HE vs HE: End Times Archaon Rules

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
Ladril Caledor
Posts: 246
Joined: Thu Dec 04, 2014 7:11 am

HE vs HE: End Times Archaon Rules

#1 Post by Ladril Caledor »

Played a game earlier using the new 'Warhammer Unbound' rules featured in ET: Archaon. For those who haven't heard, there are basically no restrictions on army composition, no percentages, no maximum number of a particular unit, no core requirement, just bring what you like. My opinion on it is, it's no good for tournaments, too unbalanced, and I don't think it will be applied there. But for casual games and scenarios, I like the potential for fluffy armies, plus I've never been a fan of any of the core High Elf units (apart from a unit or two of reavers), so for me this is quite liberating.

My friend and I had a go at making lists under these new rules. Neither of us were trying for anything too powerful, it was more about putting together a mix of units we liked that we thought would be fun to play. We didn't have a great deal of time to play, so we agreed to both pick small, elite armies with no shooting and one magic user each.

My list - Caradryan's Guard:

Caradryan: Incarnate of Fire 590

2 Flamespyre Phoenixes 510

2 units of 24 Phoenix Guard with full command 780

2 units of 5 Ellyrian Reavers with champions 180

Really I was just desperate to try out the new Incarnate of Fire, so I built a fluffy list to support it. Caradryan is a level 3 fire mage, so my plan is to basically fly over a bunch of units with my three flamespyres, causing as much Wake of Fire damage as possible, followed by some Khaine magic fire spamming. Later the PG would anvil and the Flamespyres would hammer. The Reavers are in there as chaff. When I saw how much dragon armour was in my opposing army I really wished I hadn't brought three Flamespyres! However we agreed before the game that his Phoenix Blade attacks were not flaming, as the item does not specify flaming attacks, although he does have the innate flaming attacks ability, please correct me on this if we are wrong)

My Opponents List:

Prince with Armour of Caledor, Dawnstone, Sword of Might, Potion of Foolhardiness
Archmage Lvl 4 Shadow with Book of Hoeth, Golden Crown
Noble BSB with Dragon Armour, Great Weapon, Talisman of Preservation
Noble with Dragon Armour, Ogre Blade, Enchanted Shield
21 White Lions with full command and Banner of the World Dragon

Noble with Dragon Armour, Great Weapon, Obsidian Lodestone
20 Swordmasters with full command

10 Dragon Princes with full command

2 Great Eagles

When I saw his army I was a bit worried. My fire magic is basically useless against the big WL block (BotWD) and the DP's (fireborn). Even the SM's, my only target, have a 4+ magic ward. All his units have great weapons or lances, which can easily hurt my phoenixes, and that Lvl 4 shadow archmage gives him a big edge in the magic phase.

High Elf Turn 1:

His Swordmasters are set up front and centre, and his DP's and WL's are behind and well to the each side. His plan is pretty clear, he is daring me to do Wake of Fire bombing runs on the only viable target, the swordmasters, so he can counter charge with his superior units. He moves the Eagles in front of his SM's in block and redirect positions. He manages to Wither some of my units, but it is inconsequential in this turn.

Caradryan Turn 1:

I decide to sweep everything towards the left flank, towards his WL's. I spam fireballs to try and kill his eagle chaff, but only manage a single wound. Khaine magic hasn't been up to much so far.

High Elf Turn 2:

Again he just does some subtle repositioning, angling the DP's to cover more with their charge arc, and pointing the WL's to the space behind the SM's. The eagles position to block any charges I could make on his SM's. He manages to Wither both Caradryan and another flamespyre. If he had such shooting or magic missiles he could really do some damage this turn, but his Shadow magic really isn't doing anything significant...yet

Caradryan Turn 2:

I decide to go for it with the phoenixes. Two (including Caradryan) fly over the SM's (killing seven) and the other flies over the WL's (killing four). I land them in a place when they can easily flee from his counter charges next turn. My Phoenix Guard advance to within charge range of his SM's, as I'm confident I can win that battle. In the magic phase I manage to kill a single Eagle with fireballs. I'm struggling to get much magic off as he has a higher level mage and the Book of Hoeth.

