Season's greetings!

Merry Christmas to all my fellow bloggers and blog fans! I've had a good month work and family wise, it's been great building up to my first family Christmas with the BOJ, though I have had an unexpected hiatus from the internet as a result! I have several articles half-written and almost ready to go for the New Year though. Thanks to my most recent followers and to all those who have joined in 2013, lots more content is coming your way! Enjoy the season ladies and gentlemen! Good luck to all those who have suffered with the storms and floods.

I leave you with a pic of my favourite Christmas story.

Thanks for reading!

Fayana and the Dance of Death.

I'm often accused of many things (selective hearing, flippancy and hiding in the shed whenever there is DIY to be done to name but a few) but these foul slanders are obviously from people too feeble-minded and feckless to recognise a great mind at work. Perhaps a fairer criticism would be that I tend to get my version of events in first. First and hard. This time however, I have been stoically holding back to allow somebody else the chance to tell their story through the medium of game, after all, preaching about the wonders of narrative gaming won't do me any good if I keep it all to myself!

So without further ado, I would like to usher you along to my good friend and gaming partner Robotforaday's (AKA Lenihan) blog so that you can read the tale of Nobridge and it's brave defenders. No doubt you will marvel incredulously as the tale unfolds!

Click here to travel through spacetime to 'Where the Sea Pours Out'.

Tactica II. Being a treatise on the successful melding of role-play ideals and martial nous.

Welcome back! Last time, in Tactica I, I tried to establish my concept of the conventional way to play Ye Olde Warhammer (3rd and 4th editions mainly). This time, I am going to expand slightly on the last article and also talk about injecting a little 'character' into our tactical thinking.

The typicality of the supported line army formation I spoke about last time is dependent on your 'local meta'. This is another term borrowed from our logic-loving friends on the contemporary tournament circuit. The meta-game is the term used to describe the way people put their armies together and it's helpful to understand that metas vary from location to location, rather like accents or trends. It only takes one person to skew a meta, if everyone is doing roughly the same thing and one maverick decides to adopt a new trick it forces everyone else to adapt if they want to stay at the same level. The game itself is designed this way of course, it encourages more sales as gamers respond to an ever-evolving meta and when metas become stagnant as each trick and ploy gets played out the response is to release a new edition and wipe the slate clean, again necessitating the purchase of more models. This is a feature of 3rd, whether we like it or not, and as rulebooks go it gives more wiggle room than most modern books to fall into the trap of competitiveness. So how do we get around this and take full advantage of the opportunities for good times in the big orange book of awesome?

With role-play of course!

A note on tabletop role-playing.

Before I look at individual racial characteristics, let me talk about one of the biggest differences between commanding troops in real life and pushing toys around on the tabletop (aside from the significant difference in mortality rates, lead poisoning notwithstanding), the 'God perspective'. In a game, both generals can see all the troops of either side, all the time, which I assure you is nothing like the case in actuality. While it can be easily accepted that we want to play a game rather than simulate reality to the nth degree, all your efforts at role-playing will count for naught if you don't experiment with taking this one factor into account. Try using the under-appreciated 'mental' stats that Warhammer provides us with. Does your general know exactly where to direct his troops having been ambushed? Take an intelligence or maybe cool test, if failed the unit suffers from the effects of stupidity (all these tools, right there in the rulebook). Is it obvious that enemy is approaching from an unseen quarter? Take a test or be forced to move towards visible enemy units only! My favourite, announce your orders as you move a unit for the first time (take that hill, engage this enemy unit etc.) and if you ever want to change those orders or enhance them later on, your general must make successful leadership tests! Penalties include stopping to raid baggage, stopping to rest, using own initiative (disastrously no doubt) and getting lost. Try these ideas out for both sides in a battle sometime, control freaks won't get on with it but it will provide an interesting tactical challenge for many of you I suspect.

I want to cover the fantasy races and their characteristics (popular or otherwise), but first let's assume your local meta involves big blocks of infantry that are well supported, to some degree at least. The subsequent decisions you take and the opportunities you seek to exploit while managing this army will depend on how you see your troops and characters, I am hoping it is safe to assume that any retro-gamers reading this will have an interest in the narrative aspect of the game and the role-play potential inherent in a game of Warhammer, and that's a subject worth looking at in a bit of depth. All through the prism of my tortured psyche no less!

Orcs.

Let's start with Orcs. Everyone has heard of Orcs. Have you ever had one of those awkward conversations about the hobby to one of the uninitiated? Chances are they thought of Fantasy Wargaming as 'fighting with Orcs and stuff', am I close? Yet, do we know what an Orc is? Are Goblins Orcs or are Orcs Goblinoids? Are they green-skinned or not? How do we role-play being an Orc Commander? If we even take a single source for our Orc background it quickly becomes apparent that Orcs are a wildly chaotic race with as many different types as we Humans. Tolkien has them as corrupted Elves, the result of a cruel genetic experiment conducted by Sauron's mentor, Morgoth. The terms Goblin and Orc are largely interchangeable, with only the common regional differences being the factor used to discriminate which is which. Our friends at GW has evolved their Orcs over time to make them a bit more of a combat oriented soldier race and less well rounded as villains, so the background we look to from that direction is somewhat tied to a period. So, if defining our Orc armies character-wise is difficult where does that leave us as far as role-play is concerned? Possibly the answer is to spend the effort on creating our own background and sticking to that (or evolving it...), or picking our favourite published narratives and using those to define our Orcs. I like to see Orcs as similar to Humans except that whereas men aspire to civilisation and hide their animalistic urges, Orcs aspire to be as wild as possible while having to cope with the restrictions that living together (in what passes for Orc civilisation) imposes on them. The way I see Orcs, they are not perfect soldiers but they are easily directed to a destructive purpose, they leave Half-Orc brats in their wake, they drink to excess, they squabble with each other and their virtues usually extend merely to cunning and self-preservation. For this reason, 3rd edition Orcs suit me well enough.

