05 Feb 2015
STREET FIGHTING MEN
INTRODUCTION
[The pictures in this article have become somewhat reduced. The original article can be viewed at: http://warhammer.org.uk/phpBB/viewtopic.php?p=1268888#p1268888]
Readers of this website may be familiar with the Siege of Neudorf battle report from January 2011, which can be accessed here:
http://warhammer.org.uk/phpBB/viewtopic.php?f=12&t=82088
In that siege, The Emperor Karl Franz led an army including a glittering array of Empire and High Elf heroes in the defence of the border town of Neudorf from a combined Chaos and Ogre horde. The Empire prevailed that day but it was a close run thing. The Emperor recognised the need for more strength and employed the best engineers and stone masons he could find to build massive fortification walls around the city. The Engineer Balis the Fervent designed and supervised construction and declared the town unassailable (surely a bad sign at the start of a battle report?). The old town clustered around the castle keep had been razed in the earlier battle and a new town was built within the protection of the new walls.
However, the Chaos Lord Indefeatable, who had assumed command of the Chaos alliance during the previous siege of Neudorf following the demise of Lord Hellblast, had made a vow to return and destroy the town.
THE EARLY CAMPAIGN
Lord Indefeatable was nothing if not cunning. Recognising the strength of the new walls, he determined that a frontal assault was out of the question and decided on an indirect approach. The first step would be to lure the bulk of the defenders out of the town. Lord Indefeatable reasoned, correctly, that the Empire commander would consider the walls unassailable and, given the right incentive, would be prepared to deploy the bulk of his army, leaving only a small garrison remained to protect the townsfolk. Lord Indefeatable knew that some of the richer townsfolk employed mercenary Ogres as guards and set his plan accordingly.
Lord Indefeatable forged an alliance with Koshtra Belorn, Tyrant of the Ouroborean tribe. Together they planned for the Ogres to pillage the countryside around Neudorf to create a serious nuisance and threaten the population outside the walls. To encourage the defenders to sally out to give battle, one of the mercenary Ogres within the town would be bought as a double agent to pass inaccurate information to the defenders. Ultimately, he was to divulge the camp site of the Ouroboreans in Broken Dream Canyon, a hidden steep-sided valley with a single entrance. Should the Empire fall on the Ouroboreans unannounced, they would find the Ogres trapped and at the mercy of the Empire longer ranged guns. The Ogre also happened to have been tipped off with a secret route that would enable the Empire troops to approach the Canyon unseen by the Ogres.
Great care had been taken to hide the Chaos forces in the area so that the Empire would believe that the Ogres were the only threat. In fact, as the Empire joined battle, the Chaos forces occupying hidden positions high up on the Canyon walls would release huge stockpiles of boulders, previously prepared by the hordes Shaggoths, Dragon Ogres and Chaos Ogres, to bury the Empire troops beneath a huge avalanche. Any survivors would be taken by Marauders and Hounds while the main body of the Chaos army would make for Neudorf.
The Empire took the bait, hook line and sinker. They deployed into Broken Dream Canyon expecting to take the Ogres by surprise they were themselves surprised by the avalanche of falling boulders and almost completely destroyed. The few survivors were hunted down by fast moving Marauders and Hounds so that none, less one, ever returned to Neudorf.
But Lord Indefeatable had no intention of sharing his victory with his Ogre allies. Unbeknownst to them, he had directed his Shaggoths, Dragon Ogres and Chaos Ogres to prepare stockpiles of boulders along the entire length of the Canyon so that he could destroy both his enemy and a troublesome, and smelly, ally at the same time. With the dust still settling from the avalanche, Lord Indefeatables Chaos Ogres reported complete success and the annihilation of the Ouroboreans.
Leaving the Shaggoths, Chaos Ogres and Dragon Ogres to mop up the few remaining and dazed Ouroboreans, Lord Indefeatable counter-marched his horde back to Neudorf. His sole Empire captive was seduced by the power of Slaanesh to enter the town and declare a great victory so that when the Chaos Marauder Horse vanguard arrived, disguised as Empire Outriders, the gates were flung open to welcome them home.
Alas for the townsfolk as the Chaos troops rampaged through the town spreading terror and destruction.
THE CHAOS ARMY
A note on Army composition. Given the size of armies on the table we decided to keep things simple.
No magic items were to be taken. (This had an interesting affect on game play.)
All magic users would be lore masters of their chosen Lore.
No special characters would be taken less Throgg.
Lord Indefeatable on Chaos Daemonic Mount
The Magus, Sorcerer lord of Tzeentch on Disc
The Dragon Lord on Chaos Dragon
Zbeexch, Daemon Prince
Throgg the Troll King
Knight of Swords, Exalted Hero BSB
Young Harry, Exalted Hero
Salomon Florence, Level 2 Mage of Fire
The Devils Wind, 5 Slaaneshi Marauder Horse with flails
The Hanged Men, 20 Slaaneshi Marauders with hand weapons and shields
Fortunes Children, 10 Slaaneshi Marauders with flails
The Stout Hearts, 10 Slaaneshi Marauders with hand weapons and shields
Temptations Children, 18 Slaaneshi Warriors with weapons and shields
Beloved of Khorne, 15 Khorne Warriors with halberds and shields
Throggs Finest, 6 Trolls, 6 Trolls, 3 Trolls
The Damned, 5 Forsaken
The Unforgiven, 5 Forsaken
The Sons of Morr, 10 Slaanesh Knights
Blades of Chaos, 5 Slaaneshi Knights with Lances
The Widow Maker, Hellcannon
Judgement, Hellcannon
Bigfoot, Giant
The Khorne elements of the army took pleasure in death and destruction for its own sake.
The Slaanesh elements of the army were more concerned with seeking pleasure and looked for fine wines and female companionship.
The Chaos deployment in the town was:
The Marauder element was given the task of securing the walls under the command of Young Harry. Fortunes Children and the Stout Hearts manned the ramparts while the Hanged Men garrisoned the Watch House.
Throgg led his Trolls to the town duckpond where they played pass the human , a game involving frantic drumming whilst passing a captive around until the drumming stopped; whichever Troll was holding the human was then allowed to rip off a limb to eat.
The Hellcannon were deployed in open ground behind the Trolls.
Lord Indefeatable and his Knights selected the Keep as their abode.
The Sons of Morr, a rogue element of the Empire Regiment of the same name that had been seduced by Slaanesh after undertaking a forbidden ritual to seek victory in battle, sought out the Garden of Morr in an attempt to ease the constant screams and disturbing visions in their heads.
The Beloved of Khorne garrisoned the Hanged Man Hostelry.
Temptations Children took no time in securing Madame Fifis Gentlemens Retreat where they got down to some serious pleasure making.
The Sorcerers and Daemon Prince hunted out arcane knowledge in the Wizards Tower while Bigfoot and the Devils Wind secured the Stables.
The entire army quickly descended into anarchy as individuals fought over choice booty and got drunk on looted wines and beers. Lord Indefeatable looked-on content; he knew that no Empire force could reach the town for 3 days and so posted only a minimal guard of Marauders in order to allow the bulk of his army some pleasure.
SO WHERE IS THE BATTLE?
DOUBLE DEALING
In the early hours of the next morning, the Dragon Ogres and Chaos Ogres that had been left behind to finish off the remnants off the remnants of the Ouroboreans, arrived at the gates and were quickly welcomed in by the Marauder guard. Too quickly as it transpired
In his hurry to execute his cunning plan, Lord Indefeatable had overlooked one thing, the feeling of kinship between all brands of Ogres. Setting his Shaggoths, Dragon and Chaos Ogres to kill their brothers was bad enough but when combined with the insults previously heaped on his Ogres by forcing them always to fight on the downwind flank in order to avoid the smell, trouble was inevitable. The Chaos Ogres had refused to destroy their distant kin and had instead allied with them and revealed the plan. The rocks that had rained down into the Canyon had fallen on a deserted camp while the Ouroboreans sheltered in a forest on adjacent high ground. Now they were back and wanted to settle old scores.
