2400 Beastmaster vs Wood Elves

Ogre Kingdoms vs. Wood Elves
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"The sun bathed the arid wastelands in its morning warmth betraying the presence of the Ogre war band.  Clouds of dust and the belching of the Ogres certainly did nothing to conceal their intent.  From the nearby tree lines the Elves of Loren begun to stalk their enemy, they'd used the world roots in order to setup an ambush here to destroy the Ogre threat from this region.  The Ogres had already had a taste for elven flesh however the Slaughtermaster was missing just one key ingredient to feed his tribe a Loren slow cooked curry......"

Overview
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Date played: Friday, 16 May 2014

Ogre Kingdoms
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  (SM) Slaughtermaster
      - Sword of Striking, Armour of Destiny, Earthing Rod, Lore of Beasts (Wildform, Curse, Savage Beast, Amber Spear), Level 4, Ironfist
  (MB1) Maw Butcher
      - Extra Hand Weapon, Lore of the Great Maw (Toothcracker),  Forbidden Rod
  (BB2) Beast Butcher
      - Sword of Swift Slaying, Dispel Scroll, Level 2, Lore of Beasts (Wildform, Flock of Doom)
  (B3) Bruiser
      - BSB, Charmed Shield, Sword of Anti Heroes, Other Trickster's Shard, Heavy Armour
  (I) 7 Ironguts
      - Full Command, Standard of Discipline
  (O1) 7 Ogres
      - Bellower, Standard, Ironfists, Look-out Gnoblar
  (M) 7 Maneaters
      - Musician, Standard, Banner of Eternal Flame, Stubborn, Poison, Brace of Pistols x 6
  (MC) 4 Mournfang Cavalry
      - Standard, Musician, Ironfists, Heavy Armour, Gleaming Pennant
  (S1) Sabretusk
  (S2) Sabretusk
  (S3) Sabretusk

Wood Elves
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  (S1) Spellweaver
      - Level 4, Moonstone, Lore of Life (Dweller's Below, Throne of Vines, Regrowth), Treesinging
  (B) Branchwraith
      - Lore of Life (Flesh to Stone)
  (N) Noble
      - BSB, Hail of Doom Arrow
  (W1) Waystalker
      - Bow of Loren
  (D) 20 Dryads
      - Champion
  (GG) 23 Glade Guard
      - Full Command, Poison
  (WR1) 25 Wildwood Rangers
      - Full Command, Banner of Discipline
  (S2) 5 Scouts
      - Poison   
  (S3) 5 Scouts
      - Poison   
  (WR2) 3 Warhawk Riders
  (T) Treeman
  (GE) Great Eagle
  (W2) 5 Waywatchers
  (W3) 5 Waywatchers
     
Deployment
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The new Wood Elves!  This was going to be an interesting match up as the sheer amount of firepower they could put out would cut down my units very quickly.  I'd be looking to my augments to help mitigate some damage and ensuring my Maneaters could match up with the Treeman to put their flammable/poison shots to good use.  Also magic would be required to drop the Waywatchers very quickly to ensure the Mournfang get into combat quickly and do what they do best.  I didn't want to give my Sabretusks away so they hung back.  Treeman match up didn't work out however with my opponent using the advantage of the tower to block line of sight.  The obligatory forest is a poison thicket.

Turn 1 - Ogre Kingdoms
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The Beastmaster let out a roar to the skies to signal the advance of the Ogre war band.  The Mournfang riders kicked their mounts into action and begun to plod towards the Elves position whilst the Maneaters advanced readying their pistols.  The Beast Butcher got straight to work as soon as he could smell magic in the air (5 vs 4) and shot out a Flock of Doom from his hands covering the Waywatchers in the tower and two of the elves fell from the parapets to their deaths however the Butcher didn't anticipate the power of the magical winds and collapsed to the ground coughing blood before a massive detonation turned 3 Ironguts into a bloody pulp spread across the ground.  The nearby Maneaters chuckled at the Butcher and let off a barrage of rounds at the tower killing another 2 Waywatchers leaving a single elf remaining in the tower.

Turn 1 - Wood Elves
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The Wood Elves were quick to react and begun to position units into position in order to counter the Ogre threat.  The Warhawk riders withdraw slightly to survey the battlefield whilst the scouts begun to encircle the enemy intent on causing mayhem later in the battle.  The Spellweaver chants ancient powers (6 vs 5) and a throne of vines takes hold onto his forehead however the Ogre counter spells put a stop to his treesinging attempt.  Every Wood Elf armed with a bow aims towards the Maneaters lurking in the forest loosing poison dipped arrows and two of the giants topple over with blistering wounds.

