Battle Report: Ogres vs Lizardmen- The Watchtower

Well, here it is, my second Warhammer battle report. This time I forgot the actual camera, so I had to make do with the camera in my phone, so please excuse the picture quality.

We had agreed on a 2,000 point battle earlier in the week, so I used the army list I had published previously in this post.

Once again facing the Lizardmen, I wound up rolling "The Watchtower" as the scenario for this game. Anyone who's played me in this scenario knows that this is my least favorite game of all six (though, to be fair, I haven't played "Battle for the Pass" yet). If the Lizardmen ended up garrisoning the Watchtower first, I was pretty sure I was borked. As it turned out, I was the one to start out in the watchtower. My only unit small enough to fill this role, however, was my Leadbelchers.

Look, Leadbelchers are a roaming harassment unit. They are not objective squatters. When the large block of Sarus lined up ready to charge the tower, I was once again uncertain about the outcome of the forthcoming assault.

The rest of my army formed up in an unusual formation (for my ogres). The Ironguts took the left flank, ready to go through the forest and eliminate the Sarus block. The unit of Bulls with the Slaughtermaster took the center. Their mission would be to relieve the Leadbelchers once they (hopefully) held the tower for a short while. The last eight Bulls would be the other half of the claw closing around the heart of the army. Of course, having fewer units to deploy than almost any other army in existance (I have just over the minimum three units), my plan was easily disrupted by the Lizardmen's continued deployment.

There was no slann, nor were there Temple Guard this time (hooray!) but there was a Sarus Oldblood riding a Carnosaur (boo!). This beastie does D3 damage with every unsaved wound, and is purpose-built to take out large models like my ogres. Also, I would be staring down a unit of Kroxigor, but with their great weapons, I figured the avalanche of attacks the Ogres create would bee enough to finish them off before they got to swing at me.

Once deployment was done, our battle plans seemed pretty clear- I would try to roll the left flank, and the Lizardmen would overwhelm my right.

My armies seem to have this knack for being hopelessly outnumbered...

After three attempts at breaking tied roll-offs, the Lizardmen won the roll for first turn. As I predicted, the Sarus charged the tower and the noose began to close around my right flank. The combined efforts of the Carnosaur and the Stegadon would easily obliterate the bulls stationed there.

The Chameleon Skinks exited the ruins they had scouted into and unleashed a volley at my Bulls. One ogre fell, riddled with poisoned darts. A volley of Skink javelins pattered harmlessly off the heavy armor of the Ironguts, leaving one slightly wounded, but the unit no worse for the wear.

Inside the watchtower itself, the Saurus took a casualty or two from the Leadbelchers before inflicting five wounds on the unfortunate ogres. Lickily, the general was nearby, and the Steadfast unit held its ground.

During my turn, the now mangled Leadbelcher exited the watchtower to unleash a final defiant salvo against the onrushing Lizardman horde, as the Slaughtermaster's Bulls entered the tower to replace him. The Ironguts and second Bull regiment advanced more cautiously- not wanting to get charged / shot off the board by the combined efforts of the Lizardman army.

In the next turn, the horrifyingly inevitable happened. The Carnosaur and Stegadon declared a charge against the rightmost Bull unit. The regiment gripped their weapons tightly, stared at their onrushing foes, gritted their teeth and boldly...

...Fled. This led to much cursing from the Lizardman side of the table. The Stegadon and Carnosaur were stranded away from the fight moving only a few inches each due to their failed charges.

Not shockingly, the Saurus again assaulted the tower, this time finding a more capable foe. Several wounds were inflicted on both sides, but this time the Bull ogres emerged the victors due to having Gut Magic cast on them.

Another salvo of javelins, this time accompanied by Salamander fire felled an Irongut (at the cost of one Salamander devouring all of its crew and becoming Frenzied, and the Chameleon Skinks offed another Bull ogre as the regiment fled past them.

The Ogres then rallied easily, and turned to face the dinosaurs, this time protected by a screen of Chameleon Skinks. The Ironguts declared a charge against the Skinks with Javelins hiding in the forest, who elected to stand and shoot at the onrushing Ogres- inflicting a wound. The Skinks were gleefully slaughtered by the combined efforts of the Ironguts, Bruiser Battle Standar Bearer, and the Tyrant. Victorious, the regiment elected to hold its ground where it could see the Suarus assaulting the tower.

