Hold the Cheese House!

This forum is for the posting of reports of your famous victories and crushing defeats. It is for both single battle reports and for ongoing army diaries/blogs.

Moderators: The Heralds, The Loremasters

Post Reply
Message
Author
Iluvatar
Posts: 446
Joined: Tue Aug 28, 2012 1:46 pm

Hold the Cheese House!

#1 Post by Iluvatar »

Hold the Cheese House!

Dyimios, small town close to Khypris, in the middle of what is known as The Insignificant Empire of Prince Faramond.
Dyimios' local specialty is feta, and the recipe of this divine cheese is passed from generation to generation. 421 years ago, high elves sailors curious of the Old World settled here, and founded their own Cheese House. Produced on the top of a splendid hill, their feta has an unprecedented renown and the trade is fruitful, be it towards elven colonies, the Empire, and of course Ulthuan where it is used in numerous exquisite courses served to the Eternal Queen. Travelers from abroad often make a detour to visit the place.
Until this terrible day… where Skaven, always keen on tasty cheese, discovered that the so pretty hill of Dyimios hosted a workshop that sent shivers down their whiskers. Dreaming of a cheese feast, backed with raw elf meat and sprinkles of spicy warpstone, they designed an assault on the elf feta house.
But Skaven planning often holds as long as their stomach allows it, when cheese is the target!
The ranks soon scatter, and many isolated groups run towards the hill, intent on eating as much cheese as possible, and – why not? – pillaging and capturing a few slaves while they’re at it.
The elf colony holding the Cheese House is at a loss. Used to the peace of this village, they had long ago stored away their weapons and armors. But elf blood does not lie, and they soon get their weaponry and equip the delivery carts for the incoming battle. Some mount travel horses to bring the fight further from the fabric. Other take spears and bows for the battle. Luckily for them, an Annointed of Asuryan and his noble bird had stopped by the day before, and he silently nods when they request his help…
Still, the situation is desperate. If they are to repel Skaven and save their heritage and their lives, they have to find quickly a strategy to surprise those unorganized, stupid ratmen…


Greetings fellow Asurmen!

My friend Dassadar and I will fight a special game tonight, and we thought it would be worth sharing a bit with you all, starting before the battle itself for more excitement on our side.

While we do try to win every game we play, fun is most important to us. Thus, we came with the following settings for this game:
• The scenario played is Hold the High Ground, featured on p. 402 of the Big Rule Book. The main features of this scenario are:
o A large hill is set in one corner of the battlefield. A player controls it if he has a unit on it and if his opponent does not. Controlling the hill gives +1 combat resolution for all fights during the game, and +500 VPs at the end of the game.
o The defender has 3/4 of the attackers' points for army selection.
o Deployment is diagonal, similar to Meeting Engagement (but without reserves). The defender sets up around the objective hill.
o The attacker deploys first all his army, then the defender. Our previous game on this scenario showed how much this counts towards dealing with the points difference.
o The attacker plays first.
• We also have various modifiers to our army sizes, based on the history of our games. This lead in this situation to 2480 points for the attackers (Skaven) and 1874 points for the defenders (High Elves).
• Most importantly, in this game, each of us wrote the opponent's army list. The basic rules were "nothing totally useless" (such as a MR2 item on an Annointed of Asuryan); max 30% Core; and some magic available. Still, this leads to an unusual selection, which you can see below. Note: no proxies allowed, except for units options such as weapons/shields. Remember: fun is the goal – and this leads us to try very unusual units.

I designed the following list for the Skaven:

Lord Skrolk, General
Warlord, Berserker Sword, Shield of Ptolos, Seed of Rebirth, Ironcurse Icon
Plague Priest on Plague Furnace, Spellthieving Sword, Trickster’s shard
Warlock Engineer, Warplock Pistol, Death Globe, Pipes of Piebald
Warlock Engineer, Warlock-Augmented Weapon, Talisman of Protection, Crown of Command
20 Slaves with Pawleader, slings, spears, shields
20 Clan Rats with Clawleader, spears, shields and a Poisoned Wind Mortar
20 Clan Rats with Clawleader, spears, shields and a Doom-flayer
20 Clan Rats with Clawleader, spears, shields and a Doom-flayer
12 Plague Monks
10 Plague Monks, Bringer-of-the-Word, Warbanner
10 Plague Monks, Bringer-of-the-Word
5 Plague Censer Bearers, Plague Chanter
2 Rat Ogres, Master-bred Rat Ogre, 1 Master Moulder
2 Rat Ogres, 1 Packmaster
2 Rat Ogres, 1 Packmaster
Plagueclaw Catapult

So, no BSB, lots of frenzied units, and small units to avoid me being bogged down for too long…

I will be playing:

Annointed of Asuryan, General, Blade of Leaping Gold, Helm of Discord
Lothern Sea Helm, Shield of the Merwyrm , Obsidian Amulet
High Mage, Elven Steed, Scroll of Leeching
Metal Mage, Elven Steed
14 Lothern Sea Guard, Standard
5 Silver Helms, Standard
16 Ellyrian Reavers, Musician, Standard
3 Tiranoc Chariots
1 Lothern Skycutter
6 Shadow Warriors, Shadow Walker
Flamespyre Phoenix

Again, no BSB (that was expected from both of us!). Little magic, few ranks, 3 chariots in a unit, and 16 reavers together…

The battlefield will be as follows:
Image
The walls are per BRB rules. The low one does not block line of sight, the high one does (for standard infantry). The altar is just an impassable in this game. Mysterious terrain pieces are known to the attacker before the game.

The game is planned tonight. We will try to update as soon as possible after this!
And please, pray Asuryan to lend me his strength – it will be much needed!
Ferny
9th Age Moderator
Posts: 1906
Joined: Mon Apr 29, 2013 12:03 pm

Re: Hold the Cheese House!

#2 Post by Ferny »

I love your introduction.

And picking your opponents army could be hilarious. Did you have any rules (apart from no MR2 for Annointed for eg) to prevent one person screwing the other over toooo much?
The 9th Age: Alumni

Former Roles: Advisory Board, HR, Moderator and Highborn Elves Army Support
Iluvatar
Posts: 446
Joined: Tue Aug 28, 2012 1:46 pm

Re: Hold the Cheese House!

