Tuesday 15 May 2018

Hordes of the Things - Ratmen vs Dwarves, Round 2

Our latest Monday evening game of Hordes at The Stronghold Gaming Club was a rematch for my Ratmen Vs Kev's Dwarves. It was a darn close run thing as the Ratmen almost took down the Dwarves. At one point both armies were down to 14AP (12 AP and you lose).

Dwarves:
Hero General 4AP x1
Trolls - Behemoth 4AP x1
Ogres - Behemoth 4AP x1
Dwarven X Bows - Shooters 2AP x1
Dwarven Warriors - Blades 2AP x5

The Dwarves got to defend so had a Stronghold.

Ratmen:
Joolius Cheezer - Magician General 4AP x1
Spears 2AP x2
Shooters 2AP x2
Warbands 2AP x6

We dice for randomised terrain. This time we got a couple of patches of woodland and a couple of Hills.

Both armies advance towards each other in good order. Bad going on both flanks narrow the battlefield.

The Dwarves allied Ogres are lured into an ambush by plucky Ratmen snipers and cut to pieces in the woods!


Confusion abounds as the battle lines break up and it's every Rat or Dwarf for them self!


Both armies are disordered and down to half strength.
The Dwarves hero General stepped into the fray and saved the day for his army, organising a critical counter attack that broke the remaining Ratman army.
The Ratman general, Joolius Cheezer was mostly ineffective. His recent spell as an amphibian must have sapped his confidence!


The dead units pile up on both sides.


The Dwarves remain undefeated but this was a pyrrhic victory.

Wednesday 2 May 2018

Hordes of the Things - ongoing games at The Stronghold

Since November 2017 Kev Stillyards and I have been playing semi regular games of Hordes of the Things at The Stronghold Gaming Club, Hessle Road, Hull.

We meet most Monday evenings between 7pm and 9pm and usually manage to get a game in. I had diaried some of our games and thought it worth recording.


6th November 2017
Dwarves vs Lizardmen 
Our first match, Kev took the Dwarves and wiped the floor with the Lizardmen. The Dwarves are always a tough army but the Lizardmen fared particularly badly.

5th December 2017
Steppe Goblins vs Ratmen

11th December 2017
Savage Orcs vs Eastern Empire
Kev's first outing with his Savage Orcs. The Empire's Knight General overextended himself (as usual) and got killed off fairly quickly. Win for the Orcs.

Orc Warhorde:
Orc General (Orc King in Chariot) @ 4AP (1);
Flyers (Bat Swarm) @ 2AP (x2) ;
Artillery (Bolt Thrower) @ 3AP (1) ;
Beasts (Wolves) @ 2AP (1) ;
Shooters (Orc Archers) @ 2AP (x2) ;
Hordes (Orc Warriors) @ 1AP (x5) ;
Behemoth (Troop of Trolls) @ 4AP (1);

This is pretty much the by-the-book army list from HotT 2.0.
It has a three heavy units (Hero, Behemoth and Artillery) plus Aerials and Beasts supported by massed Hordes and a couple of Shooters.
The Orcs were defending so got a Stronghold too.

Opposing them I brought out my Eastern Empire for a re-match.
They had fared very badly on their last outing.

Eastern Empire:
Knight General @ 2AP (1);
Iron Dragons Cataphracts (Knights) @ 2AP (x2);
Red Griffons Heavy Cavalry (Riders) @ 2AP (x3);
Varangian Dwarves (Spears) @ 2AP (x2);
Empire Levy (Shooters) @ 2AP (x4);

These are my Fantasy Byzantines with an impressive mass of Knights and Heavy Cavalry backed up by some useful infantry.

For the last couple of games we have been dicing for terrain placement. The defender chooses a piece of terrain then we dice to see which quarter or players choice for where it goes. For this game we got a large wood on the attackers left flank and a small wood on the defenders left flank.

The Orc defenders lined up across the board. Their Hordes lined up on the left around their artillery. Their Shooters, Wolves, Bats, Trolls and General line up on their right.

The Empire formed up in a single phalanx of four ranks; Cavalry, Knights, Shooters then Spears bringing up the rear.



Early in the game. The Orcs have lost both their Bats to an overconfident sortie against the Empire shooters. The Empire has lost a unit of Heavy cavalry to the Orcs fearsome Artillery. The Orcs are holding the line while the Empire advances.

29 January 2018

Savage Orcs vs Dwarves

Win for the Dwarves. My first win since we started playing.

5 February 2018
Black Orcs vs Savage Orcs
I can't recall this game at all, no idea who won.


19 February 2018
Savage Orcs vs Eastern Empire
We played two games. Kev's Savage Orcs won the first battle when my Empire general rashly tried to tackle the trolls on his own. As that game finished rather quicker than expected we had a rematch.

The Empire reorganised and put their strong cavalry front and centre with the infantry (bows supported by spears) on either flank.
The Empire infantry managed to hold off the Orc's Trolls and Bats while the Empire cavalry rolled over the Orc Shooters in their centre.


Aftermath of the second battle. Once the Empire cavalry hit the Orc's center it was all over. The Knights are still in reserve here keeping their General safe!

12 March 2018
Savage Orcs vs Ratmen
Win for the Rats.


9 April 2018
Lizardmen Army of the Basilisk vs Dwarves

I tried remodelling my Lizardmen army. The Basilisk is a magic using monster with lots of fast moving little legs and a petrifying magic gaze. If you have the Pip’s to spare this gives it a range attack. I never got enough Pips so the Basilisk did not really contribute to the battle. The Dinosaur Riders got away from their support and cut down by the Dwarven Blades. With their best units gone or out of reach there was not a lot the main body could do once they contacted the Dwarves.

Army of the Basilisk
Lizard King - Blades General 2AP
The Basilisk - Magician 4AP
Dinosaur Riders - Behemoth x2 8AP
Brontosaur riders - Knights x2 4AP
Lizardmen - Hordes x6 6AP

Win for the Dwarves.

23rd April 2018
Ratmen vs Dwarves
My Ratmen vs Kev's Dwarves. The Dwarves remain undefeated, the Ratties had a very bad night of it, their Magician general Joolius Cheezer distinguished himself by rolling two ones in succession and inadvertently turned himself into a frog. Good game!

30th April 2018
New Reformed Dwarves vs Savage Orcs.
My New Reformed Dwarves vs Kev's Savage Orcs produced a fun game. The Dwarves remain undefeated, but they did not win! We had to stop the game as the shutters were coming down and the store was closing.

The Dwarves had pushed through the Orcs centre but then faced a second line of revived Hordes pouring out of the Orcs stronghold. Also the Orcs had mobile units of Beasts and Bats behind the Dwarves flanks.

Both sides had an artillery piece so we checked the rules and found we had been playing them wrong all this time. Artillery only shoots in its own bound and not if it has moved. This made a significant difference but better balanced as a unit.
Also we tried a unit of Sneakers for the first time. These acted as fast Blades and should have provided useful support to the Shooters except they ran away!

Amalgamated Union of Dwarven Ironworkers (AUDI)
t'Gaffer, the Iron Master - Blades General x1 = 2AP;
Forge Brethren - Blades x4 = 8AP;
Dwarf Stokers - Spears x2 = 4AP;
Dwarf Riveters - Shooters x2 = 4AP;
Engineers & Boiler Makers - Artillery x1 = 3AP;
Flying Pickets - Sneakers x1 = 3AP;
Alternative
Red Sven, Shop Steward - Cleric x1 = 3AP


The Crunch! Orcs and Dwarves clash in the centre.


Trolls and Orcs battle Dwarven shooters on the flank.