Another installment from the Plaques from the Temple City of Yu'ancan...this time versus Jojo's Skaven army....
My list consists of the following units
LORD
Slann Lord Palaq'qa:
BSB, Lore of Life, Focus of Mystery, Rumination, Becalming Cogitation, Cupped hands of the Old Ones (445)
HEROES
Scar Veteran Tuq'qo: Gold Sigil sword, Gambler's armor, shield (123
Skink Chief Tiq'qi: Stegadon war spear, on a Stegadon (340)
CORE
25 saurus warriors: Std and musician (293)
23 saurus spearmen: Std and musician (294)
27 Skink warriors with 2 Kroxigors: Full command (265)
3 x 10 skink skirmishers: (70 each)
SPECIAL
16 Temple guard: Std and musician, Lichebone pennant (294)
6 Chameleon skinks: Brave (78)
RARE
2 x single Salamander: extra skink (80 each)
TOTAL= 2500 pts
Jojo's 13th army of Plague
Lord Grey Seer - 240 (Pestilent breath, Bless with Filth, Vermintide, 13th Spell)
25 d scroll
= 265 pts
Screaming Bell - 200 pts
BSB Chieftain - 45 + 2 shield
25
BSB
45 warlock augment weapon
= 117 pts
Plague Priest - 100 + 16 plague censer (Pestilent breath, forgot his other spell)
35 pts level 2
= 151
CORE
Clan Rats - 220 pts full command with spear/warfire thrower 70 pts
Clan Rats - 220 pts full command with hand weapon and shield/poison wind mortar 65 pts
20 slaves with slings - 50 pts
20 slaves with slings - 50 pts
20 stormvermin - 185 pts full command/poison wind mortar 65 pts
banner of under empire 25 pts
RAT Swarms - 100 pts
SPECIAL
5 gutter runner with sling - 65 pts
5 gutter runner with sling - 65 pts
5 gutter runner with sling - 65 pts
20 monks full command - 160 pts
6 plague censer bearer - 96 pts
4 ogres with 3 pack master - 175 pts
RARE UNIT
90 pts warp lightning cannon
TOTAL = 2499 pts
The scenario was the (in)famous Watchtower scenario, and Jojo won the roll, and decides to place his unit of 20 stormvermin in the tower....
As the Towers all count as Towers of Blood (all units within 6" gain hatred, but the skaven units also gain frenzy as it is a Force of Disorder) and we decide that the effects will always be in play as long as the units are within 6", this will surely be a BLOODY game!!!
Jojo decides to let 1 gutter runner unit ambush, while the other 2 scout into the other tower as well as behind a hill, while my camo skinks hide in a forest, which turns out to be a fungus forest!
Our Deployment
I automatically get the first turn, and here we go!!!
LM turn 1
First things first...my Chameleon skinks fail their stupidity roll due to the forest spores, and shamble forward!
The other units move forward, with my skink/kroxi unit hurriedly moving out of the boiling river before it cooks them alive. 1 unit of skinks plus the 2 salamanders enter the Venom forest, intending to breath flame at the Stormvermin holding the objective.
Magic sees Lord Palaq'qa successfully casting Throne of Vines as well as regrowth. The other spells are dispelled, with the Grey seer using his dispel scroll versus the Lurkers Below spell cast at him and his unit.
Shooting sees only 2 Stormvermin die from shooting, and in a start of a trend to follow, pass it's panic check despite having no ranks within a building.....
In my final act I shoot my Stegadon war spear at the Bell, and get a 6! Allocation shows that the Grey seer is hit, and he fails his ward save and gets pinned to the bell as I roll a 5 and get 3 wounds!!! With this single act I ensure that I get Magic Domination for the entire game!!!
End of LM turn 1, and the Grey Seer is down!!!
Skaven turn 1
Despite the loss of the Grey seer, the Skaven army surges forward. The Skaven left and right flanks attempt to close the gap, with the rat Ogres marching forward towards the square tower. The Rat swarm also surges forward to flank the central tower, as the other units move forward. The Spear Clanrats do a swift reform and form a narrow unit with a lot of ranks. The open gutter runners move up the hill, and the slave unit on the skaven left turns around in order to shoot their slings at the wide open camo skinks.
In the magic phase, the Rat Ogre is dumbfounded as there is no Grey seer to direct it, and the Bell is silent (Jojo forgot to ring the bell!)
Shooting is much more successful, as the Skaven focus their efforts on the center LM units. The Warp lightning cannon shoots at s8 and poisoned globes from the mortars successfully get past the regeneration of the templeguard and remove 1 rank of
TG, as well as also a couple of saurus spearmen and a skink. The gutter runners are not so successful in the flanks versus the skinks, as only a couple fall.
The Skaven strike back hard versus the Lizardmen with their shooting!
LM turn 2
With so many ratmen close by the LM declare charges!!! The Stegadon crashes into the Rat swarms, while the 2 saurus units assault the towers nearest to them. The salamanders and skinks reposition in preparation to shoot, including the camo skinks who shake off the effects of the spores, and move towards the warp lightning cannon. The slann and his
TG reposition slightly in order to cast spells, and the skink/kroxis move slightly, trying to anticipate where the plague monks will go...
Without the Grey seer to oppose him, Lord Palaq'qa manages to successfully cast all spells, limited only by the average amount of power dice in the pool. The spear saurus flesh turns as hard as stone, and they get T8. The other saurus unit gets a Shield of Thorns, and 2 Temple Guard are regrown. Some stormvermin die due to the Shield of thorns.
