Ulthuan

Big blunder on my part

Turn 1.

Dwarfs sprint (!) down the flanks. Shooting starts well, as one of the Organ Guns rolls triple misfire and blows itself up (1/948 chance of that happening ), while a Cannon only manages to destroy a stone wall. The other Organ Gun kills a rank of Gors, but there's plenty more.



My Bestigors enter the Fort. Everything moves up, ready to charge. I put some dogs in front of the Longbeards to act as a speed bump, hopefully I can charge them with my main Gor unit. Magic sees Wildform cast on the Beastlord's unit - extra toughness in case of an artillery barrage.



Turn 2.

The Longbeards charge the Hounds. Hammerers assault the Fort. Slayers charge a Razorgor. A Gyrocopter blocks my main Gors, from helping out their buddies...
Shooting put 4 wounds on the Ghorghon and kills a piggy.
Slayers kill their Razorgor and overrun into another one.
Longbeards slay the Hounds and overrun into the Shaman's unit.
Hammerers lose 17 to the Bestigors and deal 15 wounds back before the Runesmith sets off the Fiery Ring, causing 7 more kills, swinging the combat. I remember I only have a Ld of 7, I fail my check and run away...



I charge the Gyrocopter with my Gors and the Slayer with my monsters (might as well, right?). The Chariot joins the smaller Gors against the Longbeards. Bestigors rally.
I manage to cast Savage Beast on my Shaman.
The Beastlord quickly gets rid of the Gyrocopter. I kill a few Slayers with my monsters, but the Ghorghon bites it and the Shaggoth flees. Surprisingly, the Razorgor, inspired by my general, holds!
The Shaman does his best, as does the Chariot, but I lose 22 Gors to the Longbeards (hatred!). I flee.



Well, that was intense! The Hammerers vs Bestigors fight was always going to be ugly. Didn't expect the breath weapon there, really made a difference. At least my Beastlord is now on top of the hill!

_________________
cheers, Lee

Elven Field Surgeon, Department of Intensive Care, Resuscitation and Necromancy

Wow!


Could be tricky.


So it’ll now be very hard to get the Dwarfs out of the tower?


Oh dear.

_________________
Cavalry Prince Reloaded
viewtopic.php?f=80&t=70001

That was unexpected. Both the dwarves running and the organ gun blowing up (though a 1/948 chance just shows it's a silly game mechanic in my mind). You've taken quite a beating so far. The thing to hope for is that the dwarves will run out of steam and that the bodies they lose will hurt them more then your stuff running away.

Rod

_________________

Eirik wrote:

Please try to remember that, no matter how 'official' the source seems, rumours are basically just a dictionary combined with a random number generator

For Nagarythe: Come to the dark side.
PS: Bring cookies!

Check out my plog
Painting progress, done/in progress/in box: 166/18/104

I find thing like this to be the half the charm of Warhammer

Turn 3.

The Longbeards fail to chase off my Great Shaman. The Drakes move a bit.
Shooting finishes off the Bestigors (my opponent was still worried about their combat potential - he forgot they were no longer Frenzied). The surviving Gyrocopter flames my Gors to a decent effect (they're not Chosen, that's for sure!).



I rally my Shaman and Shaggoth, but fail with the Chariot. Gors charge the Thunderers. Razorgor charges a Gyrocopter.
I have a very strong magic phase (12 dice) but only cast Amber Spear (killing 3 Longbeards) before rolling triple "1" for Savage Beasts... Was hoping for en epic last stand!
Gors kill several Dwarfs but fail to break them. At least I won't have to worry about shooting next round. Razorgor and Gyrocopter manage to miss each other with all their attacks. Ha!



Turn 4.

Longbeards charge the Shaman. Irondrakes charge the Razorgor. The Slayers approach my Gors from behind.
Shooting destroys the fence in front of the Shaggoth.
Shaman bites it. Drakes kill my Pig. The Gors wipe out the last Thunderers.



Chariot flees off the field. Gors charge Organ Gun (revenge!). Shaggoth just stands there, while the Hounds try to put themselves into a position to contest the Hill later on.
Gors kill the Organ Gun crew and overrun into the Cannon.



Turn 5.

Slayers hit me in the flank. Gyrocopter approaches the Hounds. Longbeards sprint back towards the Hill.
Shaggoth gets shot down by the Drakes.
I slay the Cannon crew and some Slayers and reform with my front towards the new threat.



