Intoxicated Centigor
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I recently had the opportunity to play in the Fantasy 'Ard Boyz Prelims in Laramie, WY. We only had 6 total players, but it was enough. I was actually pretty happy there weren't many people playing, since that would give me a much better chance at placing. I'm predominately a 40k player, and though I play Fantasy every once in a while, I hadn't really played ANY Fantasy for about 6 months.
I was aided in the fact that the guys I normally play 40k with all decided they'd dust off their Fantasy armies as well, so of the 6 players in the tournament, 5 of us hadn't really played Fantasy for a long time. It was a bit awkward trying to get used to playing it again (all that wheeling and declaring charges at the start of the turn and such) and we had our share of rules debates since we were all so rusty, but we ended up having a lot of fun. This is a disclaimer as well: if you notice a rules discrepancy, feel free to point it out, but expect a few flaws, since none of us had played for so long. If I use a little 40k terminology, just bear with me, haha.
I brought a Dark Elf army, which is my only army for Fantasy.
Here's the list:
HEROES: (1240 points)
Dreadlord on Dragon (564)
Dreadlord- 140
Dragon- 320
Armor of Eternal Servitude- 35
Crimson Death- 25
Pendant of Khaleth- 35
Shield- 3
Sea Dragon Cloak- 6
Dreadlord (251)
Dreadlord- 140
Ring of Darkness- 40
Chill Blade- 50
Heavy Armor- 6
Sea Dragon Cloak- 6
Extra Hand Weapon- 6
Shield- 3
Sorceress (150)
Sorceress (100)
Dispell Scroll (25)
Dispell Scroll (25)
Death Hag w/ Cauldron of Blood (275)
Death Hag- 90
Cauldron of Blood- 110
Rune of Khaine- 25
Witchbrew- 25
Battle Standard Bearer- 25
CORE: (878 points)
Dark Riders Squad (117)
5 Dark Riders- 85
5 Repeater Crossbows- 25
Musician- 7
Dark Riders Squad (117)
5 Dark Riders- 85
5 Repeater Crossbows- 25
Musician- 7
Dark Riders Squad (117)
5 Dark Riders- 85
5 Repeater Crossbows- 25
Musician- 7
Repeater Crossbow Squad (110)
10 Repeater Crossbowmen- 100
10 Shields- 10
Repeater Crossbow Squad (115)
10 Repeater Crossbowmen- 100
10 Shields- 10
Guardmaster- 5
Assassin (151)
Assassin- 90
Rending Stars- 30
Manbane- 25
Extra Hand Weapon- 6
Assassin (151)
Assassin- 90
Rending Stars- 30
Manbane- 25
Extra Hand Weapon- 6
SPECIAL: (355 points)
Black Guard Squad (355)
20 Black Guard- 260
Standard Bearer- 14
Standard of Hag Graef- 35
Musician- 7
Champion- 14
Ring of Hotek- 25
RARE: (525 points)
Hydra (175)
Hydra (175)
Hydra (175)
TOTAL: (2998 Points)
I'm not really sure if this is the most effective use for my points I could have had, but the basic plan was to use the creatures (a Dragon and 3 hydras) to flame/charge big infantry blocks (hydras can kill characters in Combat as well, without having to worry about challenges). The Black Guard would take on just about any other infantry block, and the Cauldron of Blood would support them, usually giving them +1A, or 5+ Ward if they weren't in combat yet.
The assassins I wanted to hang out in the crossbow squads and throw their ninja stars of death at monsterous creatures and lone characters, since they'd be hitting and wounding on 2's each time (the combo with Mansbane makes their Strength 2 higher than the target's toughness, making creatures with 5 and 6 toughness cower in fear, or so I like to think, haha).
As you can likely see, my list has very little magic defense in it (3 dispell dice, 2 dispell scrolls, and the Ring of Hotek), and I was pretty nervous about facing a magic-heavy army.
