Brewmaster D's Coven of Light Blog - 05/12 Battle Report

[Brewmaster_D]

Tournament Game # 2

Alrighty, it's about time I got down to business and got moving on these reports - I discovered Universal Battle, and it's been chewing up far too much of my time

So the scenario for round 2 was a bit odd - I'll try to explain:

At the start of the game, there are 3 "barrels of ale". The players roll off, then take turns placing them. These objectives can be picked up and carried by units, but at the start of the players turn, any units they have that are holding a barrel of ale must take a leadership test - if they fail, they lose -2 WS, BS and LD, but become stubborn.

Victory conditions: The player with the most objectives wins, and the degree of victory is determined by points - however, the person controlling more of the objectives will always get at minimum at 13-7 victory.

My opponent's list:

Slann, Becalming, Focused Rumination, Focus of Mystery, BSB, Cupped Hands
Skink Priest, Engine of the Gods, Ancient Stegadon, Dispel Scroll, Opal Amulet

35 x Saurus Warriors, Standard, Musician
10 x Skink Skirmishers, Javelins
10 x Skink Skirmishers
10 x Skink Skirmishers

5 x Chameleon Skinks
24 x Temple Guard, Full command, Banner of Discipline

3 x Salamanders

Deployment



My opponent wins the roll off for placing the objectives, and makes the obvious choice to put them near his deployment zone. This made for a very interesting situation for me - because of the victory conditions for the scenario, I could level his units, but as long as his skinks ran off with those barrels, it was still a loss. This meant I had to think about how to play this match entirely differently and force myself to go on the aggressive. Definitely not a comfortable situation for this list.

I end up making a decision to focus on the left flank and basically abandon the right - by "offering" up the coven, I could hopefully tempt him to abandon the objectives to the left and I could go for the small victory. I just didn't see how I could get a 20-0 in this situation.

We roll off for first turn and I win

High Elves, Turn 1



I apologize in advance about the quality of these tournament reports vs. my normal ones. I really didn't focus on note taking, and my picture taking was not great either.

My troops begin advancing on the Western side, and the eagles fall back to a more central vantage point, away from the skinks poison.

Magic is a decent phase for me, seeing him take a risk and hold on to his scroll. One banishment manages to slip through, as does a pha's protection on the swordmasters.

Shooting is pretty ineffective, with most of the shots going on the Temple Guard as they are the only thing in range.

Lizardmen, Turn 1



Predictably, his skinks move up to grab the beer, and his saurus stand menacingly near it, unwilling to take the chances with the required leadership tests.

His magic phase sees him get a shem's off on my archers, killing a handful, and an area of effect Pha's Protection.

His skinks manage a wound on the swordmasters and a wound on the white lions, and we move on to my turn.

High Elves, Turn 2



The swordmasters roll their test for the beer, and in true Brewmaster style, they immediately get drunk. I'm upset about the loss of WS and LD, but inwardly, I'm proud of them.

In a drunken stupor, they charge the middle unit of skinks, which stand and shoot. The lions move up to menace his blocks in the center, with an eye on that beer.

This round of magic draws sees my first banishment draw his scroll, leaving him enough dice to shut the rest down.

Shooting goes on the skinks trying to steal my beer, and I manage to kill 7 of them.

Lizardmen, Turn 2



Unfortunately this is where my notes get even fuzzier, so we'll have to do without the magic visuals. I promise a full spectacle in compensation in my first post tourney battle report.

His skinks move up to distract my combat blocks, and his Saurus move up and grab the beer. His stegadon moves up into charge range of the coven, and his salamanders sneak up around the flank.

The skinks with the beer hightail it North, in an attempt to preserve the beer.

Magic is a terrible phase for him, rolling snakeyes and seeing me channel as well. I shut down his spell attempt.

His shooting puts a handful more wounds on my blocks, and we move to my turn

High Elves, Turn 3



My two blocks clean up his skinks, and one of my eagles moves up to distract the block of temple guard from a charge.

Magic is decent this turn - I get a banishment off on his stegadon, and take the model out. I also manage a Pha's and a Speed of Light on the White Lions.

My shooting finishes off his escaping skinks just in the nick of time, leaving a barrel of beer on the ground just to the west of the house.

Lizardmen, Turn 3



His temple guard charge the eagle in the center, and his Saurus shuffle to keep both the lions and the swordmasters in the front arc.

I forget to move the salamanders in this photo, but he moves to just east of the small archers.

I dispel his net attempt on my big unit, and he manages a pha's and speed on the White Lions.

The salamanders misfire, and the other templates fall short and do about 5 wounds total.

His Temple Guard kill the eagle and take the bait - all attention is on the coven at this point.

High Elves, Turn 4



My white lions charge in on the Saurus and the swordmasters start moving East to help support the coven.

In magic, I manage to get a Speed of Light and a Pha's on the white Lions to match those that are on the Saurus. This means the Lions are hitting on 5's, but keep their rerolls.

Shooting takes out one salamander and a wound or two on the second one (again, bad pictures here, both archers were angled to see them)

In combat, both parties can't see each other very well, so casualties are brought down to "normal mortal" levels. He loses about 12 but holds on steadfast and the lions lose 5.

Lizardmen, Turn 4



He charges my eagle with his temple guard, and we move along to magic

This phase I manage to stop all but pha's protection and speed of light on his Saurus.

Shooting sees him kill some more archers, and in combat he's left with 10 models when the dust settles, but manages to take the lions down below 15 models, leaving them unable to break his steadfast again.

High Elves, Turn 5



I declare a charge with the swordmasters and the coven into the rear and flank of his temple guard, respectively. I basically have the win at this point, since the lions can take the objective the Saurus have, as well as the one the skinks dropped, but the only way to keep that unit of temple guard and salamanders from stomping my coven is to put the hurt on the TG first. By assailing them on two fronts, I also prevent them from reforming and getting their full breadth of attacks on the coven's unit. Both make it in (It was more reasonable of a charge for the swordmasters than it looks).

Magic is lackluster this phase, with me only getting speed of light on the lions and pha's on the swordmasters - I didn't want to stack up too much on the white lions, as I needed the extra bit of movement from the pursue move to get to that last objective.

