Topic: Spring Incursion 2013

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Introduction

Those of you who’ve been following my tournament battle reports on other forums will have noticed that there has been something of a gap since the last one.  The reason for that is that in the end I didn’t have the time and funds to do the four tournaments I was planning to last year, meaning I only got in two tournaments last year as opposed to the minimum of four I was hoping to do.  (I would have gone to No Holes Barred but my car was giving up the ghost so I ended up having to go and collect the replacement on the Saturday it was due to take place).

So coming into 2013 the goal was the same as 2012, to do four events for the year.  Other than doing the Summer Incursion again, trying to get to No Holes Barred this time, possibly going to the Midlands Open again (a plan now scuppered as that sold out quite quickly), I wasn’t sure what other event I wanted to go to, especially since I was wanting to pace them out to one per quarter to try and keep the other half and the free babysitter (also known as mum) from complaining too much about being left with the little one to look after too often.

Casting my eye down the list of upcoming events within a reasonable distance of home my eye alighted on the Spring Incursion over at Maunsfeld (formerly Maelstrom) Games.  As it was a doubles event I dropped gaming buddy Nick, who I’d previously teamed up with at the Rushden Rumble back in 2011, a line to see if he fancied renewing the partnership, to which he agreed.  So, with tickets purchased it was time to sort out army lists.

I’m going to have to insert my usual apology for anything I’ve missed or can’t read from my notes.  I’ll also have to apologise if there’s any bits of this that read like gibberish as it’s taken me so long to write this report that I really can’t drum up the enthusiasm to go back over it to check it over.

For those of you just interested in the Empire action you'll want to skip on to the game 4 report

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Army List

The format of the event was 1000 points per player.  No doubling up of armies was allowed and one army had to have the general while the other had to have a Battle Standard Bearer.  For some reason there was no restriction on taking Lord level characters, which meant that every army that could field wizards, apart from Lizardmen, could field at least a Level 3 wizard if they so chose.

My choice of army was pretty straightforward since I only have High Elves.  Nick had to decide between his Orcs and Goblins and Lizardmen, a choice made a bit tougher since he’d recently sold a lot of his Orcs and Goblins off as he didn’t want to bring the army into line with 8th edition 2400 points level.  However, he also didn’t think the Lizardmen would be easy to build a competitive list for at 1000 points so he decided to stick with the greenskins.

We decided reasonably early on to go with a Prince on the High Elf side to act as the general and did mull over whether to take the Radiant Gem of Hoeth and Death magic for some Leadership 10 Spirit Leeching but in the end I kitted him out for combat, giving the Prince the obligatory Great Weapon along with the Armour of Caledor and Talisman of Preservation for a 2+ armour save and 4+ (2+ against flaming and breath weapons) ward save.

A couple of units of Archers with musicians covered my Core points requirement and were cheap enough to try and use as diverters if things got a bit desperate.  Two Eagles served as actual chaff and diverters while two fives of Sword Masters might deal with any chaff and possibly be flanking units if our opponents didn’t shoot or magic them off .

Nick’s list took a bit longer to come together but was ultimately decided by the models he had or could quickly lay his hands on and paint up (although he was still up ‘til midnight painting his Trolls before the event). 

Unfortunately, with us both being parents and not necessarily being able to get hold of opponents for practice games, we went into the event with our forces untested.



High Elves

Prince
- Great Weapon
- Armour of Caledor
- Talisman of Preservation
- Ironcurse Icon

11 Archers
- Musician

11 Archers
- Musician

17 White Lions
- Musician

5 Sword Masters

5 Sword Masters

Great Eagle

Great Eagle


Orcs and Goblins

Night Goblin Great Shaman
- Level 4
- Dispel Scroll

Goblin Big Boss
- Battle Standard Bearer
- Shield

28 Orc Boyz
- Big ‘Uns
- Additional Hand Weapons
- Standard Bearer
- Banner of Eternal Flame

10 Trolls

1 Troll

Doom Diver

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Game 1 vs Rack City – Kris and Rob

Having arrived in good time and taken a quick look around the armies out on the tables I have to admit there weren’t a lot of match-ups that inspired me with confidence.  Our first game was against team “Rack City” (apparently named after a rap song) consisting of Kris and Rob, which was a Vampire and Warriors team up. 

Given how often I get in games at the moment I hadn’t come up against the current Warriors since the army book came out and I don’t think I’d played against Hexwraiths before in the few games I’ve had against Vampire Counts since their new book came out, and definitely not Vargheists or Terrorgheists.  So all in all this was a bit of s step into the unknown for Nick and I.


Warriors of Chaos

Exalted Hero
- Mark of Nurgle
- Battle Standard Bearer

15 Chaos Warriors
- Full Command
- Mark of Nurgle
- Shields

5 Chaos Knights
- Full Command
- Mark of Khorne
- Lances

Skullcrushers
- Musician
- Lances


Vampire Counts

Master Necromancer (General)
- Level 4

30 Zombies
- Musician

25 Zombies
- Musician

5 Direwolves

5 Direwolves

5 Hexwraiths

3 Vargheists
- Champion

Terrorgheist


Magic

Night Goblin Great Shaman

1.   Sneaky Stabbin’
2.   Vindictive Glare
3.   Itchy Nuisance
4.   Gork’ll Fix It


Master Necromancer

1.   Invocation of Nehek
2.   Gaze of Nagash
3.   Raise Dead
4.   Curse of Years


Table

For this game we were playing on the bottom table, table five.  In our half of the table there was a Watchtower in the left corner, about eight inches from the board edges while on the right there was a wall piece about a foot and a half from the right edge and an inch in front of our deployment zone.  In no man’s land there was a GW hill in our half of the table just to the left of the centre line.

On the opposite side of the table there was a wood on the left straddling the deployment zone.  About a foot to the right of that there was a wall a couple of inches in front of the deployment zone.  On the right there was a hill two inches from the right board edge and about six from the back.  Another hill was against the back board edge and around fourteen inches from the right edge.  Finally a wood around fourteen inches from the right edge and probably the same from the back board edge.

Deployment



The Skullcrushers and Chaos Knights deployed either side of the wood on the left with a unit of Direwolves deploying in the wood itself.  The bulk of the host of evil deployed in the centre of the deployment zone.  About eight inches to the right of the Knights was the Terrorgheist and next to it the Warriors.  The large unit of Zombies deployed right back on the board edge and to the right of them went the Vargheists, in front of whom the other Zombie block was deployed.  The Hexwraiths were in front of them with the last Direwolves alongside.  The Necormancer deployed with the rearmost unit of Zombies while the Exalted Hero joined the Warriors.

From the left Nick and I deployed one unit of Sword Masters to the left of the tower and the Doom Diver in the corner.  One unit of Archers in the Watchtower with an Eagle behind.  To the right of the tower came the Big ‘Uns then the White Lions, Trolls, Single Troll, other Archers and the other Sword Masters.  Finally the second Eagle was a few inches behind the Archers on the right.  My Prince deployed with the White Lions while the Goblin characters deployed with the unit of Archers on the right.

The Hexwraiths and Direwolves in the central section of the board vanguarded.

