WFB: Lizards vs. Ogre Kingdoms...

[Oddsod Blok'ed]

A 2,500 point game that was scheduled 2 weeks ago, played on a roughly 6' by 6' table.

Ogre Kingdom List:

Bruiser - Ironfist, Rock Eye, Siege Breaker.
Bruiser - General, Ironfist.
Butcher - Bangstick, two Tooth Gnoblars.
Hunter - Two Sabretusks, Long Strider.
7 Bulls - Light Armor, Ironfists, Full Command.
7 Ironguts - Full Command.
50 Gnoblars.
8 Gnoblar Trappers - Snarefinger.
4 Leadbelchers.
3 Yhetee - Greyback.
Scraplauncher.
Slavegiant.
Gorger.

Lizard List:

Saurus Oldblood - Sacred Spawnings of Quetzl, Tepok. Light Armor, Shield, Piranha Blade, Curse-Charm of Tepok, Glyph Necklace.
Saurus Scar-Veteran - Sacred Spawnings of Sotek, Tlazcotl. Light Armor, Shield, Great Weapon, Charm of the Jaguar Warrior, Talisman of Protection.
Level 2 Skink Priest - Diadem of Power.
Level 2 Skink Priest - Two Dispel Scrolls.
2 units of 12 Skink Skirmishers - Blowpipes.
2 units of 12 Skink Skirmishers - Javelins and Shields.
20 Saurus Warriors - Full Command.
9 Chameleon Skinks - Stalker.
4 Terradon Riders - Brave.
5 Saurus Cavalry - Full Command, Huanchi's Sacred Totem.
4 Kroxigor.
3 Salamander Hunting Packs.
Stegadon.

Terrain:

Using the Lustria chart and local terrain practice of one piece of terrain per 2' by 2' block on the board, the terrain on my side from left to right was a scatter of boulders, a swamp, then dense jungle. In the middle from left to right were more dense jungle, another swamp, then tall rainforest trees. On the far side from left to right were a hill, a temple, then another swamp.

The Ogre player won the roll for deployment and chose to set up first.

Ogre Deployment:

The huge Gnoblar unit was set out between the hill in ranks of what must have been something like 14-wide, and the temple with the Scraplauncher set behind it. The Yhetees were in front of them on their left flank and the Slavegiant was next to them. The Hunter was next to it. On the other side of the Temple the Bulls were in front, then the Ironguts behind them, with the Butcher off to the right of the Ironguts. The General was in the Bull unit, the other Bruiser in the Ironguts.

Lizard Deployment:

On the left side there were Terradon Riders, a Blowpiper unit, then the Salamander Packs. Then there was a gap in the line which corresponded roughly to the gap in the middle band of the board between the dense jungle and the swamp. The Javelineer units were set out in front, the Stegadon back somewhat from them. The Saurus Warriors were set next to the Swamp on the right side of it, with the Kroxigor and Saurus Cavalry set nearby, both angled roughly so that the line-of-sight arc from the Saurus Warrior unit would be down their fronts. There was also a unit of Blowpipers nearby. Remembering that Gnoblar Trappers were Scouts, I set one Skink Priest in the dense jungle to keep Gnoblars out, while the other followed the left-flank Blowpiper unit. The JSoD was nearby those Blowpipers as well, while the Oldblood was on the corner of the Saurus Warriors, roughly equal to the Ogre General.

Scouts:

He won the roll for Scouts and deployed the Gnoblar Trappers in the tall rainforest trees on the right side of the middle band of terrain pieces. My Chameleons were set in the swamp next to the Ironguts.

The Plan:

Being on the receiving end of an Ogre charge is right up there with playing Tag with a train. I left both major avenues of approach wide open and didn't want to contest them on open ground until Ogre numbers were cut down and their lines disorganized. Terrain favored me, as it usually does in the Lustrian chart. I figured on using the jungle/swamp terrain to hide groups of Skinks and the Salamander Packs while the Ogres had to either slog through open ground or through the very hindering terrain to get to my line units and Stegadon. The Terradons and JSoD were over where they were in order to chase off the Gnoblar unit and the Scraplauncher. The Scraplauncher was the reason why my Saurus Warriors were far away on the other side of the board - one good shot from that thing and I could lose a bunch of expensive Saurus Warriors. I originally planned on using Huanchi's Sacred Totem to get the Saurus Cavalry into the flank of a Bull or Irongut unit without a character on it, but that wasn't happening. It also occurred to me that I could use it to counter Gorger attacks, if the Gorger came up near to the Saurus Cavalry. The Chameleons were intended to slow down Irongut and Bull march moves while shooting them the whole time. The Curse-Charm was on the Oldblood to account for the possibility of him rolling a 6 on a Miscast - I also was expecting two Butchers.

