Empire (Me) Vs Ogres (Tim)

Game Size: 750 points

Scenario: Open Battle

Restrictions: No Level 4s, No Magic Items

Edition: Warhammer The Old World 1.0

Month and Year: Apr 2024

Event: Escalation League at Mighty Meeple

Back to back games in the same day!  Unfortunately this game would not be near as close as my earlier Bretonnian game.  Additionally although Tim's list is not strictly legal (usually you need 1000 points before taking items like Mournfang Cavalry and an Ironblaster) we still played anyway - better to have games with painted minis than strictly follow a org chart in these friendly pick up games where the winner did not matter.

Empire:

• General w/ Great Weapon, Pistol, and Full Plate

• Captain with Full Plate and Battle Standard

• 5 Empire Knights with Command

• Roughly 30 Halberdiers with Command

• 10 Free Company as Detachment

• Level 2 Wizard of Pegasus with Daemonology

• 5 Outriders with Marksman with Blunderbuss and Musician

Ogres

• Ogre Mage (General) (Butcher)

• 2 Ogre Cav (Mournfang Cavalry)

• 8 Ogre Infantry

• 1 Ogre Cannon (Ironblaster)

Deployment

Another game day game on a very narrow board.  This board setup would actually prove disastrous for me this time as I could not adequately spread out.  The terrain setup was the same as the prior game and I deployed with my Halberdiers in the center again.  This time I placed my Knights on the left flank and placed my Outriders on the hill.  Attempting to hide my Wizard from the enemy cannon I placed him behind the ruins.

Tim's army in contrast was even more straight forward - with three units and a character he deployed with the Mournfang Cavalry on one flank and attempted to give his Ironblaster a commanding view of the field.

 First Turn

The first turn of the game went pretty poorly for me.  I didn't take many casualties from the Ironblaster but unfortunately my Knights were killed after they counter charged into the Ogre Mournfangs.  The disasterous combat permitted the Mournfang cav to overrun into my Outriders and I was effectively down two units within the first turn.  The rest of my army shimmied forward preparing for a big infantry throw down in the middle of the board.  Tim's ironblaster killed a single halberdier.

The Mid Game

Turn Two

Turn two ended up being a lot of maneuvering - Tim essentially mopped up the Outriders while I planned to forestall them with my Free Company detachment.

Turn Three

Understanding that I desperately needed to eliminate the Ogre Cavalry I moved my Wizard to support my Free Company - both units combined shooting and spell casting managed to eliminate one Mournfang and wound the remaining Mournfang - if I could eliminate the Mournfang unit I could stand an outside chance of winning the game.  In the middle of the board my Halberdiers charged into Tim's Ogres - but his casting of Toothcracker - which improves Toughness of a nearby unit was a catastrophe.

Really Tim's Butcher/Caster would absolutely dominate this game almost always getting his spells off each turn - this contrasted spectacularly with my Wizard who managed to do nothing most of the time.

End Game Summary and Lessons Learned

Ouch!  This game was painful - I had no answer for Tim's Mournfang Cavalry and that combined with his wizard casting tons of spells and mine rarely casting made for a quick but not competitive game.

1. Sometimes things do just not go your way and you will get stomped.

2. Units that are 0-X per 1000 points should probably not be used in less than 1000 point games - this game and my next one would make it obvious to me that some units just don't have decent answers at low points levels.

3. Toothcracker - Holy crap is that a good spell - although we may have played it incorrectly in our game - I think we had Tim casting it into combat and the duration lasting until his next player turn instead of just his current turn.  Regardless it is a very good spell.

Men of the Match

None really - my army got pounded into dust

Final Tally

• Empire VP: None

• Daemon VP: 2x Banners Captured, General Killed, All Units Except Wizard