Some time ago I posted a few questions about an upcoming partners game, and promised a Battle Report to follow. While it's been a while since the game, I finally have the report, written from my notes! First, a word about strategy. After considering a couple of different builds, my partner and I settled on an overall strategy we called "Cloak and Dagger" (in parody of "Hammer and Anvil"). This consisted of a strong skirmish screen (the "Cloak"), our front-field game, deployed in front of some tough combat blocks (the "Dagger"). The idea was to entrap and whittle down the enemy units, before striking with our hard stuff, so that our combat blocks didn't have to deal with any full-strength units, or more than one unit at a time. In terms of our units, that meant that the strategy was to control the flow of the game with Eagles and Skinks, while weakening the enemy with Skinks, Salamanders, Sea Guard and Magic, before taking out the weakened units with Saurus, White Lions and Phoenix Guard. Also, credit where credit is due, I took Scalenex's and david I's suggestions on running a solo Fire Slann and bringing a combat block to the table (the Saurus). Their feedback is here http://www.lustria-online.com/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=10359 Now, one last thing: to be fair, the High Elf player and I have played quite a bit together, and are the more experienced players. The Orcs & Goblins player make no secret of his strategy ahead of time: maximum mayhem, a la Squigs and Fanatics. In our subsequent rematch, he played much more competitively, and they didn't lose as badly. Lizardmen and High Elves vs. Dark Elves and Orcs and Goblins 1500 points each army; 3,000 vs. 3,000 total. After a Dark Elf incursion into the northernmost regions of Lustria, a Lizardmen army deploys to counter it. The two forces meet at a mysterious obelisk amid some ruins in the northern wilderness. Unexpectedly, they have company. First, the dust on the horizon signals the arrival of a greenskin horde, but soon the glare of the sun on elven spears can be seen on the horizon as a contingent arrives from Ulthuan to aid in the defense of this powerful site. Terrain: The battlefield has a building in the DE/O&G deployment zone, a fallen tower (counts as a hill) in the LM/HE deployment zone, and an obelisk dead center in the battlefield, with a river feature (a Raging Torrent) flowing out of it to the left. The Lizardmen and Dark Elves took to the field first, each army fully deploying before being join by the High Elves and Orcs and Goblins. The Forces of Order: Lizardmen Slann (Focus of Mystery, Focused Rumination, Higher State, Lore of Fire) Kor-Lot, Scar Veteran (BSB, Armor of Destiny, Great Weapon) Skink Priest (Cube of Darkness) 24 Saurus (Full Command) 10 Skinks 10 Skink Skirmishers 10 Skink Skirmishers 6 Chameleon Skinks 2 Salamanders 2 Salamanders High Elves Korhil Noble (BSB, Longbow?) 25 Lothern Sea Guard 20 Phoenix Guard 20 White Lions 2 Great Eagles The Forces of Destruction: Dark Elves Supreme Sorceress on Dark Pegasus (Pendant of Khaeleth, Armor of Darkness...until we pointed out that armor on a wizard is illegal) Master (Caledor's Bane (+3 S, ignores Scaly Skin), Cold One) Master (?, Dark Steed) 10 Crossbowmen 10 Crossbowmen 9 Cold One Knights 7 Dark Riders Reaper Bolt Thrower Orcs and Goblins Savage Orc Warboss (?, some mundane equipment) Goblin Warboss (Great Weapon, Light Armor, Great Cave Squig) Savage Orc Big Boss (BSB) 20 Night Goblins (with 3 Fanatics) 25 Savage Orcs (Additional Hand Weapons, Command) Massive swarm of Squig Hoppers Squig Herd (20?) 2 Mangler Squigs 2 Doom Diver Catapults We rolled first turn. I will describe the battle from our point of view; i.e. the "left" flank is the flank on our left, not theirs. LM/ HE deployment: Left to Right: Skinks set up across the front of the deployment zone: (L) Skirmishers center-left, Cohorts center-right, and (R) Skirmishers on the far right. The fallen tower is in our back left corner, so the (L) Salamanders go near the left table edge in front of the tower, Lothern Sea Guard on top of the tower in an 11-wide formation. Then, from left to right behind the Skink lines, we have Phoenix Guard, Slann, Great Eagle, Skink Priest, Saurus, (R) Salamanders, Great Eagle, and finally the White Lions, near the right table edge. Korhil joins the Phoenix Guard, the Noble BSB joins the LSG, and Kor-Lot the BSB joins the Saurus. DE/OG deployment: From left to right, the front line consists of: Crossbowmen, Crossbowmen, Dark Riders w/ Master, Cold One Knights (COK