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8th Ed. Clockwork's Battle Reports

Discussion in 'Battle Reports' started by Clockwork, Apr 22, 2012.

  1. Clockwork
    Cold One

    Clockwork Member

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    I'm always looking to improve my game, so I've decided to start writing up a few battle reports here for you all to enjoy. Hopefully as I go on I'll start using pictures more than maps, but I get caught up in the moment easily and oftentimes forget, so there'll probably be maps for a good while.

    A note on the games I play. We have a small but close group of 4 players fielding one or two armies each, so our games are kind of like an ongoing round robin where nobody is really keeping track of the score. We have gentleman's agreements on what's acceptable and what isn't (No Teclis, for example, or double Warshrine) to keep the games friendly and fun for everyone, so you wont see ultra-competitive lists. You will occasionally see some ultra-wacky stuff going on as we mess around with something new. Very occasionally, we also go in for huge 5000 points aside 2v2s. Even more rarely, we'll venture down to the nearest GW (which is a good 40min drive away) and play some new people.

    One final note: Most of us paint to a table top standard, usually speed-painting, and are content with that. Because we mostly play between friends, sometimes you will see unpainted, counts-as, or WiP projects. Please, no undue criticism here.

    Otherwise, feel free to comment on lists, strategy and gameplay. Hope you enjoy reading as much as we enjoy playing!
     
  2. Clockwork
    Cold One

    Clockwork Member

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    For those of you who read my 2.5k advice thread, you'll know I was due to fight High Elves this weekend - but sadly, the game was cancelled. Fortunately, my old nemesis and arch-rival of 8 years stepped up with his Warriors of Chaos instead. I'm going to be treating this mostly as an opportunity to experiment with Battle Chronicler and writing up reports, so you may see things that are a bit wonky. Without further ado...

    Lizardmen:
    Slann – Rumination/Loremaster/Cupped hands/Obsidian Amulet/BSB with Standard of Discipline

    Scar-Veteran – Sword of Might/Charmed Shield/Dawn Stone/Cold One/Light armour/shield.
    Scar-Veteran – Great Weapon/Armour of Destiny
    Skink Priest – Dispel Scroll

    24 Saurus Warriors – Full Command
    22 Skinks/2 Kroxigor – Full Command
    10 Skink Skirmishers
    10 Skink Skirmishers

    22 Temple Guard – Full Command/Razor Standard
    7 Cold One Cavalry – Full Command/War Banner
    7 Chameleon Skinks

    Salamander
    Salamander

    Warriors of Chaos:
    Chaos Lord – Runesword/Misc unknown equipment/Chariot

    Chaos Sorceror – Level 2/Mark of Tzeentch/Infernal Puppet
    Chaos Sorceror – Level 2/Mark of Tzeentch/Spell Familiar

    24 Chaos Warriors – Full Command/Shields/Mark of Tzeentch/Razor Standard
    24 Chaos Marauders – Full Command/Shields/Mark of Tzeentch

    24 Chosen – Full Command/Halberds/Mark of Khorne/Blasted Standard/Collar of Khorne
    6 Trolls

    Chaos Warshrine
    Hellcannon

    Please note I don't have the full army list here, so not all equipment and upgrades are shown – only those that came up during the course of the battle.

    Spells were as follows:
    Slann – all the spells in the Lore of Light.
    Skink Priest – Iceshard Blizzard.

    Puppet Sorcerer – Pandeamonium/Treason of Tzeentch
    Familiar Sorcerer – Infernal Gateway/Call to Glory/Flickering Fire

    The Chosen got an extra attack from Eye of the Gods, to make them 4 attacks each at Strength 5.
     
  3. Clockwork
    Cold One

    Clockwork Member

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    We rolled Battle for the Pass and the battlefield was fairly mundane, with only a blazing barricade coming up as special. We took turns to place terrain and I believe I stole a coup by plopping a big forest down right in the middle of the board. My opponent won the roll off for board edge and deployment, and took the open side with a hill, electing to go second. I was pleasantly surprised by this, as my board edge was easily definsible, as you can see.

