Game 1 - Warriors of Chaos - 2024/03/04

 

Greetings!

It's been quite a long time since I played any game and wrote a battle report. However, with the release of the Warhammer the Old World, I really wanted to organize something as soon as possible to test the new game. Fortunately, my brother was also very interested in trying out a new army and we played our very first TOW game online on Universal Battle 2. 

Warhammer the Old World

When I read the rules for the first time, my impression was that Warhammer the Old World is a different game to what I have known so far through all the editions of Warhammer Fantasy Battles. It is because there are so many, often subtle, changes to the rules that only look familiar on the surface. And quite a lot of completely new ones. 

At the same time I really wanted to see if I could come up with the version of the 8th edition army that I really liked playing with. Hence, the army I used in the very first game is very much an early idea. I assumed that there will be a lot of changes to be made afterwards. I simply considered it as an experiment, hoping that some of the prior experiences would still help in learning the new game. 

Outcasts in the Old World

We decided to build armies at 2000 points. I don't know what will be the new standard yet but I thought it is a good starting point. I should have enough models painted for such army so if I settled on something, it should be easier to re-base it. We also assumed that with the new rules, there will be a lot of time spent on checking them during the game. Hence, we hoped 2000 points would be a good balance between how many different things we could include in a single army and time spent on a game.

Obviously, I wanted to see if I can build Multiple Small Unit (MSU) type of an army I enjoyed playing so much in 8th edition. Here is a brief description of the reasoning behind the choices I made:

Characters

For the very first game I decided to choose a Prince with Loremaster honour and a Battle Standard Bearer as my only characters. I like the idea of characters having multiple roles, so the Loremaster seemed like a perfect choice to begin with. I checked the available lores for him and decided to go with Battle Magic. Simply because there are a few useful spells with low casting value that I could try to get. And if not, the signature spell looked good too. Striking first with the Sword of Hoeth also seemed like a great thing to have.

BSB came equipped with Reaver Bow and Pure of Heart. In this way he would act as a second general, granting a bit higher leadership to nearby units. 

Core Units

For the Core Units I picked:19 Spearmen, 2 x 10 Archers, 2 x 6 Silver Helms and 2 x Ellyrian Reavers. 

Archers, Reavers and BSB are the only models in the army that provide ranged attacks. They would focus on harming small support units of the enemy, that could otherwise interfere with the movement phase. And try to pick up stragglers at the end of the game.

Spearmen, Silver Helms and occasionally Reavers, may engage in close combat to assist other units. However, I did not expect either of them to be inflicting many wounds. They all have Weapon Skill 4, so they would hit on 4+ most of the time. With relatively few attacks, the odds are not much in their favour. However, if hitting from the flank or rear, they would already contribute to the combat result.

Silver Helms and Reavers would also be useful as fast interceptors and can successfully block and divert more powerful units if needed. 

Special Units

For special units I chose 2 x 10 Swordmasters and 2 x 10 White Lions for their high strength attacks. Swordmasters have high initiative so could strike before many opponents even if charged. White Lions have the highest strength in the army and are more maneuverable plus they are Stubborn too. 

I would need to make sure they enter combat unharmed, hence the role for cavalry to distract the enemy and provide cover while elite infantry moves to position to attack.

Rare Units

I only got two great eagles as rare units in the army. Their main role is to slow down the enemy. I noted they have some interesting new rules so I was curious to see if they can have some additional roles now.

Here is the army list with all the details:

Outcasts - Army List

Characters

Prince - Armour of Caledor, Loremaster, Sword of Hoeth, Battle Magic - 180
Noble - Full Plate Armour, Battle Standard Bearer, Barded Elven Steed, Reaver Bow, Dragon Helm, Pure of Heart - 169

Core Units

19 Spearmen - Shields, Shieldwall, Sentinel, Standard Bearer, Musician - 196
10 Elven Archers - 100
10 Elven Archers - 100
6 Silver Helms - Shields, High Helm, Musician - 156
6 Silver Helms - Shields, High Helm, Musician - 156
5 Ellyrian Reavers - Cavalry Spears, Shortbows, Harbringer, Musician - 104
5 Ellyrian Reavers - Cavalry Spears, Shortbows, Harbringer, Musician - 104

Special Units

10 Swordmasters - Bladelord, Musician - 152
10 Swordmasters - Bladelord, Musician - 152
10 White Lions - Guardian, Musician - 152
10 White Lions - Guardian, Musician - 152

