That's New Kids On The Block by the way.
Andrew and I arranged a game last week for today and I was keen to test how hard the new Chaos list is. Andrew is currently running:
Lord on Steed
Sorcerer
BSB with Rapturous Standard
3 x 15 Chaos Warriors
Chariot
2 x 5 Warhounds
2 x 5 Knights
Slannesh marks abound in the list so practically everything barring the Hounds is immune to panic, fear and terror but crucially NOT immune to psychology so still able to flee as a charge reaction.
I ran the same list I took to the Tin Soldier tournament earlier in the year - rock hard Shieldborne Lord with Hammerers et al (refer to previous posts around June if you want the full breakdown, justification and previous experience of the list).
Key to the battle was a wacking great piece of impassable terrain in the middle of my deployment zone. This forced me to split my army - blocks on the left, chaff on the right. It's been too long since I've played Dwarfs and there were some errors with the deployment but overall I figured I could cope and make gains later in the game. The shooters faced off against a Warrior block, a unit of warhounds, the chariot and BOTH units of Knights. Hrm... My Cannon misfired and exploded with it's first shot at the chariot which was a pity. The Organ Gun then smashed three knights from their saddles. Having read the rules carefully the Runesmith (suicidally deployed on the flank with the Thunderers) went solo and Rune of Challenged the remaining two knights away from the Organ Gun (able to be used as they are not actually Immune to Psychology). He fled the charge (obviously) but the useless git then failed to rally and with enormous strides for one so vertically challenged, fled the board. Luckily I didn't need the two scrolls he was packing as Andrew was busy miscasting, losing a magic level and leaving him rolling two dice to cast a spell requiring '12' to successfully go off. Eventually the Chaos Lord and chariot (with one wound left) did for the Quarellers which panicked the Thunderers into the last Knights after the Organ Gun had a go at the other unit (and then died to their charge). Net result was nothing left for me on my right and Andrew left with the Lord, the unit he was slungshot out of, the chariot on one wound, and 3 knights.
Meanwhile Andrew was realising that impassable terrain was as much a problem for him as it was to me. Unable to attack the flank of the Hammerers his BSBs unit took a frontal charge - the Lord promptly carved up the BSB and his silly (but awesomely effective - if it is allowed to work) Rapturous Standard (the BSB was compelled to accept the Lord's challenge). The Warriors were broken and escaped and were broken again (and escaped again!) which netted the Hammerers two banners. A charge from the Chaos Lord into their flank and Andrew learnt why Dwarf Tanks/Lords are not to be trifled with - the Lord bounced and ran. The Hammerer's pursuit took them to the Warriors coming back from the devastation on my right flank. A quick beat-up later and the Hammerers had their third banner and the last 3 knights provided them with their fourth. By the end of the game the elite Dwarfs had nearly done a circuit of the battlefield. Most satisfying. Poor Andrew got a bit sick of me saying "ok, you have a banner... I have 2 ranks, 3 (or 4) wounds, outnumber, banner which is a warbanner (Rune of Battle)... double ones for the break test".
The other major fight was another Warrior unit (with Sorcerer) stalemating against the Longbeards (with my BSB). The Sorcerer and BSB slapped at each other ineffectually for 4 or so combat rounds before the BSB finally finished the poor sod off (again, the Sorcerer was compelled to accept the challenge). Eventually the Warriors were broken and caught, the Longbeards taking a banner themselves.
Due to my poor deployment the Dwarf Warriors never even saw combat. Sigh...
Andrew was left with the Chaos Lord and a Warrior unit. I'd lost the shooty chaff with the exception of the Grudgethrower and Gyro and still had the three blocks (and hence most of my points). With the five banners collected and holding two table quarters the end result was a win to me by just over 1700VPs. Not bad for Dwarfs - the big win is very hard to get.
Afterwards we both agreed that Andrew would have been better off putting the Knights either on the other flank or putting a unit on each flank. Good lessons about grinding - Chaos Warriors are hard for sure but they lacked the static res to see off the stunties and couldn't dish out the wounds expected due to their toughness and armour (and my awesome luck/dice skills). Warriors are damn expensive (16pts each with gear!) with WS and initiative 5 and a 2+ save in combat they are certainly the business. Unfortunately against the Dwarven elite they had their work more than cut out for them. Andrew's not keen on the Marauder models so it's a case of finding a way to make the Warriors work. Not sure how myself but min-sized units might be a start. The Knights are potentially very scary (Rage banner would be very very nasty) but were well shot up by the time they found a worthy target (the Hammerers) and hitting them in the front meant they were always going to stuggle.
Despite the result a most excellent and entertaining game and Andrew took the learning experience in his stride.
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