    Deployment
    afrWJ.jpg

    So, my opponent seems to be wary of that forest and is set up to push around it on both flanks. His Chosen and Trolls are deployed to be both out of line of sight.

    Why am I deploying in two long, thin ranks? Easy: the Hellcannon. Doing it like this minimizes the number of models the small template can hit, and maximises the chance it will miss entirely. The only unit I forgot were the CoC who have two in the back rank – Doh!

    IBcAL.jpg

    Warriors Turn 1
    cobDi.jpg

    With so few drops, Chaos easily get the first turn and push towards me. Sure enough, they split their strength around the forest - though in doing so, his hard hitting right flank is heading straight for that choke point between the tower and the forest (it was hard to convey this appropriately in the maps - it is narrower than it looks).

    9fk9P.jpg

    The Winds of Magic blow gently in the opening turn – Chaos leads with a Treason of Tzeentch on my Saurus Warriors, which I let through as the odds are in my favour. Sure enough, only 3 Saurus fall to the weapons of their comrades. I then block a Pandaemonium and, finally, an Infernal Gateway.

    Remember how I said I forgot to put the CoC in one rank? Well in the shooting phase, the Hellcannon made a direct hit on almost the entire unit. However, after some great rolling only 2 wounds are suffered: the model directly under the template, and one failed 4+ armour save. The Warshrine also puts an additional armour save on the Warriors, taking them up to 2+. Wonderful.

    Lizardmen Turn 1
    1Sk0a.jpg

    I pushed forward only conservatively - content to let him wander into the bottleneck. My Saurus shuffle forward to enter cover. Feeling somewhat vulnerable, my mounted Scar-Vet bails out of his unit and behind the tower. One Salamander goes round it, far enough that he can trace clear line of sight to the Chosen but back far enough that the corner is blocking them off from a charge, and another straight up the middle. I'm deliberately avoiding going into the building here because the Tzeentch spells are flaming. Meanwhile one unit of Skinks enters the forest – it turns out to be a Blood Forest – to try and redirect the Warriors into a killing ground without their Steadfast. Out on the right my Skinks position themselves to tempt his Chariot into a charge. With this in mind, the Skrox reform into ranks. The Skink Priest sheltering behind them goes out on their left to draw a bead on the Trolls, though I try and keep exactly what he is up to quiet.

    The Winds of Magic start blowing strongly. I lead with a Pha's Protection on the Skrox to keep them safe from the Hellcannon now that they are a tempting target, which he lets through. I then try a Banishment on his General which is dispelled. Finally, I use Telepathy to get a low level Burning Gaze on the Trolls through my Priest, which catches my opponent by surprise and he fails to dispel. I still only do one wound, but its enough to strip the Regen for this phase which is what I wanted. I also learn at this point that he has no dispel scroll and, presumably, this means his other Sorceror has the Puppet (yay >.>), as I know one already has an arcane item for the third spell.

    In the shooting phase both my Salamanders score good hits on the Chosen, but with their 5+ ward only 3 models drop. They do manage to nick a wound off his Sorcerer, though. Over on the right, my Skink Skirmishers manage to sneak a wound on his Puppet Sorcerer as well, despite a couple of Marauders throwing themselves in the way. Finally my Camo Skinks go crazy and unleash 6 wounds that cannot be Regenerated - killing two Trolls outright and wounding a third. Satisfied with my third turn, I hand over the dice.

    Warriors Turn 2
    5p7lG.jpg

    Over on the left, his warriors declare a charge on my Salamander, and I elect to flee. You can see where this has left him, and what I mean by the bottle-neck – those Chosen are stuck now. Without reforming into a vulnerable line, they will either have to wait for the Warriors to go through or brave the building – and face the wrath of the Salamanders and Burning Gaze. The Sorcerer in command of this flank has moved in between the two units. His placement here is important

    JpTeK.jpg

    Out on the right, the Marauders seize the Skink bait and charge in. I hold with a stand and shoot that drops one or two models. The Trolls also go into the Camo skinks holed up in the building, keen to take their revenge, but with their Regen now back up, they save both all wounds and gain +1Ld from rolling on the Eye of the Gods table, too. The Chariot has wheeled around the marauders and is lining up for a charge on the Saurus. The Hellcannon, once again, passes its Leadership test.

