The battle of Blanchepierre (an Oldhammer 3e Battle report)

Burgold Festus looked at the small village in the distance; he could see the colours of the Duke of Ambroise floating in the wind. He hated Bretonnians, with their clean and shiny armours and their ridiculous chivalry code. “Honourable or not, Chaos doesn’t discriminate”, he chuckled to himself, “they die all the same”.

His diversion had worked wonderfully, and now Blanchepierre was him for the taking, with no Bretonnian knights in sight. Next to him stood his allies, Slaanesh Knights in disgustingly colourful colours. A necessary evil, he thought to himself. They would have their crude “fun” with the poor villagers, as promised, but after that Nurgle’s rot would overrun the village. More souls for Papa Nurgle. “This is going to be a great day” he whispered to himself. Then he shouted his command, and the lumbering horde of Chaos shuffled towards the hapless village…

Last february Chris (i.e. Blue) from Blue's Marauding Miniatures came from Vermont for an Oldhammer afternoon of clean and fun bloodshed. We played in my game room of the new house, actually the first Oldhammer game played there. It was a lot of fun. With the Analogue painting Challenge in full swing, I didn't have time to write a proper report, and then life got in way and yadi yadi yada here we are in late May and it's really time I do this battle report! 

The game was between my Chaos force, an unholy alliance of Nurgle and Slaanesh (the venerial disease army) and Chris' noble and pround Bretonnians. We played using 3rd edition rules, and our armies both came from Warhammer armies (in my case the normal Chaos list), although I used the Nurglings stats from the Realm of Chaos LATD book. We also used Warhammer armies to randomly determine our wizard's spells.

The grotesque horde of Burgold Festus

Burgold Festus, Nurgle Chaos champion, with heavy armour, shield, parasitic blade: 139 pts
Doras Varn, Slaanesh Chaos knight, with shield, heavy armour, barding, war horse : 94 pts
Lorhal Kuvax, lv 10 sorcerer, with heavy armour: 88 pts

5 Marauder horse, with barding : 245 pts
11 Marauders: 427 pts
20 beastmen,with shield and light armour : 260
7 Nurglings : 210
5 Chaos centaurs, + lv 10 hero : 292 pts
1 Jabberwock : 200
1 minotaur : 40

Total : 1995 pts

The army of the Duke of Ambroise

Duke of Ambroise (lvl 20 Hero), Warhorse, Barding HA, S, Lance HW (mighty strike) : 125 pts
Baron de Turenne, army standard bearer (lvl 5 hero), Warhorse, barding, HA, S, Lance : 95pts
Bertrand (lvl 10 Hero) LA, LB, Hail of Doom: 85pts
Wizard (lvl 10 Wizard): 90pts

8 Knights incl lvl 10 hero: 444 pts
18 Archers incl lvl 5 Champ: 206pts
14 Scouts: 168pts
16 Spears incl lvl5 champ:187pts
15 Dwarf Warriors incl lvl 5 champ: 238pts
8 Mounted Squires incl lvl 5 champ: 261pts
Organ gun and Crew: 101pts

Total: 2000pts

The scenario was as follow :

It is the early Spring; for most of winter, small Chaos warbands have launched raids into the county of Bastonne, pillaging and looting the poor villages near the forest. The harsh winter conditions have made it very difficult on the Duke of Ambroise’ forces, and with a nice early Spring the young Bretonnian noble is hell bent on revenge. While bivouacking at the small village of Blanchepierre, he receives words of a Chaos force gathering at half day distance from the village and quickly assembles his soldiers for a surprise attack, leaving but a small garrison at Blanchepierre.

The Chaos force, much smaller than anticipated, is no match and the Duke is pleased with himself. As he settles down for a night feast with his commanders, he receives an urgent message from one of his scout; the battle was but a mere distraction, and the main Chaos force is headed straight for Blanchepierre. The Duke quickly gathers his troops and forces marches towards the small village, fearing what may become of his vassals if he doesn’t reach them in time.

Chaos objectives

- Take the Village of Blanchepierre (having at least one unit within it at the end of the battle), kill the villagers and rape their women.
- Smash the Bretonnian forces into oblivion.

Bretonnian objectives

- Hold on to Blanchepierre
- Fend off the Chaos attack and drive them back

Special rules :

- During set-up, the Bretonnian player must put up one unit of infantry as a garrison in the village of Blanchepierre;
- The Bretonnian must set-up his forces in the northeast corner;
- The Chaos forces must set-up on the northwest up to the middle of the table, opposite Blanchepierre.

Unfortunately I hit the wrong button on my camera without noticing and most of my pictures were ruined! So I write this AAR with mostly Chris pick.

The table - side view

The table from the top

Chris generating his wizard's spells

"Steady lads, we have to hold the village!"

