8th Ed. Lizardmen Vs Brettonians, 2500 points

[xhequimunqui]

Apologies in advance for what has turned out to be a bit of a wall of text.

Last week, I played another 2500 point pitched battle, this time against Brettonians. My opponent, Bill, is usually an extremely good player and has regularly thumped me over the past 20+ years, no matter what armies we’re both using.

Anyway, having read a lot of good stuff on this site regarding the efficacy (or not) of champions in units and Scar Vets, I decided to go with a bit of an experimental army list with only one character – the Slann, and the only champion being in the Temple Guard unit. That meant my army looked a bit like this:

Slann, BSB, Standard of discipline, 3 Disciplines (Focus (life), Ruminate and Becalming), Cube of Darkness
20 Saurus, standard, musician
20 Saurus, standard, musician
2x10 Skink skirmishers
2x16 Skink Cohorts plus 2 Krox each, standard, musician
18 Temple Guard, full command, Razor Standard, flaming sword on champion
2x6 Chameleon Skinks
Stegadon
3 Terradons
2x1 Salamander

I was up against the following:

Lord on warhorse
BSB on warhorse
Phrophetess on warhorse (also life) silver mirror
Paladin on warhorse
Paladin on Pegasus (immune to poison & KB, sword of might, enchanted shield)
6 Realms full command
2x6 Errants, musicians
11 Errants full command
6 Grails, musician
3 Pegasus Knights
2 Trebuchets
20 Grail Pilgrims

Terrain didn’t really do much at all in this game apart from an enclosure on my left flank that prevented the Bretts from concentrating there. Now that I think about it, there was a wood to my front right that I could have probably used better to get some steadfast skirmishers but I forgot about that in the heat of battle.

Anyway, I deployed with the TG in the centre flanked by Saurus units and these in turn flanked by Skrox units. Continuing on a symmetrical theme, there were Skink skirmishers and a Salamander on each flank. The terradons hid behind the right flank wood and the Steg backed up my left flank.

Bill went with small Errants, Pegs and Pilgrims on his right, Big Errants packed with characters, Realms and Grails in his centre, 2nd small Errants and Peg Paladin on his left. The trebs were behind a hill to his centre left.

There wasn’t an awful lot of cover for the Chameleons so they deployed just a bit forward of my lines, to centre left and right.

I won the choice to go first or second and decided to let the Brettonians move first. This would let me see what he was up to and hopefully leave a gap in behind his units in which to squeeze my Terradons and Chameleons.

 

[xhequimunqui]

So, turn 1. The Brettonians pushed forward on both flanks, but in the centre the gigantic unit of 11 Errants, Lord, BSB and Prophetess hung back a little. Both Trebuchets targeted the TG and between them killed 7. Magic was uneventful, Bill hadn’t got Throne of Vines on his Prophetess so was being quite cautious about what he cast, as such, nothing got through.

In the Lizardmen turn 1, I pushed the rightmost Skrox unit well forward in front of the Grail Knights and shuffled the rest of the battle line forward slightly. The Terradons and rightmost Chameleons found gaps in the Brettonian line and infiltrated through to threaten the Trebs. On my left, I completely over-reacted to those damned Peg Knights who were right round my left rear, detailing a Salamander, Skink skirmishers and the Steg to try and bring them down a peg or two – if you’ll excuse the pun In the magic phase the Slann took a wound from the Silver Mirror, trying to get Throne of Vines off. He then buffed the Skrox with Flesh to Stone, which wasn’t very clever as a T4 Skink is just as easy for a Grail Knight to wound as a T2 Skink. Oops. I should probably have gone for the 5+ Regen if Throne wasn’t up. Lesson learned. Shooting wounded a Peg Knight and killed a Grail Pilgrim. Big Wowee.

In Brettonian turn 2 both the Grail Knights and nearby small Errants charged into the front of the Skrox unit. Oh good, that means the T4 Skinks would be useful against the Errants afterall! Between Stand and Fire and their attacks the Skinks managed to pull down an Errant Knight depriving Bill of any Rank bonus. The Brettonians brutalised the Skinks then the Kroxigors put a wound on a Paladin who was skulking with the Grail Knights. The Skrox lost big but held easily on Steadfast 10 from the nearby Slann. At this point Bill got very sneaky and reformed the Grail Knights into a 3x2 formation (without taking anyone out of combat) to reclaim a rank bonus for next turn – the scamp. But before all that, the Prophetess had started the magic phase with a casual magic missile on a Chameleon unit, again being cautious and only chucking 2 dice. Double 6! Miscast! Naturally the missile did only 1 wound to the Chameleons but the miscast was a thing of beauty – taking out 5 Knights Errant from the Big Bus and wounding Herself. It also drained the power dice pool so Throne of Vines stayed up on the Slann. Huzzah! In the shooting phase the trebuchets had decided to change targets and thump the rightmost Saurus unit instead. I think they took 5 casualties.

