Chaos, Confussion and Calamity (Battle Report)

 

We all got together at the local gaming location to a ga.me of the Old World. "We" being myself, The Bob and Rob. (The host of long lost Murl' Workshop blog from aeons ago).  Rob had just finished updating his goblin horde to 25mm bases and was eager to finally play the game. He wanted to have 2000 points of Goblins vs. 1000 points each of a combined force of whatever Bob and I decided. We went back and forth before finally deciding on Chaos. 

I have been tinkering away on Tzeentch Daemons since the Holidays and finally had enough  basecoated to make this happen. I figured this would be a good shake-down game to try them out.

===
Tzeentch Horror Show [999 pts]
Warhammer: The Old World, Daemons of Chaos, Renegade, Open War
===
++ Characters [295 pts] ++

Daemonic Herald of Tzeentch (Moon Head)[205 pts] 
- Hand weapon
- Flames of Tzeentch
- Level 3 Wizard
- General
- Disc of Tzeentch
- Daemonic Robes
- Daemonology (Rolled up spells: Daemonic Vigor, The Summoning and Daemonic Familiar)

Daemonic Herald of Tzeentch (Bird Head) [90 pts] 
- Hand weapon
- Flames of Tzeentch
- Wizard [Level 1 Wizard]
- On foot
- Daemonology (Daemonic Vigor)

++ Core Units [445 pts] ++

10 Pink Horrors of Tzeentch [183 pts] 
- Hand weapon
- Flames of Tzeentch
- Iridescent Horror (champion)
- Standard bearer [Banner of Change]
- Musician

- Scintillating Sorcery generated spell: Miasmic Mirage

10 Blue Horrors of Tzeentch [90 pts] 
- Hand weapons
- Flames of Tzeentch

10 Blue Horrors of Tzeentch [96 pts] 
- Hand weapons
- Flames of Tzeentch
- Ectoplasmic Horror (champion)

2 Brimstone Horrors of Tzeentch [76 pts] 
- Hand weapons

++ Special Units [259 pts] ++

3 Screamers of Tzeentch [132 pts] 
- Lamprey's bite

3 Flamers of Tzeentch [127 pts] 
- Hand weapons
- Warpflame
- Pyroclaster (champion)
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Created with "Old World Builder"
[https://old-world-builder.com]

 Bob has also been slapping paint onto his chaos force (the No Longer Gray Revears) and he was keen to let them out for some bloodletting. 

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Warriors of Chaos [991 pts]

Warhammer: The Old World, Warriors of Chaos, Open War

===

++ Characters [267 pts] ++

Chaos Lord (The Silver Jarl. Although he's no longer silver) [267 pts] 

- Hand weapon

- Full plate armour

- Shield

- Mark of Chaos [Mark of Chaos Undivided]

- General

- On foot

- Crown of Everlasting Conquest

- Giant Blade

++ Core Units [403 pts] ++

10 Chaos Warriors [158 pts] 

- Hand weapons

- Heavy armour

- Shields

- Mark of Chaos [Mark of Chaos Undivided]

- Champion

- Standard bearer

- Musician

10 Chaos Warriors [158 pts] 

- Hand weapons

- Heavy armour

- Shields

- Mark of Chaos [Mark of Chaos Undivided]

- Champion

- Standard bearer

- Musician

10 Chaos Marauders [87 pts] 

- Hand weapons

- Light armour

- Shields

- Chaotic Cult [None]

- Formation [Close Order]

- Marauder Headman (champion)

- Standard bearer

- Musician

++ Special Units [321 pts] ++

5 Chosen Chaos Knights [211 pts] 

- Lances

- Shields

- Heavy armour

- Barding

- Mark of Chaos [Mark of Chaos Undivided]

- Champion

- Standard bearer

- Musician

Chaos Chariot [110 pts] 

- Hand weapons

- Halberds

- Mark of Chaos Undivided

---

Created with "Old World Builder"

[https://old-world-builder.com]

Chaos Warriors Deployment 

Darmons of Tzeentxh deployment.

