If you haven't read the backlog of excellent IF online magazine articles, do so now.
Ok. You are now probably a better player.
One of the things that I believe (as per one of the articles in said mag) is that as one improves as a player, the more one is able to think ahead. When I started out I was really micromanaging and agonising over every little decision (long-term opponents will recall this method of play which nearly led to me being nicknamed Indecisive Dave or D-d-d-d-Dave because I kept changing my mind) without a view to the overall battlefield and flow of the game. Sooner or later you move from this stage into looking at the bigger picture of the whole turn where you attempt to impose a plan on the enemy. Then you start thinking about your opponent's turn.
Then... a long way down the track... you start thinking 2 or 3 turns ahead. About this time you've started to realise how incredibly complex this game can be and how good the top players really are!
In my most recent game I achieved it - the Zen of Thinking Three Turns Ahead. And it was a beautiful, glorious thing.
I played DE Phil (hereafter known as Phil3*) yesterday at his place (which was awesome - we played in his carpeted garage in front of a masive projection screen as SA shattered Australian cricket by winning their first test in Oz EVER - excellent). For the first two turns I looked to be in the red but stuck to my guns. Phil3's army is a fluffy covering with a solid and deadly centre of 2 Chariots and 24 Witch Elves with the Cold One Banner accompanied by a Hag BSB with the Standard of Slaughter (+D3 to combat res). The whole plan involved taking a charge with Unbreakable Spearmen, counter-charging on one flank with the Free Company and charging into the other flank in the next turn with the Flagellents in turn 4.
Miraculously that is exactly what happened! Except that, one their way in the Flagellents beat the snot out of some interposing DE Spearmen and the Free Company, instead of hitting the Witch Elves, ended up beating up some Dark Riders.
While the Reiksguard swept majestically into the Shades and Assassin and then, shortly after, the RXB Warriors my brave lads went to work on the Witchies. A dead Hag BSB and a score of dead Witch Elves later and they were headed for the hills. With a chariot and 10 Corsairs remaining (the victorious Flagellents and Spearmen would have overrun into the surviving Sorceress) Phil3 called the game.
Of course, he also helped things along immensely by miscasting with his General and rolling the legendary double 1s. Nice work Phil :-)
What was extra great was that I played this game with version 3 of the fluffy Empire list in which I've dropped the Arch-Lector and Helblaster for a Warrior Priest and 10 Huntsmen. The list worked really well - practically the whole army is Ld8 (characters spread around parent units and Knights - parent units providing leadership to detachments). Ld8 is NOT awesome, but in this game it worked remarkably well. Further playtesting will prove the folly of this assumption I'm sure but for now things are humming along nicely :)
Now if only every game consistently had a turn four plan...
*Phil1 - Star Dragon Phil aka Philfy aka self-proclaimed establishing leader of that shoddy ADC outfit
Phil2 - other High Elf Phil, shortly to be Wood Elf Phil, aka Wouster7 aka Jolly Asian Phil
Phil3 - Dark Elf Phil... what the heck is it with guys named Phil playing various Elven races???
Tuesday, December 30, 2008
Playing catch-up with Skaven - FluffyCon playtesting
The Lone Asian is one of my favourite opponents - the fact that Nick has yet to beat me actually adds an extra edge to our games as he is going for the throat and I often find myself desperately fending him off. The games are usually close and the turning point is generally in my fourth or fifth turn when I take advantage of a terrible mistake Nick has made.
This gamed turned history on it's head. Nick did make a mistake - in deployment when he placed his Rat Ogres and Globadiers (this is FluffyCon list; hence the Rat Ogres) on almost the opposite side of the battlefield from his General. The Rat Ogres quickly proved their reputation, fleeing the board after my Reiksguard Knights impaled and ran down a unit of nearby Giant Rats. The Knights (reduced by an irresistible Warp Lightning and Globadier fire) then spent the rest of the game running away from a Clanrat unit they could not hope to beat. They managed to assassinate the Warlock before being dragged down by the innumerable Skaven.
Oddly enough the same situation was happening on the opposite flank with the GW-Knights against another Clanrat unit but this time there was no one to assassinate. When it came time to finally charge (left with no other option) the Knights fluffed fantastically and were run down.
Artillery put the fear in Nick (aside from the Helblaster which, true to form, catastrophically annihilated itself shooting at a valuable target - Slaves). The Mortar rained death from above with alarming regularity, quickly reducing the Skaven Warlords Clanrat bodyguard to a point where he was no longer interested in charging the Spearmen (he spent most of the game trying unsuccessfully to reach the Plaguemonks and ended up dying to a gallant last turn charge by the Pistoliers!). The Cannon was frustrated by the lack of solid targets (which is of course what I expected playing Nick). I foolishly let slip my cunning plan to snipe the Assassin (who was hanging out with 3 Tunnelling Rats) so Nick tucked him away safely. My one shot at the Skaven General overshot. The Cannon also comprehensively nailed a Jezzail before the Handgunners finished them off is a superb display of shooting skill.
The 3 Tunnel Team rats spent 4 turns in epic combat with the Free Company detachment the lone survivor (a rat) then charged the Crossbow detachment in the flank and was soundly clubbed to death. Amusingly, much like the Knights, this was mirrored in another part of the battlefield as a single surviving Gutter Ruunner tried his luck against the single file flank of the Handgunners. He died a similar fate.
The Plaguemonks drove all before them, obliterating the Flagellents in a gruesome display of extremely capable dice rolling. In return the Spearmen detachment cleverly sacrificed themselves charging the flank of the Plaguemonks. Frenzy meant they had to pursue and while the Spearmen were caught it also meant the Plaguemonks were forced to charge the full strength Swordsmen unit with accompanying Arch-Lector and BSB in the last turn. After wiping out a unit of Slaves the Pistoliers hit the Skaven General, causing a wound and taking none in return. Having conveniently cross-fired the Boss Rat the Swordsmen then beat down the Plaguemonks after Nick's dice turned on him and chased them off in the last turn.
The end result was a hard fought for draw which could have been a defeat for me had Nick deployed better. Problem is he learned his lesson so the next game is sure to be even more of a challenge! Great game Nick - let me know when you have that table at your place and I'll come over for a game and return the favour :-)
This gamed turned history on it's head. Nick did make a mistake - in deployment when he placed his Rat Ogres and Globadiers (this is FluffyCon list; hence the Rat Ogres) on almost the opposite side of the battlefield from his General. The Rat Ogres quickly proved their reputation, fleeing the board after my Reiksguard Knights impaled and ran down a unit of nearby Giant Rats. The Knights (reduced by an irresistible Warp Lightning and Globadier fire) then spent the rest of the game running away from a Clanrat unit they could not hope to beat. They managed to assassinate the Warlock before being dragged down by the innumerable Skaven.
Oddly enough the same situation was happening on the opposite flank with the GW-Knights against another Clanrat unit but this time there was no one to assassinate. When it came time to finally charge (left with no other option) the Knights fluffed fantastically and were run down.
Artillery put the fear in Nick (aside from the Helblaster which, true to form, catastrophically annihilated itself shooting at a valuable target - Slaves). The Mortar rained death from above with alarming regularity, quickly reducing the Skaven Warlords Clanrat bodyguard to a point where he was no longer interested in charging the Spearmen (he spent most of the game trying unsuccessfully to reach the Plaguemonks and ended up dying to a gallant last turn charge by the Pistoliers!). The Cannon was frustrated by the lack of solid targets (which is of course what I expected playing Nick). I foolishly let slip my cunning plan to snipe the Assassin (who was hanging out with 3 Tunnelling Rats) so Nick tucked him away safely. My one shot at the Skaven General overshot. The Cannon also comprehensively nailed a Jezzail before the Handgunners finished them off is a superb display of shooting skill.
The 3 Tunnel Team rats spent 4 turns in epic combat with the Free Company detachment the lone survivor (a rat) then charged the Crossbow detachment in the flank and was soundly clubbed to death. Amusingly, much like the Knights, this was mirrored in another part of the battlefield as a single surviving Gutter Ruunner tried his luck against the single file flank of the Handgunners. He died a similar fate.
The Plaguemonks drove all before them, obliterating the Flagellents in a gruesome display of extremely capable dice rolling. In return the Spearmen detachment cleverly sacrificed themselves charging the flank of the Plaguemonks. Frenzy meant they had to pursue and while the Spearmen were caught it also meant the Plaguemonks were forced to charge the full strength Swordsmen unit with accompanying Arch-Lector and BSB in the last turn. After wiping out a unit of Slaves the Pistoliers hit the Skaven General, causing a wound and taking none in return. Having conveniently cross-fired the Boss Rat the Swordsmen then beat down the Plaguemonks after Nick's dice turned on him and chased them off in the last turn.