He won the roll for turn order and chose to go first.

Ogre Turn 1: All units advance pretty much as far as possible, except for the Gnoblar Trappers. The Butcher casts Toothcracker on the Hunter over my Dispel attempt, but takes a Wound. He then casts Bloodgruel on himself, which I choose to let through, and he rolls a 1, then takes another Wound. Nothing happens in the Shooting Phase.

Lizard Turn 1: Stupidity passed. No charges. The lead three Skink units moved up into terrain, one group of Javelineers hanging back slightly. The Salamander Packs also moved into terrain, aiming for the Yhetees. The Chameleons moved out of the swamp, keeping pace with the Ironguts. The Terradon Riders and JSoD moved up quickly, angling for charges on the Gnoblars and Nothing happened in the Magic phase. In the Shooting phase my Javelineers killed one of the Sabretusks and wounded the other, also managing to put a Wound on the Hunter. Two Terradon Riders threw Javelins at the Gnoblars - I rolled a 6 and a 2, so one Gnoblar dropped. The Giant Bow hit the Slavegiant, but failed to Wound it. The Salamander Packs rolled two Misfires and a 10 - they killed 6 of their Handlers, but the one clear-headed Salamander incinerated two Yhetees. An acceptable trade, even though the Greyback passed its Panic test. The second Sabretusk also died this round, though I forget what killed it. The Chameleons opened up on the Ironguts and killed one outright while putting a wound on a second. This was also good - no Strength 5 Bull Charges from that unit.

Ogre Turn 2: The Gnoblar regiment failed its Animosity/Bickering roll. The Yhetee charged the Salamander Packs, while the Hunter charged the unit of Skinks in the Swamp. Both units chose to stand, with the Skinks passing their Fear test and choosing to Stand and Shoot. Even though he was about 6" away or so, he needed to cross about 4" of very difficult terrain - locally, if not book-wise, this means I would be able to Stand and Shoot. Despite needing 5s to hit, they did something like 4 Wounds to the Hunter - it failed its Armor Saves and died. The Gnoblar Trappers moved out of the trees towards the Chameleons, while the surviving units moved up past their dead. He rolled a 4 for the Gorger's showing up and it came in behind my Saurus Warriors, moving up to within about 1" of them. In the Magic phase Bloodgruel restored a Wound to the Butcher. The Scraplauncha fired at my Skinks hiding in the Swamp - up in the other player's home town, evidently, it's allowed to fire over an interceding Gnoblar unit. I don't remember if this is in the Ogre Kingdom book or not. In any event, the shot was about 2" too far, then it deviated - right over part of the Ogre Bull unit! Two partials and one Wound were made, while the Skinks weren't even endangered by the shot. The Yhetee wounded a Salamander twice and despite that I got three hits on it, I failed to wound it with any of the Salamanders. They failed their Break test and ran 8", but the Yhetee only ran 6". My Blowpipers and Priest both passed their Panic tests - that Greyback wasn't going to last another round, whether or not I rallied the Salamander Packs.

Lizard Turn 2: Stupidity passed again. The Skinks in the swamp passed their Terror test caused by the nearby Slavegiant. The Terradon Riders charged the Gnoblars, while the JSoD charged the Scraplauncher. The Salamander Packs rallied. The Stegadon turned to face the Gorger, hoping for a good Giant Bow shot and some magical support from the Priest in the jungle nearby. The Blowpipers in the dense jungle near the boulders moved down to get a line on the Greyback, while the Blowpipers on the other side of the board moved up to the edge of the trees that the Gnoblar Trappers had just vacated. The Chameleons moved up, trying to stay at the edge of the Butcher's charge range while also march-blocking the Ironguts and Ogre Bulls. Magic saw the Skink Priest zap the Gorger for three Wounds. The Giant Bow promptly missed it. Despite this, I wasn't overly worried. The Ogre Bulls were still too far away to get in a Bull Charge in the front while the Gorger attacked to the rear - he couldn't afford to wait much longer with the Gorger, since either my Priest would zap him, the Giant Bow would gig him or the Stegadon would just plain run it over. My Skink Javelineers in the swamp put five Wounds on the Slavegiant, one short of killing it. The Blowpipers on the left killed the Greyback in a hail of poisoned darts. The Blowpipers on the right shot three Gnoblar Trappers in the collective back, Panicking the unit. The Ogre player chose to flee with the Scraplauncher, as he knew my Scar-Veteran was carrying a Great Weapon and was Strength 7 (he had a Lizardmen book for reference material - I saw him checking it during the game.) The Terradon Riders, on the other hand, killed five Gnoblars - just enough to win combat, which is usually all it takes with unsupported Gnoblars. Unsurprisingly they failed their Panic test and ran, then were run down by the Terradon Riders.

