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8th Ed. Walking the Walk, first battle with Lizzies (1400 points)

Discussion in 'Battle Reports' started by Caprasauridae, Sep 8, 2012.

  1. Caprasauridae
    Stegadon

    Caprasauridae Well-Known Member

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    So, for the first time my newly formed force of Lizardmen marched to war. The key word here is "march" as with my previous army being the Tomb Kings, I have never been able to do this before. So… much… movement!

    Anyway, I had a 1400 point game against my friend's Bretonnia's, a newly formed force as well. He was also very unfamiliar with the Lizardmen, which made him do couple of mistakes. All in all, the game was quite exciting and could have gone either way.

    Here's a list that I used (as I said in the Army Lists section, this list was formed from all I currently have)

    Lords: (325)

    Slann, Lore of Life, Rumination, Ethereal, Battle Standard Bearer

    Heroes: (273)

    Scar-Veteran on Cold One, Shield, Burning Blade of Chotec
    Skink Priest, lvl 2 upgrade, Dispel Scroll, all alone, sniff

    Core : (355)

    20xSaurus Warriors, Hand Weapon, Shield, Full Command, Slann was here
    12 Skink Skirmishers, Blowpipes

    Special: (367)

    7xCold One Cavalry, Full Command
    6xChameleons Skinks

    Rare: (80)

    1x Salamander, extra Skink


    My opponent had (from what I could deduce, I don't have his list):

    Bretonnian Lord on a horse, a Challenge-Thee-Must-Accept magical item, and If-I-Hurt-Thee-Once-I-Shall-Try-Again (extra attack from wound)magic item

    Damsel (lv1) with Lore of Life and Dispel Scroll

    Paladin BSB with a You-Be-Too-Thick-Headed-To-Run item (gives Stubborn, ugh)

    8xMounted Yeoman

    9xKnight Errants (I guess)
    30 or so Man-At-Arms, the Damsel and BSB were here
    12xKnight of the Realm, the lord was here

    12 or something Peasant Bowman with spiky things in front of them

    2 Field Trebuchets of major annoyance

    Our battle field had two hills, a small forest and a river that crossed half of the battle field dead middle the same way as we deployed, in the right. The forest was a little further from where the river ended, also in the middle, one hill was in the corner and was inconsequential and the other served as a launch pad for the Trebutchets.

    My deployment line was from left to right (everything was more or less in line): a lone Skink Priest, Cold Ones, Saurus Warriors with the Slann, Salamander and Skink Skirmishers.

    His deployment, from my point of view: Mounted Yeomen, Men-at-Arms, Knight Errants, Knights of the Realm, Peasant Bowmen and Trebutchets behind them. I deployed the Chamo Skinks between the Knights of the Realm and the Trebutchets (he didn't know they could Scout). Yeomen took a Vanguard move straight forward and were now close to the forest.

    For spells, I rolled three 1s and a 3. Cool, but hopefully this isn't the kind of rolling I'm going to go with for the whole battle… In the end, I chose Earth Blood, Flesh to Stone, Throne of Vines and Dwellers Below. The Skink Priest got Wind Blast, which I changed to Iceshard Blizzard and Urannon's Thunderbolt. Damn, no Comet...

    He got Throne of Vines for his only spell. Laughing he chanced it to the Earth Blood.

    He prayed so I got to choose, and chose to go first.


    LM 1

    Everything marched (because I could!), except the Cold Ones (I actually didn't remember to make one single Stupidity test during the whole game. I feel bad about this, but it wasn't a surprise. I even told my friend before the game begun to remind me. He didn't...), who just moved and positioned themselves to be ready for a charge from Yeomen (I wasn't sure what they were). Skinks went for a swim and Chamo Skinks moved to the flank of the Trebutchets. The Skink Priest tried to run away from the Yeomen by marching behind the Saurus Warriors.

    For magic, I rolled 5 dice. The Winds were low to medium for the whole game, but the Rumination greatly helped. He dispelled the Throne, but I got Flesh to Stone through. I was thinking of casting the Iceshard Blizzard on the Saurus to protect them from falling stones, but then realized that I got that spell mixed up with the other spell in Heavens lore. As a hex, I didn't find it so useful. I should have deployed closer to the Trebutchets.

    Shooting, only Chamos are in the range, but they only manage to put one wound to the Trebutchets. This, however, makes my friend really worried, and he makes a big strategical mistake on his next turn.

    No close combat.


    Brets 1

    He positioned the Yeomen to the flank of my Saurus, but so that he could shoot the lone Priest. His Knight of the Realms (Realmies, from now on) went forward so that they wouldn't be charged by the Saurus by the next turn. His Men-At-Arms did the same. The Knight Errants made the mistake I mentioned: they Swift Reformed and moved towards the Chamo Skinks.

    In magic, I think he got something like 4 dice, and got the Earth Blood through.

    He tried to shoot my Skinks, but they dove under the surface to avoid the falling arrows. Both of his Trebutchets targeted my Saurus block, but only managed to kill five. I passed my first Panic check, ever. Yay! The Yeomen shot a wound off of my Skink Priest.

    Still no close combat. Patience.


    LM 2

    I charged the Men-At-Arms with the Cold One Cavalry, while the Saurus block marched forward ready to take the charge from the Realmies. My thinking here was that I would break the Men-At-Arms with the Cold Ones and redirect to the Knights, or let them charge the Cold Ones and be hit to the flanks by the Saurus. I wasn't expecting them to be Stubborn… The Salamander positioned it so that it could fry some Bretonnian barbecue and the Skinks marched forward towards the Bowmen and the Trebutchets.

