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This is the first Battle of the 2021 Season. It was originally scheduled for the final Saturday in January but was postponed due to the Pandemic. We are back on for Saturday, February 13th.

Attached: Excel Sheet that shows all of the equipment, special rules, etc. Feel free to audit this for mistakes if you can find any.




THE ARMY LISTS - WOOD ELVES

HEROES (1-3)

Spellsinger. Lvl 1, Lore of Athel Loren. Two Dispel Scrolls. 140 Points. (This is the General)
Spellsinger. Lvl 1, Lore of Athel Loren. Two Dispel Scrolls. 140 Points.

CORE (2+)

Glade Guard x 10. 120 Points.
Glade Guard x 10. 120 Points.
Glade Guard x 10. 120 Points.
Dryads x 12. 144 Points.

SPECIAL (0-3)

The Wild Riders of Kurnous x 6. Full Command. Magic Standard: The War Banner. 217 Points.
Leopold's Leopard Company (Regiment of Renown). x 16. Full Command. 282 Points.

RARE (0-1)

Waywatchers x 9. 216 Points.

TOTAL: 1499 Points.




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THE ARMY LISTS - TOMB KINGS

HEROES (1-3)

Tomb Prince. Riding in a Light Chariot. The Spear of Antarhak. Light Armour and Shield. 184 Points. (This is the General)
Liche Priest. 115 Points. (This is the Hierophant)
Liche Priest. 115 Points.

CORE (2+)

Skeletal Warriors x 15. Spears, Light Armour & Shields. Champion, Standard Bearer. 170 Points.
Skeletal Warriors x 10. Spears, Light Armour & Shields.100 Points.


SPECIAL (0-3)

Chariots x 5. Full Command. 250 Points.
Ushabti x 3. 195 Points.
Tomb Guard x 15. Champion, Standard Bearer. 204 Points.

RARE (0-1)

Casket of Souls. 165 Points.

TOTAL: 1498 Points.





MY THOUGHTS COMING INTO THE MATCHUP

Last year we played only 9 Battles instead of 12 due to Pandemic slowdowns...
I took Draws in November & December... before that was a lot of losses in a row (SIX!). I have not won a Battle since January 2020.
I've learned a lot about what NOT to do and will be focusing on not making mental mistakes.
My opponent has only played as Tomb Kings once before, massacring me during my first ever try as Lizardmen. (BATTLE REPORT HERE https://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/791589.page#10916478)
I rarely play as Wood Elves but I have faced them so many times that I was very comfortable making my list. He was not.
Neither side brought any flaming attacks, which is interesting maybe?
We have never used a Dogs of War/ Regiment of Renown unit before and I have had my sights set on some pikemen for a while. Make them Immune to Psych and I think I'm in business as long as they get flank support from the Wild Riders and the Dryads on either side.
His Tomb Guard have Magical Attacks so I want to keep my Dryads away from them.
I will have a significant Shooting advantage. I can be patient and let them slowly walk to me while thinning their numbers. While pikemen doesn't necessarily mean there's no value in winning the "charge dance" (I still don't want to just give away an average 8 free Impact Hits to his chariots) I definitely have time on my side to let the dozens of longbows I've invested in do some work.
I will be using the 4 Dispel Scrolls to take away 4 turns of his Casket. My 4 Dispel Dice per turn will try and shut down his offensive magic. My Waywatchers will be targeting the Hierophant and the Casket Priest.
I feel good about making this the Battle that finally snaps my year-long win drought and puts me out in front for the beginning of the 2021 Season.

Let me know what you guys think and keep on posting your Lists and Battle Reports. I'll be sure to keep you updated and I for real for real promise I'll put up a good battle report like I did before. Thanks for all your advice and help!

The good part is you should reliably have his magic shut down for a few turns. The bad part is that the likelihood of you getting a single spell off is slim to none. You have two spell casters who will each know one spell and can only throw 2 dice into it, the Tomb Kings player will have that exact number of dispel dice.