#3 Post by Iluvatar »

The introduction is not mine, actually - my friend mostly wrote it. He's in charge of that, me of the diagrams. :)

Choosing the opponent's army is indeed guaranteed to be fun, if both of you do it in the same spirit. The first time we did, I chose him an army that was way off the tracks, but that I believed could actually work (and that I'd be curious to play). He was more in the mood to really screw me - and the lists reflected that! :lol: This time, we are clearly more on the same idea.
The rules this time were:
1) min 10% Lords, min 10% Heroes, max 30% Core, min 10% Special, min 10% Rare (if possible! He only has the Catapult as Skaven rare selection, so he's under those 10%). Standard percentages apply as well. Note that I counted one of his Plague Monks units as Core (which Skrolk allows) to avoid another 20 large block.
2) No useless options. That includes taking the scenario into account.
3) No option that you could get for cheaper. For instance, an Opal Amulet on a HE character that could take the Golden Crown instead.
4) At least one level of magic per 1000 points of army.

And the goods news - I managed to finish the painting of the Phoenix before the game! That means I won't be facing his fully painted army with a fully unpainted one! :-6
User avatar
Swordmaster of Hoeth
Southern Sentinel
Posts: 4479
Joined: Thu Jul 01, 2004 9:01 am
Location: On the path of an outcast

Re: Hold the Cheese House!

#4 Post by Swordmaster of Hoeth »

Hi Iluvatar!

I am looking forward to reading the report. It is a fantastic idea and I expect a great story to unfold with the game played. Unique scenario, even more unique army list design rules, all this makes your game very, very intriguing and it feels like you put the Warhammer hobby on a very new level! =D>

Can't wait! :)
Image

Twitter @SwordOfHoeth

High Elves MSU - Observations
Rabidnid wrote:Are you seriously asking someone called Swordmaster of Hoeth why he has more swordmasters than white lions? Really?
Iluvatar
Posts: 446
Joined: Tue Aug 28, 2012 1:46 pm

Re: Hold the Cheese House!

#5 Post by Iluvatar »

Hi Swormaster, and thanks for the praise! Coming from the master of battle reports, that means a lot! :D

The report is on its way. The game went exactly as expected: heroic deeds, cheeky dice, epic duels... and lasting until 3 in the morning!
Diagrams are done, and I even got a few correct pictures. Text being written.

There will be 3 parts to the report:
Act 1: Cavalry is soooo yesterday
Act 2: The Metal song
Act 3: Of Skaven medicine

First act tomorrow!

Now, every show needs a sponsor:
Image

Unfortunately, our sponsor was cheap. The life expectancy of those 2 doesn't exceed 20 minutes!

The most important: the Cheese House!
Image

Picture of the deployment. If you have a doubt, it's simple: if it's painted and it's not a big bird, it's probably Skaven!
Image

Deplyment diagram:
Image

Act 1 tomorrow!
Iluvatar
Posts: 446
Joined: Tue Aug 28, 2012 1:46 pm

Re: Hold the Cheese House!

#6 Post by Iluvatar »

Act 1 – Cavalry is sooooo yesterday

Bun Her was nervous, but he did his possible not to show it. He hadn’t been involved in such a large battle for a long time, and he would have been much more at ease in a tavern brawl. But he was the most experienced cart driver, and as such he was in charge of the three reinforced carriages. It wouldn’t do to show his fear.

They were deployed on the extreme flank of the army, away from the workhouse they were supposed to defend. He had been surprised of this plan, but the Annointed’s orders, silent as they were, had been very clear. The noble Phoenix and the Skycutter – latest eccentricity from the leader of the workhouse – surrounded them.

Their instructions were to let the rats advance, then break their formation as soon as they would be in range. They had to destroy this flank of the Skaven army quickly, and then support the cavalry in the center. Their luck was to be far from the bulk of the enemy army.

Seeing their enemies approaching, he prepared to give the signal, when screams warned him that hostilities had begun. He looked on his left, and saw many mounted Elves crying in pain as their skin bulged and exploded with thick, black pus. Feeling the fear rising in his friends, he raised his spear and shouted:
“For the feta! Chaaaaaarge!”

A war cry answered him:
“Salakiiiiiis!”

A few moments later, the hulls of the chariots splintered the rats’ bones. It seemed the strengthening job they had done on the chariots was efficient, since the low wall they had to cross had been crushed and added to their impact. Only one ratman had survived their charge: a strange being, with abnormally bulging muscles and who was wielding a mechanical weapon with amazing strength. Fortunately, the Phoenix tore him while avoiding his swings. Ahead of them, the assembling that had dominated the hill was now in pieces, destroyed by the Skycutter. On this side of the battle, only one Skaven group remained, who were carrying a sparkling banner, and Bun Her directed his unit towards them.

Once again, the charge was destructive, and the only surviving ratman fled their might. Their spirits high after this victory, Bun Her and his elves pursued him while crying again “Salakis!” It finally seemed that they could win this battle, and no Skaven should escape their anger!

He realized too late that this loathsome being was seeking refuge within the nearby swamp. He did try to gain control on his unit, but the enthusiasm of the victory and the speed gained while descending the hill made this impossible. A few seconds later, the three chariots crashed in the muddy waters, and Bun Her knew the battle was over for them. His mission had failed…


Deployment

Or first, spells.
My Metal mage (most useful Lore against Skavens, right?) gets the best spell of the pile: Gehanna’s Golden Hounds. What units have armor among Skavens? Weapons teams, clan rats… Oh, right, the warlord has a 4+ too! But he will have a “Look out, Sir!” and he will probably deployed within an armorless unit… Yeah!
The High Mages gets Soul Quench, swapped from Fiery Convocation. That was a good one, but I want a spell that I can cast even on small phases…
The Plague Priest gets Bless with Filth.
Skrolk gets Pestilent Breath, Vermintide… and Plague (Nooooooo!).

The bulk of the Skaven army deploys facing the hill, in the Skrolk’s Leadership bubble (himself in a clan rats unit). Rat Ogres are in support behind the clan rats, to avoid frenzy tests. The Warlord joins Plague Monks to give them his Leadership – and why not, he’s frenzied as well! The Furnace is on one flank; on the other one we have the Plague Censer Bearers, the Catapult on the hill, and the two warlock engineers, ready to pray the Horned Rat on the Temple of Skulls.
Image
They’re only 135 after all, it’s not that much!