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Orc & Goblin Tribes [1988 pts]

Warhammer: The Old World, Orc & Goblin Tribes, Open War

===

++ Characters [736 pts] ++

Night Goblin Warboss [151 pts] 

- Hand weapon

- Additional hand weapon

- Light armour

- General

- On foot

- Duellist's Blades

- Potion of Strength

- Fungus Wine

Night Goblin Bigboss [105 pts] 

- Hand weapon

- Battle Standard Bearer [The Big Red Raggedy Flag]

- On foot

Night Goblin Oddnob [230 pts] 

- Hand weapon

- Wizard [Level 4 Wizard]

- On foot

- Idol of Mork

- 2x Dispel Scroll

- Waaagh! Magic

Night Goblin Oddgit [125 pts] 

- Hand weapon

- Wizard [Level 2 Wizard]

- On foot

- Power Scroll

- Dispel Scroll

- Waaagh! Magic

Night Goblin Oddgit [125 pts] 

- Hand weapon

- Wizard [Level 2 Wizard]

- On foot

- Dispel Scroll

- Power Scroll

- Waaagh! Magic

++ Core Units [1252 pts] ++

28 Night Goblin Mob [224 pts] 

- Hand weapons

- Thrusting spears

- Shields

- Netters

- Boss (champion)

- Standard bearer

- Musician

- 3x Fanatics [Fanatic ball & chain]

29 Night Goblin Mob [228 pts] 

- Hand weapons

- Thrusting spears

- Shields

- Netters

- Boss (champion)

- Standard bearer

- Musician

- 3x Fanatics [Fanatic ball & chain]

29 Night Goblin Mob [228 pts] 

- Hand weapons

- Thrusting spears

- Shields

- Netters

- Boss (champion)

- Standard bearer

- Musician

- 3x Fanatics [Fanatic ball & chain]

23 Night Goblin Mob [204 pts] 

- Hand weapons

- Shortbows

- Netters

- Boss (champion)

- Standard bearer

- Musician

- 3x Fanatics [Fanatic ball & chain]

13 Night Goblin Squig Herd [166 pts] 

- 12x Squig Herder

10 Goblin Spider Rider Mob [202 pts] 

- Hand weapons

- Shields

- Cavalry spears

- Shortbows

- Light armour

- Boss (champion)

- Standard bearer [Da Spider Banner]

- Musician

---

Created with "Old World Builder"

[https://old-world-builder.com]

Gobo deployment.

So this was a bigger game than we usually play and with all the craziness happening I just failed to take good notes. As a result this report is actually more of a summary. A "highlight reel" in a sense. 

Turn 1

The forces of Chaos surge forward, Moon Head was able to put Daemonic Vigor onto the Chaos Knights which would help them soon. 

Chaos surging forwards

One of the Night Goblin spellcasters was able to smash the Chaos Knights with a Foot of Gork spell. This was followed by three Goblin Fanatics spinning their way. After all of that, only two knights were left alive but they did not panic. 

Left flank movements. 

Turn 2

The Screamers declared a charge and one of them was wounded on the way in. Much to my disappointment they failed to deal the damage I thought they would and were wiped out by the Spider Riders!

Well, it felt like a good idea...

The Squig Hoppers and the Chaos Warriors had a major fight in the woods, with the Warriors coming out of the woods victorious. 

Hoppers vs. Warriors. 

Turn 3

The Chaos Knights and  the Chaos Chariot are charged by a massive brick of Goblins. 

Engaged!

It didn't go as planned for the Goblins who lost and Fell Back In Good Order only to be caught by their pursuers, thus becoming engaged once again. 

Re-engaged!

 The Blue Horrors get charged by the Squigherders and five of them are burnt up with Stand and Shoot. The Blue Horrors win the combat which causes the whole herd to basically explode doing some damage to all the units within 9"! Although this "explosion" didn't wipe out any other units it did put some hurt on most of them.  

BTW, who needs cards when we have tons of free Post-its?

As expected, the now "counting as charging" Knights and Chariot wiped out the large Goblin unit that they were engaged with and now set their sights on the large unit that the Goblin leader was skulking in. 

Turning their attention to their next victims.