The general in my army was the 2nd Dreadlord in my list (I always put him in the Black Guard) so as to benefit from the Ring of Darkness protection (if someone shoots at the unit, they half their BS before they shoot).
Other armies showing up included a High Elf list with 7 Bolt Throwers and lots of crossbows and cavalry (he was the only 'just fantasy' player in the tournament), Vamp Counts, Stegadon Lizardmen (5 Stegadons!), a Goblin army (with 21 Fanatics!), and a Chaos Warriors army w/ Valkia.
They announced pairings and:
Game 1: Dark Elves vs. Vampire Counts
Here's his list:
Vampire Lord (General) w/ Dreadlance, Crown of the Damned, Red Fury, Beguile, Dread Knight, and Nightmare
Vampire w/ Sword of Might, The Flayed Hauberk, Talisman of the Lycni, Hunter in the Dark, Walking Death
Vampire (BSB) w/ Avatar of Death, Summon Gouls, The Drakenhof Banner
Vampire w/ Blood Drinker, Avatar of Death, Infinite Hatred
Vampire w/ Book fo Arkhan, Dark Acolyte, Avatar of Death
Corpse Cart w/ Unholy Lodestone
10 Crypt Ghouls w/ Gast
10 Crypt Ghouls w/ Ghast
20 Skeleton Warriors w/ War Banner, FC
20 Skeleton Warriors w/ Banner of Hellfire, FC
20 Grave Guard w/ Banner of the Barrows, FC
21 Zombies
5 Blood Knights w/ Flag of Blood Keep, FC
3 Cairn Wraiths w/ a Tomb Banshee (4 total)
I've heard that Vamp Counts are pretty scary, though I haven't really had the chance to play against them much. I was a little bit nervous, though, since he obviously had a lot more casting dice than I had dispell dice, and I was worried about me not being able to kill his troops as fast as he could regenerate them. So, from the start I decided I needed to kill his Vampires if I was going to win.
The Scenario:
You had to nominate a unit in your army to be the BSB if you didn't already have one. The unit they were in was considered Stubborn.
Massacre: Defeat your opponent by 2600 or more points (worth 20 points)
Major Victory: Defeat your opponent by 1900 or more points (worth 17)
Minor Victory: Defeat your opponent by 1200 or more points (worth 13)
Draw: Achieved if the margin of victory is 1000 points or less (worth 10 each)
Battle Point Modifiers
+1 If you Control your opponent’s Army Battle Standard at the end of the Game
+1 If your General is still alive
+1 If you killed the enemy’s General
+1 If you still control your own Army Standard
-1 If you have lost your Army Standard (or the nominated unit was destroyed)
He won the dice off to pick table sides, and since we both had our stuff on opposite table sides, he just chose that side. It's a sort of laziness thing that we do at this shop for casual games- we just choose the most convenient side of the table, not necessarily the most strategically relevant. And so it went this time. The board wasn't really that exciting, and none of the terrain came into play except during the deployment.
My opponenent placed his units all in a pretty straight line, with the big unit of Grave Guard holding the BSB Vamp, Dark Acolyte Vamp (better caster), and Infinite Hatred Vamp. Two blocks of skeletons flanking them, the block of zombies on the right of the skeleton unit, and the Cairn Wraiths to the right of them. The Ghouls he placed to the left of his skeletons, one block of them, and then the others he spread out fully, to screen his lord on the horse w/ the Blood Knights (so I wouldn't use frenzy against them). His corpse cart he put directly behind the grave guard.
I placed my Black Guard in the center of my army, with my Dreadlord in it. My Dragon w/ Dreadlord placed slightly to the right of them, and the Cauldron of Blood sat in the back right behind the block. The Crossbowmen I put on the left, and the Dark Riders I put on either far flank and one in the middle. Hydras I did the same with. The Sorceress sat in the back with some crossbows.
He had his Vampire with Hunter in the Dark infiltrate closeby on my left flank, behind a house that didn't come into play again.
