Progress Report - 11/29/08.

Is it possible to play too much Warhammer?

This was the question I set out to answer during the past two weeks. Since my last update I played two additional matches in the 500 point campaign, winning two massacres against Vampire Counts and Lizardmen forces. Total scores are still being tallied but as of this writing I am tied for second place (against Dwarfs) with a 2-1 record and 35 game points. Still determining a "fair" way to decide the tie breaker but it will likely come down to total "Goal" points awarded which puts me in second place.

Not bad considering I felt I had no chance of winning most of the games I played. Either I am getting better or it is my new dice!

Spent the better part of this holiday weekend playing Warhmamer as well, mostly in a team setting. My Slayer force took apart a combined Nurgle Daemon and O&G force (with my partner being wiped out by the end of the second turn), and I proxied a 750 point force of Chaos Trolls to great success against a mass of Dark Elves.

All in all things are going well in the game playing department! I have also made decent strides in the painting/finished models for the Beer Gut Tribe with just my Butcher and three Ironguts left to paint by next Monday. Look for pictures of the fully painted force soon!

One of the biggest time sinks involved in this hobby is crafting Army Lists. A lot of thought and effort goes into crafting a solid list, especially in a campaign/tournament type environment when you don't know who you will be facing and what they might bring. My group will be jumping from 500 points to 1000 points in January so I have drafted a variety of lists to choose from as I expand my painted force of Ogres. Here are a few examples of the things I am kicking around, utilizing different play styles with my Rare and Special choices.

List #1 - The "lets get as many models as possible on the table and still have a Rare choice" list.

Bruiser @ 182
- Heavy Armor
- Great Weapon
- Wyrdstone Necklace (5+ Ward save
- Luck Gnoblar (reroll one failed Armor or Ward save per game)
- Fistful of Laurels (reroll one failed Break test per game)

Butcher @ 130

Butcher @ 130

Bulls x 3 @ 105

Ironguts x 3 @ 144

Ironguts x 3 @ 144

Gnoblar Trappers x 8 @ 48

Gnoblar Fighters x 20 @ 42
- Groinbiter

Gorger @ 75

Total Points: 1000 (of 1000)

This list is pretty basic but offers quite a few tactical options. The Bruiser would go with one unit of Ironguts while the Butchers would shelter in the other Irongut and Bull units. The Gorger can be quite devestating but isn't worth banking on as he often gets shot to bits. For 75 points he can dish out a lot of hurt with some luck which is why he is on here.

I am likely to face a decent amount of Magic opposition in this next leg of the campaign which makes the Butchers even better. Wish I could spring for some magic items but they will still get buffs off and with 6 Power Dice and 4 Dispel Dice I should have a pretty good magic phase.

List #2 - The "lets use our Maneaters and Butchers to create a tough as nails combat" list.

Bruiser @ 167
- Heavy Armor
- Great Weapon
- Wyrdstone Necklace
- Luck Gnoblar

Butcher @ 160
- Siegebreaker

Butcher @ 150
- Skullmantle

Bulls x 3 @ 105

Ironguts x 3 @ 144

Gnoblar Trappers x 9 @ 54

Gnoblar Fighters x 20 @ 40

Maneaters x 2 @ 180
- Heavy Armor
- Great Weapon

Total Points: 1000 (of 1000)

The magical 9th Trapper is here, along with magic items on the Butchers and two Maneaters. All this comes at the cost of the second Irongut unit but the Maneaters and the Bruiser should be able to make up for lack of hard hitting.

List #3 - The "screw gut magic, lets blow ourselves up and fall down on the enemy" list.

Bruiser @ 162
- Heavy Armor
- Great Weapon
- Wyrdstone Necklace

Bulls x 3 @ 105

Ironguts x 3 @ 144

Ironguts x 3 @ 144

Leadbelchers x 2 @ 110

Leadbelchers x 2 @ 110

Gnoblar Trappers x 8 @ 48

Slavegiant @ 175

Total Points: 998 (of 1000)

Super bare-bones Bruiser but there are larger threats on the board now in the form of the Leadbelchers and the Slavegiant. I have had really bad luck with Leadbelchers but hopefully the Giant can keep them alive long enough to blast some cavalry or cheap unit blocks off the board. No gut magic could be very problematic but that is the cost associated with bringing big (potential) threats to the table.

List #4 - The "who says you can't have an Ogre gunline" list.

Bruiser @ 166
- Heavy Armor
- Brace of Handguns
- Wyrdstone Necklace
- Luck Gnoblar
- Sword Gnoblar

Bulls x 3 @ 105

Bulls x 3 @ 105

Leadbelchers x 2 @ 110

Leadbelchers x 2 @ 110

Gnoblar Trappers x 8 @ 48

Gnoblar Scraplauncher @ 165

Maneaters x 2 @ 180
- Heavy Armor
- Brace of Handguns

Total Points: 999 (of 1000)

Shoot, shoot, shoot, misfire, blow up, lose. That is pretty much how I see this list going but it could be fun. No gut magic again, and no heavy hitters aside from the Bruiser and the Maneaters. This list is fairly defensive which is never good for Ogres, but forcing the enemy to come into charge range and hiding behind terrain while shooting at anything they can could really throw off some of my regular opponents.

So there you have it, four lists that all offer fairly different ways of playing the game. Which one is best? Your guess is as good as mine! The entire game of WHFB basically boils down to percentages. Increasing your chance of dealing damage while decreasing your chances of taking damage and then rolling the dice. Sometimes you win and sometimes you lose, which makes the more relevant question how do you want to lose the game?

My answer would be I want to lose in the most fun way possible which is what I need to take into account while making my final choices for the list.