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Game

Kris and his partner began a rush up the board, apart from the Terrorgheist which flew across to the right and the central dogs and the Hexwraiths who stayed in place.  In the magic phase they raised some zombies in the units around the Necromancer, had Gaze of Nagash dispelled and raised a unit of Zombies on the hill.

Other than moving the Archers on the right up to the wall and the flanking Sword Masters out towards the wood, the only significant movement from Nick and I was bailing out the BSB and Level 4 from the Archers and back behind the single Troll.  We had a successful magic phase - Itcy Nuisance on the Hexwraiths, dropped their movement by three and Nick stole a dispel die.  He then cast Sneaky Stabbin’ successfully and stole another die and then Vindictive Glare wiped out the Hexwraiths. 

Shooting was less successful than Magic with the Doom Diver scattering off from the Skullcrushers onto the Direwolves in front of them doing one wound while both Archer units shot the Chaos Warriors, each doing single wound.

Turn two saw the Varghesist make a long charge on the right Archers who stood and shot but didn’t score any wounds while the Terrorgheist moved out to the right to scream at the Sword Masters.  All Rack City’s other units moved up bar the Chaos Knights who stayed in place.  In the magic phase Invocation raised ten and eight skeletons respectively and a six dice Raised Dead went off raising seven skeletons a few inches in front of the Trolls.  The Terrorgheist screamed at the Sword Masters, wiping them out while the Vargheists did five wounds to the Archers but took three in reply, split between the champion and the unit, and the Archers held.

My and Nick’s second turn saw the left Sword Masters charge the Direwolves and the White Lions and Trolls charging the chaff units that had been raised in front of them.  The Eagle on the left flew out to try and redirect the Skullcrushers away from our lines while the BSB and Level 4 moved further away from the combat between the Archers and the Vargheists.

In the magic phase Nick attempted to cast Itchy Nuisance on the Chaos Warriors but rolled a one on his mushroom die so the spell failed. He then tried to cast Gork’ll Fix It on the Vargheists but this was dispelled.  The Doom Diver shot at the Skullcrushers doing one wound while the Archers in the Watchtower shot the Chaos Warriors again but failed to do a wound.  Combat saw the Sword Masters wipe out the Direwolves as expected and reform to angle any overrun by the expected forthcoming Skullcrusher / Great Eagle combat, the White Lions and Trolls smashed through their respective units while the Archers lost five of their number but not before managing to do a wound to remove one of the Vargheists and still hold with a single survivor. 

Turn three and the Skullcrushers charged the Great Eagle and the Knights charged the Orc Big ‘Uns.  All the other units barring the Warriors and the central Zombies moved up, with the Master Necromancer leaving them and heading out behind the right Zombies.  Magic saw Gaze of Nagash at the White Lions dispelled and we ended up burning our dispel scroll to stop Raise Dead bringing up another blocking unit.  Our solo Troll was screamed off by the Terrorgheist.

The Archer fighting the Vargheists did a wound, which was enough to kill the remaining rank and file but took a wound himself.  The Vargheist champion reformed to face the centre of our battle line.  Unsurprisingly the Great Eagle was cut down and the Skullcrushers overran into the Sword Masters while the Orc Big ‘Uns failed a Steadfast ten test and were run down by the Chaos Knights, although they took three Knights down with them.

Nick declared a charge on the Chaos Warriors with his Trolls.  The mighty champions of the dark gods turned tail and fled the charge, passing through the Zombie bunker and ending up on the far side of the wall.  The Trolls redirected onto the nearby Direwolves.  Our other movement consisted of the White Lions marching up onto the hill while the remaining Great Eagle, BSB and Level 4 tried to put as much space between themselves and the Terrorgheist as possible. 

Magic saw Nick throw five dice at a Vindictive Glare targeting the Terrorgheist which drew out the Necromancer’s dispel scroll.  The Doom Diver took aim at the Chaos Knights and crashed down on them, wiping them out. And the Archers shot at the nearest Zombies, killing two.  In combat the Sword Masters did two wounds to the Skullcrushers, killing one, but were completely wiped out by the return attacks.  The ‘crushers overran eight inches.  The Trolls wiped out the Direwolves and overran into the nearby Zombies.

Turn four and the Skullcrushers charged the Doom Diver and the Vargheist champion charged the flank of the White Lions.  The Terrorgheist moved into the centre of our deployment zone to get in scream range of the Goblin characters.   The Chaos Warriors rallied and the Zombie bunker moved up.  A low dice phase saw Curse of Years cast on the White Lions with irresistible force but the spell only killed a couple of the Elves.

In the shooting phase the Terrorgheist screamed at the Level 4 and killed him.  Unsurprisingly the Skullcrushers went through the Doom Diver and overran off the board.  The Prince made way to the other side of the White Lions to ensure the Vargheist champion died.  With him gone I combat reformed the White Lions to face the flank of the Terrorgheist that was now within what should be easy charge range.  The Trolls did twenty-two wounds to the Zombies, taking none in reply and overall winning the combat by twenty.  Unfortunately, thanks to letting off the earlier raises, this wasn’t enough to wipe out the unit and give the Trolls a charge into the flank of the other Zombies next turn.

The White Lions charged the Terrorgheist in the flank while the BSB moved into range of the Lions to give them the leadership reroll.  We needed a reasonable dice roll for the Winds of Magic to allow us to dispel Curse of Years, so of course Nick rolled snake eyes.  From the spell effects seven White Lions died. 

With nothing worthwhile for the Archers to shoot at it was on to combat.  The White Lions and Prince caused five wounds to the creature but took seven in reply, wiping out the unit.  With only the Prince left the combat ended up as a draw and without the Lions’ musician to break the deadlock the ‘gheist blew a foul undead raspberry at the idea of crumbling.  Needless to say the Trolls made short work of the Zombies.

We then had to stop proceedings as time was called.  Totting up we’d given away 1073 points and only scored 738, annoyingly just thirty-six points off getting a draw.  Even more annoyingly, I realised after the event that I hadn’t added an additional plus one to the Prince and White Lions’ combat resolution for charging downhill which would have been enough to pop the Terrorgheist and give us the draw.

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Game 2 vs Team Nice But Dim – Tim and Darren

Game two was against the stand-in team of tournament organiser Tim King and stand-in for the stand-in Darren.  For the second game in a row this was a bit of a step into the unknown – while I’d played against Dark Elves before I had my first game against Tomb Kings in 8th edition (and only my second game against them ever) a shade under two weeks before this game and my opponent then wasn’t running War Sphinxes.

Despite the Fiery Roar on the Sphinxes we decided our best option for dealing with then was probably going to be to get the Trolls or White Lions into them and try and get Gift of the Spider God off.  With the amount of shooting across the table from us neither Nick or I really fancied our chances in this one.

Dark Elves

Master
Battle Standard Bearer
Cold One

Sorceress

5 Harpies

5 Dark Riders
Repeater Crossbows

5 Dark Riders
Repeater Crossbows

6 Cold One Knights
Full Command

5 Shades

Hydra


Tomb Kings

Liche Priest

20 Skeleton Archers

20 Skeleton Archers

10 Skeleton Archers

War Sphinx
Fiery Roar

War Sphinx
Fiery Roar

Casket of Souls


Magic

Night Goblin Great Shaman

1.   Vindictive Glare
2.   Gift of the Spider God
3.   Itchy Nuisance
4.   Gork’ll Fix It


Sorceress (Lore of Fire)

1.   Fireball


Liche Priest (Lore of Nehekhara)

1.   Djaf’s Incantation of the Desert Wind.


Table

On this table we had a walled field about ten inches from the left board edge and about six in from the back board edge.  There was a wood approximately 18 inches from the right board edge and just creeping into our deployment zone and finally a hill four inches from the right board edge and about five from the back.

