Longtime Dakkanaut
Los Angeles
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Well, tonight my new Dwarves saw action for the first time tonight. My list:
RuneLord - Spellbreaking x2, Anvil
Master Engineer - Brace of Pistols
Warriors x16 - Heavy Armor, Shields, Full Cmd
Warriors x16 - Heavy Armor, Shields, Full Cmd
Thunderers x12 - Musician
Thunderers x12 - Musician
Miners x12 - Full Cmd, Steam Drill
Bolt Thrower - Burning, Engineer w/ Brace of Pistols
Bolt Thrower - Engineer w/ Brace of Pistols
Stone Thrower - Accuracy, Engineer w/ Brace of Pistols
Cannon - Forging (Master Engineer goes here)
Gyrocopter
Gyrocopter
I was up against perhaps the best player at the store. Last time I played him he was playing his Skaven. I'm pretty sure he scored a massacre, but it might have been a solid victory. Either way, my Dwarves were aching for some revenge, and I had a chance to play a much better opponent. Kinda weird guy. He's very quiet, and he doesn't have a very firm grip when you shake his hand, but he knows both Fantasy and 40k better than anyone, and he's a great opponent. He opted to take his WE, which, I swear, did not seem as if they numbered 2000 pts. Regardless, he assured me they were. He was pretty outnumbered.
Highborn - Bow of Loren, Arrows of Ignore Armor saves, I don't know what else
Mage - Level 2, I don't know what items
Branchwraith - Level 1, Sniper Sprite (18" range, hit on an unmodified 3+, S4, can target anyone, including war machine crew, etc)
Wardancers x10 - Champion, Musician
Glade Guard x12
Eternal Guard x18 - (Highborn and Mage go here)
Glade Guard Scouts x8
Wild Riders x7
Warhawk Riders x3
Treeman
Waywatchers x8
The board had 4 forests and one hill behind a forest. One big forest was in the center, one was on my left flank in my deployment zone, one was on the center right of his deployment zone in front of the hill, and one was on the right of my deployment zone.
I put one unit of thunderers in 12x1 to the right of the forest on my left flank, behind which I hid the anvil. That way when he brought the birds for the anvil, they'd be subject to at least one turn of Thunderer fire. Then, to the right of the Thunderers, a block of warrriors. Then another unit of Thunderers. Then the stone thrower, bolt thrower with rune of burning, and cannon. Then another block of warriors to. I hid the 2 Gyros behind the forest on the right of my deployment zone. And, I experimented with my cheapest bolt thrower. I put all 65 pts of it on my far right flank, in hopes of it getting some flank shots, and knowing at the end of the day it was only 65 pts and it might distract some of his forces.
The Branchwraith and mage each take treesinging, and the mage also take's Ariel's blessing (regeneration). He deployed from the center left of his deployment zone to the right of it, so our two armies were more or less on opposite sides of the board horizontally. I had an alley of fire between the center forest and the forest where I was hiding my Gyros for my 3 war machine battery, which I waited to set up until the end so I could see that treeman. His wild riders deployed on the hill behind the forest. The Eternal Guard, mage, and highborn deployed on the far right flank. The middle of his deployment was taken by his Branchwraith, wardancers, his glade guard, and his warhawk riders, all of which were to the left of his treeman, so I couldn't see them, as they were hidden by the hill in the center. But I could see the treemen with my artillery battery, and that's all that mattered to me. Then he deployed the scouts in the woods in the center. No worries. Then I realized the other 8 models were in fact way watchers. Dear God. They deployed in the forest on my far left flank, 4" from my Thunderers and 8" from the Anvil. Miscalculation #1.