Hounds move within Inspiring Presence. If I can survive the shooting phase and not panic I'll be able to put them on the Hill.
I finish off the Slayers - will I make it to the Fort?



Turn 6.

Longbeards claim the Hill. Gyrocopter flames the Hounds and the poor doggies flee in terror.

I need a 7 to assault the Fort but only roll a 6. Anticlimactic. We simulate the combat anyway and I win the mathhammer. At least there's that! Its a 3:0 victory for the Dwarfs!

_________________
cheers, Lee

Elven Field Surgeon, Department of Intensive Care, Resuscitation and Necromancy

Did you consider fleeing with the shaman in turn 4? The longbeards wouldn't get a reform then, meaning they'd be out of the battle for another turn (and wouldn't end up taking the hill at the end). At least I think so.

Nice to see that gor rampage after an unlucky start. I don't come here very often anymore but I enjoyed this report, so thanks for making it.

_________________
"I say the Eatainii were cheating - again." -Aicanor
"Eatainian jerks…" -Headshot
"It was a little ungentlemanly." -Aicanor (on the Eatainii)
"What is it with Eataini being blamed for everything?" -Aicanor

Glad you liked it! I'm still having a blast with 8th ed and I'm painting and playing more that back in 6th or 7th editions.

I honestly thought the game was lost by that point The objective could still probably be claimed by the Irondrakes, so I doubt that would have affected the outcome.

I think I should have kept the force more compact - swinging in with both strongest unit from Fort flank could have left me secure there and with a chance to contest the Hill later on.

_________________
cheers, Lee

Elven Field Surgeon, Department of Intensive Care, Resuscitation and Necromancy

Nice to see you Eli.


The shooting really seemed to hurt this time RE, in particular the Bestigor got hammered, hence your comment about missing the Chalice of Dark Rain I guess. Firepower is something the Dwarfs can use to target different parts of the field as required whereas your army relies on getting combat troops to the right place at the right time.

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Cavalry Prince Reloaded
viewtopic.php?f=80&t=70001

True. My friend is considering selling his Dwarfs because he finds them to be much more boring to play with than the Wood Elves. Point-and-click is easy but not that engaging I guess.

I've finished the first 10 of the Chaos Warriors:



Gorebeast Chariot is up next I think

_________________
cheers, Lee

Elven Field Surgeon, Department of Intensive Care, Resuscitation and Necromancy

I feel it’s really important (and not always simple) to get your deployment right with Dwarfs. Very hard to redeploy with M3.


Like. Not sure about the red banner but this depends on other units I think. You have the usual tricksiness of command figures messing with an unbroken shieldwall RE!

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Cavalry Prince Reloaded
viewtopic.php?f=80&t=70001

Ours get triple movement on the march, making the particularly mobile!

The red on the banner is consistent with the rest of the Chaos/Beastmen force. I think it contrasts nicely with the pale/greenish armour. Though some highlights are needed.

Belisarius the Wise (my Lord of Tzeentch!) will lead his combined force against the Dwarfs today. Should be a great finale to the campaign!

_________________
cheers, Lee

Elven Field Surgeon, Department of Intensive Care, Resuscitation and Necromancy

I’m beginning to see why your guy is more aggressive than most RE.


Very interested to see how the Chosen do.

_________________
Cavalry Prince Reloaded
viewtopic.php?f=80&t=70001

Seeing Dwarfs move a bit more was the main driving force for this change. It did significantly buff the Dwarfs as a result though.

Chosen had to sit this one out, as I couldn't find the points needed.

Chaos:

Belisarius the Wise (Chaos Lord), MoT, SoAntiheroes, ToPreservation, Charmed Shield, Ironcurse Icon, Third Eye, Soulfeeder
Woland (Great Shaman), Level 4 Beasts, MoK, Jagged Dagger, Chalice of Dark Rain, Ruby Ring of Ruin, AHW
Ghazrak de Couronne (BSB), MoK, Beast Banner, Gnarled Hide, shield

23 Chaos Warriors, MoT, command, BoDiscipline
26 Gors, MoK, command, AHW
Tuskgor Chariot
2x5 Warhounds

30 Bestigors, MoK, command, BoSwiftness
Razorgor

3 Skullcrushers, command, Ensorcelled Weapons
Shaggoth, AHW
Hellcannon

Dwarfs:

2x Runesmiths, Spellbreaking
BSB, Grungni
Engineer

35 Longbeards, command
12 Thunderers, command
20 Slayers, command (3 Giant Slayers)
26 Hammerers, command
10 Irondrakes, command

2 Organ Guns
1 Cannon
1 Grudge Thrower
2 Gyrocopters

Deployment:



Dwarfs got hatred against my entire army (yay!) - we went back to the original rules.

