A New Blog

All discussions related to Warhammer Fantasy Battles from 1st to 8th edition go here, including army construction, comp creation, campaign and scenarios design, etc...
Message
Author
SpellArcher
Green Istari
Posts: 13841
Joined: Sat Sep 13, 2008 11:26 am
Location: Otherworld

Re: A New Blog

#241 Post by SpellArcher »

So Mark the TO has informed me that I’m fighting an unusual army in round one, Nippon! Here is the link to download the army book (thanks to Warhammer Armies Project), warning it’s probably a lot of data!

https://doc-10-9g-docs.googleuserconten ... e=download

Normally I’d be very uneasy facing an army I’m not roughly familiar with. This though seems to work much like Empire in that there are a lot of ordinary humans that can be buffed (magically and non-magically) to become dangerous, especially the characters. My list is not great vs Warrior Priest-style spam phases so I’ll need to be careful. Thankfully it’s 25% Lords and Heroes, not 50% this tournament! Killing Blow especially is a big threat to my own heroes.

As vs Empire, Monstrous troops look quite good. My Beasts are formidable but most armies have something that can deal with a single unit of four. The Trolls should be great if they can get into combat but this foe has Flaming war machines. It can bring MonCav (and Allies of course) but I have some artillery of my own. If nothing else it should look very interesting!
CaledorRises
Posts: 250
Joined: Wed Sep 24, 2014 1:55 am

Re: A New Blog

#242 Post by CaledorRises »

Ah, you're fighting Graeme! He's a good guy! I've only seen pictures of his Nippon, but they're well done, he's got a wide mix of models from different sources and I believe some custom stuff as well. You should expect him to bring the monstrous cav, some Oni, the water dragon thing (a very nice model), one of each warmachine, and a good mix of the infantry.
SpellArcher
Green Istari
Posts: 13841
Joined: Sat Sep 13, 2008 11:26 am
Location: Otherworld

Re: A New Blog

#243 Post by SpellArcher »

CaledorRises wrote:I've only seen pictures of his Nippon, but they're well done, he's got a wide mix of models from different sources and I believe some custom stuff as well.
Sounds awesome! I’m going to be very ashamed of my unfinished effort.

:(
CaledorRises wrote:You should expect him to bring the monstrous cav, some Oni, the water dragon thing (a very nice model), one of each warmachine, and a good mix of the infantry.
This is great because it’ll be much more interesting to fight than a gunline. Those choices look quite good but I have more than one counter to each of them, which is always nice.
SpellArcher
Green Istari
Posts: 13841
Joined: Sat Sep 13, 2008 11:26 am
Location: Otherworld

Re: A New Blog

#244 Post by SpellArcher »

Worcester - Smash of the Titans

So this tournament was played yesterday at Worcester War Games. TO was Mark Peat and I believe we had 18 players, not bad. 3 games of 2500pts, Warhammer 8th Edition. My list:

Orc Warlord, Ogre Blade, 4+ Ward, Charmed Shield, Ironcurse Icon 210
Orc Lvl 4, Dispel Scroll, Ruby Ring, 5+ Ward 280

Black Orc BSB, 4+ Ward Armour 165
Gitilla da Hunter 110

27 Big’Uns, Shield, FC, Razor Standard 323
18 Arrer Boyz, FC 156
9 Wolf Riders, Spear, Shortbow, Shield, FC 147

8 Trolls 280
3 Bolt Shooters 105
3 Snotling Bases 90

4 Beasts of Nurgle 240
3 Flamers 120
Skillcannon 135
2 Mangler Squigs 130

For once I arrived almost on time (long drive & family commitments) and set to with Graeme and his lovely Nippon army:

Fighting Lord, Skills, Stuff
Lvl 4, Nippon Lore, Dispel Scroll, Stuff
BSB, Skills, Stuff
Lvl 1, Nippon Lore

22 Samurai (WS 4), Heavy Armour, Katana, FC
33 Ashigaru, Light Armour, Halberd, Full Command
10 Ashigaru, Light Armour, Bow
10 Ashigaru, Light Armour, Bow

10 Ashigaru, Light Armour, S5 Handgun 18” range
10 Ashigaru, Light Armour, S5 Handgun 18” range
10 Geishas (War Dances, Poison, Skirmishers)
5 Ninjas, AHW, Blowpipe, Throwing Stars, Poison
5 Ninjas, AHW, Blowpipe, Throwing Stars, Poison

War Shrine
Stone Thrower, Flaming
S7 Cannon, Flaming
3 Great Guard, MonCav, 3+ AS, Fly, Halberd
Water Dragon (Statline mostly of 5’s, no Fly)

Thoughts on the match-up?

