That's my beer!

Following my previous post on my lovely new Dwarf Brewery model, here are some pictures of it in action. I played a smallish, 2,000 point Warhammer game in which the Chaos Warriors of Azazel, Daemon Prince of Slaanesh, attempted to invade the Dwarf Brewery and steal all their beer. After all, who else would want to steel good Dwarf Beer but a Daemon Prince dedicated to the God of pleasure?

The Brewery building had two functioning floors and a roof. I decide the ground floor could be accessed from three side, and the second floor and roof from the side with the stairs. If the Chaos forces could drive the Dwarf defenders out or contest one of the floors, they would get a bonus 500 victory points. I set this condition quite low as the Dwarfs started out in control of the building.

The Brewery stood defiant, assisted by a cannon on the roof.

Dwarf Slayers wiped out the Forsaken in combat. At least the Forsaken got to do something this time though, instead of being wiped out by Organ Gun fire.

The Chaos Giant was shot dead by mass Dwarf crossbow and handgun fire. They were taking no chances after the last battle.

The Hammerers sold their lives dearly in defence of their beer.

Marauders assault the Longbeards on the ground floor, but were driven back. The Musician rallied the unit from his position on the bar. The Standard was too tall to fit in the ground floor and so took up position on the roof.

The Organ Gun was lethally effective, wiping out the Chaos Warriors and the fleeing Marauders.

In the end, the Dwarfs were able to hold the brewery. The Daemon Prince and Doom Knight finished off the Hammerers and the Cannon on the roof, but were too big to enter the building and too far away from the other three sides to assault the Longbeards.

A quick, messy and fun game that gave the new buildings a good workout. Having some proper dwarf scenery really added something. IT was also a good to give Azazel a workout. The model has been lying around for years since I picked him up cheap in some Games Workshop sale or other. I painted him up quickly for the game and he proved pretty deadly in combat.

That's one mini-project out of the way and so it's on to the next. More on that soon.

Drinking with Dwarfs

I did go to Salute this year, but, given my current plan to buy fewer models and concentrate on doing things with the ones I already have, I ended up taking a slightly different approach from usual.

Instead of my normal plan to buy enough models to keep busy until the next Salute, which normally left me with has left me with an every accumulating backlog, I concentrated on scenery. Specifically, scenery I didn't have to paint, just assemble and that would work with models I already had assembled and painted. More specifically, 4Grounds Dwarf Brewery.

I have been a Dwarf player for over twenty years and have dwarfs for Warhammer, Lord of the Rings, Confrontation, Kings of War and even a handful for Warmachine. Despite this, I have no Dwarf specific scenery. For a little while I had half a plan to build a Dwarf Inn/Brewery until I realised that 4Ground already made one. I already have a few of 4Ground's Japanese buildings and like their work, particularly, the fact that you don't have to paint it, just glue it together. It's the lack of painting that really makes them stand out from the other major producer of nice wooden scenery, Sarissa Precision.

So, this year, I ended up putting most of my money into a single item. Not as much as I had originally thought as 4Ground were doing some decent discounts and I bought a few other bits and bobs from them. I also got another one of their Dwarf buildings, not from them directly, but from Dark Sphere who were having a bit of a clear out and were offering 4Ground stuff at half price. My heart sank when I first saw this as I thought I might have just dramatically over payed for something, but they didn't have the brewery, but did have one smaller building. In addition, as it didn't have a price, the guy on stand just guessed at a price and then halved it, offering it to me for £15. I wavered and he immediately offered it for £12 at which point I snapped it up. I later found that 4Ground charge £36 for it, so I really got lucky.

 Smaller, L-Shaped building

In the end, I was very glad to have the smaller model as it allowed me to get in some practice assembling a dwarf building before moving on to the big one.

Even the smaller building has a detailed interior with separate rooms

Anyone who follows me on Twitter will have been able to track my progress as I put it together. There were 17 pages of instructions and the process was rather like assembling a big Lego model only with glue, so it's very difficult to correct mistakes.

 Early work in progress

I was as careful as I could be, but still not as careful as the professionals and there are some places where my model has walls that aren't perfectly flush or surfaces that are not completely smooth. I hope none of it is too visible.

 I had to cut this piece, or the top would not have been flush with the column below

There was one piece that I simply couldn't get to fit and I had to cut it to make it work. I really don't know what I did wrong there.

