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
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!
Warriors Turn 1
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).
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
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
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
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.
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...
... 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
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.
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.
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
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
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.
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
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...
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
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.
. You explain your choices very well, and in general it is a pleasure to read.
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), SM are a prime shooting target as they will carve through anything in CC.