**
This was my army list:
Chaos Hero Thekla von Grauschädel - 135 points
Mark of Khorne, additional hand weapon
The Scholars of Brass and Blood:
9 Chaos Warriors - 162 pts
The Moon Dancers:
5 Marauder Horsemen - 115 pts
+10 standard bearer = 125 points
5 Bloodletters of Khorne - 80 points
For a total of 502 points. My Skaven allies fielded a block of Clanrats led by their general, a unit of Skaven Slaves, a Warpfire Thrower, some Poison Wind Globadiers, a battery of Jezzails and some Giant Rats.
For the objective, we rolled an 8 for Take the Relic: we would be fighting over an arcane landmark in the center of the table. Ordinarily, it would provide extra Winds of Magic cards to the first wizard to reach it, so we decided instead that the first character to reach it could draw a random magic item. One of the other players had brought some sheep miniatures, and they were placed in the middle of the landmark so we'd have something to fight over.
Here's how we set up the terrain.
We drew each player a random magic item or rune, as appropriate; mine was the rather underwhelming Silver Sigil Sword, for +3 Initiative. Our host also owns a full deck of Chaos Gift cards, so I would have them at my disposal - for better or worse! As this was such a small game, I would only draw one Gift per turn.
In proper Warhammer Renaissance fashion, we drew our deployment onto a piece of paper, and then both sides simultaneously deployed their units. Here's the Chaos-Skaven deployment and battle plan:
My Marauder Horsemen deployed on the far left, in hopes of flanking the enemy, with the Bloodletters and Chaos Warriors heading right up the middle to capture the objective. The Skaven infantry massed on our right, accompanied by the Warpfire Thrower and Globadiers, with the Giant Rats taking the right flank and the Jezzails in firing positions on the hill.
I apologize for the improvised movement trays! Facing us were the forces of Dudesdale and their Dwarf allies:
In the center were the dwarves, with one unit of infantry led by their general, and a unit of Thunderers, as well as a Flame Cannon on the hill. The Bretonnians deployed a huge unit of archers on the left flank, next to some foot knights, with five crossbowmen on the hill and a regiment of Knights on the right.
I have to admit that my heart sank when I saw the Bretonnian Knights in their panoply directly opposite my samurai rabbits. I didn't think there was any way I was going to win that fight, so at this point my hope was to draw the knights out into jezzail range, and maybe at least tie them up for a turn so that the Bloodletters could get at them.
Dudesdale won the die roll to go first, and we got the game started!
**
Turn 1
Seeing the Khorne runes and the seething mass of rats before them, the Dudesdale forces opted to not move, except for the archers on their left taking position on the hill.
All the action was in the shooting phase. The crossbowmen on the hill let loose at the Bloodletters, only to see their bolts burst into flames midair as the daemonic aura easily repelled the attack. The dwarf Flame Cannon took aim at the Chaos Warriors, and the dwarven gunnery was dismayingly exact.
Two Chaos Warriors fell.
On our turn, we advanced into the teeth of the enemy fire. The rat-men surged forward while my Chaos Warriors made contact with the objective, and the Moon Dancers used their Fast Cavalry mobility to skirt around the edge of the woods, keeping the abandoned watchtower between themselves and the enemy knights.
The jezzail teams fired at the flame cannon, hitting both the machine and the crew, but failed to score any wounds. Meanwhile, my hero being the first to reach the arcane landmark, she secured the magic item hidden there, which turned out to be the Shield of Ptolos.
**
Turn 2
Again, the Dudesdale line stood and waited for us to come to them, with the single exception of the knights, who, with appropriate Bretonnian hauteur, advanced at a stately pace slightly past the watchtower.
The ensuing shooting phase was pure murder. The crossbowmen took down three Bloodletters, and the archers and Thunderers cut a bloody swathe into the Clanrats. The flame cannon scored another direct hit, and I failed all my saves, leaving five Chaos Warriors knocked out of the battle! Luckily my units passed their panic tests.
When our turn came, Khorne decided he had had enough, as I drew Lose Gifts, immediately discarding the only other card I held. To be honest, I couldn't blame him; I thought the battle was over after that shooting phase.
Still, we weren't going down without a fight. While the remaining Chaos Warriors and Hero took cover by the ritual stones and the Bloodletters marched on, our flankers charged. The Skaven Packmaster drove his Giant Rats up the hill and into the Dudesdale archers, and with a resounding rabbity banzai, the Moon Dancers charged the Bretonnian Knights!
In the shooting phase, the Skaven jezzail teams switched targets to the crossbowmen, knocking down three and forcing a panic test, which the survivors failed.
On the right, the Giant Rats killed an archer, but lost the combat by a considerable margin and fled, which caused the Skaven Slaves to panic!
On our left, the Marauder Horsemen lost one of their number, but brought down two Bretonnians.
That was enough to win the combat, and the Bretonnians promptly failed their break test and fled off the table!
