Fort on the Frontier

A Warmaster/Battle of Five Armies Battle

     The Master of Bows peered towards the western sky, watching the light fade behind the last foothill across the river. Clouds had been approaching from the north all day, a dark pall, low and thick, rolling over the mountain peaks in a way that made his neck prickle. Even the youngest of the men had noticed, and muttered about what it meant. But the archer knew. And the Warden of the Wild Reaches knew as well, setting the men and elves on the wall in full array, and the small cavalry detachment to saddling up in the courtyard below. But mysterious as the powers of their wizard commander were, the sign the Master of Bows set most store by had come when he found the garrison’s weapon’s master sharpening his axe in the armory.
     “So, there’s to be a battle, then?” the bowman had asked his taciturn dwarven friend.
     “Aye,” was the only answer, and it hadn’t been needed.

     

     The sound of a horn, high and sharp cracked through the cold air, and hope sprang in the archer’s heart.

     “Our brethren approach,” said his elven lieutenant, pointing south of the river’s ford, “and with them I see horsemen, bearing the banner of the royal house— and there are more of Durin’s folk as well, alas.”
     “Don’t look down upon our relief, woodland brother,” the bowman laughed, clapping his fair comrade on the shoulder.
     “How can I help but do so,” replied the elf, “if only because of their height?” But he smiled when he said it, for he, too, shared the gladness to see a sign of strength approaching.

     But then another horn broke through the darkening day, and it was harsh and rough and cold, like the crackle of dry bones, and behind it came the howls of wolves, a din beyond counting.

     “See now why the stars hide,” whispered the elf, and the Master of Bows stared northward in horror. The mountain slopes boiled with misshapen creatures and glittered with equally mis-made spearpoints, while down in the western valley wolves raced forward, all too many also bearing as riders the same creatures as the mountainsides.

     “Our brethren...” breathed the elf.

     “Had best not tarry,” finished the archer, “for I fear there is little we can do to help them.” And perhaps not even ourselves, he did not say aloud.

***

Yesterday I trotted out some of my 10mm fantasy collection and set up a little battle scenario. As I had yet to test out my fortress from Sally 4th (read about it here), I opted for a castle assault scenario, but to make it more than just a static pounding, I added the element of a relief force marching to supplement an under-manned garrison. As I also wanted to field my growing cavalry force, this gave an ideal setting for the two.

The Rules and Special Rules

Rules are the Battle of Five Armies (Warmaster) rules from Games Workshop (OOP, sadly). The castle assault rules are from the Warmaster rule book, but otherwise I stuck with the army lists, magic rules, and wording from the Bo5A rules, as these reflect corrections and additions to the core set.

A few special rules which might or might not be reflected in either rule book (but probably should be):

Archer units located in a fortress tower (but not a wall) can see and shoot in any direction. All stands are considered able to see and shoot, regardless of the unit’s physical orientation in the tower. Nor does anything at ground level (or any other level) block line of sight except for elements of the fortress itself (you can’t shoot through another tower, or at enemies obscured by the walls). So this means that a three-stand unit of elf archers will always roll three dice when shooting at a target in LOS of the tower. Range is unaffected, and is measure horizontally, not vertically.

Although wolf riders are technically shooting units, they can’t effectively attack units fortified behind castle walls (or in towers, of course). This reflects these units’ nature as skirmishing harassment troops. Cavalry also cannot charge units on fortress walls. (I’m pretty certain that’s in the Warmaster rules anyway, but if not, well, it is on my tabletop!)

The fortress has one small sally port located on the south edge of the westernmost tower. Friendly units may enter or exit from this sally port, provided no enemy units are assaulting the southwestern wall or the tower at that time (that is, engaged in combat with the wall’s defenders). As per standard rules, friendly units may enter or exit the main gate without penalty (but must accept an order to do so). Again, if the gate wall is under assault, the gate cannot be opened for either exit or entry (doing so would be immediately treated as a breach).

Any undefended wall can be immediately scaled by the enemy (note that the initial garrison is unable to man all of the walls and the towers as well). However, undefended towers are still unassailable (the scaling ladders aren’t long enough).

In this scenario, I decided that the hill slopes are “difficult” terrain— not dense or steep enough to offer defended status, and still passable to cavalry, but causing any troop upon them to move at half-pace. This is a bit of departure from the standard rules (and was probably a mistake on my part, but I wanted something to slow the initial onslaught of the goblin horde).
Troops on the top level of the hill can reach the lower levels by descending the two sloping passages sculpted into the hills.

The Forces

The Warden of the Wild Reaches is a wizard equipped with a Staff of Power (and, apparently, a pet bird and halfling manservant).

The Master of Bows has the same shooting bonus ability as Bard from Bo5A. The dwarven Weapons Master is a dwarf hero (+2 attack bonus), as is the dwarf captain in the relief column.

All others as per Bo5A rules, except the Orc Trebuchet, which uses the Warmaster Orc Rock Lobber stats.

I didn’t bother to calculate points, as I had no idea how to cost out the fortress itself (which, by the way, really made a big difference). But for comparison, the Goblin Horde had 113 units, including characters, and the Army of the Wild Reaches had only 55 units total— which I suspect on the points match up is grossly in favor of the goblins!

Good Guys

The Garrison of the Wild Reaches
Elf Spearmen (2 units)
Elf Archers (2 units)
Men Spearmen (1 unit)
Men Archers (2 units)
Horse Tribe Cavalry (1 unit): Attack 3 Hits 3 Armor 5+
Horse Tribes Archer Cavalry (1 unit): Attack 2/1, Hits 3, Armor 0. Can shoot 360°, 15cm

Heroes:
Master of Bows (Bard stats)
Dwarf Weapons Master (dwarf hero)
The Warden of the Wild Reaches (wizard general)

The Relief Column
Elf Spearmen (2 units)
Elf Archers (2 units)
Dwarf warriors (2 units)
Horse Tribe Cavalry (1 unit) “The Riders of the Westfold” (Red cloaks)
Horse Tribe Royal Cavalry (1 unit): Attacks 4 Hits 3 Armor 5+

Heroes:
The Lord of the Woodland Realm (Elf hero)
The Dwarf Captain (Dwarf hero)

All infantry from GW's Battle of Five Armies boxed sets.
Cavalry from Copplestone Casting's Horse Tribe line.