Once we have decided on the character of our Orcs we can use that to inform some of our tactics on the tabletop. It is still important to have a strong formation, one based around big blocks of infantry supported by some smaller units, but we can (and should) remember the character of the Orc troops when assigning them tasks. No Orc unit is likely to sell itself willingly as a distraction or a rearguard for example, their sense of social community doesn't extend that far if you ask me. Orcs probably shouldn't be trusted with anything involving complex, accurate timing, such as a pincer movement. They would understand the concept of a trap though, after all they hunt and catch boars and Wyverns for mounts, as well as other game for food. I just don't accept the idea that they are comic and stupid, at least not all the time or more so than ourselves, that simply doesn't make sense. On a small scale, though undisciplined, they can adapt to being guards or soldiers well enough, presumably sometimes in return for pay. On a larger scale, they are successful enough not to have been wiped out long ago!

The mutated Gothmog from Peter Jackson's LotR movies is a fine character to use as an example for our General. He understands fear but also understands how crucial the way other Orcs see him is to his ability to lead, he won't be seen to be afraid if he can help it. He knows Human tactics and how to exploit his enemies weaknesses. He might not be a tactical genius but he is certainly capable of carrying out military tasks for his masters in an effective if brutal manner.

In short, you can strive to be 'Orcy' without locking yourself into a rut of poor decision-making and you can make strong moves without being 'un-Orcy'. It's a matter of flavouring your tactics when the opportunity arises to do so. Describe what you are doing and why to your opponent, it will help enormously in this regard and encourage cooperative story-telling.

Hopefully, by using the Orcs as an example, you can see that role-playing and tactics can exist in a delicate balance that needn't be all or nothing in either department. I won't be repeating all the points I raised for Orcs for each race but try to remember to apply those questions about tactics to your race (if you see it below). Let's look at some of the other races then.

Humans.

Humans are instantly the most complex characters in any work of fantasy fiction, because they are us and we carry a lot of baggage. Even Tolkien, who set the bar for world creation, couldn't come close to realising a fantasy race on the same scale as humanity. We rarely see Mankind being reinvented in fantasy, it's far more common to see real-world analogues instead. We all know that the Empire of the Old World is based on the Holy Roman Empire, right? We know what Cathay represents, and Nippon. We know full well where the inspiration for Tilea, Araby, Estalia etc. came from. The same holds true for almost all Human appearances in fantasy, though sometimes it's less obvious.

Playing Humans frees us from having to think about their character, we already know we're all very complicated devils, but this is not an excuse to avoid role-playing. We should actually be increasing the degree of role-play and narrative because we have the spare grey cells to do so. What are our character's immediate motivations, why is he here in this battle and what does he believe in? Worth a try, I promise.

Human battles throughout history have often been fought from a 'playbook'. What I mean by that is, warfare has it's periods of readjustment after absorbing new technologies and ideas (a change to the local meta if you will) and then it settles down into a pattern as these ideas become scripture almost. This is how Humans think and fight. You could look to the medieval system of using three divisions or 'Battailes' to create a centre and two flanks for Bretonnian armies. It may be interesting to incorporate the Norman system of running a line of missile troops followed by a line of heavy infantry with cavalry held in reserve somehow. A good study for Empire players would be the Pike & Shotte tactics of the Renaissance.

Chaos.

Ah! Chaos. At once the most varied of armies by it's very definition and yet also the force that has so many alluring stereotypes to unthinkingly fall in with. I'm assembling a Chaos force at the moment. I've decided to chuck out the concept of magic numbers for unit size for a start, what a restrictive chore. I'm using Humans as impossible-to-find Thugs, after all, is that not just what they are? Humans barely on the path to damnation? Once I started to think about it, I fell in love with the idea of a more 'human' Chaos army. If I stop to think about how people adapt quickly to new situations, it doesn't seem weird to me that men could accept fighting alongside Beastmen and monsters fairly quickly without having to grow tentacles themselves first. Yes part of the joy of collecting Chaos is the opportunity to go wild with the conversions but while there will be room for that I want a human aspect to the army as a contrast. I also want their motives to be on the human end of the spectrum too. Their fighting and warring won't be simply about appeasing the Gods all the time, which is a bit of a cop-out if you ask me (Why? Because my God wills it... *yawn*). I want to indulge myself in the 'Economy of Chaos' a little.

If we look at Cicatrice, Johannes and Vukotich's enemy in 'the Laughter of Dark Gods', yes he is off to a big testing ground in the wastes for a big gladiatorial fun-party but he takes decades to get there. He raids, pillages and recruits his way around the known world on his journey. Who makes the banners? That's an interesting question I've seen asked elsewhere. What happens when Ciciatrice's minions run out of needles and twine? Clothes and boots fall apart really quickly when you travel long distances on foot. When Cicatrice leads an attack on a Human settlement, he's not just after gold, beer and women. His band will need servants, artisans, wool, cloth, leather, horses, wagons, food, weapons, armour, dye and other sundries for repairs. You don't have to follow a similar approach of course, what I'm doing is exploring the mundane aspect of Chaos, the banality. My point is, you can benefit from stopping and thinking about how your Chaos army interacts with the world you game in. Do they accept limitless casualties simply to win a river crossing when their journey has many more years to go anyway? Are they likely to fight with insanity and mindless ferocity even if some of them only turned recently? Is giving them a uniform character not defeating the point anyway? I divided up an army of Undead and Chaos allies in a game recently and gave them all competing and exclusive objectives, in essence, it was only possible for a portion of my army to win, not all of it. This could be a useful mechanic to alter the feel of a RoC army, give it a try some time.

Dwarves.

Dwarves are one of the worst stereotyped races in fantasy, one can only sympathise with any Dwarf who is not born with an innate understanding of geology and an affinity for engineering because that Dwarf is doomed to a miserable existence. There are occasions in fantasy when Dwarf character is taken from the old Scandinavian Dvergr who are a mistrustful, devious bunch, but the predominant way of seeing Dwarves is very much set in stone, so to speak. The view of Dwarfishness in 3rd is better than some, it allows for a susceptibility to Chaos and gives us Imperial Dwarves (the concept of exiled Dwarves blending into the societies of others borrowed from the Hobbit perhaps, it certainly crops up in FF) and the occasional outrageously flamboyant Dwarf such as Entienne Edouard Villechaize le Comte De La Rougierre from 'Beasts in Velvet'.

