Last time, I went into detail about the lore behind my list and how I decided upon my unit choices. The result felt solid and lore accurate with enough punch to hopefully put some halt in the step of an opponent.
With the list made, I challenged Dave to a game at 500 points. We rolled for the battle plan when we met and got Breakthrough.
If you want to find out more about Old World: Conquest, our narrative system for Old World, based on the Age of Sigmar Path to Glory system, then click here.
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The Story So Far
(Epic American Voiceover Guy) Previously, on the Dwarfs of Bhurali-Dwar
Fimbur Grimsson had spent his entire adolescence behind his father’s beard-tails. His father, Grim Fimbursson, had amassed a large fortune and was among the wealthier Dwarfs of Karak-Norn.
Fimbur had heard tale of a lost haunted hold called Bhurali-Dwar while in the ‘Grobi’s Head’, a rather run down Tavern in the lower levels of Karak-Norn. Wanting nothing more than to make a name for himself, Fimbur began planning an expedition to find the hold and reclaim it.
Fimbur, having a good relationship with his father, ran the expedition plans past him one evening. His father, who wanted nothing more than for Fimbur to succeed in life, decided to fund the expedition.
After months of preparation, the expedition was ready to leave the gates of Karak-Norn. Bidding his father goodbye, Fimbur took his force southwards, heading towards the mine of Grung Gandaz.
After 3 days, the scouts began reporting killing the odd Night Goblin here and there who seemed to be fleeing away from the mine. As the day progressed and the army marched closer, the number of reports increased, each one the same. Night Goblins fleeing southwards in terror away from the mine.
It wasn’t long before his rangers reported a large army of Night Goblins fleeing southwards from the mine. Seeing an opportunity to cross out some Grudges from the Dammaz Kron, Fimbur deployed his force across the road, aiming to wipe these Grobi out as they fled.
The Battleplan
With only a couple of hours to spare, Dave and I rolled our battleplan at random from those in the Old World: Conquest battlepack, rolling Breakthrough.
We rolled off, and Dave was allocated the role of Invader (very suitable being the filthy Grobi).
My aim was simple, stop as much as I could of Dave’s army from leaving my table edge. If I could stop more than half of Dave’s army from leaving my table edge and kill his general, then I’d get a minor victory. If none of his units left my table edge, I would get a major victory. Anything less than that would result in defeat for the Dwarfs.
The beauty of a game like this is that my head cannon for the game can be completely different from Dave’s. So, while my Dwarfs are attempting to destroy a load of fleeing Gobbos, Dave’s may well be something different that fits within his narrative story plot.
The Pregame Lists
The Dwarfs of Bhurali-Dwar
===
The Dwarfs of Bhurali-Dwar [497 pts]
Warhammer: The Old World, Dwarfen Mountain Holds
===
Gold: 5
Stronghold: Bazaar
Quest: Search for the Artefact
Quest Points: 0
Vault: Empty
Limits
Units: 6
Characters: 2
Wizard Level: 1
Special: 1
Rare: 1
Monster: 0
War Machine and/or Chariot: 1
Allies: 1
Magic Items: 1
===
++ Characters [79 pts] ++
Thane [79 pts]
– Hand weapon
– Great weapon
– Full plate armour
– General
– Oathstone
++ Core Units [358 pts] ++
10 Longbeards [148 pts]
– Hand weapons
– Heavy armour
– Shields
– Elder (champion)
– Standard bearer
– Musician
10 Rangers [110 pts]
– Hand weapons
– Crossbows
– Heavy armour
10 Thunderers [100 pts]
– Hand weapons
– Handguns
– Heavy armour
++ Special Units [60 pts] ++
1 Gyrocopters [60 pts]
– Hand weapons
– Steam guns
– Full plate armour (armoured fuselage)
===
Dave’s Night Goblins
===
Path to Sporey [497 pts]
Warhammer: The Old World, Orc & Goblin Tribes
===
++ Characters [90 pts] ++
Night Goblin Oddgit [55 pts]
– Hand weapon
– General
– On foot
Night Goblin Bigboss [35 pts]
– Hand weapon
– Light armour
– Shield
– On foot
++ Core Units [254 pts] ++
30 Night Goblin Mob [182 pts]
– Hand weapons
– Thrusting spears
– Shields
– Netters
– 1 Fanatics
– Boss (champion)
– Standard bearer
– Musician
15 Night Goblin Mob [72 pts]
– Hand weapons
– Shortbows
– Boss (champion)
– Standard bearer
++ Special Units [58 pts] ++
1 Goblin Wolf Chariot [58 pts]
– Hand weapons
– Cavalry spears
– Shortbows
– Standard bearer
++ Rare Units [95 pts] ++
Mangler Squigs [95 pts]
– Colossal fang-filled gob
– Heavy armour
===
The Battle of Grung Gandaz
Deployment
Following the battleplan deployed our forces, luckily for me, I had the unit of Rangers, which I could place right in the centre of that tunnel out of my territory. With them in the middle, the thunderers on my right flank, and the gyrocopter and Longbeards on my left, my aim was to create a killing zone in the centre as the Goblins charged forward.