Past that, your build is fairly good. Not sure I'd have spent the extra for the Wild Riders vs. Glade Riders but that extra hitting power may very well be just the thing once dice hit felt.

The key thing about his army is that his units will either all travel at the speed of the slowest unit (M4) or will come in waves. If it's the latter, you can selectively deal with things in order of speed, which should keep you save.

Also, don't be afraid to flee a charge, especially if you can set it up to have counter charges. Remember that you can't redirect into a target that was viable when the fleeing unit was in its original position. That will probably give you the ability to lure the chariots out with Glade Guard or even Waywatchers if you trust your rally rolls while having the Wild Riders within plain view but a touch further back.

Finally, remember that even Elven shooting doesn't have a large impact on the game. Shooting is like pepper on mashed potatoes: it helps the taste but it can't carry the dish by itself. Best bet is to prioritize fire at one unit at a time, and ideally shoot things that can't be resurrected.

His army is very slow if you shut down the extra-move-magic. You can probably dispel 2 of his 3 casting per turn just with your 4 dispel dice, so with 4 DS there is no way he's going to do something. In any case, I would try to deploy the WW as close as possible to the Casket and try to get a charge on turn 2. Without it he has no inmediate threat and you can dance around his foot-slogging units.
As Tony said, fleeing a charge is also a good idea with woodies. Bait the chariots and set up around countercharges with fast units (dryads/wild riders).
That might sound like a good plan, but the execution could go either way!

The Casket also only affects units that have a direct line of sight. Keep skirmishers on the other side of terrain and wheel your ranked units just enough so they end their move with the Casket out of their 90 degree arc. It's risky with the cav units but it could also but you a turn where his cav and/or chariots block line of sight.

If he sticks it on a hill the blocking units won't work, though.

 Just Tony wrote:
The good part is you should reliably have his magic shut down for a few turns. The bad part is that the likelihood of you getting a single spell off is slim to none. You have two spell casters who will each know one spell and can only throw 2 dice into it, the Tomb Kings player will have that exact number of dispel dice.

I'm OK with using 280 points on magic to shut down 395 of his so I find this an acceptable price.

 Just Tony wrote:

The key thing about his army is that his units will either all travel at the speed of the slowest unit (M4) or will come in waves. If it's the latter, you can selectively deal with things in order of speed, which should keep you save.

Also, don't be afraid to flee a charge, especially if you can set it up to have counter charges. Remember that you can't redirect into a target that was viable when the fleeing unit was in its original position. That will probably give you the ability to lure the chariots out with Glade Guard or even Waywatchers if you trust your rally rolls while having the Wild Riders within plain view but a touch further back.

I agree that focus firing is going to be important. All 30 Glade Guard will be focusing his Chariots if possible, even if they come at 4" per turn, because it is their best fighting unit, will carry their General, and will be worth over 600VP if I can get my hands on the Standard. I'm not sure I am understanding the rule you are referring to? What page is that from? I definitely want to know how to use the Flee response properly.




Automatically Appended Next Post:

VBS wrote:
His army is very slow if you shut down the extra-move-magic. You can probably dispel 2 of his 3 casting per turn just with your 4 dispel dice, so with 4 DS there is no way he's going to do something. In any case, I would try to deploy the WW as close as possible to the Casket and try to get a charge on turn 2.

My plan is to deploy the Waywatchers in shooting range of the Casket but for them to operate from 7-14" away. This is because they have the Lethal Shot ability and will be looking to land a Killing Blow on his Casket Priest from short range without triggering the 6" 'Terror Halo' or having to take a Terror Test before charging. With their high BS I think they will be able to make something happen and I am planning to use one Dispel Scroll each turn to just ensure the Casket is useless for the first 2/3s of the game. If his Hierophant happens to be the Casket Priest, then perfect; two birds with one stone. If both Priests are tending it then I have them both in one spot and target them simultaneously, randomizing shots. If the Hierophant and the Casket Priest are set up opposite from each other, I think I will target the Casket Priest first and go for the Hierophant second.