    6Lcxw.jpg

    In the magic phase, the Winds are in full gust and I end up facing 10 power dice with only 5 dispel dice, after channelling. Another Treason hits Saurus on 3 dice, and once more I let it through to lose 3. He follows up with a 5 die Gateway on my Temple Guard, but fails to get IF and I burn my Dispel Scroll. Finally, he attempts to hit my fleeing Salamander with a Flickering Fire, but I dispel it comfortably on 5 dice.

    The Hellcannon fires a shot aimed at catching both the Temple Guard and the Saurus. It scatters, but still kills two Saurus Warriors.

    In combat, 3 trolls smash into the building. My Camo skinks fight a small guerilla war inside, launching swift attacks from the shadows. But they are no match for the monsters, and although they manage to sneak another wound through, six of them die. However – and more importantly...

    ZLXuP.jpg

    ... one Skink survives! I then calmly pass my Cold Blooded Ld6 break test – being Steadfast in a building – and the Trolls are forced 1” back!

    More predictably, the Marauders massacre the Skinks and reform to face the Skrox.

    Lizardmen Turn 2
    hrf09.jpg

    My second turn begins with my Skrox charging into the Marauders. My opponent debates fleeing, but given his position this would force breaktests on his Sorcerer and Lord and leave both exposed to a redirected charge. In the end he elects to hold. Why is my Skink Priest behind the unit? I'm not sure either, but I think I was trying to line up a shot on his trolls again – and when I couldn't get it, opted to stay close. The surviving Camo Skink, unsurprisingly, bails out of the building. He doesn't do anything else for the rest of the game.

    oTsaR.jpg

    Over on the left my fleeing Salmander rallies, and now that the battle lines are closing my Warriors and Temple Guard go into ranks, and making a successful combat reform the Temple Guard advance somewhat. The CoC continue to reposition themselves into an optimal location, the second Salamander runs up past the tower to line up a flanking shot on the Chosen, and my Scar-Vet holds position. My second unit of Skinks move through the Blood Forest to try and redirect his Chariot into it. Whilst there is a surprise counter-assault on my right flank under way, I see no reason to abandon my excellent position on the left by committing too early (a mistake that has cost me in the past).

    The magic phase produces an average roll: I get 6 dice to my opponents 4, and no channelling. Unable to see the trolls, I lead with a 2+1 dice Net on the Warriors, which my opponent lets through, confident in passing the Strength 4 test next turn. I then follow up with a 2+1 Speed of Light on the Skrox, with the intention of following up with a 2+1 Timewarp afterwards (I was under the mistaken assumption that I could channel all spells through the Priest, not just magic missile). However, it was that 7.4% chance to miscast on 3 dice time again – and, just like the last time I rolled a miscast, promptly produced a 2 for Calamitous Detonation. Up came the Puppet, but with only a 1 he couldn't modify the result anyway – and why would he want to?

    Fortunately, I smoothly made my Cupped Hands roll to drop the miscast on the Familiar Sorcerer – yes, that one stood between two heavily armoured units. When the dice had finished rolling, the Sorcerer was dead along with 5 Warriors and 8 Chosen.

    bIzat.jpg

    You can see the damage after my Salamander finishes, though he largely fluffed his wounds and only killed 2 more Chosen and a single Warrior (curse you, Warshrine). I think I may have tried an Iceshard Blizzard on the Marauders, but it was comfortably dispelled.

    In the combat phase, my now buffed Skroxigor and Scar-Veteran wreck the Marauders with only a handful of wounds thanks to Speed of Light. The Marauders break and are cut down, and the overrun takes me straight into his second Sorcerer.

    At this point my opponent and I politely agree that the game is now won, and the only questioning remaining is how much I will win by. He's down one wizard and about to lose the second, and his most expensive – and dangerous - unit is a shadow of its former self. The Warriors, trolls and Chariot remain a threat, but I've broken his right flank and now threaten his Hellcannon with possibly the best counter – a unit of high strength attacks with tons of CR and immune to both Thunderstomp and Fear. In a spirit of good gamesmanship, my opponent agrees to continue. He's still got a good chance of snatching victory back from defeat – especially as my track record is one of winning games right up until the last turn, and then losing everything.