High Elf Turn 3:

His WL's charge Caradryan, who flees and gets away easily. The DP's charge another Flamespyre, who flees, but I roll 1-1-2 to flee and my bird is caught and slaughtered. His 14 Swordmasters plus Noble charge my 24 Phoenix Guard. Normally this is a good matchup, but Khaine magic + Lvl 4 Shadow with Book = scary spell spam. He takes my PG down to S1 and they only kill a single Swordmaster. He rolls spectacularly in return, somehow managing to kill 13 PG, breaking steadfast and causing my unit to flee. The SM's catch and finish off the remainders easily, then they reform to face the flank of the other PG unit.

Caradryan Turn 3:

That turn didn't go so well for me, but there is hope. I charge the remaining Eagle with my reavers, needing to tie it up for a while so I can follow through on the rest of my plans. Caradryan rallies, and turns to face the DP's. I fly the remaining reaver over the WL's, burning another four to death in the process. The other reaver unit moves alongside the phoenix, both of them behind the White Lions. The remaining PG unit moves to block the DP's from charging Caradryan. In magic, Caradryan manages to draw a line of sight to the SM's, and burns six despite the protection of the Obsidian Lodestone, taking them down to a single rank of seven. In combat the reavers take two wounds off the eagle, losing one Ellyrian in return. The eagle holds.

High Elves Turn 4:
The DP’s charge the remaining PG unit, and the SMs charge the reavers. Both hold. I think if I flee with the PG they will get caught and destroyed, and if I flee with the reavers he will redirect into the Flamespyre. In remaining moves he reforms the WLs and shuffles them sideways, blocking the other Flamespyre. I know he is going to Emfeeble the PG, but if they can just hold them up for a turn the DP’s drop to S3 and I can charge both their flanks. He gets irresistible force on Emfeebling, and takes the PG down to S2, but then rolls dimensional cascade and his archmage gets sucked into the realm of Chaos!

The reavers manage to kill one SM before the SMs rip them to shreds. He tries to overrun into the Flamespyre, but doesn’t quite reach. Now in the crucial combat…the DP’s kill five, and the PG manage to kill a single one in return, but crucially they are steadfast and hold.

Caradryan Turn 4:

Momentum may have swung now, that dimensional cascade really changed the nature of this battle. Caradryan and the reavers slam into either flank of the DP’s. The remaining Flamspyre moves over the WL’s burning them as he goes, killing five and moving him out of charge danger, and in a position to rear charge the DP’s if necessary. The winds of magic boost the Phoenix ward saves, and I realize there is nothing worth casting (Flaming Sword is my only option and that would just give the DPs a 2+ fireborn save.

In combat, the DP’s manage to kill 2 reavers and 2 PG, and 6 DP’s are killed in return. The DP’s break... almost fleeing off the board. The reavers try to pursue but fall just short.

High Elves Turn 5:

The 3 remaing DP’s rally and reform to face the enemy. The WL’s also reform and shuffle sideways, getting out of as many potential charges as possible, while the SM’s march forwards.

Caradryan Turn 5:

Phoenixes fly over the remaining infantry, killing two of each unit, and positioning themselves at the rear of the enemy. The Phoenix Guard reform to face the three, small remaining enemy units. I hope they can hold off the inevitable charge, so the Phoenixes can rear charge in the final turn. In magic, with no book of hoeth mage to dispel, Caradryan goes to town with fireballs, wiping out the remaining SMs and even two WLs (despite BotWD, 14 hits and he fails two 2+ wards)

High Elves Turn 6:

