Guys, you know Fritz has always been honest with you right? So, do I actually have to admit I like reading White Dwarf? Essentially it is wargamer porn- stuff you want to get your grubby little hands on…but probably never will…
Anyway…
Besides the eye candy I enjoy the battle reports for both 40K and Fantasy as I think they can give us some mental insights into some “what-if” scenarios in the game beyond the standard missions.
Great stuff for random tournament play or oddball missions at the club.
So let’s look at the Fantasy scenario from last month, which was also a hit for me since it had a Dreadfleet scenario pack in, and now that my ships are painted- anyway.
So we have the Dwarves holding a castle against the Skaven. Mission is essentially capture and control with four points on the wall, and some special rules for attacking and defending various sections.
The dwarves are the defenders begin dug in at key points- a position they won’t want to leave, while the Skaven have the task of digging them out, and then taking the points.
When you read a WD battle report you kind of have to take a step back and ask yourself what do we really know about the dudes that are playing the featured armies? Do they even have a command of the game, are they competitive players or fluff players. Have they been told to really duke it out, or has some suit told them to make the battle “fun” to sell models.
Sometimes you just don’t really know what they were thinking when you read one of these- like when Tyranids came out for 5th edition 40K- all redone with new units, unheard of powers (at the time) like DOM and the Tervigon, and then they get totally crushed in the WD battle report by the very dude who wrote the codex! A herald for the Tyranids of what was to come?
Reading the battle report what would you have done?
So we are the Skaven attacking the castle…
I’d want to line up across the front of the castle and advance as a group much like in the battle report- encourage the defenders to stay put, hold and shoot- put that overwhelming visual pressure on the table so they don’t start adjusting positions in the castle or moving to reinforce key points as needed.
Now of course we are going to attack one point in the castle, break through and take three of the four objectives- usual seize ground stuff, but not all at once. We’d want to create a break point in the castle to cut off the opponent from shifting any models down.
Take a look at point “D” in the picture- a bunch of Rat-Ogres are attacking some Dwarven Slayers- and? Of course the RO’s get trounced. What if the RO’s advanced to the Slayers to look like they were going to meet the battle head on, and then switched over to join the plague rats in the tower hitting the center of the castle. Both units could overwhelm that point, it would take the ‘Slayers a bit to get to the center, and then the plague rats and RO’s could just delay as the rest of the Skaven attack on the left, as they are going, and then push to take the three objectives…
Sure, lot’s of “what if’s” and we aren’t even talking about rolling the dice and other wacky stuff, but visuals like this can be a great starting point for ideas.
What about the Dwarves, what could they do?
Do you want the enemy at your gates, or is it better to meet them head on mid field in a sacrificing action? I’d rather have the “extra time” since Warhammer games only go a set number of turns. Attack the Skaven right out of the gate with an expendable unit or two- suicide them, buy you an extra turn or two before they hit the gates.
Play with luck and chance targeting and taking out a key attacking unit, or just go for the visual carnage and target some lesser units? If the Dwarves had a flyer, maybe zip over the advancing Skaven an attack the back ranks?
Ideas that are interesting to think about, and hey you never know…even in the far future where there is only war in the grim darkness…my Saim-Hann have been tasked with defending a castle from Chaos on more than one occasion…
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