    Warriors turn 3
    r6wK3.jpg

    In his turn, then, his Chariot goes into my redirecting Skinks. No other charges are declared as the Trolls move into the now unoccupied building and the Warriors fail their Net roll. They stay in place, still blocking the Chosen. The Hellcannon passes its test and gets ready to fire again. I can tell that he's still reeling from the last magic phase as all of these decisions are questionable. The Chariot and the Trolls would have both been better off turning inwards against the rampaging Skrox, and if the Hellcannon had advanced towards them they would have been threatened on three sides. I may have been able to redirect one unit using the Skinks – maybe even two by sacrificing the Scar-Veteran - but sooner or later my Skroxigor would have been surrounded. Leaving the Chosen to stay put is also another round where they aren't making their points back and are vulnerable to Salamander attacks.

    In the magic phase he attempts Pandaemonium, but I dispel it. He then attempts a Treason on the Saurus again but fluffs the roll. Clearly his surviving Sorcerer is too preoccupied dodging the Skrox! Remarkably, he survives the combat without taking a single wound and breaks. The Skrox fluff their pursuit. The Chariot naturally kills the Skinks, and reforms to face the Saurus, though the Chariot itself takes a wound from somewhere at some point.

    The Hellcannon takes a shot at the Temple Guard, which scatters and kills 2.

    Lizardmen Turn 3
    lGaod.jpg

    Here you can see the whole board at the start of my turn 3. You can clearly see what I mean by the bottle neck, and how the right flank has been broken.

    EbHX6.jpg

    Again I'm confident in my position. Even with the Chariot now free to roam, I don't feel like I can manoeuvre into anything better. The Temple Guard edge a few inches forwards to provoke a long-range charge from the Warriors which he might fail. My fleeing Salamander rallies and my Skrox charge into the fleeing Sorcerer – this time they catch him, but fall just short of their target: the Hellcannon. Once again my Cold Ones continue their shuffle, this time moving backwards a couple of inches.

    In my magic phase I only roll 3 power dice. I roll 2+1 at Pha's on my Saurus and my opponent fails to dispel. I then attempt another Net on the Warriors, but fail to cast.

    My Salamanders line up another shot, though one falls just short (in the map I have the other one shooting, but it cannot have as it just rallied).

    Warriors Turn 4
    nvKm1.jpg

    In what turns out to be the last Chaos turn of the game, he throws his Chariot into the front of my Saurus Warriors and pulls off a long range charge with his Tzeentch Warriors first into the Salamander - which flees (not shown on map) - and then redirects into my Temple Guard. The Chosen advance into the corridor with the Warshrine close behind, and the Trolls lumber out of the building to face towards the Saurus flank.

    With both Sorcerers now dead we go straight into shooting. The Hellcannon takes a close-range shot at the Skrox but misses (much to my relief). The Chariot's impact hits kill 4 Saurus. A brave Saurus Champion, shouldering a selfless sense of duty, steps forward to issue a challenge to the Chaos Lord, which he cannot refuse. Confident in his victory, the Lord weighs in with his 6 attacks – but he's now hitting on 5s, thanks to both the fence and Pha's Protection. Only one wound gets through, beating the Champion's armour save, and I roll my parry...

    lGt2h.jpg

    A six! The attacks of the crew and horses likewise go wide. What a hero! With the impact hits and charging, the Lord still wins the combat and the Warriors make their steadfast break test on the BSB re-roll (After initially fluffing it with a double 6 >.>)

    In the Temple Guard combat, the Warriors go first. Although only armed with hand weapons, they unveil the Razor Standard and hack down 8 Temple Guard. Unveiling another Razor Standard, the Temple Guard give back as good as they get – but their attacks are blunted by the 2+ armour save, even modified down to 5+, followed by 5+ ward. Only 4 Warriors are killed in return. The Warriors win, but the Temple Guard pass their stubborn Leadership 10 on the BSB re-roll (again after fluffing it on double 6!).

