Friedrich settled down against the base of an old gnarled oak resting his crossbow against an exposed root. He shuffled through the many pockets of his overcoat searching for a small flask that he kept hidden there. The liquid spirits would cheer his mood after a long unfruitful day of poaching the lands of his undead overlord. A breaking limb sent a chill down Friedrich’s spine and he scrambled to his feet bringing his crossbow to bear in the direction of the noise. He took cover near the oak he had previously been resting against just in time to hide from a group of daemon cavalry unit passing nearby. Stark white with fright, Friedrich slinked from his hiding place and followed the daemons to an open field where two great hosts stood assembled across from each other. He looked down on his nightly overlord mustering the forces of Rhystholden against the shimmering forces of daemons. Although he held no love for the dark forces of undead, he feared the alternative if they should lose.
3k Vampire Counts vs. Daemons
I was able to play against Eledamris’s daemons earlier today and unfortunately for me he is not only a talented painter but a skillful player. I forgot to ask for a copy of his list but perhaps if he reads this he can post it.
The Lists:
Rhystholden Forces
(L) Vampire Lord (425) -Infinite Hatred, Red Fury, Ogre Blade, Armor of Destiny, +1 Magic
Lvl
(H) Vampire (160) - Infinite Hatred, Dread Knight, Dragonhelm
(H) Vampire (180) -MotBA, Helm of Commandment
(H) Wight King (235) - Great Weapon,
BSB, Drakenhof Banner
(C) 30 Skeletons (300) –
FC, Spears, Banner of Eternal Flame
(C) 30 Skeletons (300) –
FC, Spears, Banner of Hellfire
(C) 39 Zombies (156)
(C) Corpse Cart – Balefire
(S) 38 Grave Guard (569) –
FC, Banner of the Barrows
(S) 11 Black Knights (373) –
FC, Barding, Royal Standard of Strigos
(R) Black Coach
Daemons
Keeper of Secrets
Skulltaker
Herald of Slaneesh
The Masque
Karanak
32 Bloodletters
5 Bloodcrushers
6 Fleshhounds
5 Fleshhounds
6 Furies
Another unit of bloodletters with something else mixed in.
5 somethings on steeds of slaneesh
Initial Deployment
After deployment the Daemon fast cav on my left flank make their vanguard move and so the game begins.
VC Turn 1:
The undead horde shuffles forward under the iron will of their Prince while the zombie bunker lingers on the left flank in order to protect their skeleton brethren. On the right flank, the ever vigilant wight cavalry rein in their steeds weary of the daemon cavalry that faces them across the field. The winds of magic blow mildly yielding 5 power dice. MoTBA brings the total to 7 with 4 dispell dice. The Black coach hums with magically energy as it greedily absorbs 2 dice. The mounted vampire cast Gaze of Nagash killing 1 bloodletter while 2 attempts at invocation are dispelled. The conclusion of the magic phase brings the
VC Turn 1 to an end.
End of VC Turn 1
Daemons Turn 1:
The blood crushers eager for battle attempts to make a charge against the waiting undead knights however they quickly lose momentum and stumble 4” forward. The bloodletters move forward along with the fleshhounds and furies. On the left flank the fast cav unit makes a bold move to threaten the zombie bunker. The Winds of Magic blow strong bringing with it 10 PD and 6
DD. The black coach absorbs another 2 dice powering up very quickly. Mystical shards plunged toward the black coach only to vanish moments before striking. A smile crossed the Vampire Lord’s face as he waved his arm dispelling the enemy spell. The Slaneesh daemon turned its eyes towards the dark lord attempting to lure him with its promise of physical pleasure (Vain of Slaneesh?). The Vampire laughed as the weak magic washed over him. The end of the magic phase concludes the Daemon’s first turn.
