I've also never used a Chaos army in any iteration of Warhammer Fantasy Battles.
I'd like these facts to be borne in mind in what follows.
Pete and I arranged to play a 1500 point game of Warhammer: The Old World last weekend and I saw this as an opportunity to finally get my 'new' army on the table.
Pete has also been building an army of Orcs and Goblins and was keen to give them a try.
My army consisted of pretty much everything I've painted, all with the Mark of Nurgle:
Winged Daemon Prince
Chaos Sorcerer Lord
9 Chaos Warriors
25 Chaos Marauders
3 Chaos Ogres
1 Chaos Chariot
1 Warpfire Dragon
Pete's army seemed to consist of a billion greenskins. More precisely I think it was:
Black Orc Warlord
Orc Shaman
14 Black Orcs
20 Orcs (two hand weapons)
20 Orcs (spears)
20 Goblins (spears)
20 Goblins (short bows)
2 Orc Chariots
3 Stone Trolls
Giant
The scenario we rolled up forced deployment in the centre (so no refused flank shenanigans) and pretty much guaranteed we would largely just smack into each other and see what happens.
Orc Turn 1
The Orcs opened up with a predictable surge forward and the Shaman summoned the Foot of Gork to come slamming down. Fortunately, only the big toe grazed my lines and a single wound was done to both the Chaos Warriors and my Chariot.
Nurgle Turn 1
Given that I had nothing to shoot the incoming horde with (before anybody mentions it, the game was half over before I realised the Warpfire Dragon is technically a stone thrower), I surged forward in return, trying to guess the distance I needed to ensure the Orcs were unlikely to teach my lines.
In what proved to be a terrible idea, I dispatched my Daemon Prince over to my left flank to contend with the Goblins and Chariots - essentially taking him out of the game.
Meanwhile the Dragon lurked on my right flank, ready to pounce.
Orc Turn 2
Charges were made and, fortunately for me, most of them were failed. Only the Giant made it into contact and proceeded to make heavy weather of the Chaos Warriors, which proved surprisingly resilient and also began to chip away at the Giant's wounds.
Nurgle Turn 2
With the Orcs very close, my heavy hitters sprang into action. The Chariot and Dragon slammed into the Orcs with two hand weapons and drove them back, narrowly missing out on breaking the unit and turning the flank.
The Giant and Warriors of Nurgle continued to trade blows, with the Warriors managing to win combat thanks to some truly terrible dice from Pete.
Orc Turn 3
More charges were declared and again failed as the Black Orcs missed out on getting to grips with the Marauders. However, the Chariots were now in position to wreak havoc on the next turn as they had evaded my Daemon Prince (who you can just about see dicking about with Goblins in the background).
However, the Stone Trolls did make contact with the Chaos Ogres, narrowly winning the fight. The Ogres failed the subsequent break test and were run down.
If only there had been a general nearby.
Nurgle Turn 3
Realising that they were probably doomed, the Marauders charged into the Black Orcs as it was their best option of survival, whilst the Warpfire Dragon moved to threaten the rear.
It was at this point that I found out about it's breath weapon and it managed to clip the back of the Black Orcs, killing a couple of them.
with the Giant having been reduced to a single wound on the previous turn, I was hopeful that the two remaining Warriors and the Sorcerer could finish him off.
The Sorcerer, seeking to hasten this outcome, managed to miscast a spell, which proceeded to kill both Warriors and not hurt the Giant, which wasn't wholly under the template because it's huge.
Predictably, the lone Sorcerer was squished with a headbutt whilst the Marauders were driven back by the Black Orcs.
The only bright spot in this fluster-cuck of a turn was that the Marauders were driven so far back that only one of Chariots would be able to come screaming into their flank.
Orc Turn 4
Waarrrgghhh! Chop! Chop! Splat!
Things turned out for the Marauders pretty much as you'd expect, apart from the fact that they rolled insane courage on their break test and held their ground.
However, in other news, my Chariot finally lost combat, broke and was run down by the three...count 'em, three remaining Orcs.
Nurgle Turn 4
All that was left for me to do was charge my Warpfire Dragon into a losing fight in the vain hope of breaking the general and creating a wave of panic that caused the whole army to flee...assuming that's a thing that can still happen.
Anyway, it didn't work.
***
We called it there as I'd been comprehensivly battered.
It had been a really fun game where I'd learned a few important lessons about my new army:
1. Don't send my general off on a wild goose chase.
2. Paint up a few more Warriors of Chaos and Chaos Ogres to given them some backbone.
3. Remember that the Warpfire Dragon is also a stone thrower.
4. Don't leave the Chariot unsupported.
5. Don't rely on the Marauders to kill stuff.
6. Remember that Gaze of the Gods is a thing.
I am going to scour my lead pile to see what I can do to bulk out some units, perhaps splitting the Marauders into two speedbump units.
However, I did enjoy a game with an army that was so direct and resilient, it's a very different feeling to my Undead, Wood Elves and Bretonnians, and it was definitely nice to finally play a game with these miniatures.
Anyway, happy October!
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