Well yesterday saw my last game with Antony's Brettonians and what a game it was!!! Lezle is one of my favourite opponents - we don't actually play each other often (he jumps frequently between Fantasy, 40k and Mordheim) because he has a great sense of humour and an eye for the narrative side of the game. Straight away it was determined our two Generals (both mounted on flying monsters) would simply have to clash in the middle of the board in epic combat... man-a-mano. Lezle is a real life knight (well... he rides a horse - called Abby for ayone who's interested - and does sword-fighting and other knightly stuff) so I really felt like I had something to prove!
Lezle used a Vampire Counts army, again built with available miniatures and fun in mind but it's still VCs and as a result still effective and reliable. He had a fighty boss on Abyssal Terror (probably the worst option but you see, Lezle isn't fazed by that at all) with Hatred/Fury and Carstein Ring, 2 Dreadknight Vamps with Infinite Hatred and one had the Periapt, 2 Skellie blocks, Zombie block, Ghoul block, Graveguard block, 4 Wraiths and Banshee and the icing on the cake - 6 Blood Knights. I had painful recollections of the last time I played against Blood Knights. Hrm...
For two turns a unit of Mounted Yeoman bravely baited the Blood Knights on my extreme right flank, keeping them from making a right mess of... well, anything they touched really. Lezle was ready to charge his General (on the opposite flank from the Blood Knights) into the Realm bus with BSB until I explained what would happen (static 7, champion challenges, even with max overkill Vamp general loses by 2, next turn my general charges in - game over Vampire Counts). The two buses easily smashed up the Ghouls and a Skellie block with an accompanying Dreadknight Vamp but the resulting overruns put me waaay out of position and a reform in my turn resulted in the Realms charged by the Wraiths and the Errants charged by the Zombies (gah - tarpit hell). Meanwhile the Pegs and little Realm unit bounced off the Graveguard with the other Vampire after they were flanked by the second Skellie unit. Ouch.
The Blood Knights, having chased off the Yeoman, about-faced and headed towards the action in the middle of the board. A combined charge from the Grail Knights into the front and the Brett General into the rear of the Graveguard did for them; the Grails overran into some Skellies and mashed all of them but ONE (the unit champion) in Lezle's turn. They killed off the last one in mine but were then charged by the Blood Knights and, being unable to flee due to Immune to Psych (yay), died horribly. My General overran from the Graveguard towards the Vampire Lord on Abyssal Terror and it looked like we'd finally get our epic boss fight.
The Vamp Lord charged in and after Infinite Hatred and Red Fury had done it's work I needed to pass one ward save to keep him alive but it was not to be. In a twist of fate however the Hippogryph failed it's monster reaction test and promptly became Unbreakable. Lezle fluffed his rolls in the following turn and the Hippogryph started tearing the Abyssal Terror a new one. This combat was still going on when the Blood Knights plowed into the back of the Hippo.
The Realms eventually beat down the Wraiths (thanks to the BSB and his magical death stick) but only the BSB and Damsel survived. They charged into the flank of the Zombies which was finally enough to break them and wipe them out. This left the Errants with just enough time and space to charge the Blood Knights (who had just overrun into the Hippo) in the flank! Result!
In the final combat the Errants smushed some Blood Knights, the Hippo finally died but so did the Abyssal Terror. At the end of the game Lezle was left with his General on two wounds and 3 Blood Knights (still an astounding amount of points there!). I had the Errants above half, a Damsel and BSB, the Paladin leading the Errants (who challenged the VC general - thank-you Gromril Great Helm!), some Peasant Archers and a unit of Yeoman. As the peasant units both were holding table quarters I won by 450VPs so really it was a very close game!
What an outstanding end to the Brettonian saga! In my 8 games I've played a variety of opponents and armies. I've learnt lots about less familiar aspects of the game - some hard lessons for me (and some for my opponents - hehehe). Won some, lost some. Just how it should be.
Having spent quite some time "army whoring" (nice way of saying it Dave) I've decided to go back to my roots and once against castle up with the little bearded lads. Time to remind all and sundry how shooty and static-ressie stunties are. There are more than a few outstanding grudges to be called out so I'll be loading up the old Organ Gun once more and taking on the unwashed masses. Andrew's new Slanneshi Chaos Mortals army (with the mega - seriously these guys are HUGE - Knights of Dooom!) is high on the list.
And while I'm distracting the unwary with Dwarfy killiness... the Vampire Counts get closer and closer to completion. Bwahahahahaha!
Thanks to all the people I played with Brettonians. Your patience (and knowledge) helped me out immensely. Maybe next time I have to face Brettonians I won't wet myself in absolute terror. As long as the next time I play them I'm not facing Marcello maybe I'll be ok :-)
Sunday, October 26, 2008
Saturday, October 25, 2008
Brettonians 7 (Grimlock smash!)
Actually that's a bit misleading because I wasn't playing Empire (with a Mace of Helstrum wielding Arch-Lector), I was playing Dave's/Doug's/Dan's Ogres. Still felt like Grimlock smash! though.
I learnt in this game (I would like to remind you dear reader that yes, I am still learning how to play this game) the value of being able to "out-chaff" your opponent. I was severely out-chaffed.