Bad Guys

The Goblin Horde
Goblins (16 units)
Wolf Riders (16 units)
Wargs (16 units)
Goblin Guard (1 unit)
Hill Trolls (1 unit)
Gigantic Bats (1 unit, flying monster)
Storm Giant (1 unit, monster)
Rock Lobber (1 unit, artillery)

Heroes:
The Goblin King (general)
Orc Chieftain (4)
Goblin Shaman (1)

For the record, the Horde forces consisted of two entire goblin armies (with wargs and riders) from two Battle of Five Armies sets, plus a unit of GW Bo5A Goblin Guard, a GW WM giant, a unit of GW Bo5A Hill Trolls, a Rock Lobber (Kallistra Orc Trebuchet) and a unit of Gigantic Bats (Splintered Light’s “Bat Swarm”).

The Set Up

Defender sets up first. The Garrison deployed in the fort, with the spearmen on the walls and the archers in the towers. The southernmost wall was left unmanned, as the threat was to the north, and assuming a detachment from the relief column reached the fort, manning it would not be an issue, In a pinch, however, a tower could be abandoned to protect the wall.

The Relief Column set up west of the river, on the southern edge of the map (for game purposes, “North” is at the top of the wide photos, along a long edge of the battlefield).
To make things move quicker, the column deployed into two temporary brigades— the elves all in one and the cavalry and dwarves in the other.

The Goblin Horde then set up on the northern edge of the battlefield. The evil cavalry and six infantry had to deploy west of the river. North of the river, the forces had to deploy either on the hill or immediately abutting the edge of the table.

Scenario Design
I conceived of this scenario as having two parts— the attempt by the relief column to reach the garrison, and the subsequent assault. It did play out that way, but not entirely as I expected (or planned).

The Goblin Horde appears to the north— can the tiny garrison
of the Wild Reaches survive?

And Now, The Battle!

The First Hour— The Race for the Ford

The dwarves and the riders of the Mark claim the Ford, but the elves tarry.

The Warden sends out the garrison cavalry to aid the relief column.

The Warden casts a spell, and throws the evil bats into disarray.

The Horde advances on the fort, but fails to press the column.

The forlorn hope— the goblins try to take the eastern wall!

The elves hold— the goblins are repulsed!

The Second Hour— Barbs, Blunders, Bats and Blood

The relief column advances, and connects with the garrison cavalry, but fails
to reach the fortress; the elves prepare to receive the charge of the vile wargs.

The elven archers and the bowmen unleash their barbed shafts, decimating the
 goblin forlorn hope...

Oops— "someone" has blundered.

Missed 'em by that much— the wargs' impetuous charge fails!
(Oh, I supposed I could have fudged in the dogs' favor. But this was funnier.)

The bats bite while the Giant and the Goblin Guard batter the relief column. 

On the right, the hill trolls withdraw from the archers in the towers.

The orc trebuchet (upper left center, by the river) and goblin arrows drive

the men of the Westfold and the elves from the ford in confusion (center).

The bats and dwarves fall back, but the Royal Guard of the Mark is lost!

Meanwhile, the giant slaughters the horse archers of the garrison.

The heavy cavalry takes casualties, but rebuffs the Goblin Guard.

(Cavalry retreats 1cm, but infantry cannot pursue, and loses a stand as well.)

The Third Hour— Monster Bashing, and an Orc Too Far

More death from above for the goblin forlorn hope.

The elves attack the wargs, the dwarves strike the center— and the giant is
confused (well, more than usual) by a hail of arrows from the tower!

Dwarves On a Roll, or Bye-Bye, Bat-birds!

The Horde Recoils (for now...)

On the left, the elves drive back the wargs and the warg riders with heavy losses.

In the center, the bats, the Goblin Guard and goblin infantry are destroyed.

The giant is forced to retreat in front of the garrison gate, and remains confused.

The garrison cavalry tries for the infantry near the Goblin King in hopes of an

early victory, but falls back when the goblins hold (combat draw— lucky devils!)

The Hour of the Wolves

The wargs and warg riders charge the elves, the goblins charge in the center,

and the Goblin King wisely retreats onto the mountain slopes.

The forlorn hope hopes forlornly. (Not a chance, bub.)

 The Last Stand of the Elves

The charge of the wargs.

The elves are overwhelmed.

The ford falls.

The End of the Third Hour

The ford is lost, the center is scattered, and there's a giant at the gates— time

to attack, obviously! (Oh, and the forlorn hope is down to one stand...)

 The Fourth Hour— Bold Action

When hard pressed— attack!

The Riders of the Westfold take a chance and charge the giant, and the dwarves

charge the goblins, aided by the garrison cavalry.

(The other dwarves were confused by the trebuchet on the previous turn.)

The Giant Falls!

 The spearmen of the garrison sally to aid the cavalry of the Westfold 

(and the dwarf captain lends his skill). Driven back against the tower,

the giant dies.

The spearmen withdraw back to the garrison, but the riders press on...

And utterly destroy the hill trolls!
(And the lone orc chieftain with nowhere to run...)

Meanwhile, the dwarves and cavalry slay the goblin front.

... and the cavalry charges into the reserves, threatening the Goblin King again!

The Goblin King survives, and the garrison cavalry falls back. On the far right,

the goblin forlorn hope assault has been driven back yet again. 

 ... and the Goblin King responds.

The Wargs Cross the River

The dwarves are in danger, and the goblin center charges the garrison cavalry,

aided by chieftain.

A lone warg tries for the central dwarves, but the orders fail. The Goblin King

scurries to the center left.

Oh, and the forlorn hope (unseen) tries for the wall. Again. (Guess who dies?)

 

The Fifth Hour— The Center Cannot Hold

With the dwarf left lost, the dwarf center falls back south to protect its flank

from the approaching wargs and warg riders. To the north, the combined

cavalry charges the remaining goblin center.

The warden sends archers to the southern tower, but fails to man the

southwestern wall.

The skirmish is won...

The lone wargs in the center are shot down by the Master of Bows and elves.

To the north, the riders destroy the goblins and fall back towards the garrison.

But the Horde is undaunted...