I choose to focus on the left Skaven flank, to try to roll up the line later. So all chariots and the Phenix on the flank, then cavalry. Footelves are just on the hill, to benefit from +1 Combat Res, and far away from the enemy. Finally, the mages hold my left flank by themselves. :) Metal mage in the front to frenzy bait the Furnace, High mage further.
Image
The Flamespyre Phenix zooms around with Lil’Bro on his base (“no, I won’t die” marker)

Skaven Turn 1

Image

No failed frenzy test! Oh well, there were only three…
The line redresses the ranks towards the Elven lines. The two warlocks pray on the Temple of Skulls, and both are rewarded: +1 Initiative for one, +3 Strength for the other! This one feels like fighting with his two Strength 7 (!) attacks, so he joins the Plague Censer Bearers.
Comes magic, and with 4 Power Dice against my 2 Dispel Dice, Skrolk easily casts a Plague that kill 7 Reavers, one Sea Guard, and wounds the Sea Helm (MR2 + ward save from the Annointed helped the Sea Guard!). The catapult kills a Silver Helm after a wide scattering, while the mortar Hit!s the Reavers and kills 3 more. Only 6 left of those! Rough start for me…

High Elf turn 1

Image

I have to take the initiative while it’s possible! The skycutter flies to destroy the catapult, which panics the closest warlock. The three Tiranoc chariots and the Phoenix deal with the PCB and their 15 S5 hating attacks (plus two S7!). The dangerous terrain tests (due to obstacles) are passed. The impact hits alone manage to kill all PCB, and the Phoenix kill the warlock after avoid his attacks.
The cavalry charges as well, but with much less success. 5 Plague Monks are killed, but only one Reaver remains, and the Skaven are steadfast! The Ld 7 test is passed. The breakthrough failed, and the counter charge will be painful!
The mages start infiltrating the enemy lines, but magic and shooting do nothing.
The chariots reform towards the left unit of plague monks, while the Skycutter and Phoenix turn towards the center.

Skaven turn 2

Image

The counter charge hits home! Clan rats and slaves: that makes it 42 against 5. Should be a massacre, right? Well, no! In a grand pillow fight, only the last reaver is killed by the warlord. The two surviving Silver Helms flee (but not the standard…), unsuccessfully pursued by the slaves.
The rest of the skaven army tries to control my possible charges or gets closer to the hill, while another Plague kills a Sea Guard and the Sea Helm (how useful this one has been!).

High Elf turn 2

Image

No more cavalry, the infantry soon under pressure… I have to take some risks to secure the right flank!
The Skycutter has no good charge, but he has to attempt something, so he charges the furthest Rat Ogres in the hope of overrunning behind the Skaven lines. Unfotunately, he only deals two wounds to the beasts that destroy him in retaliation!
The Phoenix is more successful: he flanks clan rats, only kills two, but it’s still enough to make them flee. Finally a failed Leadership test! Ld 9 steadfast, but the remain Skaven! The overrun puts the Phoenix in the flank of the closest Rat Ogres.
Not far away, the Metal mage is bored of doing nothing, so he charges the rear of the mortar. No wound on either side, but the weapon team flees and is destroyed!
But THE action of this turn is on the other flank. The three Tiranoc chariots manage to avoid the warlock that had rallied and tries to block them. Surprise: the hill doesn’t block the line of sight to the Plague Monks, and those get charged! 11 impact hits later, the lone champion flees through the marshland. The chariots try to not pursue, but fail their Ld test! They get in the swamp, 3 dangerous terrain test: triple 2! In a swamp, that’s a failure for chariots, and the take 1D6 Wounds each: 4-5-6! Boom! Bye bye chariots!
(Luckily for us, our laughter didn’t wake the baby sleeping upstairs…)

End of act 1
Current checkpoint: the High Elves have lost all their chariots, and almost all their cavalry! Meanwhile, the Skavens get closer to the hill in spite of a few losses.

Will High Elves overcome those hard blows?
Will Skaven manage to catch the evasive enemy units that remain?
And above all: where will the Metal mage’s pursuit lead him?

Stay tuned for the next episode – tonight or tomorrow!
Jimmy
Centurion
Posts: 3307
Joined: Mon Dec 27, 2004 12:55 am
Location: Brisbane, Australia

Re: Hold the Cheese House!

#7 Post by Jimmy »

This is beautiful. =D>
Nec Sorte Nec Fato - Neither By Chance Nor Fate

X-wing Blog
Ferny
9th Age Moderator
Posts: 1906
Joined: Mon Apr 29, 2013 12:03 pm

Re: Hold the Cheese House!

#8 Post by Ferny »

A new angle on cheesehammer ;)! Keep 'em coming!
The 9th Age: Alumni

Former Roles: Advisory Board, HR, Moderator and Highborn Elves Army Support
Iluvatar
Posts: 446
Joined: Tue Aug 28, 2012 1:46 pm

Re: Hold the Cheese House!

#9 Post by Iluvatar »

Thanks chaps!
Couldn't work on Act 2 today - my computer was replaced and I forgot to backup the file... :roll: I'll get it back tomorrow though, finish the translation and post it. Act 3 will probably be on Thursday!

Also need to comment on a few other awesome reports - just don't have time yet!
Iluvatar
Posts: 446
Joined: Tue Aug 28, 2012 1:46 pm

Re: Hold the Cheese House!

#10 Post by Iluvatar »

Act 2 – The Metal song

Breytni was bored. He didn’t know what he was really doing here, actually. He had finally found the place where that delicious feta was produced, but he hadn’t even had the time to feast over it! When he had arrived, everyone was preparing the defense against some skaven expedition. As usual, he tried to impress the peasants with the tale of his learning in the Tower of Hoeth, but instead of bowing, this lot had included him in their defense plans! And he couldn’t even refuse his help under the stern look of the Annointed and the other mage!
The issue was, he had never been good with the Winds of Magic. He could control only a small quantity, and even then, he was only interested in Chamon. He knew how to do things that were unheard of with it, but the old frats at the head of the White Tower had never liked his tricks, that they deemed “inappropriate”. Thus, he had been asked to leave the Tower long before then end of his learning; but he didn’t care, after all: he had learned what we wanted.
And today, he found himself on a battlefield, and he was watched closely by that other “high” mage. No chance of sneaking away! All he could do was watch the battle, not too close of the action. Anyway, all this action happening would certainly bring inspiration, and maybe he would be able to write a good song about it?
He had ridden around the skaven moving tower, strongly bothered about the pestilential smell surrounding it. It was then that he noticed a strange group of two rats, carrying on their back some sort of machinery. As a green ball jumped out of a twisted chimney and rose into the sky, the rats chuckled and applauded, before trotting further, their back towards him.
After all, why not? If he was to write a song about this battle, Breytni wanted his share of glory! He was already dreaming of his decisive behavior, routing by himself the entire Skaven army in a heroic action! No doubt he’d be able to take advantage of this with some naive virgin…
Before his mood changed, he gathered all the magical energy he could feel, and drew it in a single spell, the one he knew and mastered best. A deafening thunder covered the plain, giving him the arrangement he needed. Then he heeled his steed while intoning his famous High Elf Hardcore Metal song, the one he had had so much success with in the past:
“My loneliness is killing me
I must confess I still believe
When I'm not with you I lose my mind
Give me a sign
Hit me baby one more time”
The ratmen needed a few seconds to understand where that noise came from, then, as they saw Breytni, they fled in the opposite direction. What an ill-educated lot! Not even an ounce of admiration in their eyes, only sheer terror! Breytni let his steed trample those despicable beings, and turned his attention to bigger creatures, who would certainly have a better understanding of music.
Unfortunately, that stupid fire bird chose that moment to attack his future audience! The skaven brutes punished him soundly, but it was too late still: they fled opposite Breytni!
Disappointed by this new failure, the bard looked for a new audience, and chose to get away from the stinking skaven tower. He didn’t stop singing though, and he was surprises to see again some ratmen flee. Even the Phenix and the Silver Helms chose to move away! Was everyone here so tasteless? He had to know before the end of the day…


Skaven Turn 3

Image

No charge for Skaven this turn: the Silver Helms that had rallied the turn before are out of the charge arc of the close units, who try to set up a trap for the next turn. Clan rats are still far from the Sea Guards and march to ensure a combined charge. The warlock flees again (he panicked last turn, before the chariots crashed!), and so does the last plague monk in the swamp.

