Taylor and I got a game in at our local game store, the Bearded Dragon in Oneonta, NY. I’ll address the stonehorn in the room- no, it’s not all painted, and that’s why we didn’t film it! We had a great time playing 2000 points of my Empire of Man vs. Taylor’s Ogre Kingdoms. I’ll give the lists below and a play-by-play of our game. We’ve also got an audio version of this battle report on episode 54 of the “Beards, Ears, & Skulls” podcast!

Scenario, Muster Lists, & Deployment

We decided to roll on the main scenarios from the core book and naturally rolled a one, so basic Open Battle it is!

My Ostlanders list, is it a great Empire list? No. But it’s what I like and what I have. What has been painted so far is using the traditional color scheme of Ostland- white and black with red highlights. The Knights of the White Wolf are also heavily featured, so lots of red in this army!

Empire of Man Grand Army [1993 pts]

++ Characters [520 pts] ++

Grand Master [237 pts]

• Hand weapon
• Great weapon
• Heavy armour
• Shield
• Order of the White Wolf
• General
• Barded Warhorse
• Twice-Blessed Armour
• The White Cloak

Wizard Lord [230 pts]

• Hand weapon
• Level 4 Wizard
• On foot
• Twin-Tailed Wand
• Talisman of Protection
• Elementalism (wish I had taken Battle Magic!)

Empire Engineer [53 pts]

• Hand weapon
• Repeater handgun
• On foot

++ Core Units [603 pts] ++

20 Veteran State Troops [220 pts]

• Hand weapons
• Halberds
• Light armour
• Shields
• Veteran Sergeant (champion)
• Standard bearer [War Banner]
• Musician

10 State Missile Troops [80 pts]

• Hand weapons
• Crossbows
• Light armour
• Detachment

10 Empire Archers [85 pts]

• Hand weapons
• Warbows
• Scouts
• Marksman (champion)

8 Empire Knights of the White Wolf [218 pts]

• Hand weapons
• Wolf hammers
• Heavy armour
• Drilled
• Preceptor (champion)
• Standard bearer
• Musician

++ Special Units [485 pts] ++

Great Cannon [125 pts]

Great Cannon [125 pts]

3 Demigryph Knights [235 pts]

• Lances
• Shields
• Full plate armor
• Barding
• Demigryph Preceptor (champion)
• Standard bearer [Icon Of Morr]
• Musician

++ Rare Units [385 pts] ++

Helblaster Volley Gun [120 pts] Steam Tank [265 pts]

— Created with “Old World Builder” [https://old-world-builder.com/] (Not a sponsor, yet 😉 )

Taylor’s Ogre Kingdoms- ‘Cave Ogres.’ Taylor has curated a unique list over the years he dubbed Cave Ogres. The list features no magical items of any kind. These ogres are simple creatures and just bring a lot of meaty boys to the table!

++ Characters [1000 pts] ++

Tyrant [405 pts] (General, Great weapon, Light armour, Stonehorn, Giantbreaker) -Painted Thundertusk ‘counts as’ here

Slaughtermaster [265 pts] (Hand weapon, Level 4 Wizard, Battle Magic)

Hunter [330 pts] (Hand weapon, Stonehorn, Giantbreaker) -Unpainted Stornhorn

++ Core Units [523 pts] ++

3 Ogre Bulls [111 pts] (Ironfists, Light armour, Bellower (musician))

3 Ogre Bulls [111 pts] (Ironfists, Light armour, Bellower (musician))

3 Ogre Bulls [111 pts] (Ironfists, Light armour, Bellower (musician))

4 Iron Guts [190 pts] (Hand weapons, Great weapons, Heavy armour, Look-out Gnoblar (Standard bearer), Veteran, Gutlord, Standard bearer, Bellower (musician))

++ Special Units [284 pts] ++

2 Mournfang Cavalry [142 pts] (Great weapon, Heavy armour)

2 Mournfang Cavalry [142 pts] (Great weapon, Heavy armour)

++ Rare Units [186 pts] ++

Gorger [93 pts] (Wicked claws, Distensible jaw, Light armour (Calloused hide), Scouts)

Gorger [93 pts] (Wicked claws, Distensible jaw, Light armour (Calloused hide), Scouts)

— Created with “Old World Builder” [https://old-world-builder.com]

