Round Four vs Michael (Beasts)
Michael's army was one of the armies that everyone was talking about. Not because it was the latest and greatest and all get out marvellous new wonderbook of the Warhammer world. But because it was just friggin hilarious to look at. Words simply cannot do it justice.
Please check it out:
http://www.chchwargaming.org.nz/forum/viewtopic.php?t=3325&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=15
Suffice to say it's completely off-the-wall.
I won the dice for board edge and chose the edge with a good view of the centre and some open space on the right. Michael had a lot of units and I hoped to encourage them into a traffic jam while trying to get at my big blocks.
Mike had - 3 x 5 warhounds, 3 x 3 Khorne Minos, Khorne-marked Doombull, 3 Undivided chariots, 2 beast herds, big Khorngor block, 6 furies, giant, Khorne-spawn.
2 units of hounds ended up running down my left flank, the other on the extreme right (I guess going for quarters). As planned, LOTS of stuff was going down the middle but with a forest just outside of his deployment zone and 2 forests just outside of mine left and right of centre, it was cosy going for 2 of the 3 Mino units (the other one was on his extreme and ended up causing me a headache later on... more on that shortly), 3 chariots, 2 beastherds, the Khorngor AND the giant!
I tried something I've been looking into - long lines of Thunderers and Quarrellers screening Hammerers and Longbeards. Screen flees the charge, enemy in the way means chargers end up in the big blocks and get mashed, fleeing troops rally on a 10 from the general's leadership and align to shoot up units on the flank, and the Longbeards either ignore the panic from units fleeing through them or confer a reroll on the Hammerers (all on ld10 of course). Mike got first turn which was sad because I had the best cannon shot at his giant with a bounce into 2 chariots waiting to happen. Oh well. Everything rushed foward. My turn.
This was a Round Two-flashback! Except these guys were more numerous, had less armour and had sucktastic leadership away from the general. I'd spoke to Real Nick at some length about this army and his advice was, given that the Minotaurs practically had no armour and that all hits were randomised to hit the general, that I should go for broke. Unfortunately my shooting was less than totally awesome and the general's unit had a couple of minos (one wounded) and the general on one wound left after the first turn. The cannon had a peach of a shot lined up against the giant and as I write this I realise I could have in fact targetted the giant and bounced into the chariots (!!!) but I forgot the giant was a large target (remembered next turn) and as there were furies sitting in from of him I fired at those instead. Sadly the cannonball stopped short of hitting any! The gyro flamed 3 and we were on to turn 2.
Turn 2 was much of the same... everything ran forward. The furies charged the crew, auto-broke and caught them. Most significantly the giant moved up and everything was practically on top of me! Something needed to be taken out of the equation!
My turn 2. I've had quite bad luck with giants in the past (in terms of the huge grief they have caused me) so I resolved to take out the Giant Sheep that was in the midst of my army. A combination of thunderers, grudgethrower, organ gun and quarrellers managed to take it down (just!) but meant I couldn't put the shooting into the general's unit that I had wanted so whichever way it worked the pain was coming right at my this turn.
Charges from Khorngor into the Quarrellers (fled - failed charge from Khorngor) and the Beast herd into Thunderers (fled - enemy in the way so Beastherd goes into Hammerers). Chariots have LOS now to Warriors (after the giant went down) so both chariots into the front. Chariots took down a good number of Warriors but failed to break them. Beastherds were brutalised by the hammerers who overran (failed to restrain - bugger!), failed to catch (but got the banner) and clipped the general's mino unit. Uh oh... flank charge from Khorngor into the Hammerers next turn if I can't smash the minotaur general's unit.
Longbeards go into the general's unit too for kicks (and to get out of the way of the last 3 minotaurs who are coming around my right flank. Miners come on to absorb the hounds on the left and beat them down (or so I thought). Shooting - the GT min guesses 12" at the Beastherd in the forest and it scatters 10" right onto the head of the mino in the middle of the last unit of 3 coming around my right flank! I partial both other minos and then roll triple ones to wound! Gutted! Combat - long story short I smash the general in combat in a challenge but 1 minotaur survives and gets double ones for the break test! No!!! Hammerers and Longbeards stuck in combat with a minotaur on one wound! Thus begins the rest of what becomes a truly surreal game... The chariots in combat with the Warriors fluff and break, both run through the 3 minotaurs following the first mino unit, impact hits kill one mino, self-inflicted damage from running into a forest kills one chariot. The warriors pursue a mighty 3" leaving their flank open for the other Beastherd.
Mike's positively drooling - in go the Khorngor (with accompanying Wargor), into the flank of the hammerers. In go the Minos into the GT - they eventually take out the GT, Organ gun, Thunderers, and then overrun off the table coming back in the last turn but being just too far away to charge. Despite shooting at the Khorngor I've been totally unable to even kill one and remove a point of rank bonus so this fight's going to be a tough one. Worse, the following Mino unit gets into the Longbeards. I lose a smattering of Hammerers and lose from combat res (Runesmith in the Longbeard unit also takes a wound from the newly charging minos) but everyone holds. The Warriors take a charge from the Beastherd and hold too. Meanwhile the Miners are charged by Chaos hounds, lose by one, fail needing 8, and flee off the board. The hounds overrun into the Quarrellers who are royally screwed because they've just been charged by the last chariot! Somehow, MIRACULOUSLY, the hold against both units!!! Mike's fleeing Beastherd fail to rally and decide to flee towards the nearest table edge, taking them through the Hammerers and out of the game (which cleared up the centre of the board nicely, so I guess it all worked out).
Turn 4 and I need to turn the big central combat around somehow and figure out how to rescue my Quarrellers. My general moves to engage the Khorngor and in a brave move the Wargor leading them accepts the Dwarf Lord's challenge, causing a wound before getting smashed with maximum overkill. The minos break! The Longbeards cut them down and hit the spawn behind who is trying to find a way into the combat. More importantly the Khorngor break (yes!!!) and the hammerers pursue, cutting them down and gaining their second banner. Again the hounds and chariot cannot dent the mighty Quarrellers - could they possibly survive the game?
Mike's 5th and the last mino unit is steadily chewing through my artillery. The Quarrellers fight like daemons and refuse to break! Better yet help is at hand in the form of a bloodthirsty Dwarf Lord! Unfortunately the Warriors break, are pursued and cut down (and banner captured), and the Beastherds end up in the flank of the Longbeards engaged with the spawn. The spawn takes 2 wounds in combat.
My fifth - the Boss jumps out of the Hammerer unit into the back of the chariot engaged against the Quarrellers. He cuts the chariot to kindling and the hounds leg it, the Quarrellers not quite catching them. The Quarrellers will be taking ANOTHER charge from yet another unit of warhounds next turn! the spawn goes down, the Beastherd breaks and are cut down by the Dwarfs who recover the Warrior's banner and claim the Beastherds too!
Mike's last remaining Khorne minotaurs having gone through the Thunderers like a large axe though a Dwarf's head and overrun off the table come back on and sit still hoping the Hammerers (or lone Dwarf Lord) are out of charge range. Stand-and shoot against the charging warhounds drops one and the Quarrellers win the combat by one but the hounds stick it out.
The Longbeards claim a quarter and the mighty, undefeatable Quarrellers smash the hounds and break them off the board. Woo-ha!
Win! 17-3
Wow. So that's what a 17-3 feels like. How the hell can I do that in all my games? Mike had it all to do to beat me - with no magic or shooting he was up against it from the start. Some truly weird rolling meant that by the end of the game we were just boggling at the table not knowing whether to laugh or cry. Mike was a(nother) fantastic opponent and I gave him my Best Sports vote.
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