Magic is dispelled this time, thanks to the Scroll of Leeching!

Only notable event, but it’s a big one: the combat between the rat ogres on one side, and the Phoenix on their flank and Metal mage in their back (only in contact with the packmaster!). The rat ogres inflict two wounds to the Phoenix, who airswings in return! Combat resolution is thus 2 for Skavens, against 1 (charge) + 1 (flank) + 2 (back). The difference is made by the rear charge (overrun) of the mage!
The rat ogres flee (opposite the mage of course!), which panics in turn the slaves and the doom flayer. The phenix and the mage don’t pursue, too happy to let the rat ogres block the movement of the Furnace in the next Skaven turn!

High Elf Turn 3

Image
Note: for more clarity, the panics of the previous turn are shown here…

The hill is now besieged, and some action is required. The Sea Guard and the Phoenix charge Skrolk’s unit! The combat is in favour of the High Elves: a single guard dies, 6 clan rats do.
But the focus is elsewhere: it’s the generals’ face-off! The Annointed of Asuryan and Skrolk challenge each other. The Annointed’s 6 attacks make 5 Strenght 4 hits, against Skrolk’s Toughness 5 and 3 Wounds. I only need to roll three 5+ on five dice to kill the Skaven general. The dice spin… and Skrolk suffers… 2 wounds!
Retaliation time: the skaven lord hits with his Staff of Corruption… and the Annointed fails his Toughness test. Killed, with no save allowed! The gods have chosen, and Lord Skrolk wins the duel!
Fortunately, charge and rear bonus allow the High Elves to win combat, but the clan rats pass their break test. The fight goes on!

Further, the Silver Helms backpedal and suffer the effect of the haunted forest, but their armor protects them.

Skaven Turn 4

Image

High Elves have not suffered many losses in the previous combat round, but those were enough to remove a rank. This puts them out of the charge angle of the other clan rats!
Most skaven units keep fleeing, except the Rat Ogres who can benefit from their general’s leadership. Remaining units still try to trap the High Elves, who are now trying to avoid combats…
During the Magic phase, Skrolk weakens his direct opponents (4 casualties), but the real deal is in the combat phase again. The six remaining Sea Guard are all killed, but the Phoenix kills enough clan rats to win combat and leave less than 10 skaven alive… temporarily, because they fail their Steadfast Ld 7 break test, and flee with Skrolk! The Leadership tests passed early in the game find some compensation, and it’s a massive setback for the Skaven when the Phoenix avenges his master by destroying the unit in pursuit: no less than 678 VPs gained!
Are High Elves back in the game?

High Elves Turn 4

Image

Silver Helms see an opportunity to get out of the trap, and charge the flank of the 5 Plague Monks that the warlord had left the turn before. When they flee, the high elf cavalry redirects into the slaves and slaughter them. They manage to escape the noose!
The Phoenix can’t charge since he faces the table edge, so he burns a bunch of clan rats instead, and that’s enough to make their friends flee. He’s the master of the hill! Unfortunately, he cannot march, so he’s in charge range of nearby Rat Ogres – and he will also need to defend the hill against the Furnace…

End of Act 2
Turn 4 checkpoint: High Elves are definitely back in the game! The destruction of Skrolk alone made a huge swing in VPs and they now have a short lead: 1488 vs 1375. However, they have few units and no combat punch left. Skaven, on the other hand, have no shooting or offensive magic and have to catch very mobile units to stand a chance…

Will the Phoenix be able to hold the hill?
Will High Elves finally successfully cast a spell?
Can Skaven overcome the small gap in victory points?

Make your guess!
User avatar
Swordmaster of Hoeth
Southern Sentinel
Posts: 4479
Joined: Thu Jul 01, 2004 9:01 am
Location: On the path of an outcast

Re: Hold the Cheese House!

#11 Post by Swordmaster of Hoeth »

Hi Iluvatar!

I will comment with more detail when you finish the whole story but I have to say that it has been a great and inspirational read so far! In fact, your report is the reason why I decided to poorly imitate your writing skills and added a prologue to my most recent teaser. Thanks so much for providing great entertainment and motivation! Keep up the great work! =D>

Cheers!
Image

Twitter @SwordOfHoeth

High Elves MSU - Observations
Rabidnid wrote:Are you seriously asking someone called Swordmaster of Hoeth why he has more swordmasters than white lions? Really?
Iluvatar
Posts: 446
Joined: Tue Aug 28, 2012 1:46 pm

Re: Hold the Cheese House!

#12 Post by Iluvatar »

Thanks Swordmaster! It's nice to see that I have inspired you a little, after so much of the other way! :wink:

Apologies for the delay in posting the end of the story, but work, kids, wife and double writing of the report (French/English) fills the time very fast! But it's finally done, for your entertainment and mine!

