First game with 8th edition (finally)

It seems a long time since 8th edition hit the shelves. The pre-order countdown, the buzz on the internet, the wait for the parcel to arrive, it all built up to an exciting wait for this old nerd. But then one thing or another seemed to get in the way of actually playing the game, until last night. Finally, the moment of truth arrived, my Chaos Warriors took to the field against an Empire army. The game was a straight forward pitched battle and we left out the terrain effect charts, we were just concentrating on the rules changes. Having read quite a few forum posts about how vicious and quick the new game was, I was expecting a bloodbath.

For my army I pretty much stuck with my old style of small blocks of warriors (12 strong) and slightly larger units of marauders (18 strong), with a unit of 5 knights and 5 marauder horse and a couple of characters, one of which was a sorceror so I could try the new magic rules. My only change from 7th edition was to bump up a unit of ogres to 6 strong, to see how monstrous infantry performed. The Empire army was similarly built along fairly traditional lines, though there was a horde of 40 spearmen to contend with and a big unit of 12 knights. The rest were fairly typical blocks of 20 melee troops or 10 missile troops, with some elite/special infantry in smaller blocks.

I like the new movement phase, it's clean and easier than of old, no problems encountered. Charges are much easier to resolve, the random element can seem a nuisance but it's clear that the game is no longer about getting the charge so this turned out to be less of a concern to me than I first thought it might.

The new magic phase is a blast (ha ha). The random winds of magic, the casting restrictions (or lack of), it just seemed more exciting. We both managed to get off  a handful of spells, but none caused massive casualties, even the much feared Infernal Gateway was not devestating. We both threw plenty of dice to cast, but not one irresistible force came up.

Shooting had a bigger impact, artillery are obviously much improved without having to guess ranges. I was certainly glad that my marauder horse were able to take out the cannon after it's first shot blew away 2 ogres and a chaos knight. Anti-artillery measure will definitely be uppermost in my mind when I make future lists.

Combat was more involved. I like the fact that the whole unit gets involved in rolling some dice, not just standing at the back of the unit to make up the rank bonus. In one combat between 40 spearmen and 18 marauders with flails, there were half a dozen casualties each side, but most of the other combats were much like 7th edition in style, with just 1 or 2 per side. This might have been down to the heavy armour saves of the chaos warriors of Tzeentch and the Empire knights, so more games will be needed before I can say too much here, but it felt reasonably balanced to me. I was pleased that my chaos knights still managed to carve a fairly bloody trail through the enemy, just at a slightly slower pace maybe than of old.

I really enjoyed the game, the rules seem well laid out and pretty logical, with less "fiddling" and guessing in game. The changes it will cause to my armies are minimal, though I have always collected infantry blocks as the core of my armies, with cavalry, shooting and magic as support elements, so maybe it's just a case of the current game designers having a similar mindset to my own. I can't wait to get more games in, trying out my other armies and moving on to the scenarios in the back of the book. I am one excited old nerd!

One last thing, this is the 100th post of the blog, so it seems fitting that it should be about the new version of the game I have played for nearly twenty years. It's certainly feels like the dawn of a new era. I have lots of ideas floating around in my head, on what to add to existing armies, starting new armies, getting my terrain collection painted up, etc. so there's plenty to do. Enough perhaps for another 100 posts......

High elf archers

A blast from the past! These archers are the first Warhammer models I bought, way back in 1992 or 1993. They are the single pose plastic models that were included in the Warhammer fourth edition box set, which was the first time GW released the game as a starter set with miniatures, rule book, etc. Since then, the game has gone through several versions, with the most recent being 8th edition of course, currently available in rule book only. There will be a starter set released later in the year and it's been confirmed that the two armies will be Skaven and High Elves.

In the nearly twenty years that I have been playing the game, I have collected a lot of armies. Starting with these elves, I moved on to Undead (as they were in the 1990's, none of the distinction back then between Tomb Kings and Vampire Counts, mummies and zombies happily shuffling along together). Then came Chaos, several of these in fact, including a chaos dwarf army. After about 10 years, I stopped gaming and sold off or shelved my many armies. But the High Elf army, my first ever Warhammer purchase, I kept.

