Topic: The Griffon Formation Battle Reports- (Update 3/19/2013 2500 vs new Slaanish)

[Holy Hand Grenade]

The Griffon Formation Battle Reports

--The first post (below) is a Battle Report on a regular Griffon Formation (2500) against a combat heavy Dark Elf list.

--The second Battle Report is my attempt to use the Griffon Wings against Vampire Counts (2500).

--The third Battle Report is an Inverted Griffon against a nasty Vampire Counts list (2500).

--The fourth Battle Report is a Griffon Formation in a smaller point battle (1750) versus High Elves.

--The fifth Battle Report is a Half-Griffon Formation versus Dark Elves (2500).

--The six Battle Report is an Inverted Griffon Formation versus a Slaanish/Khorne Chaos (2500).

The Griffon Formation versus Dark Elves 2500 pts

The following is the first Battle Report to show a battle with the Griffon Formation (the biggest victory was I figured out to use the Battle Chronicler!)

The basic Griffon Formation is depicted in this graph.  This thread in the Elector’s Forum outlines the different Griffon formations I came up with. 

The battle was a 2500 straight-up fight between Empire and the Dark Elves.  As per my request, my opponent brought the most combat nasty list he uses to see how well the Griffon Formation could perform under stress. 

We have fought each other so many times over the years that he knows most of my tricks and I know most of his.  After beating me several times with the new book (while I tried to figure things out)-  I was ready to even the score and show him that Empire still has teeth (and claws).


The Good Guys:  Ulric’s Own

15 Inner Circle Knights “Gold Banner” FC, Lances, Ranger Banner

        Warrior Priest Hector Snow 
        Warrior Bane, Enchanted Shield, Obsidian Trinket, Terrifying Mask of Eee!

48 Teutogen Guard (Greatswords) “Ulric’s Own”  FC, Standard of Discipline
        20 Halberd Detachment 
        20 Halberd Detachment 

        Arch Lector Dominus Snow (Gen) 
        GW, Armour of Meteoric Iron, Dawnstone

        Captain Frederick Von Strauss (BSB) 
        Tormentor Sword, Helm of the Skavenslayer, Luckstone

10 Archers “Rommel’s Rangers”
        5 Archer Detachment
        5 Archer Detachment

10 Archers “Rommel’s Rearguard”  Standard, Musician
        Gaias Lvl 4 Life Wizard 

Steam Tank “Leonardo III”
        Bartimus “Bullseye” Smith (Engineer Commander) 

Luminark “Daemonbane”


The Bad Guys:  Druchii Storm

10 Cold One Knights  FC, Banner of Hag Grief
        Dreadlord (Gen) Cloak, Soulrender, Pendant of K, Ironcurse
        Master (BSB) GW, Cloak, Hydra Banner

14 Blackguard  FC, Banner of Murder
        Tower Master Blood Armor

24 Corsairs Extra Hand Weapon, FC, Sea Serpent

40 Dark Elf Spearmen Musician, Gleaming Pennant

14 Dark Elf Spearmen
        Supreme Sorceress Metal Lvl 4, Sac Dagger

Hydra

Cauldron of Blood

2x 5 Harpies


Pre-deployment

To support my Griffon Formation, I have a Steam Tank to hold one flank and a large block of 15 IC Knights to push forward and cause havoc.  The Ranger Banner means terrain will not hinder them and the Terror mask will keep them from taking Fear/Terror tests and might hopefully make the pesky diverters flee so I can hit the juicy targets.

The Luminark serves two functions.  The Bound Spell for big nasty regen creatures (insert Hydra here) and added magic defense with another dispel dice and some protection for my expensive targets (insert Metal Sorceress here).

His list has all kinds of nasty.  The Cold One Knights, with two characters, ASF banner, +1 Attack banner, and a potential +1A buff from the Cauldron, usually decimate whatever they hit.  His Corsairs have a frenzied 3 attacks, his Blackguard have Str 4 AP, and of course, the Hydra.  This list has tabled me in the past.

My plan is fairly straightforward:  maneuver my Griffon Formation to dictate the flow and pace of the combat, while cannonballin’ his Knights, nuking his Hydra, and Dwellerin’ his troop blocks.

My spells:  Awakening Wood, Flesh to Stone, Regrowth, Dwellers

His spells:  Searing Doom, Plaque of Rust, Enchanted Blade of Eiban, Final Transmutation


Deployment

We rolled the random terrain rules from the BRB in random locations.  Lots of woods this time.  One hill on the right.  Destruction encampment with a couple of walls and the Tower of Blood.

After a few dinky drops of archers and harpies, we started dropping the important stuff.  He put the Corsairs and Blackguard in the center and I formed the Griffon opposite.  (I didn’t put the archers with the wizard behind the horde this time.  I wanted to get some Dwellers off before combat began). 

When he dropped his Knights on the right flank I dropped my Knights on the opposite flank  (I didn’t want to play the cavalry tap dance game with them).  He put his spearmen opposite my Knights as a tarpit.  I dropped the STank and Luminark on the right flank-  I figured that gave me plenty of options on that flank to slow down his insane cavalry.  The STank was lined up to shoot the Knights so if I got the first turn I wouldn’t have to move a lick.  The end result: 

Turn 1 Ulric’s Own:

Movement:
 
Ulric’s Own got the first turn.  The Knights rode hard on the left flank.  The Griffon Formation moved up slightly.  The Archers with the Life Mage moved up so it was exactly 24” from his Sorceress bunker.  The Luminark positioned itself to protect the STank and one halberd detachment.  The STank fired up the boiler for a long cannon shot.

Magic

Generated 5 dice, my opponent had 3.  I thought about hitting some of his troops and decided I wanted to take a shot at his mage.  A 5-dice boosted Dwellers on his mage bunker =  6 dead Dark Elf cannon fodder, and more importantly, a dead Lvl 4 Sorceress.  Serves the evil Dark Elf witch right!  Take some of your own medicine for a change!

Shooting

My luck in the magic phase would not carry over to the shooting phase.  My cannon managed to hit one Knight but failed to wound.  A few Spearmen died with arrows in the big block.


Turn 1 Druchii Storm:

Not to be outdone, my opponent surged forward.  He positioned his spearblock against my Knights so I couldn’t get the flank of the center of his line and pushed his Knights as far forward as he could on the right.

Without magic anymore and no shooting, he could do nothing but pass the turn.

Skip the italicized blocks if you don’t want to read the fluff!

Arch Lector Dominus Snow did not like what he saw.  With the sun barely cresting over the horizon, the Tower of Blood still created a large oppressive shadow that covered almost half of his Teutogen guard marching forward in the center of the line.  Evil radiated from it.  But he could not turn away…his orders were clear…destroy the Tower and its Dark Elf denizens, or die trying.  He preferred the former.  The Druchii has arisen from their slumber in full battle array.  They obviously knew he was coming and maneuvered even now to encircle his force.

Two could play that game.

His Knights burst out of the trees to his left in full polished silver, their lances flying high in determined pride.  To his right, barked and bellowed a “present” from the high command:  a metal behemoth dubbed “Leonardo III” in honor of its maker.  He made sure it was far on the right flank-  he didn’t trust the damn thing no matter what Bullseye Smith said… but he was glad at the moment he had it.  From behind the house next to tower slithered dark riders on slimy lizards. 

Another weapon he didn’t trust-  Gaias, a College wizard, moved up quietly with some of Rommel’s Rangers.  Gaias must have spotted something, because he frantically starting gyrating his arms.  A green glow emanated from behind the tower in conjunction with an awful symphony of high-pitched Dark Elves screams.  Maybe having Gaias around wasn’t so bad after all…

Then, multiple heads, frothing fire, swayed around the side of the Tower as a gigantic beast whipped by beastmasters came out from behind. 

By Ulric…look at that thing.  He had heard tales around the bar table about a multi-head monstrosity that breathed fire and regenerated wounds but dismissed it as fool’s talk.    It was going to be long morning. 


Turn Two:  Ulric’s Own

Movement:

The IC Knights charge the spearblock.  The archers with the wizard move back to safety, while another block moves up to slow down the Hydra.  The far right archer detachment moves to get outside the Cold One’s line of sight.

The rest of the Griffon Formation slides 2” to the left to get farther away from the Knights on the flank.

The STank rumbles forward 4” and prepares for another shot.

Magic:

7 Power Dice, 5 Dispel.  Cast 2 dice on Flesh to Stone on the STank (Wiz right at 24” away!).  Promptly dispelled.

Another 5-dice Dwellers.  This time at the Corsairs.  11 get sucked to their doom!

Shooting:

Not a good turn to be a Corsair-  3 more drop to arrows.
Good turn to be Cold One Knight-  2 Knights hit with a cannonball, only 1 wound.

Close Combat:

Spearmen get 3 wounds on the IC Knights, I fail 2 saves!!! (my normal habit of rolling 1s…)  In return, the Knights kill a total of 7.  DE Warriors are steadfast and hold on the break test.  Knights expand front to 6-wide.


Turn 2 Druchii:

Movement:

My opponent takes some time to decide if he is going to move his Knight block in towards my Griffon Formation or take a shot at the tank.  He decides to go for the Steam Tank thinking with his mass of attacks he can severely damage it-  so he charges in.

He decides to give the Knights some time to whack on the tank on the flank, so he holds the center line in front of the tower, except for the Hydra, which chews up the archers slowing it down.  The Blackguard reform so my Knights are in their LOC for a possible future flank charge. 

Combat:

His Knights throw down on Leo III.  He gets a total of 10 Str 6 wounds with two of them AP.  The armour holds true-  I make five armour saves and one ward save.  The STank only takes 4 wounds!

With my Knights against his Spearmen- he drops another Knight while losing only 4 DE Warriors.  Man, this grind is going slow for me!  He loses combat by 1 and fails his break test.  He re-rolls with the Pennant and succeeds.  Pennant well worth that 5 points!