Opposite there was a wood three inches from the left board edge and just in front of Tim and Darren’s deployment zone.  A small hill on the back board edge about ten inches from the left edge and then nine inches from the right board edge, and dipping into Tim and Darren’s deployment zone there was a hill.  Not quite in the centre and around twenty inches from the left board edge was a Watchtower.

Deployment



Most of Tim and Darren’s units clustered in  the centre of the board.  Starting on the hill was one of the large units of Archers with the Liche Priest with a the unit of ten to their left.  Next up were the Sphinxes and then the Cold One Knights with the BSB and Sorceress and finally the Hydra before a gap of about five inches to the other Archer unit.  The Harpies deployed behind the Liche Priest’s unit of Archers while the Casket of Souls was behind the left Sphinx and Cold One Knights.  One unit of Dark Riders deployed on the right flank, the other unit on the left.

One Eagle deployed to the left of the walled  field while one of the Sword Master units deployed within it.  The first of the Archers were to the right of the field and then the White Lions, the single Troll then the unit of Trolls and the other Archers, who were just inside the wood.  The Big ‘Uns deployed behind the single Troll and White Lions.  The second Eagle deployed just to the left of the hill with the other Sword Masters on it.  The Doom Diver went on the back board edge behind the Big ‘Uns, the Prince went with the White Lions while the BSB joined the Archers on the right, with the Level 4 joining those on the left.

The unit of Shades deployed behind the Watchtower, the left Dark Riders used their Vanguard move to edge forwards a bit while those on the left backed up almost to the back board edge.

[cerebros]

Game

As Nick and I realised quite early on in our deployment that we’d messed up by not leaving space for the Orc Big ‘Uns alongside the other two blocks that we’d have to advance possible a bit quicker than we would have planned to, so as well as the left Sword Masters moving up to their wall, the White Lions moved forwards about seven inches while all the Trolls steamed forward to the middle of the table.

Like a note-taking genius I’ve forgotten to note down what Nick did this turn for magic.  I think he considered casting Gift of the Spider God on the unit of Archers his Level 4 was in but then thought better of it as with only a single power die advantage over Tim and Darren he’d have had to have thrown six dice at it and risked the miscast.  We then got to the shooting phase and the first action of the Doom Diver was to misfire and kill itself.  Our other shooting was slightly more successful, with the Archers on the right pinging a wound off the Sphinx on the right.

Tim and Darren moved everything bar the left Dark Riders, Cold One Knights  and Sorceress forward – the Sorceress actually backed out of the Cold One Knights.  The Harpies flew out in front of the Trolls to block their advance.  The Liche Priest cast the Incantation but used it to merely put the lost wound back on the Sphinx rather than move any of his units.  The Sorceress attempted a second level Fireball at the Trolls but this was dispelled.  The Casket of Souls was opened up with six dice and got past the Goblin Shaman’s dispel attempt.  The single Troll fell to its effects, as did four White Lions and the left Sword Master unit. 

Concentrated fire saw four of the right Archers shot down while the left unit also took a couple of casualties.  The Eagle on the right took two wounds.

Turn two saw the Trolls charge the Harpies while the White Lions reformed to have better manoeuvrability the next turn and the Big ‘Uns marched forwards.  The left Eagle moved up to try and entice the Dark Riders out while the one on the right started flying towards the centre of our board edge to try and keep away from the other Dark Riders.  The Level 4 left the Archers and joined the Big ‘Uns to get him in range for his spells.

Magic saw the Level 4 cast Itchy Nuisance on the Hydra with Irresistible Force, dropping its movement by five.  The miscast result saw him lose that spell, but fortunately no others.  The right Archers shot off a Dark Rider while those on the left show down two Shades, causing them to panic and flee through the Skeleton Archers behind them.  The Trolls munched the Harpies, although the foul flying creatures managed to do two wounds to the fouler Trolls, and overran four inches.

Both Sphinxes went into the Trolls while the Hydra tried to join the fun but failed thanks to the Itchy Nuisance.  Other than the Shades rallying there was no other movement.  The Sorceress tried to Fireball the left Eagle with one power die but failed.  The casket opened up with an Irresistible on six dice at the White Lions but this time did no wounds to them but did kill five Big ‘Uns.

The Dark Riders did a wound to the left Eagle while the Skeleton Archers on the left devastated their elven counterparts, doing seven wounds from their shooting.  The other Skeleton Archers and Dark Riders ganged up on the right Archers and did three wounds.  The Trolls took a bit of a hammering from the Sphinxes, taking eight wounds and only managing to score two in reply.  Fortunately they passed their steadfast test.

For turn three the left Eagle charged the Dark Riders who held and, after having carefully measured the gap between the Trolls and the Watchtower, I found the White Lions could make it to the Hydra and so charged it.  The right Archers marched up so the BSB was in range of the Trolls and the Sword Masters marched up to threaten the Skeleton Archers on the hill.   On the left the Archers attempted to make a swift withdrawal but failed their reform test so could turn around but not move.

Magic saw Gift of the Spider God cast on the Trolls with Irresistible Force, putting one wound on the Level 4 and killing a further five Big ‘Uns.  With no shooting it was on to combat.  The Eagle killed two Dark Riders before being finished off by one of the elven steeds.  The Trolls took four more wounds but caused seven to the Sphinxes which was enough to wipe the constructs out through crumbling.  The Prince and White Lions put four wounds on the Hydra but the beast and its handlers managed to kill seven of the White Lions in reply.  The White Lions held.

Darren and Tim’s Cold One Knights charged the White Lions while both Dark Rider units moved up aggressively.  The left Archers were followed up by the Shades while the Sorceress retreated to the back board edge from where she attempted a four dice second level Fireball at the Trolls which was scrolled.  The Casket was opened with three dice but the Goblin Shaman was equal to the task of dispelling its effects.

The Dark Riders on the right shot at the Sword Masters, killing one. The Skeleton Archers around and on the hill shot at my right Archers wiping them out.  Finally the other Dark Riders shot the Big ‘Uns, killing 1.  the Hydra was killed in combat but a further three White Lions were killed, leaving just the musician and the Prince who held.  The Dark Riders combat reformed, sliding to the left to try and reduce the number of Trolls that could make contact with the unit should they charge next turn.

Charge the Trolls duly did in turn four, only making contact with the Dark Elf BSB.  The Sword Masters charged the unit of Archers on the hill.  Having succumbed to Animosity at the start of the turn the Big ‘Uns only action was to stumble forwards the Cold One Knights although they were unable to charge them.  Our BSB decided his best chance of survival would in pretending to get in range of the White Lions and Trolls for his re-rolls while benefitting from a “Look out Sir” courtesy of the nearby Orcs.

