[FONT=arial]I played these games a couple of weeks ago, now, so there
may be a few holes in my memory, but bear with me. I have been working on my
Miners, but I ended up not having time to put my ambush list back together. So,
I just added a couple of things to my prior conventional list:[/FONT]

[FONT=arial]West Karaz-a-Karak Mining Company[/FONT]

[FONT=arial]Runelord: Shield, RoResistance, RoStone, MRoBalance,
RoSpellbreaking (x2): 273[/FONT]
[FONT=arial]Thane: BSB, MRoGromril, RoResistance, MRoChallenge: 165[/FONT]
[FONT=arial]Dwarf Warriors: x40, Longbeards, Shields, Full Command,
RoBattle, RoDetermination: 550[/FONT]
[FONT=arial]Dwarf Warriors: x39, Great Weapons, Full Command: 415[/FONT]
[FONT=arial]Hammerers: x36, Full Command, MRoGrungni: 512[/FONT]
[FONT=arial]Grudge Thrower: Engineer, RoAccuracy, RoPenetrating (x2):
170[/FONT]

[FONT=arial]Cannon: RoForging, RoReloading, RoFire: 140[/FONT]
[FONT=arial]Cannon: RoForging, RoFire: 130[/FONT]
[FONT=arial]Cannon: RoForging: 125[/FONT]
[FONT=arial]Organ Gun: 125[/FONT]

[FONT=arial]GAME 1[/FONT]
[FONT=arial]My first game of the tournament was against a Warriors of
Chaos army. I wasn’t ready for this one. His list looked something like this:[/FONT]
[FONT=arial]Festus (Special Character)[/FONT]

[FONT=arial]Lv. 4 Sorcerer Lord on foot[/FONT]
[FONT=arial]Exalted Hero (not a BSB)[/FONT]
[FONT=arial]₃₀ Warriors, FC, banner that provides Frenzy, Mark of
Nurgle[/FONT]
[FONT=arial]₂₀ Warriors, FC, banner?, Mark of Nurgle[/FONT]
[FONT=arial]₃₀ Marauders, FC, Flails, Shields, Light Armour, Mark of
Khorne[/FONT]
[FONT=arial]War Shrine, Mark of Tzeentch[/FONT]
[FONT=arial]War Shrine, Mark of Tzeentch[/FONT]
[FONT=arial]5 Skullcrushers, FC[/FONT]
[FONT=arial]We deployed mostly across from each other. It was
interesting how my opponent deployed. I started with my Shieldbeards, across
from which he deployed his Skullcrushers. Next, I deployed my warmachines,
hoping to keep him guessing where my big hard-hitters would go. He deployed his
smaller unit of Warriors to the left of (from his perspective) and not far from
his Skullcrushers. I then was committed to placing my first heavy-hitter, so I
deployed my Warriors with Great Weapons. He then deployed his second (larger)
unit of Warriors to his far left, not far from the board edge. I deployed my
Hammerers across from them. So far, I could have better match-ups, but I could
also have worse match-ups, so I was feeling pretty good. In retrospect, I
should have deployed my GW Warriors across from his Skullcrushers. Even though
that would not be the ideal match-up, I think it would have been better than
the Shieldbeards, since they would kill only 1 or 2 more Dwarfs each turn while
taking many more attacks at S5 rather than S4. Beyond that, it would have
spread out my left flank beyond his left flank, enabling me to encircle his
army once my GW Warriors killed the Skullcrushers. I don’t know that I could
have guessed where he would deploy his units at the time, though…[/FONT]
[FONT=arial]I finished deploying first, so I got the +1 to the die roll to go first. I then
won the roll, for which I was thankful. I opted to go first.[/FONT]
[FONT=arial]DWARF TURN 1: I
started with moving just enough to get my combat blocks down off the hill and out
of the way of my war machines on my right. This took them a little closer to my
enemy’s units, but I was confident that my shooting would do enough for that to
be more than fine. I shot him up a bit, but not as much as I had hoped. I only
put three or four wounds on the Skullcrushers, killing one of them, shooting
with two of my three Cannons. I hit the back of his big unit of Warriors,
killing 2 or 3 Warriors with my Grudge Thrower. My third Cannon put a single
wound on one of his War Shrines. My Organ Gun was out of range.[/FONT]
[FONT=arial]WoC TURN 1: On
his turn, my opponent moved his units up fairly aggressively. He rolled for his
Eye of the Gods and War Shrines, getting some really good stuff all-in-all,
though he didn’t get the feared Ward Save. His Skullcrushers got +1 Attacks,
but I don’t remember what else. He was moving up fast enough that I knew my
first round didn’t give me the kills I needed. I knew this would be a tough
fight if my next round did not prove a little lucky. He was out of range with
his Sorcerer to really do much, but he cast a spell anyway (Call to Glory). I of course dispelled
it.[/FONT]
[FONT=arial][sharedmedia=gallery:images:11096][/FONT]
[FONT=arial]D2: I didn’t move
at all on my second turn. I went straight to shooting. My second round of
shooting didn’t go any better than my first. My Grudge Thrower misfired, and I
rolled a 1. Thank goodness I had an Engineer, because I rerolled and got a 6! My
Cannon 1 shot the Skullcrushers in their exposed flank and barely killed one
injured Skullcrushers, going on to kill a second, and finally putting a wound
on a third. Cannon 2 put one wound on a Skullcrusher, failing to kill it, and
my Cannon 3 shot my opponent’s Warriors 1 unit, killing 3 or 4. My Organ Gun
shot his Warriors 2 unit, killing 3 or 4. Those Skullcrushers were proving to
be a pain, since I couldn’t seem to roll enough wounds on my shots to penetrate
multiple ranks.[/FONT]
[FONT=arial]WoC2: My opponent
charged my Shieldbeards with his Skullcrushers but failed the charge. The rest
of his army moved up aggressively again. During the magic phase, his Sorcerer
was within range of my Hammerers, so cast Treason of Tzeentch on 6 dice. He got
Irresistible Force, and I promptly killed half of my Hammerers! I was rather
upset, as you might imagine. I just hate the whole IF thing this edition. It
leaves you sitting there with 8 or 9 dispel dice in your hand and yet
completely powerless against your opponent’s magic… Anyway, he miscast, losing
three Wizard levels and all his spells except for Infernal Gateway. Just my luck… But honestly, his Sorcerer Lord
nearly paid for himself with that one cast, and while he still had a very
useful Sorcerer, there was no way I was getting any more usefulness out of
those slain Hammerers…[/FONT]