Arch Lector Snow wiped his brow.  The sound of bow strings whipping arrows through the air was overshadowed by the thundering hooves of his cavalry on the left and the claws and primordial roars from the Cold Ones bearing down on his line on the right.

In a bellowing smash, his Knights slammed into spear and shield followed a few seconds later by the hideous sounds of Dark Elf lances and blades screeching off metal.  He said a quick prayer for his brother Hector in the lance.  The magic mask he found during last year’s expedition would serve him well-  the thing was terrifying to look at and would shake even the Elves in their boots…

Gaias and his archers had moved back towards safety when the Dark Elves moved forward, but now he cast again and a green glow from the ground came up and tore at the frenzied Corsairs.  Almost half of them were dragged to their doom!  Snow reminded himself to not pick a fight with the wizard next time they were in a bar…

The flanks were engaged, but in the center the lines still had not met.  One of his archer detachments got caught up and tore to pieces by the multi-headed monster… but the elves seemed to be holding back.

Hmmm.  Snow barked out order for the line to shift towards his horse and away from the enemy’s cavalry.  The organized sea of men shuffled in perfect formation.  Damn, Ulric himself would be proud.  Now if only his superiors could have named this formation the Wolf Formation or something.  Griffons are for the birds!  He would take a wolf cloak over a lame feather any day…

[Holy Hand Grenade]

Turn 3 Ulric’s Own:

Beginning of Turn: 

His CoK champ drinks a potion of strength.  STank generates 4 steam.

Movement:

This turn the Griffon Formation served me well.  One group of archers moved up to block the Blackguard from hitting either the Knights or the Greatswords (my mage leaves the unit and hides out next to a Halb detachment) and the other archer unit jacks up the charge lanes for the Hydra and the Corsairs.  The last small archer detachment moved towards his Knights to be in reserve to slow them down in case they finish off the tank.

The Greatsword horde moves up into the center gap with detachments in trail.  Almost party time.

STank grinds the Knights.  4 Knights and Lizards are ground into dog food!

Magic:

7 Power Dice; 5 Dispel.  Time to quit ignoring the Hyrda-  I throw 6 dice at the Luminark’s bound spell.  IF.  What is not to love about Str 8, no AS, Flaming, D3 wounds?  Well, I guess only rolling 1 wound!   

Shooting:

Maybe practice does make perfect.  After all these arrows are fired, my archers finally start hitting something…maybe because now they can see the white of their eyes…?  2 Corsairs and 3 Blackguard fall from arrows. 

Combat:

The CoK champ drinking the strength potion nets him 2 wounds.  My tank’s armour nets me 2 saves.  The Master is pissed he doesn’t get a potion so he tries to outdo he buddy.  He gets 3 wounds and I only save 1.  All the rest of the attacks bounce off the metal.  Tank is down to 5 wounds.  Steam gun farts but that is about all it is good for.

My IC Knights finally prevent all wounds-  and dish out 6 more on the Warriors.  They are fading fast.  They make their Break Test yet again, however.


Turn 3 Druchii:

Movement:

Now, I get a taste of my own medicine.  His harpies move up to block the Horde and one of its detachments.  The Blackguard, Hydra, and Corsairs all charge the archers in their way.

Combat:

No surprise-  the archers are wiped out to a man without even getting to swing.  The Blackguard reform at a steep angle so my Greatswords cant hit them if they try and Overrun after the Harpies.

The Corsairs are frenzied so they have to Overrun.  A close call when the detachment gets destroyed-  my Horde fails its panic test-  rolling a 12.  All it takes is one look at the Battle Standard and their courage returns-  the re-roll is easily made.

The poor CoK keep whaling on the tank in frustration-  but I save 3 wounds with 2 AS and 1 Ward save. 

And on the left flank-  the grind is finally over!  No Knights die and 3 DE Warriors die.  No longer steadfast-  they fail their first modified Break test-  even though they only lost by 1.

Of course-  they run 7 and my Knights are so excited that they fail to kick their horses into action-  and only go 6.  Sigh.


Arch Lector Dominus Snow feels it in his gut.  It is time.  He barks out the commands and the formation starts to move forward, in unison.  His detachments on the left and right fall into their positions.  His remaining archers zig-zag across the front in one final effort to keep the Dark Elves out of position.

At the same time his archers are fighting for their lives, screeching harpies drop from the sky and attempt to disrupt his own formations.  Undaunted, their training kicks in and they evenly hold the line.

A bolt streaks out from the Luminark, blasting one of the Hydra heads.  Nice trick-  but it barely seemed to faze the damn thing. 

Snow was really beginning to worry that his men might not hold against the monster-  when he realized they might even run before then!  When his archers broke on the right and the men saw the Corsairs and bloodied Hydra facing them, panic settled in and the formation started to break.

Hold!  Hold the line!  Remember your oath you filthy dogs!  Maybe it was his leader’s commands, maybe it was the sight of the Ulric’s Own War Dog Battle Standard, maybe it was just Ulric’s day…but whatever it was, the men firmed up and held tight.

The enemy was not so fortunate.  Hector and his Knights had hacked enough Elves to pieces that their hatred of humanity left them.  They began running in droves and after a few rebel yells of victory, the Knights prodded their horses on to run the nasty elves down.

Taking a quick look at his right flank, the Arch Lector could not believe his eyes.  The indomitable hunk of metal was still holding strong and slowly but surely grinding the lizards into pulp.

The flanks were his.  Now if the center would just hold…


Turn 4 Ulric’s Own: 

Beginning of the Turn: 

STank’s boiler finally springs a leak.  Generates a whopping 6 steam points and takes 2 wounds in the process.  STank has 3 wounds left!

Movement:

The Greatswords and Halb detachments charge the Harpy diverters.  Inner Circle Knights charge and destroy the fleeing DE Warriors and reform facing back to the center.

STank grinds the poor Knights again.  With 4 wounds he gets 2 saves.  So, 2 die!  He has 5 left.

Magic:

9 Power Dice, 6 Dispel.

Finally, a decent magic pool.  Throw 3 dice at Flesh to Stone at the STank.  Since he doesn’t want me to heal it, he lets it go.  I throw 2 dice at the Lum’s bound spell.  He lets that go too-  but this time I fail to even wound with it!  (The best laid plans of mice and men…)  Last, but not least, I throw 4 dice at Regrowth on the STank.  He dispels it.

Combat:

The Dreadlord finally gets another wound on the STank (2 left).  All the rest fail to damage it.  I get excited about the 3 steam points I still have for the Steam Gun-  until I get 3 wounds and he easily saves them all.

The Greatsword effortlessly kill the Harpies but my Halb horde has a rough go of it.  The Harpies kill 6 before they even swing and they only kill 4 in return.  Now one Harpy is holding them up…


Turn 4 Druchii:

Movement:

My opponent would have normally conceded at this point, but I asked him to finish the round so I could see the Greatswords in action.

He attacked with all his remaining combat power-  the Blackguard and Hydra attack the Greatswords.  My detachment gets off a Countercharge (miracles NEVER cease!).  His Corsairs flail their way into my last set of archers.

Combat:

Man oh man, do those pointy ears hit hard.  Between his Blackguard and Hydra they manage to kill half my horde by the end.  However, I only lost 1 attack by the time the Greatswords got to swing (29 left before Hydra’s Thunderstomp).  My awesome Teutogen Guard killed every single Blackguard and put a few wounds on the Hydra. 

The best was when my Arch Lector slammed his Blackguard Tower Master Champion wearing pumped up Blood Armor of 2+ into a pulp. 


Okay.  Maybe the right flank is not so secure.  The metal behemoth begins to whistle and whine with overpressure as the boiler and heat work into overload.  Just when Snow thinks the entire thing is going to blow up, it releases the pressure in a gigantic whoosh that melts several Cold One Knights.  It looks like Commander Bullseye is barely keeping the thing together…but somehow he is doing it.

Well, it is time- time to separate the men from the elves.  The Dark Elf elite Blackguard hit his line at the same time as the Hydra.  The world goes red-  and Snow is not which is the biggest reason why-  the red from the flame bursting overhead from the mouths of the beast, or the red splattered from flying limbs and torsos from the Blackguard’s deadly halberds.  It doesn’t matter-  because the Teutogen Guard known as Ulric’s Own are happy…because now they get to swing their damn warhammers and smash something!  The return swings are vicious-  Blackguard are crushed in their armour, and a few Hydra heads fly off from the assault.

Arch Lector can sense the day is his when his Halberd detachment swing into the Blackguard flank.  A particularly nasty Blackguard steps into his path.  His armor glows purple from some kind of magic…magic that seems to come from the deaths he has caused this day.  Well-  no more.  Arch Lector Snow swings his warhammer in a great arc and nails him square in the chest.  No armour can stop withstand that kind of blow.  Down he goes…

With the Blackguard down, his forces swarm the Hydra.  Even it can’t regenerate that many two-handed hammer blows.  The Dark Elves forces begin to falter…those that don’t fall back are killed where they stand.

The battlefield belongs to Ulric’s Own.  The Tower, and the day, are his.  Now…how much grief is he going to get from higher headquarters about getting Leonardo III junked up? 


Turn 5:

Needless to say, my opponent called it.  Facing the implications of the graph below, he graciously bowed out.

After Action:

1. Losing the Sorceress on the 1st turn hurt my opponent.  I dominated the magic phase and from there out didn’t have to worry about Searing Doom, Plaque of Rust or Final Transmutation.

2. I think losing the magic ultimately pushed my opponent to go for the tank since he couldn’t nuke it.  If he had the chance to do it again, he probably would push for the center line instead-  to get some combat in before the tank showed up.  Regardless, the tank performed admirably even though it couldn’t shoot the broadside of a barn.

