Allegiance: Order
Realm: Ghur
Warden King (General, Anraheir's Claw)
Runelord (Gryph-Feather Charm)
Runelord
Unforged
40 Warriors
30 Warriors
10 Warriors
30 Longbeards
20 Hammerers
20 Ironbreakers
10 Irondrakes
3 Skywardens
3 Skywardens
Grudgebound War Throng (Warscroll Battalion)
The first thing that stands out about this list is the sheer volume of models on the table. With 160+ models in his army, my biggest concern was that we just weren't going to get through our game. We had a really good discussion at the start of the game regarding time management and Dion assured me that he played fast with the army. To my delight, that's exactly what he did. He had movement trays for the larger units, he was decisive with his tactical decisions and he knew the warscrolls inside out; all key elements to playing a smooth and concise game with a horde army.
While I was having dreams about playing this list in Three Places of Arcane Power, which would have leaned heavily in my favour, the mission was Focal Points. With so many high-armour bodies, I was going to have to be quick on my feet!
Knowing full well that I was going to be outdropped, I went with my kneejerk reaction and hid everything behind a wall of Plaguebearers. In hindsight, this was probably a tad over-cautious, as the only thing in my opponent's army that could hit me early were the two flanking units of Skywardens. But the scenario is all about numbers, and I wanted those hard-to-shift bodies up front to flood objectives. My Lord of Afflictions with the Witherstave was nice and central, and the GUO was carefully placed so as to give both Plaguebearer units, the Blight Kings and the Pusgoyles extra movement from his Doomsday Bell. Festus parked on my bottom objective, knowing full well that his spell would be vital in getting through the resilient armour of the duardin.
Unsurprisingly, my opponent took first turn in hopes of getting onto the objectives before me, but even with the first moves, their short little legs only just got them onto the central objective. At the top of the table, a unit of thirty warriors got onto the objective in the woods, while on the left side, Ironbreakers planted themselves on the objective at the foot of the hill, shielded by the Unforged and Hammerers, who got the available buff from the Runelord nearby. Irondrakes held up rear of his centre line, moving into a position to fire on anyone who got too close. Having taken next to no casualties in turn one, I struck back, and hard. With the exception of the Blight Kings, I pushed up with absolutely everything. The centre (cream-coloured) Plaguebearers, buffed by the Lord of Blights, lurched forward, intent on pushing bodies onto the central objective. My opponent had left a little too much space in front of him, and I was sure I could get Plaguebearers between him and the objective.
The Pusgoyles had a similar idea. Launching around my right flank, and using the Gnarlmaw for some added speed, they circled the ruins and slammed into the exposed flank of the Warriors. The GUO had used his command ability on the Pusgoyles to give each profile an extra attack, and the Lord of Afflictions was close enough to give them re-roll 1s to hit. Caught between the anvil of -2 To Hit Plaguebearers and some very aggressive flies, the Warriors began to melt. I managed to kill enough to claim the objective, but there were still so... many... dwarfs.
Seeing a golden opportunity, I launched the Jabberslythe over my army on my left side, and straight into the front of the Hammerers. In a stroke of perfect luck, the Jabberslythe survived on a single wound, meaning that they were still locked in combat with the horrifying monstrosity, but that it caused maximum damage with its Bile Blood. Nine Hammerers were dissolved inside their armour as a result of the damage they had inflicted. Perfect!
Scoring the cheeky double turn going into turn two, I was keen to keep momentum in my favour. I utilised my very healthy Contagion Point bank to summon a second tree, as well as five Plaguebearers on my back objective, which left the Blight Kings free to go punch on with things. Thanks to the Bell and the tree, they raced across the open ground to hit the three Skywardens threatening my flank. With any luck, I was hoping to draw the Unforged and Hammerers away from my lines, and killing units that would have no real impact on the scoreboard. The Hammerers finally took the last wound off the Jabber, with minimal repercussions.
At the top of the table, the Skywardens found themselves trapped in a combat that they had no hopes of winning, against a horde of Plaguebearers that, every time they took casualties, would grow them back with a cheeky one on the Battleshock test. Every... single... time...
The other Jabber, seeing what stellar success his comrade had had, decided to barrel toward the Dwarfs and fail a charge. But the real action was in the middle of the table.
The Pusgoyles, not content with slicing and dicing Warriors, used a sly pile-in to drag the Warden King and Irondrakes into combat with them. With their lack of rend, the Blightlords all but ignored the Warden King, and instead divided their attacks between the Irondrakes and the surviving Warriors, inflicting horrific casualties on both! The scales of battle were tipping in my favour, as I solidified a lead on the scoreboard.
In a "Just As Planned" moment, my opponent took the bait and sent the Hammerers and Unforged after my Blight Kings. While the Unforged's little legs couldn't quite make the charge he needed, the Hammerers went in and delivered some grudge-settling, splatting Kings left and right, leaving one alive on two wounds. Before they died, though, they did manage to dent the Skywardens. But with them now dead, and the Plaguebearers otherwise indisposed, my back objective was looking awfully weak, and if my opponent could claim it, even for a turn, I was going to be in a real pickle.
But I had one more trick up my sleeve. My Great Unclean One and Festus managed to draw out both unbind attempts from the Runelords with obviously potent spells, like Curse of the Leper. After successfully shutting them down, Dion found himself in a real spot of bother when the GUO cast Soulsnare shackles with no opposition. The impact was crippling, slowing all the threats to a snail's pace, as well as dishing out some sneaky mortal wounds here and there.
At the top of the table, things were not going well for my opponent either. Having absolutely butchered their way through a full unit of Warriors and the Irondrakes, the Pusgoyles continued their path of destruction north, tagging another unit of Warriors in tandem with the Jabberslythe. This also pinned the Duardin between two units, stopping them from maximising their output thanks to awkward pile-ins in two different directions.
As time on the clock ran out, it was apparent to both of us that I'd managed to take a commanding scoreboard lead, and that my position on the battlefield was firm. I'd managed to land another major win, and actually get a sizeable chunk of kill points out of it too!
The game as a whole was great! We had a few laughs, and I was pleased with how fast my opponent played, considering the army. I think he was a little bit stand-offish with a few of his backline units. You can see in the photo that there was a whole unit in the backfield that never really entered the conflict. I think they would have been well used to either reinforce the top objective or push on the centre if only for a turn to take the objective out of my hands. Once my Plaguebearers got onto that centre objective, I made them as difficult as possible to shift, with their Locus, Witherstave and the Lord of Blights all contributing to their tenacious manner.
I think baiting the Hammerers away with the Blight Kings saved Festus and his objective, as there would have been little I could do to stop him from getting his bloated head caved in. And I think the Pusgoyles had a dream game, just butchering whatever came within arms reach! They ended up killing 700 points worth of my opponent's army, practically on their own. Standout unit of the game.
All in all, the army did what it was designed to do. Get onto objectives and never leave. But being on two major wins now, with both offering up plenty of kill points, I found myself going into round three on Table One!
Check in for game three soon!
Thanks for reading,
Gabe
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