Sixteenth Battle: The Beasts Strike Back
[Game situation: 6-turn pitched battle. With the sudden addition of several open spots and tiers on the challenge board, the Grinding Grumblers and Steve Femia’s Beasts of Chaos army – both on the same tier – got a chance for a “free” advance to the next higher tier by fighting each other. Winner goes up one level, loser stays where he is. We agreed to the rather unusual total of 1999 points because we wanted large armies but didn’t care for lords and special characters and such. The dwarves brought two 19-dwarf Warrior regiments with a well-equipped Runesmith to fight with each; 15 elite Hammerers for my Thane general to fight with; 12 Miners; 12 Thunderers; 12 Crossbowmen; 2 Cannons; and 1 Gyrocopter.]

Log entry:
“Our fearless leader Buford Bugman is angry. Really angry.

Not only at our hated enemies the Beasts of Chaos. (That goes without saying.) No, it’s the new recruits to the armies of Robinson’s Rock that have Buford Bugman shaking with rage. “They let mere fear get the best of them! They forgot their training! They acted like sissified Men or Elves when the going got tough! THEY BROUGHT SHAME TO OUR DWARFHOLD!”

Such tirades have been the order of the day (and week, and month) ever since our most recent encounter with the Beastmen. After helping to rescue the princess of Altendorf from the clutches of the evil Beasts, Buford expected a counterstroke of some kind, and so had been training the younger warriors of Robinson’s Rock vigorously for weeks. When word came that a large mass of motley beastmen with attendant demons and monsters were at the borders of our land, Buford confidently marched out at the head of his new trainees. The only veterans coming along were the Hammerer contingent, his personal bodyguard.

Spirits were high as our forces took the field against the enemy. Buford deployed two cannons on a small hill, and screened them with Crossbowmen and Hammerers set to the front. These dwarves were facing in the distance two large, elite enemy regiments (Bestigors and some misshapen, heavily armored chaos warriors) screened by a bunch of goat-headed skirmishers and flying demonlings. To the left of the hill Buford stationed Thunderers and a large unit of Warriors, plus another unit of Warriors to hang back ready to charge any beastly ambushers who might try to sneak in from behind. Miners hid themselves in nearby tunnels. A Gyrocopter deployed to the far left, keeping an eye on two Tuskgor chariots, two small packs of ravening war dogs, and a super-fast unit of 6 mounted chaos demonettes. In the middle of the enemy lines stood a terrifying Chaos Giant as well.

Seeing all these nasty-looking creatures across a short field put a chill in the bones of the young dwarves, but the barked commands of their elder leaders kept them in line. As the enemy broke into a run at us our cannons opened fire and killed a number of ranked-up Bestigors. Our crossbowmen dropped a couple of the small flying demons as well. But the mounted and very dangerous demonettes closed the distance to our lines with sickening speed, and thus attracted the most fire. Originally 6 strong, happily only 2 remained when they charged into our Thunderer gunmen, an attack soon joined by one of the war dog packs. The Thunderers acquitted themselves well, taking the initial hit and then grinding down the enemy. After a time the demonettes were all slain and the war dogs fled in yelping retreat. On the far left our gyrocopter killed a couple of war dogs and sent the rest scampering away, but soon had its rotors full dodging enemy chariots and flying demons coming after it.

Then all heck broke loose. Buford had expected a few ambushers to come at us from behind (that’s how these beasts usually fight), but when nearly 60 Gors and Ungors in three separate detachments suddenly appeared on our flanks and rear, all coming in with perfect timing and positioning, even he was stunned. The effect on our young troopers was alarming – they were decidedly shaken. Still, for the moment discipline held and the dwarves fought well. The regiment of Warriors left back to deal with incursions charged the ambushers they could see, and after a quick, fierce round of hand-to-hand combat routed them off the battlefield. Ambushers further to the left charged our other band of Warriors but were also defeated (though these got away from the Warriors’ pursuit and eventually rallied themselves).

