RE.Lee's "Record of Lost Colonies"

[RE.Lee]

Really missed the scroll, you were right all along. I've been playing against Dwarfs for too long!

The Shaggoth was just inside 7", so luckily didn't have to take a salvo going in.

Turn 3.

Seeing the Chaos forces wavering the Empire decides the time is right to counter-attack. The IC Knights lower their lances and smash into the Gors, intending to slay the last Chaos sorcerer. The Demigryphs join the Steam Tank. Elsewhere the TK Chariots charge the Knights of Tzeentch. Necrokhnights emerge in front of some Chaos Warriors.
Magic buffs some of the Tomb King forces. Shooting is devoid of targets, but takes down my Gorebeast Chariot.
The IC Knights manage to kill my Sorcerer Lord (he was no use anyway), but lose the combat, break and are run down by the Gors! This puts me in a very good position to assault the Halberdiers and the assorted Wizards. The Demigryphs fluff their attacks, lose and flee behind the Empire line! The Tomb King finishes off the Khorne Warriors - their multiple attack did them no good against the furious monarch. The TK Chariots do nothing and are wiped out for their troubles.

The Gors go in! The Tzeentch Knights charge the TK bunker, while the Warriors assault some Necrosphinx. The Shaggoth evades.
There is no magic and the Hellcannon, once again, misses.
The Gors butcher the Halberdiers, break them and force them off the board, along with the poor Demigryphs. Yay! I pray to not kill the Steam Tank, to avoid enemy shooting. Nurgle delivers and the Tank is left with 1 wound. Knights butcher the TK archers, they won't last long.



Turn 4.

The Empire is shellshocked but rallies its troops against the onslaught. The Greatswords turn towards the middle of the battle, while all the human shooters face my Gors...
The salvo is devastating and only my Wargor BSB remains. Magic kills the Shaggoth.
The Bestigors and Crushers finally destroy the Steam Tank, while the Tzeentch Knights slay the remaining archer and the Hierophant (we forgot to crumble).

Knight of Tzeentch go for the Casket. My Bestigors pick on the Hellblaster. Chariot crashes into some horse archers. The Crusher approach the Greatswords.
There is not magic. Guess what the Hellcannon does?
Casket destroyed, Hellblaster destroyed, Horse Archers destroyed.



Quite a turn-around, but we're not there yet. The Empire has substantial reserves - not least of which is the unscathed unit of Greatswords (S4 per house rules).

[SpellArcher]

Really missed the scroll, you were right all along. I've been playing against Dwarfs for too long!

Picture the poor Bloodthirster, aeons of appearing in Daemon lists without scroll cover.

"Banishment? Kiss my ass, I'm in a Legion now! Wha...arrgh!"

The Shaggoth was just inside 7", so luckily didn't have to take a salvo going in.

Nice!

lose the combat, break and are run down by the Gors!

The TK Chariots do nothing and are wiped out for their troubles.

The old 'Chaos Knight Bounce'.

The Gors butcher the Halberdiers, break them and force them off the board, along with the poor Demigryphs.

Hurrah!

Guess what the Hellcannon does?

Consistent at least. Still time to eat it's crew or throw in a comedy 'Friendly Fire' episode.

Casket destroyed, Hellblaster destroyed, Horse Archers destroyed.

Jolly good!

[RE.Lee]

A lot of things went right for Chaos

Turn 5.
The Greatswords move up, shielding the War Altar. The Tomb King faces the Tzeentch Warriors.
There is little magic and shooting - the hangunners learn what a tough son-of-a the Wargor is.
The Bestigors break the other handgunners but fail to catch them and stop short of the Cannon.

The Tzeentch Warriors and Knights charge the Tomb King - they only cause a single wound but the CR is enough to pop the big guy just before he could drink his Healing Potion. Big points for Chaos and Tzeentch.
Crushers charge in, with the Wargor joining in from the rear (that doesn't sound right...). The Greatswords manage to kill one of the Knights, lose, but hold on steadfast (and hold the line and our cold-blooded rule ). The Chariot kills the cannon, while the Bestigors catch the handgunners.

The Hellcannon HITS the handgunners, killing 10!



Turn 6.

The handgunner join the grind in the south. The last Crusher and the Wargor put up a fight but are overwhelmed. The last spell of the game finishes off my Bestigors The Hellcannon however HITS AGAIN, putting 4 wounds on the War Altar. So close, a kill would be massive here!

We count up the points and among the Chaos forces Tzeentch is the clear winner. The difference between the defenders and attackers is just 28 points however (in a 4800 points per side battle!). Thats what I call a close shave, especially since the battle seemed to be almost over on turn 2. The Chaos host managed quite a turn-around - it all started with that ill-fated IC Knight charge. Thats what impetuousness get you!

