Steve Jackson's Ogre Vs Oldhammer Part 3 - Finale, A Close Run Thing

The conclusion to this battle report...

The Beholder charges Counsellor Thadar and his unit.  They are being charged by a Fear causing creature and roll a 3... they break and rout!  There goes the midfield defense!

King Kazador sees that besides Helfast, only the Ratnik Dwarves, Beercart Defenders, and the Cannon are in place to intercept the Beholder in the mid and back field.  He can intercept as well, but he must organize his men now and march out!  Alhough, what if the Beholder wants them to empty Easthold, to defend the Rune Vane, then instead flies over the fortress walls?  Should he stay inside and continue protecting the crossbows, catapult, and Balgar the wizard?  He reluctantly decides to stay in Easthold.

3 crossbows on the wall and 2 from Helfast amount to 1 wound, which knocks out the Sleep power.

Balgar considers his options, he can cure either Helfast or Ulther, fire off a Lightning Bolt, or Windblast the Beholder and stop it from moving for one turn.  He uses Lightning and knocks out the Charm Person power. 4 out of 9 minor eyes are destroyed.

The Beholder rolls for 2 power points this turn.  He thinks about taking a gamble and not using any powers, instead saving them up for a bigger burst when he gets to the endfield.  Hopefully, Helfast will fail his charge roll!  As for the Cannon ahead, the routing Thadar is blocking them for now... Oh wait, routers move at the end phase of every side's turn, which means they will move out of LOS and the cannon will be clear to fire on their turn!  Change of plans then, try to kill a Cannon crew member with Disintegrate. 4+ to hit, 3+ to kill... and yes! 1 Dwarf is fried to a crisp, which means the cannon must roll a 4+ on a d6 to fire for having less than 3 crew.  (I know the rules say bombards have 5 crew, my mistake.  But lets change that for this one game.)  The Beholder saves that last point for next turn.

Councillor Thadar's Dwarves continue routing. Prince Ulther's Dwarves and the Slayers have no hope of catching the Beholder and decide not to try, because if the Cannon does fire, they would get caught in the blast!  Prince Helfast does the same and just encourages his 2 crossbow Dwarves to continue firing. 

Finally, the moment of truth.  Dwarf Cannon makes its roll to fire, hits for 4 Str 6 hits, and causes 2 more wounds.  This might be the most important wound allocation decision.  Slow it down, or knock out 2 more minor eyes?  They go for the eyes, and knock out 2 more. Death Ray being one that is the deadliest.  The long range firepower of the Beholder is compromised.

Counsellor Thadar continues to rout.

Up on the walls Balgar positions himself to continue blasting the Beholder.  Due to the angle, only 5 crossbows can fire down.  After all the firing is done, 2 wounds are allocated to the Beholder's carapace, slowing it down to 4" movement!  Balgar is down to 6 constitution for magic.  He fires off another Lightning attack and causes damage!  He chooses the minor eyes and ends up knocking out the eye with Telekinetic Blast!

King Kazador changes his mind again, and opens the gates and begins marching his men out.  The High King Thorgrim and Runelord Kragg remain in Easthold.  The game is coming down to the wire.  Chief Ratnik tells his men to stand their ground.

The Beholder rolls for 3 power points this turn and with the 1 saved previously, means he has 4 points to use.  He powers up his main eye and fires off a Freeze Ray for 3 points.  Only saving throws can save anyone underneath. Chief Ratnik their leader is frozen solid, as well as 4 other Dwarves.  With its last point this turn, the Beholder uses Turn To Stone on a cannon crewmember and succeeds. With only 1 crew member remaining, the Cannon would need a 6+ to be able to fire next turn.

The Dwarves are desperate!  Helfast continues harassing the Beholder.

King Kazador races down the ramparts trying to get to grips with the Beholder.
Balgar decides to use his last points to cast Windblast! The Beholder may not move next turn!  Whats going to happen? 

The last remaining crew member of the Cannon has alot resting on his shoulders, will he choke or become a legend?  He sure is sweating profusely, that's for sure!

The last six Ratniks defiantly stand their ground.

The Beholder is unable to move, so settles for hopefully powering up its main eye and blasting some Dwarves.  The Beholder rolls for 3 power points!  He uses Freezing Ray again...

... and kills 4 Ratnik Dwarves, the 2 remaining warriors rout.

And now the Beercart Defenders are moving up as well, but are they just causing a traffic jam?  Crossbows cause no damage this round.  And the cannon... rolls a 5.  So close, but sorry... 

The Beercart and its brave citizen militia form up in front of the Rune Vane!  Victory or death, their names will be remembered in song as they stood up to the beastly Beholder!  Again, no cannon fire, but the crossbows cause 1 wound, to a minor eye, the Disintegrate eye.  The Beholder only has 1 minor eye left (Turn To Stone), 1 main eye (3 HP), and 8 carapace points.

