1250 HE vs O&G - Battle Report with Queries

[NiallCampbell]

Afternoon Ulthuan!

Well last night I suffered another defeat. But my spirit is far from crushed!

We actually had to call a halt at the end of turn 4 as my opponent had to leave to meet his other half but if the VP's were anything to go by I wasn't going to last long anyway I swear I was about to make an awesome comeback

Please find below my attempt at a Battle Report for your reading pleasure Apologies for the quality and further apologies for the image size! I compressed them for document size but it doesn’t appear to have worked 

I'd like to get into this Battle Chronicler thing but haven't had time to play with it yet! You'll have to do with the pictures. I've highlighted some key questions in bold red as I wouldn't mind some feedback from you lot. There were a few situations that cropped up where we had to agree a mutual rule between us.

Anyway, first up, here's my list. I'd appreciate your comments. This was a different sort of list for me as I hadn't used Archers before. Nor had I run a Mage within a unit or with a different Lore of Magic. I'd stuck with Lore of High Magic to date. I should maybe start proxy’ing the LSG and Swordmasters as something else (but I prefer to have the actual units on the table and avoid proxies where I can).

LORDS
Archmage - 290
Lore of Shadow, Level 4 Wizard, Dispel Scroll, Talisman of Preservation

HEROES
Noble - 220
BSB, Dragon Armour, Enchanted Shield, Star Lance & Golden Crown of Atrazar
Great Eagle with Shredding Talons & Swiftsense

CORE
Archers - 195
15 Archers with Light Armour
Hawkeye, Musician & Standard Bearer

Ellyrian Reavers - 105
5 Reavers with Spears & Bows
Harbinger

Lothern Sea Guard - 210
15 Sea Guard with Shield
Sea Master, Musician & Standard Bearer

SPECIAL
Sword Masters of Hoeth - 210
Banner of the World Dragon
Bladelord, Musician & Standard Bearer

My own thoughts?

1. Making the Noble on the GE a BSB was next to useless. He was out of range for most of the battle anyway so although it was only a handful of points, it seemed like a waste.
2. One Mage just doesn't seem to cut it in the Magic Phase. I didn't roll too high for the Winds so subsequently most of my spells failed to cast or got Dispelled.
3. One unit of 10 SM's just didn't give me enough killing power. Also BotWD on them was pretty useless as no Magic was directed against them in the end.

Anyway - onto the Battle Report!

Scenario - Simple Battleline. Nothing too fancy, we're still learning the rules so we both agreed this was the simplest option.

Deployment

I'm always amazed by how many units the O&G can field vs my own points limit. Every time I think I've got an advantage, another O&G unit appears! Anyway, once deployed I won the roll for first turn



HE Turn 1

Nothing too exciting, using Vanguard I moved my Reavers forward on the left flank and cautiously moved some of my Infantry with the exception of the Archers.

My magic phase failed to deliver anything of note. My Miasma failed as did a Pit of Shades! Onto shooting and I managed to whittle down some Night Goblins. I was hoping to panic them before the Fanatics were in range of anything... Alas between the Archers and Sea Guard, the pesky Goblins managed to pass their Panic Test.



OG Turn 1

The O&G Giant attempted a Charge. My Reavers passed their Terror Test and opted to stand and shoot. The Giant managed to fail his charge and received an arrow or two to his face for his troubles. The units of Orcs moved up to meet my lonely Swordmasters. During the Magic Phase I took a direct damage spell to my LSG unit which took out six of them unfortunately, but I managed to dispel any further spells. The Orc Archers failed to land all but a single arrow which again managed to take a LSG out of the game!



HE Turn 2

CHARGE! Or so we thought - Do units who charge a Terror causing creature have to take a Terror Test? We assumed 'yes' and rolled for it, luckily they passed and the Reavers made their charge. Unfortunately, even though I'd made the charge, I entered the dreaded 8" Fanatic zone! That's what I get for not measuring... the Fanatic took out three of my riders in one fell swoop (really glad I spent all that time painting them )

Onto Magic and oh dear – awful results. Miasma - Fail. Pit of Shades - Fail. Okkam's Mindrazor...yup - fail.
Onto Shooting - more Gobos hit the floor. Still no Close Combat at this stage so that was it for me.