The Shaman cast Gift of the Spider God on the Trolls and a Vindictive Glare on the Small Archers was dispelled.  Combat saw the Sword Masters cause and take three wounds for a drawn combat.  In the other combat the Dark Elf BSB issued a challenge which my Prince had to accept.  The challenger was duly cut down by the Prince with one point of overkill. The last White Lion was cut down by a Cold One Knight.  We now come to the one real rules issue of the weekend which ended up being ruled that the Trolls couldn’t fight at their initiative step.  (See the end of the report for full details). The Cold One Knights ended up holding in the combat.

In their turn four Tim and Darren tried to charge the Dark Riders on the right into the Sword Masters fighting the Archers but failed.  The unit of ten Skeleton Archers did manage to charge our BSB in the flank while the other Dark Riders moved closed to the remaining Great Eagle.  In the magic phase a Fireball went off on the Trolls doing one wound while the Casket fired and managed to kill the last of the Archers.

Combat saw the Sword Master cut down, the BSB managed to hold out thanks to being within range of the Prince’s leadership. The Prince killed three Cold One Knights for no wounds in reply but the Knights held and that was the end of the game. 

Totting up the scores we’d given away 878 points and scored 930 for a difference of 52 in our favour.  Looking at what the Cold One Knights cost, based on what equipment was revealed, even if we’d got their points we wouldn’t have won, although things could have been different if I’d thought to make contact with the Liche Priest with the Sword Masters and managed to kill him.

[cerebros]

Game 3 vs Blunders Never Cease – Ramzi and Tom

We had a bit of déjà-vu when we turned up to the table as it was Vampires and Warriors again although maybe not that surprising when we learned that Ramzi and Tom had come up to the event with team Rack City. 

At least this time around Nick and I were aware of what the Terrorgheist could do and so could plan to take it out as soon as we could but the big issue remained of how to ensure we could get our hard hitting units into combat with the high armour save stuff.

Vampire Counts

Vampire (General)
- Level 2
- Beguile
- Aura of Dark Majesty
- Charmed Shield

30 Zombies
- Standard

29 Skeletons
- Full Command

3 Vargheists
- Champion

Corpse Cart
- Balefire

Terrorgheist


Warriors of Chaos

Exalted Hero
- Battle Standard Bearer

17 Chaos Warriors
- Mark of Khorne
- Halberds
- Standard
- Musician

3 Dragon Ogres
- Great Weapons
- Standard

3 Skullcrushers
- Ensorcelled Weapons
- Musician


Magic

Night Goblin Great Shaman

1.   Sneaky Stabbin’
2.   Vindictive Gaze
3.   Gift of the Spider God
4.   Curse of the Bad Moon


Vampire (Lore of Vampires)

1.   Invocation of Nehek
2.   Vanhel’s Danse Macabre


Table

For this game we were back on table five where we had started the tournament, although this time we were on the opposite side of the table.  That being the case I won’t recount the layout.

Deployment



Ramzi and Tom deployed quite tightly around the Watchtower.  The Skullcrushers went to the right of it with the Dragon Ogres in front of them and the Vargheists in front of the tower.  The Zombie unit went to the left of the tower with the Corpse Cart up next and then the Skeletons. The might Chaos Warriors made a tactical decision to stand behind their undead allies with the Terrorgheist to their left.  The Exalted Hero BSB deployed with the Warriors while the Vampire joined the Skeletons.

My and Nick’s deployment was more centred on the board with, from right to left, the Big ‘Uns to the left of the wood then the White Lions, the single Troll then the unit, a unit of Archers and then a unit of Sword Masters.  The other unit of Sword Masters were on the right of the wood with an Eagle nearby and the other Eagle was about six inches from the Sword Masters on the left.  The other Archer unit deployed behind the single and unit of Trolls with the Doom Diver pretty much halfway along the back board edge.  Both Goblin characters deployed with the Archers and the Prince was with the White Lions.

[cerebros]

Game

Unlike our other games so far we started by moving up quite aggressively with everything bar the Big ‘Uns and the Eagle on the right moving up.  The Shaman cast Gift of the Spider God on the right unit of Archers who, along with the other unit of Archers, used this to shoot at the Terrorgheist , managing to put three wounds on the beast.  The Doom Diver shot at the Dragon Ogres and did a wound.

Ramzi and Tom also moved their forces up, although the Terrorgheist  flew sideways behind the advancing Chaos Warriors.  Magic saw a six dice Invocation attempted which the Shaman stopped with an irresistible seven dice dispel attempt.  Vanhel’s Danse was then cast irresistibly with five skeletons blown into components by the miscast result and a wound healed on the Terrorgheist thanks to the lore attribute.

Turn two and we continued our agrresive move up the board, this time with the Sword Masters on the right marching out to sacrifice themselves as diversionary fodder for the Dragon Ogres.  In magic Vindictive Glare was cast at the Corpse Cart with Nick rolling eleven hits but only two wounds, both of which were saved.  Through the lore attribute the Shaman stole a dispel die.  Sneaky Stabbin’ went off irresistibly on the Big ‘Uns, putting a wound on the Shaman and two dice being lost from the power pool.  Finally Gift of the Spider God was cast at the Big ‘Uns but this was dispelled. 

It was charge time for Tom and Ramzi with the Skullcrushers and Vargheists charging the Big ‘Uns and the Dragon Ogres into the Sword Masters.  The rest of the forces of evil moved up, with the slightly healed Terrorgheist flying back out towards the left.  The Vampire cast the area of effect version of Vanhel’s Danse on six dice which went off irresistibly, draining three dice from the power pool.  Using the movement granted them the Zombies marched up to protect the flank of the Skullcrushers.  An attempt at casting Invocation failed to beat the dispel attempt.

The Terrorgheist evidently had an arrow stuck in its throat as when it tried to scream at the Sword Masters nothing came out.  Combat kicked off with the fight between the Orc Big ‘Uns and the Skullcrusher / Vargheist double-team.  The Orcs took nine wounds but caused six in reply, killing one Vargheist and wounding another (I don’t think any wounds went on the Skullcrushers).  Overall the Orcs lost combat by one but held.  The Sword Masters fighting the Dragon Ogres did five wounds to the beasts but took four in reply with the combat ending up as a draw.

Turn three was charge time for Nick and I too as the Sword Masters and Eagle on the left charged the Terrorgheist, the lone Troll charged the Corpse Cart and the Troll unit and White Lions charged the Zombies.  The Shaman cast Sneaky Stabbin’ with Irresistible Force on the Big ‘Uns losing two dice but stealing one with the lore attribute.  Gift of the Spider God was also cast on the Orcs.

The only shooting was from the Archers on the left at the Skeletons which saw one set of walking bones trip over one of the arrows peppering the ground and deciding the Vampire could go get a tan before he’d bother getting up.  Fighting the Dragon Ogres, the surviving Sword Master did two wounds, finishing one off but was slain in return, panicking the nearby Great Eagle.  On the other flank the Sword Masters and Eagle did three wounds to the Terrorgheist which did four wounds back.  Fortunately for the surviving Sword Master and Eagle they had enough combat resolution to cause the Terrorgheist to crumble.