Ogre Turn 3: With both Gnoblar units either running or dead there were no Bickering rolls to be made. The Slavegiant charged the unit of Javelineers that had moved up in the previous turn. The Gorger charged my Saurus Warriors, which passed their Fear test after choosing to Hold. The Skinks chose to Flee and easily got away. The Leadbelchers moved up to fire on my Javelineers in the swamp, with the Ironguts moving over to charge in as well in the next turn, the Bulls moving up. The Butcher was moving so that it could see my Chameleon Skinks, but he never charged with it - I pointed this out to him after the game. The Gnoblar Trappers and Scraplauncher failed to rally. He cast Trollguts on the Ironguts and I Dispelled the Bangstick. The Leadbelchers put out 14 shots against my Skinks and had one Misfire - he rolled a 6 for number of Wounds and suffered three. He also killed three Skinks in the ensuing lead barrage, though they passed their Panic test. At this point the question arose of whether Leadbelchers take Panic tests for blowing themselves up - someone needs to answer that one, since I don't know offhand. I was willing to account for a 4+ roll that they would need to take one, but the Ogre player rolled it anyway and they failed it, running 3" from the smoldering Ogre carcass. In close combat the Gorger failed to Wound any of my Saurus Warriors and one of the Saurus cut down the Gorger in one hit, as it had already taken 3 Wounds. I didn't bother with Overrunning to the rear.

Lizard Turn 3: Stupidity passed again. The Terradons charged the fleeing Leadbelchers after passing their Fear test - like I was going to let them get away that easily and come back to blast my units apart. Since the number of Ogre units was rapidly diminishing there were no other charges. With the Gorger dead there was no need for the Stegadon to face that direction, so it turned to face the Slavegiant. The Javelineers in the swamp, staring at the Ironguts, decided that discretion was the better part of staying alive, so they retreated to the point where they could see the Slavegiant. The Blowpipers, Salamander Packs and Skink Priest on the left moved towards the right as quickly as possible, aiming to get back into the fray. Nothing happened in the Magic phase. In the Shooting phase the retreating Skinks shot the Slavegiant in the back and killed it - it didn't fall on anything, despite being neatly positioned between two Skink units. The Stegadon, its main target removed, instead shot the unit of Bulls with the Giant Bow - it kebabbed the wounded Ogre, then failed to hurt the next. The Blowpipers on the right, wanting insurance, shot another Gnoblar Trapper. The Chameleons moved up and shot the Bulls instead of the Ironguts - I believed they killed one more, though the Ogres passed their Panic Test.

Ogre Turn 4: No charges this turn, I don't believe. The Scraplauncher fled off the table, while the Ironguts and Bulls moved up towards my Saurus Warriors - he still had enough troops and characters on the board to make a game of it. The Gnoblars still didn't rally, while the Butcher failed to do much in the Magic phase - I'd kitted out my Priests to take on a pair of Butchers instead of just one.

Lizard Turn 4: Stupidity passed again, though barely. By now the Kroxigor and Saurus Cavalry were perpendicular to the tall rainforest trees, just waiting to annihilate anything that came down that avenue. The Terradon Riders flew up and landed behind the Bull unit - the Ironguts faced away from them as well - while Javelineers and Chameleons moved toward it and the Stegadon lumbered forward slightly. In the Magic phase I didn't do much. The Javelineers, Chameleons and Stegadon all poured fire into the Bull unit, killing two of them - they promptly failed their Panic test and, lacking anywhere else to go (they were practically surrounded) ran forward.