Turn three saw the charge of the Kroxigor against the tower, as the Stegadon and Carnosaur maneuvered into more advantageous positions. The Sarus reformed to accept the forthcoming Irongut charge.

The Chameleons continued to rain fire into the Bull Ogres, felling two of the monsters.

During close combat the Bull Ogres killed a Kroxigor with their higher Initiative, losing an Ogre in return. Having inflicted one more wound than their foes, the Ogres again emerged victorious. The Kroxigor unsurprisingly held their ground.

In response, the Ironguts did indeed charge the Sarus, and the Bulls charged the Chameleon Skinks.

The Bulls massacred the Chameleons, and the Ironguts won their combat against, and broke, the Saurus warriors. As the Lizardman Battle Standard Bearer fell defending the army's standard to the last, the Skinks who had advanced behind the Saurus to attempt some pot-shots at the Ironguts panicked and began to flee the battlefield.

Unsurprisingly the Saurus rallied as the Skinks continued to flee The Oldblood riding the Carnosaur goaded his mount toward the Watchtower, intent on slaughtering the ogres inside.The Kroxigor turned about to prepare for the Ironguts' implacable advance around the tower. The Stegadon turned about to face the Bull Ogres who had decimated the Chameleon Skinks.

More Salamander fire continued to thin the Ironguts' numbers. The Bulls stationed inside the tower inflicted a wound on the Carnosaur, and the Carnosaur devoured three ogres.

The Ogres responded by charging the freshly rallied Saurus, as the Bull ogres on the right reformed to face the Stegadon. This time there would be no escape for them.

The Saurus were again broken by the Irongut charge, and this time (with only two remaining) would only rally on a double 1.The Ironguts reformed after their victory to face the two remaining Kroxigor.

In the Lizardmen's next turn the Kroxigor charged, along with the Frenzied Salamander, into the Ironguts. The Carnosaur again assaulted the tower. The Stegadon charged the Bulls, who boldly held their ground against the onrushing beast.

Combats were short and bloody for both sides. Unsurprisingly the Bulls were broken by the charge of the Stegadon, who turned about to face the Ironguts. Two further Bulls were devoured, but they managed to continue wearing down the Carnosaur, inflicting another wound. The Salamander wounded the Bruiser Battle Standard Bearer twice, who in return inflicted a pair of wounds on the fire-spitting reptile. The Kroxigor managed to fell an Irongut, but the Tyrant made short work of them with his Tenderizer. The Salamander turned an fled the carnage, again to rally only on a double 1.

The Ironguts continued their orbit around the watchtower, and the Slaughtermaster prepared for his demise at the jaws of the Carnosaur.

Realizing it could only end in the complete slaughter of the dinosaur, the Stegadon held its position. The Salamander Hunting Pack drew closer to the tower, and the Carnosaur commenced its final assault against the Slaughtermaster holding the watchtower.

The Slaughtermaster was messily devoured by the Carnosaur.

In response, the Ironguts charged the Carnosaur-mounted Oldblood. This would be the deciding move of the game.

The now depleted Irongut unit (if you can call a single model that) rushed forward, and the Bruiser Battle Standard Bearer delivered the killing blow to the ravening Carnosaur. The Oldblood failed to kill anything in his Initiative step, and the Tyrant, now unable to attack due to the Oldblood's now diminished base size, could only watch as the last remaining Irongut failed to fell the enemy General.

In the end the Bruiser was closest to the Watchtower, so the scenario ended in a victory for the Ogre Kingdoms.

This was a really close game. Magic played a very small part in this one due to my throwing up buffs on units preparing to receive charges, and the Lizardmen dispelling them in their own turn.

I was pleased at the performance of the Tyrant, even though he never really got to swing his weapon to full effect, his Toughness of 6 and the -1 modifier to hit him really saved his bacon against the Saurus and Kroxigor blocks.

Another fun game goes down in the history books. I hope that even my losses will be this much fun, as this was my second win with this army that day.