3. As with previous battles, I was happy on the performance of the Griffon Formation.  I had plenty of options available and it allowed me to divert when I wanted to divert and attack when I wanted to attack.


My opponent wants to try out his more magic and shooting heavy DE list against the Griffon.  But that will have to be a battle, and battle report, for a different day.

I hope that you enjoyed the first Griffon Formation Battle Report.  I definitely have more respect for people that take the time to create Battle Reports-  it takes a lot of time and energy!

I look forward to your comments and suggestions for improvement! 

[Noght]

Thanks HHG (these things take time and I appreciate the effort)!  Fun read and congrats on the Battle Chronicler! 
Griffon Formation is interesting, 8th is turning into a "chaff" fest with redirectors and blockers, well played.
I suspect that the STank would have been smooshed by the DE Sorc but dice is dice....

Noght

[Holy Hand Grenade]

Thanks HHG (these things take time and I appreciate the effort)!  Fun read and congrats on the Battle Chronicler! 
Griffon Formation is interesting, 8th is turning into a "chaff" fest with redirectors and blockers, well played.
I suspect that the STank would have been smooshed by the DE Sorc but dice is dice....

Noght

The DE Sorc is one of the reasons I put the STank all the way at the back end of the board.  I at least wanted a couple of cannon shots off before she got into range to melt it.

When she died, the main reason I moved the tank forward was because I wanted his Knights to take Dangerous Terrain tests in that wood if they killed the tank and wanted to push towards the center.

I think it is interesting on how memories of recent battles can effect our perceptions during new ones.  In my previous battle with him before this Report, he was concerned with the Greatswords (because in a battle previous to that one they had whooped some ass...).  He nuked the crap out of them... so bad that I just limped backwards with it...but the STank came out of nowhere and flipped the tide.  This battle, he had his sights set straight on the tank...

[Holy Hand Grenade]

Helblaster Hardpoint with Griffon Wing Formations

I ran another battle with my Griffon Formation list with my Dark Elf friend but this time against his heavy magic and shooty list.  The dice were not with him, his mages blew themselves up, and when my Terror-causing Knights wrecked into his back lines he called the game.  The battle was not that epic and not worthy of a battle report. But, Griffon Formation 3, opponents 0.

However, I did go out on a wing and test out my Helblaster Hardpoint list against another friend of mine’s Vampire Counts to try out another formation-  the Griffon Wings.

My initial plan going in was to set up the formation like the graph below.  Two crossbow units with 2 archer detachments each would form the Wings to protect the Helblasters.  I planned to put the STank in the middle to shoot his big nasties as well as push forward to tarpit anything making it close to the hardpoint.  One unit of IC Knights and two units of Demigryphs would be my mobile harassers/mini-hammers.  I used 4 mounted characters:  2 WPs to run shotgun with the Demis and a AL General and BSB to sit next to an X-Bow unit to provide leadership, re-rolls, and potentially flaming x-bows if I needed it.

Epic failure on the first run. 

Setting it up for the first time, I didn’t leave enough space between the X-Bows and the Helblaster to fit the two characters on mounts…so they had to go to the far side.  When he got the 1st turn, he flew a Terrorgeist 8” away from the far Helblaster, screamed it into oblivion and made 3 units flee away because they weren’t in my leadership bubble.  After failing to kill it on my turn after throwing everything but the kitchen sink at it, I didn’t see any point in continuing.  He would kill the other Helblaster on his turn and the rest of the game would be wash-  not really a test of the list.

My opponent was gracious enough to give it another go-  he wanted to see the list in action as well.  This time, my characters ranged the whole hardpoint and the Helblaster were positioned 28.5 inches away from any point a Terrorgeist could deploy to avoid a 20” fly and 8” scream on the 1st turn.  Because of the terrain, I moved my STank out of the center to give it more room to roam. 

Knowing all this, my opponent decided to try more of a flanking strategy to two-hop the Terrorgeists into position while his forces slowly moved up to let the Terrors do their work.

Here is how the deployment ended up (nothing exciting for terrain-  lots of water, a hill, building, and forest):

The Good Guys:  Gor’s Griffons

5 Inner Circle Knights FC, Lances, Banner of Eternal Flame

10 Archers 
   5 Archer Detachment
   5 Archer Detachment
        Lars Fredericksen Lvl 4 Heavens Wizard, Dispel Scroll 

10 Crossbowmen
   5 Archer Detachment
   5 Archer Detachment

10 Crossbowmen
   5 Archer Detachment
   5 Archer Detachment

       Arch Lector Gregory Gor (Gen) 
       Barded Warhorse, HA, Shield, Dragonhelm

       Captain Mark Von Strauss (BSB) 
       Barded Warhorse, Plate, Shield, Dragonbane Gem

4 Demigryph Knights  FC
       Warrior Priest Blane Bonham 
       Helm of the Skavenslayer

4 Demigryph Knights  FC
       Warrior Priest Archy Johnstone 
       Enchanted Shield

Steam Tank “Leonardo V”
       “Red-Eye (Engineer Commander, Hochland Long Rifle) 

2x Helblaster

2x Master Engineer  Hochland Long Rifles


The Bad Guys:  Crypt Terror

26 Crypt Ghouls w/champ 
       Strigoi Ghould King (Gen) Lvl 1 Lore of Vamp, Sword of Bloodshed, Dragonbane Gem, OTS, Red Fury, Beguile

26 Crypt Ghouls w/champ 
       Vampire (BSB) Lvl 2 Lore of Vamp, Armour of Destiny, Aura of Dark Majesty

25 Zombie Bunker
       Master Necromancer Lvl 4 Death, Opal Amulet
       Necromancer Lvl 1 Lore of Vamp, Dispel Scroll

12 Crypt Horrors 

2x Terrorgheists


My spells:  Harmonic Convergence, Wind Blast, Urannon’s T-bolt, Comet of Cas

His spells:  Lots of Invocation, Gaze of Nagash, Spirit Leech, Caress, Fate of Bjuna, Purple Sun


Turn 1 Gor’s Griffons:

Movement:
 
I got the first turn this time.  I moved the Knights up a bit, and prepped for incoming.

Magic & Shooting

Not much excitement on my 1st turn.  I threw out a Thunderbolt but only got 1 wound on a Terrorgheist and the STank’s cannonball got a hit, but he made his 6+ Regen.  Urgh! 


Turn 1 Crypt Terror:

My opponent’s undead shambled forward, staying near their leader.  Except for a Terrorgheist that flew into within 8” of a Demigryph block.

Magic & Shooting

His nasty Master Necro tried to snipe my mage with a Caress but I used my Dispel Scroll, not wanting to risk him.  I had enough DD left to shut down the rest of the phase.

Skip the italicized blocks if you don’t want to read the fluff!

By the mother of Sigmar, the stench was unbearable.  And the sight of the restless dead slumbering across the water-spotted field was just as disheartening.  What were the Elector Count’s planners thinking?  They told him to intercept the undead horde before they reached the city by setting up a defensive hardpoint.  They also had some new strategies they wanted him to test out-  “Griffon Wings” to protect the lead-producing volley guns.  Well, all he knew was he didn’t see them out here “testing it out.”

Praise be, at least they gave him some horse and ‘gryphs and a damned tin can full of steam.  Hopefully the cav would give him enough time and space to keep the arrows and bullets flyin’.  Like on cue, he saw them move forward to prepare to engage.   

The Arch Lector didn’t like what he saw.  The medium-sized ghouls looked like they brought with them some bigger brothers-  massive-muscled horrors.  Those must be some kind of new abomination-  he didn’t remember fighting them in his youth against previous undead plagues.  But the big kicker had to be the winged terrors rising up to take flight.  He hoped bullets could take them down…

A thunderbolt ripped the sky from the hands of the crazy wizard Lars that accompanied the army.  It ripped a nasty gash across its belly, but all it looked like it did was piss the thing off.  It took to the sky and landed in front of his center demigryphs-  opening its horrible maw to let out the most blood-curdling scream he had ever heard.  Somehow his Knights held the line and stayed on their mounts.  He could live the rest of his life without ever hearing that again…

“May Sigmar prevail!  Fire at will!” 


Turn Two:  Gor’s Griffons

Movement:

The Crypt Terrors were at max charge distance and I decided to declare a charge.  Worst case-  they move forward just a bit which I would have done anyway.  Almost got it too-  missed by 1.5 inches.

STank rumbled forward to get a shot off at the Terrorgheist.  Otherwise the only move was to push my archer detachment straight forward- out of the firing lanes…to sacrifice themselves for Sigmar.

Magic:

Not great Winds of Magic, so I threw 5 dice at Harmonic Converence.  Goes off-  almost everything is in range to get re-rolls on 1s for hits, wounds, AS. 

Shooting:

Harmonic C is the BOMB.  My STank originally rolled a 1 to wound and got the reroll.  Too bad you can’t re-roll the number of wounds…cuz he got a 1.  Sigh.

The right-most Helblaster was barely in range and opened fire.  11 hits, 2 wounds.

Damn.  That thing is hard to kill.  The archers, X-bows, & Hoch rifles in range all fire on it.  They get 1 more wound!  It only has 1 wound left.


Turn 2 Crypt Terror:

Movement:

With the Terrorgheist severely wounded, he decides to flank the STank, keep it from pivoting, and scream at it.  Everything else shambles forward.  The other Terrorgheist moves into position behind the battlemount.

Magic & Shooting:

My opponent tosses a nasty Purple Sun at my Demis and STank.  It rolls right over all of them and stops by the edge of the board.  2 Demigryphs get sucked into the vortex, but the good old Engineer Commander makes his save with a 3!  The Terrorgheist screams at the STank and gets my luck-  1 wound.


Arch Lector Gor saw his demigryphs on the left prepare for a charge but they were out of range.  The Terror was not out of range of his ranged firepower, however.  After the wizard cast some kind of peaceful bubble over his forces, their shooting was insanely accurate.  Somehow, the beast weathered the storm.