The end result was a hard fought for draw which could have been a defeat for me had Nick deployed better. Problem is he learned his lesson so the next game is sure to be even more of a challenge! Great game Nick - let me know when you have that table at your place and I'll come over for a game and return the favour :-)
Thursday, December 18, 2008
When karma realigns... Dark Elves die - FluffyCon playtesting
Funnily enough I'd actually met Phil (not Stardragon Phil... or other High Elf Phil... this is another Phil) at Tin Soldier earlier in the year. He popped along as a spectator and was so impressed by the Dipped Dwarfs of Disastrous Decimation that he resolved to immediately dip an army of his own. Phil's good mates with Ray and getting back into serious Fantasy, having played since... well, almost before I was born (jokes... but certainly for a while!). He even had a 2nd edition reference card which used the same modifiers and many of the same charts.
Old school!
Anyway, Phil brought his 'fluffier than thou' Dark Elves:
Sorceress on Dark Pegasus
Sorceress on Cold One (one of these chicks had an extra spell thing)
Hag BSB
24-ish Witch Elves
20 Spear Elves
11 (?) RXB Elves
2 Cold One Chariots
6 or 7 Dark Riders
2 and a bit ranks of Corsairs with 2 hand-weapons
5 Shades hiding an Assassin
It was so fluffy that no one had Hotek or the cheese-ward and the RXBs and Spears didn't have shields! Flufftastic!
By contrast I felt like the cheesemonger that I am with my Empire lads. And unfortunately they were about to prove how effective Empire can be (my dice rolling was... off the charts).
- cannon nailed a chariot turn one, 5 Witch Elves turn 2
- Mortar rained death on the Spears
- Helblaster left one Spearman alive after 22 shots translated to 8 dead Spears. The survivor fled the board.
- Handgunners and Pistoliers combined to smash the Corsairs at range. The two survivors fled the field
- the Wizard and Crossbows all but wiped out the RXB Elves. The surviving Elf charged the Reiksguard Knights, miraciously holding them up for a turn but getting run down in the next.
- Flagellents Frenzy-charged the Shades. Assassin popped out and was forced to accept a challenge by the Prophet of Doom. Prophet died (one wound). Remaining Flagellents martyred a friend to get Hatred and wiped out the Shades. Assassin broke, escaped and rallied which was fine as he then caught 8 wounds in the face from a Fiery Blast courtesy of the Wizard.
- Wizard went on to roll an IF 2D6 Fiery Blast against a riderless Dark Pegasus (Sorceress died to Pistolier fire, Peg chased off the Mortar). 12 hits later it was a smoking corpse.
- The Spears took 7 wounds from the charge of the remaining Cold One Chariot, held (Unbreakable). Broke it in the next turn.
- GW-Knights charged the Dark Riders (who did stand-and-shoot, other option was to flee the table - awkward placement). With 5 attacks from the Knights and 5 from the horses they killed all the Dark Riders off on the charge.
- Cold One-riding Sorceress shot down by Pistoliers
- eventually left with "just" the Frenzied, BSB-led Witch Elves - they were lured around by the Crossbow detachment, then the Spear detachment (who were caught) but then flank-charged by the Swordsmen unit. Witch Elves managed to hold for two rounds but in turn 5 took a charge in the other flank from the GW-Knights who killed 4 and combined with static res broke the Witchies despite their reroll. The Witch Elves were damn scary but after losing Hatred and Frenzy definitely much less so. Trent is right - Dark Elves without Hatred... not so good.
End result? A sound thrashing for Phil who was an absolute gentleman throughout the game and a stand up good sport.
Empire losses - Spear detachment, Cannon, Mortar, 1/2 the Flagellents (to magic)
Dark Elf losses - everything plus I got 4 quarters, 2 standards (maybe 3, can't remember if the Dark Riders had one), the General, and bonus points for the Heroes*
VPs for Phil = 328
VPs for me = 2820
So a convincing 20-0 win for the Empire and the universe can again sleep easy after the butchering I recevied from Derick's soft Spiders a couple of nights ago :-)
Game organised against Nick's (The Lone Asian) Skaven on Saturday night (another unit of which I have finished painting).
* Taking Heroes/Lords at FluffyCon is a scary proposition. Each Lord killed gives away an additional 80VPs (that's on top of being the General if they are) and each Hero gives away an additional 40VPs on top of their normal cost. Makes taking a Lord and 3 Heroes less appealing!
Old school!
Anyway, Phil brought his 'fluffier than thou' Dark Elves:
Sorceress on Dark Pegasus
Sorceress on Cold One (one of these chicks had an extra spell thing)
Hag BSB
24-ish Witch Elves
20 Spear Elves
11 (?) RXB Elves
2 Cold One Chariots
6 or 7 Dark Riders
2 and a bit ranks of Corsairs with 2 hand-weapons
5 Shades hiding an Assassin
It was so fluffy that no one had Hotek or the cheese-ward and the RXBs and Spears didn't have shields! Flufftastic!
By contrast I felt like the cheesemonger that I am with my Empire lads. And unfortunately they were about to prove how effective Empire can be (my dice rolling was... off the charts).
- cannon nailed a chariot turn one, 5 Witch Elves turn 2
- Mortar rained death on the Spears
- Helblaster left one Spearman alive after 22 shots translated to 8 dead Spears. The survivor fled the board.
- Handgunners and Pistoliers combined to smash the Corsairs at range. The two survivors fled the field
- the Wizard and Crossbows all but wiped out the RXB Elves. The surviving Elf charged the Reiksguard Knights, miraciously holding them up for a turn but getting run down in the next.
- Flagellents Frenzy-charged the Shades. Assassin popped out and was forced to accept a challenge by the Prophet of Doom. Prophet died (one wound). Remaining Flagellents martyred a friend to get Hatred and wiped out the Shades. Assassin broke, escaped and rallied which was fine as he then caught 8 wounds in the face from a Fiery Blast courtesy of the Wizard.
- Wizard went on to roll an IF 2D6 Fiery Blast against a riderless Dark Pegasus (Sorceress died to Pistolier fire, Peg chased off the Mortar). 12 hits later it was a smoking corpse.
- The Spears took 7 wounds from the charge of the remaining Cold One Chariot, held (Unbreakable). Broke it in the next turn.
- GW-Knights charged the Dark Riders (who did stand-and-shoot, other option was to flee the table - awkward placement). With 5 attacks from the Knights and 5 from the horses they killed all the Dark Riders off on the charge.
- Cold One-riding Sorceress shot down by Pistoliers
- eventually left with "just" the Frenzied, BSB-led Witch Elves - they were lured around by the Crossbow detachment, then the Spear detachment (who were caught) but then flank-charged by the Swordsmen unit. Witch Elves managed to hold for two rounds but in turn 5 took a charge in the other flank from the GW-Knights who killed 4 and combined with static res broke the Witchies despite their reroll. The Witch Elves were damn scary but after losing Hatred and Frenzy definitely much less so. Trent is right - Dark Elves without Hatred... not so good.
End result? A sound thrashing for Phil who was an absolute gentleman throughout the game and a stand up good sport.
Empire losses - Spear detachment, Cannon, Mortar, 1/2 the Flagellents (to magic)
Dark Elf losses - everything plus I got 4 quarters, 2 standards (maybe 3, can't remember if the Dark Riders had one), the General, and bonus points for the Heroes*
VPs for Phil = 328
VPs for me = 2820
So a convincing 20-0 win for the Empire and the universe can again sleep easy after the butchering I recevied from Derick's soft Spiders a couple of nights ago :-)
Game organised against Nick's (The Lone Asian) Skaven on Saturday night (another unit of which I have finished painting).
* Taking Heroes/Lords at FluffyCon is a scary proposition. Each Lord killed gives away an additional 80VPs (that's on top of being the General if they are) and each Hero gives away an additional 40VPs on top of their normal cost. Makes taking a Lord and 3 Heroes less appealing!
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
The continuing issue with playing Empire - FluffyCon playtesting
You must have experienced one of those games where very little goes your way - the dice are against you; for some reason you couldn't strategise your way out of a paper bag; your models are armed with rainbows and hugs instead of swords and fiery magical doom and need some serious fitness training for lack of catching opponents IF they somehow miraculously manage to break them.
