.

The second rank of Clanrats, knowing they will feel their Warlord’s displeasure if they fail to fight, reluctantly initiative charge the Giant.

The Rat Swarms, hoping for an easy meal, initiative charge the Giant in the flank.


The Skaven of Column 1 charge the green-things.

Hero 1 failed to move Jez2, who wisely (in their estimation) stayed in the cover of the woods.

The Warlock moved Jez1 forward, but the gunners did not want to get any closer than necessary and balked at the second order.

Hero 2 ordered the Rat Swarms from Column 2 twice, leaving them behind the giant to make his escape more difficult.

Skrrt moved Column 3 twice onto the central hill.

In the magic phase, the Warlock cast Skitterleap, reappearing in the center of the main fighting. He then attempted to cast death frenzy, but ran out of Warpstone powder at this critical moment.

There was no shooting, as the Jezzail teams were obviously made up of the most cowardly of Skaven, and would find themselves enslaved or eaten after the battle!

On the left, the Clanrats did 3 hits on the Orcs, felling a second stand. The Orcs returned with 2 hits of their own. After pursuing, the Skaven destroyed the Orc regiment, then advanced to support the Rat Ogres.


The Orcs are surrounded by Clanrats!

In the center combat, the Goblins stood and shot, doing 3 hits to the Rat Ogres before they could even get to the tiny greenskins! Enraged, the Rat Ogres did 7 hits to the Goblins, destroying two stands and wounding the third. The Goblins fought back with three wounds of their own, dropping one stand of the hulking abominations to the ground. The Rat Ogres then pursued to destroy the Goblins.

The towering creations then advanced into the flank of the second unit of Goblins, who were safely inside the woods and counted as Defended. The Goblins stood and shot, but were unable to wound the Rat Ogres further.

The Rat Ogres did two hits to the Goblins, while the surprised Goblins did none in return. The Rat Ogres pursued and surrounded the Goblins, doing a further 2 wounds and killing a stand, with the terrified Goblins still unable to land any blows. The Rat Ogres then continued the pursuit and destroyed the goblin unit.


The Rat Ogres finish their meal as the Clanrats begin the attack on the Giant.

In the assault on the Giant, the Clanrats did 2 wounds, while the Rat Swarms were unable to wound the Giant at all. In return, the Giant landed three massive blows on the Rat Swarm, killing off a stand. The Skaven pursued the Giant, wrapping around him to cut off his retreat.


No retreat!

The Clanrats did two hits on the Giant, and the Rat Swarms did one. The Giant, infuriated by the damage the Skaven were doing, crushed another stand of Rats with some of the five wounds he inflicted! The Skaven lost the combat and fell back. The Giant consolidated behind the Brigade of Rat Swarms, but was Badly Injured.


Breaking the envelopment.


More rat-on-stick! Giant want more!

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SG

Ghost's Paint Blog, where everything goes that isn't something else.

Chad Turn 3

The Giant initiative charged the rear of the Rat Swarms.

The Black Orcs initiative charged the Rat Ogres.


The dust settles from initiative charges.

The Goblin Shaman attempted to order the Goblins towards Column 3, and blundered! He rolled “Up and at ‘em boyz!” and they charged towards Column 3.

The Orc Hero attempted to command the Boarboys, and Blundered, as well! He rolled “You must be crazy!” and one of the regiments got a minus one to Command for the remainder of the battle.


Chad berates his Goblin Shaman for his poor performance. (Recreated, I know that’s not a “You must be crazy!” he appears to have rolled. It was late.)

The other Orc Hero failed to command the brigade with the Ogres.

Shaggrudd ordered the Orc boys twice, ending in a flank charge on Col1’s Rat Ogres.


The Orcs crash into the Skaven lines.

The Orc Shaman attempted to cast Waaaagh!, and failed!

The Goblin Shaman attempted to cast ’gerroff, and also failed! Skrrt breathed a sigh of relief as he felt the winds of magic dissipate with no effect.

The goblins on the hill shot at the front rank of Rat Swarms from Col3, and scored 2 hits, but the Rats were unperturbed, and the hits were scratched after the shooting phase.

In combat, the Black Orks did 7 hits on the Rat Ogres, while the Rat Ogres did three to the Black Orks, with both sides felling a stand. Meanwhile, the Clan Rats and Orc Boys exchanged a hit each.


Combat after the first round clears.

In the second round, the Black Orcs felled the final stand of Rat Ogres, while the Orc Boys destroyed the Clanrats! The Boys advanced into the rear of the Clanrats remaining from the combat in the Skaven turn.


The Boys charge the clanrats.

The Orcs and Clanrats each did three wounds, killing a stand each, drawing the combat, and falling back.


The Giant thunders into the rear of the Rat Swarms, but he is cut off by Clanrats!

The Giant took his padded mallet, er… big stick, and started to smack any rat that stuck it’s head above the ground, scoring four hits on the rodents, and confusing them as they burst through the second unit. In return, the Rat Swarm did one hit on the Giant. The Giant then did a further four hits on the hard-headed Rats, even though they seemingly popped above ground level faster and for shorter periods. Unfortunately, the Rats were above ground for such a short time they couldn’t do any damage to the Giant. The second unit of rats refused to make way for the battered regiment, and the final stand was destroyed. The Giant roared “Whack… Whack… Whack…” and advanced into the second unit.

Over the five rounds off combat, the Giant destroyed the second unit, though it was down to it’s last wound. As the Giant bellowed “Game Over, rats!” Shaggrudd’s turn ended.

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SG

Ghost's Paint Blog, where everything goes that isn't something else.