Between them the Trolls and White Lions did twenty-six wounds to the Zombies, taking only three wounds in reply.  Unfortunately that wasn’t enough to wipe out the Zombies before combat resolution and so neither the White Lions or Trolls had the option of overrunning into the Skullcrushers.  The single Troll failed to wound the Corpse Cart and took a wound in return for an overall drawn combat.  The Vargheists and Skullcrushers inflicted fifteen wounds on the Big ‘Uns who could only do four and subsequently fled only to be run down. 

Both the Chaos Warriors and Skeletons charged the Trolls while the last Vargheist charged the Doom Diver.  The last Dragon Ogre turned around to face the action.  Magic saw both of the Vampire’s spell casting attempts thwarted.  In combat the Troll and Corpse Cart seemed to have temporarily made peace as neither inflicted a wound.  The combat between the Trolls and the charging Warriors and Skeletons was bloody with thirteen wounds done to the Trolls and ten to the Warriors and Skeletons.  Beaten and bruised the Trolls broke and fled through the White Lions who were run into by the pursuing Chaos Warriors.  Elsewhere the Vargheist made short work of the Doom Diver.

With what should be a pivotal turn there were no charges for Nick and I to declare.  The Trolls rallied while the Eagle fled to the other side of the Watchtower while its compatriot moved to block the Skeletons charging the Archers in the centre who had reformed to give the Shaman and themselves line of sight to the Vargheist.  The Shaman duly cast Vindictive Glare at the Vargheist, wiping it out. 

Shooting saw the Archers shoot at the Skeletons but do no wounds.  The Corpse Cart finally got the upper hand against the Troll and killed it off.  The Prince accepted the challenge of the Exalted Hero and did a wound to him while the White Lions did five to the Warriors who only managed four.  Despite losing the combat the Lions easily held on Stubborn leadership 10 and combat reformed to face the warriors. 

The Corpse Cart hadn’t had enough of the fighting and charged the flank of the White Lions while the Vampire Lord left his unit behind as he charged the Archers and the Dragon Ogre attempted to charge the White Lions but failed.  The Skullcrushers reformed to face the Trolls who had been eyeing up a charge for the next turn. 

Summoning his magical might the Vampire attempted to cast Vanhel’s Danse but this was stopped.  He then cast an irresistible Invocation, healing the wound taken by the Exalted Hero but losing the spell from the miscast result.  In combat the Vampire really, really wished he’d managed to get Vanhel’s off as he failed to cause a wound.  He still won combat thanks to the charge and being in the rear but the Archers were Steadfast and so held, although they failed to reform.  This time around the Prince cut down the Exalted hero straight away while the White Lions finished off the Warriors and the Cart crumbled. 

This left the White Lions free to charge the Vampire while the Trolls thought better of charging the Skullcrushers and ending up outside of the Prince’s leadership range and the BSB’s area of influence.  Putting himself once more in harms way the Eagle from the left flew out in front of the Dragon Ogre. 

The Shaman cast a spell at someone (sorry folks, my handwriting strikes again) which was dispelled on five dice while he was then able to cast Sneaky Stabbin’ on the Trolls.  With no shooting it was on to combat where the White Lions failed to put a wound on the Vampire who did four back.  Both units fighting him held.

Wasting no time in getting back to the fight the Skullcrushers charged the Trolls while the Eagle was charged by the Dragon Ogre and the Skeletons charged the flank of the White Lions.  There was no casting so it was on to the fighting and the Dragon Ogre made short work of the Eagle.  The Skullcrushers did four wounds to the Trolls who could only do one in return but they held.  This turn, being reasonably sure the Vampire wasn’t too tricked out, my Prince challenged the Vampire and slew him.  While Skeletons had the combat resolution to win the combat, the Lions were going nowhere.

Totting up the scores at first it appeared that we’d only drawn the game as Ramzi gave us a total which I thought was what we’d killed in total from his and Tom’s army but chatting with Nick during dinner he thought we should have had a lot more points than that so I double-checked and it turned out that was only the points for Ramzi’s half of the army.  So in total Nick and I scored 1358 and gave away only 651 for a win by 707 points. 

[cerebros]

Game 4 vs Only Way is Essex – Adam and Will

If you’d asked me before the event what I wouldn’t want to face, Skaven would have been top of the pile as I would have bet my house that anyone bringing Skaven would have a Grey Seer and switch one of their spells out for Curse of the Horned Rat.  So guess what we got to face?

The Empire list was a bit of a surprise as I’d have expected the Steam Tank to be rumbling across the table at us (I think one of the other Empire lists there was running the Stank) but two Hellbllasters was certainly nothing to be sniffed at given how much influence they would have on deployment and movement.

Empire

Arch Lector (General)
- Warrior Bane
- Barded Warhorse

Master Engineer

9 Knights
- Full Command
- Inner Circle

4 Demigryph Knights
- Musician

Hellblaster Volley Gun

Hellblaster Volley Gun


Skaven

Grey Seer

Warlock Engineer
- Level 1
- Doom Rocket

Chieftain
- Battle Standard Bearer

30 Slaves
- Champion
- Musician

30 Slaves
- Champion
- Musician

30 Slaves
- Champion
- Musician

30 Clan Rats
- Standard
- Musician
- Shields

5 Giant Rats
- 1 Packmaster

Warp Lightning Cannon

Warp Lightning Cannon


Magic

Night Goblin Great Shaman

1.   Sneaky Stabbin’
2.   Vindictive Gaze
3.   Gork’ll Fix It
4.   Curse of the Bad Moon


Grey Seer (Skaven Spells of Ruin)

1.   Warp Lightning
2.   Scorch
3.   Crack’s Call
4.   Curse of the Horned Rat


Warlock Engineer (Skaven Spells of Ruin)

1.   Warp Lightning


Table

For this game we were back on table four, although on the other side from where we were previously. (As with game three I won’t repeat the layout of the table but refer you back to the game two report)


Deployment



Adam and Will’s deployment was pretty much all in the centre barring the Giant Rats who were on the left in front of the hill.  The Demigryph Knights were to the right and behind the wood with a volley gun and Master Engineer next to them, then the Knights with the Arch Lector.  The Clan Rats were next up, playing home to the Grey Seer and the BSB and to their right were two of the Slave units and the other Volley Gun.  Behind the first Volley Gun were the final unit of Slaves then the Warp Lightning Cannons were behind the Knights and Clan Rats.

My and Nick’s deployment was more spread out across the board with a unit of Sword Masters slightly behind and to the left of the hill with an Eagle nearby.  The White Lions with the Prince were just to the right of the hill with the lone Troll and then the unit.  Next up was the first unit of Archers then the Big ‘Uns with the Shaman and BSB, the other Archer unit, the other Sword Masters and then a little way away the last Eagle.  The Doom Diver was a little behind the lone Troll.

[cerebros]

Game

Turn one saw no movement from Nick and I so it was straight to shooting as there was nothing worth casting.  The Doom Diver took aim at the Demigryphs and scattered but still managed o do two wounds.  Each Archer unit shot at the Hellblaster in front of it, each managing to do a wound. 

The Empire and Skaven movement was more noticeably with the Clan Rats and slaves in the centre moving up most.  The Slaves on the right were more reluctant to join the fray hanging back with the excuse that they were maintaining line of sight for the Hellblaster.  The Knights, whether on horseback or demigryph, moved forwards slightly as well while the Salves behind the lines marched right up behind the Demigryphs, no doubt in case the humans thought better of this strange alliance and needed to be taught a lesson.