Not to take anything away from Derick (who is just a lovely guy) but come on - how broken is his Spider Riders army!?!?! :p
Derick's army is pretty well known around the place because frankly no one else is mad enough to field an army made up in the majority of models that are T3, 5+ save with shortbows and no ranks or banners. Unfortunately Spider Riders don't make up the WHOLE army - the juicy core of Boar Boyz, Boar Boy Big 'Uns, hitty characters with Shaggas et al, a L4 Shaman and the fact that everything Orcy is also Savage... that little lot can hurt if you don't take care of them quick smart.
Which is exactly what I failed to do.
Here are the high/lowlights of this extremely self-destructive game.:
- first shot, cannon blows up
- first shot, first barrel, helblaster blows up (again)
- just because Spider Riders usually miss doesn't mean they always will. Pistoliers take 2 casualties and Panic through the brave Reiksguard Knights. Fortunately the Pistoliers rally (eventually taking the Giant to 1/2 wounds and destroying the Goblin Chariot. Then they died to one of the many Tapdances that Gork was wont to do in this game). Unfortunately the Knights panicked from the Pistoliers little jaunt through their ranks. The Knights fled the board.
- on the opposite flank the GW-knights met a sticky end at the hands of a Squig Herd.
- the Orc Shaman, being Frenzied, was forced to charge the Flagellents. He lost the combat and ran (failed to catch him). Then he auto-fled my charge in the next turn but failed to go far enough to get off the board (by a couple of inches). Then he rallied. Then I was magically annihilated. The Flagellents then took a flank charge from 5 Spider Riders who beat them twice, keeping them still long enough for the Shaman to Fist of Gork them and the Squigs to rear-charge.
- MVPs the Swordsmen took a charge from some Spiders and Gobbo Boss on Giant Spider. BSB wailed on the Boss in their challenge. Combination of ranks, standards, numbers and the supporting flank charge by the Spear detachment broke both units. Spider Riders caught. Boss caught in a charge in the following turn. Actually the Spear detachment are the MVPs - caught the Gobbo boss, took out the Doomdiver, fled another charge but rallied to contest a quarter. Swordsmen played no further part in the battle. But they did survive which pretty much set them apart from almost everyone else.
- Spear block and Lector smashed multiple times by Boar Boyz with two attached characters. Derick eventually tired of the combat, dispelled Unbreakable and caused the survivors (Lector on two wounds and the standard bearer) to flee.
- Wizard's first spell miscasts (rolling triple ones). Derick gets a free spell (Tapdance). By the time Derick rolls up the same miscast result later in the game (it occurs to me we referenced the general miscast table instead of the Greenskin miscast table - oops!) my Wizard was dead from the mighty Tapdance. Sigh.
- last straw - two Spider Riders charge 8 Crossbows, beat them and force them to flee in the last turn.
So, I had the Swords and BSB and Spear detachment left at the end of the game. Derick had - L4 Shaman, Squig herd, 2.5 Spider Rider units, Boar Boyz, two fighty characters (including General and a hero on 1/2 wounds), 1/2 strength Boar boy Big 'Uns, 1/2 strength Giant.
2112VPs to Derick. 888 VPs to me. 1224VP difference.
16-4 loss for the Empire to the mighty Spider Riders!
Bah.
Not to take anything away from Derick (who is just a lovely guy) but come on - how broken is his Spider Riders army!?!?! :p
Derick's army is pretty well known around the place because frankly no one else is mad enough to field an army made up in the majority of models that are T3, 5+ save with shortbows and no ranks or banners. Unfortunately Spider Riders don't make up the WHOLE army - the juicy core of Boar Boyz, Boar Boy Big 'Uns, hitty characters with Shaggas et al, a L4 Shaman and the fact that everything Orcy is also Savage... that little lot can hurt if you don't take care of them quick smart.
Which is exactly what I failed to do.
Here are the high/lowlights of this extremely self-destructive game.:
- first shot, cannon blows up
- first shot, first barrel, helblaster blows up (again)
- just because Spider Riders usually miss doesn't mean they always will. Pistoliers take 2 casualties and Panic through the brave Reiksguard Knights. Fortunately the Pistoliers rally (eventually taking the Giant to 1/2 wounds and destroying the Goblin Chariot. Then they died to one of the many Tapdances that Gork was wont to do in this game). Unfortunately the Knights panicked from the Pistoliers little jaunt through their ranks. The Knights fled the board.
- on the opposite flank the GW-knights met a sticky end at the hands of a Squig Herd.
- the Orc Shaman, being Frenzied, was forced to charge the Flagellents. He lost the combat and ran (failed to catch him). Then he auto-fled my charge in the next turn but failed to go far enough to get off the board (by a couple of inches). Then he rallied. Then I was magically annihilated. The Flagellents then took a flank charge from 5 Spider Riders who beat them twice, keeping them still long enough for the Shaman to Fist of Gork them and the Squigs to rear-charge.
- MVPs the Swordsmen took a charge from some Spiders and Gobbo Boss on Giant Spider. BSB wailed on the Boss in their challenge. Combination of ranks, standards, numbers and the supporting flank charge by the Spear detachment broke both units. Spider Riders caught. Boss caught in a charge in the following turn. Actually the Spear detachment are the MVPs - caught the Gobbo boss, took out the Doomdiver, fled another charge but rallied to contest a quarter. Swordsmen played no further part in the battle. But they did survive which pretty much set them apart from almost everyone else.
- Spear block and Lector smashed multiple times by Boar Boyz with two attached characters. Derick eventually tired of the combat, dispelled Unbreakable and caused the survivors (Lector on two wounds and the standard bearer) to flee.
- Wizard's first spell miscasts (rolling triple ones). Derick gets a free spell (Tapdance). By the time Derick rolls up the same miscast result later in the game (it occurs to me we referenced the general miscast table instead of the Greenskin miscast table - oops!) my Wizard was dead from the mighty Tapdance. Sigh.
- last straw - two Spider Riders charge 8 Crossbows, beat them and force them to flee in the last turn.
So, I had the Swords and BSB and Spear detachment left at the end of the game. Derick had - L4 Shaman, Squig herd, 2.5 Spider Rider units, Boar Boyz, two fighty characters (including General and a hero on 1/2 wounds), 1/2 strength Boar boy Big 'Uns, 1/2 strength Giant.
2112VPs to Derick. 888 VPs to me. 1224VP difference.
16-4 loss for the Empire to the mighty Spider Riders!
Bah.
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
The continuing hilarity of playing Orcs and Goblins - FluffyCon playtesting
I have three games over the next three days (what it is to be on holiday) and last night finally managed to play Aaron who I've wanted to play for ages! He was using an O&G army that looked like this:
Blorc General with kit
Blorc BSB with kit
Gobbo Shaman
3 x 22/23/25 boyz with choppa/shield and FC
2 Night Gobbo blocks with 2 Fanatics each, one with bows, one with spears
5 Spider Riders
Giant
Doomdiver
2 bolties
10 Arrer Boyz
Squig herd of random exloding death
Boar chariot
This was an EXCELLENT game (a very pleasing pattern as of late) with so many brilliant, hilarious and downright weird moments. Here are the highlights:
- First shot, first barrel - Helblaster explodes. Hrm.
- First shot, cannon misfires. Second shot overshoots the Boar Chariot by an inch but doesn't bounce quite far enough to hit the Boyz behind. Third shot (having lost two crew - see Squig Hoppery Death later in this summary) hits the Giant with an absolute peach of a shot and takes 5 wounds off him! The Giant is finished off by the Crossbows (who only wounded once!) which in turn not only saved by GW-Knights from the Giant but also ended up resulting in the death of not only a bolt thrower (taken out by the GW-Knights) but also the 25-Orc block on the other flank (flank-charged by the GW Knights). The Cannon's last shot, at the Goblin Shaman who had abandoned his unit, falls short by an INCH! Grrr!
- The Mortar reigning death onto Goblins before helping me understand how incredibly crap it is against toughness 4 Orcs.
- the GW-Knights fantastic tour of the battlefield taking out the Arrer Boyz, watching the Giant drop dead right next to them (as opposed to on top of them), surviving two enfilading bolt thrower shots, taking out one of said bolt throwers and finally, hitting the large Boyz unit in the flank and running them down.
- the Reiksguard Knights luring out a Fanatic (that's what I'm calling it anyway), failing (along with the Pistoliers) to break the bow-armed Gobbo unit on the charge (Insane Courage/Insane Stupidity Gobbos - nice one Aaron!), breaking them in the next turn, running them off the board, returning and taking out the Doomdiver and remaining bolt thrower, taking the big Orc block in the front, holding, and (with the GW-knights) running them down in the last turns of the game.
- useless git of a Wizard failing to cast spells then thinking "surely there's no way that Fanatic will come this way AND roll high enough to reach me". Splat!