Things looked more dire in front of the hill. The third group of Gor and Ungor ambushers had appeared right before the Crossbowmen, and weathered two (poorly ranged) cannon blasts and point-blank crossbow bolts without flinching. Charging the Crossbowmen, they routed them, and though the dwarves managed to rally themselves once, the beasties kept coming at them, and soon had them fleeing from the battlefield. This started a chain reaction, as shaky recruits witnessed for the first time the defeat of a dwarven unit. On top of the hill the young crew of the nearest cannon panicked and fled, abandoning a perfectly good machine. The gun was supposed to target the enemy giant, which was now approaching the Thunderers and one of the two Warrior regiments. The Thunderers held their ground and fired, wounding the Giant, but the Warriors disgracefully turned and fled in terror, quitting the battlefield entirely. The gyrocopter pilot, which saw his rapid-fire steam gun kill only one of five oncoming flying demons, also went into a panic, and crashed his machine as the enemy flyers closed on him. Even the appearance of the Miners – usually a harbinger of good things to come – failed to raise spirits, for the great pick wielders emerged from their tunnels opposite the large regiment of Bestigors, and despite a brave charge soon found themselves outnumbered and overmatched and were destroyed.

The only bright spot remaining for us, it seemed, was Buford and his Hammerer guard. Seeing enemies on all sides, and faced with not one but two hostile units in front of him, Buford ordered the charge. The Hammerers made quick work of the skirmisher troops they first faced, slaughtering them as they broke and ran. Behind the skirmishers were the heavily armed chaos warriors, the best equipped and trained enemy troops on the field. These fiends used the stricken skirmishers as a smokescreen through which to countercharge the Hammerers. But Buford and the boys did not flinch, matching their foes heavy blow for heavy blow, and soon had them running off to regroup. Coming up last were the haughty and powerful Bestigors, led by the opposing General and confident from their recent rout of the unfortunate Miners. But the Bestigors never should have tangled with Buford and his guard. Despite having the advantage of the charge and of numbers, the Bestigors failed to move Buford from his position, and as the melee wore on the big hammers of dwarves took their toll. When Buford slew the enemy General in single combat, the Bestigors had had enough and fled. The Hammerers in pursuit cut them down to a beast.

But not even the glorious deeds of our fearless leader and his guard could reverse the tide of that evil day. Our surviving regiment of warriors on the left chased the Gors and Ungors they had defeated too far without catching them; they soon found themselves surrounded by not only the rallied goat-men, but two chariots and flying demonlings coming over from the left flank. Charged front and rear, the Warriors fought hard but their nerves cracked, and were wiped out attempting to extricate themselves from an impossible trap. The Thunderers, who had fought hard and well to this point, continued their firing, and managed to wound the huge enemy giant so severely that he kept his distance from the dwarves. Unfortunately, the gunmen were soon overwhelmed with flank and rear attacks from chariot and beastmen from the left, and were slain. The last cannon crew on the hill managed to kill a good number of approaching Gors and Ungors with a blast of grapeshot from their machine, but it was not enough to stop the enemy from driving them from the gun and destroying it.

Buford and his guard were the only dwarves to escape the battlefield undefeated and with their regiment still in fighting shape, and brought back as trophies two enemy unit standards and the recovered standard of the fallen Miners. All the other dwarven contingents had been routed, slain or reduced to small groups of stragglers. Few out of many returned to Robinson’s Rock.

And when they got there Buford was waiting for them at the gate, his great arms crossed and a scowl on his face so deep and unwelcoming that more than one returning young dwarf wondered if he’d be better off back on the battlefield dodging beasts and demons.”

-Snori Whitebeard

[Game result: Defeat for the dwarves! Only the 2nd in 16 fights, but it was a Massacre. Steve scored nearly 2000 points to my c. 850, killing every dwarf unit I fielded except the Hammerers (he also captured one unit standard and two board quadrants; I got two unit standards to go with my many fewer kills). As a result, Steve moves up a tier to share the lead on the challenge board with the other Chaos Beasts army; the Grumblers remain where they are on the second highest occupied tier, grumbling (see analysis below).