Rare Units

Great Eagle - 60
Great Eagle - 60

Army Total: 1993

Warriors of Chaos - Army List

Characters

Chaos Lord - Great Weapon, Full plate Armour, Shield, Mark of Slaanesh, Chaos Steed, Favour of the Gods - 232
Exalted Sorcerer - Light Armour, Wizard level 2, Chaos Steed, Daemonology - 136
Exalted Champion - Lance, Heavy Armour, Shield, Battle Standard Bearer, Chaos Steed - 172

Core Units

7 Forsaken - Forsaken by Khorne - 133
7 Forsaken - Forsaken by Khorne - 133
7 Chaos Knights - Mark of Slaanesh, Standard Bearer, Musician - 229
5 Marauder Horsemen - Cavalry Spears, Javelins, Light Armour - 65
5 Marauder Horsemen - Cavalry Spears, Javelins, Light Armour - 65
5 Chaos Warhounds - 30
5 Chaos Warhounds - 30

Special Units

12 Chosen Chaos Warriors - Full Plate Armour, Shields, Mark of Nurgle, Drilled, Standard Bearer, Musician -  290
1 Chaos Spawn - Spawn of Nurgle - 52
1 Chaos Spawn - Spawn of Nurgle - 52
1 Dragon Ogre - 60
1 Dragon Ogre - 60
1 Chimera - Scaly Skin (Heavy Armour), Flaming Breath, Regeneration (5+), Poisoned Attacks - 225

Army Total: 1979

It is also a variation of MSU army. However, with two harder hitting and more expensive blocks of Chaos Knights and Chosen Chaos Warriors. Especially the Knights, as they were to be joined by the Characters.

We both considered our respective armies as kind of experimental and wanted to add as many different units as possible. Simply to check in practice how they work with new rules and each other.  

As it is often with MSU armies, I needed to assume that no unit of mine is able to hold against the charge of the Chaos Knights with all the characters in there. Hence, I would try to avoid fighting (when possible) and divert them for as long as I can. 

To do that I needed to deal with all the enemy support units first, as they would interfere with my army's movement. In the first instance, I would like to deal with the Hounds and Marauders, either with my shooting or units such as Silver Helms and Ellyrian Reavers.

Apart from Chimera, Knights, Marauders and Hounds, the Chaos army would need to take some time to come closer and to be in a position to attack. I thus wanted to use it to my advantage. I assumed that my brother would have had a dilemma, either to attack with the fastest units quickly but unsupported. Or slow down the march to advance as a whole. But give me more time to shoot and position my own units in the process.

As my own army's hitting power lied with the Loremaster, Swordmasters and White Lions, I needed to make sure they are in good shape before any combats would take place. Fortunately, with a few small units opposing them, there was also an opportunity for some one-on-one fights. 

That was my simple plan to try in this game, before we placed any terrain and rolled for sides.

Terrain

Terrain Setup

We used the rules described in the rulebook for the terrain placement. First, one piece for each 12" of the table width - 6 in total. And then placed them one at a time, keeping the 12" radius in the centre free of any terrain.

I think placing terrain has a potential to be a phase of the game on its own right. First, one can choose pieces of terrain to supplement any plan/army style. Second, knowing where to place it, taking into consideration that you would not be able to choose sides, can be quite helpful. And last but not least, adapting to the way the opponent places half of the terrain pieces, seemed to me an important skill to acquire.

In this game, we chose to have 2 types of terrain each but we didn't limit ourselves to which one we want to place at a time. In this way, I ended up placing both pieces of woods and a hill in the middle of the deployment zone. As you can see, my brother opted to scatter all the remaining terrain to the corners. he obviously wanted plenty of unobstructed avenues towards the opposite deployment zone. While I wanted to use the woods to split his forces here and there. As well as to allow White Lions some safer paths towards enemy flanks.

Deployment

Deployment of the Armies.

I ended up deploying South while Warriors of Chaos deployed North. I deployed Archers in the middle. Even if enemy units may have chosen to advance on the flanks, they should be able to reach some targets each turn. I deployed in a bit symmetric fashion to keep the options open, either to attack on flanks or shift to the centre. 

Reavers and Silver Helms on the Western flank were tasked with engaging and eliminating Marauders and Hounds. Those on the East were to delay and divert the enemy. 

Loremaster and BSB were in charge of each flank, to be able to spread their leadership influence (BSB thanks to his Pure of Heart)over as many units as possible. 

