Waking Dead

Scenario two of our Warhammer Fantasy Battle: Dark Shadows campaign was played at the weekend, and I was facing a 1000 point Orcs & Goblins army. I thought I may have the upper hand due to being the defender, not to mention the obvious double-points advantage, but it turned into a white-wash. This was probably my most effective army to date, mixing magic and firepower with some sturdy blocks of foot troops.

Here’s the setup.

Note: Apologies for the boards. There were two games being played simultaneously, and our spare boards aren’t really up to the same standard as our main ones.

From left to right I had 5 Pistoliers, a mounted level 4 Celestial Wizard Lord, a Great Cannon, 10 Handgunners, a Hellblaster, 20 Swordsmen, 10 Greatswords with a detachment of 5 Handgunners, 25 Spearmen with a detachment of 5 Handgunners, another Hellblaster, a level 2 Bright Wizard, another Great Cannon, and 20 Archers. The scenario dictated that I set up first, and I had no idea where Mike was going to go. His objective was to get units off my table edge, so I had to protect that at all costs.

Mike funneled his troops down the right flank, which in hindsight was fairly obvious as it was only protected by the Archers. I had covering fire from the Cannon and Hellblaster, but it was the best route he could pick. My plan then was to move the rest of my force to intercept, whilst still keeping the firing lines clear for my Cannons and Hellblasters.

Mike broke the Archers with a unit of Wolf Riders, but by this time most of my other units had made their way into range. I peppered the Wolf Riders and Shamans with Cannon and Hellblaster fire, then setup the Greatswords and Spearmen to receive the charge of his Orcs. The Pistoliers had a problem here, as that green hill you can see to the right of them is actually a swamp! I had to utilise the Fast Cavalary rules to the max, and sent them back round the outside, reformed, and readied for a rear charge of my own.

After a meaty clash with my own units, the Orcs fled, leaving the Pistoliers free to fire en masse. In the end, I didn’t need it. A few Thunderbolts of Uranos from my Wizard Lord wrought havoc amongst his ranks, and after my Hellblaster finally mopped up the last of the Wolf Riders, it was all over.

Ah – sweet, sweet victory!