OG Turn 2
The Orc Horde charged into my Swordmasters at full whack. Combat was met! The Giant also moved in for the kill at this point, but my Reavers failed their Terror Test and ran straight into the whirling Fanatic! First unit kill to the O&G

Luckily during the Magic Phase I dispelled both a 'Gork'll Fix It' and a 'Vindictive Glare'. The Archers had Marched forward as a result of their Animosity Test so did nothing for the remainder of this turn.

Onto Combat and all I can say is thank goodness for ASF! This is where we started getting confused. Multiple Close Combats! We read the rules and worked our way round the dice rolls and Combat Res. Luckily I had managed to direct three of my SM attacks (including champion) at the Orc General and brought him down to one wound! The Orcs barely scratched my unit so the Combat Res was a draw.



HE Turn 3

Again, not much movement on my part. I didn't want to move my Archers as the NG's were now in Short Range. Same for the Sea Guard. With a Fanatic in the way I wanted it out of the game first before committing them to a March. I circled my Noble round behind the Orcs.

With my oh so powerful Archmage I managed to fail another Miasma, but then I miscast a Pit of Shades. The Pit (large template) scattered in a useless direction and I ended up taking Magical Feedback as a result of the Miscast.

During the shooting phase I took out the Fanatic and some further Night Goblins - nothing more exciting at this point.

During Close Combat my Swordmasters missed all but one of their initial attacks on the General. So much for Elven accuracy! See the horrendous dice roll below Luckily this managed to kill the Orc General. We forgot what happens when a General dies so decided to take Ld Tests for all within 12" except Immune to Pyschology units...is this correct?

On the Orc attack, they took out all but three of my Swordmasters so with Combat Resolution lost, they fled the scene.





OG Turn 3

The NG's declared a Charge against the Archers, who stood, shoot and caused the NG's to Panic and Flee - huzzah! Sadly the Black Orcs then overran my fleeing Swordmasters. At this point, the Giant charged my Archers who failed their Terror test and fled the battlefield! Cowards! At this point we weren't sure, does this count as a failed charge? Does the giant get to move?

The Orc unit then flank charged my unit of LSG. What happens when a unit is Flank Charged? Can a General (see below) Make Way out of the way so that attacks can't be directed at him? We decided 'no'.

The Orcs shoved about 9-10 spears into the side of the Archmage...funnily enough all the training in the world couldn't help him escape that and he was slain



HE Turn 4

During my last turn, I charged the pesky Archer Unit in the Flank with my Noble. I reformed my remaining LSG to meet the Orcs (we're assuming we did this correctly) and made ready for Combat.

The Noble with his Star Lance started shredding through the Orc Archers with wild abandon. Due to Combat Resolution the orcs had a -4 modifier and STILL passed their leadership test, unbelievable! Rolled <3 on two dice... insane! Combat was drawn.



OG Turn 4
Some minor moves were made, Magic was useless again so it came down to Close Combat. The Archers finally fled my Noble who proceeded to run down and shred through every one of them But the Orc Spears caused my LSG to flee the scene, they failed to overrun.



Aftermath

The Orc Dead


The HE Dead


The Aftermath


Thanks for reading this far, hope you enjoyed it. Apologies again for image size, I’ll try and scale them down to a minimum for the next one or even go back and edit them once I’m home from work 

Cheers,

Niall

[Nicene]

Niall-

Thanks for the battle report! I will reply to this when i get some time, as there is a great deal to cover here!

[Nicene]

Wow, first: great looking models and terrain! You are a meticulous painter, and it really shows here (especially the reavers). Your setup definitely makes me jealous.

Turn 1:

Magic:
It sounds like you may be misinterpreting the rules here. If you "fail" to cast a spell, your wizard loses concentration and cannot attempt to cast any further spells this phase. Or do you mean to say that your opponent was dispelling them (though this seems unlikely)?

What kind of wizard did your opponent have? It sounds like it might have been a level 2 Night Goblin Shaman. This should give you the chance to get a spell or two off each turn. Either you were getting extremely unlucky with your casting rolls, or you weren't using enough dice! Do a search either on this forum or on google for a spell casting chart--here's one I found: http://www.chaosmailorder.com/blog/2011 ... ers-peril/.