 Interior Ground floor. Note the gold trim around the ceiling and stair rail. These should have been grey

There was one further complication. Part way through assembly, I realised that one sheet that should have been printed on grey card had been printed on gold. I'm sure if I contacted 4Ground I could have gotten a replacement, but I didn't want to disrupt my momentum and pressed on. For the most part it worked fine, most of it was wall trim for the interior that looks good in gold. The only real problem was with the separators for the roof section, some of which were grey and some gold. In the end, I repainted the gold ones. They aren't quite the same shade, but I don't think it's too noticeable.

 Interior second floor, showing off the wealth of brewing equipment that comes with the model

I think I can get quite a lot of use out of this model. As well as being useful for games in which one side is dwarfs, I could also see it being useful as a Dwarf run tavern in other fantasy games. I'm planning to try it out in a game soon and will post some pictures of it in action.

The finished piece from another angle

Warhammer Siege - ChaosTurn 2 - Test the Defences

"When will they be ready," the Black Armoured form of the Chaos Lord Sundar Klash demanded.

"Soon," the Daemonsmith Zanbad Curseheart replied, "we suffered damage in the assault and some of my best were lost in the undermining attempt. Our machines cannot be rushed."

"Machines," the Champion Skjalpi Bloodscream scoffed, "I put my faith in men."

"Men who are armoured and equipped by us," Zanbad retored, "and who have no chance of breaching the walls without us."

"Men who slaughtered the dwarf's messengrers," Skjalpi bellowed. "What have your machines achieved, Daemonsmith? The walls are still standing. I would wager man against machine at any time."

"Then perhaps we should test that," Chakram Manflay purred softly. "What do you say my lord?"

"An intriguing suggestion," Sundar Klash said. "Skjalpi, take a rading party and test the dwarfs defences. We shall see how strong the walls are."

"My Lord," Skjalpi nodded and smiled.

Zanbad merely brooded, silently.

This scenario would be my first opportunity to try out the proper siege rules, as the Chaos forces attempted a raid on the fortress itself. For this scenario, the besieging Chaos forces had 1,000 points, while the defending Dwarfs only got 500. After his success in the previous scenario, I put the Exalted Champion Skjalpi Bloodscream in charge of the Chaos forces. The Dwarfs would be commanded by Thane Narvi, who looks suspiciously similar to Thane Eyni, from the last game.

Although I would be using the siege rules, the forces were limited in the equipment they could use. The attackers were only allowed ladders and log rams, while the defenders could have rocks and boiling oil. With no Warmachines, the defenders lent heavily on missile troops.

Thane Narvi
10 Longbeards with rocks
10 Thunderers
10 Quarrellers

 Dwarf Deployment

The Chaos objective was to destroy the fortress gate or wipe out the defenders in five turns. With that in mind, I included two units with log rams, in case one was wiped out or driven off by missile fire. The two units of Marauders with ladders were their to keep the defenders occupied.

Skjalpi Bloodscream - Exalted Champion
15 Chaos Warriors with log ram
4 Dragon Ogres with log ram
20 Marauders with flails and 3 ladders (lead by Skjalpi)
20 Marauders with hand weapons and shields and 3 ladders

Chaos Deployment

The Besieged forces automatically took the first turn.

Dwarf Turn 1

Having deployed in defensive positions, the dwarfs did not move, but opened fire with all missile weapons. The Quarrellers killed 1 Marauder and the Thunderers 1 Chaos Warrior. Not a very promising start.

 The opening volley

Chaos Turn 1

With no missile weapons, the only thing for the Chaos forces to do was advance on the fortress as quickly as possible. This put the Dragon Ogres in easy charging range of the gate next turn.

 Advance!

Dwarf Turn 2

The Quarrellers opened fire on the Marauders. As if to make up for their poor performance last turn, they killed 5. The Marauders panicked and fled, abandoning their ladders.

 I forgot that the Marauders dropped the ladders when fleeing until after I took the picture

Having realised they had probably miscalculated by shooting the Chaos Warriors, the Thunderers switched targets to the Dragon Ogres. But they failed to match the Quarrellers performance and only caused 1 wound.