- The Boar Chariot charging the Flagellents in turn 2, taking 5 turns to kill them off (only just). Bit gutted the last guy died as the chariot was eventually flanked by the Swords and BSB who failed to kill it (had one wound left by this point). Chariot killed the Flagellent, broke thanks to the Swordsmen in the flank, and ran through the same Fanatic who killed the Wizard. 6 impact hits on the Fanatic = splat. 4 Fanatic hits on the Chariot = smash!
- Squig Hoppery Death. Oh man, how awesome was this?!! Hoppers hit the Swordsmen and are counter-charged by their Spear detachment. Hoppers lose combat and explode. 12". As in, everything within 12" takes D6 str5 hits. Result? 6 out of the remaining 7 Spearmen from the detachment die. 5-man Crossbow unit dies. 2 Swords die. 2 Cannon crew die. 1 Mortar crew and a wound on the Mortar. 4 Spearmen from the big block. 3 Orcs, a wound on the Board Chariot (lol) and 2 Flagellents. Carnage!!!
- the surviving Spearman from the detachment passes his Panic check and totally gets in the way of the two remaining Orc blocks in the centre, preventing charges and annoying the hell out of Aaron :-)
- charge of the Spearmen and solo charge of the Lector into the Orc BSBs block of Boyz. Empire lose the combat and hold. Lector flank-charged by the Orc General's unit in the last turn - they wave pom-poms as the Lector is busy in a challenge with the Orc BSB. Spears break. Lector is Unbreakable and ends the game continuing his challenge against the BSB, surrounded by 40+ angry Orcs and the "unable to attack anything" Orc General.
A win to me by 230VPs which I think is an 11-9 but really pretty much a draw - an outstanding game against an opponent interested in the win but more interested and amused in the just plain ridiculous goings on throughout the game. My anticipation in playing Aaron was totally justified.
Tonight I'm back to killing off the Greenskin menace but this time it's Derick's Spiders again - more magic, more speed, less static res and here I am with no toughness and no armour.
Now... where did I put my Dwarfs?... :)
Just kidding - Empire all the way baby!
Blorc General with kit
Blorc BSB with kit
Gobbo Shaman
3 x 22/23/25 boyz with choppa/shield and FC
2 Night Gobbo blocks with 2 Fanatics each, one with bows, one with spears
5 Spider Riders
Giant
Doomdiver
2 bolties
10 Arrer Boyz
Squig herd of random exloding death
Boar chariot
This was an EXCELLENT game (a very pleasing pattern as of late) with so many brilliant, hilarious and downright weird moments. Here are the highlights:
- First shot, first barrel - Helblaster explodes. Hrm.
- First shot, cannon misfires. Second shot overshoots the Boar Chariot by an inch but doesn't bounce quite far enough to hit the Boyz behind. Third shot (having lost two crew - see Squig Hoppery Death later in this summary) hits the Giant with an absolute peach of a shot and takes 5 wounds off him! The Giant is finished off by the Crossbows (who only wounded once!) which in turn not only saved by GW-Knights from the Giant but also ended up resulting in the death of not only a bolt thrower (taken out by the GW-Knights) but also the 25-Orc block on the other flank (flank-charged by the GW Knights). The Cannon's last shot, at the Goblin Shaman who had abandoned his unit, falls short by an INCH! Grrr!
- The Mortar reigning death onto Goblins before helping me understand how incredibly crap it is against toughness 4 Orcs.
- the GW-Knights fantastic tour of the battlefield taking out the Arrer Boyz, watching the Giant drop dead right next to them (as opposed to on top of them), surviving two enfilading bolt thrower shots, taking out one of said bolt throwers and finally, hitting the large Boyz unit in the flank and running them down.
- the Reiksguard Knights luring out a Fanatic (that's what I'm calling it anyway), failing (along with the Pistoliers) to break the bow-armed Gobbo unit on the charge (Insane Courage/Insane Stupidity Gobbos - nice one Aaron!), breaking them in the next turn, running them off the board, returning and taking out the Doomdiver and remaining bolt thrower, taking the big Orc block in the front, holding, and (with the GW-knights) running them down in the last turns of the game.
- useless git of a Wizard failing to cast spells then thinking "surely there's no way that Fanatic will come this way AND roll high enough to reach me". Splat!
- The Boar Chariot charging the Flagellents in turn 2, taking 5 turns to kill them off (only just). Bit gutted the last guy died as the chariot was eventually flanked by the Swords and BSB who failed to kill it (had one wound left by this point). Chariot killed the Flagellent, broke thanks to the Swordsmen in the flank, and ran through the same Fanatic who killed the Wizard. 6 impact hits on the Fanatic = splat. 4 Fanatic hits on the Chariot = smash!
- Squig Hoppery Death. Oh man, how awesome was this?!! Hoppers hit the Swordsmen and are counter-charged by their Spear detachment. Hoppers lose combat and explode. 12". As in, everything within 12" takes D6 str5 hits. Result? 6 out of the remaining 7 Spearmen from the detachment die. 5-man Crossbow unit dies. 2 Swords die. 2 Cannon crew die. 1 Mortar crew and a wound on the Mortar. 4 Spearmen from the big block. 3 Orcs, a wound on the Board Chariot (lol) and 2 Flagellents. Carnage!!!
- the surviving Spearman from the detachment passes his Panic check and totally gets in the way of the two remaining Orc blocks in the centre, preventing charges and annoying the hell out of Aaron :-)
- charge of the Spearmen and solo charge of the Lector into the Orc BSBs block of Boyz. Empire lose the combat and hold. Lector flank-charged by the Orc General's unit in the last turn - they wave pom-poms as the Lector is busy in a challenge with the Orc BSB. Spears break. Lector is Unbreakable and ends the game continuing his challenge against the BSB, surrounded by 40+ angry Orcs and the "unable to attack anything" Orc General.
A win to me by 230VPs which I think is an 11-9 but really pretty much a draw - an outstanding game against an opponent interested in the win but more interested and amused in the just plain ridiculous goings on throughout the game. My anticipation in playing Aaron was totally justified.
Tonight I'm back to killing off the Greenskin menace but this time it's Derick's Spiders again - more magic, more speed, less static res and here I am with no toughness and no armour.
Now... where did I put my Dwarfs?... :)
Just kidding - Empire all the way baby!
Saturday, December 13, 2008
Training for fluffiness - an extreme step sideways
Well, not too extreme but a sideways step nonetheless. With the recent purchase of a complete Empire army I now have my sights set on entering FluffyCon with an altogether more dynamic, exciting, varied and psychologically fragile force. After no small amount of asking around various experts and posting a few lists on WAU (for those that at least consider themselves experts) I settled on the following list for a series of practice games starting with one at the City Guard today:
Arch Lector - Dawn Armour, Barded Warhorse, Biting Blade
Captain - BSB, Armour of Meteoric Iron, Sword of Might
Wizard - Level 2, Wizard's Staff, Dispel Scroll
20 Flagellents - Prophet of Doooom!
25 Spears - FC, Shields; Detachment - 9 Crossbowmen; Detachment - 9 Free Company
20 Swordsmen - FC, Shields; Detachment - 5 Crossbowmen; Detachment - 8 Spearmen (shields)
10 Handgunners
7 Knights - FC, Warbanner
5 Knights - Great Weapons, Musician
5 Pistoliers - Musician, Outrider Champ with Repeater Pistol
Great Cannon
Mortar
Helblaster Volley Gun
4PD + 2 bounds
5DD + 1 scroll
138 models
Comments back essentially describe it as a standard Empire army. FluffyCon is using the panel-judged, tiered-comp system and I'm told to expect the base score for Empire, possibly a +1 but not likely. The Arch-Lector setup is not optimal (no Speculum for example) but otherwise it's straight-forward. I'm ok with this as I see the army as a lot of fun on paper and today's game proved it was a lot of fun on the field.
Research and friendly passer-by commentary suggests that Empire have psychological issues (i.e. low leadership) and spend a lot of time running away or cowering in fear. This will undoubtedly prove challenging (and it did today!) but will also make things amusing and interesting so that's fine. The Imperial Banner is an option (rerolls for psychology tests including Panic) but I'd like to avoid that for FluffyCon at least.
Anyway, the game...
Tony contacted me by email requesting a game which was very flattering and of course I immediately had my suspicions why he'd chosen me :-) Turns out my suspicions were well-founded - Vod was trying out his Werewolf themed Warriors of Chaos list (as a potential FluffyCon list) and it was something to be feared. Vod was running:
Lord on Disk with 2+ armour and 3+ ward vs mundane attacks (5+ ward vs magic)
6 Nurgle Knights with Banner of Always Frenzied
4 Nurgle Ogres
3 Dragon Ogres
2 Spawn
Followed up closely (or preceeded by):
20 Slaanesh Marauders
12 Slaanesh Warriors
4 x 5 hounds
5 Marauder Horse with Spears
Hellcannon
So some fast scary (Fear-causing) hitty stuff with lots of chaff and some good anvils to boot.