from here on out) w/ Master, Supreme Sorceress, Mangler Squig, Squig Hoppers, Mangler Squig, Night Goblins. Savage Orcs and the Squig Herd set up behind the Hoppers and Night Goblins. The Reaper Bolt Thrower went on top of the building on their back line, and a Doom Diver in each back corner. LM/HE Turn 1 Salamanders, Skinks and Eagles all move forward, the birds taking shelter behind the obelisk. The Slann inches up to get some enemies in spell range. Chameleons get in position to assassinate the Sorceress. We roll a puny 5 for Winds of magic...and I roll 1's and 2's on my attempt to start with a nice, simple Fireball,effectively ending our magic phase. When it comes to shooting, the Chameleons get 4 wounds on the sorceress! ..and she saves them all, rolling 3- on all 4 dice (Pendant of Khaeleth). The (R) Sallies do a little damage to the Squig Hoppers. DE/O&G Turn 1 They let one Mangler Squig (L) off the leash, and it wrecks the Chameleon unit, destroying them completely and going wild in the process. The COK fail a charge on the (L) Sallies in the river, but the Sallies flee. (R) Mangler, Hoppers and Night Goblins move forward on the right flank. DE roll 7 dice for Winds of Magic, and I Cube the first spell. In retrospect, that might have been better saved for a later phase, but it worked well enough. The first bolt from the Reaper hits my Slann - and passes right through him! They now know that he can only be harmed by magical attacks. Crossbowmen, Dark Riders, and Doom Divers all try to kill the two units of Salamanders. They manage to leave both Sallies in the game, but kill 5 handlers. Shucks. LM/HE Turn 2 (L) Sallies rally. Skinks move up across the field, and the Eagles land in front of the COK on the left, and the other in front of the Squig Hoppers on the right - both angled to redirect those units to the left. The (R) Eagle triggers the Fanatics, who all shoot out towards my center-right Skink Cohorts, but none of them go the distance, and remain hanging out in front of the Gobbo lines. The Skink Priest takes cover behind the obelisk. My Slann has woken up from his nap now, and torches 4 COK with a boosted Fireball and Flame Cage. The Skinks do some damage to the (R) Mangler. DE/O&G Turn 2 First, the Fanatics all die - one runs into another, and the third rolls doubles and wraps his ball and chain around his face. But then, the (R) Mangler runs into the Skink Cohort, killing 8 of them and going wild - and they pass their panic test, and stay on the field! The Hoppers charge the Eagle in front of their face, but the COK do not; hoping that Flame Cage will wear off, they stay very still and leave the Eagle to the shooting of the Dark Riders. The Sorceress, trying desperately to do some damage, flies up in front of her lines towards the middle of the field. Hahaha. Here's our first real mistake of the game: fearing what else she might have up her sleeve, we let the Sorceress cast Bladewind on the (R) Salamanders unopposed...which kills them. She then casts Word of Pain on the Skinks, who accept the loss of BS, and we dispel Black Horror on the (L) Sallies. The Crossbowmen put one more wound on a Salamander, and the Dark Riders get a whopping 13 hits on the Eagle that is holding up the COK - but only wound it once! The first Doom Diver misses, while the second aims for one of our infantry blocks. Once he's airborne, though, the gliding goblin gets a better idea - and ploughs into the Skink Priest, effectively sniping him from around the obelisk. Finally, the (L) Great Eagle puts one wound on the Goblin Warboss, before getting mashed to a feathery pulp by the Squigs. LM/HE Turn 3 Skinks Skirmishers move up, and the two remaining Skinks from the Cohort wheel about and move into the Mangler Squig that just ravaged their unit - it dies automatically, but the poor little Skinks get properly mangled, leaving no pieces to pick up. The Salamanders move forward and enter the river. We roll an 11 for power dice! The Slann throws a level 2 Fireball at the Sorceress, but fails to wound her. Piercing Bolts of Burning kills 3 Crossbowmen, Flaming Sword of Rhuin on the LSG is dispelled, but Flame Cage and Firestorm take 3 COK between the two of them. Lothern Sea Guard, Salamanders and (L) Skinks (all our missile troops on the left flank) take aim at the Sorceress that has flown to the front. LSG put two wounds on her. The Skinks fail to wound her, but the Salamanders fire a blast that hits her and wounds her, finishing her off! The Magic Phase is ours! DE/O&G Turn 3 The remaining Mangler Squig moves towards the White