We rolled, and he won, choosing for me to go first.
Turn 1: Dark Elves
I marched everything forward, knowing that next turn he would likely be unable to charge me with his Blood Knights/Lord since he was screened by his Ghouls. My Lord on the dragon moved to the right, ready to charge the wraiths since I needed to make sure I could take care of them, being ethereal and all). My crossbows took a few potshots, but did no real harm to anything.
Turn 1: Vamp Counts
He also marched forward, nothing too surprising. His infiltrating Vampire moved out from behind the house.
He then proceeded to cast some spells, and I scrolled Summon Undead Horde. He casted it again with irresistable force and put a block of zombies in front of my Dark Riders on the left, screening the vampire from a charge from them. I mostly stopped the rest of his spells, except for a few to make the zombie unit bigger.
No real shooting, and it was my turn!
Turn 2: Dark Elves
I declared a charge from my Dragon to the Wraiths, which failed by less than 1". Dangit! Otherwise, I decided to move my units up once more, getting ready to charge his blocks next turn. The crossbow unit on the left containing the two assassins moved up as well, and I revealed the assassins. The hydra on the left staged to charge the screening unit of ghouls so as to hit the lord vamp the turn after, and hopefully hold him up.
No magic obviously, and I proceeded to use my Ninja Stars to kill his infiltrate Vamp. A flurry of shots from the other crossbowmen/dark riders kills all but three zombies in the screening unit. Other shooting involves me shooting various skeletons, to no real effect.
Turn 2: Vamp Counts
He oddly decides to charge my dragon with his wraiths. His zombies charge my Dark Riders, who hold. The screening ghouls on the left charge my hydra, who holds.
He tries to summon undead horde again, but the RoH causes a miscast and ends the casting round.
In assault, the Dark Riders kill the remaining 3 zombies. My Lord challenges the banshee, who has to accept. I kill the Banshee easily, also killing another wraith through combat res. The Hydra rips 3 ghouls to shreds, takes no wounds, and kills another 4 through combat res, leaving 3 left.
Turn 3: Dark Elves
I declare a charge from the Black Guard to the Grave Guard, and... thats it. I move my leftmost Dark Riders in to draw a charge from the frenzied Blood Knights/Lord and deflect it if I can, making it impossible for the unit to massacre into the Black Guard's flank. The assassin crossbow unit moves forward again, ready to unleash death on the Blood Knights. They shoot and when the smoke clears, all but the Lord and the Blood Knight champion are dead. Go Assassins! My hydras on the right and middle move to his right flank, and I use my flamers to kill droves of skeletons and zombies, in the end killing more than half the 21 zombies and 15 skeletons, leaving 5 remaining. Cauldron of Blood gives Black Guard +1A.
My dragon/lord manage to kill the last of the wraiths in combat, and my Hydra kills the rest of the Ghouls on the left side. In the Grave Guard/ Black Guard combat, he challenges with his champion, and I accept with mine, and I win, even getting a little bit of overkill. I then target his vampires, and manage to kill the more fighty one, and put a wound on the caster. The BSB evades all damage. He does nothing in return, and I win by a lot, though with the Regen banner he has, he takes zero wounds from combat res.
Turn 3: Vamp Counts
His Lord/Blood Knights declare a charge on my Dark Riders and I choose to stand and shoot, not because I think I'll do something spectacular, but because I have a thought that if I can somehow survive, then next turn my Hydra will be able to charge their rear. His remaining 5 skeletons on the right charge a hydra, and the zombies charge the other one.
In casting, he casts a spell that allows him to regenerate D6 guys anywhere on the field, and I use my final dispell scroll, so that he doesn't replentish his Blood Knights. He tries summon undead horde AGAIN, and miscasts due to RoH, killing his caster (the caster Vamp in the Grave Guard) and ending the magic phase.
