Messages

1

Warhammer 40K / Re: Your Favourite Space Marine Chapter?

« on: Aug 19, 2012, 04:52:40 PM »

Out of the chapters in the most recent codex, I chose the Doom Legion for my paint scheme.  I liked the idea of a space-based chapter that wasn't the Black Templars, and I'm a complete fanboy for anything I can even tangentially relate to Victor Von Doom.

2

The Feeding Grounds / Re: Are you using the Hellheart anymore?

« on: Aug 09, 2012, 07:32:58 PM »

I don't play tournaments, so I usually know what I'm facing when I get into army building.  As a result, the Hellheart goes in when I face magic-heavy armies (High Elves, Lizardmen), but stays home against the Dwarfs.

3

Gnoblogs / Re: Ogres Run for the Border - A Campaign Gnoblog

« on: Aug 09, 2012, 07:30:21 PM »

Well, the last two campaign turns have taken six weeks and five weeks respectively to accomplish, which led me to call the gaming to a halt - especially since we're about to move across town.  The High Elves managed to squeak out a victory, though my beloved fat men were the only undefeated army. 

I'm of mixed feelings regarding the map-based campaign.  On one hand, it supported some real-world thinking about positioning and support of your fellow armies.  On the other hand, the skaven and the lizardmen fought each other ten times.  Moreover, the only army I did not fight - the skaven - were able to flee before the Ogre advance too easily and managed to get through 14 battle turns without having to fight me!

I think next summer's 40K camapign will use a map system like that in Galactic Empires, where you can fight anybody at any time.

4

Gnoblogs / Re: Ogres Run for the Border - A Campaign Gnoblog

« on: Jul 06, 2012, 11:50:18 PM »

Historian Gustav Priscus continues his chronicle of the Ogre advance here:

http://www.obsidianportal.com/campaign/border-conquest/adventure-log/the-mountain-breaks

5

The Feeding Grounds / Re: Tales of a Stonehonr: What have they done for you?

« on: Jul 03, 2012, 01:37:16 AM »

In truth, my Mournfangs have drawn most of the heavy artillery in my local group.  As a result, my Stonehorn regularly gets stuck in.  What I've found is that he's amazing in team charges.  With my group of six bulls, he adds the extra punch to get me one-and-done results in Close Combat.

Terror tests are also always nice.

6

Gnoblogs / Re: Ogres Run for the Border - A Campaign Gnoblog

« on: Jun 30, 2012, 07:59:11 PM »

Finally got my third battle in today - on Campaign Turn 14!

After two Massacres, the other armies started either shifting away from me or looking for alliances.  Meanwhile, on the far side of the map, the High Elves have been slowly chewing up their entire side.  I have, therefore, adopted a three-prong strategy to approach them from the North, South, and Center of the map to try and keep him from getting a massive number of support banners in a single battle.  The south was simple enough:  I have allied with the Lizardmen and the Skaven are, true to form, fleeing before my advance.  I already controlled the center of the map and have moved my HQ to Malko, meaning that new banners now spawn out of the center.  That just left the North, full of mountains and owned by the Dwarves.  Arranging my banners, I flung 3000 points of Ogres into Black Fire Pass and hoped for the best.

The best is exactly what I got.  I'll write up something longer, time permitting, but the bottom line is Massacre number three for my campaigning Ogres.  The Dwarves castled on one corner of the table and we were fighting Battle for the Pass.  Scouting Maneaters popped up far closer to him than he had anticipated, which disrupted his thinking.  When my Stonehorn and a band of Ogres led by my Firebelly pounded his Dwarf Lord and Hammerers (18 wounds to 3), he conceded the battle.  I am unconvinced the battle was lost for him, but the fun had gone out of it.

So my three avenues of approach are open and I hope to pull the South and Central advances into a single broad battle line before I get to the Elves.  Bonus:  The Skaven are caught between me the pointy-ears.

7

Stronghold News / Re: Games Workshop Reveals New Digital Products

« on: Jun 03, 2012, 12:10:58 PM »

I confess that I had a bit of sticker shock at the Codex price.  I wonder if they're thinking that the digital copy will end up in competition with the printed one.

