Car was getting worked on this afternoon, so I wandered over to the nearby
FLGS to buy a bunch of paint and throwdown a quick game of
AOS. And you know it's going to be ultra-quick when you're up against Beastclaw
KHORNE DAEMONS (+ TOKEN MORTAL) DAEMON COHORT OF KHORNE
Bloodthirster of Insensate Rage [Chaos Talisman; Spiteful Destroyer]
Bloodmistress
20 Bloodletters [icon]
20 Bloodletters [icon]
10 Bloodletters [icon]
3 Skull Cannons [Bloodthirsty]
+
Bloodsecrator
1 Skull Cannon
1 Skull Cannon
Yes, I took +1 to wound on the Great Axe of Khorne, which already wounds on 2+. And on top of that, I never rolled for his Chaos Talisman, and I never rolled for Unpredictable Destruction. Fakk me
BEASTCLAW RAIDERS OLWYR ALFROSTUN
Frostlord on Thundertusk [Everwinter's Master]
EURLBAD
Huskard on Stonehorn [Blade of All-Frost]
2 Mournfangs
2 Mournfangs
2 Mournfangs
Stonehorn
+
2 Frost Sabres
He applied the Blade to the Huskard's horns, which had already been boosted by the formation, giving them Damage 5. On top of everything else …
SETUP We diced up terrain per 2x2, and rolled up Blood and Glory. We did not play with magical terrain, because it's dumb.
Vomitously blurry photo of the setup. Beastclaw are (L2R): Sabres, Stonehorn, Mournfang, Frostlord; Mournfang, Huskard, Mournfang. Khorne is: 10 Letters, 1 Cannon; 20 Letters, 3 Cannons, 20 Letters, Bloodmistress, Ragethirster, Bloodsecrator (hiding behind house corner).
Filled with optimism! And buttshots.
GAME Turn 1 With only two drops, the Beastclaw take it away. Everwinter scoots them 3” forward, the Frostlord activates his
Bellowing Voice (reroll charges), and everybody that isn't on a Thundertusk moves and runs. The Frostlord pauses a moment to miss with his frost-wreathed ice shot (!!!), then it's on to charges. Shockingly, many charge rolls are fluffed, resulting in just the vanilla Stonehorn crashing into a Bloodletter blob. Unfortunately for them it does 21 wounds on the charge, removing the daemons from this plane of reality.
A hush falls over the Khornate line, but the Ragethirster quickly rallies himself with the promise of more carnage, preferably in their favor. He calls for a
Bloodthirsty Charge (also reroll charges) and mobilizes the right flank.
The Skull Cannon pack in the middle advance on the Stonehorn, as the solo Cannons scoot around. The wee 10 Bloodletter pack tucks itself behind its ruin better, trying their best to be inconspicuous. And the Bloodsecrator plants the
Portal of Skulls and bathes the right flank in the warm glow of the Warp.
Four Skull Cannons unload on the Huskard, two hit, two wound, both are saved by its heavy armor. The fifth Cannon reaches out and does 2 wounds to the left flank Mournfang. After that brief interlude, it's charging time! Everybody but the leftmost Skull Cannon make it in on their targets.
The big Bloodletter mob goes first, looking to cripple the Huskard pronto.
Murderous Tide and
Locus of Fury kick their
Decapitating Blow up to 5+ for mortal wounds (rerolling 1's), with 21 attaks thanks to the Bloodsectrator's bubble. They rip 8 wounds into the Huskard! Then it returns the favor:
19 Bloodletters die.
Line-breaker lets the nearby Mournfang swing on the Ragethirster:
They do a stunning 12 wounds to him! At this point I am literally shocked, especially as two Mournfang were light cav and mostly junk in 8E (blah blah different game but still). I rally myself and go see what the Skull Cannon pack can do against the Stonehorn – their hellblades do 2 wounds, but despite burning the triumph, they can't do any with their maws, which was pretty much the point. That Stonehorn crushes a Skull Cannon and change.
