Last Wednesday for the first time I played a game of Warhammer 8th edition. It was one of the opening games in the escalation campaign that is running in Games Workshop Dudley at the moment, and even though the organisation of it was not great, Mike did his best to record results and arrange with the manager how it's all supposed to work when he gets back off his holidays...
It was a 500 point game between me with a group of Dwarves against another guy called Matt with High Elves. This was the first time I'd ever taken on High Elves (when I worked for Workshop, the Chaos armies were the most popular ones,) and certainly the first time I'd used Dwarves (I previously used Empire) so it was always going to be interesting. We played the Meeting Engagement scenario, which meant we're deploying on board corners rather than sides.
Now, when I start a new army, which is about once every 10 minutes, there's always a concept for it; a story behind the reason these warriors are fighting. I find if I do that, then I'm more engaged with the games that I play and with building up the army. This particular Dwarf army I'm building up tells the story of Grambur Firebeard, (a name I've pinched off a retired DnD character,) a young dwarf who has made it his mission to resolve every grudge in the Book of Grudges. He doesn't sit in his halls waiting for trouble to come to him; he actively seeks it out, taking the heads of people who have wronged him or his kin in the past. This has influenced my choice of war gear and army selection, more on this later. However, the battle will be told from the perspective of Grambur, to add what I hope will be a narrative element:
"After weeks of pursuit on our part, the hated Elves had finally decided to take the battle to us. Cagnar and his Quarrellers had taken position on the hill in the village, and I lead Rurluf and his Warriors in a direct march on the Elves and their craven wizard, whose family played a huge and substantial role in what they call 'The War of the Beard.' With the Grudge Rune on my family's axe forged to slay him and his family, we showed no mercy as we launched the attack.
We marched West along the road heading out of the village when we heard it - the tapping of a light drum and the approaching hoofbeats. It seemed the Elves feared our military might, and called upon some reinforcements from the South in the form of their Silver Helms! It mattered not; our target was the mage, and none but the strongest of all adversaries would stop us.
We did, however, concede a few yards to re-organise the unit after the lads, not used to seeing conjuring tricks being waved around, lost some of their nerve as five of our number fell to their fireworks. This gave the cowardly horsemen the chance they needed to take us in the flank. However, I was not to be outdone by the whey-faced horse whisperers, and stepped out of rank, raising my axe in a challenge to their leader to a duel to the death. Clearly feeling his lance would win him the day, he accepted, and regrettably he did hit me with a strength that not even my armour could withstand. However, my axe found its mark, and the Elven cur fell to the ground with a wound to his chest from which he would never recover. The rest of the lads did not fare well, but we stood our ground, and remembering that our prize was the Elven mage, we did not turn to face the cavalry.
The Elven Phoenix Guard did not appear willing to engage us in honourable close combat, preferring instead to presume to singe our whiskers with light shows. This left us free to address the Silver Helms; another fell to my axe and without the momentum of their charge they could do little to answer for it. The malingering mongrels rode off with their tails up their rear ends.
Finally in range, I lead a mighty charge against the Phoenix Guard. Their numbers had been steadily whittled down as a result of the supporting fire from Cagnar's Crossbows, evening out the odds of our victory, and even though they were recreant ragamuffins, they were not unworthy opponents. It is a shame that the same could not be said for the cowardly mage to whom we had journeyed so hard to find our revenge, for when I issued a challenge to face me in single combat, he slunk to the back of his unit like a white-livered rabbit, instead leaving me to the capabilities of their unit champion. I dispatched him, and many more in quick succession. The Elves learned that their flimsy halberds and pointy-eared poncing around was no match for Dwarvish Iron, and broke. However, they were spent from the fight, and we caught up with them easily, scattering the remaining Phoenix Guard.
Alas, the Elven mage was nowhere to be seen. No doubt hiding, or run from the battlefield to meet his superiors and answer for the Elven lives his foolishness has cost. It matters not. I will learn of his whereabouts, pursue him to the end of the world if need be, and take his head for the slight his ancestors imposed on members of the Elder Race! I later learned that, seeing we had the matter in hand, Cagnar retreated from the battlefield when the remnant of the Silver Helms turned their attention towards him. I do not condone him for his actions, but it happens and we would be fools to pretend otherwise...'