Image
CaledorRises
Posts: 250
Joined: Wed Sep 24, 2014 1:55 am

Re: A New Blog

#245 Post by CaledorRises »

I know the end outcome of the battle, but not the details, so I'll go ahead and offer my thoughts.

From the looks of it I think your list is slightly stronger. He's got a similar style list I think in that you've both got fairly resilient lists. His is a bit more shooting heavy than yours, but despite that you've got the heavy firepower advantage, I think your artillery is better than his. I'd give you the edge in close combat as well, but that is entirely dependent on how effective his archers and handgunners are at weakening your combat line. The flaming warmachines have the potential to cause serious problems for your Trolls, but you've got Manglers to draw fire away.

In my opinion his two biggest threats are the monstrous cavalry and the Ninjas. If the Ninjas take out your warmachines, I think you'll have trouble dealing with flying monstrous cavalry, and I also think you will be more inclined to advance due to his edge in all-around shooting, which could leave the warmachines exposed.

The dragon is a very pretty model, but I don't see it being a substantial threat with only 5s for stats.

Like I said, I know the end result, but I'm very interested to see how you got there!
SpellArcher
Green Istari
Posts: 13841
Joined: Sat Sep 13, 2008 11:26 am
Location: Otherworld

Re: A New Blog

#246 Post by SpellArcher »

CaledorRises wrote:I'll go ahead and offer my thoughts.
Thanks CR.
CaledorRises wrote:He's got a similar style list I think in that you've both got fairly resilient lists.
Fair point. Graeme has numbers but I have Toughness 4 and that might be important.
CaledorRises wrote:His is a bit more shooting heavy than yours, but despite that you've got the heavy firepower advantage, I think your artillery is better than his.
I think a lot depends on how effective those S5 handgunners are, given the need to get them into 18” range.
CaledorRises wrote:I'd give you the edge in close combat as well
Agreed. The Shrinestar is tough but T4 3+ isn’t enough on the MonCav and 5’s aren’t on the dragon.
CaledorRises wrote:Ninjas
Could be annoying. They don’t Ambush though which is helpful.
CaledorRises wrote:From the looks of it I think your list is slightly stronger.
I concur, +1 match-up.
SpellArcher
Green Istari
Posts: 13841
Joined: Sat Sep 13, 2008 11:26 am
Location: Otherworld

Re: A New Blog

#247 Post by SpellArcher »

Deployment

Opposite my left were the Geishas, a unit of handgunners then a house and a unit of archers:

Image

Next was the water dragon (artillery behind), the Shrinestar and then Samurai with more archers behind them:

Image

Facing my right we had more handgunners and the Monstrous Cavalry:

Image

On my left I had Beasts, Flamers and a pair of bolt shooters. Some Scouting Ninjas are just out of shot top left:

Image

Next we have the Trolls, fronted by a Mangler Squig and my main block with all foot characters, screened by Snotlings:

Image

Arrer Boyz, second Mangler, third bolt shooter:

Image

Far right we have Wolf Riders and Skillcannon, with more Scouting Ninjas just off the top of the shot:

Image
CaledorRises
Posts: 250
Joined: Wed Sep 24, 2014 1:55 am

Re: A New Blog

#248 Post by CaledorRises »

Deployment is interesting, Graeme hasn't weighted any flank particularly heavily which I think considering the parity of your lists in most ways I'd say is a mistake. I think your left is much stronger than his right, and can flank the center with relative impunity. The 20 infantry he has there won't threaten the Beasts of Nurgle, and I think your Flamers could give them a solid fight. Your center looks very strong as does his, his warmachines seem to be a bit more obscured than your's though, and those Archers in the back will have at least 1 turn before they can get any decent shots off. Your right is the interesting one to me. On the face of it I'd say his flank is stronger, Gitilla won't stand a chance against the Monstrous Cavalry, and the Skullcannon will have to choose whether to shoot into the center where it might be needed more, or to shoot the Monstrous Cavalry bearing down on it. I think his Monstrous Cavalry, if played aggressively, could sweep your right flank around that tower, but crucially I don't think the Nippon forces in the center are deployed to support such a rush, it looks like he'll use the cavalry to support a fight in front of the tower rather than try to push behind it, which I think plays to your strength.

