Lesson from a Dwarf Teacher

The Dwarf Sebastian de Morra
Diego Velázquez, c. 1645
Oil on canvas, 106,5 x 81,5 cm
Museo del Prado, Madrid

In order to gain some experience in the wonderful warring world of Warhammer, I invited local veteran player AllanL to my place to teach me a lesson in Warhammer. Allan commands a nicely painted Dwarf Army, mostly painted by someone else, but what he painted shows some great talent. After being distracted for over half an hour chatting about comics and manga, we remembered that we were supposed to play a game of Warhammer and set up our units.

We agreed on armies worth 1500 pts. Allan set up two Grudgethrowers (catapults) on the hill and deployed the rest of his troops to protect them. There was a unit of Warriors, a group of Quarellers and one of Hammerers. It was a strange feeling for the Wood Elves to be overgunned. Each Grudgethrowers could remove up to 8 models per turn. Nonetheless, the Wood Elves decided to close in, confident that the Wardancers (used for the first time) would shave clean the beards of these puny intruders in no time. The above picture shows the situation after turn 1. Three units of Glade Guards, supported by 2 orchards of Dryads, one squadron of Glade Riders and one troop of Wardancers are closing in on the iron clad Dwarves.

Hey, wait a minute! The Dwarves didn't miss the opportunity offered to them in turn 4 to engage in melee. It took them one close combat segment to send the Wardancers backstage and two to unroot the Dryads. In the meantime, the Grudgethrowers were winning the shooting duel against the Glade Guards. Was the fate of the Wood Elves sealed already?

But wait! An opportunity occured for the Glade Riders to blitz behind those mean armored units. By the time it takes to say "1-2-3", one Grudgethrower was overrunned, a second stampeded, then the Riders reformed in time to trample the Quarrelers from behind.

But it was turn six already and the final score favored Allan's Dwarves by about 80 points. I must thank Allan for his patience in explaining the mechanics of the game. More than the great learning experience for me and the fun we had together, I am grateful for the opportunity to meet Allan. I am looking forward for another gaming session, be it Warhammer, Battlefleet Gothic (yes, he has a few fleets) or Trafalgar.

You can read his own version of the battle here.