This was a great game - here are the defining moments of what was a tight, cagey and well-played (by both of us I'm happy to say) battle:
Centrally deployed, the Helblaster unloaded on turn 2 on the only thing it could see - 5 damned annoying Marauder Horsemen. 6 shots on the first barrel, misfired on the second. Result? Remaining two barrels fire off 10 shots each and the Helblaster is consumed in a (self-inflicted) fiery inferno. The Marauder Cav are but a smear on the ground.
On the other flank, Vod's Hellcannon is not to be outdone. It's first shot results in a Chaos Dwarf crewman getting eaten. It's second shot sends it rampaging forward. It's third never happens - the Hellcannon fails it's leadership test at the start of the turn and rampages forward some more (into a forest). It spent the rest of the game in combat! (seeing off the GW Knights and in the last turn meeting up with the Arch-Lector and his mates - more on that later).
The left flank was a shambles - facing off against the recently deceased Marauder Horsemen and a subsequently panicking unit of Hounds the large Knight unit first failed a fear check charging against the Dragon Ogres, then fled their charge, then panicked as the intervening Pistoliers were cut down attempting to divert another charge from the Dragon Ogres. In the final turn the brave Knights managed to charge some Hounds (the ones who had panicked earlier) and run them down. Way to go lads - 226pts well spent :/
In the middle my glorious 25-strong unit of Spearmen were stuck behind 9 Crossbowmen (comments about deployment issues ringing in my ears). They spent most of the game shooting at Hounds and the Nurgle Ogres but panicked when the Flagellents (who had sacrificed themselves trying to slow down said Ogres) died to a man. The Spears took the Ogre charge, ably supported by their Free Company detachment but both units broke from combat after losing by 1 (the Free Company auto-breaking, the Spears fluffing their break test). The Spears failed to rally and fled the table.
Moving further to the right the 10 Handgunners took a serious toll on the Marauder block and killed one of the Spawn. They survived the game almost making them my MVPs...
but that award goes to the Swordsmen, Arch-Lector and BSB. Sighting an opportunity for glory (or at least, glorious sacrifice) they charged into the Nurgle Knights (who were baited by a 5-man Crossbow detachment). The Lector killed one in combat and one with Soulfire. Miraculously the Swords survived much of the return attack and even more miraculously the Knights broke and were run down! Ye-ah! In their rush the Swords ploughed into the reduced Marauder block behind. They took a flank charge from the Warriors but thanks to the Lector's prayers (making them Unbreakable) held nicely despite taking punishing casualties. Tony managed to dispel the unbreakability in my next magic phase but didn't stop the Wizard's Transmutation of Lead on the Warriors. Now hitting and wounding on 4s (!) they failed to cause ANY damage. The Marauders similarly fluffed! Thrashing around them mightily the Swords, Lector and BSB killed enough Marauders to win the combat by one! Thinking this would buy me a little time I was thrilled to see the cowardly Warriors break (yes!!!) and run far enough to impale themselves on the nearby Spearmen (who had not yet run away). The Swords were rear-charged by the flying Chaos General who failed to harm the Arch-Lector in their challenge. This broke the Marauders who failed to rally in the last turn. Thinking they saw the light at the end of the tunnel the Swordsmen waved their pom-poms as hard as they could, cheering on the Lector as he once more survived the feeble attacks of the Chaos Lord. The Lord (who had by this time taken 2 wounds from Soulfire - excellent) broke but escaped. Having come all this way, seeing off the Warriors, Knights, Marauders and Chaos General they took a charge in the final turn from the surviving Spawn and the wretched Hellcannon.
Having played a great game all the way through and looking at a draw (which against Tony I would have been very proud of) I lost the combat and promptly failed the break test and reroll. This panicked the nearby GW Knights (who had fled and rallied after fighting the Hellcannons earlier). 3 sucktastic dice rolls = 700+ point swing.
Glorious.
It was a great game and I really felt like, having done so well despite several failed fear checks and the disastrous break test at the end, I had somehow and somewhat proved my mettle as a Warhammer general. Do not fear gentle readers - I have a LONG way to go! But losing the game (by a bit less than 1000VPs) when until then it looked like a very minor loss against Vod and against that army... gosh it felt like a real achievement.
And as good as I might get one day, I don't think I'll ever be able to control the evil cubed arbiters of fate.
Games against Phil (yet another Phil!) and hopefully Aaron later in the week.
Arch Lector - Dawn Armour, Barded Warhorse, Biting Blade
Captain - BSB, Armour of Meteoric Iron, Sword of Might
Wizard - Level 2, Wizard's Staff, Dispel Scroll
20 Flagellents - Prophet of Doooom!
25 Spears - FC, Shields; Detachment - 9 Crossbowmen; Detachment - 9 Free Company
20 Swordsmen - FC, Shields; Detachment - 5 Crossbowmen; Detachment - 8 Spearmen (shields)
10 Handgunners
7 Knights - FC, Warbanner
5 Knights - Great Weapons, Musician
5 Pistoliers - Musician, Outrider Champ with Repeater Pistol
Great Cannon
Mortar
Helblaster Volley Gun
4PD + 2 bounds
5DD + 1 scroll
138 models
Comments back essentially describe it as a standard Empire army. FluffyCon is using the panel-judged, tiered-comp system and I'm told to expect the base score for Empire, possibly a +1 but not likely. The Arch-Lector setup is not optimal (no Speculum for example) but otherwise it's straight-forward. I'm ok with this as I see the army as a lot of fun on paper and today's game proved it was a lot of fun on the field.
Research and friendly passer-by commentary suggests that Empire have psychological issues (i.e. low leadership) and spend a lot of time running away or cowering in fear. This will undoubtedly prove challenging (and it did today!) but will also make things amusing and interesting so that's fine. The Imperial Banner is an option (rerolls for psychology tests including Panic) but I'd like to avoid that for FluffyCon at least.
Anyway, the game...
Tony contacted me by email requesting a game which was very flattering and of course I immediately had my suspicions why he'd chosen me :-) Turns out my suspicions were well-founded - Vod was trying out his Werewolf themed Warriors of Chaos list (as a potential FluffyCon list) and it was something to be feared. Vod was running:
Lord on Disk with 2+ armour and 3+ ward vs mundane attacks (5+ ward vs magic)
6 Nurgle Knights with Banner of Always Frenzied
4 Nurgle Ogres
3 Dragon Ogres
2 Spawn
Followed up closely (or preceeded by):
20 Slaanesh Marauders
12 Slaanesh Warriors
4 x 5 hounds
5 Marauder Horse with Spears
Hellcannon
So some fast scary (Fear-causing) hitty stuff with lots of chaff and some good anvils to boot.
This was a great game - here are the defining moments of what was a tight, cagey and well-played (by both of us I'm happy to say) battle:
Centrally deployed, the Helblaster unloaded on turn 2 on the only thing it could see - 5 damned annoying Marauder Horsemen. 6 shots on the first barrel, misfired on the second. Result? Remaining two barrels fire off 10 shots each and the Helblaster is consumed in a (self-inflicted) fiery inferno. The Marauder Cav are but a smear on the ground.
On the other flank, Vod's Hellcannon is not to be outdone. It's first shot results in a Chaos Dwarf crewman getting eaten. It's second shot sends it rampaging forward. It's third never happens - the Hellcannon fails it's leadership test at the start of the turn and rampages forward some more (into a forest). It spent the rest of the game in combat! (seeing off the GW Knights and in the last turn meeting up with the Arch-Lector and his mates - more on that later).
The left flank was a shambles - facing off against the recently deceased Marauder Horsemen and a subsequently panicking unit of Hounds the large Knight unit first failed a fear check charging against the Dragon Ogres, then fled their charge, then panicked as the intervening Pistoliers were cut down attempting to divert another charge from the Dragon Ogres. In the final turn the brave Knights managed to charge some Hounds (the ones who had panicked earlier) and run them down. Way to go lads - 226pts well spent :/
In the middle my glorious 25-strong unit of Spearmen were stuck behind 9 Crossbowmen (comments about deployment issues ringing in my ears). They spent most of the game shooting at Hounds and the Nurgle Ogres but panicked when the Flagellents (who had sacrificed themselves trying to slow down said Ogres) died to a man. The Spears took the Ogre charge, ably supported by their Free Company detachment but both units broke from combat after losing by 1 (the Free Company auto-breaking, the Spears fluffing their break test). The Spears failed to rally and fled the table.