So, I won the game, though not altogether comfortably. The Quarrellers had run off the board despite being steadfast, (it happens,) and by the time I'd caught the Phoenix guard, I had about 7 Dwarves left in the entire army. Still, a win is a win!
By luck or judgement? Well I like to think the latter, to be honest. The army selection helped as the Quarrellers meant that I had more points to spend on my Thane, who took the most lives in combat. The flank charge from the Silver Helms was an inconvenience, but I did the right thing in not re-organising the unit to address them; my Thane was on the right side of the unit to deal with it himself and it left the rest of the unit facing forwards to stare down the Phoenix Guard; if I'd turned them around I'd have taken another flank charge! That, along with my not wanting to chase them down when they fled, was probably my best tactical decision.
Strategically, I did everything right given the army selection - choose a game plan, (kill the Wizard,) and stick to it. This is especially important for Dwarves who don't move all that fast; you really do need to be thinking a few turns ahead in Warhammer. I'd taken Quarrellers as opposed to Thunderers because of the fact that the army can spend anything up to a couple of years out on the road, where rain would make a mockery of blackpowder and they wouldn't necessarily have the opportunity to replace it when it ran out. The fact that I'd taken Quarrellers rather than Thunderers helped in a strategic sense as well; the extra 6 inches in range made all the difference, especially as I managed to put them on a hill so they could see all the units no matter who was in front of them. There were times when I missed the extra ballistic skill and the punch of handguns, but overall they did their job well enough.
My Dwarf Warriors weren't so good though. They were OK, but as their main strength is their durability (toughness 4, leadership 9 and heavy armour before you've even taken any upgrades) they were good at that but little else. Granted, I shouldn't expect much against Elves of any kind, but the plain fact is it was an immense struggle for any of them to land a blow on the Phoenix Guard, much less kill them once they had. Perhaps I'm expecting a little too much of the rank and file. Why don't I make then Longbeards? Well, it's again a part of the story of the army - spending years away from home, looking for trouble rather than waiting for it to come to you, taking a pro-active approach to resolving grudges - this is not a cause that would attract old, set-in-their ways, grumbling Longbeards. They'd probably view Grambur as an upstart young dwarf (or at least, young by Dwarf standards. He actually looks quite old but, to quote Terry Pratchett "If you're a Dwarf you start looking old when you're 5, and you're still looking old 200 years later.") So, no Longbeards, and there probably won't be any Iron Breakers in the army either for the same reason.
Which brings me on to the Dwarf Thane Himself, Grambur, and let's be honest he won that battle for me. If it's a war of attrition, you're always going to be hard-pressed to defeat Dwarves, and if one of those Dwarves has a great-axe and 3 attacks per turn, taking them head on is a very risky business indeed. He took the most Elves down, and the Master Rune of Grombrindal made him almost immortal as well, though there were one or two close calls. While I wouldn't say no to seeing him perform like that again, that's a lot of reliance on one model; at some point I'm going to roll 2 1s for his armour save and he'll die. If that happens, I've lost the only thing in the army that can get the job done. Not a nice position to be in.
There were also some bits and pieces I'd bought to fill out the points, some of which worked, some didn't. I already mentioned the Master Rune of Grombrindal which was a life-saver. Less useful was the Rune of Determination that I'd put on the Standard Bearer in the Dwarf Warriors. What that does is allows you to roll your first break test in combat on 1D6 rather than 2, which I guess would have been useful except that the unit was never actually called upon to take the test. Or it did and I forgot to use it. Either way it wouldn't have made a difference. Also the Grudge Rune was useful but not quite in the way I was expecting. While Matt guessed correctly that I'd nominated the Mage as the target, it didn't help to take him out since the two characters never had the fortune to meet. However it probably was conducive to him refusing every challenge I issued, which meant he couldn't participate in any of the combats which was an advantage.
So what's next for the army? I've got a Grudge Thrower I'm painting up, but what I'd really like next is a unit that can get it done in close combat. Given the nature and theme of the army, I'm looking at maybe Slayers or Rangers. Either would be useful, but probably Slayers as they can use their weapons either 2 1 handed or 1 2 handed; I might need that flexibility if I come across something like Skaven.
Until next time...
