Dragonlord Rising

This forum is for the posting of reports of your famous victories and crushing defeats. It is for both single battle reports and for ongoing army diaries/blogs.

Moderators: The Heralds, The Loremasters

Message
Author
User avatar
Prince of Spires
Auctor Aeternitatum
Posts: 8249
Joined: Wed Apr 22, 2009 1:07 pm
Location: The city of Spires

Re: Dragonlord Rising

#121 Post by Prince of Spires »

CaledorRises wrote:
Prince of Spires wrote: Bring the cloak of beards for the fluffy one. Come on, you know you want to ;)
Ah, I would love to! However, my opponent's fluffy list is for a narrative event in October and therefore is designed as an all-comers list. Bringing the Cloak of Beards would be tailoring my list to fight Dwarves since I never bring it in all-comers games, and I'm not a big fan of list tailoring unless both players do it.
Good point and a very good reason not to bring it. It's almost a pity that "fear" doesn't really do much in 8th edition. Because otherwise, 10 points to cause fear (and thus also be immune to fear) would be a good deal. And then the dwarf stuff would just be a bonus.
CaledorRises wrote:I think my biggest issue was that I was too concerned with keeping the Silver Helms alive. Your suggestion of using them as bait would have been a very good idea, it just didn't occur to me because I was purely invested in how to keep them in the game.
I have the opposite idea with almost all of the units in my army. I don't hesitate to use any unit as sacrificial bait or speedbump if I think it would get me an advantage (though I hesitate with using my general / BSB as such, especially if they're monster mounted). Which might be why some of my models hate me... (my archers and shadow warriors for instance generally underperform...) ;)

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

Check out my plog
Painting progress, done/in progress/in box: 167/33/91

Check my writing blog for stories on the Prince of Spires and other pieces of fiction.
SpellArcher
Green Istari
Posts: 13841
Joined: Sat Sep 13, 2008 11:26 am
Location: Otherworld

Re: Dragonlord Rising

#122 Post by SpellArcher »

CaledorRises wrote:The list is actually a very fascinating one. A contributing factor to placing so well at Triple Crown is that it was a +3 list. So he's got no duplicate warmachines as those are all penalties. He has 1 Organ Gun, 1 Cannon, and 1 Grudge Thrower. The list is designed around the Banner of 12" Stubborn and he's also got a unit of I think 20 Irondrakes with the Slowness Rune.
That sounds very interesting. Each war machine is a threat and the Irondrakes can be brutal. Stubborn would be a nightmare but the Star Dragon excels in a grind and the -1 Strength from Blizzard Aura should come in very handy. A runed-up Lord could be a factor. The Dragon Princes are a threat here because of World Dragon.
CaledorRises
Posts: 250
Joined: Wed Sep 24, 2014 1:55 am

Re: Dragonlord Rising

#123 Post by CaledorRises »

Game 16: High Elves vs Dwarves

Finally getting the first of these games written up! I was playing against a spectacularly painted Dwarf army this time around. It was only my second game ever against Dwarves, so I was a bit nervous going in. We played two games in a short time frame so again these are written up like a tournament game without that many details. The first game we played was the fluffy one. My opponent was preparing for a narrative event so brought an army for that with some special units designed for the event. I decided to run a Caledor-themed list.

High Elves:
Prince mounted on Star Dragon w/ Star Lance, Other Trickster's Shard, Talisman of Preservation, Enchanted Shield
Dragon Mage of Caledor Level 2 w/ Dragon Armor, Charmed Shield, Biting Blade, Dispel Scroll, Ironcurse Icon
Noble BSB mounted on Barded Elven Steed w/ Dragon Armor, Dragonhelm, Ogre Blade, Shield
23x Archers w/ Musician, Standard
5x Ellyrian Reavers
12x Silver Helms FC w/ Shields
9x Dragon Princes of Caledor FC w/ Razor Standard
Frostheart Phoenix
Great Eagle

Dwarves:
King Kazador of Karak Azul (Dwarf Lord with 4 W, S5, first time he dies on a 2+ he comes back with 1 wound, ward saves must be rerolled against him, +1 CR to combats he is in, and he has a 1+ armor save that cannot be reduced below 3+ even by things that ignore armor)
Thane BSB w/ +1 CR banner, Strollaz, stuff
Runesmith w/ Spell Eating Scroll and other stuff
Runesmith w/ stuff
Gyrocopter w/ Vanguard
Gyrobomber
25ish Longbeards w/ Shields w/ Strollaz
28x Hammerers w/ Strollaz
30ish Pride of Azul Dwarf Warriors (+1 S and Stubborn when Kazador is with them) w/ Shields
40x Miners

Magic:
Dragon Mage: Flaming Sword of Rhuin, Fireball

Army Pictures:
Image
Image

Deployment:
The Dwarf battle line deployed mostly in the open in the center with the two copters hidden behind a ruin to avoid early shooting. The Hammerers were in the center with the Longbeards on the Dwarf left. Kazador, a Runesmith, and the BSB went in the Warriors, the Longbeards I think had a Runesmith. The Elven archers deployed dead center opposite this with the Star Dragon behind. The Frostheart was off to the right slightly and the Silver Helms on the left, with the Reavers to their left. The Dragon Princes and Dragon Mage deployed on my far left to flank around the Dwarves along with the Eagle. The Dwarves won the roll-off for Vanguard so the Gyrocopter moved up to block the Reavers from moving and then the whole Dwarf line charged forwards.

Image
Image
Image
Image

Initial Thoughts:
The Dwarf list is very hard to beat in combats so I'll want combo-charges on everything. The Hammerers will shred my cavalry and are the only real threat to my Star Dragon. I'm not sure how to fight the Gyros, they can easily kill my Archers and are a minor threat to cavalry. My list is much faster than the Dwarf list so the goal is to gang up on Dwarf units and beat them quickly, grinds are not really in my favor. That could be hard to do with the Stubborn crowd, though.

Turn 1 High Elves:
I won the roll off! However, in a risky move I decided not to charge anything Turn 1, even though I easily could. The Silver Helms and Archers backed up a bit, the Frostheart circled around the Dwarf rear, and the Star Dragon moved to the left. The flanking High Elf force moved up as quickly as possible screened by the Eagle and the Reavers to prepare for Turn 2 combat and possible redirection. Fireball was eaten by the Runesmith scroll and shooting did nothing.

Image

Turn 1 Dwarves:
The Dwarves stoically advanced forwards and that's about it.

Image

Turn 2 High Elves:
Charge! The Star Dragon hit the Dwarf Warriors in the front. The Dragon Princes joined in hitting the Warriors flank, to allow them space to get past the Reavers charged the Warriors front and the Eagle hit the flank of the Longbeards. The Frostheart also went into the rear of the Longbeards. The Dragon Mage failed his charge to get into the Warriors and the Silver Helms and Archers backed up a bit again to avoid the Hammerers. Combat ensued with the Frostheart killing some Longbeards and beginning one of the most amazing series of 1-hit Thunderstomps I've ever seen. The Star Dragon killed the Runesmith in a challenge and the Dragon Princes fluffed a bunch of rolls so that the Warriors easily stuck. The Reavers died having accomplished their goal.

Image

Turn 2 Dwarves:
The Bomber charged the Eagle in the rear and the Hammerers went into the flank of the Star Dragon. The Gyrocopter moved to block the Silver Helms from helping the dragon and then to my shock my opponent announced he had 40 Miners ambushing up behind my Archers. In combat the Dragon Princes killed more Warriors and the Hammerers did a staggering 6 wounds to the Star Dragon, though they took 12 casualties as well. The Bomber and Longbeards killed the Eagle but the Frostheart stuck around and continued an extremely slow grind on the Longbeards.

Image
Image

Turn 3 High Elves:
The Dragon Mage charged the Dwarf Warriors and the Archers failed their charge into the rear of the Hammerers by a single inch. The Silver Helms charged and killed the Gyrocopter. The Star Dragon attempted a challenge to save itself but the cowardly Dwarves refused. The Star Dragon therefore was killed but took many more Dwarves with it. A bunch more Warriors fell as well. The Frostheart continued the slow grind.

Image

Turn 3 Dwarves:
The Miners charged the Archers and Silver Helms who both fled. The Hammerers pulped the Prince and the Elven BSB cut down the Dwarf BSB. The death of the Dwarf BSB caused a shock upset when the Longbeards failed their Steadfast test and broke from combat, being run down by the Frostheart. The Dwarf Warriors reformed in a conga line behind Kazador.

Image

Turn 4 High Elves:
The Frostheart charged the rear of the Hammerers, the Silver Helms and Archers rallied. The Frostheart killed most of the Hammerers but they stuck around. Kazador issued a challenge and the Dragon Mage accepted it, but Kazador refused to take much damage.

Image

Turn 4 Dwarves:
The Bomber and Miners charged the Archers, killing them and overrunning into the Frostheart who killed all but 2 Hammerers but broke from combat, escaping behind the Dragon. Kazador continued to slap the Dragon Mage around a bit.

Image

Turn 5 High Elves:
The Silver Helms reformed to face the Miners and the Frostheart rallied. Kazador finally killed the Dragon Mage, taking him out of the challenge with the Dragon.

Image

Turn 5 Dwarves:
The Hammerers marched out of the Frostheart charge arc and the Miners pushed forwards. Kazador challenged the Elven BSB this time, but the hero of Ulthuan cut down the Dwarven King. However, the Dwarven king was very annoyed at his death and decided to stand back up.

Turn 6 High Elves:
The Frostheart charged the Miners to keep them out of the main combat. Kazador again challenged the Elven BSB and the Champion of Caledor, Hero of Ulthuan and Son of Tor Caleda put the Dwarf King in his place once again, cutting him down for a second time. The Dragon then munched up the remaining three Dwarf Warriors.

Turn 6 Dwarves:
The Miners fought the Frostheart but couldn't hurt it, it meanwhile couldn't break them.

Image

13-7 High Elf Victory!

Thoughts:
The grinds were longer and harder than I expected. Certainly I didn't think Kazador's unit would stick around that long, but that's partially because I wanted my Star Dragon to kill Kazador and my opponent didn't let that happen. I definitely made a mistake in letting the Hammerers flank charge my Star Dragon, in hindsight I should have charged the Hammerers with my Star Dragon, and possibly the Frostheart too. I could have used the redirectors to keep the Warriors out of the fight for a little while and the flanking force wouldn't have had to engage so quickly. I also was very surprised by the Miners, I hadn't expected them at all which meant my continued retreat with the Silver Helms and Archers doomed the Archers to death and kept the Silver Helms out of the fight for pretty much the whole game. I think on the whole I played decently, but definitely mishandled the Star Dragon, my expectations of breaking the Dwarf Warriors were not based on fact in the slightest and that doomed the Star Dragon to face the single charge that had a decent chance of killing it: a Hammerer flank charge.


I would then take on the elite Dwarven army that won 3rd at Triple Crown.
CaledorRises
Posts: 250
Joined: Wed Sep 24, 2014 1:55 am

Re: Dragonlord Rising

#124 Post by CaledorRises »

Game 17: High Elves vs Dwarves

This game would be a lot harder. I will say at the outset that due to time we did not finish the game, unfortunately. It was a good time, regardless! I brought my Worcester list again.

High Elves:
Prince mounted on Star Dragon w/ The Other Trickster's Shard, Star Lance, Talisman of Preservation, Enchanted Shield
Noble BSB mounted on Barded Elven Steed w/ Ogre Blade, Dragon Armor, Shield
Mage Level 2 w/ Dispel Scroll
Mage Level 2
12x Silver Helms FC w/ Shields
22x Archers w/ Musician, Standard
5x Ellyrian Reavers
9x Dragon Princes of Caledor FC w/ Banner of the World Dragon
Frostheart Phoenix
Frostheart Phoenix

Dwarves:
Runelord w/ stuff
Runesmith w/ stuff
Thane BSB w/ stuff, Banner of 12" stubborn
10x Thunderers
14x Quarrelers w/ Great Weapons
29x Dwarf Warriors w/ Shields
19x Irondrakes
28x Hammerers
Organ Gun
Cannon
Grudge Thrower
Gyrobomber
Gyrocopter

Magic:
Mage: Iceshard Blizzard, Comet of Cassandora
Mage: Iceshard Blizzard, Harmonic Convergence

Army Pictures:
Image
Image
Image
I didn't do the Dwarves justice here, he's got an instagram page if you want better pictures! Worlds_edge_painting I believe it's called.