Turn 4

Out came the Fanatics. Most of whom tore into smaller unit of Chaos Warriors on foot, completely destroying the whole unit! 

The Brimstone Horrors charge the Spider Riders, taking a wound on the way in from Stand & Shoot. I had hoped to just tie up the Spider Riders, but to my complete surprise they broke them and ran them down! 

Brimstone Horrors proving their worth.

The next two pics tell a visual narrative of what happens when a pair of Fanatics pass through a unit of Blue Horrors:

Before the saves...

After the Saves.

Turn 5

With a lot units still in the game and getting entangled in melee, the most notable thing that happened was that a block of Goblins charged in and finished off the Blue horrors, who had been ripped apart earlier by the Fanatics. As you can see from the pic below, the Blue Horrors made their saves, it was the Combat Resolution and the resulting Daemonic Instability that kicked them back into the Realm of Chaos.

"Make four 5+ Ward Saves!"  :Ha! made them!" "Ok, let's add up the CR..." 

it was getting late and we decided to call it here. It was a grueling fight, but once the numbers were crunched, this is out it turned out: 

Chaos:  767

Night goblins: 403

Not a bad show for Rob's first game of TOW and with another round or two he could have easily closed the gape. To quote Rob when it was all over: "I can play more games of this!" 

And we will!

Miner's Report! (Part 2)

I keep doing this: I set up a new 'series' or 'thread' as a Part 1 post only to  have Part 2 never materialize or show up extremely late. This is one of the later examples but this one isn't nearly as late as some other examples we could find on this blog. But, hey, at least I get back around to these things eventually. And that's what we have here today, an update on my Dwarf Miners. 

Command section.

Back in Part 1 I had made the statement that I was probably going to paint over all of these guys, but I had a change of heart when my young daughter said how much she loved the dwarfs with the pink beards. So I opted to keep the beards as they were: metallic pink. I think they turned out OK, but my daughter thinks they're the best thing ever so, who am I to challenge a 4 year old girl's innocent perspective?

The full line of eight.

With those guys as finished as I felt I was going to get them, I turned my attention to the two metal guys that I was going to use as filler to get the unit up to a ten man dwarf squad. But they look radically different. They project a completely more hardened vibe. And they look better. So, after I finished these two chaps I decided that I am going to track down more of these metal dwarfs to make a whole new unit out of them. Gee, I think the whole "dwarf miners" theme is starting to dominate my dwarf army. 

Two metal guys (cue bad-ass guitar solo).

Ok, I got to ask: does anyone know if someone out there has ever painted any dwarfs (dwarves if non-GW) in Disney's Snow White color scheme? Not that I want to do it, I'm just curious...

Knightly Order of the Blazing Sun (Part 2)

 Tally-Ho!

The Knight of the Blazing Sun charge forth! As I stated at the end of Part 1, I was unsure if I could motivate myself to finish up the unit. Well, having two weeks off for medical reasons, I was able to find that motivation. 

Following the steps laid out in Part 1, the process was pretty simple. In fact I painted the unit's remaining four miniatures, including the leader, in a single afternoon. 

All-in-all, I am quite pleased with them, despite how simple they are. They'll look good on the tabletop, even though two of them have bent lances (hey, it happens! No judgment here).   Ending them back has been futile so  decided to just leave them alone.

Well that's unit one done, but I have at least two more units to go! Keep a look out for Part 3. 

Knightly Order of the Blazing Sun (Part 1)

 Recently I got a bunch of Battlemasters Empire Knights and Halberdiers for a pretty good price. I have the Battlemasters game but there is no way I was going to cannibalize it.  I really hadn't put any thought into doing an Empire of Man Knightly Order Army of Infamy but when I saw this offering on eBay I was totally inspired. Sure, the Battlemasters miniatures are now over 30 years old and showing their age, but painted well and massed up for battle, I think they'll work just fine. 

Assessment of the loot.

To test this out, I needed to model up the first squad. So I picked the guys on yellow horses and affixed them to the newer sized bases. And so far, they look fine. I had to clip off the old slotta bar from the horse hooves and super glue them straight on. It was more of a process than I want to describe but the in the end I think this should work out. 