I'd say your deployment is stronger here. I look forward to the game!
SpellArcher
Green Istari
Posts: 13841
Joined: Sat Sep 13, 2008 11:26 am
Location: Otherworld

Re: A New Blog

#249 Post by SpellArcher »

Thanks CR. I agree the Beasts should be a problem for Graeme. As for my right flank, you can see below that he quickly exerted some pressure!

Turn One

Graeme won first turn and advanced across the board:

Image

Image

Image

Magic and shooting achieved little. On the left my Beasts failed a charge on the water dragon and shuffled forwards whilst the Flamers scooted across to confront some Ninjas:

Image

I advanced cautiously in the centre to maintain a line with the Beasts. On the right the Wolf Riders charged past the MonCav into more Ninjas allowing the Skillcannon to contact the former. Magic whiffed but the bolt shooters came up trumps, killing the water dragon outright! The Wolf Riders Pursued the beaten Ninjas off the battlefield but had lost seven guys in the process. Impact Hits killed one MonCav but the other two held on Stubborn:

Image
CaledorRises
Posts: 250
Joined: Wed Sep 24, 2014 1:55 am

Re: A New Blog

#250 Post by CaledorRises »

Looks like things are going well! I have to say, I constantly forget that the Skullcannon can fight, and particularly charge. I would not have expected the charge on the monstrous cavalry from a cannon, I suspect Graeme didn't either which is why he moved them so far forwards.

Taking out the Dragon in Turn 1 is good, but I don't think it's that surprising. Advancing a T5 W5 monster into the open in the middle of the board facing a list with 3 Bolt Throwers and a cannon just seems like a good way to lose a dragon. Killing it in one shooting phase was pretty good, but I wouldn't have been surprised if it lost 3-4 wounds in that turn.

The removal/handling of the Ninjas is also very good, they were something I expected to be a threat to the warmachines, dealing with them this early will definitely allow you to advance with less caution and allow your warmachines to operate with less fear.
SpellArcher
Green Istari
Posts: 13841
Joined: Sat Sep 13, 2008 11:26 am
Location: Otherworld

Re: A New Blog

#251 Post by SpellArcher »

CaledorRises wrote:Looks like things are going well! I have to say, I constantly forget that the Skullcannon can fight, and particularly charge. I would not have expected the charge on the monstrous cavalry from a cannon, I suspect Graeme didn't either which is why he moved them so far forwards.
It’s really very naughty isn’t it?
CaledorRises wrote:The removal/handling of the Ninjas is also very good, they were something I expected to be a threat to the warmachines, dealing with them this early will definitely allow you to advance with less caution and allow your warmachines to operate with less fear.
I was a bit down on the overall performance of the Wolf Riders and Flamers but I’m reassessing CR.

Turn Two

The Ninjas charged the Flamers, the Geishas and handgunners advancing in support. Graeme was a bit more cautious in the centre, except for the Samurai:

Image

Magic was again ineffective. Shooting though removed the left wing squig and bagged a pair of Trolls. Melée was brutal. A storm of Poisoned attacks left just one Flamer and he only killed one guy. But the Ninjas failed their Warpflame test and three more bit the dust! The combat stuck, as did the one on the right flank.

I moved my line up to pressure the Nippon centre:

Image

At this point something strange happened because I’m struggling to make sense of my photos! My best guess is that I forgot the Animosity test for the Arrer Boyz which was then remembered and failed! I believe they must have charged the Samurai:

Image

The Wolf Riders returned to the battlefield. Magic and shooting did little for me. Flamer v Ninja was handbags, while Samurai v Arrers stuck. Another MonCav bit the dust and the last one broke, escaping the pursuit.
User avatar
RE.Lee
Posts: 2618
Joined: Mon Jan 31, 2005 9:22 pm
Location: Warsaw, Poland

Re: A New Blog

#252 Post by RE.Lee »

Nice to see them on the battlefield =D>
cheers, Lee

Elven Field Surgeon, Department of Intensive Care, Resuscitation and Necromancy
CaledorRises
Posts: 250
Joined: Wed Sep 24, 2014 1:55 am

Re: A New Blog

#253 Post by CaledorRises »

SpellArcher wrote: It’s really very naughty isn’t it?
Very much so. Particularly that the cannon ended up winning that combat! Which does surprise me even just looking at stats, I'd have thought that 2 S4 attacks and 2 S5 attacks per model should give those Monstrous Cav a good shot at beating a Cannon. I think Graeme really suffered there not having anything to support the attack of those cavalry.