THE OGRE ARMY
Koshtra Belorn, Tyrant
Melikaphkhaz Mawskull, Slaughtermaster
Tormerish Tivarandardale, Aspiring Tyrant
Zora Rach, Firebelly
Zia Pass, Firebelly
Akra Skabranth, Bruiser BSB
Throstle Garth, Hunter
Drakeholms, 6 Ironguts
Ravary Bulls, 6 Bulls
Sooty Belchers, 5 Leadbelchers
Iceblast, 3 Yhetees
Krothering Ironsides, 3 Maneaters with Great Weapons
Tetrachnampf Tsharks, 3 Maneaters with Handguns
Morna Morunans, 3 Mournfang Cavalry
Throwater Thrower, Scraplauncher
Kestawaik Kontraption, Scraplauncher
Arlanmouth, Ironblaster
Kartadza Killer, Ironblaster
Chaos Renegades:
Clubs of Chaos, 6 Chaos Ogres with Great Weapons
Summer Lightning, 3 Dragon Ogres with Great Weapons
Nantreganon, Shaggoth with Great Weapon
Onwardlithe, Shaggoth with Great Weapon
Estremerine, Shaggoth with Great Weapon
THE CUNNING PLAN
Koshtra Belorn had a devious plan. The Dragon Ogres and Chaos Ogres would enter the town and distract the Chaos defenders for as long as possible allowing the Ouroboreans to get as close as possible. As many Ogres as possible would enter the town before the alarm was given.
As soon as the alarm was sounded, those Ogres inside the walls would attack the closest Chaos units to generate confusion and to stop them from closing the gates. At the same time, the Scraplauncers were to fire indirectly into the town to add to the confusion and units of Ogres were to charge and seize the towers adjacent to the gates.
Koshtra Belorn had recognised that the gates would be a real choke point and so directed the Yhetees to sneak over the walls on the far right flank while the Shaggoths were to smash a way into the city through the walls.
The plan went well and the Chaos renegades gained entry with no problem.
A note on the battles victory conditions. Koshtra Belorn would gain points for killing the hated Lord Indefeatable and additional points for collecting the crates of plunder sprinkled around the town. Chaos would score points for retaining the treasure and preventing the Ogres from occupying the town.
OGRE OPENING MOVES
With the Chaos Marauders fooled by the arrival of the Chaos Dragon Ogres into believing that nothing was amiss there were no counter moves by Lord Indefeatables men and so it was straight onto Ogre Turn 2.
Knowing that as soon as any of the Ouroboreans entered the Town the game would be up, Koshtra Belorn opted to go noisy and instructed all elements of his army to advance.
Preceded by the Mournfangs, KB led his Ironguts into the Town. In a pre-planned move, The Chaos Ogres charged the Marauders in he Watch house in order to keep them bottled up; finding the unit supported by the exalted hero Young Harry was a nasty surprise. The Dragon Ogres continued their advance along Main Street.
Outside the walls, The Ravary Bulls, supported by 2 characters charged one of the towers while the Krothering Ironsides charged the other.
The Yhetees advanced to infiltrate over the walls and the Shaggoths charged into the walls and initiated their unique brand of dismantling. (We determined that the wall would be Toughness 10 with 8 wounds and could only be damaged by Strength 8 weapons. It would therefore require 6s for the Shaggoths to damage it. However, with a total of 15 attacks per turn there was only going to be one loser in the long term.)
In the Ogre magic phase, am attempted Firecloak on the Ravary Bulls was dispelled but Zora Rach cast a big Fireball irresistibly against what was perceived as the most immediate threat, the Knights of Morr. Nine wounds were inflicted but 8 of these were saved by the Knights thick Chaos armour. The miscast resulted in 4 wounds on the Ironguts and a further wound on Koshtra Belorn himself; only great personal restraint avoided retaliation against the Firebelly.
The 2 Scraplaunchers opened fire against the same Knights but had to rely on shouted instructions from Ogres who could see the target. The first Scrappie missed by a mile but the Gnoblars manning the second had better luck and scored a direct hit. This highly unusual good luck did not continue and no killing blows were rolled, the scrap metal pinging harmlessly off the Chaos armour.
In combat, the Ravary Bulls easily bested Fortunes Children who ran. The combat against the other tower was a different story. Despite being only Strength 3, the Stout Hearts lived up to their name and killed a Maneater before the Krothering Ironsides even got to attack. Three of the Marauders were killed but the attack was repulsed for the time being.
The Clubs of Chaos got stuck into the Watch House but were easily held, losing 2 Ogres in exchange for 4 Marauders, Young Harry alone killing one of the Ogres. The Ogres were repulsed but had achieved their aim of bottling up the Chaos unit.
A note on game play. We determined that Chaos units would be heavily involved in sacking the town and it would take some time before they were able to react. Any unit attacked by any means would become active, as would any unit within 6 of an enemy on the first turn, 12 on the second turn and so on. Magic users would feel the disturbance in the air of enemy spells being cast and become active immediately. With the Ogre attack well under way we could expect to see the initial counter moves next turn.
CHAOS AWAKES
With the sounds of battle all around them, the Beloved of Khorne roused themselves from their drinking and left the Hanged Man Hostelry to take up an offensive position on Main Street. Likewise, the Knights of Morr left the Garden of Morr to stare at the Ogres flank.
The fleeing Fotrune's Children rallied and turned to face the walls.
The Damned Forsaken also left the shelter of their building to seek a foe.
Although the wizards awoke they were clearly still bleary eyed and the Winds of Magic only blew with a double 1 and an attempt to cast Pandaemonium failed.
In combat, the Shaggoths took more wounds off the walls but they remained upright for the time being.
OGRES CHARGE
With Chaos units now coming out to play, Koshtra Belorn needed to expand his bridgehead within the town. Already the press of units was causing problems with deployment and a swift Chaos countermove might destroy his forces piecemeal. He therefore directed all units that could see the enemy to charge.
The Dragon Ogres went first, charging the Damned Forsaken that had foolishly just abandoned the Tax Office. The Morna Morunan Mournfagns charged into the Chosen of Khorne and the Clubs of Chaos went into the Watch House again. Throstle Garth, the Hunter, smashed into the recently rallied Fortunes Children.
Koshtra Belorn in the Drakeholms could not draw a bead on any units but recognised the danger posed by the Sons of Morr in his flank and so turned to face them.
Outside the walls, the Krothering Ironsides hit the tower for a second time while the Yhetees scrambled over the wall to threaten the rear of the Sons of Morr.
The Sooty Belchers and Tetrachnampf Tsharks Maneaters with Handguns, forced their way through the gates into the town.
The battle for the Tax Office hots up
The Ravary Bulls view of the action (the crush of bodies meant that they could not climb off the battlements for the time being)
Birds eye view of the combat
The Ironblasters were still stuck outside and could not target any of the enemy.
The Winds of Magic blew more strongly this turn and Melikaphkhaz Mawskull the Slaughtermaster off a 6 Dice Braingobbler on the Sons of Morr, seen as their greatest current threat. Unfortunately, only one Knight was killed. The Slaughtermaster also managed to cast Toothcracker on Koshtra Belorns unit to help in the inevitable next turn charge by the Chaos Knights.
In the shooting phase, the Handgun armed Maneaters fired at the Sons of Morr but caused no casualties. The Scraplaunchers fired indirectly again, relying on shouted commands from the Ogres atop the town walls. This time the target was Temptations Children, the Chaos Warriors enjoying the fleshy delights within Madame Fifis Gentlemens Retreat. Koshtra Belorn almost died of shock when Gnoblars manning the Throwater Thrower scored their second direct hit. Unfortunately, no killing blows were scored for the second time and the strength 3 scrap metal bounced off the tough Chaos armour.
On to combat.
In an unequal combat, the Dragon Ogres easily destroyed the Damned Forsaken, leaving one to flee, and turned to stare enviously at Madame Fifis. The Mournfangs hit home but inflicted surprisingly few casualties and in turn lost one of their number to the frenzied Khorne Warriors. Combat would go on for at least one more turn. Throstle Garth, the Hunter, smashed and ran down the remaining Fortunes Children. The Chaos Ogres lost combat against the Marauders in the Watch House and withdrew again.