[Tactical analysis: For the most part, the dwarves lost because of missed leadership tests, something I have an unfortunate tendency to do, despite merely needing to roll a 9 or less on two dice. For example, in the space of one disastrous turn I went 0 for 3: my cannon crew panicked and promptly vanished from the board; then my gyrocopter failed a fear test and got caught by other flyers; then 18 solid warriors with a Runesmith failed a terror test and ran off the board. (I believe I was 1 for 4 on panic tests for the game!) I missed more break tests than I should have, too, but at least some of those were in the realm of 7 after modifiers instead of 9.

But poor luck with leadership was not the whole story here. For one thing, the dice I rolled for shooting and close combat went better than average for much of the game (and I won the roll to move/shoot first), so I can’t claim the dice were always against me. Moreover, by starting my guys backed up in a corner – a typical dwarf strategy – I gave myself very little room for error on those crucial (and inevitable) leadership tests. For example, two of the three catastrophic panic test misses noted above might not have resulted in annihilation had I been up the field more.

Credit should also be given to Steve for executing a well-conceived envelopment strategy in which he came at me from all angles, front, side, and back. True, he rolled very well on his ambushes – hitting three out of three – but fortune favors the brave, and his was a bold plan to swamp me from all directions with a well-chosen mix of forces. Some clever touches of his included screening his elite units from my crossbowmen and handgunners with skirmishers; keeping his giant semi-hidden behind trees so I could never get multiple cannon shots on it; drawing lots of fire to his fast-moving, aggressively played mounted demonettes; and using his flyers to chase down my gyrocopter. The only action of his I would question was his holding the two chariots back to help his war dogs and flyers deal with my gyrocopter, when the main purpose of the gyrocopter was to harass and delay as many quality units as possible.
The gyrocopter did well enough in this, and I also give myself credit for holding an infantry unit back near my guns to charge ambushers, which worked perfectly when it wiped out a group of attackers. Not so slick was, once again, overly aggressive use of Miners, which got them killed unnecessarily. I must train myself NOT to have them come in against elite enemy units larger than they are! Also, I should re-prioritize putting Thunderers/ Crossbowmen on hills, as they proved vulnerable and unwieldy shooting and fighting in 12-dwarf long single lines.

Despite the game result, I think my force selection was fairly well-matched to the foe here. For example, I guessed rightly that he wasn’t going to bring much magic and thus I wasted few points in extra magical defense. My artillery was a bit deficient, but that was hard to avoid given the few “special” and “rare” choices allowed at 1999 points (I probably shouldn’t have agree to that odd total). The Hammerers did so well that I cannot fault myself for deploying them instead of another (“special”) artillery piece. Maybe a flame cannon or goblin hewer instead of the gyrocopter would have been better as my “rare” choice.]

Seventeenth Battle: The Thunder of Cannons
[Game situation: 6-turn pitched battle. Jon’s human Empire army the Royal Eagles challenged the Grinding Grumblers for a chance to advance to the next level up on the board. We agreed on 2500 points. The dwarves brought two regiments of 19 Warriors, 12 Miners, 12 Crossbowmen, 12 Thunderers, 1 Gyrocopter, several characters (a Runelord with the Anvil of Doom, a Runesmith, a Thane general, and an Engineer) plus a mass of artillery: 2 Cannons, 2 Bolt Throwers, 1 Stone Thrower, and 1 Flame Cannon.]

Log entry:
“’Never bring a hammer to a gun fight,’ said Buford with a smile.