Turn 1
The Grobi charged forward towards the stalwart Dwarfs. The Wolf Chariot, having sipped on some particular potent fungus brew before the battle, managed to crash straight into the Thunderers on the Dwarf left, killing two in the process. The Thunderers fled (Break test roll of 10, against a 9 needed!), and the Chariot continued to cut them down. While the Mangler smashed through the trees on the right peering down at Fimbur and his Longbeards as they ignored it and charged into the Grobi Spears in the centre of the battlefield, the Gyrocopter taking up position nearby intending to at least put some hurt on the Mangler.
The Grobi leader issued a guttural challenge to the Dwarfs which the leader of the Fimbur’s Guard quickly accepted by cutting the Grobi’s head off. It wasn’t enough for the Dwarfs to win the combat, however, and they promptly broke and fled (another break test roll of 10!).
Meanwhile, in the centre, the Rangers ploughed bolt after bolt into the Grobi archers, felling them at a distance with the Goblins unable to mount and serious challenge to these sharpshooters.
Turn 2
The Goblin spearmen pursue Fimbur and his Longbeard Guards southwards (off the table).
The massive Mangler Squig swings around and with massive leap managers to jump on top of the Gyrocopter, crushing the machine and pilot to the ground in a shower of metal.
In the centre, the Rangers continue their toll on the Grobi archers, felling five more. However, these Grobi are more scared of whatever they’re running from than the Dwarfs blocking their path and refuse to flee.
Turn 3
With little to stop them on the Dwarf right the Mangler and the Grobi warboss Flee past the Dwarf lines.
The Rangers kill the remaining Grobi archers. With nothing remaining on the battlefield, the Dwarfs are dumbstruck at what just took place. Helping the wounded to their feet, the Ranger set off to find Fimbur and his guard.
Post Battle Review
Wow. I mean, that, was, brutal. The Wolf Chariots’ long bomb charge in the first turn at max range meant it managed to kill a thunderer through impact hits and then somehow beat them in combat after they whiffed. I needed an 8 or less to stay put and fight again or a 9 to fall back in good order. I rolled a 10.
The loss of the thunderers was huge, as I felt they could have beaten the chariot normally and then taken care of the Archers with shooting. This would have allowed my rangers to keep a steady rate of fire at the Mangler and Spearmen, but alas.
Then this was further compounded by the Longbeards, somehow losing combat in my turn against the spearmen, rolling a 10 for their break test as well. They fled, but we’re then charged and fled off the table next turn.
Still, it was immense fun, and I’m looking forward to getting my revenge against @hamsfan and his Grobi in the future.
Aftermath Sequence
With the game over, it was time to sort out my army for the campaign in the aftermath sequence as defined in Old World: Conquest.
Step 1 – Earn Gold
Nice and simple, we played a 500-point game, and so got I got 5 gold. I did not win, and my General ended off the table, so there was no additional gold. This, with the 5 gold you get at the start of a campaign, gave me 10 in total.
Step 2 – Resolve Injuries and Casualties
I had a fair bit to do here, as I had lost a lot of Dwarfs.
First up, my general, Fimbur. Rolling 2D6, I got a 4. A critical injury! I chose to reroll at a cost of 1 gold, this as otherwise, my character would start with D3 less wounds in the next battle. 11, much better! This was a minor injury and had no effect on him.
Next, it was time for casualties. First the Lonbeards. As they had all fled the table, I’d need to do rolls for each of them, with any 1s being a casualty. 3 casualties! The dice were not with me. Deciding to spend another gold piece, I rerolled the result. Not a single 1 the second time around, thank goodness!
Next, the Thunderers, 2 casualties here. I decided I would keep this result as I would need to spend the 8 gold elsewhere in the aftermath sequence.
The Rangers suffered 1 loss in the battle, but this was healed up.
The Gyrocopter having a wounds characteristic of less than 8 got to roll as a casualty and luckily rolled a 4. We decided the pilot would have jumped out at the last moments and survived to rebuild his machine.