Dave had an excellent plan that saw all his Leadbelcher bait on one flank, the Hunter and Gnoblars on the other (2 units of Trappers using his Ld9 in the same manner as a General!) and most everything else in the middle. As he mentioned afterwards, having 3 immune to panic units in the centre (Slave Giant, Maneaters, Ironguts with BSB rerolling psych tests - essentially immune) is a most helpful buff to the army overall. The Leadbelchers swept majestically down my left flank, shot up the Grail Knights and promptly parked themselves in the way of my strike units (the 2 9-strong lance formations). Charge them - they flee. Stay - get shot and/or the rest of the army closes for the charge. Result? Out-chaffed.
So where were the Men-At-Arms and Yeoman and the little Realms? Faffing about trying to beat up the Gnoblar block and Trappers! They promptly did this (a later charge and overrun saw off one of the Trapper units and the Sabretusks) but were then forced to charge the Ironguts and their BSB mate. Despite the Men-At-Arms hitting their flank at the same time the writing was on the wall and the following turn both units were smashed.
The Brett General threw himself away trying to charge some Bulls who fled. Hunter in the flank = dead Large Target on a stick mate. Hippogryphs are NOT Dragons. Lesson learnt, tick that box.
The Peg Knights were very nearly knights of the match. After taking a charge from the Maneaters and accompanying Butcher and General (and only losing one wound) they fled and rallied. Fled their charge the second time. Rallied and charged them, winning by 2 (!!!) but failing to break them (Maneaters are Stubborn etc). Curses. We reckoned that would have been something like a 1000pt swing (Maneaters, General, Butcher, General-killing bonus, and the two banners they captured earlier) but it just wasn't to be. A surviving Peg broke in the last turn but rallied in mine so at least they survived (albeit below half strength). And even if I had beat them (which would have been damn awesome) I still would have lost by around 400-500pts at least.
Ouch.
So a hard lesson against a better player but then games against Dave are always highly educational and enjoyable (and much appreciated - thanks mate for giving me a call and coming over!).
This afternoon's game against Lezle's Vampire Counts should be interesting. Failed Fear and Terror checks playing the Ogres have me wondering how I might fare against one of the army masters of all fear-causers. Lezle's Lord flies around (quite bravely) on an Abyssal Terror. So... how about a bit of one-on-one boss killing action Lezle? :-) We're definitely going to have some Knight-on-Knight action and I know from experience how hard Blood Knights are!
Oh yeah... woopah! 50 posts!
I learnt in this game (I would like to remind you dear reader that yes, I am still learning how to play this game) the value of being able to "out-chaff" your opponent. I was severely out-chaffed.
Dave had an excellent plan that saw all his Leadbelcher bait on one flank, the Hunter and Gnoblars on the other (2 units of Trappers using his Ld9 in the same manner as a General!) and most everything else in the middle. As he mentioned afterwards, having 3 immune to panic units in the centre (Slave Giant, Maneaters, Ironguts with BSB rerolling psych tests - essentially immune) is a most helpful buff to the army overall. The Leadbelchers swept majestically down my left flank, shot up the Grail Knights and promptly parked themselves in the way of my strike units (the 2 9-strong lance formations). Charge them - they flee. Stay - get shot and/or the rest of the army closes for the charge. Result? Out-chaffed.
So where were the Men-At-Arms and Yeoman and the little Realms? Faffing about trying to beat up the Gnoblar block and Trappers! They promptly did this (a later charge and overrun saw off one of the Trapper units and the Sabretusks) but were then forced to charge the Ironguts and their BSB mate. Despite the Men-At-Arms hitting their flank at the same time the writing was on the wall and the following turn both units were smashed.
The Brett General threw himself away trying to charge some Bulls who fled. Hunter in the flank = dead Large Target on a stick mate. Hippogryphs are NOT Dragons. Lesson learnt, tick that box.
The Peg Knights were very nearly knights of the match. After taking a charge from the Maneaters and accompanying Butcher and General (and only losing one wound) they fled and rallied. Fled their charge the second time. Rallied and charged them, winning by 2 (!!!) but failing to break them (Maneaters are Stubborn etc). Curses. We reckoned that would have been something like a 1000pt swing (Maneaters, General, Butcher, General-killing bonus, and the two banners they captured earlier) but it just wasn't to be. A surviving Peg broke in the last turn but rallied in mine so at least they survived (albeit below half strength). And even if I had beat them (which would have been damn awesome) I still would have lost by around 400-500pts at least.
Ouch.
So a hard lesson against a better player but then games against Dave are always highly educational and enjoyable (and much appreciated - thanks mate for giving me a call and coming over!).
This afternoon's game against Lezle's Vampire Counts should be interesting. Failed Fear and Terror checks playing the Ogres have me wondering how I might fare against one of the army masters of all fear-causers. Lezle's Lord flies around (quite bravely) on an Abyssal Terror. So... how about a bit of one-on-one boss killing action Lezle? :-) We're definitely going to have some Knight-on-Knight action and I know from experience how hard Blood Knights are!
Oh yeah... woopah! 50 posts!