My wizard got Wildform, Flock of Doom, Curse of Anraheir, Savage Beast

My idea for the battle was to take and hold the Fort with the Bestigors and try to get some sort of foothold on the hill with my other units.

_________________
cheers, Lee

Elven Field Surgeon, Department of Intensive Care, Resuscitation and Necromancy

Boo!


Given their detached role, I wonder if Gleaming Pennant might be a good choice here?


No Lord is interesting.


Hence the Chalice, I guess. Runed up?


Because of course they did!

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Cavalry Prince Reloaded
viewtopic.php?f=80&t=70001

But of course!

I intended to keep the Bestigors close to my command and with M6 they can reach the Fort turn 1. It also explains why there are Centigor fillers in the unit

The Dwarf lord choices aren't that useful. They can be made rock hard, but its not really an army lacking in anvils.

Turn 1.

I start off by taking the Fort with the Bestigors. Other units just take a couple of steps towards the hill. Hellcannon misses. Magic does nothing of note.



Scouts charge one of the Warhound units and I flee. I might need these later on. Other units converge on the hill. The Hammerers surprisingly decide not to assault the Fort. Ah, its all about taking the hill then. The shooters open up and kill several Gors.



Turn 2.

I move my other Hounds to block the Longbeards, with the Crushers left to cover the hill. Other units face the Hammerers. I didn't expect to need to deal with them here. Hellcannon scatters wildly and hit the Thunderers, killing 4. Magic is stopped with a scroll.



Dwarfs move up ever so slightly. Shooting panic my Hounds and kills some more Gors.



Turn 3.

Shaggoth kills a Gyrocopter. I block the Hammerers with my Razorgor and move up the Chaos Warriors to face them. The Gors stay put, fearing the Slayers. Hellcannon lands a direct hit on the Longbeards, but I roll rather poorly and only kill 7.



Slayers take the hill, followed cautiously by the Longbeards. Razorgor get shot, not charged. I also lose nearly 2 ranks of Warriors. Those are not good anymore...



Rather uneventful so far, I guess. I have the Fort as planned, but my units are taking a pounding. I was hesitant to push them forward, with my strongest unit stuck guarding the objective. Will I pay the price?

_________________
cheers, Lee

Elven Field Surgeon, Department of Intensive Care, Resuscitation and Necromancy

I guess I figured the BSB’s unit would get sucked into the hill fight.


I disagree here. Having a character who can tank damage and dish it out too (especially in challenges) can be really good. You can play without, of course.


It looks further away than 6 inches?


Didn’t trust the Slayers to hold your units off RE?


I’m still wondering about the Blasted Standard on these.

_________________
Cavalry Prince Reloaded
viewtopic.php?f=80&t=70001

You're telling me marching into a building is cheating? But I've been doing it for years!

Dwarf Lords might be useful, but last time the general was beat up so badly my opponent didn't want to give him a second try.

I'm still thinking about the Blasted Standard but the alternatives (+1M, +1Ld) seem so much better.

Turn 4.

I charge the Hammerers with Belisarius. Alone. The Shaggoth scares of the other Gyrocopter. Gors move up some more. Hellcannon misses.
My general loses his combat by one due to static CR but holds.



Slayers and Longbeards camp out on the hill. Shooting targets the Gors and wipes them out, with Ghazrak and Woland the last to fall. Belisarius again kills 4 Hammerers and stays in combat.



Turn 5.

I charge the Slayers with my Crushers, seeing the Longbeards are unable to help. Bestigors leave the Fort, with the Warriors taking their place. I should have done this a while ago, I think.
My Lord loses a wound (outrageous!) and the fight continues. The Crushers butcher the Slayers, but the survivors hold.