Deployment:
The Dwarves formed an interesting crescent formation in the center with flanks protected by buildings. From left to right: the Quarrelers, the Warriors with the Runelord, the Hammerers w/ the BSB, the Organ Gun, and the Thunderers. The Grudge Thrower and Cannon were a bit behind the line. The Irondrakes were in a forest off to the right with the copter and the gyrobomber was on the far left. I put a single Frostheart on my far left to engage the Irondrakes with the Silver Helms and Reavers next to them and the Archers in the center. My right flank was the main effort with the Star Dragon, second Frostheart, and the Dragon Princes. The Reavers vanguarded forwards.

Image
Image

Initial Thoughts:
I was expecting a Castle, so this deployment is strange. The warmachines are a serious threat to my monsters, they can easily kill them so I need to be in combat fast, hopefully magic and some shooting can take them down. The only unit of his that I'm concerned about in combat is the Hammerers, but the Dwarf stubborness could make for some long grinds that I don't really want to be in.

Turn 1 High Elves:
I forgot to move the Reavers. The Silver Helms cautiously advanced towards the Irondrakes not wanting to get shredded, while the Frostheart charged forward at full speed. The Dragon Princes shuffled around with the second Frostheart and the Star Dragon to attack the Dwarf left next turn. Shooting plinked a single wound off the Organ Gun and magic put Harmonic Convergence on the Dragon Princes and Iceshard on the Cannon.

Image

Turn 1 Dwarves:
Most of the Reavers were killed by the copter. The Irondrakes unloaded on the Frostheart but only did 1-2 wounds. The Archers were decimated by the Organ Gun and the Cannon failed to fire due to Iceshard. The Grudge Thrower then missed the second Frostheart and hit the Star Dragon instead, taking 4 wounds off it and injuring the Prince.

Image

Turn 2 High Elves:
The Star Dragon and Dragon Princes crashed into the Dwarf Warriors and the Frostheart hit the Quarrellers. The other Frostheart hit the Irondrakes after losing a wound to stand and shoot. The Silver Helms pushed forwards fast to help the Frostheart next turn. The other Frostheart killed many of the Quarrellers and a lot of Dwarf Warriors died but both combats stuck. The Archers failed to touch the Gyrocopter and the Reavers moved to block the Organ Gun.

Image

Turn 2 Dwarves:
The twin copters killed both Mages and all but two Archers in a devastating bombing run and breath weapon attack. The Frostheart killed all but 1 Quarreler and the other Frostheart killed several Irondrakes. In some remarkable shooting the Thunderers and Organ Gun couldn't kill the Reavers so one was left. The Hammerers charged the Dragon Princes in the flank and slaughtered many.

Turn 3 High Elves:
The Frostheart finished off the Quarrellers, the second Frostheart was joined by the Silver Helms and the Irondrakes were wiped out. The Reaver charged the Organ Gun but did nothing. Only one Dragon Prince survived combat and the Star Dragon was knocked to 1 wound by stellar rolls out of the Dwarf Warriors.

Image

Turn 3 Dwarves:
The Archers were destroyed by the copters, the Dragon Prince was killed and the Star Dragon was killed as well. The Frostheart that had just killed the Irondrakes was hit by a cannon ball and killed and the second Frostheart was hit by the Grudge Thrower and took 3 wounds.


That's where we had to stop due to time. At this point the game was probably slightly in favor of the Dwarves points-wise as the Dwarf Warriors, Irondrakes, a Runesmith, and the Quarrellers had been killed at the cost of the Dragon Princes, the BSB, a Frostheart, the Archers, and both Mages, however, the game was very clearly headed for a sweeping Dwarf victory.


Thoughts:
I am not pleased with how I played this at all. The actions against the Irondrakes worked out exactly as planned, but that was it. The Star Dragon taking a scatter hit from the Grudge Thrower was extremely unlucky but also was due to me placing them a bit too close together. I also seriously bungled the Turn 2 charges, going into the Dwarf Warriors was a terrible idea as there was no way I'd kill them all and rerolling LD 10 isn't going to fail. I should have kept the Dragon Princes out of combat as with the BotWD they would be immune to most of the warmachine shooting. The Star Dragon and Frostheart combined could have killed the Quarrellers in one round, opening exploitation moves, leaving my flank open to the Hammerers for a second game in a row was just sloppy playing. I think I would do much better if we played again, but my opponent also admitted that one of the reasons the Dwarf list does so well is that it's a surprise the first time you play it. With yet another extremely disappointing performance by the Archers I am convinced I need to find a new unit in Core to replace them, they've consistently been unable to engage warmachines or Gyros with any form of success so I need to rethink them in my competitive list build.



A few days later I played two friendly games against Orcs and Goblins! Reports to come.
CaledorRises
Posts: 250
Joined: Wed Sep 24, 2014 1:55 am

Re: Dragonlord Rising

#125 Post by CaledorRises »

Game 18: High Elves vs Orcs and Goblins

Finally I got to play some games without any time constraints! Therefore these battles will be returning to form with my long and detailed reports. Also, despite the thread title, I did not have a Star Dragon in this game or the next! I wanted to try something different for the first one, so I went with an almost entirely infantry army, very Lord of the Rings-esq elven force.

High Elves:
Anointed of Asuryan w/ Crown of Command, Enchanted Shield, Giant Blade
Archmage Level 4 w/ Book of Hoeth, Talisman of Preservation
Mage Level 1 w/ Khaine's Ring of Fury, Dispel Scroll
Noble w/ Dragon Armor, Shield, Dragonhelm, Ogre Blade
Noble BSB w/ Heavy Armor, Shield, Sword of Might, Talisman of Endurance
23x Archer w/ Musician, Standard Bearer
5x Ellyrian Reavers
30x Spearmen FC w/ Banner of Eternal Flame
22x Phoenix Guard FC w/ Razor Standard
25x Swordmasters of Hoeth FC
Great Eagle

Orcs and Goblins:
Black Orc Warboss w/ Shield, Basha's Axe of Stunty Smashin, Armor of Destiny
Savage Orc Great Shaman w/ Lucky Shrunken Head, Crown of Command, Seed of Rebirth
Goblin BSB mounted on Giant Spider w/ Shield, Light Armor, Banner of the Spider God
Night Goblin Shaman Level 2
Night Goblin Shaman Level 2 w/ Dispel Scroll
39x Savage Orc Boys FC w/ AHW
40x Night Goblins FC w/ 2x Fanatics
40x Night Goblins FC w/ 2x Fanatics
5x Wolf Riders w/ Bows, Shields
5x Wolf Riders w/ Bows, Shields
17x Savage Orc Boar Boy Big Unz FC w/ War Banner, AHW
Spear Chukka
Spear Chukka
Rock Lobba
Doom Diver

Magic:
Archmage: Walk Between Worlds, Arcane Unforging, Fiery Convocation, Drain Magic
Mage: Apotheosis

Savage Orc Great Shaman: Brainbusta, Hand of Gork, Ere We Go, Eadbutt
Night Goblin Shaman: Nightshroud, Gift of the Spider God
Night Goblin Shaman: Sneaky Stabbin, Vindictive Glare

Army Pictures:
Image
Image

Deployment:
The Orc left had some Wolf Riders in front with the Savage Orc Boars right behind and the Rock Lobba behind that. The center had the massive group of Savage Orcs and on their right were both units of Night Goblins and the second Wolf Rider unit. Most of the artillery was behind in the line except for one Spear Chukka on a hill. My counter deployment had the Reavers on the far right with the Swordmasters dead center and the Archers on the right of the Swordmasters. The Spearmen were left of the Swordmasters and the Phoenix Guard anchored the flank. The BSB, Anointed, and Archmage were in the Swordmasters while the second Noble and the Mage were with the Phoenix Guard. The Eagle went far to the left. In vanguard the Reavers moved up to block the Wolf Rider movement while the other Wolf Riders charged into the center.

Image
Image
Image

Initial Thoughts:
I've got a very slow list and little shooting. That could make for a difficult game. The Greenskin shooting isn't excellent, though, and that will be the target for my Reavers and Eagle. The Greenskin infantry is a mixed bag. The Night Goblins are no threat outside of the Fanatics. The Savage Orcs I'll want to whittle down before I meet them, but the Swordmaster block should be more than a match for them. The hardest unit to counter is the Savage Orc Boars, if they get around me that's very problematic. Fortunately with such a massive footprint the Greenskins may get a little bunched up and flanking the Savage Orc Boars won't be easy. I think the Swordmasters are a match for either of the two big Greenskin hammer units, the issue will be facing both as the Phoenix Guard aren't in good supporting range for them.

Orcs and Goblins Turn 1:
The army moved forwards. In a few places in the pictures single models denote unit corners due to the terrain getting in the way. Magic was a 10-7 phase that saw Nightshroud go off on the Savage Orcs. Vindictive Glare failed to cast due to a bad mushroom and the Shaman was injured. Eadbutt was dispelled while Brain Busta hit the Archmage but was saved. One bolt thrower misfired but didn't take damage and the other shooting missed.

Image

High Elves Turn 1:
No charges were declared. The army shuffled forwards a couple inches. The Eagle triggered all of the fanatics who came forwards but didn't hit the Eagle. The Reavers ignored the Wolves and moved around the hit the Rock Lobba next turn. Magic was 11-6 and Unforging drew the scroll on the Savage Orc Shaman. Soul Quench obliterated the unit of Wolves in front of the Phoenix Guard with a miscast destroying the Ring on 2-dice. Drain Magic then miscast on 2-dice removing Nightshroud and in the miscast Drain Magic was lost as the Archmage became Level 3. Shooting killed 7 Night Goblins.

Image

Orcs and Goblins Turn 2:
One Fanatic spun too hard and died, another went back through the Night Goblins and killed 5. The army moved forwards and the Wolves moved to block the Reavers. Magic was 4-2, Vindictive Glare killed a Spearman and stole a dispel die. Hand of Gork went off on a Fanatic to move it right in front of the Swordmasters. The Doom Diver killed a Spearman after scattering off the Swordmasters, one Spear Chukka took two wounds off the Eagle and the Rock Lobba misfired.

Image

High Elves Turn 2:
The Reavers charged the Wolves to their front and the Eagle charged the Bolt Thrower. The rest of the line backed up a bit. Magic was 6-4, Walk Between Worlds went off on the Archers before Convocation was cast on the Savage Orcs. The roll was exact on the casting value and the dispel missed it by 1! As a result 16 Savage Orcs burned. The Archers then shot off a Fanatic. The Eagle failed to do any wounds and the Reavers killed the Wolves at the cost of a single elf and overran into the Rock Lobba.

Image

Orcs and Goblins Turn 3:
One Goblin unit failed Animosity and tried to charge, failing, hitting the Fanatic and losing 4 Goblins. The other Goblins also tried to charge the Spearmen so that the Boars would have room to fit around the building. Their charge failed but the gap was open for the Boars to charge the Swordmasters. Magic was a 6-6 phase that had Spider God dispelled and Convocation dispelled. One Spear Chukka killed 4 Spearmen while the Doom Diver killed 2 Phoenix Guard. The Eagle then killed one of the Goblin crew but died in return. The Reavers killed the Rock Lobba. The Swordmasters lost 6 of their number but killed the BSB and 11 Boars and ran down the fleeing Boars hitting the Night Goblins behind.

Image

High Elves Turn 3:
The Phoenix Guard charged the Night Goblins to their front and the Spearmen charged to help the Swordmasters. Magic was 7-6, Arcane Unforging was dispelled and Convocation hit the Savage Orcs again, this time killing 4. The Archers then killed another 3 Orcs. In combat the Phoenix Guard lost 1 elf and the Mage took a wound but they killed 9 Goblins. The Goblins escaped the pursuit, however. In the other combat the Spearmen took 4 casualties while 10 Goblins were killed. This time the Goblins broke and were run down, taking the Swordmasters into the Savage Orcs.