The wargs charge, eliminate garrison cavalry, but trade one for one with the

men of the Westfold.

The next wave of the Horde advances in the center and the left, reaching the ford.

Warg riders approach the dwarves in center south, but fail the order to charge.

The Warden surveys his losses, and realizes his army is hanging on by a thread—

a two unit thread! (26 units lost towards a breaking point of 28 units.)

 The Sixth Hour— Back to the Garrison!

Give them a volley!

The archers in the western and southern towers turn the warg riders into

porcupines, driving them back to the ford. The archers in the north tower drive

the lone wargs back.

With the way cleared, the dwarves and the Westfold cavalry advance to the

safety of the garrison—  the relief column (or what's left of it) has finally

arrived... just in time to fully man the walls!

Now useless, the horde cavalry moves out of the way as the infantry
closes for the grand assault.

The Seventh Hour— The Last Sortie

The Final Sally

The Warden takes a risk, seeing an opportunity to perhaps crack the Horde's resolve.

He orders the dwarves to sortie from the gate, striking the goblin assault before it

can reach the wall...

The dwarves hew their enemies down, advance, pursue and hew again!

But the Weapons Master fears to press further...

... and pulls his dwarves back to the garrison, sealing the gates a final time.

This battle will be won or lost on the walls.

Approaching the walls...

Having watched the deadliness of the archers, the Goblin King orders the
warg riders to screen the assault force from the towers.

 The Final Hour— The Grand Assault!

The Warden is content to man his walls and wait—

But first the archers send the warg riders into confusion.

The great assault begins.

The goblins pour across the ford, raising ladders against the gate wall and

the western wall— will they overwhelm the men and elves?

Hail the Valar— the assault is repulsed!

The Goblin King is seized with dismay— his army is broken!
(61 units lost, with a breaking point of 57)

The clouds break, and the horde flees in panic.

The Garrison Triumphant!

Closing Thoughts

 This battle turned out to be a lot of fun. I think a few things became clear to me—
one is that the goblin infantry really have little or chance of taking the walls. They never even managed to inflict a single hit.
The Goblin King (okay, me) erred in not sending the giant against the gate, and in pulling back the Hill Trolls. Both could have either taken a wall or (in the case of the giant) breached the gate early on. By the time the trebuchet was in range of the fortress, there was no time left in the battle (I always use the eight turn limit, and holding the garrison meant victory for the good guys, regardless of anything else.) Losing the bats early hurt, too.

On the other hand, the Warden (also me) nearly blew it by mucking around across the ford. The elves could inflict damage, yes, but there was no way they could stand against the wargs and goblin cavalry. Staying there was death— the elves should have crossed the ford and blocked it up rather than forming long lines that could be assaulted en masse. Also, not simply rushing the relief column into the garrison was another mistake— if the relief column had made it safely inside, the wargs and warg riders would have been able do nothing to anyone in the fortress! So fighting them in the open was silly, and almost cost the Warden the battle. (I had only been casually keeping track of casualties, and then I tallied up what was going on and realized the garrison was but a handful of stands from the breaking point! Yikes!)

But all in all, as a solo game this turned out to be quite satisfying. I look forward to trying a scenario like this one again, maybe against an opponent more worthy than myself!

--- Howard

The Battle of Angrehmeh (Warmaster AAR)

The Battle of Angrehmeh

A Tale from the World of Warmaster

(According to me, anyway)

An epic fight at a small scale (10mm.)

No one really knows how the great Dwarf pilgrimage of the Grumpoff came to be. The Great Book of Grudges is silent as to its origins, which is made no less remarkable by the inherently grudge-like nature of the event. After all, it is a long and arduous trek to a distant shrine to a nearly forgotten god whose nature is best described as one of perpetual irritation— what reason would motivate dwarfs to make such an effort other than a truly Great Grudge? Especially in light of the fact that no tavern, indeed no source of anything to drink but two minor rivers is known of at the spot. All that is there is the Great Stone Circle of Angrehmeh, the only known temple to the god Angrehmeh (ancient Dwarf for “Spiller of Stale Beer,” which might explain the irritation). But to Angrehmeh the trek must be made, to pour a flagon of the King’s Brewmaster’s Second Cousin’s Finest on the sacred central stone, and appease the “PO’ed little drunk in the corner of Walhalla” for yet another season. This year the duty fell upon the noble dwarflord Hovart Helmblind, of storied past and many a half-finished saga, who, being in nature very much like the god Angrehmeh (what dwarf isn’t?), decided to bring along his entire army just in case he ran into anybody notably irritating along the way. Alas, irritations were minimal en route (which was irritating itself), the only others encountered being two dwarf captains who went by the odd names of “Thorin” and “Dain” and their small revenue, but dwarfs are welcome companions (well, by other dwarfs), no matter how strange, and soon the entire irritated body was in sight of the ford west of the ancient shrine.

That’s when, praise be to Angrehmeh, or someone equally as grumpy, the scouts reported a massive army of orcs and assorted hangers-on approaching the shrine from the east! One can imagine the thrill that surged through the dwarf ranks when they heard their commander’s traditional war prayer leave his helmeted lips— “Thank the gods— here’s someone we can pummel!”

*****

Why orc war boss Stomphen Smashflat decided to “go on rumpus” that week, no one in his army really knew. But then, given that the brightest mind in his army was probably the goblin shaman, and nobody much cared what he thought as long as he kept up the holy sacrifices of goats (or lambs or dogs or old ladies or whatever was handy), not knowing what Smashflat had planned (if anything) was pretty much life as usual. March here, smash something, march there, bludgeon somebody, march that way, burn, march this way, pillage (after burning— they always muddled that bit). It wasn’t a good life or a merry one, but it was consistent and that had something going for it. Then they caught rumors of a dwarf shrine, which were usually good pickings, and some big red beast who called himself “Smog” (or something like that) joined up along the way, and, well, the world smelled like war (or excessive amounts of soot, blood and dirt, which is much the same thing). And then the wind brought the smell of dwarf, too, and that was enough— the rumpus was on!

