Intro and Lists
For the rematch, my opponent opted to try the list with the Boomers, subbing in some Trollblood minis with Javelins to fill the role. I am not too familiar with the Hordes game or factions, but the Trollbloods seem like a neat way to run Ogres. I was digging it. The list was as follows:
This was my original Ogre list for these introductory game, so I was especially interested to see how it would do. The same core is preserved, and we get to play around with the Boomers. My Abyssals (with Regeneration) also have an intro list ready to go, so the Fire Oil seems silly, but was meant to play into that potential interaction. I didn't want to switch things up on my opponent though, so I again ran the Kingdoms of Men.
Table and Scenario
We swapped terrain around the table. Graveyards were Height 1 Difficult Terrain, the Chapel Height 9 Blocking, Forests Height 6 Difficult, and the Hills were Height 3. We chose Invade for the scenario - and would just be trying to get the most unit strength across the center line of the table.
My opponent opted to try a fuller experience this time. We rolled, I won and chose to keep the same sides, and then we started trading deployments.
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| A very conservative deployment from the Ogres. |
The Ogres ended up with another very conservative deployment 6" or more behind the line. From left-to-right we have Boomers, Warlock, Siege Breakers, Warriors with two-handers, the Sergeant, and shielded Warriors.
The Kingdoms of Men deployed at the line, and from left to right we have the Mounted Scouts troop, Crossbowmen, Ballista in the center, then the Militia, ASB with Lute, the two Foot Guard Regiments, and lastly the Mounted Hero on the other wing. I moved the Hero over here to disrupt, hoping to take a hit with him and then be able to punch through with both Foot Guard units.
We rolled off for the decision on the first turn, and my opponent won, and decided to go first. With my Ballista in the middle, that seems like a good idea.
Top of Round 1: Ogres
My opponent had chosen to deploy pretty far back. Both units of Warriors and the Sergeant moved into the forest, slowing them down.
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| The Warriors were stymied by the woods, so the Sergeant probably should be that far up, but whatever. Little positioning goofs are bound to happen in these games. No big deal. |
The Siege Breakers, Warlock, and Boomers decided to keep pace with the Warrior side. All moved up their speed. Unfortunately, by deploying so far back, nothing was in range for even the Warlock and his lightning, so it was a very quick turn!
Bottom of Round 1: Kingdoms of Men
I don't think the Crossbowmen had range to anything. The Ballista shot at the Warriors with two-handers. A majority of their base was outside the woods, so no cover for them! Some hefty bolts hit home, but the Warriors hold.
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| The elite regiments of the Kingdoms of Men secure the formidable hill. |
The infantry took the nearby hill. The Militia kept on going, while the Foot Guard remained, looking to charge down from the great height once the Ogres got close.
The Mounted Scouts moved up, but missed with their bows against the Boomers. This is a bad call on my part. Getting into range of them was never going to be worth it, and I should have tried to delay with the instead, keeping them back and safe, or even taking this turn to get them away from the enemy shooting.
Top of Round 2: Ogres
The Boomers move up and shoot into the Mounted Scouts. The Warlock does the same, and the Scouts are blasted off the battlefield.
The Sergeant remains in the woods and shoots at the Militia, but fails to wound. The Siege Breakers and both Warrior units all continue on, but are not yet within charge range of anything.
Bottom of Round 2: Kingdoms of Men
I don't like my chances currently in any melee, and so my infantry regiments all move move back some to wait on the hill for another turn.
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| The humans back up, getting just out of charge range. |
The Ballista and Crossbowmen shoot into the Warriors with big weapons, bringing them up to 3 damage and now get a lucky Waver against them.
Top of Round 3: Ogres
Leaving the shaken Warriors behind to collect their wits, the Siege Breakers and shielded Warriors continue on, though unfortunately have no charges.
The Sergeant fires against the Militia, and lands 3 damage against them.
Bottom of Round 3: Kingdoms of Men
The Ballista shoots over the heads of the Militia, miraculously scoring two more damage against the Warriors with two-handers despite the cover, and the unit is Wavered again. The Crossbowmen take aim at the Warlock out in the open, land a few damage, and they get a very lucky Waver as well!
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| The Militia, doing their part. |
One unit of Foot Guard charges off the hill and into the Shielded Warriors, but Bane Chant fails to land and will not help them in the ensuing combat. They are joined by the Mounted Hero, but the Hero contributes nothing and only 3 damage makes it past the Ogre shield wall. The other unit of Foot Guard are too far back to charge anything, so just move up, and should be able to contribute next turn.
It was a great round for my shooting, with some overly cooperative dice. Unfortunately the Melee Phase was not as good for me. Thankfully, the smashy Warrior unit was Wavered, giving me a little time to get back in this.