Ogre Turn 5: The Gnoblars still didn't rally, but the Bulls did, though now they were about to confront a gang of monsters and Saurus Warriors. The Ironguts moved up. Braingobbler made the Chameleon Skinks Panic and start running.

Lizard Turn 5: Stupidity passed by a ridiculously wide margin - it had been very nearly failed twice, though now the presence of a fat target evidently made the Cold Ones smarten up. Half of my army charged in against the Bulls - the Stegadon and Saurus Warriors to the front after the Saurus passed their Fear test, while the Kroxigor and Saurus Cavalry hit in the flank, which unfortunately was where the Bruiser was. This was not going to be nice. The Terradon Riders, seeing the Ironguts standing next to them, had two options - charge the Bulls, or the fleeing Gnoblar unit. If they chose the Bulls and failed the Fear test, which was likely as they were far from the Oldblood, the Ironguts would shred them next turn. So they instead charged and ran down the still-fleeing Gnoblar unit, which also got them out of the way of the Ironguts. The Salamander Hunting Packs and Javelineers moved up, though they were careful to stay out of the Ironguts' charge range. The Chameleons failed to rally. In the Magic phase I finally got around to dispelling Trollguts. In the Shooting phase I rolled an 8 and two 10s for my Salamanders - this Hellstorm did 8 Wounds to the Ironguts, though the Bruiser was unharmed, and killed three of them. The nearby Chameleons poured into them as well, but didn't do anything. They passed their Panic test, but this meant that now instead of a full-sized Mordor Troll Wannabe unit I only had to face off with one of them and a Bruiser. In Close Combat the Stegadon did two Wounds with Impact hits, then killed the Ogre it had just Wounded, while the Skinks in the Howdah jabbed another Ogre for a successful Wound. The Oldblood put all of its attacks on the Bruiser, Wounding the monster once through its Armor Save - with the Piranha Blade, this amounted to two Wounds. Then the Kroxigor attacked the Bruiser, which is all they could hit, and did 2 or 3 more Wounds, enough to kill him in conjunction with the Wounds the Oldblood had just done. The one Saurus Cavalry in base contact didn't do anything, as usual. The Saurus Warriors then did four more Wounds, bringing down another Ogre, though not quite enough to wound the last one. That one attacked my Saurus Warriors, but failed to Wound any of them. It broke - since the Irongut unit was standing behind where the one surviving Bull would have run, I didn't want to pursue with everything. I sent in the Stegadon and it ran down the last Bull, but the Kroxigor and Saurus Cavalry chose to pursue anyway after I failed both Leadership tests. The Saurus Warriors succeeded in restraining.

Ogre Turn 6: The Irongut-and-Bruiser charged the Saurus Cavalry, which fled 16", then they redirected into the Stegadon, which fled 9" and got away. I didn't know what that other Bruiser was carrying, but I was in no mood to be hit by a Bull Charge at this point. Nothing happened in the Magic phase.

Lizard Turn 6: The Terradons charged the Butcher after passing their Fear test and the Kroxigor charged what was left of the Irongut unit. With nothing else to do my shooting units and the Skink Priest retreated to secure table quarters. In close combat the Terradon Riders did one wound to the Butcher and the Butcher did one to a Terradon Rider. It tied. Three Kroxigor chose to hit the Bruiser, since I knew the thing had 4 Wounds and Toughness 5. I got something like 6 hits and 5 Wounds, enough to crush the Bruiser. The last Kroxigor failed to hit the Irongut. The Irongut's counterattack killed one Kroxigor, but then he failed the Break test and was run down.

At this point the game ended - I had lost one Kroxigor and three Skink Javelineers to enemy action, plus the Chameleons were running at the end of the game. Six Skink Handlers had died because of the Misfires in the second turn. All that was left on the board on the Ogres' side was one heavily wounded Butcher - everything else was dead or had fled the board. The Ogre player said that this was the first game he had lost with the Ogre Kingdoms - he had beaten two other Lizard armies and one Vampire Count army in the county he lives in.

Massacre on behalf of the Lizards.

DEATH TO THE FAT BASTARDS!

[Brass Monkey]

Good Job. The ogres amy be tough, but they are far from unbeatable.

Way to play to your strengths!

I look forward to my all skirmish army getting eaten by an ogre kingdoms army at the tournament in June.