The lions manage to kill all but a handful of saurus, who flee and are caught by the lions.

The swordmasters and archers manage to take out all but 7 of the Temple Guard, who in turn take out a couple from each unit. I feel pretty good about my odds of getting a decent win at this point, with the unit of saurus gone as well as the Engine.

Lizardmen, Turn 5



This magic phase is absolutely brutal for me. He has a good spread, and I let him have pha's and Timewarp, saving my dice for speed of light (I'm ok with hitting on 4's, and he doesn't have many TG left in combat to the rear. He throws 4 at the final speed, and manages a miscast which drains levels off the slann.

The ensuing combat hurts, big time. The temple guard finish off the swordmasters, and my troops can't hit the broad side of a barn. My coven holds on steadfast, but he's now free to reform and finishes the coven off next turn (I mashed the two turns into one here)

The lions, however, take the final objective making the final score a 13-7 win for the Coven.

After Battle Thoughts

I'm going to be honest, I really disliked this scenario. Given that the objectives were imperative to victory, I feel like there should have either been 4, or they should have been pre-deployed on the table. Having a roll off to decide who essentially starts the game with the victory conditions in hand is a little silly.

Having said that, since the report is a bit vague on the details of the match, let me instead ask you a question:

How would you have deployed/played this scenario to get more than a 13-7 win? I feel like I was close, had he not gotten that last clutch Speed of Light, but I also feel like that move was far too risky for the potential payoff.

I'm trying to think about how I could have stopped that TG unit from hitting the coven and won based on that - maybe give up the swords by charging the TG in the rear, winning that first combat, he reforms and kills my swords in the next turn, then I move the remaining small archers up to redirect, provided they pass their panic from the salamanders and the march block test.

Anyhoo, a win's a win, so I'll take it!

D

[Curu Olannon]

Writing as I read:
- retarded scenario, why not make it an even number at the very least to reduce variance here?
- victory conditions mean it's easily super-important to be offensive, thus you probably score well relative to your bad matchups (heavy shooters why have a defensive style overall)
- opponent list is strong, but not amazingly powerful. I think a big block of Saurus is a really poor choice and I have yet to see it be used well

T1 - smart play by opponent, he can risk an early Banishment. What did you dispel/try to in his T1?
T2 - not a big fan of the Eagle usage here: they could suddenly find themselves way off when needed T3.
T3 - this is where I would've wanted the Eagles further up, to create the spots you need. Either block or go behind him to force him to engage on your terms. I'm not sure why you didn't prioritize Timewarp here, what good does Pha's + Speed do you? If Timewarp goes through, he doesn't want to charge you anyways, in which case protection is of no importance. In his T3 I assume you meant that he buffed his Saurus instead of your WL?
T4 - not much to comment on here.
T5 - why charge the Coven here? The Swordmasters will do well enough on their own and it allows you to focus your buffs a lot better. More importantly, you can shoot the Salamanders and use a mage as an Eagle (to keep the Coven safe) if needed. His T5 just showed this mistake - a huge risk for very little gain.

After battle thoughts - I agree scenario-wise. I would've deployed the same way I think and gone all-aggro on him with the elites. To save the Coven though, all you need to do is give him like a single mage. Like I said in the T5 bit, sending in the Swords alone allows you to focus your buffs (and honestly the Lions don't need anything else anymore!) which should allow you to cast Speed of Light, Timewarp, Light of Battle and Pha's Protection (given an average phase). Did the Archers really contribute anything to the melee part here?

[Selvhan]

Does the archer were in Horde or did you put them 5x6 to get rank bonus when you charged T5 ?

Because in 5x6 they would have add rank bonus or at least remove his bonus from rank.

[Brewmaster_D]

Hey Guys!

@ Curu - Thanks for the input!

Regarding your questions:

T1: I stopped Net on the Archer horde and I'm pretty sure I failed to dispel the banishment that went off. Fuzzy on that last point though.
T3: This turn I definitely did prioritize Timewarp, but unfortunately so did he
T5: The theory in my head at the time is that it pins him in place and keeps him from reforming and taking the swordmasters. I was confident that I could stop enough of his spells that I could finish the unit off in the next turn, but we all know how that turned out. Once again, I erred on the side of too much risk - had my plan worked, he would have been pinned in place and likely lost the unit in either the next turn, or failing that the one after. I'm pretty sure I watched "First Blood" the night before the tournament too, so that explains a lot.

That's a wonderful point about the solo mages, and had I taken the safe route, this would have most definitely been the way to go about it. Won't be forgetting that again any time soon!

@ Selvhan - Due to his large overrun, I didn't have time to reform. It was either charge in and take him out, or use Curu's patented "Mage Decoy" method. Ranks wouldn't have mattered too much as when the coven broke I was down to 9 or so models left in the unit. TG are also stubborn when they're with the slann, so there was little chance of breaking them.

Have another report on the way from last week, then I'll get the third tourney match up!

Thanks for reading guys!

D

[dabber]

Because in 5x6 they would have add rank bonus or at least remove his bonus from rank.

Rank bonus is irrelevant here, for either side. I suppose a narrow formation might have kept the archers Steadfast one more round, but given the numbers involved and Brewmaster's wording, I doubt it. Except when a very small unit is involved, ranks rarely matter.

Curu has it right - a level 1 Mage is your third Eagle.

Maybe a diagram spacing thing, but it doesn't look like you needed to sacrifice the first Eagle when you did. The TG were out of charge range from the Coven, and I don't think he can risk his TG against a White Lion horde that early in the game.


I think everyone agrees on the stupid unbalanced scenario part. Any statement from the organizer on what the heck he was thinking? Imagine facing a Daemon army with two units of Furies. Flight, immune to panic, ward save. How do they lose?

[The Silly Dragon]

Firstly i have to say that i love your new graphics for spells! Simply beautiful!

Secondly i would have deployed more to your left and focused on getting those two barrels (couldn't Eagles steal them?). Shoot and banish all the skinks away so the Eagles can get away safetely and then proceeded to play a normal game.