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
Battlecry 2009
The Lads - led by The Venerable, Old and Wise Nick Buckby - have been discussing the possibility of a WHFB tournament at Battlecry in February. Excellent. The draft player's pack looks great too.
Word on the street is that the points cap will be 2K and despite the fun I'm having with the Knights I getting a hankering for a return to Stuntyville. The possible changes from my 2250pt list are rather simple but I might take the opportunity to try a few other things out. The biggest (and easiest) change is to just take out the Dwarf Lord on Shieldbearers. For a 2000pt game he's really a giant points sink I can't afford (something like 280pts if I remember correctly). This won't worry the Dwarfs too much as they will still be Ld9 - a huge advantage for an army not taking a Lord option, although it doesn substantially reduce killing power in combat. If I drop some Hammerers (slightly less reliable without the Lord) I could slot in a Slayer character which could be amusing, or another Thane to act as a General (instead of the Runesmith).
The other interesting thing about the Battlecry tournament is the 'hard cap' that will be applied to lists before they are actually comp-scored. In a way this is like objective comp scoring but it's more like a first step before a subjective process. Examples of the hard cap include no duplicate Rares, max 44 models with shooting capability and so on. A great idea I think as one of the reasons for the tournament is to encourage new players into the scene (and softer/friendlier armies are a way of doing this).
All in all I'm very excited about the prospect of a 2ooopt tournament. OTT (Over-The-Top) is down in Hamilton the week before Battlecry and I think I'll take Bretts to that so they get at least one run in a tournament next year.
Word on the street is that the points cap will be 2K and despite the fun I'm having with the Knights I getting a hankering for a return to Stuntyville. The possible changes from my 2250pt list are rather simple but I might take the opportunity to try a few other things out. The biggest (and easiest) change is to just take out the Dwarf Lord on Shieldbearers. For a 2000pt game he's really a giant points sink I can't afford (something like 280pts if I remember correctly). This won't worry the Dwarfs too much as they will still be Ld9 - a huge advantage for an army not taking a Lord option, although it doesn substantially reduce killing power in combat. If I drop some Hammerers (slightly less reliable without the Lord) I could slot in a Slayer character which could be amusing, or another Thane to act as a General (instead of the Runesmith).
The other interesting thing about the Battlecry tournament is the 'hard cap' that will be applied to lists before they are actually comp-scored. In a way this is like objective comp scoring but it's more like a first step before a subjective process. Examples of the hard cap include no duplicate Rares, max 44 models with shooting capability and so on. A great idea I think as one of the reasons for the tournament is to encourage new players into the scene (and softer/friendlier armies are a way of doing this).
All in all I'm very excited about the prospect of a 2ooopt tournament. OTT (Over-The-Top) is down in Hamilton the week before Battlecry and I think I'll take Bretts to that so they get at least one run in a tournament next year.
Saturday, October 18, 2008
Brettonians 6 ("Hates you...")
Ah the catch-cry of Dark Elf players everywhere. Oh how I hate the army-wide Hatred rule.
Anyway, generally a fun game against Glenn. Neat watching his Sorceress kill off her Spearmen meatpuppets with the Sacrificial Dagger; even more amusing watching her miscast twice. Glenn's tooled up Assassin single-handedly did for the Grail Knights and his tooled Cold One Knights with Hydra Banner BSB did for... well, everything else unfortunately. The game could pretty much be summed up by my last turn efforts - the Men-At-Arms beat off (one of the four) chariots that were zooming round the board while my Realm Knights failed a Terror check caused by the Cauldron of Blood, promptly dropped the banner they had just captured, and legged it off the table. The Blessing was not kind, not kind at all. Only Peasants survived the game - perhaps an indication that sometimes its better to not have the Blessing in the first place?
I threw the boss away - he tried to charge the Sorceress' Spear block but they failed Terror and got away (what is it with Dark Elf player not telling you what's in their army? I realise you don't have to identify the unit the Assassin is hiding in, but it would be nice to know one was lurking out there somewhere!). Had he made the charge then doubtless the Assassin would have smashed him anyway. He then panicked when the CoKs butchered the Errants. They caught up with him a turn later. Alas poor Brettonian Lord.
Other than the punishing loss (by about 750pts), good fun.
Psychology is, I suspect, a major weakness of the list so I've organised a game vs Lezle's Vampire Counts next week to get my head around just how bad it could be. Knowing the problems I'll be having with Etheral troops and the Terror/Fear causing army that I'm facing it's probably going to be an uphill battle (with Lezle receiving +1 combat resolution for having the hill! lol) but he's a great opponent and loads of fun to play against so it will be a worthwhile use of my time regardless.
Anyway, generally a fun game against Glenn. Neat watching his Sorceress kill off her Spearmen meatpuppets with the Sacrificial Dagger; even more amusing watching her miscast twice. Glenn's tooled up Assassin single-handedly did for the Grail Knights and his tooled Cold One Knights with Hydra Banner BSB did for... well, everything else unfortunately. The game could pretty much be summed up by my last turn efforts - the Men-At-Arms beat off (one of the four) chariots that were zooming round the board while my Realm Knights failed a Terror check caused by the Cauldron of Blood, promptly dropped the banner they had just captured, and legged it off the table. The Blessing was not kind, not kind at all. Only Peasants survived the game - perhaps an indication that sometimes its better to not have the Blessing in the first place?
