Clash of Hordes

Waaagh Gorfang was headed into the human lands after hearing about all the fun outside of some Empire town of Lietzburg. Something about warpstone, but who cares; Gorfang just wanted a good scrap.

While moving through Bretonnia Gorfang found the juicy town of Summersall Fort, which looked like a perfect town to sack, but he hit a giant force of Skaven led by Thanquol.  Battle ensued...

Empire v Skaven 11/28

We played a post-thanksgiving 2000 point game of Empire vs Skaven.

Here's a brief synopsis thats poorly edited with a lot of pictures. Some of the account is accurate.  

Deployment...

In view below is most of the Empire army of Leitzburg, led personally by Baron Edmund The (normally) Absent on his pegasus, Peg. Two units of knights, The Taal Eagles spearmen (red / yellow), the Bloodpine Shields swordsmen  (red / blue) led by the local Graf, Dieter, and the baron's personal bodyguard the Leitzguard, full armoured Greatswordsmen (full plate armor on foot).  In the distance is the Skaven horde... 

 The rest of the Empire army in view below: Knights of the Order of Grey Plastic, a pistoliers unit The Sons of Taal, two cannons, and a small contingent of skirmishing Stirland Archers, the Deathjacks.

Below are lots of Skaven. I hate Skaven.

 Large unit of large Rat Ogres, unit of Stormvermin led by army general Lord Thrott (his debut appearance), a block of clanrats, two rat swarms, Warp Lightning Cannon Thing, and unit of giant rats.

Deployment errors: I made many. Skaven dropped first unit and it was that big unit of Rat Ogres. I didnt even know he had that many ogres.  I was psychologically on tilt and it affected every deployment decision I made after that, compounding errors. I would spend majority of first 3 turns digging myself out of this hole. Luckily, I brought a Helblaster volley gun...

Turn 1 skaven moved up. warp cannon killed stuff.
turn 1 empire, much deliberation, both knights charged. Reiksguard failed charge and get stuck in middle of field. Panther made the charge and slam into Rat Ogres. Pistoliers sweep around flank and shoot at the mass of giant rats, killing one.
Cannon hits Lord Thrott, poor rolling ends up only one wound which he regenerates.

uh oh...Reiksguard knights didnt make it

 Knights panther cause massive damage, killing 2 rat ogres outright and leaving a 3rd wounded. Rat Ogres fail the break check, run and on a poor pursuit roll the knights panther don't catch them but get close.  everyone passes panic checks

 turn 2 skaven rat ogres rally. clan rats take opportunity to charge knights stuck in poor position. knights intentionally flee hoping to set up artillery shots.

 warp engineer unleashes warp lightning on the pistoliers, killing 3 and causing them to panic.

 Warp cannon targets the grey knights, misfire, spin around and it fires through the storm vernon and hits the castle.

 turn 2 empire Reiksguard barely rally behind the greatswords pistoliers fail to rally and keep running.  grey knights charge rat pack.

 panthers pass fear check and again charge rat ogres. no one is sure why.

 cannons totally miss but the helblaster unleashes long range volley and annihilates 14 clan rats, cutting the huge unit in half.

hel.

combat with rat ogres is a draw, grey knights win combat with giant rats and run them down.

 turn 3 skaven clan rats charge great swords, tunnel team fails to show up again, storm vermin charge hand gunner detachment rat swarm charges grey knights who intentionally flee trying to avoid the "tarpit" of two swarms.  clan rats lose combat but hold, greatswords lap around. hand gunners stand and shoot, wounding one rat. storm vermin hit the hand gunners, beat them and they run. storm vermin can't pursue because Thrott sits there eating remains of vanquished. Rat ogre combat, ogres lose but hold.

turn 3 empire: Baron edmund, spears, and swords charge storm vermin. the free company detachment is in the way to swordsmen fail their charge.  Reiks knights reform and try to wind their way behind the line and support the right flank. both cannons misfire.  helblaster continues killing things.

 Throt challenges the Baron who accepts. Baron and Peg cause two wounds on Throatt and he fails to regen them. in the swirl, empire wins combat but it's a draw.