A good result for a very weird scenario that at the very least should have had the barrels all in buildings or more centrally (like a king of the hill type game then).

Charging in the Coven at the last picture? When i saw that i was like "why?". But even though it was a bad scenario for you and you lost alot of points in the Archer/Coven you still won and that is something to write home about! (here being home after all! .Well done!

[Brewmaster_D]

Lmao! You guys would have loved it if that had worked though!

I honestly don't think it was *that* bad of a move. The mages weren't in base contact with any TG, so really the only risk was exactly what happened - a round where he got *all* of the light buffs off. He only had 7 TG left after the initial hit. Barring the stellar magic phase he had in the last turn, those guys were pretty much finished. Swordmasters would have been good for another 4 kills if they were hitting on 4's, and he wouldn't have been able to wipe them out if he wasn't hitting on 3's. I'd also have a full round of my own spells in there too where I could have buffed the archers up as well.

Having said that, you'll get no argument from me that the *safer* choice would have been the way to go here.

I've been learning a lot of hard lessons about small odds biting me in the butt lately! The final tournament match was no different.

D

[Lord Anathir]

hard lessons

Where is jwg when you need him

[Brewmaster_D]

Where is jwg when you need him

I don't want to talk about that game LMFAO!

[Brewmaster_D]

Double Header!

Made it out to the local game shop and got an opportunity to field the high test, triple distilled 2500 point version of the Coven, courtesy of Lecai, since it is effectively just a higher points version of the 2200 list I recently wrote (Great minds think alike? lol).

Coven of Light

Archmage, Level 4, Jewel of the Dusk, Dragonhorn, Lore of Light
Mage, Level 2, Seerstaff, Pha's, Banishment
Mage, Level 1, Ring of Corin, Ironcurse Icon
Mage, Level 1, Anullian Crystal

30 x Archers, Musician, Standard, Banner of Discipline
14 x Archers, Musician
10 x Archers, Musician

14 x Swordmasters, Standard, Musician, Gleaming Pennant
14 x Swordmasters, Standard, Standard of Balance
30 x White Lions, Full Command, Banner of Sorcery, Gem of Courage

2 x Great Eagles

Orcs & Goblins

Orc Warboss - Great Weapon, Ward?
Savage Orc Shaman, Lucky Shrunken Head
Night Goblin Shaman, Level 2, Dispel Scroll
Orc Big Boss, BSB, 2+ Armour Save?

45 x Savage Orcs, Full Command
50 x Night Goblins, Full Command, Netters
5 x Goblin Wolf Riders

30 x Black Orcs, Full Command
2 x Boar Chariots
Troll
2 x Rock Lobbas
Mangler Squig

Giant

Spells were as follows:

Savage Orc: Fists of Gork
Night Goblin: Nightshroud, Curse o' da bad moon

Archmage: Pha's, Net, Banish, Timewarp
Mage: Speed of Light
Mage: Light of Battle

Deployment



He's got so many drops that I basically just pick my corner and start dropping. I try to keep my firing channels as open as possible, and put my super heavy hitters out on the flank, being sure to pair up the Standard of Balance Swordmasters with the area that I'm confident his savages are going to go.

The Northern rock near his deployment line is difficult terrain, not impassable.

We roll off for first turn, and I get it

High Elves, Turn 1



A modest advance from my elites, enough that his 8" move won't put him into charge range next turn, but enough that he might hold back an inch or two.

Magic is off to a good start with 12 v 5 - I lead the way with a 4D6 banishment on his giant, which he dispels with 5 dice. A second one comes from my Level 2, which draws his scroll. I then power up a net on his western rock lobba, which succeeds, and I put a Pha's Protection on the Standard of Balance Swordmasters.

Shooting puts two wounds on the troll from the small units of archers, and 4 wounds on his goblins from the horde.

Orcs, Turn 1



His troops move forward full steam ahead, with his fast cav darting behind the rock on the side.

Magic is 10 v 7. He starts off with a Fists of Gork, which I let him have, then his night goblin proceeds to poison himself with a mushroom

His only Rock Lobba Shot goes wide, so we move on to my turn

High Elves, Turn 2



Eagles move up to both get into position for redirects, and to threaten his warmachines.

My elites move backwards an inch or so to get out of any sort of possible charge range - I'm mentally scarred from my tournament.

Magic rolls up big for me again - 12 v 5. I start with a 4D6 Banishment on his Giant, and my opponent does something that I haven't seen anyone do yet - "Well, this guy doesn't have a hope in hell of living anyway, you might as well blow him up". 8 hits, 5 wounds.

I roll a second banishment on 4D6 on his chariot, and once again, he lets me have it. Chariot goes down as well.

2D6 goes towards a Pha's on the Swordmasters with the SoB, which he allows, then he dispels the 2D6 pha's attempt on the swordmasters in the West.

Shooting takes out the remaining wound on the troll, and the rest goes on the goblins.

Orcs, Turn 2



With his support troops dwindling, his combat blocks move forward full tilt again. The mangler squig pulls a stunt and blasts through my eagle, smashing it into the ground. His fast cavalry moves quickly into range, getting to within range to deprive the archers of stand and shoot.

Magic is 6 v 7, and he throws it all at a curse o da bad moon. I throw 5 dice, but fail to dispel it. It whirls out towards the swordmasters, but stops just short. The remaining 2 dice takes out fists.

His shooting sees one of his rock lobbas misfire, and one go wide again.

High Elves, Turn 3



It's an enormous unit of savages, but I decide to go for it anyway - both the lions and the swordmasters charge them. The lions only need a 4 to get in, and naturally trip over their cloaks, stumbling ahead 1". The swords, however, make it.

I move my remaining eagle up to block the black orcs advance.

Magic is 12 v 6 - I'm on a roll! I lead the way with a 3D6 Pha's on the swordmasters, which he allows. I put a second one on them, and he dispels this one with all of his dice. I then throw 2D6 at the ring and take out his shrunken head, and finally put 4D6 at a speed of light - It's critical that he's hitting on 6's in this combat, or it's curtains for my swordmasters.

His vortex scatters away, and he chooses to end it next turn.

