Over the holiday break we managed to finally play a game of Warhammer 4th edition. I've been wanting to do this for some time and my cousin came up with his in-progress Bretonnian army. It's been around 15 years since I had last played a game of 4th ed - it was released just when I began the hobby and it will always be my favorite. It's my version of Oldhammer.
We played Dwarfs vs Bretonnians. This post isn't much of a battle report but instead a very brief recap with mostly pictures.
After playing tons of games of Age of Sigmar over the last year, it was strange to have a board set up with minimal scenery and an open center. For a variety of reasons, we didn't use any magic for this game.
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| Yes, that's part of the Mighty Fortress |
We also used the old-style "concealed deployment". Box tops down the middle, set up in "secret", then reveal the deployment of both sides. By far, this is my favorite way to do deployment for Warhammer for pitched battle-type scenarios. Alternating units, or "unit drops", just isn't as much fun.
Most of the pics we have are deployment shots. As with most games, we got very distracted by the actual game and didn't take many pictures after the 2nd turn...
We were using mostly 4th ed rules but the first Bretonnian Army Book didn't come out until 5th edition. But those editions were almost identical (almost). It was good enough for us. Plus, my cousin's army had Bretonnian units from across many editions: pegasus knights, King Louen on a hippogriff, trebuchet. We just cobbled together whatever rules we wanted and it worked just fine.
You can see in the pictures that there's the original Bretonnian lance formation in an actual wedge.
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| ignore the ninja turtle waving in the background |
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| very blurry picture, but you get the point |
We used the original rule for Bretonnian prayers to The Lady, so the Dwarfs went first and needed to roll a 4,5,6 in order to fire cannons or missile weapons. We realized after the game that since the Bretonnians also had a trebuchet, the background of that rule didn't make any sense - so we used the 6th edition version of that rule for Game 2 (later in the evening).
The next few pictures are turn 1 advances. There was minor damage from the cannon, organ gun, and missile troops (Thunderers and Crossbows).
Another interesting rule that I totally forgot about was "Flying High". Way back in 4th edition, models that could fly could decide that the start of their turn to "Fly High". This took them off the battlefield for an entire turn, but then on the next turn (or a subsequent turn of the player's choosing), the model can swoop down anywhere on the table including charging directly into combat. It adds a very fun and unpredictable aspect to the game, but it definitely made flyers very, very powerful. In fact, if memory serves correctly, this rule was eliminated in 5th edition and never returned. Either way, we were playing 4th, so the rule applied! The Brets immediately had the King on Hippogriff and the Pegasus Knights Fly High on Turn 1...everything else advanced.
Top of turn 2...The dwarfs unleashed some cannons, probably failed a few "permission" rolls, and generally continued the slow, pondering advance that Dwarfs do, anticipating the inevitable Bretonnian charge. Also, on the far left flank, the Empire allies of Knights Panther continued their flank sweep.
...and BAM, the Bretonnians slam home on Turn 2. The King landed into combat with the Hammerers, the pegasus knights hit the Thunderers, and the two lances slammed home.
Amazingly, the thunderers won combat and forced the pegasus knights to retreat. The lone Bretonnian lord on horseback beat the center clansmen forcing them to break, but the smaller lance unit lost combat to with the High King Thorgrim on the Throne of Power, and they broke, forcing the lord to run as well. The lance had been decimated by organ gun fire and a blast from the gyrocopter steam cannon, and they didn't have much left. Also of note, the Hammerers somehow won combat against the charging King and he fled off combat as well. The flanking lancers beat the clansmen anchoring the dwarf right flank, they broke, and the ran them down. The dwarf line was in deep trouble - the lancers could easily roll the flank from this position.
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| Steam blast! |
A few more shots from above (same turn)
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| lots of picture from Turn 2 |
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| Can the Knights of the Realm turn the flank? |
Over the next turn (or two), the hammerers and knights wheeled around, and the Hammerers managed to charge the Knights, grabbing the initiative...
...but..they were so surprised at actually getting to charge a knight unit that they all whiffed, and the lancers broke them in combat.
We were in the End Game now, and King Louen decided to avoid direct combat with the High King, instead landing at the crossbows.
The high king turned around, basically stranded in the center of the board and running out of time...
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| High King wanted combat..but King Louen declined... |
Turns 5 and 6 were mainly both sides trying to break smaller units and take control of table quarters.
The game was over - we tallied up the victory points using the 4th edition Victory Point chart. The best part about the 4th ed chart is that it's so small. Not a lot of basic conditions. The end results was a close win for the Dwarfs: 16 points to 15 points! The end result was a perfect representation of what the battlefield looked like. It was a close bloodbath that could have swung either way.
The game was great fun and reminded my why I fell in love with Warhammer back in 1992 (or 1991, I forget). The rules back then were actually pretty simple and straightforward. If something wasn't specifically addressed, we had a quick chat and basically rolled a dice (which was always GW's intent for all of their rules). The 4th ed rulebook is pretty thin, and sure the rules were a little vague and loose, but that was the fun. It didn't try to address every possible situation and didn't have layer upon layer of crazy special rules and stipulations. The game was just fun. In comparison to the amount of AoS we've been playing, it was the same amount of fun, and felt like a fantasy wargame (not predictable chess that WHFB became later). I definitely prefer the ease and speed of AoS and the look of the table with lot of scenery, and I love the warscroll idea where you just look at the stat-line and know what you need to roll (no charts, etc.). But 4th edition will continue to remain a viable gaming option.
