To Forge A Kingdom

"The Green Blood Flows"


The second week of the campaign saw more territory expansion. I sent out three raiding forces. The first found an empty territory which already had a wizard tower. The other two skirmishes were fought against the same opponent who brought a HUGE force of greenskins. This week, due to the improvements I had made, I was able to field a 1300 pt army or a 130 pt skirmish force.

"The reinforcements have arrived from Aq'Chamonek as planned. In addition, the priests were able to summon some of the Cinderspawn. The raiding party sent to the west has found some abandoned ruins. On your orders we have begun to convert it for use as a shrine to Aq'Chamoneth." the quartermaster droned.

Bronislav waved his hand in utter disinterest. He was slouched in a chair with a bear skin blanket thrown over it for comfort. The quartermaster continued, but Bronislav scarcely heard him. The minutia of the campaign held no interest for him. That was best left to the ultimately qualified but utterly boring quartermaster. Bronislav craved conquest. Sooner or later the Kkarav Aq'Karneth's expansion would be contested, and then he would have his due.

"…scouts have found at least eight other forces in the region. The dwarfs and wetlanders we have already encountered. In addition, we have descried two forces from Ulthuan, another force of dwarves, the Druchii have been sighted to the northeast, some feral elves have been found to the southwest, and a mob of the green skinned ones have been pushing our borders to the west. The expeditionary force sent to the western territory has had contact with them and has sent back a messenger. Shall I read the dispatch for you?"

Bronislav sat up, his interest piqued. He nodded for him to continue.

Hail Aq'Kharneth

We have encountered a great force of orcs and goblins. We were outnumbered nearly three to one but, praise Aq'Chamoneth, we defeated them and forced them back. Seeing that we had the advantage we chased the foul greenbloods back to their camp. We attacked just after nightfall. Again we conquered and forced them back even further. I did not give chase again, fearing that we might be stretched too thin. Send clansmen and warriors to bolster our ranks so can defend our new territories.

* * *

The first skirmish battle was against the Orcs and Goblins. We played on a 4' (north-south) by 3' (east-west) table with no terrain to simulate an open field. We each had 130 points to spend.

The Chaos Raiding Party

(6) Chaos Warriors with heavy armor hand weapon and shield [6*15 = 90]
(5) Chaos Marauders with light armor, shield, and flail [5*8 = 40]

The Orcy Mob
(5) Big'Uns with light armor shield and choppa [5*8 = 40]
(5) Boyz with light armor shield and choppa [6*5 = 30]
(16) Goblins with light armor shield and hand weapon [16*3 = 48]
(1) Goblin wolf rider with light armor hand weapon and shortbow [1*12 = 12]

Chaos set up 12" from the southern table edge. I had them staggered one warrior one marauder. The Orcy Mob set up 12" from the northern table edge. The goblins formed a huge screen out front with the boyz and big'uns following close behind. Chaos wins the first turn.

Turn 1:
Chaos: Chaos runs forward.

Orcs: Animosity tests abound. We roll them in groups and then decdide who the failures affect. Over the course of the battle it serves to string out his warband a bit as this one or that squabbles. The mob runs forward The wolfrider fires his bow but misses by a mile.

Turn 2:
Chaos: Chaos lets loose a savage warcry and charges. They all fall short. All are moved 4" forward and get set for the inevitable return charge.

Orcs: WAAAAUUGHHHH! The goblins charge and crash into the chaos force. The orcs which were behind them fail thier charges by about 1". Combat ensues. It is one on one between the goblins and the chaos warriors and marauders. Unfortunately the goblins need a 5 to hit the chaos warriors [WS2 v WS5] and a 5 to wound [S3 v T4]. Fortunately the chaos side rolls a lot of 1's and 2's. Result one goblin stunned and another knocked down. With light armor, hand weapon and shield the gobbos have a 4+ save, which is amazing in a skirmish game.

Turn 3:
Chaos: Combat continues. Three of the goblins are taken out. Their 4+ saves are really saving their green hides. I rolled much better this round, but my opponent was making save after save after save. A better round for chaos, but with the boyz and big'uns looming close things are getting hot.

Orcs: Animosity takes its toll, as three big'uns and one orc squabble. Every orc and goblin who are not squabbling charge into combat. Each chaos warrior and marauder has at least two enemies on him and in some cases three. Combat ensues. Due to the sheer number of attacks the greenskins are able to take out two of the marauders. The chaos warriors remain unscathed.

Turn 4:
Chaos: Every warrior and marauder are engaged so combat ensues. The Chaos side has initiative on the Orcy side and get to strike first. Seeing that the goblins are much softer targets, the leader calls out to his men to concentrate on them. The weedy gits just won't die. Only two more goblins go down.
Orcs: The remaining orcs who are not engaged flood in to any exposed warriors. Once again the warriors weather the attack bravely, but another marauder goes down.

Turn 5:
Chaos: The Chaos force has to make its first rout test, but passes it with a mighty 3 on two dice. They crave combat and are not about to run now. Severely outnumbered, they once again concentrate on the goblins. They need to take out two more for a total of seven to make the greenskins take a rout test. Another round of disappointing rolls for chaos and amazing saves for the goblins, but they manage to take out exactly two.

Orcs: Orcs take thier first rout test on a seven and fail! They rolled a ten and with 20 of thier 27 greenskins remaining they flee the field with the chaos force on their heels.

Lessons Learned: Armor is more available in Warhammer skirmish than in Mordheim (a better system IMHO), and it pays for itself. Gobbo's with 4+ armor saves for 3 pts is very good. The only thing that saved me is my higher WS and T4. The chaos warriors never even had to make an armor save. The marauders did fairly well, but when confronted with such an overwhelming force their flails are a bit of a liability. After the first turn it is S3. I am considering taking the hand weapon and shield combo next time.

By the luck of the draw I was paired up against the same opponent for my second skirmish. We put up some building terrain to simulate the chaos warriors attacking the orcs' camp. The center of the field remained empty and that is where the majority of the action happened. The orcs got the first turn, and after that it was pretty much a carbon copy of the first skirmish. This time chaos got the first charge, but did not do a lot of damage. The two forces got stuck in. The top of turn five had chaos make a rout test successfully with three marauders out. The bottom of five saw the greenskins take a rout test and fail again (this time on an 8) with only eight gobbos out. The only reason I won either of the skirmishes is the chaos warriors' high WS and the Orcs low leadership.

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