The Chosen ones
Yesterday was the fated match-up between the WoC player who won our Mighty Empires campaign. Let me give you a little background on this one. This player is one of the newer players in our gaming group - not a rookie by any means, but still hasn't been around to see all of the tricks. Before this campaign started, I offered to help him write a list, because he'd been struggling to put together a really cohesive army.
We sat down one night, and put together the list you're about to see over a couple beers.
Fast forward to today - He's been on an absolute tear. He won the campaign by completely massacring the Orcs, and has been getting very comfortable with his list. You could almost say that the unit of Chosen, in particular, have gone to his head a little bit.
After he took the campaign, I decided it was time for me to face the monster I created head on! But winning wasn't enough for me. I
had to take the chosen. No ifs ands or buts about it, the chosen needed to fall. Who better to do it than the glimmering host?
So when reading this match, keep in mind that my end goal was to, for better or for worse, kill his unit of chosen. This is the complete opposite route that I would normally take when faced with these guys - I'd just feed them chaff the entire game and avoid them, killing off the rest of his army.
Warriors of Chaos
Chaos Sorceror Lord - Chaos Armour, Enchanted Shield, Dawnstone, Dispel Scroll, Necrotic Phylactery,
Lore of Shadows
Chaos Exhalted Champion - BSB, Armour of Morrsleib, Mark of Tzeentch, Great Weapon
40 Marauders, Hand Weapon + Shield, Full Command, Mark of Tzeentch
24 Chaos Warriors, Great Weapons, Banner of Eternal Rage, Mark of Tzeentch, Full Command
5 Chaos Warhounds
5 Chaos Warhounds
20 Chaos Chosen, Full Command, Additional Hand Weapons, Wailing Banner, Favour of the Gods, Mark of Tzeentch
Chaos Chariot
5 Chaos Knights
Warshrine
Warshrine
My spells are:
Life: Earthblood, Throne, Flesh to Stone, Regrowth, Dwellers
Light: Banishment, Pha's Protection
and his spells are:
Miasma, Enfeebling Foe, Pendulum and Mindrazor
Deployment
During deployment, I knew the only possible way I was going to kill a unit of chosen with two warshrines was to punch one flank and surround it with my heaviest hitters. I started off with two non-committing eagle drops, then put down my favourite gambit - the Dragon Princes on a flank. This unit is known to have funny reactions in opponents, and I love dropping them relatively early.
Sure enough, it works, and his unit of Great Weapon weilding Warriors goes down on that side. I then continue with my usual tactics of deploying on the opposite flank - I figure my best chance of punching through a flank will come at the hands of the marauders that he put down there.
I win the roll for first turn - phew! - and we start the game.
Turn 1
High Elves
I'm not sure what happened to my battle chronicler here, but the little arrows for movement disappeared for this turn.
My left flank advances forward, with the swordmasters being the most aggressive with their movement. The Dragon Princes on the right peek up over the hill.
I know that I out-range him, with dwellers, banishment and my archers, so there is no sense being aggressive with movement.
Magic is 8 v 4. I start off with a 3 dice Throne, which he allows, then I throw the remaining 5 at a beefed up dwellers at the unit of marauders. I manage it, on a 23, but he rolls all 4 of his dice and gets a pair of 6's.
My shooting manages to kill 3 dogs (why are these guys 11 points again??) and we move on to his turn
Warriors of Chaos
Predictably, he double times it forward towards me. We wrote this list to mangle people in close combat, and that's what he's setting out to do.
Magic is 9 v 6 - I manage to dispel Miasma and Enfeebling Foe, then he uses the rest to dispel Throne.
In shooting, his Chosen get their two extra buffs, putting them at +1A +1S and +1 Armour save. No big one yet!
Turn 2
High Elves
I see an opportunity on the right flank to stall him for a turn, so I run my eagle up in his way - I position it in such a manner that if he charges me, the wheel will clip his unit of dogs, ruining his pursuit attempts if the eagle flees.
The other eagle runs up in the midst of his troops hoping to potentially march block (yeah right lol). I move the lions up enough to dare a charge from the chaos knights, and the north most unit of swordmasters angles himself in such a way that if he chooses to charge them with is marauders, he'll be leaving himself open to some nasty counter-charges. The Dragon Princes back up a smidge to open up their field of vision more to where I predict the action to be in the middle, and to prevent a charge from his chariot.
Magic is 12 v 6 - now we're talking! I get throne back up on my archmage with 3 dice and miscast it - protecting myself once again. God do I love that spell. I then 3 dice a pha's protection aura. Not sure if the picture gets this accurately, but this encompasses both units of swordmasters and the white lions. Finally, I throw 6 dice once again at a powered up dwellers, and he pops out the dispel scroll instead of trying to dispel my higher than average roll.
With shooting, I manage to fell 7 marauders from the horde. Now we're talking!
Chaos Warriors
On the right, his warriors charge my eagle, and as expected, they can't make their wheel to pursue. The eagle flees away to safety. Hey look, I got it right for once! lol.
