Despite a disappointing performance in round 5 against the US, there was no respite in the Ocho and for round 6 we were paired against another very good team, this time Basilisk from Poland. I ended up against an OnG list with two R8 idols and a bunch of chariots. I wasn't trying to pair against it, but picked the match-up to keep our Equitaine player away from it. Regardless, I think the centaurs have the tools for this matchup. Also, orc crossbows! How often do you see those guys?!
Orcs&Goblins - Jerzy Oleksiak
305 - Orc Shaman, General, Adept, Shamanism, Light Armour, Crown of autocracy
215 - Goblin Chief, BSB, Light Armour, Shield, Crown of the Cavern King
245 - Goblin Witch Doctor, Adept, Thaumathurgy, Binding Scroll
250 - Goblin Witch Doctor, Adept, Witchcraft, Magical Heirloom
340 - Orc Chief on Wyvern, Heavy Armour, Shield, Great Weapon, Talisman of Shielding
345 - Orc Chief on Wyvern, Heavy Armour, Shield, Great Weapon, Alchemists Alloy, Pan of Protection Pinchin
375 - 30 Cave Goblins, Standard, Musician, Shield, 2x Mad Git, Banner of Relentless Company
431 - 39 Forest Goblin, standard, Musician, Spear, Shield, Green Tide Banner
320 - 20 Common Orc Crossbowman, Shield, Champion, Musician
220 - 2 Goblin Wolf Chariots
220 - 2 Goblin Wolf Chariots
220 - 2 Goblin Wolf Chariots
156 - 12 Gnasher Herd
125 - 5 Goblin Wolf Riders
365 - Great Green Idol
365 - Great Green Idol
4497
Secondary was Secure Target and Refused Flank. I won the roll for tableside and picked the top left, and he dropped for first.
General strategy:
I dropped my objective in the top right, near a piece of cliffs. This way it makes it hard for his ranked units to reach my objective, and he will likely drop his objective as close to mine as possible, right in front of my hill. Otherwise, splitting the objectives wide gives me a big advantage with my ambushers.
In all previous 5 rounds, I've been very disappointed in my lance centaurs as they often eat a magic missile which wrecks their efficiency. This time, I will stick them far on the flank, well away from ranged damage, and be very passive in their use, just zoning if necessary.
The centaurs are a good tool for breaking R8 idols but to do so, they need the charge. I haven't been doing right by them in previous matches and they often find themselves sandwiched between two chargers. I will start both GW centaurs sober for extra mobility, and will play them more in the middle rather than as vanguarding flankers this game.
His little units of chariots are definitely threatening but surprisingly vulnerable to a single master of earth and panic. I'll also try to take advantage of the terrain in the middle of the board, as well as my seed forest, to try to inflict some early damage and panic as often as possible.
T1 OG
His wolves run up to chaff the top centaurs and character chariots. He considered pushing early with the cave goblins to launch mad gits at my shaman, but decided to pull back instead as all the characters joined the orc crossbows. With the blocking wolves, he more aggressively pushed on the right side with idol and wyvern. On the left, the chariots and wyvern stepped backwards to watch the centaurs. Magic killed 5 wolves but they passed their panic check.
T1 BH
The right chieftain was not fully blocked by the wolves, so he went rambling and threw a charge at the chariots across from him. They fled off the board, so he re-directed into the gnashers behind. It was a risky charge (story in the life of a chieftain) but there wasn't much else to do... He whiffed, but so did the gnashers, and they failed their steadfast and he ran them down!
The BSB chariot finished off the wolves in front of him, while the lord chariot backed up on to the hill. The BH dogs ran up towards the cave goblins to draw out the mad gits.
On the left, seeing that the OnG chariots were more interested in zoning, the GW centaurs started their long walk around the ruins to redeploy to the middle of the board. Magic saw master of earth put 2 wounds on a unit of chariots but they passed their panic.
T2 OG
On the right, the wyvern aggressively settled into the flank beside the GW centaurs. I'm ok with this, as I think my chieftain can be used to chaff his idol from combo-charging. Unfortunately, it was not to be... I focused on dispelling magic missiles against the dogs (to pull out mad gits) and a raven's wing on the idol did 2 wounds to the chieftain, killing him.
The right wyvern and idol turn around to zone out ambushers.
Fortunately, the dog's survival does draw out the mad gits and one dies to the woods, the other destroys the dogs.
T2 BH
The remaining mad git prevents my chariots from charging his. It's within a millimeter, but if I charged they would need to brush against the mad git on the way to maximize and they're not interested in 2D6 St5 hits! Instead, the wildhorns on the hill threw a long charge at the chariots on a 10. It was enough to cause them to flee, but the second unit passed their panic.
Both units of ambushers come in and prepare to wait for a scoring run, rather than trying to fight this game.
In magic, another master of earth wounds his remaining chariots but they pass panic again. Unfortunately stoneskin is binding scrolled, so the right centaurs pucker their cheeks and get ready for a combo charge. My BSB hides to the right side to prevent anyone charging him this turn. The left centaurs continue their pilgrimage back to the middle of the board.
T3 OG
The wyvern and idol on the right both charge the GW centaurs. Unlike last game, this time I remember to challenge and the champion soaks up the characters attacks. Unfortunately, the idol rolls a 3 for impact hits, and that's enough for him to break steadfast by 1. The centaurs flee and are run down. The wyvern runs off the board, and the idol flanks the BSB. Technically this was a mistake in that I didn't want it to happen... but fortuitously the idol had to hit the flank of the BSB, which now exposes him to a counter charge from my lord!
