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Pitched Battle

My list:
Black Orc Warboss, Sword of Striking, Glittering Scales, Iron Curse Icon, Shield, Talisman of Preservation
Orc Great Shaman, Lvl 4, Talisman of Endurance
Black Orc Big Boss, BSB, Shield, Dragonhelm
24 Boyz, Shields, Banner, Musician
24 Boyz, Shields, Banner, Musician
45 Night Goblins, Nets
45 Night Goblins, Nets
2 Wolf Chariots
2 Wolf Chariots
1 Boar Chariot
1 Boar Chariot
20 Black Orcs, Shields, Banner, Musician, Standard of Discipline
6 Trolls
Doom Diver
Doom Diver
Mangler Squig
Mangler Squig

His List:
Lvl 4 Archmage, Lore of Shadow
Lvl 2 Mage, Lore of Fire, Pick spells Item and Jewel of Dusk
Noble BSB, Armor of Caledor
2 Lion Chariots
35 Spearmen
25 Phoenix Guard (Banner of Sorcery)
21 Swordmasters (Champ with Lorec Item)
3 Eagles
2 Units of 14 Archers

He deploys in pretty much a straight line, from left to right: Eagle, Archers, Eagle, Lion Chariot, Swordmasters, Archers, Spearmen, Phoenix Guard, Chariot and Eagle. Archmage goes in with the Phoenix Guard, Lvl 2 Mage in the center unit of archers and BSB in with the Swordsmen.

I deploy, from left to right, Night Goblins, Wolf Chariots, Boar Chariot, Trolls, Mangler Squig, Black Orcs, Boyz unit, Boar Chariot, Mangler Squig in front of 2 Doom Divers, Boyz unit, Night Goblins and Wolf Chariots.

Turn 1 (His):
Everything marches up, with the far left and far right eagles moving forward of everything else to about 15" away from my wolf chariots on the flanks. Magic Phase: He's getting +3 dice right off the bat with the Jewel of Dusk and Banner of Sorcery. Miscasts casting Pendulum, shooting it straight through a mangler squig and doom diver, killing the squig and putting 1 wound on the doom diver. Loses remaining power dice and the other doom diver passes it's LD check. Shooting phase - puts 2 wounds on the remaining mangler squig and puts a wound on the left group of wolf chariots.

Turn 1 (Mine):
No animosity. Left Night goblins charge the eagle in front of it and fail. Wolf Chariots on the right charge the eagle, it flees but I don't have enough distance to redirect into his chariot. Remaining Wolf Chariots, Boar chariots on the left move up, trools shuffle forward at a flank angle to the BOrcs (case he pulls off a long charge into them), while remaining mangler squig runs 5" up in front of the BOrcs. Magic phase - dispells 'eadbutt and teleport spell, fail to get off Foot of Gork.

Turn 2 (His):
Left Eagle flies behind my Night Goblins, Left Eagle rallies. Everything else pretty much stays where it is. Magic phase - casts Flame Cage at my BOrc unit but is out of range. Gets off Pit of Shades and lands covering both doom divers - 1 fails and goes byebye. Other one rolls a 1 for initiative. Panics Night Goblin unit next to it but runs 3". Shooting kills a couple of Night Goblins and gets the last wound on the Mangler Squig.

Turn 2 (Mine):
Animosity - left Night Goblins run forward 6" - Boys unit on the far right has to declare a charge against the Phoenix Guard (which it fails). Left Wolf Chariots try and charge through the trees against the Lion Chariot ahead of them, fails. Boar Chariot tries as well and fails. 2 Wolf Chariots on the far right try and charge the Lion Chariot in front of them and fail as well (can't roll anything higher than 1s and 2s). Boyz unit in the center moves up with the Boar Chariot next to it, as well as the trolls shuffle up, trying to bait the swordmasters. Magic Phase - roll low and can't get anythign off. Shooting - Doom Diver hits the far right lion chariot (with a redirect of 6"), but fails to do any damage.

Turn 3 (His):
Still doesn't charge. Moves the left Eagle around a bit behind my Night Goblins, Far Right Eagle moves up about 16" away from my right wolf chariots. Magic - Pit of Shades my remaining Doom Diver, but it rolls a 2 for initiative. Casts Flaming Sword on the Archers on the far left. Shooting - tries shooting the trolls and puts 1 wound on them. Archers in the center kill 1 BOrc.

