Steve Jackson's Ogre Vs Oldhammer Part 1 - Enemy At The Gates

And now for something completely different!  This is an Oldhammer battle report that is inspired by Steve Jackson's Ogre boardgame.  For those who dont know Ogre, its about a giant cybernetic tank (the Ogre) that is trying to destroy an enemy HQ defended by a horde of infantry, tanks, missile tanks, artillery, and hovercraft.  I played the heck out of the mini pocket game when I was a kid.  The basic game was pretty much just a single scenario that my pals and I played over and over again.  Everyone had their own strategy and theory of how best to play as or against the Ogre and many a lunch break was occupied with heated discussion over tactics.  Playing as the Ogre tank, felt like the 4th of July, in that you had all these weapons and you got to decide which one to light and fire off next.  As the defenders, you had all these cannon fodder units, and if you actually damaged the Ogre you had to decide whether you targeted its weapons (to lessen the deathtoll to your troops) or its treads (and slow the Ogre down so it didnt get in firing range of your HQ).

In tribute to this great little game, I present this battle report inspired by Ogre. Obviously, no... there is no giant tank in Moria.  But what will represent the Ogre?  An Ogre?  A Dragon?  Balrog? Something else?

Can you guess what it will be?  I will try to drop a hint or two below.  Place your bets here folks...

Onwards to the fluff...

Murkillor the Wraith marches at the HEAD of his Undead army.

The cavern grounds tremble at their approach.

The Orcs show up, they are LOOKING for a good rumble.

The Drow also show up.  Their commanders are cold blooded killers.  Lord Commander Alric is a deadly swordsman with an enchanted cursed blade.   Lady Alyza is a vampiric magic-user that has great BEAUTY.  Initially, they were keen to kill everyone, Dwarf, Undead, or Orc, but they are still waiting for the opportune moment to do so.

Murkillor and his commanders approach the bridge and suddenly stop in their tracks.  They look around confused.
The Wraith looks upset, his commanders avoid looking him IN THE EYE...  Sockets that is.
There is an invisible forcefield that prevents them from getting to the bridge.  They hear the Dwarves cheering from the other side.

In fact, some brave (foolhardy!) Dwarves run across the bridge right to the edge of the force shield and taunt the Undead.

Cheery Dwarf:  (blows raspsberries)  You cannot passsss!
Stilts:  Thats some good "Ent"-tertainment!   (Crowd Boos!)

Some Dwarves get carried away and show their backsides, but a volley of arrows from the Dark Elves drives them away.


Murkillor:  (gives the silly Dwarves an evil EYE)  Drow open fire at your convenience.
Cheery:  Hey Sleepy! Wake up and run for your narcoleptic life!

The evil commanders gather for a little conference.

Murkillor:  Well, I guess you Orcs and Drow have to go ahead without us.
Lord Commander Alric:  There wont be enough of us to take that fortress.
Gragg:  We Orcs are not afraid!  We will go, even if the Elves will not!
Murkillor:  Lady Alyza, perhaps your Dragons can fly over and knock out their Rune Totem?
Lady Alyza:  Ive only got 6, and 2 of them have no wings.  SEE, that one is a basilisk, and the other one there is a hydra. 
Murkillor:  Well, how about...

Murkillor: ... I bribe you with a pet Blink Dog!  (summons the creature)

Lady Alyza:  (pets the Elven Blink Dog)  I shall call you Muffins!  Fine, Wraith! But I still wont risk my Dragons in a suicide mission...  instead, I have just the thing to solve this problem for us... (summons a creature)

Lady Alyza:   Behold!  erm... a Beholder.
Murkillor:  That... is... wonderful!  Wherever did you get him?
Lady Alyza: Found him left for dead in a ravine.  Seems he got in a tussle with those very same Dwarves across the bridge. (points to the Dwarves)
Beholder:  (growls)
Lady Alyza:  Apparently, all this poor Beholder wanted was some beer to quench his firey thirst after being a participant in the famous Middle Earth eating contest "Radagast's Rhosgobel Annual Hellpepper Showdown".  Instead of helping out, the Dwarves chose to stab him with spears and throw him over a cliff.  Rude... if you ask me...