Based.

After flocking the bases with some grit, I took them out and sprayed them with primer. 

Primed

I picked out a random guy to try out first.

Sir Rando the Chosen.

Then I painted the barding on the horse black. Abaddon Black specifically. The rider was painted using Black Templar Contrast Paint. I then dry brushed Auric Armour over this which produced a very satisfying result.. The horse was painted using Gore Grunter Fur Contrast Paint. 

Basecoated plus.

But this gold was a bit too bright compared to the examples I have seen from GW. So I I gave the armor a wash of Carroburg Crimson.

Auric Armour layer

A subtle layer of Auric Armour was applied as a highlight. I am very pleased with this look so far, and with how easy it is to do.

 Carroburg Crimson layer

The feather topper on his helm was painted using Bad Moon Contrast Paint which was glazed with Bloodletter a d finished off with a modest drybrushing of Averland Sunset. 

Emblem base paint.

I freehand painted the sun symbols on the shield and barding using Corax White. 

Badmoon yellow.

I then carefully went over these symbols using Bad Moon Contrast Paint. 

Touch-up time.

I did  touch-ups using Abaddon Black. I got to confess, this was way harder than I assumed it would be. The current Empire Knights kit comes with decals for the Blazing Sun but for what it goes for on the secondary market it.. .forget it. 

Finished model.

Sans flocking, this model is done. And I am fairly pleased with it. Now to motivate myself to do the rest of them! 

Clash in the Pass (Battle Report)

 

Duel of the ages.

The Bob and I met up at The Outpost in Johnson City for another game of Warhammer: The Old World. We agreed to play the Mountain Pass scenario from the main rulebook. What's really interesting about this scenario is the Bottleneck rule, which make both the long edges count as Impassable Terrain. This is to represent that those long edges are representing very shear cliffs and the battle field itself is a pass through a narrow valley. So the High Elves are making their way through this pass and find the ruins of an ancient settlement. These ruins are in fact Khemri in origin and the deceased denizens have risen to protect their domain and rid the pass of these Elven trespassers. 

Deployment map for the Mountain Pass.

Here are the armies:

Tomb Kings of Khemri

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Tomb Kings of Khemri [1245 pts]

Warhammer: The Old World, Tomb Kings of Khemri, Open War

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++ Characters [417 pts] ++

Tomb King [222 pts] 

- Hand weapon

- Heavy armour

- Shield

- General

- On foot

- Talisman of Protection

- Giant Blade

Royal Herald [85 pts] 

- Hand weapon

- Light armour

- Battle Standard Bearer

- On foot

Mortuary Priest [55 pts] 

- Hand weapon

- Wizard [Level 1 Wizard]

- On foot

- Necromancy

Mortuary Priest [55 pts] 

- Hand weapon

- Wizard [Level 1 Wizard]

- On foot

- Necromancy

++ Core Units [514 pts] ++

15 Skeleton Warriors [90 pts] 

- Hand weapons

- Light armour

- Shields

- Master of Arms (champion)

- Standard bearer

- Musician

15 Skeleton Warriors [90 pts] 

- Hand weapons

- Light armour

- Shields

- Master of Arms (champion)

- Standard bearer

- Musician

12 Skeleton Archers [75 pts] 

- Hand weapons

- Warbows

- Master of Arrows (champion)

- Standard bearer

- Musician

3 Skeleton Chariots [141 pts] 

- Hand weapons

- Cavalry spears

- Warbows

- 4+

- Master Charioteer (champion)

- Standard bearer

- Musician

10 Tomb Guard [118 pts] 

- Hand weapons

- Light armour

- Shields

- Tomb Captain (champion)

- Standard bearer

- Musician

++ Special Units [154 pts] ++

3 Ushabti [154 pts] 

- Hand weapons

- Ritual blades

- Heavy armour

- Ancient (champion)

++ Rare Units [160 pts] ++

Necrolith Colossus [160 pts] 

- Paired great khopeshes

- Heavy armour

---

Created with "Old World Builder"

[https://old-world-builder.com]

High Elves.

