Totengräber's Workpläce

Joel (Sryth) is working on building an Empire army from Confrontation Griffin figures. Right now he only has about 1,300 points, so we decided to do a small game this past Thursday.

My list:

• Bruiser (Siegebreaker, Wyrdstone Necklace, Heavy Armor, Luck Gnoblar)
• Butcher (Bangstick, Dispel Scroll)
• Bulls x3 (Bellower)
• Bulls x3 (Bellower)
• Ironguts x3 (Bellower)
• Ironguts x3 (Bellower)
• Leadbelchers x2 (Bellower)
• Gnoblar Trappers x9

His list (from memory):

• Empire Wizard w/Lore of Fire and Wizard’s Staff
• Battle Priest w/Great Weapon
• Empire Hero w/ items that gave it ASF
• 2x Great Cannons
• 10x Greatswords (Full command)
• 20x Spearmen (Full Command)
• Detachment of Handgunners
• 20x Spearmen (Full Command)
• Detachment of Swordsmen
• Flagellants x5
• Knights x5

Based on my having played WHFB more recently, it was for me to sort of “demo” the game to Joel. As such, many things were forgotten and/or screwed up completely. A few things I know we messed up was:

• Forgetting that if the Ogres outnumber the Empire in CC and win, the Empire troops auto-break. I’m not sure how much this affected the game really.
• Giving his Knights 2 wounds. This I think was pretty big. I had no proof that they weren’t two wounds (one for the horse and one for the rider), so we went with that. As a result, the Ironguts spent a lot more time on them than should have been necessary.
• Screwing up calculating the Knight’s (and maybe others) armor save. I know at first, I was starting from a 3+ and subtracting the STR modifier from that. In reality, they have a 1+ (Full Plate 4+, Barding 1+, Shield 1+, Hand Weapon & Shield 1+).
• Forgetting Fear rolls. Duh!
• Forgetting about bait and flee tactics!

Overall it was a fun game that I think we both learned a lot from. Here are some highlights. The Gnoblar Trappers deployed to try and charge the Knights or at least distract them. The Knights ended up getting the charge, but the Trappers at least killed one and the Knights pursued off the table. The Cannons fired as much as they could with one exploding in turn 2 or 3. Lucky for me, most other times, Joel rolled a Misfire. For the most part neither of our Magic phases did much. When he’d try to cast Fiery Blast or Fireball, I was able to dispel it. On my Magic Phase, with the exception of the last turn or two, all my spells were dispelled. The first few close combats ended with the losing unit fleeing and getting caught by the pursuer. Two of my units rolled snake eyes for their flee roll.

In the end, due to the huge cost of Ogres versus the costs of Empire soldiers, I won the game. We didn’t bother being exact about the points difference, so I don’t know to what degree I won. As always, it was a really fun game. I am a big fan of Warhammer Fantasy, but then again, I don’t generally play against tournament level players or armies.

By the way, Joel’s blog details the progress of his Empire army. I highly suggest going and checking it out!