(From the post "Tale of the Evil Eye"  here:  http://mars-miniatures.blogspot.com/2015/05/heartbreaker-dwarves-tale-of-evil-eye.html)

Murkillor:  Lady Alyza, you have done your part, now I will do mine!  (begins to chant and cast a spell)

Ash nazg durbatulûk, ash nazg gimbatul, ash nazg thrakatulûk agh burzum-ishi krimpatul!

Beholder:  (magical flash) Wa-pa-pa-pa-pa-pa-pow!  Joff-tchoff-tchoffo-tchoffo-tchoff!
Murkillor:  Nearly finished....

Murkillor:  And.... done!
Alyza:  YOU.... turned him into a Frost Beholder.  Brilliant!
Beholder:  Mrrmm?
Alyza:  (holds up a mirror)  You look good, Beholdy!
Beholder: Grrr.....  (Anxious to show those no good Dwarves what it can do)

So there you have it, dear readers!  Our "Ogre" for the game.  And the HQ is the Dwarven Rune Totem.  How many of you guessed it was a Beholder?  The clues were the words in all caps.  Beauty is in the eye of the...
Class? Anyone? Anyone? Anyone seen this before? The Laffer Curve. Anyone know what this says? 
Its Ferris Bueller, c'mon... its funny.  No?
Well, anyway, pat yourselves on the back and buy yourselves a pint of Bugmans Brew, if you did guess it...

Here's the reward for all those who guessed correctly.  Cash in your prize by high fiving the Displacer Cat's paw on the image below...

So what does the Beholder do in game terms?
Well, its a flying creature, is lawful evil, has darkvision 360 degrees so it may target enemies with eye powers even in total darkness.

Frost Beholder Move 6, WS 7, BS 4, S 5, T E, W see below, I 5, Attacks 3

Beholder has 12 hitpoints on its carapace. For every 2 full wounds taken there, it loses 1" of movement.  Each eye has 1 hitpoint, except its main eye which has 3 points.  So it has a total of 24 hitpoints.  An attacker may choose which area to hit.  To kill it, it must lose all 12 hitpoints on its carapace, and all hitpoints on its eyes. 

Beholder Powers, these powers may be used during the magic phase, and may target models in base to base contact with beholder.  Each eye has a points cost to power it, and the Beholder may use as many eyes as it has points to use.  But each eye can only be used once per turn.  Beholder has a starting power points stat of 6, use a d6
end of every turn to regains d3 points.  It may never have more than 6 power points at any time.

Main eye:
Freeze ray, this costs 3 points, it uses flamer template that can shoot out to a distance of 12".  Everyone under the template is frozen. Armor can help you from freezing, all affected models may make an armor save to avoid being frozen to death, if model has no armor save, they get a 6+.

Minor eyes: each power can only be used once per turn and costs 1 point each.

1) Fear, a single model must take a morale check with a -2 modifier, if it fails it is routed (or retreats for 2 turns, as per the chart). 18" range

2) Charm Person, a single model must take a morale check, if it fails it may make an immediate move in any direction Beholder decides, it may even charge and make an attack against its own friendly units.  It is free of charm at the end of beholders turn. 12" range

3) Telekinetic Blast,  use small round template with a range of 12".  All units under template are moved directly away 2d6 inches.  If they come into contact with terrain, every model takes a single Str3 hit.  If they contact other models, all models involved take a single Str 3 hit.

4) Death Ray, use flame template with short end touching Beholder and facing any direction.  Any figure under it must save vs death or suffer instant death.  To save vs Death, make a d6 roll under or equal to figure's Strength.

5) Disintegrate, 24" range.  A single model must save vs Disintegrate or suffer instant death.  To save vs Disintegrate, make a d6 roll under or equal to figure's Strength.

6) Slow, 12" range.  A single target unit or character loses half its movement next turn and may not charge. It may still move during reserve movement, but at half speed. If used on a unit, it affects d6+2 figures.