[FONT=arial][sharedmedia=gallery:images:11097][/FONT]

[FONT=arial]D3: My Hammerers
charged his Warriors and failed their charge. My Shieldbeards charged his
Warriors2 unit and failed their charge, and my Warriors successfully charged
his Marauders. I should have just stayed put. I was so mad. I didn’t need big
numbers on the dice, either: a 5 for my Hammerers, a 7 for my Shieldbeards, and
a 6 for my Warriors. It left my Warriors in a bad way if I didn’t break his
Marauders and overrun far enough to get out of the charge arcs of his other
units… So, it was on to the shooting phase. My Grudge Thrower misfired again,
and I rolled a 1 again for the misfire! Thanks to my trusty Engineer, I
rerolled that die and got a 4. Whew! My Cannon 1 shot down the flank of the
Skullcrushers again, only hitting and killing one, but it bounced through and
killed another 2 or 3 Chaos Warriors from my opponent’s Warriors 2 unit. My
Cannon 2 shot his Warriors 2 unit, but only killed maybe one Chaos Warrior. My
Cannon 3 actually killed a few Chaos Warriors from my opponent’s Warriors 1
unit. Finally, my Organ Gun killed some more from his Warriors 2 unit. In
combat, my Warriors lost a lot of bodies. His Marauders were armed with flails
for +2S on the first round of combat. Between that, Frenzy, and the Mark of
Khorne, I think I lost around 15 Warriors. I hit back hard, though, rolling
excellently for my hits, and then I only rolled a couple of 1’s for my rolls to
wound, killing at least as many Marauders! I won combat enough to break them,
but I couldn’t run them down. What was worse, I only needed to roll a 5 on the
dice to overrun into both of his War Shrines, but alas! I rolled a 4, leaving
me 1” in front of his War Shrines. At least I was out of the charge arcs of his
other units, I thought.[/FONT]

[FONT=arial]WoC3: My opponent
charged my Hammerers with his Warriors 1 unit. He charged my Shieldbeards in
the front with his Warriors 2 unit and in the flank with his two remaining
Skullcrushers. He charged both his War Shrines into my Warriors. He made all
his charges, to my chagrin. I was able to stop everything in his magic phase.
In combat, my Hammerers actually beat his Warriors 1 unit, but they could not
run them down. The War Shrines rolled a total of 11 impact hits, killing 10
Warriors outright. They ran my Warriors down and were in good positions to
charge my warmachines on his next turn. My Shieldbeards lost combat badly, but
they were steadfast and held their ground.[/FONT]

