Dogs of War vs. Kemmler's Undead Army of the Cairns

Given recent demands by the great unwashed masses for more after action reports I decided to do the right thing. Autumn blessed us with glorious weather today and I already had the table set up on the deck when Russ arrived for a game of Warhammer Fantasy Battle.

I've been itching to give Kemmler's boys a run out since I finished them and who better to pit them against than the equally fluffy Dogs of War? The forces, at 2150 points per side, were as follows:

Dogs of War under General Russ Lucrezzia Belladonna Captain Paymaster 16 x Paymaster's Bodyguard 5 x Knights 5 x Knights 5 x Light Cavalry 24 x Pikemen 10 x Crossbowmen 10 x Duellists 24 x Cursed Company 1 x Cannon

Kemmler's Undead under General Millsy Heinrich Kemmler, the Lichemaster Krell, King of Wights Barrow Wight on Chariot 24 x Skeletons 10 x Unquiet Horsemen 3 x Simulacra 3 x Simulacra 15 x Barrow Guardians 1 x Winged Nightmare

Since the Undead had not been run before we kept it to a simple meeting engagement to assess Kemmler's powers and see if he was a game breaker. Make sure you click for larger images...

Deployment

Dogs of War to the North - Kemmler's Undead to the South

Dogs of War in all their glory

Fearsome Undead arrayed for battle

Turn 1
Russ won the toss and elected to bat. He marched pretty much everything forward and fired his cannon to small effect killing a skeleton warrior. I also marched forward and then tried a spell which Russ attempted to dispel. He miscast his dispel wounding his general, something that was to become an ongoing theme.

Turn 2
Russ continued to advance and tried a spell of his own which Kemmler successfully dealt with. He also misfired his cannon. In response I also continued to advance and hit him with another spell killing a couple of Paymaster's Guards which he also miscast against. This time it was even worse - a free spell for me and another wound plus a loss of level for Lucrezzia Belladonna!

Turn 3

Russ continued his advance albeit more cautiously, trying to jockey for a chance to charge first. He couldn't get it to work though and I charged my Unquiet Horsemen and Barrow Wight Chariot into the Cursed Company, right alongside one of my units of Simulacra and Krell into his Pikemen. Kemmler successfully cast another spell and two more Paymaster's Guards died. For the third time in a row Russ miscast his dispel leaving me thinking it was all going according to plan.

However, Richter commanding the Cursed Company began the second theme of the day - an ongoing string of successful challenges which eventually killed my Unquiet Horsemen's commander and my Barrow Wight before also wounding Krell. Coupled with some appalling attack rolls by me and Russ was back in the game.

Cursed Company? Ha! Cursed dice!

Turn 4
At this point Russ decided (with good reason!) that Kemmler needed to be dealt with and attempted (unsuccessfully?!?) to kill him with a spell. In response I charged everything that wasn't into combat forward and soon we had a battle right across the line with my troops getting the upper hand everywhere apart from against the Cursed Company. The Pikemen broke and ran never to return and Lucrezzia Belladonna was killed with another spell by Kemmler, leaving me with total air superiority of the magical kind.

Turn 5
Russ bravely fought on and killed a few troops across the line without causing any real damage of note. I decided I'd had enough and set my Winged Nightmare on his Paymaster to devastating effect, killing him outright in one combat. Chaos ensued as Russ failed all but one of his panic tests and his army collapsed leaving me in command of the field.

And so it ended, a comprehensive victory for Kemmler and the Undead, due in large part to Russ and his abiding love for miscast dispel rolls. I'd like to say I outplayed him but I think his dice did far more damage than I ever did. Ironically, Kemmler didn't seem over powerful as his spells were only indirectly effective due to all the miscast dispel rolls.

Regardless of the result, we had a great time and the usual good natured spirit that pervades all my games against Russ was present once again. Great fun and we'll certainly be doing this again sooner rather than later.

Cheers,
Millsy