7) Sleep, 12" range.  A single unit or character must save vs Sleep or lose its next turn.  To save vs Sleep, make a d6 roll under or equal to the figure's Initiative.

8) Paralyze, 6" range. A single model is paralyzed and may not move for rest of game, unless a heal spell is cast on it.

9) Turn To Stone, 6" range.  A single model is turned to stone and is considered dead.  To save vs Turn to Stone, make a d6 roll under or equal to the figure's Strength.

---
I have no idea how under or over powered this monstrosity is.  Lets just throw it into combat!

Next post:  Steve Jackson's Ogre Vs Oldhammer Part 2 - Prepare For Ground Assault!

July 4th Weekend Part 3 - Army Of Darkness!

Alright the finale of today's posts!

Too much "show and tell" this week for any battle reports, so maybe next week, let's make that a priority above paintwork.  Its nice to finally have enough painted lead to do some battles, but I still have a mountain of lead to get to, and an army of brushes standing at the ready!  But After Action Reports are the focus next week!  Reporters in Khazad-Dum are standing by.  Embedded jounalists are getting situated with their respected units on all sides of the upcoming conflicts!  Dragon's fire, catapults and rocks, Orc swords and axes, Dark Elven blades! More news at 11!

So where are we for this post?  Ah final showcase of painted figures and the last of the fluff...

 Murkillor wandered deep below Moria, even deeper than Darkhold. Below the Wandering Stairs... to a strange level where what looked like a small faded sun hung oddly glowing above the cavernous expanse.  Here, there is black water and green foliage.  The landscape curves at the horizons into the misty primeval of a lost jungle land, that some call an "inner earth".  Where giant reptiles roam and roar and where...  Murkillor recalls his ancient homeland, before his becoming a wraith, when he was once a man, a king, a father, a husband...
Focus! He tells himself, Remember why you are here!

 Why I am here!
He floats over a black river and realizes he is home.  The Savage Land.
This was once the ancient kingdom of...  He cant remember its name, so long ago did it fall.
No buildings remain standing above ground, they have sunk in the soft mire.  Sunk in a dismal swamp... his entire history, his whole race.  But today, that changes...  He begins to chant ancient words of power.  It breaks his heart.  At the crescendo of his mad wild invocation... the ground also breaks and churns...

Hordes of ancient souls:  Master...  King... Lord... Father... we hear you and obey!

Murkillor:  Come forward my children!  Its been so long since Ive seen you!

They shamble forwards confused at first.  They look upon their own dread bodies and slowly force their brittle boned legs to obedience.

 Murkillor:  Please forgive me, I did my best to leave you resting in the earth of your homelands, but I was tricked into service of evil powers.  As you must now hate me with dead hearts, also remember when once I was a good king and father to you.  Alas, that our fate is thus...

Hordes of ancient souls: We are the undead, we do not remember.  We only hear and obey!

Their soulless response breaks his heart further.  Murkillor realizes the magic that binds him to unlife gives him some memory of humanity, but not to his friends.  For them they are bound slaves to his power, they are no more and no less.  This grieves him and he grows to hate the curse of memory itself!  No more, we will replace the sorrow in our heart with vengeance against the living!

Murkillor:   For now we will break the Dwarves in the name of the Balrog and Sauron.  But one day when we are powerful enough, I promise you my children, we will make our own empire and overthrow the lands of all the living, until only we remain!

The hordes of ancient souls stand quietly, banners wavering where there is no breeze.
Silent ...
Still ...
...and indestructible.

 Here we have RRD2 The Nightmare Legion, also known as Mordini's Doomed Legion.  This is a Regiment of Reknown.  I got this in a trade, but with no box, which makes me sad.  I do love having that 80s box art. 

 Here is a drummer, Ennio Mordini himself and a trooper.

 In the center is Renzo Avanti - Skeleton Champion

 In the official GW fluff it says...

