Ho there, you jolly lot. Just though I'd post a brief battle report of my first Warmaster game. Feel free to enjoy or dislike.
It was a pre-setup trial scenario against a staff member at the GW store, so don't blame me for the army selection or deployment :) Also, there are no magic or magic items. Apart from the usual ways of winning (killing general, kill XX% of opponent's stands) I could also win by getting one of my units by a road over a river - roughly where his skeleton chariots are placed.
ARMY SELECTION |
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Rough ASCII deployment map (and key)
WEST
EAST
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BTRBTR SCK
TMB SKL
PRS
SKL
SKL
SKL
SKL BGT
SKASKASKA
SKASKASKA SKL
SKCH
SKCH
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hill
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RBTRBT CHAR SPR ARCARCARC
CHAR
SPR SPR
ARCARCARC
SPR SPR
MAG
GEN SPR
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WEST
EAST
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The Liche priest started the battle by commanding the western Skeleton Archers forward twice, followed by a single move from the accompanying warriors to bring them slightly in front of and west of the Skeleton chariots. The Tomb King then proceeded ordering the other Archer unit forward once. Other than that, all command rolls failed (!). The Liche Priest and Tomb King proceeded to switch places with each other, with the Tomb King ending up slightly behind the Western Skeleton Archers. The Skull Chucker and Bone Throwers drew first blood, smashing down an RBT and Confusing the other (meaning that it couldn't move next turn).
Basically all units (except the confused Bolt Throwers) basically moved forward once, the center archer unit taking possession of the road leading to victory. The westernmost Spearelf unit followed closely behind and moved up in Support (I had no idea of what it did, but it sounded cool <grin> - some combat result bonus I think). The Mage took up a nice imposing position on the top of the hill. My chariots would have tried charging the Skeleton Archers, but as a WHFB player I was under the impression that charges had to be made before other moves (I presumed in the initiative phase). Oh well :)
The middle archers and the RBT's opened fire on this unit and managed to destroy a stand and drive them back a bit. Meanwhile, on the eastern front the other archer unit destroyed a stand of Skeleton Archers, pushing these immortals backwards as well.
The western Archer unit siezed the opportunity and charged the elven chariots, intent on disabling these deadly foes as soon as possible. The middle Skeleton Warrior unit also joined the fray, charging the elven archers in front of them, and losing another stand from Stand and Shoot. The eastern Skeleton Archer unit moved twice and engaged their elven counterparts. Their accompanying Warrior unit also slowly shambled forward. The Bone Giant still dumbly refused to move :) The combined fire of the Undead war machines drove the eastern Spearelf unit back a bit, killed a stand, and also Confused them. The combat between the Skeleton Archers (aided by the Tomb King activating some special ability) and the Tiranoc Chariots was swift but bloody, after a number of pursuits by both combatants they ended up slightly more north than before, with just one chariot and one archer unit left. The center Warrior unit, weakened as it was, still managed to bring down a stand of elven archers before perishing. The Eastern Skeleton Archers did not fare so well however, and were completely annihilated without killin a single elven stand(!).
The now-healed Tiranoc Chariot charged the Skeleton archers, suffering a hit from Stand and Shoot. The eastern Archers also moved forward 20 cm, but all other command rolls failed. The General heroically moved in behind the center Archer/Spearelf block, ready to lend his aid. While the Repeating Bolt Thrower and center Archers failed to do anything significant the eastern Archers did very well, killing a Skeleton Warrior stand and pushing the unit back. In the hand-to-hand combat phase, both the Skeleton Archers and Tiranoc Chariot were killed.
The Undead were starting to look rather decimated, so in a bold move my opponent charged his chariot squadron into the archers, supported by both the Tomb King and Liche Priest. The eastern Warriors also charged the elven archers, suffering two hits from their deadly accurate arrows. The Bone Giant, very unexpectedly, did nothing :) The Undead war engines yet again opened fire, reducing the last Repeating Bolt Thrower to a useless pile of wood. These western Undead didn't fare so well however, since after a brutal few rounds of combat they were destroyed, although not without taking an Archer stand with them. Aided by both their mighty general and the invigorating Liche Priest (gosh-golly that was a _lot_ of attacks!), the Chariots unsurprisingly utterly destroyed the elven archers, suffering two hit in return (note: one from Stand and Shoot). They then proceeded into the Supporting Spearelves. The initial charge destroyed a stand, and inflicted two hits on another. In return, a chariot was struck down and another hit twice. Gleefully pursuing, the chariots instantly initiated a second round of combat, which saw the demise of another Spearelf stand as well as a second chariot. The remaining Spearelf was left with just one hit, but then again so was the chariot. After much pondering, my opponent decided to Pursue again, no doubt hoping to catch my general without support nearby. The Spearelf stand was of course destroyed, but they could still strike back. They hit twice, and the save rolls came up as a 6 and a.... 3! With this the chariots were destroyed, and with them both the Liche Priest and Tomb King General - the game was won!
I must say I really enjoyed playing Warmaster. The rules are easily learned and intuitive (I must say that after this battle and the WD battle report I think I could play a game myself withouth any rule books), and the action is swift but bloody. Giving "commands" to units, as well as being "pushed back" by missile fire are both excellent ideas, and even this simple trial battle provided more excitement than most other games I've played (and winning didn't make it any worse <grin>). Warmaster is definitely a game I will be getting as soon as it comes out! Signing off,
--Lictor