Act 3 – Of Skaven medicine

Screech leaped again to the top of his plague furnace to survey the surroundings. Once again, he had had to distribute a few blows to the morons pushing the machine so they finally get some speed. He had enough of doing nothing, enough of obeying Skrolk and leaving him the little magic energy that was blowing in this cursed plain! He had to spread the Plague, spread illness for the Horned Rat! If at least his disciples had had enough wits to stay grouped, they could have crushed the elf-things by themselves, but no! They had split up! Some of them had enough listened to that traitor warlord from the Septik clan and let him join their ranks. Simply because he had promised them a bigger share of cheese!
The occasion he had been waiting for finally materialized when he saw the fire bird fly over them and attack the Septik clan rats that Skrolk lead. That dumb thing turned its back on them, and cut it down would have many benefits. First, Skrolk would have to admit he owned them his life, because even he couldn’t oppose such a big thing by himself. And that thing looked magical, so it would make an interesting host to develop new plagues. Screech’s influence could only grow!
Thus, he ordered his unit to rush towards the beast, but again they took too much time to react, and two of the hulking brutes the clan had borrowed to Moulders got in the way. Screech insulted them, but they didn’t even see or hear him! They seemed to be fleeing something on his left, and he glanced in that direction. It’s only then that he noticed those strange noises coming from an elf-thing on its horse-thing. It was unpleasant, but he was satisfied to see them get away after he shot them a deadly gaze. He couldn’t deal with such insignificant matters.
He focused again on the fire thing, but it was to see it pursue Septik cowards fleeing and screaming. Where was Lord Skrolk now? It didn’t matter: Screech wanted that thing for his experiments! He ordered to charge it again, but the same rat ogres as previously got in the way again! At least they managed to bring the bird down and tore its wings off. Screech yelled to hurry before the brutes eat the flesh he needed.
And then a strange thing happened. The fire died, and the wings turned to black ashes just when the rat ogres were feasting on them. The ashes were picked by a wind, became a whirlwind, and the flames reappeared stronger that before! The fire thing was back, it couldn’t die! Screech saw it swoop on the rat ogres who fled fast than they had climbed the hill, and he took a decision.
He would come back later for the cheese.
After all, the elf things were almost all dead, and the fire thing wouldn't stay long around here. And he had to find the best way to take advantage of Skrolk’s disappearance…


Skaven Turn 5

Image

It’s time for Skaven to take control of the hill. The rat ogres charge the Phoenix (15 inches… that’s a 9 for the charge!), while the plague monks and the furnace get closer.
Fleeing units don't rally, and others finally notice that a few arrows are scratching their leather. They notice those are coming from shadows (more shadow than warriors, actually…) and try to catch the 94 points they represent.
The combat between the Phoenix and the rat ogres is quick: even if they are no longer frenzied, the skaven remove the last 2 wounds of the birdy, thanks to the poisoned attacks that the plague priest gives them – his only spell, which he forgets on his single casting of the game…
Finally, the Skaven control the hill and the Cheese House!
Unless?...
Yes, the Phoenix is not happy to be dead, and he comes back to life with 4 wounds!
As my opponent comments immediately: “so, finally, the rat ogres just healed the phoenix… hey, you, take those two wounds back!”

High Elf turn 5

Image

Since he’s back, the Phoenix loses no time and charges the rat ogres who had (not! :lol: ) killed him. He’s on the flank now, thanks to his coming back to like, and he’s charging downhill! He routs his opponents, but does not pursue. Protecting the cheese house is much more important!
Speaking of which, the High Mage puts duty over his life and defies the plague priest to run over him if he wants to get closer to the hill.
On the West, Silver Helms rescue the shadow warriors by charging the warlord’s rear. Even if one of them dies, they have combat resolution for them (+1 charge, +1 downhill, +2 rear, +1 main hill control), but the skaven lord does not flee!
That doesn’t prevent 4 shadow warriors from dying to the evil spirits of the forest…

Skaven turn 6

Image

The Plague Priest accepts the mage’s challenge and his unit charges him. The impact hits alones are enough to kill the pretentious elf, but the monks’ frenzy takes them away from the hill.
Elsewhere, the last silver helm falls to the Skaven lord.
High Elf turn 6
The rare surviving High Elves start looking for their wounded. The Cheese House is theirs, but the price was high!

Victory Points count

Counting the losses and various bonuses (banners, general), Skaven have 1635 victory points. High Elves only get 1561 points.
However, the High Elves hold the hill and the Cheese House (+500 VPs), so they get a narrow victory!

Conclusion

First of all: I can say that creating your opponent’s list, and playing with units you haven’t chosen yourself is fun. And it doesn’t prevent from having a close, strategic and interesting game! If you’re looking for entertainment more than competition, try it sometime with a friend.
Quick review of the units I had…
Characters were OK. Good point for the Annointed: the buffs he gives his unit are interesting (the unit took Plague twice for two losses, not counting the Sea Helm!), and 6 S4 attacks were OK in this game. He could have had his moment of glory, but narrowly lost the challenge. The Sea Helm: no comment. Note that if he had been a Noble BSB, he wouldn’t have done better out of BOTWD protection… Mages were limited to glorified eagles in this game: annoyance, rear charging, redirection. Both vital at some moment though…
Sea Guard and Silver Helms performed as expected: not great, not terrible. I pass judgment on the Reavers, since my opponent wouldn’t let my experience a big unit of them. :) Shadow Warriors had little to do, since war machines were quickly destroyed, but they’ll often find some utility for 70 points. Skycutter was sort of sacrificed, so no opinion on him either. Though I feel like he should have taken care of the Plague Monks in the West to allow the Tiranoc chariots to be where they were more needed.
Speaking of Tiranoc chariots, I think I’ll definitely use that unit again. OK, I’m a little biased since this was the ideal setting for them: lots of small enemy units, no steadfast to worry about if I avoided the big units… but they were a lot of fun to play. And 3D6 S5 impact hits are always nice, right Jimmy? :)
And finally coming to the MVP of the game: the Flamespyre Phoenix! This guy only needed a little support to gain 900 VPs and control the hill after having two skaven units flee. What if it had been a Frostheart? Hard to say – maybe he wouldn’t have been dead in the first place, but note that the last 2 wounds it took were poisoned (so T6/-1S wouldn’t have changed that), so he may have fled out of the table. On the other hand, the Wake of Fire was decisive (it made clan rats flee), and the resurrection as well! Conclusion? Practice your Phoenix Reborn dice-rolling! :)

Feel free to add comments, dear readers. All of them will be appreciated and replied to, be they strategic (we have a discussion running on a French forum about it, so I can provide insight if you wish) or of any other kind!
Ferny
9th Age Moderator
Posts: 1906
Joined: Mon Apr 29, 2013 12:03 pm

Re: Hold the Cheese House!

#13 Post by Ferny »

This looks such good fun. I liked that you used your mages as eagles (especially the metal mage, who's spell selection was truly cruel and unusual punihsment).

I thought you'd lost from the get go, so many casualties! But somehow you continued to damage, delay and destroy the oncoming skaven. I wonder wither the diagrams make them look more dangerous than they actually are (i.e. because the units look quite intacts vs your small ones, but they are, after all, only skaven statswise). An excellent game!

Tactical comments - I have none. But please do more like this!
The 9th Age: Alumni

Former Roles: Advisory Board, HR, Moderator and Highborn Elves Army Support
Iluvatar
Posts: 446
Joined: Tue Aug 28, 2012 1:46 pm

Re: Hold the Cheese House!