Chaos Turn 2

An all out charge this turn as the Dragon Ogres rammed the gate and Skjalpi's Marauders assaulted the walls. The Longbeards responded by hurling rocks, killing 2 Marauders.

 The assault begins

On the other side of the battlefield, the fleeing Marauders rallied.

When attacking part of a castle, you add the strength of an attack to the number of wounds caused and compare it to a damage chart. Log rams have a strength equal to 1 for each model carrying it up to a maximum of 8. Big models like Dragon Ogres, count as 2 for this rule. It causes D6 wounds. The Dragon Ogres rolled a 1, giving a total score of 9 and the gate remained undamaged.

Meanwhile, on the walls, Skjalpi Bloodscream issued a challenge, which was accepted by the Long Beard old guard. Assaulting walls is a risky business. Only 1 model can attack for each ladder, they automatically strike last and hit on 6s. In spite of the disadvantages, Skjalpi survived the Old Guard's attack and killed him. The Chaos Gods rewarded him with a free re-roll that would last until next turn. 1 Marauder was also killed giving a draw.

Dwarf Turn 3

With the threat of the Marauders delayed, the Quarrellers abandoned the walls and headed for the tower. Thane Narvi stayed behind to guard the walls. If the Marauders did assault he would be badly outnumbered, but could probably hold them off for a turn.

The Thunderers opened fire on the Dragon Ogres, causing 2 wounds. Not enough to bring down a Dragon Ogre.

Three of the Longbeards dropped rocks on the Marauders, which they are allowed to do, despite the rest of the unit being in combat, but caused no wounds. The engaged Longbeards brought down 2 Marauders, but failed to wound Skjalpi who killed 1 Longbeard in return. Ranks and standards do not count towards the results when assaulting the walls, so the Longbeards won the combat by 1. However, the losers in an assault can test on their unmodified leadership and the Marauders, or rather Skjalpi, easily passed.

The assault continues

Chaos Turn 3

The recently rallied Marauders advanced and retrieved their ladders. The Dragon Ogres charged the gate again, this time damaging it so that future attacks would add +2.

 The Marauders retrieve their ladders while the Dragon-Ogres assault the gate

In a repeat of the previous turn, 2 more Marauders were killed on the walls, while Skjalpi slew another Longbeard and the Marauders passed their break test again.

Dwarf Turn 4

The Thunderers opened fire on the Dragon Ogres, causing 2 more wounds. This was enough to fell one Dragon Ogre and wound another. More importantly, it reduced the strength of the log ram from 8 to 6.

 The Chaos forces come under fire

On the left side of the fortress, 1 Marauder was felled by falling rocks, 2 more killed in battle and Skjalpi Bloodscream was wounded. 2 Longbeards were killed in return, but clearly suffering a wound himself was too much for the Champion. The Marauders failed the break test with a score of 10 and fled from the wall.

 The Marauders flee the walls

Chaos Turn 4

Chaos faced a dilemma this turn. Ideally, the Chaos Warriors, with 8 models carrying the log ram, would charge, but the Dragon Ogres were in the way. The Dragon Ogres could move but not until after the charge phase meaning there would be no attack on the gate this turn. Reasoning that the Chaos Warriors would come under heavy fire from the Dwarfs next turn and could lose enough models to reduce the strength of their log ram, I left the Dragon Ogres where they were.

The Marauders with hand weapons and shields attempted to charge the walls, but failed and only lurched 1" forward. On the other side of the wall, Skjalpi's Marauders rallied, but couldn't do anything else.

The Dragon Ogres rammed the walls, but rolled a 2, even with the damage from the previous turn, this wasn't enough to cause any effect.

 The attack on the gate fails

Dwarf Turn 5

The Thunderers opened fire on the Dragon Ogres again. This was risky. If they did enough damage to kill 1 more Dragon Ogre, it would reduce the strength of the log ram to 4 and preclude any possibility of them destroying the gate, but if the Dragon Ogres panicked or were wiped out, it would clear the way for the Chaos Warriors.

The Thunderers caused 4 wounds and 1 Dragon Ogre fell, but they passed their break test. This almost certainly meant victory for the Dwarfs. The Quarrelers failed to injure the Chaos Warriors, but it scarcely mattered.

 The Dwarf fire takes its toll

Chaos Turn 5

With no chance of destroying the gate, the Chaos armies simply tried to do as much damage as possible. Both sets of Marauders charged the walls.