Irondrakes charge my general. Shooting kills several Bestigors. Belisarius kills 5 Hammerers and heals a wound due to Soulfeeder but then suffers two more (rolled triple 1 and a 2 for my four ward checks...) and breaks, luckily avoiding pursuit. Crushers finish off the Slayers and overrun (we forgot it wasn't the first round of combat).



Turn 6.
Belisarius rallies. Bestigors charge the Hammerers and deal several casualties. Crushers take the hill.



Crushers get shot at with everything the Dwarfs have (they still have a lot). The last wound is dealt by a S4 breath weapon by the Runsmith. Of course I roll a 1 for my armour save.



I have the Fort but fail to get a foothold on the Hill - its a 2:1 victory for the Dwarfs (both in the battle and in the campaign)!

_________________
cheers, Lee

Elven Field Surgeon, Department of Intensive Care, Resuscitation and Necromancy

Which runes was he packing?


Maybe give it a go for one game against a shooty opponent?


This is how a real Chaos Lord rolls.




An heroic failure! I do think Dwarfs are slightly stronger even than buffed Beastmen. You just couldn’t stop the shooting casualties.

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Cavalry Prince Reloaded
viewtopic.php?f=80&t=70001

He had shieldbearers, a 2+/4++ save so pretty decent defense. I think only a great weapon to fight with. The Hammerers kicking my Lord's but was a reminder I'm no blender lord even with 7 S7 attacks. No re-rolls hurts - the tougher the model the poorer my dice-chucking skills are...

The game took a sudden turn when my opponent decided not to go for the Fort. This left me outnumbered down the middle and my infantry were getting shot up in the valley. One lucky Hellcannon shot might have made a difference but it didn't happen. Same for some magic, but the Shaman died just after my opponent burnt his last Spellbreaking and before I could use the Jagged Dagger in combat to give me an edge. I wanted to leave with the Bestigors but the Gyrocopters kept blocking the northern exit. The dogs and Crushers were doing rather well on the left flank.

I again had a chance to win it up until the last couple of dice rolls. Had the Organ Guns shot less effectively (or had they been silenced in the meanwhile) the Crushers might have survived. I still had Belisarius, the Bestigors and Shaggoth around at the end of the battle - a force to be reckoned with!



I'm taking the Tomb Kings to battle today. Hoping for a decent result, though winning might be tricky.

_________________
cheers, Lee

Elven Field Surgeon, Department of Intensive Care, Resuscitation and Necromancy

Nonsense, I expect you romped to victory!

_________________
Cavalry Prince Reloaded
viewtopic.php?f=80&t=70001

I've read some bits and pieces on Tomb Kings (including the end times book). None can stand before them!

(or is that just GW propaganda?)

Rod

_________________

Eirik wrote:

Please try to remember that, no matter how 'official' the source seems, rumours are basically just a dictionary combined with a random number generator

For Nagarythe: Come to the dark side.
PS: Bring cookies!

Check out my plog
Painting progress, done/in progress/in box: 166/18/104

None but Nagash could stand in their way, to be precise

Reminder on relevant house rules:
TK can march and raise dead per ET rules.
Spears are AP.
(We got rid of the 5 dice limit for casting).

My list (again):

Tomb Prince, Armour of Destiny, great weapon
Ramhotep
Level 4 Nehekhara, Power Scroll, Talisman of Endurance
Level 4 Light, Power Stone
Level 1 Light, Dispel Scroll

23 Archers, command
22 Archers, command
5 Horse Archers
5 Horse Archers
3 Chariots

28 Tomb Guards, command, halberds, BoEFlame
3 Necroknights

Casket
Hierotitan

Vampire Counts:

Blender Lord (on foot this time), level 1
Necrolord level 4, Rod of Flaming Death
Blender Vampire, level 1, Dispel Scroll
Necromancer, level 2, Cursed Book
BSB Wight King

24 Ghouls
2x35 Zombies
5 Dire Wolves
2x1 Spirit Host
6 Crypt Horrors
24 Grave Guards, command, BotBurrows
3 Vargheists

Deployment:


Ramhotep again decided to pimp out the Hierophant's armour instead of the Necroknights's.

