The Grudge of Drong - Second Battle

The second battle of the campaign is The Ambush on the Dwarf Road, whereby the Dark Eves try to intercept and dispatch renowned Dwarf Runelord Grung Hadvarsson the Hairy, enroute to the Dwarf stronghold of Krag Bryn where the final battle will occur.

The Dwarf army caught was column of march formation at the start of the battle

The Dark Elf ambush is sprung!

I changed things up a little in Deployment to inject a little more Fog of War. Instead of alternating deployment of units, I had Reilly write out his order of march for his Dwarf column before the game, and Gav separately lay out his Dark Elf ambush on a map. They then deployed according to these plans.  It added a bit of realistic friction (on both sides) to the start of the game as the ambush was sprung!

Dark Elf Executioners keen to get stuck into the stunties!

Dwarves went directly onto the offensive, advancing while harassing the Dark Elf rear with the Gryocopters and their steam cannons.

From the start, Dark Elf shooting and artillery was relatively ineffective against the Dwarf armour at long range, while the gyrocopters were consistently annoying. The Dwarves got a lucky break in catching a unit of executioners in the flank but the combat dragged the Ironbreakers off to the wing which effectively removed them from the rest of the battle.

Dwarf Ironbreakers catch Dark Elf Executioners in the flank...

..and pursue them to destruction!

With the light fading, the Dark Elves threw their remaining strength at the Runelord's unit, trying desperately to break it and take him down. The War Hydra was unleashed!

Not only did the Dwarf unit shrug off the fear test, they threw back the beast and slayed the Executioners! It may have been mentioned that the War Hydra would have performed better had he not been the only unpainted unit on the table...

As night fell the Dark Elevs withdrew and RuneLord Grung led the survivors of his force towards the Dwarf stronghold of Krag Bryn.

Another fun battle getting back into Warhammer 8th edition - it always amazes me how quickly I can forget the intricacies of a set of rules!

With the Strength of a warm Mars bar...yet again!

This may indeed be reminiscent of an historical incident (see  http://tasmancave.blogspot.com/2009/10/with-strength-of-warm-mars-bar.html) but it has a good twist...

Reilly and I went into the local GW store recently, on the release day of the new edition of Bloody Bowl. We have played the old version a few times*. Just to take a look. You understand. The conversation went something like this:

Me: Cool, its the new Blood Bowl set. Lets check it out!

Me: Its got some good heft, must be a lot of goodies inside.

Me: Oh, it includes the full hardback new Rulebook ? (Alert: Interest level rising)

Me: And the new Black Orc and Noble Human teams too? Yes, they are very nice (Alert: Moral fortitude crumbling)

Me: Reilly hold this and feel the weight while I get the paint we need.

(and this is the best bit)

Reilly (to the GW shop assistant): We'll take this. I'll pay. 

Shame minimised, happiness significant. We are now into building not one team each but two. 

The first game of the new edition!

Reilly's new Underworld team taking shape

Most amusing moment thus far - Underworld star two-headed Goblin "Patches" O'Hooligan thrown for a match saving TD without any re-rolls by Troll team mate Bork Bulge-belly. The next day he tried it again, except Bork was feeling a bit Hungry and ate him. The very next next turn, Bork (fuelled by his Goblin nachos snack) casualtied one of my Nurgle Warriors! 

"Patches" O'Hooligan in happier times, scoring a TD

WIP shot of my Nurgle Warriors (that were a Father's day present last year)

* about a hundred matches or so. Probably more actually.

The Grudge of Drong - First Battle

Today saw the first game in a new Warhammer Fantasy Battles campaign between Reilly's Dwarves and club mate Gav's Dark Elves. The Grudge of Drong is a campaign setting from the 5th edition of the rules  and published in 1997 - it comprises four linked scenarios. We have adapted it for use with 8th edition and switched out the High Elves for Gav's High Elf army.

You can read more about the campaign and its rich background of racial hatred and Dwarf schisms here: 

https://1d4chan.org/wiki/The_Grudge_Of_Drong

Scenario 1 is the Battle of Grudge Pass, with a Dwarf rebellion being intercepted by an Elf force. We played it as a 2k point battle using the battlefield layout in the book with flanking hills giving artillery of both sides a commanding view of the valley.

The Dwarves stepped off quickly, belying their short legs. Their artillery was in fine form - the Cannon's opening shot killed the Cold One Chariot outright and the Organ Gun dispatched a unit of Shades which emerged from cover at close range!

The Dwarf gunline and its field of fire was a keystone to the Dwarf battle plan

Under this barrage the Dark Elves moved to close with their executioner units, under the cover of their dark magic and missile fire

The Dark Elf artillery focused on the Dwarf Ironbreakers, whose armour took a battering but they stayed unbowed and in the fight!

The stunty artillerymen retained their fine form, dispatching the enemy Hydra with a single shot. That is the penalty for showing up to a battle in an unpainted state!

The Executioners raced into combat with the Dwarf Longbeards, desperate to get to grips with the Dwarven Lord who was the key to Victory.

The Slayers advanced undeterred and with strikingly ginger hair

Dwarven Thane with the Battle Standard

The clash of steel echoed throughout Grudge Pass.

Wielding his massive Coldblade, the Dark Elf Master challenged the Dwarf Lord to a duel. This proved to be a somewhat fatal misstep and he was laid low.

Meanwhile the Dwarf Gryrocopter strafed and bombed the Dark Elf lines without mercy

With the rest of their army disintegrating around them, the Dark Elf Executioners threw themselves at the Longbeards once again and succeeded in taking down the Rebel Dwarf Lord. It was a pyrrhic Victory and one hard fought.

A fun start to the campaign - next up is the Ambush on the Dwarf Road...

Bestigor Regiment completed

The Painting Challenge good for getting figures done, but I find that prepping for it is just as useful in spurring me to finish projects in progress and clear the desk.  Earlier this year (during AHPC 10) one of my submissions was a 10 figure Bestigor Unit with great weapons.  Since then I have added another 10 figs to the unit but the banner bearer has been sitting idle waiting for attention.  This week I finally finished that and a unit tray to hold them all.

This 20 fig unit can be split into two 10 model units, each with Champion, Banner and Musician

Overall I'm pretty happy with how this hard hitting unit has come out. I deliberately made them stand out with brighter brass armour and light aqua clothes. Their backdtory is that they ambushed an Imperial nobleman's woodlands picnic and tore up the brightly coloured party tents to wear as trophies!

I'm rather happy with how the pics have come out too - trialling some new LED lighting I got for Father's Day - should be very useful for my AHPC 11 submissions!