#14 Post by Iluvatar »

Ferny wrote:This looks such good fun. I liked that you used your mages as eagles (especially the metal mage, who's spell selection was truly cruel and unusual punihsment).
It was fun indeed! And the mages actually tried to cast some spells... The metal mage managed to cast Golden Hounds on the mortar on turn 1, but I just couldn't kill it! Then it was 6-dicing augmented Soul Quenches every turn, in the hope of an IF (with large template if possible, since I was close to the plague monks on purpose!), but that succeeded only once... for only 5 monks killed, I believe?
So definitely, the mages were better as eagles! :)
Ferny wrote:I thought you'd lost from the get go, so many casualties! But somehow you continued to damage, delay and destroy the oncoming skaven. I wonder wither the diagrams make them look more dangerous than they actually are (i.e. because the units look quite intacts vs your small ones, but they are, after all, only skaven statswise). An excellent game!
I was quite desperate after the first Skaven turn. I had hoped that the Reavers would be able to charge a unit of clan rats or slaves and go through them in 1 turn, since they had ranks to begin with. After the first plague and mortar shot, those hopes vanished...
I was definitely playing for a draw all game. I knew I couldn't hope to control the hill, so I was planning of having one mage contest it on turn 6, and do the best VP-wise. It turns out some crucial rolls went my way. For instance, when the phoenix charge clan rats on my turn 2, they were 20, and I only killed 2. But they failed the Ld9 break test and were destroyed! Same with Skrolk breaking - Ld 7 break test. Again, clan rats panicking on an 8 after the Wake of Fire... (Slaves panicking also, but that was on Ld 4, so expectable.) And indeed, those blocks were quite intact before I dealt with them...
But as Hinge wrote recently, if you force your opponent to make enough Ld tests, he's bound to fail some crucial ones at some time! Especially Skaven with no BSB!
Ferny wrote:Tactical comments - I have none. But please do more like this!
I'll try to do it again. Next game is next Saturday, in one week. Undead (TK, supposedly Nagash flavoured) vs Undead (TK, supposedly Nehek flavoured), 1500 points. Some sort of Battle of the Pass with special rules. Should be fun again!
User avatar
Swordmaster of Hoeth
Southern Sentinel
Posts: 4479
Joined: Thu Jul 01, 2004 9:01 am
Location: On the path of an outcast

Re: Hold the Cheese House!

#15 Post by Swordmaster of Hoeth »

Just wanted to say that it was amazing read and I will need a little more time to comment with more details but once again, thanks for taking time and posting such a great report! =D>
Image

Twitter @SwordOfHoeth

High Elves MSU - Observations
Rabidnid wrote:Are you seriously asking someone called Swordmaster of Hoeth why he has more swordmasters than white lions? Really?
Jimmy
Centurion
Posts: 3307
Joined: Mon Dec 27, 2004 12:55 am
Location: Brisbane, Australia

Re: Hold the Cheese House!

#16 Post by Jimmy »

Iluvatar wrote:Speaking of Tiranoc chariots, I think I’ll definitely use that unit again. OK, I’m a little biased since this was the ideal setting for them: lots of small enemy units, no steadfast to worry about if I avoided the big units… but they were a lot of fun to play. And 3D6 S5 impact hits are always nice, right Jimmy? :)
And finally coming to the MVP of the game: the Flamespyre Phoenix! This guy only needed a little support to gain 900 VPs and control the hill after having two skaven units flee. What if it had been a Frostheart? Hard to say – maybe he wouldn’t have been dead in the first place, but note that the last 2 wounds it took were poisoned (so T6/-1S wouldn’t have changed that), so he may have fled out of the table. On the other hand, the Wake of Fire was decisive (it made clan rats flee), and the resurrection as well! Conclusion? Practice your Phoenix Reborn dice-rolling! :)
So true on both accounts! =D>

Thanks for the write up mate, very entertaining indeed.
Nec Sorte Nec Fato - Neither By Chance Nor Fate

X-wing Blog
User avatar
Swordmaster of Hoeth
Southern Sentinel
Posts: 4479
Joined: Thu Jul 01, 2004 9:01 am
Location: On the path of an outcast

Re: Hold the Cheese House!

#17 Post by Swordmaster of Hoeth »

Hi Iluvatar,

As promised, some feedback on your fantastic report. Thanks again for taking time and preparing one!

The Story

I really like the narrative for the game. Even more so that I know it takes time to write one, even if the battle provides ideas for the writing. Adds greatly to the entertainment factor!

The Scenario

I believe scenarios are what should always be present at warhammer games. They add new dimension to them, allow players to perform heroic actions that otherwise would be foolish (and would still be called like that if they fail to achieve the goal! :))

What I find particularly interesting in this scenario is that there are armies of different size.

Army Lists

That is one crazy idea! I saw online tournaments where people had to play with the armies designed by the TO but it pushes that even further! Now that is a real challenge for all these supposedly great tacticians! Try to win with what you have, not with what you want :)

Would be possible to get some insight into what you wanted to achieve with this particular Skaven army and what was the aim for your friend?

Your army definitely has a lot of unpopular options there! But I was very intrigued because it is one of the rare opportunities to see them in real game. It may be friendly encounter, it may be a scenario but it is still real game.

Deployment

The scenario required for the Skaven army to be deployed first and it seems your friend decided to go with full horde for the hill (no wonder, cheese is there!) and some units were on his left flank to protect the advance. At the same time it looks to me (I am guessing! Please, remember I write as I read!) that you didn't want to stop the advance with the frontal attack where the sheer number might prevail. Instead, you formed an army to go for the enemy flank, hopefully break it and then charge the furry phalanx from the side where it is the most vulnerable.

At the same time, to see two mages alone is very surprising. They are not even hidden behind the regiments.

Act 1

That Phoenix looks absolutely beautiful! I am jealous :)

The opening magic phase is devastating. It shows that it is not the number of dice but the difference between them that matters the most! Ah well, nothing one can do apart from practicing rolling double 6!

I really like the look of that one huge flank attack! Ground shaking for sure and must have been very rewarding to pay back. A pity you could not break one unit on the charge, that would have helped to clear that flank.

I was wondering, it you charged with Silver Helms alone, you had the chance to use Reavers to block that counter, did you consider that option? It looks like a good alternative since Silver Helms attack on narrow frontage and maybe had better chance to break the enemy alone? While reavers could guard the flank. If Silver Helms broke the foe then reavers would flee and try to get away from the rats.

Oh boy, that was probably the most horrible roll for DT I have ever seen (and I failed quite a few spectacularly too! :)). Great you guys took it with a laughter, what a game! :lol:

It didn't look good for the Elves, as they went for some exchanges and that suited rats that have more bodies and more units.

Act 2

Power of the "metal" song! :lol: =D> That was a very good move to add mage to combat as he fought against the pack master only. And it was enough to break the rat ogres! They do behave like they write in the books!

Just a question, does the staff of corruption Skrolk carries allows for ward saves? I don't have a Skaven army book with me at the moment.

