Well brace the Gates ladz!!

[Ogreking]

Well tonite me and Wargamer are fighting seige warfare! I am playing ogres on the defence and he is playing DOW on the attack. This should be interesting but i think i maybe ok if im lucky. He has a huge ogre unit which you can see in the thread on his seige army, I am using my nes ogre army of 1500pts. I will post the results on this topic when we are finished. Wish me luck guys.

[Wargamer]

Well then, in the best White Dwarf tradition, it's time for... The Pre-battle fluff!


Captain Harlad looked at his army and smiled. He'd managed to find some of the best mercenaries in the old world. From Cathay he'd brought Cannons, from the freezing north came Marauders, sporting the most viscious looking ram he'd ever seen, and both Ozgag's lads and Klaus' personal guard had built Siege Towers. Duke Manning was going to regret missing those payments...
"Sir, there's a problem."
Klaus sighed, "What is it soldier?"
The messenger looked nervous, "erm... well... a group of Ogres has already taken over the Castle."
Harlad looked at the messenger, then across at Klaus.
"...ah well, no shame in wasting all this gear now. Men, we're off to slay some Ogres!"

Harlad's Siege Army:

Lords:

Lord Tandred Mannos, Mage Extrodinare:
Level 4 Hireling Wizard Lord with 2 Power Stones. Uses Lore of Heavens.
260pts.

Heroes:

Paymaster Klaus.
Heavy Armour, Halberd, Paymaster's Key.
63pts.

Captain "Highway" Harlad.
Brace of Pistols, Sword of Might, Light Armour, Grappling Hook.
87pts.

Galthax the Grey.
Level 2 Hireling Wizard with 2 Dispel Scrolls. Uses Lore of Shadow.
145pts.

Core:

Harlad's Highwaymen.
20 Duellists with Pistols and Grappling Hooks.
200pts.

Slitta's Slayas.
19 Skaven Nightrunners (Duellists) with Additional Hand Weapons and Grappling Hooks, led by a Champion.
162pts.

Klaus' Crossbowmen.
10 Crossbowmen.
80pts.

Harlad's Ambushers.
10 Crossbowmen.
80pts.

Harlad's Volley-Team.
10 Crossbowmen.
80pts.

Special:
Ozgag's Ironguts.
16 Ironguts, including Gutlord, Bellower and Standard Bearer. Pushes a Siege Tower.
918pts.

The Kraken Ram.
30 Norse Marauders with Additional Hand Weapons, including Champion, Musician and Standard Bearer. Unit pushes a Battering Ram.
350pts

Klaus' Heavy Infantry.
20 Paymaster Bodyguards with Heavy Armour, Musician and Champion. The regiment pushes a Siege Tower.
320pts.

Rare:
Ti-Chi-Chang's Cathay Cannons:
3x Light Cannons (each is a seperate Rare choice).
255pts.

3000pts.

[Wargamer]

Takes money to make money.

Well, my troops are gathered, their wages paid, and I'm ready to start smashing up some Ogres!

...well, almost. The good thing about this battle is I'm not going to be running into many enemies. The bad thing is each of these enemies can rip me limb from limb without breaking a sweat.

Clearly, fighting on the walls will not be to my favour. One Ogre can easily flatten two Humans, no matter how well equipped. However, I have a lot more men than he does (a hell of a lot more!), and I've got more shooting, and more war machines... and I doubt even an Ogre will survive having a wall collapse on top of them!

One thing that is worrying me is the sheer power of the Ogres. If I recall correctly, every single one of them, either by sheer strength or wargear, cause a -2 Armour Modifier or more, effectively ignoring 5+ Armour. The best armour save in my army is 5+... oh dear.

Ah well. Like all good Mercs, I've just got to focus on the objective... and the money. Yes, think of the money...

[Ogreking]

Pre Battle Fluff

Skragg was pleased. Yes very pleased. Him and his ladz had taken the castle without mch effort at all. Pretend your for hire, get inside and grab all the loot and grub. Yeah it had been a good laugh,especially eatin that important bloke. Then came the news.

'Err boss, said Skraggs gnoblar fetchit, theres some blokes on the other side of the wall and they dont look to happy.'

'Wat! Rite then ladz load ya gear and get ready. Its fumpin time it is!'

Skraggs Ladz!!

Heroes:

Skrag Kineater Irontooth
Bruiser with Heavy Armour, Brace of Handguns, Big Name (Kineater).
181pts.

Core:

10 Bulls with Crusher.
370pts

6 Ironguts with Gutlord.
308pts.

Special:

3 Leadbelchers with Thunderfist.
175pts.

3 Leadbelchers with Thunderfist.
175pts.

Rare:

Skrag's Lads
3 Maneaters, all with Brace of Handguns and Heavy Armour.
270pts.

Siege Upgrades:

Reinforced Door (20pts).

Total: 1499pts.

[Ogreking]

Well here goes nothing. My main concerns are as follows:

For a start my army is heavily outnumbered. This is not very good as it means I will be fighting a relentless enemy that will not take no for an answer. This will mean that my units maybe meat grindered out of the game.

Secondly, ogres pushing a seige tower! Not good at all. As only one can get up at a time i mite be okay but if things go wrong for me then oh o there goes the wall.

And lastly cannons. These im worried about. Wargamer has a knack of landing them precisally where he needs too. This could ruin my gate as well as my lines. This combined with his magic phases (my allmighty 2 dispel dice against his almighty 8!) will be hard to handle to say the least.

