Maleficent

I have watched "Maleficent" twice with my daughter and wouldn't mind watching it again. It's entertaining, sad and a bit scary, a horror movie for children. I like the basic idea, to tell the story of "Sleeping Beauty" from the perspective of the other side, the side of the witch that curses the newborn princess Aurora. It's "Sleeping Beauty" after 50 years on Freud's couch, who says: the evil witch isn't evil, she has good reasons for behaving the way she does. For a fantasy movie produced by Disney, you get a complex, rich narration. The original movie serves as an undercurrent which the spectator constantly relates to the remake. In this version of the story Maleficent is the queen of winged fairy creatures living in an enchanted forest. She falls in love with a human, is betrayed, hurt, but doesn't turn cold and egoistic like the human beings she gets into conflict with. Angelina Jolie plays her well. (I didn't even know Angelina Jolie could act at all. I guess I have to watch "Tomb Raider" again.)

The special effects are fun. Robert Stromberg, the director of "Maleficent", worked on visual effects for movies like "Pirates of the Caribbean" and "Pan's Labyrinth". The cinematography reminded me of old Czech movies in a good way. The only thing that bothered me was the orchestral soundtrack which played non-stop. Why do the Disney studios think this is a good idea? I like the slow, eerie cover version of "Once Upon A Dream" by Lana del Rey though, which plays through the end titles.

Ok. I know. This is a wargaming blog. I stop trying to sound like a film reviewer now. If you play Wood Elves in Warhammer or any other tabletop game, like I do, you might especially enjoy a combat sequence in the first third of the movie. The old human king leads his little army of knights and foot soldiers against Maleficent's tree creatures and is defeated. Here are two lists for Hordes of the Things, representing the armies:

Maleficent's Fairies (Defender): Aerial Hero General (Maleficent), 1 Behemoth (large treeman), 7 Beasts (fairy creatures)

King Henry's army (Attacker): Knight General (King Henry), 3 Knights, 4 Blades, 4 Spears

Anybody know a manufacturer who produces a 28 mm miniature resembling Maleficent?

Wargaming Weekend

Two weeks ago my cousin Sven came over to Berlin for my birthday. I'm 44 now which means I have been into tabletop and role-playing games for 30 years.

My original plan was to organise a HOTT mini-campaign for the weekend, but we played one game of Warhammer, 40K and HOTT instead.

The first game was Warhammer Fantasy on Friday night. Krüger came over and teamed up with Sven against me for a 1500 point battle. They played orcs & goblins, I played wood elves.

My list still is a bit fragile because I started to collect wood elves not so long ago. Their list included a giant, 4 trolls, a large unit of orcs, a unit of orc boar boys, 2 units of night goblins with fanatics and some goblins on spiders. A nice looking army.

The game felt a bit like the horrible German boardgame "Mensch ärger dich nicht". The dice and our lists determined what happened, strategic thinking didn't matter much. The worst moment was when I managed to cast "The call of the hunt" on my eternal guard, an augment spell, giving each model an extra attack, and still lost the unit in close combat that turn. The game played itself. It was a waste of time.

I'm not saying that this was anybody's fault. Actually balanced, exciting games are difficult to organise if one player brings a fragile list and the other players have a lot more models to choose from. The game was over after turn 3. (I guess I have to put some effort into making my list less fragile.)

Saturday afternoon, my cousin and I played 40K. We played the 5th edition, including some rules from the 6th edition like overwatch and rolling the charge range. Because of peer pressure half a year ago I thought I had to switch to the 6th edition, although I like the 5th edition much better. (It's a pity that Alessio Cavatore left Games Workshop.) After endless discussions my friends and I compromised on using the 5th edition as our main ruleset and including our favourite rules from other editions as house rules. This way everybody has to think what rules he really likes and why. Games are much more fun this way, I think.

So on Saturday we played a 1000 point battle. The scenario was capture + control and spearhead. Sven had brought his Tau from Munich, I played Plague Marines. Sven's Tau are one of the coolest armies I have played against. They are really well painted, with lots of stuff on the field. The game was quite exciting. It lasted for 7 turns and ended in a tie.

On Sunday morning, which was my birthday, I played HOTT against my cousin. I think HOTT is my favourite game at the moment.

I played wood elves: hero (general), 4 spears, 3 shooters, 1 behemoth, 1 flyer.

Sven played goblins: warband (general), 3 warbands, 2 riders, 2 beasts, 1 behemoth, 1 hero.

I was the defender. I put a temple in the centre which led to both of us dividing our armies into two parts. The 4 warbands on Sven's right side, including his general, stayed in the woods and didn't make it into close combat.

At the start of the game, his hero killed my flyer.Then my hero general killed one of his beasts.

His hero killed two of my shooters.

My remaining shooter killed his hero. (Wow!)

Two of my spears killed his other beast.

My hero general killed his behemoth.

I won the game and we went to a Greek restaurant in Kreuzberg to get drunk. Thanks to everybody involved this was a great gaming weekend.

The Karubi Island Dox Dox

Krüger and I have talked a lot about playing an orcs versus wood elves campaign on one of the Karubi islands, using HOTT and Warhammer as rule sets.

