First time against Ogres!!!

Possibly the most exciting games must be those against a new player AND a new army! The more you play Warhammer the less likely this is to occur but last night I was fortunate enough to be invited over to Doug's place to be a part of the "Garage Irregulars" informal club gathering. They play in Doug's garage every couple of weeks. This week, with The Pilgrimage, list marking for Pilgrimage and some random Murder Mystery thing on (what the hell Dave?!) it was only Doug, Kitson and myself. As Antony has already smashed me he opted to watch (which means commentate) as I played Doug.

Doug is a helluva nice guy - the game is all about fun, no stress, shit happens, get over it, roll the dice, relax. I LIKE this approach and it's refreshing playing someone who, while I wouldn't say he doesn't care about winning, is not obsessed with this as the primary goal. The attitude I saw was something that inspired and encouraged me and that alone made the game worthwhile.

What also made the game worthwhile was the hilarious and incredible antics of Doug's army! Realising that the Tyrant essentially carries a combat-oriented stone thrower (seriously - small blast template over unit in combat - str8, partials str4, D6 wounds, no save - OMG!) changed by perception of the softness of Ogres.

After mass fleeing from charges (on both sides) the game see-sawed wildly. Doug was INCREDIBLY unlucky to lose his Tyrant who charged the Saurus block; missed with his stone thrower weapon of doom and broke and was run down. Next to this was a comedy of errors as the Slann was charged by a Gnoblar block, beating them off with the help of some Ninja Skinks and taking 4 (four!!!) wounds in the process! The Cold One Scar Vet solo charged 3 Maneaters with handguns, beat them up over a couple of turns and broke them. The Ogre BSB with Tenderisedrcharge some Krox, fluffed, and was flank charged by another unit of Krox getting thoroughly flattened.

Spell of the game - Doom and Darkness. Runner up Shades of Death on the Krox making them cause Terror - Butcher on their flank failed his Fear test to charge them and was subsequently beaten up.

Salamanders took 3 wounds off a Slavegiant with one round of shooting, then failed to finish him off in the next round and returned to their more conventional behaviour - eating Skinks and nearly panicking themselves off the board.

Steg was squashed by the Giant. Giant was Squashed by the Krox (after they had killed off the Butcher).

Actually magic was pretty awesome. Steed of Shadowed Priest cut down a fleeing Leadbelcher. Portent of Far on Krox (a favourite). Need to take more magic missiles against Ogres.

Poison shooting from Skinks was awsome - especially in the first round where they shot up 2 units of Bulls. Skinks are great against Ogres - negating their toughness and Ogres have little armour to speak of. I was rolling particularly well though so luck definitely played a part.

In the end I had 2 quarters, a standard and the enemy general and some dead stuff (with lots left alive) and Doug had his Hunter and a unit of Bulls. Good game and important lessons learned.

Stuck around and watched Ant smash Doug at Speedhammer (fastest playing ever). Ant's army is damn nasty - I just can't figure out how to beat it! Might get my chance at Fields of Blood though...