In game, there are plenty of opportunities to exploit the clannish, grudge-bearing habits of Dwarvish society to create an almost 'Orcish animosity' atmosphere to proceedings. There are other ways, they can surely be almost as varied as Humans after all, but the temptation is to play them as rather dour, unimaginative men. I see Dwarves as better adventurers than armies personally. They could certainly benefit from being made part of an intemingled force where they can compliment the overall aesthetic. Maybe the answer is to sit down and write an elaborate clan history for your Dwarves, with it's own book of grudges and it's own history of exile and loss. You could certainly just reinvent them from scratch to suit you, but don't be surprised if your Jamaican, steel-drum loving Dwarves draw more than few wary comments.

It might be a fun challenge to try and replicate some of the tactics of Hannibal, Scipio or Alexander (all of whom relied on blocks of stoic infantry to some degree) with the Dwarves. Picture Alexander's stunning victory at Gaugamela. Can you think of a way to deliberately open up a gap in the centre of your opponents line with your numerically inferior force instead of attacking the flanks? It could work if you deploy small units of Dwarves (with a SCR of only one or two) in key locations, knowing they will be pushed back steadily. If you have a reserve force, it should be possible to smash into the exposed flanks of the supposedly 'winning' enemy regiments as they push through your deliberately weakened line, causing the enemy centre to collapse. More interesting than just sitting on a hill with your cannon!

Elves.

Elves hold a fascination for many and yet get a bad press from their enemies, more so than other races I find. I personally think they are an excellent ingredient in the fantasy mix, they are better at us in some areas and weaker in others, just the right situation to foster a difficult, fraught, allied relationship. Warhammer Elves take the work of Moorcock as their starting point of course and if you are a fan of his you won't need any urging from me to add character to your Elven armies. For me, Elves seem to work best if I take British colonial attitudes as my starting point. For every Gordon there could be a Livingstone, for every Kitchener a Chard. And what about James Brooke the Rajah of Sarawak? Cardigan, even? Or what about  Flashman!? Far better to indulge the Imperial glory of Elves in all their arrogance than to get restricted to playing them as prancing, restoration-era fops with a taste for robes and delicate wines (something of a modern view held by young gamers). By the way, do you see how familiarity has bred contempt into so many corners of the fantasy genre?

I haven't forgotten the Dark Elves or Wood Elves. If High and Sea Elves are Imperial adventurers to my mind then to my way of thinking the Dark Elves are their worst fears made real; the Draculas, the Edward Hydes and the Frankensteins of the fantasy landscape. No harm in throwing a bit of Nemo in there too (not the fish, young 'un), I like my Dark Elves to be a bit on the misunderstood side! I like blurring the boundaries between the Elven castes. For instance, I entered a campaign once as 'True Elves', Dark Elves that were outwardly indistinguishable from their 'rebel' kin. This is supposedly how Warhammer's 'War of the Beard' got started (warning: retcon alert), because of rival Elven factions, that were identical to outsiders, fermenting mistrust with their erstwhile allies. The Wood Elves are, of course, those poor souls that have spent too long with the indigenous and 'gone native'. Enough to make a grown Elf shudder at the thought!

It could be interesting to have a go at borrowing some tales of British, derring-do to inspire you to role-play your Elves, whatever the breed. High Elves? The Sudan campaign, against a fantasy Mahdi. Sea Elves? Island hopping and gunboat diplomacy in the South China Sea. Dark Elves? Turn to the many Victorian pulp stories and their colourful villains for inspiration. Wood Elves? Not for me the soft-focus hipsters of the LotR movies, mine are a cross between the East India Company and the lost boys of Lord of the Flies!

Fimir.

Fimir. They're a bit rapey aren't they? I've heard recent complaints about their background and the relationship between the Warhammer World and well-meaning mums and dads has often been uneasy since the 70's and probably beyond. I think that while historical wargames don't work very well as a medium for exploring morality, fantasy and science fiction (particularly if it has a British influence) almost has a responsibility to explore morality to some degree. If you don't know why, I'll never be able to convince you, suffice to say it's what I think. Fimir are an important part of 3rd and as such deserve some thought. They need to emerge from their boggy havens not to expand their borders but instead to replenish their breeding stock. This doesn't mean they are raveningly horny every time they appear on the tabletop though! I see them as having a highly ritualised matriarchal society which is tightly controlled, especially where procreation is concerned.

They look good when used as an experienced guerrilla force, they have been carrying out these raids for centuries after all so they probably have a formula by now. While the bulk of the army distracts and engages the enemy, an infiltration unit sweeps through the foe's rear looking for prospective breeders. They come not to kill or conquer, they want to leave a successful enemy behind so that they can return next time and benefit their own population with a sick, parasitic relationship forming.

Playing the Fimir as guerrillas give you the option of playing them as terrorists or adding a twist and portraying them more like indigenous freedom fighters. A study of the many, dirty little actions of the Peninsular War, the Boer Wars, Abyssinia and Latin South America may lack the precise context but all offer perfect opportunities to borrow tactics and scenario ideas, as well as illuminating the way different cultures view the actions of the other when they come into contact.

Hobgoblins/Half-Orcs.

Why have I lumped these two together? Not because I think they're the same, but rather because I think they suffer from 'Justorcsitis'. They suffer from the popularity of Orcs and because of their similarity to them. I often find some of the races in D&D are just there to be 'not-Orcs', this is the other side to the equation of course; races have to be interesting enough to deserve a separate identity. Half-Orcs are interesting because they were victims first, born of an unthinkable liason which is either a crime or an abomination. They can never fit it, despite the possibility that they may inherit the best of both races as well as the worst, and they are the archetypal outcast villain we can sympathise with and maybe even feel guilty about killing. Perhaps they can be played as treacherous spies (a la Orc's Drift) but perhaps they can be even better when they're torn between two instincts, using their mental stats to produce different motivations from game to game or even turn to turn.