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The Masters of Hoeth [1249 pts]

Warhammer: The Old World, High Elf Realms, Open War

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++ Characters [286 pts] ++

Noble [156 pts] 

- Hand weapon

- Sword of Hoeth

- Full plate armour

- General

- On foot

- The Loremaster's Cloak

- Seed of Rebirth

- Loremaster

Mage [130 pts] 

- Hand weapon

- Wizard [Level 2 Wizard]

- On foot

- Seed of Rebirth

- High Magic

++ Core Units [316 pts] ++

14 Elven Archers [208 pts] 

- Hand weapons

- Longbows

- Light armour

- Veteran

- Sentinel (champion)

- Standard bearer [The Blazing Banner]

- Musician

5 Ellyrian Reavers [108 pts] 

- Hand weapons

- Cavalry spears

- Light armour

- Shortbows

- Skirmishers

- Harbinger (champion) [Burning Blade]

++ Special Units [487 pts] ++

10 Swordmasters of Hoeth [173 pts] 

- Swords of Hoeth

- Heavy armour

- Drilled

- Bladelord [Burning Blade]

- Standard bearer

- Musician

8 Shadow Warriors [146 pts] 

- Longbows

- Light armour

- Feigned Flight

- Shadow Walker [Seed of Rebirth]

10 Swordmasters of Hoeth [168 pts] 

- Swords of Hoeth

- Heavy armour

- Drilled

- Bladelord

- Standard bearer

- Musician

++ Rare Units [160 pts] ++

Eagle-Claw Bolt Thrower [80 pts] 

Eagle-Claw Bolt Thrower [80 pts] 

- Repeater Bolt Thrower

- Hand weapons

- Light armour

---

Created with "Old World Builder"

[https://old-world-builder.com]

Tomb Kings set up. 

High Elf set-up. 

Turn 1

Tomb Kings win the roll off and go first. Nothing too exciting happened in the first round on either player turn, just a lot of arrow trading. The High Elves peppered the undead with a lot arrow and brought down a small number of rank and file skellies. 

Turn 2 Tomb Kings

....and those rank and file skellies were almost all resurrected at the start of Turn 2. The chariots charged into the Ellyrian Reavers. The Reavers took out one of the chariots but the rest of them did enough damage, and had the combat res (they one by 1 point), to force a Break Test which the Reavers failed epically. The Chariots caught them and destroyed them. The chariots ended up next to the archers on the hill, who were more than a little nervous about their proximity. . 

Chariots run down the Reavers. 

Bottom of Turn 2

Turn 2 High Elves

The Archers reformed to dump all their shots into the chariots, and even with the blazing banner to aide them the chariots were unharmed. The mage failed to get Fiery Convocation to go either. It was a lame round of shooting for the High Elves actually, however the Shadow Warriors were the exception as that managed to plink 3 Wounds off of the Bone Giant. 

The run down.

TURN 3 Tomb Kings. 

After more arrow trading, the Tomb Guard unit, which had been joined by the Tomb King and Royal Herald with the army battle standard since the beginning of the battle, charged into the Swordmasters which had been joined by the Noble Loremaster. This Tomb Guard unit had been riddle with bolts from both Bolt throwers for the previous two turns, and most, if not all, of the casualties had already been raised back. So this unit came sweeping in like a tidal wave. Thanks to the faster Initiative of the High Elves they were able to strike first. The Tomb King challenged the Loremaster. but in the end their fight was a draw. Despite killing morem the Tomb Guard was able to beat the Swordmasters by 1 CR. and rolled a 12 on their Break Test. Oops. They fell back in good order, and I thought for sure I was about to get wiped out the I rolled a '5' on the fallback. Well, Isha smiled on them in that instant as the Tomb Guard rolled a '2' on their pursuit roll! 

The first engagement.

TURN 3 High Elves. 

The Swordmaster with the Loremaster Rally and Reform, bracing themselves for the Tomb Guard's inevitable assault. The mage cast Shield of Saphery on the other unit of Swordmasters giving them a 5+ ward Save (remember this). That unit of Swordmasters charged the bone giant, which seemed like the best tactic they had to chose from. On the shooting phase, the Shadow Warriors take out three Tomb Guard with their longbows. Weirdly, neither the Bone Giant now the Swordmaster caused any wounds, but the Bone Giant lost a Wound due to the cr difference of '1'.