In combat, the Lord MAULS my Dark Riders. I had no idea he could be so completely nasty! He overruns, but only gets 4", still well within charge range of my Hydra. On the right, my Hydras do well, killing every last skeleton and zombie, giving me the flank. The central combat goes badly for me, and I only cause a single wound to his BSB, all other attacks being saved by Regen. He kills a few of my Black Guard and puts a wound on the Dreadlord, and wins combat. With stubborn, my guys roll a... 12?! but they are able to reroll due to the BSB hag in the back and pass with a 9. Whew!
Turn 4: Dark Elves
I charge my left hydra into the rear of his lord, and charge my two hydras on the right into the flank of the Grave Guard. I specifically leave his 10 ghouls and a squad of 20 (more like 16 by now) skeletons on the left side, hoping to draw a charge from them into the hydra, so I can combat res his Lord to death with them. My dragon/lord moves close to the corpse cart, preparing a charge next turn.
No real shooting except for a few shots from Dark Riders into a Corpse Cart, which do nothing.
In combat, my Hydra kills the remaining Blood Knight, and takes a wound in return. The big scrum in the middle is a fiasco, and even with my two hydras in the flank of the Grave Guard (14 S5 attacks) and all my Black Guard attacking them w/ 3 S4 re-rollable hits each, I do ZERO wounds to the unit, and take 2 in return. I still win combat, but he loses zero Grave Guard due to regen.
Turn 4: Vamp Counts
He takes the bait and charges his skeletons on the left into the flank of my Hydra, and the ghouls into the assassin unit, who stand and shoot, killing 5. He again tries to summon undead horde and miscasts due to RoH, though he saves the wound.
My Hydra takes the ghouls apart, causing 7 wounds total (beastmasters included). The Lord causes 1 to the Hydra, and I win by a TON, combat ressing the Lord to death. Everything immediately begins to crumble, and he even loses 4 Grave Guard from the crumbling. My dreadlord w/ Black Guard and Hydras finally do something, and kill 6 Grave Guard and the BSB. I win combat by a TON, and even more crumble, because the Regen banner is gone.
His army completely gone except for about 3 skeletons, 4 grave guard, and a corpse cart, he concedes the game.
Results: Massacre for the Dark Elves, 24-0
He actually technically should have gotten a '-1' score, since he lost his Army Standard, but we decided a zero was bad enough, and allowed him the point. He had lost his entire army, and I'd ended up keeping the losses to a couple of Black Guard, and a Dark Rider Squad.
Things I learned:
Vamp Count lords can be NASTY in CC! Holy crap, so many attacks that auto-hit and wound on 7's, then get to roll even more if they wound? Wow, I don't know why he didn't take two of them, honestly!
The Regen Banner is AMAZING with Grave Guard, or any unit, probably.
When fighting a Regen Banner with Black Guard, having your Cauldron of Blood give them Killing Blow is a lot better choice than +1A, since it negates Regen. Took me most of the game to realize that, heh.
The Lizardman army had gotten a massacre against Warriors of Chaos, and the Goblins tied the High Elf list, meaning....
Game 2: Dark Elves vs. Lizardmen!
Here's his list:
Tehenhauin (his General) on an Ancient Stegadon w/ Engine of the Gods
Skink Chief on a Stegadon
Skink Priest w/ L2, Dispell Scroll
Skink Priest w/ L2
20 Skinks w/ 2 Kroxigors
20 Skinks w/ 2 Kroxigors
10 Skink Skirmishers
10 Skink Skirmishers
Stegadon w/ Giant Bow
Stegadon w/ Giant Bow
Ancient Stegadon w/ 2 Giant Blowpipes
5 Terradons
5 Terradons
3 Razordons
Wow. There was a LOT of things I was nervous about. Bolt throwers, big blocks of infantry, Skirmishers, Terradons w/ Flight to be able to march block me, even MORE monsterous creatures than I had. I had never played against the new Lizardmen book, and it made me a little nervous. I wasn't sure what to expect from any of his units, and all I knew was that I needed to get my assassins to shoot their ninja stars at stegadons, hopefully killing them quickly and evening the odds.