Image

Orcs and Goblins Turn 4:
The Goblins rallied after losing 2 of their number to a Fanatic again. Magic was 10-6 and saw Gift of the Spider God fail to cast. In a disaster, Convocation was not dispelled after a failed attempt and 7 more Orcs were killed. The Doom Diver killed 2 Spearmen in spite. In combat the Anointed and Black Orc Warboss got into a challenge and both took a single wound. The Swordmasters then wiped out the Savage Orc unit at the cost of a single elf, but the Orc heroes held on stubborn.

Image

High Elves Turn 4:
The Phoenix Guard charged the Goblins and the Reavers charged the Doom Diver. Apotheosis miscast for the 3rd elf miscast this game, healing the Anointed but killing the Mage, 3 Phoenix Guard, and 9 Goblins. The Archers plinked a wound off the injured Spear Chukka. The Reavers killed the Doom Diver. The Anointed of Asuryan cut down the Black Orc, the Swordmasters killed both Greenskin wizards, and the Phoenix Guard slaughtered the goblins, running down the survivors.


We called game as the Greenskins only had two warmachines left.
High Elf Victory!

Thoughts:
This game was brutal. I actually really liked my High Elf list, a bit to my surprise. I wasn't sure how it would do, but the infantry build worked surprisingly well. I think I played it fairly well, too, though there were some pieces that weren't up to me. The mass death brought about by the Swordmasters was due to cascading overruns taking them into multiple combats. I think the biggest mistake my opponent made was charging the Swordmasters with the Savage Orc Boars. I think he significantly underestimated the Swordmasters and that was the major cause of the Orc defeat as the Swordmasters then rampaged through the army. Fiery Convocation was also a huge boon this game, killing 27 Savage Orcs in total. The failed dispel late in the game was very unlucky. I also had some astoundingly bad magic luck with three miscasts, including two 2-dice miscasts. Fortunately, the miscasts weren't disastrous results, a Cascade on the Swordmasters could easily have cost me the game.


We both then modified our lists, I changed things substantially just to give a different game and my opponent tweaked his. The second game will be posted soon!
CaledorRises
Posts: 250
Joined: Wed Sep 24, 2014 1:55 am

Re: Dragonlord Rising

#126 Post by CaledorRises »

Game 19: High Elves vs Orcs and Goblins

Fourth battle report in four days! I switched my list up a good amount for this game, while my opponent just made some tweaks. We also rolled a scenario and ended up with Dawn Attack.

High Elves:
Eltharion the Grim, Warden of Tor Yvresse
Archmage Level 4 w/ Dispel Scroll, Ironcurse Icon, Talisman of Preservation
Noble BSB w/ Heavy Armor, Sword of Might, Talisman of Endurance, Shield
23x Archer w/ Musician, Standard
5x Ellyrian Reavers
30x Spearmen FC
5x Dragon Princes of Caledor FC w/ Gleaming Pennant
10x Dragon Princes of Caledor FC w/ Banner of Swiftness
25x Swordmasters of Hoeth FC w/ Licheborne Pennant
Frostheart Phoenix

Orcs and Goblins:
Black Orc Warboss mounted on War Boar w/ Shield, Sword of Swift Slaying, Seed of Rebirth, Armor of Destiny
Savage Orc Great Shaman mounted on War Boar w/ Lucky Shrunken Head, Crown of Command
Goblin BSB mounted on Giant Spider w/ Shield, Light Armor, Banner of the Spider God
Night Goblin Shaman Level 2 w/ Dispel Scroll
Night Goblin Shaman Level 2
39x Savage Orc Boys FC w/ AHW
40x Night Goblins FC w/ 2x Fanatic
40x Night Goblins FC w/ 2x Fanatic
5x Wolf Riders w/ Bows, Shields
5x Wolf Riders w/ Bows, Shields
17x Savage Orc Boar Boy Big Unz FC w/ Litcheborne Pendant, AHW
Spear Chukka
Spear Chukka
Rock Lobba
Doom Diver

Magic:
Archmage: Drain Magic, Apotheosis, Walk Between Worlds, Fiery Convocation
Eltharion the Grim: Shem's Burning Gaze, Birona's Timewarp

Savage Orc Great Shaman: Foot of Gork, Fist of Gork, Hand of Gork, Ere We Go
Night Goblin Shaman: Gork'll Fix It, Vindictive Glare
Night Goblin Shaman: Itchy Nuisance, Gift of the Spider God

Army Pictures:
Image
Image
Image

Deployment:
The Greenskins had one Spear Chukka isolated on the left flank and all three large infantry blocks in the center, the Goblins flanking the Orcs. One unit of Wolves was on each flank and the rest of the artillery was clustered on the right behind the Boars. The Elves had the Frostheart stuck on the right flank with the Swordmasters dead center flanked on the right by the Archers and on the left by the Spearmen. The large Dragon Prince unit was on the left and the small Dragon Prince unit ready to move to the right. The Reavers were on the far left. The Reavers vanguarded forwards as did the Wolves, pretty much straight up.

Image
Image
Image

Initial Thoughts:
The Frostheart is a bit out of position. My center is fairly strong and I think can handle the Orc center. The issue is the large block of Savage Orc Boars on the flank. I will try to hold them off with the Dragon Princes, but it could be difficult to do. The Reavers will try to destroy the enemy artillery as the small Dragon Princes circle around the enemy. The enemy magic is much more powerful this game, Foot of Gork is a serious danger and the Swordmasters are more vulnerable without the Anointed giving them an initial ward save and magic resistance.

Orcs and Goblins Turn 1:
Everything moves up, the Boars are a bit cautious. Magic is a 7-3 phase that sees Itchy Nuisance hit the Dragon Princes for 5 off their initiative and movement. Vindictive Glare fails to cast as does Foot of Gork and Gift of the Spider God. The Doom Diver kills 3 Archers and the Rock Lobba kills 3 Swordmasters.

High Elves Turn 1:
The Reavers push forwards aggressively as do the small Princes. The Frostheart heads towards the center and promptly forgets about the danger of Fanatics. This costs him as both Fanatics hit the Frostheart and do 3 wounds. The Swordmasters push forwards aggressively to evade shooting. The Dragon Princes on the left shuffle forwards. Magic is 5-4 and a 2-dice Walk Between Worlds fails to cast. Timewarp then miscast on 3-dice on the Swordmasters, killing one of them. The Archers kill 2 Goblins.

Image
Image

Orcs and Goblins Turn 2:
The Boars cautiously advance. One Fanatic hits the Swordmasters and kills 3 of them. The rest of the army pushes forwards a bit. Magic is 10-7 and a 2-dice cast of Vindictive Glare on the Frostheart gets through the 4 dice dispel, but does no damage. Itchy Nuisance hits the Swordmasters for 5 again and Gift of the Spider God goes off on the Goblins. Hand of Gork is used to move the Doom Diver away from the Reavers and Foot of Gork is scrolled. The Doom Diver kills 2 Spearmen.

Image
Image

High Elves Turn 2:
The Reavers charge the Spear Chukka and the Swordmasters charge the Night Goblins. The Frostheart moves to flank the Goblins or Orcs. The Dragon Princes charge the Wolves that moved in front of them to redirect. Magic is a 9-5 phase that sees Walk Between Worlds go off on the Archers and they use it to move up and kill a Fanatic. Drain Magic goes off on the Swordmasters then to remove Itchy Nuisance followed by a cast of Timewarp on the Swordmasters. In another big cast Apotheosis heals all 3 wounds off the Frostheart. The Swordmasters proceed to mince 22 Goblins at the cost of 1 and overrun into the Savage Orcs. The Dragon Princes annihilate the Wolves and reform while the Reavers kill the Spear Chukka.

Image
Image

Orcs and Goblins Turn 3:
The Boars don't move up for fear of a Dragon Prince flank charge. The Goblins reform to face the side of the Swordmasters. Magic is 10-6 and Itchy Nuisance and Gork'll Fix It on the Swordmasters are both dispelled. Gift of the Spider God fails to cast. Foot of Gork then miscasts onto the Spearmen killing 5 after a bad scatter, then killing 3 Boar Boyz as a 1 is rolled for the stomp again. A Goblin Shaman is killed due to the miscast. Some Wolves kill 3 Archers and a Spear Chukka shoots a wound off the Frostheart. The Rock Lobba then lands a direct hit and kills 10 Spearmen. The Swordmasters cut down 15 Savage Orcs at the cost of 6.

Image
Image

High Elves Turn 3:
The Reavers charge the Doom Diver and lose 1 to Dangerous Terrain. The small Prince unit charges the other Spear Chukka. The Frostheart hits the Savage Orcs in the side and the Spearmen fail their charge at the Goblin rear. Magic is only 5-2 but Drain Magic goes off to boost the Swordmaster ward save and Walk Between Worlds is used to kill the last Fanatic. Shooting kills a single Goblin. The cavalry kill both warmachines. The Swordmasters cut down another 13 Orcs at the cost of 4 elves and run down the survivors.

Image
Image

Orcs and Goblins Turn 4:
The Boars charge the Spearmen who flee, leaving the Boars with their flank to the Dragon Princes. The Goblins charge the Frostheart. Magic is 11-6 and Gork'll Fix It goes off on the Frostheart. Vindictive Glare then fails to cast and Ere We Go fails to cast as well, preventing the Orc plan to use Hand of Gork to escape the Princes. The Wolves shoot down a Spearman and the Night Goblins lose 5 to the Frostheart.

Image

High Elves Turn 4:
The Reavers charge the Rock Lobba and the Dragon Princes flank charge the Boars. The other Dragon Princes charge the Goblin Shaman. Magic is 11-7 and Apotheosis heals the Frostheart. Drain Magic is dispelled, Timewarp is scrolled, and Walk Between Worlds is dispelled. The Reavers kill the Rock Lobba and the Princes kill the Shaman. The Frostheart kills 4 Goblins but takes another wound. In the main combat the Dragon Princes only kill 4 Boars after the Warboss made way, and then the Warboss killed 3 Dragon Princes and the Boars reformed to face.

Image

Orcs and Goblins Turn 5:
Magic is 6-5, Fist of Gork goes off while Ere We Go is dispelled. The Princes kill 4 more Savage Orc Boar Boyz but are killed to the last elf in return. The Frostheart kills 7 Goblins.

Image

High Elves Turn 5:
The Spearmen charge and kill the Wolves. Magic is 7-3 and the Archmage promptly miscasts Fiery Convocation which horribly does not damage. The miscast, on the other hand, is a Dimensional Cascade that kills the Archmage, wounds the Frostheart, and kills 3 Swordmasters. The Frostheart then kills 5 Goblins and loses another wound.

Orcs and Goblins Turn 6:
The Boars fail to charge the Swordmasters.

High Elves Turn 6:
Eltharion joins the Frostheart and together they finish off the Night Goblins.


High Elf Victory!

Thoughts:
Once again I had bad luck with miscasts. I think I played reasonably well, the decisive moment was the fantastic elf magic phase in Turn 2 that made the Swordmasters devastatingly powerful, allowing them to wipe out the Night Goblins and overrun into the Savage Orcs. Healing the Frostheart was also crucial as the Frostheart ended up taking 7 wounds throughout the game but still was alive at the end. I was very surprised at the utter destruction of the Dragon Princes of Caledor in combat with the Savage Orcs, I expected the flank charge to do much better. Part of the issue, though, was the Black Orc Warboss making way so that 4 Dragon Princes had to attack him only and they failed to harm the tough Orc. I thought my opponent played pretty well, I think the Savage Orc Boars were perhaps held back too conservatively, but that's because my opponent and I both thought that the Dragon Princes were more of a threat. My opponent's also normally extremely potent magic let him down here, which showed the risk of his normal tactic of throwing few dice to get a large number of spells off. It has worked very well in the past, but this game it unfortunately didn't, and that very well may have cost him the game.


I have one more game to write up against Lizardmen, but I think I'll wait on that for a little bit!
SpellArcher
Green Istari
Posts: 13841
Joined: Sat Sep 13, 2008 11:26 am
Location: Otherworld

Re: Dragonlord Rising

#127 Post by SpellArcher »

That’s an army with a lot of work on it CR! I also like your army pic at the start. I guess Kazador just isn’t as hard as a Dwarf Lord can be built but it’s an interesting list. Tournament convention here is that all units are shown to your opponent at the start, even if they’re hidden or begin off-table. I guess this wasn’t a tournament game though.