That Phoenix is clearly becoming MVP!

Quite powerful strikes by the Elves but the cost is high too and it is very intriguing to see if the brave Phoenix and remnants of the HE army are going to prevail. Skaven have more units but many of them are fleeing now, so is it going to be enough to claim the hill with the Plague Furnace?

Act 3

That is truly epic! First you roll triple 1's for chariots that would have had a great impact on the game if they behaved (pun intended! :)) and now balance to the force is restored and the Phoenix is reborn!

That and noble sacrifice of the mage saved the hill! The fact that after initial disaster with plague and dt tests you pulled out a draw in sheer victory points is fantastic! The fact that you also played to keep the hill as an objective for the scenario purposes is even better!

In terms of the comments, I would not necessary think Frostheart would be that much better. You used yours more in close combat where Forstheart is obviously better but there were these attacks due to flying over the enemy and they were successful too, panicking away the enemy that otherwise would be in charge range as well. Or at least close enough to claim the hill.

Frostheart does not have a chance to come back either. :)

I totally agree that such games as yours also require efficient movement and simply good planning. In fact, it may be more challenging as there are additional factors you have to take into account such as new army list you have no practice with, difference in the size of the armies, special scenario etc.

Once again, thanks a lot for the great report to you and your friend. It was fantastic read and great entertainment. =D>

Cheers!
Image

Twitter @SwordOfHoeth

High Elves MSU - Observations
Rabidnid wrote:Are you seriously asking someone called Swordmaster of Hoeth why he has more swordmasters than white lions? Really?
Iluvatar
Posts: 446
Joined: Tue Aug 28, 2012 1:46 pm

Re: Hold the Cheese House!

#18 Post by Iluvatar »

Thanks for the answers, both of you! Still quite busy, so answers are long to come, but here they are!

Jimmy, I'm happy if that report entertained you for a few minutes. That's only a small part of the enjoyment I get from your reports, but large rivers start as small streams, eh? :wink:

Swordmaster, thanks for that answer! There's definitely a lot in it!
Swordmaster of Hoeth wrote:As promised, some feedback on your fantastic report. Thanks again for taking time and preparing one!
Really, that's nothing compared to what a couple others do! :wink:
Swordmaster of Hoeth wrote:The Story

I really like the narrative for the game. Even more so that I know it takes time to write one, even if the battle provides ideas for the writing. Adds greatly to the entertainment factor!
Thanks! That started with my friend making the introduction. I found it fit perfectly to the spirit of the game...
Swordmaster of Hoeth wrote:The Scenario

I believe scenarios are what should always be present at warhammer games. They add new dimension to them, allow players to perform heroic actions that otherwise would be foolish (and would still be called like that if they fail to achieve the goal! :))

What I find particularly interesting in this scenario is that there are armies of different size.
Indeed, scenarios add so much to the game. Especially for us, who play against each other almost exclusively. I find the best scenarios are often those that add a victory condition that grants additional VPs, provided that bonus is sized appropriately. But indeed, different army sizes, combined with special conditions that equalize the chances, are also a great way to change the feel of the game. As a defender in this scenario, you feel like the underdog all the time, and you wonder how you will be able to hold the line. And yet, both times we played it, the defender won!
Swordmaster of Hoeth wrote:Army Lists

That is one crazy idea! I saw online tournaments where people had to play with the armies designed by the TO but it pushes that even further! Now that is a real challenge for all these supposedly great tacticians! Try to win with what you have, not with what you want :)
Yes, my friend is very good at finding such strange ideas! I have to admit that I'm reluctant to them most of the time :roll: , but in most cases they actually improve our gaming experience.
Swordmaster of Hoeth wrote:Would be possible to get some insight into what you wanted to achieve with this particular Skaven army and what was the aim for your friend?
Of course!
Remember that our choices are driven by what is available in both our armies - no proxies except weaponry. In addition, we had to field at least 10% of each category (Lords, Heroes, Special and Rare) and max 30% of Core, so this limited further our options.

My first choice for the Skaven were the characters. In lord, I could choose between a warlord, Skrolk, a Grey Seer and a Verminlord. I knew that I would have little magic defense, so the Grey Seer was out. The Verminlord was excluded as well, since I guessed I would have little shooting and magic to handle it, and he would do great damage in CC (in addition to his magic abilities). The warlord didn't fit the 10% minimum Lords even fully equipped, so that meant Skrolk had to come out (and besides, it's a recent acquisition so it was his first appearance for him in our games!). The warlord came as well to cap the Lords allowance - I figured he would have less an impact than regular troops. I actually had fun equipping him: I imagined him as a lone wolf that could hunt some of my small units...

Next were heroes. No BSB was a must to exploit the rather low Skaven Ld. That also meant that I had to field two warlock engineers and a Priest on Plague Furnace to fit the 10%, all because I wanted to have the minimum total magic levels (so no upgrades for all those). I figured I would have nothing to kill the Furnace, so I knew I would have to make small units of plague monks that I could deplete to restrict its movement (under 10 monks to push the Furnace, it starts to lose movement).

Special were the easiest: playing on Skaven Ld as well with lots of small frenzied units. I knew it wouldn't be possible to have all units under the general's bubble, so my friend would have to make a choice - cover frenzied units or cover the Core and its low Ld. Note that I would have avoided the Plague Censer Bearers if I had been able to, since they can really wreck High Elves (3 S5 hating attacks on first CC round is nasty) - but considering the models available, they were the lesser of other evils...

I also knew that I would have few ranks to handle Steadfast units, so Core was all units as small as possible, with the Weapon Teams I hoped would have the least impact on the game (I think all types of weapon teams are available in pairs). I also used Skrolk's special rule to make one unit of plague monks count as Core to have one less 20-rats block.

So, basically, the aims were: limit Skaven magic as I could, and try to cause Ld issues to the Skaven army.

My friend had a different approach. He considered that I was the defender and that I needed to defend the hill, so he gave me units that were mobile instead, and little shooting. My magic was chosen to have little impact on the game as well...
Note that I believe this approach was actually wrong. Having a mobile combat army in this scenario, as the defender, is probably one of the best strategies: since you deploy second, you can choose what side you want to strike hard, so that you fight only part of the enemy line with most of your forces... and if your units are mobile, they can come back later to contest the hill.
Swordmaster of Hoeth wrote:Your army definitely has a lot of unpopular options there! But I was very intrigued because it is one of the rare opportunities to see them in real game. It may be friendly encounter, it may be a scenario but it is still real game.

