13 Jun 2014
So, my local league has a sudo-escalation thing going: 2400 point games, but with additional restrictions built in. After each game, you're allowed to choose an upgrade which relaxes those restrictions. Here are the restrictions:
300 points max in Lords, Heroes, Specials, Rares, and Chariots.
Max of 3 levels of magic (bound spells count as a level).
No magic item over 25 points.
One Monster, one War Machine, and one Ethereal.
No core unit may be over 300 points.
Additionally, the Winds of Magic roll is done for the Game turn, not every player turn. (ie, the first side gets 9 PD and you get 5 DD, then next phase you get 9 PD and he gets 5 DD).
To help newer players who don't have big enough collections, you're allowed to take 600 points of Allied Core from one additional book, however they are -1 leadership, may not be effected by your magic (unless it's negative
), and may not use your General or BSB.
So, here was my list, with 3 upgrades that I had earned (+50 to core unit size, +50 to heroes, and +15 to magic items). I simply don't have 1200+ points of Core, so I had to grab some Allies.
Lords
Tyrant w/Fencer's Blades, Glittering Scales, +1 Strength Big Name
Heroes
Butcher w/level 2 Maw (Spine Marrow, Bullgorger), Dispel Scroll, Ruby Ring of Ruin
BSB Bruiser w/minimal equipment (honestly can't remember)
Core
9x Bulls, Ironfists, Full Command
9x Bulls, Ironfists, Full Command
10x Gnoblars
10x Gnoblars
3x Ironguts
10x Warriors of Chaos w/Halbreds, Mark of Khorne
10x Warriors of Chaos w/Halbreds, Mark of Khorne
Chaos Chariot w/Mark of Khorne
Specials
4x Maneaters w/AHW, Standard Bearer, Banner of Swiftness, Swiftstride, Poison
1x Sabertusk
1x Sabertusk
Rare
Ironblaster
My opponent had only earned one upgrade (and though I was willing to step down to match upgrades, the organizers wanted mismatches to happen
): +15 to magic items. He had a much more established collection, and so fielded a pure Ogre list.
His list from memory:
Lords
Tyrant w/great weapon, other stuff.
Heroes
Butcher w/level 2 Maw (Maw, toothcracker), Dispel Scroll
BSB Bruiser w/Great Weapon, Heavy armor with 5+ ward
Core
7x Bulls, Ironfists, Full Command
7x Bulls, Ironfists, Full Command
7x Bulls, Ironfists, Full Command
10x Gnoblars Trappers
10x Gnoblars Trappers
6x Ironguts, Full Command
6x Ironguts, Full Command
Specials
6 Leadbelchers
1x Sabertusk
1x Sabertusk
Rare
Ironblaster
Deployment
I wont the first placement. From my left I had the 3 ironguts, serving as a frenzy-shield for the chariot. Then I had a 'tusk hiding behind some impassible terrain, a unit of gnoblars shielding a unit of warriors, both bull units (with characters in the right-most one) with the ironblaster in between but behind them. Then the other set of warriors and shielding gnoblars, then the man eaters and the last 'tusk.
My opponent, again from my left, had placed 7 bulls, a 'tusk, some trappers, and the lead belchers. Center he had the Butcher in with a Bull unit, with his Tyrant and BSB in with the Ironguts, fronted by the other gnoblar unit, and with his Ironblaster behind them. The right flank was the other unit of 'Guts, with the Bulls and last 'tusk anchoring his far right.
I won the roll to go first.
Top of One (Mine)
A very cautious advance of the entire line, not more than 5 inches, putting me at the 19" range from his lines. The Sabers and the man-eaters were the exception, with the left tusk staying behind a nice LoS blocking piece of impassable terrain, the man-eaters swinging wide to get out of the second IG's arc but remain able to charge the Bulls, and the right most tusk swinging wide on the man-eaters' flank, placing it in a position to redirect the bulls for the expected saber redirection of the man-eaters.
Magic resulted in 7 vs 5, but I declined to cast (forgetting about the ruby ring the entire game). In Shooting, the Ironblaster sends a cannon ball skipping through the trappers (killing 2), and puts a wound on the opposing Ironblaster.
Bottom of One
He counter-creeps up; his center moving 2 inches to put his butcher in range for the Maw spell. His right flank moves a bit more aggressively, perhaps 6 or so inches up, and in a major surprise, he doesn't block the man-eaters with his 'tusk, but instead puts it on the flank of MY 'tusk! On his left flank, the other 'tusk moves up to block the Ironguts, with the Trappers, Bulls, and leadies moving up behind it.