The Beholder charges them and they scatter in fear.  The dice are just not in the Dwarves favor this game.  Kazador is just one step behind, but too little too late.  The cannon is useless as the last crew is Turned To Stone.

The game ends as the Beholder starts chewing on the Rune Totem and it collapses... bringing down the Anti-Undead force shields of Easthold.

Veers:  Yes, Lord Vader.  I've reached the main power generator.  The shield will be down in moments.  You may start your landing.

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Beholder's epilogue:
Sated, with vengeance and a full stomach, the Beholder decides to run down the tunnel towards the Eastgate of Moria and freedom.  Feeling the cool night breeze in the Dimrill Dale, he finds the Anduin River, looks downstream at Lothlorien to his right, then across the river at Mirkwood, then finally upstream to his left towards the north.  With his giant eye, he focuses past the Gladden Fields, past the Old Ford and the Carrock, to the source of the Great Anduin, up above in the snows of Ered Lithuin, even beyond them!  There, he thinks to himself, beyond the politics of the Dwarves, Elves, Orcs, and Undead... he could make a new start in the wintery north of Forodwaith.   He thinks to himself... "and no more Hellpepper eating contests!  Even if its for Radagast's winning prize of Hasenpfeffer rabbit-stew!"

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An enjoyable little battle for an evening.  Mistakes were made!  Mistakes, I tell you!  And they cost the Dwarves dearly.  Mostly, mistakes of underestimating the speed of the Beholder.  Perhaps, more damage should have been allocated to slowing its movement down, instead of its firepower in the minor eyes.  Also, the forces inside Easthold kept second guessing the goal of the Beholder by staying behind their walls.  They were so sure the Beholder would first come in and deal with the firepower inside the fort before heading to the Rune Vane. They kept the midfield relatively clear, for the cannon, allowing the Beholder to run right through it.  The Cannon only dealt 2 damage anyway, the one time it was able to fire.  But seriously, blame the dice!  No Dwarf unit was able to charge, or stand up to a charge from the Beholder... not a one!  Its only a 50% chance to do so!  But no, the Beholder had fortune on its side, which I can only attribute to its purity of purpose, it needed to do this thing and get free.
Run to the hills!  Beholder...  Run for your life!

We fought him hard, we fought him well
Out on the plains, we gave him hell
But many came, too much for Cree
Oh, will we ever be set free?

So what next?  I think we must return to the events down under... in the Savage Lands with Balin!  Then after that another adventure with Tyrion and Basic/Expert D&D.  Where is Gimli and company, I hear ya say?  Soon, all will be made clear.  Patience young jedis.  This blog is a juggling act, so much has to be timed, just right.  Actually there is much to paint, terrain wise, for what Im planning to do with Gimli and friends...  Oh, enough with the spoilers! 

Next post:  Welcome To The Jungle

Bonus feature: Soundtrack To This Post!
While playing this battle, I listened to:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLUipMnVM0esh96G-486H8VLfMZfRtDmZ-
Cirith Ungol - Paradise Lost
Liege Lord - Freedom's Rise
Metal Church - Metal Church (1984)
Warrior - Fighting for The Earth

Steve Jackson's Ogre Vs Oldhammer Part 2 - Prepare For Ground Assault

Some last info before the actual battle begins...

Balgar Blackwing, Level 2 Dwarf wizard has 12 constitution points
Useful spells include:
Windblast, cost of 2 energy, prevents enemy from moving next turn.
Flight, 3 energy, fly 12"
Lightning Bolt, 3 energy, 24" range, Str 4 attack
Aura of Protection, 3 energy, an extra 4+ save
Cure Severe Wounds, 3 energy

Rune Vane Totem:  has a Toughness of D, 6 Wounds
Immune to Beholder's eye powers, must be destroyed in close combat.

The game ends when either the Rune Totem or Beholder is destroyed.

Before the game starts, we allow the Dwarves to shift their deployment around, knowing what type of enemy they now face.
Initial thoughts on Dwarven strategy is about weighing the risks of bunching up to do damage to the Beholder but suffering casualties from its various template weapons.

Prince Helfast decides to split his forces and have 3 crossbows in his unit on the bridge.

The 2nd unit is led by Counsellor Thadar and is further back in the midfield of the board.

The Dwarf Slayers are near the southern edge of the board.

Prince Ulther also splits his forces in two.  The militia is deployed to his south.

The Rune Vane Totem is carried out of the fortress and to the furthest eastern position, right next to the Organ Cannon.  The Ratnik Clan deploys in front of it.

Beholder Turn 1:
Since the Beholder can float around, it doesnt need the bridge.  It moves right over the seemingly bottomless chasm.
Beholder moves up 6" in first phase, then another 6" in the reserve phase.  Now for the magic phase, where it can fire off its arsenal of eye powers...

