Hackneyed, worn out apology for massive delay in report goes here...
The Dark Elves-
Dreadlord, Stubborn crown, Pendant, Sword of might, Full mundane kit
Supreme sorceress,
lvl 4, sac. Dagger, 5+ ward (Metal)
Hag
BSB on Cauldron
Sorceress,
lvl 2, dispel scroll (Metal)
25-ish spearmen, marked vulnerability to dagger attacks
38-ish executioners, full command, armor piercing
4 x 10 repeater crossbows, shields
2 x hydras
Unfortunately, I don’t entirely recall which caster had which spell- though I’m fairly certain between the two of them, there were a pair of searing dooms, glittering robes, plague of rust, enchanted blades, and final transmutation.
Our scenario was one in which we each were responsible for four mini-objectives, unique and mutually exclusive. We took turns picking these, and you could get a tournament point for doing things like- getting into the enemy deployment zone, killing the cheapest enemy unit, or killing at least one spellcaster.
The matchup was both familiar and foreign at the same time. I play against Dark Elves
a lot, but hadn’t faced off against Lore of Metal
or the stabby dagger. I was familiar with (and very well equipped for) double hydras, and though the peg lord was going to be a pain with no Challenge rune, I was hoping I could hang him up on a block indefinitely. Ideally I’d get the shields on him with an anvil charge, but Russell would have to slip up for that to happen.
That repeaters would get attention in late game if at all, because I’d have to deal with the executioners too. Normally, my policy is to simply not fight big blocks like that at all, but this one wasn’t loaded out with characters, and I expected the peg lord might find a way to lock down the anvil- which meant I couldn’t slow them forever, and was going to have to whittle them down the best I could.
You can see more or less see our deployment below (after the first Dark Elf movement phase).
I’d toyed with the idea of putting the rangers in the tower, but they wouldn’t get their full 20 shots. Instead, the plan was to step the shield in to the building once the hydras got close. They’d be able to survive a lot longer defending against one hydra at a time, and only having to fight every other phase.
The rangers instead went down in front of a little village on my right in order to either tempt the executioners away, or to rain bolts in to them as they passed by. If I did draw attention, I’d be able to withdraw through the village, either jumping into buildings or retreating through them.
The Dark Elves won the first turn and advanced across the line. I immediately found my plan to anchor the left was going to have a bit of a problem. The tower was also going to give the hydras a chance to get some cover by turn two. Already I couldn’t see the leftmost with my flaming
GT, which was a bummer.
You would think I’d have learned my lesson about providing regenerating monsters a route to run an end-around on my line.
Notice the dreadlord has played it cagey, hanging far enough back that even a move plus anvil isn’t a very sure thing.
In the magic phase, I immediately discovered that I was kind of lost. Five dice into a final transmutation, the casting cost was far surpassed, but halfway through their prayer of thanks to the god of murder (perhaps not the best choice) the sorceress stabbed one in the face-bone to bump herself to irresistible force (presumably to keep me from spell-eating). The result was 14 dead great weapons, though my
BSB was so blinged out in armor, the Wind of Chamon presumed him to already
be a gaudy gold statue and so left him alone. That would be one unit no longer combat effective! In exchange, the miscast wounded the supreme sorceress and let me dump dice all over the remaining spells.
Shooting was negligible- crossbows at range on shield dwarfs snagged a couple, but the other blocks had to march before they could reach targets.
In my turn, I elected to send the gyro down to the right as part of operation “Get Away From Most of the Crossbows And Maybe If You Can, Flame Some Executioners And If You Can’t Then Kill Yourself Diverting Them” (henceforth abbreviated as OPERATION GAFMCMIYCNFSEIYCTKYDT). I also took some goofy swift reforms and facings with the great weapons and hammerers to prevent the dreadlord from charging my cannon, while making it apparent that a counter-charge awaited if he went after the organ gun.
A few quick jokes about Dwarven magic phases, and it was on to shooting. The crossbows and organ gun did a great job, stripping most of a rank off the executioners, who were also slowed by the anvil. I had the greedy, glorious thought of killing the near hydra and panicking the other off the board, but the
GT missed and the cannon laid three wounds on the near hydra.
Turn two
No charges- crucially including the dreadlord. Russell decided not to gamble on failing a charge and decided to place the dreadlord in position for a sure thing charge on the anvil next turn. This would give me a tough decision next turn.
Otherwise the hydras continued to scamper forward, with only one visible to the cannon, and the other shielded from all my warmachines.
Magic comes in low- and I can afford to spend my energy to keep glittering robes off the executioners.
Crossbows moved to open fire on rangers and the cannon, but fail to put any wounds on the artillery and only drop a couple rangers.
The dreadlord could potentially chew through the great weapons in a few combat phases, and I expect I’ll need the hammerers to go head to head with the executioners in a few more turns, so I make the tough decision to let the dreadlord in to the anvil. On the charge he averages about a wound, less once hatred wears off and the dark peg isn’t getting a strength bonus. I’ll send help once I’ve got a handle on the rest.