Thank you for following the report! The bravery of the defenders bought time for the fortress-city of Carroburg. With the 3 elder brothers of Chaos almost spent, the time has come for the Prince of Chaos to step up... To be continued!

[SpellArcher]

The Hellcannon HITS the handgunners, killing 10!

Comedy moment!

The Chaos host managed quite a turn-around - it all started with that ill-fated IC Knight charge.

Never, ever give your opponent a winning combat before his turn.

Thank you for following the report! The bravery of the defenders bought time for the fortress-city of Carroburg. With the 3 elder brothers of Chaos almost spent, the time has come for the Prince of Chaos to step up... To be continued!

You're welcome sir. A bit of decadence never goes amiss!

[Prince of Spires]

The Chaos host managed quite a turn-around - it all started with that ill-fated IC Knight charge.

Never, ever give your opponent a winning combat before his turn.

Overconfidence on the empire / TK side? The battle indeed seemed over T2, with mainly some cleaning up left to do.

It both read and looked like a great battle. Thank you for sharing

Rod

[RE.Lee]

Cheers!

Overconfidence indeed! They thought they had the advantage in numbers and wanted to shut down our (limping) magic phase for fear of some Chaos shenanigans. As it turned out magic was just holding us back

As expected Khorne took a lot of punishment in the first few turns. A dispel scroll (or even 2!) would have been a great idea, as would be taking the Chalice of Dark Rain. The Bloodthirster didn't have a chance against a S7 Banishment, but losing all the Khorne Knights to Light of Death was simply bad luck.

We were almost ready to call it early but thank God we didn't

Tzeentch as always got his way. Some say even the Daemon Prince screeched "just as planned!" as he died

[SpellArcher]

Chalice of Dark Rain.

This does look like a very good item for a Legion.

The Bloodthirster didn't have a chance against a S7 Banishment

I guess one scroll might have seen him go down a turn later but then the Daemon Prince would have survived. Allowing two scrolls would have been very generous!

We were almost ready to call it early but thank God we didn't

To paraphrase an old book I own, so long as you have two men and a dog left, fight on!

Tzeentch as always got his way.

He's a saucy boy isn't he?

[RE.Lee]

Plotting future battles, but I've finally moved my miniatures to my new flat. Here's some army shots to celebrate:







Its not even all my Elves!

Chaos and Skaven have yet to deserve a proper display

EDIT: 2000 posts, yay!

[Prince of Spires]

Impressive collection. Looks like you need more space

And congrats on the 2000 posts

[Lohendrinus]

What a stirring sight

[RE.Lee]

Thanks guys!

Luckily there are two more shelves for me to use and the forces of evil don't have much to show off yet

A little break from games, but I'm going strong with painting - 10 Greatswords and 19 TK archers done, some TK unit fillers and a lot of Empire troops in the pipeline

[SpellArcher]

A little break from games, but I'm going strong with painting - 10 Greatswords and 19 TK archers done, some TK unit fillers and a lot of Empire troops in the pipeline

Any updates?

[RE.Lee]

The only decent shot:



The Greatswords have had their left sleeves dyed crimson to commemorate the bloodshed at Marienburg

[RE.Lee]

About that break in gaming... I've just arranged a battle for Saturday

Bringing Skaven against Dwarfs in a classic encounter. We're taking 2400 points and using my tried and tested Hill&Fort scenario: the hill is the main objective. It can be contested by a non-fleeing, non-flying (monstrous) infantry unit partially on the hill. If both players contest the hill, the fort (a regular 3 storey building) acts as a tie-breaker.

Given that our battles tended to be an arms race to building the most effective gunline, this should shake things up. I'm pretty sure I can contest the hill with my steadfast blocks. But can I clear the Dwarfs? If not - how do I approach storming the Fort? A nice big unit of Gutter Runners with a couple of Assassins in there would be really nice...

[SpellArcher]

The Greatswords have had their left sleeves dyed crimson to commemorate the bloodshed at Marienburg

Tidy work, as always RE. For some reason I'm reminded of the old Lansknecht war cry "Watch...out...here I come!"



About that Dwarf game....do you own a Bell?

[Prince of Spires]

You could always try to simply collapse the fort with the bell

I think the Fort should be your main priority. You should have enough steadfast units to contest the hill. But getting dwarves out of a fort will be tricky. Also, Skaven have the disadvantage in buildings of not counting ranks. Which hampers LD tests. You don't want to be taking too many tests on a 7...