For the Flamers, do they not have Quick to Fire? I would think that if they got to shoot then the Ninjas would be mostly gone, though perhaps not.

I'd say that Graeme shouldn't have pushed those Samurai so far forward on their own, that just seems very risky, you can engage his units in isolation much better. Although, the counter point to that is those Archers charging, that looks to be a fight that the Samurai will probably do very well in.

I'm thinking you're in the lead by a good amount at the end of Turn 2.
SpellArcher
Green Istari
Posts: 13841
Joined: Sat Sep 13, 2008 11:26 am
Location: Otherworld

Re: A New Blog

#254 Post by SpellArcher »

RE.Lee wrote:Nice to see them on the battlefield
Thanks RE!
CaledorRises wrote:even just looking at stats
Well, both have a 3+ AS but the Skillcannon has a 5+ Ward too and plus it’s Toughness 5. Maybe the dice favoured me a little?
CaledorRises wrote:For the Flamers, do they not have Quick to Fire?
Sadly not. Big balancing feature is that after Multiple Shot, Move and Range penalties (plus cover and Skirmishers sometimes) they don’t hit much. The 10pts for the BS 5 Champion is an excellent investment (given his D6 shots) but I couldn’t squeeze that into Rare.

Turn Three

Image

The MonCav rallied while the Geishas charged the Beasts in the flank, the Shrinestar approaching to help out next turn. Magic was Scrolled, shooting removed the remaining Mangler. The Flamer killed the Ninja but no wounds resulted from Geishas v Beasts, the latter failing their test to Combat Reform. The Arrers lost and broke but outpaced the Samurai.

Image

The Arrers rallied while the Trolls flank charged the Samurai and the Wolf Riders flanked some Handgunners. The Skillcannon charged the MonCav.

Image

Magic was again Scrolled and shooting failed. At this point Dice Down was called!

Image

12-8
CaledorRises
Posts: 250
Joined: Wed Sep 24, 2014 1:55 am

Re: A New Blog

#255 Post by CaledorRises »

Ah, the 5+ ward, forgot about that. Why use the cannon to shoot stuff when it's just as good at running things over?

It's unfortunate that you didn't get far into the game, I'd say you could have scored a much larger victory. I think pursuing with the Samurai was a very bad call, getting those Trolls in the flank would almost certainly lead to their destruction eventually, particularly if the Orc block got into their front. I'd probably have gone for the reform, especially considering the large spear block turned so that it couldn't counter charge the Trolls. The spear horde looks like its trying to face down the Beasts of Nurgle in the next turn, but that's exactly the kind of fight you want those Beasts in because they will probably never die to spearmen.

A well deserved win! I look forward to the next game.
SpellArcher
Green Istari
Posts: 13841
Joined: Sat Sep 13, 2008 11:26 am
Location: Otherworld

Re: A New Blog

#256 Post by SpellArcher »

CaledorRises wrote:A well deserved win!
Thanks CR!
CaledorRises wrote:It's unfortunate that you didn't get far into the game, I'd say you could have scored a much larger victory.
Maybe so.
CaledorRises wrote:I think pursuing with the Samurai was a very bad call
Yeah, it kind of puts me in the driving seat for the central match-ups.
CaledorRises wrote:those Beasts in because they will probably never die to spearmen.
One more great thing about the Beasts of course is that even if the enemy does eventually kill them, it’s not going to cost me the game, they’re only 240pts.
CaledorRises wrote:the 5+ ward
It’s this, coupled with the Daemonic Instability rules, that makes them so hard to shift as the next encounter showed.