Outside the walls, the Krothering Ironsides bounced off the Stout Hearts again, but inflicted several casualties on the plucky Marauders. Further to the right, the Shaggoths continued their attacks against the walls.
CHAOS AWAKE
With Chaos now beginning to be in a position to start influencing the battle, the Sons of Morr charged Koshtra Belorns block of Ironguts.
No other units were in apposition to charge but the sounds of battle and the fleeing troops had roused more units. Bigfoot the Giant moved menacingly down Main Street towards the fighting while the Devils Wind Marauder Horse reformed and moved into a position where they could into the flank of units moving along Karl Franz Strasse. Both magic users moved forward with The Magus taking advantage of his Discs fly move to advance well forward on the Ogre right, taking care to keep out of Ogre charge arcs. The fleeing Forsaken continued to flee.
Temptations Children were still thoroughly engrossed within the Gentlemens Retreat but the second unit of Forsaken, the Unforgiven, exited the Ironmongers to support Bigfoot on Main Street.
The view from outside:
In stark contrast to the previous Chaos round, the Winds of Magic blew at maximum strength. Infernal Gateway against the Handgun armed Maneaters dealt with 2 of them before a Flickering Fire on the Yhetees was unfortunate to only cause one wound. Finally, one Khorne Warrior was Called to Glory and elevated to a Champion.
With the Hellcannon still dormant there was no shooting and it was straight on to combat.
The Sons of Morr versus Ironguts resulted in a stalemate but without the advantage of the charge, the Mourfangs were destroyed by the Beloved of Khorne who reformed to face the flank of the Knight on Irongut combat.
The Shaggoths finally smashed through the town walls and put more pressure on the Chaos flank.
OGRES ON TOP
More charges from the Ogres this turn.
The Yhetees got into the flank of the Sons of Morr to help out the Ironguts. The Chaos Ogres went into the Watch House for the third time. The Krothering Ironside Maneaters also went into a charge against Marauders for the third time as they assaulted the tower again.
In a move that finally caught the attention of Temptations Children the Dragon Ogres charged the Gentlemens Retreat.
In other moves, the Ravary Bulls finally found the space to dismount from the town walls and the Iron Blasters managed to enter. The Sooty Belchers manoeuvered to get a line of sight on unengaged Chaos units.
Throstle Garth the Hunter moved up to support the Dragon Ogres.
The Shaggoths moved up menacingly.
In the magic phase, Trollguts went off on the Chaos Ogres but a large Fireball was dispelled.
In the shooting phase, the Sooty Belchers took 19 shots against the Beloved of Khorne but only killed 2.
The Throwater Thrower was on target for the third consecutive turn an unheard of achievement. The small unit of Chaos Knights, they Blades of Chaos was the target but yet again however, no killing blows were scored and the scrap bounced off the tough Chaos armour a routinely heard of achievement.
Neither Iron Blaster could draw a line to target owing to the press of bodies just inside the gate.
In combat the Sons of Morr were heavily beaten with the sole survivor fleeing. The Ironguts turned to face the Chosen of Khorne.
The Dragon Ogres caused some casualties but lost one of their own in the assault on the Gentlemens Retreat and were forced back.
Elsewhere the Chaos Ogres bounced off the Watch House for the third time but the Krothering Ironsides finally defeated their Marauder opponents and got onto the tower guarding the gates.
Overview of the battlefield at this stage:
THE HELLCANNONS ROAR
By now, news of the Ogre attack had spread to all corners of the town and the Chaos forces mobilised. There was little offensive charging action that Chaos could take this turn but desperate measures were called for to delay the Ogre advance and allow the remainder of the force to deploy effectively.
The remnants of the Beloved of Khorne charged Koshtra Belorns Ironguts.
Elsewhere, the Marauder Horse seemed to have swapped allegiance from Slaanesh to Khorne and charged into the flank of the Dragon Ogres while Bigfoot waddled towards the Hunter.
Further back, the remainder of the Chaos force stirred and moved forward, with the exception of one unit of Trolls that decided to play stupid.
In the magic phase, a Gateway was dispelled and then 5 dice were thrown at a spell with the result below:
With a mighty roar the Daemons within the 2 Hellcannon in the Piazza of Heroes let rip with a mighty blast, causing a direct hit on the Ravary Bulls and inflicting 7 wounds.
In combat the Dragon Ogres beat the Marauder Horse but failed to break them and turned to face. The Khorne Warriors and Ironguts remained locked in combat.
THE OGRE TIDE SPREADS
Koshtra Belorn recognised that the pendulum of battle was swinging towards him but that the new Chaos forces approaching might change that. He needed to get his big guns into action to reduce the threat at a distance.
To create space to manoeuvre he particularly needed to clear the Hanged men from the Marauders from the Guard House and, with the Chaos Ogres reduced to only 2 figures, he now entrusted this task to the Ravary Bulls. Throstle Garth the Hunter charged the Giant.
On the Ogre right, Koshtra Belorn was still occupied with the Chosen of Khorne but the rest of his forces moved forward while the shooting units anchored themselves in good fire positions. On the far right, one of the Shaggoths secured a crate of plunder.
A disappointing magic phase saw an attempted Trollguts on the Hunter fail. Things suddenly looked rather bleak for Throstle Garth.
In the shooting phase, the Throwater Thrower followed 3 direct hits by misfiring and shaking itself to pieces. Better news for the Ogres were the 4 wounds inflicted on the Dragon Lords mount by the Iron Blasters. The Sooty Belchers annihilated the last unit of Forsaken.
In combat, the last Khorne Warrior fell to the Ironguts and the Ravary Bulls defeated the Hanged men who fled, allowing the Bulls to secure the Watch House. The Hunter inflicted 2 wounds on Bigfoot before being beaten and run down.
The Dragon Ogres killed another Marauder Horseman but the combat ground on.
OK SO NOW CHAOS IS GETTING PRETTY IRRITATED
With no units available to charge, Chaos took a turn to reorganise and bring forward the units not yet in contact.
The Hanged Men rallied and turned nervously to face the Ogre onslaught.
The Giant, Bigfoot, moved to outflank the Ogres, keeping a wary eye on the Iron Blasters. The Trolls, mercifully free from Stupidity this turn, continued their advance on the Chaos flank.
In the centre, the remaining Chaos units moved forward.
The Daemon Prince and Disc Riding Sorcerer moved forward on the other Chaos flank to attempt to delay the mass of Ogres stationed there.
In the magic phase, an Infernal Gateway targeted a Shaggoth but only rolled 3 hits at strength 4 and caused only a singe wound. Treason of Tzeentch on the Sooty Belchers killed one Ogre and a Cheeky Flickering Fire on the Yhetees caused 2 wounds.
In the shooting phase, one of the Hellcannon misfired and was destroyed. The other missed its target but, inn the press of Ogre units, still managed to kill a Chaos Ogre.
In the sole combat, the Dragon Ogres destroyed the Marauder Horse and reformed to face the Troll threat.
OGRES BRACE FOR IMPACT
Recognising that his force was still very badly balanced, Koshtra Belorn looked to reform ready to receive the mass of Chaos now heading his way.
The 2 remaining Yhetees supported by a Shaggoth charged the recently rallied Hanged Men.
After 2 combats against heavily armoured Chaos units, the Drakeholms were reduced to just the Standard Bearer. Koshtra Belorn therefore decided to jump ship into the Sooty Belchers
The last remaining Maneater from the Handgun armed Tetrachnampf Tsharks got ready to sell his life dearly by distracting the Giant.
The Ravary Bulls left the cover of the Guard House and took up position facing the oncoming Trolls and to support the Dragon Ogres.
Everywhere else, Ogres manoeuvered for position.
The magic phase was dedicated to attempting to reduce the Troll threat but a Firebelly failed to cast a big Fireball and Flaming Sword was dispelled.
In the shooting phase both Ironblasters failed to hit, the Giant having been a particular target, and the solo Maneater felt ever so isolated. The Gnoblar crew of single remaining Scraplauncher, the Kestawaik Kontraption, took over from their laser-guided colleagues and scored a direct hit on the Blades of Chaos but again failed to killing blow and no wounds were caused.
