2000 Chaos Dwarf List - feedback sought

[frogbear]

So had the game tonight and got summarily squashed.

Here is the Chaos list I came up against:

General
Wizard + Dispel
Wizard
Chaos Warriors x4
Marauders x2
Marauder Horsemen x1
Chaos Hounds x2
Dragon Ogres x1
Trolls x2
Chaos Spawn x2
Harpies x2

It was a tough force and I managed to remove 4 units with another 4 on the verge of being wiped out as follows:
- 1x Marauder Horse left
- 1x Troll left from a formation
- Both Harpy squads only had 2 units left in each

I needed the extra turn in order to try and turn the game around but alas it was not meant to be...

Thoughts on what I could have done different?
- have the Chaos Dwarves take the brunt of the attacks and move the orcs/hobs around the flanks
- move the artillery with the brigades
- Possibly consider some thunderers (although they take away from the break point for not that much gain)
- Consider taking Bull Centaurs

I am also at a loss to understand 90 points for a Great Taurus. It has Terror, flying and +2/2 however you only see most of this if threatening the life of the General as part of a unit. Would you really take it in favour of a Lammasu which would give you another 70 points to throw somewhere else?

Mind you I am far from tactically sound at this game so I am more than likley missing something 

It was a good and fun game however and I will get pics etc. up over the next day or two.

[frogbear]

Firstly sorry none of it was painted however if I waited till I painted them, I would never get to play 

So this is the extent of the Chaos Dwarves. I was wrong before, it is more like 3300 points. I still have a 2nd Lammassu to go on there. After yesterday's game, I may also have to get another squad of Orcs.


I use Orcs from BOTFA for the Hobgoblins

I was pretty slack on photos but this one shows the Chaos Dwarf left flank gone and Chaos forces had wheeled around to crush the Chaos Dwarves



I know it is hard to follow (I will probably use battle Chronicler next time) but the mass of Chaos Dwarves at the far right could not get into range to assist the Orcs towards the middle of the table, or the Chaos Dwarves valiantly taking on the Trolls.



It was at this point I lost my 10th unit and the game came to an end   

I have another game on Monday.

[jchaos79]

Pretty nice table, good to see a chaos army on the battlefiled.

Nice houses and very interesting battlefield. Did you count all the terrain inside the fences as being in village (defended and -1 to command)?

Those trolls will feel confuse inside a village with too many distraction, (houses to plunder, things to break, dark allys, etc)  and could be difficult to focus them to follow orders

[frogbear]

That is quite an interesting idea.

It was all open ground however what you have advised makes a lot of sense.

I think we will adopt a few more things in our games.

We have already adopted the following;
a. +1 to command for starting and finishing on a road.
b. -1 command in the plantation fields which are not 'open ground' and no Chariots or Machines.
c. Stands always have a minimum of 1 attack die

I am considering a few more sent to me by David Wasilewski - small steps 

[jchaos79]

- we do the roads this way:  touching the road at the start and when finishing the movement with at least one base touching the road, but ... the unit must move in column.

Have fun on Monday!

[jchaos79]

Hi, just reading again your list and the last chaos list.

I have notice you had 20 units and only 2 commands (1 general + sorceror). I will drop some units and add more commands, in order to have a mobile army and not get stucked.

Maybe, a command per two brigades

[frogbear]

I had another game of Chaos Dwarves vs Chaos today

My army
Warmaster Army Selector Chaos Dwarf Army, 2000 points Warmaster Trial Armies Compendium 2009 ----------------------------------------------------------------
450 - 4 Chaos Dwarfs
- 1 Sword of Destruction (10)
360 - 4 Blunderbusses
100 - 2 Hobgoblins
160 - 4 Orc Slaves
160 - 2 Hobgoblin Wolf Riders
300 - 2 Bull Centaurs
180 - 2 Earthshaker Cannon
180 - 1 General
- 1 Sorcerer Lord (25)
- 1 Orb of Majesty (30)
110 - 1 Sorcerer
- 1 Scroll of Dispelling (20)
----------------------------------------------------------------
2000 - 20/10