Shooting sees me put the unit of 14 on the wolf riders, and the rest on the goblins. They're starting to feel it in their numbers at this point.

In combat, the swordmasters do their thing and put 13 wounds on the savage orcs after their 6+ ward save. In return, his one billion attacks result in 5 wounds. The savages lose their frenzy for future, standard of balance free fights.

Orcs, Turn 3



His two units charge the eagle in the center, allowing his goblins to shift away from the swordmasters. The goblin wolf riders charge in to the archers.

Magic is 9 v 8 - he starts off with a 3D6 fists, which I allow since he's hitting on 6's anyway. He throws the remaining 6 at curse once again, but this time I take it out with 8 dice.

His shooting manages one direct hit on my swordmasters, and they loose 4 from their numbers.

In combat, the swordmasters kill 10 more savages and put a wound on the shaman, but lose 5 more of their own for their troubles.

The goblins and black orcs kill the eagle, and reform to face the south.

High Elves, Turn 4



Time for the lions to do their thing - they charge the black orcs, and the swordmasters move up to threaten any aggressive movement from the night goblin unit.

Magic is 10 v 4 - I lead off with a 2D6 Pha's, which he dispels with 3D6. I then throw 4D6 at a timewarp and it miscasts. It puts a wound on all of my mages, and drains 5 dice. I throw my final D6 at a pha's, and manage to get it off on the lions.

My shooting puts another chunk of wounds on the goblins, and we move on to combat.

The lions bring their full 41 attacks to bear and manage to shred 27 out of 30 black orcs. His return attacks take out 3 white lions, and he flees from combat. I take his BSB, and restrain pursuit, reforming to face the savage orcs.

The Swordmasters manage to take down the shaman before their remaining numbers are killed.

Orcs, Turn 5



His savages charge the lions and the night goblins charge the swordmasters.

His night goblin attempts a curse of the bad moon again, and I dispel it.

The rock lobbas manage to kill a few archers from the 30 strong unit, but they don't panic.

In combat, the lions finish off the rest of the Savage orcs before they get to strike, and the swordmasters kill all but 9 goblins. Unfortunately, the warboss manages to reduce the swordmasters to 4, and the night goblins hold.

At this point, he forfeits the game.

[Mentheus of Caledor]

Heya,
Easy game? I'm not sure your opponent made the most savvy of moves in this game...
-You had some great magic phases this game. Just goes to show what the coven can do with even average magic rolls

- I think he made an error in not even attempting to save the giant. Sure, he didn't have much in the way of dispel dice, but I think this was still a mistake, since all he achieved in your second magic phase was to dispel pha's on the swordmasters. He might have been able to shut down the first banishment, then you go for the second on the giant again, and at this point its down to luck. Not the most amazing odds, but I think it would be worth the shot, considering that pha's on the swordmasters isn't as big a deal for him.

- I think another (possibly the biggest) mistake was sending the mangler to kill the eagle. I'm assuming you were going for the rock lobba? I would have sent the mangler further up the flank to threaten the swordmasters. All that it managed to do for the entire game was kill an eagle - and even if you had have finished it off before it got to the swordmasters, it means diverting resources that would otherwise be used on other threats.

- It could just be your ridiculous magic defence, but it seemed as though his magic was not very worthwhile for almost all of the game.

- He also allowed you to get into single combat with the WL horde. Perhaps he did not know better, but there is practically nothing that can take that unit in his army, solo at least. Allowing you to attack as it suited you - the way of the Asur, nonetheless.

- Again, I think a big issue was the mangler. If that was down near your side of the field it could have wreaked all sorts of havoc. Instead it was relegated to his backfield, where it was virtually useless.

- Oh... and what on earth was he doing just LEAVING the second chariot way up the back there? Thats another waste of a unit...

- In summary, I think he lost some threatening units early, and failed to present threats, allowing you to deal with his units on your terms.

It is possible he underestimated just how powerful the elvish elite infantry are... But i don't know

Eitherway, I don't want to detract from your victory. You played a good game, and you exploited his errors well. Congratulations

[Elessehta of Yvresse]

Ye gads, you destroyed him! Brutal, losing his support early hurt him.

[Avicii]

hey Brewmaster nice work in the tourny, just wondering if you can tell me how you go about rolling for spells to insure that the Archmage gets Pha's and Banishment?

Also does anyone know of a good photo sharing sight? The one I am using now wont let me make the pictures on my battle report go any bigger.

[SpellArcher]

I feel it was quite a friendly list Cython. Just didn't have the magic.phase or the ton of impact hits to trouble the Brewmaster! That said, I agree on throwing his support forward quicker. But D just seemed so much in control of this game, I don't think it would have changed the result.

I'd be interested to see what would happenif a key phase got shut down by the Cube of Darkness say. Though I suspect the elite infantry would weather it.

[KarsaOrlong]

D,

Given that almost all the lizard lists I've seen you play have included a large block of something (this could be TG or Saurus), would you feel less confident if a lizzie player approached the table with an MSU-based list. I can't help but feel this would limit your uses of banishment. And a light-based Slann would have plenty of targets in your list to limit your defensive capabilities. I imagine the Lizardman player would have to have reasonable practice with his list and coordinating Sauri, Skinks and Sally attacks all on concentrated places, but still I feel like this might be a more difficult style of list then them trying to go toe-to-toe with your WL horde.

KO

[dabber]

RE: Lizardmen game and double charge on TG:

Lmao! You guys would have loved it if that had worked though!

Yes, but I think we still would have questioned if sending in the archers was necessary. I understand they provide a little bit extra, but the Swordmasters alone are a low risk choice that still has high reward potential. You'll likely lose the Swordmasters, but they probably kill enough TG you can finish them on turn 6, either with archers charging or with shooting/magic.


On the O&G game, I was about to write a "typing as I read" post, but after my first comment I decided to check the finish before continuing. My first comment was "no level 4?!? And the Savage Orc improved ward save on a hero?!?". The first hurt him terribly, although the second didn't end up mattering because you unmade the save before killing the character. He brought a subpar list from a generally weak army book, and the results reflect it.