Not having his ward save gift yet, he slows down his super aggressive advance - he can see what I'm planning in the middle, and he didn't want any part of it... yet. His dogs move up to block a combo charge from the lions, chariot and spears.
Magic is 4 v 6 - Have I mentioned how much I love that annullian crystal? I dispel his one dice miasma, then he fails with a hopeful 3 dice casting of mindrazor.
He rolls once again on the eye of the gods and what do you know? 3+ ward save chosen. Great. I give him a long stern look. So long that it gets awkward.
Turn 3
High Elves
After making absolutely sure that he acknowledged my glance, my elves spring into action. The north most swordmasters spring into action and charge the marauders, and the white lions charge the dogs in the middle. I notice that the angling is such that if I charge so that my lions are weighted right, I'll overrun and have a good shake at those knights behind. The lion chariot charges too, just to be on the safe side, but the white lions' charge ends up blocking it. It moves forward 3".
My fleeing eagle rallies, and the other moves up to protect my white lions from a flank charge by the chosen.
Magic is 11 v 6 - I still have throne up, so I start with a flesh to stone on the Swordmasters versus the marauders. He manages to dispel it. I follow that up with a pha's protection on the same unit, which he allows. Finally, I power up another Dwellers, and initiate operation "soften up the invincible unit" - I miscast it and take 4 chosen down. My miscast is ignored due to throne.
In combat, my swordmasters dice through 11 of the 5+ parry save marauders. They also manage to put two wounds on his sorceror lord, who has a 4+ rerollable versus them. He kills 3 of my guys in return, as he was hitting on 5's from pha's protection. He holds due to steadfast.
The lions hack through the two remaining dogs, and overrun into the knights.
Warriors of Chaos
The chosen howl in frustration at the eagle and back up a couple inches to improve their arc of view on the lions. His chariot charges it from the right, and his other unit of warriors moves up again (the red arrow is supposed to be white).
Magic is 11 v 7 - yeah, boxcars. Here we go... He starts off with an enfeebling foe, which I dispel. He then throws one dice at miasma, and what do you know? 1! His magic phase ends, and he learns a hard lesson about throwing 1 dice at spells, no matter how easy to cast.
Combat with the marauders goes well once again - the swordmasters putting another 9 wounds on his troops, but failing to wound his sorceror lord.
The lions only manage to kill 2 knights, with him rolling some incredible armour saves. He kills a few in return, and manages to hold his line.
In combat, the eagle takes only one wound from the chariot and passes it's break test due to the proximity of the BSB - wow, didn't see that coming lol!
Turn 4
High Elves
My lion chariot springs on the opportunity presented by the eagle and charges the chariot in support. I made a mistake in this turn - the swordmasters don't actually overrun the marauders this turn. Sorry for spoiling the suprise! (lol)
My other eagle flies up to block the wheel of the chosen once again.
In magic, I roll the ill fated snakeyes. That's ok though, my channeling and banner will pull me through! Or will they? I roll a 1 for the banner and fail to channel with both mages. So I literally have the worst possible magic phase at my disposal, with the exception of him having only one dispel dice. I throw all three at a regrowth on the swordmasters, and manage to get 5 back.
In combat, the White Lions finish off the Chaos Knights and hold their position - I have plans for them later.
His chariot manages to kill my eagle, but my chariot manages to put two wounds on his, resulting in tied combat.
My swordmasters fail once again at putting the final wound on his sorcerer, and the rest of them do 6 wounds to his 3. He's down to 15 models total - almost there!
Warriors of Chaos
He advances his right flank one more time, and charges his warshrine into the white lions. His chosen charge the eagle that is once again disrupting him.
Magic is 4 v 5, and I manage to dispel his enfeebling foe. He then gets a miasma off on a good roll, and puts it on my swordmasters for initiative. He rolls a one, leaving them at the same initiative as his marauders - bonus! My spirits are then crushed as he uses smoke and mirrors to teleport his sorceror out of his unit, and the BSB in. I thought for sure I was going to neutralize his magic phase this turn!
In combat, I take all my swordmaster's attacks an direct it at the marauders this time. I manage 11 wounds on the tough little buggers, to his 3. He breaks from combat, despite his BSB's attacks, and I overrun and take the unit (this is the picture from last turn that I did a turn early in the battle report).
The lions fail to wound the warshrine, and the shrine holds in combat.
The lion chariot manages one more wound on the chariot, but it too holds.
Turn 5
High Elves
I prepare myself for the final assault. The swordmasters both loop into position just out of the possible charge arc of the chosen, but still on their flanks.
I decide "what the hell", and declare a charge with my spearmen on the chaos warriors, and my Dragon Princes on the Dogs. Go big or go home, right?
My magic phase is a 9 v 6. I throw three dice at flesh to stone on the spearmen, which he dispels. I respond by throwing 6 dice at dwellers, miscasting and taking out another 6 chosen. He's now down to 14 or so. My throne of vines saves my archmage once again. Have I mentioned I love that spell?
In combat, after the DP manage to kill the dogs and overrun into the warriors, the spearmen and dragon princes muster up a respectable 8 wounds on the warriors, however they take 12 wounds in return. The spearmen are steadfast, but the remaining 2 dragon princes break from combat. Good, I get to keep those points
The spearmen hold.
