VCL: Group 2 Match 5: Andre vs Arklite

[gingerninja]

Map: Gone Fishin
Top Deployment: Arklite
First Turn: Andre


Andre's List and Tactics:

Angry bob - Night goblin great shaman - 265
- level 4
- pipes of doom
- amulet of protectyness
- 2 magic mushrooms
Little WAAAAGH Spells: 1, 4, 5 and 6

Gorzahk - Black orc big boss - 152
- boar
- Warboss imbads iron gnashas
- sword of battle
- shield
- heavy armour

Silent egrod - Orc shaman - 145
- level 2
- nibblas itty ring
- dispel scroll
Big WAAAAGH Spells: 1 and 5

Floinkob - night goblin shaman - 120
- level 2
- dispel scroll
- magic mushroom
Little WAAAAGH spells: 2 and 5

Core:

20 Savage orc big uns - 310
- additional choppas
- full command

25 orcs - 205
- additional choppas
- full command

24 orcs - 198
- additional choppas
- full command

20 night goblins - 110
- bows
- 2 fanatics

20 night goblins - 110
- 2 fanatics

5 spider riders

5 spider riders

5 wolf riders
- spears

Special:

rock lobber

rock lobber

2 spear chukkas

2 spear chukkas

rare:

doom diver

doom diver

total: 2250

Ah, the nemesis list...

But this time I actually think I can win as opposed to just trying to pull the wool over people's eyes...

I think that once you take away the gyrocopter from the dwarfs I have the edge. More power at range, more units for combat, much more manouverability...
It also means:
- no march blocking gyrocopter,
- no gyrocopter springing my fanatics on my side of the board, - no gyrocopter toasting my lightly armoured units.

I have first turn. All first turn shooting will be directed at the gyrocopter until its dead. Thats two rock lobbers and two doom divers, an if they fail I still have two bolt throwers... Statistically it should be very very dead...

After its dead, the rock lobbers and doom divers will target the opposition war machines (because they will unlikely be in the 5+ ward net), and the bolt throwers the ranked up units.

This means i'll only be facing the full wrath of the whole dwarf war machine array for one turn.

For combat, The general and the savage orcs will go for the longbeards. The generals 4 st5 attacks with killing blow, and 2+save should hopefully give him the edge over the thanes. The unit's 13 st5 attacks should make a big dent in the longbears as well. (this is assuming four models including the boss, attack. The 5th space occupied by the general who would challenge.)

The two orcs units would go after the warriors and quarrellors.

The two goblin units would attempt to unleash their fanatics on the ironbreakers.

The spider and wolf riders would provide distractions for dwarfs, hopefully getting in a decisive flank charge late in the game...

In terms of magic i probably wont get that much off, but iwth a small dice advantage, some mushrooms and a bound spell, it is definitely another offensive tool.
Cant say too much yet, as speel undecided...

The anvil will cause problems, but I dont think they will be overwhelming...

Good luck arklite...

Arklite's List and Tactics:

Rune lord
Anvil of doom
shield
Rune of stone
Rune of the furnace
Rune of resistance
Master rune of balance
2X rune of spell breaking
453 points

Thane
Battle standard
Master rune of gromril
Rune of striking
125 points

Thane
Master rune of swiftness
Rune of cleaving
Rune of fury
Rune of stone
Shield
142 points

Core

Dwarf warriors [20]
Full command
Shields
205 points

Long beards [19]
Full command
Shields
Master rune of grungi
303 points

Quarrellers [10]
musican
shields
125 points

Special

Iron breakers [19]
Full command
Rune of stoicism
2 Ancestor Runes
332 points

Bolt thrower
Rune of penetrating
Engineer
85 points

Bolt thrower
Rune of penetrating
Rune of burning
Engineer
90 points

Stone thrower
Rune of penetrating
Rune of accuracy
130 points

Organ gun

Gyrocopter

JAHA! The cowardly grobi come to face the might of the dwarves eh!? Well come on ye fine dandies! So proud! So cock sure! Prancing along with yer heads full o’ eyeballs! Come at me I say! I’ll be waiting >=]

This battle on a table will be to say the least, dull. It’s a straight out artillery duel between the most ancient of foes! Unfortunately the battle field isn’t quite as kind to me as it has been in the past, but no matter! For I shall use what I have to grind me foes into the ground!