 Greatswords win combat and break the clan rats, but Griffon standard means they can't pursue. Rat ogres finally win combat against remaining Panther who flees. Rat Ogres pursue right into the free company detachment.

 turn 4 skaven: rat swarms charge grey knights who dither but eventually accept. tunnel team finally arrives and scatters right into the cannon. they charge cannon crew, who flees, but they catch them and charge anyway (this was a mistake, crewmen should have been run down when caught).

 Big showdown, Baron kills Thrott, we're confused about regen rules but he fails anyway, spears cause more wounds, skaven lose combat and flee, pegasus runs them down killing big unit and general. not good but Rat Ogres pass panic check, then break the free company in combat who flee. short pursue leaves ogres right in front of swordsmen. Fleeing members of Empre Free Company wondering how the hell they survived combat with Rat Ogres. 

turn 4 empire:  swords reform to prepare for charge of ogres. not sure why i didn't charge them first but oh well. moved other units to surround ogres, too. huntsmen charge the tunnel team, and break them in combat! can't believe it and don't pursue them enough.

 turn 5 skaven. ogres charge swords, who fail to save anything, entire first rank of 6 guys dies. the graf does his best to kill an ogre but the weight of combat is against them and they flee. the poor saps that survived from the free company thought they were safe but the pursue brings the ogres right into combat with them again!. this saves the swords from getting run down.

 turn 5 empire: grey knights finally kill the rat swarm. spears and greatsowrds find themselves out of position. Baron and Reiks charge the rat ogres. big mess of combat with multiple charges, challenges and rules confusion.  we do many things wrong but who cares. In the end the rats win combat but all Empire units pass their checks.

turn 6 skaven - tunnel team rallies, but the Baron wins combat with rat ogres who flee and the pegasus runs them down.  Tunnel team only Skaven unit left on the board. Huge win for the Empire!

Empire vs Skaven 1500

We had a last-minute Skaven vs Empire game, set at 1500 points.

Pitched battle. Lots of fun.

Here is a brief recap that has not been edited, proofread, spellchecked, or anything resembling quality control checked.

Deployment Shots.

turn 1

movement/ cannons do some decent damage to storm vermin.  hand gunners shoot but only pick off one giant rat.  Empire scout archers forget to fire.  SKaven warp fire thrower kills two.  Most other Skaven artillery is ineffective.  The Skaven general sees the oncoming Knights Panther and hasn't faced them in combat before so unleashes Warpfire but The Wiz senses it and uses his dispel scroll to stop it.

turn 2

empire knights panther and the pistoliers charge into the plaguemonks with the pistoliers hitting their flank.   

cannons unleash significant damage on storm vermin; they flee. 

boom

helblaster rips over 16 shots into the clan rats doing serious damage, along with the crossbows.  Handgunners fire into the giant rats and do some damage.  

Knights only kill two, warhorses kill one more, but the pistoliers open up with a fusillade and kill over 5 plaguemonks.  Only one can fight back and he lashes out causing two wounds on the knights who promptly fail their armor saving throws with double ones.  

either way, the plaguemonks break from combat and the Knights pursue after them.

  Skaven general fails his panic check.  The fleeing storm vermin cause the clan rats to fail their panic check and they run too.  the Skaven center has fled and almost off the board.  Things look really bad for skaven at the end of the Empire's turn 2.

But in the Skaven's half of the turn, the Skaven general rallies and the gutter runners arrive right in front of the crossbows, charging into them.  The newly rallied general looks at his crumbling army and unleashes his vengeance on the Knights Panther with furious warp lightning, killing all of the remaining knights. This causes the Pistoliers to panic and flee. Suddenly the Empire left flank has disappeared.  Seeing all of this, the Storm Vermin rally in Turn 2 as well.  Things are beginning to swing back to the Skaven.