Scenario:
We had a marker in the center of the table, and everyone within 12" of it had to do an animosity check like Orks and Goblins have to. In addition, every miscast within that area had to roll on the Ork and Goblins miscast table.
Massacre: Defeat your opponent by 2600 or more points (worth 20 points)
Major Victory: Defeat your opponent by 1900 or more points (worth 17)
Minor Victory: Defeat your opponent by 1200 or more points (worth 13)
Draw: Achieved if the margin of victory is 1000 points or less (worth 10 each)
Battle Point Modifiers
• +1 If you have more units within 6 inches of the Totem marker than your opponent.
• +1 If your General is still alive
• +1 If you killed the enemy’s General
• +1 If all of your magic users (including Dwarf Rune Lords or Rune Priests) are alive
and not fleeing at the end of the game
• -1 If all of you Magic users (including Dwarf Rune Lords or Rune Priests) have been
killed or are fleeing at the end of the game (If you have no magic users or their
equivalent in your army then this does not apply to you)
I deployed almost exactly the same way I did the last game, making sure my Hydras and Dark Riders were interspersed on the flanks and the middle. The crossbowmen and kept on the left flank as well.
He deployed with his two ancient stegadons in the center of the table, with his other 3 flanking them. He put the two infantry blocks and skink skirmishers on either side of the Stegadons, and the Teradons outside them. The Razordons he put on the far left flank.
We rolled to see who got first turn, and he did.
Turn 1: Lizardmen
He moved one stegadon on the left flank up a little bit, as well as the razordons. The terradons moved up a little too, though not much, and the skink skirmishers he also moved up.
He was able to cast Comet of Cassadora right in the middle of my lines with irresistable force, and I forgot that RoH would have made him miscast instead.
His shooting missed everything of mine (he was aiming for my dragon, and the Lord on it took 2 bolts to the chest and remained unscathed, haha. Gotta love the reverse ward save + regenerate!
Turn 1: Dark Elves
I sprinted everything forward, getting ready for the plunge, either next turn or the turn after. No real shooting, except from my Dark Riders, who kill 4 skink skirmishers on the right flank. Comet of Cassadora gets a counter, and I'm able to dispell it this turn with my 3 casting dice. Whew... those things can be nasty, if I remember correctly!
Turn 2: Lizardmen
His skink skirmishers are forced to move forward due to animosity, and decide to foolishly charge a Hydra! He moves forward with his terradons, dropping rocks on my Dark Riders on the flanks. He kills the ones on the right to a man, and kills all but 1 Rider on the left. The Razordons then move up and shoot at a block of my crossbowmen, killing 5. The terradons shoot and kill the remaining dark rider on the left flank. The rest of his line moves up slightly.
He tries various spells, but miscasts on Beast Cowers vs. my Dragon due to RoH and ends the magic phase, losing a magic level on one of his priests.
Shooting again does little, and in combat my Hydra wins vs. the skirmishing skinks, and pursues them, killing them all.
Turn 2: Dark Elves
I declare a couple of charges, the Dragon/lord into his General's Ancient Stegadon, and the middle Hydra (who had fought the skinks earlier) into the 2nd from the left stegadon. Everyone else moves up, except for the right Hydra who is march blocked by terradons. The left Hydra moves to flamer the razordons, and my intact crossbow squad moves up. I reveal my assassins in this squad. The Black Guard move up as well, ready to counter-charge any of the flank charges I know he's going to make with his free Stegadons/blocks of infantry.
I'm able to shoot my assassins at the left stegadon, causing 4 wounds to it. The Hydra flamers the razordons and kills 2 of them, and 3 skink handlers, who pass their break check. The Hydra on the right flamers the teradons, killing 1.5 of them. Blah, waste of time, apparently.
In combat, my Dragon/lord take 2 wounds off the Ancient stegadon, and the dragon takes one in return. He passes his break check. The Hydra vs. stegadon is the same, the Hydra taking one wound, and dishing out 2 in return. Hydra holds.