[FONT=arial][sharedmedia=gallery:images:11098][/FONT]

[FONT=arial]D4 and following:
On my turn, my Hammerers tried to chase down the fleeing Warriors 1 unit, but
were unable to catch them. My shooting took one War Shrine down to 1 wound
left, but it couldn’t do enough damage. In combat, my Shieldbeards broke and
fled, run down by his last remaining Skullcrusher who ran off the board. The
rest of the game saw his units rally, reengaging my Hammerers but ultimately
doing nothing important, while the rest of his army mopped up my warmachines.
At the end of the game, I had my Hammerers and Cannon 1 left. I did finally
kill off his last remaining Skullcrusher once it came back onto the board, but
other than that, I hadn’t destroyed anything else of his army. The game ended a
devastating defeat for my proud Dawi![/FONT]
[FONT=arial][sharedmedia=gallery:images:11099][/FONT]
[FONT=arial]Mark of Nurgle is nasty! Had it not been for that, I honestly think I would have done
quite a bit better in the game. However, I lost the game due to poor shooting,
I think. My shooting wasn’t exactly awful, though it could have been better,
but it just couldn’t kill enough stuff. Plus, he didn’t have anything that I
could actually Panic. I really needed my Cannons to do better against his
Skullcrushers—very nasty, those, by the way! I also can’t believe those War
Shrines! They were so cheap and yet helped out his army SOOO much, not to
mention they’re nearly impossible to kill! (NOTE: This game was against the old
WoC army book, not the new one that just came out.)[/FONT]

[FONT=arial]GAME 2[/FONT]
[FONT=arial]My second game was against an all-Goblin themed army. Well,
he did have a few Trolls and whatnot, but my opponent used all Goblin
characters and most everything else. This game was a Battle for the Pass. You
can see our deployment below. I again won the roll for first turn.[/FONT]

[FONT=arial][sharedmedia=gallery:images:11100][/FONT]

[FONT=arial]The scenario allowed each player to choose both one of his
own units and one of his opponent’s units to count for double VPs for
determining the results of the battle. I chose my Grudge Thrower and one of his
largest units, and he chose my Warriors and his General’s unit.[/FONT]
[FONT=arial]I’m not going to write up a whole narrative for this battle.
I will post the pictures, though, because they speak for themselves. I think
you all can guess where this battle was headed from the get-go.[/FONT]
[FONT=arial][sharedmedia=gallery:images:11101][/FONT]
[FONT=arial][sharedmedia=gallery:images:11102][/FONT]
[FONT=arial][sharedmedia=gallery:images:11103][/FONT]
[FONT=arial][sharedmedia=gallery:images:11104][/FONT]
[FONT=arial][sharedmedia=gallery:images:11105][/FONT]
[FONT=arial][sharedmedia=gallery:images:11106][/FONT]
[FONT=arial][sharedmedia=gallery:images:11107][/FONT]
[FONT=arial][sharedmedia=gallery:images:11108][/FONT]
[FONT=arial][sharedmedia=gallery:images:11109][/FONT]
[FONT=arial][sharedmedia=gallery:images:11110][/FONT]
[FONT=arial][sharedmedia=gallery:images:11111][/FONT]
[FONT=arial][sharedmedia=gallery:images:11112][/FONT]
[FONT=arial][sharedmedia=gallery:images:11113][/FONT]
[FONT=arial][sharedmedia=gallery:images:11114][/FONT]
[FONT=arial][sharedmedia=gallery:images:11115][/FONT]
[FONT=arial][sharedmedia=gallery:images:11116][/FONT]
[FONT=arial][sharedmedia=gallery:images:11117][/FONT]
[FONT=arial][sharedmedia=gallery:images:11118][/FONT]
[FONT=arial][sharedmedia=gallery:images:11119][/FONT]
[FONT=arial][sharedmedia=gallery:images:11120][/FONT]
[FONT=arial][sharedmedia=gallery:images:11121][/FONT]
[FONT=arial]The last round, I charged his units with my Warriors and my
Hammerers and took out both of the units that had been chosen at the beginning
of the game to count for double VPs. The game already would have been a great
victory for the Dwarfs, but this made it one of the most crushing victories I’ve
ever had. It was fun for both of us. Probably for me more than for my opponent,
as he got frustrated with his lack of quality leadership for his army.[/FONT]
[FONT=arial]GAME 3[/FONT]
[FONT=arial]My last game of the tournament was against another Ogre
Kingdoms player. I cannot stress enough how
fun and intense this game was! My opponent was good-natured, but precise. Our
lists were both fairly tough, but neither significantly overpowering to the
other. Both of us are fairly strong players with a good grasp of Warhammer 8th
edition strategy and tactics. It was by far the best game I’ve played in a very
long time![/FONT]
[FONT=arial]I won the roll for
deployment. I got a little lucky this time around with the Dawn Attack scenario
we were given. I had two Cannons deploy on my right flank and my Organ Gun
deploy on my left flank; everything else was either in the center or wherever I
wanted it, so I ended up presenting my opponent with a fairly strong battle line.
My opponent failed to seize the initiative, so I opted to take the first turn. DWARFS
TURN 1: I started by shooting at his Thundertusk with my Cannons. It took all
three shooting at it to take it out, but at least I destroyed it before it had
a chance to move. My Organ Gun was out of range on my first turn. My Grudge Thrower
targeted his Ironblaster, but the shot scattered and did nothing (despite the
RoAccuracy).[/FONT]
[FONT=arial] [/FONT]
[FONT=arial]OGRES TURN 1: My opponent
moved toward my lines with all of his units. He didn’t move up as aggressively
as he might have with his Ogre units on my left flank, because he was afraid of
my Cannons being able to auto-wound his Ogres. If you look below, you’ll see a
picture of the board at the end of the first round. Those two stone pillars are
twin Bane Stones, so you can see how they messed with my opponent’s movement.
In the end, though, he ended up moving fairly far forward and took the risk
that my shooting would really take its toll on his Ogres units. In his magic
phase, he got Trollguts off on Irresistible
Force, but the miscast failed to do any harm to him in return. He shot at my
Hammerers with his Leadbelchers, but they only killed a few, thanks to my
MRoGrungni. Last, but definitely not least, my opponent’s Ironblaster got a
shot off that hit both my Cannon and my Grudge Thrower. He did four wounds to
my Cannon and two wounds to my Grudge Thrower! I was not happy about that. I
can’t believe that Ironblaster! It’s nearly as good as Dwarf Cannons with its
shooting, and it can MOVE and still shoot! That’s just insanity incarnate…[/FONT]