The Engineer cast Warp Lightning at the unit of Sword Masters on the right, wiping them all out.  The Seer attempted to go one better by casting Scorch at the Trolls but this was dispelled.  Having pivoted to face front, the Hellblaster on the left was found to be in range of the Trolls – being aware of this tactic Nick had deployed the unit eleven inches on thinking this would be enough to keep them out of range when the war machine pivoted to face front but it seemed not.  From 26 hits one troll was felled.

The first Warp Lightning Cannon shot at the Doom Diver but misfired and blew up while its compatriot shot at the same target but only did a single wound.  Finally the Doom Rocket was unleashed on the Big ‘Uns, killing nine.

Second turn saw the left Sword Masters and Eagle move up while the Big ‘Uns also moved forward to put the Shaman in range for his damage spells.  Using all five of his dice from the winds of magic plus a mushroom the Shaman cast the higher version of Curse of the Bad Moon towards the Watchtower, hoping for it to pop out on the other side but it stopped just under the right rear corner of the tower.

Shooting saw another wound chipped off both volley guns while the Doom Diver scattered off into nowhere having taken aim at the Demigryphs again. 

The advance on the other side of the table was cautious again with the Demigryphs and Knights just edging into their chare ranges with the Slaves on the left following up the Demigryphs once more.  Warp Lightning was cast on the Archers on the right,  going off and killing three.  The same unit was targeted again but this time the Warp Lightning was stopped, as was a Scorch.  The Curse of the Bad Moon vortex scatted into the Clan Rats, killing 20 from failed toughness tests.  This turn the Skaven artillery shot true and destroyed the Doom Diver. 

Turn three saw a lot of movement at last from Nick and I as the White Lions, single Troll and Troll unit moved up aggressively, the left Eagle moved out to threaten the rat pack and t he Volley gun with the Sword Masters following not far behind and  the second Eagle flying on to the hill on the back board edge. 

Vindictive Glare was cast at the remainder of the Clan Rats but was dispelled irresistibly.  Curse of the Bad Moon was recast irresistibly but only reached the near right corner of the Watchtower.  From the miscast result the Shaman took a wound and three Big ‘Uns died.  The Archers on the right shot the Volley Gun, killing the last of the crew.  Their colleagues, now without line of sight to the other Volley Gun, instead shot at the Slaves to the right of the tower.

Charges started in Adam and Will’s third turn with the Knights charging the Trolls and the Demigryphs the lone Troll.  The left unit of Slaves follwed up the Knights.  In magic only four dice were granted by the Winds of Magic with our opponents channelling another  to give them five versus our two once channels were taken into account.  Warp Lightning was successfully cast twice on the White Lions killing ten of their number while the Arch Lector successfully called on a Shield of Faith.  Having saved our dispel dice to stop Soulfire the Arch Lector then failed to invoke that prayer. Finally the vortex from Curse of the Bad Moon went through the Clan Rats, killing five.

Shooting saw the left Hellblaster swivel and shoot down the left Eagle while the Warp Lightning Cannon shot at the White Lions, killing one (and I forgot to roll my Ironcurse Icon ward save).  Combat saw the Demigryphs inflict two wounds on the Troll who did a wound back, finishing of the one wounded earlier, and held, with the Demigryphs reforming to minimise the number of White Lions who’d be able to make contact when they charged the following turn.  The Knights did eight wounds to the Troll unit and thanks to their Ward Saves from Shield of Faith only took four back.  This meant they lost the combat and broke, being run down by the Knights. 

Turn four and t he White Lions charged into the Demigryphs while the Big ‘Uns failed to charge into the flank of the Knights.  The remaining Eagle flew out to act as a speed bump to stop any flank charges on the Big ‘Uns.  The Shaman cast Gork’ll Fix It at the Knights but this was dispelled.  He then cast Curse of da Bad Moon at the Knights which went off irresistibly killing four out of five remaining Knights but doing another wound to the Level 4 from the miscast as well as killing another three Big ‘Uns.

The Archers had to content themselves with shooting at worthless rats, each unit killing two rats in the units they targeted.  In combat the Prince, White Lions and Troll only did two wounds to the Demigryphs who did five in reply finishing off the lone Troll and left just the Prince and two White Lions.  On Stubborn test the White Lions held.

Both Slave unit to the right of the Watchtower declared charges, one at the Eagle speed bump, which succeeded, the other at the Big ‘Uns which failed.  The surviving Clan Rats and Slaves on the left moved up while the remaining Knight and the Arch Lector wheeled round into the flank of the Archers on the left.  In the magic phase one Warp Lightning was cast on the Big ‘Uns while a second was dispelled and then Dreaded 13th was scrolled. 

The Warp Lightning cannon shot down a grand total of zero Archers from the left unit.  Surprisingly the Eagle survived the Slaves attacks, only to be run down as it fled a grand total of four inches.  The White Lions and Prince again couldn’t get through the Demigryph’s armour saves and t he remaining White Lions were cut down, although the Prince held.

To try and clear the Archers out of the way they declared a charge on the Clan Rats, who fled, and then attempted to redirect at the Slaves which failed.  This blocked the Big ‘Uns and meant their charge failed.  The Shaman tried to cast Gork’ll Fix it at the Knights which I think was dispelled and then Vindictive Glare went off on them but all wounds were saved. 

The only unit of Archers who could shoot killed two Slaves in the unit they targeted.  In combat the Prince did a wound, killing off a Demigryph but took one in reply but still held. 

Both the Knights and remaining Slave units charged in Adam and Will’s turn five, with the Knights and one Slave unit charging the Big ‘Uns while the other Slaves charged the Archers.  The Slave unit containing the Seer and BSB moved up.  A Warp Lightning was cast at the Archers on the left, killing three while Scorch from the Grey Seer at the same unit was dispelled.   The Seer then cast Warp Lightning at the Archers fighting the Slaves but killed only one.  A two dice Crack’s Call towards the left Archers got past the Shaman’s magic defence but only killed one Archer.

The surviving Hellblaster shot the Archers on the left but only killed two while the Warp Lightning cannon targeted the Sword Masters but overshot.  Combat saw the Prince do two wounds to one from the Demigryphs.  The Knight, Arch Lector and Slaves killed off the Shaman between them but only did three wounds in total while the Big ‘Uns did two and broke only to be run down.  Meanwhile the Archers did two wounds to the Slaves, taking none in return, but still lost on static combat resolution and fled, although they were not run down.

In the end Nick and I scraped 415 points from the game while giving away 1487.

[cerebros]

Game 5 vs The Good, The Bad and the Groveshead – Robin and Alan

For this game I was facing two armies that I generally have mixed fortunes against, typically depending on the build being used and who is using them.  For example, I generally seem to clean up against Dark Elf players who’ve recently returned to the game but struggle against anyone who’s been playing them consistently during 8th.  Likewise with Ogres I seem to end up with big wins or big losses.

Looking across and Robin and Alan’s army there wasn’t anything in particular that had me overly worried apart from the Ironblaster, which I expected to be taking shots at our characters, and the Reapers which had the potential to make short work of my smaller units.

