Tonight I played another fantasy game against the Orcs & Goblins, both of us using different army lists from last time. My opponent was still using the 7th edition book. My army list this time, I thought I would try out the ethereal Slann and took a Saurus horde since I had just spend 8 hours over the weekend painting these warriors... Lizardmen: 420 - Slann Mage Priest (Shadow) - Focus of Mysteries, Focused Rumination, Higher State, Cupped Hands 115 - Skink Priest - Lvl 2, Plaque of Tepok 492 - 40 Saurus Warriors - spears, standard 285 - 24 Skinks & 3 Kroxigor 80 - 10 Skink Skirmishers 80 - 10 Skink Skirmishers 72 - 6 Chameleon Skinks 72 - 6 Chameleon Skinks 235 - Stegadon 150 - 2 Salamander Hunting Packs Total - 2001 Orcs & Goblins: Great Orc Shaman - Lvl 4 Black Orc Warboss 20 Orc Boys 20 Orc Boys 25 Night Goblins (3 fanatics) 25 Night Goblins (3 fanatics) 16 Black Orcs 9 Squig Hoppers 6 Squigs & 4 Herders 8 Wolf Riders 8 Savage Orc Boar Boys 10 Spider Riders Doom Diver 2 Spear Chukkas Spells: Slann Mage Priest - Loremaster (Shadow) Skink Priest - Iceshard Blizzard*, Uranons Thunderbolt, Comet of Casandora Great Orc Shaman - Gaze of Mork, Eadbutt, Fists of Gork, Gorks Warpath * = I did roll chain lightning, but rolling spells 4, 5 & 6 on a level 2 I did not think he would cast much so wanted the signature spell for an easy cast. In hindsight I wish I had swapped out the comet instead and kept chain lightning, it might have had more effect on the game. Deployment: My opponent won the roll of so I started deploying first, I also finished first apart from putting down my scouting Chameleons. As you can see I tried to hold one board edge rather than spread out. Left to Right: Skinks & Kroxigor, Saurus horde, Skink Skirmishers & Priest, Salamanders, Chameleons scouting, Skink Skirmishers, Slann, Stegadon, Chameleons scouting. Night Goblins, Wolf Riders, Orc Boys, Squig Herd, Squig Hoppers, Spear Chukkas, Black Orcs & Warboss, Doom Diver, Great Shaman, Orc Boys, Savage Orc Boar Boys, Spider Riders, Night Goblins. Turn 1 Lizardmen: Picture taken at the end of the turn. The Chameleons moved into the gap between them in front of the Spider Riders, as the rest of the skirmishing right flank marched up. The Saurus and Kroxigor just shuffled forwards. In the magic phase I rolled average but overall the phase was ineffective, I think I got one spell off then failed to cast the next and ended my turn with the Slann, the Skink Priest doing nothing either. In the shooting phase however, the 2 Chameleon units reduced the Spider Riders to one model, which promptly fled the board through the Boar Boys. Turn 1 Orcs & Goblins: Picture taken at the end of the turn. The Orc Boys in the top left failed their animosity and could not move, but the rest of the army moved forwards. The goblins and wolf riders on my left flank started to sweep around the difficult terrain rather than go through it, as the Boar Boys charged one unit of Chameleons. The stand and shoot reaction killed 3 of the Savages, but the Chameleons were wiped to a man and fled, the Boars pursuing them and catching them at 10 inches. The Night Goblins then moved up an inch to get within 8 of the other Chameleons, and threw 3 fanatics out. 2 only went six inches but the third hit the Chameleons and wiped them out. This turn the Orcs shooting and magic did nothing of note. Turn 2 Lizardmen: Photo taken at the end of the turn. I moved the Saurus and Kroxigor up to where they could either charge or hold to an Orc charge and the Kroxigor get in the flank through the marsh thanks to their aquatic rule. The rest of the army tried to get out of the Boar Boys charge arc ready to shoot, the Skinks moving around them as the Salamanders held to fire. The Slann and Stegadon moved around up my right flank, the Stegadon not marching so it could fire. In the magic phase, the Slann had Pit of Shades dispelled but then cast Pendulum through a fanatic, which died, and into a single Orc, which managed to survive! The Skink Priest managed to cast Comet and put down a marker by the Orc Shaman, and then my Slann miscast on another spell, and passed it to the Orc Shaman who rolled a 7. As nobody was in contact with him, nothing happened but I lost my last few dice. In shooting, the Salamanders burned another fanatic as well as hitting the Boar Boys but not killing any of the cavalry as intended, which would therefore spell their demise. The Stegadon shot and missed the Orc Boys. Turn 2 Orcs & Goblins: Taken end of turn. The Orc Boys on my left failed animosity again, but this turn so did both Night Goblin units, one surging forwards as the other had turned on themselves. This broke up the Orc line a lot, as the Wolf Riders continued to wheel around on the flank, and the Squig units hopped forwards into the open ground, not rolling enough to reach my line. The Savage Boar Boys had charged the Salamanders who fled, but caught them with a high roll which luckily took them past the Saurus. In the magic phase the Orcs rolled well and did better than even the Slann could manage in this game. Fists of Gork pulverized the Skink Skirmishers in the centre, leaving two alive and wounding the Priest. Gorks Warpath then hit the Saurus and killed several, before bouncing onto the Kroxigor unit and killing a Skink. In the shooting phase their luck continued, the Doom Diver scattering off the Saurus