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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.  

OPR Battle report: The orcs bring the big guns.

 If one paints the mins then one must play with the minis. 

With the recruitment of the Orc pirates, and all their shiny guns, Mad Mike threw them right at the advancing human armored forces.  The mechanized platoon had been reinforced with an MBT.  They did not know what surprises lurked in the stone garden.

“The orc big guns are hidden and the humies will never know what hit them”    

In the opening move Mad Mike took his mob toward the center objective.  They were punished for their aggression by several of the MICVs and the command squad.  They lost half their number and were pinned down.  The goblin artillery shot the MBT, causing slight damage.  It responded in kind by moving up blasting one of the gobbo guns.  Still, they had lured out the vehicles.      

Squad B’s MICV moved to contest the right-hand objective. All seemed quiet as the orcs were hiding behind the large rock formation. That is when a group of large orcs carrying weapons as big as a man emerged from behind the rocks.  What followed was a symphony of violence.

“Never under estimate the power of exploding sixes!”

The MICV was overwhelmed by the sheer dakka of the orc pirates.  The vehicle exploded and the remains of Squad B stumbled out

On the other side of the battlefield, the rest of the orc pirates revealed themselves and targeted the MBT.   A barrage of HMG fire and the fusion guns tore into the tank.  A fire was started and the crew frantically tried to put out the fire.      

The human platoon leader was in shock.  In a few moments their advance had hit a green brick wall.  He called on the radio for mortar support, desperate to suppress the big-gunned orcs.  The shots had a minimal effect. 

Squad A deployed from their MICV and moved into the broken rocks.  They could see the orc mob advancing on their position.     

In the following turn.  The orc mob on the right moved up and gunned down Squad B.  Nothing like kicking a humie when he’s down, yuh.    

“Not so tough without your metal box…yuh”

The other orc mob tried to overwhelm squad A.  The cover of the boulders proved valuable as both squads entered a mostly ineffective firefight.  The missile launcher of Squad A proved to be a better marksman and brought down another goblin gun. The gobbos were pinned down hiding under their guns. 

Both MICVs moved around the rough ground to fire on the orc pirates and brought down several.  The orc return fire severally damaged one vehicle while the other was lucky suffering only minor damage.  It appeared the orc unit had expended their explosive heat rounds on the first destroyed vehicle.

The battle would be decided on the left flank. The 3^rd and last round began with the heavily damaged MICV going down to the orc pirates.     

After surviving more fire from the humans.  The orc mob charged into Squad A.  The humans held their ground and forced back the assault.  Both units were down to a few troops. 

The depleted orc mob was blasted by the recovered MBT.  This removed the threat to the left objective.  The command squad finished Mad Mike’s mob and the warboss himself was blown back unconscious as a missile impacted at his feet.

The last orc mob charged the final MICV but could not damage it.  They prevented it from contesting the objective.

The game was called as nothing could contest the objectives in human control.  A 2-1 victory to the mechanized brigade.  Still the human commanders were furious at the vehicle losses as the orcs proved what their firepower could do.  If given enough dice. 😉

Orc Heavy Weapons

 The orc war boss was tired of fighting the humans and all their armored boxes.  The boyz needed some upgrades.  With all the teeth left over from the deceased he hired a group of orcs that that took their Dakka, Dakka very seriously.   

I wanted to make a comment about flexibility in game systems.  I love systems where I can tailor the model count to my tastes.  Lion/Dragon Rampant is one such system and I think OPR pulls this off as well. 

I like the ability to represent units with reduced model count.  In Lion Rampant that elite foot unit is six models standard.  But that same unit can be represented by 3, 2, or even 1 model.  The stat line does not change.  One simply needs to record the wounds.

I think this can be done with OPR.  If you look at the models above this is a double strength unit of orc marauder pirates of six models.  A orc pirate has 1 wound and carries a heavy weapon.  These models are beefier than your standard boy.  I can say that one model has 3 wounds and the sheer volume of attacks from this crazy orc is equivalent to 3 heavy weapons going off.  If you look at the models I think I have good cause to claim this.  A unit is now presented by one or two models.    

These six models can fill an army org by representing 18 models.  The max that can be taken.  Do I have enough unpainted models to fill the org, YES!  Do I have to stress about painting more if I wanted to run a really big game, NO! Do I like the look of the smaller model count on the board, YES!

All this to say I really appreciate games that can have this flexibility.  

Thanks      

  

OPR Battle Report: HDF vs Orcs

 Hello All,

 I have another OPR battle report for you.  We have the HDF, with slightly modified stats, vs. the Orc marauder war band of Mad Mike.  1300 point forces on each side. 

 After repulsing the orc attack the Human alliance sent a mechanized platoon into the stone garden to pursue the retreating enemy.  The Orcs quickly gathered a force to counter the patrol.

 

Seeing the truck moving at top speed the first MICV sited its weapons.

 The truck was heavily damaged, and the driver was dead at the wheel.  Mad Mike slammed the corpse on the accelerator and the truck lunged forward.  The second MICV fired and destroyed the truck.

  

The mob leapt from the vehicle with a few losses but stunned. 

 

The 3rd MICV engaged the goblin guns who retaliated in kind.  Minor damage was inflicted on the MICV while two goblin guns were knocked out.  The vehicle’s missile system proved very effective.

 

The Infantry squads deployed from their vehicles and prepared to engage the orc foot mobs.

In the second round the command MICV focused on the Ultra boss unit wiping it out.  In return the platoon command squad was overrun by Mad Mike’s mob.  He is getting very adept at killing enemy commanders.

The orcs on the left flank were suppressed by the A squad’s firepower.  The Orc mob in the center did a shocking thing.  They won the firefight against Squad B.  Screaming “DAKKA DAKKA” they inflicted heavy losses on the humans with minimal losses back.  The MICV tried to finish the goblin artillery, but the smoke and explosives from the other destroyed guns obscured the target.

In round 3 the firefight on the left was devasting for the orcs with the mob wiped out.  Mad Mike charged into the command MICV and tore chucks out the vehicle.  Unable to retaliate the vehicle was forced back, but it was not broken.   

 The last goblin gun was destroyed and the center orc mob destroyed Squad B…with their carbines…wonders never cease.  They held the center objective securely.

 In the last round Mike and his mob continued to push the MICV trying to kill one of these accursed tin cans.  While the vehicle did not break the crew was obviously very shaken as they missed all their shots.

 

The other MICVs raced down either flank to secure the pass.  The center orc mob was isolated.  Mad Mike stood on the roof of the MICV shouting with rage.   

A 2-1 victory to the 196th Mechanized Brigade.

As a reflection the report highlighted the power of vehicles, and monsters, in the OPR game.  While there are new optional rules for degradation of stats with damage taken, I did not use them.  I very much like the feel of the big systems in OPR.  They are to be feared.  They are powerful but they are also point intensive and can only be one place at once.  They can also be countered with the right weapons.  The orcs just need more of those right weapons and more painting is required.  More on that soon