The single combat result was highly predictable with the Hanged Men butchered to leaving a single Marauder to head for the hills while the Yhetees and Shaggoth reformed.
TZEENTCH TAKES A HAND
At the start of the Chaos turn, one unit of Trolls went stupid and the one fleeing hanged Man continued his lonely journey towards the board edge.
On the left flank, the early arriving unit of 3 Trolls charged into the Dragon Ogres and Bigfoot the Giant charged the solo Maneater.
Elsewhere, every Chaos unit moved towards the enemy. Even Temptations Children decided that it was time to abandon the delights of the Gentlemens Retreat and joined the mass of units on Karl Franz Strasse.
In the magic phase, the Magus successfully cast Infernal Gateway on the Sooty Belchers causing 8 wounds and followed this up with a Treason of Tzeentch that took a wound off the Tetrachnampf Tsharks Maneaters.
In shooting, a direct Hellcannon hit on an Ironblaster rolled sufficiently high to destroy it.
Ina brief but brutal combat phase, Bigfoot flattened the Maneater, taking a wound in the process. The Trolls made equally short work of the Dragon Ogres and turned to face the oncoming Ravary Bulls.
OGRE RETALIATION
Recognising that this could be a pivotal turn, Koshtra Belorn ordered all Ogres forward as Karl Franz Strasse became a blood bath.
A Shaggoth and the 2 remaining Yhetees charged into Temptations Children as they bid a fond farewell to Madam Fifis.
A second Shagoth charged into the Daemon Prince, not caring that this was an obvious trap to lock the beast into combat in order to set up a flank charge by Lord Indefeatable and/or the Blades of Chaso.
On the left, the Ravary Bulls charged the small unit of Trolls hoping to defeat it and then turn to face the oncoming Throgg.
Magic saw the demise of 4 Chaos Warriors but then a miscast caused a number of wounds to the Slaughtermasters unit of Bulls. In the shooting phase the Scraplauncher missed and the last Iron Blaster misfired, destroying itself and adding insult to injury by killing the last remaining Maneater from the Krothering Ironsides.
On to combat hoping for more luck.
In the Bulls versus Troll combat, the Ogres hoped to defeat the Trolls without having to use the Firebellys breath weapon in order to save that for the inevitable clash with Throgg. Unfortunately, this proved to be a bad decision as the Trolls made an unfeasibly large number of Regen saves, including 4 from Tormerish Tivarandardale the aspiring Tyrant. The units remained locked in combat with a charge from Throgg looking likely next turn.
The Shaggoth versus Daemon Prince combat went badly fro Chaos, the Dameon Prince fleeing but getting away after crashing through the Tax Office and Madame Fifis.
The Yhetees and Shaggoth caused shed load of wounds on Temptations Children but the Warriors held through Steadfast, even though much depleted.
THROGG LENDS A HAND
The Chaos forces were now massing for a major counter-attack.
Throgg and his Trolls charged into the Ravary Bulls while Bigfoot added his weight with a charge from the rear.
On the Ogre right, Lord Indefeatable charged the Shaggoth that had defeated the Daemon Prince and the Blades of Chaos charged into Koshtra Belorn and the remnants of his escort of Sooty Belchers.
Temptations Children were still locked in combat but the Dragon Lord flew into a position to affect future turns if the Warriors could hold out. The Magus drew a line of sight to the unengaged Shaggoth and prayed for a good magic phase.
The Hellcannon did not dare take a shot into the swirling mass of bodies on Karl Franz Strasse and so there was no shooting phase. Magic was more lively as the Magus cast an irresistible Infernal Gateway on the Shaggoth, hitting it with 9 strength 6 hits and killing it outright,
On to combat.
Despite the presence of the Aspiring Tyrant, Throgg and his entourage beat the Ravary Bulls who fled and were run down.
Temptations Children took another hammering but held for at least one more turn.
Lord Indefeatable had a brief moment to regret his rashness in charging a Shaggoth unaccompanied before a massive axe blade cleaved his head from his shoulder. In a bad turn for characters, Koshtra Belorn once again regretted the loss of his favourite weapon as the Blades of Chaos won combat and forced him and his much-reduced entourage to flee.
FADING HOPE
Koshtra Belorn realised that he was bested and it was time to get away with whatever forces he could muster.
His own unit rallied and Zora Rach the Firebelly cast a Fireball at the Dragon Lord, causing only a single wound on the Lord but not affecting the Dragon.
The one uncommitted Shaggoth fresh from disposing of Lord Indefeatable charged the rear of the Blades of Chaos. The few remnants of units not yet destroyed manoeuvred unconvincingly to attempt to form some sort of battle line.
In combat, Temptations Children were wiped out but not before killing the remaining Yhetees. The Shaggoth turned to face the Dragon.
Two Knights fell to the rear-charging Shaggoth but the single remaining Knight held and pinned the beast in place.
CHAOS TRIUMPHANT
Bigfoots over-run following the combat against the Ravary Bulls had put him into position for a flank charge on Koshtra Belorns unit. Needles to say, he took the opportunity. The Dragon Lord found that he could not see the Shaggoth and so manoeuvered for a better position. Elsewhere the Daemon Prince flew to assist the sole remaining Knight from The Blades of Chaos.
In the magic phase, The Magus cast yet another irresistible Gateway at the unengaged Shaggoth, causing 3 wounds and suffering no ill effects from the resulting miscast.
The single remaining Hellcannon scored a direct hit on the lone surviving Chaos Ogre, killing it outright.
In the combats, the heroic Blade of Chaos took the remaining wounds off the Shaggoth before it could strike back. The Giant versus Koshtra Belorn unit combat was indecisive but the Ogres were at least able to turn to face the brute at the end of the phase.
THE END GAME
In the next Ogre turn, Koshtra Belorn slew the Giant, which fortunately fell away from the Ogres who reformed to face the Daemon Prince.
The lone Shaggoth charged into the unit of 2 Trolls in an attempt to break through the enemy lines to freedom. Having successfully seen-off a unit of Bulls complete with a Tyrant, Slaughtermaster and Firebelly, a Shaggoth was nothing to worry about and the Trolls held.
In the Chaos turn, another Infernal Gateway took off another sole survivor from a regiment, the Dragon Lord charged and killed the Shaggoth and Koshtra Belorn saw himself looking down the barrel at an angry Daemon Prince and Knight from the Blades of Morr with Throgg snurgling around a flank. This seemed to him to be a good time to remember that dentists appointment elsewhere; he departed the scene.
THE AFTERMATH
Koshtra Belorn had a lot of time to think about the battle as he struggled back to the Mountains of Mourn to report to the Over-Tyrant.
The good news was that he had killed that treacherous Chaos arch-enemy Lord Indefeatable. Well, to be strictly accurate, one of the renegade Shaggoths had slain him, but the Shaggoth was working for him so it amounted to the same. Sort of.
The bad news was that his entire tribe had been wiped out less one Lead Belcher, a slightly damp Firebelly and a poxy Gnoblar Scraplauncher.
Reasoning that bad news was for wimps, and dead Ogres, he needed to find a new tribe to conceal the disaster. The opportunity came sooner than he expected when he came across a wandering tribe the next day.
Who are you? demanded the Bruiser in charge.
Im the Tyrant Koshtra Belorn, of the Ouroborean Tribe, replied Koshtra Belorn.
I heard you lost your tribe, said the Bruiser.
What tribe are you? enquired the Tyrant.
We are the Long Fingers.
Wrong answer, said Koshtra Belorn bringing his club down onto the Bruisers head, crushing it to a pulp.
What tribe are you? Koshtra Belorn asked the next Ogre in line.
Ughh, Ouroborean? suggested the Ogre.
Well done, said Koshtra Belorn smiling. Now, we just need a few name changes. You, you are Akra Skabranth, and you are
A few days later Koshtra Belorn was ushered into the presence of the Over-Tyrant.