Turn 1 Me:
Having won the roll-off, I opted for the first turn. Nothing moved, as I had no safe place to fly my gyros. I fired the cannon and stone thrower at the Treeman. I got a good bounce for the cannon, and nailed the treeman straight away. I would have also hit one of the Wild Riders, but they were on a hill. I thanked my Master Engineer for the D6 wounds, and scored a 5! That bypassed his Ward Save because of the Rune of Forging, and his treeman was hurting. My Stone Thrower shot was dead on thanks to my Rune of Accuracy, and the Treeman was toast. I was stoked. The game had started quite well. The Thunderers couldn't shoot. Both bolt throwers went after the eternal guard. One hit, and took out 3. Time for the Anvil: Rune of Smacking on a 2+. Prepare to take a few wounds and not fly, Warhawk Riders! 1. Damnit. No Anvil this turn or next turn. No panic tests.
Turn 1 Him:
Everyone moves forward. The Wardancers move to the center woods, as does the Branchwraith. Wild Riders and Eternal Guard move down my left near left flank, but Mike's keen sense of range keeps the two units just far enough back to keep my Gyros from having anywhere to fly over and march block the next turn. The Glade guard move up. The Warhawks fly to the left flank, but way out there. I dispel both tree singings. I try to dispell regeneration on a 12, but I roll 2 1s and fail. His Eternal Guard will be regenerating next turn. Waywatcher and warhawk shooting drop 2 Thunderers on the far left. Scout and Glade Guard shooting drop 2 warriors on the far right.
Turn 2 Me:
The Miners come on. Damnit. They don't have a real place to go. I had wanted to charge with the Rune of you can charge, but the anvil was out. So the Miners come on to the left of my Anvil behind my Thunderers, and head to within 1" of the forest on my far left where the waywatchers are. I move one Gyro up to the middle forest to steam gun the scouts. I make a really stupid mistake with my other gyro. I hover over to 4" from his Wild Riders, right in their LOS, thinking I'm going to flee when they charge me. I try with the steam gun, but fail to wound. The other gyro does one wound. I miss with the stone thrower, but the cannon drops a wild rider. A bolt thrower drops 2 more eteneral guard, and the other misses. I fire everything that can see at the scouts in the trees. One drops. Great. That's enough for panic on the scouts when combined with the gyro's one kill, but they pass.
Turn 2 Him:
He declares a charge with his scouts on my Gyro and with his Wild Riders on my other gyro. Both flee. The one from the scouts flees to the safety of the near right flank in my deployment zone just to the right of the warriors. The other one flees 9" or so and is run down. leaving the Wild Riders about 5-6" from the lone bolt thrower. Just an incredibly stupid move by me. 9 hours later I can't tell you what happened. His branchwraith moves through the middle forest towards my edge, as do the wardancers. The Warhawks kinda hover around as I wonder what they're going to do. The Eternal Guard move further down my right flank. The Waywatchers move a little. I dispel both tree singings again, and when I attempt to dispel regeneration, careful to only use 3 dice lest I miscast the dispel again, I roll a 5 and fail. The waywatchers drop 2 miners, both to killing blow. The Warhawks drop one more Thunderer on the far left, dropping the unit to 9. The Glade Guard drop 2 more warriors from the far right unit, so it's at 12. No panic tests.
Turn 3 Me:
I declare a charge on his waywatchers in the forest, which promptly flee. This leaves my miners in the forest until turn 6, but I really don't care, as a monstrous flee roll sends his Waywatchers off the table. The gyrocopter rallies, and I fly it over to just to the far right of the eternal guard and out of LOS. Finally, I can march-block something! I reform the unit of 9 Thunderers into 4x2 +1, with hopes that if they get charged by the Warhawks they'll have a rank bonus of 1. They weren't going to shoot this game. The The stone thrower fires at the Wardancers in the woods, and has 1 and 4 partials. They escape unscathed. The middle thunderers would fire at them too, but the scouts are screening them, so they fire at the scouts, which lose 2 more but don't panic. The cannon and both bolt throwers open up on the wild riders, killing 2 more. The steam gun can't fire because the gyro has rallied, but I'm just stoked that with the new rules the gyro can move after rallying. I decide to whack the Wardancers with the rune of smacking on a 2+. I roll another 1. Clearly, this is God's revenge for the fleeing waywatchers. Fortunately, the anvil will work next turn.