Shooting is also successful, as a packmaster dies and a rat ogre is reduced to 1 wound. The chamo skinks manages to poison the entire crew of the Warp lightning cannon, while at least 1 rank of plague monks fall to the darts and flames of the skinks and salamanders. The poison globe mortar hiding behind the tower manages to dodge the hail of darts shot at it, and live. 2 gutter runners on the hill also get roasted by the Salamander, but they hold!
In combat, between 11 impact hits from the Stegadon (due to the War spear), the attacks of Chief Tiq'qi and the skink crew, and thunderstomp, all 4 rat swarm bases are crushed from existence, although the rats focus on Tiq'qi and he is incapicated due to rat bites. The Stegadon then overruns right beside the plague monks. The Saurus spearmen also completely root out the gutter runners in the square tower, and the unit moves in and garrisons that building. In the key combat in the center, the Stormvermin strike first, and with their frenzied status cause enough casualties to win the combat (it also helped that I thought there was no step up for casualties in a building assault party, so I did not get my full attacks in..this was clarified in later rounds, but is after the fact..which was critical since I could have driven out the Stormvermin by this round and occupy the tower...oh well never mind..), and the saurus warriors fail to claim the tower!
Combat is joined as early as turn 2, and the Stormvermin relentlessly hold on to the tower!!!
Skaven turn 2
The last gutter runner unit ambushes on the skaven right, and enters right beside a skink unit....
Charges were declared from both of the Skaven flanks. On the Skaven right, the Rat Ogres charged the Spear saurus in the tower, while on the Skaven left, the plague monks charge the skinks, who flee into the woods (losing 1 skink to poisoned spiders)....and they manage to successfully redirect at the skink/kroxi unit waiting in ambush, bu rolling high on the charge dice!!! The plague censer bearers then manage to charge into the flank of the stegadon......the gutter runners on the hill also charge the nearest salamander
In the magic phase, the Rat Ogre finally starts to ting the bell, with the result that all Skaven are emboldened and get to reroll
Ld tests within 24". The Slaan then easily dispels the Plague priest's attempt to cast Pestilent breath on 6 dice....
The shooting phase focuses on the skinks. The ambushing gutter runners kill 2 skinks with their slings, while the skaven weapon teams manage to completely wipe out the middle skink unit...with no panic from the saurus due to their cold blood and the
BSB.
Combat proves to be mixed....the Rat Ogres and packmasters fail to do any harm to T8 sauruses, and due to hatred ALL the Rat Ogres are hacked down..the packmasters break, and despite the
BSB the nearest slave unit also breaks and legs it....
On the Skaven left the plague priest and monk cause a huge amount of skink casualties, including deaths due to the plague censer..in return the Plague priest is wounded by a kroxigor, and a few plague monks also fall to skink blades....but the LM unit remains steadfast due to more ranks and hold....The plague censer's fumes completely slaughter the crew of the stegadon, and due to the frenzied attacks even the stegadon falls....and the censer bearers then reform.....finally the gutter runners kill 1 skink handler but loses 2 models, and the combat is drawn due to the +1 charge bonus to the gutter runners...
The view from my right
The view from my left, as combats occurred on both flanks....
LM turn 3
The saurus unit lead by Tuq'qo again charge the stormvermin in the tower, while the fleeing skinks in the forest rally. The other skink unit flanks the ambushing gutter runners, and the camo skinks make towards the poisoned wind mortar behind the central tower. The Slaan and
TG elect to pivot slightly, as a reserve unit depending on the actions of Bell/clanrat unit.
Magic again sees domination from the Slaan despite the average PD roll. The useless warp fire thrower dies due to the Awakening of the Wood. The spear saurus again get t8, while some skinks are regrown in the skink/kroxi unit...in addition that unit gets shielded from thorns. A few plague monks die due to the Shield of thorns....
Shooting sees the camo skinks kill the poisoned wind mortar, while the free salamander kills a plague censer bearer with its flames. The other skink unit kills a few gutter runners, who also hold fast!
Combat sees the Saurus unit win combat versus the Stormvermin, but due to steadfast and the reroll from the bell, refuse to budge! The gutter runners in combat with the Salamander becomes fearful, and gets run down when they lose combat! The plague monks finally break the skink/kroxi unit despite it being steadfast, but fails to run it down!
Skaven turn 3
The bell clan rats and the plague censer bearers declare charges versus Tuq'qo's saurus unit, and both manage to clip the unit from both front edges!!! (although the bell was not able to get to base to base, so no impact hits)..the plague monks charge the fleeing skink/kroxi unit, which again manages to evade them, right at the LM table edge!!! The ambushing gutter runners then charge the skinks, and the
BSB and spear rat unit then charge the spear saurus in the square tower...
magic sees the bell cast Scorch on the salamander which won combat, and it gets 1 wound, and 1 handler manages to live! Slaan lord Palaq'qa then dispels the Priest's attempt to cast pestilent breath again.
Shooting sees the other slave unit fail to hit the camo skinks again, while the poisoned wind globes from the mortar scatters 10" onto the bell/rat unit, killing a few skaven...
Combat has the Spearrats suffer a lot of casualties to no avail, as steadfast keeps them from breaking. The censer bearers kill a saurus due to fumes, but then the gold sigil sword of Tuq'qo comes to play and kills off 3 censer bearers before they get to strike...the clanrats manage to kill a few saurus and then more clanrats fall....the remaining censer bearers kill off several saurus before another censer bearer hits the dust....in the end all units remain locked in combat.......and the saurus and clanrats reform in order to bring more models in
BSB...
The gutter runners then fluff spectacularly versus the skinks, as only 1 skink dies versus 2 gutter runners, and the combat becomes drawn with the last gutter runner fending off 6 skinks!!!
End of turn 3, carnage and bloodshed reign supreme!!!
65/4/6, 
10/2/1, 
10/3/0, 
2/0/1, 
0/1/1
1/0/0
