Game 10 - Ogre Kingdoms - (2012/02/04)

CanCon 2012 - Battle 4 - Blood and Glory

There were many Ogre armies around and I was not surprised to face one eventually. David, my opponent, told me he used to play with Wood Elves (and won a few tournaments with them too!) but in this tournament season he chose new Ogre Kingdoms. So in battle 4 I faced a very experienced player with an army I had problems with in my previous games.

Ogre Kingdoms - Army List

Slaughtermaster, General, Great Weapon, Level 4, Talisman of Preservation, Grut's Sickle - Lore of The Great Maw
Bruiser BSB, Lookout Gnoblar, Great Weapon, Light Armour, Dragonbane Gem, Armour of Silvered Steel
Firebelly, Great Weapon, Level 2, Hellheart - Lore of Fire

12 Ogres, Handweapon & Ironfist, Full Command
9 Ironguts, Full Command, Standard of Discipline
1 Sabretusk
1 Sabretusk
1 Sabretusk
4 Mournfang Cavalry, Heavy Armour, Ironfist, Musician, Standardbearer, Dragonhide Banner

Ironblaster
Ironblaster

Very tough army list although with no typical Irongut Deathstar (they operated with Firebelly, while other two characters joined Ogres). Still 3 very dangerous units with hard to kill characters in the scenario where killing them can break the army. What is more, the armies are only 18" apart initially instead of typical 24".

My own army list for reference:

Outcasts - Army List

Archibald the Archmage, Level 4, Annulian Crystal, Dragon Bane Gem - High Magic

Bob the BSB, Dragon Armour, Shield, Great Weapon, Radiant Gem of Hoeth - High Magic

20 Spearelves, Musician, Standard,

20 Spearelves, Musician, Standard

10 Archers, Light Armour, Musician

10 Archers, Light Armour, Musician

10 White Lions, Musician, Standard, Banner of Eternal Flame

10 White Lions, Musician

9 Swordmasters, Blademaster with Amulet of Light, Musician

8 Swordmasters, Musician

8 Swordmasters, Musician

5 Dragon Princes, Musician

5 Dragon Princes, Musician

5 Ellyrian Reavers, Musician, Bows, Spears

Great Eagle
Great Eagle

Deployment

Deployment - or the beginning of the OK turn 1 :)

Refused flank - Ogre Style

With all major units on the West I thought it would be good idea to bait Mournfangs by sacrificing one unit of elite infantry, hold them with second when they overrun and counter charge. If it worked I would secure the flank, prepare the charge on his main unit and re-direct the Ironguts. Meanwhile cavalry was to gallop towards Ironblasters and silence them. Let's see if my plan survived the contact with the enemy :)

Spells for wizards were as follows:

Slaughtermaster - Spinemarrow, Bonecrusher, Bullgorger, Toothcracker
Firebelly - Flaming Sword of Ruin, Flame Storm
Elven BSB - Drain Magic, Shield of Saphery
Archmage - Drain Magic, Shield of Saphery, Fury of Khaine, Flames of the Phoenix, Vaul's Unmaking


Ogre Kingdoms - Turn 1

Ogres move slowly at first

Steady advance of Ogre regiments - please note that Firebelly was in the second rank from the start

Ogres moved forward, a little bit lazy at first. Confident that squishy elves are not going to run away so that they will have time to get there. Firebelly decided it is a little too cold in the morning and cast Flame Storm on White Lions with BSB. Surprisingly elven Archmage failed to dispel it and a few elves burned alive. Then the cannons of sky titans spoke and two great eagles were sniped out in the fashion that would make even a Dwarf Engineer proud.

Outcasts - Turn 1

Elves try to respond in haste

Setting up a trap - will it be enough?

Elves quickly re-arrange their formation on the West knowing very well they do not have much time before the thundering charge of Mournfangs. In the meantime on the East elven cavalry gallops towards the Ironblasters. While doing so Reavers perform some target practice and skewer one of the huge sabertusks. But other than that elven magic and archery proves to be very ineffective.

Ogre Kingdoms - Turn 2

Size definitely does matter here! :)

Mournfangs attack!

