Busy time. Still busy time here. I had no time to update my blog – it has been a week since the last entry. Some complications made me to take care of other stuff than work and hobby, but it should be better now. I’ve painted few miniatures – I’ll present them later, but now I finally want to present the battle report from my last game – Warhammer Fantasy Battle 8th edition – my Skaven vs Goblins. 1500 points. I’ve playing against Piotrek’s Goblins two weeks ago. Man! Two weeks! I had very little time during this time – I wanted to write this report, but there was always some other thing to do…

…but on plus side – I sorted my travelling miniatures set for the next 6 months. I’m going to be apart of my collection during the long journey across Australia, New Zealand and South East Asia – so I needed to plan ahead and arrange what exactly I’ll paint in upcoming  months. Well, I think it’s a good excuse, why I haven’t written this report. In next post I’ll brag about my plans and models I’ll be taking with me, but now…

…let’s the battle begin!

The battle was the revenge for my defeat in July against Piotrek’s Orcs and Goblins. This time Piotrek decided to field only Goblins. Not even one Orc was in present on the tabletop. How it went? See by yourself below.

Background Story

As you probably remember – Lord Quicksqueek’s victory against Wood Elves brought him quite a small fortune and  a dash of glory among Skaven in Putrid Stump. Even Council of Thirteen heard about his heroic deeds. The emissary of Lords of Decay had new task for Quicksqueek – to head to man-thing realm of Bretonnia and capture small settlement of Embrun. Maybe not capture, but raid it and seize the precious loot. Clan Eshin intelligence reported the city will be unprotected and ready to plunder.  Piece of cheese – like they say…

The Great Horned Rat had some other plans for Quicksqueek though. The wandering band of Goblins led by Warboss Creepy Sneekystabba were on the way. They also wanted to sack  defenceless city of Emburn. It looked like classic conflict of interests, which could be resolved only in one way. The battle.

The forces

Skaven Army

Grey Seer Quiksqueek

Clan Eshin Assassin Shide the Silent

Battle Standard Bearer Raddrish The Last

Chieftain Tax

27 Stormvermin ( with company of Ratling Gun)

30 Clanrats

30 Skaven Slaves

and 2 Doomwheels

Goblin Army

Warboss Creepy Sneekystabba – riding The Giant Spider.

Stinky Stinker – Goblin Shaman ( 2. level)

Bongy Killa – Night Goblin Big Boss on The Great Cave Squig

Archnarok

2 Goblin Rock Lobbas

30 Squigs (along with 10 Night Goblin Herders)

50 Night Goblins (armed with swords and shields)

40 Night Goblins (armed  with bows)

5 Goblin Wolf Riders

The Deployment

Both armies met on the field near Embrun. Skaven force came from the west, and Goblin arrived from the east.

Skaven army. From the top: Doomwheel, Stormvermin led by grey Seer Quicksqueek and Raddish The Last, Skaven Slaves, Clanrats led by Tax (and with Hidden Shide the Assassin), Doomwheel.

Goblin Army. From the top: Night Goblins Archers, Rock Lobba, Archnarok, Warboss Creepy Sneekystabba on the spider, Herd of Squigs, Rock Lobba, Wolf  Riders and Bongy Killa on his Cave Squig.

Turn 1 (Skaven)

Roll of Doomwheels. Every Skaven assault is starting with it. Constant buzzing of high voltage power generators and deep, loud tremble of rolling wheels. Both Doomwheels’ controllers started the engines and they rolled toward the enemy.

The older version (mark 5) Doomwheel released the electric charge which killed three of Goblin Wolf Riders. Weaklings. Flesh and mind. Two remaining Goblins couldn’t stand the death of their comrades, lost their morale, panicked and fled as far as possible from Skaven machine.

Rest of the Skaven army held their position. Sooner or later, Goblins will come.

