Torrg's Brewery

[Torrg]

Dwaves vs. Umenzi
Rorkes Drift or The Alamo

First the disclaimer, this battle is a modification of two famous battles I have always found inspiring – The Alamo in 1836 and Rorkes Drift 1879. This scenario is a variation of one printed in White Dwarf issue 222 that recreates Rorkes Drift.

From the top of shiyane hill Crown Prince Unduthu Dabulmagi kaMande looked down on the border settlement below in disdain. How any race could live behind walls as these short, fat creatures did was hideous. And it was said these “hairy” folk live in giant caves that they themselves dig “disgusting” thought Unduthu. 12 Moon cycles ago his father King kaMande has disgraced the kaMapande Tribes of the Umenzi by granting the dwarves rights to dig into the great mountain Isandlwana. It had taken months and promise of power for Unduthu to recruit his kin to do the sabotage at the mine and even after the “accident” the men who advise his father counseled restraint. He would have to deal with those old women later.  Now, finally dissent was growing because of the dwarf’s insistence that the accident was caused by Umenzi hands. The Umenzi had united against these dwarves.  The arrogant dwarf’s sent an army to the mining site and a victory had been won in the first battle of the war by his father at Isandlwana over the dwarves, and he had missed it because his weak father told him to guard the border under the pretense of not wanting to be surprised by another dwarven force. He had goaded one of his father’s counsels into joining their forces together and now with the combined forces the prince was looking down on the dwarfs. I am going to win a magnificent victory for myself and my regiment thought Unduthu. How dare my father deny my glory by sending me to patrol the border! Cowards! Thought Unduthu, he would personally place the dwarf leaders head on his iklwa spear, and then deal with his father later.

Battle Rules

Umenzi Army
This battle is fought between 3 and 5 rounds as secretly decided by the Umenzi player. The fewer rounds the Umenzi player chooses the more units the Umenzi get during each round. The longer it goes there is a possibility of Dwarven reinforcements arriving (5th round only). But the problem is the Umenzi are infighting and are divided as the different regiments want glory for themselves so the leaders bicker back and forth between them. So the Umenzi end up with variable units and on variable table edges.

The Umenzi chooses his army based by rolling on the following table once for Elites and 1D6 times to see if the others are core/standard/elite. If the Umenzi player has decided on 4 rounds add +1 roll to each elite and core per round and if 3 rounds add +2 rolls to elite and core each round.

Every round will always include 1 Chosen as this represents some of the Umenzi leadership taking control and organizing part of the whole force to attack. While the different units roll for what table edge they appear on, the Umenzi player can choose the table edge placement of the Chosen. The Umenzi player places his units on the map edge with the unit orders he wants and then the Dwarf player starts the first turn as normal (in the combat phase and with ½ the normal CA’s) Each side gets 4 CA’s a turn from then on.

Troops Chart	Table Edge Chart	Core Chart	Standard Chart	Elites Chart
First roll 2d6 for total units this round and then roll for each. 1, 2, 3 = Core 4, 5 = Standard 6 = Elite	1 North 2 East 3 South 4 West 5, 6 reroll	1 - Initiates 2 - Atlatlmen 3 - Warriors 4 - Spearmen 5 - Javelineers 6 - Choose Core	1 - Possessed 2, 3 - Shamans 4, 5 - Worthy 6 - Berserkers	1, 2 High Priest 3, 4, 5 Chosen 6 War Elephant

Dwarf Army
The Dwarven garrison force is a special mix which is 1 bowmen, 3 crossbowmen, and 2 ballistae’s (1500 pts). Because of the desperation of the defenders do not minus the archers abilities and only lower the ballista strength to 5 (leave the skill alone) in hand to hand combat.

Each round will last until the Dwarf force is destroyed or the Umenzi force loses ½ of their starting total wounds (if they start with 100 total wounds, once they reach 50 wounds their morale breaks for this round and they auto flee leaving the dwarf licking their wounds and wondering about the next round. There are no morale checks in this battle, the Umenzi force believes they are destined for glory by their Gods and the Dwarves know the situation is so desperate, and they will be killed or sacrificed if captured.

