This is my first attempt to add photos. I took about three times the photos displayed here but I tried to leave out the blurry ones and the ones that don’t show much. My opponent is an occasional poster here, angrypearl (LM are a secondary army for him). Game with angrypearl 9-15-13 Slann Mage Priest, BSB, Standard of Discipline, Disciplines: Harmonic Convergence Wandering Deliberations, Iron Curse Icon, Channeling Staff Deployed with TG Saurus Old Blood, Glittering Scales Armor, Fencer’s Blade Deployed with HW Saurus Skink Priest, L1, Lore of Heavens, Cube of Darkness Deployed with Skirmishers Skink Priest, L1, Lore of Beast Dispel Scroll Deployed with other Skirmishers 31 Saurus Warriors, spears and shields, FC 30 Saurus warriors, handweapons and shields, FC 20 Cohort Skinks, FC 10 Skink Skirmishers, Patrol Leader 10 Skink Skirmishers, Patrol Leader 26 Temple Guard, FC, Banner of Eternal Flame 6 Kroxigors, Kroxigor Ancient Bastiladon, Ark of Sotek 3 Ripperdactyls with Brave 9 Chameleon Skinks with Stalker 2 Swarm Bases 2 Swarm Bases Salamander with Snack Salamander with Snack Black Orc Warboss, Armor of Destiny, Ogre Blade Deployed with Black Orcs Goblin Great Shaman, L4, Arachnarok mount with spider shrine (bestows lore mastery) Orc Big Boss, Relic Sword, Iron Curse Icon, Armor of Fortune, BSB with HW Orcs Goblin Shaman, L2, Giant Wolf, Ruby Ring of Ruin with Wolf riders Orc Shaman L1, Sword of Might, Talisman of Endurance With Big Uns Orcs 16 Savage Orcs with Bows and Musician 10 Goblin Wolf Riders with short bows, shields and FC 50 Orc Boys with HW + Shield and FC 49 Orc Big Uns with Spears, shields and FC 40 Black Orcs that can change between HW+Shield, 2 HW and GW with FC Orc Boar Chariot Mangler Squig Mangler Squig Goblin Rock Lobber with Orc Bully Goblin Doom Diver Goblin Doom Diver We had a lot of terrain: an abyssal wood, a fungus forest, a wild wood, two rivers (one torrent, one boiling), the watchtower, Arcane Ruins, A sorcerous portal, a fence, wall, blessed bulwark, ghost fence, Swamp with Earthblood mere and a Sphinx. All terrain was randomly placed. The terrain probably killed around 7 or eight Sauri, double that number of Orcs, and two Skinks. The Orcs won the roll off to get the tower so I got to choose the table side. I chose the side that didn’t require me to cross a river to attack the tower. Left to right: I had a unit of Skirmishers with my Heavens priest, my Rippers, my Chamo Skinks and my Spear Saurus, my Heaven Skink bunker, a Salamander, my Bastiladon behind two swarms and my Temple Guard (aimed right at the tower). Then I had my hand weapon Sauri and my Old blood, the other Swarm, my Kroxigor, my other Salamander, then my Beast Skink bunker, and finally my Skink Cohort.. Left to right (from my point of view): Mangler Squig, Boar Chariot, Arachnarok in front of Doom Diver, Orc Big Uns with Spears, Savage Orc Archers (in tower) with other Doom Diver behind them, then the vanilla orcs, then the Black Orcs, Mangler Squig, and wolf riders with the rock lobber behind them on the far right. I forgot to apply my Ripper’s Vanguard move. LM Turn 1 My Temple Guard charged the watch tower but lost two or three members charging across the swamp. My Chameleon Skinks advanced towards the Chariot and Mangler Squig. I figured I’d kill the Squig then lose the Chamo Skinks to the chariot charging them, so I positioned my Rippers to retaliate. My left Skink bunker positioned for some good arcane vassal action. My other Skink bunker had to move out of position for a vassal aimed shot after discovering that the river they deployed in was boiling. They had to leave before their case of hot foot became lethal. My two Saurus blocks advanced a bit, but they didn’t go all out. I was confident that the river would slow the enemies down. My Kroxigor advanced to man a barrier as did my Cohort. The Wild Wood inflicted several hits on my Rippers, but I made near miraculous saves and avoided any injury. My left center looked like this: My right side of the table looked like this: An augmented Fireball followed by Shem’s Burning Gaze kill a Mangler Squig. I also got Wyssans off on my TG assaulting the tower. The sorcerous portal lobbed a Fireball at my Skink Cohorts and killed two or three. My Chamleon Skinks obliterated the other Mangler Squig. My Cohort took some pot shots at the wolf riders and killed one or two. With the Banner of Eternal Flame and their superior boosted stats on their side, the Temple Guard killed almost all of the Savage Orcs in the tower (the Ward save alone kept the last one alive). Fortunately the surviving Orc failed his break test despite being Stubborn, allowing me to seize the objective quickly. I lost more TG to the Swamp then from Orc inflicted casualties. O&G Turn 1 The boar chariot charged my Chameleon Skinks as I figured they would (my Stand and Shoot failed). The rest of his stuff advanced. I dispelled most of the O&G magic phase except for a buff which expired before the Orcs even reached me. The Sorceorus Portal cast Soulblight on my Skink Cohort but that also expired before it mattered. A doom diver took a few wounds off my