The tabletop battlefields of the world aren't exactly overflowing with Hobgoblins, where they do appear they are usually tacked onto other army lists as auxiliaries. What motivations and characteristics do Hobgoblins have that Orcs don't? We all love a Goblin thanks to their patheticness which endears them to us no end but what of the Hobgoblin? They apparently have the largest empire of the Warhammer world, did you know that? The 'Mourngul' are obvious analogues for Mongols of course, and there is scope to look at running them as a mounted horde supported by infantry rather than vice versa which is the norm. The problem is, the 'Oriental' races in Warhammer always struck me as a bit rushed, a bit too obvious. The Holy Roman Empire works precisely because it's not as famous or well known on these shores as, say, the Roman Empire for example. The high medieval/renaissance vibe works well as the military and social history of this period are possibly less well known (for many) than a localised curriculum taught at schools, this makes them appear 'fresh'. The problem with Cathay, Hobgoblins and the Nipponese is that they just seem a bit chucked together by comparison. Cathay artillery? The love fireworks don't they, the Chinese, give 'em rockets. Hobgoblins? They all charge about on the steppe and stuff, probably have bandy legs and sleep in the saddle. There is certainly a lot of research to be done if you want a characterful Hobgoblin force, frankly the establishment has a bit of catching up to do here as well because we don't seem to have a well rounded view of the Mongols thanks to us taking all the Romans had to say as our starting point in all things ancient. The Hobgoblins are a force that probably work best as an addition to a force rather than the parent race, though it might be fun to see a Mourngul horde appear one day if someone has had more inspiration than I have in that direction.

Skaven.

Skaven are fairly simple to understand, they are rat men and they scurry about just like rats. We don't need to worry about the complexities of rat society because they are based on the stereotyped view of rats, simple! So what are rat tactics? GW have had a lot of fun with the Skaven background over the years, lots of fun. They never disappoint when they feature, they connive, scheme, spray the musk of fear and deploy wonder-weapons from afar. They undermine, they burrow, they assassinate, they manipulate; all to the detriment of mankind and his allies. Surely, therefore, no self respecting Skaven general should come home with more than half his troops? He has to kill at least half his force in order to purge his political opponents and be safe from their manoeuvres at home or else lose the game no matter the outcome! Why not write down which units contain enemies and which are loyal (or dice for it in secret) and reveal the results at the end to your opponent. They may be dismayed to discover they have done your dirty work and handed you some bonus objectives or they may find to their delight they have killed your loyalists and left you alone at the mercy of your rivals!

Tactics-wise you can view the Skaven as a Persian army, it is huge in size and has many resources but is very unreliable and lacks for quality. You get to play the bad guys at a fantasy Thermopylae, change things for the better at mock-Granicus, burn the faux-Greek fleets in the harbour this time and enjoy the sacking of an ersatz Athens, the birthplace of democracy! Look up these high tide moments (and ignominious defeats) and try incorporating some ideas into your games. Perhaps you can escape a double envelopment (Marathon) or maybe even have to capture an enemy character so you can 'turn' them and use them as a pro-Skaven voice in the opposition's government?

Slann.

Surely the pinnacle of retro-gaming? But what are they like? The whole meso-american thing works as a starting point, they would primarily fight to capture rather than kill and use tactics to avoid defeat rather than to overwhelm the enemy. The Slann are isolated and used to having things their own way, they dominate the weaker races in Lustria and have subjugated them or at least reached an accord with them, rather unlike the constant state of war that exists elsewhere. They should be out of their comfort zone if teleported across the planet to reclaim some lost relic and thoroughly discombobulated by a 'conquistador' style foe that insists on killing excessively, not caring about capturing enemy soldiers. Perhaps over time (a few games) your Slann become more cynical though, as the Aztecs were by the fall of Tenochtitlan.

The Slann are one of the most alien (literally and figuratively) peoples of the Warhammer world, why not have a go at playing them this way. The ancient Incas used to bathe in the rays of the sun, indeed they had a whole branch of medicine based around it, knowing that it felt good and filled the body with a sense of well-being. Those Europeans who observed this assumed they were simply worshiping the sun as a God, a mistake we still make to this day as a result. Why not incorporate something quirky and indefinable into your tactical thinking as a personal objective, something that will leave your opponent scratching their head? Being an Inca is not something that is awarded at birth, rather it is like the titles of 'man/woman', 'citizen' and 'graduate' all rolled into one. Perhaps you could make the title Slann similar and give your warriors bizarre tasks they need to accomplish in order to prove themselves. We could stray north for inspiration and borrow the North American warrior tradition of trying to touch one's opponents without being touched in return and seeing this as the height of martial prowess. Try waiving the right to throw for wounds one combat round and whooping like a demented barbary ape if your opponent fails to hit your troops that struck accurately. Keep a meticulous record of which models succeeded and joyously remove them, announcing that they have 'ascended to Slannhood'. Your opponent may not quite understand, but he will see that you sure are having a whale of a time and you can tell him all about it over a pint afterwards.

Undead.

Another race that sell themselves to players, but do the dead need motivation? Character? Any form of role-playing at all? I run my Undead as an extension of my Liche general. He is the only personality in the army, a conflicted genius that has gone mad from manifesting his consciousness as an army rather than as an individual for far too long. This is something of a personal fantasy of mine, ever since I saw that Harryhausen film (you know the one), but it does create problems with long term replayability options. I tend to only bring the Undead out on special occasions. You don't need to fall into the same trap. Vampires, mummies, Liches, Necromancers; they can all have personalities. Though it's not for me, you can always run the skeletons as deadite style characters rather than bony automatons.