*****

Parzival’s Notes

Inspired by some of the recent Warmaster After Action Reports on The Miniatures Page recently, I pulled my forces out for my on little go around. As I wanted a big battle, I decided I also wanted big scenery, and set up two hills and two rivers (each forded), several woods, and a nice big ancient stone circle with mysterious powers. Also, rather than going with a long-edge deployment, I decided to have both armies arriving at opposite corners, with the obvious goal being an attempt to take the middle ground between the rivers, where the battle would most likely unfold.

Brief Note for Those Unfamiliar With the Game

(Scroll down to The Battlefield if you know about the game)

Warmaster is a tabletop battle game that uses 10mm figures for a “grand tactical” scale game— each player is a general commanding an entire army. This means the battle unfolds in a fluid manner, focusing on battlefield events rather than any attempt at an even measure of time— so whole groups of troops may move and fight multiple times in a single turn before other troops take action.

Each army is divided into “units” which represent groups of functionally identical troops (as a block of infantry, a block of archers, a troop of cavalry, etc.) Most units have three stands, though some units, such as monsters, are one stand, and some are even two. Heroes and generals (basically, the army’s command officers) have one stand each, which might have more than one figure based on them, but aren’t considered units and don’t move or battle in the same manner. As a unit takes damage in combat, certain threshold amounts will cause a stand of figures (a single group on a single base) to be removed. Different troop types move at different rates— Cavalry are faster than infantry and infantry are faster then artillery, as you might expect.

Most of the time, units must be given an order from a “hero” or a “general” in order to take an action (unless an enemy is nearby; a reaction to them can occur for free). If that order fails (a die roll result), then no other orders may be given by that hero for the turn, nor may that unit receive any other orders for the turn. If the general fails an order, no other hero may issue orders for that side’s turn (so generals are usually saved for the last and most critical orders). If an order succeeds, a hero or general can continue to issue orders to the same unit until either an order fails or the officer decides to issue commands to a different unit. Fortunately, units can be combined into “brigades” of four units or less (type doesn’t matter) that can be ordered to move together, provided the units remain touching each other in some way at the end of the move (this can be a long chain of stands or a block or whatever).

Only movement is an order— shooting and combat happen if an enemy is in range or contact, with no need for an order to be given. Shooting can force units to retreat (a “drive back”), while combats can roll across the battlefield with “pursuits” and “advances”— which could be taken by a unit out of turn, if they win a melee!— or end in a draw, with both engaged elements retreating. As a result, the positions of units on a battlefield at the start of combat can be quite different from the positions when the fighting is done!

Combat and shooting results can cause a unit to become “confused,” meaning that it can’t take orders or shoot, and has a penalty in combat for a brief time. Charging an enemy or pursuing an enemy offers bonuses in combat; occupying defensible terrain (like ruins or a hillside) offers defensive bonuses. In general, however, it’s more advantageous to charge than to wait to be hit.

A typical battle lasts until either half of a side’s stands (including hero stands) are eliminated, or for a set number of turns (usually 8), or a general is completely surrounded or is attached to a unit that is eliminated in battle. A hero or general may “attach” themselves to a unit to give it a bonus in combat; however, unattached heroes and generals are immune from attack. Nevertheless, if completely cut off from their forces, they are eliminated. 

The above should be enough info to help you follow the reason as to why events unfold the way they do in this account, and understand the drastic changes of position shown in the photos.

How a turn works:

Side with initiative follows this pattern:

1. Command Phase (issue orders and move all units)
2. Shooting Phase (unengaged shooter units that have a visible, unengaged target in range may shoot. Drive back movements, if any, are completed immediately.)
3. Combat (units engaged— touching— an enemy must melee; both sides roll attacks and defense. Side with most hits wins. Casualties are applied. Loser retreats, winner pursues if possible and desired, and continues combat if possible. If equal, the battle is a draw, and both sides retreat.)

Play then changes to the other side’s turn. Repeat until victory occurs or 8 turns are reached.

The Battlefield

The battlefield at the Shrine of Angrehmeh.
Dwarf army to the left, Orc horde to the right.

All terrain is pretty much straightforward. The hills are climbable slopes (by infantry), though only along the grassy ramps and areas— no force can scramble up bare stone (house rule). If a unit is “among” the trees (even partially) or touching a tree, the unit is considered to be in woods. Otherwise the woods are woods, the rivers are impassable except at their respective fords, and the hills and ruins offer “defended” status for any unit which successfully occupies them... but there’s an “if” to that latter situation.

The ancient temple of the Irritated One. Enter at thine own peril!

The Shrine of Angrehmeh

This is not merely an old stone ruin but a place of mystic power, sacred to a very lesser but very irritable old dwarf god. And he’s pretty much irritated at everybody, so he doesn’t care of you’re dwarf or elf or orc or a pack of pink ponies, if you enter his shrine (well, without a decent beer), he’s probably going to “do something.”

Angrehmeh’s Mood Ring Chart

If any stand of any unit enters the circle of the ancient shrine (whether intentionally or not), that unit’s player must immediately discover the mood of the Irritated One by rolling a d6 and consulting the Mood Ring Chart:

1— Angrehmeh is Seriously P***ed (And Not Just Because He’s Drunk): Unit is blasted by 3d6 shooting dice. Armor is no protection. Roll for drive backs, directly away from the shrine (opposite the direction by which the unit entered).

2— Angrehmeh is Irritated: Unit is automatically confused for one full turn (so this status is not removed until after the player’s next Command phase, if the entrance occurs during the current Command phase). If the entrance happens as part of a charge, the unit suffers the Confusion penalty. The unit also gains no defensive bonus for being in the ruins during either combat or the shooting phase until the Confusion ends.

3-4— Angrehmeh is More Meh Than Angry: Nothing happens. The unit may continue its move as normal; if it remains in the stone circle, it may treat the ruins as defended terrain. As long as the unit does not leave the circle, it need not roll again on the Angrehmeh’s Mood Ring Chart.

5— Angrehmeh is Mildly Annoyed, And Waves the Pest Away: The unit is instantly teleported 2d6 x 10cm away from its current location, in a direction chosen by the player controlling the unit. Terrain does not block this move. The unit ends the move Confused, and cannot charge any enemy. (This confusion is removed at the end of the Command phase as usual.)

