My list went like this:
Slaughtermaster (Lore of the Great Maw)
Lvl 4
Armour of Destiny
Great Weapon
Crown of Command
Bruiser
BSB
Enchanted Shield
Ironcurse Icon, Sword of Anti Heroes
10 Ironguts
Command
Standard of Discipline, Look out Gnoblar
10 Gnoblar Trappers, muso
10 Gnoblar Trappers, muso
10 Maneaters (Stubborn, Swiftstride)
5 extra Handweapons
Musician, Standard, banner of eternal flame
4 Mournfang
Heavy Armour
Ironfists
musician
Stonehorn
Ironblaster
Dave's List:
Savage Orc Warboss (in the Savage Big'Un unit)
Orc Warboss on a Wyvern (Crown of command, sword of striking, 4+ ward)
Black Orc Big Boss BSB (in the Savage Big'Un unit)
Lvl2 Orc Shaman (in the Savage Big'Un unit) Lucky Shrunken Head
38 Savage Orc Big Uns
30 Night Goblin Archers with Nets
5 Goblin Wolf Riders
3x Orc Boar Chariot
10 Trolls
Rock Lobba
2x Doom Diver
Deployment and Magic
Magic I got: Trollguts (4+ Regen), Bullgorger (+1 Str), Brain Gobbler (Panic Test), Tooth Cracker (+1 Toughness)
Magic Dave got: Hand of Gork, Foot of Gork
I decided to be bold and first dropped the mournfang dead centre with the stonehorn to the left and the ironguts further to the left. The gnoblars protected the irongut's left flank, the maneaters were deployed behind the mournfang with the Ironblaster beside. Everything is within 12" of the Slaughermaster and BSB. The ironblaster was delployed out of line of sight of the rock lobba and 1 doom diver.
Dave set up with his savages directly opposite the mournfang, 2 chariots opposite the ironguts and the Trolls slightly off to the side of the savages away from the ironguts. the rock lobba and 1 doom diver set up on my left and the other doom diver on my right. The Wyvern hid behind a tower on the right and the last chariot was deployed with the trolls.
I think the deployment went well for me and in a battle like this when I am facing way more chaff I am better to just be aggressive and place my hitty units first, preferably leaving the ironblaster to last.
Turn 1
I won first turn and surged up getting the Mournfang and the Stonehorn in charge range for next turn. My magic phase was ineffectual but in the shooting phase the ironblaster took off one doom diver. Everything was within 12" of the BSB and slaughtermaster.
Dave shuffled his savage horde back a few inches to make my charges longer and moved up his wyvern to be ready for flank charges. The Wolves move up on my left flank to deal with the gnoblars. The chariots and trolls move forward to threaten flanks. In the magic phase he gets off a foot of gork but it scatters off target. Dave fires his remaining doom diver, it misfires and blows up! So unlucky! The Stonethrower causes one wound on an irongut and the turn ends.
Turn 2
My mournfang and the stonehorn both make above average 9" charges and hit the savages. The ironguts move up in support keeping the whole army except the gnoblars in bubble range. The maneaters turn to face the wyvern/trolls and the ironblaster aims at the wyvern. In the magic phase I get bubble +1 str off as well as +1 toughness on the mournfang. I fire the ironblaster but it misfires losing it's cannon becoming a big chariot. In combat the the mournfang and stonehorn dish out huge damage, killing over 15 big uns despite their 5+ wardsave, the increased strength makes a huge difference wounding on 2s and 3s instead of 3s and 4s. In return the stonehorn is reduced to 3 wounds and I lose 1 mournnfang. In a display of incredible (but utterly unknowing!) tactical brilliance I remove the 1 mournfang which would have allowed a flank charge by the trolls next turn! I wish I could say that I thought of this but it was Dave who noticed it, I will have to remember this in the future! The mournfang win the combat but the savages are steadfast with a re roll and remain in place.