The odds stack.

TURN 4 Tomb Kings

The sneaky Liche Priests had moved up enough to try to cast some nasty spells on the High Elves and they successfully cast Incantation of Desiccation on the Swordmasters engaged with the Bone Giant (remember this). As predicted the Tomb Guard slammed into the Sword Master unit with the Loremaster. The Loremaster and the Tomb King we fighting in a challenge once again , and this time the Loremaster was starting to fight back a bit harder, as did the Swordmaster who won the combat this time which only caused a few more Tomb Guard to sink back into the ground due to the difference in Combat Resolution. . 

Duel of the ages (wide angle (wide angle view)

On the other side of the table the other Swordmasters were tangling with the Necrolith Colossus (aka: Bone Giant) when the Ushabti and the nearby unit of skeletons both charged into them. Focusing their attacks on the Bone Giant, they felled it, However Bob won the roll-off anc got to choose which way it fell. it fell and squished two Swordmasters. Then the Ushabti went. They killed the seven remaining Swordmasters! 

Remember when I said to remember those two spells? Well, we wouldn't remember them until the next turn! LOL. It is what is, and we decided it was too far along to try to revise history. 

Ushabti right before the charge. 

TURN 4 High Elves

On the High Elf shooting phase the Shadow Warriors made a break from the woods and tried to shoot one of the Liche Priests but their effort failed. The two Bolt Throwers tried to take out the chariots but also failed. Only in the Combat phase did the High Elves see a glimmer of hope as they wiped out the Tomb Guard and the Royal Harold!

Felling of the Royal Harold

TURN 5 Tomb Kings

The Tomb Kings Turn five was mostly just maneuvers and shooting, but no real achievements were gained. However Another group of skeletons charged in to attempt to finish off the Swordmasters. And they got close to making it happen! Meanwhile the two army leaders were slowly whittling each other down. 

Reinforcements. 

TURN 5 High Elves

Desperate, the achers managed to eliminate one of the Ushabti. After witnessing what they did to the Swordmasters you can bet they were now a target priority. Those two chariots were rumbling down toward the Bolt Throwers. They had been moving at their regular Movement so that could get shots off and had knocked one of the Bolt Throwers down to a single Wound. The Bolt Thrower crew must have been rattled or something as most of their shots missed, the chariots shrugged off the two hits that did wound. 

Desperate defense.

Over on the other flank the fight continued on, with the Loremaster and Tomb King continuing to play paddy cake. The Swordmasters themselves were now down to a single guy, the Bladelord (Champion), who was continuing to wipe out skeletons with his flaming sword. 

The final fight. 

The battle ends (Right flank). 

And with that we declared the game over. It was getting late and things were looking like they were about to reach a natural conclusion. 

The battle ends (left flank)

We tallied it up the points and secondaries and this is how it all shock down:

 

High Elves:  463

Tomb Kings of Khemri: 390

Essentially, that surviving Swordmaster Champ would have made the TK score 569 (Swordmasters+ Banner) had he not survived that last round. 

>phew< 

A technical win, but the High Elves are happy to take it! 

But wow, what a grind! I had no idea I had won until the VPs were tallied. in fact, I wasn't even aware that it was such a close game. This was our first time using Tomb Kings. Bob ran them very well, and took full advantage of their ability to raise the dead. It made the feeling of attrition and futility feel very real to me as my glass hammer of an army was shattering against all the odds. Who is to say how round 6 or 7 would go had we continued on. We can theory-hammer this to death but our dice were both being fickle in the end. Although, once again, Bob's ability to roll 6's when he needs to is uncanny, But I had a few instances of surprising luck as well). All-in all, it was a good game, and a very challenging one! I look forward to seeing how Bob continues to grow this Tomb King army. Yes, some mistakes happened, but in the spirit of play we just pushed past them and learned from them.  

Party on the hill.