Turn 3: Lizardmen
He declares a slew of charges, his block of skinks on the right and his rightmost stegadon charging the Black Guard, the 2nd ancient charging the Dragon/lord, and the block of skinks on the left charging my Hydra. Also, he charges his leftmost stegadon (the one with 4 wounds) into my left hydra, as well as his razordons. On his impact hit rolls, he rolls 3 6's in a row, though he only manages to wound one hydra (one the left) twice.
He tries to cast a few more spells, but RoH ends the phase again, and he fails to do anything with his magic.
In combat, the Hydra on the left murders the stegadon who charged it, and the handlers kill the remaining Razordons. I'm forced to pursue, and chase them down. The middle hydra doesn't do terrible, killing a kroxigor and putting 2 wounds on another, but takes a couple wounds. He holds, however, to my relief. On the right, the Black Guard are unable to do much against the stegadon, my Dreadlord whiffing all of his attacks (despite his reroll) and the Black Guard putting one single wound on a Kroxigor. They kill a couple, but I stick around due to stubborn. The dragon/lord vs. the two ancients goes well (I think), causing 2 more wounds to the general's stegadon, in return for 2 wounds to my dragon. I then lose combat by 1, and roll... a 10. I'm 13" from the BSB, and am forced to flee... and roll a 6 on 3D6. He easily catches me, and just like that, the game changes drastically, with two stegadons free from combat.
Turn 3: Dark Elves
My Hydra on the left charges the rear of the skink block in combat with my other hydra, and the Hydra on the left moves forward slowly, flaming and killing the skink skirmishers in the forest there. Dark Riders in the center remain where they are, for some reason (forgot to move them, lol). Crossbows move up, trying to get the assassins into the fight, but terrain slows them down a bunch.
My charging Hydra on the left flank slaughters about 10 skinks, and my other hydra takes another two wounds off the stegadon. The stubborn stegadon holds, but the kroxigor/skink block flees (for some reason they fled through my other hydra? I'm unclear as to how they did that and remained alive, but thats what we ruled) and I'm unable to catch them. On the right, my Black Guard whiff horribly, missing the Kroxigors completely despite 9 3+ rerolls to hit. I do a wound to the stegadon with my Lord, however, and cause it not to attack this turn. I win combat this time, however, though he holds.
Turn 4: Lizardmen
His infantry block rallies, and reforms. He charges his two ancient stegadons into my Black Guard left flank, and his right terradons into their right flank, killing a slew of them on the left. My Dreadlord and black guard are able to take two more wounds off of the original stegadon, a couple wounds off the woundless ancient stegadon, and killed to the man all of the terradons on the right flank. They also managed to kill a few skinks. I lose combat, however, fail break check, and get chased down. One single ancient stegadon with one wound is able to pursue into my hydra on the right side. Ut oh. On the right, it's also bad, as the stegadon finishes off it's original hydra with combat res, and is able to chase it into my left hydra.
Turn 4: Dark Elves
I move my assassins a little bit, trying to get into range of stegadons to shoot them. Still outside though. My Dark Riders decide to charge a skink priest, who has left his unit.
In combat with my hydra on the left, the stegadon whiffs, and the hydra takes his last wound off of him. On the right, my hydra does just as well, killing his charging stegadon. There are 2 stegadons left, one ancient one with one wound left (holding his general), and a stegadon with 3 wounds left. The Dark Riders crush the skink priest.
Turn 5: Lizardmen
He charges my wounded right Hydra with his two stegadons, and causes enough impact hits that the Hydra is down to 1 wound left. His terradons on the left charge my assassin crossbow squad. His reformed block of infantry w/ 1 kroxigor charges my Hydra on the left.