The gutter runners kills half of the crossbows who break from combat and flee off the board. the gutter runners hold and don't pursue. the sight of the fleeing crossbows causes the crew of both cannons to turn tail and flee even with the general nearby.  Which then the Empire general on his pegasus also fail his panic check and flees off the board. So not only has the Empire left flank disappeared, the center has now collapsed.  

turn 3 

xbows pick off a few more fleeing clan rats.  Empire archers loose their arrows into the giant clan rats killing a decent amount. The Helblaster Volley gun fires three more barrels into the Storm Vermin cutting down the heavily armored rats with ease.  With the cannon crew having fled their war machines, the unit of Swordsmen charged into the gutter runners that had caused the break in the line, overwhelming them and breaking them from combat. The swordsmen ran them down over the bodies of the fallen crossbowmen.  The remaining Empire troops waited for the rat men to crash into their lines.

With a feral scream from their handlers, the mass of giant rats slams into the Handgunner detachment on the Empire right flank.  The other warlock engineer blasts the Huntsmen archers who were scouting in the burned out village with warp lightening, killing 5 of their number. With that, their nerve broke and the Hunstmen fled off the board. The men barely get off one more shot before the giant rats overwhelm them.  The hand gunners turn and flee off the board.  

turn 4

Not much remained of the Empire army. The central block of spearmen reformed their ranks to prepare and engage the giant rats that had destroyed their detachment of gunners, while the swordsmen reformed and prepared to deal with the storm vermin who had almost crossed the copse of trees for the second time that day. The helblaster crew prepared another round of shots but the second barrel misfired, the crank mechanism jammed. It would take them an entire turn to fix it.

The skaven handlers whipped their giant rat herd into submission and turned them around to face the spearmen. The clan rats and Storm Vermin continued their advance upon the imperial lines.  Various attempts at warp lightening and warp fire throwers were unsuccessfully due to misfires, miscasts, and bad range guessing.  But the Warp Lightening Cannon finally hit its mark, sending a crackling streak of green lightening burning through the trees and scorching 5 of the swordsmen to death.  The momentum was now fully with the Skaven as the game hurtled towards the final two turns.

turn 5

Knowing that the helblaster crew were still trying to work out the jam and wouldn't be able to fire,  the spearmen charged into the mass of giant rats with a battle cry on their tongues.  

It was a brutal combat and the rats were ready. The spearmen, better suited to repel a charge then conduct one, only killed a few rat while the Skaven killed 5 of the men.  It looked like the men would lose the combat but the weight of their numbers, the pounding drum of their musician, and the magical War Banner that they carried pushed them over the edge, breaking the rats.  The spearmen pursued them trying desperately to run them down but the giant rats skittered away barely faster than the men.

The rest of the skaven host continued to advance hoping to engage the dwindling Empire army.  The Storm Vermin charged the Swordsmen, eager to put their halberds to the test.  Men and Rat-Men were cut down with ease and the combat was a draw. 

turn 6

It was the final Empire turn.  The spearmen charged the fleeing giant rats and running them down, right off the board.  The Wiz, nominally in charge after the Captain fled, cast Creeping Death on the warlock engineer, killing him.  The helblaster crew finally got the jam cleared and aimed the engine of death upon the creepy Skaven General. With a flourish, the crew unleased the full three remaining barrels on the rat general, with devastating affect at such short range.  22 Strength 5 hits peppered the skaven leader, mowing him down.   

Meanwhile the swirling combat continued between the Swordsmen and Storm Vermin.  With the Initiative going to the Storm Vermin, they attacked first, killing two of the men.  Four of the swordsmen were able to strike back, but they all missed!  The Storm Vermin won the combat but the Swordsmen would not be broken; the Banner of Sigismund infusing them with resolve, making them Stubborn.   The Storm Vermin pressed the advantage, however, lapping around the edges and encircling the remaining fighters. 

It was now the Skaven's final turn.  Sensing a chance to steal victory in the most rat-like way, the Warp Lightning Cannon crew fire a blast of lightning through the trees and into the combat between the Swordsmen and Storm Vermin.  A few rats died along the way, but then 3 swordsmen were killed, causing a panic check against losses from shooting. They failed and ran.  This caused The Wiz to take a panic check, which he failed, and then the Helblaster Volleygun crew also failed their panic check. 

That was the end of the game.  After victory points, the final two units that ran from Warp Lightning (Wiz and Swordsmen) were enough to turn a draw into a Minor Victory for the Skaven!

It was a fantastic game and lots of fun.