Thane Narvi stood alone against the Marauders, but the Chieftain had no choice but to issue a challenge and was immediately cut down.

 Thane Narvi slays the Marauder Chieftain

On the other side, 1 Marauder and 1 Longbeard fell, ending the combat with a draw.

But, with the gate still standing and the walls defended, the battle had been won by the Dwarfs.

 The gate still stands

I went into this game expecting the Dwarfs to have a hard time. I expected them to hold the walls, but thought that two Chaos Units with log rams would have no trouble bringing down the gate in 5 turns. I failed to take into account that only one unit would be able to attack it at a time and that the Warhammer turn sequence would make it impossible for one unit to withdraw and the other to attack in the same turn.

Things really went wrong for Chaos when the Marauders panicked. This gave the Quarrellers the cover they needed to move into the tower and doubled the amount of fire power the dwarfs could bring to bear.

In retrospect, it might have been sensible to withdraw the Dragon Ogres on Chaos Turn 4, but then the dwarfs would have directed all their fire on the Chaos Warriors and Chaos would have been no better off. By leaving the Dragon Ogres, Chaos at least got one guaranteed strength 6 attack.

I realised after the game that, once they rallied, the Marauders should have assaulted the walls above the gate. This would have occupied the Thunderers and provided some cover to the Dragon Ogres. The thought simply didn't occur to me at the time.

The Longbeards and Skjalpi's Marauders both performed pretty well. Given a couple more turns I think Skjalpi would have taken the walls. But this fight was only ever a side show to the real battle taking place at the gate.

It was a good chance to try out the siege rules on a reduced scale. I thought they translated to 8th edition without any serious issues. But, I won't get to try them again for a bit. The roll for the end of the campaign was negative and so we continue into Siege Turn 3.

Warhammer Siege - Dwarf Turn 2 - Send for Help

Lord Durak Irongrim's face was grim as he sat at the conference table in the centre hall.

"The Dawi-Zharr were put down," he said. "That is good news, but it was a small victory. Every loss we suffer is costly, while their numbers seem endless."

"Aid will come from Karak Kadrin," Thane Zoe, his daughter said, with a touch of optimism.

"But will it find any of us left when it does come?" Thane Eyni said. "It could be weeks or months before they realise something is amiss. And even then, they may not send help in sufficient numbers to make any difference."

"What do you suggest?" Lord Durak said.

"We must risk sending a message through the enemy lines," he said. "It's the only way to ensure that help will reach us in time."

"I will go father," Thane Zoe said, still smarting from her failure to destroy the Chaos supplies.

"No," Lord Durak said, "you've risked too much already and I need you here. Thane Eyni, I will entrust the message to you. Take a guard, but no more than we can spare."

Thane Eyni said nothing and simply nodded.

For the Dwarf's second siege turn, I selected the Scenario Send for Help. The dwarfs had to get a message past enemy lines. If they succeeded, every dwarf would get a moral boost of +1 Leadership and they would be able to play the follow up scenario, Reinforcements, when reinforcements arrived.

This scenario was only 500 points a side. The dwarfs had to select 1 hero level character as the primary messenger and could select a rank and file model as a backup messenger, who could behave like a character for this scenario. They were also allowed two decoy messengers, of the same type as the backup messenger, who did not have a message but could serve as a distraction. The dwarfs objective was to get either messenger off the table on the opposite side to their deployment zone.

Thane Zoe and Chakram Manflay had been doing a lot of work in this campaign. Although they both had some bonuses from having survived a few games, I didn't want to use them in every scenario. Also, it would be useful to produce some other characters with bonuses.

With that in mind, I painted up two new characters especially for this scenario. Both were models that had been sitting around for years but that had, so far, escaped the paintbrush.

The forces were as follows:

Dwarf Messenger and Guards
Thane Eyni - Dwarf Thane and Primary Messenger
Meeni - Longbeard and backup messenger? (axe)
Myni - Longbeard and backup messenger? (sword)
Moe - Longbeard and backup messenger? (mace)
10 Dwarf Warrios with Great Weapons, Standard and Musician
10 Thunderers
5 Longbeards with Command Group
5 Slayers including 1 Giant Slayer

Chaos Patrol
Skjalpi Bloodscream - Exalted Champion
10 Chaos Marauders with Command Group
10 Chaos Hounds
6 Chaos Warriors with Command Group
5 Marauder Horsemen with Javelins and Command Group

To make things more interesting, I decided not to identify the real backup messenger at the start of the game, Instead, at the end of the game I would randomly determine which of the three were really carrying a message.