My main advantages:

Firstly trying to take a wall off an ogre is like calling him fat and dancing round with a sign saying eat me on it. It will be hard for wargamer to get rid of my ogres especially if he comes up against a Maneater or my boss. Ouch for him.

Secondly ogres are tough. No matter what army you play thyere is no denying in. Although Wargamer has many ogres i can fight them at my leisure as they can only get up one at a time.

And thirdly, my shooting capeabilities are good on the stand and shoot. Leadbelchers and my manaters including my boss can stand and shoot as they come up the wall. This will benefit me greatly and hopefully allow me to soften up the enemy before the enitial combat.

But i have to remain confident and focused. Think about the grub...all the lovely grub!

[Wargamer]

Pre-battle thingyup:
Some of the more observent people may notice that my Wizard Lord should be 260pts, not 250. The scribe has been duly informed of his error, and fed to the Ironguts. In the process, Klaus' Heavy Infantry have been forced to leave their banner with the supply caravan. Ah well, I'm sure they'll survive without it...

[Wargamer]

Battle overview:

The armies deployed as follows:

Skrag and 3 Leadbelchers over the North Gate.

6 Ironguts on the East wall.

3 Maneaters on the Southeast tower.

3 Leadbelchers on the south wall.

10 Bulls spread across the west wall and towers.

Attackers were deployed thusly:

Harlad and his Highwaymen, along with the Hireling Wizard, 1 cannon and all 30 Crossbowmen, deployed against the South wall.

The Ironguts attacked from the West. Klaus and his men came from the East.

The rest attacked from the North, headed for the gate.

Opening moves:
The battle started slowly, with the Ogres achieving next to nothing in the shooting phase. The only incident of any note was a Comet of Cassandora, which scored a whopping 5 wounds on the Leadbelchers guarding the gate. The Maneaters proved to be immune to magic, beginning a running theme for that unit.

The next Ogre volley proved more effective, but the Mercenary counterattack also improved, causing minor damage to the walls, and a few scratches for the defenders.

The assault:
The Leadbelchers made themselves felt, blasting away at Klaus and his men. The other squad began slaughtering the Norsican raiders, but they seemed unphased by the casualties.

The Mercenaries continued their assault, determined to gain ground. Finally, to the horror of the defenders, Ozgag and his men made it to the wall, and began storming their way onto the ramparts. Harlad and Klaus followed soon after.

The fight for the walls was brutal and bloody. Magic storms raged overhead, crippling the Maneaters who fought tooth and nail to hold their battlement. Klaus and his men were held off by the Leadbelchers, whilst Ozgag began making ground.

As the battle for the ramparts waged on, the arcane energies struck again. Uranon's Thunderbolt blasted down upon the Leadbelchers guarding the gate, slaying them both instantly. Unfortunately, one of the Cannons suffered a violent misfire, despite the warnings of the mage, and was lost.

Seeing a chance to strike, the Kraken Ram thundered home, smashing the gate open just enough to let them through. Slitta and his troops followed soon after, scaling the now undefended wall.

Stalemate:
With a final, brutal blow, Harlad slew the final Maneater, and cleared the ramparts. However, his men had suffered too much. Only two of his highwaymen remained alive. Ozgag made some impressive gains, but he too was driven back off the walls, only to press the attack once again. Klaus and his troops managed to force themselves onto the wall, but they too had suffered terrible losses.

In the courtyard, Skrag led his men in a viscious charge into the Norse, causing terrible losses. They fell back under the fury of his charge, only to rally once again.

The deathblow for the assault was when Klaus was severely injured and left for dead by the Ogre defender. The last two Highwaymen fled, and the Norse lost their will to battle.

Final Tally:
with most of the attackers either halted, dead, or left stood outside the castle feeling left out, we added up the results... and got a dead draw!

[Wargamer]

Post Battle: You get what you pay for

Ouch! That battle was violent! The Ogres definately make amazing defenders, and they managed to hold off more than I expected them too (particularly the Maneaters).

With hindsight, I should have concentrated my attackers more. If I had sent both the Siege Towers at the same wall, along with Harlad and both Duellist squads, I may have been able to overrun them more effectively. Failing that, just knocking down the walls, as opposed to climbing over them, may have brought me a victory. Ah well.

One thing I can say for sure; next time, I'll be ready for those Ogres...

[Arguleon Veq]

A really well done battle report, great work. I liked the WD style that you have done it in (with post and pre match posts).

Sounds like it was a brutal but fun battle, i'll have to start playing some siege games.

[Ogreking]

Wherd me gate go ladz?

It was indeed a great battle. Although alot of the attackers managed to brech the walls or gate I was very proud of my ogres for holding the way they did. Especially the Maneaters, god did they do well!

Skragg performed well in the courtyard with the norse. Im pleased to see the army works and im now very tempted to buy the army. Good game Wargamer. Ill get ya next time laddo! I bet my belly on it!!

[elflord9d]

awsome battle to read. one of the few. im not much for battle reports so words of praise from me on them is a rare thing.

[Tronn]

Thanks fellas,

This was a great read and well presented. Thoroughly enjoyable,

GO OGRES GO GO GO.

Maybe next time switch sides, (if u got enough models OK)

[Ogreking]

The ogres will get them next time dont you worry. I bet my belly on it!!

[grunt90]

another so these get some attention too!