In Lizardmen turn 2 I charged the rightmost Saurus unit into the Grail Knights to add 2 ranks to proceedings. The Terradons also charged one of the trebs. My Temple Guard advanced to cover the two engaged units’ left flank and my other two left flank units advanced en echelon. My left cover force again chased down Peg Knights ineffectually. In the Magic phase I buffed the Skrox unit up to S6 Skinks then regrew a few of the engaged Saurus. Shooting killed another single Grail Pilgrim and failed to put a 2nd wound on the Peg Knights. On the far right, Salamander spit took down one of the Realm knights who’d angled over this way to try and break the stalemate. The Skrox/Saurus/Errants/Grails/Paladin fight rumbled on with a Grail Knight and a couple of Errants falling for the loss of more Skinks and a Saurus or two. The Terradons easily munched the trebuchet crew, after we’d had the stomp/no stomp argument phase.

In Brettonian turn 3 the Peg riding Paladin charged the rear of the engaged Saurus to try and rack up some CR (he got round there last turn and I failed to do anything to him with shooting). The Peg Knights charged my leftmost skink skirmishers. The Prophetess left the Big Bus sharpish, no doubt with a few choice words ringing in her ears and the unit turned to face the Terradons. I’ve no idea why. On Bill’s right flank, the small Errants and Pilgrims finally started to advance to put some pressure on my left. Neither shooting nor magic did much in this turn. I think I lost another Chameleon to a magic missile. The big fight ground on but the Peg Paladin at the rear made a big difference with his +2CR just for being there and adding a kill. The Saurus just couldn’t get through his 2+ armour. I think a Krox smashed down the Paladin in the Grails this turn too. The Skink skirmishers managed to put a 2nd wound on a Peg Knight meaning that there were only two left to obliterate them.

In Lizardmen turn 3 the Terradons went for their second trebuchet of the day. Seeing the dithering that was going on in the centre, I pushed the TG round to threaten the Grail’s flank and shoved my left side Saurus right into the Pilgrims’ faces. Abandoning any further attempts to pin down the wind, or indeed Pegasus Knights, I advanced my left flank units, Skrox and Steg, the Steg to threaten the small Errants and the Skrox between the Steg and Saurus to threaten flanks. Chameleon Skinks began to converge on the Prophetess. On the far right, I pushed my Salamander up into the Realms’ front arc to keep them out of the Big Fight and hopefully down a couple combined with Skink blowpipe fire. It didn’t work. More buffs happened in the Magic phase getting super tough Skinks and Regenerating Saurus plus managing to regrow a couple of the Saurus. This was enough to keep them fighting and drag down another couple of Knights. The Terradons munched the trebuchet but due to poor placement I couldn’t afford to overrun without crashing into the front of the Errant Bus. Not a good idea.

 

[xhequimunqui]

So, Brettonian turn 4, Now, I seem to have got a bit mixed up here because I’m pretty sure the Realms parked themselves in front of my TG unit here to prevent them slamming the Grails and Errants in the flank and rolling them up, but I’m also pretty sure they got there after slapping my right Salamander around then reforming to face back to my left. Oh well, somehow this all happened over the previous couple of turns. The stuff I do remember is the Brett Lord charging out of his Bus to deal harshly with the Terradons, and the Grail Pilgrims charging the left Saurus. Those blasted Peg Knights flew into the flank zone of my rightmost Saurus, ready to join in the fun next turn and the Errant Bus swung back round to threaten my TG’s rear if they charged the Realms and didn’t burst them. Magic was ineffectual again and the shooting was all gone. In combat, the Big Fight ground on but there wasn’t much left on either side. Still it would be good points for 2 destroyed units to whoever could win it. Predictably the Brett Lord smashed the Terradons but the Grail Pilgrims wafted ineffectually at the Saurus, causing only 1 wound and taking 7 in reply. They easily passed their stubborn leadership check though.

In Lizardmen turn 4, I decided to take the bait and charge the TG into the Realms hoping to burst them, then reform to receive the Errant Bus. With 2 flags, 2 ranks, charging and statistically being up by two wounds (1.95 actually) I was quite confident. I also charged the Steg at the small Errants to my extreme left. They fled. In remaining moves both units of Chameleons converged on the Prophetess and my left Skrox unit swung round into the flank zone of the Pilgrims. I managed to buff the TG up to T8 in the magic phase (I’m now up by 2.6 wounds Vs the Realms) and got regenerating Saurus in the Big Fight once again. In the shooting phase, the Prophetess went down like a Lady of negotiable virtue at a roadside eating establishment popular with haulage operatives. The Big Fight ground on, the left side Saurus smacked the Pilgrims around again but they held and the Temple Guard somehow conspired not to do a single wound to the Realms, even losing their own Champion in the process. I went from winning by 5 or 6 on average to winning by 1 in reality. To add insult to injury I’ve just realised we forgot the charging bonus in the countback. For what we are about to receive...