    Lizardmen Turn 4
    7u7Wa.jpg

    In my last turn, I edge away from the Chariot combat, content to feed him the Saurus Warriors, and throw my Skrox into the Hellcannon and my Scar-Vet into the back of the Warriors. My Slann gets Speed of Light and Timewarp off, and between the Temple Guard and the Scar-Vet, hack the last of the Warriors down - despite them saving 10 out of 14 wounds! - and overrun right up to the Chosen (just short of combat). My Skrox deal two wounds to the Hellcannon and some Skinks die, and the Lord finally kills the Saurus Champion - but his chariot takes a wound in return and the combat drags on. Facing the loss of his Chosen from still-buffed Temple Guard, no doubt swiftly followed by the Shrine and the Hellcannon, my opponent concedes.

    rFhFz.jpg
     
  4. Clockwork
    Cold One

    Clockwork Member

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    Post-battle analysis

    When it comes to winning a game like this, with a few lucky rolls making it an uphill struggle for my opponent from turn 2, it's hard to take away any real lessons. Almost everything went my way when it needed to, and I will be the first to hold up my hand and say the dice gods were with me this day. However, this being said, I also feel that I played a much better game than my opponent. If the luck had been a little more even I still think I would have won, but going the way it did just highlighted how poorly he had been playing.

    I did make a couple of silly mistakes - Scar-Vet and Cavalry placement, for example - but fortunately wasn't made to pay for them. In other news, Light Slann are still awesome, Lizardmen are still amazingly reliably in everything they choose to do, and Scar-Veterans continue to give precisely zero ****s.

    So in conclusion, a win is a win is a win, a lot of surprising luck and some fun moments, but nothing I can really read too much into from my end. As far as battle reporting goes, I haven't taken nearly enough good pictures, so I promise to do better next time! Also, sorry for the poor size of the maps. I didn't realise they would come out like that until they had already been uploaded. Next time they'll be larger.

    Also also, I need to buy some barricades >.>

    Next week, the Warriors try to get their revenge in what will hopefully be a much more even contest!
     
  5. The Hunted
    Carnasaur

    The Hunted Active Member

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    This is a superb battle report!

    Maps, pictures and good writing :). You explain your choices very well, and in general it is a pleasure to read.
    The way your group plays feels very similar to our group ;).

    Lastly, I like your army list!
    Light Slann is IMO, the most fun whilst still being a competetive option.
    3 solid blocks (TG/SW/Skrox), with each their perks. So you need to use them to their fullest potential or face being stomped. You did that pretty good in this game, and hopefully you will be able to keep it up.
    Supporting cast in the form of skirmishers, chameleons and sala's. I love my supporting units...they really win me battles!
    And finally SCOR+scar-vet, probably one of my favorite units. I also play dwarves, so I just happen to love to have the option of cavalry!

    I will definetaly follow this series!

    The Hunted
     
  6. Caprasauridae
    Stegadon

    Caprasauridae Well-Known Member

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    Thanks for the awesome report and congrats on the win! It was a really nice read and pictures were informative. Keep up the good work, I'd love to read more!
     
  7. Clockwork
    Cold One

    Clockwork Member

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    Thanks for the feedback!

    I'm making a couple of tweaks to my list for next week. The War Banner is out on the CoC, and the Banner of Eternal Flame is in. The Camo skinks go up by one more model to 8, which leaves me 7 points short so I'm taking the Ironcurse Icon on my Slann for that 6+ vs the Hellcannon (because, why not?).
     
  8. Daneish
    Cold One

    Daneish New Member

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    Really enjoyed reading this and am looking forward to more.

    Grats on the win.
     
  9. Clockwork
    Cold One

    Clockwork Member

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    Alas, my game this weekend has also be cancelled. Some people are so unreliable! I have, however, put together a map from my last High Elf game (which prompted the original rematch which I'm yet to fight). I don't fully recall everything that happens, but there's some interesting manoeuvres that go on which should make for a good read.

    There'll be no pictures, sadly, but I'll be putting up some snaps of my army instead!
     