but both Spear Chukkas hitting them in the front! One penetrated all four ranks and the other only stopped after three, leaving seven more Saurus dead, wiping out the whole back rank! Turn 3 Lizardmen: Taken end of turn. This turn I made two charges, the Saurus into the Squig Hoppers and the Skinks & Kroxigor into the Squig Herd. The depleted Skink unit then ran around the Orc Boys flank with the wounded Priest, as the Slann moved across into closer range and the Stegadon shielded it from the Night Goblins, also getting into position to shoot and charge the Orcs. The other Skink Skirmishers headed down for the Boar Boys hoping to shoot them down or at least keep them tied up and away from the fight. In this magic phase, the Slann tried to cast Miasma on the Saurus horde but failed to cast, leaving the Skink Priest to continue the phase. Somehow I wounded the Orc Shaman and I think it was with a spell from the Priest here, he definitely took a wound this turn leaving him with two. In shooting, the two Skinks and the Stegadon both missed the Orc Boys with their shots and the unharmed Skink Skirmisher unit inflicted several hits on the Boar Boys but all of them were saved! In combat, the Saurus lost five but killed all but two Squig Hoppers who could not flee. Beside them the Skinks lost four and killed one, but then the Kroxigor stepped in and smashed several more leaving one Squig and 4 Herders. Their Stomp attack finished the last Squig off. Turn 3 Orcs & Goblins: This turn the Orcs failed a lot of animosity checks, the Night Goblins and Orc Boys on the left both surging forwards a few inches. The unit in the top right which had only this far released its fanatics also squabbled again. The Wolf Riders raced across the board now towards the rear of my units, as the Black Orcs charged into the Saurus fight and the Boar Boys reformed to face the Skinks. In the magic phase, the Great Shaman got a spell off on the Saurus even though they were in combat which killed three. This turn the warmachines had no targets or missed. In combat, the Kroxigor unit wiped out the last Herders and reformed, as the Saurus withered the Black Orc attack and then killed both Squig Hoppers and several Black Orcs. Turn 4 Lizardmen: This would prove to be the final turn, as the charges I made wiped a lot of the Orc units off the board. The Kroxigor hit the flank of the Black Orcs, and the Stegadon rampaged into the Orc Boys. The Slann then moved towards the warmachines on the hill as the 2 Skinks and Skink Priest reached the Doom Diver (hard to see them in the dead pile that formed soon after). In magic the Slann hit the Spear Chukkas with Pit of Shades and killed most of the crew. He then tried to lower the toughness on the Black Orcs with Wither but this was dispelled. The comet still did not arrive, which was fortunate since my units were now just as close to it as the Orcs were. In the shooting phase the two Skinks missed the Doom Diver but the larger unit killed enough Savage Boar Boys to cause the rest to panic and flee! In the combat phase, the Skinks managed to bring down a Black Orc before the brutes struck back using two Choppas each. Then did nine wounds in total, I think three to the flank on the Skinks and six on the Saurus. Even after taking such a beating, the Saurus hit back hard and so did the Kroxigor, who also stomped one for good measure. In the end I won the combat despite the casualties, thanks to the flank charge. Nearby, the Stegadon hit the Orc Boys and rolled a 6 for it's impact hits. All bar one squashed an Orc, before the Skink crew killed another, and then the Stegadon made it's attacks and killed another four Orcs. Two Boys struck back with two attacks each and actually wounded the Stegadon twice, but it then used Thunderstomp and squashed the last Orcs after rolling another 6. The Stegadon overran into the Great Shaman, running him down as he turned to flee. At this point my opponent conceded, and I won the game! Victory to the Lizardmen!
Thanks for another great read and congrats on the victory! If I were the orc player, I would have seen the game to the point where the Comet comes down. Almost all of your troops are right on the impact zone, that could have been nasty... Probably not won him the game, but still.
Thanks. Unfortunately we were running out of time (the club meets 7-10 and this includes set up / pack up time so we usually only get 2 - 2.5 hours in a game). Next week I will be playing the Bretonnians again, the army that I have yet to beat with these Lizardmen. I will take the Lore of Metal this time and other changes.
A good read. Well done on your victory. A few points, and I am more confident about these. You don't get to stomp with skrox units unless the krox are in base contact with the enemy. They cannot stomp from the second rank. The orc shaman could not elect to flee from an overrunning steg as you don't get a charge reaction from overun.
Thanks for pointing these out. I didn't play for about 2 years after going for 10 years solid so it's taking a bit of getting used to again, especially since it's a new edition.
Good job on the victory! Do you prefer to use a horde of 40 saurus or 2 blocks of 20? I normally take 2 blocks but would find it interesting to try a horde.
After playing another game I definitely like the horde - http://www.lustria-online.com/viewtopic.php?f=20&t=9694