I agree with him about letting the Giant get Banished, but not about the chariot. The chariot is more valuable to him, and is hard for you to kill without banishment.
The other chariot and the Mangler needed to do a much better job of getting in your face and trying to hit Swordmasters or White Lions. His three best weapons did nothing, and you didn't even need to work at killing them.


I also notice you say good things about the Skeinsliver previously, but didn't play it here. How come?

[Caradryal]

A good game master D

I think your opponant made some poor choices here and you exploited them with ease

Magic is off to a good start with 12 v 5 - I lead the way with a 4D6 banishment on his giant, which he dispels with 5 dice. A second one comes from my Level 2, which draws his scroll. I then power up a net on his western rock lobba, which succeeds, and I put a Pha's Protection on the Standard of Balance Swordmasters.

A perfect first magic phase! The drawing of his scroll turn 1 really sealed his fate here! Does the rock lobba use the str of the crew for its net test?

In turn 2 he let you have both Banishments. Did you roll high on these and he felt he wouldn't make the dispell? I can't understand his decision to let both Banishments through. By letting these through and his bizarre decision to leave the second chariot back hes pretty much hung himself here.

Turn 3 his dispelling was strange again. I can't understand why he threw all 6 dice at the second spell Pha's. Again did you roll very high? Surely he would have been better off throwing 4 dice at it then he would've had 2 left and the ring of corin possibly wouldn't have come into play. The failed white loin charge is typical, although it worked out quite well

With he eagle blocking you've pretty much won the game there. The lions did what they do best and mopped up the remains of his army

Again congrats on a well played game!

[dabber]

Does the rock lobba use the str of the crew for its net test?

War machines automatically fail all stat tests, except Toughness and Leadership. So Net on a war machine always works.

[Flaxis]

Dabber,

Does the machine not revert to the 4+ to fire as in the spell desciption, I might be wrong I guess... ah no that is Pha's nevermind me.

Flaxis

[Caradryal]

War machines automatically fail all stat tests, except Toughness and Leadership. So Net on a war machine always works.

Interesting does this also wrk on hell cannons?

[Elessehta of Yvresse]

Hell Cannon is a Monster, not a war machine, so no.

[Brewmaster_D]

Hey Guys!

Thanks for all of the comments!

On my opponent's list: it was certainly not what I would call a power list, but by the same note anyone that fields 45 Savage Orc Bigun's isn't there to mess around either. That one unit alone, if not handled properly, could tear apart most of a high elf army.The 5+ ward Savages are one of the few units that can actually go toe to toe with a horde of White Lions.

Not sure I totally agree about the Mangler either; between all the BS shooting and eagles, there was really no way that Mangler was ever going to make it to my line - as it was I ended up dumping a ton of shots into his unit of goblins simply because I was out of chaff targets to shoot at. Remember that a mangler dies if a unit ends their movement on it. I would happily sacrifice an eagle to take out a mangler if it looked like I was at risk of being... well... mangled . In this case he chose to have his 65 point model deal with one of my distraction units, freeing up his rock lobbas to keep pounding on the swordmasters.

I agree about the chariot though, eagle chasing is almost always an exercise in futility.

On the other hand, I completely agree with dabber here: no level 4 was what cost him the most in this game, in my opinion. In a lot of situations with a scroll in hand, you can buy yourself enough time to get to combat, at which time all those orcs are a force to be reckoned with, however against a trickle phase like the coven's the lack of defense really shows. This was this opponent's first time facing a lore of light list as well, and that's one thing the coven has going for it - it's a less common lore, and most people don't really understand how powerful it is until they experience it.

@ Avicii - With two level 1's rolling as well, what I typically do is roll them first, and if they get any of the spells I want on my Archmage, I drop them down to Shem's. Usually I'll get at least one spell the Archmage doesn't need, giving him a great chance to choose at least one, if not two spells when he rolls.

@ Karsa - First of all, I'd welcome that opportunity with open arms! I haven't had a chance to play vs. many MSU lists, and would really like to see how it plays out. Having said that, my list has a few things that make things interesting for MSU lists:

- The amount of firepower available leaves the opportunity open to actually take out bunkers and the characters within them in one round of magic/shooting.
- The range will let me force panic tests on units outside of leadership bubbles - salamanders and skinks are on ld6, so even with cold blood, this could be tough on them.
- S7 Magic missiles and rerolling wards makes things interesting for the ethereal slann

I'm getting more comfortable with Universal Battle, so maybe I can line it up!

@ dabber - re: Skeinsliver - I didn't field it here because it came down to either it or the Dragonhorn. Further thought, however, has led me to shuffle points around and put it back in to the list. First turn is just so important for this list, allowing me to get through the scroll and get some wounds in with banishment before they can engage me, particularly versus fast armies.

@ Caradryal - I'm not entirely sure on my opponent's dispelling priorities to be honest. I think it was his first time dealing with a trickle phase (I'm really the only one in my area doing it). Present something a person hasn't seen before and it takes time to adjust. My guess is that he knew that between the archers and the magic missiles, those troops were dead anyway, so he might as well try to keep the rock lobbas operating at 100% and hopefully kill some swordmasters/lions.


So last night I got another game in as well, also versus Orcs and Goblins - this time versus the store owner himself. He's been playing for a really long time, and has been to countless tournaments, so I was expecting a good game, and he didn't disappoint! His list was as follows:

(2200 points)

Goblin Warboss
Goblin Great Shaman
Night Goblin Shaman
Savage Orc Shaman
Goblin BSB

20 x Savage Orcs Bigun's, AHW
48 x Night Goblins, Netters, Fanatic
24 x Night Goblin Archers
3 x Wolf Chariots
3 x Wolf Chariots
3 x Wolf Chariots

Mangler Squig
Pump Wagon

3 x Bolt Throwers
2 x Rock Lobbas
2 x Doom Divers

I'll try to get Tournament game 3 up first, then give you guys the sequel to the Orcs & Goblins saga.

Thanks again guys!

D

[SpellArcher]

I disagree that the lvl4 is the most important thing here. Yes he.needs defence but he can get by on hero-level casters if he has to. What really hurts us, in my experience, is something like 2 Manglers, 2 Pump Wagons and 2x3 Wolf Chariots heading straight for our lines.