  10. Clockwork
    Cold One

    Clockwork Member

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    Over at Druchii.net, you can see my Dark Elves try to turn the tables against my Lizardman army, played by a friend. Its a real nailbiter that comes right down to the wire. Fun for a different perspective!

    http://druchii.net/viewtopic.php?p=849207#849207

    In conclusion, I understand how Lizardmen can ruin hobbies...
     
  11. Clockwork
    Cold One

    Clockwork Member

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    Has anyone ever played the Coven of Light High Elf build?

    http://www.ulthuan.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=67&t=35454

    I have. Its not very fun. I may do a battle report for this one but... well... it ends with a three-unit charge on a Timewarped White Lion horde, and you can probably guess who wins (hint: its the White Lions).

    On the other hand, it gave me an interesting idea for an army list that I'll put up soon and welcome feedback on.
     
  12. Arli
    Skink Priest

    Arli Moderator Staff Member

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    I would like to see that batrep. I read through the posts on the HE forum. I would like to see more about it.
     
  13. Clockwork
    Cold One

    Clockwork Member

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    So, the Coven of Light. We had both discussed this at length and I half-suspected it to show up. I aws actually glad that it did, as I am a firm believer that no matter how much theorycrafting you do, nothing can substitue for actual in-game experience. On to deployment and my battle plan.

    Deployment

    3yb9J.jpg

    My intention here was to move my Skrox straight up the river and into the tower, holding that as a hard point to anchor my flank. My small unit of Saurus goes to hold the ford, whilst my Temple Guard and Spear Saurus face off against his White Lions. I use my Skinks to weaken his swordmasters and my Salamanders to take shots against his Lions.

    I don't know what my opponent was thinking - his archers are shooting through his own untis most of the time.

    On the bright side, I got turn 1.

    Lizardmen Turn 1

    sFR7H.jpg

    I push up and put my plan into action. In hindsight I would have been wiser moving the Skrox behind the tower and only going in if necessary (to stay out of LoS of his mages), but I wanted the space behind clear for my Sally and Scar-Vet to shelter in. Up on the left one unit of camos goes round the forest, the other goes in – its deadly, it kills three, they fail their panic and run. Whee. I then get a double 1 in my magic phase, he steals one, and my Net gets dispelled. Wheee. In my shooting phase I kill one Swordmaster, and hand over the dice with a sigh.

    High Elf Turn 1

    8tqQv.jpg

    He shuffles around somewhat but doesn’t move much – one archer unit reforms to face my camo skinks. Both Eagles fly out to the flanks. The dreaded magic phase arrives and is predictably overbearing – I can’t remember the exact dice, but he gets a Banishment on the TG which kills a handful of models, tries to destroy the MR3 item, which I dispel scroll. In hindsight I probably should have let this through and saved the Scroll, but I didn’t fancy the idea that my TG would suffer two more magic phases of double Banishment before getting into combat. I think he tried something else which I dispelled first, but I won’t remember what. In shooting, he fluffs most of his rolls thanks to cover from shooting through units (no idea what he was thinking), movement, shooting at skirmishers, and shooting at camo skinks. He still kills 5 normal skinks.

    Lizardmen Turn 2

    TVqUB.jpg

    In my go, I reform the fleeing skinks. My other unit runs around the reforming archers to shoot the Swordmasters (I should have positioned them for a suicide charge into his bunker), my leftmost skinks go to redirect his swordmasters also (they are actually facing the opposite angle to whats on the map), and my rightmost skinks do the same. I have a plan here – its not very good, but I see an opening to get my Scar-Vet into his big mage bunker and start whaling on mages. It entails surviving one magic phase, which is where the DS would have come in handy. Due to a brain fart, I also move the Skrox out of the building. Magic rolls a little better. I first get off a high level Pha’s, which he lets through. I follow up with another Net, I think, but fail to cast. My Skink Priest tries an Iceshard on the mage bunker, but he throws everything at stopping it. Shooting is a little better: I wipe out all but one Swordmaster on the left. Sadly, on the right I only kill one, and my Salamander misfires against the Eagle and eats 2 handlers.

