SpellArcher wrote:Welcome back Sturen.
Sounds like you're starting to get back in the swing. Interesting model, the way you've done the inside of the cloak gives a striking contrast.
Thanks! I felt a little intimidated by all the open cloth areas so I thought bold colours, a simple freehand, and the fiery sword (which isn’t in the picture) would give enough visual interest.
Prince of Spires wrote:Looks pretty good. And it's great that you've found an active gaming group. It always helps in the hobby to have people to share it with.
It does feel a bit dumb and arbitrary to put the cut-off point for what you play halfway through an edition... Though HE were fairly overpowered when they first came out. They just lost that again as more books came out afterwards. Nothing to be done about it I guess. (Though I would personally just play 8th edition
)
Yes, I’d have chosen 8th too! But the group has only just formed with a good few new-to-fantasy players, and the last thing it needs is to splinter or have multiple rule sets in conflict. I’ll quietly lobby away with my 7th edition book and weak list building, until I get my way. After all I have 25 phoenix guard, and in 6th they’re the same as 7th, same cost, but with no ward save and in the rare slot! Can’t be having that!
Speaking of weak list building, I got a game in this weekend! 1000 points against a total beginner with dark elves. I ran a level 2 mage with ring of fury and silver wand (extra spell and bound spell), 25 spears, 10 Swordmasters, 5 dragon princes, a lion chariot and a bolt thrower. He had 2 bricks of 20 corsairs, 20 warriors with repeater crossbows, a basic sorceress, and two bolt throwers of his own.
I started by putting my dragon princes on my right flank opposite his crossbows, with the rest of the army on the left. The mage sits in the spears with the Swordmasters to their left behind a forest, and the chariot beside them. The bolt thrower sits near the dragon princes to maximise enemies in it’s view. My logic was to have the terrain shield the infantry, avoid concentrated fire on my Swordmasters, and get stuck straight in to his crossbows with my knights. I roll up a good set of spells: fury of khaine, shield of saphery (swapped because arrow attraction doesn’t do much for me), and courage of aenarion.
The dark elven battle line: the round based Corsairs were crossbow armed warriors.
The Asur respond, deployed against the front of the deployment zone to negate the shooting disadvantage.
I took first turn and went full speed ahead, swinging the dragon princes into position to charge the crossbows the following turn, and pushing my infantry up towards his Corsair blocks. Magic did nothing as he dispelled my bound spell and I rolled poorly for my real spells (quite a pattern this game). I shot off a couple of crossbowmen and braced for impact on his turn.
His infantry shuffled backwards to maybe squeeze out another turn of shooting, before he launched a bolt thrower shot toward the flank of my poorly angled dragon princes. It hits and wounds but I make a 5+ and they live to tell the tale. The crossbows take their attempt at the same target but the 2+ armour easily protects Caledor’s finest. Not so lucky for the Swordmasters on the far flank, who despite light cover lose three elves to the other reaper, but pass their panic check. His minimal magic phase sees him fail to cast anything either.
On my turn I begin by declaring a charge with my dragon princes into the crossbows. The stand and shoot bounces off and I’m in. The infantry and chariot push further up – daring the corsairs to charge. Both my spears and swords would be quite happy to receive a charge instead of a volley from the reaper. My magic fails again, dreadful rolling doesn’t even see me cast shield of Saphery (5+) on two dice. My bolt thrower fails to kill a single Corsair and it’s on to combat.
Come and get it.
This spells trouble.
The ten S5 attacks from the dragon princes kill the maximum possible number of corsairs: eight. With none striking back and barely a banner and rank, they test on Ld3 and fail. Their neighbours, a full twenty corsairs with sorceress, take one look at what happened to their allies, and promptly fail at Ld8 and run for it. Both units just avoid the table edge but this was a pivotal and disastrous moment for the druchii.
Oh dear…
On his turn, sensing impending doom, he charges his other Corsair block into my spearmen. With a sense of pure dread he picks up the dice to rally the crossbows, and rolls an 8. They turn to face down the dragon princes one again. Now he just needs his sorceress and her retinue to have the same courage. Two sixes sees them decide otherwise and depart the table: ouch. Undeterred, he turns to his shooting phase for salvation. Once again the terrible reaper, at point blank range, lines up a shot to avenge it’s brethen. This time dragon armour fails and two knights are knocked from their saddles. The crossbows (we weren’t sure but decided rallied units could shoot) fired off another volley and this time scored another kill. The other bolt thrower slaughters three more Swordmasters, leaving a mere four standing. Thats the sort of shooting phase I’d been fearing. Turning to the clash of the spears and corsairs, terrible rolling on both sides sees us deal a single wound each, but due to the elven ranks and outnumbering, he loses by two, and fails a Ld6 test. I pursue but don’t catch him, and the dark elven lines are looking rather broken. At this point we could really have called it, but fair play to my opponent who took it all courageously and played it out.
The following turn, the Swordmasters charge the bolt thrower. The remaining two dragon princes fancy their chances against the crossbows and charge again. In a fun twist, the elves kill a dragon prince with their stand and shoot, and the last knight doesn’t fancy his chances, fails his panic test, and flees. However, the spears have also charged the crossbows, and they make it in against the remaining ten elves. In combat, the Swordmasters dispatch the bolt thrower easily, and the spearelves do enough damage to the crossbows that they are holding on insane courage. They promptly fail and flee the board.
Man of the match left in a compromising position.
With a grimace, the dark elven general tries try to rally the final unit of corsairs: and fails. They flee, and with only a single bolt thrower remaining, it really was time to call it. Safe to call it a crushing high elven victory.