As usual, deployment didn’t go fantastic for me in the long-run. This is a part of every miniatures game I struggle with. For some reason I just can’t seem to wrap my head around good deployment strategies, so this really bit me in the end. I deployed two of my three artillery pieces on the hill with the other cannon on my far left flank (bottom of image above). I was thinking that this would keep him from running roughshod through all my artillery at once. I then placed the halberdiers with their detachment of crossbows near the hill to provide a buffer in front of the artillery. The Demigryph Knights went on the far right flank to take care of Mournfang Cavalry and a small unit of ogres. The Knights of the White Wolf with the Grand Master General went central to help with Leadership. Finally, I placed the archers near the lone cannon for help, and I didn’t want to scout to get the +1 to go first (it didn’t help).

I can’t speak to Taylor’s deployment, but he went for a even and balanced approach, with one Gorger in Ambush, the other deployed as normal to Vanguard up.

Round 1

Taylor’s Cave Ogres won the roll for first turn, so on comes the slabs of meat! His Slaughtermaster cast Oaken Shield on his unit and…

His miscast was that the spell went off, but no more spells this turn- ouch! The rest of his turn consisted of moving up, but staying out of charge range of my cavalry. Good idea!

My first turn was very similar, though magic didn’t do much, his dispel attempts were just too strong! My artillery got some shots though, the lone cannon shot over the Gorger, the other cannon killed a Mournfang, while the Helblaster and Crossbows shot the General for a wound or two. I think the Steam Tank took out an Irongut as well, that or I forgot to shoot it!

Round 2- Ogre Charge!

I was in trouble now. Taylor made a TON of charges, some long-bombs as well. The Gorger charged into the cannon no problem, his General crashed into the crossbows that did nothing with their Stand and Shoot, the single Mournefang at the top charged and was Counter-Charged by the Demigryph Knights, the middle of the board did a ton of chages, luckily the Hunter on the Stonehorn failed, but the Bulls and Mournefang charged the Steam Tank. Ironguts and other Ogres moved up to get ready for the next turn. I was on the back foot already!

Somehow the Gorger only managed to eat one crew of the cannon and the other two held firm. The General smashed through the crossbows no problem, sending them fleeing off the board. It Overran into my lone Engineer though, I figured I’d rather lose him now and keep one more turn of shooting with the Helblaster before that got overrun into next! The Mournfang and Ogres in the middle did one whole wound to the Steam Tank and won combat, forcing it back two inches. This allowed the Bulls to contact the Knights of the White Wolf. Meanwhile I finally had some good luck and the Demigryphs killed the single Mournfang and Overran into the small group of Ogres (they’re behind the ruins in the image above.

Empire Turn 2: My wizard got some work done, reducing the Bulls Toughness by -1 in the middle and also getting Plague of Rust onto the Mournfang in combat with the Steam Tank. There wasn’t much movement, if any, as I blasted away with black powder and arrows. The archer failed to do any damage to the ogres in front of them, but the Helblaster whittled away at the Ironguts, killing a few. The Wizard helped with Wind Blast, doing some more damage and pushing them back two inches. Combat went well, the Bulls in the middle were run down by my Knights, and the Steam Tank killed one of the Mournfang, forcing the other to flee. This left my Knights in the middle of the table, but close enough to the Hunter on the Stonehorn that he wouldn’t get Impact Hits! The Gorger finally ate the rest of the cannon crew, and the Demigryphs forced the other Bulls back, but decided to restrain and reform, facing the dread Tyrant on his Stonehorn.

This was when I started to get frustrated- did you know that Grand Masters don’t have the Inner Circle rule? It boggles my mind that they don’t, it makes no sense. Either way, he was performing well at this point, with the one attack he had made so far!

Round 3- Time for Snackies!

Taylor fails to rally a few units, and the Bulls at the top continue fleeing as well as the last surviving Mournfang. His Monsters charge and smash, the Hunter crashing into the Knights while the Tyrant ripped apart my Helblaster. I still had one cannon left, though! His Slaughtermaster couldn’t do much in the face of my Wizard, but his unit of Bulls at the bottom and the Gorger charged into my Archers taking no Wounds to show for it (the other Gorger was biding his time in Ambush).

Combat went well for me again, as the Hunter bounced off the Grand Master and took a Wound or two back. The Knights won combat and took the opportunity to reform, ready to remove the enemy Wizard from the table.