Game Two
Daemons


Keeper of Secrets, Lvl 4, Eternal Blade
Herald of Slaanesh, ASF Locus, Sword of Striking
Herald of Slaanesh, Lvl 1, Auto-pass Terrain Tests, 8-wound Chariot

30 Daemonettes, FC, Banner of Swiftness
10 Horrors, Standard
10 Horrors, Standard

6 Flamers

Tzeentch Chariot
Skillcannon
Skillcannon

Thoughts on this match-up?
CaledorRises
Posts: 250
Joined: Wed Sep 24, 2014 1:55 am

Re: A New Blog

#257 Post by CaledorRises »

I'll put a disclaimer that I've got virtually no experience with Daemons, so I don't really know that much about how good that Daemon army is. That said, I think that it's probably a pretty strong list. The Keeper of Secrets is very strong, you've not got a direct counter for it. The list overall looks extremely aggressive, I think he'll be attacking as fast as he can. The Chariot from what I've heard is devastating if it manages to charge, but I imagine otherwise it's a pretty standard chariot. I don't think Daemonettes would be all that devastating, I think they are S3, so that makes them fairly similar to Elven Spearmen. I think the cannons are also a serious threat, they can kill your Manglers and they can particularly kill your Trolls.

I think overall your list is at the disadvantage. The key to the battle will be handling the Keeper of Secrets and winning the shooting battle to try and stop some of those heavy attack units from reaching you intact.
SpellArcher
Green Istari
Posts: 13841
Joined: Sat Sep 13, 2008 11:26 am
Location: Otherworld

Re: A New Blog

#258 Post by SpellArcher »

CaledorRises wrote:The Keeper of Secrets is very strong, you've not got a direct counter for it.
This is true and 1 v 1 very few things in the game can beat an Eternal Blade Keeper. It is though, slightly fragile at 5 wounds and only a 5+ save. It’s also at once an awesome fighter, a Lvl 4 wizard and the General. A lot to lose in one go. Artillery is obviously an issue for it and I have some other things that can hurt it.
CaledorRises wrote:The list overall looks extremely aggressive, I think he'll be attacking as fast as he can.
Agreed, though I’ve seen pure Slaanesh lists that are even quicker and more direct.
CaledorRises wrote:The Chariot from what I've heard is devastating if it manages to charge, but I imagine otherwise it's a pretty standard chariot.
My opponent, Matt, didn’t take the Locus that forces a chosen enemy to accept a Challenge, a favourite combined with this chariot.
CaledorRises wrote:I think the cannons are also a serious threat, they can kill your Manglers and they can particularly kill your Trolls.
True but I’d be more concerned if I had Monsters. They’re not going to pick off serious points easily.

Overall I feel this match-up is par.


Deployment

Matt’s right wing. He has Flamers, Burning Chariot, Skillcannon then Horrors.

Image

Centre. Aforementioned Horrors, then Daemonette Horde, Skillcannon, more Horrors. The Keeper was between the latter two units but had already raced forwards when this picture was taken.

Image

The same Horrors again and the Slaaneshi Chariot.

Image

My Left. Out of shot far left is a bolt shooter. The Arrer Boyz are screened by Flamers with a Mangler to the right and then the Beasts. Second bolter on the baseline.

Image

Centre. Main block screened by Snotlings, then Trolls and Skillcannon.

Image

Apologies for this one! But it helps to show second Mangler to the right of the Trolls, Wolf Riders far right and third bolt shooter on the baseline.

Image
CaledorRises
Posts: 250
Joined: Wed Sep 24, 2014 1:55 am

Re: A New Blog

#259 Post by CaledorRises »

What's the Eternal Blade do out of curiosity?


I think I like your deployment better here. The Daemons seem to be very spread out with no real focus of action. Your Wolf Riders are well positioned to fend off the Seeker Chariot for a little while. The Daemon line is also essentially all in the open, particularly the Keeper of Secrets, so there's nothing to prevent you from concentrating fire on it. The one think I'm a bit concerned about in your deployment is the Snotlings, the Daemon units hit hard enough on the charge that the Snotlings could very well be wiped out in one round of combat which essentially makes them charge springboards for some enemy units. It seems a bit risky to me, but as long as they move out of the way relatively quickly I don't see that really being a problem.