The Beholder considers its power points: 3 points for main eye, 1 point for each minor eye.  He fires his main eye at Prince Helfast and freezes 4 Dwarves to death, not enough to cause a morale check. 

Prince Helfast himself, survives by making his save throw, but barely.

Hoth Rebel:  “Your tauntaun will freeze before you reach the first marker.”
H. Solo:  “Then I’ll see you in Hell!”

The Beholder has 3 more power points.  Fires off a disintegration at an unlucky crossbow Dwarf up on the battlements of Easthold fortress.  That was a lucky shot, even with the Beholders WS of 4 which is a 3+ to hit, the hard cover modifier is -2, which means 5+ to hit.  Followed by a d6 roll of 3+ to roll over a Dwarf Str of 2.

The Beholder uses Telekinetic Blast at Prince Ulther and 7 Dwarves including the Prince are blasted back 9" against the rocky base of Easthold's walls.

2 Dwarves are slain from the impact, and Prince Ulther himself takes a point of damage!  Finally the Beholder uses its last point to cast a Charm Person but fails.  Thats 7 Dwarves frozen, disintegrated, or been thrown into rock walls, in the first turn!

Dwarven Turn 1:
The turn starts with the Catapult lobbing off a rock at the Beholder.  First we roll a d6 for overshoot, then undershoot, then left and right deviation.  Then we place the 3" template and amazingly, the Beholder is hit! 4+ to hit any model underneath, but a +1 for being large, and another for having more than 5 wounds.  Thats a 2+ to hit, and it is easily rolled.  Damage?  d3 Str 5 hits... causes 1 wound.  Lets review Beholder damage allocation, 3 areas to choose from: carapace, main eye, or randomized minor eye.  The Dwarves further consider where to cause the damage: Main eye has 3 hitpoints, carapace with 12, or minor eyes with 1 point each, total of 9.  If we choose main eye, it will lose 1 point, but will still fire, and the carapace will need at least 2 to cause a -1" of movement loss.  So they decide to damage the minor eyes for an immediate loss of a Beholder weapon... which we randomize to be the minor eye stalk with the Paralyze power.  Buh-bye, Paralyze power, we hardly knew ye!

Then we get 8 crossbows up in Easthold, 2 from Prince Helfasts unit, and 2 more from the militia (Penny and Sleepy!  Who knew he could use that thing for more than leaning on and napping!) The 8 up in Easthold are long range and need 4+ after modifiers and score 4 hits, need 4's to wound and cause 2 wounds!  The Dwarves below roll and Sleepy and Penny hit, but only Sleepy hits to wound!  Thats 3 wounds on the Beholder!  After consultation, the Dwarves use 2 wounds on the carapace, so Beholder is slowed to 5" per move.  And the last wound to knock off another minor eye, which turns out to be the Slow eye...  The Dwarves are cautiously optimistic.  "If it bleeds, we can kill it..."

Finally, we have the Dwarf magic phase.  Balgar has 12 constitution points for casting spells.  Useful spells he has are: Windblast to prevent movement for 1 turn, Flight, Lightning, Aura of Protection, Cure Wounds.  He decides to start simple and cast an Aura of Protection around himself for an additional 4+ Save.

The Beholder considers where to move.  It must fall under the 18" minimum range of the Catapult to avoid getting hit again with a big rock.  Those crossbows hurt alot too, he must somehow kill them or avoid their attacks.  He also wants to get straight to the Rune Totem, so no dilly dallying around the fortress.  So, the Beholder moves right towards Prince Helfast and rolls a d3 and gets 3 power points for the turn.

He first uses the Death Ray, a template weapon where the narrow end touches the Beholder... and is used against the militia to deadly effect!

6 poor Dwarves are knocked out, including both Penny and Sleepy with their crossbows.  Also Stilts and Cheery Dwarf!  Revenge for their earlier insults at the bridge and their pesky crossbow attacks!  The militia are below half strength, promptly fail a morale check, and are routed.

Then a great idea pops into the Beholder's giant head.  He fires his Sleep power against the crossbow unit up on the walls and 5 of them fall asleep, missing their next turn.  Things are looking up.  Should he use his last power on those crossbows?

No, he must pay some attention to the danger nearby.  He uses Telekinetic Blast to fling Prince Helfast's unit back into Counsellor Thadars unit...

... and knocks out 3 more Dwarves.

Prince Ulther tries to charge the Beholder, but must roll a 4+ to charge a Fear causing unit.  He fails.

The Slayers go under the bridge ledge and come up behind the Beholder.  Which is a mistake, and they realize that too late.  The Beholder is too fast to catch.  Unless some one slows it down further downfield.

Next post:  Steve Jackson's Ogre Vs Oldhammer Part 3 - Finale, A Close Run Thing

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.

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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!