TOW 2000 vs Skaven

[discomute]

Spoiler: My List

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Copy of Mortezuma's Terror [2000 pts]
Warhammer: The Old World, Lizardmen
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++ Characters [866 pts] ++

Mortezuma [400 pts]
- Hand weapon
- General
- Battle Standard Bearer
- Lore Familiar
- Higher State of Mind
- Necromancy

Saurus Oldblood [260 pts]
- Hand weapon
- Heavy armour (Scaly skin)
- Shield
- Cold One
- Giant Blade
- Bedazzling Helm
- Horned One

Skink Priest [120 pts]
- Hand weapon
- Light armour (Calloused hide)
- Level 2 Wizard
- On foot
- Ruby Ring of Ruin
- Battle Magic, pillar of fire, apotheosis

Skink Chief [86 pts]
- Cavalry spear
- Light armour (Calloused hide)
- Shield
- Ripperdactyl

++ Core Units [528 pts] ++

10 Skink Skirmishers [55 pts]
- Hand weapons
- Javelins
- Shields
- Light armour (Calloused hides)
- Vanguard

22 Saurus Warriors [373 pts]
- Thrusting spears
- Shields
- Heavy armour (Scaly skin)
- Shieldwall
- Spawn Leader (champion)
- Standard bearer
- Musician

10 Skink Skirmishers [50 pts]
- Hand weapons
- Javelins
- Shields
- Light armour (Calloused hides)

10 Skink Skirmishers [50 pts]
- Hand weapons
- Javelins
- Shields
- Light armour (Calloused hides)

++ Special Units [376 pts] ++

4 Kroxigors [196 pts] (usually take Trog in this list but I just painted them)
- Great weapons
- Heavy armour (Scaly skin)

Bastiladon [180 pts]
- Hand weapons
- Javelins
- Thunderous bludgeon
- Solar Engine
- Fourth Skink crew member

++ Rare Units [230 pts] ++

Ancient Stegadon [230 pts]
- Hand weapons
- Javelins
- Great horns
- Giant bow

Straight game today - the goal was B+ power without a carnosaur so let's see how we go in this straight battle

Deployment & Turn 1


I like this set up. I'm scared of the hellpit abomination but my old blood should take it down. My skinks will harrass their rat ogres and otherwise I match up well.

I advance and Skaven do not - shooting doesn't do a lot except a few of his skirmishers go down, so do a few of my skinks.

Turn 2


Turn 2 is much like the first. I kill a rat ogre with javelins and am successfully baiting frenzy charges through difficult cover.

Some more of his plague monks go down, and the giant rats pose problems for me with their manoeuvrability.

His wipes out the unit of skinks on the right, except for one single skink who runs away to avoid giving VP. This lone dude becomes important later...

Turn 3 - me



The old blood is on one wound from some shooting. However the priest (who has already given him and the chief terror) manages to successfully cast apotheosis with irresistible force and it heals.

The old blood charges the hellpit abomination. It's already taken 2 wounds so only 4 left and I'm confident. I only sneak two wounds in and he saves both his regen! The cold one does a wound, I take one back but that means we lose and GG, he does not follow up.

The Saurus make my only real tactical mistake for the game and move too far up, exposing my flank to the rat ogres.

Turn 3 - him


Things fall apart here. The general charges my old blood (the clanrats try but fail terror). The general has paymasters coin and a blade that does D3 wounds. He slips a wound through, rolls a 2 and the old blood is dead.

The hellpit just rolls enough to connect my Saurus and the rat ogres flank them. Trying so hard to avoid that hellpit (on 2 wounds now) and he will chew through those Saurus.

Meanwhile the rats in the flank of the Kroxigor are a nightmare, I GG and can't get enough attacks off to do anything

Turn 4 - me


My beasts turn around but otherwise I don't do much but lose combat.

Turn 4 - him


Things look dreadful for me. I've been out manoeuvred. His big plague pack hits mt Kroxigor. His his hellpit (it fell off the base but is still there) kills the Saurus and connects with the krox. His general and Skirmishers charge the stegadon, and I get a massive stroke of luck. They roll enough so only one (the BSB) can connect, the others don't have movement to get into the fighting rank so they are forced to form up behind it.



The Kroxigor are wiped out, the remaining one flees however, they get one wound on the hellpit so it's on one. As the plague monks pursue they set themselves up for a flank charge from the bastiladon.