…or maybe little change of plans. Skaven will come to Goblins. Lord Quiksqueek took the power form Winds of Magic forming above battlefield and casted Skitterleap at Tax, Skaven Chieftain of Clan Vermine.  Skaven vanished in thin air and reappeared behind Goblin lines, so close to one of Goblin rock lobbas. The plan is genial – infiltrate enemy positions and kill Goblin Rock Lobba’s crew – eliminate the threat. Lord Quiksqueek was a genius.

Turn 1 (Goblins)

Warboss Creepy Sneekystabba was eager to get rid of Skaven as soon  as possible. The city of Emburn was his and only his. No man, rat or other Greenskin will stand on this way to the wealth!

Boyz! All Attack! – he shouted.

On the east flank, Goblin regiment and Squig Herd charged at old Doomwheel along with Warboss himself.

Meanwhile Wolf Riders rallied ready to fight again. Bongy Killa jumped the direction of Skaven infiltrator – Chieftain Tax.

On the west flank – the regiments were more careful – Mark 7. Doomwheel was close. They wanted to be ready for incoming of Skaven invention. Both, Goblin Archers and big, scary Archnarok just stood on their places and shoot the volley of arrows at The Doomwheel. Well, let’s just say – the salvo was not that fruitful as Goblins were thinking that could be. Doomwheel remained the threat and still rolling.

Also Rock Lobbas had a little bit off day. They were aiming the same Doomwheel and they missed completely. Maybe the proximity of Skaven chieftain was little bit distracting.

Stinky Stinker’s attempt to cast Gift of Spider God at unit of Goblins Archers was futile. Skaven Grey Seer dispelled the puny Goblin spell with ease.

Massive Goblin charge at eastern Doomwheel was one of the first Greenskins minor victories during that battle. Skaven machine were literally overswarmed by Goblins and Squigs. Jumping all over it – stabbing all living creatures inside – rats along with The Warlock Engineer – they eliminated the Skaven threat here.

Turn 2 (Skaven)

One Doomwheel was destroyed. Warlock Engineer controlling the remaining one didn’t care about battle tactics drawn by Grey Seer. He knew better – the faster he will get to the Goblins, the better. So he pushed the accelerator  and the wheel moved forward. Lord Quicksqueek looked at Doomwheel breaking Skaven lines: Foolish Clan Skryre! War is tactics! War is discipline! Traitor Clan Skryre! – he thought. Doomwheels were fine machines but the drivers were way to crazy to perform the art of war. So unpredictable.

Behind enemy lines, Tax attacked Rock Lobba crew. The crew was brave and managed to inflict the wound to Tax, but this was too much for them – they were not prepared to fight. They were here in safe place – throwing rocks at enemy that is far, far away. Not here! Not now! That was enough! So they fled! Skaven Chieftain killed them all in pursue.

Rest of Skaven army just held still. Waiting for what the Goblins will do.

…and they were close. In fact, so close that Lord Quicksqueek could try to cast the most powerful of all spells – Dreadfull 13th Spell.  He concentrated enough power in his staff, but this small Greenskin Shaman simply counteract quickly by reading the words of Dispel from the Scroll.

Turn 2 (Goblins)

At this moment –  The Goblin lads proved the war is serious business (again:).  War Boss on Giant Spider, Archnarok and Night Goblin archers charged at another Doomwheel. And Bongy Killa on his mean Cave Squig was closer and closer to Tax, Skaven Chieftain. In fact he was so close that Tax had nowhere to ran to.

On the eastern flank Squig Herd and second unit of Goblins manoeuvred to charge Clanrats anytime soon.

Two remaining Wolf riders rode around the whole eastern flank and shoot at Clanrats. And look at that – two lousy shots and one Skaven fell dead with the arrow stuck in his neck. Quite an impressive shooting from Goblin Riders.

And you cannot say the same about Rock Lobba – they aimed at regiment of Stormvermin but they missed completely. Well, maybe not entirely like that – one Stormvermin was killed by some shard of the rock.

The Winds of Magic were too weak this time, so Goblin Shaman couldn’t take sufficient power to cast even one spell. At was left for Goblins is combat.