8

Gnoblogs / Re: Ogres Run for the Border - A Campaign Gnoblog

« on: May 15, 2012, 07:43:39 PM »

I'm now stealing the honey-fangs idea. if you don't mind me asking what colours did you use?

~FS

Yay for Honey-fang proliferation!  My wife, who painted the 'fangs (The rest is my fault) says the following:

Chaos Black for the black...umm, yeah.

Top Stripe: Bleached Bone, Devlan Mud Wash, Light brushing up to white.

Horns and toes:  Scorched Brown and then some Game Color paints, whose labels have faded - closest to Graveyard Earth and Bleached Bone.

9

Gnoblogs / Re: Ogres Run for the Border - A Campaign Gnoblog

« on: May 15, 2012, 01:29:51 AM »

I love the honey badger mournfangs....now my wife has seen them I don't think I'll have a choice but to copy the idea

That's only fair as it was my wife who came up with the idea.  It came about when they killed 13 of 20 Dwarf Ironbreakers in a go, which bred many "Honey Badger don't care about your armor save" comments.

10

Gnoblogs / Re: Ogres Run for the Border - A Campaign Gnoblog

« on: May 13, 2012, 05:22:44 PM »

So I fought a great and terrible battle with the High Elves.  We were 3000 points a side, which meant that my Tyrant hit the table for the first time.  My list was:

-Tyrant w/ Fencer's Blades, Glittering Scales, Talisman of Protection, and Giantbreaker
- BSB w/ Standard of Discipline

Both these guys went with 6 Ironguts

- Slaughtermaster with Hellheart

Who went into a unit of 8 Bulls

- Firebelly with Dispel Scroll

Who had a unit of 6 Bulls

- 4 Mournfang Cavalry
- 4 Leadbelchers
- Stonehorn
- Ironblaster
- 2 Sabretusks
- Giant

I knew my opponent was already a little freaked out by the number of large models, so I took the Giant to increase his concern.  Turned out to be a great decision.

The high elves brought ALL TEH MAGICS!  Two Archmages, one with Shadow and one with High Magic, along with the Banner of Sorcery to help him make sure to get 10-12 dice per round.  Three Bolt Throwers and three Archer units were complimented by a block of 25 Spearmen (Archmage-General Here), 15 White Lions, and 20 Phoenix Guard (Other Archmage and BSB were here).  A pair of Giant Eagles were out to play redirect.

The first two turns were me trying to get over through the redirection and piles of arrows.  His bolt throwers rapidly reduced my Mournfangs from 4 to 2.  In the bottom of turn 2, the White Lions pulled off an amazing charge at my Stonehorn and hacked him to pieces.

Turns three and four saw the elven battle plan collapse.  The White Lions overran, but failed to close the distance to my Tyrant and his IG's, who charged right into them with an 11 on the dice.  4d3 Impact hits later, they weren't nearly as scary and the Tyrant's gang overran them and plowed into the Phoenix Guard.  My Giant, who had taken three turns to get across the field due to a failed charge, finally got into the Archers and proceeded to jump up and down.  Many elves got flatter that day.

At the end of turn 5, he conceded the battle when I had reduced him to his Archmage-General and the Spears.  Some lessons learned:

- Focused Dispelling.  I was determined to prevent Pit of Shades and Withering and managed my dispel dice to prevent them.  This meant that, over 4 turns of casting, I took 37 hits from Fury of Khaine (Those 2d6 were hot and Khaine was apparently fairly miffed).  However, Ogre toughness held out for me (So Khaine was miffed, but still hits like an elf). 

- Tactical Burning.  I stopped short with my Firebelly against the Spearmen and breathed fire rather than charge.  I combined that with a grapeshot blast from the Ironblaster and knocked that 25-elf strong unit to 12.  There are times to breathe in combat and times to stop and breathe at a distance.

- War Machine hunting.  My Sabretusks still have trouble getting to the far side of the table.  He used Archer units to eliminate them, which saved my other units from the bows for a turn, but S3 bows just aren't that big a deal.  I'm becoming a bit conflicted on Tusk utility (at least against HE).  In the end, it was the Ironblaster and the Mournfang Champ that drove the Bolt Throwers from the table.

