Battle of the Bulges - 10mm Fantastic Battles

The second game of the long-weekend saw my pot-bellied army of the halfling shires up against Roger's pot-bellied ogres. The two forces lined up for a grill or be grilled battle of the bulges.

The halfling army dwarfed its ogre foes, but the dice gods are not always on the side of the big battalions. In an echo of our last clash (beastlings vs wood elves) the ogres used both the night march and ambush strategies, deploying forward generally, and having one unit of ogres with heavy weapons deployed immediately in front of the halfling lines.

Before a dice was rolled, the stunty folk were already quaking in their ... well, not in their boots obviously, but if they had boots, that's where they would be quaking.

Funnily enough, deployment mishaps saw those ogres late, deployed much further back than intended. The rest of the ogre line was grand, but the halflings were a bit messed up with multiple late units, some enthusiastic truffle hunters and diseased poultry riders.

As the halfling line tried to get back in order, the truffle hunters and poultry riders started to sweep around from the right flank where a unit of yetis was swiftly approaching.

The yetis went straight through the truffle hunters, leaving the poultry riders to dodge out of the way, attacking the heavy-melee weapon ogres in the flank while the halfling kitchen militia barrelled into their front (to everyone's great surprise!). 

On the halfling right, a unit of smilodons charged into the halfling archers on the hill and were flanked immediately by the halfling yeoman cavalry. Sadly, a unit of ogre rhino riders then turned up after a flank march and hit the halfling cavalry in the flank.

In the centre, the late halfling units finally made it to the battle and everywhere ogres, halflings and treefolk were cleaving left and right and stubbing toes, and generally having a scrap. 

The smilodons and archers both scattered on the right, leaving the halfling yeomen to turn to face the rhino riders, but it was all a bit late and the yeomanry soon scattered. On the far left, the tiny unit of halfling wardens peppered the impetuous yetis until they too were forced from the table.

The halfling wardens decided that they couldn't do much more and set off towards the settlement to see if they could make some mischief in the ogre rear. The ogre mage blinked one of the treefolk units out of combat, allowing the ogres to focus their attacks on the halfling hearthguard in the centre.

The halfling cockatrice, nipping at the flanks of the ogre centre soon found rhino riders in its rear.

The halfling army was flagging. Despite having the regenerate trait, and a warlord trying to rally them, the kitchen militia steadfastly refused to rally and the resolve loss was mounting up.

And then the halflings could hold no more and the army crumbled. They had lost 13/12 break points, while the ogres had only lost 5/8. A pretty mediocre showing from the wee chaps, and a mighty win for the ogres.