Turn 3 (Mine):
Animosity - Night Goblins on the left surge 6" forward. Far Right Boyz surge 4" forward. Fail charging the left Night Goblins into the archers. Charge the Left Wolf Chariots into the Lion Chariot (pass terrain check) and charge the Right Wolf Chariots into the Right Lion Chariot (noticing a pattern here). Make both. Magic Phase - stops everything again. Shooting - Doom Diver puts 1 wound on the right eagle. Combat - both wolf chariots annihilate the Lion Chariots (10 impact hits apiece), with the left chariots overrunnign into the Eagle in front of them and the right chariots overrunning behind the Phoenix Guard.

Turn 4 (His): Still remains in the same positions pretty much with no charges. Magic Phase - pendulums my right boar Chariot putting another wound on it. Shooting - kills some Night Goblins on the left.

Turn 4 (Mine):
No Animosity. Charge the Right Boyz unit into the Phoenix Guard, Charge the center Boyz into the Spearmen, fail the center Boar Chariot into the Spearmen. Turn both Wolf Chariots around so they are facing the rear of the Swordmasters unit and rear of the Phoenix Guard.
Right Night Goblins fail to rally and run off the board. Magic Phase - finally teleport the BOrc unit so it is protecting the flank of the Boyz who charged the Spearmen (and got the general and BSB) in range of both combats. Shooting Doom Diver scatters wide. Combat - whack away at both units taking casualties, but steadfast keeps both in.

Turn 5 (His):
Tries charging the swordmasters into the BOrc unit, but rolls 3 for his charge distance failiing. Charges the right Eagle into the flank of the Boyz unit. Charges the left Archers into the Night Goblins and the left Eagle into the rear of the Night Goblins. Magic - tries flame cage on my BOrcs, but is dispelled. Hexes my Boyz unit fighting the Spearmen, taking them down to Str 1 (Ouch). Shooting puts 1 wound on the left wolf chariots behind the swordmasters. Combat - breaks both Boyz units, but fails to catch them. Important note though - put 2 wounds on his Archmage in the Phoenix Guard. Breaks the left Night Goblin unit on the left and runs them down.

Turn 5 (Mine - the turning point):
No animosity. Charge 2 Wolf Chariots into the rear of the Swordmasters, Boar Chariot in the front of them, and the BOrcs in the front as well. Charge the right 2 Wolf Chariots into the rear of the Phoenix Guard and the right Boar Chariot into their flank. Rally both Boyz units. Magic Phase - dispells Foot of Gork. Shooting - Doom Diver kills the Right Eagle. Combat - wipe out the Swordmasters but only kill 4 of the Phoenix Guard (although kill the Archmage). Unit holds with Steadfast. BOrcs reform around to face the flank of the Spearmen.

Turn 6 (His):
Turns the Spearmen around to face the BOrcs. Magic Phase - flame cages the BOrcs but is dispelled. Gets off flaming sword though on the Spearmen. Shooting - puts a wound on the left wolf chariots. Combat - phoenix guard kill both wolf chariots and boar chariot, reforming to face the boyz unit in front of them.

Turn 6 (Mine):
No animosity. BOrcs charge the spearmen. Boar Chariot charges the spearmen. Right Boyz unit long charges the Phoenix Guard, who run 9 away but I roll double 6's for charge distance and catch them! Magic and Shooting - nothing. Combat - Boar Chariot kills 2 spearmen. BOrc Warboss kills the Noble BSB in a challenge. His spearmen kill 8 freaking BOrcs with 2 choppas. I kill some, but not that many. Tally everything up ends up being 12 to 12 for combat res. End of Game.

Learning points:

Night Goblins in big units still need to be within range of the General, even with Steadfast LD5.
BOrcs aren't invincible, even with a Warboss and BSB in the unit.
Combo charges with chariots may not break, but will seriously weaken enemy elite units. Trade off in points and combat abilities can be worth it.
Everyone is so paranoid about Mangler squigs they will draw a ton of enemy fire. If they live though, are great for denying enemies charges.