Ogre Kingdoms

Bruiser
Battle Standard Bearer
Rune Maw

8 Ogres
Champion
Ironfists

6 Ironguts
Standard
Musician

Sabretusk

Sabretusk

Sabretusk

Ironblaster


Dark Elves

Sorceress (General)
Sacrificial Dagger

14 Repeater Crossbowmen

39 Warriors
Musician

5 Shades

5 Shades

Repeater Bolt Thrower

Repeater Bolt Thrower


Magic

Night Goblin Great Shaman

1.   Vindictive Gaze
2.   Gift of the Spider God
3.   Gork’ll Fix It
4.   Curse of the Bad Moon


Supreme Sorceress (Lore of Shadow)

1.   Enfeebling Foe
2.   Penumbral Pendulum
3.   Okkam’s Mindrazor


Table

For the third game we were on table five, this time on the same side as game one, so head back there for a table description.

Deployment



Robin and Alan, unsurprisingly, deployed their Sabretusks first with one in the wood on the left,  one just to the left of the hill on the back board edge and one just in front of the hill on the right.  Both Reaper Bolt Throwers went on the hill on the back board edge and the their units were out in a line in front of it.  From right to left there were the Crossbows, the Ironguts, the Ogres with the BSB, the Warriors with the Sorceress and then the Ironblaster.

Nick and I deployed a unit of Sword Masters behind the wall section with the Big ‘Uns behind them.  To their right were the other Sword Masters and a Great Eagle.  To the left of the Sword Masters behind the wall were a unit of Archers with the Goblin characters and then the Trolls, single Troll and the White Lions with the Prince.  The other unit of Archers deployed to the right of the Watchtower while the other Eagle deployed behind it.  The Doom Diver was bhind the Big ‘Uns.

One unit of Shades deployed in the wood in front of the Sword Masters while the others deployed a few inches back and to the left of the Watchtower. 

[cerebros]

Game

The game kicked off by the Eagle on the left charging the Shades and taking a wound on the way in. Our other units all moved up aggressively to put the pressure on, apart from the Archers on the left who hung back awaiting the outcome of the Eagle-Shades combat.

Magic saw the Shaman cast Gork’ll Fix It on the Crossbows with irresistible force, which ended up killing two Archers but allowing the Shaman to steal a dispel die.  He then tried to cast Vindictive Glare at the Shades in the wood but this was dispelled. 

Our shooting didn’t get off to the most glorious start with the Doom Diver taking aim at the Ironblaster but misfiring and hitting the trolls doing two wounds.  The Archers on the right shot at the Ogres and did a wound while the unit on the left shot the Ironblaster and managed to do two wounds.  In combat the Eagle was cut down before it got a chance to strike. 

Robin and Alan also started off the game aggressively with the Sabretusk on the right charging the Great Eagle and their block units plus the Ironblaster moved towards our lines.  The Sabretusk on the left moved out towards the flank of the White Lions while the Shades in the wood retreated towards their own lines. 

The Bruiser used his Ruby Ring of Rhuin to try and launch a Fireball at the Trolls but the Shaman dispelled this.  The Sorceress tried to cast Enfeebling Foe on the White Lions but the Shaman also dispelled this.  Finally the Sorceress cast Mindrazor on her unit.  Shooting was busy with the Shades on the left shooting the Archers causing a panic which led to them fleeing across our back lines.  The Crossbows shot at the Archers in the middle of our lines but did no hits while the other Shades tried the same with the same result. 

Both Reaper Bolt Throwers shot at the same Archer unit and did six wounds, managing to panic the unit despite being in range of the general and having the BSB re-roll.  Finally the Ironblaster shot at the Trolls but failed to wound.  The Eagle did a wound to the Sabretusk but took two back and fled off the board.

Turn two and the White Lions declared a charge on the Ironblaster which fled.  The Sword Masters on the far right declared a charge on the Shades who fled and so they redirected into the Sabretusk.  The Sword Masters in the wood charged the Ironguts.  Both the Archer units rallied while the Trolls and Big ‘Uns moved up while the lone Troll marched out in front of the Warriors to act as a redirecting speed bump.. 

The Shaman cast Gift of the Spider God on the Trolls to deter a charge by the Ogres but did so with Irresistible Force and ended up losing three spells, leaving only Curse of da Bad Moon.  For the second turn in a row the Doom Diver misfired but this time he blew up.  Both Sword Master units won their combats, although for the unit fighting the Ironguts it was something of a pyrrhic victory as they were wiped out in the process.

It was charge time for Robin and Alan as well as the huge block of Warriors decided to pick on the lone Troll.  Elsewhere the Ironblaster failed to rally, unlike the fleeing Shades, and fled off the board while the Sabretusk on the left moved up to block the White Lions.  The Ogres moved up to taunt the Trolls while the remainder of the Ironguts reformed to face the flank of the Crossbows.

In the Magic phase the Sorceress cast Mindrazor on her unit again but needed to sacrifice one of the Warriors to meet the casting value.  This drew out our dispel scroll as we decided we’d grown attached enough to the lone Troll to at least see him get a chance of striking back at the Elves.  The Shades on the left shot at the Archers, killing a further three and causing them to panic once more while the Crossbows tried to shoot up the Big ‘Uns in the wood only to find their bolts hitting the trunks of trees.

The Reapers combined their fire to wipe out the Archers in the unit on the right, leaving just the Shaman and BSB.  Combat saw the Elf Warriors cause a single wound to the Troll who did two in reply and held them in place for now.

Nick and I declared charges with the Trolls on the Ogres, the Big ‘Uns on the Crossbows, the White Lions at the Sabretusk and the Sword Masters at the Crossbows, all of which were in except the Sword Masters.  The BSB and Shaman decided to go their separate ways, although not too separate as they both took cover behind the walled obstacle.

Not in any position to cast our last remaining spell, and with no shooting possible this turn, it was on to combat.  The Trolls dished out the pain to the Ogres scoring eight wounds for only three in reply (I think Nick may actually have made some regeneration saves for once), breaking the Ogres and while running them down, also overrunning into the Dark Elf Warriors. 

The Big ‘Uns beat the Crossbows in combat and broke them, failing their restraint test and failing to catch the fleeing Elves.  The White Lions easily finished off the Sabretusk in time to see the overrunning Trolls beat the Warriors, albeit with the loss of the lone Troll but with the death of the Sorceress, and see the Warriors flee from the Trolls. 

Robin and Alan charged the Ironguts into the flank the Big ‘Uns exposed when they failed their restraint test while the fleeing elf units rallied.  The last Sabretusk snook up the board in pursuit of the Goblin characters.  Both units of Shades shot their nearest High Elf unit, scoring two wounds each only to see the High Elves pass both panic tests.

The Reapers both shot at the flank of the Trolls, with one failing to beat the regen save while the other killed a Troll.  The Ironguts comprehensively beat the Big ‘Uns who held but failed their reform test.

Turn four and the Trolls charged into the recently rallied Warriors while the Sword Masters tried, and failed, to come to the aid of the Big ‘Uns by charging the Ironguts.  The Ironguts duly went on to comprehensively beat the Big ‘Uns who broke and were run down; in pursuit the Ironguts ran into the Sword Masters who had failed their charge.  Things went better for us in the other combat as the Trolls smacked down eighteen Warriors and ran them down.