Turn 2 - Ogre Kingdoms
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Furious at the onslaught the Maneaters are determined to seek cover and charge into the tower.  The Mournfang Cavalry however are intent on proving their worth and kick their mounts into action slamming into the solid oak Treeman.  The Beastmaster picks up his apprentice covered in blood and gets to work with magic spells (8 vs 6) however through sheer determination only a single spell of Toothcracker goes off boosting the Mournfang cavalry.  The Maneaters easily remove the remaining elf from the tower and garrison the building whilst the Mournfang rip bark and sap from the Treeman doing 3 wounds to the giant and taking 2 in return but it's not enough to uproot the monster and the Ogres reform to face the oncoming Wildwood Rangers....

Turn 2 - Wood Elves
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With a defiant battle cry the Wildwood Rangers charge into the Mournfang lifting their weapons ready to strike.  The Great Eagle swoops down from his hover into the prowling Sabretusk ready to tear it apart as the rest of the army continues to position itself.  The Spellweaver breaks ranks and rushes towards the Treeman to re-build the tree in order to take down the Ogres.  The magical breeze blows across the battlefield infusing power to the Spellweaver who despite the Beastmasters dispel attempts maintains his throne of vines and begins the process of healing the Treeman.  The nearby Branchwraith sends all of her power to the Wildwood Rangers infusing their skin with hardened bark and vines however it comes at a cost and in a blink of time her powers are no more sapped from her very essence however the Treeman gains more fortitude from the spells effects.  The Elf arrow volleys continue into the Maneaters garrisoning the tower with another dropping with arrows sticking out from his chest.

The Great Eagle raises it's talons to strike however the nimble Sabretusk tears the birds underside before it can land a fatal blow and the combat continues as the bird circles for another strike.  The Wildwood rangers in conjunction with the Treeman rip another rider from his beast however the remaining Mournfang answer and trample 6 rangers underneath and the combat continues.

Turn 3 - Ogre Kingdoms
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The ground shakes near the Wildwood Rangers as the unit of Ogres slams into their side kicking up a plume of dust on impact.  A nearby Sabretusk races in to assist it's kin against the Eagle.

The Maw Butcher slams his rod into the ground infusing the Ogre spell casters with forbidden power (6 vs 1) and gaining a nose bleed for his troubles.  The winds blow very lightly as a result with the Elves and shadows pierce through the poison thicket from a Flock of Doom targeting the Spellweaver however he spends his magical defenses in order to prevent any damage.  The Ogres are infused with power from a Wildform casting from the Butcher.  The Beastmaster roars in hatred and hurdles an Amber Spear striking the Elf general in the stomach and knocking him over however the last thing he recalls is puffs of gunpowder smoke from the tower before loud cracks and sharp pain register as the ever blackness takes hold...  The nearby Dryads rush to intercept the incoming fire however they're simply too late and the Wood elves general is absorbed into the forest floor.

The Ogres now with added ferocity join the combat intent on taking down the Treeman anchoring the Wood Elves lines.  The Rangers respond with numerous slices and slashes cutting down a single Ogre before they are completely broken between the tide of rushing Ogres and the remaining Mournfang Cavalry.  Completely under prepared for the assault the unit breaks and runs through the Ogre battle line taking more and more hits from enemy units as they pass.  Finally clear of the Ogres the remaining five members take to a nearby forest to seek safety.

Sabretusks swiftly tear down the bird of prey and feast on a helping of feather, blood and flesh before picking up the scent of the next meal.

Turn 3 - Wood Elves
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The Warhawk riders pull into a dive bomb position and home in on the flank of the Mournfang Cavalry aiding the Treeman.  Magic continues to infuse the battlefield however with no spell casters remaining the Elves are unable to capitalise on this.  The Elven archery takes aim once again this time the Ironguts being the target of concern.  Although the arrows aren't powerful their number soon begins to thin the ranks of the Beastmasters entourage and whilst the Ogre leaders subordinates escape unscathed only the units Standard and Champion remain.

Combat is quick and brutal with the Warhawk Rider simply underestimating the thickness of the Mournfangs hide.  Although they do wound the beast the retaliation is fierce with a warhawk collapsing to the ground and the Ogre holds steady.