Our fearless leader was on a small hill overlooking the battlefield, chuckling to himself as he assessed the situation. The occasion was a large practice battle between the dwarven army of Buford and the Imperial forces of his good friend Lord Altendorf. The latter had requested this encounter, saying he had a radical new invention he wanted to try out – a ‘Steam Tank’ the human engineers called it – which he hoped to use to anchor a new attacking strategy. Buford agreed, both to help his friend and ally, but also to indulge his own Engineering Guild: the dwarven gunnery specialists, you see, had a rivalry with their human counterparts. The dwarves didn’t think the human machinery would work right, and were looking forward to demonstrating the superiority of their own equipment (including a newly constructed Flame Cannon).

Buford was chuckling because he saw how many more artillery pieces the dwarves brought with them – 6 pieces to the humans’ 3. “All those tall human boys lined up with their hammers and swords and whatnot will never get across the field,” he opined. “They’re lucky we’re only going be firing paintballs at ‘em!” And of course we were. No one would die this day (we hoped), as all weapons were paint-loaded or blunted and a company of specially trained Wargame Whizzards was on hand to referee. But getting hit with a blunted axe or crossbow bolt could still break a bone; more importantly, dwarf (and human) pride was on the line. (Furthermore, rumor had it that Buford and Altendorf had a sizable wager riding on the result.)

The dwarves, under the field command of Rory the Black, had set all their artillery and missile troops on a central hill, at the top of which our Runelord stood ready before his Anvil of Doom. In fact, the only dwarven units not on the big hill were two regiments of Warriors, one to each side, and the Gyrocopter hovering well off to the left. The Miners remained hidden in their tunnels. The humans deployed two Great Cannons on their own central hill, and had ranged in front of it, from right to left, 8 White Wolf Knights, 10 Flagellant berserkers with flails, 18 spearmen with two detachments of 7 handgunners each, 10 Greatswords with another handgunner detachment, 12 Inner Circle Knights, and finally the huge, stinking, shuddering, terrifying mound of a Steam Tank. The humans also deployed three wizards among their men, their leader being the famous Balthasar Gelt of the Golden Order.

The dwarves got the jump on their human foes, blasting away first with their guns — though it did them little good initially. The two cannons and the stone thrower all missed their targets, the stone thrower damaging itself in the process and one of the cannons almost doing so. Even the Runelord mis-struck his first magic Rune. Only our crossbowmen did anything worthwhile, wounding several handgunners and sending the rest of the detachment fleeing in a panic. Fortunately the humans’ opening salvo also fell short of the mark: their many spells failed to penetrate our magical defenses (indeed, one spell blew up in the wizard’s face, wounding him), and one Great Cannon damaged itself misfiring. The other, however, blasted one of our bolt throwers to matchsticks.

And the enemy advance began. With a metallic grunt the fearsome Steam Tank lurched forward toward our lines. All the cavalry and infantry moved as well. With the enemy now coming into range of all our guns on the hill, the true dwarven fusillade began: cannons, Thunderers, crossbowmen, stone and bolt throwers, flame cannon — all let loose with a tremendous roar. The very ground shook, and many a human fell to injury when the shots found their targets. But, to their credit, they kept coming without panicking. Then our cannons did serious damage to the Steam Tank with two penetrating shots, slowing it to a crawl. Ominous sounds began to come from the boiler deep within. Still, it had its main gun, which kept up its fire and managed to damage in return one of our cannons. Our Runelord struck a Rune of Earth to cause a minor quake on the opponent’s hill that wrecked one of the Great Cannons. He also blasted some of the advancing infantry with a Rune of Fire.

As more and more men fell to our withering fire it began to look like none would reach our lines except for the cavalry units. On the right the White Wolf Knights managed a charge against our Warrior regiment commanded by Rory. However, the horsemen caused but few casualties, and Rory and his dwarves soon pummeled them into submission. As they fled, the Warriors’ pursued them and then plunged into a melee with the fanatical Flagellants, commencing a heated fight that would last the rest of the battle. Eventually the dwarves prevailed, knocking down every last Flagellant.

