@Mrs. NIGHTBRINGER 's spells:
Slann - Soulblight, Doom and Darkness, Purple Sun, Spirit Leech
Spellweaver - Speed of Light, Net of Amyntok, Birona's Timewarp, Banishment
Treeman Ancient - Shield of Thorns, Regrowth
Sister of the Thorn (unit 1) - Shield of Thorns, Curse of Anraheir
Sister of the Thorn (unit 2) - Shield of Thorns, Curse of Anraheir
NIGHTBRINGER's spells:
Daemon Prince - Acquiescence, Pavane of Slaanesh, Hysterical Frenzy, Slicing Shards, Cacophonic Choir
Final result:
@Mrs. NIGHTBRINGER's forces got tabled at the top of turn 6. Her last remaining Sister of Thorn died via self-inflicted miscast (we had a good laugh at this). I had lost two units of hounds, one Chimera and my remaining Chimera survived on its final wound. I also lost a few trolls from both of my units, but they were still combat viable.
Magic if anything turned out in my favour, despite the
@Mrs. NIGHTBRINGER 's heavy investment in it. She just didn't have the power dice to drive that many spells through. The spells she did get through had negligible effect. On the other hand, my magic phases were subtle but very useful. The main stars were easily Acquiescence and Cacophonic Choir. The random movement D6 effect of both of those spells allowed my forces to dominate the movement phase. For instance, going into the final rounds of the game,
@Mrs. NIGHTBRINGER had the intention (even stating as much) to keep her Naestra and Arahan sisters + dragon alive by flying them outside of my charge arcs. My Daemon Prince pinned her down with Acquiescence and it was charged in my next turn (turn 5) by my DP and Skullcrushers. The DP issued a challenge, killing both sisters, which alongside of the charge + flank, meant the dragon broke from combat and was run down. Cacophonic Choir took 3 wounds off her Treeman, which was subsequently finished off by my DP in close combat.
Movement favoured the WoC. The army was just too fast, both innately and because of the aforementioned random movement Slaanesh spells.
Shooting obviously went in favour of the WE + Lizardmen. The sisters, Naestra and Arahan, shot down my Chimera over the course of two rounds. She also picked off a few trolls here and there and killed some hounds.
Most of the damage was done in combat, which was absolutely dominated by my WoC. She simply didn't have any credible threats against my units. Her one combat block, Saurus Warriors + Oldblood, were put in a bad position after charging and wiping out my hounds, and were subsequently hit in the front by my unit of Trolls and the Chimera in the flank. They did not fair well. Said Trolls then went on to engage in a protracted combat with her Treeman Ancient until my Skullcrushers charged the Treeman's rear and stripped it of its final wounds.
The DP was an absolute terror in the game in terms of battlefield control, close combat (killing a Treeman and the Naestra and Arahan sisters) and using magic to disrupt the opposition. Both Troll units and Skullcrusher units were nearly unkillable. My one Skullcrusher unit with my BSB did next to nothing (except for BSB duties) but that was mainly due to terrain and poor placement on my part. They would have benefited from narrower frontage. The issue arose from my over insistence to keep my two troll units in BSB and Leadership range. My deployment zone was broken up by an (impassable) house and Khemrian Quicksand (which I wanted to desperately avoid for obvious reasons). As a result, my deployment was a bit overcrowded and the one Skullcrusher unit did very little.
A couple of learning opportunities from my end:
- beware of frontage, it works well in combat, but with terrain and other units about, it can make movement a nightmare. 5 Skullcrushers wide is a bit much (in most cases), with 4 being a much better sweet spot.
- I've got an idea to slightly tweak my list and further optimize it (very much enjoy optimizing lists)
- Lore of Slaanesh movement control is splendid
- Chimera are great on offense, but can be vulnerable defensively since they only have 4 wounds each. Best used in pairs or with a DP, unless they are up against a really soft target. My one Chimera did solo @Mrs. NIGHTBRINGER 's Glade Guard and BSB unit, but it was admittedly a bit fortunate to do so. It easily could have went the other way.
To be honest, the game was settled in list building. If
@Mrs. NIGHTBRINGER and I had swapped armies at the start of the game, I don't think I'd stand a chance of beating my list with the list that she had come up with. I could have potentially made it a bit closer, but I personally feel that it was inefficient. They had no real combat capabilities and were too slow to keep my units off them.
We had a fun game though, despite the lopsided nature of the result. Laughs were had throughout.
@Mrs. NIGHTBRINGER enjoyed shooting my Chimera in the back and taking out of action. She is very amused when she kills one of my big monsters and especially when she does so with her favourite unit, the Naestra and Arahan sisters on Forest Dragon.