Because of the bizarre positioning the stegadon wipes out his unit, overruns into the rat ogres.

Suddenly, things aren't looking as bad.

Turn 5 - both


Magic kills the hellpit, unquiet Spirits is a great MM.

The stegadon kills the rat ogres and runs forwards. The bastiladon hits the flank but can't do enough to break them.

End result
Well.... We worked out it was 1120 to 985. A deserving win to my opponent. I did not deserve that. We broke down the game together.

As I write this report, I noticed quite a lot that was missed due to us being pressed for time. Critically for me - it was a crowded hobbyshop last night and I was putting my dead models on the table.

The main issue is - recall that single skink I mentioned in turn 2? Yep he is still alive that I forgot about. So actually that unit was not dead but under 25% which means it was 1083 to 985 which means he's ahead by 98 therefore a draw by 2 VPs. You can see him next to the rule book. But seems to be missing from the turn before, wonder if I moved him off?

I think on reflection I'm calling this a loss, as multiple issues occured towards the end of the game with the late start time and 2000 points. It's possible his rats on the last turn might have gotten the skink if he had realised. But that was the start:

I probably could have saved that last unit of skinks if I had tried, positioning them next to the table was dumb as GG is instant death. I doubt my opponent would have charged the stegadon like he did if he had realised the outcome of rolling a 5, but he wasn't spending time measuring we were trying to finish. And that mistake really got me into the game. So I'm locking in 1120 to 985 as the result.

We didn't roll to see the 50% chance we would go on but I think it'd favour me. I could have reformed that stegadon with a leader 9 roll to face his monks, if so one extra turn could have been huge. But who knows.

Breakdown
Luck was even, I did poorly in combat but my magic was crazy, I dispelled nearly everything I cast and my priest was able to do a lot. My magic did everything it could but necromancy just doesn't work with us. Can't believe apotheosis did so well!

I really like the pestelins theme Skaven and that abomination is tough to deal with. Maybe should have put more skinks on it but ah well, that old blood really should have been able to get it.

He did a few really good moves, those rats into the flank of the krox was great and being able to get the hellpit into the Saurus was fantastic for him.

My list ran as well as it could but frankly it can never be that good with necromancy, but I find it to be the most enjoyable of the lists.

The priest was lots of fun! Very frustrating that as I avoid carnosaurs in social games I can't take an old blood as a general and two of them. That would be ideal.

 

[Ryanj4043]

Nice battle report, looking forward to hearing how you found the characters on mount on thier own. Been thinking about running solo rippers chiefs and seening if it can do some cheap damage. Curious on alot of choices.

 

[discomute]

Nice battle report, looking forward to hearing how you found the characters on mount on thier own. Been thinking about running solo rippers chiefs and seening if it can do some cheap damage. Curious on alot of choices.

It was there to charge the jezails but he didn't take any.

Well it got terror and the idea was to charge something that might have a leadership hex but it never came up. Nearly charged a leadership 10 group of clan rats - probably should have. It got shot to death by a ratling gun.

I'd like to give it another chance but it's certainly never going to be an amazing choice.

 

[Ryanj4043]

Yeah thats fair, for 86 points its not doing much but probably enough to kill warmachines, lone chars or terror something. Maybe even a ROR or Giant blade carrier.

 

[discomute]

Yeah thats fair, for 86 points its not doing much but probably enough to kill warmachines, lone chars or terror something. Maybe even a ROR or Giant blade carrier.

Yeah I think about adding magic items all the time but it just doesn't seem to work for me. They are bound to die so you're giving more VPs up. RRR is not a bad choice but obviously you'd do terradon. Terradon specialise in hunting skirmishing wizards but not sure if one will do much, but RRR definitely a nice option. Still, I think I've done it twice and it's hard to get 100 odd points back on a 3 fireballs a game. Not a bad choice though.

Magic weapons I like less. You lose the natural poison the hero's get and it will only be across 3 attacks. I think perhaps additional hand weapons and a shield for missiles is the way to go, but cav spears are close to being as good. For example you compare the output of a poisoned cav spears against a giant blade or biting blade and I doubt it'd be far off.

Hero's on rippers shine in groups of rippers I think. There I might take a BSB so I can take a magic banner. That's about all I ever get them.