On the left, the elite Inner Circle cavalry had suffered severe casualties from our guns on the way in, and only about a third of them made it to charge our Warriors on that side. A short combat followed, in which the vast numbers and the inherent toughness of the dwarfs proved too much for horsemen, and they were soon fleeing.

Few Empire forces now remained on the field. In the center, the last of the human infantry had melted away under continuous fire, barely reaching the base of the dwarven hill. To the left the Steam Tank pushed its weakened boiler too far trying to get itself into the action and blew itself up. The Miners had appeared near the opponent’s hill to clean up there, joining with the Gyrocopter in this task, and soon took control. After this, only one human remained standing on the field, the famous mage Balthasar. His spell-casting (and that of his companions’) during the battle had accomplished little in the face of stalwart dwarven magic resistance, only neutralizing our stone thrower in the closing stages. When the referees called an end to the day’s action, Balthasar trudged off the field with a disgusted look on his face.

Buford was grinning ear to ear.”

-Snori Whitebeard

[Game result: a Massacre by the dwarves, 2397 points to 155. The dwarves eliminated every human unit on the board except Balthasar – and even shot the Pegasus out from under him! – losing only two artillery pieces in the process. A unit standard and two board quadrants added to the gaudy total. And so the Grumblers advance to the 4th tier of the challenge board, where they will have to defend their position before getting to challenge the lone army above them on tier 5.

[Tactical analysis: Buford’s tag line about bringing hammers to a gun fight says it all – the Empire simply didn’t bring enough gunnery to compete with the dwarven firepower in the expected shooting match, and his infantry assault forces were too slow getting across the board to change anything. Heck, it’s hard to imagine any foe standing up well to the fusillades I let loose here; maybe I should try to bring gunnery like this to every battle… Initially horrendous dwarven die-rolling soon passed, and by the end of the game things had balanced out or even turned in my favor. Smaller issues: The Steam Tank is potentially an awesome weapon, but against concentrated dwarven artillery the Empire might do well to leave it at home. My Flame Cannon worked nicely against his regiments, and is a worthy unit to deploy vs. an advancing enemy. Once again the Anvil of Doom proved its worth – all it takes is one or two of its better missile spells to hit to make a difference in a battle.]

Eighteenth Battle: The Thunder of Cannons Redux

[Game situation: 6-turn pitched battle. The Grinding Grumblers, having just defeated the Royal Eagles of Altendorf to advance to the fourth tier on the challenge board, were immediately challenged back by the Eagles. The point total agreed to was 3000, 500 more than the previous encounter. To the same army from last time the Grumblers added 10 Slayers, a Runelord, and liberally distributed Runes to their heroes and artillery.]

Log Entry:

"Buford Bugman, fearless dwarven leader, was in a magnanimous mood after the first mock battle between his dwarves and Lord Altendorf’s men. The friendly training exercise had been a glorious romp for the short & stout ones and their excellent machinery. He drank much - perhaps too much - for he agreed to the humans’ request for a rematch the next day.

This time Altendorf’s men brought the artillery they should have requisitioned for the first match - a mortar and two Hellblasters complemented the two cannons and steam tank of before. They also doubled their wizardry, bringing no fewer than 6 mages to the contest. The dwarves, coming from farther off, had to make do with pretty much what they had brought before. Oh, a bunch more Runes were added to our guns, a new Runelord took over command from Rory, and a small band of idiotic Slayers joined the crew, but it was hardly the transformation
the human lines got.

From the beginning the humans had the better of things. They got the jump on us, firing and moving first. They also plunked away more steadily, without the quality issues that usually mar human engineering. Our boys, unfortunately, must have been hung over from the celebrations of the night before (even worse than Buford himself, if that was possible), because they missed with impressive regularity. Moreover, the humans cheated. As Altendorf’s hammer cavalry and infantry on the center-right advanced forward, receiving fire strong enough to make men normally break - and then facing a Rune of Dismay - they all refused to pretend to panic despite the innumerable opportunities. This prompted the dwarves to grumble loudly to the referees, who, being human, failed to act.

