Battered from their encounter with a Black Orc mob, my Chaos army drew up battle lines before a Dwarven hold.
Dwarves
Thane
BSB
Dragon Slayer
20 Warriors
13 Longbeards
14 Troll Slayers
10 Thunderers
10 Quarrelers
1 Cannon
1 Bolt Thrower
1 Organ Gun
Chaos
1 Aspiring Champion of Khorne
12 Warriors of Nurgle
16 Marauders of Khorne
10 Chosen of Tzeentch
6 Warhounds
5 Knights of Nurgle
1 War Altar
Glory, is never guaranteed... but blood is blood. The Champion of Chaos waited, but the Dwarf commander wasn't interested in closing the engagement with axes.
Turn 1
The Dwarves take the first move and unleash a barrage of weapons fire, eliminating all but one Warhound, killing two Chaos Warriors and skewering a Knight.
The Chaos army begins its march across the table.
Turn 2
Still uninterested in melee, the Dwarves continue to whittle away at the Warriors and bury a few Marauders.
The Knights of Nurgle slam into the Warriors of the Hold whilst the lone Warhound attempts to swallow the cannon crew. The ensorcelled weapons of the Knights fail to penetrate the shield wall of the Dwarves and while they win combat, the Warriors hold their ground. On the opposite flank, the Warhound pelt wound up adorning the cannon.
Turn 3
The Longbeards charge into the flank of the Knights whilst the Slayers move up. The gunners succeed in dropping several more Marauders, the Chosen and the War Altar, however, remain unaffected. In combat, the great axes of the Longbeards bring three Chaos Knights to the ground, and without any combat boosters, the Knights flee, bringing the pursuing Longbeards into combat with the Warriors of Nurgle.
The Chosen move into combat with the Slayers while the Marauders charge a unit of Thunderers. The Longbeards continue to demonstrate their superiority, routing the Chaos Warriors and forcing them to flee for dear life. A stand and fire response pulls down several more Marauders while the Champion goes to work on the Thunderers. The Marauders fail to wound and with their Standard in sight, the Dwarves hold their ground. The Chosen deal out heavy losses to the Slayers, while a challenge between the Champion and the Dragon Slayer fails to produce a wound. One Chosen is struck down by Great Axes in response.
Turn 4
With no real hope for target practice, the Quarrelers charge the flank of the Marauders. The Warriors and Longbeards both turn around to bring the Chaos army entirely into a vice. With a roar of the Cannon another fleeing Chaos Warriors is turned to pulp. The Slayers continue to hack away at the Chosen, losing three more but killing two. The Champion of Tzeentch impales the Dragon Slayer on the point of a halberd, boosting his Armor save by a further +1. The Slayer's oaths prevent them from responding as lesser mortals and their war of attrition continues. Without the benefit of flails, the Marauders perform poorly against the toughness of the Dwarves. And while the Champion did slay two more Thunderers, the flanking charge of the Quarrelers sets the unit to flight, slamming headlong into the waiting Warriors.
The Warriors of Nurgle fail to rally, having no musician and no impetus. With their general dead, only the soldiers of Tzeentch fight on, the War Altar entering combat on the flank of the Quarrelers. While several dwarves wound up on the Altar, the presence of the Standard Bearer and their superior numbers again kept the Dwarves from flight. The Chosen continue to hand casualties to the Slayers, but always in exchange for a life or two.
Turn 5
The Longbeards move in on the War Altar from the rear. The Warriors march toward the line where the Slayers and Chosen have at it. While the protection of Tzeentch keeps the War Altar from injury, the sheer numbers alone force a route, with the pursuing Quarrelers burying the Altar in a heap. The Chosen fare better, laying the final pair of orange haired Dwarves to rest.
With no hope of reinforcement, the rally of the Warriors of Nurgle comes too little too late. Despite having made a show of the Dragon Slayer, the Chosen prove incapable of handling the Longbeards with three men left. The Thane gladly accepts the Champion's invitation, his runic axe causing three wounds which the mystic warrior is unable to ward off. The Chosen did spear one elite Dwarf, but their final act of spite ended in a cacophony of Hammers and Axes.
With the Warriors half a field away, the Thane once again gave the signal to his gunners. Tonight there would be ale, tomorrow he would have his men collect the scrap metal.