Good news, your vastness. I have slain that Chaos scum Lord Indefeatable
INTRODUCTION
[The pictures in this article have become somewhat reduced. The original article can be viewed at: http://warhammer.org.uk/phpBB/viewtopic.php?p=1268888#p1268888]
Readers of this website may be familiar with the Siege of Neudorf battle report from January 2011, which can be accessed here:
http://warhammer.org.uk/phpBB/viewtopic.php?f=12&t=82088
In that siege, The Emperor Karl Franz led an army including a glittering array of Empire and High Elf heroes in the defence of the border town of Neudorf from a combined Chaos and Ogre horde. The Empire prevailed that day but it was a close run thing. The Emperor recognised the need for more strength and employed the best engineers and stone masons he could find to build massive fortification walls around the city. The Engineer Balis the Fervent designed and supervised construction and declared the town unassailable (surely a bad sign at the start of a battle report?). The old town clustered around the castle keep had been razed in the earlier battle and a new town was built within the protection of the new walls.
However, the Chaos Lord Indefeatable, who had assumed command of the Chaos alliance during the previous siege of Neudorf following the demise of Lord Hellblast, had made a vow to return and destroy the town.
THE EARLY CAMPAIGN
Lord Indefeatable was nothing if not cunning. Recognising the strength of the new walls, he determined that a frontal assault was out of the question and decided on an indirect approach. The first step would be to lure the bulk of the defenders out of the town. Lord Indefeatable reasoned, correctly, that the Empire commander would consider the walls unassailable and, given the right incentive, would be prepared to deploy the bulk of his army, leaving only a small garrison remained to protect the townsfolk. Lord Indefeatable knew that some of the richer townsfolk employed mercenary Ogres as guards and set his plan accordingly.
Lord Indefeatable forged an alliance with Koshtra Belorn, Tyrant of the Ouroborean tribe. Together they planned for the Ogres to pillage the countryside around Neudorf to create a serious nuisance and threaten the population outside the walls. To encourage the defenders to sally out to give battle, one of the mercenary Ogres within the town would be bought as a double agent to pass inaccurate information to the defenders. Ultimately, he was to divulge the camp site of the Ouroboreans in Broken Dream Canyon, a hidden steep-sided valley with a single entrance. Should the Empire fall on the Ouroboreans unannounced, they would find the Ogres trapped and at the mercy of the Empire longer ranged guns. The Ogre also happened to have been tipped off with a secret route that would enable the Empire troops to approach the Canyon unseen by the Ogres.
Great care had been taken to hide the Chaos forces in the area so that the Empire would believe that the Ogres were the only threat. In fact, as the Empire joined battle, the Chaos forces occupying hidden positions high up on the Canyon walls would release huge stockpiles of boulders, previously prepared by the hordes Shaggoths, Dragon Ogres and Chaos Ogres, to bury the Empire troops beneath a huge avalanche. Any survivors would be taken by Marauders and Hounds while the main body of the Chaos army would make for Neudorf.
The Empire took the bait, hook line and sinker. They deployed into Broken Dream Canyon expecting to take the Ogres by surprise they were themselves surprised by the avalanche of falling boulders and almost completely destroyed. The few survivors were hunted down by fast moving Marauders and Hounds so that none, less one, ever returned to Neudorf.
But Lord Indefeatable had no intention of sharing his victory with his Ogre allies. Unbeknownst to them, he had directed his Shaggoths, Dragon Ogres and Chaos Ogres to prepare stockpiles of boulders along the entire length of the Canyon so that he could destroy both his enemy and a troublesome, and smelly, ally at the same time. With the dust still settling from the avalanche, Lord Indefeatables Chaos Ogres reported complete success and the annihilation of the Ouroboreans.
Leaving the Shaggoths, Chaos Ogres and Dragon Ogres to mop up the few remaining and dazed Ouroboreans, Lord Indefeatable counter-marched his horde back to Neudorf. His sole Empire captive was seduced by the power of Slaanesh to enter the town and declare a great victory so that when the Chaos Marauder Horse vanguard arrived, disguised as Empire Outriders, the gates were flung open to welcome them home.
Alas for the townsfolk as the Chaos troops rampaged through the town spreading terror and destruction.
THE CHAOS ARMY
A note on Army composition. Given the size of armies on the table we decided to keep things simple.
No magic items were to be taken. (This had an interesting affect on game play.)
All magic users would be lore masters of their chosen Lore.
No special characters would be taken less Throgg.
Lord Indefeatable on Chaos Daemonic Mount
The Magus, Sorcerer lord of Tzeentch on Disc
The Dragon Lord on Chaos Dragon
Zbeexch, Daemon Prince
Throgg the Troll King
Knight of Swords, Exalted Hero BSB
Young Harry, Exalted Hero
Salomon Florence, Level 2 Mage of Fire
The Devils Wind, 5 Slaaneshi Marauder Horse with flails
The Hanged Men, 20 Slaaneshi Marauders with hand weapons and shields
Fortunes Children, 10 Slaaneshi Marauders with flails
The Stout Hearts, 10 Slaaneshi Marauders with hand weapons and shields
Temptations Children, 18 Slaaneshi Warriors with weapons and shields
Beloved of Khorne, 15 Khorne Warriors with halberds and shields
Throggs Finest, 6 Trolls, 6 Trolls, 3 Trolls
The Damned, 5 Forsaken
The Unforgiven, 5 Forsaken
The Sons of Morr, 10 Slaanesh Knights
Blades of Chaos, 5 Slaaneshi Knights with Lances
The Widow Maker, Hellcannon
Judgement, Hellcannon
Bigfoot, Giant
The Khorne elements of the army took pleasure in death and destruction for its own sake.
The Slaanesh elements of the army were more concerned with seeking pleasure and looked for fine wines and female companionship.
The Chaos deployment in the town was:
The Marauder element was given the task of securing the walls under the command of Young Harry. Fortunes Children and the Stout Hearts manned the ramparts while the Hanged Men garrisoned the Watch House.
Throgg led his Trolls to the town duckpond where they played pass the human , a game involving frantic drumming whilst passing a captive around until the drumming stopped; whichever Troll was holding the human was then allowed to rip off a limb to eat.
The Hellcannon were deployed in open ground behind the Trolls.
Lord Indefeatable and his Knights selected the Keep as their abode.
The Sons of Morr, a rogue element of the Empire Regiment of the same name that had been seduced by Slaanesh after undertaking a forbidden ritual to seek victory in battle, sought out the Garden of Morr in an attempt to ease the constant screams and disturbing visions in their heads.
The Beloved of Khorne garrisoned the Hanged Man Hostelry.
Temptations Children took no time in securing Madame Fifis Gentlemens Retreat where they got down to some serious pleasure making.
The Sorcerers and Daemon Prince hunted out arcane knowledge in the Wizards Tower while Bigfoot and the Devils Wind secured the Stables.
The entire army quickly descended into anarchy as individuals fought over choice booty and got drunk on looted wines and beers. Lord Indefeatable looked-on content; he knew that no Empire force could reach the town for 3 days and so posted only a minimal guard of Marauders in order to allow the bulk of his army some pleasure.
SO WHERE IS THE BATTLE?
DOUBLE DEALING
In the early hours of the next morning, the Dragon Ogres and Chaos Ogres that had been left behind to finish off the remnants off the remnants of the Ouroboreans, arrived at the gates and were quickly welcomed in by the Marauder guard. Too quickly as it transpired
In his hurry to execute his cunning plan, Lord Indefeatable had overlooked one thing, the feeling of kinship between all brands of Ogres. Setting his Shaggoths, Dragon and Chaos Ogres to kill their brothers was bad enough but when combined with the insults previously heaped on his Ogres by forcing them always to fight on the downwind flank in order to avoid the smell, trouble was inevitable. The Chaos Ogres had refused to destroy their distant kin and had instead allied with them and revealed the plan. The rocks that had rained down into the Canyon had fallen on a deserted camp while the Ouroboreans sheltered in a forest on adjacent high ground. Now they were back and wanted to settle old scores.
