The Warhammer folks I game with have been gearing up for the upcoming GT to be held at The Battleforge, LLC in Lexington, KY next month. We’re very excited to have a GT event in Kentucky, and we’re excited at the prospect of having the opportunity for one of our own to go to the US Masters’ event! In preparation, we’ve had a lot of folks playing practice games. I’m unfortunately not sure I’ll be able to make it myself, and I’ve only had a couple of games with the force I am planning to take if I can manage to make it there.
Anyway, I got together with another really great guy for a game last night. I’ve only ever played against this guy one other time, though we haven’t avoided playing at all. Anyway, he brought his tournament army—Skaven—and we rolled for the scenario. We rolled up the first scenario, a Battleline scenario with additional objectives. You can find the tournament rules here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/267446153461745/

The Dwarfs
Joseph Bugman
Runesmith: RoStone, Shield, Silver Horn of Vengeance, RoSpellbreaking
Runesmith: RoStone, Shield, Fiery Ring of Thori, RoSpellbreaking, RotFurnace
Thane: BSB, Shield, MRoGrungni, Strollaz’ Rune
Longbeards: x46, Shields, FC, RoStoicism
Miners: x37, FC, Steamdrill
Gyrocopter: Vanguard
Gyrocopter
Rangers: x34, Bugman’s upgrade, FC

The Skaven

[FONT=arial]42 Stormvermin full command and razor standard
32 clan rats with shields musician and standard
2 units 50 slaves with musician
2 units 6 Gutter runners with slings and poisoned attacks[/FONT]
[FONT=arial]3 units 5 giant rats + packmaster
Hellpit Abom
2 lightning cannons
2 warpfire throwers
Warlord on Warlitter with armor of destiny, relic sword, shield, MR 2 amulet
Grey Seer with 4 up ward, dispel scroll, iron curse icon
Level 1 Engineer with Warp energy condenser[/FONT]
[FONT=arial]engineer with Doom rocket[/FONT]
[FONT=arial]BSB with Storm banner[/FONT]

I started deployment, setting my Longbeards down right in the middle of the board on the forward edge of my deployment zone. Despite the small number of units on the board, I still had 4 deployment drops. My opponent was entirely surprised and confused, but for my part, I should have started with a Gyrocopter. It would have been a lot smarter. I’ll try to remember that in the future. My opponent won the roll-off for deploying scouts, but he deployed his first of two units over behind my left-most Gyrocopter. That was a mistake from unfamiliarity, but I took advantage of it by deploying my Rangers with Bugman over by my Longbeards and other Gyrocopter so that they would be sure to be able to use at least the better part of their Vanguard moves. The other Skaven scouts went over by my rightmost Gyrocopter. I used my Vanguard moves to get my units up close. I won the roll-off for first turn. My opponent immediately used the Storm Banner, keeping my Gyrocopters from flying during my first turn.

Dwarfs Turn One: I couldn’t make any charges, and without being able to shoot, I decided to just move both my Longbeards and Rangers forward, while my Gyrocopters did all they could do and moved 2 inches apiece.
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Skaven Turn One: After some deliberation, my opponent declared a single charge, running his Skaven Slaves into my Rangers on my right flank. He had a decent chance of charging my Longbeards with his Storm Vermin, but he decided against that, rightly assuming that I would welcome the charge.
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Then, the Doomwheel moved in an attempt to hit my rightmost Gyrocopter, only to come up short by about an inch.
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The rest of his army moved around to get into better positions, somewhat anxious about the possibility of my Miners coming onto the board from an undesirable point. I think my opponent just had no idea what to do about them and so basically ignored them until they became a realized threat. The Winds of Magic were not especially strong, so I was confident that I’d be able to weather the storm. Of course, the Skaven launched a Dreaded Thirteenth at my Longbeards with Irresistible Force, killing 19 of their number! That hurt! I groaned and pulled the two ranks of my horde off the table. The miscast reduced the Grey Seer by 2 magic levels and eliminated Curse of the Horned Rat and Skitterleap. That ended my opponent’s magic phase, and I put my unused dispel dice back into my tin.
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The little Engineer guy launched his Doomrocket at my Longbeards, killing a few more in the shooting phase.
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I don’t remember everything that happened, but between one of the Warp Lightning Cannons and the unit of scouts on my right flank, the Skaven destroyed my Gyrocopter. The Slaves scratched ineffectually at my Rangers, but in return, my Rangers revealed the true fury of their hatred of the vermin by killing something like 16 of their number. They only had 20 attacks back at the Slaves, I think, so that was a really good showing; however, the Slaves were still steadfast and passed their break test.