So I'm 2-0 in the campaign now, with the other players rapidly withdrawing from wherever my fat men go.  While I'm enjoying the strangeness of being the mean kid on the block, my rep is costing me playtime!

The story of the battle in the larger campaign narrative is, as ever, at our Obsidian Portal Site:

http://www.obsidianportal.com/campaign/border-conquest/adventure-log/monster%E2%80%99s-ball

11

The Feeding Grounds / Re: What are our most glaring weaknesses?

« on: May 09, 2012, 01:38:16 AM »

I can perhaps grudgingly concede this point, but I would say that Ld, for example, is a weakness of all armies and is pretty much handled the same way--stay within range of the general and BSB.  Not exactly a glaring weakness in my mind, but perhaps I'm looking at it differently.

I think Ld 7 is a more significant weakness than, say the Dwarfs Ld 9 or 10. You're going to blow that Ld 7 test nearly half the time.  The fact that lots of armies do try to keep the bulk of their troops in the leadership bubble does not negate the fact that Ogres really must do so to avoid being panicked off the table.

The Leadership question is further complicated by model size.  Unless I drop my General & BSB behind my front line units, I have logistical difficulty placing and keeping more than three units inside that bubble: the unit frontage is just too big. 

12

Tales of Conquest / Re: The Ogre Stronghold's Official Record of Games

« on: May 08, 2012, 09:54:33 AM »

1. vs. High Elves
2. Ogre Kingdoms by a Massacre!
3. 2500
4. Low Point - White Lions charge and massacre my beloved Stonehorn.  High Point - in reply, my Ironguts (w/Tyrant and BSB) and my Giant wipe every elf off of the right side of the board in the next 1.5 turns.

13

The Feeding Grounds / Re: Are ogres a tactical army to use?

« on: May 01, 2012, 09:52:42 AM »

Herein lies the entire crux of the argument:  who controls the definitions controls the debate.  In this case, if you are saying reading the odds is the majority of tactical skill, then yes, I would agree that Warhammer is a tactical game.

Of course, I don't believe that such is the sum total of great strategery, and since Warhammer is at best a very vague impression of actual combat, I do not believe that tactical skill actually comes up that often.

I would say that reading the odds is the majority of tactical skill in Warhammer. 

For all that Fantasy units march in blocks, wheel, and have banners and musicians, there's precious little Napoleonic tactical activity going on.  All those guys winning tournaments with Dark Elves are not doing so because they turned a flank or executed an envelopment at just the right time - they're doing it because they've assessed the odds and figured when to roll a bucketload of crossbow shots and when to make their opponent take initiative tests. 

Not That There's Anything Wrong With That.  Those are the tactics of the game and it's the reason why Math-Hammer is useful as an exercise, but don't put your faith in it.  The caveat to the above statement is that the numbers game still relies on random number generators.  We only collect average rolls over the course of a few hundred die rolls, and none of those may come when you need them.

So where does that leave Ogres?  Hell yes we're tactical in the Warhammer sense.  Even Guthordes, who exploit the math in the same way the Russians exploited bloody math: "Quantity has a quality all its own."  Unless the author of the OP's whinging example is executing complicated maneuvers to try and break a line, he's probably playing the numbers game with the rest of us.

Moreover, I'd say we have the potential to be one of the more militarily tactical armies in WHFB.  MMU armies make a wide battle line that can press the opponent at several points simultaneously.  Mixing math with tactics, our beloved Mournfangs are one the only units in the game well-suited to the tactic of rolling up a flank:  Break a unit on the end of a line of multiple hordes and watch the conga line of panic begin.

Understanding how to do the above, understanding which units to pound and which units to shoot/breathe fire on, understanding target priority.  Without these skills, Ogres end up out of position and multi-charged to death.  With those skills...that "strong hand" we're using to push our boys around is going to come up and slap you in your face.

14

The Feeding Grounds / Re: To tyrant or not to tyrant, THAT is the question!

« on: May 01, 2012, 09:31:12 AM »

I run with the Slaughtermaster as the general until 3000, at which point the Tyrant hits the table.  The SM's +4 to Dispel is key for my local environment, where Grey Seers, Slaan, and Teclis are not strangers.

