Post by mottdon on Jan 1, 2020 20:20:44 GMT
My friend and I managed to get in a 4000 pt game over the holidays. I was itching to use some of my newly painted Empire army and he was wanting to play an all-Goblin army build. (He used to have an O&G army years ago, but sold them off and is now thinking he may want to start them again.) His only stipulation was that he didn't want to face any cavalry-heavy builds. Not saying that I couldn't take ANY cav, but he just didn't want to be facing lots of cav units. So, I decided to go ahead and make it an all-infantry build, and show him that it can be just as nasty (if not more so!).
Here's what we took:
Empire army:
Lords:
Balthesar Gelt
Battle Wizard Lord (Lv4, Talisman of Preservation, Earthing Rod){Life - Awakening of the Wood, Throne of Vines, Shield of Thorns, Regrowth}
Heroes:
Captain (BSB, Great Weapon, Armor of Meteoric Iron)
Battle Wizard (Van Horstmann's Speculuum)(Fire - Fireball}
Battle Wizard (Lv2, Dispel Scroll){Shadow - Melkoth's Mystifying Miasma}
Battle Wizard (Scroll of Shielding){Beasts - Wyssan's Wildform}
Witch Hunter (Brace of Pistols, Ironcurse Icon)
Core:
45 Spearmen (FC, Shields)
-20 Swordsmen (detachment)
-13 Archers (detachment)
20 Handgunners (FC, Hochland Long Rifle)
-10 Handgunners (detachment)
20 Handgunners (FC, Hochland Long Rifle)
-10 Handgunners (detachment)
Special:
40 Greatswords (FC, Razor Standard)
-20 Swordsmen (detachment)
-13 Archers (detachment)
2 Great Cannon
2 Mortar
Rare:
Celestial Hurricanum
Luminark of Hysh
Steam Tank
Goblin army:
Lords:
Skarsnik
Great Goblin Shaman (Lv4, Giant Wolf, Talisman of Preservation)
Heroes:
Night Goblin Shaman (Dispel Scroll)
Night Goblin Big Boss (BSB, Armor of Destiny, Shield)
Night Goblin Big Boss (Giant Cave Squig, Light Armor, Charmed Shield, Spear)
Night Goblin Big Boss (Light Armor, Great Weapon)
Goblin Big Boss (Gigantic Spider, Armor of Silvered Steel, Great Weapon)
Goblin Big Boss (Gigantic Spider, Light Armor, Enchanted Shield, Spear)
Core:
5 Wolf Riders (Shields)
5 Wolf Riders (Shields)
5 Wolf Riders (Shields)
5 Wolf Riders (Shields)
29 Forest Goblin Spider Riders (FC, Bows)
30 Night Goblins (FC, 2 Fanatics, Netters)
30 Night Goblins (FC, 2 Fanatics, Netters)
Special:
30 Squigs, 10 Night Goblins
10 Squig Hoppers
8 Trolls
12 Snotling Swarms
Rare:
2 Arachnarok Spiders
3 Mangler Squigs
Snotling Pump Wagon
Not a lot of pics, but I did get three. This was the table after deployment:
This was taken at the top of turn 4.
The table at the end of the game. I think we went a round past turn 6, but it was pretty much a forgone conclusion that the Empire would walk away with a victory at that point anyway. The Goblin Great Shaman decided to go out with a bang and irresistibly cast the big template version of the Curse of da Bad Moon, taking out 18 Spearmen, and 7 Handgunners....and then got sucked into the warp. Classic ending for the game!
I'd have to say the VIPs for the game was the block of 45 Spearmen. The managed to fend off (and kill!) two Goblin Big Bosses on Gigantic Spiders, and an Arachnarok Spider! The Unit of 20 Handgunners next to the Spearmen came in at a close second. They took out a Mangler Squig, unit of Wolf Riders, and made the giant block of Spider Riders flee off the table after killing off over half of their number in two rounds of shooting. Not bad! Even though Mortars aren't the greatest option to take in general, they really worked well in a larger game like this where lines of sight are frequently blocked. Their combined might even managed to take out Skarsnik (after several direct hits to the head)!
The most useless options were definitely the two detachments of Handgunners, simply because they never really had any good line of sight to a target. I managed to get one of them into close combat along with a unit of 20 Swordsmen versus the swarm of Snotlings. Meh. I definitely took too many Wizards. I liked the thematic element of the Colleges of Magic going to war under Gelt, but the functionality of all of them wasn't great. Simply too many spell options for the amount of power dice. I even had a round where I maxed out at 12 power dice, but that wasn't even enough. I did like having so many options though. The Shadow and Beast Wizards could've been dropped. Warrior Priests stationed in both the Spearmen and Greatsword units would've been much more useful.
I'd say the VIP for the Goblins (and the one that gave me the most grief) was the Night Goblin Big Boss with Great Weapon. He routinely managed to take out three guys in close combat each round, eventually routing a unit of Swordsmen and took down the Witch Hunter in a challenge. Him, combined with the "Netters" rule from the Night Goblin unit, really combined for a nasty team. Unfortunately, the sheer number of attacks on his unit saw them eventually get warn and run down. Snotlings aren't overly effective in close combat, but they are a dang good tarpit! I had fun seeing a swarm of 12(!) of them headed my way! They virtually shut down that side of the board and were one of the few left at the end of the game. Another round would've probably killed all of them though.