THE OGRE ARMY
Koshtra Belorn, Tyrant
Melikaphkhaz Mawskull, Slaughtermaster
Tormerish Tivarandardale, Aspiring Tyrant
Zora Rach, Firebelly
Zia Pass, Firebelly
Akra Skabranth, Bruiser BSB
Throstle Garth, Hunter
Drakeholms, 6 Ironguts
Ravary Bulls, 6 Bulls
Sooty Belchers, 5 Leadbelchers
Iceblast, 3 Yhetees
Krothering Ironsides, 3 Maneaters with Great Weapons
Tetrachnampf Tsharks, 3 Maneaters with Handguns
Morna Morunans, 3 Mournfang Cavalry
Throwater Thrower, Scraplauncher
Kestawaik Kontraption, Scraplauncher
Arlanmouth, Ironblaster
Kartadza Killer, Ironblaster
Chaos Renegades:
Clubs of Chaos, 6 Chaos Ogres with Great Weapons
Summer Lightning, 3 Dragon Ogres with Great Weapons
Nantreganon, Shaggoth with Great Weapon
Onwardlithe, Shaggoth with Great Weapon
Estremerine, Shaggoth with Great Weapon
THE CUNNING PLAN
Koshtra Belorn had a devious plan. The Dragon Ogres and Chaos Ogres would enter the town and distract the Chaos defenders for as long as possible allowing the Ouroboreans to get as close as possible. As many Ogres as possible would enter the town before the alarm was given.
As soon as the alarm was sounded, those Ogres inside the walls would attack the closest Chaos units to generate confusion and to stop them from closing the gates. At the same time, the Scraplauncers were to fire indirectly into the town to add to the confusion and units of Ogres were to charge and seize the towers adjacent to the gates.
Koshtra Belorn had recognised that the gates would be a real choke point and so directed the Yhetees to sneak over the walls on the far right flank while the Shaggoths were to smash a way into the city through the walls.
The plan went well and the Chaos renegades gained entry with no problem.
A note on the battles victory conditions. Koshtra Belorn would gain points for killing the hated Lord Indefeatable and additional points for collecting the crates of plunder sprinkled around the town. Chaos would score points for retaining the treasure and preventing the Ogres from occupying the town.
OGRE OPENING MOVES
With the Chaos Marauders fooled by the arrival of the Chaos Dragon Ogres into believing that nothing was amiss there were no counter moves by Lord Indefeatables men and so it was straight onto Ogre Turn 2.
Knowing that as soon as any of the Ouroboreans entered the Town the game would be up, Koshtra Belorn opted to go noisy and instructed all elements of his army to advance.
Preceded by the Mournfangs, KB led his Ironguts into the Town. In a pre-planned move, The Chaos Ogres charged the Marauders in he Watch house in order to keep them bottled up; finding the unit supported by the exalted hero Young Harry was a nasty surprise. The Dragon Ogres continued their advance along Main Street.
Outside the walls, The Ravary Bulls, supported by 2 characters charged one of the towers while the Krothering Ironsides charged the other.
The Yhetees advanced to infiltrate over the walls and the Shaggoths charged into the walls and initiated their unique brand of dismantling. (We determined that the wall would be Toughness 10 with 8 wounds and could only be damaged by Strength 8 weapons. It would therefore require 6s for the Shaggoths to damage it. However, with a total of 15 attacks per turn there was only going to be one loser in the long term.)
In the Ogre magic phase, am attempted Firecloak on the Ravary Bulls was dispelled but Zora Rach cast a big Fireball irresistibly against what was perceived as the most immediate threat, the Knights of Morr. Nine wounds were inflicted but 8 of these were saved by the Knights thick Chaos armour. The miscast resulted in 4 wounds on the Ironguts and a further wound on Koshtra Belorn himself; only great personal restraint avoided retaliation against the Firebelly.
The 2 Scraplaunchers opened fire against the same Knights but had to rely on shouted instructions from Ogres who could see the target. The first Scrappie missed by a mile but the Gnoblars manning the second had better luck and scored a direct hit. This highly unusual good luck did not continue and no killing blows were rolled, the scrap metal pinging harmlessly off the Chaos armour.
In combat, the Ravary Bulls easily bested Fortunes Children who ran. The combat against the other tower was a different story. Despite being only Strength 3, the Stout Hearts lived up to their name and killed a Maneater before the Krothering Ironsides even got to attack. Three of the Marauders were killed but the attack was repulsed for the time being.
The Clubs of Chaos got stuck into the Watch House but were easily held, losing 2 Ogres in exchange for 4 Marauders, Young Harry alone killing one of the Ogres. The Ogres were repulsed but had achieved their aim of bottling up the Chaos unit.
A note on game play. We determined that Chaos units would be heavily involved in sacking the town and it would take some time before they were able to react. Any unit attacked by any means would become active, as would any unit within 6 of an enemy on the first turn, 12 on the second turn and so on. Magic users would feel the disturbance in the air of enemy spells being cast and become active immediately. With the Ogre attack well under way we could expect to see the initial counter moves next turn.
CHAOS AWAKES
With the sounds of battle all around them, the Beloved of Khorne roused themselves from their drinking and left the Hanged Man Hostelry to take up an offensive position on Main Street. Likewise, the Knights of Morr left the Garden of Morr to stare at the Ogres flank.
The fleeing Fotrune's Children rallied and turned to face the walls.
The Damned Forsaken also left the shelter of their building to seek a foe.
Although the wizards awoke they were clearly still bleary eyed and the Winds of Magic only blew with a double 1 and an attempt to cast Pandaemonium failed.
In combat, the Shaggoths took more wounds off the walls but they remained upright for the time being.
OGRES CHARGE
With Chaos units now coming out to play, Koshtra Belorn needed to expand his bridgehead within the town. Already the press of units was causing problems with deployment and a swift Chaos countermove might destroy his forces piecemeal. He therefore directed all units that could see the enemy to charge.
The Dragon Ogres went first, charging the Damned Forsaken that had foolishly just abandoned the Tax Office. The Morna Morunan Mournfagns charged into the Chosen of Khorne and the Clubs of Chaos went into the Watch House again. Throstle Garth, the Hunter, smashed into the recently rallied Fortunes Children.
Koshtra Belorn in the Drakeholms could not draw a bead on any units but recognised the danger posed by the Sons of Morr in his flank and so turned to face them.
Outside the walls, the Krothering Ironsides hit the tower for a second time while the Yhetees scrambled over the wall to threaten the rear of the Sons of Morr.
The Sooty Belchers and Tetrachnampf Tsharks Maneaters with Handguns, forced their way through the gates into the town.
The battle for the Tax Office hots up
The Ravary Bulls view of the action (the crush of bodies meant that they could not climb off the battlements for the time being)
Birds eye view of the combat
The Ironblasters were still stuck outside and could not target any of the enemy.
The Winds of Magic blew more strongly this turn and Melikaphkhaz Mawskull the Slaughtermaster off a 6 Dice Braingobbler on the Sons of Morr, seen as their greatest current threat. Unfortunately, only one Knight was killed. The Slaughtermaster also managed to cast Toothcracker on Koshtra Belorns unit to help in the inevitable next turn charge by the Chaos Knights.
In the shooting phase, the Handgun armed Maneaters fired at the Sons of Morr but caused no casualties. The Scraplaunchers fired indirectly again, relying on shouted commands from the Ogres atop the town walls. This time the target was Temptations Children, the Chaos Warriors enjoying the fleshy delights within Madame Fifis Gentlemens Retreat. Koshtra Belorn almost died of shock when Gnoblars manning the Throwater Thrower scored their second direct hit. Unfortunately, no killing blows were scored for the second time and the strength 3 scrap metal bounced off the tough Chaos armour.
On to combat.
In an unequal combat, the Dragon Ogres easily destroyed the Damned Forsaken, leaving one to flee, and turned to stare enviously at Madame Fifis. The Mournfangs hit home but inflicted surprisingly few casualties and in turn lost one of their number to the frenzied Khorne Warriors. Combat would go on for at least one more turn. Throstle Garth, the Hunter, smashed and ran down the remaining Fortunes Children. The Chaos Ogres lost combat against the Marauders in the Watch House and withdrew again.