Tactics-wise, the Undead are not so easy to categorise. Nobody in history has ever had troops that are immune to psychology, despite being appalling fighters! Here we must turn to literature and the movies for guidance, history doesn't provide us with enough answers. Whether you see them as the Egyptian style Khemrians, Stoker-inspired Sylvanians or the Necromantic puppets of a depraved human, the Undead rely on synergy with other units more than almost any other army in 3rd. They can be either invincible or hopelessly inept, depending on the situation, and it really does pay to think through your tactics with them but at the same time stop short of optimising them too much. I have convinced myself the Undead need a post of their own! Perhaps, as it is likely to be relevant, I will look at magic more closely too, along with the Undead in Tactica III.

As always, throw your tuppence worth in the comments and also requests for any tactical topics you would like to see explored.

Thanks for stopping by!

Warhammer 3rd Edition Tactica I. Being a treatise on army selection, unit purpose and hand to hand combat.

Tactics have something of a bad reputation, it's been said, where Warhammer is concerned at least. I think the modern view of wargaming tactics involves making optimum selection choices pre-game and optimum decisions in the heat of battle based purely on math and logic. This is possibly where retro-gamers/fluff-fans get their distrust of tactics from because it breaks immersion and dilutes or even removes the wondrous variety the hobby has to offer.

There are other aspects to the concept of tactics though, even in simple wargaming terms. From a role-play persective, are we not bound to accept our little fellows might have learnt a thing or two about warfare and that they know the basics? In an environment which sees the hobby compete with family time, work and all those responsibilities that creep up on you over the years, a game can be a somewhat rare occasion. We are beholden to our opponents therefore to give them a challenge and tell the story of the game in a quasi-realistic way. If a game falls flat, who knows how long it could take to put right next time? Despite being a good set of rules for a GM to work with, 3rd or for that matter any edition of Warhammer can be lost in the deployment phase if care isn't taken. That gives a less than satisfactory outcome for both players I suspect. The problem is exacerbated further by the infrequency of play, because we won't build up a body of fresh experience from which to learn and improve ourselves.

The answer may be to talk about tactics, lifting the taboo on the dirty subject we deride so easily!

I has tactics.

Army Selection.

Warhammer has some of it's roots in historical wargaming, believe it or not. No specific periods (beyond 'medievalish') stand out as dominant so we have to draw up our schemes in a world which has weapons from Ancients/Chariot Wars, Early, Mid and High Medieval, Rennaissance, Jacobite, Dark Ages etc. etc. Thankfully, this needn't be as hard as it may sound!

One of the most satisfying ways of selecting an army involves, happily, just getting everything you have ready onto the tabletop. It would be up to a GM to seek a kind of balance in the objectives where none exists in the armies. On the subject of the GM, another, underused, method is to allow yours to choose both army lists in the style of a scenario pack.

Let us suppose though that we are going to make certain choices for ourselves and choose an army that we really want to play with.

I have found my favourite unit, and everything counts in large amounts! Right?

While it may seem as though Warhammer has an enormous amount of varied and chaotic nuances the truth is, if your army is not balanced it will get shredded more often than not. You will find that the most effective unit is four wide and five deep with full command and the most obvious tactic is to run several in a 'line'. To borrow a term from our contemporary comrades, this type of unit has 'Static Combat Resolution', which means it has already scored four before the dice are rolled. Killing four of the enemy (or at least, causing four wounds) is usually very tough indeed. If your unit's SCR is low or nil, you are not going to win this fight very often.

From this we can see the best value combat winner is the humble line regiment, four wide and five deep. Why five deep? Infantry are usually cheap so why not have a spare rank to absorb casualties? Archer units often struggle to kill large amounts of the enemy, their strength lies in chipping off one or two models and removing a pip of SCR. By adding in some insurance you negate your opponents missile fire very cheaply and effectively. Set up in a line with some mobile 'Re-directors' (units that position to spoil the enemies attempts to outflank your line, usually light cavalry or a similar cheap, mobile unit) on the flanks and you have the makings of either a strong defence or attack, depending on the terrain and objectives.

Hand to Hand Combat.

There are two strange discrepancies in 3rd that become relevant now, a unit that would otherwise have ranks will lose them if charged in the flank, unless four of it's models are fighting to the front also. Being engaged on two sides at once actually becomes an advantage. The other thing is that the wording around how to count your standard's bonus is sufficiently woolly that one might argue to claim it even if flank charged, which is not the case in later editions. A lot will depend on how you or your GM adjudicates these matters but it should be noted, SCR is very powerful indeed.

Some units and monsters (Zombie Dragon, I'm looking at you) are so powerful on their own that they can potentially overcome a SCR of four. Again, a ruling will be necessary from your humble GM here, it is usually interpreted that a monster cannot kill more enemy than it is in frontal base to base contact with. This makes it impossible for the monster to overwhelm single wound creatures in a big unit but possible to beat a regiment of creatures with multiple wounds like Beastmen, Chaos Warriors or Fimir. As monster base sizes can be a bit woolly it is doubly important to clarify this point early on! Either way, the high points cost of a monster gifts the title of 'King of the tabletop' to the line regiment, for pure value alone.

Unit Purpose.

So, what happens when you got your line and he got his line and they smack into each other?

Well, a terrible game actually, but there is hope!

Do weaker units have any purpose?

This is where balance comes in. Getting that flank charge is all important, so how do we go about it? The weakest point of the line is either the flank protection units (those re-directors) or the big hole you just blew with your magic phase.

I win, because magic.

Artillery can perform a similar role if you sink enough points into it, but assuming you don't catapult or Vorpal Death-Storm your way to victory, you will want to sweep aside the units protecting your enemies flank and turn to face his now vulnerable line side on. Chariots are excellent for this, as are heavy cavalry units and monsters. Note, read through the rules on pursuing thoroughly, they are complex at first glance but you don't have to follow the beaten flank units off the table if you want to turn your attentions elsewhere. Also, remember that powerful hosts of monsters or ethereals disappear after their first engagement on a 50/50 roll and each subsequent engagement according to the main rules which makes them poor value but the Slaves to Darkness book gets rid of this burden. Allow your GM to make a judgement call if you want to rely on your big guns from time to time!