With a solid number of dice, he goes ahead and tries to cast Maw on my spare Bull unit. As a level 2, he only goes for the small one, but misses the roll anyways. His Ironblaster MISFIRES, spins about in a full circle, and ends facing me. Show-off
His lead belchers make an equally big boom, but only manage 2 wounds on the IG.
Top of Two
The Man-Eaters charge the Bulls, who elect to hold. Between the Banner of Swiftness and Swiftstride, they easily make the 15" charge (though no Ogre-charge). Their flanking 'tusk turns to glare at the intruding 'tusk, inviting some cat-on-cat action. On the left flank, the Ironguts charge the 'Tusk, who chooses to flee, my opponent hoping that it'll bounce through the trappers. The 'tusk misses the bounce by 1 inch, though, leaving him a measly 10" away from the Guts. I try to redirect into the gnoblars, but fail the check (being FAR outside BSB range). Regardless, a decent charge from them will still let me stick the Chaos Chariot into the bull squad on the far left. The IG easily catch the tusk, and though the gnoblars are unimpressed by the grisly squishing that happens right in front of them, the flanking Bulls panic and run right off the board edge! The Chariot starts forward, then grinds to a halt in confusion.
The right unit of gnoblars marched right up to the Ironguts, opening the distance between them and the Warriors to 9 inches. The left unit of gnoblars and Warriors advanced a little further into a forest, with the left 'tusk moving up behind them in order to be handy in the center. Both Bull units held back.
Magic came up a 9 vs 5, and I shrug and put them aside again. Not to be out-done, this time MY Ironblaster misfires, but only spins in a 270, putting it in a more difficult-to-hit angle. In combat the Maneaters slaughter 4 Bulls, lose one of their number in return, and chase after the unit 7 inches, though failing to catch them as they ran 11!
Bottom of Two
His right unit of IGs charge the gnoblars, and his 'Tusk leaps at mine, but otherwise he holds back. The center Trappers advance all the way up to block my Bunker unit, while his left Trappers crab sideways a bit, putting them in arc of my chariot while still blocking my IG suicide squad. And the survivers of the right-flank Bull squad rally and turn to look back.
He cast Toothcracker on his Butcher's unit, miscasts, but fails to take a wound and decides to not cast again. His Ironblaster turns to face mine and lets loose a shot, but fails to wound (wonderful counter-battery fire this game
) His lead belchers rip into the Ironguts, causing another two wounds, and the resultant panic test sees them run, bounce through the Chariot, and huddle on the other side where they are forgotten about for the rest of the game.
The plucky gnoblars cause a wound before being horribly squished, but the IG fluff their over-run, moving only 4 inches! Neither of our 'tusks cause a wound, but mine fails from charge bonus and gets run down.
Top of Three
The Chariot fails to restraint and charges the Trappers (passing the DT test, thankfully), and the right flank Warriors don't even try, gleefully charging the IGs. The Man-Eaters immediately think to charge the survivors of their previous meal, but a longer flank charge on the Ironblaster would produce more bragging rights, and professionals that they are they easily make it. The left gnoblar unit charges the lead belcher flank, clearing the way for the left Warriors to fail a charge against the Butcher's unit. My Bunker Ogre-Charges the Trappers, passing all their DT tests to boot. The other Bull unit advances up next to them, and the Ironblaster moves up and to the side to try and bounce a cannon ball through the two Bull survivors from the Man-Eaters. The remaining 'tusk races up to block his IG bunker.
Magic saw a 3 vs 2. I throw stubborn on my own unit, primarily to grab the +1 to dispel. The Ironblaster misfires AGAIN, and this time cracks the cannon. This is why I always run two...
The Warriors cut down three IG before they can swing, lose four of their own, but win and chase after the surviving two, trampling the standard bearer. The Man-Eaters manage to batter the last 4 wounds of the IB, turning to face the flank of the IG bunker. Chariot obliterates the gnoblars without slowing, and my Ogre-Charging Bulls do the same with the other unit of Trappers, though THEY choose not to overrun. Sadly, the leadies prove more than a match for the gnoblars pestering their flank, killing half of them. They managed not to chase them, seeing a better target in the exposed flank of the Chariot (plus, their pursuit would have blocked his Butcher's unit while simultaneously exposing their own flank to my Warriors. No dummy, my opponent 
)
Bottom of Three
The surviving Bulls on the right flank rear-charge the Man-Eaters, and the Leadies charge into the flank of the Chariot. His Butcher's unit charges the fleeing gnoblars, which bounce them through my Warriors, redirect, and then charge the Warriors. The IG bunker opts not to charge the blocking 'tusk, and the IG survivors rally in front of the Warriors.
