Warhammer 1st Ed - Norse Vs Undead, & The Great Wizard Emerges!
On Saturday, I sat down to my first game of 1st ed proper since the late 90s.
The two armies were Undead and Norse to 2000 points. I was my usual self in that I tried to do what was unexpected. I didn't go for loads of high end troops and kept my magic users to the minimum (you have to take one per brigade with Undead) which meant that for those 2000 points I got:
Brigade 1
Necromantic Nick - level 1
14 Skeleton cavalry
14 Mummies & a champion
20 Skeletons
20 Skeletons
Brigade 2
Simon, Master Of The Dark And Necromantic Arts - level 1
30 Zombies
30 Zombies
30 Zombies
20 Skeletons
5 Spectres
5 Spectres
My opponent fielded a pretty standard but balanced Norse army but had higher level magic users and the obligatory unit of Berserkers who are a game changer when they get stuck in.
I opened with an advance of my army as a whole along the length, but the cavalry being faster, took possession of a hill on the left flank.
Ah yes, the terrain... We kept it very simple and quite like the type of stuff the average school kid could muster and deployed it symmetrically with a central left hill/ridge and fenced off cemetery on the right.
Turn two saw the cavalry charge a large unit of Bondi who tested for terror as per the psychology rules, and ran away, the cavalry ending up on the table edge, and reforming. Turn two had also seen the Undead army suffer from the effects of instability, and a couple of units were incorporeal for the turn with another two losing troops to the effects, so the rest of the turn was pretty vanilla. The Berserkers turned to face the the cavalry.
Turn three saw the Berserkers go into frenzy and hit the cavalry, pushing them back. In the centre the Norse skirmish line, made contact with the Zombies. The right flank was pretty moribund throughout the game, with neither side wanting to commit to fighting across the linear obstacle of the cemetery. In first edition, there are no ethereal rules, so the Spectres, instead of simply gliding through the railings, had to hike up their robes and climb over. Imagine this if you will...
Turn 4 saw the Berserkers hit in the rear by a Skeleton unit, and they valiantly (and expectedly) pushed back these and the cavalry to their front, but it meant the Mummies (who being an expensive unit would have been a good target for them if allowed to run free) were unmolested and heading towards another large Bondi unit.
Turn 5 saw the Berserkers push back the cavalry from the table and follow up, removing themselves from the table, and the Mummies charge the Bondi who fell prey to the effects of terror, breaking and running. The left flank was mine!
At this point, my opponent conceded the game.
It was a a really fun game because it was far from a 'done deal' for the undead, and given that I created the army whilst in bed with my morning coffee and having not played WH 1st ed since the mid 90s everything went very smoothly.
And so, a good day came to an end.
In other news, the Gnolls for the Kickstarter should all be cast this week, and Martin Buck completed the next release in the shape of The Great Wizard, who just oozes Oldhammer and Old School charm:
The two armies were Undead and Norse to 2000 points. I was my usual self in that I tried to do what was unexpected. I didn't go for loads of high end troops and kept my magic users to the minimum (you have to take one per brigade with Undead) which meant that for those 2000 points I got:
Brigade 1
Necromantic Nick - level 1
14 Skeleton cavalry
14 Mummies & a champion
20 Skeletons
20 Skeletons
Brigade 2
Simon, Master Of The Dark And Necromantic Arts - level 1
30 Zombies
30 Zombies
30 Zombies
20 Skeletons
5 Spectres
5 Spectres
My opponent fielded a pretty standard but balanced Norse army but had higher level magic users and the obligatory unit of Berserkers who are a game changer when they get stuck in.
I opened with an advance of my army as a whole along the length, but the cavalry being faster, took possession of a hill on the left flank.
Ah yes, the terrain... We kept it very simple and quite like the type of stuff the average school kid could muster and deployed it symmetrically with a central left hill/ridge and fenced off cemetery on the right.
Turn two saw the cavalry charge a large unit of Bondi who tested for terror as per the psychology rules, and ran away, the cavalry ending up on the table edge, and reforming. Turn two had also seen the Undead army suffer from the effects of instability, and a couple of units were incorporeal for the turn with another two losing troops to the effects, so the rest of the turn was pretty vanilla. The Berserkers turned to face the the cavalry.
Turn three saw the Berserkers go into frenzy and hit the cavalry, pushing them back. In the centre the Norse skirmish line, made contact with the Zombies. The right flank was pretty moribund throughout the game, with neither side wanting to commit to fighting across the linear obstacle of the cemetery. In first edition, there are no ethereal rules, so the Spectres, instead of simply gliding through the railings, had to hike up their robes and climb over. Imagine this if you will...
Turn 4 saw the Berserkers hit in the rear by a Skeleton unit, and they valiantly (and expectedly) pushed back these and the cavalry to their front, but it meant the Mummies (who being an expensive unit would have been a good target for them if allowed to run free) were unmolested and heading towards another large Bondi unit.
Turn 5 saw the Berserkers push back the cavalry from the table and follow up, removing themselves from the table, and the Mummies charge the Bondi who fell prey to the effects of terror, breaking and running. The left flank was mine!
At this point, my opponent conceded the game.
It was a a really fun game because it was far from a 'done deal' for the undead, and given that I created the army whilst in bed with my morning coffee and having not played WH 1st ed since the mid 90s everything went very smoothly.
And so, a good day came to an end.
In other news, the Gnolls for the Kickstarter should all be cast this week, and Martin Buck completed the next release in the shape of The Great Wizard, who just oozes Oldhammer and Old School charm:
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