In Dave's turn he charges two chariots into the flank of the stonehorn, moves up with his trolls and charges one chariot and the wyvern into the maneaters. The goblin archers charge the mournfang using their nets to reduce the mournfang's strength by 1. His rock lobba misfires and cannot shoot this turn. In the magic phase he stomps my iroguts killing one and then proceeds to roll a misfire and I get to stomp his trolls killing one and wounding another! In combat the the chariots kill the stonehorn, one over runs into the mournfang and the other reforms to face the ironguts. The Mournfang continue on their rampage killing about another 8 savages losing only 2 wounds in return. Once again the steadfast savages hold their ground. The wyvern and chariot kill 2 maneaters and wound another but in return the maneaters kill the chariot and the wyvern from under warboss. Strength 6 maneaters with 5 attacks each are brutal! The Maneaters win but the warboss is stubborn and stays put.
Turn 3
The gnoblars charge the wolf boys (who failed an animosity test last turn) and the ironguts smash into the reformed orc chariot. The ironblaster moves up to provide a supporting charge next turn against the incoming trolls. In the magic phase i get off bubble +1 strength again and trollguts on the mournfang. The Maneaters break and run down the warboss while the ironguts kill and over run the chariot hitting the other in the flank. The Ironguts also destroy this chariot using the impacts but cannot overrun twice so stay put. The mournfang kill another load of savages leaving 4 or so with the characters. In return they suffer one more wound and so another of their number. As the goblins cannot close the door they are removed from combat with the mournfang. The mournfang can't now break the savages steadfast but are ready for the next turn. The gnoblars break and run-down the wolf boys holding up that flank.
In Dave's turn he tries to charge the trolls into the maneaters but fails the charge only moving 1". The rock lobba kills off the Ironblaster to tremulous roars of "TAKE IT OFF" from dave. In his magic phase he Hand of Gorks the trolls behind the ironguts and in front of the maneaters (out of their charge arc though). In combat the mournfang kill a few more savages but suffer no casualties.
Turn 4
The Maneaters reform to face the teleported Trolls and the Iroguts charge the remaining savage unit. In the magic phase I get off bubble +1 strength again and trollguts again on the mournfang but bubble +1 toughness is dispelled. The slaughtermaster declares and challenge which is accepted by the savage champion who is promptly pounded into the ground. The mournfang kill the BSB and the remaining savages. I pursue with the mournfang but don't quite catch the savage orc warboss or the shaman. The Ironguts reform to face the trolls.
The trolls fail their stupidity rest and amble forward 2" and the warboss and shaman regroup. The foot of gork squashes another maneater and then wanders off. The rock lobba misses again much to Dave's annoyance!
Turn 5
The Mournfang charge the two remaining orc Characters and both the Ironguts and Maneaters charge the front and rear of the trolls respectively. In the magic phase I get off trollguts on the ironguts and panic the rock lobba so that it can't shoot next turn. The maneaters kill 3 trolls just from impacts thanks to the big charge and flaming attacks. They are then wiped out by all the great weapon and character attacks. The mournfang win combat and run down the last orc characters.
We decided to end the game there as Dave only had the unable to shoot stone thrower left.
Summary
Overall everything I could have hoped for went well for me and everything that could have gone wrong for Dave did. I was very lucky and the ogres carried me. Their sheer, natural strength and resilience is such an advantage over most armies in a toe to toe situation that when you get off the bubble buffs they become truly monstrous. I think I am starting to get the hang of the Ogres and I think my list is getting pretty settled. I really want to become an expert with the Ogres and will be playing them exclusively for a long, long time to come. The other thing I have gotten sorted out is deployment and now have a pattern I am happy with. The only thing I am going to look at in particular is the gnoblars, I', really not happy with them and they seem to waste time and charges more often than not. Very rarely have they made their points back and against some armies they never will.
I had a great time playing Dave and his huge collection of armies was really impressive, here is a link to one of his (many) blogs on the Bad Dice forum and some more pictures of his Orcs are below.
http://baddice.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=1964&sid=ef8bb2618caed9b53e3b33df21fb87f2
He has just successfully finished his 366 models in a year challenge which is nothing short of amazing considering that he became a Dad only 9 weeks ago! I want to wish him and his family all the best when they move down to Bath (Warm, sunny England) next year.
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