StD supecedes the orange book, right? ;)

Once the enemy line is compromised, the path is clear to victory. You can eat up their line from either side and if they turn to face this threat you have your own line to bring into play, there will always be an exposed flank somewhere. The important thing to focus on is your unit's purpose. It can do what it's designed to do well, but a flank crusher won't overcome a line regiment by charging it in the front any more than a re-director can make an effective flank crusher. Know what your units are for and play to that purpose.

From here, instead of getting stuck in a cycle of ever more powerful spells and special characters your arms race with your favourite opponent becomes more about tactics. How to effectively run a reserve force? Do I run a line, a wedge of regiments or an inverse V formation? How does the oblique line/refused flank tactic fit in?

In conclusion then...

If you take nothing else away from reading this, remember that SCR rules the battlefield, all units have a purpose (almost to the extent of 'rock, paper, scissors'), selecting your army doesn't mean winning in the shop thanks to a netlist but is important nevertheless and finally the rules are like Swiss cheese, beautiful as they are, they need careful interpreting!

Warhammer 3rd edition became obsolete once, partly because 4th came out in a nice box and all that but partly because a lot of gamers were sick with what it had become. It is important to give your opponent a good time as much as a good thrashing, because you need them!

It's impossible to be exhaustive here, I will throw more Tactica articles out ( Tactica II is up already ) but I hope to start off some conversation that will do more good than I can on my own. So please comment! Captcha is off!

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Mum-Ho-Thep's Revenge: AKA The Wrath of Khorne. Part Two.

Missed Part One?

As we left the action, Mum-Ho-Thep's innumerable horde was grinding down the Chaos invaders and depriving them of momentum. Ulther Deathfist has concentrated his best troops on the right however and if he can smash through the Lichemaster's force and achieve his secret mission to retrieve the 'Hatemaker', his victory will be assured.

Read on...

The Chaos chariot destroys it's Undead counterpart but is left badly damaged as a result. The Deathfist's tactic of meeting fire with fire and going like for like may work against mere mortals but it could prove his undoing here, against the forces of Undeath.

The second regiment of Dark Elf crossbows is overwhelmed by Kraust's Death Riders. Though they have caused extensive casualties to the Undead the Elven defence on the river bank is shattered and the position becomes untenable. The heavy cavalry has no choice but to ride out and meet it's fate. It does so magnificently and without hesitation!

The Chaos Warriors under Norse stand, fight and die without complaint. They are holding the line with a legendary display of warrior prowess, but their flank is weak due to the undisciplined Thugs struggling to form up effectively in the dense underbrush.

The Deathfist sends in his Undead auxiliaries to weaken the enemy, out of contempt he declines the chance to outflank his foe preferring instead to meet them head on. The Chaos Warlord roars his hatred at the Lichemaster's army from the crest of the hill but they care not.

As the Dark Elf position collapses, the heavy cavalry ride out over a carpet of scorpions while the mages try to desperately turn back the tide of Undead with their spells. One raises a zone of life which is particularly effective, sundering Kraust's second wave, can the Slaaneshites snatch victory from the very jaws of defeat?

Mum-Ho-Thep surveys the battlefield and is pleased though he is unaware of how close the forces of Chaos are to their objective, the Hatemaker weapon. His catapults and archers rain death on the foe though some skeletons crumble as the Ziggurat edges into the zone of life spell maintained by the Elven mage.

Just as hope flares in the breasts of the Chaos troops due to the efforts of the Dark Elves, the Chaos Warriors under Norse begin to crumble as their limits are reached. The terrible sight of what faces them is simply too much for men born of women to bear.

The army of Mum-Ho-Thep's confidence is at a peak, but all the while a small unit of Ulther Deathfist's Chaos Warriors has been stealthily creeping towards the storehouses of Locusti. Having captured an Alderman of the town council and interrogated him, Ulther now knows the exact location of the Hatemaker. If his men can just overcome the skeleton archers and the Monks victory will go to Chaos!

Girding their loins, the Chaos Warriors charge in knowing that victory or defeat hangs in the balance.

The Deathfist loses himself in the glory of slaughter, heedless of his numberless foes he is at the forefront of battle and laughs with joy.

Though they sell their lives dearly, the army of Ulther gradually shrinks into an ever smaller line and a dangerous gap begins to open up.

The Chaos infiltration unit easily slaughter the skeleton archers, though their foe simply will not break. Instability begins to overwhelm the Undead however as the magic knitting them together starts to unravel.

The fanatical guards are still defending the War Altar successfully but are dying one by one, the magic binding the Carrion remains strong. 

The Zombie Dragon and the living monsters pursue the routing Chaos Warriors, a great gap has opened up in the Chaos line but the Fimir are guarding against a Dark Elf victory over the scorpion swarm and are thus preventing Mum-Ho-Thep's centre from exploiting the weakness.

Kraust's Ethereals and Death Riders are defiantly trying to kill one Dark Elf mage while avoiding the life-zone spell of the other but the magic keeping them bound to this plane is weakening fast.

Spared the attentions of the Undead by the magical sanctuary the Dark Elf heavy cavalry are systematically destroying the carpet of scorpions and start looking to the next fight against the Fimir's worm-things already.

The arrogance of the Dark Elves is to prove their undoing however! They are identified as a serious threat and subjected to a barrage of missiles, magic and assaults. They are crushed under the attentions of all the Undead horde can throw at them, a handful of exhausted scorpions remain but decide to burrow under the ground rather than fight on.

The Fimir have worked themselves up into a frenzy but now there is virtually no enemy left for them to face! Still, their loyalty will be richly rewarded.

The river bank, clear of Elves at last. As the last falls he utters a sigh of bittersweet regret.

In the centre, the collapse of Norse's position seems inevitable. A strange lethargy overtakes the Zombie Dragon and the pursuit falters, perhaps because Mum-Ho-Thep wishes to recruit some of his former enemies as subjects?

