So this weekend I attended "Svensk Mesterskap" (Swedish Championship) which is open for everyone. We were roughly 25 Norwegians taking the trip to compete with the Swedes, last year a Norwegian won the event so we were hoping one of us could replicate his success.
.::. Battle Report - SM #1 vs Vampire Counts (ETC comp) .::.
My list:
Prince on Barded Steed, Heavy Armour, Enchanted Shield, Giant Blade, Dawnstone, Ironcurse Icon = 268
Loremaster of Hoeth, Book of Hoeth, Talisman of Preservation = 330
Noble BSB on Barded Steed, Dragonhelm, Golden Crown of Atrazar, The Other Trickster`s Shard, Dragon Armour, Shield, Lance = 163
Heavens Mage, Dispel Scroll = 110
Characters = 871
12 Silver Helms, Shields, Full Command = 306
5 Silver Helms, Shields, Musician = 125
5 Reavers, bows = 85
5 Reavers, bows = 85
Core = 601
20 White Lions, FC, BOTWD = 340
20 PG, FC, Razor Standard = 375
Special = 715
3 RBT = 210
Rare = 210
Army Total = 2397
His list:
Vampire lord; GENERAL, lv1 vampires, aura of dark majesty, quickblood, ogre blade, talisman of
preservation, the other trickster shard, @375pts
Master necromancer; lv4 death, dispel scroll,@225pts
Wight king; BSB, great weapon, obsidian lodestone,@160pts
Tomb banshee;@95pts
Tomb banshee;@95pts
40 crypt ghouls; champion,@410pts
29 zombies; musician, banner,@97pts
5 dire wolves;@40pts
5 dire wolves;@40pts
5 dire wolves;@40pts
2 fell bats;@32pts
2 fell bats;@32pts
8 crypt horrors; champion,@314pts
Mortis engine;@220pts
Terrorgheist;@225pts
2400/2400
// Pre-battle thoughts and deployment //
Not the hardest of VC lists, but getting big points from VC is always a problem. 4+ Regen Crypt Horrors are surely no exception here. I wanted to deploy defensively and hope that he would come to me, I cannot push against VC lord + Horrors + Terrorgheist with a lot of ghouls to boot. It just doesn`t work.
I got a central hill in my deployment area and went to work around it, Helms on the far flank to wheel around with Lions central and PG anchoring vs Ghouls. A good start, with characters out of all death snipes for T1 and me intending to bring them into WL when needed for snipe protection. For magic he got snipes and D&D I think, maybe Soulblight. I took Iceshard.
I had +1 to go first and took the initiative!
// HE T1 //
I moved to get in range of the Mortis Engine. The rest stayed defensive. Magic saw me start off with IF boosted Burning Gaze, which killed off the Mortis Engine. I went to work on his chaff with the RBTs, one dog survived from one unit.
// VC T1 //
He thought for a while and then started advancing, slowly. Magic saw me contain everything, this turn was quick.
// HE T2 //
Seeing him advance so slowly caused me to wonder whether he was content with sitting still and grabbing like 8 points or so. I decided that he`d likely continue to seek an openening so I kept up with my passive play. Magic, can`t remember but nothing major. Shooting killed more chaff.
// VC T2 //
Finally he advanced up a lot with his Ghouls and I breathed a sigh of relief. Magic saw D&D land on the Helms which were flanked by Wolves. Fine by me! In combat I killed the Wolves, but not enough because I failed the fear test. He had 1 left, I reformed towards him.
// HE T3 //
At this point it was time to start looking forwards. After this turn I had 3 moves left in the game. I decided to bide my time for one more round to see if he would swallow my passive trap. If he did, this would give me time to destroy Ghouls + Terrorgheist with PG and Crypt Horrors with the Lions. Depending on luck, I could possibly engage his bunker as well.
Magic and shooting took care of more chaff, he now only had bats left. In combat SH win and reform.
// VC T3 //
The commit finally happens! He pushes bats to block my Lions and Ghouls go up far. Magic contained as per usual.
// HE T4 //
I charge Ghouls with PG + SHelms and blockers with WL. Reavers move to block Crypt Horrors. Magic sees me get through Wyssan`s on PG, might`ve been Iceshard on him as well, can`t remember. In combat I massacre the Ghouls badly but with their huge number they remain alive. A PG or two die, they are so resilient!
// VC T4 //
I had placed the Reavers outside of his bunker`s line of sight, however in doing so the crypt horrors had a possible overrun into PG should the reavers fail to die as pursuits happen center-through-center. Had I placed them 3+2 I probably would`ve avoided this. Anyway, he declared the charge and I had to hold. Bunker moves up, TG finally commits. Magic contained. Shooting sees TG kill a Helm or two, nothing major. In combat the Reavers all die (luckily) but he decides to try an overrun into WL (needing 9+ I think), which he fails and he is now exposed to me with his flank. The PG kill all Ghouls and reform to face the TG.
What happens now is that Helms flank his bats, WL flank his Horrors. The bats are placed so that the Horrors have to close the door to my WL, allowing the Helms an overrun. I use my Reavers to set up a trap for his bunker, assuming I win the big fight. PG go into Terrorgheist. Magic sees me land a buff or two but it doesn`t matter: the Crypt Horrors are decimated so horribly that it`s not even funny. PG kills the Terrorgheist as well and reform towards the center.
He sees the trap: if he charges I simply flee and he`s vulnerable to counter-charges. He backs off and in my T6 I try Spirit Leech but MR3 is solid. In his last turn he gets an RBT or something for a few points. Counting up I`m a little over 1000 victory points ahead, which by this tournament`s standard was enough for a
15-5 victory to the High Elves!
// Evaluation //
This game was a good opening for me. I was lucky to have him try an impossible push: with his units split by the huge building he had no choice but to advance like this, if he wanted to at all. I could`ve been left with a passive match here, which with my missiles likely would`ve ended up ~12-8. Playing defensively against his split push with near-immunity to his magic (only danger was D&D) was quite easy since he had long distances to cover and I had lots of space to manouevre on.
The one mistake I made (that was significant) was the Reavers` not going 3+2. Luckily they all died, otherwise it could`ve been nasty, but to be honest I think the PG would`ve killed enough Ghouls to win regardless (I got a LOT of casulties from them as they were still under Wyssan`s).
My opponent ended up placing 94/102