Rod

[RE.Lee]

You could always try to simply collapse the fort with the bell

Haven't considered that! I own two Screaming Bells, actually. A 5th ed one is assembled and painted, while the current model is still in a box.

Considering my options I think I'm going to take a look at some unusual units.

The key things I had in mind when building the army:
- no viable choices for cannons - so out goes the Bell, Abomb, Doomwheel...
- taking down the Gyrocopters a priority - enter Jezzails, Gutter Runners
- multiple attacks crucial in an assault - enter Clan Pestilence

This is a draft list:

Grey Seer
Warlord, War-litter, Antiheroes, Enchanted Shield, Dawnstone, Ironcurse Icon
BSB, Storm Banner
Plague Priest, flail
Engineer, Doomrocket
Engineer, Brass Orb

33 Clanrats, shields, spears (AP), command
2x39 Slaves
36 Stormvermin, command, Razor Banner
3x6 Gutter Runners, poison, slings
3x3 Jezzails, champion
29 Plague Monks, command, Plague Banner
10 Plague Censer Bearers

This would be the first time I leave out the Rare choices!

The positioning of the Hammerers is going to be key. If they go for the Fort, and I think my opponent will try to take advantage of their 2 attacks there, I'll try and weaken them with shooting before slamming them with the Pestilence troops. PCB first probably - they should do a nice amount of damage before dieing. The PMs go in next, fire the Plague Banner and hopefully secure the building.

If the Hammerers go for the Hill, I'm pretty sure I can grind them down with my units. I'll need to be decisive here, because there's no way I'm moving a big unit of Longbeards from the Fort...

Regardless of deployment the Jezzails take down Gyrocopters and the Gutter Runners go for the war machines.

Do you think this could work?

[SpellArcher]

A 5th ed one is assembled and painted,

Pic please!

Do you think this could work?

Yes. Get Dreaded 13th off and those Hammerers are history.

[Prince of Spires]

Some good thinking in there I think. Clan pestilence should be able to inflict a lot of pain on units hiding in the fort (or trying to assail the fort). And you should have enough large units to contest the hill. A seer with dreaded 113th is just icing on the cake.

Of course, it can still go horribly wrong (in true skaven fashion...). And splitting up your troops between hill and fort could leave part of your army at a LD disadvantage. That's probably what I'd go for as dwarf player. See if I can get the skaven troops to spread out between hill and fort. Aim for the LD in parts of them. And then try to get either the hill contingent or the fort on to rout. If you go for the fort then the dwarves just need to make sure that they secure the hill. And if you go for the hill then they just need one unit to stick around there and then secure the fort.

Of course, the same applies to you. But I'm more confident in a single dwarf unit sticking around in the face of overwhelming odds then for a skaven unit to do the same. Their disadvantage is of course that once they commit to a game plan it's hard for them to change course. Their movement is too limited to change their minds halfway through.

Rod

[RE.Lee]

Pic please!

Here you go!



A good analysis, Rod. I need to keep the army compact despite the two objectives. This is doable I think - they're 24" apart so if I place my command in the middle I should have key units covered.

We've changed the point limit to 2500 at my opponents request (it seemed he couldn't squeeze quite enough cheddar into 2400). I've dropped a unit of Gutter Runners and took 2 Warpfire Throwers as well as some Clanrats and an Earthing Rod for the Seer. I just love the old flammenwerfers, and I'm hoping they do well here - the Dwarfs are inclined to close in quicker than usual and there is quite a lot of target saturation for things that usually take them down (GRs, PCBs, Jezzails...).

I'm still not sure about the Brass Orb. Its the first time I'm taking it and while it has potential, delivering it seems tricky. Skitterleap is probably the way to go, but all that fuss to have a 1/3 chance of hitting something?

Stay tuned!

[SpellArcher]

Here you go!

Thanks. Happy days!

2 Warpfire Throwers

Should do lots of damage in the right circumstances.

I'm still not sure about the Brass Orb. Its the first time I'm taking it and while it has potential, delivering it seems tricky. Skitterleap is probably the way to go, but all that fuss to have a 1/3 chance of hitting something?

Yeah Skitterleap sounds good. Or you could just march the Engineer's unit up and chuck it, let's face it you don't care if he dies. You could even move him out as a solo redirector and throw the Orb. Or put some Slaves in first. That nice Horde of Longbeards looks like a good target, fair chance of some decent hits even if you scatter.

[RE.Lee]

Battle done!