It appeared the undead had some nasty tricks of their own.  Out from behind the house a magical spinning vortex shot out across his center Knights and the Steam Tank.  Half of his ‘gryphs were sucked into it and just vanished.  It appeared the mighty hunk of metal might get sucked in too…but somehow it blinked back into existence as the vortex passed over.

The Terror set it sights on the tank as well, and in one great whoosh rose up and landed next to it, letting loose another horrible scream.  A few metal plates ripped off its hulls…but it appeared to still be fully operational.
 
Hopefully one more concentrated volley would finish the beast off for good.  If that thing got into the middle of his lines…Arch Lector Gor shuddered.

[Holy Hand Grenade]

Turn 3 Gor’s Griffons:

Movement:

STank generates a few steam points to shoot at a juicy target-  the Zombies because he can’t pivot.  Definitely not worth a misfire result…but screw it.  Only a game, right?  (I wonder if our superiors will be pissed off at the waste of metal and powder on that one)

Demigryphs finally complete a charge against the Crypt Horrors.  I move the (still alive) forward deployed unit into the way of the ghouls and move a few more detachments up.

Magic:

The Winds of Magic are good:  11 dice.  I throw half at a boosted version of Harmonic C.  My opponent had enough of that crap:  Dispel Scroll.  Cool-  I rolled for a boosted Comet and IF’d it.  I placed it right in front of his Zombie bunker hoping it would flatten lots of undead.  For the miscast, my Wizard took a wound and 2 archers perished to the magical backlash.

I didn’t dispel the Purple Sun, hoping it would either hit the Terrorgheist or go off the board.  It went off the board.   

Shooting:

Even without the Harm C, the Helblaster lit up the sky with lead.  The end result = dead Terrorgheist.  My 3 Hoch Rifles tried to light up his Master Necro in response to the nasty vortex he sent their way.  Only 1 wound (not sold on them, yet).  The rest of the shooting killed some zombies and ghouls (yep, a cannonball leveled 3 zombies too).

Combat:

My Chickens hit hard doing 6 wounds.  I took 11 wounds and failed 4 saves.  Damn my 1s!  I still beat them in combat by 2 so he lost 2 more wounds.


Turn 3 Crypt Terror:

Movement:

The other Terrorgheist moves into position to scream at the STank.

The ghouls with his General attack the archer diverters and the other ghouls stumble forward towards my Knights.

Magic & Shooting:

I let him get off an Invocation and it heals some Crypt Horrors, Ghouls, Zombies, and the wound on the Master Necro.  He throws a lot of dice on Spirit Leech against the WP in the unengaged Demigryphs and gets IF but only 1 wound.  The resulting miscast kills 3 zombies standing next to him.

Comet gains 2 tokens to 4 total.

Again a Terrorgheist screams at the STank-  again, 1 wound.  (I would take metal over nasty breath any day!)

Combat:

The SGK singlehandedly eats my archer detachment for lunch and decides to overrun to push into my hardpoint.

My Demigryphs perform well-  they cause 6 wounds, and made 11 out of 12 armour saves!  (I would take metal over poison any day as well…hehe)


Nice.  The heavy cav on the left finally crashed into the Crypt Horrors.  Lance and razor sharp claws did their dirty work on the undead flesh.  Arch Lector Gor saw one Knight get ripped in half and his mount fell soon after.  He said a quick prayer for him and turned his attention to the center.

The Terror did not last through another volley of lead.  The great beast fell in a mighty crash, only to be replaced by another flying Terror that let lose another hell-filled scream.  Again, the tank held together.

A small archer detachment didn’t fare so well.  The ghouls caught in and in a blink of an eye were turned to red mist by a nasty ghoul armed with some kind of wicked weapon.  It must be their leader.  After this next Terror fell, his forces would have to concentrate on it.  That thing would definitely kill anything he had on this field-  he wasn’t even sure the tank could stand up long against that flurry of blows.

Lars raised his hands to the heavens and the sky started to open up to reveal a bright comet streaking in from the sky.  Nice one!  Hopefully it gets here soon to flatten some undead!

In response, an eery green glow covered several of the undead units in the center. Numerous fallen dead got back to their feet in service yet again to their undead masters.  Now he did remember this from his youth.  The casters had to die as well-  or their defense would surely be overrun.  So many targets…and they were running out of time and space…


Turn 4 Gor’s Griffons: 

Movement:

Time to grind!  STank’s boiler has some issues but all I lose is 1 steam point.  That leaves me 3 to crash into the Terrorgheist give the ugly thing 4 wounds!

I don’t push any of the Knights forward to avoid the crash of the comet.

 

Magic & Shooting:

Time for some harmony.  Yep, get it off again.  Comet gains 2 more tokens for 6 total!

Everything ranged opens up on the poor Ghouls in the center.  Needless to say, after many dice rolls, only the SGK and 4 ghouls are left standing.

Combat:

Terrorgheist throws some wounds on the STank.  The Demis are slowing down a bit and only get 2 wounds.  But they make 8 out of 9 armour saves.  Horrors unstable another wound-  leaving only 4 left in the front row.

That tank was worth its weight in gold!  It looked like it might suffer some kind of mechanical malfunction…but the Commander got it under control, spun the tank and slammed into the beast with a crash!  It didn’t kill it; but it looked severely wounded.  The thing lashed out in anger at the metal hunk, but somehow its armour kept it from destruction.

With the Knight hacking Horrors on the left and his Knights delaying on the right it was time to open up on the center.  After the wizard got off another harmony bubble, it was time.  “Fire on the ghouls!”  Everything that could shoot did.  Lead, arrows and bolts flew through the air with a vengeance and the ghouls dropped like flies.  Somehow their undead King managed to avoid harm, but his minions were almost all dead around him.   

If the General fell…the battle would be his! 


Turn 4 Crypt Terror:

Here is how it looked:

His Crypt Horrors were about dead.  His General bunker was toast.  He was getting ready to lose his last Terrorgheist- and his zombie bunker and other ghoul unit were facing a 6+ token Comet…. yep, that was game.  (For kicks, I kept rolling to see when the Comet would have showed up.  It went off on Turn 6 with 10 tokens.  It would have done 2d6 +10 hits of Str 10.  I rolled snake-eyes for range (see, my infamous 1s!!!)…so if the Zombies were still there they would have had a bad day!)

Well, maybe the planners got something right for a change.  His awesome ranged firepower made short work of the remaining undead.  The hardest part was keeping his forces back from surging forward in their adrenaline state to avoid getting pummeled by the streaking comet.

When it did hit, it erupted the earth in a massive blast that leveled the battlemount next to it.  Oops.  Hopefully the Elector wouldn’t be too pissed about that.  His forces held the field and kept the city safe.  Well, at least for one more day.  When the undead started appearing, it was never just one fight…


 After Action:

1. The leadership bubble is key with so many detachments-  a lesson I learned the hard way in the first run.

2. With so many detachments, I don’t see ground-pounders being able to penetrate the Hardpoint.  I had too many facing his list.  However, facing other lists, not sure if I could kill numerous hordes with this set-up, but I definitely could slow them down.  The glaring weak point is flyers.  They have to die first.  If the Helblasters fall, it is no longer a hardpoint.

3. Harmonic Convergence is ridiculous.  My shooting was insane when it went off.

4. I had fun testing it out, but I didn’t “feel it.”  You know-  how an army or list just gets you going?  It wasn’t an ordinary gunline-  but I wouldn’t want to face this list in a serious setting.  My opponent had fun-  but only because he is a Warhammer nerd like me.  However, if I brought this list every week, I think he would punch me in the face.  Regardless, I much prefer throwing down in close combat myself.  I could probably tone down the shooting and increase the cavalry to make it a more enjoyable list.

5.  It wasn’t a perfect test of my Griffon Wings, mainly because he never really made it close to me.  I think archers with archer detachments are an unexpected, hidden gift we received in this army book.  With just one set added to a list, it gives you much needed mobile diverters.

Please give me some comments!   

[Noght]

Fun Read!  Thanks HHG. 
You might be able to accomplish the "Wing" with a few less Archer Detachments, allowing you a bit more flexibility during deployment.

Some Tactical thoughts:
*  Surprised how effective the DG's were against the Crypt Horrors.
*  Not sure why the didn't position his 2nd Terrorgeist like the first one, pinning your Tank (unless he thought that the scream would finish it).
*  I'm assuming his Vamp Lord was in the CG1.  He should have charged out into the DG/CH battle and popped the Priest.

(BTW...I just acquired a VC Army so this is fun to read from both sides of the board...Sweet!)

Well Done Sir!
Noght

[Holy Hand Grenade]

Fun Read!  Thanks HHG. 
You might be able to accomplish the "Wing" with a few less Archer Detachments, allowing you a bit more flexibility during deployment.

Some Tactical thoughts:
*  Surprised how effective the DG's were against the Crypt Horrors.
*  Not sure why the didn't position his 2nd Terrorgeist like the first one, pinning your Tank (unless he thought that the scream would finish it).
*  I'm assuming his Vamp Lord was in the CG1.  He should have charged out into the DG/CH battle and popped the Priest.

(BTW...I just acquired a VC Army so this is fun to read from both sides of the board...Sweet!)

Well Done Sir!
Noght

Thanks!

--I was very surprised at how the Demigryphs chewed away at the Crypt Horrors-  I thought they would beat me over time.  I bet Str 5 T 4 models would hurt the Chicks worse; against Str 4 T 5 the mounts were wounding him on 4s, while his Str didn't really modify their saves.  Of course my rolls had a little bit to do with-  one stretch I think I made like 22 out of 24 2+ saves.

--I think he didn't repeat the "pinch the tank" move a second time because he wanted to scream the tank but stay out of Helblaster range.  Of course, then that allowed the tank to pivot and charge it.  During our "after the battle" chat, he mentioned that he thought should have launched both Terrorgeists in at the same time.  But like me, he had no idea how nasty my shooting was going to be.