Spells:
Hierophant: Desert Wind, Neru, Dessication, Vengeance
Big Light: Shem's, Banishment, Net, Timewarp
Little Light: Shem's

Necrolord: Nehek, Vigour, Van Hels, Curse of Years
All the other casters: Nehek

_________________
cheers, Lee

Elven Field Surgeon, Department of Intensive Care, Resuscitation and Necromancy

I remember reading the White Dwarf battle report after Tomb Kings were the second 8th edition army to be released. They fought the first army, the rather tasty (at the time) Ogres and did not cover themselves with glory. The players seemed confused by this.




“They’d have gotten away with it, if it hadn’t been for that pesky Nagash!”


Very helpful.


Slightly diagonal, which may help. I guess you’ll need to deal with the Vargheists quickly though RE.

_________________
Cavalry Prince Reloaded
viewtopic.php?f=80&t=70001

It was always a bit worrying if the featured army didn't stomp all over its opponent in its WD battle report. The players rarely had a clue about tactics or how to actually play a game. But at least they knew that winning the WD battle report had a positive effect on sales.

Should be a fun battle. Enough room for your chariots to run. So interested to see if they actually do something.

Rod

_________________

Eirik wrote:

Please try to remember that, no matter how 'official' the source seems, rumours are basically just a dictionary combined with a random number generator

For Nagarythe: Come to the dark side.
PS: Bring cookies!

Check out my plog
Painting progress, done/in progress/in box: 166/18/104

Even with our house rules its still a weakish army, but I've developed some experience with it

Vargheists are luckily quite isolated out there.

Turn 1.

I move some of my units up, to be in range. Luckily, both big Banishment and big Shems have long ranges and the former slips through putting 7 wounds on the Vargheists. The archers shoot down the Dire Wolves. Good start.



The VC troops advance down the flanks. Crypt Horrors are out of the general's range, but still M6. Vargheists fly into position to charge my right flank. Magic is hilarious as my opponent starts with a small Nehek with his Necrolord, only to roll two 1s, effectively ending his phase.



Turn 2.

I reshuffle a bit. I manage to take down both Spirit Host with magic (relief, as I had no magic weapons), while the last Vargheist is slain by Horse Archers - yay!



The Grave Guards attempt a long range charge against my Horse Archers and they make it. This slows down the reminder of the army even more. Magic sees a small unit of Zombies raised in front of my Tomb Guards.
The Vampire kills my light cavalry but the unit decided to reform instead of pursuing into the TGs. Surprising.



Turn 3.

Necroknights charge the new Zombies. There is again some minor manoeuvres among my units, the key thing being the evacuation of the light council from the archers.
In the magic phase I cast Neru on the Tomb Guards and follow up by an IF Dessication on the Grave Guards. All is well until the Hierophant get sucked into the warp. I crumble just a little bit but this is bad news.
Necroknights swiftly deal with the Zombies and reform.



Perplexingly, the Vampire Lord charges the archers on his own, while the Grave Guards move just out of sight of my Tomb Guards. There's some argument about whether thats even possible, but I allow it.
Magic hurts as the Tomb Guards get hit by Doom and Darkness (from the Cursed Book) and then Curse of Years.
Vampire obviously wins against the Archers but 6 remain, protecting my wizards in the back.

_________________
cheers, Lee

Elven Field Surgeon, Department of Intensive Care, Resuscitation and Necromancy

I think they're functional Rod. They charge far and bring a fair few hits.


Nice!


Should have brought Book of Hoeth...oh wait!





I guess you get to cast first whatever RE. Would you have had a flank charge on?


You can’t have everything!


What’s the main issue with the Ld loss here? Not the usual tests obviously.

_________________
Cavalry Prince Reloaded
viewtopic.php?f=80&t=70001

Crumble. Leadership 6 as opposed to 9 makes a difference. I was soon out of range of my poorer troops anyway and the Tomb Guards were numerous enough to take it. The Curse of Years was more of a problem at this point.

The Tomb Guards versus Grave Guards, always a tense fight, would be pretty isolated. The Necroknights were too far away to intervene, especially with the new Zombie unit in front of them and the Crypt Horrors approaching fast.

Turn 4.

I lose the small Light Wizard and the archers fighting the Vamp Lord to crumble. I charge the Crypt Horrors with both the Tomb Guards and Necroknights.. Chariots follow. The remaining horse archers block the enemy general, as I target my magic against him. He loses 2 wounds but I fail to finish him off, as dispelling Curse of Years is a priority. The Crypt Horrors all die to a flurry of attacks. The Tomb Guards pursue into Zombies with the Necrolord (nice!), with the Necroknights in their wake.



