The Old World battle report: Chaos Dwarfs versus Beastmen

 So it finally has happened, I played my first game of The Old World at last.

The location was the TSA clubhouse, and facing my beloved Chaos Dwarfs in a 1000 points "get the grips" game was Steven and his Beastmen.

 

 

So, would I be able to add a Beastman to my slave regiment?  Let's find out!  At least the skies already gave a good omen, Hahsut showing himself!

My army list was pretty simple, as I went for the solid central block tactic of 16 Infernal Guards with hand weapon and shield, the champion carrying a Biting Blade and the standard carrying the Ashen Banner.

Supporting them are two missile troops unit.  The first one is 10 Infernal Guards with full command (including the Sword of Striking) and 10 hobgoblin archers without any fancy tricks.

 

Disclaimer: yeah, the trays look a bit odd, I didn't have time to order more suitable ones and paint up. 

These troops are of course supported by an Earthshaker Cannon, because rule of cool forces me to ever and always bring this to the party.

 

Leading the small force is a Castellan with the Headman's Axe and a Mask of the Furnace, while a level 2 Demonsmith provides Elementalism Magic support, carrying a Talisman of Protection.

 

This all amounts to 995 points, so this is fine to go to war... hopefully.

Facing me where the Beastmen, bringing with them a Beastlord with the Blackened Plate, Horn of the Fire Beast, Talisman of Protection, Gnarled Hide and Gouge-tusks.  He is accompanied by his level 2 Shaman companion who has a power scroll and will be using Daemonology.

These characters are inside a warband of 24 gors who have the True Horn and Vitriolic Totem.  Alongside this huge pack some small units are present to harass me all over the table, with 5 Chaos warhounds, a Razorgor, 2 Minotaur herds of 2 each, a Dragon ogre and 5 Harpies.

The table was set up, and we could roll for the first turn, which the Chaos Dwarfs duly claimed.  Let's get ready to inflict some serious damage!

 

Turn 1

 

Hahsut's finest began with a slight advance up the centre, ready to take the block of Gors head-on (horns-on?) when they arrive. 

On the other flank, the Hobgoblin archers fire at the Harpies, downing three of them, but unfortunatly the other two passed their Panic test.  This is a good start for sure.

The mighty Earthshaker makes ready to lob a shell into the Gor block, hopefully reducing them a bit.  A mighty roar sounds over the field of battle, but once the smoke clears... the cannon was in shatters, having blown itself up on it's first shot, whoops.  With my demonsmith on the other side to provide magical support, I might have better kept him close to the hill instead but I hadn't counted on the cannon doing that thing cannons are famous for on the very first turn.

 

The Chaos Hounds move to the center to harass the warriors,  as the Razorgor and the Dragon Ogre move up towards the Hobgoblin archers.  

So at the end of turn 1, I already lost my Earthshaker, while I know there are still some Minotaurs waiting in ambush to threaten my flanks and back.  I might be up for a though ride in the next turn!

 

Turn 2

 

 

With the Chaos Dwarf standing solid, I went for the shoot them to bits approach... and failed with each and every shot and spell I could cast, resulting in a turn of doing absolutely nothing.

In the second Beastmen turn, the first group of Minotaurs appeared at the back (they will be moved a bit to the side mind you from this picture, for the 8" rule).

The Razorgor charged into the Hobgoblin archers as to be expected.

But the harpies and Dragon ogre circumnavigated them, to threaten the warriors and the fireglaives instead.

The Razorgor cut down 4 archers, even though they bravely managed to wound it twice as well, but they broke and are savagely overrun by the frothing beast.

So Turn 2 was a disaster, with one flank gone and my two units of Dawi'Zharr now threatened from every side.  Time to batter down the hatches and prepare for the storm it seems.

Turn 3

But as they say, an offence is the best defence, so the Chaos Dwarves elected to actually charge themselves into the Gors, as the fireglaives shot down a few of the Chaos hounds.

The Demonsmith turned to look at the Minotaurs, starting incantating... and with his Wind Blast blew them straight back off the table and out of the game.

In the big fight in the centre, my Castellan issued a challenge and the Gor champion accepted, only to be cut down smoothly.  Winning the combat, the Warriors pushed the Gors back a bit, and kept themselves engaged with their bestial adversaries.

In the beastmen turn, the second unit of Minotaurs appeared on the table, right where the other ones had been moments earlier.  

The Dragon ogre and the harpies charged into the fireglaives, the stand and shoot having no effect because yeah, why would I be hitting something with shooting today?

Challenged by the big beast, the fireglaive champion stepped forward, but he was no match for the hulking beast.  Never the less, the Dawi'Zharr hold on, and where only pushed back as a result.

In the central combat, the Castellan now challenged the Shaman, and the beastial spellcaster would suffer the same fate as the champion before.  

Turn 4

With the whole affair taking place now with the central battle, the Chaos Dwarf turn was brief.  The Sorcerer didn't manage to repeat his cow tipping trick unfortunatly.

Another challenge was roared, and now the Beastlord was forced to accept.

If I could get a Killing Blow in, I might still pull it off today... 

But alas, that elusive 6 didn't drop, and so it remained a huge fight in the centre, while on the other side the fireglaives actually killed the harpies and wounded the Dragon ogre, pushing it back now themselves... and get away from the looming table edge.

 

But my numbers are dwindling to critical levels, and the small units of Beastmen are closing in to finish off the job.  Knowing all is lost, never the less the Dawi'Zharr braced to sell their skins dearly.  

Still failing to finish off the Beastlord, and now being wounded himself, the warriors are pushed back, some of their numbers falling as they are forced through the Minotaurs.

With the closing moments nearing, the Chaos Dwarfs are hard pushed.  The Demonsmith is charged by the warhounds, and while both the Razorgor and the Dragon ogre are down to a single wound, I don't have the power anymore to finish them off.

But in combat, somehow the demonsmith easily takes down the hounds, so that is some consilidation... 

... especially as the Gors fail their subsequent panic test on an 11.  Alas, they have the mark of Undivided, and they got a re-roll.  The first dice fell on a 5... and the second on a 4.  This would have just been hilarious had they decided to leg it though.

Turn 5

The battle in the centre rages on, the Castellan taking down one Minotaur in a swift strike and putting the other down to a single wound.  More importantly, that keeps those beasts in place to prevent the charge for the moment.

  

Both the loner monsters approach the battleline for some support, the Razorgor crashing into the Demonsmith with ease and tearing the spellcaster to pieces.  No Blackshard armour can defend against such savage hatred.

 

The last Dwarfs are smacked down, making only the Castellan with a single remaining wound standing on the table, dispatching the last Minotaur.

Turn 6

In a last valiant action, he charges the Gors and challenges the leader, but in the epic battle of commanders he is finally bested by the brutal Beastlord, and falls.

As such the battle ended in a serious defeat for the Chaos Dwarfs.  It might have been slightly different had I managed to hit something with my shooting apart from 3 Harpies on the first turn, but below average rolling in combat as well, and the Earthshaker blowing up immediatly stiffled any chance of victory.

Never the less, it was a great fun battle, and I will definilty be doing more games of The Old World, not the least the tournament in 2.5 months.  From there on we'll see how it all goes, but this is like retunring to an old love.