BUT I've still got a Ragethirster, albeit a really beat up one. He lowers his axe into the Mournfang, with the help of the Bloodsecrator:
0 hits at 4+ rerolling 1's. Also, that solo Cannon fighting the other Mournfang dies, because apparently these things are fakking amazeballs, even without charging.
I almost fail my personal Battleshock test, but somehow I and the lone Bloodletter icon bearer hold (he had the help of the 'Secrator).
Turn 2 KHORNE DOUBLE TURN! Which mostly means the game lasts a few minutes longer. Nobody moves, as the Bloodsecrator is holding the Warp open, everybody in combat stays there, and
AOS means charging my Bloodmistress in just means she dies faster. Cannons fighting the Stonehorn fire at the Huskard and can't get through his armor.
BUT we're here for fighting, m'right?? Ragethirster gets angry and throws into the Mournfang:
YUSSSSSSSS and that one hit comes up a 6 to wound, meaning
Outrageous Carnage and sending 1 hot mortal wound into the Huskard (4 left) and the Mournfang. The axe does a few wounds but can't kill a Mournfang. The Ragethirster is gutted, the Bloodletter icon becomes mist under Damage 5 horns, and the other Stonehorn kind of fluffs and leaves two mangled Skull Cannons. They're nincompoops and can't hurt it.
Ogre second turn opens with the Bloodmistress demanding the Huskard come finish this thing:
He starts gathering speed to oblige her, but before he can impact with her soft, ichor-filled body the Frostlord nukes her with his frost-wreathed ice. Shortly after this the Ragethirster's Mournfangs storm into the Bloodsecrator wading through the daemonic dead pile, and all the other Mournfang thunder into the Skull Cannons cuddling the Stonehorn.
The Skull Cannons cease to exist, however the Bloodsecrator cracks the skull of one Mournfang and shrugs off the attaks of his partner. Result!
Turn 3 Having been uncharacteristically patient, the 10 Bloodletters explode from their hiding place and pounce on the closest Mournfang.
They roll like frenzied daemonic warriors, pulling down a Mournfang through weight of mortal wounds! 8 die in return, sending the unit popping back to the Warp, but it was so worth it. And finally, the Bloodsecrator beats on the remaining Mournfang, taking 2 wounds in the process.
In Ogre 3, the Huskard rounds the corner and charges into the Bloodsecrator, doing 2 mortal wounds on the way in …
Leaving his maul embedded in the bleeding face of the Ogre's mount, Bloodsecrator Abraxas threw himself aside as a mammoth creature came exploding through the house, but he had not been fast enough. A jagged tusk, blackened and stony, caught the icon bearer in the side, lifting and spinning him from his footing. He landed heavily, then quickly came to, having the wherewithal to dodge the beast's attempts to maul him where he lay. Abraxas found the haft of the Portal of Skulls and pulled himself to his feet. Yanking the icon from the ground, he brandished it at the brute riding the monster.
“Well come on then, you bastard,” Abraxas snarled through bloodied lips, beginning to work up how to use the rubble of the house to slam the Portal through the Ogre hero's ugly face. For his part, the Huskard stared at the angry little man for a moment, then hefted his harpoon launcher and shot him through the head. The Portal of Skulls pulsed one last time before falling from the Secrator's hands. BEASTCLAW VICTORY +++++
I made it to Turn 3! But have pretty much sworn off playing against Beastclaw again, and that's not something I think I've ever done in a mini game. Even if I had chosen a better command trait (Lord of War always, between buffing the Skull Cannons and the Ragethirster himself) and remembered his 6+ ward save, and Unpredictable Destruction, and managed more than 2 saves all game (I'm not joking), or had even remotely normal dice, I don't think I could have won this. I actually felt halfway good going into this, or at least like I could bring the hurt, but losing so heartily in my own turn tells me there's some real design flaws going on here.
Anyway, back to building MFX and planning on more
KOW in the future!
- Salvage
), though it's pretty apparent that Khorne isn't actually very good at fighting in this game, beyond a few tricksy Bloodbound units and I guess Skarbrand 