Intro and Lists
I was now 1-1, and matched up against Jon and his splendidly painted Ogres. While walking around the venue, his board grabbed my eye as is was so... involved. There was more flock types than I could count, numerous tufts and flowere, and everything just looked amazingly crisp. He brought the following:
I've sort of played with the Ogres before, and played against them in the doubles tournament, but they are not a regular army for me, nor a regular opposing army. Unlike the lists I have tended to mess with, his list was focused and direct, avoiding shooting and magic entirely to more effectively beat face. We have three regiments of Warriors to chaff, a horde of Warriors, two hordes of Siege Breakers, two hordes of Berserker Braves with items, three Sergeants, and three Bullies.
I brought my Undead MMU, featuring Skeleton Warriors with two-handers, Wraiths, Soul Reaver, and a pair of Burrowing Wyrms. Rather than blabber again and again for these reports, you can read more about the my thinking and prep here, if you are so inclined.
The tournament was using a veto/pick system for scenarios. Each round has three possible scenarios. The first roll off of the game lets the loser veto one of the choices, and then the winner selects what will be played from the remaining two. The options were not public until the start of the tournament, so one couldn't plan too much, and had to bring a more generalized list. The choices each round were varied, and I really enjoyed this method.
We were in the back corner of the venue, and it was getting to be about 3 o'clock by the time we were starting Game 3. The table was getting blasted with sun during deployment, and into Round 1, I was getting blinded as well, so we nudged it a few feet over for my benefit. The first pictures for the report are very rough, but I'll doctor what I can and just know that the pictures will get better later on.
For Round 3, we have Raze, Plunder and Dominate. I lose the roll and veto Plunder as I don’t want to fight for Loot Tokens against a bunch of square scoring heroes. Seeing the relative unit strength, my opponent chooses Dominate. This version of Dominate has a twist, taken from the Wildcat GT. We use a token to mark the center of the scoring zone. After choosing sides but before deployment, we roll off again, and the winner can shift token up to 8 inches either direction along the center line. My opponent wins, and shifts the objective down towards the building.
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| A massive block of Ogres! |
Left to-right, we should have an angled contingent of Siege Breakers, and a regiment of Warriors facing their flank, along with a Bully and a Sergeant behind the fence.
We should have Siege Breakers blocking, then a screening line with a Sergeant and a Bully, a Warrior Regiment, another Bully and another Warrior regiment. The back line was Berserker Braves, Warriors, the Paymaster (Rallying) Sergeant, and then the other Berserkers.
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| The wider Undead line. |
Left-to-right for me we have Wraiths screening Skeletons, more Skeletons, Wraiths screening Soul Reavers, the Burrowing Wyrm with the BC ASB, more Skeletons, the Liche, Wraiths screening for Soul Reavers, Mhorgoth, more Skeletons with the Healing ASB, and an Angled Wyrm. A late drop was the regiment of Wraiths out on the far right. I’m hoping between him and Mhorgoth we can figure out something to do.
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| A wider view of the right flank. |
I don’t know who decided turn order, but I’m going first.
Top of Round 1: Undead
I roll up 5 Swords for my Command Dice.
On the left, the Skeletons inch up and Wraith troop moves ahead. I don’t think I’m going to bust anything with either unit, but I want to threaten to hop the line so not everything the Ogres have can be committed to the Dominate circle.
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| Movement on the left. |
The Undead center moves up as well, with the Lich staying central for Scorched Earth. The Wraiths hop the hill, but barely, and balancing them is a nightmare. The Soul Reavers and Skeletons take the hill.
The rest of the Undead line moves up. The Wyrm trudges through the Terrain nearby. Skeletons shamble up. Wraiths hop up. Mhorgoth considers a Surge but decides against it. I think I try a Mind Fog, fishing for a lucky waver, but it fizzles.
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| Movement on the right, with the regiment making use of the Command Order. |
I use 4 Swords to march the Wraith regiment up and around the building, staring at the Ogre lines between it and the nearby hill.
Bottom of Round 1: Ogres
My opponent did not buy any extra dice, and rolls up 2 Swords for his Command Dice. He pages through the Orders, but there is nothing to really use them on.
On the right, a regiment angles to zone out the Wraith regiment, with a Bully and a horde of Braves angling as well. One needs a lot of units to deal with fliers, but my opponent does a good not not overcommitting.
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| They were go. Back to gymnasium lighting. |
The strong and layered center moves up, but stays out of the treeless woods.
On the left, the angled Warriors clip along the obstacle to try and zone out the Wraiths, and I believe a Bully starts to peel off to assist.