Fun game - very bloody. Really came down to the Swordmasters failing the charge against the BOrcs, as they would probably have broken them being at full strength. Taking 2 chariots in the rear, with a chariot in the front and a full strength BOrc unit in the front was ALOT of damage.

Just so you know, warmachines auto die to pit (They auto fail initiative tests). You may want to keep them a bit farther apart so pit can't hit 2. It also sounded like you didn't deploy them on the back edge, where they should always be. Pit is only 24 inch range, so the arch mage has to come WAY up to get them and will be in counter charge range. You also have more drops than him, so should be able to put the doom divers in a position where the mage is not directly across from them. I highlight the importance of the doom diver, because it is AMAZING against high elves.

The MANGLA squigs should also deploy late (i.e. not across from archers) and sit in the back behind a unit for hard cover. They can sit on the back edge for a while, either guarding doom divers from eagles or making a move later in the game when everything is committed. You can't always keep them alive, but he has to use a lot of resources to kill them. It's better he's wasting dice on a long range pendulum, than withering your black orcs and shooting the crap out of them.

Great work with those chariots, has been some time since I've seen chariots do much in 8th, let alone smash through units and get in multi-rear charges

Cheers for the O&G reports, very cool to hear about the new book in action.

- Salvage

Really enjoying the reports from the new O&G book, thanks for posting. I don't know if I ever figured out where you're at in Tejas. I'm down in Austin, but headed up to Dallas for Lonewolf. You planning on making any of the TX Indy GTs?

Looking forward to more and seeing players build up some practical experience to counterbalance the tons and tons of theory hammer out there.

I really cant wait to come face to face with a new O&G team at my local store. For now I will live with reading battle reports.

Yeah I'm up in Lubbock with LAWGS - won't be able to make Lonewolf due a work conflict, but planning on making Capital City Carnage. Busy painting up Black Orcs right now - I think the big night goblin blocks will be a nice break. Going to try out some different combinations with a Vanilla Warboss (saves about 45 points), try out the little Waagh and either go more Wolf Chariots or throw in some fanatics with the Night Goblins.

Also, just FYI, that HE Lvl2 Mage couldn't take BOTH the Jewel of the Dusk and the Seerstaff as they're both Arcane Items.

Ah gotcha - yeah I just got the oral version of his list - didn't get to see it on paper.

Leenus wrote:
The MANGLA squigs should also deploy late (i.e. not across from archers) and sit in the back behind a unit for hard cover. They can sit on the back edge for a while, either guarding doom divers from eagles or making a move later in the game when everything is committed. You can't always keep them alive, but he has to use a lot of resources to kill them. It's better he's wasting dice on a long range pendulum, than withering your black orcs and shooting the crap out of them.

Can Mangla squigs "sit"? Don't they have to move 3D6 in a nominated direction? Or did you mean just moving them laterally behind friendly lines?

I'm pretty sure they "have" to move - other problem with that whole thing is that they move in the compulsory after charges, so they would have to move before the rest of the unit lines.

Note - played him again and he quickly figured out to suicide his eagles into the manglas 1st or 2nd turn to eliminate them.

Right. I see them going wide around a flank and then moving in on turn 3+...

Are you proxying mangla squigs? I was thinking about making a couple, but was wondering what way you had modelled them.

How are you finding magic defense now?

I'm proxying them on a 60mm round base - heard they are going to probably come with a second wave release, so until they FAQ the base size I'm in no hurry to build them.

Magic defense definately isn't what it used to be, but having a Lvl 4 Orc Great Shaman now with a dispel scroll really helps. I absolutely love casting though - Big Waaagh has such low casting values that I can almost always get off Foot of Gork with just a couple dice.

Sounds like a fun game. I am planning on making it to CCC. I haven't played the new OnG yet, so maybe I will get to see yours.

Only problem with Foot of Gork now is the scatter... but usually you get to squish at least a few of the enemy's models...

He was also targeting the wrong models with Pit. He should have gutted your BlOrcs first. Also he fell into the classic elf trap: wasting your superior mobility to take fuller advantage of Spears and ASF. Foolish.

I'm surprised you needed to learn the lesson about "Steadfast 5" but at least you did. I see alot of people laughing about immovable goblin blocks. ld5 is terrible, guys. Without support, those blocks do very little. Perhaps best just to leave them min sized and have them deliver Fanatics.