    High Elf Turn 2

    gW6b5.jpg

    In his turn he declares three charges: lone SM and White Lions go into my skinks (sloppy positioning here lets both in, though I didn’t expect to kill so many SM…), and his SM go into my skinks on the other flank (again, sloppy positioning lets them hit the Skrox on an overrun). He tries to swift reform his archers again, but fails the leadership test. Magic is overwhelming again and ends up something like 10vs5. He goes for a Banishment on my Scar-Vet, which I throw everything at dispelling (he might be able to survive one, but not two). He then goes for a second Banishment, which sadly kills the model. He then gets Timewarp off on the WL. Predictably, he wins every combat – the SM overrun into the Skrox, his White Lions hold (?), and his lone SM fails his restrain and overruns.

    Lizardmen 3

    RhLhH.jpg

    In my go I throw caution to the wind: I charge his redirecting eagle with my TG (he had his own brain fart in positioning here), my small Saurus block go into the White Lion flank, and my large Saurus unit charge his Swordmaster, who flees and they redirect into the Lions, shortly joined by the Temple Guard when they pursue the Eagle (amazingly, they don’t kill it, but it breaks and flees). Initially, this may seem like a foolish idea – nobody likes Timewarped horde Lions, and I’ll be part fighting in a river. But in my defence, I have a chance of buffing this magic phase; he might get Timewarp AND Speed of Light and charge me in his magic phase; I can hit him with three units at once and one in a flank; and the Skrox won’t last long, so in his next go he’ll be able to bring the other unit of Swordmasters in. Finally, they’re still T3 Elves.

    I kill a couple of archers with my camo skinks and a couple more with the Salamander, but fail to wound his general. In magic I get 6 power dice. I first throw 4 dice at a high level Pha’s again, to follow up with a high level Speed of Light (I need these spells more than Timewarp to survive). I fail to cast, he dispels my Iceshard. What fun. In combat, I lose over 20 Saurus and some 15 or so TG. I kill a respectable 15 Elves back, roughly, but its not enough: my Spear Saurus are no longer steadfast; they break and flee. My HW&S Saurus are in a river and no longer steadfast: they, too, break and flee, which leaves me with 4 TG and Slann in combat with 15 White Lions. The Swordmasters kill 90% of the Skrox, who break and flee but the Elves restrain.

    High Elf Turn 3

    chndT.jpg

    And here you can see how things went horribly wrong. Due to positioning of units behind the tower, my Skroxigor and Saurus both bounce through to end up in line of sight of charging Eagles and Timewarping mages. In the last turn of the game, his Great Eagle charges my fleeing Saurus on the left, catching and destroying them. He then casts Banishment on the fleeing Skroxigor and wipes them out, and IFs a final Banishment on the Spear Saurus. He goes down to a level 1 wizard, but takes the unit below 25% strength which means they are testing on double 1 and I can wave goodbye to my hero. With 4 TG and Slann in combat with 15 White Lions, 5 camo skinks and 2 Salamanders left on the table, I throw in the towel.

    In conclusion:

    I suck
    White Lions Suck
    Banishment sucks

    In more seriousness, contrary to my previous game this was poor play by me with poorer luck. I was way too aggressive and committed far too early: I should have held back on the combi charge, fed a Salamander as redirect, and then treated the White Lions to a double Salamander shot. I don’t know what I was doing with the Skroxigor but that was just terrible play by me. The Scar-Vet charge had promise – I just needed to work on my timing and positioning. The problem with holding back is facing a double strength 7 Banishment each turn – reading battle reports, I’ve seen how much damage that can do and I calculated I’d be better off in combat, where I can at least try and buff to survive. But, going back to my previous battle erport, poor play left me exposed when my luck vanished – which it did spectacularly. Casting one Pha’s spell all game is just a complete waste of time. Still, when relying so much on magic I have to accept that some day I’ll get unlucky. This is probably the second time my Slann has performed badly in 8th, so I guess I can’t complain too much.

