"The grand city of Tryptich was destroyed in a cataclysm. Rumours abound that lost treasures lie amid its shattered dwellings, manors, stores, and temples.
Small bands of adventurers from all the races of the world now scour the ruins, battling for control of lost artefacts, and to plunder the golden hoards they find there."
One Page Rules Age of Fantasy Skirmish rules continue to be our game of choice at the table, and after last week’s bash we gathered again for another go.
Our resident 3D print guru had printed a bit more terrain so the ruins of Typtich grew a little this week!
Once again, we were down to three players, so we set up the table as normal and had a brief chat about a scenario. Both we’d used last week hadn’t quite been satisfactory for a three-player game so we cobbled together the idea of one objective marker each (on our home ground) and a central objective. A simple scrap would ensue with the winner being the player who controlled most objectives at the end of turn four. As it happens this worked really well and made for the most enjoyable skirmish bash we’ve fought so far.
This week I decided to bring a mixed force of Orcs with Ogre allies, to face off against the Ratmen and Chivalrous Kingdoms.
Orcs with Ogre allies – 400pts competitive validation
- 1x Brute orc boss [1] (dual heavy hand weapons, warcry) – 125pts
- 1x Black orc boss [1] (heavy great weapon) – 60pts
- 3x Black orcs [1] (dual hand weapons) – 20pts each
- 1x Ogre warrior [1] (dual heavy hand weapons) – 45pts
- 2x Ogre shooters [1] – 55pts each
Like last week this is a bit of an elite force with a small number of tough and hard-hitting units. It’s a type of force I’m playing about with a lot, and I quite like it in the skirmish format.
Ratmen – 400pts competitive validation
- 1x Battle master [1] (dual heavy hand weapons, army standard bearer) – 85pts
- 1x Champion [1] (spear, caster[3]) – 90pts
- 1x Night scout [1] -15pts
- 2x Warriors [3] (spears) – 25pts each
- 1x Grenadiers [3] – 30pts
- 2x Rat ogres [1] – 40pts each
- 1x Storm veterans [3] (heavy great weapons) – 50pts
After deployment the night scout snuck forwards towards the centre.
Chivalrous Kingdoms – 400pts competitive validation
- 1 x High Champion [1]
- 1 x Realm defender [1]
- 1 x Quest knight [1] (sergeant)
- 1 x Men at arms [3]
- 2 x Longbowmen [3]
- 4 x Mounted bowmen with Lance [3]
We deployed in our respective starting zones with, as it turned out, very similar strategies! Each of us looked to defend the “home” objective and contest the other two, and this led to a very tense and action-packed battle that was surprisingly balanced.
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| Readhy for battle... |
My orc bosses “warcry” ability made my whole force “fast” so I was able to cover ground as quickly as cavalry. I set up so that the ogres would defend my home objective and the orcs would rush forwards to try to seize at least one other.
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| The ogres are set to defend while the orcs are champing at the bit to charge. |
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| Loaded with scrapnel they're ready to rain death. |
The Chivalrous Kingdoms set up with a similar two-front approach.
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| A large force of bow & lance knights gallop out from the ranks of bowmen. |
The ratmen formed a more cautious mob, deployed to have options on their lines of advance.
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| Killkill! Yesyes!! |
Turn 1
The orcs and ratmen made a rush for the centre objective, only to find the ruined temple impeded by fallen rubble. A quick dash to the centre would be stymied by difficult ground to cross.
The Chivalrous riders took a more circuitous route, sending much of its cavalry down a back alley towards the orc-held area. Chivalrous archers killed the rat-scout with longbow fire, and the orges opened with some long-ranged cannon fire, picking off a few horsemen with a hail of “scrapnel”.
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| An angry orc pushes in to oppose the she-rat scout. |
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| The first of the ratmen push forwards, spears at the ready to meet charges. |
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| The orcs push out in force. |
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| A wall of ratmen creep forwards, trying to see how things are developing. |
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| Chivalrous soldiers canter in past the abandoned privvy. |
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| While on the flank, orge cannon fire thing their ranks... |
With the armies we’re using turn 1 was a traditional “approach and position” phase. The battle lines could be seen though, and for my part, my intended rush to the centre needed reassessment as the two enemy forces approached.