Top of Round 2: Undead
I roll up 7 Swords for my Command Dice.
On the left, one Wraith troop moves up around the building to dare a central charge, and the other creeps around the other side of the building to keep some light pressure on, while staying out of range.
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| The Wraiths try and be tricky, peering around the building. |
The Wyrm holds, as do the Soul Reavers on the hill, and unit of Skeletons on the hill. With multi-charges and such, the hope is to use the hill to get TC to help punch through the Ogres, who have a lot of strong units.
One unit of Skeletons approaches the woods, ready to charge out and offer itself up to block out the scarier Ogre units. The Liche eyes the Siege Breakers, but I forget to cast Scorched Earth into them.
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| The lines tentatively close. |
Wraiths and Mhorgoth and Soul Reavers all inch up as well. Mhorgoth is powerful and has a lot of spells, but doesn’t have much to do yet with this much space between the lines still.
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| The Wraith regiment hopes for a flank. |
With the ASB, my Burrowing Wyrm on the right can charge the Warriors, but it’s in the front, and I decline to do so. The Skeleton Warriors move up, and the Wyrm just inches up.
On the right, the Wraith regiment inches forward to get into range of the Warriors without giving them a charge.
Bottom of Round 2: Ogres
My opponent rolls up 3 Swords, and spends them to Rally something out on the right.
Out on the right… I was wary of the Warrior regiment and had planned around that, but I had neglected the Bully. He’s got a d3 Wild Charge, and gets it, to be about a 1/16" in range, and can catch about the same of my frontage in arc, so he’s going in. He gets 6 hits, but lands just 1 damage into the Wraiths, so they hold, but it is still enough to ground them.
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| Delaying charges from the Ogres. |
Right of center, Another Bully charges a Wraith troop, slipping 1 damage in and grounding them as well. In between the grounded fliers, a Warrior Regiment charges out into Skeletons, landing 8 damage off 9 attacks, but the Skeletons hold. The rest of the line spreads out to threaten some multi-charges next turn.
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| The Undead hold. |
Another Sergeant enters the woods, while the hordes avoid it.
Yet another Sergeant goes into a troop of Wraiths near the building, dealing 2 and grounding them.
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| Positioning and damage on the left. |
On the left, the regiment and Bully continue to zone out the Wraiths. I am ok with this, as I am just trying to divide attention and draw him out a bit.
Top of Round 3: Undead
I roll up 4 for my Command Dice.
On the far left, the Wraiths nimbly adjust, letting the Skeletons move up. I think this is probably too much committed here, but there isn’t much else they can help with.
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| Movement on the left. |
The Wraiths countercharge the Sergeant, and the Wyrm hits the hero in the flank. The Skeletons to enter the woods to block. Thankfully, we’ll best the hero and reform. The Burrowering Wyrm gets 3 inches back, and the Wraiths pivot. It’s a nightmare for aligning next turn.
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| The Undead try some multi-charges to quickly pick up the delaying units. Some even work. |
Centrally, the Soul Reavers can see the intrepid Bully over the Wraiths, and I have enough room to shuffle the Wraiths down for a multi charge and pick him up. Both victoriously try and shuffle to my left for better line of sight.
The Skeletons counter charge the Warrior Regiment with the Wyrm joining in as well, we take them to 10 damage, but they are found to be Insane. Mhorgoth had even snuck in between the Wyrm and the building to provide Dread, so this is a bummer. I know he tried casting spells, I think a Drain Life into the insane Warriors getting 2, and something else, maybe fishing for a Mindfog seeking a waver that does not manifest.
The Healing ASB should land a few successes into the Skeleton Regiment, and on the far right, the Wraiths land 3 into the Bully, and Lifeleech the 1 to get down to 0 themselves.
Bottom of Round 3: Ogres
My opponent rolls up 4 Swords, putting Rally on something, with the last Sword giving the insane Warriors a reroll for something.
On the far right, the Bully lands 2 into the Wraith regiment, grounding them again.
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| Charges for the Ogres. |
The nearby Warrior regiment makes a very sneaky charge into Mhorgoth, who is nestled between the Wyrm and the building and about an inch and a half back. The Warriors charge ahead, pivot, and with the angle, are able to hit him with their corner for a legit charge. Mhorgoth aligns, and the Warriors try to shuffle to center but cannot. Very clever!
The Wyrm is popped out of combat as the Warriors go into the Skeletons again. The Warriors bring the Skeletons to 10 damage, and will best them and then back up.
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| Overhead shot of the sneaky charge and aftermath of the turn. |
The Paymaster (Pumpkin Head) and Warrior Regiment holds.