Finally, the skeleton archers are destroyed, the Chaos infiltrators can move on the the storeroom defended by the Monks of Maisontaal. The defenders remain unaware of the importance of the coming struggle! Please note the position of the Undead Giant Cyclops approaching the town's storeroom walls....

Ulther's men have been streaming away from battle in one's and two's as their units are defeated by the fearsome Undead. Even the Deathfist himself gets swept up in the panic at one stage, a black day indeed. They rally though, for one last stand on the hill. Can they buy enough time to allow the infiltrators to be successful?

The Cyclops elects to clamber up the storeroom walls and assault the Chaos infiltration team, this could spell disaster for the Deathfist. The worthy and honourable GM declares that the Giant has retained a racial memory of falling over and must roll a 2+ to safely reach his target. Almost inevitably, a 1 appears on the dice and the giant tumbles back from the climb to be destroyed on the ground below. The above picture has been dramatised for effect.

The infiltrators smash into the Monks but cannot oust them from their defended position and are hurled back, they must try again.

Turning aside from it's fruitless job of smashing the Lichemaster's army, Ulther's Chaos Dwarf mortar hammers the War-Tortoise and kills most of it's Goblin crew. The beast runs amok and attacks it's own Marsh Goblin allies in the flank!

Once more into the breach, this time many Monks are slain for the loss of only one Warrior and the result is a draw. So close now! The Chaos troops can feel the swelling anger of the Hatemaker as it's awareness expands due to it's seemingly imminent retrieval.

The surviving troops under Norse are surrounded and cut off, whatever the outcome this day they have fought their last battle for Khorne.

It is as if Khorne withdraws his support for his failing troops, the last of the cultists fall and the Carrion take a giant poo in the blood cauldron of the War Altar. A moan of despair runs through the Khornate ranks and some turn their backs to the enemy as they flee.

The tragedy unfolds further as the Lichemaster and his servants run down the Deathfist himself, he is ignominiously trampled beneath the feet of the Undead infantry as they march on.

After a last, desperate attempt to overcome the Monks, the exhausted infiltrators are themselves beaten and die to a man in the service of their Lord. It is almost as if Khorne's own dejected hand descends from above and sweeps them from the field of battle in disgust.

Mum-Ho-Thep is well pleased with his loyal servants and lets out a victorious roar that echoes in the Realm of Chaos itself!

And lo! The invaders are hurled back from whence they came. The Empire of Mum-Ho-Thep remains strong and ready to meet any challenger...

In truth, a military victory was never really on the cards for Chaos, though they fought tenaciously and bravely. Their mission was their best hope but they did not find out the location of the Hatemaker until turn two was almost done and found it hard to redeploy. I was trying for a fine balance but ultimately the story that unfolded became a crushing defeat for Khorne, although everyone had lot's of fun I will definitely put some lessons to good use next time I run a big game. I have to remember that after 20 years there are few people who can crunch numbers, weigh up opponents and execute sound tactical manouevres in third edition. This led to one or two blunders on both sides that cost the numerically superior Undead nothing and the smaller, elite Chaos army everything. I think I will write a few 'Tactica' style posts soon to encourage discussion of (previously held in contempt) tactics that can help others (and myself) with running larger games of unequal points.

Mum-Ho-Thep had returned to his sarcophagus and left the rewarding of his loyal subjects to his Grand Vizier. The Fimir were gifted scrolls of Daemon-summoning spells and some knowledge from the future about a bridge being built on their ancestral lands leading to hardship for the tribe. Baron Kraust had his expulsion from the Cabal of Necromancers rescinded and his acolytes were given books of deathly lore. The Lichemaster was rewarded with slaves to drain, in order to satiate his thirst for ever-lasting life. The other Necromancers were allowed to drink of Mum-Ho-Thep's scrying pool and receive visions of their destiny. The little town of Locusti was made exempt from this cycle's tithe which was the cause of much celebration amongst the inhabitants.

In all the chaos, nobody noticed the twisted form detach from the shadows and enter the ruined storeroom.

The cloaked figure was a recluse, an exile. Banished from Locusti because of the gifts of the Gods he was forced to live apart in a cave on the promontory. Unnoticed, he slipped into the town and stole thorugh to the resting place of the weapon, Hatemaker! He could feel the presence in his mind as he drew close, when he reached out a malformed hand to take the wrapped package an agony exploded in his brain. It pushed him into a corner of his own head and ordered him to be still. The twisted shadow loped off through the night. First Khorne would punish his servant, Ulther, for failing him, then the Hatemaker would be presented to him as Khorne had always intended so that the Deathfist might fulfil his destiny at last!

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Mum-Ho-Thep's Revenge: AKA The Wrath of Khorne. Part One.

Blog-Con 2013 was a huge success! It was great to take in the sights and meet some fellow bloggers for the first time, though to be honest most of my time was taken up running my big game! It may go a little against the pathetic aesthetic that I am so fond of but every now and then, it really is good to see a big old table heaving under the burden of regiment after regiment of classic lead. Many thanks go to Orlygg, Thantsants, Harry Norse, Lenihan/Robotforaday Golgfag and Nik, who brought their lovely painted miniatures collections along on the day.

Here then, is the tale of the battle that unfolded...

Read the introductory narratives here, here and here.

The simple town of Locusti, somewhere on the fringes of old Nehekara. The mighty alliance gathered by the Deathfist approaches just as the Floating Ziggurat of Mum-Ho-Thep glides into view with his army strung out on either side. The scene is set for an epic struggle.

Locusti is a hive of panicked activity as the Khorne army arrives, a small group of fanatical cultists pushes their War Altar up to the promontory so that all the enemy may gaze upon it and despair. Such is the potency of this symbol of Chaos, it bestows greatly enhanced courage on all Khorne worshipers that can see it.

The Floating Ziggurat of Doom, the source of Mum-Ho-Thep's power and the repository for many dangerous and arcane artifacts accumulated as tribute over the centuries.

Mum-Ho-Thep deploys his right flank, the legion of Baron Kraust (he has a new Phylactery of the Trick Back thankfully). A flock of carrion flow from a cavern in the side of the Ziggurat while Kraust's cavalry canter forward to engage Deathfist's Dark Elf allies.