I agree with the decision not to charge Turn 1. I wondered if you had time to run the Star Dragon up your right flank and pick off the Longbeards first, they seemed to be the weak point. It obviously really hurt to lose the Star Dragon but you still ground your way to the win. The Longbeards failing their Break test was surprising but an army will fail a test eventually if it has to keep taking them. Good job!
SpellArcher
Green Istari
Posts: 13841
Joined: Sat Sep 13, 2008 11:26 am
Location: Otherworld

Re: Dragonlord Rising

#128 Post by SpellArcher »

The second Dwarf list looks stronger, the firepower gives it much better board control. I’m slightly suspicious of the Core shooters though and a properly built Dwarf Lord might even have been able to engage the Star Dragon. I like Heavens against Dwarfs. A 50/50 Match-up?

I too was surprised not to see your opponent castle CR. The Star Dragon might have gone better on the left to avoid the multiple combat but that shooting damage was unlucky. Getting multiple Turn 2 charges in should have been good. As you point out though, the Dragon Princes were too exposed, they’re not built for such a grind.

Archers do very little against certain armies and Dwarfs are one of those. I think the mage bunker has two issues. Firstly, it just isn’t as durable as knights or elite infantry. Secondly, without RBT to keep fast enemy troops honest, these can sometimes get at it too easily.
CaledorRises
Posts: 250
Joined: Wed Sep 24, 2014 1:55 am

Re: Dragonlord Rising

#129 Post by CaledorRises »

SpellArcher wrote:That’s an army with a lot of work on it CR! I also like your army pic at the start. I guess Kazador just isn’t as hard as a Dwarf Lord can be built but it’s an interesting list. Tournament convention here is that all units are shown to your opponent at the start, even if they’re hidden or begin off-table. I guess this wasn’t a tournament game though.
The Dwarves are spectacular, aren't they? The unit fillers are particularly good. The thing that surprises me is how fast he painted them all. Kazador was a special character from the tournament pack. There are a few things that might be harder to kill, but he was still amazingly tough to take down. I do agree about the tournament convention, I admit I was a bit annoyed that I wasn't told there were 40 Miners ambushing. To my opponent's credit, he did seem a bit surprised I didn't notice his list was down by something like 500 points when he deployed it, but I don't have enough experience with Dwarves to know what 2500 points looks like.
SpellArcher wrote: I agree with the decision not to charge Turn 1. I wondered if you had time to run the Star Dragon up your right flank and pick off the Longbeards first, they seemed to be the weak point. It obviously really hurt to lose the Star Dragon but you still ground your way to the win. The Longbeards failing their Break test was surprising but an army will fail a test eventually if it has to keep taking them. Good job!
Running up the right flank with the Frostheart probably would have been better. Since in deployment I had committed to a heavy left flank attack I figured I should reinforce that as much as possible to make it irresistible, but due to the staying power of Kazador's unit it would have been better to try to take out the Longbeards and then tag-team the Hammerers with the Frosty and the Star Dragon both.
SpellArcher wrote:The second Dwarf list looks stronger, the firepower gives it much better board control. I’m slightly suspicious of the Core shooters though and a properly built Dwarf Lord might even have been able to engage the Star Dragon. I like Heavens against Dwarfs. A 50/50 Match-up?
My opponent explained that part of the theory behind the small Core shooter units is that if just a single one survives they'll hold on Stubborn and opponents frequently charge them as they seem to be the easy target, which then lets the Hammerers or Warriors flank in. The weakness in that strategy is if the opponent has a unit strong enough to kill 10-14 Dwarves in a single round of combat. I of course did something completely different which was much worse.
SpellArcher wrote: Archers do very little against certain armies and Dwarfs are one of those. I think the mage bunker has two issues. Firstly, it just isn’t as durable as knights or elite infantry. Secondly, without RBT to keep fast enemy troops honest, these can sometimes get at it too easily.
I agree. I think if I were to upgrade the list I'd try to scrape a few points to mount both Mages and stick them in the Dragon Princes and run High Magic then swap out the Archers for 2 units of Reavers and then reinforce the Silver Helms. Of course that would require me to buy a bunch of models that are now out of production. :(
User avatar
RE.Lee
Posts: 2618
Joined: Mon Jan 31, 2005 9:22 pm
Location: Warsaw, Poland

Re: Dragonlord Rising

#130 Post by RE.Lee »

Bit late to the party here. Just browsed through all the reports and I'm amazed by the quality of the armies and the tables - THE TABLES :shock: Thanks for sharing these, really inspiring!
cheers, Lee

Elven Field Surgeon, Department of Intensive Care, Resuscitation and Necromancy
CaledorRises
Posts: 250
Joined: Wed Sep 24, 2014 1:55 am

Re: Dragonlord Rising

#131 Post by CaledorRises »

Game 20: High Elves vs Lizardmen

Finally getting to this. This will be another picture-heavy battle report like my earlier ones, I finally got back together with an opponent I haven't faced in a while, and he brought his newly finished Lizardmen army. I decided to build an army featuring as many models that had been newly painted since I lasted faced him.

High Elves:
Prince mounted on Star Dragon w/ Enchanted Shield, Star Lance, The Other Trickster's Shard, Talisman of Preservation
Mage Level 2 w/ Dispel Scroll
Mage Level 2
Noble BSB mounted on Barded Elven Steed w/ Dragon Helm, Ogre Blade, Dragon Armor, Shield
22x Archers w/ Musician, Standard Bearer
5x Ellyrian Reavers
12x Silver Helms FC w/ Shields
5x Dragon Princes of Caledor FC
9x Dragon Princes of Caledor FC w/ Razor Standard
Frostheart Phoenix
Great Eagle

Lizardmen:
Slann w/ Soul of Stone, Harmonic Convergence, Earthing Rod
Scar-Veteran BSB w/ Stegadon Helm, Light Armor, Enchanted Shield
Scar-Veteran w/ Sword of Strife, Shield, Light Armor
30x Temple Guard FC
25x Saurus Warriors FC
25x Saurus Warriors FC w/ Spears
10x Skink Skirmishers
10x Skink Skirmishers
3x Terradon Riders
Ancient Stegadon w/ Engine of the Gods
3x Salamanders

Magic:
Mage: Searing Doom, Enchanted Blades of Aiban
Mage: Final Transmutation, Transmutation of Lead

Slann: The Withering, Enfeebling Foe, Pit of Shades, Melkoth's Mystifying Miasma

Army Pictures:
Image
Image
Image
Image
Image

Deployment:
We rolled up Blood and Glory for our mission. The Lizardmen had a unit of Skinks covering their left flank with the three Salamanders ready to advance through a gap between two large buildings. The Temple Guard block was dead center with the other Skinks to their right. Farther right was a block of Saurus with a Scar-Veteran and the Engine of the Gods supporting. The final unit of Saurus were on the far right with the Terradons. I countered with the small Dragon Princes and the Reavers on my far right and the Archers behind some walls on my right to pepper the Salamanders and the Temple Guard. The Frostheart was in the center and the Silver Helms and Dragon Princes were to the left with the Eagle and Star Dragon on my far left.

Image
Image
Image
Image
Image
Image

Initial Thoughts:
The fast cavalry on my right will try to circle around the flank and hit the enemy rear. The Salamanders will shred my Archers if they get close enough, so I have to prevent that. The Star Dragon is unmatched unless the Slann hammers me with some powerful magic. My left flank will try to combo-charge things to quickly destroy the Lizardmen blocks, long combats will tend to favor the Lizardmen as Saurus excel in grinds and the Slann's magic can cause serious issues. I've got a big speed advantage so hopefully I can get the charges I need.

High Elves Turn 1:
The line advanced a bit on the left not wanting to get in charge range just yet. The cavalry on the right pushed forwards aggressively. Magic was 8-7. Transmutation of Lead on the Skinks was dispelled while Enchanted Blades went off on the Archers. The Archers then unleashed a deadly volley that killed a Salamander and 4 handlers.

Image
Image

Lizardmen Turn 1:
The Terradons performed a stunning acrobatic maneuver and dropped rocks on the Prince, wounding him once. Meanwhile the Saurus pushed forwards a bit, the Skinks jumped into the tower and the Salamanders rushed towards the Archers hoping to survive the next volley. Magic was 6-5 and Enfeebling Foe hit the Dragon Princes for -1 S. Pit of Shades then failed to cast. The Skinks on the left killed 3 Reavers and the Reavers panicked.

Image
Image
Image
Image
Image

High Elves Turn 2:
The Silver Helms charged the Saurus to their front with the Star Dragon and the Frostheart backing them up. The Dragon Princes shuffled over feeling a bit weak. The Reavers rallied and they continued to pressure the Skinks with the Red Princes. The Eagle moved around the back not sure what to do. Magic was a horrific 2-1 that saw Enchanted Blades fail to cast. The Archers still performed admirably, though, killing a Salamander and a Handler. In combat the Saurus were brutally slaughtered, 17 of them dying at the cost of a single Silver Helm. The survivors were run down and the Star Dragon overran into the Stegadon and the Frostheart into the Temple Guard.

Image
Image
Image
Image
Image
Image
Image

Lizardmen Turn 2:
The Saurus advanced up the flank a bit more. Magic was 9-6 and in a devastating phase Melkoth's hit the Frostheart for -3 WS and then Withering miscast on the Frostheart for -3 Toughness. Combined with the ward save reduced to 6+ it looked like a dead Frosty. In shooting the last Salamander burned away 8 Archers in revenge. The Skinks also killed one Red Prince and the Terradons killed 1 Blue Prince. The Star Dragon then stripped 4 wounds off the Stegadon and the Frostheart killed 8 Temple Guard. However, after a clutch ward save the Frosty survived with a single wound!

Image
Image
Image
Image
Image
Image

High Elves Turn 3:
The Reavers tried to charge the Skinks to accomplish something but one was killed the the Stand and Shoot. The Silver Helms reformed to rescue the Frostheart and the Eagle moved to redirect the Saurus as the Blue Princes moved forwards to engage the Temple Guard if the Frostheart died. The Archers turned to face the Salamander. In a spectacular shift magic came up 11-6. A dispel attempt of Enfeebling Foe failed to get the Blue Princes back up to snuff. Transmutation of Lead hit the Temple Guard and The Withering was dispelled. The Frostheart was now back to T6 with a 4+ ward, but still had only 1 wound. The Archers killed all the Skink Handlers but the Salamander passed his monster reaction test. The Frostheart only killed 3 Temple Guard but survived! The Star Dragon then killed the Stegadon and turned to engage the Temple Guard. The Reaver was killed but took a Skink with him.

Image
Image
Image
Image
Image
Image
Image

Lizardmen Turn 3:
The Saurus Warriors charged the Eagle. Magic was 6-4 and the six-dice Pit of Shades at the Star Dragon was scrolled. The Salamander burned away another 7 Archers. The Saurus killed their Eagle. The Frostheart got extremely angry and killed 8 Temple Guard, again surviving. The Temple Guard reformed to face the incoming charges, putting the Frostheart on their flank.

Image
Image

High Elves Turn 4:
The Silver Helms, Red Princes, and Star Dragon all hit the Temple Guard, killing them to the last Saurus after Transmutation of Lead went off on them. The Slann took 3 wounds and fled and was run down. This broke the Lizardmen army.


High Elf Victory!