The Dwarf player is set up in the center of the map in a complex on a standard map. The complex is all one story high (about 10 ft) (except where stated below) so the defenders will get higher ground/Fortified position bonus in the building and higher ground/defended obstacle bonus on palisades/walls. On a standard map the compound will be 1L+2S (8.5”) wide and 7L (14”) in length. This leaves about 10” per side on the outside of the fort for killing ground.

One corner of the defenders complex is going to be 2 stories (about 20 ft high) and only a Ballista can occupy it (3.5”x2.5” defender chooses). The Ballista cannot be moved once placed but the artillery has a 360 degree firing capability. This makes the artillery very special and only colossal creatures or flyers will be able to hit the artillery from the outside and standard size troops can only capture the building by assaulting from inside the compound. The other Ballista is set up as normal inside the compound.

[Torrg]

I know it is not near as "Fancy" as Gulls "Balls Deep", but let me know what you guys think.

[ajax98]

...and then the Dwarf player starts the first turn as normal (in the combat phase and with ½ the normal CA’s) Each side gets 4 CA’s a turn from then on.

I am sure, a minor mistake. Dwarves should get no CA if they are indeed the First Turn player. If this is not your intent, perhaps a special scenario rule.
Beta R3.0, p11-12
0.5.2 The First and Second Turns
The first and second turns of the game are not full turns. Instead, the following special rules apply.

• On the first player’s first turn, the game begins in the combat phase. (Units do not move and the active player gains no command actions. If the first player’s army doesn’t have spellcasters or units with extreme range, nothing happens).

• On the second player’s first turn, the turn proceeds as normal, but the active player gains only half the normal number of command actions (1.3) rounded up during his or her movement and
command phase.

[gull2112]

What I like about this scenario, and I do realy like this about it, is that there is no guarantee of fairness. The Umenzi could get totally hosed by the die rolls for forces or they could be divinely favored.  Even battles are the obvious best default, but it is the occasional one sided affair that lingers on in memory and song. It is not the units that do what they are supposd to do that make for an interesting story, it is the puny guys that hang stubbornly and the colossal bubbles that burst that make for a great game. This scenario has big fun written all over it!!!

[Torrg]

I am sure, a minor mistake. Dwarves should get no CA if they are indeed the First Turn player. If this is not your intent, perhaps a special scenario rule.
Beta R3.0, p11-12
0.5.2 The First and Second Turns
The first and second turns of the game are not full turns. Instead, the following special rules apply.

• On the first player’s first turn, the game begins in the combat phase. (Units do not move and the active player gains no command actions. If the first player’s army doesn’t have spellcasters or units with extreme range, nothing happens).

• On the second player’s first turn, the turn proceeds as normal, but the active player gains only half the normal number of command actions (1.3) rounded up during his or her movement and
command phase.

Thank you Jack, I knew there was something about how I wrote it that was wrong. Also I see a mistake I did in the table, it should read;

Troops Chart First roll 1d6 for total units this round and then roll for each. 1, 2, 3 = Core 4, 5 = Standard 6 = Elite

I originally tried this with a custom map I made that the compound is 13" in length and 17" in width and in the shape of an L like the Alamo. and extended 16.5" further on each side so the Ballista would be at extreme range on the first shot. The original Dwarf force was 3000 points and I think this ended up being overwhelming so what I wrote here was a chance at making the scenario streamlined and more "fun". Unfortunately in my game I only got through most of Round 1 as my giant 4 legged furball Garfield decided to lay on the map and ruined the game (I think it was divine intervention as the Umenzi had rolled 2 War Elephants in the assault and they were creating havok...

I have played the real scenario at least a dozen times with Orcs vs Imperial Gaurd, Marines vs Tyranids etc..., and it has always been a blast so I had hoped I could recreate the effect with BGFW here.

You are sooo right Gull, every game has had some heroic moment, an imperial Assassin killing the Orc Warboss that ended up breaking the Orcs Morale for the round, a Marine Commander going toe to toe with a squad of Ravenors, an Orc Pee-on rolling 6's to hit and wound on both attacks and the Marine Hero failing his saves (I like the old edition rules, not the new).