Edge of the Abyss

The Kings of War Global Campaign

Dwarfs March to War!

1000 POINTS
Dwarfs
Rob_Mantic
VS Abyssal Dwarfs
Hunter

My Dwarfs

Ironclad Regiment with Kevinar’s Flying Hammer 115 pts
Ironwatch Rifles Regiment 155 pts
Shieldbreakers Regiment with Blade of Slashing 135 pts
Earth Elementals Regiment 130pts
Berserker Brock Riders Regiment with Maccwar’s Potion of the Caterpiller 230pts
Ironbelcher Cannon 110pts
Stone Priest with Inspiring Talisman 125pts

Hunter’s Abyssal Dwarfs

Iron Caster with Surge and Inspiring talisman 140pts
Slave Driver 50pts
Lesser Obsidian Golem Troop with blade of slashing 140 pts
Immortal Guard Regiment 145 pts
Decimator Troop 120 pts
Decimator Troop 120 pts
Slave Orc Regiment 90 pts

Brief Summary: This battle took us on a wild ride, where each side dominated took half of the turns by storm. My Dwarfs dominated the opening 4 turns with his ranged units picking me apart. Once Hunter's Abyssal Dwarfs got to grips with him, however, I took the last 3 turns by storm. In the end, I managed to barely pull a draw out of the last 3 turns.

Deployment

Hunter deployed first with his Abyssal Dwarfs. He forgot about the pathfinder special rule his dwarfs got, so deployed Golems in the forest when they were the only unit that didn’t benefit from the rule. An Ironcaster hid there with them. His Decimators crowded the right flank while his Immortal Guard stood behind them, ready to rush forward and block a charge. They were led by a Slave Driver, who would prove very useful. The Chaff Slave Orcs and Halfbreed Regiments took the center.

Hunter's Abyssal Dwarf Deployment

I placed my cannon as far from Hunter as possible atop a hill, guarded by Shield Breakers. My Elementals took the center accompanied by a Stone Priest and Brock Riders, the latter of which would prove quite frustrating later. Riflemen mounted the second hill with ironclad lending them support.

My Dwarf Deployment

Turn 1

Hunter's forces lumber forward as quickly as they could, while his Halfbreeds hang back, just out of reach of my Brock Riders. Hunter felt unsure about his right flank, since his Golems moved slowly and were only one unit, but they looked so big and intimidating he thought they could manage. Hunter assumed I would advance on him, leaving me open to his answering charges. He was wrong.

I kept everyone out of range and rained hell down upon his units from the safe hilltops. A lucky shot from the cannon left his Halfbreeds with 8 wounds on them. Then a following salvo from my rifles landed another 2 wounds. Hunter was lucky I only managed to waver them, rather than rout them outright.

Turn 2

Going with his luck, Hunters Halfbreeds managed to regenerate nothing. 8 rolls, no 5s or 6s, he was not pleased. He then advanced the Slave Orcs to the center, trying to draw fire from his halfbreeds. His Golems trundled along, surged forward by the Ironcaster just enough to be able to charge the Shieldbreakers, but not be charged in return. Hunter foolishly shifted 1 Decimator to be behind the Slave Orcs where it could do nothing at all. The other Decimator meanwhile advanced along the right flank with the Immortal Guard in tow.

My Brock Riders charged into Hunters Slave Orcs, while the rest of my army sat back waiting for him. The Cannon missed his Golems, but my Rifles managed to deliver 2 wounds to his Decimators. My Ironclad also tossed Kevinar’s Flying Hammer at the Decimators, but it failed to wound. The Brock Riders utterly smashed the Slave Orcs with 13 wounds, routing them easily.

Turn 3

Things were not going terribly well for Hunter. His Golems charged my Shieldbreakers and his Halfbreeds, stomaching their fear and regenerating 6 wounds, charged my Brock Riders. The Goelms did little, only managing 2 wounds, but his Halfbreeds smashed my Brock Riders for 10 wounds! Meanwhile, on his right flank, the Immortal Guard rushed up to block charges from my Ironclad, while both his Decimator troops followed behind. The First decimator troop managed to open fire on my Rifles, hitting 4 times, but only dealing 1 wound.