And the combat situation was very similar as with first Doomwheel. Overran and surrounded by intrusive Goblins, Skaven warmachine stood no chance. Rats and Controller were killed with no problem, and wooden construction smashed.

Turn 3 (Skaven)

Yes, it’s true – Squigs were ready to charge, and, yes, they are mean beasts. The only reasonable action for Clanrats were trying to charge them before they got charged by Squigs. Unfortunately the Herd was to far and the charge failed.

Stormvermin and Slaves remained still – waiting for enemy will do. Lord Quicksqueek had cunning plan in his head.  He wanted to evade combat by any means necessary. Not entire unit of Stomvermin, of course – they were destined to fight and eventually die, but  he needed to back off from here. It slowly was becoming too dangerous.

So, he simply casted Skitterleap again. This time at himself – he teleported far, far away from danger – right behind the Rock Lobber on the east.

The Ratling Gun was about to shot this time as Goblins were finally in range. The Clan Skryre weapon is a masterpiece – it’s flawless construction which will bring massive firepower  to any enemy of Under-empire. No flaw indeed, but… this time when the barrel started to fire, Skaven gunner lost control over overheated weapon and all the shots were sent at the wall of the building near by.

Turn 3 (Goblins)

Clanrats failed to charge Squigs, so Squigs charged Clanrats instead. Simply as that. Meantime at western flank – big Archnarok and War Boss charged Stormvermin regiment. Ratling Gun stood and fire at big blue spider – and even managed to wound it, but the gigantic creature was tough, and it was not enough to stop the charge.

The unit of Goblin Archers simply moved little bit forward and shot at Ratling Gun. The massive volley of arrows covered the sky. The Ratling Gunners fell dead pierced mortally.

On the north The Boss Bongy Killa made a small leap and attacked Chieftain – The Skaven infiltrator. Tax was ready and he hoped to kill the Goblin in possibly fierce combat. Unfortunately Bongy Killa had the advantage that Tax lacked – Cave Squig. And please remember, Tax was already wounded ( by Goblin Rock Lobba crew), so Squig simply jumped at the Skaven Chieftain and bite with his sharp fangs his throat off.  Poor Tax was lost. He stood very little chance here.

At east – the mean hungry herd of Squigs were fighting Clanrats.

Shide The Silent shook off his disguise and stood to kill some these nasty creatures. He killed one. Two more were pierced by Clanrats’  spears. Good job, but insufficient to stand against the Squigs. They just bit off with incredible fury. 18 Skaven were killed. No, really! Eighteen! That was enough! Morale was too low – Clanrats fled, and Squigs caught them in pursue easily.  Quick and sudden annihilation of Skaven unit…

Meanwhile at west – Archnarok and Warboss Creepy Sneekystabba clashed in close combat with Stormvermin. The charge was massive. The Spider Goblins made Stormvermin weep. 4 of them fell down and Stormvermin could not fight back properly. Even The Banner of Under-empire was not effective. But lucky for Stormvermin – their strength was in numbers. They stood firm and did not break the combat.

Turn 4 (Skaven)

What Slaves do the best? They die of course. As they forced to die in this battle by their masters at this exact day – they wanted to die in glory. So, they charged Archnarok…

Meanwhile Grey Seer moved more in the middle of the battlefield. Trying to avoid any Goblin regiments…with success, hopefully…

..but Winds of Magic were disappointing. Not enough power for casting spell this time. At least Quicksqueek was safe here…

In the last combat Stormvermin were slowly massacred by Archnarok. 9 of them were killed by big Spider…and Slaves…well, that was expected – they die. They tried to fight, you can give them that, but too many dead rats made their minds so shaken, so they fled the combat and ran off the battlefield. Typical weakling slave behaviour…

Stormvermin were more resilient of course. The bravest, the strongest and the best of all Skaven warriors did not break. They will fight and they will be victorious soon! ( hopefully;).

Turn 4 (Goblins)

Goblin Warboss called for reinforcements. The unit of Night Goblin Archers and Wolf  Riders charged Stormvermin to make sure they will be eliminated soon.