Thanks to these misfortunes it seemed the dwarves would be swept from the field with ease. The human gunnery (and to a lesser extent, wizardry - the dwarves were fairly well-defended magically) racked up a fearsome toll, taking out dwarven guns on the hill opposite them one by one, and also Hellblasting the, er, heck, out of the dwarven army on the left (Gyrocopter, Miners, Slayers, and the Warriors under the Runelord). On the right the hammer cavalry made it across the field to charge into the crossbowmen and rout them before heading toward a bolt thrower.

But our boys eventually shook off some of their hangover-induced torpor, because toward the end of the battle when hardest pressed they put up a spirited fight. Our remaining artillery, though much reduced, did manage to take out the last of his cannons and mortar on the far hill, but not the Hellblasters in the woods to the left, which had pulled back. On the right Rory and his Warriors surrounded the enemy steam tank and, in a show of both courage and ingenuity, beat it into submission with their axes and hammers. (Two battles, two busted steam tanks!) And the last bolt thrower crew held firm against the charging hammer cavalry long enough to let other dwarves charge into the melee, killing their wizard leader and stalemating the rest. Our Runelord leader survived the destruction of his Warrior unit and managed, with the help of fire from the
Thunderers, to rout the human infantry detachments in the center.

Still, the rally came too late, and when the referees called an end to the fight the dwarves had had the worst of it. Buford, angry at the blatant bias of the referees, stormed away from the field. The rest of the dwarves headed for home unhappy, feeling that somehow this practice defeat, despite the drubbing they dished out the day before, saddled them with a net loss."

-Snori Whitebeard

[Game result: a Minor Victory for the humans. Unfortunately, despite starting on the same tier and splitting a two-match series, the Grumblers end up on the lower tier for losing second. There they must await a challenge before trying to reascend.]

[Tactical analysis: A horrid luck imbalance until late in the game did in the dwarves on this one. Lowlights include my missing consecutive 2+ bolt thrower shots and consistently falling just short of the damage needed to dispatch artillery crew or guns. Meanwhile, John couldn’t miss(fire) with his Hellblasters nor on his many Panic/Dismay tests on any of his advancing units. He also rolled a perfect spell distribution, with Comets for almost everyone. But, as usual, luck was only part of the story. John dramatically improved his lineup over last time, with much deadlier artillery and magic. I probably should have brought another artillery piece or two myself instead of the Slayers, but I had the Slayers on hand and not any more artillery models - I was maxed out. He had some clever deployment techniques too, as with moving the Hellblasters through the woods. I might have concentrated my shooting more on the hammer cavalry: doing just enough damage to cause a panic test and then moving on to the next target is unwise when the enemy makes all his panic tests. A wacky, unexpected deployment might have served me better than the predictable (but shooting-efficient) one I opted for.]

Battle #19: Creepin' Lizards

Battle #19: Creepin’ Lizards
[Game situation: 6-turn pitched battle. The Grumblers challenged James Walsh’s Killer Gecko Lizardmen to an advancement match for an opening on the tier above. We agreed on 1000 points for each army. The dwarves brought one regiment of 16 Warriors, 15 elite Ironbreakers, 12 Thunderer handgunners, 1 Cannon, 1 Flame Cannon, and a Runesmith general.]

Log entry:
“Our Runesmith Viggo was leading an expeditionary force in escort of a dwarven trade mission to the deep south when scouts reported Lizardman activity up ahead of his column. Viggo sent the caravan to the rear and deployed his forces around a small rise in a valley between two large hills. He put the cannon and flame cannon on top of the little hill, the Thunderers in a line in front of it, the Warriors to the left, and he himself with the Ironbreakers to the right.