Moving further to the right the 10 Handgunners took a serious toll on the Marauder block and killed one of the Spawn. They survived the game almost making them my MVPs...
but that award goes to the Swordsmen, Arch-Lector and BSB. Sighting an opportunity for glory (or at least, glorious sacrifice) they charged into the Nurgle Knights (who were baited by a 5-man Crossbow detachment). The Lector killed one in combat and one with Soulfire. Miraculously the Swords survived much of the return attack and even more miraculously the Knights broke and were run down! Ye-ah! In their rush the Swords ploughed into the reduced Marauder block behind. They took a flank charge from the Warriors but thanks to the Lector's prayers (making them Unbreakable) held nicely despite taking punishing casualties. Tony managed to dispel the unbreakability in my next magic phase but didn't stop the Wizard's Transmutation of Lead on the Warriors. Now hitting and wounding on 4s (!) they failed to cause ANY damage. The Marauders similarly fluffed! Thrashing around them mightily the Swords, Lector and BSB killed enough Marauders to win the combat by one! Thinking this would buy me a little time I was thrilled to see the cowardly Warriors break (yes!!!) and run far enough to impale themselves on the nearby Spearmen (who had not yet run away). The Swords were rear-charged by the flying Chaos General who failed to harm the Arch-Lector in their challenge. This broke the Marauders who failed to rally in the last turn. Thinking they saw the light at the end of the tunnel the Swordsmen waved their pom-poms as hard as they could, cheering on the Lector as he once more survived the feeble attacks of the Chaos Lord. The Lord (who had by this time taken 2 wounds from Soulfire - excellent) broke but escaped. Having come all this way, seeing off the Warriors, Knights, Marauders and Chaos General they took a charge in the final turn from the surviving Spawn and the wretched Hellcannon.
Having played a great game all the way through and looking at a draw (which against Tony I would have been very proud of) I lost the combat and promptly failed the break test and reroll. This panicked the nearby GW Knights (who had fled and rallied after fighting the Hellcannons earlier). 3 sucktastic dice rolls = 700+ point swing.
Glorious.
It was a great game and I really felt like, having done so well despite several failed fear checks and the disastrous break test at the end, I had somehow and somewhat proved my mettle as a Warhammer general. Do not fear gentle readers - I have a LONG way to go! But losing the game (by a bit less than 1000VPs) when until then it looked like a very minor loss against Vod and against that army... gosh it felt like a real achievement.
And as good as I might get one day, I don't think I'll ever be able to control the evil cubed arbiters of fate.
Games against Phil (yet another Phil!) and hopefully Aaron later in the week.
Friday, December 5, 2008
Farewell to a Legend - Game Three (Doug vs Reid)
Amongst those collected together to play that day was one Reid Pittams. Apparently Reid is pretty damn good at Warhammer. I don't know this for sure, not yet played him though I hope to one day at a tournament - him winning Orctoberfest could just be propaganda and brain-washing. I decided to sit this round out and watch the master(s) at work.
Doug and Reid were more than a little concerned that I was taking notes and photos of their game! :p
Doug's list is (roughly) below. In the ultimate battle of Chaos vs Chaos, Reid took the following:
Level 1 Slaanesh Herald
Level 2 Tzeentch Herald (BSB)
Block of Daemonettes, Bloodletters, Plaguebearers (about 20-stong each I think)
3 Fiends
4 Bloodcrushers
5 Furies
6 Flesh Hounds
Nasty stuff but about as soft as Reid could get with the models he has available.
Both armies set up on the cusp of their deployment edges and got down to the serious business of proving who better at being... chaotic.
Reid won the first turn and began a general although somewhat hesitant advance. Magic resulted in not much happening and it was over to Big Man to launch his attack.
Doug sped the chaff (Hounds) up to the middle of the board with a unit of Marauder Cav somewhat suicidally facing off against the Fiends on his extreme right. The Knights faced off against a nearby unit of Bloodletters.
Reid refused to charge and shuffled around a bit in front of the Hounds. The 'Crushers angled towards the deadly Knights and the Furies flew over the Maruaders next to the Fiends. Flickering Fire from the Horrors caused a wound on a Spawn attempting to block in the Daemonettes and Fleshies on Doug's left and a couple of magic missiles from the Tzeentch Herald finished it off!
Doug refused to charge! The Hound screens manouevered to direct the possible Daemon charges in the next turn and the blocks moved up in support. Marauder Cav threw their axes into the Furies and to everyone's surprise killed two!
Reid decided it was time to get in there and get spill some blood. The Daemonettes charged some Hounds who failed their Fear check and fled into the Flesh Hounds. The Bloodletters charged another unit of Hounds who failed their Fear check and fled behind the Knights. The Fiends charged the Marauders who, surprise surprise, failed their Fear check and also fled behind the Knights. reid ummed and ahhed and eventually redirected the Fiends into the Knights (mostly to see what would happen I suspect). The Plaguebearers also charged some Hounds (there were a lot on the board!) who actually held! Incredible! The Tzeentch Herald moved within his unit of Horrors to get line-of-sight for his magic. Drain Life went off killing 4 Hounds from a couple of units, 2 Chaos Warriors and a Chosen. The 'Bearers stomped the Hounds and overran into the Forsaken (Doug claiming this was a calculated gamble... hrm...). The Fiends managed to kill a Knight before taking 4 wounds in return and popping from combat res and the resulting fluffed leadership test. Result!
Doug refused the charge! I nearly screamed with frustration but bit my lip hard. Another Spawn ambled into the Daemonettes and the Warriors moved forward to support in the next couple of turns. The fleeing Marauder Cav rallied but an interesting discussion developed over whether they could move freely after rallying. The first response was yes but as Doug pointed out the ruling specifically mentions only Fast Cavalry who have chosen to flee can move on the turn they rally. As the Maruader Cav had fled as a result of failing a Fear check (and being outnumbered by the chargers) it was determined they could not move. The other unit of Cav tried their luck, chucking axes into the Furies, but didn't manage to kill off any. In combat the Spawn took two wounds from the Daemonettes and one was eaten in return. The Spawn of course held (being Unbreakable). the Plaguebearer/Forsaken combat the Exalted Hero (who had earlier joined the unit) killed the 'Bearer champ in their challenge. One Forsaken died before their 15 return attacks killed two Plaguebearers. Outnumbered by Fear-causing enemies the Forsaken and Exalted auto-broke and were cut down. the Plaguebearers overran into the recently rallied Maruader Cav who wisely chose to flee.
The remaining Furies chased off the already fleeing Marauder Cav. Bloodcrushers went into the little Warrior unit. Charged by Bloodletters the Chaos Chariot failed it's Fear check (how about that then?). The 'Letters redirected into the Knights. The Horrors backed away from the approaching Chosen. Drain Life killed off the Spawn in combat with the Daemonettes, 2 Chosen (ouch!), and 2 Hounds. The Hounds fled as a result, straight into the waiting arms of the Bloodcrushers. Splat! Against the Knights the Bloodletters managed two kills (neither of these being from Killing Blow). The 'Letters lost one in return and the Knights held! The 'Crushers lost their combat agains the Warriors by 1 but took no wounds at resolution.
Doug's Chariot rallied but the Hounds fled the table. There were no charges but the Maruaders managed to finish off the Furies in a spectacular demonstration of axe throwing madness. Against the Bloodcrushers the Warriors lost 5 men (!) auto-broke and were caught. The Bloodletters lost by 1 against the Knights (there were only 2 Knights left!) but passed their Instability check.
With two turns remaining Reid threw the Daemonettes and Flesh Hounds into the front of the large Warrior block. The Horrors shuffled and Tzeentch Herald bailed from the unit before they were charged by the Chosen. The Plaguebearers flanked the Knights in combat with the 'Letters and the Crushers turned to hit the Chosen or Warriors. 6 str6 missiles into the Chosen killed 3. One Knight fell to the Bloodletters and Plaguebearers and the 'Letters lost 1 in return. The surviving Knight broke (at -3 to leadership, not a forgone conclusion) and was cut down by the 'Letters as the Plaguebearers ran into the Chariot. Against the big Warrior block the Daemons caused no wounds (!). 2 Daemonettes died and the Fleshies took a wounds from combat res.
Doug's fifth - the Chosen launched themselves into the Horrors more than ready to bring the pain. The Chariot auto-broke and fled off the table. 19 attacks from the 6 Chosen resulted in 6 wounds, 5 Horrors dying in the combat (one of these was from combat res). The big Warrior block again took no wounds but dished out two to the Daemonettes and another two to the Flesh Hounds.