Sven plans to come to Berlin a couple of times this year and wants to bring his freshly painted goblins. So it makes sense to kick off the Karubi island campaign with a HOTT mini-campaign, involving 2 tribes of orcs & goblins and my elves.

I drew a map of the island Dox Dox.

1 Kachelaj Oxib Tzuk - the largest forest on the western side of the island. It's where the elves live.

2 Kachelaj Imul - rabbit forest.

3 Suq - a large area of swamp. Giant mosquitos and Labyrinthodonts live there.

4 Kachelaj Jamaril - a very large forest on the eastern side of the island. Jamaril means "peace" in the language of the human population that lived on the island long before elves and orcs arrived. Actually it isn't such a peaceful place any more, if it ever was. Ruins of ancient temples are scattered throughout the jungle. Some of these are still used to summon old gods and demons.

5 A tribe of orcs & goblins under Krüger's command.

6 Juyub Labal - the bad hills, also called "the pumpkin hills" by the elves.

Now here is the problem. The elves who like to live in forests settled in the west where they found 2 small forests. The orcs on the other hand, who prefer mountain caves, settled in the east, but in the east they found a large area of tropical forest and only 3 small hills (Juyub Jamaril). It would be best if the orcs moved to the west and the elves to the east, but instead both parties defend their territory and try to conquer the whole island.

First Game in 2014

Sunday night Krüger and I talked an hour about the stock market, banks and economics in general (although we don't know anything about it) and then we played Hordes of the Things for about an hour and a half. It was our first game this year.

I played wood elves: spear general, 2 spears, 3 shooters, 1 hero, 1 behemoth, 2 flyers.

Krüger played orcs: warband general, 5 warbands, 1 hero, 1 behemoth, 2 riders.

Krüger was the defender. He placed 4 woods and a temple as the terrain and deployed his army on the left and right side of the building. I decided to deploy all of my troops on my right flank, mostly lined up in a column. Sometimes I like to do this, in order to confuse my opponent's plans and to create a chaotic battle in the course of which both players have to improvise a lot.

Highlights of the game were: my hero killing 2 of Krüger's warbands with the help of a giant bird (an element of flyers), my treeman (behemoth) going over the table edge, fleeing from Krüger's hero and both heroes killing each other in a bloody Elf to Orc fight.

I think I made one big mistake. In a daring move, I attacked one of Krüger's riders (some kind of chariot driven by a giant frog or spider) with two giant birds (flyers), instead of building up a proper battle line in the back. I didn't loose this fight, but in his next bound Krüger was able to attack one of the birds with 2 warbands. The flyer had to recoil, crashed into the chariot and was destroyed.

This was the beginning of the end.

Krüger lost: 2 warbands, 1 hero, 1 rider.  I lost: 1 behemoth, 1 hero, 1 flyer and 1 shooter, thus loosing the game. Krüger is a clever player, so it's always fun playing against him.

The Karubi Islands

Evidence of an ancient culture, which collapsed more than 500 years ago, is scattered throughout the jungle. Several ruins of pyramids and other religious buildings with depictions of frog-like beings, double-headed snakes and krakens have been discovered.

About 100 years ago, elves migrated to Nitz Oxib Tsaq and started to populate the island. The elven population is organized into city states. Three major city states are currently fighting for political dominance.

Nitz Oxib Tsaq is mostly deforested by now, ancient temples have been razed and the indigenous human population has been driven away, enslaved or killed.

Not much is known about Matzatit Binel Ja ("pineapple beck"). There are rumours of large green creatures lurking in the jungle, deadly hunters and servants of old nameless gods.

Six hundred years ago, a large elven fleet was lost in the Atlantic Ocean on its way to India. The survivors of this expedition have recently been found on Wazimu and Dox Dox. They have been cut off from civilization for too long. Savage and hostile, they worship primitive gods and have formed alliances with the horrible creatures native to the Karubi Islands.

In the north-east of Dox Dox, several Orc and Goblin tribes are said to have their territory. It's not known if these tribes are allies or enemies. It is known however, that they are at war with the elves.

If you go to the Karubi Islands, which is not recommended, take a surfboard, try to avoid Elves and Orcs and don't get lost in the jungle.

Wood Elves vs. Orcs & Goblins

I just finished reading the Warhammer rulebook for the third time. The core rules of the current edition have 180 pages. Do people play wargames because they enjoy to read big rulebooks and  memorise complex rules?

Saturday afternoon Krüger came over to play Warhammer. Krüger certainly enjoys learning rules. Sometimes I think his mind works like a chess computer.

Krüger played Orcs & Goblins. I played Wood Elves.

I changed my army list a bit to include a fast unit. I have a Wood Elf Noble on a Great Stag which the very talented Simon Bradley painted for me as a commission. My hero always got shot off his mount in turn 2 or 3 when I played against Krüger's High Elves. So I stopped using it. Krüger's Orcs & Goblins don't have many shooters. Against this army, a lone hero on a great stag is a very good choice for a fast unit.