Warriors of Chaos opted to deploy with weighted flank formation, with majority of the units on the East. Some of which, such as Forsaken, were deployed as a living shield and the first wave of attack. 

With such deployment, I didn't think I needed to alter my initial plan. Instead, I could make specific decision as to which enemy units to shoot at first. I thought eliminating Hounds and Marauders first was still a good thing to do. Then, it would depend on the development of the situation.

If I could win on the West and sufficiently slow down on the East, then I thought I may have a chance to set up some combined charges (flanks including) against enemy units in the centre.

However, Warriors of Chaos were quite eager to join the fight, took the initiative and advanced towards High Elves immediately.

Loremaster took Battle Magic and got Oaken Shield spell. While Exalted Sorcerer took Daemonology and got The Summoning, Gathering Darkness, and Daemonic Vigour.

Warriors of Chaos - Turn 1

Warriors of Chaos begin their advance.

Warriors of Chaos obeyed the order to advance without the question and the army moved towards the thin, blue line of High Elves as one. 

With both forces still quite far from each other, there were no ranged attacks. However, the Exalted Sorcerer succeeded in casting Daemonic Vigour at the group of Forsaken marching in front of his Lords retinue of Chaos Knights.

Outcasts - Turn 1

High Elves strike on flanks.

High Elves kept the centre of the formation steady and advanced on the West to threaten the approaching Marauders. Ellyrian Reavers missed but the Archers and BSB found their targets and inflicted some casualties. 

On the East, valiant Silver Helms, not wanting to be attacked by the Chimera, decided to charge early and buy some time for their companions. Despite the fact they managed to eliminate three of the Forsaken, the remaining four, invigorated by evil magic, killed all but one Elven noble. The brave High Helm kept on fighting.

Warriors of Chaos - Turn 2

Warriors of Chaos continue their advance.

Elven High Helm has been quickly punished for his foolishness, when the Spawn of Chaos decided to join the fight. However, as a result of the early charge, there was a bit of a traffic jam on the East. The Chaos Lord was not pleased, to say the least.

The rest of the army continued the advance, with Chimera landing on one, exposed flank of the Elven forces. While Marauders engaged in the skirmishes with their enemies on the opposite side. 

The units in the centre marched towards their foes as well, with the Spawn clearly the most eager of them all to get into a fight.

Outcasts - Turn 2

High Elves attack on the West.

 

High Elves focused on the Marauders and Hounds as per their initial plan. They managed to hunt down the evil dogs and panic one of the Marauder groups with some shooting. The Spawn in the centre was also skewered with arrows and destroyed before it could reach Elven lines.

On the East, Swordmasters and White Lions changed their facing to keep Chimera in their front arcs. while Eagles hoovered nearby to help to slow down advancing enemy.

Warriors of Chaos  - Turn 3

First attempt to charge by Chosen Chaos Warriors.

Chosen Chaos Warriors decided to charge the first available target, which happened to be a unit of Ellyrian Reavers. Swift Elven riders easily avoided powerfully armoured but slow enemy. However, it was all fine for the Warriors, as they simply wanted to remove the annoyance to continue their advance.

Marauders and Chimera, on their respective flanks, used their ranged attacks against the Elves. One unit of Ellyrian Reavers and almost half of White Lions thus perished. But the disciplined Elven warriors remained steady despite all the losses.

Outcasts - Turn 3

Swordmasters attack Chosen Chaos Warriors!

The regiments on the West kept pressing forward. Silver Helms trapped the Marauders who overextended their reach and were not able to escape. In close combat, Elven knights had the upper hand and destroyed enemy light cavalry.

White Lions moved out of the woods to challenge the lonely Dragon ogre. This allowed Swordmasters to advance towards the exposed flank of the Chosen Chaos Warriors, while the second group of warrios of Hoeth, led by the Loremaster, and protected by the Oaken Shield spell, charged their enemies from the front. 

Both groups of elite warriors exchanged blows. Swordmasters' speed was countered by the blessing of Nurgle, while Chosen's attacks were deflected by the protective spell. In this round of combat, Chaos Warriors lost two of their number, while Swordmasters managed to deflect all attacks.

The reminder of the Elven army maneuvered to either allow some shooting (with only a single wound inflicted upon Chimera) or to block the advance of the Chaos forces on the East.

Warriors of Chaos - Turn 4

The fight intensifies!

Finally, Warriors of Chaos had a number of Elven units to attack. On the West, Dragon Ogre charged stubborn White Lions, who had to use all their resolve to keep the beast occupied. 