The numbers on the left are what you are looking to roll (the spell's value minus your wizard's level). Of course, rolling a total of two or lower always fails. I'd say a rule of thumb is to always make casting attempts with an 80% success chance. You might aim for a higher chance at the beginning of your phase and a lower chance at the end of your phase. So let's give some examples:

Turn 1, you attempted Miasma, followed by Pit of Shades. For Miasma, you need 3 or better to succeed. This means using 1 power die gives you a 66.7% chance, while using two power dice gives you a 97.2% chance. So I definitely wouldn't attempt to open a magic phase with a 1-die Miasma--two is the minimum here. Second, you cast Pit of Shades, which is a 14+, meaning a 10+ to cast. The chart says we need 4 dice to cast this reliably. So a good magic phase with 6 power dice might be Miasma(2 dice) followed by Pit of Shades(4 dice).

How many dice did you have in this phase, and what other spells might be available? If you only had 4 or 5 dice, Miasma/Pit is probably too aggressive for this turn, and I'd try something easier. The Withering and The Enfeebling Foe are a bit easier to cast (unless you're in long range). Alternatively, with 4 dice, you might have simply cast a 14+ Pit. With 5 dice, a 17+ Pit might also have been an option. In your first turn, if you had those two hexes available, it would probably be worth marching your LSG bunker to within 18" of some orcs in order to have them available to cast (even though your LSG wouldn't be able to shoot).


Shooting:
Did he deploy a lone character out of a unit and on his own? You should definitely be shooting at that guy with all your available shots! It's hard to tell from the picture what that is between the Arrer Boyz and the Orc Boyz, but I'm pretty sure you should be shooting at it.


Turn 2:
(rules) No, you don't need to test for Terror in order to charge. It doesn't say anything about that in the rulebook.
So am I reading correctly that you charged the Giant with your Reavers? I don't think this was a good move--there's no way they can win combat against this thing; you're just throwing them away. A much better use would have been to march them on the OPPOSITE side of the giant, 8" away from the Night Goblins, forcing them to release their fanatics and either send them through the Giant or send them backward off the table (or toward your army's direction, but this would likely cause more damage to the greenskins than to the elves). It's hard to tell from your images, but I think this move might have been possible.

Alternatively, if you're truly afraid of the fanatics, I'd recommend marching the reavers 8" away from the goblin unit but in front of the Orc unit--he can send the fanatics out after your reavers, but then they'll still be flitting around the middle of the table, blocking his units' movements while you ping away at his troops with magic and shooting, in which case you have the clear advantage. It's pretty unlikely that more than one fanatic will reach your Reavers, meaning they have a good chance to survive and still be useful for certain tasks later in the game.

I'd be focusing my shooting on the Giant, or possibly on the Orcs (probably the Arrer Boyz first). While they seem tougher, S3 shooting is actually more effective against Orcs than against Goblins (unless you're pretty confident you can inflict panic tests each turn, and the goblins are out of range of their general).


Magic:
Again, without knowing how many dice you're using, it's hard to diagnose your difficulties in magic. Aim for 80% success rate for each spell! Also--Mindrazor? Were you casting it onto your Reavers? I guess this is an okay move (though I believe there were only 2 of them alive at this point).

Perhaps you were casting it onto your Swordmasters, anticipating the charge from the Orcs next turn. This is a solid choice, though even better would have been to have your swordmaster unit out of charge range of the orcs. There's no reason your lone combat unit should be getting combo-charged Turn 2--allow an extra turn or two for your ranged superiority to show itself, and position your units to surround the orcs if possible. They have to come to you, and you're faster (especially your BSB) so you should be getting good charges, not the other way around. Even your Archers will be quite effective in flank charges against basic Orcs like this, so make sure you're using all the tools available to you!


Combat:
You said you charged the Giant, but then you said "no combat." What happened? Perhaps you stopped the Reavers' charge when the fanatics hit them? This isn't correct--they should take whatever casualties the fanatics inflict, then roll for any panic test, and then continue their (doomed) charge into the giant.

On his turn, I wouldn't know without numbers, but it sounds like you followed the rules pretty closely regarding the multiple combat. Sounds like you were pretty lucky that the Orcs wiffed most of their attacks! Again, you don't normally want your swordmasters getting into situations like this--the idea is to force good combats by using your other tools (magic, shooting, fast units) to get the enemy units into bad positions, and then charge them from multiple angles! Did you consider fleeing from the second charge here? That might have been a good move, especially if they'd be fleeing toward your general/BSB for the easy rally. Forcing two failed charges would be a great way to delay his forces!