15

The Feeding Grounds / Re: How to use mournfang

« on: May 01, 2012, 09:28:12 AM »

In my last game, I think I had a glimpse of the (admittedly bleak) future for my Mournfangs as the High Elves poured four rounds of ranged fire into them from 3 archer blocks and 3 bolt throwers.  I lost 3 of the 4, leaving only my Crusher.

I won in a Massacre.

While it's a hard life, the Inter Nets have made all and sundry aware of just how horrible it is to get charged by Mournfang Riders, so we can expect them to take most of the shooting/magic/redirecting nonsense until they're off the board.  What I tried to do in that game is protect them from things that would have A) moved them out of position, or B) removed them from the table entirely.  They're tough enough to force a shooting army to use most, if not all of its shooting for several rounds to get close.  Rounds in which the rest of your army will get to explain why it hates to be ignored.

My recommendation is to keep sending them up the gut with 4 and a banner.  The effort to kill them will, hopefully, consume so many opposition resources that many of your other units will cross the table virtually unmolested.  If your opponents catch wise and try to adjust their strategy, then they attack the Mournfangs less...with predictable results on that, as well.

Keeping them near your general/BSB will make them last even in the face of concentrated firepower.

16

The Feeding Grounds / Re: Trash drops: use them or not?

« on: Apr 29, 2012, 09:49:46 AM »

It's attempting to force a reaction.  I prefer to try and get my opponent to react to me rather than my attempting to react to him.

Unless his units are right speedy, failing to set up something suitable in front of my combat blocks means that those blocks are through his line and in his flank come turn 3.

17

Gnoblogs / Re: Ogres Run for the Border - A Campaign Gnoblog (New Pics - Apr 28)

« on: Apr 28, 2012, 10:53:45 PM »

So, for those of you wishing to feel better about your painting skills, I present some of the new stuff I've been cobbling together for the campaign.

First is my new tyrant, a very mild conversion of Golgfag:



Second is my shiny new Ironblaster!



Finally are my "Honey Badger" Mournfangs, who have racked up over 70 models in the two games when they got into combat:



I've never been a master painter, but they're passable for the table.  Tomorrow, they face the High Elves!

18

The Feeding Grounds / Re: Trash drops: use them or not?

« on: Apr 28, 2012, 10:47:59 PM »

I have adopted a kind of 'reverse' deployment strategy, where i deploy my main units first, and then reactively deploy supporting units.

I like this.  If we deploy in a proper battle bubble, with good Ld support, then we force the enemy to react to what's coming.  You could then use support units to try and disrupt the opponent's counter-strategy.

19

Gnoblogs / Re: Ogres Run for the Border - A Campaign Gnoblog

« on: Apr 25, 2012, 05:47:29 PM »

Div'e, as a religious fanatic, is probably more wordy than the rest of his tribe.  On the other hand, I'd prefer to find a way to keep the Ogres from just being oversized Orcs, which is, to me, how a lot of the fluff portrays them.

20

Gnoblogs / Re: Ogres Run for the Border - A Campaign Gnoblog

« on: Apr 24, 2012, 08:00:31 PM »

Incidentally, for anyone interested in reading a far-too-long narrative of the above battle, you can check it and the other battle reports out at our Obsidian Portal site:

http://www.obsidianportal.com/campaign/border-conquest/adventure-log/the-sound-of-thunder

Thrill to the non-heroics of hapless Imperial Historian Gustav Priscus!

21

Stronghold News / Re: 103 Mournfangs Storm the South Coast GT

« on: Apr 24, 2012, 12:53:41 AM »

"There may come a day when the courage of Ogres fails and we forsake our bonds of hunger and fellowship.  But it is not this day!"

"Well, it might be - we are Ld 7"

22

Tales of Conquest / Re: Over the Weekend

« on: Apr 24, 2012, 12:51:51 AM »

Grey Templar has named that tune.

The other important thing in picking a point in their line and blowing it apart is the use of the combat reform.  It's not quite Napoleonic warfare, but rolling up a flank is a truly joyous experience in Warhammer.  Well, unilaterally, at least.

23

Thinling Realms / Re: 8th Ed victory points.

« on: Apr 24, 2012, 12:49:36 AM »

Our local Skaven player has been abusing the hell out of the new VP rules:  Keeping his hordes inside the Leadership bubble means that they rarely break until late in the game (once you've finally eliminated Steadfast) and they may not have fled the table come end of Round 6.  Very aggravating!

