Got a game in! :D
John, an old friend, downloaded the rules over Xmas, broke out his extensive Battle of Five Armies collection, bought some sabots of Leon, and we had a game!
My Barbarians
D6+1 general (with fierce)
D6+1 shames
2x Warriors (1 fierce)
2x Buffalo rifders (1 hero)
1x archer
1 x scout (with parting shot)
1x berserkers
1x War mammoths
John's Elves
D6+1 general
D6+1 Mage
2x archers
2x spears
1x guard bows
1x Ent!
1x knights
1x ballista
Terrain went down, we rolled scenario 'Out Of The Mist' again!
Initial layout wasn't too bad, I
On one flank I got to drop my heavy hitters behind his first deployment, but then John got his behind me, meaning hits all round!
My Mage deployed elsewhere! My General and the bulk of the foot luckily deployed together, but John's general ended up completely behind my lines (must have stepped out during the night and fell asleep)!
(http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc94/madlemmey/Fantasy%202012/IMG_0004_zpsxauk9gc8.jpg) (http://s214.photobucket.com/user/madlemmey/media/Fantasy%202012/IMG_0004_zpsxauk9gc8.jpg.html)
We all took hits!
(http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc94/madlemmey/Fantasy%202012/IMG_0005_zpszqonyq39.jpg) (http://s214.photobucket.com/user/madlemmey/media/Fantasy%202012/IMG_0005_zpszqonyq39.jpg.html)
Then on turn two, we piled in!
However, this allowed John to get his ent on to the flank of my mammoth, many many MANY Dice later, my mammoth broke, but could not clear my mages bases and shattered!
On the other flank, John managed to move his general once, but basically failed every motivational roll!
The Barbarians advanced in a steady line...
(http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc94/madlemmey/Fantasy%202012/IMG_0006_zpsvk08muax.jpg) (http://s214.photobucket.com/user/madlemmey/media/Fantasy%202012/IMG_0006_zpsvk08muax.jpg.html)
Handy hint, spare bases make great rulers!
(http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc94/madlemmey/Fantasy%202012/IMG_0009_zpsxeql7mem.jpg) (http://s214.photobucket.com/user/madlemmey/media/Fantasy%202012/IMG_0009_zpsxeql7mem.jpg.html)
Despite Johns general really not wanting to Join in, he was able to solidly beat me. The mammoths and buffaloes were chomped to pieces by the Ent, we took out three of his units before we broke.
Great game, what to use next!
Fell asleep writing that, a few details missed! :-[
Johns man of the match was his ent, with two flank charges breaking two of my most expensive units, leading to my quick defeat (we only got to turn 4)!
My buffalo riders with hero neatly despatched a unit of elven knights, then broke themselves! Unfortunately they ended up again in the middle of my shamen stand and disintegrated (my Mage really didn't like that)!
Mine was my shamen, who got off two conflagration spells, (one of which basically broke half my remaining units in my own army)and broke a unit of Elven archers who charged him with 7 mp of fireballs (powerful, take that, and that, and that)!
John used celestial shield to great effect, bolstering his scattered forces and that really saved his bacon early on.
His guard archers were awful, they hardly moved all game, deciding to guard the base line instead!
Things I learned:
High elf mages and generals can move 2 bw per motivation. That gives them unprecedented mobility (well, it should do, but John's general failed 9 motivation rolls)!
Ents direct charging a flank really really REALLY hurts.
Barbarian shamen are really worth their points, if they had been in range of their general to bolster themselves in protection phase, taking two hits is well worth it.
Barbarians are superb on the charge, but cannot stand for long in a protracted slug fest! They really need their general to provide extra protection dice!
And
Most importantly
Warband is a geat rule set. :)
(http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc94/madlemmey/Fantasy%202012/IMG_0010_zpsmci3kken.jpg) (http://s214.photobucket.com/user/madlemmey/media/Fantasy%202012/IMG_0010_zpsmci3kken.jpg.html)
The end
(http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc94/madlemmey/Fantasy%202012/IMG_0011_zpsb5px8bb7.jpg) (http://s214.photobucket.com/user/madlemmey/media/Fantasy%202012/IMG_0011_zpsb5px8bb7.jpg.html)
Cool bat rep.