Expecting a serious multi-charge, he throws Toothcracker on his IG bunker and miscasts! It's the big boom! Four of my Warriors and one of his bulls are incinerated, though the Butcher is again immune to the damage. Between the blast and his impact hits, the unit is badly battered, killing only two Bulls. Returning blows see the unit reduced to a single Warrior, who holds on Insane Courage!!
Sadly, the Chariot is dealt with much more roughly, killing a single belcher before being run down. The Bull survivors learned a painful lesson in the value of Initiative; they caused two impact wounds, but then were cut down by the 15 WS4 S5 attacks before they could strike.
Top of Four
First, my right unit of Warriors charged the pair of IG who had escaped them. The 'tusk charged the IG bunker, skirting in front of it before wheeling to contact the corner. My Bull bunker let out a locomotive cry and AGAIN Ogre Charged into the IG bunker, while the Man-Eaters slammed into the flank. The spare Bull unit crashed into the flank of the Butcher's unit while the Ironblaster braved the forest to charge into the front. Even the fleeing gnoblars rallied to watch the spectacle.
Magic was another 3 vs 2, and just to show I could, I miscast Bullgorger on my Bull Bunker! Even managed to get my Butcher sucked into the warp and kill a Bull. The Butcher's unit kills the remaining Warrior, but with two sets of impact hits, a flank, and attacks all over the place, half the remaining Bulls die and the unit breaks and runs, spare Bulls and Ironblaster hot in pursuit. In the other combat, my Tyrant kills the IG champion in a challenge, the Man-Eaters put a pair of wounds on the second rank BSB, and between the Bulls and impact hits I kill everything but the Standard Bearer, BSB, and Tyrant. BSB kills a Man-Eater, Tyrant kills a Bull, and the standard bearer wets his pants. The unit breaks, the BSB and standard die, the Bunker restrains and reforms, and the 'Tusk and Man-Eaters run down the Tyrant.
My opponent called the game.
This battle really showed the value of initiative. There wasn't a single combat (outside of the cat-on-cast one) where I didn't attack first, allowing me to hugely degrade the combat potential of whatever I was fighting. I picked +50 to Lords as my upgrade (you can't take the same one twice in a row, and I want another +15 to magic items), and given the structure of the league, I don't think I'll ever be able to field an all-ogre force. The Chaos contingent has been present in 3 of my matches now, and has been hugely helpful, basically as suicide units.
300 points max in Lords, Heroes, Specials, Rares, and Chariots.
Max of 3 levels of magic (bound spells count as a level).
No magic item over 25 points.
One Monster, one War Machine, and one Ethereal.
No core unit may be over 300 points.
Additionally, the Winds of Magic roll is done for the Game turn, not every player turn. (ie, the first side gets 9 PD and you get 5 DD, then next phase you get 9 PD and he gets 5 DD).
To help newer players who don't have big enough collections, you're allowed to take 600 points of Allied Core from one additional book, however they are -1 leadership, may not be effected by your magic (unless it's negative
), and may not use your General or BSB.So, here was my list, with 3 upgrades that I had earned (+50 to core unit size, +50 to heroes, and +15 to magic items). I simply don't have 1200+ points of Core, so I had to grab some Allies.
Lords
Tyrant w/Fencer's Blades, Glittering Scales, +1 Strength Big Name
Heroes
Butcher w/level 2 Maw (Spine Marrow, Bullgorger), Dispel Scroll, Ruby Ring of Ruin
BSB Bruiser w/minimal equipment (honestly can't remember)
Core
9x Bulls, Ironfists, Full Command
9x Bulls, Ironfists, Full Command
10x Gnoblars
10x Gnoblars
3x Ironguts
10x Warriors of Chaos w/Halbreds, Mark of Khorne
10x Warriors of Chaos w/Halbreds, Mark of Khorne
Chaos Chariot w/Mark of Khorne
Specials
4x Maneaters w/AHW, Standard Bearer, Banner of Swiftness, Swiftstride, Poison
1x Sabertusk
1x Sabertusk
Rare
Ironblaster
My opponent had only earned one upgrade (and though I was willing to step down to match upgrades, the organizers wanted mismatches to happen
): +15 to magic items. He had a much more established collection, and so fielded a pure Ogre list.His list from memory:
Lords
Tyrant w/great weapon, other stuff.
