Alan returns to Warhammer - 1000 pts Orcs V. Empire

[Noble korhedron]

Hi all!! My friend Alan McLoughlin was wanting to try out Warhammer after years out of the game - and luckily for him who was already playing it - well me of course!! And so came last Tues. 3 weeks(16.03.2010) when me and Alan faced each other over a standard 6x4' board in the gaming room provided by GAMERS WORLD of Jervis St, Dublin 1. We were each playing 1000 pts armies, me with Empire, and Alan with my Orcs and Goblins. The army lists were as follows:

EMPIRE:
Player: Robert Tedders
Race: The Empire (Men)
Army: The Schlacthausen Relief Force
Points: 999 pts

Character(s):
Fr. Gottfried March with h’ weapon, great weapon, the Armour of Meteoric Iron and the Sigil of Sigmar. 134 pts

Character(s) total: 134 pts.

Core:
10 Crossbowmen with h’ weapons and crossbows. 80 pts
20 Spearmen with h’ weapons, spears, l’ armour, shields and full command. 140 pts
Detachment: 10 Halberdiers with h’ weapons, l’ armour and halberds. 50 pts
10 Huntsmen with h’ weapons and bows. 100 pts

Core total: 370 pts

Special:
20 Greatswords with h’ weapons, greatswords, full plate’ and full command. 230 pts
Detachment: 10 Free Company with 2 h’ weapons. 50 pts
1 Gt. Cannon and 3 crew with h’ weapons. 100 pts
6 Pistoliers with brace of pistols, l’ armour and Musician. 115 pts
Special total: 495 pts

Alan used the following army, of which I provided everything:
Army: Rotgutz’ Ladz
Race: Orcs & Goblins
Player: Robert Tedders
Points: 988 pts

Character(s):
B’ Orc Big Boss Gorfang Rotgut with choppas, h’ armour, shield, Warboss Uum’s Best Boss ‘At and Martog’s Best Basha. 136 pts
Orc Shaman Wurrzag with choppa, Lv.2 and 2 Dispel scrolls. 150 pts

Character(s) total: 286 pts

Core:
10 Orc Arrer Boyz with choppas, l’ armour and bows. 60 pts
19 Orc Boyz with choppas, extra choppa, shields and full command. 177 pts
25 Night Goblins with h’ weapons, spears, shields, Netters, 2 Fanatics and full command. 205 pts

Core total: 442 pts

Special:
2 Spear Chukkas, each with 3 Goblin crew an Orc Bully. 80 pts
1 Spear Chukka with 3 Goblin crew and an Orc Bully. 40 pts
1 Orc Boar Chariot with scythed wheels and 2 crew with choppas and spears. 80 pts

Special total: 200 pts

Rare:
1 Stone Troll with h’ weapon. 60 pts

Rare total: 60 pts

The Battlefield:
The battlefield was a standard 6'x4' hardboard, covered in a glued down GW Battlemat. It had a hill in my table half, an hill in Alan's table half, and two woods, each set in his third of the table, which roughly divided the table into equal sections if you drew a line through the woods(i.e. [table edge]2' - wood - 2' -wood - 2'[table edge].

I deployed first, gradually setting up my army to take advantage of the terrain, the missile troops and Gt. Cannon on the hill. while the combat units lined up in front of them. From left to right it went Pistoliers, Greatswords(accompanied by my Warrior Priest general) & Detachment - Huntsmen(behind one of the woods) - Spearmen & Detachment
The opposing Orcs lined up as follows(from left to right): Boar Chariot - Stone Troll - Orc Boys(accompanied by the B'Orc general) - Orc Shaman(on his hill) - Arrer boys(on his hill) - warmachines(on his hill) - Night Goblins(accompanied by Netters and 3 Fanatics)

Opening Gambits - Turns 1-2
Turn 1
I generously forfeited first turn, so the Orcs got to advance first. Everything but missile troops moved, but the Orcs suffered 3 kills from the Big Boss on a failed animosity roll - ouch!! The Shaman failed miserably to do any damage, but the Spear Chukkas killed 3 Spearmen and 2 Greatswords, which was the equivalent of nearly the cost in enemy models on the first turn of one of their own number - not bad!!
The Empire's turn 1 began well, although the movement released 3 Fanatics, one of which unfortunately Alan declared was going to target the Huntsmen in the woods ahead. As soon as it died, I told him why. He sent the other two more towards his left flank and a possible move into my Greatswords later on. The Greatswords began to move around the wood, while the missile troops and cannon killed 1 Goblin crewman and some Boyz between them.

Turn 2
The Orc's Turn 2 was mediocre, as the Arrer Boyz rolled "Waaagh!" for animosity, and the Night Goblins chose teo squabble rather than advance. The Shaman kills half the Greatsword's Detachment with Gaze of Gork while the spear chukkas do nothing.

Turns 3-4 - Let combat commence!!
Turn 3
The Night Goblins were forced to Waaagh! and charge my skirmishers, which fled - unfortunately this panics the Greatswords and their Detachment, who in turn cause Panic! in the Crossbowmen. The Night Goblins are slowed down by the woods, effectively taken out of the fight for the next couple of turns due to the difficult terrain. The Boar Chariot and Troll charge the flank and front of the spearmen respectively, while the Spearmen's Detachment counter-charges the Troll in the flank, thereby hopefully negating any damage he does by wounding him in return. The Orc Boyz are out of range, and in the Magic and Shooting phases, the Shaman fires off Foot of GOrk but fails to wound, and in the Combat phase the Boar Chariot kills a few Spearmen, but with the Trolls' death at the hands of the detachment and the Spearmen's attacks back, they win combat. The Chariot fled but easily outpaced it's pursuers - however, I restrained the parent Spearmen unit in case they Orcs got into range for a rear charge next turn which I was hoping to avoid.
The Empire's turn 3 saw the Spearmen charge the Chariot as the best way to get away from a rear charge, the Detachment followed but failed it's charge, however the Parent unit's single wound caused, plus SCR forced the Chariot to break and flee off the table. There was no damage from shooting, as only the Gt. Cannon coudl fire, and it's ball bounced beyond the Orc warmachines.
Turn 4
The Night Goblins finally manage to escape the woods, and everthing which can move does, except of course the missile troops and warmachines. Finally back in position, the Arrer Boyz send a volley towards the Greatswords, who are not harmed.

Turn 5-6 - Endgame
Unfortnately the battle gets a bit blurry from here on in, as I forget to take proper notes. I definitely killed the Night Goblins by a combined charge of Greatswords and their detacment and I think my Pistoliers got wiped out early on - apologies for forgetting about them. However, Alan did not prove as rusty as he had thought himself to be, pobably 'cause I lent him the Army book and rulebook prior a few days prior to the game. In the end, however, it was not to be as I scraped a minor victory for the Empire.