Turn 4 - Ogre Kingdoms
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With the Ogres finally in position they let out another roar and sprint towards to the Treeman.  Both of the Sabretusks now with the scent of birds of prey rush into the flank of the Warhawk riders hungry for more.  The Ironguts sick of being pin cushions rush into the Waywatchers however the elusive Wood Elves escape and the Dryads instead take the brunt of the charge.  Magic is all but a light breeze but it's enough to infuse the Ogres once again with Wildform.

From the tower the Maneaters continue pouring out fire dropping 3 waywatchers from the withdrawing unit.

The Sabretusks assault is relentless chomping into the Warhawk Riders and pursuing them with enough bestial ferocity to cut them down.  The remaining Mournfang holds steady whilst the Ogres with augmented strength begin to chop down the Treeman doing 2 wounds.

The Ironguts however finally in combat unleash hell snapping no less than 10 of the forest spirits for little damage in return.  The Dryads however are unwavering in their presence and reform to face the Ironguts despite their cruel fate.

Turn 4 - Wood Elves
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The retreating elements of the Wood Elves continue to flee as the rest of the force looses arrows at the tower and despite the rock solid protection another Maneater collapses with numerous wounds.

The power of the forest begins to dwindle as the Ogres witness the demise of the final Mournfang however the Treeman overextends himself and its the opening the Ogres need and they rip the monster from the ground spreading vines and sap over the arid floor.  The dryads fair no better and they all sell their lives so the Branchwraith can escape however the Beastmaster pays no concern to her switching his attention to the nearby Glade Guard...


Turn 5 - Ogre Kingdoms
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The Ironguts charge into the Scouts however they flee for their lives and the momentum the Ogres have is enough to crash into the Glade Guard.  However the Asrai's speed at close quarters is stuff of legend as they release dozens of poisonous arrows into the oncoming rush destroying the Ironguts and wounding all the characters.  The poison thicket trips up the Bruiser and the army's standard collapses into the forest.  The Ogres still on the warpath rush into the Branchwraith who flees away however she simply cannot outpace the infantry and is cut down in the trample.  Unperturbed by the events the Beastmaster roars in fury and a powered up Savage Beasts blankets the nearby characters sprouting hair, fangs and a primal fury in each of the Ogres.  Combat is brutal and the Butcher cuts down 5 Glade Guard before he himself succumbs to his wounds (apologies not correct on diagram!) and the Beastmaster rips 4 elves in half.  The Glade Guard however hold their position willing to sell their lives dearly.

Turn 5 - Wood Elves
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The Waywatchers continue to run away however the Scouts now face the threat and loose a volley of arrows into the approaching Ogres drawing blood.  The Beastmaster is challenged by the Waystalker and he simply doesn't have the strength to land a telling blow against the Ogre general.  The Beastmaster in return breaks the Elf with a single blow and throws his figure behind him like a discarded object.

Turn 6 - Ogre Kingdoms
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The Maw Butcher spurs his troops on once again as they charge for the fourth time in battle crashing into the Glade Guard.  Magic infuses the Ogres as Wildform continues on the Ogres, Savage Beast continues feeding the Beastmaster primal power and Curse takes effect on the Glade Guard.  Back in the tower the remaining Maneaters take up careful position and fire a shot into the Scouts, the shot rings true and a single scout drops but it's his buckling and broken form that collapses to the ground along with the morale of the rest of the Elves and they retreat in panic.

The final combat continues and now with the added reinforcements from the Ogres the Glade Guard make peace with their destiny.  The champion steps forward issuing a challenge to the feral beastmaster and it slapped aside again as the beasts strength is simply too overwhelming.  The Wood Elves noble digs his standard into the ground and makes an all out attack against the Maw Butcher, completely caught off guard he collapses to the ground with his innards spilling from his stomach wounds.  For the remaining Ogres however it only intensifies their anger and like savages they snap bones like twigs and elf blood spills like a free flowing stream.  Only 2 Glade Guard escape broken and stumbling away from the ever hungry looking Ogres.

Turn 6 - Wood Elves
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The Waywatchers finally rally however the Glade Guard and Scouts continue to flee from the battlefield hoping to carry the warning back to their elders.  With a final arrow loosed another wound is caused onto a Maneater however before he can retaliate the Wood Elves rush out of range and continue running back to the nearest trees...