Right, deployment. That lake at first sight is disheartening. No doubt it’s higher than any dwarf can ford. But then again… how tall is a goblin! As such the lake is a critical advantage to be exploited by the tactically superior dwarven host. How might you do that master dwarf? You ask. Well quite simply my young beardlings. Considering the other terrain on the table it seem to be quite clear that my opponent shall be using the forest on the far right of the table to cover the advance of his spider riders who I would also suspect at being his war machine hunters. So in order to defend my war machines I intend to place them on the left hand side of the river with a nice open view of the hill in my opponent’s deployment zone. This will allow me to rain my significantly superior artillery down on his own position thus forcing an artillery duel. A battle where I may be outnumbered, but by no means out gunned

Next to be deployed will be my battle line which will form up to the right of the lake in a sweeping echelon formation. The front most unit (on the left) being my iron breakers and the rearmost unit (on the right) being my warriors. This formation defends my right flank from any flanking attempts from the orcs and goblins and maximises the combat power of my elite dwarven infantry, who thanks to being against orcs and goblins are even MORE potent thanks to hatred

The quarrellers will once again form up as a flank guard to the warriors on their right flank and pepper the enemy lines with crossbow bolts.

The anvil of doom will be positioned in the top left corner to maximise protection and the organ gun will position its self right next to the lake to act as a deterrent against any forwards rush against my artillery position.

The gyrocopter will position its self behind my iron breakers waiting to leap out for some cunning planning…

Movement: as you can gather from my oaths above I intend to force an artillery duel. While I have less guns than my opponent I have significantly better artillery, and as such a distinct advantage in this area. Assuming my opponent will wish to maximise use of the hill I’ve created a situation where he will have to take me on in such a battle or he risks loosing such a combat. But master dwarf? Why wouldn’t he just pound on your melee troops? Another good question beardling. And by all rights he probably should pound on my melee troops and hope to overwhelm my position with superior numbers. But my troops are shielded with the master rune of gungi! This gives my infantry unparalleled protection against André’s artillery with a 5+ ward save on my long beards, iron breakers and warriors. Throw in the panic re-rolls my troops receive and we can be pretty much sure that my troops won’t be going anywhere.

The only part of my force which I intend to move dramatically will be the gyrocopter. This stout and hardy war machine’s task will be quite obviously war machine hunting, a task where its T5 and 3 wounds make it excel. Should André choose to shoot down my gyro then its more time my own artillery has to pound on his forces unimpeded further improving my odds in the artillery duel.

Magic: once again I have no magic to speak of (well duh) but I have enough anti-magic to seriously cramp my opponent. While Andre would normally have 10 power dice I’ve reduced this to 9 and have 8 dice to combat this with. Thanks to my high toughness, ward save and armour my main battle line is near immune to any magic missile attacks so any spells directed against my rank and file are of little concern. The preservation of my artillery however is of prime concern and as such anti-magic will be directed towards the protection of my war machines and the stopping of any additional movement spells

Shooting:

Well I’ve pretty much explained this already haven’t I? Might as well gives some reasons why I expect to triumph in an artillery duel I suppose

For starters my bolt throwers have both higher BS and S. the shoddy goblin counterparts in comparison are no match for dwarven engineering excellence . At long range I’ll be hitting on 4’s and wounding on 4’s against his war machines (what with them being at long range and having T7). In comparison however the goblin bolt throwers will need 5’s and 5’s to have similar effect.

In turn the advantage is on my side with the stone throwers. While my own one is outnumbered 2-1 I have re-rolls on my scatter dice giving me a 5/9 chance of a direct hit and I have S5 on the template, meaning that any hits I make against crew will be drastically more potent. My gyrocopter will however be my primary war machine hunter using its large flame template to scorch the goblin crew where they stand. By overwhelming Andre’s artillery with my own fire I would hope to force him into advancing where my organ gun, quarrellers and the anvil of doom will come into their own.