Mum-Ho-Thep gave his left flank to the Lichemaster, who brought with him a truly terrifying horde of the Undead.

Mum-Ho-Thep's centre. Here he deployed his most faithful living subjects, the Fimir, the Marsh Goblins and their War-Tortoise and the host of Giant Snakes and Scorpions, as well as the awesome power of the Mummy regiment and the Zombie Dragon! Some skeleton infantry support these elite units.

From this angle of the centre you can see the Undead Dinosaurs, the Scorpion swarms, more Death Rider cavalry and more carrion. There are catapults and skeleton archers deployed on both the town walls and the Ziggurat.

Bizarrely, Slaanesh chose to send troops to support the Khornate Ulther Deathfist, probably just to annoy him. The horde of Dark Elves took the Chaos left flank and were later joined by a Giant.

Deathfist ordered a lieutenant to hold the centre and guard the War Altar. Will this huge formation of Chaos Warriors with all their raw combat power be a match for the horde of monstrosities that face them?

The War Altar, dedicated to Khorne with the blood of a thousand warriors. The Promontory overlooks the central pyramid of Locusti.

The host of Ulther Deathfist himself, he has saved the position of honour on the right for his own. He desires a mighty artifact that lies within Locusti's walls, a Daemon Weapon of fabled power. It is said that whomsoever bears the blade is the equal of twenty Chaos Warriors. The weapon, Hatemaker, has been gathered into a store room in Locusti as a future tribute to Mum-Ho-Thep. Neither side know the weapon's location, in fact Mum-Ho-Thep's army doesn't even know of it's existence or it's importance!

Ever one to fight fire with fire, the Deathfist has brought along some Undead auxiliaries of his own.

Battle is joined! Mum-Ho-Thep and his Grand Vizier concern themselves only with strategy, they place tactical command of the battle in the hands of the Baron Kraust. He pauses to consider his orders, sensing his troops overall superiority in weight of numbers he simply cries; "Advance!"

The Slaaneshi Elves take a perverse delight in supporting the Khorne faction, the pain it causes them is a form of pleasure to these degenerate hedonists. In the distance, the Ziggurat is an imposing sight.

The Lichemaster advances towards the town but the Deathfist moves to outflank him and forces him to rethink.

The Giant, Mick, is barely back (from taking a pee while the earlier scrying of the Dark Elves took place) when he has to face the devastating charge of a large company of Death Riders. He has heard the tales of his cousin's demise on the Isle of Albion at the hands of the Undead and has had a fear of tiny skeletons ever since. He turns tail and runs in a most ignominious fashion.

The first wave of Undead batter the defenses of the Dark Elves who find themselves facing the swiftest of the enemy units.

Out on Mum-Ho-Thep's left, the Lichemaster begins to realise the blunder he has made and the threat the Deathfist poses to his force. He redeploys in good time to confront the Khorne Champion.

The Deathfist's lieutenant, known simply as 'Norse', gets his elite troops across the river in good order. they will now form a thin, red line against the storm of monsters and magic that is heading that way.

Mick flees from the field of battle, shrieking like an Elf-maid on her Hen Night. Despite heavy casualties, Mum-Ho-Thep's chariots are able to penetrate the Dark Elf line and rout a unit of crossbows. When the Mummy leading this attack had his chariot destroyed the ancient used the cunning wisdom of his advanced years and occupied a chariot that had lost it's crew to Elven blades. The sight of this dismayed the Slaaneshi commander who had never before seen the like!

Summoned from the mountains, a ravening Manticore drops from the clouds onto the Dark Elven heavy cavalry. Raising a mighty paw the beast swats three of the Cold One riders, almost from the saddle. Lo! The mindless creature had not unsheathed it's claws and was only playing it seems! (Note; triple ones on the to wound rolls captured in shot for posterity.) The favour is not reciprocated and the winged horror suffers a wound in return, shocked and hurt the monster flees.

All the while, the Baron's second wave of ethereals and Death Riders is positioning to overwhelm the beleaguered Dark Elves.

So powerful and numerous is Mum-Ho-Thep's ponderous centre, it's main problem is manouevring into position to do harm.

The Dark Elves have held the river bank for the time being and the Manticore takes flight, leaving the battlefield far behind.

In a bold move, a flock of Carrion swoops down upon the War Altar. They desperately try to desecrate the Khorne icon (presumably by pooping in the bowl of blood) to sow dismay in the mortal ranks but the unholy shrine is defended by fanatical cultists who will defend their Master's war engine to the death.

The Lichemaster has fully redeployed to face the Deathfist, this titanic struggle will surely be the key to victory for the Chaos Lord.

On a whim, the Lichemaster sends a unit of raving mad monks into the town...

Mum-Ho-Thep awakens! He rejoices to see his army pushing forward on all fronts, the Baron Kraust must be rewarded if he succeeds, as surely he must.

The Ziggurat hovers inexorably on, the Temple Array can extend the control of Mum-Ho-Thep over his Undead or attack the enemy more directly.

The Dark Elves are surrounded by the second wave and face an even sterner test than before.

Norse's detachment holds steady, for now.

Creeping ever closer, the Undead horrors and the living monsters can almost feel the pulsing heartbeats of their enemy now. The loyal Fimir secure the flank of this host.

As Ulther Deathfist seizes the high ground the Lichemaster launches an assault against his position. The banner of the Deathfist flies high in the still, Nehekaran air.

Chariots clash in an almost ritual dance as battle is joined on the far side of the town.

The catapults finally have a target as the enemy lies just within range at last, a lone Necromancer weaves his spells of control over Mum-Ho-Thep's troops from the walls of Locusti.

Will the outnumbered Khorne army be able to defeat enough of the enemy to seal a victory? Will Ulther's secret mission bring about success? Can the Carrion overwhelm the Altar guard and desecrate Khorne's engine? Find out in Part Two of Mum-Ho-Thep's Revenge: AKA The Wrath of Khorne!

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