WL’s and DP’s charge the PG. They manage to kill 6 PG, and in return the remaining 4 WL’s and one of the Nobles is killed. The PG are still steadfast and hold. Now only the Prince, BSB, and 3 DP’s remain…

Caradryan Turn 6:

Both Phoenixes charge in, but I hold the reavers back, not wanting to give easy kills. The Prince gulps down his Potion of Foolhardiness and issues a challenge, and I consider being sneaky and letting the PG champion take it, but decide it would more appropriately epic to answer with Caradryan. The Prince rolls well and manages 3Ws on Caradryan and Caradryan can only get 2Ws in return. Both wounds he did manage to score both rolled 1 on multiple wounds, so the Prince survives. The Phoenix Guard kill the BSB and one of the DP’s. The other Flamespyre struggles against the BSBs dragon armour, only managing one wound and losing a wound in return. The DP’s don’t manage to kill any PG. The High Elves have lost by two, but manage to hold.

High Elves Turn 7:

With so few models remaining, we decide to play an extra turn and continue the battle to the death! The Prince gets two more wounds on Caradryan, but Caradryan easily finishes him off in return, overkilling by three wounds. Another two PG die, as well as a DP. The remaining two DPs flee off the table. Caradryan is victorious!


Final Thoughts:

A lot of fun, and it was a nice change to play without the usual spears/archers/helms blandness. The usually powerful Khaine magic wasn't that much of a factor in this game, although I got really lucky with the dimensional cascade, if it wasn't for that he would have dominated the combats with Shadow spam and won easily.

I liked using Caradryan, although I feel Fire is too weak a lore for him to be my only spellcaster, especially with Khaine rules. I think he would make a good support caster to something like High or Life. It really was a lot of fun flying over stuff with Wake of Fire, then landing behind and throwing fireballs.

You may have noticed that this game was played quite 'fast and loose', all done in under two hours, which is the way I prefer to play friendly games. We weren't trying to dominate with our armies or tactics, more just looking for a good time. Despite that, I felt that we both played pretty well, but I'm sure there were a lot of better decisions we could have made.

I felt my biggest mistake was sending everything down the wrong flank, I should have moved everything to the flank with the DP's instead of the WL's, so his big 1000+ point infantry unit would have had to march across the board (and I could have slowed him down with reavers) while I went to down on his other units. Instead I attacked his slower flank, and his DP's had no problem getting over to help.

My opinion on the new 'unbound army lists' rules, like I said at the start, is that they are great for fun, fluffy armies, casual games and scenarios, but not really appropriate for competitive games.

As for Khaine magic, as some of you know I've been a bit of a fan of it since the start, I prefer it to standard rules. But I suppose it works really well with the fast and loose playing style of me and my friends (our Khaine magic phases average less than five minutes, our regular magic phases less than two), I think I would absolutely hate it if someone brought a Loremaster of Hoeth and spent half an hour each phase going through his sixty cards and trying to decide what to do.
User avatar
John Rainbow
Posts: 3550
Joined: Thu Mar 24, 2011 2:47 am
Location: PA, USA

Re: HE vs HE: End Times Archaon Rules

#2 Post by John Rainbow »

Thanks for the report. I haven't played the new unbound yet and don't really see myself using it in any case. I have been having some fun games using Imrik v. Nagash, etc though and have really enjoyed the ET so far in that regard.

Maybe next time you could post some pictures? That would enhance the readability for sure and maybe get you a few more comments.
Ladril Caledor
Posts: 246
Joined: Thu Dec 04, 2014 7:11 am

Re: HE vs HE: End Times Archaon Rules

#3 Post by Ladril Caledor »

Thanks John. My last report http://www.ulthuan.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=51&t=68025 had fluff and maps and I think it was much better.

I didn't actually intend to make this one into a battle report, but the game was so much fun that I just kind of bashed this sloppy text report out based on memory. I don't think it worked very well, I know from reading other reports that maps or pictures really are essential to follow the flow of the battle. I'll do things properly next time.
Post Reply