Heroes
Butcher w/level 2 Maw (Maw, toothcracker), Dispel Scroll
BSB Bruiser w/Great Weapon, Heavy armor with 5+ ward
Core
7x Bulls, Ironfists, Full Command
7x Bulls, Ironfists, Full Command
7x Bulls, Ironfists, Full Command
10x Gnoblars Trappers
10x Gnoblars Trappers
6x Ironguts, Full Command
6x Ironguts, Full Command
Specials
6 Leadbelchers
1x Sabertusk
1x Sabertusk
Rare
Ironblaster
Deployment
I wont the first placement. From my left I had the 3 ironguts, serving as a frenzy-shield for the chariot. Then I had a 'tusk hiding behind some impassible terrain, a unit of gnoblars shielding a unit of warriors, both bull units (with characters in the right-most one) with the ironblaster in between but behind them. Then the other set of warriors and shielding gnoblars, then the man eaters and the last 'tusk.
My opponent, again from my left, had placed 7 bulls, a 'tusk, some trappers, and the lead belchers. Center he had the Butcher in with a Bull unit, with his Tyrant and BSB in with the Ironguts, fronted by the other gnoblar unit, and with his Ironblaster behind them. The right flank was the other unit of 'Guts, with the Bulls and last 'tusk anchoring his far right.
I won the roll to go first.
Top of One (Mine)
A very cautious advance of the entire line, not more than 5 inches, putting me at the 19" range from his lines. The Sabers and the man-eaters were the exception, with the left tusk staying behind a nice LoS blocking piece of impassable terrain, the man-eaters swinging wide to get out of the second IG's arc but remain able to charge the Bulls, and the right most tusk swinging wide on the man-eaters' flank, placing it in a position to redirect the bulls for the expected saber redirection of the man-eaters.
Magic resulted in 7 vs 5, but I declined to cast (forgetting about the ruby ring the entire game). In Shooting, the Ironblaster sends a cannon ball skipping through the trappers (killing 2), and puts a wound on the opposing Ironblaster.
Bottom of One
He counter-creeps up; his center moving 2 inches to put his butcher in range for the Maw spell. His right flank moves a bit more aggressively, perhaps 6 or so inches up, and in a major surprise, he doesn't block the man-eaters with his 'tusk, but instead puts it on the flank of MY 'tusk! On his left flank, the other 'tusk moves up to block the Ironguts, with the Trappers, Bulls, and leadies moving up behind it.
With a solid number of dice, he goes ahead and tries to cast Maw on my spare Bull unit. As a level 2, he only goes for the small one, but misses the roll anyways. His Ironblaster MISFIRES, spins about in a full circle, and ends facing me. Show-off
His lead belchers make an equally big boom, but only manage 2 wounds on the IG.Top of Two
The Man-Eaters charge the Bulls, who elect to hold. Between the Banner of Swiftness and Swiftstride, they easily make the 15" charge (though no Ogre-charge). Their flanking 'tusk turns to glare at the intruding 'tusk, inviting some cat-on-cat action. On the left flank, the Ironguts charge the 'Tusk, who chooses to flee, my opponent hoping that it'll bounce through the trappers. The 'tusk misses the bounce by 1 inch, though, leaving him a measly 10" away from the Guts. I try to redirect into the gnoblars, but fail the check (being FAR outside BSB range). Regardless, a decent charge from them will still let me stick the Chaos Chariot into the bull squad on the far left. The IG easily catch the tusk, and though the gnoblars are unimpressed by the grisly squishing that happens right in front of them, the flanking Bulls panic and run right off the board edge! The Chariot starts forward, then grinds to a halt in confusion.
The right unit of gnoblars marched right up to the Ironguts, opening the distance between them and the Warriors to 9 inches. The left unit of gnoblars and Warriors advanced a little further into a forest, with the left 'tusk moving up behind them in order to be handy in the center. Both Bull units held back.
Magic came up a 9 vs 5, and I shrug and put them aside again. Not to be out-done, this time MY Ironblaster misfires, but only spins in a 270, putting it in a more difficult-to-hit angle. In combat the Maneaters slaughter 4 Bulls, lose one of their number in return, and chase after the unit 7 inches, though failing to catch them as they ran 11!
Bottom of Two
His right unit of IGs charge the gnoblars, and his 'Tusk leaps at mine, but otherwise he holds back. The center Trappers advance all the way up to block my Bunker unit, while his left Trappers crab sideways a bit, putting them in arc of my chariot while still blocking my IG suicide squad. And the survivers of the right-flank Bull squad rally and turn to look back.
He cast Toothcracker on his Butcher's unit, miscasts, but fails to take a wound and decides to not cast again. His Ironblaster turns to face mine and lets loose a shot, but fails to wound (wonderful counter-battery fire this game
) His lead belchers rip into the Ironguts, causing another two wounds, and the resultant panic test sees them run, bounce through the Chariot, and huddle on the other side where they are forgotten about for the rest of the game. The plucky gnoblars cause a wound before being horribly squished, but the IG fluff their over-run, moving only 4 inches! Neither of our 'tusks cause a wound, but mine fails from charge bonus and gets run down.