Step 3 – Gain Renown Points
The bonus renown didn’t apply to anything in my army, so all I had was Favoured Warriors, which I gave to the Rangers. Mainly due to them being the only effective unit in the game! Rolling a 3, I marked this down next to the unit on my roster.
Step 4 – Complete Quests.
I didn’t get any Quest Points from the game as my units had to be in Dave’s half of the table.
Step 5 – Manage Stronghold
With a unit cap of 6 and 5 units in my roster, I would need to buy barracks soon to increase my unit cap to 9. Hiwever for now, we’ll leave this.
Step 6 – Manage Your Territories
So rolling a D66, I got 42 for an Ancient Road, which would increase my Allies cap to 2. I decided not to take this as with only two more slots for territory available to me at this point, I wanted to reserve them for something I really needed.
Step 7 – Manage Your Order of Battle
Here I spent 4 gold. Deciding that being a Dwarf, Fimbur would really love having some artillery to support his little expedition. So I recruited an organ gun to mow down those pesky Grobi.
Updated List
===
The Dwarfs of Bhurali-Dwar [617 pts]
Warhammer: The Old World, Dwarfen Mountain Holds
===
Gold: 4
Stronghold: Bazaar
Quest: Search for the Artefact
Quest Points: 0
Vault: Empty
Limits
Units: 6
Characters: 2
Wizard Level: 1
Special: 1
Rare: 1
Monster: 0
War Machine and/or Chariot: 1
Allies: 1
Magic Items: 1
===
++ Characters [79 pts] ++
Thane [79 pts]
Fimbur Grimsson
– Hand weapon
– Great weapon
– Full plate armour
– General
– Oathstone
– 5 Renown
++ Core Units [358 pts] ++
10 Longbeards [148 pts]
Fimbur’s Guard
– Hand weapons
– Heavy armour
– Shields
– Elder (champion)
– Standard bearer
– Musician
10 Rangers [110 pts]
Karak-Norn Sharpshooters
– Hand weapons
– Crossbows
– Heavy armour
– 3 Renown
10 Thunderers [100 pts]
Grindir’s Raiders
– Hand weapons
– Handguns
– Heavy armour
– 2x Casualties
++ Special Units [60 pts] ++
1 Gyrocopters [60 pts]
Hambir’s Flyer
– Hand weapons
– Steam guns
– Full plate armour (armoured fuselage)
++ Rare Units [120 pts] ++
1 Organ Gun [120pts]
Helga
– Organ gun
– Hand weapons
– Light armour
===
Post Battle Lore
Fimbur and his Guard trudged back towards the site of the battle. The amount of Grobi bodies fleeing through the Dwarf lines had simply been too much. It was like holding back a flood.
Whatever had scared the Grobi had been more terrifying than the Dwarfs that stood in their path. That being said, Fimbur still felt some shame for not being able to cut the filth down.
—
Meeting up with the rest of the force, the Dwarfs took stock of their losses, two dead from the Thunderers and the Gyrocopter badly damaged. There were a few walking wounded, but considering what they had just experienced, it wasn’t too bad.
The Dwarfs marched up the approach road to the mine entrance, dead Grobi lay everywhere, all looking as if they had been running from the mine itself. At the entrance to the mine, they found the wooden doors cracked and buckled. But the damage had been from the inside rather than outside.
Walking in through the entrance, a cavern opened up around them. Sunk into the expertly carved walls of the cavern were many dwellings and workings that you would associate with a small mine of this size. The buildings mostly seemed undamaged, though the main thoroughfare through the settlement looked as if a Stampede of thundertusks had been there. The familiar sight of Grobi bodies lay everywhere. On a ledge further up the cavern wall from the entrance they had just arrived through, Fimbur could see an organ gun and its crew resting and enjoying some ale.
—
After a few rounds of Ale the Dwarfs of Grung Gandaz, who had mostly survived the attack unharmed, told Fimbur about how the Grobi had fled from the lower depths of the mine and out of the entrance. The crew of the Organ Gun, who had been stationed on the ledge to provide it with line of fire not only over the entrance but also to the mouth of the actual mine, had been enjoying themselves exterminating the filth as they ran, but barely made a dent in their numbers.
They had no idea what had terrified the Night Goblins so much that they had not only been willing to charge through a Dwarf settlement but also run out into the full glare of the sun.
Wanting to “kill the Grobi filth,” Bindor, the engineer of the Organ Gun ‘Helga‘, offered to lead Fimbur and his expedition through the mines and into the underway. to tag along with Fimbur’s expedition.
Bindor had heard the rumours about Bhurali-Dwar but had no idea whereabouts it could be located. Eing at the southern part of the Grey Mountains, they decided the best policy would be to move northwards from Grung Gandaz.