Final Skaven list:

Grey Seer, Earthing Rod
Warlord, War-litter, Antiheroes, Enchanted Shield, Dawnstone, Ironcurse Icon
BSB, Storm Banner
Plague Priest, poisoned attacks, additional hand weapon
Engineer, Doomrocket
Engineer, Brass Orb

38 Clanrats, shields, spears (AP), command, Warpfire thrower
2x39 Slaves
36 Stormvermin, command, Razor Banner, Warpfire thrower
2x6 Gutter Runners, poison, slings
3x3 Jezzails, champion
29 Plague Monks, command, Plague Banner
10 Plague Censer Bearers

Dwarfs:
Lord on Shieldbearers, Rune of Fire 2x, Rune of Might, ASF
BSB, Grungni
2x Runesmith, Spellbreaking, Spelleating
Engineer

30ish Warriors, command
14 Thunderers, command
10 Quarrellers, command
27 Hammerers, command
10 Irondrakes, command
Catapult, Cannon, Organ Gun - runed up
2x Gyrocopter

Deployment:


The Dwarfs pretty much gave up on the Fort, keeping just the Irondrakes near. A lot of stuff going for the hill, juicy targets for my Firethrowers...

I went for Lore of Plague and got Withering, Cloud of Corruption, Plague and the signature spell on both casters. I figured this would help me more in the busy fighting for the hill.

Thoughts?

[SpellArcher]

27 Hammerers, command

These could be an issue. Two Hordes to deal with now of course.

The Dwarfs pretty much gave up on the Fort, keeping just the Irondrakes near.

I guess they might be able to make a push for it late game?

Withering, Cloud of Corruption, Plague

The first of these could be brilliant for your shooting. Plague is always dangerous of course. I'd definitely have added Dreaded 13th though.

[RE.Lee]

The Seer did in fact take 13th and not the signature spell

Turn 1.
The Dwarfs stay more or less put - the hill is not that far away and they'd rather weaken me with shooting. Curiously they keep on ignoring the Fort.
Shooting is surprisingly effective despite the Storm Banner - 4 Gutter Runners were shot by the Irondrakes and Thunderes, while a cannon shot killed a couple of Clanrats.

My forces surge forward. I'm mostly out of range of my spells so I attempt 13th on 5 dice but fail. Shooting does nothing, as the Banner is still up.



Turn 2.
The Dwarfs advance towards the hill. Shooting is hampered by the Storm Banner - some more Gutter Runners die however. The Cannon sniped my Seer and I fail my "Look Out Sir!" roll! My opponent fails to wound though and much laughter ensues

I take the Fort with my PCBs, as the Plague Monks rush towards the Irondrakes. The Stormvermin move back a bit, while the Slaves move to protect them. I cast Plague with IF (losing some Clanrats and a wound on the Seer) and the results are devastating - half the Hammerers die, then several Warriors. The spell backfires, but luckily its the Slaves who suffer. Some 20 die, but I couldn't care less. I proceed to throw the Brass Orb at the Hammerers, then shoot them with a Warpfire Thrower. Brutal. My second WFT blows up trying to fry the Warriors, while the Rocket only causes minor casualties on the Thunderers. Jezzails wound a Gyrocopter and kill a Quarreller I think. Gutter Runners wound on of the war machines.



Turn 3.
Seeing the carnage the Dwarfs move in. The Hammerers charge a unit of Slaves and the Warriors climb to the top of the hill. Shooting is manageable - I lose some Plague Monks, some Stormvermin and some Gutter Runners (to Gyrocopters). The Hammerers win against the Slaves, but lose one of their number and the encouraged Skaven hold.

I charge the Irondrakes with my Plague Monks. Magic does little. In the shooting phase the Jezzails do some damage but hilarity ensues when the remaining WFT misfires and runs towards my Plague Monks before blowing up. Luckily the crew detonated a couple of inches away and only 2 Monks were fried. The Pestilence troops then beat and run down the Irondrakes. The Slaves continue to hold up the Hammerers.



This is how things stand on half-time. I've had one hell of a magic/shooting phase on turn 2 and my position near the hill looks good. The Fort is secured and the Plague Monks are threatening the Dwarfs artillery wagon.

Can anything go wrong?

[SpellArcher]

The Seer did in fact take 13th and not the signature spell

Sanity is restored!

My opponent fails to wound though

You knew this would happen when you didn't buy him a 4++?

Seeing the carnage

Vintage stuff!

my position near the hill looks good.

I'd say so, any serious damage to those Warriors would be the game, surely.

Plague Monks are threatening the Dwarfs artillery wagon.

Could silence the Dwarf shooting.

[RE.Lee]

You knew this would happen when you didn't buy him a 4++?

Thats just how I roll

Turn 4.

The Warriors charge the small Slave unit, butcher them and overrun into the Stormvermin. The Gyrocopter surround the Clanrats and deal some damage (I hate those!). The artillery park decimate the Plague Monks, but the frenzied fanatics are going nowhere.