Outside the walls, the Krothering Ironsides bounced off the Stout Hearts again, but inflicted several casualties on the plucky Marauders. Further to the right, the Shaggoths continued their attacks against the walls.
CHAOS AWAKE
With Chaos now beginning to be in a position to start influencing the battle, the Sons of Morr charged Koshtra Belorns block of Ironguts.
No other units were in apposition to charge but the sounds of battle and the fleeing troops had roused more units. Bigfoot the Giant moved menacingly down Main Street towards the fighting while the Devils Wind Marauder Horse reformed and moved into a position where they could into the flank of units moving along Karl Franz Strasse. Both magic users moved forward with The Magus taking advantage of his Discs fly move to advance well forward on the Ogre right, taking care to keep out of Ogre charge arcs. The fleeing Forsaken continued to flee.
Temptations Children were still thoroughly engrossed within the Gentlemens Retreat but the second unit of Forsaken, the Unforgiven, exited the Ironmongers to support Bigfoot on Main Street.
The view from outside:
In stark contrast to the previous Chaos round, the Winds of Magic blew at maximum strength. Infernal Gateway against the Handgun armed Maneaters dealt with 2 of them before a Flickering Fire on the Yhetees was unfortunate to only cause one wound. Finally, one Khorne Warrior was Called to Glory and elevated to a Champion.
With the Hellcannon still dormant there was no shooting and it was straight on to combat.
The Sons of Morr versus Ironguts resulted in a stalemate but without the advantage of the charge, the Mourfangs were destroyed by the Beloved of Khorne who reformed to face the flank of the Knight on Irongut combat.
The Shaggoths finally smashed through the town walls and put more pressure on the Chaos flank.
OGRES ON TOP
More charges from the Ogres this turn.
The Yhetees got into the flank of the Sons of Morr to help out the Ironguts. The Chaos Ogres went into the Watch House for the third time. The Krothering Ironside Maneaters also went into a charge against Marauders for the third time as they assaulted the tower again.
In a move that finally caught the attention of Temptations Children the Dragon Ogres charged the Gentlemens Retreat.
In other moves, the Ravary Bulls finally found the space to dismount from the town walls and the Iron Blasters managed to enter. The Sooty Belchers manoeuvered to get a line of sight on unengaged Chaos units.
Throstle Garth the Hunter moved up to support the Dragon Ogres.
The Shaggoths moved up menacingly.
In the magic phase, Trollguts went off on the Chaos Ogres but a large Fireball was dispelled.
In the shooting phase, the Sooty Belchers took 19 shots against the Beloved of Khorne but only killed 2.
The Throwater Thrower was on target for the third consecutive turn an unheard of achievement. The small unit of Chaos Knights, they Blades of Chaos was the target but yet again however, no killing blows were scored and the scrap bounced off the tough Chaos armour a routinely heard of achievement.
Neither Iron Blaster could draw a line to target owing to the press of bodies just inside the gate.
In combat the Sons of Morr were heavily beaten with the sole survivor fleeing. The Ironguts turned to face the Chosen of Khorne.
The Dragon Ogres caused some casualties but lost one of their own in the assault on the Gentlemens Retreat and were forced back.
Elsewhere the Chaos Ogres bounced off the Watch House for the third time but the Krothering Ironsides finally defeated their Marauder opponents and got onto the tower guarding the gates.
Overview of the battlefield at this stage:
THE HELLCANNONS ROAR
By now, news of the Ogre attack had spread to all corners of the town and the Chaos forces mobilised. There was little offensive charging action that Chaos could take this turn but desperate measures were called for to delay the Ogre advance and allow the remainder of the force to deploy effectively.
The remnants of the Beloved of Khorne charged Koshtra Belorns Ironguts.
Elsewhere, the Marauder Horse seemed to have swapped allegiance from Slaanesh to Khorne and charged into the flank of the Dragon Ogres while Bigfoot waddled towards the Hunter.
Further back, the remainder of the Chaos force stirred and moved forward, with the exception of one unit of Trolls that decided to play stupid.
In the magic phase, a Gateway was dispelled and then 5 dice were thrown at a spell with the result below:
With a mighty roar the Daemons within the 2 Hellcannon in the Piazza of Heroes let rip with a mighty blast, causing a direct hit on the Ravary Bulls and inflicting 7 wounds.
In combat the Dragon Ogres beat the Marauder Horse but failed to break them and turned to face. The Khorne Warriors and Ironguts remained locked in combat.
THE OGRE TIDE SPREADS
Koshtra Belorn recognised that the pendulum of battle was swinging towards him but that the new Chaos forces approaching might change that. He needed to get his big guns into action to reduce the threat at a distance.
To create space to manoeuvre he particularly needed to clear the Hanged men from the Marauders from the Guard House and, with the Chaos Ogres reduced to only 2 figures, he now entrusted this task to the Ravary Bulls. Throstle Garth the Hunter charged the Giant.
On the Ogre right, Koshtra Belorn was still occupied with the Chosen of Khorne but the rest of his forces moved forward while the shooting units anchored themselves in good fire positions. On the far right, one of the Shaggoths secured a crate of plunder.
A disappointing magic phase saw an attempted Trollguts on the Hunter fail. Things suddenly looked rather bleak for Throstle Garth.
In the shooting phase, the Throwater Thrower followed 3 direct hits by misfiring and shaking itself to pieces. Better news for the Ogres were the 4 wounds inflicted on the Dragon Lords mount by the Iron Blasters. The Sooty Belchers annihilated the last unit of Forsaken.
In combat, the last Khorne Warrior fell to the Ironguts and the Ravary Bulls defeated the Hanged men who fled, allowing the Bulls to secure the Watch House. The Hunter inflicted 2 wounds on Bigfoot before being beaten and run down.
The Dragon Ogres killed another Marauder Horseman but the combat ground on.
OK SO NOW CHAOS IS GETTING PRETTY IRRITATED
With no units available to charge, Chaos took a turn to reorganise and bring forward the units not yet in contact.
The Hanged Men rallied and turned nervously to face the Ogre onslaught.
The Giant, Bigfoot, moved to outflank the Ogres, keeping a wary eye on the Iron Blasters. The Trolls, mercifully free from Stupidity this turn, continued their advance on the Chaos flank.
In the centre, the remaining Chaos units moved forward.
The Daemon Prince and Disc Riding Sorcerer moved forward on the other Chaos flank to attempt to delay the mass of Ogres stationed there.
In the magic phase, an Infernal Gateway targeted a Shaggoth but only rolled 3 hits at strength 4 and caused only a singe wound. Treason of Tzeentch on the Sooty Belchers killed one Ogre and a Cheeky Flickering Fire on the Yhetees caused 2 wounds.
In the shooting phase, one of the Hellcannon misfired and was destroyed. The other missed its target but, inn the press of Ogre units, still managed to kill a Chaos Ogre.
In the sole combat, the Dragon Ogres destroyed the Marauder Horse and reformed to face the Troll threat.
OGRES BRACE FOR IMPACT
Recognising that his force was still very badly balanced, Koshtra Belorn looked to reform ready to receive the mass of Chaos now heading his way.
The 2 remaining Yhetees supported by a Shaggoth charged the recently rallied Hanged Men.
After 2 combats against heavily armoured Chaos units, the Drakeholms were reduced to just the Standard Bearer. Koshtra Belorn therefore decided to jump ship into the Sooty Belchers
The last remaining Maneater from the Handgun armed Tetrachnampf Tsharks got ready to sell his life dearly by distracting the Giant.
The Ravary Bulls left the cover of the Guard House and took up position facing the oncoming Trolls and to support the Dragon Ogres.
Everywhere else, Ogres manoeuvered for position.
The magic phase was dedicated to attempting to reduce the Troll threat but a Firebelly failed to cast a big Fireball and Flaming Sword was dispelled.
In the shooting phase both Ironblasters failed to hit, the Giant having been a particular target, and the solo Maneater felt ever so isolated. The Gnoblar crew of single remaining Scraplauncher, the Kestawaik Kontraption, took over from their laser-guided colleagues and scored a direct hit on the Blades of Chaos but again failed to killing blow and no wounds were caused.