I threw the boss away - he tried to charge the Sorceress' Spear block but they failed Terror and got away (what is it with Dark Elf player not telling you what's in their army? I realise you don't have to identify the unit the Assassin is hiding in, but it would be nice to know one was lurking out there somewhere!). Had he made the charge then doubtless the Assassin would have smashed him anyway. He then panicked when the CoKs butchered the Errants. They caught up with him a turn later. Alas poor Brettonian Lord.
Other than the punishing loss (by about 750pts), good fun.
Psychology is, I suspect, a major weakness of the list so I've organised a game vs Lezle's Vampire Counts next week to get my head around just how bad it could be. Knowing the problems I'll be having with Etheral troops and the Terror/Fear causing army that I'm facing it's probably going to be an uphill battle (with Lezle receiving +1 combat resolution for having the hill! lol) but he's a great opponent and loads of fun to play against so it will be a worthwhile use of my time regardless.
Sunday, October 12, 2008
Brettonians 5 (Always Struck First)
Ah, High Elves. How I loathe their printine white robes and perfect sparkling teeth. Phil (not Star Dragon Phil) asked for a game last week so I picked up the gauntlet and we faced off on Sunday at the club. Phil is a great guy - a wonderful opponent and, as this battle was to demonstrate, an exemplary sport. His good humour and capacity for sheer cheerfulness is super-human and it's an attitude that is very much inspiring.
Anyway...
In short, Phil was almost mercilessly pummelled flat. My nickname jumped into sharp relief as I made a ridiculous number of armour and ward saves (so many 6s...). One unit of 6 Realms took a charge from 6 Silver Helms and their attached Hero friend and held for three turns until my Errant bus and BSB were ready to charge them into the ground. Phil was failing Panic and Terror and break tests all over the place. Four Mounted Yeoman broke 14 or so Lothern Seaguard (winning by one) which caused a nearby Spear block to panic.
The key moment came when the Errants wth BSB charged 18 Swordmasters and the Elf General in the front. Thinking they might need some help the Brettonian Lord on Hippogryph hit their flank and the Pegs hit the other. Despite losing 4 Knights and a wound off the Pegs (damn ASF! Mind you, the Elf General failed to kill off the Errant Champion in their challenge) the noble Brettonians butchered 10 Elves, comprehensively smashing them. All 3 units pursued, the Elves run down and the Pegs capturing the first of what would eventually be 3 banners (the Errants capturing another from the Silver Helms late in the game).
My truly dirty luck was confirmed when the Pegs charged the Dragon Princes in the front and beat them silly, the Hippo boss charged the Lothern Seaguard who failed their Terror check and fled, and the Yeoman took no casualties from an Eagle's charge, turned around in their saddles, and beat it silly in the same round of combat (3 wounds from the 6 attacks they had).
In the end I had lost a unit of Yeoman, the 6-man Realms and a smattering of other Realms and Errants. Due to my ineptitude the Grails never even saw combat!
Phil had just awful luck throughout the game. His magic was almost completely ineffective, his combat troops were cut down by the lance strike of skilled knights and (fortunate) peasants, and his leadership tests were pants. At the end of the game he was quite convinced he'd had a lot of fun. Damn but he's a good sport! The weekend before I took a harsh beating from Scott and felt every lost unit keenly (and showed it I'm sorry to say - sorry Scott). Phil on the other hand just couldn't have the smile wiped from his face no matter how bad things got - even on my fifth consecutive "ward save on a 6" he was going strong.
Phil's the man!
Anyway...
In short, Phil was almost mercilessly pummelled flat. My nickname jumped into sharp relief as I made a ridiculous number of armour and ward saves (so many 6s...). One unit of 6 Realms took a charge from 6 Silver Helms and their attached Hero friend and held for three turns until my Errant bus and BSB were ready to charge them into the ground. Phil was failing Panic and Terror and break tests all over the place. Four Mounted Yeoman broke 14 or so Lothern Seaguard (winning by one) which caused a nearby Spear block to panic.
The key moment came when the Errants wth BSB charged 18 Swordmasters and the Elf General in the front. Thinking they might need some help the Brettonian Lord on Hippogryph hit their flank and the Pegs hit the other. Despite losing 4 Knights and a wound off the Pegs (damn ASF! Mind you, the Elf General failed to kill off the Errant Champion in their challenge) the noble Brettonians butchered 10 Elves, comprehensively smashing them. All 3 units pursued, the Elves run down and the Pegs capturing the first of what would eventually be 3 banners (the Errants capturing another from the Silver Helms late in the game).
My truly dirty luck was confirmed when the Pegs charged the Dragon Princes in the front and beat them silly, the Hippo boss charged the Lothern Seaguard who failed their Terror check and fled, and the Yeoman took no casualties from an Eagle's charge, turned around in their saddles, and beat it silly in the same round of combat (3 wounds from the 6 attacks they had).
In the end I had lost a unit of Yeoman, the 6-man Realms and a smattering of other Realms and Errants. Due to my ineptitude the Grails never even saw combat!