Lions. The COK charge the Eagle in their face (losing one to Flame Cage...bwahaha...), the Squig Hoppers move up behind the Mangler, the Savage Orcs move up behind the Hoppers, and the Squig Herd behind them. Night Goblins kill 4 Skinks on the right flank. Both units of crossbowmen and the Dark Riders fire ineffectively at the Sallies. The Bolt Thrower hits a Phoenix Guard, but the bolt is stopped cold by his ward save, leading our enemies to ponder how it is even possible to harm them. The Doom Divers aim for our infantry blocks as well, taking out a Saurus and a White Lion between them. The COK remnants - that is, one COK and a Master - take out the Eagle and reform to face our lines again. LM/HE Turn 4 (L) Skinks move to the left flank of the Squig Hoppers, staying out of anyone's charge arc. The Saurus angle to the right in preparation for the arrival of the Hoppers and the Savage Orcs. The (R) Skinks set themselves up to redirect the Hoppers, and the Salamanders move in front of the Saurus to line up a shot into the Squigs. Elves are still staying put. My Slann casts a Fireball on the remnants of the COK, and I roll 3 6's to cast! The last COK dies, leaving only the Master left. I roll a Feedback result on the miscast table - *whew* only a S6 hit on the Slann, which is stopped by his Ward save. The (L) Skinks and Sallies kill some Squig Hoppers, but the (R) Skinks fail to put any wounds on the wild Mangler Squig bearing down on our lines. DE/O&G Turn 4 And here's where unpredictable units really getcha: the Mangler Squig rolls his movement straight back into the Hopper unit. The Savage Orcs had moved up to 1" behind them in their last turn. Uh-oh. The Mangler rips through the Squig Hopper unit - rolling 2 6's with 2D6, 11 of which wound - but 1" beyond them puts him in the Savage Orcs, and on it goes, taking out 7 of the Savages, and placing himself safely out of the way of our army, surrounded by Squigs, Savage Orcs and his (R) Doom Diver. Well, I guess you can't ever really say that a Mangler Squig is "safely out of the way"... The remaining Squig Hopper accompanies the Goblin Warboss in a charge against the Salamanders, but the Master on a Cold One fails his long-shot charge against the Slann. The Savage Orcs charge the (R) Skinks, and I stupidly flee, instead of standing and shooting... The Orcs roll a measly 4 for their charge distance, while my Skinks roll a 10 and flee the battle. The Crossbows move up, just within LSG range, and the Dark Riders move to take aim on the (L) Skinks. The Dark Riders and Crossbowmen fail to kill any Skinks, Saurus or Phoenix Guard. The Bolt Thrower, though, finally does some real damage, killing 4 White Lions, while the Doom Divers do a number on the Saurus and Lothern Sea Guard. One Salamander goes down before the Goblin Warboss, but they hold. We were feeling quite confident of victory up until this point, but now we realize the damage the enemy war machines can still do, even with most of the fighting troops routed. The game is still in play! LM/HE Turn 5 Finally time for the heavy infantry to move out! The Phoenix Guard move forward to the riverbank, the LSG leave their high ground, and the White Lions advance towards the approaching Orcs. Concerned that some enemies with magic weapons were closing in, the Slann joined the Saurus. With three command models and a Scar Vet in the front rank, the Slann moved into a nice, protected spot in the middle of the unit. We were a little fuzzy on how the rules would work here regarding LoS, etc., but we made something up. And just to be sure, the (L) Skinks, now by the flank of the Savage Orcs, moved into the river to block the charge of the Master and his magic lance. As soon as we finished our movement, my partner made a comment along the lines of, "Let's just hope the Slann doesn't miscast when he's in that unit." My heart immediately sank as I realized my mistake. He throws a level 2 Fireball at the Savage Orcs with no problem, then miscasts a Firestorm. Oh boy. The result? Detonation. Final tally: our magic this turn killed 3 Savage Orcs...and 9 Saurus. To cap off the turn, the Goblin Warboss finishes off the last Salamander. DE/O&G Turn 5 The Mangler Squig leaves everything alone for now. The Warboss on his Great Cave Squig and the Master both charge my (L) Skinks. And with a fearsome "WAAAAAAAAGH!!!!!!!", the Savage Orcs charge the White Lions. The crossbows, Bolt Thrower and Doom Diver tally up one Phoenix Guard and 3 Sea Guard between them. In combat, the Master kills 2 Skinks, but the Skinks miraculously manage