[sharedmedia=gallery:images:11122]

[sharedmedia=gallery:images:11123]

[FONT=arial]D2: I shot at his Mournfangs
a lot. With only two Cannon shots, I only succeeded in killing a single Mournfang.
My Organ Gun opened up a can of awesomesauce on his left-most unit of Ogres,
inflicting 5 wounds on 8 hits. My Grudge Thrower then shot at his Ironblaster
again, but the shot scattered onto his other Ogres unit and inflicted a few
wounds.[/FONT]
[FONT=arial] [/FONT]
[FONT=arial]OK2: His Mournfang charged a
Cannon, but failed the charge. His Sabretusk charged my other remaining Cannon
and made it into combat. I was able to stop all his magic this turn. In his
shooting phase, he overshot my Grudge Thrower, and his Leadbelchers killed a
few more Hammerers.[/FONT]
[FONT=arial]D3: My Shieldbeards and my
Warriors both charged his right-most unit of Ogres. Unfortunately, only my
Shieldbeards completed the charge. I knew charging him, though, even if
otherwise not advantageous, would keep him from getting his bonus attacks and
such if he were to charge my units with his Ogres. My unengaged Cannon shot his
Mournfang, killing one more. My Grudge Thrower once again shot at his
Ironblaster, and once again the shot scattered, landing on his left-most Ogres
unit and doing just a few wounds. My Organ Gun again opened up on my opponent’s
left-most Ogres unit and inflicted 10 hits, dealing 6 or 7 unsaved wounds! In
combat, my Shieldbeards lost combat, but they were still steadfast, so they
held their ground. My Cannon actually won combat against his Sabretusk, but he
also passed his break test and ended up holding his ground.[/FONT]
[FONT=arial]OK3: His Mournfang charged—this
time successfully—the same Cannon they had unsuccessfully charged last turn.
His left-most unit of Ogres charged the flank of my Shieldbeards. His magic did
little, if anything, and his shooting succeeded in killing a few more Hammerers
and putting a single wound on my Organ Gun. In combat, his Sabretusk eliminated
my Cannon and reformed to face my Hammerers. His Mournfang killed my other
Cannon and then reformed to face my Hammerers as well. He won combat with his
Ogre units against my Shieldbeards, and despite my RoDetermination, I still
failed my break test (I was no longer steadfast), and ran, though the Ogres
were unable to catch them! I did need a 2 or less, so I wasn’t surprised…
Anyway, that was okay by me, because my Shieldbeards were almost sure to rally,
and my Warriors were set up for a beautiful rear charge on his left-most Ogres
unit![/FONT]
[FONT=arial] [/FONT]
[FONT=arial]D4: My Warriors charged his
Ogres. I was close enough that my opponent was afraid I’d actually have a
decent chance of catching his Ogres if they fled, so they braced for the
charge. My Warriors easily made the charge. My Shieldbeards rallied. In the
shooting phase, my Organ Gun again shot at the unengaged Ogres unit, but lost
the shot, fortunately without misfiring. My Grudge Thrower shot at the
Ironblaster and finally hit! but only rolled 2 wounds, failing to destroy it.
In combat, the Warriors slaughtered the Ogres! It was a beautiful thing to see!
Better yet, though, when they broke and ran, my Warriors pursued and caught
them![/FONT]