D2: The Slaves had moved up on my left flank in such a way as to block my Longbeards from charging the Storm Vermin. I decided I was fine with killing some Slaves, so I had the Longbeards charge them. The Miners came on from my left flank, reforming to face the Skaven lines. The Gyrocopter moved to steam the scouts on my left flank, killing 2 of them. Unfortunately, they still passed their panic check.
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My Rangers killed another dozen or more of the Slaves, destroying the unit and seeing other casualties in the near vicinity as they “popped”. They then reformed to face the Doomwheel. In hindsight, this was probably a mistake. I should have reformed to face the Storm Vermin, because the Doomwheel is scary, but not horribly so—and especially not against a ton of S6 attacks.
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Meanwhile, the Longbeards beat up pretty badly on the Slaves they charged, helped by the additional damage of 5 wounds from the Fiery Ring of Thori, but the Slaves remained steadfast and passed their break test. I was okay with that. I wouldn’t have charged the Slaves in the first place if I wasn’t okay with that before. If the Storm Vermin charged my Longbeards, they would be into their front facing and would only be able to get a few models into base contact. They had the Razor Standard if I remember right, but even so, S4 AP attacks didn’t scare me too much in the numbers that they could dish out. The Longbeards would have a 6+ AS and 5+ PS, while the rats would be hitting on 4+ and wounding on 4+, so worst case scenario would still see my Longbeards probably winning combat and still be Stubborn regardless.
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(You can see the Miners in the top left of the picture above.)

S2: The Skaven were a little intimidated by these Dwarfs with their prowess in close combat and a little nervous about the entire additional horde that had just shown up on their right flank. One of my opponent’s “rat darts” was blocking the Hellpit Abomination so that his Hellpit couldn’t make the charge into the Longbeards. The Longbeards were outside the charge arc of the rats, too, so the rats moved about while the Hellpit moved forward again. (I might mention here that the Hellpit had moved 13 inches in its first turn and now rolled 13 inches again in its second turn.) The Doomwheel moved in an attempt to get away from my Rangers.
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Meanwhile, the Clanrats reformed to face off against my Miners.
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During the magic phase, my opponent got two spells off. The first one was Warp Lightning against my Rangers, which I let through. It killed a few Rangers. The Skaven then attempted Death Frenzy on the Storm Vermin using 4 dice, I think. It wasn’t anything ridiculous. But my opponent proceeded to roll Irresistible Force, which resulted in a wound on both of his magic users. I once again replaced my unused dispel dice back into my tin. Between Warp Lightning Cannons and other shooting, my Rangers lost just a ton of models! I think they lost 14 models from one hit from a Warp Lightning Cannon, but they passed their panic check. The Miners similarly lost 11 models from a shot from one of the Warpfire throwers, but they were not as fortunate as the Rangers, failing their panic and running away. That really hurt. That hurt worse than the Curse of the Horned Rat had hurt my Longbeards, because the Rangers were now virtually out of the game. Even if they rallied on my turn, they would just be too far away to contribute in any significant way to the battle. All the heavy lifting would be up to my Rangers and my Longbeards…
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My opponent rolled a misfire with his other Warpfire throwers, which landed a template on the Stormvermin, killing a few--I don't remember exactly how many, probably 5 or 6. It seemed innocuous at the time, but it ended up being important later (as you'll soon see). During combat, my Longbeards killed another 10 or so of the Slaves, but they continued to hold thanks to still being steadfast.