MattyFenby wrote:
I agree that focus firing is going to be important. All 30 Glade Guard will be focusing his Chariots if possible, even if they come at 4" per turn, because it is their best fighting unit, will carry their General, and will be worth over 600VP if I can get my hands on the Standard. I'm not sure I am understanding the rule you are referring to? What page is that from? I definitely want to know how to use the Flee response properly.

It would be under Flee responses, Failed charges, and there should be a section specifically on redirecting a charge. It's also clarified in either Warhammer Annual 2004 or one of the Chronicles books that followed. Basically if you could have charged a unit when the fleeing unit was there, it is not a viable target for redirection. If you could see it but was blocked by the unit that fled? Game on. If you couldn't see it at all until the unit fled? Absolutely, in fact it is covered in Pursuit into fresh enemy. I'll have to look up and see if those are options if you actually catch the fleeing unit, it may prevent you from redirecting.

good thing for you he has no archers. with the rule on always hitting on a 5+ this would be really troublesome for your waywatchers.

 Moscha wrote:
good thing for you he has no archers. with the rule on always hitting on a 5+ this would be really troublesome for your waywatchers.

Arrows of the Asp did make me a bit nervous but I have a lot of faith in the Asrai to hold their own when it comes to shooting.

 Just Tony wrote:


It would be under Flee responses, Failed charges, and there should be a section specifically on redirecting a charge. It's also clarified in either Warhammer Annual 2004 or one of the Chronicles books that followed. Basically if you could have charged a unit when the fleeing unit was there, it is not a viable target for redirection. If you could see it but was blocked by the unit that fled? Game on. If you couldn't see it at all until the unit fled? Absolutely, in fact it is covered in Pursuit into fresh enemy. I'll have to look up and see if those are options if you actually catch the fleeing unit, it may prevent you from redirecting.

I'm looking through the Big Red Book and I'm not seeing it under Charge Responses on Page 45.

On page 53, it says "If a charged unit flees, it can happen that another enemy unit is now within the charging unit's reach...." It doesn't seem like that explicitly means that other enemy unit must have been not viable during the original charge declaration. It goes on to say if it's in range then you can charge it too, it gets a response as normal, and if it flees too then there's no redirecting the charge again. It says "If there is a choice of units that can be charged, the charging unit must go after an enemy that is nearest to the original target unit."

It doesn't explicitly mention how it needed to have been not-viable during your selection of the original target. I am assuming in most cases the enemy nearest to the original target unit was right next to it and also would have been a viable target from the jump.

In Pursuit into Fresh Enemy, I'm pretty sure you go in a straight line through where the fleeing unit went and you can't even wheel, except to "wheel slightly to endeavor to bring as many models into combat as possible" IF your "direct pursuit move" brings you naturally into contact with them. Right? It's just if your dice roll naturally takes you in a straight line into a new unit.

I've skimmed through the "Errata: Warhammer Rulebook" section of the 2004 Book as well and I don't see anything about redirecting a charge only being allowed against not-viable-at-first targets. Are you sure that's not a 7th or 8th Edition rule that you've House-Ruled into your games? I definitely want to get this rule right so any help is appreciated.

https://web.archive.org/web/20060505122728/http://us.games-workshop.com/games/warhammer/chronicles/assets/Q&A2003.pdf

These Q&A pages were published in WD, Warhammer Annual 2002, Warhammer Chronicles 2003 AND were available as a free download from GW's website. Right there under "Movement".

OK thank you so much! I appreciate the help a ton. It's right there in the 2004 Book as well, I just completely whiffed and missed it.

This changes things coming into our Season 3... I'm pretty sure 90% of our redirected charges these past two years were against the unit right next to the target unit!