Billy Ocean:
Game 3
Theme: A bit of a weird one! You have delivered the sparkle stone to your scientists/engineers, but before they have time to turn it into an awesome weapon you get attacked! You do however, have the sack that the giant was carrying the sparkle stone in - its covered in sparkle residue so has some pretty nifty powers!
Scenario: Kind of Blood and Glory, except you just get 3 bonus points for breaking fortitude rather than auto-win. You can either give the nifty sparkle-cloth to the giant, who can wear it as a cape and gets the Fly and Impact Hits rules. Or you can give it to a unit to use as a banner (replacing whatever magical banner they already have), in which case you get three random abilities rolled off tables (there are some very powerful abilities in there!) Either way, you can get 2 bonus points by capturing your opponent’s sparkle cloth.
Opponent: O&G savage orc list. Looks a bit weird, but this is a top class player (winner of Sparkle Party Death Match 2), who has annihilated his last two opponents.
Lvl 4 savage orc shaman on boar with shrunken head
6 savage orc heroes on boars, with a collection of different magic items
5 savage orc board boys (joined by the shaman and 6 heroes to form a crazy powerful unit)
50 savage orc big-uns
2 aracknoroks
Bonus Item: we both decide to use the cloth sack as a banner. He gives it to the 50 savage orc big-uns, who get Terror, +1Toughness and Armor piercing. This unit is now terrifying. I give mine to the BCs, who get +1Attack, Immune to Psychology, and 5+ ward. Cool!
Deployment: He has very drops, which proves to be his undoing. I lay down my chaff and fast stuff (BCs, wolfriders, destroyer) first, while I see how he deploys. I then castle up my IG and warmachines in the opposite corner to the Big-Uns, and directly opposite his small (but still scary) boarboy unit.
Pre-game thoughts: He has two scary units, but at least it looks like I can take them on one at a time. I’ll hit the boarboys first with my ranged attacks, and then the destroyer, before regrouping to take on the Big-Uns, who I can waylay for a few turns.
Game summary: He gets first turn, and rolls the boarboyz and both Araks right towards my line. Big Uns move up too, but they’re far from the action. Magic does nothing. Things are closing in pretty quickly already so I need to take decisive action. I charge the BCs into one Arak, move my Khan to redirect his boarboyz, and move the destroyer into position to get a countercharge off on them next turn. He has to burn his scroll to shut down Flames of Azgorh. I hit the boarboyz with the magma cannon, killing off a hero and a couple of boyz. Deathshriekers put a couple of wounds on the unengaged Arak, whereas the BCs (with their extra attacks from the banner) leave their Arak with just 1 wound left.
In his turn 2, he gets the second Arak in with the BCs, and the boarboyz charge my Khan, killing him and overrunning maximum distance off at an angle. Big-Uns continue their long slog towards the action. In my turn 2, my plan for the K’daai has been scuppered because the long overrun put the boarboyz out of his front arc. He just repositions for later. My wolfriders get into position to redirect the Big-Uns another turn while I deal with the boars. Magic is huge for me this turn. I 5-dice flames of Azgorh on the boarboyz, and with his scroll gone he can’t dispel it. 3 of the heroes and his Lvl 4 shaman all die to the spell, putting me in a great position. Magma cannon blows itself up and deathshriekers target his Big-Uns doing nothing because of their +1T. The BCs finish off one of their Araks, their 5+ ward helping them take minimal damage in return.
The rest of the game sees the boarboyz making it into combat with my GW IG. Despite losing most of the heroes, the unit still has a lot of punch, but the IG hang in just long enough for the destroyer to countercharge and finish off the boarboyz. Towards the end of the game, the Big-Uns finally make it to my battleline. Rather than being a big jerk and just Ashstorm-ing them until the end of the game, I decide to hit them with everything and give my opponent the big combat he wants. The Destroyer, my BCs, and my Sparkle Giant all charge them and grind it out for the rest of the game. I lose the BCs (but not the Taur’ruk), and the Big-Uns are reduced from 50 to 12 by the end of the game, but I can’t finish them off.
Result I’ve done just enough to score a 20-0 win (he has only the Big-Uns left, worth 625pts; I lost only the magma cannon, wolfriders, and BCs, worth around 400pts). I score 3 bonus points for breaking fortitude, putting me at a 23-0 win.
Final Thoughts: Without that big Flames of Azgorh, this could have been a very close game. But it was really the deployment that won it for me. I was able to deal with the boarboyz and big-uns in turn thanks to his lack of drops. Still, this was an incredibly fun game and my opponent fought tooth and nail until the bitter end.