O&G VS High Elves 2000 points and some more army building thoughts

I was supposed to play against my mate Spiros and his Dwarfs yesterday. Unfortunately, he had to cancel and I was really disappointed since I was very pumped to play my first game using the new O&G army book. However, Kostas was in town (taking a little leave from his military service) and he was willing to take me on with his High Elves but he didn't have too much time ahead. I packed my staff very quickly (I only move fast when there is food or warhammer involved) and run to my FLGS. Bear in mind that I am still in the process of learning the 8th edition rules (and obviously the new O&G since I got the new book like 5 days ago) and all this is reflected in my course of action.

I decided to use the following list:


Lords

Savage Orc Warboss, Fencer's Blades, Glittering Scales.....210 points

Night Goblin Great Shaman, Dispel Scroll...200 points


Heroes

Savage Orc Big Boss, Banner of the Eternal Flame, Additional Hand Weapon...112 points

Lv 2 Night Goblin Shaman, Power Scroll...120 points

Core

28 Savage Orcs Big 'Uns, Additional Hand Weapon, FC...343 points

25 Night Goblins, Spears, Shields, Musician, Standard, Fanatic...120 points

25 Night Goblins, Spears, Shields, Musician, Standard, Fanatic...120 points

Special

Orc Boar Chariot, Extra Crew...90 points

Orc Boar Chariot, Extra Crew...90 points

4 Trolls...140 points

Spear Chukka...35 points

Spear Chukka...35 points

Spear Chukka...35 points

Rare

Doom Diver...80 points

Doom Diver...80 points

Rock Lobber, Bully...95 points

Rock Lobber, Bully...95 points

Kwstas had a Lv4 Archmage with the Lore of Heavens, BSB, 52(!) Spearmen with FC, 15 Swordmasters with FC, 20 Phoenix Guard and 2 Great Eagles. I was honestly surprised he didn't use Shadow or Life. With such a chunky unit of Spearmen he could easily buff them with Flesh to Stone or Okkam's Mindrazor and create the ultimate deathstar units. It figures that he had a very different plan in mind.

There was a small forest in the center of the board, a building to the down left corner, fence on the upper left and a big hill on the upper right corner. I deployed my warmachines on the left and right flanks (so many of them!) and one on top of the building, the Savage Orcs fairly central (directly opposite from his spear men) with the Goblin units flanking them and the trolls and chariots on the left flank ready to take on the Phoenix Guard.

I was lucky enough to get the first turn. I passed all my animosity checks and marched the Night Gobbos to be as close as possible to the Elven Spearmen. The Trolls and chariots went to better positions in order to charge the Phoenix Guard on one of the following turns. The drum-rolls started to sound in my head as I was getting ready unleash my secret weapon. I rolled a mighty 8 dice from the winds of magic and then the Lv2 Night Goblin Shaman started to cast Curse of Da Bad Moon using his power scroll. It was a success with Irresistible Force and the large template flew to meet the terrified Elf-kin. Nineteen of them dropped dead instantly. I've never seen anything more devastating in Warhammer before in my life. I rolled a 7 on the miscast table so only a couple of Night Goblins died which wasn't too bad at all.

I then tried to target the Swordmasters with Itchy Nuisance but the BSB who had joined the unit had the Banner of the World Dragon (unaffected by magic) so nothing happened. I killed one of his eagles with a doom diver and killed a few of the Swordmasters with the rest of the shooting. Overall, a pretty decent first turn.

After realising how devastating my magic was going to be, Kostas moved his BSB from the Swordmasters to  the Spearmen since that Magical Vortex of doom was lurking behind them. He moved the Phoenix Guard behind the obstacle getting ready for a charge next turn. His remaining Eagle flew forward and drew out the Fanatic from the Lv2 Shaman's unit. The guy just run threw the big bird and killed it outright. I was feeling kinda guilty for using the Power Scroll on the first turn but all my inhibitions were vanished when I realised his caster had the Book of Hoeth. That's like a Power Scroll EVERY time he uses a spell. He easily casted the Comet of Casandora in the midst of my army but I could still move my units and try to avoid it.