Result - Ogre Kingdoms victory

"The Ogres continued to approach the giant cauldron bubbling away with the Loren curry filling their stomachs on their third helpings.  It's distinctive aroma of garlic and nutty flavours filling the air.  The meat was so tender it just fell from the bone unlike the skewered elves who slowly roasted over an open fire pit nearby on a spit ram shackled together from Asrai spears.  The Ogres would march on full stomachs on the morrow.... "

Conclusion:

Well that was one of the best games of Warhammer I've had in a long time.  It was a bit of a last minute game between Kris and I and only his second outing with the new Wood Elves but the whole game was a continual back and forth punch and block type of game and came down to that last combat.  The sheer amount of firepower the Wood Elves can put out is amazing and I was lucky to get my Ironguts into combat to actually 'protect' them from fire so I was very glad the Dryads didn't break on the charge.

The 'Man of the Match' award without a doubt goes to the Ogres.  They were truly the unsung heroes in this game and because of them they took out the Wildwood Rangers, Treeman, cut down the Branchwraith and of course helped out in breaking the Glade Guard.  Wildform certainly kicked them up a notch here as wounding on 2's is really what put them up a notch in my view.

Damn you poison thickets!!    It was a shame to lose my characters on the charge as I was really hanging out to have the Bruiser dishing out a whopping 9 attacks at a very healthy strength 10 (not that it matters against Elves!) so perhaps better luck next time.  I certainly missed the ward saves this time around but that's something massed shooting will make you feel regardless of the strength.

There's probably a lot more to talk about but for now I'll leave it at that.

Couldn't help myself. Looked like an intense game, great job beating down the elves. How did you find the Lore of Beasts with the Ogres?[/color]

Thanks, fixed that.

How did I find it?  Great, like the last 5 battle reports. 

Jimmy:

I was curious when I was going to start seeing Wood Elves show up.  I will hopefully have a game or two against them next weekend, so I'm excited to see how you managed to do against them without bringing a firebelly.

Regarding your list:
I'm liking the setup of the slaughtermaster more with the sword of striking.  Hopefully it pulled its weight.  As always with spell selection, I am curious what spell you traded for wildform, and why you decided not to keep it.

Regarding the wood elves:
I have no idea what any of this means.  I just know that life magic is a pain, especially on elves.  I definitely hate to go against tough 7 elves.  Should be interesting, though.

Deployment:
What was your thinking regarding your deployment in such a tight cluster?  Since everything has impact hits, wouldn't you want to have all of your big units deployed as far forward as they can be to ensure that no unit is stuck behind another unit on a crucial turn? 

Also, the sheer number of scouts is kind of scary.  Were you deploying in the corner to limit the number of flanks they could get?  I haven't seen how they do yet, but scouts always seem to go in one of two ways when I have played with/against them: The totally wreck the opponent's battle plan, or they just get picked off first.

Turn 1: Ogres:
Another first turn miscast.  Ouch.

I have never played with buildings.  Besides the -1 to hit the scouts due to skirmish, what other bonuses/ penalties were in play due to their placement in a building?

Turn 1: WE:
I've been putting throne of vines at the top of my dispel priority list.  If you don't handle it immediately, you aren't going to have the dice to handle it later, especially when he's throwing boosted life spells everywhere.  That said, I don't know what treesinging does, so maybe letting throne through was the better option.  I will be curious to hear what your reasoning was regarding dispel choices.

Only 2 maneaters die.  I was honestly expecting you to have lost more with the sheer amount of shooting being brought against them.  That extra ablative maneater paid for itself there.

Turn 2: Ogres:
I love toothcracker.  Best Maw spell in the game.  Not as threatening as regen, so it goes through more often than not.

How are the treemen in the new edition?  I've heard that they were the only thing that the WE had going for them in the last book.  Wouldn't it be better to try to hit them with something with a higher strength?  I love mournfang, but I don't think they are that good against monsters.

Turn 2: WE:
Like I said earlier, throne of vines is a massive threat.  That treeman is going to be a big pain in the butt if it keeps getting healed.

Strategy-wise, I'm not sure you opponent should have put the rangers into the mournfang.  All he's doing is handing you combat res on a wooden platter.

Your sabretusk did a good job staying alive against the eagle.

Turn 3: Ogres
Well done with the amber spear.  Taking out the general is a great help.  Why on earth did he take the general out of glade guard?  That seems like a terrible idea.

It really is amazing how durable the mournfang are against infantry.

Turn 3: WE:
I must say, I really wasn't sure how you were going to pull out a victory at this point.  Your ironguts are diminishing, and you are down to your last mournfang.  The WE have really been putting the pain on your ironguts.  Would the maneaters have been better served by charging out of the building into the treeman or one of the other units?