I decided that the hills would both be scree slopes, and so troops moving over them would have to make a dangerous terrain test. The swamps would have the same effect. I then randomly determined that the forest would be a venom forest, giving anyone in it poisoned attacks but also making it dangerous.

Dwarf Turn 1

The Dwarfs Advance

The dwarfs advanced cautiously, the Longbeards passing their dangerous terrain test to take position at the crest of the hill. The Thunderers hung back and opened fire on the Marauders at long range. The managed an impressive six hits, but then only wounded 2.

Open Fire!

Chaos Turn 1

The Chaos Warriors charged up the hill to face the Longbeards, but less comfortable on rocky ground, one of their number fell to his death (they failed their dangerous terrain test). The Warhounds also emerged from the forest to charge the Thunderers, losing 1 to poison and then another to the Thunderers hand guns. The Marauders tried a long shot charge against Meeni, but failed to make contact.

The Chaos Army charges

Meanwhile the Marauder Horsemen manoeuvred around the Slayers and hurled their javelins, killing 1 dwarf. Both The Thunderers and Marauders killed 2 of their opponents but, thanks to their charge, the Warhounds won the combat by 1. But the Thunderers managed to roll a double 6 for their break test and fled off the table, the Warhounds pursuit brought them into contact with the Dwarf Warriors. An early set back for the dwarfs.

One Slayer felled by Javelins

On the hill, the Aspiring Champion challenged the Longbeard Old Guard, only to be cut down for his trouble. The rest of the troops exchanged blows ineffectively and the combat ended in a draw.

Face off between Longbeards and Chaos Warriors

Dwarf Turn 2

With the hill blocked and the left flank looking dangerous, the messengers made their way around the right side of the hill, while the Slayer took up position guarding them.

The Messengers advance

The Warhounds failed to kill a single Dwarf Warrior, losing one of their number in return. The Warriors won the combat easily and the Warhounds fled, but the Warriors restrained themselves from pursuing.

Clearly demoralised by the loss of their champion, the Chaos Warriors were unable to harm the Longbeards. But the dwarfs were emboldened and slaughtered the Warriors, leaving none alive.

 Wipe Out!

Chaos Turn 2

The Marauders charged uphill to engage the Longbeards, while the Warhounds failed their rally test and continued to flee. The Marauder Horsemen and Skjalpi Bloodscream made a pincer movement approaching the messengers from either side.

 Pincer

The Horsemen threw their javelins. I decided it would be fairer and more interesting to treat the messengers as a group and randomise hits between them. Myni was then randomly hit by three javelins and killed.

The Marauder Chieftain challenged the Longbeard Old Guard and killed him! Clearly the Old Guard was over confident after his defeat of the Aspiring Champion. The Chieftain gained the Chaos Reward Dark Fury, giving him +1 attack and the Marauders won the combat 3-1. The Longbeards failed their break test and fled, losing 1 to dangerous terrain but, out paced the Marauders. No part of this combat went the way it was expected to.

 The Longbeards retreat

Dwarf Turn 3

The Dwarf Warriors rushed to the Longbeard's aid and charged the Marauders in the flank, while the Longbeards rallied. Both the Messengers and Slayers continued a steady advance.

 The tables turn on the Marauders

The Dwarf Warriors killed 3 Marauders and lost 1 in exchanged. The Marauders lost the combat 5 -2, fled and were cut down. Glory is fleeting!

 The Dwarfs are victorious

Chaos Turn 3

Skjalpi Bloodscream charged Thane Eyni. This could be the deciding moment of the game. Once again the Horsemean failed to rally, and the Marauder Horsemen moved behind the Slayer, keeping out of charge range.

 Shoot the Messengers!

The Horsemen through their javelins again and killed Moe. Only one possible backup messenger was left. But if Thane Eyni could defeat Skjalpi Bloodscream, the Dwarfs still had a good chance of victory. The Champion failed to wound the messenger and suffered one wound in return.