Now the Coven is one of the best HE armies to face this because it has power at range. But the sea of impact hits still uses up lots of resources and tends to cramp maneouvering. Be interesting to see the second battle where he had more of this.

I'm not saying the first list was 'weak' per se. But strong combat units are things we know to fight. Whereas impact hits.spam is IMHO a vital tool for O&G, especially against us.

[Avicii]

Hey Brewmaster, just got a chance to have a better look at your latest two battle reps. Every time I read a new battle report you put up, you are playing with much more ease as this list is probably very comfortable for you now? I like how in the game against the lizards you adapted to the scenario much better than your opponent did, even though he really had no choice but to come at you quickly. With loosing the Coven in a match situation I probably would have been along the same thought process as you and charged them into the TG, but looking at it on paper I'm sure people will find different choices you could have made. As for the second game, fairly cruisy match by looking at it? kind of seemed like your opponent just gave up mid-way and was feed up with dealing with heavy magic phases, but hey some people set up massive gun lines and you still have to find a way to beat it. All in all some good wins and congrats again!

[Brewmaster_D]

So as I mentioned, this week I managed to get another game in, this time versus the store owner featuring his Orcs & (mostly) Goblins army. I figured I'd put this one up next, as it fits well with the previous match, and features many of the things the last list didn't - I'll post Tournament game 3 next! His list had a ton of artillery and impact hits in a variety of formats, hence the title:

Everything but the Kitchen Sink



My store has been gradually shifting to the 2200 point format (yeah, I know...), so I gave my recently modified 2200 point list a whirl. At the tournament, I definitely felt the lack of a 3rd combat block, so I switched in the Swordmasters:

The Coven of Light

Archmage, Dragonhorn, Ring of Corin, Level 4 (Lore of Light)
Mage, Level 2, Seerstaff (Pha's, Banishment)
Mage, Level 1, Annullian Crystal (Lore of Light)

30 x Archers, Musician, Standard, Banner of Discipline
17 x Archers, Musician

28 x White Lions, Full Command, Banner of Sorcery, Gem of Courage
12 x Swordmasters, Standard, Standard of Balance
12 x Swordmasters, Standard, Musician, Gleaming Pennant

2 x Great Eagles

Orcs & Goblins

Goblin Warboss, Dragonhelm, Great Weapon (some other stuff?)
Goblin Great Shaman
Goblin Big Boss, BSB, Armour of Silvered Steel
Night Goblin Shaman
Savage Orc Shaman, Lucky Shrunken Head

48 x Night Goblins, Full Command, Netters, 1 x Fanatic
20 x Night Goblins, Bows, Musician
20 x Savage Orcs, Biguns, AHW, Full Command

3 x Wolf Chariots
3 x Wolf Chariots
3 x Wolf Chariots

3 x Spear Chuckas

Mangler Squig
Snotling Pump Wagon, Exploding Spores
2 x Doom Divers
2 x Rock Lobbas

Spells were as follows:

Archmage: Shem's, Net, Banishment, Timewarp
Mage: Pha's Protection

Goblin Great Shaman - Vindictive Glare, Itchy Nuisance, Nightshroud, Curse o' da Bad Moon
Night Goblin Shaman - Gork'll Fix it
Savage Orc Shaman - Foot of Gork

Deployment



With so much artillery on the field, I knew I'd have to stay efficient with Pha's, so I kept my formation reasonably tight. The eagles had lots of potential roles in this matchup, but with the doom divers and spear chuckas I knew they'd be priority #1. Eagles and archers were the first ones down, and his bowmen committed early to taking that building, with a unit of chariots going down over there as well. This solidified in my mind that I was going to refuse that flank and focus on the East.

We roll off, and I win first turn.

Turn 1, High Elves



Not much movement yet. One eagle moves up to a spot to draw out his fanatics if he moves forward with the goblins, and the Lions come around just a touch to compensate for his Westward deployment bias.

Magic is 9 v 4 - I start with a 4D6 Banishment on his Eastern Chariots from my level 2, and he fails to dispel it with 4D6 of his own. 7 hits, 6 wounds and the remaining chariot fails its panic check and flees. I throw 4D6 at a bubbled Pha's from the level 2, and he hasn't got an answer for it (Seems my local store meta is to not take a scroll?? Wierd). I finish with a final D6 Pha's on the archers in the woods.

The archer horde shooting goes on the night goblins, with the Eastern chariot threat removed and takes out 4 of them, and the other unit of archers puts a wound on his mangler.

Turn 1, (mostly) Goblins



His troops move up, with his goblins getting close enough to the eagle to launch the fanatic - I was expecting more to come out here. His fanatic rolls a 9 for distance and a 6 for hits, killing the eagle outright. Darn.

Magic is 10 v 8 - He starts with a D6 + bonus dice at Gork'll fix it, but fails the cast with a natural roll of 1 on his non mushroom dice. He then throws 3D6 at a powered up vindictive glare, which I dispel with 2 (He rolled low), and I allow a subsequent itchy nuisance on the white lions, which he cast with D6. He finishes with Foot of Gork with 5D6, but fails to meet the casting value.

He starts by targetting all his bolt shots at the eagle, but due to soft cover none are able to hit. His doom divers both target the eagle, and he redirects the first onto the swordmasters (I called the 4+ protection from pha's, remembering past matches where I came to realize that the 4+ applies even when they're not targeted specifically. I couldn't find it at the time, but for those interested it's very clearly stated in the FAQ for the main rulebook). He scores maximum hits with this as well, taking out 6 swordmasters. His second doom diver targets the eagle but scatters on to the archers, killing two, and the two rock lobber shots also target the eagle, with one landing home and killing it.

High Elves, Turn 2



With a ton of points up for grabs in the goblin unit, and a billion impact hits moving up on my West, I decide to get a bit more aggressive in the East. The lions and pennant swordmasters move up to threaten his leadership, and I get the Standard of Balance swordmasters in a position to aid in the fight should the savages move up to protect the goblins.

