I’ve decided to post a series of battle reports in the form of a semi narrative campaign. There’s two primary reasons on why I’m doing this. Recently I entered a Blood in the Badlands campaign with my Beastmen in which we have to create several named characters. Enter Devorator, which translates to Death Eater, commander of my forces. In the fluff I briefly tell how he came to power. I wanted to show more of how he came to be, but had trouble getting the creative juices going. So I decided to let the table and dice do the talking and form the story for me. Secondly I’ve been working on helping my son get a good army and understand the rules since he’s shown some interest in playing. I recently just picked up enough Skaven to get him a good start. Recently while combing through some old White Dwarf magazines, I came across an article on warbands and figured it was a good base to start to accomplish both my goals. So the story starts here:
My son and I decided to start embark on the warbands campaign starting at 300 pts and increasing by 100 pts for every battle using the warbands rules with a few agreements. To make his learning go a little smoother we would not take magic until 500 pts and not take any special or rare units until 400. Also we would make up our own missions each battle affecting the next in some ways. The first scenario was this: Two leaders set out to make a name for themselves and expand their power. Both knew that to pull of such a feat they needed a following and enough supplies to be able to sustain their campaign. Knowing that the following would come only after proving they were worth following, they both set off to raid small villages taking whatever they found useful. As sunlight rose on the small village and the farmers began their work, there began cries and alarms ringing out throughout the small town. It seems not only had a small group of ratmen were ascending from the north, but a larger group of beasts had slowly moved out of the forests to the south. They quickly mustered what weaponry and courage they could find and readied themselves for the onslaught.
Scenario:
The objective of the first scenario was to take the village and hold the center. The victor who held the village at the end of turn 6 would successfully pull off the raid and receive D6 X10 in additional points in the next game. If neither person held the village then victor would be determined by VP. To make things interesting there would be a unit of 10 “villagers” in the center of town trying to fend off anyone or thing. The villagers stats and specials rules will be listed below.
The Armies:
Brice’s Skaven
chieftain W/ halberd (leader) 47
19 clanrats W/ HW and shield
clawleader
poisond wind mortar 163
20 clanrats W/ HW and shield 90
My Beastmen
11 gors W/ extra HW
Foe-render W/ extra weapon 106
10 ungor raiders 60
9 chaos warhounds 54
15 ungor heard 75
Villagers
10 villagers
MV-5 WS-3 BS-3 ST-3 TO-3 WO-1 IN-1 AT-1
- We decided to make the villagers unbreakable feeling that they would fight to the last to save their family and homes. We also decided to give them a ward save of 6 so they would have a bit more fighting chance.
- We also made the rule that we could not team up on the villagers figuring our hatred for each other would be stronger than the villagers. So if one of us was locked in combat with the villagers we would have to move into position to charge into the combat that we would attack each other.
- Also we made the rule that the villagers must turn to face the nearest threat, and will begin moving towards anyone within 12” of them.
- The villagers would also get a move each turn after both opponents.
Table set up:
The table was very basic since we were only playing on a 4 X 4 and it was supposed to be farmlands surrounding the village. The swamps were to represent ponds/bodies of water with the green being a small wooded area of course. Unfortunately I’m lacking in terrain for fantasy so the buildings are for FoW which is why they are disproportionate.
Deployment
Brice won deployment and we alternated units. Since he only really had the two blocks of clanrats he deployed them side by side with his mortar sitting in between them. He said that since I had more units he didn’t want to get to separated. He put his chieftain on his left flank attached with the unit that didn’t have the claw leader. His goal was simple: head straight for me while his mortar fired away and tried to dwindle my numbers.
I deployed my gor on the left flank and my ungor on the right leaving my warhounds and my raiders in the center. My plan was to have a weak center to draw him in while my gor and ungor came around the village and hit him on the flanks. I put the warhounds in front of the raiders hoping to get them into the village as soon as possible to try to drive off the villagers before I had to worry about them and the Skaven.
Note the villagers deployed in the center.
Brice won roll off to have first turn, but I was able to steal the initiative.
Turn 1:
My gors and ungors both ran on either flank trying to get into position around the buildings for the strike. My warhounds moved straight up the center into the village while my raiders moved in behind them to start to pick their targets.
Brice moved both units of clanrats towards the village center. He sites in on the villagers in the center with his mortars. The shot ends up falling on their left flank barely glancing one but he manages to get the kill.
The villagers turn towards the sound of the growling hounds as they quickly rush in with snapping jaws.