Turn 3 Him:
The 4 Wild Riders declare a charge on the lone bolt thrower. The Eternal Guard alight themselves to the right and towards my board edge, diagonally, to face my Gyro, and move to within 1" of it. The Wardancers move out into the open from the woods in the center, ready to charge my warriors in my next turn (or so I believe). The Warhawks sit there. In retrospect, he probably just forgot. I roll terribly to dispel tree singing, which drops a Miner. I dispel the other tree singing and regen. Glade guard shooting kills one more warrior from the far right unit, reducing me to 11, and dropping my rank bonus to 1. He snipes one of the bolt thrower crew with the Branchwraith. Scout shooting fails to penetrate Thunderer armor, and Warhawk shooting fails to wound the Miners. The Wild Riders only manage to kill the crew, leaving the engineer with his mighty brace of pistols, which he forgot to stand and shoot with. He fails to wound and runs from a fear-causing opponent right off the table. The 4 Wild Riders roll a pathetic 5, leaving them 1" from the table edge.
Turn 4 Me:
The Miners reform to face out of the far left forest diagonally towards the center forest. The left, ranked Thunderers sit there. The 11 Warriors on the far right move up to face the Wardancers at point blank range. The middle thunderers open up at the last 3 scouts, killing 2, and causing the 3rd to panic and run. The stone thrower hits the Branchwraith square on the head but I roll a 1 to wound, and the bolt thrower misses too, but the cannon drops 2 (after hitting all 4!). Anvil, don't fail me now: Rune of You can Charge on the Warriors. Thank you God. The Warriors charge into the Wardancers, who, immune to psyche, can't flee. I'm striking first, and because they aren't charging, they aren't S4. Heh. The Anvil rocks. He opts for the killing blow dance. I use my champion to challenge his 3 attack champion, but neither can touch the other. My 3 other guys kill one, but killing blow drops one in return. I win combat by 3, with my standard, rank, and outnumber, but his Highborn in the eternal guard is 12" on the right flank, and he passes on an 7. Go anvil.
Turn 4 Him:
Were you wondering why I didn't mention the Gyro last turn? That's because I forgot about him. He gets charged by the Eternal Guard, flees 5", and is run down. There goes another 140 pts. The Branchwraith, in hopes of saving the wardancers, charges the warriors, who pass their fear check. Wild Riders move towards my center from the right flank, so within charge range of the warrior's flank, but somehow get of of LOS of my war machines. The Warhawk Riders don't do much. Again. Perhaps he forgot a second time? I dispel everything. Glade Guard shooting drops another Bolt Thrower crewman. Warhawk Rider shooting fails to wound the far left Thunderers. The Branchwraith does a wound, and the wardancers, using their +1 attack dance, do 1. I cause a wound and win by 1 because of my musician. The Branchwraith runs but the Wardancers do not.
Turn 5 Me:
The Miners move 1.5" to just barely get out of the woods. The Thunderers on the far move forward toward the center forest, as does the full middle block of warriors. My machines can't see much, and if I did manage to see the Wild Riders, I also managed to miss them completely. Whatever the case, shooting was pretty uneventful in that regard; however, the middle 12 Thunderers, left without a legal target, fill the exposed Branchwraith with a lead and she drops in a hail of gunfire. The anvil comes through for me again, and I smack the Warhawks for 2 wounds, blowing one out of the sky. They aren't flying next turn. Nothing happens in combat, even with his killing blow dance, and I win by 1 because of my rank, but he passes his break test.