Top of Round 4: Ogres
I convince my opponent to move the Sergeant up and out of the woods, so he will be in a better position to score or support in the coming turns. The shooting is a great perk, but he is by far a better melee combatant! Having moved, he now has a line into the Crossbowmen, and lands a few damage. The Boomers move in and shoot as well, dealing 8 damage off of 9 attacks into the Crossbowmen, and the regiment is broken.
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| Everything on the table now fits neatly into one shot. |
The Siege Breakers counter-charge the Militia, dealing 4 damage, but fail to break them. The shielded Warriors counter-charge the Foot Guard, also dealing 4, but also fail to break them. I believe Insane Courage was rolled for one of these tests, but cannot recall which one.
Bottom of Round 4: Kingdoms of Men
The Foot Guard on the hill have options. I think it is unlikely that I will be able to drag the Siege Breakers down from the front, so I opt to charge everything I can into the shielded Warriors instead, and just try to remove some enemy scoring units with certainty. They charge down from the hill, gaining Thunderous Charge; the other regiment gets a Bane Chant, and the Mounted Hero joins in too. The Kingdoms of Men push through!
With the Sergeant towering menacingly nearby, I opt to overrun everything though, as I did not want to give up a flank to him. Unfortunately, one regiment and the Mounted Hero both get a 1" overrun, and I think a better choice for me would have been to hold. It's hard to pin down a nimble, square-based unit, and if I had held, I'd have still kept the Sergeant in my front arcs, and both regiments should have been able to fight back next turn if the Sergeant dared to charge in.
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| Poor overruns from the humans. |
Meanwhile the Militia try to delay, counter-charging and slipping another damage onto the Siege Breakers.
The Ballista shoots at something, probably the Warlock, but I don't remember the outcome. I think I did damage, but the spell caster should hold this time, and I think we just forgot to remove the Wavering token from before.
Top of Round 5: Ogres
The Warlock throws lightning into the Ballista while the Boomers move and shoot into it, and the war engine is ravaged from enemy fire. This duo has just torn through my own ranged units!
The Sergeant rolls very well, and is able to rip through the injured, lagging Foot Guard and then overrun, stopping just shy of the ASB with Lute. Honestly, this was a potential outcome here even if I did not overrun.
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| The powerful Ogres dish out some beatings. |
The Siege Breakers land some heavy hits against the Militia, and are able to beat them down and remove them this turn. They will overrun as well, trying to catch the remaining Foot Guard.
Bottom of Round 5: Kingdoms of Men
I unfortunately cannot get out of the charge arc of the Siege Breakers. I need to pivot, and just can't get seem to get past, so the Foot Guard turns, to bravely meet their fate. Thankfully, they are over the line and will be scoring if they can hold.
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| Not looking great for the humans. |
I didn't know what else to do with him, so the Mounted Hero decides to charge the Ogre Sergeant, getting a Bane Chant and dealing 2 damage to the his foe.
Top of Round 6: Ogres
The Sergeant will counter-charge, but I don't think he manages to remove the Mounted Hero.
The Siege Breakers charge the Foot Guard, but will fail to break them.The remainder of the Ogre force is scoring, and sits back, relaxing.
Bottom of Round 6: Kingdoms of Men
I counter-charge the Siege Breakers and Sergeant, but will fail to best either.
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| The game is wrapping up. |
The Majority of my Unit Strength 3 Foot Guard is over the line and scoring. However, my opponent has a total of 4 Unit Strength scoring between the Sergeant, Warlock, and Boomers, giving a narrow 4-3 win to the Ogres!
Game Conclusions
It was another introductory game, so we won't dig too deep to dissect play. We had no rules goofs that I was aware of, and we had another very close game! I'll count this as another success.
Testing Conclusions
As mentioned in the other report, with these demo games, I think I need to run familiar things instead of new things to help my brain out. However, as before, I do have some additional post-game thoughts, building on those of the previous game:
- Ogre Boomers. I prioritized softening up the Ogre infantry, and I think that was the right call, but that meant that the Boomers were untouched and we able to run away with things. Despite the short range on the guns, they were solid performers this game, and I was impressed.
- Ogre Sergeant. As in the other game, the Sergeant is very versatile, and should be able to contribute to the game from start to finish. Elite really helped him out in a handful of situations, and this seems like a fantastic default hero to have around.
- Ogre Warlock. With a unit around to help boost the magic, the Warlock did better. Throwing more dice at things tends to work out. If you have spare points or need more inspiring, these should slot in nicely for larger lists. I think I'd rather run the more independent Sergeant for these smaller games though.
- KoM Scouts. Hah, these were not used well! With an 18" range, if they can hit the Boomers, the Boomers can move and hit them back. I was not thinking, and this deserves a call-out here.
- KoM Ballista. The war engine continued to put out some decent damage throughout the day. maintaining good firing lanes is hard, but taking a few of these seems viable for a larger game.
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