My Ironclad charged off their hill into Hunters Immortals, while the Brock Riders counter charged his Halfbreeds and the Shieldbreakers counter charged his Golems. To Hunter's dismay, my Earth Elementals also flank charged the Golems as well. My cannon missed the Decimators with its shot, but the Rifles managed 2 wounds on them. The charges saw the death of Hunters Halfbreeds at the hands of my Riders. The Golem battle went little better for him as they received 7 wounds, only surviving thanks to his Iron Caster’s inspiring. The Immortals survived with only 1 wound.

Turn 4

Hunters Immortals naturally counter charged my Ironclad while his Golems, left with no choice, attacked the Shieldbreakers. Both his charges delivered 3 wounds to their targets. His Decimators moved up to all fire at the Rifles, dealing a total of 5 wounds and wavering it. The Ironcaster also snuck up on the Brock Riders, roasting their buttocks with a little fireball, for 2 wounds.

I charged back into his Golems with the Elementals and Shieldbreakers and the Ironclad jumped right back on his Immortals. To his horror he watched as my Brock Riders swung around to prepare for a rear charge on the Decimators next turn, with 3 units showing them their rears. Then, to add on pain to his predicament, my cannon managed to smack off his wounded Decimators and the Shieldbreaker/Elemental duo routed the Golems. Thankfully for Hunter his Immortals held firm with only 2 wounds.

Turn 5: The turning point!

With his left flank completely in pieces and the center overrun, Hunter scrambled to hold onto anything. His Immortals charged back into the Ironclad, determined to win the war of attrition, while the Ironcaster raced desperately after the Brock Riders. I flung out my hand, launching a fire ball at them. It dealt only 1 wound, but with a lucky nerve test, Hunter routed the unit. His Decimators sent a volley up into my Rifles and routed them as well. Suddenly, hope gleamed before Hunter.

Enraged at the loss of his Brock Riders, I charged Hunters Iron Caster with my Elementals. My Shieldbreakers raced to reach the right flank, which for a dwarf is quite difficult. Naturally, the Ironclad charged his Immortals, but only managed to deal 1 wound. The cannon completely missed while the Elementals only managed to deliver 2 wounds to his Iron Caster, but disordered them.

Turn 6

Hunters Iron Caster ran around to hide behind my Elementals, while his Decimators shot my Shieldbreakers from safely outside charge range, delivering 2 wounds and killing them. His Immortals charged into the Ironclad and killed them with only 1 hit and 1 wound. The game had swung decisively in Hunters favour, with my units dropping from accumulated wounds.

Desperate, I wheeled my Elementals around to get in charging range of the Decimators, but could not make it this turn. The canon did finally manage to hit his Immortals, wounding them for 3.

We rolled to see if the game would continue one more turn and it did.

Turn 7

Hunter wheeled his Immortal Guard to stand between the Decimators and the Elementals, but not blocking their line of sight. The Decimators shot into my Elementals for a mere 1 wound. Unsure what to do, HIS Iron Caster flung his hand out towards the cannon on the hill, dealing 1 wound to it. Hunter rolled for nerve and on double 6s, routed them.

With my forces withering away, I went all in. The Elementals charged his Immortals dealing 2 wounds, but his Slave Driver’s inspiring kept them from routing. Meanwhile, my Stone Priest faced off against the Iron Caster, but failed to wound him even once.

And thus the game concluded. i dominated the first four turns, but a few lucky rolls from Hunter turned the game completely around. It was a glorious battle, but the question still stands, who won?

The Results: Draw
Dwarfs: 650 Kill Points
Abyssal Dwarfs: 745 Kill Points

I managed to keep this a draw by 5pts. 5! With only a 100 point differential needed, had just a few dice rolled differently and the game could have swung either way. But that’s the joy of wargaming.

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