--Yeah, the Ghoul King was in CG1.  I think he was located on the far left of the unit (as you look at it on the graph) and pinched behind the archer det.  It would have been a nasty move if he had prepared for/thought about it.

I think your comment about starting VC is funny-  because I have bad thoughts in the back of my mind about starting a VC army.  I say "bad" because I have to fully finish my plans for my Empire army before anything else distracts me!   

[Holy Hand Grenade]

The Inverted Griffon versus Vampire Counts

Get your popcorn ready and a comfortable chair-  this report is a long one.  The battle went all the way to Turn 6 and was epic to the bitter end.  Enjoy the Battle Report!   

So, the Vampire Counts were back for another 2500 point throw down.  This time my opponent ran a list that he based off (slightly modified) a tournament winning list he found on a VC forum.  He still has the 2 Terrorgheists, but this time he ran a Ghoul horde with a SGK and beefy block of Black Knights with a Vampire. 

The boys in blue were going to be sorely tested, Griffon formation or not.


The Good Guys:  Ulric’s Own

14 Inner Circle Knights “Gold Banner” FC, Lances, Banner of Swiftness
        Warrior Priest Hector Snow 
        Warrior Bane, Enchanted Shield, Terrifying Mask of Eee!

4 Demiwolf Knights “Blood Lords” FC, Lances
        Warrior Priest Blane Bonham Dragonhelm

38 Teutogen Guard (Greatswords) “Ulric’s Own”  FC, Standard of Discipline
        15 Halberd Detachment 
        15 Halberd Detachment 

        Arch Lector Dominus Snow (Gen) 
        GW, Armour of Meteoric Iron, Dawnstone

        Captain Frederick Von Strauss (BSB) 
        Tormentor Sword, Charmed Shield

10 Archers “Rommel’s Rangers”
        5 Archer Detachment
        5 Archer Detachment

10 Archers “Rommel’s Rearguard”  Standard, Musician
        Lars Fredericksen Lvl 4 Heavens Wizard, Dispel Scroll 

Steam Tank “Leonardo III”
        Bartimus “Bullseye” Smith (Engineer Commander) 


The Bad Guys:  Soul Blight

42 Crypt Ghouls w/champ 
        Strigoi Ghoul King (Gen) Lvl 1 Lore of Vamp, Giant Blade,  Dragonbane Gem, OTS, Red Fury, Beguile

14 Black Knights  FC, Lances, Banner of Swiftness
        Vampire Lvl 2 Lore of Vamp, Enchanted Shield, Staff of Damnation, Ironcurse Icon

2x Terrorgheists

2x 2 Fellbats 

20 Zombies

20 Zombie Bunker
        Master Necromancer Lvl 4 Death Wizard

21 Zombie Bunker
        Necromancer Lvl 2 Lore of Vamp, Dispel Scroll


Pre-deployment

The list is similar to the one I ran in the first battle in this thread-  except I wanted to bust out some Demis to go with the Griffon Formation. 

In order to fit the heavy cav and a mounted WP, I dropped off 10 Greatswords, 10 Halbs, and the Lumi and made some minor tweaks.  I was hoping this would spread the combat power around a little more.  Because I lost the nuke off the Lumi, I switched magic Lores to Heavens for some more ranged firepower.   

My plan in this one:  be patient, avoid getting flanked/reared by the Terrors, and pick the right moment to strike. 

My spells:  Harmonic Convergence, Urannon’s Thunderbolt, Comet of Casandora, Chain Lightning

His spells:  Lore of Vamp = 3x Invocation, Hellish Vigor, Raise Dead
            Lore of Death = Caress, Soulblight, Fate of Bunja, Purple Sun


Deployment

We rolled the random terrain rules from the BRB in random locations.  Wizard tower in the center right next to a Mist-Wreathed Swamp, several forests, a house, a hill, a Nec Sphinx, and a Ghost Fence.

We rolled for a scenario and got Meeting Engagement.  He won the roll to pick sides-  and just couldn’t resist taking the side with Nec Sphinx.

He started putting units on the north side so I established an Inverted Griffon opposite knowing he would clump his forces near his leader to start.  My cavalry went towards the center.  He placed his Black Knights so they were barely inside his leader’s bubble and within 6” of the Sphinx so he could challenge it with his mounted Vampire.  I lined up the STank so it could shoot at a Terrorgheist without having to move.

The end result: 

Turn 1 Ulric’s Own:

Movement:
 
Ulric’s Own got the first turn.  I moved the Inverted Griffon forward a bit.  I wasn’t being too aggressive-  I wanted to get some pot shots off at the Terrors.  I did move the Demis up to start the cavalry “cat-and-mouse” game on the left flank.  The STank fired up the boiler for a long cannon shot.

Magic

Generated 7 dice, my opponent had 5.  I tossed about half my dice at a boosted Harmonic C and got IF.  Damn.  The miscast blasted all the casters on my side-  Wizard and WP in the Demis take wounds (one bad side effect of AL/WPs being able to channel now).  I lose the rest of my dice.

Shooting

Archers drop a Ghoul.  The cannonball flies into the belly of the Terror.  Roll a 1 to wound and thanks for HC, get the re-roll!  I started doing the happy-dance until my opponent rolled his 6+ Regen.  Is my STank’s shooting cursed or something? 


Turn 1 Soul Blight:

Vampire challenged the Sphinx.  Vamp won.  He got Loremaster of Death.  Are you kidding me?  Now I am facing 2 Death mages…   

My opponent took advantage of his General’s leadership and surged forward.  His Black Knights pushed max distance and were accompanied by a Terror.  Taking a page from my playbook, he flew his bats in as diverters, preventing charges by all my cavalry.  The Ghoul and Zombie blocks also moved max distance.

His Death Necro was now within 3’ of the Wizard’s Tower…so not only did he have 2 Death casters, but BOTH were Loremasters.  (Holy Purple Sun, Batman!)

Magic:

9 Power Dice, 7 Dispel.  He tosses 4 dice at Caress on my WP with the Demis.  I let it go and he gets no hits (whew).  Tosses a 5 dice Purple Sun…I get 2x 6s and dispel it (whew)!

Shooting:

The bloody Terror screams at my Demiwolves and gets 5 wounds.  Damn those things are nasty!


Skip the italicized blocks if you don’t want to read the fluff!

Gor’s Griffons had just smashed an undead horde the week before, so it was no surprise to Arch Lector Dominus Snow that his force was called upon to take to the field against the walking dead-  when the dead rose they seemed to multiple like a plague. He had read the battle report in detail and did not like what he heard.  Gigantic terrors with screams that could kill the most armoured Knights, frenzied undead gargoyles that could tear men to shreds and hordes of shambling dead- some with flesh, some without. 

Today looked no different.  He counted two of the Terrors and a large unit of knights in black riding skeleton steeds.  The leader appeared to be a nasty brute of muscled sinew that carried a wicked magical blade that looked as if it could even cut the Steam Tank in half in a horde of the ghoulish-dead.  And lots and lots of Zombies.

His mission was to push back the horde of undead and keep them from ransacking the College’s Tower, which was sandwiched in a narrow valley between towering cliffs on each side.

Unfortunately his force had not made it to the Tower before the undead.  Snow had deployed his force in a nearby forest in the new Inverted Griffon.  His right flank was secure by the towering cliffs, so he put all his cavalry on the left.  Instead of Gais from the Jade Order, the Elector sent him Lars, a Celestial Mage.  Lars had participated in the last undead battle and would be a battle-tested veteran in this one.  Snow only hoped his magic was as effective as Gaia’s. 

The Arch Lector noted he would have to make sure the flying Terrors didn’t fly to his flanks and rear.  He was not sure even Ulric’s Own would hold the line if that happened.  He ordered his men forward. 

His Demiwolf cavalry pushed up on the left, backed up by his lance-toting Inner Circle Knights.  Lars casted a harmony spell over the rear forces and a cannonball shot out and nailed one of the Terrors straight in its bony ribcage.  The beast rocked back but it looked like it healed its wound at once!  Hopefully something could take down those things…

The undead, seeing man-flesh, surged forward.  A misty veil of hovering spirits descended over the leader of the Black Knights from a large Sphinx statue.  Energized, the Knights glided forward like on air within charge range of his Demiwolves. 

A Necromancer near the Tower started casting an unholy spell that spun and twisted with shadows and shades in a hellish vortex.  Just as he was about to release it, Lars casted some kind of light at the undead caster that caused the vortex to fade.  Nice one.

A Terror made a flying leap and landed next to the Black Knights and let out a screetch that rocked the ground like an earthquake.  One Demiwolf was blasted into pieces and another was seriously wounded.  When it appeared his Knights were preparing for a charge, they were thwarted by hellish bats that dropped from the sky and disrupted their ranks.  Not good, not good at all… 


Turn Two:  Ulric’s Own

Movement:

My Demiwolves were in between a rock and a hard place and already wounded.  I decided to charge the bats to get rid of them and to hold in a sacrificial spot with his Terror and Knights in position for a brutal countercharge…planning to follow up with my own countercharge a turn later with my Inner Circle Knights. 

The rest of my forces I just shifted and reformed but didn’t surge forward.  I still wanted some more shots at the big beasties first.

Magic:

11 Power Dice, 6 Dispel.  I tried a 3 dice Thunderbolt at a Terror but he dispelled it.  I got off a boosted Harmonic C and he used the rest of his DD to kill my Chain Lightning. 

Shooting:

Another token Ghoul dies by arrows.  I fail to kill the damn Fell Bats with arrows!  Now the little bastards are going to get in my way again…

Another cannonball in the belly of a Terror (the one flanking my Demis).  This time no regen save and I didn’t roll a 1 to wound like I usually do-  take 5 big ones you ugly bag of bones!   