    However, just like last time this has left my thoroughly disillusioned with relying on magic, so I’m going to work up a completely different list. Key features include: double Oldblood, double Stegadon, and enough magic items on enough Skink Priests to shut down successive magic phases and Iceshard all the things. A Saurus horde holds the centre (I am debating a stubborn BSB hero, or stubborn crown on one of the Oldbloods), whilst the rest of the army turns into a series of fire and forget missiles.
     
  14. The Hunted
    Carnasaur

    The Hunted Active Member

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    Wow. Simply wow...I've briefly read through some stuff on the HE forum, but this I did not expect!
    Surely next time your luck will be better (approaching average) and hopefully your play will too, then I'm pretty curious to what those nasty HE will do.
    WL hordes are scary as hell, I hate those :rage:

    Nevertheless, we have a lot of ways to shut down magic. Becalming Cogitation, cube of darkness&dispell scroll, Cupped Hands (turn 1-2 6 dice->pass on nasty miscast). If you also manage a scar-vet charge, you could stop his magic phase to great extend.
    In combat, your positioning should improve (but you also figured that out :p), SM are a prime shooting target as they will carve through anything in CC.
    Then there's my 'unit-I-hate-with-a-burning-passion', Hordes have a fatal flaw that they are hard to turn. And with carefull positioning (helped by terrain, if possible) will not be able to charge/make contact/get all models in etc...Try to avoid it as much as possible is my, horrible, advice. As of yet, I have not really found an answer to these guys.

    But, once again: Excellent report. Those maps really help, combined with good narrative skills makes for an excellent read. Keep it up!

    The Hunted
     
  15. Clockwork
    Cold One

    Clockwork Member

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    Yeah it was pretty... wow.

    I've worked up a list which I think could give it, and possibly most armies, a run for the money.

    Saurus Oldblood - Cold One, Mirrored Shield, Dawn Stone, Sword of Battle
    Saurus Oldblood - Cold One, Stubborn Crown, misc equipment (undecided)

    Skink Priest - Dispel Scroll
    Skink Priest - Cube of Darkness
    Skink Priest - Diadem of Power (Lv2)
    Skink Priest - Scroll of Shielding
    Saurus Scar-Veteran - BSB, Armour of Destiny

    40 Saurus
    10 Skinks
    10 Skinks
    10 Skinks

    Stegadon
    Stegadon
    5 Camo Skinks
    5 Camo Skinks

    Salamander
    Salamander

    There's several aspects of this list that I find interesting. Firstly, there's enough magic items to shut down magic phases through dispelling, generating extra dice, or negating spells that I'll be able to survive the first 2-3 turns (which is when combat usually starts anyway, at least around here). Once they start using up their one use only items, I can happily suicide them by trying to 6 dice Chain Lightning or Comet - failing that, they can just Iceshard all the things. Secondly, there's a lot of threatening targets to overwhelm counters - Salmanders, Stegadons, a huge Saurus horde, and two mean Oldbloods. Speaking of which, I think I'll start both in the Saurus horde, and both then have the option of diving out into the flanks of promising targets (lured out by redirecting skinks), or sticking around in 40 Stubborn, BSB re-rolling, Cold Blooded Saurus. If that horde can't grind out anything in this game, nothing can. Finally, its very much a completely off the wall Lizardman build - who sees Saurus hordes, double Stegadons, double Oldbloods, and no Slann these days? - that it might be fun to run. It should at least deal with the two biggest threats of my gaming group - the Coven of Light, for which it is designed to counter, and Tzeentch Warriors, who love their magic missiles just as much.

    Thanks for the feedback! We were playing outside in the (fleeting) glorious British sun, so the glare was awful on my camera or there would have been pictures ttoo. That Horde combat would have been especially good to see. Ah well.
     
  16. Arli
    Skink Priest

    Arli Moderator Staff Member

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    Your new list has some potential. I would probably take more sallies, but other than that it looks pretty solid.
     
  17. Clockwork
    Cold One

    Clockwork Member

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    There are three rules in our gaming group.

    1) Teclis is banned.
    2) More than two Salamanders lose friends.
    3) Never talk about Fight Club.
     
  18. The Hunted
    Carnasaur

    The Hunted Active Member

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    That, my friend, is awesome.

    The Hunted
     

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