Phil had just awful luck throughout the game. His magic was almost completely ineffective, his combat troops were cut down by the lance strike of skilled knights and (fortunate) peasants, and his leadership tests were pants. At the end of the game he was quite convinced he'd had a lot of fun. Damn but he's a good sport! The weekend before I took a harsh beating from Scott and felt every lost unit keenly (and showed it I'm sorry to say - sorry Scott). Phil on the other hand just couldn't have the smile wiped from his face no matter how bad things got - even on my fifth consecutive "ward save on a 6" he was going strong.
Phil's the man!
Dead Reckoning
Had Nick over for a game on Friday night and he generously allowed me to field a heinous Dwarf/Brettonian/bare bases alliance to substitute the Vampire Counts list I posted on the WAU forums to see how it worked. The list is:
Lord - Lord of the Dead, Nightshroud, Sword of Battle, Master of the Black Arts, Dark Acolyte, Crown of the Damned, Dispel Scroll
Wight King - Sword of Kings, BSB
Necromancer - Van Hel's Danse, Corpse Cart, Book of Arkhan
15 Skeleton Warriors - full command (-muso)
15 Skeleton Warriors - full command (-muso)
10 Skeleton Warriors - full command (-muso)
20 Zombies
6 Dire Wolves (I only fielded 5 - forgot the extra one for both units)
6 Dire Wolves
20 Graveguard - full command (-muso)
5 Black Knights - barding
5 Black Knights - barding
Varghulf
4 Cairn Wraiths and a Banshee
8PD - 2 bounds
5DD - 1 scroll
Having been informed that practically all of Nick's not inconsiderable ranged attacks counted as magical the Wraiths promptly hid in a big forest in the middle of the board. They didn't do much for a couple of turns but eventually frightened off some Slaves, screamed the Warpfire Thrower to death and charged the Skaven General's unit in the flank in a mighty combined charge late in the game.
The Wolves and Knights were killed off pretty quickly, managing to take out some Globadiers and 5 Jezzails before copping Ratling Gun fire and static res death. Wolves suck major in combat but could be useful for screening. I didn't have the magic resources to keep them or the Knights alive unfortunately (with only one Vampire the magic phase is extremely localised - an interesting learning point in and of itself).
The Skeletons were TERRIBLE at inflicting casualties (bearing in mind this is against Clanrats and Slaves) but were awesome as static res providers. They took the charge well, lost a lot from combat res but were resurrected back with ease.
Nick's impatience won me the game eventually - his General's/BSB's unit charging a Skellie block, failing to break it, and getting flank-charged by the afore-mentioned Wraiths and, with the help of Danse, the Necromancer and hit Skellie mates. Causing fear is awesome although I suspect against Skaven this is somewhat exacerbated.
The Varghulf was MEAN. He beat-off some silly Tunnellers who charged him, Terrored off some Jezzails he tried to charge, then minced up Clanrats in a combat that, combined with the Graveguard saw off a Clanrat block and two accompanying Warlocks.
The Zombies never saw combat but contested a quarter with some Gutter Runners. I'm thinking I will pursue the idea at Fields '09 of making it that only units with a banner (their own) can capture/contest a quarter.
The Graveguard were nuts - I'll just have to take them, they're so good!
So in the end a comfortable win for the Vampire Counts (Count... there's only one). Looking forward to collecting the army starting most likely in the Christmas holidays.
Lord - Lord of the Dead, Nightshroud, Sword of Battle, Master of the Black Arts, Dark Acolyte, Crown of the Damned, Dispel Scroll
Wight King - Sword of Kings, BSB
Necromancer - Van Hel's Danse, Corpse Cart, Book of Arkhan
15 Skeleton Warriors - full command (-muso)
15 Skeleton Warriors - full command (-muso)
10 Skeleton Warriors - full command (-muso)
20 Zombies
6 Dire Wolves (I only fielded 5 - forgot the extra one for both units)
6 Dire Wolves
20 Graveguard - full command (-muso)
5 Black Knights - barding
5 Black Knights - barding
Varghulf
4 Cairn Wraiths and a Banshee
8PD - 2 bounds
5DD - 1 scroll
Having been informed that practically all of Nick's not inconsiderable ranged attacks counted as magical the Wraiths promptly hid in a big forest in the middle of the board. They didn't do much for a couple of turns but eventually frightened off some Slaves, screamed the Warpfire Thrower to death and charged the Skaven General's unit in the flank in a mighty combined charge late in the game.
The Wolves and Knights were killed off pretty quickly, managing to take out some Globadiers and 5 Jezzails before copping Ratling Gun fire and static res death. Wolves suck major in combat but could be useful for screening. I didn't have the magic resources to keep them or the Knights alive unfortunately (with only one Vampire the magic phase is extremely localised - an interesting learning point in and of itself).
The Skeletons were TERRIBLE at inflicting casualties (bearing in mind this is against Clanrats and Slaves) but were awesome as static res providers. They took the charge well, lost a lot from combat res but were resurrected back with ease.
Nick's impatience won me the game eventually - his General's/BSB's unit charging a Skellie block, failing to break it, and getting flank-charged by the afore-mentioned Wraiths and, with the help of Danse, the Necromancer and hit Skellie mates. Causing fear is awesome although I suspect against Skaven this is somewhat exacerbated.
