Empire vs Goblins

Empire (Me) Vs Goblins (Kris S.)

Game Size: 500 points

Scenario: Mountain Pass

Restrictions: No Level 4 casters, No Magic Items

Edition: Warhammer The Old World 1.0

Month and Year: Mar 2024

Event: Preparation for Escalation League at Mighty Meeple

With my last game against Kris ended quickly (really only three turns) we decided to take a quick break for lunch and then roll into a grudge match - this time we would run a new scenario - Mountain Pass and play with same armies - hopefully having a more competitive game.

Same list as last game:

Empire Captain with Full Plate, Pistol and Greatsword (General)
23 Halberdiers with Command
6 Free Company
5 Empire Knights with Command
5 Outriders with Marksman with Grenade Launching Blunderbuss

Kris also used the same list:

10 Goblin Archers
~20 Goblins with Spears and Shields
~20 Goblins with Spears and Shields
Goblin Big Boss
Goblin Shaman
5 Wolf Riders
1 Goblin Wolf Chariot

Deployment and First Turn

With the first game being too much a landslide victory - Kris and I reracked and played Mountain Pass. You setup on a narrow board and fight a hectic battle on short width. The scenario always makes me think of the Spartans fighting the Persians at the Hot Gates - a desperate fight with limiting terrain with one army vastly outnumbered. In this case Kris's army was the Persians and the troops of the Empire were the Spartans.

This isn't the deployment picture . . . but rather the end of the first turn - like an idiot I forgot to take a deployment picture.

Kris has deployed his archers on the left flank and filled the center of his board his goblin blocks. His right flank is anchored by his chariot and cavalry (wolf riders).

Arrayed against him I deployed my Outriders on the left flank thinking I could move them up while being shielded from the rock outcropping and then advance my infantry up the middle. I deployed Knights on the right flank in order to counter Kris's maneuverability.

During the first turn both armies shambled forward - my Outriders did manage to gun down three goblins and force them to fail a panic test forcing them to eventually flee of the board.

Mid Game

Turn Two

Having eliminated the Goblins with Bows with the Outriders, the Outriders started firing on the goblin unit with characters - killing enough to cause a panic check but buoyed by his large amount of friends the Goblin Big Boss steadied his courage and the unit held. High off of their success in the prior game the Knights charged the Goblins devoid of characters in an attempt to dislodge them from the Hill - this would leave the entire flank open to be exploited by Wolf Riders and the Chariot - however with the "Wolfsbane Chargers" free company destroying both units last game I was not too concerned about the flank being open.

On Kris's turn he finally managed to get a few spells off - you'll notice the halberdiers were down about 7 men due to a combination of Wind Blast and Summon Elemental Spirit. This was a huge upgrade for him considering that his wizard did nothing noteworthy in the prior game. He also moved his Chariot and Wolf Riders up the flank.

Here you can see one of the example Magic cards I put together for the lores of magic. If you would like a copy I am having a few sets printed. You can message me on Steam, Discord, or email if you would like a set - I'll give you a quote or sell you any extra sets I have lying around.

Turns Three and Four

Man, I did not take enough pictures and only have one picture for the rest of this game. So I'll describe what happened for this picture and then cover the rest in a later section. Basically three major developments occurred:

The Knights defeated the Goblins on the hill top and ran them down.
The Goblin wizard managed to destroy the free company with spells (I think it was Wind Blast that got them).
The remaining Goblin block charged, won combat, and pushed back the halberdiers - but Sigmar blessed their leadership role and they only gave ground.

The Outriders also managed to chip away at the Wolf Riders but they were close enough to use the warband leadership of the Goblin Big Boss and did not panic.

At this point the game looks almost evenly balanced - if the Goblins could eliminate my Halberdier block it could be a very close game indeed!

Late Game

No pictures here as I forgot but the game had a few more hilarious moments.

The Chariot would charge the Knights in the rear, not cause a single wound, then be defeated and chased down. We actually had to ask another table if you could pursue a defeated enemy if they rear charged you and you still won - it turns out you can.
The Goblins would reduce the Halberdiers to less than 25% of their original unit strength but never broke them.

End Game and Summary

This was a much better game - more enjoyable for both players and much closer than my last. The wizard doing much more damage was a clear example of how much spell selection matters to wizards and how variable magic can be game to game - clearly impactful but occasionally a full on dud like it was the game before this one.

Men of the Match

Definitely the Knights - defeating another Goblin Regiment and Chariot after being charged in the rear was a clutch in this game and saved the game from being a draw or worse. With a four game tally of: Bretonnian Knights of the Realm, 2x Regiments of Goblins, and a Goblin Wolf Chariot I decided to nickname these guys the Lanceguard of the Reik.

Final Tally

Empire VP: Chariot, Goblin Infantry Regiment, Goblin Bowmen, One Banner Captured
Goblin VP: Free Company detachment; 25% of Halberdiers (Each enemy unit that has been reduced to less than 25% of its starting Unit Strength at the end of the battle is worth a number of Victory Points equal to 25% of its points cost (rounding fractions up).

Lessons Learned

Wolf Chariots Need More Than One In a Unit - a single wolf chariot is not able to punch above its weight class - they should probably be in units of two or more.
Wind Blast - Wind blast is good . . . and probably the best spell in the Elementalism lore. Highly recommend taking it if you roll it.

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