Orcs sack Averheim!

I took the newly painted orc unit along to a campaign game last night. The Empire troops were manning the barricades in the hastily fortified village of Averheim, while the orcs streamed on from two sides to sack and pillage. The orc boyz got a lucky 6 roll for animosity and stormed forward, almost to the barricades. The Empire general sent his army champion (standard bearer) with a unit of halberdiers to counter the threat. The orc boyz stood up to this charge and hacked down a few humans in return, winning the combat and sending the humans racing back in to the village square to "regroup". The orcs then quickly despatched a detachment of militia before slamming into the flank of a unit of swordsmen. Freshly painted and in the thick of the action, a gaming geek's dream.

Things were going quite smoothly for the rest of the army too. A unit of spider riders managed to disable a hellblaster before being hacked down by a unit of greatswords, a worthwhile exchange. A large unit of night goblins were in a grinding combat with a unit of flagellents, trolls were almost at the main gate of the village, while a unit of black orcs (with the help of the general's Waargh) had managed to charge a unit of Empire knights. The one minor setback was the giant stumbling as he tried to cross the fences, he would have to spend a turn getting up again and then try to cross the barrier again.

Empire relief forces turned up but were hampered by night goblin fanatics or charged by rampaging black orcs, leaving the dwindling forces in the villages to fight on. A minor victory was scored by the Empire as they sent the trolls fleeing from the main gate, strength in numbers winning the combat. The orc boyz were charged in the flank by a unit of greatswords and it seemed that the balance of the game was going to swing back to the humans. Four hits were scored but incredibly four 1's turned up on the to wound rolls! Just like a White Dwarf report. Even so, it was still a desperate moment as the boyz needed a 4 to stay in the game - yep, the second amazing roll turned up trumps for the greenskins. They had survived the Empire counter attack and could now hack down swordsmen to the front and greatswords to the flank. When the giant finally managed to negotiate the fence and charged in to help, the casualty toll was too high for the Empire and they fled.

The newly painted orcs suffered more than 50% casualties but racked up an impressive tally - the halberdiers' standard, a unit of militia, a unit of greatswords and a unit of swordsmen (with the help of a giant). What a debut, one that will be hard to beat. On my painting table at the moment is a couple of spear chukkas, then I will have to paint up some trolls and the giant. I was hoping to have them ready for the climax of the campaign, a siege at the Gates of Nuln, but I won't have the time for that. Still, I will try to remember to take my camera along for a final report.