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The Undead Unleashed

Midgard 1st Battle

 For those who have seen my 15mm Grim dark Sci-fi thread on LAF would see how I enjoy the One Page Rules system.  For my fantasy projects I wanted a more regimented game.  I like flanks, support, and such. I got a copy of the Midgard rules and gave them a try.  The Midgard website has an excellent army builder that is very easy to use. With that the LOTR rings figures were assembled.  A mission from Gondor was assembled to counter an orc incursion.  This force was graced with two powerful units of knights.  There were 4 units of spears, one unit of archers, and a one group of rangers (skirmishers).  The orc warband was a large collection of orc warriors (six), with some skirmishers, and two units of wolf riders.  Both armies had 3 heroes.  The two armies meant in a wide-open field.

The battle opened with the orcs advancing.  The Knights of Gondor immediately charged into the skirmishers and wolf riders on the Orc left. The shock cavalry broke both enemy units.  The rangers and archers let loose arrows into the wolf riders and inflicted damage, but the goblin cavalry carried on.    

 

The Orc warbands continued to advance but two warbands turned to face the knights.  The other wolf riders plowed into the rangers and pushed them back and then routed them from the board.  We needed a nice piece of forest for those boys to hide in.      

With a loud cry the entire Gondor spear line rushed forward.  The Gondor heroes on foot wisely avoided the brutish Orc general in the center.    The combat was heavy with losses on both sides. 

One unit of Knights charged forward. It inflicted heavy damage on the orc warriors but they did not break.   

The Orcs countered and overwhelmed the knights leaving the Gondor General alone and vulnerable.  The spears were being pushed back but one unit broke the orcs facing them.   

In what would prove to be the final turn the 2^nd Knights moved to save their general. 

The Gondor spearman unit free on any enemy to their front did a double move to attack the other badly damaged Orc warriors facing the knights. Both the Knights and the spears crushed both orc warriors facing them.  The Orc general destroyed the spears facing them but when he turned to survey the battlefield he saw the battle was lost.   

A victory for Gondor Victory!

Thoughts on the rules:

I liked the rules.  It feels like a mix of DBA and Dragon Rampant.  I like how supports work and the hero interaction can be fun.     

 I would say the game favors getting stuck in vs waiting to be charged.  While the re-roll of ones is nice, the real advantage is denying your enemies the ability to earn reputation tokens.  If your heroes charge in and lock down enemy units, it denies the same bonus to your opponent.  It creates a mini game inside the game of reputation management.    

The only “slow” aspect of the game was related to maneuvering.  A unit will generally go forward and if they destroy the enemy, it will take a turn or two to get them back into the fight.  I also had one situation where because a unit was in the killing zone it forced me to turn face, but I could not charge after facing the enemy with my 2^nd move.  I may tweak that.    

I discovered one question.  When a Hero or a unit has a bonus in hitting, like Brutal or Thunderous charge, does that benefit extend to the unit, or hero, they are with? I rolled separate dice for them, but I was not sure. 

Thanks for reading. 

      

 

 

Mechanized Brigade Reinforcements

 Another basic squad for the mechanized brigade. 

Fire support in a the form of a mortar squad.  

OPR Battle Report: The engines roar!

 For the update this week I have a few more rocket orcs for the waagh.  I use these on the trucks to represent their rocket weapons.  

The big boss, Deadly D, gathered the mob and mounted them up on the new trucks and rigs.  They drove deep into the ash waste to move around the human flank.  Luckily, a recon drone detected the mass of vehicles and the Battle Brothers task force was mobilized to block it.  We return to the stone garden.  

I love seeing pre game army photos.  Especially seeing the Orc horde against the much fewer defenders.    Here are the 2,000 point forces

The Orcs with their new "shinny" rigs.

The Battle Brothers are lead by a powerful archivist.  They are also supported by a battle tank and attack walker.  

I will admit this was the 2nd battle for these forces. The first game was a train wreck for the orcs, but it did provide a valuable lesson.  The orcs need to use their vehicles as armor.  Even the small 5 man brothers squads can cause heavy damage if given the chance.  With the second game I played the trucks much more cagey and did not deploy unless I was "safe".  

The orc big rig has a incredible speed covering 20" with a rush action.  Which is what it did and the Ultra bosses jumped out and destroyed the Missile Launcher squad.  

Pay back came from the assault walker who poured heavy fire into the Ultra bosses cutting down one of their number.  The orcs on the left seeing the brother squad having activated jump out of the truck. Pistol fire brings down one marine.    

The rest of the orcs play it safe and stay in their trucks.    Turn 2 begins with some tough tactical choices for the brothers.  It begins with the tank blasting the ultra bosses and one more goes down.  Deadly D shouts a war cry and leaps onto the tank.  They inflict heavy damage the the tanks rolls away.    

The brother squad on the left guns down some of the mob facing them, but not enough.  The orcs charge in and wipe them out. The attack walker removes the last Ultra boss protecting Deady D.  All the orc trucks, two still carrying mobs, converge on the Brother right wing.  The brother squads set themselves up on overwatch and await the onslaught.    

The 3rd turn begins with one of the mobs leaping from the truck.  The two brother squads gun them down.  Leaving our old friend Mad Mike alone.  The battle tank splits fire using the autocannon against Deadly D and the heavy machine guns into the mob.  Both are reduced, but Deadly D is stunned by the attack. The last orc mob slams into the archivist's squad.  All the brothers are wiped out, but the archivist strikes back bringing down three of the orcs with his energy hammer.  The Brother leader holds the line.    

The archivist summons lighting and devastates the orc mob and Mad Mike.  The attack walker moves up to threatened the center objective and guns down the last of the orc mob.  

Turn 4 is a very tactical turn for the brothers.  It starts with the walker claiming the the center objective and blocking the big rig from moving onto it.  It opens on the center truck and got lucky crippling the engine and preventing it from moving this turn.  Deadly D attacks the battle tank again and does more damage but the crew is brave. His move also prevents the tank from rushing to contest the far left objective.  It had been a mistake not to move the tank up sooner in the game.  In revenge the tank blasted Deadly D apart along with the last of the orc mob on the ridge.  In counter revenge the orc truck launches a rocket that destroys the Brother tank.        

The last Brother squad, and the only infantry left, move to claim the right objective.  Causing one damage to the last orc truck that quickly moves to contest the same objective.  The archivist moves up and once again calls down lighting.  The damage to the truck is enough to force a morale test.  If it fails the Brothers would claim victory. Its a 50/50 roll.  

The truck passed!  

With the last move the orc big rig flames and rocket the archivist to death.  Both leaders have fallen in this battle.  

With that the epic ride of the orc mob is over with a 1-1-1 draw.  This was a very swingy game that could have ended either way.  It came down to a few dice rolls.  The brothers have to be somewhat aggressive earlier to be able to take objectives. 

I hope you all enjoyed.    

Orc Trucks and Big Rig

 The orc Ultra boss, Deadly D, was not happy with the string of defeats his boys had suffered.  In berating Mad Mike he yelled at him "...the boys had to get stuck in sooner and do what they do best.  Knock heads together". 

He ordered the meks to start building more trucks and one very special battle rig for himself and his bodyguard.  Now the whole clan could ride to glory!

Armed with a massive flame thrower the Ultra bosses are sure to arrive in style.