Turn 3:

Magic:
I can't really ever recommend casting the 17+ Pit of Shades. Stick with the 14+ one unless you're in a really desperate situation! At any rate, an 18+ Mindrazor would have been a much stronger choice here, I feel.


Shooting:
I can't recommend shooting at Fanatics unless they're really threatening your own units. They are just as likely to destroy themselves (or their allies) as they are to kill your elves, so better to spend your arrows elsewhere. It's hard to know from your images, but definitely only shoot them if they're actually in your way!


Combat:
(rules) Nothing special happens when a General dies. It doesn't say anything about that in the rulebook.

Out of curiosity, did both units of Orcs choose to reform after defeating the Swordmasters? This seems like a poor decision--the Swordmasters have 3 men remaining, meaning they'll probably be able to rally. Better for the Black Orcs to chase them and hopefully wipe them out!


Charges:
(rules) Your Stand-and-Shoot caused a Panic? This seems unlikely--you need to inflict 25% of the unit's original numbers in order to cause a panic test. If you did play it correctly, congratulations! That's some amazing accuracy and hopefully somewhat makes up for your Swordmasters' failings.

(rules) The Black Orcs declared a charge against your swordmasters? In this case, the elves should immediately make an additional Flee! move before the Orcs get to roll for their charge. Judging by the picture, it's hard to imagine the Orcs would be swift enough to catch them. Did your Swordmasters remember to flee?

(rules) Since your Archers were so cowardly, this does count as a failed charge (unless the Giant is able to redirect). The giant will roll 2d6 and move the value of the higher die toward wherever the Archers left the battlefield. Man, your units sure were sure failing a lot of Terror tests! 15 Archers are fully capable of felling a Giant in close combat, so this was certainly unfortunate. Where was your BSB during all this time?

(rules) No, your wizard can't Make Way out of combat. This situation totally sucks for you! What was the combat resolution result of this battle? Surely you lose by a landslide--did your LSG miraculously roll snake eyes to hold?


Turn 4

(rules) Your LSG can combat reform after each round of combat. Since they lost combat, to do so, they would need to first pass their break test (presumably on snake eyes) and then pass yet another modified LD test (again on snake eyes) in order to muster the discipline necessary to change their formation in the face of such a crushing onslaught.

(rules) The Arrer Boyz would have been Steadfast after receiving your BSB's charge, so they'd be testing on their unmodified LD of 7.



I hope I didn't sound too harsh! I tried to answer all your rules questions (and a few of my own) and also point out some tips since you seem to be having so much difficulty! O&G is indeed a difficult matchup for us at low point values, I feel, but there are definitely some things you could be doing differently which might help. I certainly don't know everything myself, and maybe someone else might have some ideas for you as well.

It sounds like you are at least having a good time, which means your regular opponent must be a good guy to play with. That's really important! Good luck in your next game!

[NiallCampbell]

That's fantastic feedback, thanks a lot for taking the time To write this Nicene. I'll digest it all and reply in time
It definitely sounds like we made a few errors to say the least. We could do with someone experienced to watch over a few of our games I think!

I actually am planning on attending a local 1600 point tournament in June but in afraid I might be laughed out the room with my lack of knowledge haha

[Rabidnid]

That's fantastic feedback, thanks a lot for taking the time To write this Nicene. I'll digest it all and reply in time
It definitely sounds like we made a few errors to say the least. We could do with someone experienced to watch over a few of our games I think!

I actually am planning on attending a local 1600 point tournament in June but in afraid I might be laughed out the room with my lack of knowledge haha

Never, fantasy is about the nicest gaming community there is, and people will be too busy drooling over your army to comment on your rules knowledge. If there is a store you can try a game in that might help, but otherwise you will do fine with more practice and feedback.

As for the images, you can stick them in Paint to resize them. The other thing is to try and include one major image of the whole battlefield for perspective each phase so we can tell which way is which. I will try to read though your report when I have a moment and maybe go back and put some ideas against what each of your units can and can't do on your army list.

Edit: You are adding your mages's level to your casting attempts aren't you?

An example...

Your level 4 wizard tries to cast a power 18 spell like okkams. The level 4 then rolls dice. I would say about 5 as a minimum. The dice roll 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 for a total of 15 and then you add your wizard's level of 4 to the roll for a casting value of 19 - which passes.