In the centre, Swordmasters were attacked by Chimera but again, Oaken Shield helped to deflect many blows and the warriors of Hoeth kept on fighting.

On the East, both Great Eagle and White Lions fought exceptionally well, held the line and inflicted serious damage on their charging foes.

Unfortunately for Elves, however, the second of the Great Eagles was shot down from the skies by the evil Exalted Sorcerer and his daemonic magic.

Outcasts - Turn 4

Second wave of the Elven charges.

High Elves committed their reserves to the fight. On the West, Silver Helms and White Lions managed to inflict enough damage upon Dragon Ogre that the beast fell down. 

The melee in the centre drew in more and more units. With second regiment of Swordmasters flanking Chosen Chaos Warriors and Ellyrian Reavers charging at Chimera. Once again, Oaken Shield was very helpful and it looked like the ranks of Chaos Warriors are melting faster.

Nearby Great Eagle was not able to repeat its success and this time, Dragon Ogre cut the noble bird of prey down. Similarly, White Lions suffered significant losses against the Forsaken and were pushed back.

Warriors of Chaos - Turn 5

Chaos Lord and his retinue join the fight - at last!

After a very long march, Chaos Lord and his Knights have finally made it to the fight. A few White Lions stood no chance to even slow down this juggernaut. It simply steamrolled them and hit the flank of the Ellyrian Reavers, adding to the massive, multiple combat in the centre.

This swung the balance in Warriors of Chaos favour but Swordmasters and their general were still able to inflict more casualties. Chosen were reduced to just a single Warrior, while Forsaken lost more than a half of their numbers.

Outcasts - Turn 5

Swordmasters prevail!

Finally, Swordmaters managed to completely annihilate their enemies. After many rounds of mortal combat, they defeated Chosen Chaos Warriors and the Forsaken. One of the regiments of the warriors of Hoeth perished as well. And in the end, it was only Loremaster who had an unfinished business with wounded Chimera.

Yet, the battle was not over and the remaining Elven units continued maneuvering. One of the regiments of Archers interposed themselves in between their companions and Chaos Knights. Thanks to that, Elven Battle Standard Bearer was able to get to the top of the hill and kill the second of Dragon Ogres with his Reaver Bow. 

Warriors of Chaos - Turn 6

Loremaster wins the duel with Chimera!

In the end, Chaos Lord decided he would not gain much attacking unworthy Archers and exposing his retinue to multiple charges of the Elven units. Instead, he ordered his Sorcerer to punish his enemies with some evil magic. Half of the remaining regiment of Swordmasters was destroyed.

This was soured by the fact that the lone Loremaster managed to win his duel against Chimera and slay the beast!

Outcasts - Turn 6

Parting shots - courtesy of Elven Battle Standard Bearer!

High Elves were not in a position to mount a last successful attack against such a powerful enemy as Chaos Lord with his Exalted Champion and Knights. Hence they simply reformed the line and allowed the foe to withdraw in good order.

Not before, however, Elven Battle Standard Bearer aimed at two Forsaken still roaming the battle field and freed them from their misery.

After bloody encounter, High Elves emerged victorious.

Summary

Turn-by-turn animation summary.

After-battle

Many thanks to my brother for a great game! It has been several years since the last time we had one. It is also very fitting that we had the first game of Warhammer the Old World as it was him who introduced me to Warhammer Fantasy Battle many years ago.

There is no doubt that TOW brought back all the fond memories and that it felt great to play this game. There is so much to digest as many rules are either new or different and what I knew from previous editions, works differently now. In my opinion, TOW is not an easy game to learn and master, owing to many subtle interactions between the special rules. It offers a lot of possibilities to customize your armies and style of play, so I hope it will result in the great diversity, even in the frame of the same faction.

But let's talk about the battle first, before I share some of my first impressions about TOW. Even during the game we both agreed that my brother played too cautiously with his Knights. He said he was concerned with the fact that they have 3+ armour save now. Even though I had only two regiments of Archers, they can potentially reduce it to 4+ as well. With only 7 Knights, it felt a bit risky to him. However, with the full benefit of hindsight, we agreed he could have protected them the way he did, even when positioned in the centre. 

I think that with the powerful characters as Chaos Lord and Exalted Champion, he could have been quite bold and even invite some flank charges. This would allow these characters to swing the balance in his favour and blunt the attacks. In the subsequent turns, it is war of attrition, in which Warriors of Chaos excel. 