[FONT=arial]OK4: Both his Mournfang and
his Sabertusk charged my Grudge Thrower. It was a long charge for the
Sabretusk, but it still made the charge successfully. He moved up his
Leadbelchers again to shoot at my Hammerers, and he moved his remaining unit of
Ogres toward my Hammerers. He had the option of charging the flank of my
Warriors, but he didn’t think he’d kill enough to keep them from being
steadfast, in which case he could be sure of a flank charge on my turn by my
Shieldbeards. His magic phase was a resounding success! He cast The Maw with
Irresistible Force on my Hammerers, killing just a ton of them. (That’s one of
the bad things about the MRoGrungni, by the way: it only works against spells
defined as “magic missiles”, and since spells like The Maw are defined as “direct
damage”, the MRoGrungni provides no protection. Our army book is really
starting to show its age…) He did hit his own Mournfang, killing one and
putting a wound on the last one remaining. His caster took a single wound for
his trouble. During his shooting phase, he killed off the rest of my Hammerers
except for the command group with his Leadbelchers, and his Ironblaster
finished off my Organ Gun. In combat, my Grudge Thrower died, but not before my
remaining crewman and Engineer had a chance to attack back, inflicting another
wound on his remaining Mournfang.[/FONT]
[sharedmedia=gallery:images:11125]
[FONT=arial] [/FONT]
[FONT=arial]D5: My Warriors did a swift
reform to get into position to charge the surviving unit of Ogres. My intent
was to force his Leadbelchers to charge them with the MRoChallenge, but because
I failed to measure carefully before I finished my movement, they ended up not
being able to see my Warriors. Fail! Anyway… My Shieldbeards moved up on the
left flank. My Hammerers did a swift reform to face the Mournfang and
Sabretusk.[/FONT]
[FONT=arial] [/FONT]
[FONT=arial]OK5: Time was called for the
game, so this ended up being the last turn. Grr! So, my opponent moved up with
his not-charging-the-Warriors-with-Great Weapons-Leadbelchers to shoot at my
remaining Hammerers at close range. He was afraid to charge them, because it
was still a fairly long charge. If he didn’t make it, he’d have no chance to
finish them off. This way, he could still shoot. His Sabretusk and Mournfang
just moved to get out of my charge arc. He started to move his Ogres and
realized it wouldn’t matter at this point, so he just left them where they were
so that he could try to cast magic at me again. I shut down his magic, though,
and his shooting failed to do what he needed it to do. He actually misfired
with his Ironblaster, which was much appreciated, and then when he shot with
his Leadbelchers, I made all the saves I needed! It was fantastic! I couldn’t have
asked for better rolls. I think he did end up putting one wound on my Runelord,
but that was it.[/FONT]

[sharedmedia=gallery:images:11126]
[sharedmedia=gallery:images:11127]

[FONT=arial]The game ended there. We
counted up the victory points, and I won! For the scenario—and therefore, for
the tournament—I didn’t get many points. I think this game ended up a 2 to 7 in
my favor, which just wasn’t enough. It put me in 4th place overall,
so not bad. I couldn’t complain. My last opponent, though, had been crushed by
the WoC army that crushed me, so he ended up doing pretty badly in the
tournament overall. I felt a little bad for him, because he was obviously a
superior player.[/FONT]
[FONT=arial]There you have it, folks! I
hope you enjoyed the reports. I am getting better with taking pictures, and I
will continue to try to improve their quality in the future. Thanks for
reading![/FONT]

[FONT=arial] [/FONT]