to give him 2 wounds in return - killing him! Anything can happen. They didn't wound the Warboss, though, and he killed 3 of them, broke them and ran them down. Tragic...but it set him up right in front of the Phoenix Guard. The White Lions, striking first, chopped the Savage Orc Warboss to pieces, and killed 5 of his rank and file. These guys are monsters! The Orcs took out 4 Lions, and with their ranks and WAAAGH!, the combat was a draw. LM/HE Turn 6 The Phoenix Guard charge the Goblin Warboss. I pull the Slann out of the Saurus unit, much to their relief, and they in turn advance into charge range of the Savage Orc/White Lion combat on the right flank. Throwing a boosted Fireball and a Firestorm, the Slann kills 6 each of the Dark Riders and the Squig Herd. Korhil easily dispatches the Goblin Warlord with a Killing Blow, and the Phoenix Guard overrun, leaving them right in front of the Dark Riders. In the right flank combat, the Savage Orc BSB issues a challenge, and slays the brave champion who accepted it. The rest of the Savage Orcs, though, don't fare as well - the Lions kill 5 more of them, but take no damage in return. And yet, even in the face of such slaughter, the Savage Orcs hold on snake eyes! DE/O&G Turn 6 The useless Night Goblins fail their Animosity test, and Squabble. The Mangler Squig continues its path of destruction, moving through the Squig Herd and further reducing it. The Dark Elf side of things looks better for them, as the Dark Riders and one unit of crossbowmen both charge the Phoenix Guard, one in the front and one in the flank. The unengaged crossbow unit, the Bolt Thrower and a Doom Diver take aim on the LSG, killing 11 of them. Things are looking grim...until the other Doom Diver misfires, and is completely destroyed! Ranged firepower was their last real hope, but now that hope is dwindling. In combat, Korhil accepts a challenge from the Master in the Dark Rider unit. He misses all 4 attacks initially (sad day...), but with his re-rolls, he puts two wounds on the Master to take him out of the game. The Phoenix Guard kill the last Dark Riders, and one Crossbowman. The Crossbows flee and escape, and the Phoenix Guard's pursuit takes them right in front of the other Crossbow unit. Finally, the White Lions destroy the last of the Savage Orc unit, and reform to face the Night Goblins on the their right. LM/HE Turn 7: The Phoenix Guard charge the crossbowmen, the White Lions charge the Night Goblins, the Saurus advance, and the Slann gets in position to blast the Bolt Thrower and the other Mangler Squig. The odds are hugely in our favor in both of the combats, and their only reinforcements are a heavily depleted Squig Herd, a Doom Diver and a Bolt Thrower. We still have unengaged, though depleted, units of Saurus and Sea Guard, plus the Slann. Checkmate. Their last hope, if you could call it a hope, would be that the Mangler Squig would survive the Slann's magic, turn around and attack our lines. We make a ceremonial Scatter roll to see where the Mangler would go if we continued the game. It points off the table, sealing our victory. CONCLUSION It was a grand victory. We even had some key rolls go badly - in particular, the Slann's magic could have been much more potent - and still had a solid advantage at the end. The Salamanders, for once, did not lay waste to swathes of enemy territory, but they did absorb an absurd amount of shooting, basically providing cover for the rest of the army for 2-3 turns. The enemy magic might have been better able to stand up to ours if they had not spent their wizard's Magic Items allowance on magic armor, which we discounted. Even so, the Slann was solidly useful, and I learned that it is possible to effectively play him without miscast protection, as much as the thought scares me. I also saw just how nasty the White Lions can be, and how ridiculously survivable the Phoenix Guard are! Overall, our strategy worked exactly as we hoped. Skirmishers held up the enemy's advance, while shooting and magic whittled them down, so that our full-strength heavy infantry could tear apart their weakened combat blocks. To be fair, of course, the Orcs and Goblins army was designed for unpredictable destruction, and it wrought most of that destruction on itself. But we also played in such a way as to maximize the chances of that self-inflicted destruction. Much thanks to Scalenex and david I for giving me input on the list!
That sounds like it was a very fun battle. There are few things more satisfying than White Lions in CC (unless you are on the receiving end).