6— Angrehmeh Likes His Beer: The unit may restore 1 lost stand (if any), and any outstanding combat or shooting hits are also removed. If the unit is uninjured, nothing happens. The unit may continue its move or remain in the shrine as normal. If the unit remains in the shrine, no further effects occur, and the unit can take advantage of the shrine’s defended terrain status.

Being a dwarf or an orc (or anything else) has no effect either way on the results of the roll. After all, mysterious and unpredictable are the ways of Angrehmeh— or, well, any drunken dwarf.

The Forces:

Dwarf Army

5 units of Warriors

2 units of Thunderers

1 unit of Rangers

1 unit of Trollslayers

2 units of Cannon

2 Flame Cannons

3 Gyrocopters

2 Heroes (Thorin and Dain, though both use standard Warmaster dwarf hero stats)

1 General (Hovart Helmblind)

Total point value: 1740. Total stands: 39. Breakpoint is 20.

Orc Horde

2 units of Orc Archers (same stats as Goblins, but with 30cm range, cost 45)

2 units of Goblins

2 units of Orc Warriors

1 unit of Goblin Chariots

3 units of Goblin Wolf Riders

2 units of Boar Riders

3 Rock Lobbers

1 Giant (Dymbuhlb the Dumb)

1 Dragon (“Smog,” uses Smaug’s stats from Battle of Five Armies book)

3 Goblin heroes

2 Orc Heroes

1 Goblin Shaman

1 General (Stomphen Smashflat)

Total point value: 1760. Total stands: 48. Breakpoint is 24.

Note that technically this violates the min/max for Orc Warriors (I count archers towards the goblin min/max). Well, I don’t have any suitable Orc Warriors painted yet. So sue me. I hate that min/max stuff anyway. And so does Angrehmeh.

The Disposition of Forces.

Both armies began the battle arrayed as best they could to cross the fords on their respective sides of the field.

The Orcs Approach

The initial deployment of Warmaster Stomphen Smashflat. Mind the dragon!

Stomphen’s forces were arrayed into three full strength ad hoc brigades and one 3-unit brigade, plus monsters and characters, as follows, from left to right (and front to back as indicated):

Dyhmbuhlb the Dumb (giant), goblin hero, orc hero

FIrst Bunch of Blighters Brigade: Wolf Riders, Chariots, Orc Warriors, Orc Archers

Goblin Shaman, Goblin Hero, General Smashflat

Second Bunch of Blighters Brigade: Wolf Riders, Goblins, Goblins, Rock Lobber

Smog

More Blighters Brigade: Wolf Riders, Orc Archers, Orc Warriors, Rock Lobber

Orc Hero (some dude named Bolg.)

Ugly Guys on Pigs Brigade: Rock Lobber, Boar Riders, Boar Riders (as a heavy reserve).

The Dwarfs Approach

Dwarflord Helmblind's forces sight the ford. But what's that in the distance?

Hovart Helmblind also divided his forces into several brigades, made up as follows, left to right, front to back:

Thorin (hero)

Forlorn Hope Brigade: The Blackblood Brotherhood (Trollslayers), Dwarves of the Iron Hills Part One (warriors), Dwarves of the Iron Hills Part Two (warriors)

Dain (hero)

The Green Ore Duck (gyrocopter)

Big Whammy Brigade: Blue Thunderers (handgunners), The Emerald Eagles (warriors), Blue Boomers (cannon)

Blackfire Brigade: Wee Frazzy Frazier’s Rangers (rangers), The Black Sapphires (warriors), Smokin’ and Stokin’ (two flame cannon units)

Raging Red Brigade: Titanic Thunderers (handgunners), The Ruby Regiment (warriors), The Red Rain Battery (cannon)

The Red Beer One (gyrocopter)

General Hovart Helmblind

The Blue Bolt (gyrocopter)

And, thus arrayed, the battle began.

The Day Begins

The orcs advance. Note the dragon harassing the enemy in the distance— such an eager beast!
(I regret the poor quality of this image... allowing the window lighting was probably a bad choice.)

The smell of uncooked dwarf gave the orc horde all the impetus it needed to storm the field first (that, and a higher die roll). One of the orc heroes ordered the First Bunch across the ford; however, as they had to remain in contact, this resulted in the wolf riders having to form a line to link up with the slower archers and warriors; the archers also ended up in an irregular formation. While that did get the First Bunch mostly over the ford, it blocked anyone else from doing anything other than entering, and I didn’t even attempt a second order (poor thinking... I might as well have at least tried it). I continued this mistake, issuing only one order to each brigade; the More Blighters made the Ford (mostly), but neither of the two others moved at all. Stomphen’s only order sent the very eager Smog off to harass the enemy early on. [Actually, I almost screwed up here, as Flyers can’t charge anything further than 60cm away, despite their 100cm movement, which I forgot. But I decided to hang back for shooting, and that’s okay. Oh, note the red d8 on the hill; that’s the turn counter, with the battle ending at 8 turns, regardless. The “stone” box to the side is the base of a dice tower.]

Smog Breathes!

Smog breathes, dwarfs flee in dismay!

We thus leave the great orc general’s main host, and join the dreaded golden red beast swooping down to toast his favorite snack— dwarf!

“What’s he doing here?!” screamed the Dwarves of the Iron Hills, scrambling backwards from the fiery blast in confusion and dismay. The Green Ore Duck was forced to launch unprepared or be overrun, and whirled off sideways, her pilot struggling to comprehend what was happening (confused). Fortunately, the other members of the brigade remained unperturbed, calmly making way for the passage of their discomfited brethren.

The dwarfs face a pickle... and a dragon.

This left the dwarf army in a bit of a pickle— a large band of dwarf warriors blocked the path forward to the ford, and a bloody great dragon stood in the way. “‘Och! Tis just a big wee beastie!” cried the Blackblood Brotherhood, and the doughty (and nutty) band of trollslayers, aid by the Iron Hills Part Two, surged forth to charge the dragon, who was nonplussed at being attacked by nearly naked dwarfs (“That’s not how we do things back at the Mountain,” he muttered). Red Beer One and The Blue Bolt also spun up to the left side to try their hand at shooting the winged horror, should the battle go ill. Thorin ordered the Big Whammy Brigade forward to create a defensive line shielding the confused Green Ore Duck, but they were slowed by their artillery, and couldn’t press further. This forced the command decisions to Dain, who ordered the Raging Red Brigade to disband, hoping to slip them in beside the trollslayers. The Ruby Regiment successfully set up a flanking line in the woods on the right, but could not approach the dragon (as the beast was out of their line of sight at the start of their movement, and thus could not be charged... at least, that’s how I understand the rules).