Look forward to the game!
SpellArcher
Green Istari
Posts: 13841
Joined: Sat Sep 13, 2008 11:26 am
Location: Otherworld

Re: A New Blog

#260 Post by SpellArcher »

CaledorRises wrote:What's the Eternal Blade do out of curiosity?
"Roll a D3 at the start of each round of combat. The bearer’s Weapon Skill, Strength, Initiative and Attacks are increased by this amount until the end of the phase."
CaledorRises wrote:I think I like your deployment better here. The Daemons seem to be very spread out with no real focus of action. Your Wolf Riders are well positioned to fend off the Seeker Chariot for a little while. The Daemon line is also essentially all in the open, particularly the Keeper of Secrets, so there's nothing to prevent you from concentrating fire on it.
Thanks CR. I wanted to be fairly compact to cope with the expected rush.
CaledorRises wrote:The one think I'm a bit concerned about in your deployment is the Snotlings, the Daemon units hit hard enough on the charge that the Snotlings could very well be wiped out in one round of combat which essentially makes them charge springboards for some enemy units. It seems a bit risky to me, but as long as they move out of the way relatively quickly I don't see that really being a problem.
Good point. The slowness of the Snotlings is an issue but I agree I have enough time to adjust if necessary.

Turn One

On Matt’s right, the Burning Chariot crested the hill, with the Skillcannon and Horrors advancing more slowly. The Flamers also streamed forwards after this picture was taken.

Image

The Daemonette Horde Marched it’s full 14 inches with the Keeper closing even faster.

Image

The other Skillcannon also came forward and the second Horror unit entered it’s building. The big chariot advanced too. Matt went for it and 6-diced Cacophonic Choir but failed to cast. His Skillcannon though removed both my cannon and a Mangler.

Most of my units stayed put, while the Beasts charged the Daemonettes. The remaining Mangler though scythed through the Keeper, putting four wounds on and a bolt shooter finished it off! My left put two wounds on the Burning Chariot. The Beasts assassinated the Slaaneshi Herald but a bad Daemonic Instability roll left just one to continue the fight.
CaledorRises
Posts: 250
Joined: Wed Sep 24, 2014 1:55 am

Re: A New Blog

#261 Post by CaledorRises »

That's a brutal first turn for the Daemons! Bad luck for you losing your Cannon and a Mangler so quickly, the Mangler might be expected, but losing the cannon is dangerous, that's one of your best counters to his cannons and chariots. That said, I think your opponent made some bad decisions in movement. The spread out deployment that I mentioned has just become even more spread out, that Burning Chariot is advancing on its own, the big Chariot is on its own, the horde of Daemonettes is isolated in the center, and the Keeper of Secrets is, in my opinion, extremely dangerously positioned. I understand going for a big Cacophonic choir cast, but unless he miscasts it you're almost certain to scroll it, and then that leaves the Keeper completely exposed. The miscast isn't likely enough for it to be worth it in my opinion, particularly since you've still got enough shooting to hurt if not kill the Keeper even if Choir goes off. I think that you perfectly demonstrated that with the death of the Keeper turn 1. You may have gotten a little lucky with some rolls there to kill it in one go like that, 4 wounds from the Mangler is a bit above average, but not enough above average that it's surprising to me. I think running a super expensive lord, particularly the general, up like that into the front of your primary force concentration was a bit reckless.
Charging the Beasts into the Daemonettes seems like a very good move for you as well, though I'm interested as to why you went for assassinating the Herald instead of trying to grind combat resolution against the unit and hopefully win? It's unfortunate that you lost all but 1 Beast, that makes it likely that the Beasts will be destroyed next phase of combat and the Daemonettes will be freed up. Of course you can then charge something new in!

At the end of Turn 1 I'm liking your odds of victory quite a bit so far!
SpellArcher
Green Istari
Posts: 13841
Joined: Sat Sep 13, 2008 11:26 am
Location: Otherworld

Re: A New Blog

#262 Post by SpellArcher »