Thoughts:
I think my list was significantly stronger than my opponent's, which definitely swung the match. The biggest game-deciding moment was the Frostheart not being killed by the Temple Guard in the first round, my opponent's magic I thought had absolutely trashed the Frostheart and he cast the perfect spells to kill the Frostheart, that combined with the dreadful 2-dice magic phase before meant the Frostheart was being hit on 3s and wounded on 3s. Only a clutch ward save at the end saved it, and after that the Frostheart ripped and tore through the Temple Guard, killing a shocking 19 of them on its own. The Archers also did remarkably well in cutting down the Salamanders even though they were almost destroyed in the process. I think my opponent's largest mistake was on Turn 1 when he slightly shuffled the Saurus block in the middle closer to me to tempt me into charging. It would have been better to pull backwards so that my charges would fail. I don't think he anticipated the 25 Saurus plus a Scar-Veteran being taken down in a single round of combat, but they were being faced with an extremely powerful potential charge. Had they held he had set up a good counter-move with the Ancient Stegadon and Temple Guard in position to counter-charge, but I had too many heavy-hitters on a very small frontage for them to hold, which tore a hole through the Lizardmen line.
CaledorRises
Posts: 250
Joined: Wed Sep 24, 2014 1:55 am

Re: Dragonlord Rising

#132 Post by CaledorRises »

RE.Lee wrote:Bit late to the party here. Just browsed through all the reports and I'm amazed by the quality of the armies and the tables - THE TABLES :shock: Thanks for sharing these, really inspiring!
Thank you! Yeah, I have been pretty lucky in finding places with good tables and terrain to play games.
SpellArcher
Green Istari
Posts: 13841
Joined: Sat Sep 13, 2008 11:26 am
Location: Otherworld

Re: Dragonlord Rising

#133 Post by SpellArcher »

I largely agree with your thoughts on the lists in the first O&G game CR. Your roster is slow and it lacks shooting. But it has two good combat units. The O&G have some shooting and a fast hammer unit in the Boars. But it’s not that efficient a unit and and there are no Trolls or Manglers, staples of almost all competitive lists. The Snipes are potentially dangerous but the lack of Foot of Gork is worrying.

I felt the deployment gave a chance for the Boar Boyz to make a wide circuit of the building and attack the Archers but maybe the small walls restricted that? I don’t see why the flank with the Night Goblins would want to attack. In contrast the HE line just ground forwards and chewed up whatever it ran into. You definitely played the unit-level tactics better.
SpellArcher
Green Istari
Posts: 13841
Joined: Sat Sep 13, 2008 11:26 am
Location: Otherworld

Re: Dragonlord Rising

#134 Post by SpellArcher »

For the second O&G game I liked your list better CR, mainly because of the Frostheart. The Boar unit was obviously a big threat with the characters in it. Spells were good on both sides, as you showed High Magic works great with Monsters.

I actually thought you’d go for the right wing first but direct assault worked pretty well. With the points in that Boar unit it really had to get moving quicker. Foot of Gork was nicely scrolled. The Cascade was unlucky but did you have to go for Convocation then, given you were on top anyway? Still a win of course.
CaledorRises
Posts: 250
Joined: Wed Sep 24, 2014 1:55 am

Re: Dragonlord Rising

#135 Post by CaledorRises »

SpellArcher wrote:I felt the deployment gave a chance for the Boar Boyz to make a wide circuit of the building and attack the Archers but maybe the small walls restricted that? I don’t see why the flank with the Night Goblins would want to attack. In contrast the HE line just ground forwards and chewed up whatever it ran into. You definitely played the unit-level tactics better.
I'm not sure why the Goblins attacked, they definitely could have held back. The Boars could have flanked but it would have taken a while and all the fences would mean a lot of dangerous terrain tests or the unit would be moving very slowly.
SpellArcher wrote:The Cascade was unlucky but did you have to go for Convocation then, given you were on top anyway? Still a win of course.
I definitely didn't need to go for Convocation, I was looking for the potential tabling sweep by trying to take down the Boars as well, so I just got a bit greedy and the magic definitely made me pay for that.
CaledorRises
Posts: 250
Joined: Wed Sep 24, 2014 1:55 am

Re: Dragonlord Rising

#136 Post by CaledorRises »

I've signed up for the Sheffield Tournament and first matchups have just gone out. I'm taking a slightly modified version of my Worcester list, dropping the Archers and replacing them with Spearmen. This is because the Archers have been disappointments in most of my games and the Spearmen will give me a slightly more resilient Mage bunker and more importantly the Spearmen are worth +1 comp points, which should help me in the final scoring of the event a little bit.

The event has 16 players signed up with a massively elf heavy bias:
High Elves (3)
Lizardmen (3)
Dark Elves (2)
Vampire Counts (2)
Wood Elves (1)
Tomb Kings (1)
Nippon (1)
Orcs and Goblins (1)
Warriors of Chaos (1)

My first match-up is against a Vampire Count army, the lists will evidently be posted prior to the event excepting assassins and magic items, I'll post what I'm up against when I find out!

The event is interesting in that there's no Battle Line games. The first game will be Dawn Attack which has the potential to really mess with people. I think Vampires could be really hurt by that if a unit isn't in General march range or is far away from wizards, my list is fast enough that hopefully it won't be badly affected by Dawn Attack. The second game is Battle for the Pass which would be murder for me against a Gun Line but fortunately it's unlikely that I'll see an effective gunline this event. The final game is Blood and Glory which my list is pretty good at with a high banner count.
CaledorRises
Posts: 250
Joined: Wed Sep 24, 2014 1:55 am

Re: Dragonlord Rising

#137 Post by CaledorRises »

Right, so my first opponent will be bringing the following list:

Mannfred von Carstein on Barded Nightmare
Necromancer Level 1
Necromancer Level 1
30x Crypt Ghouls w/ Champion
5x Dire Wolves
5x Dire Wolves
40x Skeletons FC w/ Spears
10x Black Knights FC
6x Crypt Horrors w/ Champion
6x Vargheists w/ Champion
3x Spirit Host
Terrorgheist


I think on the whole I have the advantage in this match-up. Mannfred brings an exceptionally powerful magic phase, and the Necromancers help with that, and the Terrorgheist is a serious threat that could be hard to deal with, I always have trouble with Terrorgheists. Lore of Heavens magic missiles would be very helpful against a Terrorgheist and the two main infantry blocks aren't large enough that I think they'll be huge issues. The Vargheists are potentially dangerous but their low toughness and no save means that they could have some trouble hurting my important units. Crucially I don't think my opponent really has an answer to the Star Dragon outside of Mannfred and the Terrorgheist attempting to tag-team it with magic and the scream, which makes eliminating the Terrorgheist ever more important.
User avatar
Prince of Spires
Auctor Aeternitatum
Posts: 8249
Joined: Wed Apr 22, 2009 1:07 pm
Location: The city of Spires

Re: Dragonlord Rising

#138 Post by Prince of Spires »

CaledorRises wrote:The event is interesting in that there's no Battle Line games. The first game will be Dawn Attack which has the potential to really mess with people. I think Vampires could be really hurt by that if a unit isn't in General march range or is far away from wizards, my list is fast enough that hopefully it won't be badly affected by Dawn Attack. The second game is Battle for the Pass which would be murder for me against a Gun Line but fortunately it's unlikely that I'll see an effective gunline this event. The final game is Blood and Glory which my list is pretty good at with a high banner count.
That sounds like a pretty great event. Nice to see the different scenario's getting some attention. Your analysis of the different scenario's is pretty good I think. HE are at an advantage in Dawn Attack, since they don't depend on the generals LD and BSB reroll as much as most other armies, and the can be very fast and mobile. It can really put armies like VC or skaven at a disadvantage with messing up the deployment. The thing to be warry of here is getting your army all spread out and single units picked off. A HE army functions best when units support each other (which is why a refused flank is popular as a deployment option). So you might want to take some time to regroup before pushing too hard.

Battle for the pass is interesting. Your flyers should help deal with the limited room to maneuvre (which can be an issue, especially against horde style armies). When up against a gun line I would hide or rush it, depending on the terrain on the table of course. If you stick to the far edge of your deployment zone you should be out of range of pretty much any shooting. Makes for a boring game, but a tie or small loss is better then massacre where you get shot to pieces. If there is enough terrain on the table to hide behind while you advance or if your opponent deploys too far forward, then you can use the terrain and rush his army. While the large single models are a disadvantage, the speed you have is an advantage here.
CaledorRises wrote:Mannfred von Carstein on Barded Nightmare
Necromancer Level 1
Necromancer Level 1
30x Crypt Ghouls w/ Champion
5x Dire Wolves
5x Dire Wolves
40x Skeletons FC w/ Spears
10x Black Knights FC
6x Crypt Horrors w/ Champion
6x Vargheists w/ Champion
3x Spirit Host
Terrorgheist
You definitely have a shot against this list. Especially if he's a bit unlucky with his deployment. Keep in mind that VC magic can keep raising the skeletons back up (and above their starting size in some cases). You could end up getting stuck in units that just keep getting back up. There is definitely some scary stuff in the list. But to deal with the Star Dragon, he needs to get at least 2 of the units into it. So that should be your main focus. If you can take out Mannfred, then you've won half the battle I think. Also, Mannfred for his magic partially depends on killing stuff. So, keep your archers and reavers away from him if you can.

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

Check out my plog
Painting progress, done/in progress/in box: 167/33/91

Check my writing blog for stories on the Prince of Spires and other pieces of fiction.
SpellArcher
Green Istari
Posts: 13841
Joined: Sat Sep 13, 2008 11:26 am
Location: Otherworld

Re: Dragonlord Rising

#139 Post by SpellArcher »

CaledorRises wrote:elf heavy
I would say that you’ll miss your archers here (and versus the Terrorgheist). But the Star Dragon absolutely rocks vs elves CR, they hate the T7 with a passion.
Prince of Spires wrote:If you can take out Mannfred, then you've won half the battle I think.
I agree with Rod here. I fought a very similar list a few years ago and ran straight over it with Wood Elves. Mannfred can’t hold a candle to the blender lord, The Star Dragon should eat him and his unit for breakfast. Nothing in that list is A-level in combat and that’s a real issue here.
SpellArcher
Green Istari
Posts: 13841
Joined: Sat Sep 13, 2008 11:26 am
Location: Otherworld

Re: Dragonlord Rising

#140 Post by SpellArcher »

Regarding the Lizardman game, I agree it was a good match-up for you CR, your Monsters really enjoy facing that many Saurus. The spells on both sides looked functional without being amazing. Your deployment looked aggressive and why not? I would have had the Slann 6-dice more stuff perhaps, given his Miscast protection. The magic did seem to go his way for a while though, it really hurt when the luck swing back and preserved the Frostheart. That just paralysed him and your units mopped up nicely.
CaledorRises
Posts: 250
Joined: Wed Sep 24, 2014 1:55 am

Re: Dragonlord Rising

#141 Post by CaledorRises »

Man, it's been a while. Still, I'm back to reply!
Prince of Spires wrote: You definitely have a shot against this list. Especially if he's a bit unlucky with his deployment. Keep in mind that VC magic can keep raising the skeletons back up (and above their starting size in some cases). You could end up getting stuck in units that just keep getting back up. There is definitely some scary stuff in the list. But to deal with the Star Dragon, he needs to get at least 2 of the units into it. So that should be your main focus. If you can take out Mannfred, then you've won half the battle I think. Also, Mannfred for his magic partially depends on killing stuff. So, keep your archers and reavers away from him if you can.
I was well aware of the resurrection potential, but I figured that my monsters and heavy cavalry could win combat by large enough margins in the two combat phases between VC magic phases that the enemy units would crumble away fairly quickly. I definitely thought that taking out Mannfred would win me the game, I was expecting my opponent to play conservatively with him as a result.
SpellArcher wrote: I would say that you’ll miss your archers here (and versus the Terrorgheist). But the Star Dragon absolutely rocks vs elves CR, they hate the T7 with a passion.
I missed the Archers almost the second I sent in my list, particularly after I saw my match-ups.
SpellArcher wrote:Regarding the Lizardman game, I agree it was a good match-up for you CR, your Monsters really enjoy facing that many Saurus. The spells on both sides looked functional without being amazing. Your deployment looked aggressive and why not? I would have had the Slann 6-dice more stuff perhaps, given his Miscast protection. The magic did seem to go his way for a while though, it really hurt when the luck swing back and preserved the Frostheart. That just paralysed him and your units mopped up nicely.
I agree with this, yeah. The Slann I think could have been used much more aggressively.
CaledorRises
Posts: 250
Joined: Wed Sep 24, 2014 1:55 am

Re: Dragonlord Rising

#142 Post by CaledorRises »

Game 21: High Elves vs Lizardmen

Sheffield is over and done with, but before I get to that, I've got a game to write up against a Lizardmen army! I decided to try something I've never really done before and go with a full Fliegerkorps list. Unfortunately, as the day wore on the sun came in at a bad angle and some of the pictures aren't great as a result.