The running chariots on the left fail to rally and are off the board! That's 2 units of chariots down, and the last one has been reduced to just a few wounds. The remaining mad git hits a trees and dies. It's always a good game for BH when you can choke the middle of the board with forests.
T3 BH
The lord charges in to help his buddy and the two of them chip three wounds off the idol but he passes steadfast. The remaining GW centaur unit hones in on where the wyvern ran off the board and swears to prepare for vengeance. I throw a long charge on his cave goblins with my chariots for the hell of it but they don't make it.
The unit of ambushers on the right are somewhat out of position, so I do my best to get them to hug a forest, because I totally forgot his forest goblins have strider...
T4 OG The forest goblins on the right charge my longhorns. Turns out forest goblins can FIGHT and poison drops 7 longhorns, who then run off the board. They then reform into a long line, to get within range of the BSB.
The left wyvern charges the chariots who flee all the way across the board to the top right, which then strands the wyvern in front of lance centaurs. The second wyvern comes back onto the board and hides as far to the side of the centaurs as he can, to allow only 2 to fight him next turn. Magic sees a swarm of insects do 4 wounds to the lance centaurs. Will it happen again?! Are these poor smucks cursed to always fall to magic missiles?
The two character chariots finish off the idol with a few well timed sixes. The BSB has taken two wounds by now.
T4 BH
The BSB charges in against the forest goblins but the lord is too far away to try, and he moves up closer instead. The chariots nearby rally.
Magic is very powerful this phase, getting off three spells, healing 3 of the fallen lance centaurs, giving them healing waters and the top centaurs stoneskin!
The lance centaurs charge the wyvern on the bottom left and vaporize him in a flurry of Str7 smacks, confident in their magic support.
The GW centaurs charge the wyvern on the top. Because only two are in B2B, I accept the challenge with the chieftain, trusting in his R8 from stoneskin. Unfortunately, he fluffs and dies in return and the wyvern passes his break test. The centaurs are now especially angry at being denied twice, and reform for carnage next next turn.
T5 OG
The remaining idol moves up the middle, while the remaining chariot chaffs his flank to the lance centaurs.
The big move this phase was a raven's wing to hide the cave goblins to the right of the wildhorns, out of their line of sight. unfortunately, it was mis-measured and not possible so the move was wasted, despite 5 dicing the spell.
In combat, the GW centaurs finish the last wyvern with a humbling 6 or 7 angry wounds. The BSB chariot continues to grind the forest goblins but takes a third wound for his troubles. Man, forest goblins can FIGHT.
T5 BH
For the second time this game, the chariot lord comes rushing to his BSB buddy's aid, as all 5 chariots plow into the forest goblins, eliminating them. Unfortunately, as the dust clears the chariot BSB has been stabbed to death. Forest goblins can fight!
The lance centaurs finish off the last chariot, while the GW centaurs face the middle of the board.
The gargoyles decide to flex their wings a bit this game, and make a risky charge into the crossbow bunker, now that they've lost their ranks. Strangely, they lose 3 to stand and shoot on the way in. Fortunately, magic has another big phase and heals them back up to full strength and drops a healing waters on them for good measure. The gargoyles promptly assassinate the witchcraft wizard to prevent last turn scoring hi jinks but the orcs hold on steadfast.
T6 OG
The only move this turn is a last ditch charge with the idol to terror off the wildhorns, who fortunately pass on LD7. The orc crossbows beat the gargoyles this turn, but rather than reform, he chose to chase to eliminate their points, catching the gargoyles.
T6 BH
The crossbows' pursuit has big implications, as now when the lord chariot charges they are forced to align to him around the cliff (front facing). This pulls up their left flank, so that the lance centaurs can hit it with an over-run.
The flank centaurs flank the idol, popping it in one swing, but unfortunately miss the over-run into the flank of the crossbows. Game over!
Final result was 17:3 for the BH
Closing thoughts:
One thing that will colour impressions of this game was that my discipline dice were LUCKY. Last few games were just atrocious for discipline, but I failed very few panic/terror/fear/primal fury this game which was a huge help. Same goes for magic, I had two big phases where I got both healing waters and stoneskin. This almost never happens!
The lance centaurs have been a consistent under-performer in the middle of the board. So this game I deliberately stuck them on the far flank in a zoning roll, and they bagged a wyvern chief, chariots and an idol for their troubles. A bit of luck, and they could have rolled the character bunker for an easy 20-0 as well. I'm still not convinced they're worth their 400+ points as once again, they were almost neutralized by a single magic missile (but healed back up afterwards), but they definitely showed more promise than previous games.
The GW centaurs continued their run of hot and cold. I really enjoyed the ability of the left unit to redeploy from far left to board middle quickly. However, the right unit got charged by character in the flank and monster in the front. Again. This has become a reoccurring theme for the poor guys. They almost made it through, but just lost steadfast by 1 wound. They just don't have the lateral movement of a gortach to get out of trouble, or the base R6 to stay alive when stoneskin is binding scrolled.
I'm really pleased in my restraint in the use of the gargoyles again. They were available for late game chaff (if needed), but instead there was a nice opportunity to block up his key unit and kill his witchcraft wizard. Their charge on T5 guaranteed secondary went to the BH. It's kind of awkward shuffling around them for the early turns, but it's very handy to have a unit like them late game.