Bastiladon. The Rock Lobber killed a Kroxigor. The other Doom Diver hit my Rippers but inflicted no wounds (the Rippers have been VERY lucky so far). The Chariot killed most of the Chamo Skinks breaking the lone survivor who was flattened as he tried to flee, but I at least managed to put a wound on it. LM Turn Turn 2 My Rippers charged the Boar chariot. My hand weapon Sauri charged the hand weapon orcs along with one of my Swarm units. My other forces advanced cautiously. My Beast Skink bunker failed to rally. I got Spirit Leech cast through my Heavens Skink and killed the enemy BSB. I was so excited I forgot to roll for extra power dice with the Death lore attribute. I cast Earthblood on the Temple Guard and healed a wound on my Bastiladon. Earthblood was cast with Irresistible Force despite using three dice. I narrowly avoided having my Slann sucked into a Vortex but it ended my magic phase prematurely (I had 12 power dice and only used half of them!) The Sorcerous Portal cast Plague of Rust on my Cohort (that spell’s permanent!) My center Salamander burned some of the Big Un’s that just lost their BSB. They panicked! The other Salamander ate a handler. My Cohort threw some javelins at the wolves and killed one or two. My remaining Skirmisher unit was out of range of everything. The Rippers took a wound from the chariot, but they beat it down and then chased it off the board. My hand weapon Sauri and Swarms beat the vanilla orcs pretty handily (my Old Blood REALLY pounded the unit champion) and broke them but both the Sauri and Swarms failed to catch them. O&G Turn 2 The only failed Animosity check this game came here. This lead to the first of many troops dying in the river on a charge. The wolf riders charge my Skink Cohort. The fleeing orcs rallied. The Arachnarok moved towards the center stopping in the boiling river but it was too tough to be bothered by the dangerous waters. The other Orcs advanced. The Orc and Goblin magic phase saw my Beast Skink bunker fleeing from a magic missle. The Sorcerous Portal finally cast a good spell my direction and gave my Cohort Wyssan’s Wildform, just in time for their upcoming combat. A doom diver killed my Bastiladon easily despite my recent attempt to heal it. The Rock Lobber killed one of my Salamanders. The other Doom Diver did some minor damage to my Kroxigor block. The crew of the Arachnarok tried some long ranged shooting at my spear Sauri, but failed to hit anything. The wolf riders had been softened up by a lot of light shooting over multiple turns and my Cohorts were able to beat the wolves fairly easily between the obstacle and Wyssan’s. My Skinks failed to catch the remaining riders and the Shaman (you can see my own fleeing unit was nearby). The two massive Orc blocks predictably pulverized my puny Swarms. The Big Uns overran a small distance (and lost some men in the river). The Black Orcs restrained an overrun and pointed towards my hand weapon Saurus while angling to deny my Kroxigor a flank charge. LM Turn Turn 3 My Beast Skink Bunker failed to rally again and fled the table. My hand weapon Sauri charged and Swarms charged the recently rallied orcs losing a few members in the river. My spear Sauri positioned themselves so they could receive a charge from the Big Uns where the Orcs would be in a river and they would not be. My Salamander marched towards the nearest doom diver. My surviving Skink Priest and company tried to position for some arcane vassal action and pot shots from the Skirmishers. My Cohort leisurely walked after the fleeing wolf riders. My Rippers arrived back on the board and glided towards the nearby Doom Diver. My Swarm moved forward to slow down the Black Orcs (actually they were kind of accidentally there from their failed pursuit but I went with it). My other Swarm on the left did likewise to hold back the Big Uns. My Slann cast Wyssans at my engaged Orcs and got Irresistible Force with three dice again. I didn’t take any damage of consequence but it burned through the rest of my power dice. This time my Kroxigor were the closest to the Sorcerous Portal. They got hit by a Fireball but took no damage. My surviving Salamander had to march and thus couldn’t shoot. Cohort Skinks threw javelins at the fleeing wolves and miraculously killed the mounted shaman. My Skirmishers were out of range. My augmented Sauri easily beat the Orcs again (I lost some more men in the river though). This time I managed to catch and destroy the fleeing orcs. More importantly this carried me out of the charge arc of the Black Orcs. O&G Turn Turn 3 Much to my surprise, the Arachnarok decided to charge my Rippers instead of moving towards my Temple Guard in the Watch Tower. I had no room to flee EDIT: and I guess frenzied units can't flee even if they wanted to. The Black Orcs and Big Un Orcs charged my two sacrificial Swarms. The magic phase was not significant. I think my Kroxigor got hit by the Sorcerous Portal with Plague of Rust. One war machine misfired. Another missed. Another killed some Sauri. The Swarms got flattened predictably. The Big Uns lost some Orcs on the Overrun through the river. The Black