Both Vampires charge the horse archers. The GGs turn to face where my center used to be. Ghouls do the same. Magic is largely stopped - crucially the healing attempts on the general. Tomb Guards massacre dozens of Zombies and reform to make room for the Snakes. My horse archers die, but not in vain.



Turn 5.

The Hierotitan and several archers crumble. There's still some left but that unit is worth VPs! Conveniently, the shrinking of the unit puts it farther away from the Grave Guards. The Necroknights charge the Zombies. A big Shem's slays the Vampire Lord, while a Banishment deals with the small Vampire. Major breakthrough! The Necroknights and TGs chew through the reminder of the Zombies (as well as the Necrolord) - since the Snakes just charged in they can overrun into the next Zombie unit!



Ghouls and Grave Guards try an close in on my unit. They are both M4 though. Magic is mostly stopped. Necroknights kill several Zombies and reform to allow the TGs in.



Turn 6.

I crumble some more, again increasing the distance between the archer and the Grave Guards. The Tomb Guards assault the Zombies, who get whooped but hold on. There was something like a 100 of them by this time (we used dice, since my Empire/proxies run dry).



The GGs fail to catch the archers. The Ghouls charge the TGs in the rear but I overwhelm them with attacks and both them and the Zombies crumble to dust.



Its a 2:1 win for the Tomb Kings!

_________________
cheers, Lee

Elven Field Surgeon, Department of Intensive Care, Resuscitation and Necromancy

Thanks RE. Live and learn!


Impressive. They’re pretty durable.


Quite a swing.


Pleasing.


Told you so!



Seriously RE, TK’s beating VC’s while crumbling? Well played. I think the devil was in the detail here. Good handling of the magic phase and adroit maneouvres just slowed the VC offensive to a crawl while your best units ripped through the Zombies.

_________________
Cavalry Prince Reloaded
viewtopic.php?f=80&t=70001

Not against 30 flaming S5 attacks with re-rolls to hit

The battle unfolded in a surprising fashion, as these things often do. I initially committed to staying compact and shooting down anything that came too close - this went well with the Vargheists and chaff getting shot early on.

I then wanted to weaken the incoming GGs and get rid of them with a frontal assault with my TGs. I was anxious but figured I could manage with my superior magic and nearby support units. The Vampire Lord came at me sooner than I expected, with his unit pretty much intact but my opponent still feared my advantages. He evaded and counted on me chasing him, while his support units arrived. Those Crypt Horrors are really nasty as are the Ghouls - my Necroknights and Chariots would have serious problems dealing with them.

The counter-charge with the Tomb Guards was something I considered to be a mistake in my last battle, but by this time my supporting Hierophant was already dead and I had a better idea about how to delay the onslaught of the Vampire Lord - the other wizards leaving the archer unit being the key factor here. Actually smiting the enemy general was a nice surprise but my magic was seriously rocking it.

Crumbling hurt a bit, as usual, but its not that bad, even with Ld 6 its only 1-2 wounds per unit. This is more harmful for low wound models (the poor Liche Priest) but for a horde of Tomb Guards its negligible. Chewing through those 120+ Zombies was a pleasure

A tense, dynamic battle rare and win for the Tomb Kings, against their mortal (?) enemies to boot!

_________________
cheers, Lee

Elven Field Surgeon, Department of Intensive Care, Resuscitation and Necromancy

Congrats. Well played. Some interesting turns of events in there. Your opponent somehow didn't follow through with his initial assault. Which gave you some breathing room and let you mount your own offensive.

There is something childishly satisfying about chewing through a unit 120 men (bodies?) big. Lots of dice being rolled is always good

As said earlier "None could stand before them!"

Rod

_________________

Eirik wrote:

Please try to remember that, no matter how 'official' the source seems, rumours are basically just a dictionary combined with a random number generator

For Nagarythe: Come to the dark side.
PS: Bring cookies!

Check out my plog
Painting progress, done/in progress/in box: 166/18/104

Not always a good idea to join a combat with Zombies of course!


Was his leaving his unit a mistake do you think RE?

_________________
Cavalry Prince Reloaded
viewtopic.php?f=80&t=70001