I charge a Gyrocopter, which flees over the Thunderers, panicking them! The Plague Monks turn towards the Organ Gun, they may yet live through this. The Hammerers continue to grind down the Slaves, but the Skaven hold on, under the stern gaze of the Seer. The wizard casts Cloud of Corruption, killing some Dwarfs, but mostly my guys. Jezzails kill a Gyrocopter. The Stormvermin attack, but despite the Warlord getting 7 S7 attacks from his Sword of Antiheroes the casualties are modest. The Dwarfs strike back with force and their Lord drops a Breath Weapon on my poor dudes. I lose the combat and break, but am not caught.



Turn 5.
Warriors stay put. The Quarrellers climb the hill. The Hammerers finish off the Slaves. Shooting kills some of my Clanrats.

I rally the Stormvermin. The Plague Priest charges the Organ Gun and kills two crewmen. The Jezzails move towards the hill, attempting to contest it.



Turn 6.
Just as I thought I could contest the hill with my Jezzails, my opponent moves 3 heroes and the Warriors to block/redirect my approaching forces. Shooting kills the BSB and Seer.

My last chance is beating the Warriors with the Stormvermin and reforming towards the hill. I charge, win the combat and break the Dwarfs but the remaining Stormvermin are too few to reach the hill.



The Skaven have control of the Fort, but the Hill is uncontested - its a minor Dwarf victory!

[Prince of Spires]

reads like a great battle

The wizard casts Cloud of Corruption, killing some Dwarfs, but mostly my guys. Jezzails kill a Gyrocopter.

In true skaven fashion

The Skaven have control of the Fort, but the Hill is uncontested

This feels very out of character for Dwarves, not going for the fort

Interesting choice of tactics for the dwarves. Going all out for the hill was risky as there are lots of ways it could go wrong. But on the other hand, dividing your forces to contest the fort could weaken the attack on the hill while the attack on the fort could very well be unsuccessful.

Rod

[SpellArcher]

Thats just how I roll

The Warriors charge the small Slave unit, butcher them and overrun into the Stormvermin.

Ah.

Jezzails kill a Gyrocopter.

Wow! Just wow.

Just as I thought I could contest the hill with my Jezzails, my opponent moves 3 heroes and the Warriors to block/redirect my approaching forces.

My last chance is beating the Warriors with the Stormvermin and reforming towards the hill. I charge, win the combat and break the Dwarfs but the remaining Stormvermin are too few to reach the hill.

It's all gone horribly wrong!

[RE.Lee]

Fixed the photo for turn 4.

My friend commented that fighting against Skaven is a desperate struggle to survive, while waiting for them to destroy themselves. This was once again true here - I even forgot to mention how the Seer IFed a Withering on 2 dice, trying to weaken the Hammerers

My biggest problem was spell selection. I wanted to go with Plague, for its destructiveness, but had a very limited repertoire in the first few turns. I think double Seer is the way to go, especially since the Warlord and his team once again proved that Skaven just can't fight well.

Putting the Stormvermin in a column would have been a good idea in hindsight. They extra attacks they get in a horde are just not worth the risk of them losing and fleeing. I was taken by surprise by the Breath Weapon from the Rune of Fire - its the first time my opponent pulled that trick (i'm used to the Fiery Ring of Thori, but two?).

I'm a bit sad the PCBs didn't get to fight - they'd kick the butt of anyone going for the Fort, I think. The Plague Monks would have been better off going for the middle of the table instead of the shooters. They could have turned the Slaves vs Hammerers combat my way.

Ah, well - the Dwarfs are tough buggers but the Skaven shall return with vengeance!

Thanks for the comments and stay tuned

[SpellArcher]

My biggest problem was spell selection. I wanted to go with Plague, for its destructiveness, but had a very limited repertoire in the first few turns. I think double Seer is the way to go, especially since the Warlord and his team once again proved that Skaven just can't fight well.

Yeah, I think Ruin is more rounded. Double Seer can be vicious and would be interesting to see.

Putting the Stormvermin in a column would have been a good idea in hindsight. They extra attacks they get in a horde are just not worth the risk of them losing and fleeing. I was taken by surprise by the Breath Weapon from the Rune of Fire - its the first time my opponent pulled that trick (i'm used to the Fiery Ring of Thori, but two?).

When I see Skaven players committing to serious combat it's either with Slaves or because they're Unbreakable (Bell or Furnace). I do think the Weeping Blade/Potion of Strength Assassin is worth a go in Stormvermin.

Thanks for the comments and stay tuned

Will do!