Orcs restrained pursuit reformed. In the other combat, I declared a challenge with my Ripper champion hoping to hit the Goblin Shaman with a lucky killing blow, but my Ripper champion was pulverized and the survivors fled off the board. The big spider restrained and pointed towards the middle of the board. LM Turn Turn 4 My remaining Salamander charged the nearest Doom Diver. The wolf riders needed snake eyes to rally so I figured my Cohort should leave them be. My Cohort tried a Swift Reform to point at the back of the Black Orcs and shoot them in the back, but I failed my leadership test and had to regular reform. Thus I didn’t make it into throwing range. My hand weapon Saurus did a quick reform and pointed in the general direction of the Black Orcs. I rolled poor winds of magic and my opponent got great channels. He ended up with more dice than I had, so I didn’t cast a single spell successfully this turn. I don’t remember what the Sorcerous Portal did. I had nothing I could shoot this turn. My Salamander obliterated the Doom Diver crew and restrained an overrun turning to face the Orc Big Uns. O&G Turn Turn 4 The Spear Orcs charged my Spear Sauri. The Black Orcs charged my Kroxigor who I decided to hold because I had a barrier and wanted to stall the Black Orcs from attacking the tower as long as I could. The Arachnarok moved towards the tower but the Arachnarok had a long ways to go. Magic and shooting wasn’t particularly eventful but I did get a free Wyssan’s Wildform on the Kroxigor from the Sorcerous Portal giving me a sense of false hope in the battle ahead. The Orc spearmen beat the crap out of my Sauri spearmen helped a lot by the Shaman with Fist of Gork. The Sauri were broken and run down. As the picture shows, numbers were not on my side, I couldn’t hold steadfast even versus a horde. My Kroxigor Ancient declared a challenge hoping to paste a character but was met by the unit champion in lieu of a character. The Ancient made short work of the Black Orc champion but all his brothers were slain by the rank and file Black Orcs. The Kroxigor Ancient ran away and the Black Orcs restrained Pursuit. The Black Orcs reformed to face my Watch Tower. Finally! I almost thought he forgot you need the Watch Tower to win. LM Turn Turn 5 My fleeing Kroxigor champion rallied. I moved my Cohort to shoot the Black Orcs in the back. I pointed my Salamander towards the spear Orcs. I cast an augmented Melkoth’s Miasma on the Black Orcs and it went off with Irresistible Force with three dice (Mahrlect!). Damage was minimal again but it ate my power dice. The Sorcerous Portal cast Plague of Rust on my Kroxigor Ancient. My Cohort failed to kill any Black Orcs and my Salamander missed. There wasn’t any close combat to fight. O&G Turn Turn 5 The hexed Black Orcs couldn’t get the double 6s they needed to charged my tower which they did not roll. The Orc Big Uns pointed towards the tower. The Arachnarok moved towards the Watch Tower. Magic was inconsequential. Shooting was inconsequential. We rolled and the game was over. I still had the tower so I won. We tallied up points anyway. Counting bonuses for standards I killed 1451 worth of units and the Orcs killed 1267 points. At 3500 point I believe that would be a draw. I believe my opponent was focused unnecessarily on points. I think he should have directed more units towards the tower. The area around the tower at the end of the game looked like this: Closing Thoughts Slann did great with Wandering Deliberations. The Temple Guard have shown me once against the giving them Banner of Eternal Flame is good even in a game without trolls to fight. My Chameleon Skinks and Rippers did not do as well as I hoped. I was expecting for giants for my Skinks to shoot down and Goblin units for the Rippers to flank, but they had to make due with sub part targets. I need to put more thought in what I mark with the Toad (in this case I used a bear model ). The toad/bear on the Orc horde went to waste. I wanted to compare Spears versus HW+ Shield on Sauri but it wasn’t a fair contest. The HW Saurus had an Oldblood and the spear Sauri fought Big Uns. The Oldblood did so well I’m going to go with Glittering Scales + Fencers Blades on most lists from now on. The Skink Priests never cast a spell successfully and they both died. They did help my Slann aim spells to kill the BSB and a Squig and caddied a scroll that I actually used. They did their job I suppose. One Salamander panicked a massive unit, the other died from a big rock after eating a handler. I’d say Salamanders in the new book are merely “adequate” so far. My Cohort didn’t do much but it kept my more valuable units from getting hit by the Sorcerous Portal and they broke some wolf riders. I rarely regret taking a 20 Skink Cohort and they have become standard issue on my lists. In fact angrypearl showed me how good they are with his LM and converted me to it. The Swarms did okay stalling things. The Bastiladon failed three consecutive rolls to add a Swarm base then died. With two doom divers, the Bastiladon was the ONLY good target for those machines so I’m lucky it survived three rounds.