The rest of army simply manoeuvred to get lonely Lord Quicksqueek. Night Goblins, Squig Herd and Boss Bongy Killa tried to conceal the trap around Grey Seer. Quicksqueek was slowly loosing his last possible options to stay safe… Enemies were all around him.

Goblin Shaman took magical power to cast Gork’ll Fix It. He took so much power… little bit too much in fact. The spell was casted with so powerful Irresistible Force, so there was no way to dispel it by any means possible. Unfortunately the power was too big for Stinky Stinker and he lost his magical abilities. The power simply erased all of his memory. The years of study and achieving levels of Goblin wizardry were gone…

Stormvermin was the last unit of Skaven in the battle and they were surrounded by Greenskins. The were everywhere. Lucky for Stomvermin The magical Banner of Under-empire was making some impact. Small swarms of rats running around Goblins were trying to bite and scratch every Goblin possible. They killed 3 Night Goblins, the lest two Wolf riders and slightly wounded The Goblin Warboss. Quite a good job. In return 4 Stormvermin were smashed under legs of big blue Archnarok. The combat was still unresolved. Stormvermin were not giving up…

Turn 5 (Skaven)

Stormvermin were still standing, but Lord Quicksqueek’s thoughts was completely elsewhere. He just wanted to survive this. To stay alive. Stormvermin could die – he did not care about that any more. His life was most important issue here.

So he moved back to the edge of the forest. Yes-yes. Safe hideout here…

…but he noticed that Winds of Magic could provide him unusually great amount of power this time. So maybe he should change the plan? Drag the power to his pool and cast whatever he wished. Bring doom upon hos sneaky, annoying Greenskins.

Yes, it might work – he thought. At first he casted Skitterleap one more time and teleported himself to the western part of the battle ( near Stormvermin).

The second part of the plan was crucial – he cumulated so much power. Sufficient to cast 13th Spell.  When he finished invocation – something wonderful started to happen – ugly green Goblins were transmutating slowly into Skaven. Oh, blessed be Great Horned Rat. 12 Goblin Archers were transformed into Skaven Clanrats. Lord Quicksqueek were triumphant!

Well, unfortunately Horned rat once give you his blessing, and the other time he curse you. Freshly born Skaven could not fight as they supposed to and they were chased off by Goblins. This time even Stomvermin unit was broken put of the combat.  Too many good Skaven died. Stormvermin and Clanrats. They couldn’t handle that and ran away. Pursued by Goblins and Archnarok, they were caught and killed…

The last Skaven in the battle – Lord Quicksqueek sneak back in the hurry. The Battle was lost, but he stayed alive. And that is the most important matter.

 And Embrun was sacked by Warboss Creepy Sneekystabba and his warband. Victory to the Greenskins!

After Battle

Well, it did not go well at all for me… My rolls were mediocre, but I shouldn’t complain this time on dice that much. Statistical they were correct. I had my moments though when dice betrayed me totally. Like the combat between Skaven Chieftain and Goblin Warboss on the Squig – bad luck I couldn’t wound The Greenskin. Well, shit happens. And life goes on.

What went wrong? The plan for my Doomwheels was so poorly prepared – they simply moved into enemy charge range. And I should manoeuvred them, that I could charge! Not opposite. Waste of points… Next time Doomwheels should be deployed more widely – that enemy will be forced to scatter his lines to secure his flanks. Well, lessons learned.

Another thing – when Doomwheels were down – I had no idea how to take down Archnarok and Squigs. My infantry was no match for those. Mean killing machines. Time to paint Hell Pit Abomination and scare the enemy with monsters of my own:).

Slowly I’m coming to the end of The Adventures of Grey Seer Quicksqueek. Yesterday I played his last battle against Bretonnia, which is final chapter of his story (soon the battle report). For the next battle with my Skaven – I plan some rearrangement of my force and presentation of fresh characters.

…and at last but not least – big ups for Bunkier Store in Warsaw for awesome table and big selection of scenery pieces. Thanks a lot!

Until next time!