CaledorRises wrote:That's a brutal first turn for the Daemons! Bad luck for you losing your Cannon and a Mangler so quickly, the Mangler might be expected, but losing the cannon is dangerous, that's one of your best counters to his cannons and chariots.
Yeah, I was a bit concerned about my shooting losses, though Choir not happening was obviously very positive. I think I was slightly lucky but losing the cannon T1 was unlucky. I guess the moral is to keep the faith.
CaledorRises wrote:That said, I think your opponent made some bad decisions in movement. The spread out deployment that I mentioned has just become even more spread out, that Burning Chariot is advancing on its own, the big Chariot is on its own, the horde of Daemonettes is isolated in the center, and the Keeper of Secrets is, in my opinion, extremely dangerously positioned.
It was a little lacking in focus. My left flank was potentially in trouble but most of the points were in the centre and that clash was pretty immediate. Maybe the Keeper should have been further out?
CaledorRises wrote:Charging the Beasts into the Daemonettes seems like a very good move for you as well, though I'm interested as to why you went for assassinating the Herald instead of trying to grind combat resolution against the unit and hopefully win? It's unfortunate that you lost all but 1 Beast, that makes it likely that the Beasts will be destroyed next phase of combat and the Daemonettes will be freed up. Of course you can then charge something new in!
The Herald is potent but fragile. More though, she gives the unit ASF. Maybe I should have put more attacks against the unit but with the 5+ Ward and Daemonic Instability it’s pretty resilient. As things went, I took the Herald down which of course means no ASF vs my next unit in. I was also likely to lose the last Beast in the enemy turn, meaning I would get to react to the Daemonettes before they could charge again.
SpellArcher
Green Istari
Posts: 13841
Joined: Sat Sep 13, 2008 11:26 am
Location: Otherworld

Re: A New Blog

#263 Post by SpellArcher »

Turn Two

The Daemons swept forwards towards my left. The Burning Chariot killed three Arrers but these passed the Warpflame test (thank you Toughness 4!) and picked up a 6+ Regen save.

Image

On my left, Skillcannon and big chariot both advanced.

Image

The cannon failed to kill the Mangler but the Daemonettes finished off the Beast.

Image

The Trolls made a long charge into the big chariot and destroyed it on Instability, reforming to face the centre. On the left I shot the remaining wounds off the Burning Chariot. In the centre I made a mistake (apologies to Matt). Having hit one target (the Keeper) already, subsequent movement should have been random but I mistakenly thought I could still nominate direction and the Mangler went through the Skillcannon, destroying it. I only realised this error days after the event, I plead inexperience with Manglers. The Snotlings moved up to block the Daemonettes, followed up by my main block as I was not concerned about the potential overrun.
CaledorRises
Posts: 250
Joined: Wed Sep 24, 2014 1:55 am

Re: A New Blog

#264 Post by CaledorRises »

SpellArcher wrote: It was a little lacking in focus. My left flank was potentially in trouble but most of the points were in the centre and that clash was pretty immediate. Maybe the Keeper should have been further out?

The Herald is potent but fragile. More though, she gives the unit ASF.
I definitely think the Keeper should have held back, maybe kept even with the Daemonettes. Most importantly I'd say the Keeper needed to be outside of a reasonable Mangler move, and in a position to support/be supported by the Daemonettes. I'd like one of the Chariots up there too, or at least supporting the advance as quickly as possible up the center, though I still feel a flank push would have been more appropriate for this match up.

I was not aware the Herald gave the unit ASF! That makes the decision to take out the Herald make much more sense, I thought Daemonettes had ASF base.

In turn 2 things have gone from bad to worse for the Daemons! It looks like you have the right flank completely under control. Nailing the Chariot charge was big, but I reckon you'd have done okay without it, the Chariot is nasty on the charge of course but Trolls are built to tank stuff like that with the Regen and T5, if you lost combat you'd probably hold on steadfast, but considering the big chariot is just T4 and 4 wounds you'd have a good chance killing it anyways. The destruction of one Skull Cannon and the Burning Chariot again is very very helpful, based on his movements I would have guessed your left flank was in trouble, but you've relieved much of the pressure. I'd still say that's where his best chances are, but to me the Daemons are now looking to score points to mitigate the defeat rather than pull the victory.

Out of curiosity, what are your Wolves doing so far? I've missed them in T1 and 2. Was there any plan to use them to screen the center if the Trolls didn't make it to the Chariot, or are they hunting Horrors?