Dwarfs attack, Smog falls back!

The Titanic Thunderers pressed forward under an order from Helmblind himself, but could not maneuver around the blocking melee, nor assist in the fight. Orders to the Blackfire Brigade went unanswered, to Helmblind’s frustration, so the half strength Forlorn Hope was left to face the dragon alone. In a furious fight, both sides came up even, giving as good as they got, but sustaining no casualties. Smog fell back behind the ford, befuddled that his accustomed food could actually put up a fight, and not wishing to become the middle of a gyrocopter and dwarf warrior sandwich. And thus ended the first moments of the battle, with the orcs surging forward and the dwarfs barely shaking off a surprise attack, but still caught behind their ford.

Turn 2: Smashflat eyes his options...

Turn Two: Enter the Shrine!

The orcs tempt the Irritated One...

POOF! Uh... Boss? Where are we? Boss? Bueller?

As Smog flew hastily back from the surprisingly tough dwarf line, Smashflat’s forces decided to establish a quick presence in the center. The First Bunch formed a strong line between the hill and the shrine, while the orc archers opted to risk the god’s irritation in hopes of gaining a defensive position from which to shoot the dwarfs. Alas, Angrehmeh decided to bat away the annoying pests, and in a smell of stale beer and a golden rain of mysterious origin, the archers vanished, only to appear on the opposite end of the battlefield, far behind the dwarf left flank!

So stunned was the entire orc army by this event, that all others except Dymbuhlb refused to budge, even when Stomphen himself pounded a goblin warrior’s head with a handy bone (as entertaining and encouraging as that always was). Even Smog was too busy licking his wounded sensibilities to engage in action (“Naked dwarfs? Really? In this day and age? What is Middle-Earth coming too? I just don’t know”).

Hey! Where did my archers go?

The Dwarfs cross the river. (End of Turn Two.)

Taking advantage of the orc shock, the Forlorn Hope (sans the Iron Hills Part One) quickly crossed the ford and took up a menacing position across from the orc vanguard, flanked by The Blue Bolt and The Green Ore Duck, who poured fire into the goblin line.

In the dwarf center, The Red Beer One turned north to aim its gun upon the unsupported (and now leaderless) teleported orc archers, driving them backwards. The Titanic Thunderers advanced as well— though, alas, not into range. The Blue Thunderers set up a shooting line to cover the ford, and the Emerald Eagles and Iron Hills Part One formed a small column, but failed to enter the ford. Orders to the artillery contingents and the Blackfire Brigade went completely ignored, again (which was to be a theme of this battle).

Meanwhile, back at the front, the repeated fire of the two gyrocopters succeeded in driving the wolf riders backwards, but had little other effect.

And thus, the second moments of battle (okay, Turn Two) came to its end.

 Turn Three: Smashflat Smashes Forward (and the Giant Takes a Stroll)

Turn Three Begins— Go get 'em, boys!

Hey, Dymbuhlb! Not *that* way!

On the principle that the best defense is a strong offense (phrased as “If they’re near enough to smell, they’re near enough to eat”), the First Bunch of Blighters roared into the dwarf line. Smog took up a position atop the hill to provide fire support, if needed. Meanwhile, the More Blighters performed a remarkable forced march to set up flanking positions on the right, anticipating action (or fresh snacks) later.

Alas, Dymbuhlb lived up to his name, and rather than bringing his considerable presence to the fight, opted to wander off to see if their were any fishes in the river beyond the shrine. Stupid giant. (For the unfamiliar, giants in Warmaster take random actions after failing to receive an order— in this case I rolled “Giant moves towards closest table edge.” Pffft.)

The Second Bunch of Blighters, and the Ugly Guys on Pigs, plus the assorted Rock Lobbers, managed to move forward, but got stuck watching the giant wander off. (This, too, would become a theme of the battle.)

The Melee Begins, and the Dwarfs Advance

Let's you and me fight!

A furious fight ensued in the center; though inflicting heavy casualties, the Blackblood Brotherhood earned their death wish, becoming the first victims of the fight (trollslayer units deduct victory points from the enemy if destroyed— they’re essentially a suicide squad).

Take that, you stinkin' naked dwarfs!

Bring up reinforcements! And we need a bigger copter!

While death may have been the Brotherhood's preference, the loss left the dwarf vanguard divided and in a very shaky state. Iron Hills Part Two opted to fall back to form a battle line, and were grateful to be joined by the Ruby Regiment; together they shielded the ford in hopes that their comrades might soon cross. Both The Blue Bolt and The Green Ore Duck returned for instructions, with the The Green Ore Duck subsequently returning to pepper Smog with its gun, to no effect. And at this point the entire remaining dwarf host apparently decided to take a time out to trim their beards. Dain scurried forward at least to assist the line against the obviously approaching onslaught.

Careful Whom You Pick A Fight With, and POOF! Part Two

The Fourth Hour: Smashflat thinks he's got 'em.

The onslaught came with the rise of the fourth hour (game turn). The remnants of the First Bunch slammed into the dwarf line and The Green Ore Duck, while Smog opted to return for a bit of advice from an orc hero— and promptly ignored it (failed command roll). The archers of the More Blighters took a flanking defensive position on the hillside, though the rest of the disbanded brigade did absolutely nothing! (Grrr.)

Hey... what's Dymbuhlb doing over there?

Dymbuhlb gathered his marble (he’s really that dumb), and took a chance on the shrine— once again, Angrehmeh batted the pest away, but this time only 50 cm, landing the giant behind the dwarf front line! Alas, the mystic journey confused the poor giant (not unlike most things), so he couldn't take advantage of his fortune.

Trying to hurry more forces into position, the Second Bunch Brigade managed to cross the ford, and disbanded to send the wolf riders forward... yet once again, nobody else moved. (The reserve was proving to be very reserved.)

Look, more dwarfs— CHARGE!!!