But in the meantime… the
BSB hops around to counter charge and potentially challenge out the dreadlord to keep him off my runelord (hopefully for a good long time with T5 and a 1+ re-rollable). Plus, the standard would keep forcing him to take stubborn checks well out of range of his own
BSB. In order to do so, I gambled showing my
BSB’s solo flank to the wounded hydra. This may have been a little too fancy of a maneuver- in retrospect, I might
The gyro continues with OPERATION: GAFMCMIYCNFSEIYCTKYDT…
Sometimes generals that lead from the rear, behind a huge chunk of metal are less than inspiring…
Shooting is disapointing on the left, with the cannon skipping short of its target, but pretty devastating on the right, organ gun,
GT, and crossbows combining to bring the executioners down to about 22 strong.
7 wounds of hydra, still alive and kickin’
Turn Three
While the dreadlord shuts down the anvil with a charge, the hydras split the difference around the tower, with the unwounded one looking to wrap around the back side, and the wounded beast unwilling to fully commit. This ended up being an interesting standoff- one where I was unwilling to engage with only 14 great weapons, but Russell didn’t want to send in a hydra on only two wounds. I thought he was being overly cautious- he’d probably only have to endure a grand total of about 12 swings over two rounds, and it would let him do something other than hide from war machines.
In the magic phase, I continue to scratch my head over what to do, and finally commit to spell-eating (successfully!) glittering robes in order to permanently deny the executioners the additional armor.
Repeater crossbows again fail to achieve much- long range, high toughness and the
MR of Grungni keeping me safe and sound.
In combat, the dreadlord kills one of the anvil guard, and that is it.
In my turn, the
BSB bulls his way into the dreadlord’s flank, while the gyro hops forward for a full flank flame shot along the beleagured executioners.
I convert every one of my partial hits from the gyro’s gun into a full hit, then only wound with two, both of which are saved, which is quite disappointing! However, the organ gun and rangers again do good work, and the unit is reduced to only about 18 strong. On the left, the cannon gets a line on the wounded hydra, but again skips short of the target.
In combat, it’s all aboard to crazy town, as the dreadlord inflicts a wound on the
BSB, who fails his 3+ re-rollable, but still wins thanks to banner, flank, and charge. The dreadlord breaks from combat! We randomize to see if he flees from the
BSB or the anvil and he flees from the
BSB which will take him right off the board. Oh yeah! Needing the
BSB to keep morale up and probably to help deal with hydras, I try to restrain pursuit, but fail even with the re-roll. WhaaaAA?! Stubby dwarfen legs at least keep him on the tabletop.
Dreadlord’s down, executioners are looking thin, and I’m looking good!
Turn 4
The executioners maneuver for a next turn charge, though they are seriously depleted, and I like my odds, provided nothing too untoward happens to the hammerers. The unwounded hydra sets up for a charge on the anvil, but will have to take a shot from everything one of my war machines.
I’m able to dump all my dispel dice to stop final transmutation, and the other spells don’t really matter now. Shooting is similarly unimpressive. Looking good!
Which means I’m due for a fall…
In an attempt to take down the unwounded hydra, the grudgethrower misses, the cannon rolls a one to wound and the organ gun blows up. Ruh-roh…
Turn 5 & 6
The hydra, spectacularly unwounded charges the anvil. The executioners, down to about 12 strong, charge the hammerers as well.
Tragically, the hydra tears the anvil apart in a single round and overruns 9-10” right past my
BSB’s flaming hammer counter charge and into the cannon. The executioners continue to underperform on their bloodshield saves, and though they kill a healthy number of hammerers, they are wiped out after just a couple combat phases… right as the hydra rampages into the hammerers’ rear.
On the left, the shield warriors exit the tower and with the help of miners to corral fleeing repeaters, bully the dark elf shooters with their fistful of static combat res, picking up some crucial points.
The wounded hydra is brought down by the grudge thrower, buying the great weapons and
BSB time to gather themselves together to try to rescue the hammerers.
Meanwhile, the gyro plays it coy again, shooting the mage bunker, and then unleashes its true nature as a combat beast and charges the flank! One wound on the supreme sorceress for none in return forces an easily passed break check, and reformed.
The spear elves change their facing. The gyro changes the supreme sorceress’ face. By landing on it.
So once again, the gyro takes out a level 4! In combat!
The final turn was a brutal exchange of haymakers- the hammerers finished the executioners, then were finished by the hydra, which was in change wiped by the great weapons and
BSB. The gyro killed the level 4, but broke one turn later and but nipped away from the spears.
In the end, I gave up the runelord, hammerers, cannon, and organ gun in exchange for the supreme sorceress, executioners, dreadlord, both hydras, and ¾ of the crossbow units, to pick up a:
Dwarf Win: 18-6 (ish)
Total roller-coaster game. I was almost positive I had it in the bag when the dreadlord broke off the table- found myself probably losing when the hydra stormed through all the shooting and ate the anvil in one go.
In the recounting, it seems like magic played little role in the game, but I felt under a great deal of pressure throughout. I’m not sure if I just wasn’t evaluating the magical threats very well at the time, or what, but really I only needed (most of the time) to worry about transmutation and robes.
After a great deal of deliberation, I gave my best sports vote to Russell. I felt like it was a quintessential tournament game- he knew his rules extremely well but didn’t try to bend anything, and took his successes and heartbreaking turns of luck in stride.
I’ll be wrapping up the tournament shortly (ha!) and also looking to write up a “year in review” after 5
GTs of 8th edition…