Well done so far, hopefully you keep it up!
SpellArcher
Green Istari
Posts: 13841
Joined: Sat Sep 13, 2008 11:26 am
Location: Otherworld

Re: A New Blog

#265 Post by SpellArcher »

CaledorRises wrote:I'd like one of the Chariots up there too
Good idea CR.
CaledorRises wrote:I was not aware the Herald gave the unit ASF! That makes the decision to take out the Herald make much more sense, I thought Daemonettes had ASF base.
Yeah, without the Herald the Horde isn’t going away quickly but it’s not likely to win combats either.
CaledorRises wrote:T5, if you lost combat you'd probably hold on steadfast, but considering the big chariot is just T4 and 4 wounds
Sadly Trolls are T4 and the chariot has 8 wounds! Still think they’d hold it though.
CaledorRises wrote:Daemons are now looking to score points to mitigate the defeat rather than pull the victory.
Losing the Keeper put Matt massively on the back foot. I always found fielding it or not a very difficult decision when running Daemons.
SpellArcher
Green Istari
Posts: 13841
Joined: Sat Sep 13, 2008 11:26 am
Location: Otherworld

Re: A New Blog

#266 Post by SpellArcher »

Turn Three

The Daemons swept towards my left. Heavy shooting decimated the Arrers, who Fled. The Daemonettes charged the Snotlings.

Image

I believe the Horrors in the building blew up the over-enthusiastic Mangler. Combat saw the snotties destroyed. The Arrers rallied at the start of my turn and the Wolf Riders snuck around the tower. I combo-charged the Horde.

Image

I got the re-roll to hit spell and the Shaman buff off and won combat handily. Plenty of Daemonettes remained though.
SpellArcher
Green Istari
Posts: 13841
Joined: Sat Sep 13, 2008 11:26 am
Location: Otherworld

Re: A New Blog

#267 Post by SpellArcher »

Turn Four

My left wing was swept away, the bolt shooters charged and destroyed, the Arrers failed another Panic test and fled the field.

Image

I continued to grind down the Daemonettes but a handful survived. In my turn my Flamers headed for the centre.

Image

I then finished off the Daemonettes.

Turn Five

We had to race through this because there was no time but the upshot was the Wolf Riders (but not Gitilla) getting wiped out by magic and shooting.

14-6
User avatar
Prince of Spires
Auctor Aeternitatum
Posts: 8249
Joined: Wed Apr 22, 2009 1:07 pm
Location: The city of Spires

Re: A New Blog

#268 Post by Prince of Spires »

Congrats on the win. It reads like you managed to pick off isolated elements in the deamon army while only giving up points slowly. Nice play.

Rod
For Nagarythe: Come to the dark side.
PS: Bring cookies!

Check out my plog
Painting progress, done/in progress/in box: 167/33/91

Check my writing blog for stories on the Prince of Spires and other pieces of fiction.
CaledorRises
Posts: 250
Joined: Wed Sep 24, 2014 1:55 am

Re: A New Blog

#269 Post by CaledorRises »

SpellArcher wrote: Sadly Trolls are T4 and the chariot has 8 wounds! Still think they’d hold it though.
Man, what stats were I looking at? Whoops.


The win looks pretty good! The Snotlings played their roll and then you combo charged the Daemonettes very well. I'm a bit surprised how long they lasted, but the end victory for you in that fight I don't think was ever really in doubt. The Daemons cleared out your left flank very effectively, it's a shame the Archers didn't stick around a bit longer. I'm also a bit surprised Gitilla and his unit didn't accomplish much more, did both units of Horrors survive? It's lucky Gitilla made it, a shame his unit evaporated though.

Good job on the victory and I look forward to seeing how your last game went!
SpellArcher
Green Istari
Posts: 13841
Joined: Sat Sep 13, 2008 11:26 am
Location: Otherworld

Re: A New Blog

#270 Post by SpellArcher »

Thanks guys, sorry for the delay in replying.
Prince of Spires wrote:It reads like you managed to pick off isolated elements in the deamon army while only giving up points slowly.
I’m learning that this army is quite good at squeezing out moderate wins Rod but it lacks the speed to rack up massacres.
CaledorRises wrote:The Snotlings played their roll and then you combo charged the Daemonettes very well. I'm a bit surprised how long they lasted
5+ Ward and Daemonic Instability can be hard to carve through quickly CR. Also my characters are high strength but I may have forgotten my re-rolls!
CaledorRises wrote:I'm also a bit surprised Gitilla and his unit didn't accomplish much more, did both units of Horrors survive?
They did, I didn’t fancy charging them in the building.
CaledorRises wrote:Man, what stats were I looking at? Whoops.
Too many chariots in that army book! As I may be rethinking my Core again, I’m trying to get the Trolls finished:

Image
Post Reply