Turn 5 Him:
The Wild Riders charge the warriors in the flank. I pass my fear test. The Branchwraith rallies. The Warhawks can't move. The Eternal Guard move down behind the forest on my right where I originally hid the two Gyros, where they would remain for the rest of the game. The Glade Guard move so that they can see the bolt thrower. They are forced to split fire, and they kill one of the middle thunderers and one of two remaining bolt thrower crew. I dispel everything. He opts for the +1 attack dance, and when combined with the nasty charge of the Wild Riders which does most of the damage, I take some huge amount of wounds and lose combat by 6. I run and roll an above-average 8. But then the most remarkable thing happens: his Wild Riders roll a 7 and his War Dancers roll a 6. This leaves the 3 remaining warriors running toward the board edge, but keeps the Wild Riders and Wardancers from being able to charge anything else the next turn (well, you'll see). More importantly, it leaves the War Dancers exposed.
Turn 6 Me:
The Miners run toward his table edge, as do my left Thunderers and middle warriors. The Stone Thrower tries for his Wild Riders. I roll a 10 and an arrow toward his table edge, taking it to no man's land. I don't want to risk destroying my own machines with the 10" scatter, so I opt not to re-roll, and I let the shot hit the dirt. The bolt thrower only has 1 crewman left so it cannot fire. The cannon fires grapeshot at the Wardancers. Oh yeah. It's magical nails, musket balls, and general metal refuse drop 4 Wardancers. The two remaining engineers open up with their own pistols, but they both fail to wound. The 3 Thunderers who can see them thanks to the crappy angle fail to wound. So they're still at 1/2 strength. I have no choice but to use the anvil's final power on them. I rune of smacking them down to 3, and they won't be charging anyone the next turn.
Turn 6 Him:
He declares a charge on my 3 fleeing warriors, who flee off the table and allow him to re-direct into the final bolt thrower crewman. The Wardancers run as fast as their half-speed legs can carry them. The Warhawks, free to fly again, swoop down to contest the left table quarter. The Branchwraith sits there. He doesn't both casting any magic because regeneration has no LOS and tree singing has no purpose. The Glade Guard fire at my cannon crew, but only kill 1 crewman. The Wild Riders skewer the final bolt thrower crewman and that's the game.
Well, I had 300 and change more VPs for the troops, but he took the standard from the warriors unit and he held the right two table quarters with his glade guard and eternal guard, leaving the game with a negligible difference and a draw for the lot of us. Against Mike, I'll take it. I've played him twice and lost miserably both times. And that doesn't include 40k. I made a stupid mistake/gross miscalculation with one gyro, and I lost the other to carelessness. I'm sure it was rough for him losing the tree on turn 1, but that's the nature of Dwarf artillery. That's just what my army does. I need to be more careful when deploying against WE to make sure those damned Way Watchers don't have a place to hang out. If they hadn't rolled that big flee roll, they would have been on me all game. I liked my diversionary bolt thrower, but the real reason I put it there was because I had miscalulated the size of the gaps I would need to leave in my gunline, and I simply had no space left. Otherwise, I was pretty happy with how it all went.
In regards to the new Dwarf book, all I can say is, 'Thank you Pete Haines." The new fast-cavesque Gyro is very important to the ability to solidly march-block and just generally harass the enemy. I still miss the move-and-fire, and when I play beastmen I'll really be pissed, but the +1 to hit all the time actually is a suitable consolation prize. The Engineer makes the cannon so worth while because he allows it to cause D6 wounds. What a difference that makes. Now I'm jealous of you empire players. And, of course, thank you Anvil! It doesnt' get the MVP, but it certainly gets the promising newcomer award. The simple ability to charge those Wardancers was key to tying them up and tying up pretty much all of his choppy units for the rest of the game. And the rune of D6 magic missile and slow down with no flying? Hallelujah! What I was considering is targeting units immune to psyche with the Miners: come on a table edge, find something immune to psyche, charge it, and they're done. 2 ranks, standard, 3 great weapons, and a steam drill pointed at ya? Nasty. All it takes is a little carelessness by your opponent. In sum, the new book is awesome. I think. Well, time will tell, but my prognosis is still: kick-ass.
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....and Bretonnia