Overall, fun game! I think my opponent isn't nearly as excited about collecting a Goblin army now though. Seeing one Arachnarok fall to a couple of cannon shots and the other end up looking like a porcupine after facing the Spearmen, kinda left a sour taste in his mouth, I'm afraid. The Empire's performance certainly piqued his interest though!
Here's what we took:
Empire army:
Lords:
Balthesar Gelt
Battle Wizard Lord (Lv4, Talisman of Preservation, Earthing Rod){Life - Awakening of the Wood, Throne of Vines, Shield of Thorns, Regrowth}
Heroes:
Captain (BSB, Great Weapon, Armor of Meteoric Iron)
Battle Wizard (Van Horstmann's Speculuum)(Fire - Fireball}
Battle Wizard (Lv2, Dispel Scroll){Shadow - Melkoth's Mystifying Miasma}
Battle Wizard (Scroll of Shielding){Beasts - Wyssan's Wildform}
Witch Hunter (Brace of Pistols, Ironcurse Icon)
Core:
45 Spearmen (FC, Shields)
-20 Swordsmen (detachment)
-13 Archers (detachment)
20 Handgunners (FC, Hochland Long Rifle)
-10 Handgunners (detachment)
20 Handgunners (FC, Hochland Long Rifle)
-10 Handgunners (detachment)
Special:
40 Greatswords (FC, Razor Standard)
-20 Swordsmen (detachment)
-13 Archers (detachment)
2 Great Cannon
2 Mortar
Rare:
Celestial Hurricanum
Luminark of Hysh
Steam Tank
Goblin army:
Lords:
Skarsnik
Great Goblin Shaman (Lv4, Giant Wolf, Talisman of Preservation)
Heroes:
Night Goblin Shaman (Dispel Scroll)
Night Goblin Big Boss (BSB, Armor of Destiny, Shield)
Night Goblin Big Boss (Giant Cave Squig, Light Armor, Charmed Shield, Spear)
Night Goblin Big Boss (Light Armor, Great Weapon)
Goblin Big Boss (Gigantic Spider, Armor of Silvered Steel, Great Weapon)
Goblin Big Boss (Gigantic Spider, Light Armor, Enchanted Shield, Spear)
Core:
5 Wolf Riders (Shields)
5 Wolf Riders (Shields)
5 Wolf Riders (Shields)
5 Wolf Riders (Shields)
29 Forest Goblin Spider Riders (FC, Bows)
30 Night Goblins (FC, 2 Fanatics, Netters)
30 Night Goblins (FC, 2 Fanatics, Netters)
Special:
30 Squigs, 10 Night Goblins
10 Squig Hoppers
8 Trolls
12 Snotling Swarms
Rare:
2 Arachnarok Spiders
3 Mangler Squigs
Snotling Pump Wagon
Not a lot of pics, but I did get three. This was the table after deployment:
This was taken at the top of turn 4.
The table at the end of the game. I think we went a round past turn 6, but it was pretty much a forgone conclusion that the Empire would walk away with a victory at that point anyway. The Goblin Great Shaman decided to go out with a bang and irresistibly cast the big template version of the Curse of da Bad Moon, taking out 18 Spearmen, and 7 Handgunners....and then got sucked into the warp. Classic ending for the game!
I'd have to say the VIPs for the game was the block of 45 Spearmen. The managed to fend off (and kill!) two Goblin Big Bosses on Gigantic Spiders, and an Arachnarok Spider! The Unit of 20 Handgunners next to the Spearmen came in at a close second. They took out a Mangler Squig, unit of Wolf Riders, and made the giant block of Spider Riders flee off the table after killing off over half of their number in two rounds of shooting. Not bad! Even though Mortars aren't the greatest option to take in general, they really worked well in a larger game like this where lines of sight are frequently blocked. Their combined might even managed to take out Skarsnik (after several direct hits to the head)!
The most useless options were definitely the two detachments of Handgunners, simply because they never really had any good line of sight to a target. I managed to get one of them into close combat along with a unit of 20 Swordsmen versus the swarm of Snotlings. Meh. I definitely took too many Wizards. I liked the thematic element of the Colleges of Magic going to war under Gelt, but the functionality of all of them wasn't great. Simply too many spell options for the amount of power dice. I even had a round where I maxed out at 12 power dice, but that wasn't even enough. I did like having so many options though. The Shadow and Beast Wizards could've been dropped. Warrior Priests stationed in both the Spearmen and Greatsword units would've been much more useful.
I'd say the VIP for the Goblins (and the one that gave me the most grief) was the Night Goblin Big Boss with Great Weapon. He routinely managed to take out three guys in close combat each round, eventually routing a unit of Swordsmen and took down the Witch Hunter in a challenge. Him, combined with the "Netters" rule from the Night Goblin unit, really combined for a nasty team. Unfortunately, the sheer number of attacks on his unit saw them eventually get warn and run down. Snotlings aren't overly effective in close combat, but they are a dang good tarpit! I had fun seeing a swarm of 12(!) of them headed my way! They virtually shut down that side of the board and were one of the few left at the end of the game. Another round would've probably killed all of them though.
Overall, fun game! I think my opponent isn't nearly as excited about collecting a Goblin army now though. Seeing one Arachnarok fall to a couple of cannon shots and the other end up looking like a porcupine after facing the Spearmen, kinda left a sour taste in his mouth, I'm afraid. The Empire's performance certainly piqued his interest though!