The single combat result was highly predictable with the Hanged Men butchered to leaving a single Marauder to head for the hills while the Yhetees and Shaggoth reformed.
TZEENTCH TAKES A HAND
At the start of the Chaos turn, one unit of Trolls went stupid and the one fleeing hanged Man continued his lonely journey towards the board edge.
On the left flank, the early arriving unit of 3 Trolls charged into the Dragon Ogres and Bigfoot the Giant charged the solo Maneater.
Elsewhere, every Chaos unit moved towards the enemy. Even Temptations Children decided that it was time to abandon the delights of the Gentlemens Retreat and joined the mass of units on Karl Franz Strasse.
In the magic phase, the Magus successfully cast Infernal Gateway on the Sooty Belchers causing 8 wounds and followed this up with a Treason of Tzeentch that took a wound off the Tetrachnampf Tsharks Maneaters.
In shooting, a direct Hellcannon hit on an Ironblaster rolled sufficiently high to destroy it.
Ina brief but brutal combat phase, Bigfoot flattened the Maneater, taking a wound in the process. The Trolls made equally short work of the Dragon Ogres and turned to face the oncoming Ravary Bulls.
OGRE RETALIATION
Recognising that this could be a pivotal turn, Koshtra Belorn ordered all Ogres forward as Karl Franz Strasse became a blood bath.
A Shaggoth and the 2 remaining Yhetees charged into Temptations Children as they bid a fond farewell to Madam Fifis.
A second Shagoth charged into the Daemon Prince, not caring that this was an obvious trap to lock the beast into combat in order to set up a flank charge by Lord Indefeatable and/or the Blades of Chaso.
On the left, the Ravary Bulls charged the small unit of Trolls hoping to defeat it and then turn to face the oncoming Throgg.
Magic saw the demise of 4 Chaos Warriors but then a miscast caused a number of wounds to the Slaughtermasters unit of Bulls. In the shooting phase the Scraplauncher missed and the last Iron Blaster misfired, destroying itself and adding insult to injury by killing the last remaining Maneater from the Krothering Ironsides.
On to combat hoping for more luck.
In the Bulls versus Troll combat, the Ogres hoped to defeat the Trolls without having to use the Firebellys breath weapon in order to save that for the inevitable clash with Throgg. Unfortunately, this proved to be a bad decision as the Trolls made an unfeasibly large number of Regen saves, including 4 from Tormerish Tivarandardale the aspiring Tyrant. The units remained locked in combat with a charge from Throgg looking likely next turn.
The Shaggoth versus Daemon Prince combat went badly fro Chaos, the Dameon Prince fleeing but getting away after crashing through the Tax Office and Madame Fifis.
The Yhetees and Shaggoth caused shed load of wounds on Temptations Children but the Warriors held through Steadfast, even though much depleted.
THROGG LENDS A HAND
The Chaos forces were now massing for a major counter-attack.
Throgg and his Trolls charged into the Ravary Bulls while Bigfoot added his weight with a charge from the rear.
On the Ogre right, Lord Indefeatable charged the Shaggoth that had defeated the Daemon Prince and the Blades of Chaos charged into Koshtra Belorn and the remnants of his escort of Sooty Belchers.
Temptations Children were still locked in combat but the Dragon Lord flew into a position to affect future turns if the Warriors could hold out. The Magus drew a line of sight to the unengaged Shaggoth and prayed for a good magic phase.
The Hellcannon did not dare take a shot into the swirling mass of bodies on Karl Franz Strasse and so there was no shooting phase. Magic was more lively as the Magus cast an irresistible Infernal Gateway on the Shaggoth, hitting it with 9 strength 6 hits and killing it outright,
On to combat.
Despite the presence of the Aspiring Tyrant, Throgg and his entourage beat the Ravary Bulls who fled and were run down.
Temptations Children took another hammering but held for at least one more turn.
Lord Indefeatable had a brief moment to regret his rashness in charging a Shaggoth unaccompanied before a massive axe blade cleaved his head from his shoulder. In a bad turn for characters, Koshtra Belorn once again regretted the loss of his favourite weapon as the Blades of Chaos won combat and forced him and his much-reduced entourage to flee.
FADING HOPE
Koshtra Belorn realised that he was bested and it was time to get away with whatever forces he could muster.
His own unit rallied and Zora Rach the Firebelly cast a Fireball at the Dragon Lord, causing only a single wound on the Lord but not affecting the Dragon.
The one uncommitted Shaggoth fresh from disposing of Lord Indefeatable charged the rear of the Blades of Chaos. The few remnants of units not yet destroyed manoeuvred unconvincingly to attempt to form some sort of battle line.
In combat, Temptations Children were wiped out but not before killing the remaining Yhetees. The Shaggoth turned to face the Dragon.
Two Knights fell to the rear-charging Shaggoth but the single remaining Knight held and pinned the beast in place.
CHAOS TRIUMPHANT
Bigfoots over-run following the combat against the Ravary Bulls had put him into position for a flank charge on Koshtra Belorns unit. Needles to say, he took the opportunity. The Dragon Lord found that he could not see the Shaggoth and so manoeuvered for a better position. Elsewhere the Daemon Prince flew to assist the sole remaining Knight from The Blades of Chaos.
In the magic phase, The Magus cast yet another irresistible Gateway at the unengaged Shaggoth, causing 3 wounds and suffering no ill effects from the resulting miscast.
The single remaining Hellcannon scored a direct hit on the lone surviving Chaos Ogre, killing it outright.
In the combats, the heroic Blade of Chaos took the remaining wounds off the Shaggoth before it could strike back. The Giant versus Koshtra Belorn unit combat was indecisive but the Ogres were at least able to turn to face the brute at the end of the phase.
THE END GAME
In the next Ogre turn, Koshtra Belorn slew the Giant, which fortunately fell away from the Ogres who reformed to face the Daemon Prince.
The lone Shaggoth charged into the unit of 2 Trolls in an attempt to break through the enemy lines to freedom. Having successfully seen-off a unit of Bulls complete with a Tyrant, Slaughtermaster and Firebelly, a Shaggoth was nothing to worry about and the Trolls held.
In the Chaos turn, another Infernal Gateway took off another sole survivor from a regiment, the Dragon Lord charged and killed the Shaggoth and Koshtra Belorn saw himself looking down the barrel at an angry Daemon Prince and Knight from the Blades of Morr with Throgg snurgling around a flank. This seemed to him to be a good time to remember that dentists appointment elsewhere; he departed the scene.
THE AFTERMATH
Koshtra Belorn had a lot of time to think about the battle as he struggled back to the Mountains of Mourn to report to the Over-Tyrant.
The good news was that he had killed that treacherous Chaos arch-enemy Lord Indefeatable. Well, to be strictly accurate, one of the renegade Shaggoths had slain him, but the Shaggoth was working for him so it amounted to the same. Sort of.
The bad news was that his entire tribe had been wiped out less one Lead Belcher, a slightly damp Firebelly and a poxy Gnoblar Scraplauncher.
Reasoning that bad news was for wimps, and dead Ogres, he needed to find a new tribe to conceal the disaster. The opportunity came sooner than he expected when he came across a wandering tribe the next day.
Who are you? demanded the Bruiser in charge.
Im the Tyrant Koshtra Belorn, of the Ouroborean Tribe, replied Koshtra Belorn.
I heard you lost your tribe, said the Bruiser.
What tribe are you? enquired the Tyrant.
We are the Long Fingers.
Wrong answer, said Koshtra Belorn bringing his club down onto the Bruisers head, crushing it to a pulp.
What tribe are you? Koshtra Belorn asked the next Ogre in line.
Ughh, Ouroborean? suggested the Ogre.
Well done, said Koshtra Belorn smiling. Now, we just need a few name changes. You, you are Akra Skabranth, and you are
A few days later Koshtra Belorn was ushered into the presence of the Over-Tyrant.
Good news, your vastness. I have slain that Chaos scum Lord Indefeatable