Magic is 12 v 6 - I start with a 3D6 net on his great shaman's unit and roll huge (20 total). He tosses all 6 of his dice to be sure of getting rid of it. I follow it up with a 3D6 Timewarp on the lions to all but guarantee an assault on the bunker next turn, a 2D6 Pha's protection on the archers in the forest which fails, and finally a 4D6 Pha's bubble to protect all of my elites.

In shooting, I don't want to waste 30 shots on a single fanatic, so instead work on whittling away at the bunker again - 5 wounds result from the volley. The archers in the woods manage another wound on the mangler, and there's no combat so we move to his turn

Goblins, Turn 2



His night goblin bowmen squabble this turn.

He declares a charge with his middle Wolf Chariots on my archers, needing a roll of 10 to make it, but fails.

He then moves his compulsary stuff - His fanatic manages to roll the small arc needed to his my dwindling unit of swordmasters, as well as the above average distance. It plows through them, and does 5 hits, 4 wounds. They are down to 2 models. Mangler makes it to the edge of the forest, and his pump wagon pumps harder this turn to get to a good spot to threaten the action between the combat blocks.

Magic is 6 v 5 - He starts with a 3D6 itchy nuisance on my white Lions, which I dispel with 3. He then throws D6 plus an extra one at Gork'll Fix It on my archers, but gets poisoned by his mushroom, failing the spell. He finishes with a vindictive glare at the same unit, which I dispel with 2.

Shooting sees him misfire with one of his doom divers and lose the other and a stone thrower shot to pha's protection (shooting at the lions). He puts one rock lobba shot on the archers in the forest, killing 4 of them, and he misses with his spear shots.

High Elves, Turn 3



I start the turn by declaring two charges - The White Lions into the goblins, and the remaining 2 swordmasters into the pump wagon. The lions need a 5 to make it in, and true to form, right when it counts they roll snakeyes. The swordmasters, however, have better luck.

With remaining moves, I reform the archers in the woods to a more compact formation facing the incoming chariots.

Magic is another 12 v 6 phase - I start with a 2D6 shem's on his mangler, which he allows. I score 5 hits, and manage to take it out. I know at this point that I need to draw out some dispel dice, so I do something a little unconventional with the ring - I use 2D6 to cast it on his Orc unit, knowing he won't want to give up the shrunken head. It works, and he uses 2D6 to dispel it. I follow it up with a 4D6 banishment on his Eastern Chariots, and he allows it. I roll huge for hits, and wipe the unit out. He passes his panic test on the other unit.

I then work to protect my investment in the East - I need those lions to get in to that bunker with enough hitting power to take it out, so I start with a pha's with 2D6, which he dispels, then a second Pha's with 2D6 which goes off.

My archers in the woods manage a wound on the chariots, and my horde of archers takes out two of the Savage Orcs.

In combat, the two swordmasters roll like champions and take out the pump wagon, and instead of overrunning into the side of the savages (certain death), I reform them in such a way that their front is parallel with the edge of his field of vision, making them unchargeable next turn by the savages.

Goblins, Turn 3



He declares a charge with both units of chariots, the one in the East on my White Lions, and the one in the West versus my Archers in the woods. My lions hold and the archers stand and shoot - it's another long charge. Both the chariots fail their charges (the eastern one even had a great chance to get in), and my archers put a wound on the Western ones.

Magic is 2 v 3 - He starts with a 2D6(D6 plus mushroom) gork'll fix it, but again fails the natural roll. He then throws D6 at vindictive glare, which I dispel.

Shooting sees him devote his spear chucka shots to taking out the swordmasters with 2 remaining. He manages one hit, but fails to wound. His doom diver, however, has better luck, wiping the unit out. He starts with his first stone thrower on the Lions, but it misfires and explodes. The second one makes it through pha's and scores a direct hit, killing 4 of the lions. The final doom diver shot is taken out by Pha's.

No combat means it's my turn!

High Elves, Turn 4



I start by declaring a charge with the White Lions on the chariot beside the goblins - he's all but forced to flee, with the risk of holding being getting a unit of white lions on the flank of his bunker. I then redirect the lions into his bunker, and after some pause he holds; the other swordmasters are close enough that they could potentially declare a charge and flee him off the board.

The swordmasters move up to challenge the savages - if the goblins hold, and the savages charge the lions flank, they'll in turn get charged by the swordmasters, and if they charge the swordmasters directly... well... then they'd charged swordmasters

Magic is 10 v 4 - I start with a 3D6 Net of Amyntok on his bunker, which he dispels with all 4 of his dice. I then put a 2D6 pha's on his unit, and a 3D6 pha's (from the level 1) on the unit. I finish with a banishment attempt on the savages from my archmage, but don't make the 10+ needed.

Shooting sees me put another wound on the goblin chariots with the archers in the woods, and 4 more casualties on the savages.

In combat, I direct every lion attack I can onto his characters, knowing the importance of character leadership in a goblin based army. I take out all three (general, BSB and Great Shaman), and a handful of goblins. They kill a couple lions in return and are testing on steadfast. However, their low leadership prevents them from holding, and they flee. The lions pursue, catch them, and roll high enough to catch the chariot as well and take a reform. It was getting late at this point, so we both agreed that we were going to play one more full turn after this (ie. Turn 5), so with this in mind, I probably should have reformed to take out the rock lobba and doom diver.

Goblins, Turn 4



He's gotta make something happen at this point, so he charges the swordmasters in front of him with his remaining Savages (16 left now). His chariots also charge the archers in the forest, who flee and get away.

Magic is 4 v 6, with me dispelling all of his spells.

Shooting sees him put 4 wounds on my archers (not shown), and one of his doom divers misfire, unable to fire this turn.

In combat, the swordmasters do 10 wounds to the savages, but he rolls incredibly for his saves; only 4 savages die! In return, he wipes out 9 swordmasters, who flee and are overrun. In this combat, he positioned his mages out of combat.

High Elves, Turn 5



Since it's the last turn, I go for the long charge with the white lions on the savages (needed boxcars), but as expected they fail.

Magic comes in at 8 v 3. I start with a 4D6 banishment on the savages from my archmage, which he allows. I roll only 5 hits, but it results in 5 wounds. I then throw the second 4D6 at banishment on the same unit with my level 2, which he attempts to dispel but fails. Low hits again leaves 4 savages alive, plus characters.