The lion chariot manages to kill the Chaos Chariot, and I reform to face the middle. I figure I can take the warshrine with it potentially, and if I charge the chosen I'll just feed them more wounds.
The white lions break the warshrine but opt to hold their position - I have a plan!
Warriors of Chaos
The fated hour has arrived. The chosen charge in to the flank of the white lions.
His warshrine charges the flank of my spearmen, and we move to magic.
The dice are 4 v 4, and he manages to get a mindrazor on the chosen with irresistable. He rolls boxcars for his miscast result, and manages to avoid taking his final wound once again. I really can't catch a break here.
In combat, he does enough wounds to break steadfast on the spearmen, and overruns them with the warshrine. He reforms his warriors to face the impending combat in the middle.
The chosen shred through the lions, leaving only 5 remaining. They are stubborn, and they hold, leaving only my makeshift conga line, headed up with the invincible archmage. LOL.
Turn 6
It all comes down to this! 6 turns of setting things up, let's see if I can pull it off!
I charge in with both of my units of swordmasters. The lion chariot charges the warshrine, in the hopes that I can take the points for it as well.
Now, at this point I realize I've already achieved a minor victory, and there is no need for me to try to take those chosen, since they're stuck. But I was on a mission. I was doing this for the good of our gaming group.
Magic is 11 v 7. Throne is still up, so I get a full powered flesh to stone off on the swordmasters, which he fails to dispel with 4 dice to my 3. I regrowth the other unit to near full, and then throw the remainder at a full powered pha's protection, shown in the picture. All of my units in that combat are at -1 to hit.
Combat. Drum roll please.
I throw close to 30 attacks at him between the two flanks. Out of those 30 attacks, 3 manage to wound. Yes. 3. He returns his attacks and manages only 2 on me - thank you pha's protection and WS 6! I win combat, and of course he holds.
The lion chariot wins combat, but fails to break the warshrine.
So much for that...
Warriors of Chaos
The final turn. I'd won the match, provided I could hold on to what I had. This is easier said than done, however, with this ridiculous unit of chosen!
He attempts a long charge from his warriors, but fails to make the distance. He gets a rear charge with his warshrine on the swordmasters, and we move on to magic.
7 v 5 is the roll, and he manages to get an Enfeebling Foe through my defenses. It reduces my northern swordmaster's strength by 1, and he fails an attempt at okkam's.
Combat - This is the big one! My swordmasters finally manage to penetrate his defenses, causing 5 wounds this turn to his 3. We work out the combat resolution and he's lost by 1. He takes his stubborn test and he.... BREAKS! No BSB reroll, and I declare a pursuit with everything that I can. He rolls a 6, and both of my units roll enough to take him out. At this point he is privy to my robot dance, which only makes an appearance in situations as awesome as these. Upon witnessing it, he can't help himself and starts doing it too.
Result:
Massacre for the High Elves!!!!!
Final Thoughts
Don't try this at home, kids! Honestly, charging those chosen was a horrible idea. A unit like that concentrates so much force in one spot that if anything was on the line for this game, I would have simply continued to avoid it and tie it up. It's insane to me that it can take two flank charges from two units of some of the hardest hitting infantry in the game and laugh it down to 3 wounds. If it wasn't for a huge amount of luck, this all could have gone horribly, horribly wrong.
Having said that, I did learn a few things about both armies this battle:
1. With all those little drops, Chaos Warriors really do have a similar advantage to us in the deployment phase. The only giveaway is the placement of the warshrines. Their range is relatively short, and as such you can fairly safely predict the positioning of his chosen/warriors based on their placement.
2. Lore of Light is amazing. Period. In the two games I've played with it, I've been nothing but impressed. Every single spell is useful, and this game I feel showcased how powerful Pha's is in combination with Swordmasters. WS6 ensures that any rank and file is hitting on 4's at most, and so with pha's you can be guaranteed that everyone is hitting on 5's. Add in the fact that you can make it an aura, and you're ready to go! The lore also offers some great ranged damage, which was showcased in my recent tomb kings battle.
3. My opponent forgot to dispel throne of vines most turns. This was probably one of the single biggest things that cost him this game (besides the unit of warriors on the far flank)
4. The Annullian Crystal never ceases to amaze me. Every time I have a 4 v 5 or 7 v 7 magic phase, I am reminded why I take this item - two dice difference is a huge advantage. I find in most games I get at least one phase where I have the same or more dispel dice as he has casting dice, in which case my +5 to dispel gives me a decent chance at shutting him down completely.
And now, the best news: Our Orc player felt bad about his decision to challenge the Chaos player, and suggested that we finish the campaign without him. As such, the battle continues on! I now have a massacre worth of points under my belt, and am looking towards the next battle. My sights are aimed at either the Lizardmen player once again, or the other Warriors of Chaos player, who has been doing pretty well so far.
I'd love to hear your input on this game, just don't be too hard on me for actually trying to fight 3+ ward save chosen.