The anvil of doom however I feel deserves a special mention here. This is the kind of battle where it comes into its prime, large numbers of lightly armoured troops and fast cavalry. The anvil of doom requires no line of sight to cast its powers and can cause serious carnage and grief. The rune of wrath and ruin will be my weapon of choice. I’ll be looking to unleash the ancient power of this rune to cause 2D6 S4 hits against D3 enemy units a turn. Let me let that settle in. I’ll be launching between 1 and 3 fiery blasts against an army with a low average leadership. Not only will I be causing damage with these casts but I’ll be halving the enemy movement on any units I choose to attack. I don’t even need to cause damage for that effect to kick in. the first targets for the anvil will be to lash the night goblin units in an attempt to panic them off the table and get rid of the fanatics. This also reduces André’s damage output In terms of shooting by eliminating his archers.

Such is the awesome power of the anvil of doom against the right foe

Combat: though my primary plan is to force a missile duel on the assumption that Andre will attempt to use his more numerous artillery to outgun my own I am more than happy to accept that he might play like an orc should and come to me honourably! Not that any orc could ever be honourable. But aha! I have already counted for such an eventuality! My echelon formation now comes into its prime. By angling my line against his own I’ve given my outnumbered bearded host the advantage of localised superiority. The sweeping back of my line means that his different units will require different amounts of time to make contact with my lines allowing dwarven martial skill and downright hatred of my foe to tip the scales in my favour. I’ve got a 4 attack S5 always strike first axe waiting for ye orc boy!

Conclusion: the key to this battle is maximising my advantages to make up for my lack of numbers. Through clever deployment I hope to allow my troops to fight one on one with the enemy units letting their mighty melee prowess kick in and beat back the orcs. Should the orcs fail to advance against me I intend to once again through superior arms and armour trump his forces in an artillery duel.

Quality over quantity is my plan here and this map, while disadvantageous looking at first, presents me with the opportunity to force this

[DavidWC09]

I like the rock lobbers and doom divers against ranked units. The dwarfs have it, too, but they have more targets to deal with. Ancient power on the anvil is going to backlash at some point. A carefully timed waagh! and this could go well for O&G.

[daelrog]

THis is a hard one to pick. Arklite's been given to first swing in the artillery duel, which could even things out there. However, I must say that his deployment zone is terrible. Due to this, and because Arklite has to win against the enemy war machines whilst for Andre it is a bonus, I have to give it to Andre. If only the dwarfs had a hill or two, I might reconsider. (Fanatics aare going to hurt too.)

[avatar of khaine]

i have to give this one to arklite

[kroxigor01]

The greenskins cannot win more victory points then the dwarfs can in any phase (baring magic). The dwarfs have the advantage in both shooting and combat and will nullify any advantage the greenskins had in movement (with the anvils slowing/moving effects, the gyro and deploying a flankless line of infantry). Therefore Arklite.

[ArchonFarseerGuy]

All the shooting at the Gyrocopter (can you say "overkill"?) will effectively give Arky a free Shoot Phase. It is this first turn that will be the critical point in the game. The advantage the Dwarfs have in the Artillery duel will be (aside from very boring to watch) telling. As long as he targets the Rock Lobbers and BTs first, he should be fine.

With a disadvantage at range, Andre will have to walk towards the Dwarfs, being picked off by the Organ Gun (assuming it's done with any WM-hunters) and the Anvil, to meet a wall of steel and gromril. When the Anvil does backlash, chances are that it'll blow over that round, and the halved movement could even allow a Dwarf charge with that other rune.

Dwarfs take the win.

[ArtificiallyEnhanced]

I'll say Andre because he has the range to kill him. Only one or 2 spells need to go off well and suddenly some of the bigger threats to him are much smaller. Adding to that the assumption that the warpaths he has with the 2 orc shamans will be targetted at the AoDoom as soon as he gets a second stamp and we'll be looking at some serious ouch. I just think there's that little edge for him to hold on to.

[gingerninja]

Dwarves take this one 3-2. (The last vote was not in time)

ninja out