Top of Three
The Chariot fails to restraint and charges the Trappers (passing the DT test, thankfully), and the right flank Warriors don't even try, gleefully charging the IGs. The Man-Eaters immediately think to charge the survivors of their previous meal, but a longer flank charge on the Ironblaster would produce more bragging rights, and professionals that they are they easily make it. The left gnoblar unit charges the lead belcher flank, clearing the way for the left Warriors to fail a charge against the Butcher's unit. My Bunker Ogre-Charges the Trappers
, passing all their DT tests to boot. The other Bull unit advances up next to them, and the Ironblaster moves up and to the side to try and bounce a cannon ball through the two Bull survivors from the Man-Eaters. The remaining 'tusk races up to block his IG bunker.Magic saw a 3 vs 2. I throw stubborn on my own unit, primarily to grab the +1 to dispel. The Ironblaster misfires AGAIN, and this time cracks the cannon. This is why I always run two...
The Warriors cut down three IG before they can swing, lose four of their own, but win and chase after the surviving two, trampling the standard bearer. The Man-Eaters manage to batter the last 4 wounds of the IB, turning to face the flank of the IG bunker. Chariot obliterates the gnoblars without slowing, and my Ogre-Charging Bulls do the same with the other unit of Trappers, though THEY choose not to overrun. Sadly, the leadies prove more than a match for the gnoblars pestering their flank, killing half of them. They managed not to chase them, seeing a better target in the exposed flank of the Chariot (plus, their pursuit would have blocked his Butcher's unit while simultaneously exposing their own flank to my Warriors. No dummy, my opponent )Bottom of Three
The surviving Bulls on the right flank rear-charge the Man-Eaters, and the Leadies charge into the flank of the Chariot. His Butcher's unit charges the fleeing gnoblars, which bounce them through my Warriors, redirect, and then charge the Warriors. The IG bunker opts not to charge the blocking 'tusk, and the IG survivors rally in front of the Warriors.
Expecting a serious multi-charge, he throws Toothcracker on his IG bunker and miscasts! It's the big boom! Four of my Warriors and one of his bulls are incinerated, though the Butcher is again immune to the damage. Between the blast and his impact hits, the unit is badly battered, killing only two Bulls. Returning blows see the unit reduced to a single Warrior, who holds on Insane Courage!!
Sadly, the Chariot is dealt with much more roughly, killing a single belcher before being run down. The Bull survivors learned a painful lesson in the value of Initiative; they caused two impact wounds, but then were cut down by the 15 WS4 S5 attacks before they could strike.Top of Four
First, my right unit of Warriors charged the pair of IG who had escaped them. The 'tusk charged the IG bunker, skirting in front of it before wheeling to contact the corner. My Bull bunker let out a locomotive cry and AGAIN Ogre Charged into the IG bunker, while the Man-Eaters slammed into the flank. The spare Bull unit crashed into the flank of the Butcher's unit while the Ironblaster braved the forest to charge into the front. Even the fleeing gnoblars rallied to watch the spectacle.
Magic was another 3 vs 2, and just to show I could, I miscast Bullgorger on my Bull Bunker! Even managed to get my Butcher sucked into the warp and kill a Bull. The Butcher's unit kills the remaining Warrior, but with two sets of impact hits, a flank, and attacks all over the place, half the remaining Bulls die and the unit breaks and runs, spare Bulls and Ironblaster hot in pursuit. In the other combat, my Tyrant kills the IG champion in a challenge, the Man-Eaters put a pair of wounds on the second rank BSB, and between the Bulls and impact hits I kill everything but the Standard Bearer, BSB, and Tyrant. BSB kills a Man-Eater, Tyrant kills a Bull, and the standard bearer wets his pants. The unit breaks, the BSB and standard die, the Bunker restrains and reforms, and the 'Tusk and Man-Eaters run down the Tyrant.
My opponent called the game.
This battle really showed the value of initiative. There wasn't a single combat (outside of the cat-on-cast one) where I didn't attack first, allowing me to hugely degrade the combat potential of whatever I was fighting. I picked +50 to Lords as my upgrade (you can't take the same one twice in a row, and I want another +15 to magic items), and given the structure of the league, I don't think I'll ever be able to field an all-ogre force. The Chaos contingent has been present in 3 of my matches now, and has been hugely helpful, basically as suicide units.