Empire takes on the Orcs

So, playing catch up on the battle reports.

This game was 2 weeks ago. I took:
lvl4: scroll light
W.priest: ha, sh (general)
W.Priest: Ha, 2hw
BSB: FPA, charmed shield, Opal amulet
46 Halberds: FC
49 Halberds: FC
5 freecompany detach
30 flagellants
10 xbows
5 pistoliers: m
2 cannons
mortar

He had:
Blackorc warboss: 4+ ward, CoCommand
BOrc bsb: stuff
lvl4 orc
lvl2, lvl1 gobbo mages. one with scroll
23 Orc boyz: fc
3x10 Savage orcs
2x5 wolf riders
6 trolls
2x2 gobbo chariots
pump wagon
2 mangler squigs
rocklobba
doomdiver



So we deployed (Dawn attack), and I got first turn.

Pistoliers having Vanguarded, (opponent opted not to) ninjaed their way into the line to shoot the pump wagon, threaten the Doomdiver, and hopefully not get squashed by trolls haha.
11 Powerdice later, but Flaggellants had double movement to keep his line back, one of the Halberds were unbreakable (his lvl4 loses concentration) and I get a 5 Dice pha's protection in place. So far, a good start to the turn.
Shooting however, my mortar explodes, then the cannon in the tower decides that it is in too good a position, so decides to explode as well. However, the other cannon, being the trend setter it is, blows up the pumpwagon. The pistoliers having nothing to shoot decide to test the regen of the trolls...it works. The xbows however decide that shooting really hard to hit stuff is their forte, killing 3 Savage orcs in the forest.


Turn 1 of the Orcs starts with the the trolls failing stupid (phew!)

The rest of his line stumbles forward. Magic has 8 dice on 8 dice. The Trolls get Hand of Gorked into the stupid forest (DOUBLE STUPID) to be within general's leadership range. A magic missile at the pistoliers gets dispelled and the foot is dispelled. His Doomdiver, sensing a threat from the pistoliers, squash 1 of them, while pha's protection stops the Lobba.

So Everything looks like this:

Turn 2


The flagellants sense a chance to get all in the orc lines with their double movement, but instead fail to roll a 6, so stumble forward instead. It was really sneaky too as the wheel would have avoided the mangler. Instead, the Sisters of Sigmar (freecompany) decide to get into the action and charge the wolfriders. Pistoliers move to position to charge Doomdiver (were not looking at it as more concerned with diverting the trolls if they charged). Nothing happens in the magic phase, well, banishment is dispelled. In the shooting phase, the remaining cannon decides that it would rather join its mates and explodes, leaving me with no easy longrange anti mangler stuff. Pistoliers shoot the air, and the xbows continue their sniper ways and kill another Savage orc. The sisters win the combat, but the wolves hold.

So the Orc Turn/ 2. The Savage Orcs, sick of being picked off by the xbows charge into the sisters. The mangler hits the flagellants and the halberds next to them killing 1 halberd and 5 flagellants. The Doomdiver kills another 4 flagellants, and the other wolfrider units sets up the trap on the flagellants with all the chariots ready to finish them off. Meanwhile the Lobba kills 7 halberds (11 wounds, 4 armour saves ftw). Magic is dispelled. Combat is fantastic for the sisters. They kill the remaining wolves and lots of the savage orcs who fluff big time, but hold.

Turn 3

So the flagellants decide to spring the trap. Wolves flee, flagellants roll a massive 2, and accidently dont spring the trap well enough (ie no flanks exposed as planned).

The pistoliers charge the doomdiver with hopeful overrun into the pesky lvl1. The rare guard halberds take it on the chin and 10 die subduing the Mangler. Magic phase sees pha's scrolled. Shooting sees the xbows test the regen on the trolls, getting 1 wound past the regen woot! In combat, the Pistoliers win by 2, but the doomdiver crew hold. The Sisters continue to be live up to their 25 points by killing another 2 Savage orcs, while 1 sister is squished.

So the Orcs get their 3rd turn to do their worst. The general and the trolls still hang back, along with the chariots...just waiting for a sweet target. The other unit of Savage orcs roll a 6 for animosity and rush in to beat up the sisters.

This obviously puts me in a very good position as his scary units are trapped behind a big road block. And I have lots of juicy flanks etc. I scroll headbutt on my lvl4 (hate that spell haha). His rocklobba then misses the BSB's halberds, and instead kills 7 of the other unit hehe. In combat, the Sisters realise their wrongs, lay down their arms and die as martyrs for the good of Sigmar. The traffic jam tries to unwind itself with overruns.
While all this is happening, on the other flank, his 3rd unit of savage orcs stop just short of the forest, scared to go in...who know what might be in there...

 
Turn 4

However the Empire is not scared of a mere forest, even one with a giant in it. I spotted this set up, that perfectly demonstrates why I love 8th ed risk management:

So, if I win combat (most likely) and break the Savage orc (who are in BSB/General range), I can POTENTIALLY overrun into the flank of the chariots for combat in the orc phase. The new reform rules mean I can then reform and get the general's stubborn unit in a sandwich. (ps in the pic, the flags have just ran over the other mangler). And for the record the forest rolled was #6, so yes, full of giants haha. I then IF time warp on the halberds, roll an 8 on the table, lose the rest of my dice, and the lvl4 and 1 of the W.Priests take a wound. The xbows fail to hit (mainly because the S.orcs were not in a forest, so easy to hit). Combat, well, 36 attacks, 14 wounds, 2 ward saves = no S.Orcs left alive. I over run into the chariot flank. All going to plan.

The Orc General, seeing the threat decides the best course of action is to charge into the BSB's halberds. This risky charge (re: range) fails. The s.orcs get out of the way and the Trolls move to support the orcs from the frontal charge. The chariots smash into the front of the remaining flagellants. 

Magic. In this crucial phase the lvl4 fails to cast the hand of Gork, which would have potentially moved the general's unit out of the trap. The "soon to be dead" rock lobba misfires in a panic. In Combat, the flagellants martyr 3, but die horribly, crushed by the weight of the chariots, a few wounds are inflicted as they went down however. The chariots overrun into the rare guard halberds. In the crucial combat, my halberds wipe out the chariots on the charge, reform to face the flank of the general's Orcs.



Turn 5.


The main action of this turn is best described in pictures. However, for the rest of the action, Pistols charge the rocklobba, wiping it out on the charge. xbows wipe out the remaining S.Orcs. I get an 11 Dice magic phase and get big phas and big timewarp up for the crucial combat. Anywho, the pictures...

That last picture shows an over run into the trolls and the lvl4-with an over run into the flank of the trolls.

We dont bother to play out the rest of the game.


So, a win for the Empire, and my opponent sent back to the drawing board to tweak his army. Lots of units was a good idea (all of them pack a hell of a punch!), but they got trapped on each other. Even if they had not, I suspect I would have picked off the easy points and potentially set up the same position.  HOWEVER it was this game that proved to me that a 2nd unit of free company was needed0and has been since added (re: the other battle reports have 2 units of free company)