The highlight of the game was obviously the big combat in the centre, where both armies kept throwing in more and more units. Because both armies had elite warriors involved, many attacks either missed (not that easy to hit on 4+ sometimes) or the blows were deflected by armour and ward saves. Hence, there were relatively few casualties each turn. Also, due to small size of the units, some of the attacks were wasted. As in the case where Chaos Lord single-handedly wiped out Ellyrian Reavers, before his Knights and Dragon Ogre could even roll to hit.

As mentioned at the beginning, we both wanted to include as many units as possible, so that we could test them. My brother has already decided to switch to all cavalry army to project the threat further and get into a fight much faster.

I was generally happy with the army I decided to use and haven't thought much about potential updates. I will, most likely, limit my future considerations to 2000 points, simply because I also want to plan ahead with any modelling/painting. The old 8th edition force needs repairs too, before I repurpose it to TOW.

The plan for the game worked but I am aware that there was an element of luck involved. For example, I was able to roll high with Loremaster to cast his single spell and attempts to dispel it failed. Then, I proceeded to roll well on ward saves to significantly limit the casualties. That, in turn, kept Swordmasters fighting.

I was happy with how the units I placed on the flanks performed, as they managed to delay the foe on the East and win on the West. I should have position them better, however, so that they were in the position to attack again after winning the combat. The good example of that was with Silver Helms that helped to defeat Dragon Ogre. They had the range to assist Swordmasters, but were at a wrong angle to engage immediately. 

I haven't used Spearmen at all, however. I was concerned that they would have been an easy target for the Knights and would have suffered too many casualties to even use their Shieldwall special rule. And I am still debating if I should use Sea Guard instead.

It would come at no surprise when I say I like Swordmasters a lot :) They do not have that many attacks, however, so one needs to plan for them to be in combat for several turns. Hence, the Fury of Khaine spell looks so attractive!

White Lions are tricky to use as they really want to be charging to get that initiative bonus. But they bring that S6 to the game and can use terrain and a bit of mobility to their advantage. 

I was happy with Silver Helms and Ellyrian Reavers working together. They are fragile so need to be used carefully but worked very well when matched against Marauders. They will be useful in making sure support enemy units do not interfere with the maneuvers of the rest of the army.

Great Eagles seem to be able to do some damage now so they will be even more useful and have multiple roles, not only diverting enemy units.

I liked both my characters, as they effectively were two generals for the purpose of inspiring nearby troops. Reaver Bow was very useful, especially that two units of Archers and two units of Reavers is not that much shooting on their own. I am still debating what magic lore to give the Loremaster. He is reliable fighter too but I had a few rounds where he managed to inflict a single casualty only. I guess it would be nice to have level 2 mage to add more variety and options.

Even a single game provided a lot of food for thought. I wanted to share some of my first impressions. In a bit of random order as they all seem equally interesting and important from my point of view.

Movement and formations are what I looked at in the first instance. I decided to keep my units six wide because it felt that any wider would mean wide wheels and slower maneuvers. Infantry seems to be quite slow in comparison to cavalry. For example, Swordmasters can march up to 10 inches and have maximum charge range of 11 inches. Silver Helms, on the other hand, can march up to 16 inches and have charge range from 12 to 17 inches. With Swifstride rule making it more likely to be able to charge at the maximum charge range. I haven't checked the what would be the most probable result for either unit but the fact that cavalry can have such a long charge distance, has to be taken into account by the opponent. Even if the particular unit does not hit as hard as slower infantry. It also means that the foot soldiers can be potentially ignored and/or avoid for much longer.

Magic is very interesting. On one hand it has a great potential to impact the game. On the other hand, it does not seem there are spells that can destroy entire units in one go all by themselves. I really like it because my impression is that it will be very useful in affecting the game flow in a more subtle way. I will definitely spend some time to ponder on the possibilities out there to incorporate it in the army and the game.

Shooting was always a support for me. I would love to include some of it but again, this needs some further thought on how to do it this time. It was very useful in eliminating support and adding a wound here and there, especially at picking up stragglers. Since there is so much to choose from, it will be down to personal preferences as to the type and what fits particular style the best.

Combat looks different to me now. What I mean is that there seem to be fewer attacks than what 8ed armies could deal. In addition, high strength does not automatically mean no armour save, hence the damage can be further limited. That's good as it requires forward planning as there will be situations where the fight is not resolved in a single round of combat.

These are all very general thoughts, of course as it was just a first game. I hope you liked the report.

Many thanks for reading!