This is not what Smashflat had in mind.

And then the melee commenced! And what a melee it was; the orc line almost completely shattered. The goblin chariots were wiped out, the orc warriors followed, and only the lone stand of wolf riders held its ground, succeeded in forcing back and confusing The Green Ore Duck (which also forced the Iron Hills Part Two to reform as a column to avoid the crazily careening copter). Meanwhile, fresh off the complete destruction of the orcs, the Ruby Regiment turned on the flanking wolf riders, causing heavy casualties and forcing the remnant into a hasty retreat. The Ruby Regiment then fell back to reform their line, securing their right against the river.

The Dwarfs Stand Tall... or Tall Enough

The Fourth Hour: Helmblind makes his move.

Note that all of the above was actually initiated by the orcs, not the dwarfs— which left the dwarfs in the position of choosing the subsequent action to a fight they had already dominated! Naturally emboldened by their brethren’s success, the dwarf host rushed across the ford. The Red Beer One and The Blue Bolt took to the heights to dislodge the orc archers, while the Iron Hills Part Two charged the weakened wolf riders below. The Ruby Regiment, supported by Dain, advanced against the orc warriors and their captain, while the Blue Thunderers crossed the ford to aim their fire on the lone wolf rider stand beside the river. The Iron Hills Part One now marched across to form a strong connecting line in the center, while the Emerald Eagles, backed by Thorin, slammed hammer and tongs and axes into Dymbuhlb, who, though far from the orc leadership, was a clear threat to the dwarf position. Alas, in the dwarf rear practically nothing of note happened— Helmblind’s reserves were being as reserved as Smashflat’s.

Operation Stop the Big Dummy!

The gyrocopters atop the hill, as well as The Green Ore Duck, were highly effective against the archers, killing one entire stand and driving them off their position in confusion. Down below, the wolf riders were forced backwards, but survived the fight. Amazingly, the Emerald Eagle warriors beat Dymbuhlb handily, driving him backwards into the woods. The Ruby Regiment did not fair so well; their fight ended in a draw, with both the orcs and the dwarfs taking casualties and having to fall back. So at the end of the third hour, a great deal had happened, but nothing decisive was apparent— though the dwarf host held a stronger and more consistent line in the center than the more scattered orc horde. Would that position win out, or would the horde’s numbers tip the balance? The fifth hour would be telling...

A Whole Lotta Bashin' Goin' On

Turn 5, Smashflat launches his final assault. "Thiz had bette' woik..."

“Enough pussyfooting around!” roared Stomphen, and the orcs went all out. Smog finally got his composure together and decided that dwarfs were dwarfs, naked or not, and nothing to fear (and besides, the naked ones were gone anyway). He saw his traditional foes, the Iron Hills, and went at ‘em. Meanwhile, the two lone wolf rider stands each respectively withdrew— one fleeing straight through the shrine, with no reaction from Angrehmeh at all (perhaps he likes dogs). The orc warriors howled into the weakened Ruby Regiment, while a contingent of goblins managed to sneak up and attack the Blue Thunderers. Even the Rock Lobbers managed to move forward— though those stupid Ugly Guys on Pigs still refused to budge. “A reserve is for reserving, ain’t it?” said one, who thereby earned himself a place on Smashflat’s “List of People I’m Gonna Have for Dinner— With Ketchup.”

The orcs roar in for the smashin'...

... and get smashed...

... totally and completely smashed.

It may have begun with an orc surge, but it ended with an orc rout. The Ruby Regiment and the Blue Thunderers completely obliterated their orc and goblin foes, and rushed forward to knock out the second group of goblins by the shrine— which they did, handily, also slaying the orc hero joined with them (on top of an already pummeled goblin hero). Satisfied with this slaughter (and with no one to advance against), the dwarfs fell back towards their own line, to await another fight.

The battle against Dymbuhlb was nearly as epic; the dwarf warriors lost a stand as casualty, and eventually stood at a draw, but their dimwitted foe was forced back yet again, severely wounded and weakened (and therefore at half strength for the rest of the battle— against a giant, that’s a big deal). At this point the count stood 6 dwarf stands lost to 18 orc stands lost and four orc characters dead! (That’s 22 units— two shy of the breakpoint.)

The Iron Hill dwarves proved themselves an equal match for Smog. They took heavy casualties, but managed to hold their ancient foe to a draw, preventing him from sweeping further destruction on the dwarf line.

The Fury of the Dwarfs

Helmblind's final assault.

Once again, the orc charge had ended with the dwarfs dominant and in a position to force an advantage. The fresh regiment of Iron Hills Part One took up the fight against Smog, while the Emerald Eagles again pressed on against Dymbuhlb. Meanwhile the Ruby Regiment turned to flank a lone wolf rider stand, while the Blue Thunderers moved into position to open volleys on the Rock Lobbers (still largely ineffectual in the fight, despite a single lucky shot that drove The Red Beer One from the hill top).

The shooting phase saw the orc archers driven once again in confusion from the hillside, and the wolf riders equally discomfited down below. Far in the dwarf rear, the cannon and the Titanic Thunderers were finally getting shots in on the hapless teleported orc archers, driving them back along the river, but with no stands lost by anyone. The battle would come down to melee.

Charge, my hawk... uh, dwarfs! CHARGE!!! (Oh, but do remember to shoot first.)

When Dwarfs Attack...

Dwarfs— a menace, I tell you, an absolute menace!
They have GUNS, dangnabbit. All I've got is a rock (lobber).

Old enemies, together again.

The fight against Smog was one of fire and fury, ending in a draw— a remarkable outcome, but not decisive. More telling was the Ruby Regiment’s assault on the goblin wolf riders, which eliminated the penultimate stand towards the horde’s breaking point.

The battle would come down to the fight between the Emerald Eagles and Dymbuhlb the Dumb. Hammer and tongs, club and foot, they went at it, the blows ringing through the trees. No support to look for, and no quarter, the large versus the little, a David and Goliath matchup (well, if David was about 4 foot 2, had a long beard and carried axes, and there was way more than one of him). When the clanging and swinging and bopping and cutting came to a crashing end, a crashing end it was— Dymbuhlb, still wondering about the fishes, fell long upon the earth, and mighty was the sound of his falling.