Thanx for the report, always good to read one that sounds like it was a fun battle. Did you roll as well with the poison as you did with your miscasts? All those 6's, maybe you could have shot the spider full of holes How did you find the unit of krox? being wanted to try a unit of 6 but haven't played anything bigger then 1500 in a while.
My Poison shooting wasn't abnormal, but my 6+ saves were exceptionally good though. By the time they got engaged in close combat, shooting reduced my six Kroxigor to three so I can't really tell you how they work out. In any other scenario besides Watch Tower I would have tried to pair the Kroxigor up with a Saurus block. I'll need to try six Kroxigor again before I can weigh in on this.
It was a lot of fun. i no longer feel that the magic phase of the LM is overpowered. Re the objective -- I was getting there, in fact was situated perfectly if not for a very well-timed curse and the game ending so soon. I had a blast. Will try a different list, possibly themed around one of the named characters next time!
I know its inconsequential but you could not flee with Rippers even if you had space...ITP coz of frenzy. Unless it was only error in typing report. Awesome battle report...thank you Scalenex Edit for spelling
I don't know if it's an orc specialty but units with special weapons can't change to their handweapons, meaning that the black orcs mentioned in the start of the post can't change between HW and shield, Extra HW and a third weapon, since HW and shield is a normal hand weapon and not a special weapon. Don't remember the BRB page but i noticed this some days ago.
@Pofadder, I fixed spelling errors I could find. And the one place where I accidentally mixed turn 3 and turn 4 events (I’m surprised no one noticed). The BRB does forbid weapon switching, but Blacks Orcs have a special power that lets them switch weapons called "Armed to da teef." They can switch between hw+shield, two hand weapons, and great weapons battle to battle (but they can’t switch in the middle of a battle).
Black Orcs are "Armed to da Teef" which lets them switch between GW, HW+S and AHW for each combat they participate in. Edit: got sniped.
Quite right -- "armed to da teef" is one of the 2 redeeming features of the black orcs, the other one being Immune to Psychology. Otherwise they are quite useless. I think thy are the only "elite" infantry with a single attack on the profile!
Graveguard, Tombguard, Greatswords and Stormvermin (well they are elite in a compared to slaves anyway) disagrees
Don't forget about the Choppa rule, which gives your Black Orcs str7 GW's on the first round of combat. They are one of only a few units in the game that can do str7. This is really nice against Warriors of Chaos who seem to be bringing lots of armour these days.
Came in very useful vs Croxigors in the battle. One of those days I will try Grimgor with his special BlOrcs
Every single battle this game was settled in one round so Choppas was great. Course I have no complaints about Predatory Fighter.
I did for an earlier game and I enjoyed it thoroughly, I'm trying to give everything in the new book a spin though. I don't think I'd pair a Solardon with a WD Slann though. When the Slann has that many magic missiles I don't need the Beam of Chotec.
White Lions, Phoenix Guard and Executioners would love another attack. So would Hammerers and Ironbeards. Infernal Ironsworn (chaos dwarf special) and Bestigors also pack a single punch. I'd say that the 1 attack is normal, and 2 is pretty uncommon. 2 attacks would be? Sword Masters, Chosen, Temple Guard, and who else? -Matt