There's nothing like a tragic and humbling loss (read: smashing) to get the mind focussed. Mark was able to make a game at my place tonight and lucky for me (?) was able to provide just that - the annihilation of a good portion of my army! Mark is a 'six degrees of separation opponent' - I actually teach his son at school (small world ain't it?).
I've been having issues fighting Orcs and Goblins. Yes I know they're supposed to be utter crap but somehow I consistently have enormous problems dealing with them. Mark's army is actually a real challenge to play against despite the lack of a Giant or much in the way of ItP troops that some Greenskin armies seem to depend on (and a fairly moderate 6PD magic phase) - I'm fairly certain this little lot is looking at a +3 for comp from most of the judges:
Ld 9 Orc General on Ironback Boar (NOT a Black Orc Boss)
Gobbo BSB on Wolf with Wollopa's Wun Hit Wunder
2 x L2 Gobbo Shamans - one has the Itty Ring, the other has some kit (can't remember - maybe the -3 armour save pointy stick thing)
2 x BIG units of Common Goblins with FC (like 35-40 strong)
Big unit of Boyz with 2 Choppas
Big unit of Boyz with Choppa/Shield
13 Arrer Boyz
20 Night Goblins with bows and 2 Fanatics
2 x 5 Wolf Gobbos
2 Boar Chariots
3 Trolls
Rocklobber
1 Spearchukka
2 bases of Snotlings
Turn one the Rocklobber misfired and destroyed itself. I quickly noted I would likely return the favour and Mark laughed it off. I did - the Cannon blew up turn one. Nice.
The main game revolved around a damn annoying building that stopped either of us from bringing our many units to bear. Fortunately for Mark that didn't matter as the Trolls and one chariot quickly accounted for not only my Reiksguard Knights, Priest and General (thrown away in a stupid and fruitless experiment - chariot hit their flank alone and I thought the General who was sitting on the flank might absorb the damage and break it on static res with maybe a wound into the bargain - would have fled through both Orc blocks and taken the Knights into the Orc General's unit) but also the entire Spear block (with some help from the Orc General with a solo charge and some handy Gobbos for static support and cheerleading) and the Flagellents (thanks to the horrible Trolls). I went into damage control and managed to take out the Gobbos (and Shaman) with the Mortar (which spent 4 turns out of action due to misfires!) and the Trolls with the BSBs Swordsmen and Spear detachment in the flank (having already previously failed a Fear check to charge them).
Mark ended up never using an entire Orc block or a Gobbo block at all!
One unit of Wolfboyz was gunned down by Pistoliers but the other played absolute havoc in the midst of my lines, scooting between gaps, avoiding being charged or shot, and basically being a right pain in the ass.
Spell of the game was Gork'll (or Mork'll - whatever) Fix It - all rolls of a 6 become a 1. This stopped the Spearmen from hurting the chariot at all (needing 6s to wound and those 6s becoming 1s). Beyond frustrating I assure you.
Despite some quirky animosity (the Gobbos who died to the Pistoliers rolling a '1' twice for the two turns they were alive; both his Orc blocks rolling '1' in the same turn holding up much of his advance) Mark played really well and thoroughly deserved the win. To be honest I'm not sure what I was thinking going into the game - there wasn't much of a plan, I ended up with a huge infantry block traffic jam, and I needlessly gambled away my strike unit and characters (which of course I would never do in a tournament game... would I?). Bit of a write-off really and I'm sorry I couldn't give Mark a better game.
In the end a 16-4 loss to the Empire as I attempted to conserve points and break some stuff to make little gains. 34Vps away from a 15-5 and if nothing else reminds me that even a loss need not be that bad if you can manage to (eventually) play smart in the end game.
Biggest lesson - moving a 5-Crossbow detachment 2 inches in my last turn would have contested a quarter making it a 15-5 loss. Just lost my brain somewhere along the way and stopped thinking eventually. Sigh...
Venerable Nick's Dwarfs tomorrow night - tough little buggers I know from experience so sure to be an interesting and challenging game.
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