 "BATTLECRY: Lacking important things like lungs and vocal cords the Legion has no battlecry"

Well, that kinda puts a damper on my own fluff.  Ok, so maybe they cant yell out a bloody slogan...  Well, how about whispers?  Whispering dead is pretty creepy to think about. So lets go with that...

 And here we have some Marauder skeletons.  There may be a few Citadel in there as well though.

 The fella in the center has a pistol.  I have avoided gunpowder weapons in my Moria Reclamation Project, but why?  Im really so far off Tolkien canonity that I dont think adding gunpowder will make my project any more unrealistic.  So yeah, pistoliers, thunderers, organ cannons... here we come!

 Generals gathered in their masses
Just like witches at black masses
Evil minds that plot destruction
Sorcerers of death's construction

 In the fields the bodies burning
As the war machine keeps turning
Death and hatred to mankind
Poisoning their brainwashed minds... Oh Lord yeah!

Ash: Klaatu Barada Nikto.
Wiseman: Well, repeat them.
Ash: Klaatu Barada Nikto.
Wiseman: Again.
Ash: I got it, I got it! I know your damn words, alright?

Ash: Klaatu Barada N... Necktie... Neckturn... Nickel... It's an "N" word, it's definitely an "N" word! Klaatu... Barada... N...
[coughs]
Ash: [pause] Okay then... that's it!

Well, thats it.  3 posts in one day!
Now Im going to rest my weary fingers and brain (this stuff dont write itself you know).

Next week, battles are a-comin'.
So march to the sound of the guns, Grouchy!
And I will see you all here, same time, same channel.

Cheers,
Mar

July 4th Weekend Part 2 - Shadow and Flame!

Mr B: Oh, you think darkness is your ally. But you merely adopted the dark; I was born in it, moulded by it. I didn't see the light until I was already a man, by then it was nothing to me but BLINDING!

[grabbed from the shadows and repeated punches to the face]

Mr B: I will show you where I have made my home while preparing to bring justice. Then...  I will break you. 

Big Bad time, boys and girls! 

Its the Big Bad!

Mr B himself, 

thats right... Balrog! 

BALROG!

Or as Legolas, that pointy-eared girly boy whispered it "Bhaal...rohh...guuhh..."

And some goblins from Darkhold miniatures, which I got from Splintered Light.  They arent Oldhammer, but they are cutely sinister, and thats why they are here.  Also, we have new terrain to represent Darkhold, a level of Moria in the Underdeeps.  Its a chaotic hellish ruin of fire, metal, blood, and brick.   Definitely not a place to go on holiday.

This is Mr. B
He is a C31 Citadel Balrog. 
Mr B. means business
You do not want to mess with Mr B
Everyday is a bad day with him.


A census taker once tried to test me. I ate his liver with some fava beans and a nice Chianti.

Darkhold gobbos might be silly looking, but remember they do eat man-flesh.  So watch out, they bite!

Individually they arent much of a threat, but in numbers they can poke and stab things to death.

Im guessing that lil snotling in the center is a druid with a sickle.  Im gonna have to find him a pet of some sort... a cave squig perhaps?

And here is the goblin witch Minnie Castevet and her entourage

Minnie and her staff bearer

Minnie Castevet:  Snips and snails and puppy dog's tails. 

The porter and the lantern bearer

Venkman:  We've been going about this all wrong. This Mr. Stay Puft's okay! He's a sailor, he's in New York; we get this guy laid, we won't have any trouble!

 Meanwhile, a certain Wraith materializes into Darkhold...  it is Murkillor after his defeat in the Battle of Mazarbul.

Mr B:   Wraith, you have failed me for the last time.

Wraith Murkillor:  Milord, we shall double our efforts!

Mr B:  I hope so, for your sake, the Dark Lord Sauron is not as forgiving as I am.

[Wraith gulps despite having no corporeal throat]

Wraith Murkillor: What of the reports of the rebel Dwarf Balin and his Chaos Dwarves massing near Sullust?

Mr B: It is of no concern. Soon the rebellion will be crushed and young Skywalker (err, Balin) will be one of us. One more thing, Wraith...  build me an army of the undead and siege Easthold!  I know how you feel about raising your old comrades back to unlife, but this time...  do not fail me!