High Elves:
Prince mounted on Star Dragon w/ Star Lance, Talisman of Preservation, Enchanted Shield, The Other Trickster's Shard
Dragon Mage of Caledor Level 2 w/ Dragon Armor, Charmed Shield, Dispel Scroll
Noble BSB mounted on Barded Elven Steed w/ Ogre Blade, Dragonhelm, Dragon Armor, Shield
23x Archers w/ Standard, Musician
5x Ellyrian Reavers
12x Silver Helms FC w/ Shields
5x Dragon Princes of Caledor FC
Flamespyre Phoenix
Frostheart Phoenix

Lizardmen:
Slann BSB w/ Channeling Staff, Channel 3 times, Loremaster High Magic, other stuff maybe
Skink Priest Level 1 w/ Lore of Beasts, Scroll
Gor-Rok
Scar-Veteran mounted on Cold One with 1+/4++ and Great Weapon
12x Skink Skirmishers
12x Skink Skirmishers
12x Skink Skirmishers
12x Skink Skirmishers
Ancient Stegadon w/ Sharpened Horns
33x Saurus Warriors FC w/ Spears
30ish Temple Guard FC w/ Skavenpelt Banner

Magic:
Dragon Mage: Fireball, Flaming Sword of Rhuin
Slann: Loremaster High Magic
Skink Priest: Transformation of Kadon

Army Pictures:
Image
Image

Deployment:
The Dragon Princes and the BSB took the far Elven left with the Reavers and Archers to their right and the Silver Helms held the Elven right flank. The four monsters all deployed in the center to be able to push either flank. The Lizardmen put the Cowboy on their far right with two Skink units bridging the gap to the center where the Saurus and Stegadon were based with another Skink unit to their front. The Temple Guard were on the left with another Skink unit to their front. Gor-Rok was in the Saurus along with the Priest. The Reavers vanguarded up towards the center to interfere with the big blocks.

Image
Image
Image

Initial Thoughts:
I'm planning on going with a heavy left hook. The Silver Helms will stay back a bit but threaten the center to reduce the ability of the Lizardmen to counter my left hook with the monsters. The Cowboy I think can be beaten by my Dragon Princes and the monsters should do well against any of the Skink or Saurus units in grinds, particularly if I get several of them in against a block. The impact hits from the Stegadon are a serious danger to the monsters, though.

High Elves Turn 1:
The left hook begins, moving forces forward aggressively. The Silver Helms shuffle sideways. Magic is 11-7 and Fireball is dispelled at the Skinks while Flaming Sword goes off on the Archers. The Archers then kill 5 Skinks out of one unit and they Panic away.

Image

Lizardmen Turn 1:
The Skinks fail to rally and run off the board. The Cowboy stays in place and the line begins to wheel to face my left hook while the other Skinks aggressively push forwards at the Silver Helms. Magic is 9-5 and Tempest is cast but scatters and kills 2 Skinks. It is then swapped for Earth Blood. Walk Between Worlds is dispelled to prevent the Lizardmen from countering my attack. The Skinks then kill 3 Reavers.

Image

High Elves Turn 2:
The Dragon Princes fail to charge the Cowboy. The Flamespyre and Dragon Mage both charge the other Skinks on the Lizardmen right and they fail the first Terror check with the second charge forcing them to flee off the board. The Reavers move up to prevent Saurus movement and the other Dragon and Frosty push forwards again. Magic is 7-7 and a big casting of Fireball at the Ancient Steg is dispelled while Flaming Sword goes off on the Dragon Princes as they are expected to face the Cowboy.

Image

Lizardmen Turn 2:
The Cowboy succeeds where the Dragon Princes failed and charges the Dragon Princes. The rest of the line continues to move around, the Stegadon falls back to counter-charge something. Magic is 10-4 and Earthblood goes off on the Temple Guard. Walk Between Worlds on the Temple Guard is scrolled and Hand of Glory boosts the Saurus Warriors by 3. Shooting kills a single Reaver. In combat the Scar-Vet passes all 3 of his saves in the challenge with the BSB and wounds the BSB once.

High Elves Turn 3:
The Flamespyre firebombs the Saurus and kills 3 as all four monsters get into position to charge next turn. Magic is 11-8 and a boosted Fireball kills 4 Saurus while also miscasting. The Miscast strips both wizard levels off the Dragon Mage and removes my magic phase. The Archers kill another 2 Skinks. The Scar-Vet again tanks all his saves but doesn't manage to hurt the BSB either.

Image
Image

Lizardmen Turn 3:
The Temple Guard charge the lone Reaver who had blocked them and the Saurus reform to face the incoming charges and the Stegadon turns to engage. Magic is 9-4 and Hand of Glory boosts the Saurus by 2 while Unforging at the Star Dragon is dispelled. Soul Quench then fails to hurt the Flamespyre. The Skinks shoot 2 Silver Helms down. In combat the Scar-Vet again tanks his saves and this time kills the Elven BSB, and the Temple Guard roll over the Reaver.

High Elves Turn 4:
All four monsters combo-charge the Saurus with the Star Dragon taking a wound from Gor-Rok's shield. The Silver Helms also charge the pesky Skinks but take 6 poisoned hits in the Stand and Shoot and lose 4 Silver Helms. They then panic and flee. The Archers shoot down 3 more Skinks. In combat the Scar-Veteran kills 2 Dragon Princes. The Dragon Mage is challenged out by Gor-Rok and in the challenge no damage is done. Combat is woefully inadequate as every monster rolls a 1-2 for the Thunderstomps and the Star-Dragon's breath weapon rolls 2 hits. As a result only 13 Saurus die and the Frostheart takes a single wound.

Image
Image
Image

Lizardmen Turn 4:
The Ancient Stegadon charges the Star Dragon in the rear and the Temple Guard charge the rear of the monster swarm. The Skinks run the Silver Helm survivors off the board. Magic is 4-3 and Earthblood is dispelled while Hand of Glory boosts the Temple Guard by 3. The Skinks then kill 1 Archer. The Scar-Veteran wipes out the Dragon Princes and turns to rejoin the main battle. The Dragon Mage is killed by Gor-Rok but the Sun Dragon wounds Gor-Rok once. The monsters do a bit better and wipe out the Saurus Warriors and kill 5 Temple Guard. The Frostheart takes another wound and the Star Dragon takes 2.

Image

High Elves Turn 5:
The Archers charge the Skinks to their front who flee and are caught. Magic is a low roll that drops the Phoenix strength. In combat the Temple Guard take 8 casualties after another round of low Thunderstomp rolls and the reduced Phoenix strength and Gor-Rok challenges the Star Dragon to his death. The two bird and the Sun Dragon all take a single wound and the Prince takes one from Gor-Rok. Due to the rear charge I end up losing combat by 1 and in a shock disaster the Sun Dragon and Star Dragon both break from combat and are killed, one by a pursuing Ancient Stegadon and the other by the pursuing Skink Priest.

Image

Lizardmen Turn 5:
Magic is 9-4 and puts Walk Between Worlds on the Cowboy to bring him forwards and Earth Blood boosts the Temple Guard. The Skinks kill 3 Archers and the Stegadon kills another 2. In combat the Frostheart takes a wound and the Flamespyre takes 2 while they kill 5 Temple Guard. The Flamespyre breaks from combat and flees off the board.

Image

High Elves Turn 6:
The Archers charge the Skinks and kill 3 at the loss of 5 Elves. Another poor magic phase sees the Frostheart stay at -1 S and only kills 3 Temple Guard.

Lizardmen Turn 6:
Everything charges the Frostheart and magic sees the Skink Priest turn into a Great Fire Dragon. The Frostheart is killed by impact hits and the Archers kill 3 Skinks at no loss but fail to catch the fleeing Skinks.

Lizardmen Victory!


Thoughts:
This game went terribly. I definitely rolled poorly almost across the board, the terrible thunderstomp and breath weapon performances in combat against the Saurus Warriors ensured the monsters were surrounded, but even that would not be a guaranteed loss as the monsters are still hard to break. However, when they had another poor performance with more low breath weapon and thunderstomp rolls against the Temple Guard two rounds of combat later they lost combat by a single point, and further terrible rolls saw both Dragons break from combat. At that point the game was lost, and the two subsequent magic phases keeping the Phoenixes at -1 S was just salt in the wound. Furthermore, losing 4 Silver Helms to a dozen Skinks in a Stand and Shoot reaction was staggering, and while the subsequent panic result was very thematic, it was further bad luck as had the Silver Helms made that charge they could have launched a rear charge at the Temple Guard to aid the beleaguered monsters in their hour of need. A dangerous mistake that I did make was underestimating the Cowboy. I believed my BSB could take him in a fight, and while statistically the Cowboy should have died (my opponent made 6/7 4+ armor saves and then passed the final 4+ ward), my opponent was also a bit unlucky for it to take 3 rounds of combat for the Cowboy to kill my BSB considering he was swinging at S7. I'm also not certain that I played my attack all that effectively, I was definitely afraid of the impact hits from the Stegadon counter-charging my troops and the Stegadon was well played by my opponent to prevent me from engaging it with the Star Dragon on the charge.
SpellArcher
Green Istari
Posts: 13841
Joined: Sat Sep 13, 2008 11:26 am
Location: Otherworld

Re: Dragonlord Rising

#143 Post by SpellArcher »

Sorry for the delay in replying CR, been very busy! Looking forward to hearing more about the tournament.

I quite like your list for the latest Lizardman game. Four flying Monsters is no joke at all, though it does compromise your magic phase somewhat. Dropping the larger Dragon Prince unit seemed quite plausible. This Lizardman list was just better than the last one though. More Skinks, better Heroes and fewer Saurus. I don’t think High Magic is the best vs your list but clearly your foe has the whip hand in this phase. Still think this is a +1 match-up for you though.

Both deployments looked sensible and I quite liked your plan to go for the left flank. The main issue did indeed seem to be the poor rolling vs the Saurus. Sometimes the dice do simply cost you the game. I wonder though, had your BSB supported the Monsters more directly, perhaps in the Silver Helms, whether you might have held things together.
CaledorRises
Posts: 250
Joined: Wed Sep 24, 2014 1:55 am

Re: Dragonlord Rising

#144 Post by CaledorRises »

SpellArcher wrote:Sorry for the delay in replying CR, been very busy! Looking forward to hearing more about the tournament.

I quite like your list for the latest Lizardman game. Four flying Monsters is no joke at all, though it does compromise your magic phase somewhat. Dropping the larger Dragon Prince unit seemed quite plausible. This Lizardman list was just better than the last one though. More Skinks, better Heroes and fewer Saurus. I don’t think High Magic is the best vs your list but clearly your foe has the whip hand in this phase. Still think this is a +1 match-up for you though.

Both deployments looked sensible and I quite liked your plan to go for the left flank. The main issue did indeed seem to be the poor rolling vs the Saurus. Sometimes the dice do simply cost you the game. I wonder though, had your BSB supported the Monsters more directly, perhaps in the Silver Helms, whether you might have held things together.
Haha, no worries, I've been busy too! I'm hoping to get the tournament written up this weekend, or at least most of it. I had originally planned for the BSB to support the monsters very closely, I thought I could handle the Scar-Veteran relatively quickly and then move on to have the Dragon Princes up with the monster force. The Scar-Vet was just much tougher than I had expected and that held the BSB back. I was originally intending the Silver Helms to be a distraction unit and to keep my opponent wary to the front which is why I didn't want to run the BSB with them because they were going to hold back a bit and be a threat to the enemy while the monsters attacked. As that game ended up panning out the BSB probably would have been better with the Silver Helms, but this game didn't really work out as I had planned!
SpellArcher
Green Istari
Posts: 13841
Joined: Sat Sep 13, 2008 11:26 am
Location: Otherworld

Re: Dragonlord Rising

#145 Post by SpellArcher »

CaledorRises wrote:I'm hoping to get the tournament written up this weekend, or at least most of it.
That would be great.
CaledorRises wrote:The Scar-Vet was just much tougher than I had expected
There’s a lot to like. Mobile, tough and a good grinder. Often they have to hide in Infantry because of enemy ranged attacks but not here of course. Dragon Princes just can’t grind so weren’t so much use here.
CaledorRises
Posts: 250
Joined: Wed Sep 24, 2014 1:55 am

Re: Dragonlord Rising

#146 Post by CaledorRises »

Sheffield Game 1

And here we are! Finally getting Sheffield written up. I hope I don't forget or leave out too much stuff since it has been a while, but I still remember most of what happened in the games. The first match-ups were random as it turns out there was no comp at this event. I got that wrong and had modified my list believing the Triple Crown comp was in use, but in actuality only the Triple Crown FAQ/Errata was in place, not the comp itself. Lists were also published before the event, but with things like magic items or Fanatics hidden.