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| End of turn 1 |
Turn 2:
My gors slow their pace as they continue to move into the left portion of the village while my ungor change course and move straight ahead to the right of the village hoping to catch a group of clanrats on the flank. My warhounds charge the group of villagers landing 6 hits but only managing to kill 2. The initial blow freezes the villagers in place and they weren’t able to strike any blows back. My raiders are still hanging back waiting for something to come into range
Brice’s clanrats on his left flank changed course and moved to meet my ungors. His other block moves into the village. His mortar takes advantage of the fighting in the center of town and centers on the chaos. Unfortunately for him he misfires and I get to put the template anywhere in D3 of the original placement. Of course there is no good target in range for me and the shot falls short of his clanrats.
The villagers are still locked in combat with the warhounds and before they can swing anything at them the hounds strike again and manage to hit 6 and kill off 4 more. The villagers try to fight back but cannot manage to land a single blow on the hounds.
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| End of turn 2 |
Turn 3:
The ungors hold position (Looking back afterwards this was a mistake. The clanrats were in charge range but my ungor are modeled with spear and was hoping to get the extra rank of attacks. Unfortunately I forgot I didn’t pay for them at 300 pts). My gors on my left flank continue to move in to the village to help finish off the villagers. The raiders still hold their ground. My warhounds hit 5 more on the villagers but only manage to kill 1. The villagers frantically strike back this time hitting 2 hounds and killing both. The villagers win combat but surprisingly the hounds pass their leadership test and hold ground.
Brice’s left flank declares a charge on the ungor who choose to hold. During the charge their left flank clip the swamp but they all pass their dangerous terrain test. His other unit of clanrats continues to move slowly into town. Once again his mortar centers on the chaos in the center of town and once again he misfires. This time the mortar rolls a 6 and is unable to shoot this turn. Meanwhile his clanrats with his chieftain begin his attack on my ungor. The chieftain strikes and manages to kill 2, followed by his clanrats which manage to kill 1 more. After failing Primal Fury test my ungors attack back. They manage to hit and kill 1 rat but end up failing combat by 5. They then continue to disappoint me by failing their leadership test and getting run down.
The villagers are still trying to hold best they can but the warhounds are successful in killing the last 2. Problem is now my warhounds are a bit exposed to the swarm of rats that have continually moved towards them.
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| End of turn 3 |
Turn 4:
Both my gors and warhounds charge his 20 clanrats who brace for the coming onslaught. My raiders finally get a target of the 20 rats plus chieftain on my right flank and fire hitting 2 but are unable to kill any. His rats strike first in combat and he splits the attacks between the hounds and the gors. They hit 5 hounds killing 4 and the remaining strike at the gor hitting 1 and killing it. The warhounds hit 1 but are unable to kill. The gor pass Primal fury and manage to hit 12 rats! But they’re small and shifty and the gor are only able to kill 3. The combat is a draw.
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| Close up shot of action in center of town. |
Brice’s left flank re-organizes to face the raiders while his mortar has no shot so decides to hang back to see what happens in town. Brice focuses his attention to the mayhem in town and the rats attack the warhounds hitting 2 and killing 1. The remaining strike the gor hitting 2 but failing to get a kill. The hounds strike back hitting 2 but can’t manage to kill any. The gor pass their Primal Fury again striking 12 rats. But again can only manage 1 killing blow. The clanrats win the combat and send the warhounds running stopping just short of the raiders while the gor pass leadership and stay for another round. His rats reform to be able to strike more of the gor.
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| End of turn 4 |
Turn 5:
My warhounds run through the raiders which cause them to flee also. Meanwhile his rats hit another 3 gor killing 2. The gor fail their Primal Fury but still manage 10 hits killing 2 of the clanrats. Once again we find that the combat is a tie.
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| Hounds and raiders fleeing |
Brice's left flank is still trying to find a target and moves around the village to rejoin the mayhem. His mortar still hangs back. His clanrats strike hitting 8 and killing 4. The gor fail their Primal Fury again and hit 10 killing 2. Although the gor are slowly starting to whittle the rats manage to win combat by 2. They fail leadership and turn to run. Luckily the rats cannot keep up with the beasts and cannot run them down.
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| End of turn 5 focused on the fleeing gors in town |
Turn 6:
My warhounds continue to flee and finally run off the board. My raiders fail to regroup and run off the board. My gor fail to regroup and continue to run leaving the town.
The game ends with Brice controlling the center of the town with all my army either off the table or fleeing towards the edge. In the end I lost all 300 points and Brice walked away only losing 10. He rolls his D3 for extra points for next game and of course rolls a 6.
My thoughts for the game: Looking back I’m regretting taking the raiders. My thought was that I would have something that would shoot for me. But after trying to put them into action I realize the 60 pts could have been used elsewhere. Also I’ve gained a new respect for Skaven. The Strength in Numbers can be pretty potent in the right usage. Also it was tough since his rats got a 5+ armor save which was aided by the fact that none of my units had a strength over 3. I feel my strategy was sound but for the next battle at 400 pts I’m definitely adding command. I know he’ll have the rank bonuses on me and I need to do what I can to compensate for that.