Score
- Orcs – 1 objective
- Chivalrous kingdoms – 1 objective
- Ratmen – 1 objective
Turn 2
This turn became a brutal “battle for the flanks”. On my left, the two ogre cannoneers tore the chivalrous cavalry to pieces with more volleys of lethal scrap, halting the flanking ride in its tracks.
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| And after another volley, there are few knights left. |
Meanwhile an amazing fight broke out when the insane black orc boss charged into the heart of the ratman advance. Surrounded and outnumbered, he faced attack after attack by ratmen with spears, the ratman battlemaster, a rat ogre, poisoned bombs lobbed in from afar, and the vicious lightning magic of the ratty sorcerer! Despite it all, the orc’s armour and dense flesh shrugged off all harm as he wailed and whirled his murderous heavy weapon amid the ratkin ranks! It was a sight to behold, and he was loving the scrap! He dished out wounds in return and all but butchered the ratman battle master.
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| The most intense battle of the game begins with a near immortal black orc! |
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| Diedie! Killkill! Noooo!!! |
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| Ratogrekillkill! |
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| Nah, yer can't kill me! *Whack* Ave some 'o that ratboy! |
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| Alright, I'll back off then. I need some goblins to lick me wounds clean. |
Back over on the chivalrous front, the kingdom’s finest heroes rode into the orcs, requiring the orc brute boss and the ogre warrior to step in and blunt the charge.
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| Charge my noble knights!! Yeah Chaaarge boys! |
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| Ugh, these orcs can't do it. Let me 'ave a go. |
Score
- Orcs – 1 objective
- Chivalrous kingdoms – 1 objective
- Ratmen – 1 objective
Turn 3
The established fronts continued their skirmishing, but elsewhere the battle developed. In the ruined temple, each force sent a unit in to contest the centre objective. A lone black orc faced a solid group of chivalrous swordsmen, and a nasty mob of moon-glaive wielding ratty elites, as they all stumbled through the rubble. I was not confident that my orc would survive!
Over on the chivalrous/ratman front, they engaged forces there, both intent on rushing the other’s objectives. Battle raged on this newly engaged area, with the rat ogre supported by rats with spears, facing chivalrous riders and longbowmen.
Unusually by the end of turn 3 the battle was still very much in the balance. The ranks all round were badly thinned, although the ratmen were in far better shape having taken fewer casualties. They were also better positioned. It looked like the battle would be decided on turn 4 and it was possible for each of us to win, depending how the turn went.
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| The battle for the centre begins in earnest. |
Score
- Orcs – 1 objective
- Chivalrous kingdoms – 1 objective
- Ratmen – 1 objective
Turn 4
The last turn began, and a surviving chivalrous knight galloped over to contest the ratman objective! His gallant dash was in vain though and the rat sorcerer killed him with lightning magic, securing the ratman home objective.
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| The knight rushed to contest the ratman objective, only to die in a blast of lightning. |
As a countermove, the rat ogre stormed up to take the chivalrous kingdoms objective, this time with more success. The objective would be contested.
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| The rat ogre counters with a more sucessful charge. |
Meanwhile in the centre, my orc was killed by the chivalrous soldiers, and then the ratmen drove off these soldiers to take the centre objective. This was not certain however, as the orcs opened a path for an ogre to advance close enough to contest this centre.
The fighting meant that at the end of turn 4, both the chivalrous kingdoms and orcs had broken and had to take morale tests. In a final betrayal by the dice gods, chivalrous warriors and the orc’s ogre allies fled the field, leaving three objectives in the hands of the ratmen!
The game went down to the final phases of the last turn before the ratmen secured a dominant win. It was a marvellous, tense and fun game.
Score
- Orcs – 1 objective
- Chivalrous kingdoms – 0 objectives
- Ratmen – 3 objectives
Another marvellous game of OPR AoFS. If you’ve not played it, give it a go!
Comment from the ratman player
“I thought the scenario was an excellent idea - basically, each controlling one objective at the start, with one in the middle and all starting an equal distance from the objective.
My plan formulated itself over the first turn or so and was to contest as many objectives as possible, and try to force morale fails.
I could see which way it was (hopefully) heading, and you will notice that I tried to avoid too much combat, only attacking when my rear line was threatened. The units on my flank were prepared to soak up the chivalrous bow fire, with the Rat Ogre hovering to charge in in the last turn.
Annoyed that I forgot to charge with my Wizard when I had tee'd it up. I got distracted, but hey ho, it all worked out in the end!”