A Siege Breaker horde makes a hindered charge into the Skeletons by the scoring zone, with a Sergeant joining with a hindered charge into their flank. The Skeletons will be smashed, with the Sergeant overrunning 6 inches, and the Siege Breakers backing up, but not getting out of the woods.
On the left, Warrior regiment and Bully continue the standoff with the Wraiths.
Top of Round 4: Undead
I roll up 5 Swords for my Command Dice.
The standoff on the far left continues. The Wraiths sidestep a bit, and the Warriors start to inch around the building.
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| Movement and charges for the Undead on the left. |
The Bane Chant ASB moves and holds, allowing Soul Reavers an unhindered flank charge into the overrunning Sergeant, who will be easily routed.
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| More movement and charges for the Undead. |
The Wraiths make a delaying charge into the Siege Breaker horde while the Wyrm charges the other Siege Breaker horde, getting a Bane Chant to help him along, and 5 damage connects.
Wraiths make another delaying charge into the Warrior horde.
The Soul Reavers charge the insane Warriors to finally obliterate them.
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| Reforms for the Soul Reavers, since everything else held. |
The Liche moves up and tries a Scorched Earth into the Berserker Braves on the right, using an Accuracy reroll from the Command Orders, and lands the spell.
Mhorgoth backs out, regenerating 2 while the Wyrm makes a front-charge into the sneaky Warrior Regiment to cover the retreat. Dread is still around, but the regiment holds.
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| Fights and reforms on the right. |
On the right, the Wraiths manage just 1 damage to the Bully to bring him to 4 total. Expected damage here from the Wraiths is 4 per turn, so this fight is not going well for me.
Bottom of Round 4: Ogres
My opponent rolls up 6 Command Dice
The Bully grounds the Wraith regiment again.
With another clever play, the regiment fighting the Wyrm disengages and withdraws. With the inch, they can spy a sliver of the Soul reavers, and make a penalized flank charge for withdrawing while the Braves power through Scorched Earth into the front of the vampiric unit. Scorched Earth does wonders against the output of the Berserkers, and when the dust settles… just 1 damage is found to have been done to the Soul Reavers.
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| Penalized charges into the Soul Reavers. |
The Warrior horde smashes the Wraith troop and reforms.
The Siege Breakers fighting the Wyrm land 8 damage into the titan.
The other Siege Breakers smashes their Wraith troop and overruns.
On the left, I was not precise, and the Bully is barely in the flank of the Skeleton Warriors. He lands 14 damage off 16 attacks, and scatters the regiment. I think I had a pivot when I moved them, and so this is a positioning error from me, unfortunately.
Top of Round 5: Undead
I roll up 3 Swords for my Command Dice.
On the left, the Wraiths back up. The Bully can charge, but it will be hindered and draw him away from the scoring zone. The is probably a mistake, but I think the inches were too tight and I could not land 1 inch past the Bully to pass him by, and don’t have the Swords to ignore Shambling.
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| Positioning for the Undead. |
The Bane Chant ASB holds again, letting the Soul Reavers cleanly charge the Siege Breakers. Fighting high defense units is why I took the Lute over the Tome, but Bane Chant fails here, and only 6 damage lands due to the Big Shields.
The Wyrm counter charges its Siege Breaker horde. In retrospect, perhaps I should have been clever like my opponent and withdrawed the Wyrm and flanked the Breakers fighting the Soul Reavers, but going from 4’s to 5’s seemed really risky. The ASB tries to heal the Wyrm, but lands nothing. The Wyrm lands a mediocre 3 damage, but does get a waver against the horde to make things interesting.
The Skeleton Warriors leave the hill, trying to gain some ground so they can go block up the forest and protect my hammers.
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| The Soul Reavers carve their way towards the dominate circle. |
The Soul Reavers chew through the Berserkers Braves while the Wyrm catches the clever Warriors in the rear, given the tight quarters. Both units are victorious, with both units swiveling to face the remaining Ogre line near the woods.
The Liche tries Scorched Earth into the looming Ogre Warrior horde, but the spell fizzles, even with a reroll from the Command Dice.
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| The slap fight continues on the right. |
I forget to roll Regeneration on Mhorgoth, but he flies up to bring Dread to the troublesome Bully on the right. Drain Life hits for 2, healing the Wraiths, but Bane Chant fails to connect to aid them further in this lengthy fight. The Bully ends on 10 damage, but is found to be Insane.
Bottom of Round 5: Ogres
My opponent rolls up 4 Swords for his Command Dice.
The Bully lands another 2 into the Wraiths. It’s been back-and-forth and they are now at 4 damage, but hold.