The dwarves didn’t have long to wait before seeing suspicious movement at the other end of the valley. A largish regiment of Saurus Warriors appeared in the distance and began to move toward the cover of the woods by the large hill on our right. Even farther off, a hunting pack of two flame-belching Salamanders and their handlers did the same. It became clear that the woods they were heading toward already held a large number of Skink skirmishers with two Skink Priests, all of whom were maneuvering forward under cover of the trees.

Our cannon opened up on the Saurus Warriors, scoring a hit, and then hitting them again on the next shot, which caused enough casualties to make them panic and retreat before rallying themselves. The flame cannon and Thunderers, however, had nothing to shoot at: the Saurus Warriors and Salamander pack were too far away, and all the Skinks were hidden behind the trees on the right. So our cannon kept blazing away, knocking off more Saurus Warriors. The only enemy response was magical. The Skink Priests attempted to invoke minor lightning strikes from the heavens against our units, occasionally succeeding and causing a wound, but mostly fizzling in the face of our natural dwarven resistance and the defensive efforts of Runesmith Viggo.

Suddenly, a new threat arose on the left. A large Saurus hero, who had snuck up the far side of the hill on our left, sprinted down the hill at top speed. Our Warriors on that side barely had enough time to face around and block his path before being charged. A furious melee ensued, with the Saurus leader killing two dwarves in the first exchange of blows. But the weight of the Warriors’ numbers soon pressed down hard against him, and he found himself forced to flee to avoid being surrounded and crushed. He got away safely at first, but, now in the open and vulnerable to artillery fire, fled to the hill whence he came. Unfortunately for him, our cannon and flame cannon had a bead on him and let loose with multiple blasts, killing him before he could reach cover.

On the right side the battle had been surprisingly static: the Skinks, Priests, and Salamanders had stayed hidden in the woods, lobbing the occasional ineffectual spell, but otherwise doing little. We ourselves were content to wait for a target to emerge. Finally, as their Saurus general came under artillery fire, the lizards decided they had to do something, and their Salamanders and Skink priests moved into the open to take their shots. The Salamanders vomited forth multiple gouts of flames into the ranks of our Ironbreakers, and one of the priests began firing his magic bow at them too, but the inherent toughness (and gromril armor) of the dwarven elite prevented significant casualties. A few of the Thunderers, now in range, returned fire, wounding one of the Salamanders. The frustrated lizardmen – now seeing the artillery swivel back in their direction after killing their general – retreated back to the woods and melted away.

Viggo was relieved to have prevailed with so few dwarf casualties, and happily reformed his column and left the area. Clearly, this was lizardman territory, and in this encounter the cold-blooded ones had been merely bloodied, not truly defeated, by the dwarves.”

-Snori Whitebeard

[Game result: a Minor Victory for the dwarves, by a hair. The Grumblers scored 380 points by killing the opposing general and half their Saurus Warriors, vs 200 points scored by the Geckos, who controlled two board quadrants. Thus the Grinding Grumblers advance to the fourth tier, where they will need to defend their position once before challenging up to the fifth level.

[Tactical analysis: Luck was pretty even in this battle, so it came down to strategy and unit capabilities. I may have crossed James up a little by deploying way off to the left instead of on the big multi-tiered hill to the right. He had done a very good job of putting blocking terrain in front of that hill, so I chose to put my guys in the other corner where they had an open field of fire. James responded by keeping most of his forces safely out of sight in the woods by the big hill and taking magical pot shots. This meant that my deadly Thunderers and Flame Cannon had nothing to shoot at for most of the game — a major plus for him — but it also meant that he had no way of doing significant damage to me. It almost worked out well for him anyway, because by having the last move in the game (and the dwarves being so slow) he was able to move to control two board quadrants and contest the one I was holding, for a 200-point edge. The fatal mistake was the attack of his general alone on my left flank. Killing him gave me all the points I needed to prevail despite the territorial control of the lizardmen. The hero’s attack probably should have avoided the deeply ranked dwarf Warriors, combined with a general assault, or skipped altogether.]