I then direct all of my shots at the unit, and the ensuing volley hitting on 3's wipes the unit out to a man.

Goblins, Turn 5



His wolf chariots charge the recently rallied archers, and make the long charge but fail a difficult terrain test. The ensuing wound forces a panic test, which he fails. We play out the turn to see if he can panic either of my units, and he chooses to focus on the coven bunker, but they hold.

Massacre for the Coven of Light!

After battle thoughts

Well I don't know about you guys, but I feel like this was a great game versus a great opponent. This was one of those games where I looked at the table before the beginning asking myself "how can I possibly win this one?"

A few things that were critical this game:

1. Balancing between offense and defense. Pha's absorbed a huge number of shots this game, so it was necessary to stay balanced between keeping the shields up and taking out high priority targets like the impact hit generating troops
2. I feel that I'm getting much more comfortable with the situation of keeping the bunker safe and reacting to incoming threats. When I transitioned to all archer core, this was one of the hardest things for me (hence my tournament performance). Formerly I had a nice beefy unit of spears to keep my mages out of harm's way, and now I'm one bad move away from getting rolled. I've learned some hard lessons, and am getting much more comfortable with it.
3. Using the ring defensively is something I might explore a bit more in the future - in a situation where there isn't an item that I *need* to get rid of, I may start thinking about it as a way to draw out 2 dispel dice. In turn 3, I needed something that could draw out some dispel dice before I cast my important spells, and the ring did just that.

Anyway guys, thanks for reading! I'll get game 3 from the tournament up next.

D

[SpellArcher]

Excellent!

I love the way you dealt with the chariots Brewmaster. If these hit at full strength they are horrendous. Noneof them made it because you dealt with them in turn, your timing was excellent. Nice use of the Ring here. In general you broke up his attack and ruined his focus.

So I guess you consider upgrading the Lions to Horde more important than the fourth mage now? Love the way one unit has become 'Balance Swordmasters'! I need to cut from my list and I'm leaning towards losing an eagle over this banner.

[dabber]

On your turn 3, the remaining two Balance Swordmasters take out the pump wagon, and you mention not letting them overrun into the certain death of the Savage Orcs. While I agree charging the 20 strong unit with 2 guys is certain death, was there any real hope of them living anyway? With their banner, I look at an overrun into the enemy flank as a cheap way to both remove their frenzy and pin them in place for a turn. Also you could put attacks on the shaman, and the improved ward save. Finally since the Swordmasters will only be in contact with 3 Orcs, it doesn't take a completely insane amount of luck for one to live, and drag the savages completely out of there with a pursuit.
Why did the Savage Orc horde not attempt to protect the goblin character bunker from the White Lions after your failed charge? Fear of the second Swordmasters?
How wide was the savage unit and your second Swordmaster unit? I'm surprised that he was able to keep the Mages out of combat. It seems like turn 3 you could have reformed the second Swordmaster unit into a wider formation.


I'm shocked he would not take a scroll when he has 3 wizards. The scroll itself is super cheap; its the wizard to carry it that costs the most.

I think the game could be seriously different if you had not gotten off the good Banishment turn 1. The eastern chariots really limit your ability to advance.

[Swordmaster of Hoeth]

Congratulations on the win, Brewmaster!

That was one nasty army with all the artillery. It was good to see Pha's working nicely and I have just learned it prevents all machines from shooting (on 4+ that is) while I was under an impression it is only when they target protected troops.

Your opponent took a lot of poisonous mashrooms this time as well I am just wondering, with all these drops he surely could have be closer to you and position more units on the East. Any reasons he didn't do that? And it seems his long chariot charges also didn't do any good for him while gave you more time to blast them.

Very good game on your part!

Cheers!

[Brewmaster_D]

Thanks guys!

@Spellarcher - I've played the coven at both point levels enough at this point to finally settle on the fact that 4 mages at 2200 is just cutting too deep. I lament the drop in strength, but at the end of the day S6 still gets the job done.

Breaking his focus is a good way to put it. With a list like this, it's all about prioritizing targets and mitigating the advance. Kind of like that old arcade game missile command

@dabber - The move with the two swordmasters on turn 3 was less about saving their lives (that probably wasn't happening), and more about forcing his hand with regards to *what* killed them. By preventing the charge and also being out of LoS of the mages he basically has to devote some artillery to taking them out. In a perfect world, I get pha's up on them as well to further absorb his shooting phase, but obviously that didn't pan out. In the end, they did just this - drew a doom diver shot that I really didn't want landing on those lions or the other swords at this stage of the game.

The savages held back because he was confident that his goblins would hold steadfast and my lions would then get flanked by savages and charged by the chariot. This was an error on his behalf, because he didn't predict that I'd charge the chariot first forcing a flee and then kill his leadership base mitigating the effectiveness of steadfast.

Savages were 7 wide, and the swordmasters were 6. This was my mistake - I should have reformed them to wider to both get more attacks and to take out the heroes.

Remember that I have a horde of archers ready to shoot those chariots too on T1 - 30 shots should take one out and force the same panic test. As it was they were forced to shoot the night goblins turn 1 for lack of another target.

I have a feeling my store's meta is going to switch to "don't bother fielding an army with no scroll" pretty soon

@ Swordmaster - Yeah, if you ever do field lore of light, make sure you go with FAQ in hand. Pha's eats their shot regardless of whether they target the unit initially or not. Just too bad I didn't have that at the ready - keeping those swordmasters around would have made a big difference!

With the deployment, I managed to fake him out by staying almost exclusively central at first with the archers, eagles and swordmasters. By then, he had the goblin bowmen, warmachines, 2 x Western chariots and the pump wagon down. He really wanted to get those goblins in the tower lol.

Thanks again for all the comments guys!

D

[Curu Olannon]

Great game! Not much to comment on really: you got an opening in the East and used it perfectly. I do however strongly disagree about not killing the fanatic: taking out 5 goblins is rarely useful, whereas preventing the fanatic from blocking you, or worst case rolling through you, is relatively important.