My Hydra on the right is able to dodge a few blows, and kills the final Ancient stegadon w/ Tehenhauin in it, and holds. On the left, the skinks and kroxigor miss my Hydra, and I kill enough skinks, that the entire unit breaks, and I chase them down. The crossbowmen kill 1.5 terradons, and it's a push.
Turn 5: Dark Elves
I declare another charge with the Dark Riders, this time on his Skink Chief that in the midst of all this craziness has been slinking away from the combats. My hydra on the left moves to recieve a charge from another wave of Kroxigors/skinks. The combat with my hydra on the right vs. Tehenhauin and a stegadon goes well enough for me, with my killing Tehenhauin, but the Stegadon finishing my Hydra. The handlers insta-break, and get away. The crossbowmen go first against the terradons, and kill another one, winning combat, and forcing them to flee, forcing me to pursue and not catch them. The Dark Riders again crush the character they charge, and get ready to charge the remaining skink priest.
Turn 6: Lizardmen
His terradons rally. His block of infantry charges my Hydra. The stegadon turns around and walks toward the middle, contesting the objective vs. my Cauldron of Blood, who this entire time remains unscathed.
In combat with my last remaining Hydra, the Kroxigors miss with their great weapons, and the hydra kills both Kroxigors, and the handlers kill 5 skinks, breaking the unit, and I catch them.
Turn 6: Dark Elves
My assassins get ready to put an end to the stupid terradons, since there's no way I can get them to the stegadon in the middle fast enough. The Hydra mostly just hangs out, since there's nothing it can do either. The Dark Riders, however, charge and slaughter his skink priest. The assassins/ crossbows kill the remaining terradons.
The Game Ends.
Results: Draw for Dark Elves! 10-10
Wow. That was a messy battle. I counted my battle points, and I actually still had quite a few more points left than him (he had his one 235 point stegadon left, and I had half a hydra, cauldron of blood, full dark riders squad, full crossbow squad, half crossbow squad, and 2 assassins left. The thing I forgot to count was table quarters, which I think MIGHT have pushed me over the edge (I had 3 quarters) in VP for the Minor victory. I'm not really sure, and I don't really feel like finding out. It was a pretty brutal battle, and it was full of memorable moments!
What I learned:
-Stegadons are tough in close combat, but their saves actually make them somewhat vulnerable to repeater crossbow fire, since a normal stegadon only has a 3+, modified to a 4+ vs. repeaters.
-Putting a much needed unit (i.e. assassins) in a corner where they can be march blocked can really really really adversely affect you.
-NEVER have your hardest-hitting unit outside of the BSB! I feel that that really did cost me the game, having my Dragon fleeing that quickly.
So, I had 34/48 points, tied with the lizardmen army, and only one point better than both the fanatic goblin army and the high elf army.
Game 3: Dark Elves vs. Fanatic Goblins
Here's his list:
Skarsnik w/ Gobbla
Night Goblin Shaman w/ L4, Mad Cap Mushrooms, Staff of Sneaky Stealin, Dispel Scroll
Night Goblin Big Boss w/ Bad Moon on a stick
Shaman w/ L2, Dispel Scroll
Shaman w/ L2, Dispel Scroll
Shaman w/ L2, Dispel Scroll
43 Night Goblins w/ FC, 3 Fanatics, Spears
20 Night Goblins w/ FC, 3 Fanatics, Spears
20 Night Goblins w/ FC, 3 Fanatics, Spears
20 Night Goblins w/ FC, 3 Fanatics, Spears
20 Night Goblins w/ FC, 3 Fanatics, Spears
20 Night Goblins w/ FC, 3 Fanatics, Spears
20 Night Goblins w/ FC, 3 Fanatics, Spears
10 Spider Riders w/ FC
2 Spear Chuckkas
2 Spear Chuckkas
2 Spear Chuckkas
10 Squig Hoppers
10 Squig Hoppers
1 Doom Diver
Wow... lots and lots and lots of goblins. I knew he was vulnerable to terror though, and I also had something else: a river in the middle of the board.