Deployment

The scenario required for the Skaven army to be deployed first and it seems your friend decided to go with full horde for the hill (no wonder, cheese is there!) and some units were on his left flank to protect the advance. At the same time it looks to me (I am guessing! Please, remember I write as I read!) that you didn't want to stop the advance with the frontal attack where the sheer number might prevail. Instead, you formed an army to go for the enemy flank, hopefully break it and then charge the furry phalanx from the side where it is the most vulnerable.

At the same time, to see two mages alone is very surprising. They are not even hidden behind the regiments.
Your guess is right. My only chance was to break the weaker flank and avoid large units at the beginning, then go back towards the hill to hopefully fight Core units one by one. That was my plan - didn't quite go as expected due to heavy losses in the first 2 turns, but globally, it worked.
Note that this was my only plan, and I believe my opponent could have totally wrecked this with either of two things:
- deploying the Furnace on the weak flank, since it's unbreakable and I had nothing to really destroy it. This would have prevented the skaven left flank from collapsing.
- playing more avoidance on the left flank. That would mean having the catapult further behind the lines, and moving backwards in the first turns with the left flank. At least keeping a distance that was high enough to make my combined charges unlikely, and short enough that if I turned back towards the hill, this flank could advance and threaten to envelop me.
Swordmaster of Hoeth wrote:Act 1

That Phoenix looks absolutely beautiful! I am jealous :)
I'm quite happy about it indeed - a recent achievement. Not as stunning as Jimmy's for instance, but the best part is that it's magnetized so it can be a Frostheart or Flamespyre, and mounted or not. :D
Swordmaster of Hoeth wrote:The opening magic phase is devastating. It shows that it is not the number of dice but the difference between them that matters the most! Ah well, nothing one can do apart from practicing rolling double 6!

I really like the look of that one huge flank attack! Ground shaking for sure and must have been very rewarding to pay back. A pity you could not break one unit on the charge, that would have helped to clear that flank.

I was wondering, it you charged with Silver Helms alone, you had the chance to use Reavers to block that counter, did you consider that option? It looks like a good alternative since Silver Helms attack on narrow frontage and maybe had better chance to break the enemy alone? While reavers could guard the flank. If Silver Helms broke the foe then reavers would flee and try to get away from the rats.

Oh boy, that was probably the most horrible roll for DT I have ever seen (and I failed quite a few spectacularly too! :)). Great you guys took it with a laughter, what a game! :lol:

It didn't look good for the Elves, as they went for some exchanges and that suited rats that have more bodies and more units.
Difficult opening for me indeed! I didn't actually consider the option of using the reavers to redirect the counter charge. I believe my only chance was to break though in one turn, but Silver Helms alone had no more chances to do it alone: I actually won the first round, but Skaven were steadfast and passed the test. (In fact, they almost passed all Ld test during the first turns, and almost failed all of them later!)
And the worst part (or possibly the most funny) about the DT tests is that it was a consequence of several rolls: Ld 8 test failed to avoid pursuing, then triple 2 on the DT test (in a swamp, chariots fail on a 1 or 2), then 4, 5 and 6 on the D6 wounds roll! The only sane reaction was to laugh at it!
Swordmaster of Hoeth wrote:Act 2

Power of the "metal" song! :lol: =D> That was a very good move to add mage to combat as he fought against the pack master only. And it was enough to break the rat ogres! They do behave like they write in the books!

Just a question, does the staff of corruption Skrolk carries allows for ward saves? I don't have a Skaven army book with me at the moment

That Phoenix is clearly becoming MVP!

Quite powerful strikes by the Elves but the cost is high too and it is very intriguing to see if the brave Phoenix and remnants of the HE army are going to prevail. Skaven have more units but many of them are fleeing now, so is it going to be enough to claim the hill with the Plague Furnace?
Yes, charging with the mage was a move I'm quite proud of. Totally unexpected from my friend, and it was a winning move! :)
And no, the Staff or Corruption offers no saves of any kind. If Skrolk hits you once, you take a T test, and if you fail it, you're dead! I realized this during the combat, but it actually made the challenge that much more dramatic. Besides, the Phoenix avenged his Annointed master later! :D
Swordmaster of Hoeth wrote:Act 3

That is truly epic! First you roll triple 1's for chariots that would have had a great impact on the game if they behaved (pun intended! :)) and now balance to the force is restored and the Phoenix is reborn!

That and noble sacrifice of the mage saved the hill! The fact that after initial disaster with plague and dt tests you pulled out a draw in sheer victory points is fantastic! The fact that you also played to keep the hill as an objective for the scenario purposes is even better!
Yes, epic ending indeed! That roll of a 6 was another great moment. Reminds me of Hoodling's Hole's report of the battle of Finuval, where Malekith's emperor dragon fails its S test on Dweller's Below! :lol:
I knew when I rolled it that I had won: I would hold the hill, and VP-wise we were about equal...
Swordmaster of Hoeth wrote:In terms of the comments, I would not necessary think Frostheart would be that much better. You used yours more in close combat where Forstheart is obviously better but there were these attacks due to flying over the enemy and they were successful too, panicking away the enemy that otherwise would be in charge range as well. Or at least close enough to claim the hill.

Frostheart does not have a chance to come back either. :)
Indeed, that's what I liked so much. The Frostheart is generally agreed to be better, but in this game all of the Flamespyre's special rule were decisive!
Swordmaster of Hoeth wrote:I totally agree that such games as yours also require efficient movement and simply good planning. In fact, it may be more challenging as there are additional factors you have to take into account such as new army list you have no practice with, difference in the size of the armies, special scenario etc.

Once again, thanks a lot for the great report to you and your friend. It was fantastic read and great entertainment. =D>

Cheers!
You're welcome! And many, many thanks for your detailed comments! :D
User avatar
Swordmaster of Hoeth
Southern Sentinel
Posts: 4479
Joined: Thu Jul 01, 2004 9:01 am
Location: On the path of an outcast

Re: Hold the Cheese House!

#19 Post by Swordmaster of Hoeth »

Hi Iluvatar!

Thanks for taking time and replying to my oversized post!

A few additional remarks, in no particular order:

1. I didn't know you have magnetized parts so that you can change between Flamespyre and Frostheart, great idea to be able to have 2 models from one set!

2. Good scenarios will put players in the position to face the challenges they don't experience in regular battle line. And a good generalship is revealed in the face of adversity!

3. You don't have to post often to provide high quality report. Yours is unique on many aspects and that alone is great achievement. As a reader I was thrilled and I must say it really provided that type of entertainment I miss from old WD. Great story line, unique scenario, not typical armies, epic moments, tables turning with each turn played, simply great!

Thanks again and I hope it is just the beginning!

Cheers!
Image

Twitter @SwordOfHoeth

High Elves MSU - Observations
Rabidnid wrote:Are you seriously asking someone called Swordmaster of Hoeth why he has more swordmasters than white lions? Really?
Post Reply