D3: I decided against any charges. Fortunately, my Miners rallied, reforming to face back towards the battle. The Hellpit was in a good position to get into my Longbeards on its following turn, so I flew my Gyrocopter up to railroad it rather than continue to waste it on the Skaven scouts. In good old cheesy fashion, I parked it 1 inch away from the Abomination so that it could only move forward.
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My Rangers then reformed to face towards the action, but I reformed them in such a way that they could still throw axes at the “rat dart” nearby, which they promptly destroyed with ease thanks to lots of sixes to hit! The Longbeards finally “popped” the Slaves. This was an important reform I was about to make. I felt I needed to make sure that the Storm Vermin could only charge my Longbeards—not the Rangers—and would have to be in my Longbeards’ front arc when they charged. At the same time, though, I wanted to limit the number of models that would be in base contact once the two units connected in order to minimize the potential damage the Storm Vermin could inflict on the Longbeards. I reformed the unit 6 wide, facing a little off to towards my left. That would ensure that the Storm Vermin would only be able to charge the Longbeards and would have a full rank that would not be able to attack. I also shuffled my characters and Old Guard around in the front rank to ensure that my opponent would have a minimum of attacks directed into the unit itself.

S3: The Storm Vermin charged. The Longbeards had to close the door to the Storm Vermin, so the units ended up in the position you see them in the picture below.
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One of the rat darts charged my Gyrocopter, while the Hellpit was forced to move forward again—rolling 13 inches a third turn in a row!
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The Hellpit was far enough away now that I hoped it would not be able to make it back to the fray before I had a chance to get a handle on things on the other side of the battlefield. The Doomwheel came ramming into the flank of my Rangers. I wasn’t concerned, because they were still Stubborn. (They remained Stubborn for the entire battle, by the way.)
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The Skaven rolled a low number for the Winds of Magic, enabling basically only a single spell, which I dispelled with my dispel dice—finally getting to actually use them. Ha! In the shooting phase, the Skaven did very little, killing a few Rangers. One of the Warp Lightning Cannons misfired while trying to shoot at my Miners and self-destructed, which I greatly appreciated!
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Here’s an overview of the battle from my left flank and then from my right so you have an idea of where everything is going into this next close combat and the following round. This would be the important one, since the entire battle turned on the pin of my Longbeards holding their ground in the ensuing combat.
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We did the Rangers’ combat against the Doomwheel first. The Doomwheel did just a few impact hits, killing 2 Rangers, and then its attacks killed one more, I believe. In return, the Rangers inflicted a single wound. I think the Rangers lost combat but stuck fast on Ld 10 Stubborn, reforming to face the Doomwheel.
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The Longbeards took a withering amount of attacks from the Storm Vermin and accompanying character, who were still enjoying the effects of Death Frenzy cast during the Skaven magic phase the turn before . I had placed my BSB on the far right flank of my Longbeards unit, so I issued a challenge. The Skaven champion accepted. I figured my Thane would stand up alright in close combat, and that would keep another supporting attack or two from being able to touch the Longbeards. Between allocating attacks and such, I lost just a couple of Longbeards (thank you, Shieldwall!) and a single wound on one of my Runesmiths. However, the Storm Vermin champion got lucky, inflicting two wounds, both of which got through my unlucky rolls for his saves, slaying my Thane BSB. Again, I figured I didn’t need him anymore, since he had already done his job by that point in the game. But it still hurt to lose him. In return, the Longbeards went berserk on the Storm Vermin, killing at least 10 altogether, enough by a few (remember the shot that killed a few of the Storm Vermin on Skaven Turn Two?) to reduce their ranks so that the unit was no longer steadfast. The Longbeards won combat by 5, I think, and the Storm Vermin failed their break test! They ran and the Dwarfs pursued. The Storm Vermin got away, but that meant they landed on the wizard behind their unit, which pushed them back onto the Clanrats behind it, which pushed them off the board! The Dwarfs came up a couple inches shy of overrunning into the wizard, who panicked because the Storm Vermin had fled through him, landed on the Clanrats behind it, and was also pushed off the board. The Clanrats passed their panic check, though, and held firm, bracing for the inevitable flank charge from the Longbeards on my following turn. GRIN
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Finally, the Gyrocopter beat the rats in combat, sending them fleeing. I chose to attempt to restrain, passing my leadership test, in order to have the option of railroading the Hellpit again. The rats only fled 3 inches, so I probably should have pursued. Oh, well.
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D4: I sounded the Silver Horn, and the Longbeards went ploughing into the flank of the Clanrats! I had the Gyrocopter go ahead and charge the fleeing rats in front of them, running them down and picking up their points. The Miners moved forward. The Longbeards then tore the Clanrats to shreds and reformed, while the Rangers finished off the Doomwheel and also reformed.
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S4: Having had the entire battle gone completely wrong, my opponent set about trying to make the best of the Skaven rout. The Hellpit moved a mere 4 inches, while other units moved about in an attempt to get into better positions or shoot at my units. With the Skaven magic gone, the only thing left to do was shooting. The Rangers lost one fewer models than they needed to lose in order to take a panic check.
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D5: My Longbeards and Miners charged the Warp Fire Thrower, and the Rangers charged the remaining Warp Lightning Cannon. All three units made their charges successfully!
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The Gyrocopter turned about to steam the scouts again, killing two. All of my combat units disposed of their respective foes and reformed to face back towards toward the battlefield.
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S5: The Abomination moved up, and the other remaining units moved around. Shooting was ineffectual.
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D6: The Longbeards and Miners moved back 2 inches each, while the Rangers charged the rat dart that was attempting to redirect them. The Gyrocopter charged the scouts in front of it. While the Rangers killed the rats, the Gyrocopter took a wound and failed to inflict any, resulting in a tied combat.
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S6: The Hellpit failed to make contact with anything, shooting wasn’t enough to make a difference, and the Gyrocopter couldn’t finish off the rats it was fighting, so the game ended.
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I lost my BSB and a Gyrocopter. The game was a devastating victory for the Dwarfs!