The Varghulf was MEAN. He beat-off some silly Tunnellers who charged him, Terrored off some Jezzails he tried to charge, then minced up Clanrats in a combat that, combined with the Graveguard saw off a Clanrat block and two accompanying Warlocks.
The Zombies never saw combat but contested a quarter with some Gutter Runners. I'm thinking I will pursue the idea at Fields '09 of making it that only units with a banner (their own) can capture/contest a quarter.
The Graveguard were nuts - I'll just have to take them, they're so good!
So in the end a comfortable win for the Vampire Counts (Count... there's only one). Looking forward to collecting the army starting most likely in the Christmas holidays.
Tuesday, October 7, 2008
Brettonians 4 (Return of the Realms)
As in, this time, they didn't panic off the board before they had a chance to move :)
To be honest Nick's Skaven put the fear in me when playing Bretts. Or, to be more precise, the Jezzails, Warp Lightning Cannon and magic phase put the fear in me. Nevertheless last night I had the chance to get in some more practice against those diverting little ratbags and Nick obliged.
The key moment of the game was spotting an opening Nick had left to the General's and BSB's Clanrat unit's flank. The Grails took their chance, charging two Globadiers who were unable to stand-and-shoot (Banner of Chalons this! ha!), chose to flee and the Grails hit the Clanrats where it hurt (that is to say, in the flank) via the 'Enemy in the Way' rule. With static 4 (outnumber, banner, BSB with Warbanner) it wasn't going to be clear cut but the boys in pink and yellow (what the hell Antony?! Such manly colours!) did me proud with 3 wounds from their charge (3 models able to attack). With flank, 1 rank and their banner the Ratties were down by 2, fluffed the test and reroll and were run down. I had the chance to get A LOT more stuff involved in this combat but the Men-at-Arms, overrunning from a nearby combat, stopped 1 inch short (curses!) and my General, solo charging into the flank of the Plaguemonks, failed to do enough damage to break them (a good overrun would have put him in the back of the Skaven General's unit).
So 2 misplaced Globadiers and a space just wide enough led to Nick's rapid demise. A counter-charge by some Clanrats into the flank of the Realm bus and the front of the Errants failed to impact, the Errants beating their opponents and running them down, the Realms also beating theirs and turning to face for the continuing melee. The Brett General was charged in the flank by the thrice-damned Censer Bearers and the Hippo took a wound (failed toughness test on a 6!) but despite breaking from combat managed to outpace both pursuing units. In my turn the Pegs (who had been quite busy dealing with Slaves... groan) rear-charged the Plaguemonks and the small Realm unit charged the Censers. The Generall rallied. Two Realms died before any combat could take place (I friggin HATE Censer Bearers) but they were still soundly thrashed. The Pegs overran into Jezzails who in turn had pursued some Yeoman who had embarassingly failed to make a dent in them with their charge. Bit of a mess it was.
Nick called it at the start of the 5th - the Warp Lightning Cannon had one shot into the Errants before they charged. I had given the accompanying Paladin the Virtue of Immune to Panic from shooting and magic missiles (an EXCELLENT virtue! Also makes the unit hate missile troops!) so the Cannon would be inevitably charged. On his extreme right Nick still had 4 Jezzails, a full-strength Clanrat unit and 1 Globadier (who has somewhat amusingly rallied right in front of the Clanrats, preventing them from moving). I'd lost both Yeoman units, a couple of Realms from both units, a Grail Knight, almost 1/2 the Men-at-Arms and an Errant but had three quarters (and one contested) and 3 banners.
A good game for Brettonia, especially after the beating Scott gave me on Sunday (still burns a little).
Nick will be back on Friday and I'll be subbing a trillion models to run a Vampire Counts army against him. I'm sure psychology will prove to be fun in that battle :)
To be honest Nick's Skaven put the fear in me when playing Bretts. Or, to be more precise, the Jezzails, Warp Lightning Cannon and magic phase put the fear in me. Nevertheless last night I had the chance to get in some more practice against those diverting little ratbags and Nick obliged.
The key moment of the game was spotting an opening Nick had left to the General's and BSB's Clanrat unit's flank. The Grails took their chance, charging two Globadiers who were unable to stand-and-shoot (Banner of Chalons this! ha!), chose to flee and the Grails hit the Clanrats where it hurt (that is to say, in the flank) via the 'Enemy in the Way' rule. With static 4 (outnumber, banner, BSB with Warbanner) it wasn't going to be clear cut but the boys in pink and yellow (what the hell Antony?! Such manly colours!) did me proud with 3 wounds from their charge (3 models able to attack). With flank, 1 rank and their banner the Ratties were down by 2, fluffed the test and reroll and were run down. I had the chance to get A LOT more stuff involved in this combat but the Men-at-Arms, overrunning from a nearby combat, stopped 1 inch short (curses!) and my General, solo charging into the flank of the Plaguemonks, failed to do enough damage to break them (a good overrun would have put him in the back of the Skaven General's unit).