Your opponent then has a cast spell to deal with. They need to equal or exceed your casting value with their dispell dice or use a scroll. In this case lets say they roll 5 dice as well and again the roll is 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 for 15. There wizard is onyl a level 2, so they add their magic level of 2 for a total of 17. This fails to dispell your 19 so the spell goes though and the wizard is so distracted that he cannot add is level to any other dispel attempts in that phase. If instead of trying dispel using dice they could have instead just said they are using a scroll and the the spell would have been stopped - they do however need to have a scroll, and the scroll is destroyed once used.

You decide to cast a second spell with 3 dice with a castign value of 14. You roll 2,3,4 for a total of 9 and add your wisard's level of 4 for a total of 13. This spell has failed to cast and so your wizard has lost concetration and can no longer cast spells in this phase. Other wizards in your army can continue to cast spells and any bound items like ruby ring of ruin or ring of fury can be used, even by your wizard despitre losing concentration in this phase. I usually include at least 1 ring in an army if I only have a single mage, to make the best use of power dice in case she wiffs of is killed by a misscast.

[NiallCampbell]

Hello folks,

Nicene - once again thanks for the detailed feedback. Please find my comments below:

Turn 1:

Magic:
It sounds like you may be misinterpreting the rules here. If you "fail" to cast a spell, your wizard loses concentration and cannot attempt to cast any further spells this phase. Or do you mean to say that your opponent was dispelling them (though this seems unlikely)?

Oops! That's an error on our part then. Example: I get 8 dice via WoM. I attempt to cast a spell with two dice and fail. I assumed I could then try another spell (but not the same one) with the remaining six dice. Should all casting stop if the first spell fails or is dispelled?

I should point out that my opponent likes to throw most of his dice at once so I'm probably not throwing enough of my power pool at my own spells. Thanks for the chart, that's useful! Your explanation on number of dice and spells is helpful too

Shooting:
Did he deploy a lone character out of a unit and on his own? You should definitely be shooting at that guy with all your available shots! It's hard to tell from the picture what that is between the Arrer Boyz and the Orc Boyz, but I'm pretty sure you should be shooting at it.

Yes, his lone character was some sort of Shaman or Mage. I'll focus on him next time. In all honesty it was the Night Goblins and Fanatics that have shredded my relatively small units before so I was concentrating on trying to Panic them off the table...

Turn 2:
(rules) No, you don't need to test for Terror in order to charge. It doesn't say anything about that in the rulebook.
So am I reading correctly that you charged the Giant with your Reavers? I don't think this was a good move--there's no way they can win combat against this thing; you're just throwing them away. A much better use would have been to march them on the OPPOSITE side of the giant, 8" away from the Night Goblins, forcing them to release their fanatics and either send them through the Giant or send them backward off the table (or toward your army's direction, but this would likely cause more damage to the greenskins than to the elves). It's hard to tell from your images, but I think this move might have been possible.

Alternatively, if you're truly afraid of the fanatics, I'd recommend marching the reavers 8" away from the goblin unit but in front of the Orc unit--he can send the fanatics out after your reavers, but then they'll still be flitting around the middle of the table, blocking his units' movements while you ping away at his troops with magic and shooting, in which case you have the clear advantage. It's pretty unlikely that more than one fanatic will reach your Reavers, meaning they have a good chance to survive and still be useful for certain tasks later in the game.

I'd be focusing my shooting on the Giant, or possibly on the Orcs (probably the Arrer Boyz first). While they seem tougher, S3 shooting is actually more effective against Orcs than against Goblins (unless you're pretty confident you can inflict panic tests each turn, and the goblins are out of range of their general).

Thanks, I'll take these comments into account. I had planned to do exactly that and flank round the Giant to release the Fanatics in his direction. Quite simply, I forgot the 8" range and entered it. But regarding combat with Reavers against a Giant...I'll remember your comments

Magic:
Again, without knowing how many dice you're using, it's hard to diagnose your difficulties in magic. Aim for 80% success rate for each spell! Also--Mindrazor? Were you casting it onto your Reavers? I guess this is an okay move (though I believe there were only 2 of them alive at this point).

Perhaps you were casting it onto your Swordmasters, anticipating the charge from the Orcs next turn. This is a solid choice, though even better would have been to have your swordmaster unit out of charge range of the orcs. There's no reason your lone combat unit should be getting combo-charged Turn 2--allow an extra turn or two for your ranged superiority to show itself, and position your units to surround the orcs if possible. They have to come to you, and you're faster (especially your BSB) so you should be getting good charges, not the other way around. Even your Archers will be quite effective in flank charges against basic Orcs like this, so make sure you're using all the tools available to you!

