The Battle of Skinny Butte (Battle Report)

 How to start the New Year right? By playing a game of Warhammer: The Old World. 

It really is a skinny butte.

The Bob and I finally got together again to play a game. This time we decided to play on a kind of desert wasteland-like table. It even has a little fresh water oasis to fight over. And fight we did.

.A force from Cathay, needing the turf to resupply their water stocks, were determined to claim this resource as they make their way through the Westerland seeking out the forces of Chaos.

It's somewhere in this area. 

At the same time Queen Helga, still smarting from her encounter with some pesky High Elves, was determined to restore some honor and reclaim a lost dwarfen settlement in the Westerland. It just so happens that a small force from Grand Cathay's Jade Fleet, along with some supporting forces from The Empire, was determined to claim it for themselves. 

Grand Cathay:

116 - Gate Keeper, Celestial Blade, Battle Standard Bearer, The Jade Banner

189 - Shugengan General, Celestial Blade, Dragon Fire Pistol, Heavy Armour, General, Wizard Level 2, Lore of Yang, Battle Magic (Arcane Urgency and Might of Heaven and Earth)

118 - 5 Jade Lancer, Jade Lancer Officer, Standard Bearer, Musician

138 - 15 Jade Warriors, Shield, Jade Officer, Standard Bearer, Musician

138 - 15 Jade Warriors, Halberd, Jade Officer, Standard Bearer, Musician

130 - Fire Rain Rocket Battery

80 - 10 State Missile Troops, Handgun

80 - 10 State Missile Troops, Handgun

===

Helga's Entourage  [999 pts]

Warhammer: The Old World, Dwarfen Mountain Holds, Open War

===

++ Characters [314 pts] ++

Queen Helga [247 pts] 

- Hand weapon

- Full plate armour

- Shield

- General

- On foot

- Master Rune of Adamant

- Rune of Speed

- Rune of Cleaving

Thane [67 pts] 

- Hand weapon

- Full plate armour

- Shield

- On foot

- Enchanted Rune

++ Core Units [367 pts] ++

12 Dwarf Warriors [147 pts] 

- Hand weapons

- Heavy armour

- Great weapons

- Shields

- Veteran

- Veteran (champion)

- Standard bearer

- Musician

10 Dwarf Warriors [105 pts] 

- Hand weapons

- Heavy armour

- Shields

- Veteran

- Standard bearer

- Musician

10 Thunderers [115 pts] 

- Hand weapons

- Handguns

- Heavy armour

- Veteran (champion) [Handgun]

- Standard bearer

- Musician

++ Special Units [110 pts] ++

Cannon [110 pts] 

- Cannon

- Hand weapons

- Light armour

- Rune of Reloading

- Stalwart Rune

++ Rare Units [208 pts] ++

10 Irondrakes [208 pts] 

- Hand weapons

- Drakeguns

- Full plate armour

- Drilled

- Ironwarden (champion) [Trollhammer torpedo]

- Standard bearer [Rune of Courage]

- Musician

---

Created with "Old World Builder"

[https://old-world-builder.com]

Dwarfs go first, with lot of marching and grumbling. A successful cannon shot strikes the BSB who miraculously managed to make his Saving Throw! 

"So it's going to be that kind of game," I thought aloud. 

BOOM!

Cathay Turn 1

The Wind of Yang

Also a lot marching and maneuvering. Unlike the Dwarfs, this actually looks like something significant, particularly the Jade Lancers who've set themselves in my Deployment Zone with perfect Turn 2 charge set-up. Both units of Empire gunners kill a single dwarf from the Warriors unit with the Great weapons and from the unit of warriors with Hand Weapons and Shields. 

Cathay sets the field to their advantage. 

Dwarf Turn 2

In a moment of quick thinking and desperation, the Dwarf Cannon blasts grape shot at the Jade Lancers, scoring 10 automatic hits! The shower of shrapnel bring down two of the Jade Lancers, much to their horrific surprise (and mine too, actually). The Iron Drakes and Thunderers pick off a few more Jace Warriors from long ranges. 

Grapeshot!

Queen Helga orders her unit of Warriors with Great Weapons to wheel around with the expectation that her unit might get charged by the Jade Lancers. 

 

Helga's unit wheels for advantage. 

The field of battle, bottom of Turn 2. 

Cathay Turn 2

The Wind of Ying (+1 WS)

The Rocket Battery targets the Iron Drakes but this scatters wildly into the Thunders blowing a few of them away. 

The Jade Warrior unit that contains the BSB attempted to charge the Warriors with hand weapons and Shields led by the Thane but failed their charge.

The Lancers choose to charge the Canon. And much to our mutual surprise the Jade Lancers only kill a single crew member (actually, I think it was a horse that did it) while one of the cannon crew kills a Lancer in return. The crew don't break and the two units are now locked in combat. 

The crew that wouldn't cave in.

Dwarfs Turn 3

The Warriors with hand weapons and Shields led by the Thane attempted to charge the Jade Warrior unit that contains the BSB but failed their charge. These two units are just itching to to come to grips but just can't seem to make it happen!