So 2 misplaced Globadiers and a space just wide enough led to Nick's rapid demise. A counter-charge by some Clanrats into the flank of the Realm bus and the front of the Errants failed to impact, the Errants beating their opponents and running them down, the Realms also beating theirs and turning to face for the continuing melee. The Brett General was charged in the flank by the thrice-damned Censer Bearers and the Hippo took a wound (failed toughness test on a 6!) but despite breaking from combat managed to outpace both pursuing units. In my turn the Pegs (who had been quite busy dealing with Slaves... groan) rear-charged the Plaguemonks and the small Realm unit charged the Censers. The Generall rallied. Two Realms died before any combat could take place (I friggin HATE Censer Bearers) but they were still soundly thrashed. The Pegs overran into Jezzails who in turn had pursued some Yeoman who had embarassingly failed to make a dent in them with their charge. Bit of a mess it was.
Nick called it at the start of the 5th - the Warp Lightning Cannon had one shot into the Errants before they charged. I had given the accompanying Paladin the Virtue of Immune to Panic from shooting and magic missiles (an EXCELLENT virtue! Also makes the unit hate missile troops!) so the Cannon would be inevitably charged. On his extreme right Nick still had 4 Jezzails, a full-strength Clanrat unit and 1 Globadier (who has somewhat amusingly rallied right in front of the Clanrats, preventing them from moving). I'd lost both Yeoman units, a couple of Realms from both units, a Grail Knight, almost 1/2 the Men-at-Arms and an Errant but had three quarters (and one contested) and 3 banners.
A good game for Brettonia, especially after the beating Scott gave me on Sunday (still burns a little).
Nick will be back on Friday and I'll be subbing a trillion models to run a Vampire Counts army against him. I'm sure psychology will prove to be fun in that battle :)
Sunday, October 5, 2008
Brettonians 3 (Orcs is da best)
Brettonians are not... at least not this time.
Played Scott's magic/chaff-heavy Orcs and Gobbos on Sunday. Something like this:
L4 Shaman
L2 Shaman
L2 Shaman
BSB on Boar
Black Orc block
2 Orc Boyz blocks
5 Trolls
3 x 20 Night Gobbo Archers with 2 Fanatics each
2 Pump Wagons
2 Wolf Chariots
2 5-Strong Wolf Riders
2 bloody Bolt Throwers (sum total of these being 70pts)
The game started with Scott querying the fact I had five characters and asking me to point out the rule that allowed this. Despite my own protestations and claims of having seen numerous Brett armies (e.g. Marcello's Bretts which he has not only used for years but has also taken to more tournaments than I've been playing toy soldiers) with 5 characters he was not convinced. Antony shortly put him in his place with a derisive scoff.
I knew it was going to be a duff game when in Scott's first turn ONE Bolt Thrower killed 3 Realm Knights from the bus (containing Damsel and BSB) and they panicked and fled off the table, taking some nearby Yeoman with them. Excellent. Over the course of the game the Bolties tagged - the Realm bus/Yeoman, 2 Errants in the last turn which panicked the unit and took them below 25%, 2 Grail Knights (of the two they could kill) and the Hippogryph. Bugger. A good 800pts there are least.
Magic did for me - my meagre 3 dispel dice (after the first Damsel had legged it with the Realms) couldn't hold off the awful Greenskin magic phases. Scott assured me however this was the toned down list :) Ouch.
By the end of the game I had nothing left - well ok, the Errants were on the table but they were busy running away. I'd managed to kill off most of the chaff in Scott's army but all his blocks, a unit of Gobbos, the accuresed Bolt Throwers and the Trolls were still fine. Horrors. Terrible game, worse for the fact that I learnt nothing more than - avoid Bolt Throwers where possible, and if you're having a bad luck day then you are fairly screwed no matter what you try. Sigh...
The best part of the experience was watching Antony's heart break as he saw his models being casually butchered.
Well, I have a game lined up against Phil's High Elves (not Star Dragon Phil) next Sunday so that should be fun. After all, how good could Elven Bolt Throwers be?
Played Scott's magic/chaff-heavy Orcs and Gobbos on Sunday. Something like this:
L4 Shaman
L2 Shaman
L2 Shaman
BSB on Boar
Black Orc block
2 Orc Boyz blocks
5 Trolls
3 x 20 Night Gobbo Archers with 2 Fanatics each
2 Pump Wagons
2 Wolf Chariots
2 5-Strong Wolf Riders
2 bloody Bolt Throwers (sum total of these being 70pts)
The game started with Scott querying the fact I had five characters and asking me to point out the rule that allowed this. Despite my own protestations and claims of having seen numerous Brett armies (e.g. Marcello's Bretts which he has not only used for years but has also taken to more tournaments than I've been playing toy soldiers) with 5 characters he was not convinced. Antony shortly put him in his place with a derisive scoff.
I knew it was going to be a duff game when in Scott's first turn ONE Bolt Thrower killed 3 Realm Knights from the bus (containing Damsel and BSB) and they panicked and fled off the table, taking some nearby Yeoman with them. Excellent. Over the course of the game the Bolties tagged - the Realm bus/Yeoman, 2 Errants in the last turn which panicked the unit and took them below 25%, 2 Grail Knights (of the two they could kill) and the Hippogryph. Bugger. A good 800pts there are least.