Unfortunately the game was up for the Warriors as they were hit in the rear by the Crushers. Drain Life killed a Chosen. The Chosen then reaped the Horrors - 9 (!) dying from the melee and resulting "break" test - 5 Horrors remained. The Crushers killed 3 Warriors, the 'Nettes tagging 1, the Slaanesh Herald (who had by now finally made it's way into the combat) killed 2. The Warriors killed a Flesh Hound but subsequently auto-broke and were cut down. Bah.
Bottom of the sixth and it was basically game over. Unsurprisingly the Chosen finished off the Horrors and claimed the quarter they were in and the surviving unit of Maruader Cav contested another.
Surviving Chaos Mortals - less than 1/2 of the Chosen, unit of Marauder Cavalry (one standard and one quarter held)
Surviving Chaos Daemons - Daemonettes, Flesh Hounds, Bloodcrushers, Bloodletters and Plaguebearers (one quarter held, 3 standards and General/Hero-killing bonus)
Ouch.
Doug and Reid were more than a little concerned that I was taking notes and photos of their game! :p
Doug's list is (roughly) below. In the ultimate battle of Chaos vs Chaos, Reid took the following:
Level 1 Slaanesh Herald
Level 2 Tzeentch Herald (BSB)
Block of Daemonettes, Bloodletters, Plaguebearers (about 20-stong each I think)
3 Fiends
4 Bloodcrushers
5 Furies
6 Flesh Hounds
Nasty stuff but about as soft as Reid could get with the models he has available.
Both armies set up on the cusp of their deployment edges and got down to the serious business of proving who better at being... chaotic.
Reid won the first turn and began a general although somewhat hesitant advance. Magic resulted in not much happening and it was over to Big Man to launch his attack.
Doug sped the chaff (Hounds) up to the middle of the board with a unit of Marauder Cav somewhat suicidally facing off against the Fiends on his extreme right. The Knights faced off against a nearby unit of Bloodletters.
Reid refused to charge and shuffled around a bit in front of the Hounds. The 'Crushers angled towards the deadly Knights and the Furies flew over the Maruaders next to the Fiends. Flickering Fire from the Horrors caused a wound on a Spawn attempting to block in the Daemonettes and Fleshies on Doug's left and a couple of magic missiles from the Tzeentch Herald finished it off!
Doug refused to charge! The Hound screens manouevered to direct the possible Daemon charges in the next turn and the blocks moved up in support. Marauder Cav threw their axes into the Furies and to everyone's surprise killed two!
Reid decided it was time to get in there and get spill some blood. The Daemonettes charged some Hounds who failed their Fear check and fled into the Flesh Hounds. The Bloodletters charged another unit of Hounds who failed their Fear check and fled behind the Knights. The Fiends charged the Marauders who, surprise surprise, failed their Fear check and also fled behind the Knights. reid ummed and ahhed and eventually redirected the Fiends into the Knights (mostly to see what would happen I suspect). The Plaguebearers also charged some Hounds (there were a lot on the board!) who actually held! Incredible! The Tzeentch Herald moved within his unit of Horrors to get line-of-sight for his magic. Drain Life went off killing 4 Hounds from a couple of units, 2 Chaos Warriors and a Chosen. The 'Bearers stomped the Hounds and overran into the Forsaken (Doug claiming this was a calculated gamble... hrm...). The Fiends managed to kill a Knight before taking 4 wounds in return and popping from combat res and the resulting fluffed leadership test. Result!
Doug refused the charge! I nearly screamed with frustration but bit my lip hard. Another Spawn ambled into the Daemonettes and the Warriors moved forward to support in the next couple of turns. The fleeing Marauder Cav rallied but an interesting discussion developed over whether they could move freely after rallying. The first response was yes but as Doug pointed out the ruling specifically mentions only Fast Cavalry who have chosen to flee can move on the turn they rally. As the Maruader Cav had fled as a result of failing a Fear check (and being outnumbered by the chargers) it was determined they could not move. The other unit of Cav tried their luck, chucking axes into the Furies, but didn't manage to kill off any. In combat the Spawn took two wounds from the Daemonettes and one was eaten in return. The Spawn of course held (being Unbreakable). the Plaguebearer/Forsaken combat the Exalted Hero (who had earlier joined the unit) killed the 'Bearer champ in their challenge. One Forsaken died before their 15 return attacks killed two Plaguebearers. Outnumbered by Fear-causing enemies the Forsaken and Exalted auto-broke and were cut down. the Plaguebearers overran into the recently rallied Maruader Cav who wisely chose to flee.
The remaining Furies chased off the already fleeing Marauder Cav. Bloodcrushers went into the little Warrior unit. Charged by Bloodletters the Chaos Chariot failed it's Fear check (how about that then?). The 'Letters redirected into the Knights. The Horrors backed away from the approaching Chosen. Drain Life killed off the Spawn in combat with the Daemonettes, 2 Chosen (ouch!), and 2 Hounds. The Hounds fled as a result, straight into the waiting arms of the Bloodcrushers. Splat! Against the Knights the Bloodletters managed two kills (neither of these being from Killing Blow). The 'Letters lost one in return and the Knights held! The 'Crushers lost their combat agains the Warriors by 1 but took no wounds at resolution.
Doug's Chariot rallied but the Hounds fled the table. There were no charges but the Maruaders managed to finish off the Furies in a spectacular demonstration of axe throwing madness. Against the Bloodcrushers the Warriors lost 5 men (!) auto-broke and were caught. The Bloodletters lost by 1 against the Knights (there were only 2 Knights left!) but passed their Instability check.
With two turns remaining Reid threw the Daemonettes and Flesh Hounds into the front of the large Warrior block. The Horrors shuffled and Tzeentch Herald bailed from the unit before they were charged by the Chosen. The Plaguebearers flanked the Knights in combat with the 'Letters and the Crushers turned to hit the Chosen or Warriors. 6 str6 missiles into the Chosen killed 3. One Knight fell to the Bloodletters and Plaguebearers and the 'Letters lost 1 in return. The surviving Knight broke (at -3 to leadership, not a forgone conclusion) and was cut down by the 'Letters as the Plaguebearers ran into the Chariot. Against the big Warrior block the Daemons caused no wounds (!). 2 Daemonettes died and the Fleshies took a wounds from combat res.
Doug's fifth - the Chosen launched themselves into the Horrors more than ready to bring the pain. The Chariot auto-broke and fled off the table. 19 attacks from the 6 Chosen resulted in 6 wounds, 5 Horrors dying in the combat (one of these was from combat res). The big Warrior block again took no wounds but dished out two to the Daemonettes and another two to the Flesh Hounds.
Unfortunately the game was up for the Warriors as they were hit in the rear by the Crushers. Drain Life killed a Chosen. The Chosen then reaped the Horrors - 9 (!) dying from the melee and resulting "break" test - 5 Horrors remained. The Crushers killed 3 Warriors, the 'Nettes tagging 1, the Slaanesh Herald (who had by now finally made it's way into the combat) killed 2. The Warriors killed a Flesh Hound but subsequently auto-broke and were cut down. Bah.
Bottom of the sixth and it was basically game over. Unsurprisingly the Chosen finished off the Horrors and claimed the quarter they were in and the surviving unit of Maruader Cav contested another.
Surviving Chaos Mortals - less than 1/2 of the Chosen, unit of Marauder Cavalry (one standard and one quarter held)
Surviving Chaos Daemons - Daemonettes, Flesh Hounds, Bloodcrushers, Bloodletters and Plaguebearers (one quarter held, 3 standards and General/Hero-killing bonus)
Ouch.
Farewell to a Legend - Game Two (Al)
Doug had a couple of friends over during the day who were not necesarily new to Fantasy but had perhaps limited experience against a wider variety of armies and opponents. I was happy to oblige one of these friends (Alan) and even happier to swap with Doug and use his Chaos Mortals army (he tried the Dwarfs against Dave's TKs - a game I had declined to everyone's amusement).
The change from Dwarfs to Chaos was certainly an exciting one! Doug had:
Exalted on barded Steed (only Hero choice in the army)
Big Warrior block
Little Warrior block
Little block of Chosen with Warbanner
Knights
Chariot
2 Marauder Horse units
3 Spawn
6 or so Forsaken
4 units of dogs (one of which was mutated - poison attacks and a 6+ armour save)
Alan was using Beastmen.
To briefly summarise I won the game after losing the Chariot and big Warrior block to some Bestigor and nasty Minotaurs led by a Doombull. Pretty much everything else in Alan's army died off quickly but I couldn't move quick enough to catch up with the cowardly (but deadly) surviving units.