I tried to restrain the Moon Dancers, but they also failed their Leadership test and galloped off the table in pursuit!
**
Turn 3
At the start of turn 3, I had a total of five models left on the battlefield. Everyone else was playing Warhammer, I was suddenly playing Age of Sigmar.
On the Dudesdale left, the archers charged the Poison Wind Globadiers in front of them, who fled into the woods. In the center, the dwarf infantry advanced and the flame cannon hit the Chaos Warriors once again, killing one of the two survivors. Thekla was also hit, and even the Shield of Ptolos couldn't protect her, and she fell.
I now had three models on the battlefield! Luckily, at the start of our turn, the Moon Dancers returned and galloped for the hill. Since my lone surviving Chaos Warrior couldn't claim the objective all alone, she and the Bloodletters charged the dwarves. On our right, the Clanrats charged the Bretonnian foot knights.
In the shooting phase, the Skaven Warpfire Thrower supported my fight in their inimitable way by firing into the mêlée, broiling some dwarves. The jezzails fired at the Dwarf Thunderers, but to no effect.
My daemons and Chaos Warrior did very little damage; in return, the dwarves killed the last Chaos Warrior and one of the Bloodletters. The last daemon failed its break test and disappeared into the warp, no doubt to face Khorne's fury.
Meanwhile, the Clanrats wiped out the foot knights!
The exuberant ratmen charged on as far as the hill, not realizing that this put the entire enemy army behind them.
**
Turn 4
The dwarf infantry advanced to the objective, while the archers continued their pursuit of the fleeing Skaven, charging and wiping out the giant rats. Meanwhile, the dwarf crew frantically wheeled around the flame cannon to shoot at the oncoming Marauders, but for the first time in the battle, they missed, overshooting the Moon Dancers completely.
On our turn, the Skaven Slaves continued to flee, blocking the line of sight of some of the jezzail teams on the hill.
The clanrats reformed and made for the Dwarf Thunderers, while my Marauder Horsemen charged the Flame Cannon.
The Warpfire Thrower team fired at the Dudesdale archers, hoping to make them flee off the table. Eight of them died in the flames, but the archers passed their panic test.
The jezzails sniped one of the dwarves holding the objective, and in the close combat phase, the Moon Dancers avenged their fallen comrades by wiping out the flame cannon crew.
Their overrun move carried them straight into the flank of the Dwarf Thunderers!
**
Turn 5
The homicidal (raticidal?) Dudesdale archers charged and wiped out the last remaining Poison Wind Globadiers, while the dwarves reformed to face the enemy. In the close combat phase, the Moon Dancers tore into the Dwarf Thunderers, killing half of them and sending the survivors fleeing.
On our turn, the Skaven Slaves fled onto the hill and created an almighty mess with the jezzail teams.
The Clanrats charged the dwarves, determined to seize the objective or die trying.
Unable to charge, the Moon Dancers moved to contest the objective and flank the dwarves if the game went to a sixth turn.
The mêlée was bloody but inconclusive, and when we rolled for a sixth turn, we didn't get it, so that's where the game ended! As darkness began to fall, both sides beat a retreat.
With both sides wreaking carnage on each other, our victory point totals were closely matched. And since both sides had one unit close enough to contest the objective, no victory points were awarded for it, making the game a draw.
**
That was a very hard-fought and eventful game, and we had a great time. I want to thank my opponents and my ally for an excellent game, and I'm very impressed by how smoothly the rules worked. We set up and played the game in a little under four hours, which is kind of impressive.
Since we had a lot of small units, mêlée combat was especially deadly, with units breaking or even being wiped out in just one round of combat. This also really underscored how important it was to get the charge! In general, there's a very authentic Warhammer feel where anything can happen based on the luck of the dice, and I love it.
As for my army, I'd have loved to have seen my Chaos Warriors or Bloodletters in action properly, and maybe if I hadn't failed so miserably in rolling saves, it might have happened. But then again, they absorbed all that firepower, which let the others get to close quarters.
My Marauder Horsemen were clearly the stars of the show, and I'm beyond delighted by their performance. Getting the charge against the Bretonnians was key, and clearly Khorne rewarded their bloodthirst. I'm pretty sure I want more Marauder horse, and also more infantry! Maybe a larger block of Marauders wouldn't be so easy to annihilate at range. Also, maybe a mounted character would actually have made it into combat!
**
To sum up: Warhammer Renaissance is great, and I can't wait to play more of it.
Since neither side managed to secure the objective, the sheep went unclaimed. I imagine that all armies will have sent their people to recover the wounded and salvage any equipment they can; certainly Khorne won't let his warriors escape his service that easily. The next dawn will reveal a scorched and bloody battlefield, and grazing around the standing stone, some very confused sheep.














