Mournfags spotted White Lions and decided to charge in and get their breakfast first. Brave Chracians stood their ground but even their hunter skills didn't save them and they died to the last warrior. Victorious Mournfangs overrun into second line formed by Swordmasters who hoped the counter-charge will stop the beasts.

Ironguts attempted long charges at elven Archers but they swiftly increased the distance and huge brutes had to slow down. Even one of the Ironblasters urged his rhinox to attack swift reavers but they too feigned retreat. Battle of wills between wizards continued without any side gaining upper hand.

Outcasts - Turn 2

The hunters become the hunted :(

Swordmasters counter charge but even their skills are not enough to defeat mournfangs who prove to be too tough, too well armored and on top of that they unleashed the power of their magical banner to destroy warriors of Hoeth. Two of the mournfangs perished but both elven units were destroyed and Ogres won the battle on the Western Flank.

On the East ellyrians failed to rally while Dragon Princes lined up for a charge against Ironblasters. Or so they thought. The only bright moment in otherwise very grim situation for elves was when their Archmage breached magical defenses of ogre spell casters and destroyed cursed hellheart.

Ogre Kingdoms - Turn 3

Ogres are very close to catch elven Archmage

Ogres keep pushing forward

Ogres and Irunguts run towards elven spears protecting the Archmage as soon as Mournfangs cleared the Western flank. They were very close to catch him now. Ironblasters pulled back to increase the distance from Dragon Princes and one of the Sabertusks leaped forward to hunt down either a steed or an elf. Yet again no spells were to be cast and one of the Ironblasters misfired but not much harm was done to the cannon or the crew.

Outcasts - Turn 3

Desperate attack of the remnants of HE army

High Elves had only one chance to escape from the trap. In the center Swordmasters, Archers and Spearmen tried a combined charge to hold Ironguts but when Spears didn't reach the fight in time it was clear that the other two units are doomed.

Archmage and his Spears charged Mournfangs who fled but although they didn't return this also left Spearelves dangerously exposed. White Lions tried to save the situation by their noble sacrifice and readied themselves for the incoming impact from the charge of Ogre unit.

On the East one regiment of Dragon Princes hunted down ferocious big cat while the other could not get enough momentum in the snow to reach Ironblasters.

Ogre Kingdoms - Turn 4

The battle enters their final stage

Ogres charge interfering Lions while Ironguts run fast to catch elven Spears. The bloody fight erupted and although Spearelves hel it was clear they are not going hold for long. Lions fought bravely but in the end they were all dead. One unit of Dragon Princes found themselves too close to the Ironblaster and received a powerful grapeshot. Only two survived.

Outcasts - Turn 4

With the loss of the characters HE are finally broken

Spearelves held as long as they could but it was not long enough. Despite all the effort they broke and were run down together with the Archmage and Battle Standard Bearer. Even Dragon Princes were killed in combat by ferocious rhinox. That was a very dark day for High Elves.

After-battle thoughts

I made so many mistakes I don't know where to start. :( Deployment was bad and then I played like a moron. I deserved to be crushed and David, being experienced player, did exactly that. I am really sorry I played so badly as it was not a challenging for David at all while it definitely could have been much more interesting game. I will just mention two things I should do differently among so many others:

1. Deploying characters so close to the enemy in the Blood or Glory scenario was stupid. I suffered from the major brain fart this game and that shows in all I have done. I should deploy them in the opposite corner (in the building even) and then create some favorable combats.

2. Before the tournament I was wondering how to tackle different armies. I had some battles against them before and I knew fighting from the front with Mournfangs is a very bad idea indeed. Yet I did again :( In the situation I faced due to my foolish deployment I should have exposed Swordmasters to their charge (and not Lions with a banner! stupid, stupid, stupid!) and then line up lions so that he does not overrun into them at all. Even if he reformed I could charge him and deny him impact hits. What is more, having a chance to destroy one item I should have targeted Mournfangs and destroy their banner as it was causing a lot of damage to my units.

It was a very painful lesson and I will remember it for a very long time :) I would like to thank David for a great game and I hope that I will have a chance to prove I can be a worthy opponent in the future :)

Funny thing is that after the game I started to hear this particular song in my mind: Rolling! Rolling! Rolling!

Thanks for reading!