I wanted to share some of my thoughts about this battle. My strategic concept for this army is: Destroy the enemy in close combat by bringing overwhelming force to bear in favorable combats.

The first thing, then, that comes to mind is the fact that my opponent got so few points out of my army. My Rangers were down to 10 models, my Miners lost about 1/3 of their models, and my Shieldbeards were drastically diminished, well under half strength. But not one of those units was destroyed. I could lose all my characters and both Gyrocopters, but if my units are still alive by the end of the game, I've only given up about 800 points. This makes it extremely difficult for my opponents to get points out of my army. By the same token, it also ensures that I am bringing to bear virtually my entire army against my opponent's force at a critical point where I have the advantage in close combat in order to overwhelm my opponent's units. Theoretically, the Gyrocopters are there to keep my units from getting redirected and slowed down. That really didn't happen in this game, because of the Storm Banner keeping them from flying on my first turn. But even so, my units were able to deal easily with the huge amount of chaff this opponent brought and still get into combat with my opponent's combat units (where the big points were) at favorable points where my combat potential just simply outclassed that of my opponents by leaps and bounds.

The second thing that comes to mind is the performance of the Miners. Again, they did very little in terms of the physical effect they had on the battle. But their presence just completely changed the way my opponent made decisions. They pose an unknown threat. Unknowns are impossible to quantify. Involving unquantifiable elements in one's calculations results in the entire calculation becoming a great big question mark. That puts pressure on my opponents and forces their decisions to become much more difficult, which in turn leaves much more room for error--errors I can exploit to my advantage, provided I pay attention. The blast that hit them and made them panic could have gone against my Rangers, which may have seen that unit wiped out by the end of the game, but my opponent feared them getting into the flank of his army and chose to divide his attention. That took the pressure off of my other units somewhat, and it also meant that my Shieldbeards ended up getting a nice flank charge into the Clanrats at the end.

The third thing I thought of was just that my Gyrocopters hardly did anything all game but ended up being great support for my units nonetheless. Keeping the Abomination from being able to get into my Shieldbeards was hugely important! Running interference and soaking up shots, generally distracting my opponent, was worth every one of the 180 points I spent on those two Gyrocopters.

Finally, let's talk briefly about the Shieldbeards. These guys are gold. Being able to make them Stubborn is the most important thing about this new incarnation of my ambush army as far as I'm concerned. I have no fear! I can shove that unit down my opponent's throat, lose almost half of the unit to a Dreaded Thirteenth--or other unit-delete spell--and still be completely confident that the unit will hold until relieved! Not only that, but the Shieldbeards are exceptionally resilient. Good armour and parry, plus Shieldwall and high Weapon Skill means they just don't die in combat. It's like having moving superglue on the table. Whatever it touches is going to stick until it's dead or until I knock it off with Miners or Rangers. (And I'm having the time of my life painting the unit, to boot!)