This is my new 1500 point army list:

Wood Elf Highborn (lord / 226 points) 
great weapon, armour of silvered steel, hail of doom arrow

Wood Elf Noble (hero / 200 points) 
wild rider, glittering scales, great stag

Spellsinger (hero / 150 points)
level 2 wizard
dispel scroll

20 Eternal Guards (core unit / 295 points)
champion, standard bearer, musician
war banner

10 Glade Guards (core unit / 126 points)
champion

8 Dryads (core unit / 108 points)
champion

8 Dryads (core unit / 108 points)
champion

Treeman (rare unit / 285 points)

As I tend to loose Warhammer Fantasy battles against Krüger, he allowed me to place the terrain. I put a Slann temple in one third of the table and covered the rest of the battlefield with woods, just leaving a corridor of open ground for my longbows.

We played "battleline", the first scenario from the book.

I put the treeman, the eternal guards and the glade guards in the centre and the two units of dryads on the left and right next to them. I placed my mounted hero in a wood all the way on the right flank.

Krüger deployed his giant and all of his infantry in the centre and put a unit of orc boar boys and a unit of goblin wolf riders in front. On his left side, opposite to my mounted hero, he placed a goblin chariot and a unit of goblin wolf riders.

A large unit of night goblins squabbled twice and didn't make it into the battle. Otherwise Krüger's troops weren't affected by animosity.

I was able to weaken Krüger's centre using magic and shooting attacks. ("Strangle roots" and "hail of doom arrow" are quite effective.) What was left was destroyed in close combat.

On my right flank the mounted wood elf noble destroyed the goblin chariot and the wolf riders. (No wonder goblins fear elves.) After that my hero was able to attack a unit of orc boys in the rear which was already engaged in combat. My hero was destroyed, but he was the only unit I lost in this game.

In turn 4 the orc general fled and Krüger gave up.

I feel much more comfortable playing Warhammer now. Reading the rules again helped, my new army list is much more fun and I enjoy playing against Krüger's Orcs & Goblins a lot.

Take a look at Krüger's blog where he posted some pictures of the game!

Krüger's Orks & Goblins

Yesterday night, Krüger and I had a game of Warhammer Fantasy. I played my Wood Elf army, he brought 1500 points of Orks & Goblins. This is his army list:

Orc Warboss (lord / 171 points)
great weapon, armour of destiny

Orc Big Boss (hero / 73 points)
boar, light armour

Night Goblin Big Boss (hero / 36 points)
great weapon, light armour

Night Goblin Shaman (hero / 85 points)
level 2 wizard
magic mushrooms

20 Orc Big 'Uns (core unit / 215 points)
champion, standard bearer, musician
shields

20 Orc Boys (core unit / 175 points)
champion, standard bearer, musician
additional hand weapon, shields

30 Night Goblins (core unit / 215 points)
champion, standard bearer, musician
nets, shields
2 fanatics

5 Goblin Wolf Riders (core unit / 50 points)

5 Goblin Wolf Riders (core unit / 50 points)

Goblin Wolf Chariot (special unit / 50 points)

8 Orc Boar Boys (special unit / 179 points)
champion, standard bearer, musician

Giant (rare unit / 200 points)

The game was quite entertaining as it was tied until the last turn, when the dice turned against me and I finally lost. My two main mistakes: to accept a challenge with my general and not to use the treeman's Strangle-roots attack as a stand and shoot charge reaction against Krüger's giant.

You can find a complete battle report with pictures on Krüger's blog Spielosophie.

Army List Wood Elves

My 1500 point Wood Elf army:

Wood Elf Highborn (lord / 226 points)

great weapon, armour of silvered steel, hail of doom arrow

Spellsinger (hero / 150 points)

level 2 wizard

dispel scroll

23 Eternal Guards (core unit / 331 points)

champion, standard bearer, musician

war banner

20 Glade Guards (core unit / 264 points)

champion, standard bearer, musician

9 Dryads (core unit / 120 points)

champion

9 Dryads (core unit / 120 points)

champion

Treeman (rare unit / 285 points)

The picture shows the general, a Wood Elf Highborn that was painted by Simon Bradley as a commission. I'm going to play against Krüger's High Elves or Orks on Tuesday night. I hope it will be fun.

Wood Golem

This treeman currently causes a lot of distress in our games of Warhammer Fantasy. It's actually a Wood Golem by Ral Partha which Patrick gave to me a couple of years ago. It was painted by Andrew Taylor as a commission.

Krüger is really scared of it. He says my Treeman dominates the game and that he has to field strong units against it as an antidote. Thus the poor thing hardly ever survives the first turn.

Like yesterday night, when it was blasted away by some wicked high elf mage using the spell "searing doom" on it. We played 1500 points, High Elves against Wood Elves. It was a hard fight that lasted 3 hours. On my side only two elements survived: a unit of dryads and my general, a Wood Elf Highborn on foot. The survivors on Krüger's side were a chariot, a great eagle and his general, a Prince on an elven steed loaded with all kinds of twinkling magic objects, which High Elves seem to enjoy. The game ended in a tie.