Category: Warhammer

Idol of Gork Conversion Scenario 3

Back to the Idol of Gork conversion after another hiatus. In the original 5th Edition Campaign the third scenario is based around the idea that the Iron Claw Orcs are looking for allies amongst the Itchy Skab tribe and send a shaman to negotiate. The Empire send a force to attack the orc camp where the negotiations are to be held. Basically if the Empire destroy the orc huts then the negotiations fail and the Iron Claw Orcs have a smaller force available in the final battle – if the orcs defend their huts then the Iron Claws have a points advantage over the Empire in the finale.

I think this is the least focussed of the scenarios – there is something a bit unclear / clumsy about the link between the narrative (alliance formation) and the attack on the huts. The mechanics around burning the huts down are also a bit clunky – especially given the Empire options in terms of light cavalry are quite different post 5th Edition. In short, this will be the most challenging scenario to convert and there will be considerable changes!

Armies: The armies were originally 1000 pts each so we’ll double that to 2000 pts consistent with 9th Age Rules.

In the original scenario there is nothing really remarkable about the Itchy Skab force (Orc Boyz, Arrow Boyz, Big ‘Uns etc.) except for the option of trolls – there is certainly nothing to differentiate the Itchy Skabs from the Iron Claws either in this scenario or if the Orc player wins and gets to add extra points to his army for the final battle. To me this is a wasted opportunity for some colour!

What if, instead, the Itchy Skab tribe are differentiated by from the Iron Claws as more barbaric – they are made up of Savage Orcs and Forest Goblins! So the Orcs and Goblins are only allowed to choose Feral Orcs (boys, ‘eadbashers, boar riders, whatever) and Forest Goblins (infantry and spider riders) and of course the Arachnarock/Gargantula!

The Empire force is themed around a mobile raiding party – they are there to torch the village (and while it’s not clear in the original narrative that the Empire know about the planned alliance, let’s say that they do and they are out to disrupt negotiations). Back in 5th Edition the Empire had Kislevite light cavalry troops which we unfortunately don’t have access to. Pistoliers and Outriders (Reiters) are a perfect fit as light cavalry. Imperial Rangers and Imperial Militia (with ‘Irregulars’ upgrade) make sense too. Without the Kislevites it might be necessary to allow a unit of Knights to bulk out the cavalry / mobile contingent.

Deployment The original campaign has deployment as below:

I don’t really see any major reason to change this up at this stage. However it may be that the orc huts need to be deployed a bit further back to give the orcs a fair chance of defending them.

First Turn – This time the Empire have surprise – they go first!

Number of turns – 5 turns as per the original.

Victory or defeat

1.) As per the original the Empire gain a sudden death victory if they set all the huts ablaze – the Itchy Skabz doubt the Iron Claw’s capacity to deal with the humans and move on.

2.) Otherwise victory is awarded to whichever side wins the most victory points. A draw is still considered an Orc victory – if the Empire don’t win they won’t drive the Itchy Skab tribe off.

Victory Gains

If the Orcs win then the Itchy Skabz join the Iron Claw Orcs for the final battle. In the finale, the Orcs will have access to 1500 extra points of troops which MUST be spent on Feral Orcs and Forest Goblins (Itchy Skabz). This will mean the Orcs have a 500 pt advantage in the final battle.

If the Empire win the Itchy Skabz are driven off. The orcs will have a 500 pt disadvantage to the Empire in the final battle, and will NOT have access to any Feral Orcs, Forest Goblins or Spiders.

Special Rules

Lighting the huts. In the original game, only bowmen and crossbowmen could set the huts alight (assumed to have flaming arrows/bolts). They rolled to hit as per normal, and 10 hits set a hut on fire. This doesn’t quite work for me. First of all, the Empire now has very few troops with bows and while flaming arrows is a cool idea, flaming crossbow bolts seems a bit strange for some reason(?). Also, we miss out on the classic image of riders bearing torches, riding between the buildings and setting them alight! Clearly a modification is in order – but this will need to wait for another post :-).

Battle Report: Empire (Gary) vs Goblins (Dave)

Dave was down from and a coffee with Gary turned into a quick game. Gary took the Empire list I used in the last battle report and Dave took a modified goblin force. I was at a course and only arrived on time to help pack up but Gary wrote a quick report and I thought I would post it here.

Turn 1

The goblins moved forward, their large unit of archers led by the goblin general and the shaman. They were out of range, but a fireball put some hurt on the crossbows. This turn the Empire escaped with minor injuries.

The Empire moved forward on the left flank, trying to come around to flank the goblins but being wary of the crazy gnashers. Shooting and magic put some wounds on the gnasher wrecking team.

Turn 2

The goblins gnashers charged the pistoliers, who fled. The gnasher wrecking team exploded (thank goodness!). The shaman again was tiresome, frying the rest of the crossbowmen in a fireball. The bolt throwers shot off a knight, and the scrap wagon ran over the bowmen skirmishers trying to sneak up through the woods.

The Empire infantry moved forward surrounding the gnasher herd, and the wizard bolstered their fighting abilities. The pistoliers shot off 2 of the herd.

Turn 3

The herd charged the spearmen support unit, but were wiped out after bringing down 2 spearmen. The grotlins charged at the knights, who fled, not wanting to get caught in a protracted fight with this nuisance. However, by doing so they exposed a flank to the goblin bolt throwers which left only one knight alive!

The Empire infantry then moved forward, trying to get in charge range of the goblin archers, who were slowly whittling them away. The lone knight rallied and turned around, prepared to sell his life dearly. The cannon again missed, and Empire magic proved ineffective.

Turn 4

The goblin chariots charged recklessly into the spearmen unit, and the grotlins charged the lone knight. Magic fireballs again took their toll on the Empire, this time 3 pistoliers were incinerated and the remaining 2 fled. A hail of arrows brought down more halberdiers. 11 Spearmen were crushed by the chariot charge, and although inflicting a few wounds on the chariots they broke and ran. The chariots pursued, but failed to catch them.

The determined Empire general then issued a charge on the goblin archers, who stood and fired, bringing down the last of the halberdiers. However, the general and Battle Standard made their charge into the goblins. The remnants of the spearmen rallied, and the pistoliers charged the chariots, bolstered by magic. The pistoliers were woeful, not managing a single wound, as the charioteers brought down one of them. The BSB smashed goblins asunder, and the goblin king and Empire general wounded each other. The goblins lost the fight, and fled. This was the Empires one small chance! Could either the general or marshall carrying the standard run down the foul vermin???? NOOooo…Dave rolled a double 6 and I managed a paltry 5 for each pursuer….. The Empire was lost…..

Turn 5

The goblins rallied, and the scrap wagon smashed into the rear of the spearmen. The spearmen actually destroyed the scrap wagon, but the charioteers wiped out the last pistolier.

The Empire general tried to repeat hid heroic last charge but was pin-cushioned with black-fletched arrows, and fell….the last hope of the Empire faded.

Gary’s final word: “Aaargh….a frustrating game for me due to a poor list, bad deployment, worse tactics and woeful dice-rolling. Oh well, back to the drawing board (or rather empty barracks)”

*A footnote in the annals of the Empire: Astute readers will notice from the photographs that the Imperial Knights in fact seem to have taken their first casualty in turn 1 rather than turn 2, and the next three Imperial Knights to be skewered fell in turn 2 rather than three.

Battle Report: Empire vs. Goblins

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…..