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10 Dwarf Warriors with hand weapon and shield
10 Dwarf Warriors with double-handed weapon
10 Dwarf Crossbow
1 Cannon with 3 crew
1 Organ Gun with 3 crew
1 Flame Cannon with 3 crew
2 Bolt Throwers with 3 crew each

vs.
22 Night Goblins (nets, shields, hand weapons, etc.)
3 goblin fanatics
2 Squig Herders
5 cave squigs
1 Snotling Pump Wagon
4 Trolls
4 Ogres
1 Goblin Wolf Rider

Setup:

Big hill in the middle, other hills in four corners, misc other terrain on the battlefield. Using +1 cover save for terrain rules, no other terrain rules.

Dwarves setup with 2 bolt throwers and flame cannon on hill in right corner with two handed weapon dwarf unit in front of artillery. Other Dwarf infantry was to left of big hill with organ gun and cannon supporting the other dwarves.

Goblins setup with Cave Squigs facing bolt throwers, supported by Squig Herders and Night Goblin block. Fanatics were hiding off table. Trolls and Ogres setup in middle. Pump wagon and wolf rider were on goblin right flank.

Turn 1: Dwarf turn: Dwarves advanced towards goblins. Organ gun failed to fire. Dwarven Artillery wiped out the Cave Squigs and inflicted some wounds on the Ogres.
Turn 1: Goblin turn: Goblins advanced towards dwarves.
Turn 2 Dwarf turn: Dwarves won roll and moved first. Dwarves advanced. Shooting phase: Organ gun fired all barrels at the Ogres. Ogres wiped out by organ gun, cannon, and crossbows. Trolls injured by long range artillery and some goblins died to artillery. Charge Phase: 3 Goblin Fanatics charged Dwarf warriors before the warriors could charge the Night Goblins. Combat: Fanatics inflict some casualties (rolled 3d6 for attacks and rolled 3 attacks) and only lose 1 fanatic to melee from the dwarf warriors.
Turn 2 Goblin turn: Trolls fail to regenerate. All goblin forces moved forward. Pump wagon and wolf rider not close enough to charge. Trolls and Night Goblin block charge into dwarf warriors fighting fanatics. 1 more fanatics is slain in melee, but Dwarf warrior unit with double handed weapons is wiped out.
Turn 3: Goblin turn: Goblins and Trolls move up hill towards artillery (bolt throwers and flame cannon). Goblins charge into combat with artillery, trolls fail their charge. Pump wagon charges into combat. Pump wagon dies in combat. Dwarf artillery crews are slain by goblins.

Remainder of battle is Organ Gun, Cannon, dwarf melee unit and dwarf crossbow unit vs. Trolls and Night Goblin Unit. Trolls kill both artillery crews, but then Trolls and Goblins are wiped out the by remaining dwarves.

Result is a victory for the dwarves

Cheers for the rundown.

endur wrote:
Result is a victory for the dwarves

In all honesty, this seemed pretty assumed from the start, given that the stunties brought 5(!) war machines and 75% of their warscrolls shoot. However based on SDK the forces appear closer than I expected:

10 Quarellers = 131
10 Warriors - Double-handed Axes = 104
10 Warriors - Shields = 103
Flame Cannon = 128
Dwarf Cannon = 112
Organ Gun = 112
Bolt Thrower = 92
Bolt Thrower = 92
----------
878 (65W)

VS

Goblin Warboss on Giant Wolf - Shield = 67
4 Trolls = 268
4 Ogres = 178
22 Night Goblins - Shields, 2x Netters = 160
3 Fanatics = 81
5 Cave Squigs = 80
2 Herders = 12
Pump wagon = 48
----------
894 (77W)

No WARMACHINE cap seems like a slip up to me, and no HERO to lead the Dwarfs is pretty unsettling, but cheers for sticking so close to similar points. Did it feel like a sure thing for the Dwarfs? Seems like shooting was a real factor, but the Gobs (aka Trolls) were fighting to the end despite.

- Salvage

Thanks for calculating the SDK values. I was planning to take a look at that.

We played without heroes. The goblin wolf rider was just a regular goblin wolf rider. Both armies had 75 wounds (I think the units of dwarf infantry had 12 or 14 each, for a total of 40 dwarves across the three units).

A friend of mine had the three units of dwarven infantry.

He didn't have any artillery painted, and my artillery had not been used in ages, so I lent him my artillery to use.

I knew the artillery would be dangerous to face, but my ogres and trolls and goblins hadn't been in a fight in ages, and I wanted to see how they would do in this battle.

The fanatics and the Night Goblins survived a lot longer than I expected them to.

The Trolls did ok. Their vomit was useful several times. They saved a couple of wounds on too dumb to die (about average). Only regenerated a few wounds during the battle though. They were definitely more durable than my ogres (regular ogres).

The nets were cool. Shield Wall looks like a cool dwarf ability, but this was not really the battle for it to be used.



Automatically Appended Next Post:
So under SDK the dwarves were probably +100 due to the extra ten dwarves. Final margin of victory was about 15 dwarves, so if we had balanced under SDK and he hadn't had the extra ten dwarves, we could have had a fight with the last dwarf killing the last goblin.

Revised based on SDK

14 Quarellers with shields, full command = 197
13 Warriors - Double-handed Axes, full command = 134
13 Warriors - Shields, full command = 133
Flame Cannon = 128
Dwarf Cannon = 112
Organ Gun = 112
Bolt Thrower = 92
Bolt Thrower = 92
----------
1000 (75W)

VS

Goblin Wolf Rider Spear & Shield = 14
4 Trolls = 268
4 Ogres = 178
19 Night Goblins - Stabbas and Shields & champion = 133
3 Night Goblins with Nets =30
3 Fanatics = 81
5 Cave Squigs = 80
2 Herders = 12
Pump wagon = 48
----------
844 (75W)

endur wrote:
Revised based on SDK

Are you still trying to balance by wounds? I would suggest just using SDK, like 900-1000 points, and accept that the wounds just won't be equal, especially not when it's Dwarfs vs Goblins

I also really recommend requiring at least one hero. Obviously this* unlocks an entire phase of the game that ya'll are missing, as well as injecting some character into the game, being useful for certain scenarios involving the army general, adding extra narrative flourish / 'Warhammer feel' ... and also giving the Goblins a leg up, as Inspiring Presence can help with pants Bravery stats (Dwarfs likewise but not to the same extent, bring tougher with higher Bravery).

*Pretty certain that if you don't put down a hero, you still need to nominate a model to be the army general - most likely a champ. This model gets Inspiring Presence to use in the Hero Phase. But I still say ya'll should play with 1+ heroes as a comp requirement

- Salvage

Yes, we nominated a unit champion as the general for this battle.

We'll probably try balancing using SDK next time.