The Slaanesh contingent, in all it's pinkish glory

Nurglings and Nurgle Marauders, with Burgold Festus in front,
clad in sickly yellow. I used a Skaven rat-ogre as a minotaur

A good look at both armies set-up

The Chaos Centaurs quickly move towards the Bret's flank

The Beastmen lumber towards Blanchepierre

First blood! The Centaurs charge the mounted squires

Clash of cavalry

The Bretonnian Knights boldly move towards
the center of the Chaos force

In the back left, the organ gun is getting into firing position...

Protected by their Sorcerer's magic and a little luck,
the Beastmen make good progress and avoid the archers volleys

No match for the Chaos centaurs, the squires break! 

Mon Dieu, catastrophe! The Bretonnian spears panic at the sight
of the fleeing squires and break!

"Sire, the Chaos Knights are almost in our line of sight!"

The archers can now smell the foul breath of the beatsmen

Incoming!

In the center, the Nurglings move forward,
hoping to entice the knights into charging them 

After wiping the squires, the Centaurs are moving
in position for a Spearmen massacre

Combat rages on in Blanchepierre,
Bretonnian archers holding their own at first

"Unleash Hell"

The Chaos general learns of the immense destruction power of the Organ gun,
as 4 (!) Chaos knights vanish into a blaze of destruction

Burgold Festus smiles; the knights cannot hold their enthusiasm,
and figuring an easy win, charge into the hundreds of puss filled Nurlings

The desperate struggles of the archers leaves many casualties in their ranks

The remaining shell-shocked Chaos knights charge
into the flanks of the Bretonnian knights,
running from the Organ gun, while both the minotaur
and the Chaos warrior are getting ready to join the party

On the other flank, Bretonnian archers move away from the Jabberwock,
the stupid beast finally moving forward

But hold on! Bertrand, the valorous Bretonnian hero
advances to face the beast, sword at the ready!

What a fantastic hero! What a fantastic story this will make!
Such courage! The hero strikes first

...and then the Jabberwock swaps one immense
claw at the valorous hero, who dies on the spot 

The Jabberwock looks at his defeated foe,
wondering what should be his next move; to eat or not to eat?

BOOM! Blanchepierre's defenses break,
and the Bretonnians flee in disarray

FREE HACK! The Beastmen gleefully run down the poor archers
and enter Blanchepierre.
"WOMEN AND CHILDREN FIRST!" screams the Beastmen leader!

The knights finally manage to get rid of the Nurglings, but are now
attacked from both flanks; the Bretonnian knights admirably stand their ground

The Dwarves try to move to help their Knight allies,
hoping the Jabberwock too stupid to move

Alas, the mighty beast wants more blood today, and
charges in the dwarves rear, who run for their lives

To the very end, the Bretonnian knights fight with valour

Their left flank crumbling under Centaurs assaults, Blanchepierre lost to Beastmen, the Jabberwock feasting on his allies, the Bretonnian general has no choice but to concede defeat. His army is in shambles. Chaos has won!

Post mortem

• It was a glorious victory for the Chaos side (i.e. me). My plan worked better than I had hoped; the Centaurs were supposed to annoy Chris left flank while my strong center would crush the opposition and crash towards the left flank. But the Centaurs managed to cause havoc and almost single handedly destroyed his left flank. This set the tone for the whole battle.
• Chaos centaurs : first time I use them. Not the last...
• Organ gun : not to be fucked with! I made a fool of myself by leaving my very expensive Chaos Knights in sight of this engine of destruction, and I dearly paid the price. This is way more powerful than in later editions! 
• Chris needs more war machines; they are deadly.
• This was the first time I've used, or seen a Jabberwock in a WFB game. It was fun, and he managed to play a fun role in the game. 
• I was so happy Chris' knights went for my Nurglings; the little critters are great at bogging down opposing powerful units. With their numerous wounds and their immunity to psychology, they take forever to kill! By the time they were all gone his knights were attacked from all sides.
• As usual, Chaos in 3rd edition is very strong, too strong probably. I always feel a little bad at how good they are in close combat, especially the troops with multiple wounds like the Beastmen and Centaurs.
• Bretonnian elite knights are good AF! Wow, attacked from all sides and they kept their cool. The lack of combat results modifiers really help elite troops stay in battle for rounds and rounds and rounds. Chris would probably need more of these guys too. A bitch to paint, surely!
• It was good, clean fun. Chris is a great guy to play with, we have the same laid back attitude to wargaming and it made for a great time.
• Vermont makes good Bacon. Why you ask? Because while most people bring wine or dessert when invited, Chris brings a whole pack of Vermont bacon! 
• We have to do it again. I'm thinking of starting another Oldhammer army soon, and I'm aiming at something easier to play against than Chaos. Chris should be happy! More on this probably in the fall.