Close Combat:

Fell Bats die beneath my Demi Claws (By Ulric, I would sure hope so!).  They reform and prep for the hell getting ready to descend on them (WP switches to the side away from the Terror and the angle is such that, if the Black Knights charge, their boney asses will dip into the Mist-Wreathed Swamp... insert evil laugh here).


Turn 2 Soul Blight:

Movement:

As predicted, the Black Knights and Terrors charge my Demis.  And, as hoped for, two Black Knights get sucked into the swamp, mounts and all!  Far left Zombies charge my archer detachment. 

His Terrorgheist hops over the Tower and plops down in front of my lines.  The Ghoul King and his horde move up to face off against the Greatswords.  Also, as predicted, his bats get in the way of my Inner Circle Knights.

Magic:

The most nail-biting magic phase was to follow.   

He bagged up 12 Power Dice to my 6 Dispel.  And to my chagrin, he turned his sights directly on my Lvl 4 Wizard.

First, he tossed 4 dice at a boosted Caress against my Wizard in the building exactly 24” away.  I do the math in my head and figure since he already has suffered a wound he is likely doomed if I let this through.  Dispel Scroll.  Without missing a beat, my opponent throws a 3-dice Spirit Leech.  Knowing he still has 5 dice left (most likely for a Purple Sun), I had to let this one through.  It would all come down to luck with Ldr 8 versus Ldr 8.  We both rolled 1s.  No wounds!

Okay-  here comes the 5 dice Purple Sun.  He got a really high roll, but I rolled higher than him with 6 DD.  Man, I couldn’t believe I made it through that magic phase!

Shooting:

Here come the screams.  The wounded Terror in combat doesn’t get any wounds, but the Terror looming over my Inner Circle Knights kills 6 of them!  (I fear the screams worse than the bite and claws on those things).

Combat:

The Demis give it all they have and do pretty well-  killing a Black Knight and only taking a few wounds themselves.  However, they lose combat by 4 and proceed to run away.  The Terror tries to chase them down but misses by 1 inch!  The Black Knights hold to turn and face off against my Knights.

My archer detachments fares a little better-  they kill enough zombies to gain courage and hold their ground.


Arch Lector Snow saw that his Demiwolves were in a terrible tactical position.  They managed to kill off the bats in front of them, but were barely able to reform and face the charge of the Black Knights and Terrorgeist.  One piece of good news, Lars casted another harmony spell right before the tank spat another cannonball at the charging Terror.  This time it nailed it right in its bony skull, blowing off half its face.  Somehow, it pressed on and hit his Knights in the flank.

Lars was not so lucky in getting some of his lighting and thunder bolts off.  The Master Necro had some tricks of his own and appeared to shoot them down out of the air with his own evil bolts of dark.  A magic duel ensued.  It appeared Lars was doing everything in his power to keep the evil spells at bay.  Hopefully, he could keep it up.       

His Demiwolf Knights named the Blood Lords fought valiantly but the foes were too much.  After taking several wounds their courage failed them and they fled.  The Terror rose up to chase them but as of yet, fell short.  The Black Knights turned their mounts to face off against his Gold Banner Inner Circle Knights.  By Ulric, he hoped they would hold or his rear was lost.

The other Terror cleared the Tower in one fell swoosh.  It screamed a blood-chilling roar that dropped 6 of his Gold Banner knights like dust in the wind.  They held their ground…but for how long?

The Ghouls on the right flank pressed their advantage.  Some of his archers on the far right engaged a Zombie block.  Somehow, they kept from being overrun.  It was time to push up his Teutogen Guard and Halberds before all was lost…


Turn 3 Ulric’s Own:

Movement:

Time to rock and roll.  My archer detachment charges (and thankfully fails) the Black Knights in order to get out of the way.  The Greatswords and detachments all succeed on charges (against the Zombies, Ghouls, and Terror).  Lastly, my Knights charge the bats to finally get rid of them.

Unfortunately the fleeing Demis fail to rally and pound their way towards the board edge.

The STank lines up a shot against the Black Knights, hoping the wizard can finish off the 1 wound Terror.  Last, but not least, my Wizard pops out the back of the building to get out the 24” nuke range of his Master Necro Death mage.

Magic:

I get 7 Powerdice, he has 4 Dispel.  Respectable.  I throw a 2 dice T-Bolt and he lets it go.  Bye-bye, Terrorgheist.  Finally!

Next I toss 2 dice on Harmonic C just on the Greatswords.  He lets it go.  When I toss the rest of my dice on a 5+ Ward Save for the Greatswords, he dispels it.

Shooting:

Now that the Ghouls are in combat, my hapless archers drop 2 token zombies.  My STank gets off a cannonball, but it only hits 1 Black Knight and he dies his final death.

Combat:

This is it!  Time for the big rumble.  The remaining Terrorgheist eats 3 Halbs and stomps on 4 more but they manage to get a wound on it and hold their ground due to Stubborn.

On the other side, the Halbs and archers whittle away the Zombies but fail to finish off the unit.

And in the center-  I toss out a challenge hoping to get his Ghoul King tied up, but he accepts with his Ghast.  My champ dies a horrible death.  Next goes his ridiculous Ghoul King-  who kills 5 Greatswords on his own.  The rest of the Ghouls go and total up 11 wounds.  I roll my armour saves and it is unbelievable-  7 of them are 4 or above and the 4 failures are all 1s!  Due to HC, I re-roll them and get 2 more saves!  The Ghouls only get 2 wounds!

The attack back was vicious.  With Hatred and re-rolling 1s on the wounds, I killed 11 Ghouls and directed every attack I possibly could on the Ghoul King-  also resulting in his DEATH.  Between the losses due to Unstable and the crumble for losing the army’s General, he had only 8 Ghouls remaining in his “horde at the end of the phase.”  (Learning point-  Greatswords really rock with HC!!!)

He gets pretty lucky with the rest of his army and the crumble only knocks a few wounds off a couple of units.

[Holy Hand Grenade]

Turn 3 Soul Blight:

By opponent, knowing he is only 1 Purple Sun away from possibly leveling the playing field, decides to press on to see what happens.

Movement:

His Black Knights charge my Inner Circle Knights.  The only other movement is his Master Necro takes his Zombie bunker into the Wizard’s Tower.

Magic:

He gets another decent Winds O Magic:  9 dice versus my 6.

He wastes no time and tosses a 6-dice Purple Sun, this time from the Vampire with Loremaster of Death.  No IF so I toss all my Dispel Dice and beat him (yet another whew!)

I can’t do anything against the rest of his dice, so he gets off both Hellish Vigor (re-roll wounds) and the +1 attack buff from the Staff of Damnation (as if those Black Knights didn’t put out enough hurt-  this round was going to be brutal for my poor Knights). 

Shooting:

The damn Terror screams again and blasts the Halbs he is fighting into oblivion.

Combat:

The last line of Ghouls flails out before they die and net 10 more wounds.  This time my luck is not so unbelievable and I save half, but re-roll the 4 1s and get 2 more saves.  I kill every single Ghoul when I strike back and reform in rows of 7 aimed at the Zombie bunker.  The left most Zombies also get wiped out.

In the cavalry battle-  he dishes out a whooping 14 wounds and I make all but 3 armour saves!  I kill a Knight and have to make my resulting Break Test on a 7.  I roll a 7;  they hold!


Yes!  The Terrorgheist never made it to his fleeing Demiwolves.  Lars sent a wicked bolt into what remained of its skull and it dropped to the ground in yet another quake that shook the earth. 

Arch Lector Snow and his forces charged across the right flank.  A detachment of Halberds joined the archers against the Zombies, while the other detachment hit the last Terrorgheist before it could take flight again.  That left his Teutogen Guard to square off directly against the Ghoul Horde.  Right before the first blows were struck, Lars got off another timely spell that seemed to surround Ulric’s Own and assist their blows and defense.  Magic assisting metal by Ulric!

The resulting combat was a bloodbath.  The Ghoul King slaughtered more men singlehandedly than the whole Ghoul horde-  but it was not enough.  When the Guard got its great warhammers into action, the entire horde disappeared in a matter of moments- including the King who was smashed into pieces. 

The whole undead army shook at its death.  Some undead fell, joining its master’s fate, but the Necromancer in the tower quickly chanted some spells and bound the army to his will.  Arch Lector Snow stood over the body of the dead “king” and raised his warhammer mockingly towards the Necromancer.  Stories of this day would be told for years to come as long as he could clear the casters off the field!

The Halberdiers and Archers made short work of the Zombies on the far right.  The Halberdiers facing the Terror managed to wound it some, but it made short work of them, gnashing, clawing, stomping and screaming them into a mass of body parts scattered over the field.

His Inner Circle Knights were hard-pressed as well.  The Black Knights hit them with a thundering crash.  Their lances were added by some kind of hellish, unholy power and they attacked as if in a black whirlwind.  Many of the Empire Knights were saved by the strength of their hardened armour, but several of the Knights fell.  Somehow, they managed to hold against the flurry of blows.  They just needed to buy him a little more time…


Turn 4 Ulric’s Own: 

Beginning of the Turn: 

STank’s boiler finally springs a leak.  Generates a whopping 6 steam points and takes 2 wounds in the process. 

Movement:

The poor Zombie Bunker gets double-teamed by my Greatswords and Halb detachment.

My STank lines up yet another shot against the Terror.  Archers move into firing positions.

Magic:

7 PD, 5 DD.  I go for a 3 dice T-Bolt but he dispels it.  He had had enough of my HC when I threw the rest of my dice at it-  dispel scroll!

Shooting:

STank gets another cannonball downrange and another Hit!  The Terror fails its regen and takes 4 wounds.  It has 1 left. 

All my archers shoot at the Large Terror Target sitting in the middle of the field…several hits but they cannot wound the indomitable beast to finish it off.  (Sure was missing HC at this point…it is like magic Crack!)

