A 2,000 point game of Defending the Village from the Warmaster Revolutions rules book. Winning this scenario depends on breaking the enemy and burning buildings. The defender also gains victory points for controlling buildings. This has been interpreted as only applying for the control of buildings that are not burnt. Otherwise the buildings would be little more than the objective markers seen in many scenarios. Burning requires a stand rolling a 6 in the combat phase if not also in combat so it pays to swamp a building with as many stands as possible although this will not guarantee success.
The Norse have been forked from a Chaos army with the Kallistra Marauders becoming Bondsmen. The Huscarls are a mix of Pendraken Norse Gael and Highlander figures. The Mammoths are from Alternative Armies. The Mammoths and Huscarls are massive point sinks so the army has a worryingly low break point. The Valkyries are Pendraken, having the insane requirement to glue on separate wings and flight stands.
Norse, 2000 points
240 – 4 Bondsmen
660 – 6 Huscarls
360 – 4 Cavalry
360 – 2 War Mammoth
80 – 1 Valkyries
125 – 1 Jarl
85 – 1 Hero – 1 Sword of Fate (5)
90 – 1 Shaman
Break 16/8
Empire, 2000 points
The Empire force is almost all original Games Workshop with the exception of 3 units that are 3D prints that will probably end up in the bin or reserves bench as they don’t even come close in quality.
270 – 6 Halberdiers
65 – 1 Handgunners
220 – 4 Crossbowmen
140 – 2 Flagellants
125 – 5 Skirmishers
440 – 4 Knights
190 – 2 Pistoliers
170 – 2 Cannon
130 – 1 Steam Tank
125 – 1 General
80 – 1 Hero
45 – 1 Wizard
Break 22/11
The terrain has been chosen to try and match that shown in the Warmaster rules including an almost redundant wood in the attacker’s deployment zone. The 4 individual buildings have been treated as impassible although they can be burnt down. The town at the back of the defender’s deployment area is a standard Warmaster village, it all counts as built up but the building models can be moved as needed. Naturally this town can also be burnt down.
Initial command rolls for both sides are middling, a Norse block of 4 units just falls short of getting close enough to torch a building. The Empire have plenty of chaff and leave 2 crossbow units in the town throughout the game.
The Empire cannon are out. 2 units shooting together breaks up the Norse advance leaving 1 unit confused.
The Norse cavalry tries for the leftmost building but can’t quite reach. The bunch of Norse units by the building at top fail to get it to light up. Mammoth move on to sort out the centre,
To the left cavalry from both sides bounce off each other.
In the centre the Norse chew up 1 cannon unit at some cost but a single unit is far less of a drive back threat than 2.
1 building is finally lit up but no such luck in the centre.
The Steam Tank proves a formidable opponent. Fanatics take down 1 Mammoth.
The Norse concentrate on burning rather than combat as that is where the points are, 2 buildings are now smoking.
That plan could have worked out better as the Norse reach their break point and with little chance of burning the remaining buildings it’s off for an early bath.
Setting up for another game but swapping attacker and defender. Both sides are in their respective corners.
Some fair results in both sides’ initial command rolls, the Empire even get the cannon units out and in range. A Norse Bondsmen unit loses a stand and was within 1 die pip of routing as it is thrown back 19cm. More good Empire news sees the closest building burning nicely.
The Norse horse line up nicely, the Empire pistoliers get around the building but fail to light it up.
The Empire pistoliers are gone but the knights chew up the Norse horse.
The Knights mob the house but still fail to light it up. Empire halberdiers move round the Norse huscarl flank but these guys are hard even when hit in the side.
Empire units surround 2 houses and fail to set fire to either.
Finally the Empire set fire to something and for good measure the break the Norse. They are, however, driven off the top right house.
Norse quality finally starts to work out. Halberd units are sliced up all over the shop and the Empire also break. Although the Norse are all over the field with both sides broken the game is a draw.
This was the first run out for the Norse and their performance was fair at best. The Mammoths are not as great as they appear. They throw out 8 attack dice (with another 2 being possible for a charging monster) but are a full base width wide. So charging into the centre of an enemy will probably bring on 9 dice (3 per stand) in reaction. This can be reduced by avoiding a centre charge but Mammoths really need at least 1 other unit to flesh out a battle line and soak up some incoming attack dice. Dropping a Mammoth will buy 3 units of Bondsmen with a potential 27 attack dice. Successive revisions of Warmaster have rationalised flyers so the Valkyries are also not as effective as they might appear. On the other hand Huscarls are solid bang for bucks units; unfortunately capped at 4 per 1,000 points.
The Empire always hold up well. The Steam Tank is on a narrow cavalry base and is hard to take down. 2 units of cannon placed side by side can put out 8 dice on a single target with no saves. They are however rubbish in hand to hand and they may not do enough damage to justify their points cost. Halberdiers are great, just don’t ask them to fight. They could not chew up the Huscarls even when attacking them in the flank.
The scenario was worth dragging out from the book but might not get replayed much as the same tactical choices will turn up every time. The attacker needs to spread out and hope for some luck to maximise burning points. It is tempting to ignore all this and concentrate on breaking the opposition, hoping for a draw and no better.
Gaming in Blackshaw Head 