I had a rare free day and opportunity to play a quick, 2000 pt 9th Age battle with Gary. We decided to use Empire vs. and all-goblin army – in part because we wanted to see how all-goblins would go against Empire for our planned Idol of Gork campaign, and in part because Gary is really keen on building up his goblins at the moment. We only got to play 3 turns each but had a great time. Gary wrote up a battle report and I thought I’d post it here:
Turn 1
Turn 1 saw my goblins rush forward to get into both bow and spell range of the Empire force.
A huge goblin fireball from the goblin witch doctor turned the entire crossbow unit into blackened crisps.
Encouraged by this, the goblin archers blackened the sky with their arrows at the flanking mounted pistoliers unit. Two were cut down, and the unit lost its nerve and fled the battlefield. A great start for the goblins!
Turn 1 for the Empire saw the spearmen charge the rickety scrap wagon, and bolstered by the mage’s magiks, cut it to kindling. The cannon roared and smashed through the goblin king’s chariot, taking 3 of its 4 wounds. A good riposte from the Empire!
Turn 2
Turn 2 saw the gnasher herd and goblin king charge the spearmen, who sensibly fled leaving the chariot in no-mans land…
…but the gnasher herd were able to redirect their charge into the main halberdier unit of the Empire. The combat was brutal and swift as the gnashers ate 6 halberdiers, but were then destroyed by the men of the Empire.
Turn 2 for the Empire saw Nick go on the offensive.
The knights charged into the 2nd gnasher herd, and the spearmen rallied.
The cannon roared again, and……disaster!!, the goblin king was smashed asunder!
The cave goblin unit panicked and turned tail and ran. The goblin archers thought bugger this, and legged it as well. Only the crazy goblin chief on his wolf didn’t run away. He was keen for a fight….
The knights smashed the gnasher herd, running right over them.
Turn 3
Turn 3 saw the crazy goblin charge alone into the big Empire unit. The giant only just failed as he attempted to help by charging at the halberdier unit’s flank. Nick breathed a sigh of relief as the giant only managed to get a 10 instead of a 11….ooooh, so close!! The witch doctor rallied the goblin unit, but the goblin archers kept running, yelling and cursing each other. The goblin bolt thrower crew surprised themselves by blasting a knight from his saddle.
The goblin chief went crashing into the Marshall, the Empire’s Battle Standard Bearer and dealt him a wound, but he was promptly cut to pieces by the halberdiers.
Turn 3 for the Empire saw the knights launch another charge, this time at the bolt thrower to avenge their fallen comrade. So determined were they that even a fanatic crashing through them did no wounds and they completed a successful charge against the war machine, utterly destroying it. The Empire then reformed their units and gazed across the devastation they had wrought. The goblin force had been crushed, leaving a unit of cave goblins looking rather nervous, and a rather confused-looking giant wandering around aimlessly.
We could have continued the game, but Nick was keen to avoid the Friday traffic, so decided to head off. Either way he had won comprehensively, and the last few turns would have seen him easily mopping up the last of the goblin force. A very enjoyable game that started so well for the goblins. However, the cannon turned the game around. Removing the goblin king was critical, as the goblins lost their leadership and their nerve. I tried with bow shooting and magic to try to destroy the cannon earlier, but could not do enough wounds. Nick’s roar of triumph almost equalled the roar of the cannon when the king was blasted away. We both knew the consequences…..
In the Land of the Tall Trees 