The Knights were AWESOME. Nothing in Doug's army was marked but they were extremely kick-ass. They demonstrated this in their next game against Reid's Daemons, taking a charge from a unit of Fiends and killing them off at the loss of one Knight.
The multiple units of Hounds, combined with some fortunate rally tests really put the kibosh on Alan's charges. Bait/flee, rinse, repeat, smash. Excellent.
The Spawn were amusing and frustrating (for both of us - Alan had a couple too).
Chosen are INSANE (this too was demonstrated in Doug's following game against Reid).
Overall, a fun game against an enthusiastic opponent. Certainly wasn't clear cut as I struggled to maneouver my fast and hitty elements painfully slowly around the flanks as the horrible Minotaurs reaped a high tally in the centre.
The change from Dwarfs to Chaos was certainly an exciting one! Doug had:
Exalted on barded Steed (only Hero choice in the army)
Big Warrior block
Little Warrior block
Little block of Chosen with Warbanner
Knights
Chariot
2 Marauder Horse units
3 Spawn
6 or so Forsaken
4 units of dogs (one of which was mutated - poison attacks and a 6+ armour save)
Alan was using Beastmen.
To briefly summarise I won the game after losing the Chariot and big Warrior block to some Bestigor and nasty Minotaurs led by a Doombull. Pretty much everything else in Alan's army died off quickly but I couldn't move quick enough to catch up with the cowardly (but deadly) surviving units.
The Knights were AWESOME. Nothing in Doug's army was marked but they were extremely kick-ass. They demonstrated this in their next game against Reid's Daemons, taking a charge from a unit of Fiends and killing them off at the loss of one Knight.
The multiple units of Hounds, combined with some fortunate rally tests really put the kibosh on Alan's charges. Bait/flee, rinse, repeat, smash. Excellent.
The Spawn were amusing and frustrating (for both of us - Alan had a couple too).
Chosen are INSANE (this too was demonstrated in Doug's following game against Reid).
Overall, a fun game against an enthusiastic opponent. Certainly wasn't clear cut as I struggled to maneouver my fast and hitty elements painfully slowly around the flanks as the horrible Minotaurs reaped a high tally in the centre.
Farewell to a Legend - Game One (Nick Snr)
Lol, Nick Snr. He's going to kick my ass for that.
Nick and I are often in touch via email discussing Warhammer and it's intricacies and characters. He's a great guy and a great player. I faced Nick at Fields of Blood (Lizards vs Woodies) and came away with a convincing win. We hadn't played since and this looked to be a good opportunity as we were both trying out "fluffy" lists (the only restriction of the day was that lists/armies had to conform to FluffyCon guidelines.
Nick was fielding Orcs and Goblins which Dwarfs should have an advantage against. Of course I blew it in good old Stunty fashion... :/
The O&G army was frankly enormous, including:
Orc Shaman
Black Orc BSB with killy gear
2 Big Night Gobbo blocks (with a couple of Fanatics each)
2 Big Orc blocks and another block of Orc Archers
Couple chariots
4 Trolls
Couple of Wolfboy units
2 bolties and a Stonethrower
Giant
The key issue was a couple of forests in the middle where the main fight would obviously take place but it would be damn difficult to get multiple units involved due to all the difficult terrain.
I ended up losing the game by about 250VPs or slightly more. The small Warrior units were pretty hopeless, wandering back and forth for most of the game, unable to get the flanks of the Orc blocks that they so desperately wanted. The Cannon and Grudgethrower did some good work, taking out the Orc Stonethrower, a chariot and bits and pieces of a couple of units. Getting into a shooting match with 25 Night Goblins when you are standing on a hill is definitely a bad idea (a lone Quarreller survived this uneven duel). My hate of Giants was reaffirmed as the Rangers fled in Terror and were run down and the Giant got into the back of the Hammerers. He was eventually toppled by the Thane General. The Longbeards did well, holding against an Orc block in their flank and beating off the Trolls but breaking in the last turn.
The Miners and big Warrior block were fairly hopeless, managing to take out a Night Gobbo block and the Orc Archers but just being too slow to catch the O&G artillery on a hill.
A well-deserved win to Nick who playing to his strengths. Miscasting with his Shaman three times and surviving nicely helped too :-) (I thought they were supposed to explode!?)
Oh... and I forgot Hatred for most of the game as usual. At least I'm consistent (at being inconsistent).
Nick and I are often in touch via email discussing Warhammer and it's intricacies and characters. He's a great guy and a great player. I faced Nick at Fields of Blood (Lizards vs Woodies) and came away with a convincing win. We hadn't played since and this looked to be a good opportunity as we were both trying out "fluffy" lists (the only restriction of the day was that lists/armies had to conform to FluffyCon guidelines.
Nick was fielding Orcs and Goblins which Dwarfs should have an advantage against. Of course I blew it in good old Stunty fashion... :/
The O&G army was frankly enormous, including:
Orc Shaman
Black Orc BSB with killy gear
2 Big Night Gobbo blocks (with a couple of Fanatics each)
2 Big Orc blocks and another block of Orc Archers
Couple chariots
4 Trolls
Couple of Wolfboy units
2 bolties and a Stonethrower
Giant
The key issue was a couple of forests in the middle where the main fight would obviously take place but it would be damn difficult to get multiple units involved due to all the difficult terrain.
I ended up losing the game by about 250VPs or slightly more. The small Warrior units were pretty hopeless, wandering back and forth for most of the game, unable to get the flanks of the Orc blocks that they so desperately wanted. The Cannon and Grudgethrower did some good work, taking out the Orc Stonethrower, a chariot and bits and pieces of a couple of units. Getting into a shooting match with 25 Night Goblins when you are standing on a hill is definitely a bad idea (a lone Quarreller survived this uneven duel). My hate of Giants was reaffirmed as the Rangers fled in Terror and were run down and the Giant got into the back of the Hammerers. He was eventually toppled by the Thane General. The Longbeards did well, holding against an Orc block in their flank and beating off the Trolls but breaking in the last turn.
The Miners and big Warrior block were fairly hopeless, managing to take out a Night Gobbo block and the Orc Archers but just being too slow to catch the O&G artillery on a hill.
A well-deserved win to Nick who playing to his strengths. Miscasting with his Shaman three times and surviving nicely helped too :-) (I thought they were supposed to explode!?)
Oh... and I forgot Hatred for most of the game as usual. At least I'm consistent (at being inconsistent).
Farewell to a legend
Doug (Mutator) is leaving. Going to Palmerston North (or somewhere down south) for work reasons. Doug is (in my eyes at least) one of the great legends of the NZ Warhammer scene. He sets the bar for attitude, army composition (bearing narrative and fluff in mind first and foremost), enthusiasm, sound advice and considered opinions. It is one of my great regrets that I wasted so many years playing 40k and as a by-product did not get to know Doug until recently. He is a stand up gentleman of the game and now he's going... going... gone.
And there was much wailing and gnashing of teeth.
To bid him fond adieu some of the lads got together at his place for a one-day gaming binge. Doug's garage has been the gaming location of choice for the seedy underbelly of the Warhammer community (I'll cop some flak for that comment) - somehow he's managed to fit 4 tables in amidst the collection of novels, old D&D books, copious amounts of models, and dubious cans of acetone and other chemical concoctions (all mostly legal in nature) which is all the more freaky because Doug smokes like a chimney stack. Every other Friday night those in the loop inconsistently gather( gathered... sniff) in the hallowed grounds of the family garage to lay waste to each other (and their armies). Beer, Warhammer, good mates, and dishing out punishment on the table. Good times.
Great times.
Anyway, the procedure for this day was basically get in some games, hang out, shed some manly tears and wish Doug good luck with the sheep down the way.
And there was much wailing and gnashing of teeth.
To bid him fond adieu some of the lads got together at his place for a one-day gaming binge. Doug's garage has been the gaming location of choice for the seedy underbelly of the Warhammer community (I'll cop some flak for that comment) - somehow he's managed to fit 4 tables in amidst the collection of novels, old D&D books, copious amounts of models, and dubious cans of acetone and other chemical concoctions (all mostly legal in nature) which is all the more freaky because Doug smokes like a chimney stack. Every other Friday night those in the loop inconsistently gather( gathered... sniff) in the hallowed grounds of the family garage to lay waste to each other (and their armies). Beer, Warhammer, good mates, and dishing out punishment on the table. Good times.
Great times.
Anyway, the procedure for this day was basically get in some games, hang out, shed some manly tears and wish Doug good luck with the sheep down the way.
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