The sole surviving Sabretusk declared a charge on the Shaman and, after it fled, redirected at the Goblin BSB.  Shooting saw the Shades on the left shoot at the Archers but do no wounds while the other Shades and the Crossbows shot at the White Lions to no effect.  One Reaper shot a volley at the fleeing Shaman and cut him down, panicking the Archers.  The other one fired a volley at the White Lions but like the other Dark Elf shooting, could not get past the armour save.

Combat and the Sword Masters were wiped out by the Ironguts’ impact hits while the Sabretusk failed to wound the Goblin BSB but took a wound  itself and broke from combat with the BSB in hot pursuit.

That was the last action of the game.  After totting up points Nick and I had lost 988 but scored 1376 to give us our second win of the tournament.

[cerebros]

Final Positions

At the end of the five games these were the final positions:

1.   Team Take It Off
2.   Rack City
3.   Team Nice But Dim
4.   The Only Way is Essex
5.   Blunders Never Cease
6.   Team Name Pending
7.   Team Jedward
8.   Team Desperate Measures
9.   Team Certain Victory
10.   The Good, The Bad, The Groveshead

The Best Painted and Best Sports awards were both picked up by Team Certain Victory.

Conclusion

Overall Nick and I had a good time at the tournament although we were a bit annoyed not to have gotten better results from games one and two.  We were also a bit puzzled as to how we didn’t end up playing Team Certain Victory – as they finished below us they must have been having a somewhat similar results run.  Unfortunately, as with last year’s Summer Incursion, Tim hasn’t released a sheet with all the game results so I’ve not been able to see what everyone else got.

In terms of how we played I think there were a few things we could have done differently that would have given us better outcomes. 

Game 1

If we’d stopped the first Invocation the Trolls would have been through the Zombies in one turn and able to reform for a flank charge on the other unit.  I think we were too worried about the damage spells that, in hindsight, I don’t think the Necromancer was actually close enough to cast anyway.

I should probably have tried to be a little smarter about the use of the Eagle on the left as a diverter / blocker as well.  If I’d positioned it to block both the Skullcrushers and Knights it would have stopped the Knights getting the charge on the Big ‘Uns and potentially allow the Big ‘Uns and White Lions to double-team into the Knights. 


Game 2

I think in this game the Sword Masters and Eagle on the right should have been moved up a bit more aggressively – at the time I was concerned about the Dark Riders just shooting back up the flank and taking the Sword Masters out in one turn or them panicking if the Eagle was targeted instead. 

When the Sword Maters on the right did charge the Skeleton Archers on the hill I should have moved them so that one was in base contact with the Hierophant.  While putting a couple of attacks on him would have meant taking a couple more attacks back, there’s a good chance a Sword Master could have done the required two wounds to kill him, assuming he didn’t have a ward or regen save.

Game 3

Probably the main thing we could have done in this game would have been to move the Trolls up earlier to stop the Zombies getting in the way when they were Vanhel’s, leaving the path free for the White Lions to support the Big ‘Uns against the Skullcrushers.

Game 4

This game I think our deployment was a big problem.  We should probably have deployed to one side of the table or the other or tried to redeploy when the game was started to minimise the threat of the Slave units to the right of the Watchtower, hopefully leaving the Big ‘Uns better able to deal with the Knights.

Game 5

For game 5 I’m not sure off the top of my head if there’s much we could have done better once the game was in play, the biggest problem was the Big ‘Uns being steamrollered by the remains of the Irongut unit.

In general

I think the biggest general issue Nick and I had was with deployment.  We should perhaps have concentrated a more on ensuring that the White Lions, Trolls and Big ‘Uns were deployed to best take advantage of the General’s Inspiring Presence and the BSB’s Hold Your Ground rules than by worrying too much about where our opponents were deploying.  . 

Also, I think my lack of experience with running a combat character showed.  Barring a couple of club games I think I’ve been running a Mage general in pretty much every game and so have gotten very cautious about pushing whichever unit my general is in forward.  When he was in combat with units containing characters I was also a bit too reluctant to issue challenges – not knowing just how killy hero level characters might be left me unsure how the Prince would fare in match-ups.  In particular in game three I just wasn’t sure what to expect from the Vampire and so didn’t challenge straight away which probably cost us a bigger win.

On Nick’s side of things I think he needs to learn how to roll a 4+ for his regeneration saves, or buy the same type of dice that were being used by our opponents in game 4 for rolling the Demigryphs’ armour saves considering the number of 4+s that were rolled.  I lost track of the number of times when Nick had to roll saves on the Trolls and ended up taking off one or two models rather than just a couple of wounds on one.

List changes

On the High Elf side I’m not sure there’s a massive amount I could tweak without ending up with a massively different list.  I’m not sure if an Archmage would have been a better bet than the Prince – with the match-ups we got a Lore of Metal mage would have been pretty handy in all bar the last game – as it would have meant having to bunker him in one of the fragile Archer units or risk sending him in with the troops.

Saturday night when Nick and I were at our hotel I had a sudden “Duh!” moment when I realised that for just ten more points I could have given the Prince the Vambraces of Defence instead of the Talisman of Preservation, giving him a re-rollable armour save in addition to the 4+ ward Save.  Granted it would have meant fiddling about with unit sizes elsewhere in the list but I might have felt more comfortable about getting him stuck in with that extra smidgen of protection.

For the Orcs and Goblins we could have used another doom Diver to give us a bit of redundancy but Nick didn’t have a second Doom Diver model and in any case would also have had troubles squeezing it in (I think one of his early lists had two Doom Divers but the second was dropped to fit in the Dispel Scroll).


Rules Issues

So, in game two we had this situation.  The Trolls had charged into the combat between the White Lions and Cold One Knights.  After the Cold One Knights carried out a combat reform at the end of the previous combat phase the Trolls could only make contact with the Dark Elf BSB.  In the challenge in the subsequent combat phase the BSB was killed by my Prince, at that moment taking the Trolls out of base contact.

The issue was over what should have happened next.  As the BSB was part of the Cold One Knight unit Nick and I held that the Cold One Knights should have slid over to maintain contact with the Trolls as per the “Shrinking Units and Multiple Fights” rules on page 61 of the BRB.  Tim and Darren, backed up by Matt Howley, was Tim’s rules person for the event, who claimed that the Trolls were now out of combat as per the “No More Foes” rules.

I’ve illustrated the situation in the diagram below.  The dark purple models are the Cold Ones Knights, the pink is the Dark Elf BSB, light blue the White Lion, dark blue the Prince and the green squares are the Trolls.  At the start of the round of combat the Trolls are in base contact with the BSB.  After the BSB dies they are now out of contact as we see in a).  The question is, do the Cold Ones stay at the position they are in a) or slide up to the Trolls as per b)?



Re-reading the rules it seems pretty clear to me that Nick and I were in the right.  “No More Foes” states that it happens at the “end of the round of combat” which we hadn’t reached whereas “Shrinking Units…” states “Whenever a unit becomes stranded… the attacking unit is immediately nudged… to bring it back into contact with the foe…. If the attacker cannot be moved… then the defending unit is moved instead”.  Obviously if anyone can give me a reason from the rules why that’s not the case feel free.