It's maybe not easy to see the Deployment. The only way I could have avoided a Combo charge would be to move my Swordmasters closer to my own units in the first instance. I deployed my line too wide and he took advantage of that by deploying two big combat units in front of the SM'ers. If I had charged either unit, the other would simply have flanked the SM'ers. I think half my problems was the fact that I was using the LSG basically as archers rather than a combat unit so effectively my SM'ers were on their own.

Combat:
You said you charged the Giant, but then you said "no combat." What happened? Perhaps you stopped the Reavers' charge when the fanatics hit them? This isn't correct--they should take whatever casualties the fanatics inflict, then roll for any panic test, and then continue their (doomed) charge into the giant.

OK - we assumed they'd stop in their tracks - thanks

On his turn, I wouldn't know without numbers, but it sounds like you followed the rules pretty closely regarding the multiple combat. Sounds like you were pretty lucky that the Orcs wiffed most of their attacks! Again, you don't normally want your swordmasters getting into situations like this--the idea is to force good combats by using your other tools (magic, shooting, fast units) to get the enemy units into bad positions, and then charge them from multiple angles! Did you consider fleeing from the second charge here? That might have been a good move, especially if they'd be fleeing toward your general/BSB for the easy rally. Forcing two failed charges would be a great way to delay his forces!

Interesting tactic, so I would 'hold' on the first charge, then nominate to flee on the second? I'll try that next time, might be able to seperate his forces out a bit. Note that I made a comical error with my BSB on Eagle by assuming that I used his movement stat (2"...) as part of rolling for charge rather than the 10" flying range...oops

Turn 3:

Magic:
I can't really ever recommend casting the 17+ Pit of Shades. Stick with the 14+ one unless you're in a really desperate situation! At any rate, an 18+ Mindrazor would have been a much stronger choice here, I feel.

OK - this was my first time using Shadow and I was playing with the various toys The 2D6 scatter is too unpredictable...

Shooting:
I can't recommend shooting at Fanatics unless they're really threatening your own units. They are just as likely to destroy themselves (or their allies) as they are to kill your elves, so better to spend your arrows elsewhere. It's hard to know from your images, but definitely only shoot them if they're actually in your way!

Gotcha

Combat:
(rules) Nothing special happens when a General dies. It doesn't say anything about that in the rulebook.

Really? This seems bizarre. Mind you, we're talking about a game where being attacked in the rear only menas your opponent gets a +1 over you to his Combat Res...

Out of curiosity, did both units of Orcs choose to reform after defeating the Swordmasters? This seems like a poor decision--the Swordmasters have 3 men remaining, meaning they'll probably be able to rally. Better for the Black Orcs to chase them and hopefully wipe them out!

I maybe didn't make this clear, the BO's did charge down the SM'ers and destroy them.

Charges:
(rules) Your Stand-and-Shoot caused a Panic? This seems unlikely--you need to inflict 25% of the unit's original numbers in order to cause a panic test. If you did play it correctly, congratulations! That's some amazing accuracy and hopefully somewhat makes up for your Swordmasters' failings.

Is it not 25% of the units number starting that phase? Or is it the original total as you've mentioned? Example a unit of 25 NG's would presumably flee if I took out 6 of them (well 6.25...do I round up or down?). In the next turn they'd only have 19 so I'd only need to kill 4 and so on? Or do I always have to take the original size into account?

(rules) Since your Archers were so cowardly, this does count as a failed charge (unless the Giant is able to redirect). The giant will roll 2d6 and move the value of the higher die toward wherever the Archers left the battlefield. Man, your units sure were sure failing a lot of Terror tests! 15 Archers are fully capable of felling a Giant in close combat, so this was certainly unfortunate. Where was your BSB during all this time?

As I mentioned, I didn't use the BSB well at all. I had him flanking, but I used the wrong movement characteristic so completely underestimated how far he was able to move. Stupid error on my part!

(rules) No, your wizard can't Make Way out of combat. This situation totally sucks for you! What was the combat resolution result of this battle? Surely you lose by a landslide--did your LSG miraculously roll snake eyes to hold?

I honestly can't remember, I may have done! Thanks for all your help! I think I need to read the BRB again