Magic did for me - my meagre 3 dispel dice (after the first Damsel had legged it with the Realms) couldn't hold off the awful Greenskin magic phases. Scott assured me however this was the toned down list :) Ouch.
By the end of the game I had nothing left - well ok, the Errants were on the table but they were busy running away. I'd managed to kill off most of the chaff in Scott's army but all his blocks, a unit of Gobbos, the accuresed Bolt Throwers and the Trolls were still fine. Horrors. Terrible game, worse for the fact that I learnt nothing more than - avoid Bolt Throwers where possible, and if you're having a bad luck day then you are fairly screwed no matter what you try. Sigh...
The best part of the experience was watching Antony's heart break as he saw his models being casually butchered.
Well, I have a game lined up against Phil's High Elves (not Star Dragon Phil) next Sunday so that should be fun. After all, how good could Elven Bolt Throwers be?
Friday, October 3, 2008
Brettonians rewrite - a better Brett
I'd like to preface this by thanking Dave Grant for lending me his army both during Fields of Blood (Lizards) and after Fields of Blood (Brettonians). Dave has taught me a lot about the game (most recently last night at Dougs when he turned a devastating massacre against Nick into a mediocre draw because, well... that's his playstyle... - he calls it trying to kill every model in the enemy army; I call it over-reaching) with his enthusiastic dialogue on "tactics", "experimental" army design (what did happen to that Chieftain on Steg Lizard army with 9 - or was it 12 - Krox?), and of course the smashing games I've played against him and watched him play against other people. His grand advice helped me pummel Phil (in the nicest way possible) when I needed to the most. Thanks Dave :)
Having said all that, Dave's Bretts I just do not get. Just don't understand them. So in search of the cheese that Brettonians are supposedly legendary for - the sort of cheese I've been so consistently beaten by - I went to the master of all that is broken lists, Mr Kitson*. Antony happily (albeit with great caution) has lent me his Bretts and they are a quite different monster to Daves. In fact, for a start, they have a monster!
I've tweaked the list a bit more, making it extra hard. I'm not really one for taking hard lists generally (at least I don't think so...) but this somehow feels right.
2250 Brettonian list of DOOOOOOM!
Bretonnian Lord (390) - Knightly Vow, Heartwood Lance, Enchanted Shield, Virtue of Discipline, Tress of Isoulde, Hippogryph
Sweet! Finally, a big, nasty, flying Terror-causing beastie to play around with!
1 Paladin Battle Standard Bearer (124) - Battle Standard Bearer, Knightly Vow, Sword of Might, Virtue of Duty
1 Paladin (130) - Lance, Shield, Knightly Vow, Gromril Great Helm, Virtue of Purity
1 Damsel of the Lady (120) - The Silver Mirror, horse
1 Damsel of the Lady (105) - Dispel Scroll, horse
5 Grail Knights (230) - Banner of Chalons
3 Pegasus Knights (165)
5 Mounted Yeomen (87) - Shields, Musician
5 Mounted Yeomen (87) - Shields, Musician
7 Knights of the Realm (217) - Warbanner
6 Knights of the Realm
8 Knights Errant (201) - Errantry Banner
25 Men-at-Arms (140) - Standard, Musician
10 Peasant Bowmen (85) - Skirmishers, Standard, Musician
Casting Pool: 4
Dispel Pool: 4
Models in Army: 80
Total Army Cost: 2249
Having said all that, Dave's Bretts I just do not get. Just don't understand them. So in search of the cheese that Brettonians are supposedly legendary for - the sort of cheese I've been so consistently beaten by - I went to the master of all that is broken lists, Mr Kitson*. Antony happily (albeit with great caution) has lent me his Bretts and they are a quite different monster to Daves. In fact, for a start, they have a monster!
I've tweaked the list a bit more, making it extra hard. I'm not really one for taking hard lists generally (at least I don't think so...) but this somehow feels right.
2250 Brettonian list of DOOOOOOM!
Bretonnian Lord (390) - Knightly Vow, Heartwood Lance, Enchanted Shield, Virtue of Discipline, Tress of Isoulde, Hippogryph
Sweet! Finally, a big, nasty, flying Terror-causing beastie to play around with!
1 Paladin Battle Standard Bearer (124) - Battle Standard Bearer, Knightly Vow, Sword of Might, Virtue of Duty
1 Paladin (130) - Lance, Shield, Knightly Vow, Gromril Great Helm, Virtue of Purity
1 Damsel of the Lady (120) - The Silver Mirror, horse
1 Damsel of the Lady (105) - Dispel Scroll, horse
5 Grail Knights (230) - Banner of Chalons
3 Pegasus Knights (165)
5 Mounted Yeomen (87) - Shields, Musician
5 Mounted Yeomen (87) - Shields, Musician
7 Knights of the Realm (217) - Warbanner
6 Knights of the Realm
8 Knights Errant (201) - Errantry Banner
25 Men-at-Arms (140) - Standard, Musician
10 Peasant Bowmen (85) - Skirmishers, Standard, Musician
Casting Pool: 4
Dispel Pool: 4
Models in Army: 80
Total Army Cost: 2249
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