It's Payback Time!

Well, I've played several games with my mounted Chaos army against my Orcs and Goblins and the Greenskins were absolutely wiped out every time. I was starting to wonder if I was doing something wrong. In this battle, I added a bit more mobility and hard-hitting power to the Orcs and Goblins to see if that would help.

115 Bubbles. Gobbo Shaman w/'Itty Ring. Brain Bursta/Gaze of Mork
090 Snotflicka. Gobbo Shaman. Fists of Gork, Hand of Gork
175 1x 20 Orcs w/Choppa and Shield, Full Command.
205 Giant
144 20 Night Gobbos w/3 fanatics and musician
120 2xWolf Chariot
100 2x5 Wolfriders
050 2x Snotlings
999pts

147 Saladin. Exalted Champion of Chaos.Sword of Battle, Barded Chaos Steed, Shield
142 Saradan.Exalted Champion of Chaos. Sword of Might, Barded Chaos Steed, Shield
185 The Reavers. 5xKnights of Chaos. Heavy Armor, Shield, Hand Weapon, Champion. Joined by Saladin.
185 The Renders. 5xKnights of Chaos. Heavy Armor, Shield, Hand Weapon, Champion. Joined by Saradan.
300 Passion's Scream. 6xChosen Knights of Chaos. Heavy Armor, Shield, Hand Weapon, Champion
959pts

Setup: Good sized Forest in the middle of the board on the Greenskin Left, a medium rock formation on the Right, also in the middle of the board, with a large gap between them. The Chosen Knights set up behind the forest, while the other two Knight squadrons set up to go down the middle. The Orcs set up across from the Chosen, while the Night Goblins (With Snotlings in front) and the Chariots and Giant face down the middle. Bubbles and Snotflicka set up behind the main body, and the Wolfrider units set up on the far side of the rock formation.

Turn1: Wolfriders start together and move forward, one turning to flank one of the squadrons of Knights. The rest of the Greenskins move up, with the Giant and Chariots moving slower than normal to keep the same pace as the rest of the army.

Passion's Scream turns to maneuver around the forest. The Reavers and Renders move forward, though the Reavers are slowed by the proximity of the Wolfriders.

Turn2: Wolfriders move further into the Chaos rear. The Orcs and Goblins move up, releasing the Fanatics. The Fanatics plow through the Snotlings, killing them all, on the way to decimating the Renders. The Giant and both Chariots charge against the Reavers, smashing through them.

Passion's Scream, now the only Chaos models on the board, continue around the forest.

Turn3: 1 Fanatic Runs into the trees. The Wolfriders continue around the back of the Chaos Deployment zone. Both the Orcs and the Goblins squabble. 1 Chariot chases after Passion's Scream, while the other chariot and the Giant turn toward the Orcs and their side of the forest, planning on catching Passion's Scream in a Pincer. Bubbles uses the power of Da Waaaagh to kill off the other two Fanatics before they smash the chariot or the Wolfriders.

Passion's Scream sees the closing Pincer and slows movement to bait the Greenskins.

Turn4: Greenskin units continue the Pincer, but have an unsuccessful magic phase.

Passion's Scream charges the Giant and causes 2 Wounds, but receive none in return. Combat continues.

Turn5: Orcs charge in against the front of Passion's Scream, while the Chariot charges from the rear. The Chariot kills one of the Chosen, who in turn kill an Orc and the Giant, which falls into the combat, killing 3 Orcs. Passion's Scream concentrates on killing more Orcs, and the Ladz do nothing in return.

Turn6: Wolfriders and Goblins charge in against Passion's Scream as well, attempting to swamp them with numbers, but it only results in more dead Orcs and Goblins. Passion's Scream kills more Orcs and Goblins which results in the Gobboz fleeing in panic, sending both Shaman and both Chariots fleeing.

Final Result: Minor Victory for Orcs and Goblins. 659 to 492.5 Victory Points.

After such a cracking turn 2, I thought I'd given the Orcs and Goblins too much power and was despairing of the Chaos forces doing anything. (In the last game, the Chosen unit was wiped out right away, but the two heros in their units were just fine and pulled off a solid win. This game, those two units and heroes were wiped out quickly, leaving only the Chosen to pick up the pieces.) Well, the Orcs and Goblins pulled it off, but it was starting to look pretty bad for them by the end. The Chosen battled back well and nearly pulled off a draw. Their heavy armor and hard hitting power really made them a tough unit to scratch. In addition, their maneuverability let them dictate the initial combat, which gave them an edge.

The result of this battle makes me rather happy. I don't think there are any rules that I'm screwing up, now, and both of my forces are looking pretty good. The Chaos army is beatable, but tough, and it can do it's job whether it has all it's units around or not. The Orc and Goblin army is now much tougher and has a balance of mobility and hitting power and resilience.

As far as lessons learned, I'd say to never give up, never surrender. When the Chaos forces lost over 2/3 of their force in turn 2, it looked like it would be a rout. Solid tactics and a solid unit let them battle back to almost get a draw. On the O+G side, The value of chariots and other mobile units with heavy hitting power was proven in this battle report. The only real mistake might have been committing a bit piecemeal in the end, but that might have been inevitable. Oh, and one final note: Combat Resolution is King! Wherever you get it from. Even though they were rarely hurt, Passion's Scream had a hard time winning the combat, since they were so heavily outnumbered and they were fighting a ranked unit and they were also charged in the rear!

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