Once everything started breaking, everything swung back into your favor.  The bubble cast savage beast really burned through the rest of the WE army.

It was a really good report, and I appreciate you taking the time to put out the report.  This list seems to work really well even with your lack of cannons.  I'm wondering if your maneaters should have helped the mournfang against the treeman.  That might have ended that slog a turn or two later.

Regarding the ogres: They were valuable, yes, but it sounds like they were only valuable due to wildform.  Did your opponent let wildform through in favor of dispelling savage beasts or something similar?  I know that whenever I play against beasts, I consider wildform far more important to dispel than almost anything else.  Do you think that you are going to be able to continue casting wildform on them with any regularity, or are your opponents going to catch on that it is deadly dangerous?

Hey LG

Thanks for the comments – I really do appreciate them!

On the list firstly the Beast Butcher rolled first and I think he got Transformation and Flock of Doom so I traded up the big one for Wildform, I then think I got the same with the Beastmaster and I wasn’t going to turn into a monster with all of that firepower about however in hindsight (great thing!) had I know the enemy spell casting was going to take a dive things may have been different.

Deployment was purely as I didn’t want scouts in behind me.  I was however thinking about putting either the Maneaters or MFC on the further left flank to really put pressure on this Glade Guard however I was aiming to get the maneaters into the tower and subsequently into the Treeman somehow but it didn’t quite work out that way!

Turn 1 – Miscast was shocking, killed nearly 50% of the poor Ironguts!  Building = hard cover so -2 to hit.  Treesinging can be used 1 of 2 ways now, either you move forests like normal or any enemy unit in the forest takes 2d6 S4 hits which I wasn’t going to let through on the Maneaters.  Besides with Throne it’s not like he had Flesh to Stone to take advantage of the +4 T boost so I wasn’t overly concerned, just didn’t want him to miss out on a miscast really!

Turn 2 – Shame toothcracker costs so much when compared to Wildform however.  Just doesn’t seem right.  Ideally the MFC weren’t the right tools for the job however it was a case of charge or be charged and I’d rather have impact hits any day of the week.  Treemen are still pretty good, it’s the stubborn monster that is the annoying part!

You’re right about the Rangers however keep in mind it was only his second game with the new wood elves. 

Turn 3 – He ran the general out in order to get a 6 dice regrowth off on the treeman to potentially put a brakes on that flank for me.  Oddly enough I’m lost now looking back on it as to why didn’t join a unit of skirmishers.  Remember you can’t charge out of buildings!  Hence the reason the Maneaters sat tight, I was confident had they presented an opportunity to expose themselves to the Glade Guard they would have been deleted rather quickly and they were provide ok fire support.

The way I see having 2 wildforms means you’re going to either get 1/none through as the opponent will often save dice for Savage Beasts, if they dispel the former though then you’ve got a pretty potent character floating about somewhere and more than likely with the magical weapons I’ve got now it can make it a lot more potent.  I think you’re right though, Wildform is the unsung hero of this list.  I’m already thinking about a dual MFC list with the Beastmaster but also getting some leadbelchers into the mix in a future list.

The way I see having 2 wildforms means you’re going to either get 1/none through as the opponent will often save dice for Savage Beasts, if they dispel the former though then you’ve got a pretty potent character floating about somewhere and more than likely with the magical weapons I’ve got now it can make it a lot more potent.  I think you’re right though, Wildform is the unsung hero of this list.  I’m already thinking about a dual MFC list with the Beastmaster but also getting some leadbelchers into the mix in a future list.

Dual MFC with the beastmaster would be terrifying.  Str 6 impact hits and str 5 and 6 attacks.  That one buff would turn MFC from scary to rampaging killbeasts.  Also, wildform is easier to cast on MFC.

I think I am going to add that combo to the list after next (my next list is trying out tyrant and double giant).  It should be pretty scary.



It's a tough call on keeping transformation or flock on the butcher.  The butcher is the ideal target for transformation, since you don't care if he loses his casting for a while.  On the other hand, it's just so expensive.  I think you made the right choice on keeping flock.  It seemed to do pretty well.


Finally, regarding the general: he definitely should have joined the skirmishers.  Still, why did he need to run out of the Glade Guard?  Wouldn't it have been easier to just move the Glade Guard closer and keep the wizard safe?  I still just cannot figure out the thought process involved here.

I think the general would have been out of range had he stayed in the Glade Guard is all.