High Elves:
Prince on Star Dragon w/ Star Lance, Talisman of Preservation, Enchanted Shield, The Other Trickster's Shard
Mage Level 2 w/ Lore of Heavens, Dispel Scroll
Mage Level 2 w/ Lore of Heavens
Noble BSB mounted on Barded Elven Steed w/ Ogre Blade, Dragon Armor, Shield
24x Spearmen w/ Musician, Standard
5x Ellyrian Reavers w/ Bows
12x Silver Helms FC w/ Shields
9x Dragon Princes of Caledor FC w/ Banner of the World Dragon
Frostheart Phoenix
Frostheart Phoenix

Vampire Counts:
Mannfred von Carstein mounted on Nightmare
Necromancer Level 1
Necromancer Level 1
30x Crypt Ghouls w/ Champion
5x Dire Wolves
5x Dire Wolves
40x Skeletons FC w/ Spears
10x Black Knights FC
6x Crypt Horrors w/ Champion
6x Vargheists w/ Champion
3x Spirit Host
Terrorgheist

Game: Dawn Attack

Deployment:
My opponent and I both rolled a very large amount of 6s for deployment so we weren't really hampered by the scenario. So that I would get first turn, I decided to deploy first. The Reavers were on the left with a Frostheart next to them and the Star Dragon dead in the center. The Dragon Princes and Spearmen were to the right of this with the second Frosty and the Silver Helms holding my right. I was going for a heavy right hook. My opponent had his Terrorgheist on his right behind some Wolves, both were separated from the main army a bit, but within 12" of Mannfred as Mannfred had rolled a 6 for deployment. The Black Knight bus was therefore in the rear of the center with the Vargheists as the front line was comprised of the other Wolves, the Spirit Hosts, the Crypt Ghouls, and the Crypt Horrors from his right to left and the Skeleton block with the Necormancers held his left. Vanguarding saw the Reavers head towards the center while the dogs in the center shuffled up a bit.

Image
Image
Image

Initial Thoughts:
I think I have the stronger list, and I should be able to out-maneuver my opponent. The Terrorgheist is a definite worry, but his deployment has it isolated so I'm hoping to avoid it relatively well. Mannfred has a strong magic phase and is a threat, but if I can get the Star Dragon into combat with the Black Knights, he'll go down. The Star Dragon should be extremely tough for my opponent to kill, as will be the Frosthearts. My opponent's blocks are also a bit small, he could have trouble surviving combat resolution long enough for magic to help him a lot.

Vampire Counts Turn 1:
That's right! Even though I deployed first to get the first turn, my opponent managed to seize the initiative. The Terrorgheist flew forwards with a fast march and when combined with Doom and Darkness screamed the Reavers off the board. The Dire Wolves in the center pushed forwards with an aggressive redirect and the rest of the line shunted forwards with a similar aggressiveness.

Image
Image

High Elves Turn 1:
At this point, I think my opponent has made a mistake. He didn't check distances when he moved forwards, and I've got several 18-19" charges in range. These should be doable by cavalry and flying monsters. The Silver Helms and Frostheart on the right both declare at the Skeletons, and the Silver Helms make it while the Frostheart stumbles towards into the forest and takes a wound from DT. In the center the Dragon Princes charge the Crypt Horrors. On my left, the Star Dragon sees a 19" charge on Mannfred. This could win the game right here if it goes off, so I declared it. I made sure to check that even if I failed the Terrorgheist wasn't in screaming range of me. However, the Star Dragon failed forwards 3". Still, in combat the Dragon Princes decimated the Crypt Horrors leaving only a single injured Horror alive and taking no damage after getting some magical support. The Silver Helms took a bit of damage but scythed through a huge number of Skeletons and killed one of the Necromancers. The second Frostheart meanwhile moved to the center to avoid the Terrorgheist.

Image
Image

Vampire Counts Turn 2:
My opponent now felt like he was in dire straits. The Crypt Horrors were almost certain to die without backup and the Vargheists couldn't fit in due to the narrow space next to the Skeletons. The only available unit for the task were the Crypt Ghouls, which had a flank on the Dragon Princes, but were blocked by the Spirit Hosts. My opponent therefore needed to get the Spirit Hosts out of the way. There were two possible targets, the Star Dragon and the Frostheart. Frosthearts have magical attacks and my opponent was certain my Prince did as well, so he admitted either charge was suicide for the Spirit Hosts, but so was leaving the Crypt Horrors unsupported. The Frostheart couldn't be charged due to the Dire Wolves, though, and neither could the Star Dragon. Therefore, three charges were made. The Dire Wolves would suicide into the Frostheart, the Spirit Hosts would suicide into the Star Dragon, and the Crypt Ghouls would charge the flank of the Dragon Princes. The Terrorgheist moved towards the center a bit and other units shuffled a bit before combat. The Silver Helms again carved through a large number of Skeletons and left only about 10 of them alive. The Dragon Princes performed stellar work, killing the Crypt Horror and several Ghouls without taking damage and turned to face the Ghouls. The Frostheart easily dispatched the Wolves. Then, disaster. The Prince didn't charge, so couldn't hurt the Spirit Hosts without the Star Lance. The Spirit Hosts then did an astonishing 2 wounds to the Prince after he failed both of his 3+/4++ saves. Then, the Prince broke from combat. And was run down. By 3 Spirit Hosts.

Image

High Elves Turn 2:
This has been a disaster, so the attempt to salvage it must immediately begin. The Frostheart on the right joins the Silver Helms in combat to break them out of their grind and the other Frostheart charges the Vargheists to tie them down while the Spearmen hit the flank of the Crypt Ghouls. Combat sees the Skeletons wiped out and the Crypt Ghouls destroyed as well while the Frostheart kills half the Vargheists at no damage. The line has wheeled a bit and is ready for new action.

Image

Vampire Counts Turn 3:
Things are now going a bit south for the Vampires, the Terrorgheist is still stuck far away from the action and most of the army is gone. Mannfred declares a charge against the Spearmen to make up for it. The Spearmen will definitely lose to the Black Knight bus, and I was several inches outside minimum charge, so I decided to flee, hoping to set myself up for counter movements next turn. However, the flee roll is a terrible 3 and the Spearmen and both Mages are run down, Dispel Scroll unused. Raise Dead covers the Black Knights flank with some Zombies, but the Vargheists lose another 2 of their number. Curse of Years kills 2 Dragon Princes as both of my 2++ saves are failed.

Image

High Elves Turn 3:
The second Frostheart joins the first and they destroy the Vargheists and turn around to engage the bus or the Terrorgheist. The Dragon Princes cut down the Zombies and also turn while the Silver Helms move out of the charge arc of Mannfred. Things are still looking alright for me despite serious losses.

Image

Vampire Counts Turn 4:
The Spirit Hosts move to block the Dragon Princes and the Terrorgheist moves up to scream at one Frostheart, though this leaves it directly in the easy charge range of both Frosthearts. Mannfred moves around to escape charge arcs. Then the magic phase. Mannfred uses Vanhel's Danse to turn 90-degrees and then fires a massive Purple Sun down the length of the Elven line, killing a few Silver Helms, all but one of the Dire Wolves, and both Frosthearts in a single destructive phase.

High Elves Turn 4:
The game is lost, now for points conservation. The Silver Helms swift reform out of the bus's charge arc and the Dragon Princes charge the Spirit Hosts and use the combat reform to get out of Mannfred's charge arc as well after they kill a few ghosts.

Image

Vampire Counts Turn 5:
Mannfred goes after the Silver Helms and kills some with magic. The Terrorgheist utterly decimates the Dragon Princes with a scream killing 6 of them. They kill the Spirit Hosts with the BSB's magic sword, though.

Image

High Elves Turn 5:
There's no way for the Dragon Princes to escape the Terrorgheist, so they charge it. The Silver Helms continue to evade. The Terrorgheist is taken down to a single wound but kills the BSB.

Image

Vampire Counts Turn 6:
Mannfred turns around to engage the Silver Helms and keep them in his arc and the Terrorgheist kills the remaining Dragon Prince.

Image

High Elves Turn 6:
The Silver Helms continue to flee away from Mannfred.


15-5 Defeat

Thoughts:
This game stunned me. The loss of the Star Dragon I could never have predicted, there's no version of events that would lead me to think that I would lose the Star Dragon to 3 45 points Spirit Hosts, and yet it happened. I would never have thought to make that charge with the Spirit Hosts had I been in my opponent's shoes. In fact, my opponent talked through his thought process as he decided the charges, and he admitted to thinking he was throwing away the Spirit Hosts to try to engage the Dragon Princes. The irony that the Spirit Hosts very possibly won him the game while the Crypt Ghouls failed to kill a single Dragon Prince and were then consummately destroyed by the flanking Spearmen made this even more shocking. Even then, I thought I could still pull out a victory, until the horrific casting of Purple Sun. The Spearmen rolling terribly for their flee meant I lost my scroll and therefore couldn't stop the casting. My opponent's wheel using Vanhel's was very well done to line up the shot, but losing both Frosthearts was terrible luck on my part. I'm honestly still a bit frustrated with this game, because I did feel that I played it well, I had destroyed more than half my opponent's army by the end of Turn 2, and had Purple Sun not done its dirty work I believe I would have clenched a very solid victory despite the loss of the Star Dragon, I thought that I covered for the loss of the Dragon and didn't lose my cool so that Turns 2 and 3 for me rallied the situation entirely. Despite that, it was a rather crushing defeat. In hindsight, the Star Dragon should have pushed to my right and engaged in the combats in the subsequent turn instead of going for the average-charge on Turn 2 that could decisively win me the game, but put in the same situation again I think I'd make the same choice. Had that charge gone through I think my opponent would have been in extraordinary trouble and would likely have lost very badly, and the charge by the Spirit Hosts was so out of left field that I don't think many opponents would ever try it. Had that charge failed, the Star Dragon would have had operational freedom to decimate the Vampire lines, or had I not failed my break test the Frostheart who had just dealt with the Wolves would join in from the flank and save the Star Dragon, or had I escaped the pursuit the Frostheart could still tie down the Spirit Hosts while the Star Dragon rallied and rejoined the fight later. The sequence of events that led to the death of my general were so unlikely that I do think by and large I made the correct tactical choices this game, but I still lost very badly. Unfortunately, that is sometimes how these games go, and I would try to make up for lost points in the next game!
CaledorRises
Posts: 250
Joined: Wed Sep 24, 2014 1:55 am

Re: Dragonlord Rising

#147 Post by CaledorRises »

Sheffield Game 2

I was now bumped down to next to last table with only 5 points scored. My new opponent had a Greenskin army, and was still very new to the game so was pretty rough on the rules. Unfortunately, this game I was severely lacking in picture taking, so I only have photos from the ends of my turns.

Orcs and Goblins:
Azhag the Slaughterer
Night Goblin Boss BSB w/ stuff
Night Goblin Shaman Level 2 w/ stuff
30ish Night Goblins w/ 3x Fanatic
20ish Night Goblin Archers w/ 3x Fanatic
5x Squig Hoppers
5x Squig Hoppers
5x Squig Hoppers
Giant
Giant
Spear Chukka
Spear Chukka
Doom Diver
Rock Lobba
Snotling Pump Wagon
40ish Savage Orcs w/ AHW

Game: Battle for the Pass

Deployment:
I went for a heavy left flank as I was standing on that side of the board! On my far left was one Frostheart with the Dragon Princes and Spearmen to its right and the Star Dragon right behind the Princes. The other Frostheart was dead center and the Silver Helms to its right. The Reavers were on my far right flank. My opponent created a screen of Squigs and Giants across his front all evenly spaced. The Night Goblins were on his far right and the back line was evenly spaced warmachines with the Archers between and Azhag in the center of his army next to the Pump Wagon. The Savage Orcs were on his left. In vanguard the Reavers moved up to screen my right flank as I advanced.