With his last cry of “Where da fishies?” echoing through their ears, the orc horde turned as one and fled— even the dread red-gold dragon had no fire in his belly for a further fight.

The Orcs Flee!

Thus ended the Great Battle of Angrehmeh, the last light of the setting sun pouring over the dwarfs’ celebration as they broke out the casks of The King’s Brewermaster’s Second Cousin’s Finest and held a grand feast. (And yes, they did pour a libation to Angrehmeh... well, more of a drop, really. No use wasting good beer on a two-bit drunk— even if he is a god.)

Helmblind Triumphant!

MY AFTER-BATTLE ANALYSIS:

Well, I clearly made a mistake not going all out with my command attempts as the Orc Horde commander early on. I had more orc and goblin heroes than I knew what to do with; I should have just made the attempts, regardless of the odds. Having more troops in a position to “do something” might well have made the difference in the battle. As it was, the orc forces wound up scattered and unable to effectively support each other. Another solution might have been to pull the forward forces back, evading the dwarfs and trying to lead their forward lines away from their approaching secondary. Reviewing things, I can see that the dwarf ability to come up very quickly from the rear probably made a big difference.

As the dwarfs commander, I nearly blew it with my initial deployment, especially placing the cannon and flame cannon so far to the rear. They should have been forward for the approach, at least to get as close as possible to the river. Or I could have moved them at least onto the hill to give some range support near the ford. As it was, they wound up bringing little or nothing to the fight.

I also made some risky moves with the gyrocopters. As melee units, they’re near about worthless. Their advantage is in the shooting phase as harassment and stand-off, and work best when paired with other shooters. Three shots is average for any unit, but add those in conjunction with even one other shooter on a shared target, and suddenly you’re viable to actually inflict casualties in the shooting phase. But the copters need to be kept out of the way of potential charges. I never lost one, but that was more luck than planning.

On the other hand, due to the dwarfs hanging back a bit (more accident than design), they received crucial reinforcements at significant moments, handling threats like the horde’s initial successes and the sudden appearance of the giant on the dwarfs’ left flank. Only the timely arrival and charge of the secondary dwarf warrior unit kept that from going very bad, very quickly— and that unit had some remarkably lucky rolls (while the giant did not) to stay alive and keep the monster from having any great effect. It also helped that the dwarfs were able to dominate the melee on the orc horde’s turn, allowing the dwarfs to then set the pace for subsequent combats.

I think I did utilize the dwarf formations very well to create lengthy battle lines where needed, with relatively secure flanks. (But luck played a role there as well; had the combats gone the other way, the lines could have collapsed as easily as the horde’s did.)

The special units— the giant, Smaug and the gyrocopters— ended up playing less significance to the battle than I had originally assumed. Ordinary ground units dominated the fight throughout.

And finally, though I had a goblin shaman, I largely forgot about using any magic at all during the battle. Although I’ve never seen magic have much affect, due to the odds against it even working at all, nevertheless there’s always the chance that it could have helped, either boosting in combat or allowing extra moves among the sluggard reserve units. (If I had gotten those boar riders involved at all, the game could well have gone differently.)

As for magic, my decision as orc horde commander to tempt the fate of the shrine chart wasn’t sound. As a result, I lost the use of one unit completely, which might have made a difference in the initial battle line. And while the giant-in-the-flank event appeared to be a dangerous threat to the dwarfs at first, he was in no position to gain support during the battle, and being separated from his allies, could not fall back to a more secure position. Instead of a rogue threat the giant turned into an isolated target.

Finally, aside from the shrine, terrain primarily only had the affect of hampering movement for both sides at the fords. The dwarfs did successfully use the river as an anchoring point for their flank, but otherwise neither the woods nor the hills played much part in the battle.

ASSORTED DETAILS and ENDNOTES:

This was a solo fight, which is relatively easy to do with Warmaster— you just play each side and try your best. Apparently, my dwarf side dominates my orc side. You will note that though I had a goblin shaman on my list, I never attempted magic. I tend to forget that it can happen in Warmaster, which I did for this game. Oh well.

Angrehmeh’s Mood Ring Chart (and Angrehmeh himself) are my own creation. I realized after the orc archers got teleported almost off my battlefield that I had given the teleportation result too high of a range. In the future, I’m going to restrict it to 1d6 x 10cm. At first I was concerned that teleportation would be a big advantage; clearly, it wasn’t, as it caused units to be too far away for orders or effective support.

Scenic bits: The hills are GW’s Citadel Large Hill halves, included in the Battle of Five Armies boxed game (OOP) (I have two sets, thus I have a full hill). The printed cardboard rivers are also from these sets.

The ruins of Angrehmeh are from the “Build Your Own Stonehenge Kit,” a silly little item carried in bookstores (if it’s still in production). I got mine on deep discount from Borders sometime before they closed. It was pure coincidence that I discovered my ruin layout for this battle created a face— and an irritated face at that. This inspired both the name and the god and his mood swings.

The trees are from a big bag of Christmas village decorations I found on clearance at Lowe’s a few years back. I think I paid $7 for 21 trees. For that price, I can deal with the fake snow.

Figures: Most of these are either GW Warmaster figs or from GW’s Battle of Five Armies game, including Smaug. The dwarf gyrocopters are from Kallistra, as are the orc archers and the orc trebuchets (“Rock Lobbers”)— all significantly cheaper than GW’s prices.

The dice towers that can be seen in a few shots are made of cardstock, and are my own design. They’ve gotten a bit battered, so I need to print and make replacements, but they work well enough.

The pictures were taken with my iPad2 because I couldn’t find my camera. Hence the grainy quality of most (especially as I had very poor lighting). I apologize for that— next time I’ll hunt down something a bit better and use a tripod.

I hope you enjoyed this little AAR as much as I enjoyed playing the battle and writing it up! If you’re a Warmaster fan, break out your armies and give this set up a try. If you’ve never played Warmaster, hie thee to GW’s Specialist Games web site and download the rules (they’re free). Miniatures are still available from Games Workshop, or you can find excellent proxies from Kallistra, Copplestone Castings, and others (yes, they ship to the US, and even with shipping, they’re a great value).

Battle on, my friends!