Combat:

Ah yeah-  the Greatswords and Halberds make short work of the Zombie bunker and Necro.  They turn to face the last Zombie bunker and Master Necro in the tower…

My poor Inner Circle Knights didn’t fare so well.  Totally weird-  the riders didn’t do that much, but the mounts were in a frenzy!  His mounts got 3 unsaved wounds on me, and my warhorse got off one of his horse-attacks-of-doom and killed a Black Knight.  (Some really, really strange shit happens in Warhammer sometimes…)  Unfortunately, my Knights fail their Break test and run.  Unfortunately, this causes my nearby archers to panic and run.  Also, unfortunately, my Knights don’t ran far enough or fast enough to get away from the Black Knights and get hacked down.  And, unfortunately, this places the Black Knights about 1” away from the steel hull of my STank.  Hmm…wonder what is going to happen next on his turn?


Turn 4 Soul Blight:

Movement:

Yep, the STank gets charged by both the Terror and the Black Knights (the 2nd time he has gotten off a dual Terror/BK charge).  He moves his Master Necro and the Zombie Bunker on the opposite side of the building away from my approaching forces-  but this puts them square in the swamp-  perfect place for the vile things!  4 of them get sucked to their doom!

Magic:

8 PD, 6 DD.  He IFs a 4-dice Soul Blight on the STank, loses the rest of his dice and his Master Necro takes a wound. 

Shooting:

Thankfully, the Terror fails to wound the tank when it screams.

Combat:

The Vamp manages to get 3 unsaved wounds on the steam behemoth, but all his bad-ass buddies are not so bad ass and fail to wound it.


Before the Terrorgheist could take flight againt, “Bullseye” Smith sent a cannonball into its side.  The Terror didn’t regen this wound either and looked close to collapsing.  All the archers on the field shot their arrows at it but they all bounced harmlessly off the bone.

His Teutogen Guard and Halbs made short work of the Necromancer and his zombies that had been lurking behind the lines.  He turned towards the Tower to take the fight to the last Necromancer but saw that he was herding his Zombies and leaving the Tower opposite them into the swamp.  Snow laughed as he saw several of them sink into the mire!  His mirth didn’t last long when he looked at his rear lines-  things were not going well. 

His Gold Banner Inner Circle Knights finally caved.  When they routed so did the nearby archers.  The Black Knights hacked down the Empire Knights to a man and without missing a beat, glided towards Smith and Leonardo III, the Steam Tank.  The Terrorgheist took flight and both forces slammed into the tank with hellish anger.  The last Necromancer added insult to injury by casting some kind of spell on the tank that made it wobble and shake.  Even weakened, somehow the tank’s armour held against the onslaught of blows and screams.

Would its hull hold up till he and the Teutogen Guard got there? 


Turn 5 Ulric’s Own:

I decide to generate 4 steam points on my wounded tank (caution is for the Elves!) and he mishaps.  The boiler over-pressurizes and gives the tank 2 wounds, but it now has 6 steam points to dish out!

Movement:

The tanks grinds only a single Black Knight into griffon food.   

The archer fail to rally (notice the pattern on that side of the board…?)

My Greatswords reform and push towards the last remaining combat.

5 more Zombies get sucked into the marsh (guess they should have zigged when they zagged…)   

Magic:

I roll snake eyes for Winds but get 1 extra for 3 PD to 1 DD.  (See-  my luck is either insanely good or insanely bad!)  The only good news with this roll-  I can get one spell off for sure.  I chose a boosted Harmonic C and get it off.

Shooting:

My archers drop a couple of more hapless Zombies.

Combat:

The Vamp goes to work again and gets 2 more unsaved wounds on the STank.  It has 3 left.  The rest of the Black Knights fail to wound it.  I still have 3 steam points left and blow 8 Harmony-boosted hits from the Steam Gun on the Terror.  I get 2 wounds and he only Regenerates 1.  The beast is dead!


Turn 5 Soul Blight:

Movement:

The Master Necro leaves the Zombies in the swamp and faces my Greatswords.  The poor Zombies can’t make it out of the marsh and lose 2 more in the murky depth.

Magic:

He gets yet another strong magic phase-  10 PD to my 6 DD.  He throws 4 dice at a Caress on my Arch Lector General and I let it go.  Luckily, he takes 2 wounds and survives.  Of course, here comes a 6 dice Purple Sun aimed at my Greatsword block.  He gets a great roll but no IF, and I get 2 6s to promptly dispel it.  Not one Purple Sun has gone off!   

Combat:

The Vamp and Black Knights try in vain to kill the STank, but only get 1 unsaved wound.  The STank is still kicking with 2 wounds.


Instead of chasing down the last Necromancer, Snow reformed his forces and turned back towards his lines and ordered a full charge against the rear of the boned behemoth.  The beast did not live to feel their charge-  Leo III overpressurized and in a rush of harmony-boosted steam blasted the Terror into thousands of bone shards that pelted the field like razor rain.  Now that will be a story to tell the grandkids…

All of sudden, he was surrounded by a shadowy mist.  A black-mouthed beauty emerged from it to caress him with its mouth.  It felt like his soul was being ripped from his body.  Only the recent thought of his grandkids and his will to see them again kept him from certain death.  When the shade princess disappeared, he felt like he had aged 20 years.


Turn 6 Ulric’s Own:

Throwing caution to the wind, I generate 4 steam points on the STank.  I roll a 2 on the arty dice and it is good to go!

Movement:

My Greatswords make an awesome charge and hit the flank of the Vampire. 

The Steam Points pay off-  the tank grinds away the remaining Black Knights and does a wound to the Vampire.

My archer detachment makes a valiant charge (don’t ask me why-  just for kicks!) against the Master Necromancer that ends up being a suicidal charge-  all 5 get sucked into the swamp (too funny) joined by a couple more Zombies.  Only 3 Zombies left.

Magic:

Again I roll snake eyes for Winds O Magic and again get an extra dice.  I throw the 3 dice at a T-Bolt and rock the Master Necro for 5 Str 6 hits, getting 2 wounds.  He dies.

Combat:

His Vampire tosses out a challenge, and for fluff reasons only, my courageous Captain BSB accepts the challenge (my General would have-  but he only had 1 wound left).  You know the result-  dead Captain.  However, combat resolution caused the Vampire to unstable himself to death as well.


Turn 6 Soul Blight:

Only 3 Zombies remained on the field.  One crumble roll later-  they were dead.

The Victory Point count-  I beat him by a solid 1379!  Griffon Formation 4, Opponents 0.

Arch Lector Snow had no time to adjust from his brush with death. 

His Teutogen Guard slammed into the flank of the Black Knights with the intent of sending them back into the afterlife.  As his forces died around him, the Vampire leader bellowed a challenge for any mortal willing to face him.  Before Snow could clear his throat and respond, Captain Von Strauss raised the Wolf Banner high and strode out to meet the vile being.  He fought bravely-  his lucky shield preventing one death blow- but the Vampire was too swift and too deadly.  The Wolf Banner fell-  but would never hit the ground.  Two Guards jumped to rescue its hallowed fabric from the blood and mire soaking the ground.

Nothing could save the Vampire, however.  With a vengeance, the Ulric’s Own pulled him from his mount and caved in his body with so many hammer blows it would have felled a giant.

Arch Lector Snow turned his attention to the last Necromancer to prepare a final charge.  But it was unnecessary.  Tired of the magic duel, Lars sent a twitching bolt of blue and orange square into the chest of the distracted Necromancer.  He exploded in a puff of gray dust.  Almost as cool as the Terror explosion…almost.   

The final Zombies on the field struggled to climb out of the mist-wreathed swamp.  The mindless creatures had no idea they were doomed.  Snow laughed and wondered which would kill them first-  the swamp, or the lack of magic to hold them together.  As the magic left them, they fell limp and slide into the black water.  Hopefully, once and for all.

What a battle!  Ulric’s Own held the field yet again.  How many more times could they keep this up?  Maybe it was time to retire…


After Action:

1. I was very pleased with the performance of the Inverted Griffon.  The detachments kept the flanks of my horde clean and tied up a Zombie block and held up a Terrorgeist for a few turns.  He outplayed me on the flank with the cavalry tap dance and his flying monsters and diverters…but my cavalry held out long enough to keep everything away from the horde battle until I could concentrate on them.

2. One thing I realized during this battle that I haven’t mentioned yet-  the Griffon Formation and alls it diverters really help in getting off the charge with the center horde.  Now, charges are not as critical as they used to be in 7th Edition, but there is something to be said for having the charge happen on your turn-  because in your magic phase you know those troops are going to be in combat and when you spend precious Power Dice to buff them up they are not wasted dice.  Nothing worse than spending Power Dice on buffing up troops (and not using them to nuke/effect other targets) when the troops never end up in combat because your opponent decides not to charge them on his turn because of their buffed-up state.  These little things make all the difference between victory and defeat. 

2. I was very happy I switched from Life to Heavens.  Harmonic Convergence, even on 4+ AS instead of 1+ AS is still effective.  Plus, I hit and wounded more as well.  My opponent was surprised at its effective too.  I don’t think he will let me get it off again.  In the “after the battle” chat, he mentioned he should have used his dispel scroll on it.  Then he could have easily got rid of the 5++ Ward Save as well and the critical horde versus horde battle might have gone a little differently. 

3. I hope I don’t jinx myself, but my STank has yet to die in combat since I started using the formations (I can only remember it dying once since getting the new army book and even then, it killed itself).  The STank is a beast! 

4. My opponent is relatively new in using VC, especially with the new book.  Since I may collect a VC army in the future (once my Empire army goals are met!), my opponent and I would be interested in feedback on ways he could have played it differently.  It is obviously a tough, nasty list based off a tournament-winning one.  I think if a Purple Sun or two had gone off or if he had sniped a couple of my characters, it would have really changed the game.


Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the Battle Report.  Hoping to get some games in over the holiday and weekend.  I might post my 1250 point Escalation league battle versus O&G if it turns out to be epic.

I look forward to your comments!

[Calisson]

Awesome report! Many thanks.
Your opponent knew his tactics for sure and used diverters well.

The stank was used for a long time as a cannon. That seems a waste... unitl he gets charged and survives all that havoc.

[Lord Solar Plexus]

Awesome report as ever, this is very much appreciated!

Those were exactly my thoughts on the STank when I looked at the pictures, Calisson: "Why is he using it as a cannon?" I realize it did its job hurting the TG's but its main role is to waylay the meanest enemy unit and not let it escape. It can easily lock down a flank against everything that doesn't do Fellblade/Ghal Maraz type-damage, and it would have freed up both units of Knights for flank charges.

As to the formation itself, let me be completely honest while wishing not to offend: It's got a fancy name but at its core it is using diverters and hordes in conjunction. That isn't a bad idea at all, au contraire, but haven't people - not only Empire players - been doing just that for ages? 

[Calisson]

As to the formation itself, let me be completely honest while wishing not to offend: It's got a fancy name but at its core it is using diverters and hordes in conjunction. That isn't a bad idea at all, au contraire, but haven't people - not only Empire players - been doing just that for ages?

Holy Hand Grenade uses two layers of parents/detachments, first one used as screen/diverted, the second one as fighters. This seems a little bit more elaborate than what most Empire generals are happy to go to war with.
The inverted variant, in particular, is even more innovative and should definitively get credit from Holy Hand Grenade.

[Lord Solar Plexus]

Ah, that I can understand. I just needed someone to couch it in short words and sentences. You're also providing a bunker at the same time. Nice.

[Holy Hand Grenade]

Awesome report! Many thanks.
Your opponent knew his tactics for sure and used diverters well.

The stank was used for a long time as a cannon. That seems a waste... unitl he gets charged and survives all that havoc.

Good point-  I could have been more aggressive with the tank.  It would have been nice grinding up some Ghouls but in this battle I honestly was worried about getting the tank tied up in there with his Str 8 Ghoul King-  he would have wounded it on 2s and my armour saves would have been on 6s and he would have gotten extra attacks for each unsaved wound!  Add Terror screams and Death spells like Spirit Leech, Caress, and Purple Sun and the tank could have easily been removed in one turn.

Also, while the tank did start way back, it suffered from very low movement rolls (I was taking long range shots) and basically just rumbled forward at whatever it was shooting at.

Even though I joked in the report that caution is for the pointy-eared Elves...my plan was to use my tank in reserve and I held back a little bit because I was worried about it getting tied up in the wrong place at the wrong time and taking wounds too early and too often to last the whole battle (it barely survived the game as it was)...especially after I dropped the Life Mage in this list.

I thought that once our lines were engaged, the Stank would be a perfect rear guard with its 360 degree charge radius and hard-hitting power-  a necessity once those Terrors started flying around back there.  I figured it would be a "closer" in the later turns and it performed like a champ in this regard.

I didn't get the chance in this fight to slam the tank into anything because my Knights routed on my turn and his forces were positioned to charge in.  However, looking back I am still satisfied with the choice, because if the tank wasn't there, my opponent would have had free reign to charge my archers in the building- likely killing them and forcing a panic test on my wizard who was dangerously close to the edge of the board!  In the end, it still tied up his forces and allowed my horde to get back into action with a flank charge.

As to the formation itself, let me be completely honest while wishing not to offend: It's got a fancy name but at its core it is using diverters and hordes in conjunction. That isn't a bad idea at all, au contraire, but haven't people - not only Empire players - been doing just that for ages? 

Touche!  You found me out!

Seriously, I try as hard as possible not to appear to have found "the answer" on how to play Empire.  You are correct-  there is nothing revolutionary here that hasn't been discovered by trial and error by numerous other Generals playing different armies in 8th Edition (and earlier). 

My posts are an attempt to share with the Empire community my thoughts on how to use the new detachment rules to our advantage-  and, more importantly, to generate discussion to get other ideas from other Generals.  As Calisson stated, my only "claim to fame" may be that I use more points on detachments/diverters than most and run them in layers.  Also, as you stated previously, I gave them fluffy names.   

By the way, no offense taken. 

I also hope you don't take offense to this-  but as much as your pointed candor and mastery of logic can sometimes be a sore to the eyes and inadvertently piss people off, I am glad you are part of the forum and post as much as you do.   You rarely let anyone get away with logical fallacies and poor arguments.  From a personal standpoint-  having you on the forum always makes me triple-check my replies to make sure nothing is unclear or unsound.

In closing, let me ask you this question-  have any of these posts modified your use of detachments or caused you to try out more diverters?  If not, I would really be interested in having you try it out and post your thoughts.   

[Lord Solar Plexus]

Well, thank-you for the kind words. I admit I'm often not satisfied with conventional wisdom, and from that point of view alone your treatise and practical experimenting is very welcome.

I must say that is some solid reasoning on the STank. I probably underestimated the threat of those flyers. Also, the tower in the centre might have precluded an easy flanking maneouever and necessitated a wide sweeping movement to the "bottom".

As to detachments, I've only started to use them again recently, a big unit od Spears w/ CoC-AL + 2*15 Swordsmen, which also is nothing new to many of course although it is a much more defensive configuration. Nevertheless, they've performed admirably in two instances lately. I haven't used archers that much, just a unit of five, with a middling performance.

What I did do though was to use units of 5 Reiksguard in a similar role. Charge in and tie something up, set them at an angle, this kind of stuff. It's not core, it's a wee bit more expensive than say, 15 Swordsmen but it looks promising.

I'm also planning to use more archers once I get the rest assembled and painted. Perhaps I'll sub in a crossbow parent for the time being...although it's lack of mobility means it isn't an ideal candidate.

[Holy Hand Grenade]

I ran a couple of battles this weekend but no Battle Reports (my opponent was trying out new tweaks to his list and didn't want me to post).

I tried something a little different myself too-  I ran a modified Griffon-  really a "half" one because I only had the diverters on one side of the horde while protecting the other side with a WAltar and STank.  It worked like a champ.  I was really happy to pull the WAltar back off the shelf and the tank and horde were happy for the buffs.

Needless to say, 2 more victories for the Griffon.  Now 7-0 at 2500 points! 

(In my Escalation league, currently at 1250 points, my mini-Griffon suffered a bitter loss at the hands of O&G...)   

[Steve-O]

HHG - Thanks for the batreps and insights regarding use of detachments.  I am in the midst of building up a more infantry focused list and have been keeping some of your lessons in mind.   

[Cpt. Wham]

Very much enjoying your reports HHG.  You put a lot of thought and personality into them, which makes for a good read.  Keep up the good work, and good luck in your coming battles!

[Swan-of-War]

Great report HHG!

[Holy Hand Grenade]

I appreciate all the kudos!  It makes taking the time to put it together worth it if someone else enjoys it.

I am hoping to get in a couple of battles tomorrow and will post anything Report worthy.

[Swan-of-War]

Cool, I plan on running this formation on Wednesday night to see how it fares.  I don't have a Steam Tank but will run a cannon for support instead.

One question on the Griffin Wing formation.  Are you keeping the screening archers in front of the HBVG when it fires?  If so, doesn't that add another -1 to hit for cover (or is it -2)?  I'm thinking you're moving them out of the way first

Any way you could take a photo of your games?  While I like the clarity of your graphs, it's always nice to see actual armies on the board!

[Windelov]

Thanks af lot for the reports, which are great reads, and provide tons of insights.

(In my Escalation league, currently at 1250 points, my mini-Griffon suffered a bitter loss at the hands of O&G...)   
[/quote]

I am to take on an orcs and gobo player in a 1500 match. The griffon is appealing, but could you be persuaded to outline what worked and what did not?

Best regards

Windeløv

[Holy Hand Grenade]

Thanks af lot for the reports, which are great reads, and provide tons of insights.

(In my Escalation league, currently at 1250 points, my mini-Griffon suffered a bitter loss at the hands of O&G...)   

I am to take on an orcs and gobo player in a 1500 match. The griffon is appealing, but could you be persuaded to outline what worked and what did not?

Best regards

Windeløv

The thing that really killed me was when he got a ridiculously long Random movement off with a Mangler and wiped my Knights out.  (So watch out for those!)

That left my Griffon to try and deal with Savage Orcs, a few Trolls, and a Night Goblin horde on its own.  The detachments helped hold him off for a bit and keep the goblins off me while I fought the Savages and Trolls.  I ended up running away but he didn't catch me.  So on a return charge, I had to go for his Savage Orcs even though they outnumbered me.  The Greatswords whooped some butt and he failed his break test. 

If I caught him, I won.  If I didn't, he won.  As I said, bitter loss-  I DIDNT catch him. 

To answer your question-  honestly, the Griffon was the only thing that kept me in the fight after losing my Inner Circle Knights.  He swarmed me with 3 nasty units and I was able to use detachments to keep the Trolls off me for one round and Goblins off me for the game. 

It would have been a great Battle Report, but I wasn't taking pictures or notes.  Guess I should always be prepared!

Good luck on your battle-  let me know how it comes out!

[Windelov]

[/quote]

To answer your question-  honestly, the Griffon was the only thing that kept me in the fight after losing my Inner Circle Knights.  He swarmed me with 3 nasty units and I was able to use detachments to keep the Trolls off me for one round and Goblins off me for the game. 

Thx for the reply

I expect to face something very  similar to what you are describing.

The combo of facing 2 hammers (trolls and savages) an anvil (bus of night goblins with netters), extremely hard hitting chaff (manglers and fanatics) and armour piercing doom divers at this low point cost is af headache.

I will keep you posted ;0)