Recent whispers and pictures of the upcoming starter set, along with the GW announcement that High Elves will be getting more models in the autumn, has got me excited about them once more. I am seriously considering them as my next army. I have a fair amount already painted, some of which I could easily update to fit in with my current style. The time seems right for the Glittering Host to take to the field once more. 

Trolls

A trio of trolls added to the army. The centre one is possibly the most numerous troll in existence, being part of the Skull Pass boxset, but the other two are a bit less frequently seen, being Reaper models. They have been painted in fairly sombre colours, I wanted to play down the more comic aspect often portrayed in trolls.

In gaming terms I have fielded them as common trolls in this unit of three, generally they are good against knights and smaller units. They give me some speed and hitting power (stupidity allowing), which is quite handy in my infantry heavy army.

Next to be painted? I do have three more trolls which I have spent several weeks patiently sifting through ebay to acquire. These new models are earmarked as stone trolls, but I could also field them in 8th as one large unit of 6 trolls, which by all accounts will be quite powerful in combat. I also have a giant, artillery and many more infantry waiting for some brush attention. And I got a set of the new boar boyz which I will probably allocate to a couple of chariots. While I make up my mind, I have switched back to 40k for a brief interlude, though still green skinned.

Spear Chukkas

 I completed painting the two spear chukkas over the past few days. The chukkas themselves I cannot remember where they came from, even if they are orc and goblin models, but they sure look like it. If not then they have obviously been looted from a defeated foe. The crew are a variety of old models, while the orc bully is made from plastic bits.

A pair of chukkas can often cause the enemy problems, especially if I place them on the flanks. Though they are not the best marksmen, there's usually a 1 in 3 chance of hitting the target, so they can be very effective, especially if they manage to take out heavily armoured units like knights. The enemy have to come out to deal with them, so at just 40 points per chukka they are a real steal and are always my first special choice. Having said that in the last game they did absolutely nothing, not helped by their crews rushing forwards under the influence of a first turn Waaargh spell!

The second chukka crew is made up from plastics bits from the goblin sprues. Notice that two of them are having a squabble so the bully is rushing over to sort them out. He's getting on a bit so uses an iron bar as a walking stick. I did wonder if I should embellish it with a severed goblin head, just to "show them snotty little crew wot 'appens if they muck about."

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.

Da orcs are here!

The Waaaargh gathers momentum, in the shape of 25 boyz with extra choppas. This unit can be quite useful in games, especially when led by a black orc who quells animosity and adds considerable punch (and I have a very nice model lined up for this role). In 8th edition I expect this unit to be even better, if it's true about both front ranks fighting the unit will be pumping out 20+ attacks. Not too shabby, especially in the first round when the choppas rule gives them additional strength.

In terms of the painting they were very straight forward and I spent little time on them. There are some slight variations in the skin tones, which I figured would add a little much-needed variety to a unit that is mostly wearing brown clothing. The banner design is very simple but the bold colours really pop out against the drab tones.

I have also finished painting an orc shamen (left). The one on the right is a Rackham Confrontation figure which I painted a few years ago. I think of him as a savage orc, both in appearance and in the difference in skin tone (there's no particular reason why bright green = savage, it just seems fitting in my mind). I need to repaint the base edge, just realised it's brown rather than black. I have some other non-GW figures to use as savage orcs, but they will take me some time to complete so are on the back burner for a while. Next on the list are trolls and a giant. That will add another 300 points or so to the army, my ambition to have 2000 points fully painted for the launch of 8th edition is looking good.

One minor problem I have is with the new boar boyz. They are so much nicer then the old plastic boars that I am really tempted to bin my exisiting unit and get a box or three of the new plastics (for a unit of 10, steeds for 2 chariots and a character mount). The leftover boyz could be incorporated into a unit of biguns, which I have been pondering for a while. If I get that little lot painted up I reckon I would be closer to 3000 points. Not bad for an army that started life as a change of pace from my dwarfs!