Brettonian turn 5 and the remains of the Errant Bus plus BSB charge into the rear of the still T8 Temple Guard. Those pesky Peg Knights charge into the flank of my Saurus in the now not so Big Fight. The fleeing Errants on my left flank fail to rally and speed off the board. We can now skip past magic and shooting, except that Bill will always have enough dice to dispel Throne of Vines. The Big Fight continues although it’s now down to 1 Errant Knight, 1 Grail Knight, 1 wounded Paladin and two Peg Knights fighting 2 Skinks, 2 Kroxigor and about 13 Saurus. The left Saurus kill all of the remaining Pilgrims leaving just the reliquae itself and its 6 wounds. The Temple Guard now have 5 Realms in front and 6 Errants plus the BSB in the rear plus the Brett Lord winding up for a flank charge next turn. Good job they’re T8, stubborn and Cold Blooded! The BSB challenges and I have to take it up with the Slann, relying heavily on T8 and his 4+ ward. I lost a couple of TG this turn but took down a couple of Errants and a couple of Realms in reply. The Stubborn break check was easily passed.

Lizards turn 5. I charge the Skrox unit into the Pilgrim unit's flank hoping to overrun straight through and into the rear of the former Errant Bus. All Bill has left unengaged now is his Lord so naturally the Chameleons head straight for him. The TG are kept at T8, the Saurus regenerating and a couple are re-grown too as I now enjoy magic superiority. The Chameleons sneak a wound past the Lord’s armour and ward save. In combat, the Skrox and Saurus combined fail to kill the Grail Reliquae by 1 measly wound. There are now effectively two Big Fights. In the original and best, the Saurus finally find the pointy bits and bring down a Peg Knight but still lose due to that damned Peg Paladin. The Krox finally get the last Errant but are still in combat corner to corner with the last Grail Knight. The Temple Gaurd don’t fluff quite as badly as previously and do a couple more wounds but still lose due to the rear bonus and rank of the Errants. Everyone sticks around.

Brettonian turn 6, all Bill can do is throw his Lord into the flank of the Temple Guard, dispel Throne of Vines and go straight into the combat phase. We do Big Fight 1 first and finally the Saurus get it done. Peg Paladin goes under as does the last Grail Knight. The final Peg rider is wounded too. The Big Fight is won and won well. The surviving Peg Knight breaks and is run down by the Saurus who slam into the side of the Errant Bus adding their rank and a flank bonus right in the nick of time. The Temple Guard are inspired by the Saurus and fell the last of the Realms, wound the Brett general again and add a couple of Errants into the mix. This is a huge swing in CR and is enough to break all of Bill’s remaining units. At this point he concedes.

 

[xhequimunqui]

Jeez, that turned into a bit of an epic. Life magic certainly kept me in this game with some timely toughness buffs to the Skrox and regeneration on the Saurus. Bill put his loss down to not getting Throne of Vines on the Prophetess and thus being vulnerable to miscasts. To some extent I agree but I think he made some mistakes too, particularly with the Errant Bus. That should have been down the guts much earlier and more aggressively. The surprising thing is that he’s usually a very aggressive player.

I don’t think the lack of Champions or Scar Veterans made much difference at all, in actual fact it allowed me to field an entire additional unit of Saurus.

The Skrox units are effectively my medium cavalry, protecting the flanks or turning the opponents’. Life magic buffs can make them extremely durable.

The Temple Guard were again a little disappointing. They’re already rock hard in defense, Life magic makes them even harderer but I just don’t seem to get anywhere near average to hit rolls out of them for some reason. It’s very strange.

We’re still making some mistakes with the rules, forgetting Fear an awful lot, often forgetting the CR bonus for charging and only remembering about Stomp attacks when they’re not eligible. But we’ll get there in the end.

Xhequimunqui

 

[Ilnar3]

Awsome bat rep,
But your cheating with regen,
It can only affect the slaan and the unit he is with

Looks like yo had a good night

 

[xhequimunqui]

Awsome bat rep,
But your cheating with regen,
It can only affect the slaan and the unit he is with

Looks like yo had a good night

Oops, you're absolutely right. I'm a cheating git

Dagnabbit, that certainly changes things. Those Saurus would have been toast much earlier.

Thanks for pointing that out.

Xhequimunqui

 

[Ilnar3]

There just arnt enough buff spells are there