The Scenario:
It was basically the same: Kill eachother til you're dead. If your general is in range to charge his general, you have to charge, and declare a challenge.
Massacre: Defeat your opponent by 2600 or more points (worth 20 points)
Major Victory: Defeat your opponent by 1900 or more points (worth 17)
Minor Victory: Defeat your opponent by 1200 or more points (worth 13)
Draw: Achieved if the margin of victory is 1000 points or less (worth 10 each)
Battle Point Modifiers
• +1 If you have at least one (Unit Strength 5 or higher) units in your
opponents deployment zone
• +1 If your General is still alive and not fleeing
• +1 If you killed the enemy’s General
• +1 If your most expensive unit is still alive and not fleeing at game’s end
I won the choice for deployment, and picked the side that would make him cluster up around terrain the most. I deployed almost exactly the same way I did the other games.
He deployed with his goblins all clustered on the left center, with the huge Skarsnik unit w/ the L4 wizard in the back. A hill in the middle gave him room for all 6 Spear Chukkas, and he put his Doom Diver in the bottom left corner. His Squig Hoppers he put on his flanks.
An important note: There was a river flowing through the middle of the board. When fanatics hit any type of terrain, they die.
I won the roll for first turn, and take it.
Turn 1: Dark Elves
I move everything up, and sprint my Dark Riders up, popping about 9 fanatics with 2 of my squads, losing 9 Riders to the Fanatics, though the remaining one stays.
Turn 1: Goblins
He moves his squig hoppers but leaves everyone else where they are, lest the final rider pop their fanatics. The spear chukkas shoot at a Hydra in the middle and take 2 wounds off of it. I (for the most part) shut down his magic.
Turn 2: Dark Elves
I declare a charge with my remaining Dark Rider into the closest Spear Chukka. Everything else moves up, and the Hydra on the left flames some Squig Hoppers. Everyone else I keep on the edge of the river, to keep the fanatics from hitting them. I also move my Dragon into the middle of his Goblin horde, ready to force terror checks next turn. His fanatics that haven't popped do, but they're behind the other squads, and he's forced to make his fanatics go through his own units or making them go off the board, and he chooses the latter. The Dragon flames a few goblins, who hold.
In combat, the Dark Rider kills the crew, and makes everyone around them take panic checks. Skarsnik takes his, fails it on a 9, and runs off the board, and about 4 other goblin squads do as well, also 3 other Spear Chukka crews.
Turn 2: Goblins
He charges the squig hoppers into the Hydra. The other goblins are forced to take Terror checks and another few fail. The Squig Hoppers fail to hurt the Hydra, and are killed to a man. At this point he has a couple Spear Chukkas, the Doom Diver, Spider Riders, a squad of Goblins, and a squad of squig hoppers. We play a little more, and he shortly concedes the game.
Results: Massacre for the Dark Elves 24-0
I honestly felt really bad about this game. A lone Dark Rider shouldn't have been enough to rout his entire army, and the fanatics were hitting terrain all over the place. The game wasn't really that indicative of what SHOULD have happened, but in 'Ard Boyz, I'll take what I can. The guy was a great sport, and I've always had a great time playing against him in both 40k and Fantasy.
What I learned:
-Goblins are REALLY shaky on leadership checks. Depending on leadership 8 is rough.
-Fantasy games can be ENTIRELY one-sided. I didn't even use most of my units this game...
In the other game, the High Elves took a Minor loss to the Lizardmen. Meaning:
Overall Results: First Place for the Dark Elves! Woo hoo!!
It was a really fun tournament, with great opponents all three rounds. It was also a fun change of pace for me, since I almost exclusively play 40k, I had a lot of fun playing another game.
Now, it's your turn. How did you like the report? More importantly, what armies do I need to look out for at Regionals? Any suggestions to make my list harder? I want to be able to beat demons, but I really have no clue as to what to expect, since I don't play WFB much. Thanks for reading, I realize it was pretty long. Have a good one!
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