End of Daemon Turn 1
VC Turn 2:
The Vampire Lord takes a risky gamble by sending his skeleton across the front of his bodyguard with the intentions of using his magic to speed them into the enemies. The zombies shuffle about adopting a new formation to better protect the left flank and the Black Knights and Coach continue to hold their ground waiting for the opportune moment. The Grave Guard turn to face the bloodletter that will be in sight once the skeletons have been VDM out of the way. Winds of Magic barely stir generating 5PD (with MotBA :/). The Black Coach’s insatiable thirst consumes yet another vital power dice. Vanhel’s is dispelled however another 7 zombies are added to the bunker. With no one in combat yet the turn ends rather uneventfully. Pain awaits in the next turn.
Bonehead Move #1, End of VC Turn 2
End of VC Turn 2
Daemons Turn 2:
The bloodcrushers move with an unnatural speed and charge 20” to slam into the startled black knights. The furies flutter about and fail to complete their charge while the flesh hounds complete what would become a devastating charge against the skeleton unit. The fast cav ignore the zombie bunker and move into the
VC’s backfield. Slaneesh shards materialize and pummel the grave guard causing 4 wounds. 2 pass their regeneration and the unit then passes its leadership check. The herald cast cacophonous caress with IR killing 2 skeletons. The explosion that follows kills 2 bloodletters and an additional 3 skeletons. The first round of combat brings with it a number of whiffs on both sides and a lot of pain for the undead. The flesh hound causes a total of 16 wounds on the first skeleton unit who manage a measly 5 wounds. Following the combat resolution the skeleton champion still stands warding off the snapping jaws preventing an overrun. The blood letter horde wipes out the second skeleton unit overrunning into the grave guard. Skulltaker issues a challenge and mercilessly slays the black knight champion. My vampire totally whiffs and the blood crushers kills another 3 black knights. The knights manage to kill 1 blood crusher and wound another for a total of 3 but end up being wiped out due to combat res. Things are already looking grim. With no combats left to fight the 2nd turn ends.
End of Daemon Turn 2
VC Turn 3:
The black coach plunges into the flank of the bloodcrushers. The Winds of Magic generate a whopping 3 dice (5 Total with MotBA) and then the coach gobbles 1 down. The Lord strains himself to bring back 10 wounds on the skeleton unit in combat with the flesh hounds. The coach does 2 impact hits (rolled a 1 :() before being destroyed by Skulltaker’s heroic killing blow. My vampire whiffs again and is promptly dispatched by the bloodcrushers. In the center of the fast crumbling battle line, the Vampire Lord issues a challenge which is accepted by the unit champion who is quickly dispatched. The Herald directs her attacks at the
BSB who fails his regen saves and dies taking with him the staying power the grave guard need. The blood letters kill 10 grave guard and in return the grave guard do a total of 17 wounds (Helm + Barrows +
GW = Awesome) however both the Chaos gods and dice gods pay favor to the blood letters who save 9 of them (there were so many 6’s). 4 more gg die to combat res. The flesh hounds wipe out the newly raised skeletons to finish off the turn.
End of VC Turn 3
Daemons Turn 3:
The flesh hounds and furies declare various charges against the corpse cart and grave guard. The Keeper of Secrets charges into the remaining grave guard while the fast cav charge my casting Vamp. I managed to kill the Herald before he destroyed my grave guard. My Vamp and Corpse Cart die rather quickly. With only a large horde of zombie remaining we call the game at the bottom of 3. Massacre to the daemons.
End of Game
Aftermath:
Being tabled sucks but I will have my vengence one day.
Unit of the match: Graveguard used with
GW in conjunction with the helm and banner of barrows rock.
Chump of the match: Black Coach (mostly my fault for forgetting heroic killing blow affects everything)
Nemesis of the match: Hard to say as everything pretty much dominated me in the combat phases.
Lessons learned:
-I definately made some bonehead moves when manuevering. I was really banking on getting off VDM which is a terrible plan. In hindsight I shouldnt have had those skeletons cross in front. I am also quickly gaining a healthy respect for the deployment and movement phases of
WHFB.
-Combat is terrible when you go last. I will most definitely be searching for ways to make my list more survivable in the first round of combat.
-
Thanks for reading my first report. I'm still feeling out the narrative approach vs a cut and dry report. Hopefully they will grow better over time.