I'm hoping to stress test his theory with 4 Mournfang Riders and a Stonehorn.

24

The Feeding Grounds / Re: Trash drops: use them or not?

« on: Apr 24, 2012, 12:47:32 AM »

2 Sabretusks and an Ironblaster help me to see where the opponent is setting up.  I am expecting to play High Elves in our Border Princes campaign next.  I think I might drop in a Giant for a fourth drop.  He's mildly psyched out by the size of the models in play, so I figured it couldn't hurt to drop in something larger.

I'm still getting the hang of leaving enough room in deployment for my own battle line, though my Slaughtermaster and BSB now usually end up in a "Quarterback" position for a quality leadership bubble.

25

Gnoblogs / Re: Ogres Run for the Border - A Campaign Gnoblog (New Battle Report!)

« on: Apr 24, 2012, 12:42:49 AM »

My Ogres had their first actual battle of the campaign yesterday against my wife’s Lizardmen.  We were fighting for a crossroads that gave access to the only non-Difficult terrain that goes through the center of our map, so it was a case of “Winner gets to go pound on the High Elves!”  We both had one supporting banner, so our point total was 2750.

My own force consisted of:
- Slaughtermaster, Level 4 with Hellheart
- Bruiser, BSB with Standard of Discipline
- Firebelly, Level 2 with Dispel Scroll
- 6 Ironguts with Gutlord and Bellower (SM and BSB went here)
- 5 Ogres with FC (Firebelly went here)
- 6 Ogres with FC
- 4 Maneaters with 1 GW, 2 XHW, ItP, and Vanguard
- 4 Mournfang Cavalary with FC and Dragonhide Banner
- Ironblaster
- Giant
- Sabretusk
- Stonehorn
- Gorger

The Lizardman Army was:
- Slann, Level 4 with Lore of Fire, Cupped Hands, Plaque of Dominion, Higher State of Consciousness, Focused Rumination
- Skink Chief with Glittering Scales and Venom of the Firefly Frog
- Level 1 Skink Priest
- Level 2 Skink Priest with War Drum of Xahutec
- Level 2 Skink Priest with Dispel Scroll and Ruby Ring of Ruin
- Gor-Rok
- 19 Saurus Warriors HW and shield with FC (Gor-Rok went here)
- 18 Saurus Warriors with spear and shield FC
- 12 Skinks with Javelins and Shields (Priest with RRoR went here)
- 13 Skinks with Javelins and Shields (Chief and Level 1 Priest went here)
- 14 Skinks with Blowguns (Priest with War Drum went here)
- 4 Kroxigors with an Ancient
- 2 Bases of Jungle Swarms
- 2 Salamander Teams
- 7 Chameleon Skins with Stalker
- Ancient Stegadon

I’m staring down the barrel of a lot of poison and I did not pack any magical weapons this day.  Luckily, my Firebelly rolled up Flaming Sword, though I’m nowhere near confident in my ability to get that off.

My deployment, from Left to Right, was:
- Maneaters
- Ironblaster
- Firebelly and Bulls
- SM, BSB, and Ironguts (they were actually slightly behind the two bull units)
- Bulls
- Stonehorn
- Giant
- Sabretusk

I don’t recall the precise Lizardman deployment, but my left side of the board had two large groups of Skinks and the 18 Saurus.  The Kroxigors and Gor-Rok and his Saurus were in the center and my right was the Stegadon, the Swarms, and the Skinks with the Chief.  Her chameleon skinks went down right in front of my Giant and Sabretusk.  The Slann was near the center, behind the rest of the lizards.

Turn 1
Lizardmen get the first turn (She deployed first and we both had 10 drops).  I Vanguard my Maneaters forward along the left flank.  Her line makes a general advance, with the Skinks to my left jumping in a (for me) Difficult Terrain lake.  The swarms run right at my Stonehorn as frenzy bait, with Stegadon lying in wait.  She rolls low for magic but does manage to Wind Blast my Maneaters off the table (I could not find the rule that made the table edge impassable).  Shooting takes the turn from bad to worse as the Chameleon Skinks murder my giant in a hail of blowdarts and my Sabretusk thinks that’s not funny at all and hightails it off the table.  1 turn in and 450 points of my army have successfully left the table.  I am less than pleased.