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| The Bully continues to be a nuisance. |
The Paymaster goes into the Soul Reavers to tie them up. He lands 2 damage, and it looks like I forgot to Lifeleech their 1 damage back last turn, as they end the round on 3.
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| Charges from the Ogres. |
The Warrior Horde flanks the Wyrm, with the Siege Breakers staying engaged. The flank charge will drag the titan down, with the Warriors reforming to face the Soul Reavers. My opponent wants to reform the Siege Breakers, but having just looked at the language (engagement status doesn’t matter; only charging units get to reform; wavered units cannot countercharge), I push back. He doesn’t want to pause the clock to look this up, and acquiesces, though we do crack the book open after the game, and he reaffirms my take and how we played it.
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| Reforms for the Ogres. |
The other Siege Breakers land 9 into the Soul Reavers, but the Vampires hold.
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| The Bully goes in against the Wraith troop. |
The Bully does make the hindered charge into the Wraiths on the left, landing 3 damage and grounding them. With the Wraiths tied up, the Warrior regiment looks to move into the scoring zone.
Top of Round 6: Undead
I roll up a wimpy 4 Swords for my Command Dice. I choose to bank them for a potential Round 7.
The damage output of my Wraiths have all been very timid this game, and the troop on the left struggles against this Def4 Bully too, landing just 1 damage into him this turn.
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| Aftermath of Top of 6. |
The Soul Reavers get a Bane Chant from the ASB and a Heal 4/6 from the Liche, and cut down the Siege Breakers horde. The change facing, so that a charge into them should be hindered.
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| View of the center. |
The Skeletons make a hindered charge into the other Siege Breakers, who could not reform well, and my Burrowing Wyrm is able to catch them in the flank. The unit is brought up to 16 damage and routed, with the Undead with the Undead getting more into the circle in the 11th hour.
I struggle to reform the Skeletons, and definitely should have positioned them better in victory. For whatever reason my brain said I could not victoriously pivot through the Warrior horde behind me.
Mhorgoth flies away, fed up with the poor performance of the Wraith regiment. I don’t think he regenerates anything. He hits the Sergeant for 2 with a Drain Life, healing himself. I probably attempted a Bane Chant, but don’t record if it is successful this time. The ASB heals the Soul Reavers for 1, and then Lifeleech 2 more to end the turn with 0 damage, and will also rout the delaying Sergeant out here and reform.
Going into the bottom of the round the Undead have Soul Reavers (3) Skeletons (2) and the Wyrm (2) scoring, while the Ogres have the Warrior Regiment (2), Berserker Brave Horde (3) and Warrior Horde (3), making this 8:7 as we go into Round 6 for the Ogres.
Bottom of Round 6: Ogres
My opponent rolls up 5 Swords for his command dice, spending it all. I think the Braves get Rally, and other things get rerolls.
On the left, the Bully trounces the Wraith troop on the counter charge. He reforms, but starting in the terrain, there is not much he could contribute in a Round 7.
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| Final Positions. |
My second unit of Soul Reavers are just barely not scoring, so the Warrior Horde charges out to delay them, landing 4 damage with a hindered charge. If there is a Round 7, I will need to break the unit and then overrun, but basically any result should have me scoring. A countercharge with any Drain Life help should probably do it here.
The Berserker Braves make a hindered charge into the Skeletons. A little damage lands, but I think he still needs an 8 or 9 to pick the unit up. Still, my opponent gets the result he needs to rout the inspired unit.
The Warrior Regiment makes a hindered charge into my Soul Reavers. The regiments continue to overperform and outstay their welcome. Expected damage is ~2, but they land 5 and Waver the Soul Reavers with another good Nerve Check. It would be unfortunate, but this unit has the Chalice of Wrath, so it’s not over yet.
…except it is. We do not roll up a Round 7. My opponent already had the edge, and then narrowly extended it on his turn to end the scenario at 8:5.
This is a victory to Jon’s Ogres!
Game Conclusions
He wins the game, but I cannot be upset. He is an avid and serious tournament player, having won one recently (I forget which one), and he played a very meticulous game here with an army he knows quite well. I had a lot of chilly dice rolls but only had a few actual errors, and so I was really pleased with my play and approach overall throughout this game.
Jon was very complimentary of my approach as well, which was really gratifying at the end of a long day. Further boosting my spirits was the attrition scoring here. I clobbered him in attrition points, loosing just ~800 while routing ~1600, which was extra impressive to me given the sturdiness of his Ogres, and talent of the opposing general.
A great game, a close game, but still a loss. We'll see what I can do in the final games.
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