I do like the look of your bespoke big warband bases. And its good to see WM miniatures on sabots!
Great stuff, Will.
Cheers - Phil
Great looking game. :)
Excellent looking game Lemmy.
Out of the Mist can be a tough scenario for some armies (the undead particularly), and is generally difficult as it tends to fragment the armies into a brutal free for all of a fight. It means that rather than fighting to a battle plan, you have to fight with what you have. Exceptional generals shine in this situation being able get the initiative and exploit weaknesses/cover threats better.
Good to see two interesting armies take each other on too. As you say the Barbarians are "glass cannons", able to move fast, hit hard, but really not stick around for a protracted engagement.
Interesting to see the High Elves, generally good at most things, rely heavily on their Treeman! It is indeed a beast, especially on a flank hit. Paired with other fast moving units its also able to run down and destroy routed enemy very effectively.
You say this:
QuoteWarband is a geat rule set.
Would you be interested in telling us what you liked and disliked about the rules?
:)
Chieftain
We loved the scenario and the fact it's a great starter as all units are mixed up and scattered, it means you get to know individual characteristics very quickly.
We also enjoyed the simple, but effective combat section.
The fact that magic can be picked to help certain situations. Also generals have a limo to their range, but can bolster many times, until they run out of command points!
Command points? Not sure I had many of those. My general was christened 'the inert' for good reason and I was looking forward to using the Guards (combined spear and bow) as a true Swiss Army knife of a unit. Unfortunately just like a pen knife they remained closed and in a dark pocket.
The ent finally brought it all together with some gruesome flank charges, mammoths what mammoths? And my Mage, a high elf mind you steeped in 1000 years of spell lore, stood by and watched an illiterate barbarian witch doctor with pockets full of tea leaves, chicken bones and coloured stones hurl fireballs and god knows what all over the place.
Still when the Elven spears finally sorted themselves out and traded punches with the beserkers they broke and the warriors from the grey havens followed up as barbarians broke around them.
This was my first game of Warband and a very nice game it is too. Key points for me were:
1. A nice rule of four, no need to remember what the starting number for a test is
2. A good simple game flow
3. Some nice depth to the rules and army lists, obviously not tested by me
4. I have a good collection of generic figures and the lists allowed me to convert to Warband by just buying some specials (Ent, ballista etc)
5, I can see a great Haradrim list with Mumakils hiding in the Barbarian list and Beastmen list with Minotaurs and chariots just waiting to be embraced.
The High Elves, over confident of victory, will be meeting another of MadLemmy's fiendish forces later in February. Maybe this time the ballista will do more than miss then break?
Joken
And as that was your first post.......
A very warm welcome to the forum, Joken.
Cheers - Phil
Hello and welcome old friend! 8)
Welcome Joken!
Quote
5, I can see a great Haradrim list with Mumakils hiding in the Barbarian list and Beastmen list with Minotaurs and chariots just waiting to be embraced.
If its Lord of the Rings lists you're after, try here: http://luddite1811.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/Lord%20of%20the%20Rings (http://luddite1811.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/Lord%20of%20the%20Rings)
Welcome :-h
Given you know Mad Lemmey you probably have some idea what you are letting yourself in for on here ;) ;D
Very cool. I'm looking forward to getting my first game in soon.
Quote from: DFlynSqrl on 22 January 2017, 05:22:18 AM
Very cool. I'm looking forward to getting my first game in soon.
:-bd
Let us know how it goes.
Elves: speak Greek or Latin - no
worship the Olympian gods - no
set a high premium on loyalty to kindred - yes
practise autocratic government - yes
low-tech - yes
They ARE barbarians!
Only in your opinion ;D
Quote from: FierceKitty on 23 January 2017, 11:47:52 AM
speak Greek or Latin - no
Elves: speak Greek - no
FIFY
Those nasty Latin speakers are the archetypal
barbaroi