Wraith Murkillor: [looks down at his boots]  Yes...   my master.

Mr B:  Leave Balin to me....


Up next:   The finale for July 4th weekend...  Army of Darkness!

The Battle Of Balin's Tomb Part 2

Yeah, this is supposed to be a Warhammer Classic 1st edition blog, but I dont think those rules translate well for skirmishes in dense terrain.  So for this battle at least, I used LOTR SBG.  Its simple and provides dependable enough results.  At some point in the future, I want to create my own mishmash of SBG LOTR & Warhammer (and any of the other dozen or so rules sets on my shelf); taking the best bits I like about them and hammering it out.  Anyway, my philosophy is that complexity should be in the scenarios, not in the rules.  With that in mind...

This is a defensive scenario, where the defenders must protect an objective (Pickles the Dwarf) for an unknown number of turns, I used playing cards to determine when Pickles finds the map and the Dwarves may then exit the area via the eastern board edge.  The Joker card was that marker and I shuffled it in among 11 other cards.  Then I took another 6 cards and placed that on top of the 12, which meant that the Joker would show up sometime on turns 7 to 18. 

Victory conditions for the opposing sides are:
1) Decisive Dwarf victory = Defeat all Orcs
2) Dwarf victory = Pickles finds map and exits eastern edge
3) Orc victory = Pickles is slain without finding map (or map never leaves the board, Pickles may pass the map to another Dwarf)
4) Decisive Orc victory = Defeat all Dwarves

To add some more spice, I also ruled that certain Face cards meant a special random event had taken place, of which I made 3:
King of Hearts = Young Green Dragon with Orc handler arrives on random board edge
Ace of Hearts = Dark Elf scouting party arrives on Western edge, these are Orc "allies".
King of Diamonds = Hodor and his Dwarf mercenaries arrive on Eastern board edge

So there's the basics of the thing, lets see how it played out...

Grombrindal's scouting force in the northwest is assaulted by a wall of greenskins!
Those Reaper Orcs look massive in relation to Dwarves.  Which suits me fine, I want my Dwarves facing insurmountable odds.
Is that Porkins at the very front?  Fall back you brave little pork!

Henchman 1: What we gonna do now, Tony?
Tony Montana: We gonna war, thats what we gonna do. Come on, Sosa, you wanna go to war, we take you to war, okay?

They fall back to the Northern doors, where King Gorrin and 3 other Dwarf Lords form a defensive line!  Lets hope it holds, because now a Wraith has joined the Orcish host.  The Wraith is "sapping will" from the heroes and "draining courage". 
King Gorrin raises his sword in defiance of Orcish threats!
King Gorrin:  Stop! See this royal magical sword, it means I am a King and I order you to stop your Orcish aggression!
Dennis: Listen, strange women lyin' in ponds distributin' swords is no basis for a system of government. Supreme executive power derives from a mandate from the masses, not from some farcical aquatic ceremony. 

Meanwhile in the southwest, Gloin sees a second front of Orcs surging towards his position.  At first, Gloin decides to keep his heavily armored Dwarves on the highground to buy time for the defenders.

But the enemy have archers and superior numbers!

Run away! Run away! Run as fast as your little fat feet will carry you!
To the Chamber lil stunties!
Sir Robin: Would it help to confuse it if we run away more?

The Dwarves position themselves in the doorway and as the Orcs pop up from the stairs they get greeted by axes to the face!  Oh, now the best part, Nindalf the wizard gets some sorcerous blasts as well to smash them back down.
Those Orcs will find a hard time of it, crossing that archway!
Bridgekeeper:  Stop. Who would cross the Bridge of Death must answer me these questions three, ere the other side he see.
Sir Robin: Ask me the questions, bridgekeeper. I'm not afraid.

As the battle rages all around, Pickles keeps searching for the map.  Grumpy keeps close watch.