However, the bottom of turn 1, I declare two charges.  Stonehorn rolls into the swarms and the Mournfangs make it to Gor-Rok and his Saurus.  Everyone else advances, with the Ogres and Ironguts marching and my Ironblaster maneuvering for a shot at the Stegadon.  My own magic also rolls low and the lizards readily dispel a Fireball and two spells from the SM.  Shooting is a bit better.  My Firebelly breathes fire on the Skinks in the lake and steam cooks seven of them.  The Ironblaster bounces into the Stegadon and knock two wounds off of him.  In close combat, the stonehorn wiped out the swarm on the Thunderstomp and overran into the Stegadon.  The Mournfangs pass Gor-Rok’s dangerous terrain test and kill 14 Saurus warriors.  In response they do a single wound.  They then proceed to roll snake eyes for the break test because they’re just that cool.  The Salamander, however, think what just happened to the swarms is kind of disturbing and head back towards their table edge to discuss it in private.

Turn 2
My wife, like my son before her, has learned to curse the name of Mournfangs (“Exactly how many times do you get to roll to kill my models?”) but is nowhere near done.  The Kroxigors charge the held Mournfangs and the Skinks shuffle around to get in better poisoning positions.  The Salamanders still think further discussion is needed and keep heading for the table edge.  My right flank vaporized on turn 1, so my right is now full of Skinks waiting for my Stonehorn to no longer be in combat.  Lizard magic gets their only Winds of Magic of the day that goes over six, but bad casting rolls mean they only get my dispel scroll for their trouble, stopping an Uranon’s Thunderbolt on my Ironblaster.  Close combat is a far nearer thing this go-round, as my Mournfangs manage to kill a few more Saurus and take out a Kroxigor, but are pummeled about the head and face by great weapons in the offing, losing a rider and taking two more wounds.  I come out barely ahead in the combat, but the lizards show no signs of breaking.  The Stonehorn knocks two more wounds off the Stegadon, who is unable to wound me back, but also holds with the Slann (also the BSB) keeping the lizard line steady. 

On my turn, for the first time in history, the Gorger comes on at his first opportunity and I drop him next to the fleeing Salamanders to get them off the table.  I charge the Firebelly and his Bulls and my second unit of Bulls at the Spear-Saurus, but only the Firebelly’s unit covers the distance.  My SM and the Guts move up and the Ironblaster turns to face the remant of the Skinks who got a fire breath.  My magic accomplishes precisely zip.  My Ironblaster fires a grapeshot blast that erases the damaged Skink unit from the table.  In Close combat, I lose another Mournfang, kill another Kroxigor, and kill all the Saurus who are not Gor-Rok.  The lizards continue to hold.  My Firebelly and Bulls manage to kill 5 Saurus to 3 wounds in return, but two ranks of Saurus ain’t breaking to one rank of Ogres.  Curse you, Steadfast!

Turns 3-5
My apologies for the summary, but I had to take a few days between writing, so the rest of this has gone into hazy old-geezer memory.  Some key moments of the remainder of the battle:

- My Butcher departed his unit to charge the remaining skinks on my left.  They flee the charge and amazingly failed to rally.  I used a Bonecruncher in turn 4 to ensure they never did.

- My Stonehorn finished off the Stegadon, got hammered by poisoned darts, backed the skinks on my right into a corner, then promptly died to a Dangerous Terrain test on the charge!

- I came out of the massive melee in the middle with one Mournfang Rider, who had a single wound to his name.  He picked up the pursuit of the Skinks who had fled from the Stonehorn and ran them down when they fled a mere 3 inches.

Lizards concede when they are left only with the Slaan on the table.  I had him surrounded, but Higher State of Consciousness meant that, unless I got my Flaming Sword spell off (which wasn’t happening), I was never going to hurt him.

All in all, a good day.  My third battle with 8th Edition Ogres and my third Massacre.  The other armies in the campaign are now trembling as we rumble across the map.  After 7 years of being a “Oh, so you play Ogres…huh,” it’s kind of weird to be the scary kid on the block.

Next up – pictures!