Image
Image
Image

Initial Thoughts:
My opponent's list is far weaker than mine and his deployment is quite scattered, lacking the necessary concentration of force, particularly with the Savage Orcs so far out of place. I think this is largely due to inexperience with the game, and normally I wouldn't play as hard against a new player and wouldn't have such a strong list, but as this is a tournament all is fair. I'm therefore planning to rush his left flank and destroy it before sweeping behind and catching the right. The warmachines are the only real threat to my army, and possibly Fanatics.

High Elves Turn 1:
The Reavers and Silver Helms advanced a bit towards the center left as did the rest of my army, pushing forwards aggressively for easy Turn 2 charges by and large and creating a kill zone if my opponent advances at all. Reaver bows plinked a wound off the Giant nearby but that was all.

Image

Orcs and Goblins Turn 1:
The Giant and Squig Hoppers and Pump Wagon pushed forwards into the kill zone aggressively while on the other flank the Greenskin units advanced mostly straight forwards in an attempt to get behind the Elven lines before heading right to engage. One Spear Chukka blew itself up.

High Elves Turn 2:
The Dragon Princes charged and obliterated the Squig Hoppers. The Frostheart charged the Night Goblins and took some damage from Fanatics but won combat and ran down the unit. The Star Dragon pushed forwards and burned a large number of the Archers away with his breath weapon. The Spearmen and other Frostheart charged the Giant and inflicted some wounds on it but he yelled and bawled and both the Elven units held. The Silver Helms turned away from the advancing Greenskin left.

Image

Orcs and Goblins Turn 2:
The Greenskin left began to turn around but was not turning fast enough as the Elves were bypassing them. The Pump Wagon joined the Giant against the Spearmen. Several Fanatics crashed through the Dragon Princes killing 6 of them. The Rock Lobba blew itself up as well. In combat the Spearmen/Frostheart killed the Giant and the Pump Wagon.

High Elves Turn 3:
The Star Dragon failed a charge on the Doom Diver while one Frostheart charged the surviving Spear Chukka. The other Frostheart, the Spearmen, and the Reavers charged the Night Goblin Archers and destroyed them all while the Silver Helms decided discretion was the better part of valor and moved to avoid the Fanatics and avoid Azhag and the second Giant. The Dragon Princes swift reformed into a 2x2 formation and moved to escape the 3 Fanatics that were surrounding the survivors.

Image

Orcs and Goblins Turn 3:
Azhag and the Giant charged the Frostheart in the rear and injured it while the Giant also took damage. The Giant yelled and bawled and the Frostheart stuck around and turned to face the enemy. Azhag also used Death Magic to snipe the Prince. One unit of Squig Hoppers also hit the Dragon Princes in the flank killing 1 but losing 4 of their number. The survivor escaped, though.


At this point we unfortunately ran out of time, I think things took a lot longer because my opponent was less familiar with the rules.

15-5 Victory


Thoughts:
I think if I had had more time I could have cleaned up much more and gotten a larger victory. The awkward table setup did also contribute to the game being more difficult to play, Battle for the Pass is not easy when tables are end-to-end aligned. My army was still mostly intact when we stopped, the Star Dragon and both Phoenixes were alive, the Phoenixes a little bit injured but not badly. The Spearmen were heavily depleted but the Silver Helms were intact as well. The game on the whole played out as I expected it to, Azhag and the Giant charging the Frostheart in the rear was a bit unsettling but I think the Frostheart could have held out for long enough that I could get reinforcements into the fight. The Fanatics were also highly effective this game in injuring one Frostheart and crippling the Dragon Princes, but on the whole my opponent's loose deployment meant I could easily crush one flank at a time with my vastly faster army.


I would go into the last fight with 20 points, putting me mid-tier, where I would face a Warriors of Chaos army.
CaledorRises
Posts: 250
Joined: Wed Sep 24, 2014 1:55 am

Re: Dragonlord Rising

#148 Post by CaledorRises »

Sheffield Game 3

Last one of Sheffield! I was mid-tier now and up against Warriors of Chaos.

Warriors of Chaos:
Kholek Suneater
Throgg the Troll King
4x Dragon Ogres w/ Great Weapons
Chimera w/ Flaming Breath, Regeneration
Dragon Ogre Shaggoth w/ Great Weapon
14x Forsaken of Khorne
11x Chaos Trolls
6x Chaos Ogres w/ Great Weapons, possibly Mark of Khorne?

Game: Blood and Glory

Deployment:
The Dragon Ogres held the Chaos right with the Shaggoth and the Chimera behind and to the left. The Forsaken held the center with Kholek to their left and the Troll block to their left and the Chaos Ogres anchored the far left flank. I countered with the Star Dragon on my far left next to the Dragon Princes and the Silver Helms to their right. The Reavers were on my far left as well and the Spearmen were in the dead center with both Frosthearts. The Reavers vanguarded forwards up the left.

Image

Initial Thoughts:
This is a bad match-up for me. My army relies on high toughness and high armor saves to stay alive, this Chaos army is all but designed to destroy armies like mine. He's got swarms of S6+ and the Trolls can ignore armor. Kholek is also one of the only models in the game that can engage a Star Dragon Lord in a 1v1 fight and come out on top. I have to attack hard and try to multi-charge all of his units for any chance of success.

High Elves Turn 1:
The Reavers shunted forwards and the Star Dragon aggressively moved to flank the Chaos line. Both Frosthearts moved left fast to support a left hook attack and the Dragon Princes shuffled forwards.

Image

Warriors of Chaos Turn 1:
The Dragon Ogres hold station while the Chimera moved around and immolated most of the Reavers. The Forsaken, Kholek, and Ogres moved forwards at full speed while the Shaggoth and Trolls reformed to face the incoming left hook. Kholek's lightning attack killed 4 Silver Helms and panicked them.

Image

High Elves Turn 2:
The Star Dragon hit the Dragon Ogres while the Dragon Princes failed to join them. One Frostheart moved to support them and the Silver Helms rallied. The Spearmen and the other Frostheart both charged the Forsaken, the Spearmen to escape from Kholek and the Frostheart to help the Spearmen out. The Star Dragon killed one of the Dragon Ogres, while the Forsaken absolutely decimated the Spearmen, killing 12 of them at the cost of only 3 Forsaken. The Spearmen held and the Phoenix fled.

Image

Warriors of Chaos Turn 2:
Kholek charged the Frostheart who fled and then redirected to the Spearmen, who were all slaughtered promptly. Kholek's lightning attack also killed two Dragon Princes. The Dragon Ogres lost another body and they fled but escaped pursuit. The Chimera moved to flank the Dragon Princes.

Image

High Elves Turn 3:
The Dragon Princes advanced quickly in an attempt to escape the charge arc of the Chimera, but failed. The Frostheart rallied and the Silver Helms moved to the left to avoid the approaching Ogres and hopefully engage the Chimera. The Star Dragon forced the Dragon Ogres to flee again and then tried to charge the Shaggoth, but he fled as well. The Reavers moved to redirect the Trolls.

Image

Warriors of Chaos Turn 3:
The Chimera rear charged the Dragon Princes and Kholek turned to face the Star Dragon. The Trolls charged and destroyed the Reavers. The Ogres continued to advance to try and do something. The Dragon Ogres fled off the board and the Shaggoth rallied. The Chimera killed the BSB and took no damage.

High Elves Turn 4:
The Frostheart failed his charge to rescue the Dragon Princes. The Star Dragon and other Frostheart charged the Troll group and in combat killed Throgg but not before the Star Dragon took 3 wounds from Throgg's breath weapon. The Chimera was injured but killed many more Dragon Princes.

Image

Warriors of Chaos Turn 4:
Kholek charged the Frostheart and killed it and overran into the Star Dragon. The Forsaken charged the Dragon Princes and together with the Chimera killed it.

Image

My memory now gets very fuzzy and my pictures end, so here's a summary of what happened in the rest of the game:
Kholek would kill the Star Dragon and Prince, I believe the Chimera was killed by a dual charge of the Frostheart and the Silver Helms, but the Silver Helms would be destroyed by the Forsaken and the Frostheart fled from Kholek and then failed to rally and left the table.

0-20 Defeat


Thoughts:
This game went very badly! I will say my opponent rolled above average through the whole game, but that isn't the primary cause for my defeat. I definitely made some mistakes here, charging the Forsaken was a bad idea that cost me my magic phase and kept a Frostheart out of the game until it was no longer relevant. I had judged Forsaken based on their reputation as I have never faced them, and at least in this game their reputation was entirely undeserved as they slaughtered the Spearmen without the Spearmen killing any of them and then also slaughtered the surviving Silver Helms. Charging the Trolls was possibly a mistake, they would be steadfast but I was confident that I'd win combat and was hoping they would break, which was admittedly unlikely. Looking at the images, I think there was a slight chance I could have charged Kholek with the Frostheart and the Star Dragon both, and that would have been by far the better move. Just looking at pictures I cannot determine for certain if they were in charge arc, though. I think the Dragon Princes failing their charge on the Dragon Ogres was huge as was the Frostheart failing to rescue the Dragon Princes. All of that said, the enemy's list was an extremely tough match-up for me, and I'm not entirely sure how to fight it. I've never really faced an army that was so perfectly counter to mine in that they had nothing but high strength which is exactly what I don't want to be facing, so I'm certain that I could have played it better if I was given a second run at it and had more time to think about it.


Post Tournament Thoughts
I did very badly at this event, I believe I was 20/24 or something like that, which is a shame. I think I was hampered a bit in the second game by the time limit, and then was out-matched by my opponent's tactics and list in the third game. The first game I think I had some bad luck which tipped it against me, but there were also likely mistakes that I made and my opponent handled Mannfred very well to cast the game-deciding spell near the end. I also think my list adjustment was a poor one, I should have kept the Archers. They could fight just as well as the Spearmen for Games 1 and 2 and would give a bit of help in Game 3 at least in preventing me from trying to use them as a combat unit to fight the Forsaken. Overall, I think my showing at this event was a bit poor, I'm quite displeased with my Game 3 performance and I also think I should have done better in Game 1 considering the lists involved.
All that said, the event was very fun and was filled with great people! It was also a nice change to see three different scenarios used instead of just Battleline being played.
CaledorRises
Posts: 250
Joined: Wed Sep 24, 2014 1:55 am

Re: Dragonlord Rising

#149 Post by CaledorRises »

Unfortunately I must also now announce the end of my sojourn to the United Kingdom. Due to my current employment status I will be moving back to the Untied States to live with family while I search for a job. I'm moving to a location that has a very very small wargaminng community, and to my knowledge has no Warhammer Fantasy community at all. Hopefully once I find employment it will be in an area with a Warhammer community, but until that time I cannot be sure. Therefore, this thread will be coming to an end for the next few months at minimum. Ideally I will resurrect it in the future.

I'm not sure what the policy here on Ulthuan is for other games? If I do manage to get any games in over the coming months they are almost certainly going to be historical games, and if there's any interest I would be happy to write some reports up for those, but only if that's keeping within the guidelines for Ulthuan.
SpellArcher
Green Istari
Posts: 13841
Joined: Sat Sep 13, 2008 11:26 am
Location: Otherworld

Re: Dragonlord Rising

#150 Post by SpellArcher »

CaledorRises wrote:Unfortunately I must also now announce the end of my sojourn to the United Kingdom.
:(

It was great to meet you CR.
CaledorRises wrote:Therefore, this thread will be coming to an end for the next few months at minimum.
That’s a blow. It’s been really good for gaming content on this site. I’ll be posting replies to your latest batreps as soon as I get the time.
CaledorRises wrote:I'm not sure what the policy here on Ulthuan is for other games?
http://www.ulthuan.net/forum/viewforum.php?f=78

We’d be delighted to hear from you!
Post Reply