Empire Turn 3: Things were looking up, my cannon took a big chunk out of the General, but the Steam Tank misfired! My Wizard slung spells all over, now that he was unimpeded once the Slaughtermaster was in combat. My Grand Master showed off while in a Challenge again, and the Knights ran down the fleeing Wizard and the last Irongut. Sadly, my Demigryphs failed to charge his General in the rear by ONE INCH! To add salt to that wound, the Stonehorn was then shoved back two inches by a Wind Blast. Oh well, that’s why we roll the dice! The Halberdiers stood around, unsure what to do at this point, terrified of all the giant beasts around them.

Round 4- Downhill We Go

Taylor begins Round 4 with some nice long charges again. His Hunter on Stonehorn crashes into the Halberdiers, who stand firm in the face of a terrifying enemy! The Tyrant on his Stonehorn also charges easily into the flank of the Knights. Things aren’t looking good. His Ambushing Gorger is still waiting for the perfect moment to strike (Taylor forgot to roll, so I let him after I took the picture below, it came on behind the hill, ready to eat a Wizard or cannon), and he hides the one on the table behind the herdstone, so my cannon can’t get it! The last Mournfang decides his job is done and heads to a table corner to hide as well. The Fleeing Ogre Bulls by the green-roofed house Rally and take cover behind a stone wall.

Combat goes about as expected. The Tyrant Challenges, and my Grand Master bravely steps forward. Somehow, between Impact Hits, the Tyrant’s and the Stonehorn’s attacks, Taylor does just the three Wounds needed to kill the Grand Master. Even with minimum damage the Knights lose the combat and FBiGO (I forgot to turn them around before I took the picture below). The Hunter on his mount easily defeat the Challenging Sergeant and the Veteran State Troops also FBiGO, perilously close to the table edge.

Seeing the end in sight, the Ostlanders prepare for a heroic last Charge! I have faith my cannons will take out the Tyrant with his 4 remaining Wounds, so the Knights don’t charge in. The Demigryphs move up to threaten the Hunter, but were out of Charge Range. The Wizard, now on the hill, is stuck between a Hunter and a Gorger, though really, he should have moved, not sure why I kept him there… The Steam Tank moved up its four whole inches, ready to blast again.

My cannon fired first, doing a minimum single Wound to the Tyrant- damn Stone Skeleton! The Steam Tank can’t kill it with it’s D3 Wound cannon, but I could take it down another peg- until it Misfires again! I have now done twice as much damage to the Steam Tank than the Ogres, ugh. The Wizard casts some spells to no real effect. Natrually, Taylor is able to roll boxcars to dispel Plague of Rust, making me even a little more scared.

Round 5- Time to Remove Models

At this point, everything goes horribly wrong for the Empire. Since I wasn’t able to kill the Tyrant with cannonfire, it destroys the Knights with little effort. The Hunter also charges the Wizard and eats him (if he fled he would have gone through the Gorger behind and off the table- excellent placement by Taylor). The Gorger eats the cannon and there isn’t much left!

The Demigryphs finally get a charge on my last turn, but completely whiff against the Hunter! In return it wrecks them, Breaking them and running them down. Suddenly, all I have left is the Steam Tank, who fires its last cannonball at the lone Mournfang, trying to get ANY Vicotry Points (it couldn’t kill either Stonehorn with the Stone Skeleton at this point, so I figured any points were better than none), but the ball falls short.

At the end, the Steam Tank was the only model left for me, with seven Wounds remaining. We didn’t bother adding up points, it was a very clear and decisive victory for the Ogres. It was a great game, and with better deployment and cannon fire, I think the Empire really had a shot. I love Taylor’s theme of the Cave Ogres, and even without any magic items or black powder, the ogres are a tough list for the Empire of Man.

Until next time, make sure to check out our Patreon at patreon.com/professionalcasual for all kinds of awesome content as well as “Beads, Ears, and Skulls: A Warhammer: The Old World Podcast,” wherever you listen to podcasts! I’ll try to do more of these written reports when we get games in, let me know what else you’d like to see in them (I’ll take more pictures next time, too). Also, since you’re into Warhammer, make sure to give “A Grim Podcast of Perilous Adventure” a listen as well, our WFRP Actual Play series playing through The Enemy Within campaign!