And a King of Hearts is drawn!  A Green Dragon appears...  where?
(By the way, its an Oldhammer dragon. 1987 Citadel Young Green Dragon)

That Dragon ends up right in the worst darn place.. north east corridor!  Guess Grombrindal and King Gorrin wont be able to hold this place while being surrounded by both Wraith spells, and now Dragons teeth.  Into the room, Dwarven lords!  All Dwarves are now in the Chamber itself.

Gimli takes a suitably dramatic position to cheer up his companions with a rousing speech.
Ahem, they may take our lives, but they wont take our freedom...  or some such...  For Narnia?!?  Boo!
Behind him, you can see Pickles and Grumpy, and behind them, the southern defense.  At least Nindalf and Gloin have successfully stalemated the Orcs there.  For now at any rate...

Over the shoulder Gimli cam.
Gulp!
Thats alot of hurt coming our way, boys!

We're all in strung out shape, but stay frosty, and alert. We can't afford to let one of those bastards in here.

Whats this?  A horn sounds in the deep.  Its a King of Diamonds for an event!  Which means Hodor and his hoarders arrive... right on the south eastern corridor catching those pesky orcs in the flank.
They're attacking from behind us!
Turn about!  Look to the rear!  You dogs, move!
There are too many!  We cant hold them!

And as Hodor sweeps the lower corridor, Gloin and Nindalf burst out to take the upper platform.
Orcs are caught on the stairs and surrender, while the rest flee for their lives! Back into the chamber, everyone!  The whole southern defense force rushes back to fight with Gimli, Grombrindal, and King Gorrin.

Overview of the action.
On the left, Gloin and Nindalf find themselves face to face with Murkillor the Wraith!
In the center, Gimli and the Dwarf Lords manage to hold the line.
And on the right, Hodor smashes through the greenskins and are about to flank the orcs below
Hodor has turned out to be a beastly Orc killer and a hero to boot!

Closeup of the center, Gimli's throwing axes find their mark on the dragon, while the dwarves below him hack at the beast dropping its wounds to 1!  Also, Kimril the Slayer and Lastro face off against a big Orc brute!

The moment of truth has arrived.  The Wraith strikes Gloin with his Morgul Blade attack and... instant death?!  But wait, Gloin can still make a Fate roll to save... and he does!
Nindalf strikes back with a lucky sorcerous blast and the Wraith dissipates into nothingness with a terrifying wail!  Of course, what is dead may never really die, but it wont cause any more trouble, at least in this game!

With their main leader defeated, the Orcs lose heart and their force begins to crumble.  The Dragon also has had enough and tramples some Orcs in his haste to find a cool and slimy pool to dip its wounded aching tootsies in.

The last of the Orcish assault is driven from the Chamber Of Mazarbul!

Finally, at the very end... Pickles finds the map.
Grumpy harumphs...
Alls well that ends well, Grumpy!
Its a Decisive Dwarven Victory.  Scenario probably needed more orcs, or less Dwarf heroes.
(Oh let them have some happiness for a day or two!  Dwarves will find sorrow and woe eventually in the deep dark of Moria!)

So, what was it all for?
We have a map to find Balin and whatever is left of his colony.
Oh what about Baron Hawk and the Dwarves that left to secure the crossroads?
They have successfully done so, but more Orcs are on the way, and Dark Elves have also been sighted.  They are closing in on our own colony at the East Gate of Moria.  The Dwarves decide they must put off finding Balin for another day and return to warn their comrades of the gathering storm.  They must begin bolstering their defenses for the impending attack.

So theres my first proper battle report.  Hope you readers enjoyed that.  I think the pics turned out pretty good, considering I didnt put too much effort into it.  Oh and I forgot to mention, the Chamber of Mazarbul terrain piece is Ziterdes all the way from Germany!  Took a little time for it to arrive, but they kept in contact with me and let me know.  When it did show up it was so well packaged and had no damage from its long trip.  Bravo Ziterdes, thumbs up from me.

So, whats coming up next?  Im not slowing down the pace one bit.
Well, a nice big terrain piece is!   And some warmachines to defend it!  Ah, now Ive said too much...

Until next post, keep on "keeping on",
Mar