OK, this thread has not been made for specific BatReps, but it will be more a showup of nice battles. I'm past the mood for detailed batreps and i even lack the time to do it properly, so it will be just a giant cauldron for my events, sometime backed up with a brief description.
Yesterday I've hosted a 10.000 points narrative battle for TOW, 2v2 players, 5.000 dawi vs 5.000 TK "Under the sun of Khemri" A massive dwarfs' expedition led by the king to recover a family axe, taken by the undead from the dead body of the granddad of the actual king. As long as dawi push into the desert (and sack various minor settlements), the TK draw the invaders further into the south, to a point where a trap has been settled and the aid of the mortuary cult has been granted. Spoiler: The set-up the Sphynx holds an artefact of power which projects a 12" aura of "light of protection" (as if it were a casket of souls). It's always active but can be shut down for a round with a successful dispel. the treasury sacked until now by the dwarfs is held within a cart, drawn alondside the army. If "destroyed" it's not removed from the game but can move no more. The control of each one of those at the end of the game grants 150 additional victory points / each
A brief summary of the big battle: the dwarfs pushed onward, very aggressively on the left flank (where there was the core of the mortuary cult with 2 crocodragons, to avoid giving them time to exploit their magical superiority and to give them less room to bring the units held in reserves), more cautiously on the rigth one (where there were the most quick and aggressive chariots / serpents units, and there was the King cupperted by a crocodragon). The "mortuary cult" side fought defensively, the "king's side" fought timidly, without trying to exploit it's far superior move. Both decisions in the end doomed their fate. Most notable things: 1) the warmachines of the dawi were... almost negligible. The organ gun and the bolth thrower failed spectacularly to hit anyone. the 2 cannons suffered a similar fate, rolling 4 times 1s on the "to wound" roll, and in 2 cases rolling a 1 to damage, failing to get through the ranks of units. Only the flame cannon and the stone thrower were fairly good and did their duty in toning down the skeleton hordes. 2) the gyrobomber was equally unimpressing, wounding himself 2 times. The 4 gyrocopters, on the other side, were among the kings of the game, spreading havoc within the TK lines, hampering their movement with a couple of failed charges and harassing them through the whole game. 3) the unit of hammerers with Ungrim were absolute killers 3) the mortuary cult failed spectacularly all the regeneration rolls (maybe just a couple of them in the whole game), and even failed to summon some of the units held in reserve. 4) the Tomb Kings player with the chariots, on the other side, rolled an impressive amount of 6s on saves and regenerations, thus limiting a lot the losses on that flank (just a couple of units) Spoiler: some topic moments The dwarfs push toward the left: Charge me if you dare! (spoiler: the copter will flee resulting in a failed charge) Left flank: the attack is pressing the undead lines Left flank, the turning moment: King Ungrim is killed by the hierophant, but the liche won't survive for long, crumbling by losing the fight Right flank: TK lines are holding but... the skull catapult has been claimed by the miners! The "mortuary cult" flank is crumbling, the hammerers have no opposition and the copters do whaterer they want
An excellent game! Two of my fave factions having a good dust-up in the desert makes for a most appealing show (though I do feel a bit cheated that when you mentioned it'd be a 10,000 point game, you meant 10,000 points total from both sides - rather than 10,000 points per side ). I love the inclusion of mesas made from stacks of corrugated card - a classic build that I've seen at least as far back as my 40K 5th Edition rulebook that first got me into the universe. Interesting that the Organ Gun failed to hit anything as it rolls 2 artillery dice worth of shots in TOW as per 8th, though rolling low on the artillery dice, suffering one misfire result to worsen your ballistic skill by 1 and/or shooting at long range don't help matters. Hammerers are fantastic in TOW now that they're not forced to Always Strike Last all the time, particularly when they can get the charge in themselves (or even when the enemy charge them, as they return to 2 attacks each from 8th when that happens). They're probably the one Dwarf unit that really got buffed the most in the new Edition of the game. Couple them with easily the most dangerous of the named characters from the Dwarf Arcane Journal and I can easily see how they were able to storm through the Tomb King lines, and avenge Ungrim's untimely death by forcing the Khemric Titan that ate him to crumble to stone dust along with the Hierophant riding it. I presume this was your group's first game with the new FAQ changes? How have the players found them?
Yeah, but first roll was a 4 and a misfire, second roll a 2 and a 2, third roll was a solid 14, but the only target within (long) range was a scorpion and it failed to kill the beast. Absolutely agree 100%. I've played them once with a thane and the 80 points rune of 5+ ward. We like them, it was not the first game after the FAQ, but it was the first big one. Hopefully the next big one will include Bretonnia.