Queen Helga leads the Warriors with the Great Weapons to charge the lancers and successfully wipe them out, and saving the cannon crew in the process. 

Cathay Turn 3

(The WInd of Ying (+1 WS)

Being an honorable and noble character the Shugengan General charges the Iron Drakes from behind (to be honest, it's the only sensible way to avoid their Stand and Shoot Charge Reaction). When the Close Combat Phase was reached we got to witness the Shugengan and her trusty Spirit Longma stead lay wast to the Iron drakes, leaving just the Champion and the Standard bearer alive. They managed to get some hits on it in return but the Shugengan made her saves!

The Iron Drake slaughter. 

The last two Iron Drakes broke like the wind, and ran screaming straight through the unit of jade Warriors in their way. The Standard Bearer did not make it however and was cut down by the Jade Warriors. 

"Phew! made it!"

The champion (aka the Iron Warden) thought he had made it through the worst of it all only to have the Shugengan pursue, catch, and kill him. It was brutal. 

The agony of defeat. 

The Jade Warrior unit that contains the BSB attempted to charge the Warriors with hand weapons and Shields led by the Thane and this time they made their charge. Both units were now happy and filled with glee to finally be able to get to grips with their foe. Despite killing more Jade Warriors than they lost, the Thane and his Warriors still lost the combat due to the incredible CR modifiers in the Jade Warriors favor. Luckily they made the save. 

The fray in joined. 

Dwarfs Turn 4

I tried to get the dwarfs repositioned to be able to counter the Jade Warriors near the water. The Thunderers did shot and kill two of the Jade Warriors, only slightly thinning their numbers.  I wanted the cannon to deal with the Shugengan, and it successfully hit and damaged, only for the lucky (blessed?) General to successfully make her Ward Save. Meanwhile the Thane's fight with the Cathayan Army BSB once again lose to CR, but pass their Leadership test again. 

Cathay Turn 4

Wind of Ying (+Int)

The Shugengan and her trusty Spirit Longma fly to the back side of the Thunderers. The Jade Warriors with the halberds failed a charge against the Thunderers and lost a few more guys to the Stand and Shoot reaction.  

Turn 4, mid-battle. 

The Jade Warrior unit that contains the BSB had a tied combat with the Warriors with hand weapons and Shields led by the Thane. The Thane and his Warriors still lost the combat due to the incredible CR modifiers in the Jade Warriors favor. This time they failed the Leadership Test and were forced to Give Ground. 

Giving ground. 

Dwarf Turn 5

The cannon strikes the Shugengan and her trusty Spirit Longma with another precision cannon ball shot only to have the crafty general make another 6+ Ward Save! On the other side of the skinny butte the Thane and his Warriors lose again due to CR and once again Give Ground. Only this time the Jade Warriors restrain themselves and allow the dwarfs to escape combat. 

The power of restraint. 

Cathay Turn 5

Wind of Ying (+1 Int)

Shugengan General charges the rear of the Thunderers only this time she is formally challenged by the unit Veteran. This brave fellow is promptly murdered but he died honorably, facing his foe as opposed to being run down like a gobbo. 

"Challenge accepted."

This tactic (a gamble really) made it so that the rest of unit was able to still live. After they made their break test, they reformed to face their foe. 

Combat locked. 

The Empire Gunners tried to shoot down the Thane and his unit but was not successful in that goal. 

At the end of Turn 5 we took a quick assessment of the field of battle. As far as forces go, we were both very much still in the game. It was just a matter of determining our options and seeing what the dice gods would allow. 

The state of the battle, end of Turn 5. 

Dwarf Turn 6

I needed a push to hurt more of the opposing units. Sadly Queen Helga and her Great Weapons entourage of warriors failed their charge against the Halberd bearing Jade Warriors. The Cannon fired at that unit and missed. The Thunders and Shugengan tussle ended in a draw as did the renewed fight between the Thane and the Cathay BSB Jade Warrior unit. 

Combat renewed.

Cathay Turn 6

Wind of Ying (+1 WS)

Suddenly the Rocket battery crew remembered how to aim that thing and got a direct hit on the Dwarf Cannon, destroying it!

The Jade Warriors with the halberds refused to take the bait and held back from attempting to charge the Queen's unit, Once again there was no defeats that resulting in a unit being wiped out in any of the close combats. 

"Damn your Ward save!

No banners were claimed in Close Combat and we both had our Generals survive. I lost two units and gave up 310 points and the Cathay Jade Fleet only gave up 153 points. Bob's Cathay army win their first game! Also, this is his third win against me in a row for the Old World, but this one was a lot more of a challenge than the previous encounters. 

My dice proved to be fickle as heck where his were just uncanny at rolling saves, particularly for the 

Shugengan General. She needs to go with him to Vegas or somewhere that gives out money for awesome die rolls. Seriously, she batted away cannon balls and flinched off every blade that struck her! I think you can all join me in encouraging Bob to give this amazing lady a paint job!

MVP in black.