 Face off between Champions

Dwarf Turn 4

The Warriors, Longbeards and Slayers moved to support the messengers, sadly no-one was within charge range of Skjalpi Bloodscream. This was to prove disastrous. The Gods with with Skjalpi Bloodscream and he cut down Thane Eyni, gaining Slaughterer's strength from the Eye of the Gods.

 The Messenger falls

Chaos Turn 4

Skalpi Bloodscream turned around and the Marauder Horsemen pursued Meeni. The Warhounds finally rallied, but it was too late for them to do much good. The Horsemen threw their javelins, but Meeni was saved by his armour.

 All eyes on Meeni, and he isn't even the Messenger

At this point, with only one possible messenger left, I decided to roll to see which one was carrying the message. There didn't seem much point continuing if Meeni didn't have the message. I rolled and, anticlimactically, Myni was the messenger. With both messengers killed, Chaos had won.

I think my mistake with the dwarfs was letting the messenger go on ahead. With no turn limit, it would have made sense to hold position, wait until the Marauders and Chaos Warriors was roundly beaten and have the messengers advance slowly, guarded by the Warriors, Slayers and, what was left, of the Longbeards. I think I panicked after the Thunderers unexpectedly fled from the Warhounds.

I finally got the hang of using the Marauder Horsemen. Though it helped that a scenario special rule allowed them to freely march within 8" of their opponents. Their javelin sniping made them a threat, but careful manoeuvring kept them out of range of the Slayers. The Warhounds also performed better than expected, despite running away, they destroyed more point of dwarfs than they were worth. The less said about the Chaos Warriors the better.

As far as the Campaign is concerned, the Dwarfs and Chaos are no neck and neck with 2 victories each. Unfortunately, both sides keep losing the scenarios they select. This means that none of the results, apart from the opening scenario, have any impact on the final assault.

Will the Chaos Warriors overturn this on their next turn? We shall see.

Warhammer Siege - Chaos Turn 1 - Undermine

The black armoured form of the Chaos Lord Sundar Klash stalked towards the chaos camp. A burial detail had been organised, while Chaos Dwarfs reorganised their scattered supplies and damaged war machines. The Chaos Champion Chakram Manflayer and the Daemonsmith Zanbad Curseheart were in heated discussion.

"I will destroy those accursed sun-lickers," the diminutive Sorcerer yelled. "I will make a pire for there hearts and grind the bones to powder. They dared to touch my war machines and injured my kinsman. They will suffer for this outrage."

"I lost men in defence of those warmachines," Manflayer said. His voice was soft, but menacing. "You are not the only one who is owed a debt."

" Your men are trivial compared to my machines," Zanbad said. "Without my machines you have no hope of breaching the sun-lickers walls."

Manflayer was about to retort, when the Chaos Lord stepped between them.

"If you are so keen to take revenge" the Chaos Lord said to Zanbad , "then I am sure you will have no objection in leading the first assault."

Zanbad was silent for a moment. The Chaos Lord had him. He could not refuse without losing face. But he had no desire to sacrifice any of his own people in a doomed frontal assault. He smiled evily as inspiration struck.

"Agreed," he said, "but we will not lead a conventional assault. I have something more devious in mind." 

For the Chaos army's first turn, they chose the scenario undermine. A small force of miners would attempt to hold out in the dark tunnels below the castle walls. If, at the end of four turns, they had more points left than their opponent, the castle walls would be seriously damaged.

For this scenario, I decided the besieging force should be made up entirely of Chaos Dwarves as the Chaos army would obviously employ them to do the undermining.

It was a very odd scenario; no missile troops, magic or even standard bearers; played on a 3' by 3' board; movement is determined by troops ability to see in the dark, which means the dwarfs movement actually increases; if anyone flees they are automatically caught; and, weirdest of all, no formal charges, units can just move into one another and will count as charging if they do. Given that the last rule was clearly written in a time before pre-measuring, I decided that I wouldn't allow it for this scenario. Given that it represents close quarter fighting in dark tunnels, I thought this added an appropriate note of tension.

Forces were as follows:

Chaos Dwarfs Besiegers

Infernal Castellan - Razak Firefist
2 Units of 12 Infernal Guard

Dwarfs Besieged

Thane Undred with great weapon
10 Longbeards
10 Slayers, including a giant slayer
10 Miners

Deployment. 