Opponent (as best as I could remember)
Warmaster Army Selector Chaos Army, 1945 points Warmaster Armies ----------------------------------------------------------------
600 - 4 Chaos Warriors
120 - 2 Chaos Marauders
110 - 1 Trolls
90 - 1 Marauder Horsemen
200 - 1 Chaos Knights
30 - 1 Chaos Hounds
130 - 2 Harpies
250 - 1 Dragon Ogres
110 - 1 Chaos Spawn
125 - 1 General
180 - 2 Sorcerer
----------------------------------------------------------------
1945 - 14/7

More to come....

[frogbear]

Chaos started with a slow and steady progress down the table (shot taken from the Chaos Dwarf end)



Chaos Dwarfs move up to a fortified position to recieve the Chaos Horde



This shot shows the movement towards the engages to follow



Other than my brigades of Blunderbuses, some Chaos Dwarves, and a move with my Bull Centaurs, I was really struggliong to move much else. This was the state of much of the game however. It invariably came down to recieving charges and then using my initiatibve to get anywhere which was quite frustrating

[frogbear]

The relentless chaos advance pushed past the fortified positions and the Chaos Dwarves started to show some weak points as they could not match the number of attacks that the Chaos Warriors were able to dish out. Also the quality of the armour was found wanting



To add insult to injury, the Blunderbusses were charged in the flank yet did well damage the Chaos Warriors beyond repair before they were wiped out in a lon enduring battle.

[frogbear]

When the Dragon Ogres charged my Orcs, the battle looked grim as unit after unit collapse under their savagry.



.....Sorry no photos from here....

Eventually I drew the Dragon Ogres in to a point where I was able to charge and surround them with Hobgobs, wolf riders and Orc Warriors and was able to destroy them due to them not being able to get out of base contact on a fall back.

From there I was able to charge the two units of Bull Centaurs into the Chaos Marauders and Trolls and with one stand to kill to win the game, I was only able to do 2 wounds - Noooooo!!

With defeat evident as the Chaos forces charged three of my soft units to win the game, I started to consider all the leadership rolls I failed that helped to cost me the game....

--------------to be continued ------------------------

[jchaos79]

The table is beautiful, and seems like a great game. Always learn something in every game.

IMO dragon ogres are very dangerous, in two aspects: First of all, they are great hitters but secondly they  cause a psycological effect when you play against, because focus the attention (normally called fear) in annulate or attack them. A good chaos general will use this to attack the weak points that create your opponent when focus all his effort in denay the dragon ogres.

But if you could kill those dragon ogres, you won a lot of VP. I have lost more than one battle when my dragon ogres and one chaos cavalry unit are eliminated (450 VP for two units).

IMHO, regarding chaos dwarves I will try to buy more commands and see what happens.

Great battle!

[frogbear]

I seem to have forgotten all about the Battle Report.

The ensuing turn saw the Chaos Horde fail to destroy the units needed to force the break point.

With a breath of relief, the Bull Centaurs mopped up the Marauders to finally win the game.

It was a close one but eventually a win for the Chaos Dwarves at last! 

[frogbear]

Going on the recommendation from jchaos79 I may try another character.

Below is my next possible CD list:
----------------------------------------------------------------
----------------------------------------------------------------

Warmaster Army Selector
Chaos Dwarf Army, 2000 points
Warmaster Trial Armies Compendium 2009
----------------------------------------------------------------
4 Chaos Dwarfs
- 1 Sword of Fate
3 Blunderbusses
3 Hobgoblins
3 Bull Centaurs
2 Earthshaker Cannon
1 General
2 Hero
2 Sorcerer
- 1 Lammasu
- 1 Scroll of Dispelling
----------------------------------------------------------------
2000 - 15/8


I am a little concerned at the lower break point however I have less 'soft' units (3 Hobgobs and 2 Earthshakers)

I feel (for fluff) I should have more slaves etc. Maybe after a few more games I may see something I am not seeing now