Unfortunately the Shamans unit rolled a "1" for their animosity test followed by another "1". This made my Savage Orc unit useless as well since it was the closest one to them. My other Goblin unit also failed their animosity check but fortunately they rolled a "4" and the Phoenix Guard were close enough to try and charge even though it was obviously a failed attempt. At least I could still use the Great Shamans magic this turn. The Trolls managed to fail their stupidity test (I rolled a "12" and an "11") so they could charge the Phoenix Guard this turn. As a result I had to move my chariots backwards because they couldn't hold the charge on their own. 

The comet landed on my magic phase but Kostas rolls were abysmal and only managed to kill one Savage Orc and a measly Goblin. I was chuckling really hard by that time. My magic phase wasn't very spectacular since I didn't risk using any augment spells (no use in that or the following turn) in case the Great Shaman swallowed a poisoned mushroom or something. In the shooting phase I tried to target his BSB with my Lobbas but I failed to kill him. Still I managed to destroy some of his Spearmen and kill some Phoenix Guard with the rest of my shooting.

Kostas did a huge mistake on his turn. He tried to charge my Night Goblins. Obviously I fled and now he was well into charge range of my Savage Orcs and not in Steadfast friendly formation. He also tried to charge the chariots with his Phoenix Guard but only rolled a double "2" and failed it. He cast another Comet of Casandora, close to his Phoenix Guard, with IF again and that was the end of his turn

I didn't have any issues with Animosity this time so I charged my Savage Orcs on his Spearmen and he opted to hold. I charged the chariots and Trolls to the Phoenix Guard but he fled. That was quite risky since the charge was from quite close for the chariot's reach but he managed to roll a double "5" and get away to safety. My chariots and trolls now were ready to eat a comet in the face. It unfortunately landed again with enough force to dispatch both the chariots and two of the Trolls. Ouch! 

The Great Shaman cast Gift of the Spider God and Sneaky Stabin' on the Savage Orcs and manage to gnaw two of my opponents Dispel dice. Then I easily cast Itchy Nuisance (since he only had only 2 Dispel dice left) on the Swordmasters so they couldn't flank charge me on the following turn. The combat that ensued was brutal. He was striking first of course and with re-rolls to hit (and with a ton of attacks too!) but only managed to put a wound on my BSB and kill 3 Orcs. I got so many attacks back that I killed his caster, BSB and around 12 Spearmen. He didn't roll snake eyes so he broke and I had to pursue unfortunately (since the Savage Orcs are Frenzied) but didn't manage to catch him. That was orcy killiness at it's best. 

He didn't have much to do on his turn. He rallied the Phoenix Guard and what was left of the Spearmen and charged his remaining Swordmasters in the flank of my Savage Orcs. They were down to Initiative 1 from the Itchy Nuisance but unfortunately my pursue have brought me very close to him so they reached me. They didn't manage to do much though so they were cut down to a man. At that point we decided not to continue since there was not much point. I could have easily charged his remaining spearmen and either kill them in close combat or drive them off the board and destroy his Phoenix Guard with shooting and magic. It was almost a wipe out by turn 3.

So I guess I should be happy with the new O&G performance. The Trolls and Boar Chariots didn't do anything at all but that was down to that unfortunately Stupidity test on turn 2. If they had charged the Phoenix Guard I think they could have done enough damage. Setting off Curse of Da Bad Moon on the first turn is nothing short of amazing and can do a ton of damage. Overall I am pretty happy but I would like to do some changes.

I think 3 Wolf Chariots are better then 2 Boar Chariots. I think someone should mostly rely on their impact hits. Those extra 5 S5 attacks you would get from the Boar Chariots are nice but still they will need "4"s to hit most of the times. That extra 2 points of movement the Wolf Chariots have can make a lot of a difference and if you combine Sneaky Stabbin' and a flank attack with those guys you could do a lot of damage. 

With those extra points I can save I would like to get 5 Wolf Riders as I originally intended to. They would be awesome at redirecting, stalling and harassing enemy units and that can be invaluable for 50 measly points. So what do you guys think?