The Miners deployed in ambush. If you're wondering why there are only 10 Chaos Dwarfs in each unit, it's because I forgot how many there were supposed to be and had to add them in after.

Dwarf Turn 1

With no missile weapons in play, there was little for the dwarfs to do but advance as quickly as possible.

Chaos Dwarf Turn 1

In contrast, the Chaos Dwarfs held position. They had been deployed to minimise the possibility of flank charges, and they weren't about to break formation.

Dwarf Turn 2

The miners failed to show up  and so the rest of the dwarf force engaged without them, both units moving into combat. The Longbeards faced the Infernal Guard lead by the Infernal Castellan Razak Firefirst and Thane Undred issued a challenge, which was accepted. The two traded blows each causing one wound. The Longbeards killed 3 Chaos Dwarfs and the Chaos Dwarfs 4, giving the Chaos Dwarfs a narrow victory, but the Longbeards passed their break test with ease.

The Infernal Castellan and Thane trade blows

Meanwhile, the Slayers faced the other unit of Chaos Dwarfs. The Giant Slayer issued a challenge to the Chaos Dwarf Champion, which was accepted only for the Giant Slayer to fumble his attacks and be cut down for his trouble. However, after some terrible rolling, the Chaos Dwarfs only managed to kill 1 Slayer to the Slayers 3. The Chaos Dwarfs should have passed their break test with ease, but rolled an 11, and were hacked to pieces in the dark.

Almost half the Chaos Dwarf force is cut down by the Slayers

Chaos Dwarf Turn 2

Things were looking very bad for the Chaos Dwarfs. Their only serious chance was to break the Longbeards, giving them an even chance against the Slayers. Castellan Razak Firefist stepped up to the mark, challenging Thane Undred and cutting him down. The Chaos Dwarfs killed two more Longbeards, but the dwarfs gave as good as they got, killing 3 Chaos Dwarfs for a draw.

Both sides fight fiercely

Dwarf Turn 3

Clearly lost in the dark, the Miners still didn't arrive. But it was little comfort to the Chaos Dwarfs who were attacked from the rear by the Slayers. Razak Firefist issued a challenge, which the Longbeard Veteran, hoping to avenge Thane Undred, was only too happy to accept, but neither was able to get passed the others defence.

The Slayers killed two and the Longbeards one, with 2 Longbears falling in exchange. The Chaos Dwarfs lost the combat, but passed their break test.

Chaos Dwarf Turn 3

The desperate struggle continued and, again, the Castellan issued a challenge, this time slaying his opponent. The Longbeards and Slayers, clearly shaken failed to kill a single Chaos Dwarf, but the Chaos Dwarfs did no better. The Dwarfs lost the combat by one point, but the Longbeards passed their break test.

Dwarf Turn 4

The miners finally arrived, too late to do any good. They advanced anyway, if only to show willing.

With no-one left to challenge, Castellan Razak killed 1 Longbeard. The Slayers struggled to get through their opponents black shard armour (they made two saving throws of 6) and were only able to fell a single Chaos Dwarf. But, one lucky slayer found his way passed the Castellan's guard and took his final wound. The Chaos Dwarfs killed 1 Longbeard in exchange for a 2 - 2 draw.

Chaos Dwarf Turn 4

The last turn, and the Chaos Dwarfs had little choice but to sell their lives dearly. They resisted all the dwarfs attacks and felled the last Longbeard, but as the Slayers were unbreakable, this was all they could do.

The Dwarfs won the encounter with 228 points left to the Chaos Dwarfs 40.

The outcome was pretty much decided when the first Chaos Dwarf unit broke. The remaining unit didn't have the numbers to win a war of attrition and spent the rest of the game being slowly whittled down.

In retrospect, it would probably have been more interesting to break the armies down into smaller units. The Chaos Dwarfs could have operated in units of 6, without being especially vulnerable. Based on the 8th edition army lists, this would have been against the rules, but, given the scenario was written for 5th edition, I could have ignored that.

With the attempt to undermine defeated, Chaos gained no additional advantage and it was time to roll to see if the siege would continue. I had to roll a d6 and add the number of siege turns played, if I rolled a 7 or more, it would be time for the final assault. I rolled low and the siege continues.