    Magic, this time I got the Throne up, but he used a Dispel Scroll on the Flesh to Stone. Slann still manages to get the Earth Blood through. I failed to cast the Thunderbolt on the Yeomen.

    The Chamo Skinks shot two wounds off of the wounded Trebutchets, so close! With the Knights almost literally breathing on their necks, that was probably the last volley I would get out of them. I thought that the regular Skinks would get too great of a penalty agains the Trebutchets, so I just shot the Bowmen. I killed two. I'm still not sure if I should have just tried the warmachines, though. The Salamander successfully roasts a Realmie and two Men-At-Arms.

    In close combat, the Men-At-Arms go first, but fail to wound. Hurray for good armor saves! Another thing I'm not that familiar with, actually… The Cold Ones and the Scar-Vet kill plenty in return, I think 6 or 8, but with them being Stubborn, they hold. Damn.


    Brets 2

    Realmies charge the Saurus block, Errants charge the Chamo Skinks. The Yeomen position themselves so that they can charge the Cold Ones or the Saurus, but still shoot the Skink Priest.

    In magic, we got a decent number of dice, and my opponent rolls six for the Earth Blood. No Irresistible Force, so I decide to burn a scroll, because I wasn't sure if the Priest could survive the shooting phase.

    In shooting, the Skink Priest doesn't take any wounds, whew! I actually had forgotten the Lifebloom Lore Ability, which would have healed him. Oh, whatever. The Bowmen snatch two Skinks and both of the Trebutchets decide to aim for the Salamander. The first one misses, but the other one drops the stone straight on the poor lizard. Only later I realized that the hit would probably had to be randomized between the handlers and the beast. Damn. Didn't get a good grasp on the inner life of Salamanders yet, but it definitely scared my opponent.

    Close combat saw Men-At-Arms killing one Cold One, while they downed around 10 of them in payback. Around this time it dawned to me, that I should have tried to challenge to kill the BSB and get rid of the stubborn. Apparently, my character comes with the Stupidity special rule… The Realmies hit the Saurus block and the Lord challenges my Champion. I actually toyed with the idea of accepting it with the Slann, but then didn't wan to tempt the fate. The lord squishes my champ before he even gets to hit. He only gets one Overkill point, though. Other Realmies kill two Saurus and I kill one back. Because of the BSB and ranks, I won the battle, but he holds, thanks to his BSB. The Errants predictably kill the Chamos, but not before they manage to kill one of the Knights! Way to go, little guys! The Errants pass their leadership test and reform to face the other, as easily squishable Skinks.


    LM 3

    Skinks position themselves so that they won't run out of the board when they Flee from the inevitable charge. The Skink Priest moves to the side of the Saurus block to hide from the Yeomen fire.

    In magic phase, the Slann decides it's time to start use both hands when casting the spells, and establishes the Throne of Vines, along with Flesh to Stone and Earth Blood, all of them to the Saurus. No dice are left for the Priest.

    The Skinks shoot 5 Bowmen, but they pass their leadership because of the nearby knights.

    The Cold Ones kill more puny humans, but somehow they still hold. The Realmies but aside their lances and draw their swords… only to crack them against the stone hard skin of the mighty Saurus. I think I saw the Slann's eyes glow a little while this happened. The Saurus hit back and manage to kill two. Realmies hold.


    Bret 3

    Errants charge the Skinks, but are not able to catch them. This leads them far away to the my end of table. They all cross the river, but none fail the Dangerous Terrain check.

    Magic is effectively shut down by the Slann's dispel dice.

    Trebutchets try to take my Skink Priest to the 2D world, but the rocks scatter away harmlessly. Bowmen take some desperate shots to the Skinks, but get so heavy penalties that no hits land.

    In close combat, the knights are as ineffective as they were the round before. Saurus hit back, killing one. Not a great score, but makes the Realmies fail their Break test and roll poorly on flee. Saurus Warriors act swiftly and hack the unit down! Cold Ones reduce the Bowmen to the front rank only.


    LM 4

    The Skinks reform. Saurus Warriors march towards the Warmachine Hill. The Skink Priest follows

    Slann sees that using both hands is too much, and decides to use only his left hand and the right pinky. This way the Flesh to Stone is stopped, but Earth Blood gets through. The Skink Priest fails to cast the Iceshard Blizzard on one of the Trebutchets.

    No shooting as Skinks just reformed.

    Cold Ones kills rest of the Men-At-Arms, but fail to wound the Damsel or the BSB in the most unbelievable string of 2s. The BSB kill one Cold One, the battle continues.


    Bret 4

    Errants charge the Skinks again and this time the little buckers are not quick enough. The Yeomen charge the Saurus block to the rear.

    The Damsel feels the overpowering force of the Slann, and decided to take a drastic measure. She chucks all of her dice on to the spell, gets two 6s, and manages to blow herself up! She takes three Cold Ones with her, wounds the Scar-Vet and the BSB. The spell itself doesn't matter, as the Scar-Vet has flaming attacks.

    Bowmen try to shoot the Skink Priest, but miss. Trebutchets target the Slann, not knowing they cannot hurt him. Both scatter, the second one kills one Saurus.

    In close combat, the remaining Cold One champion and the Scar-Vet kill the BSB. The Yeoman cannot get through the shields and scales of the Saurus, and four of them are killed in the process. They break, but the Saurus don't chase.


    LM 5

    Saurus continue their march towards the origin of falling stones. The Cold Ones follow. The Skink Priest makes a charge towards the Yeomen just to make them flee further. The Yeomen stay on the table, though.

    With the Damsel gone, there is nothing to hinder Slann's casting, and the Flesh to Stone and Earth Blood are up again. This time I remember the Lifebloom and the Scar-Vet is back in full health. Skink Priest fails again to cast the Thunderbolt against the Yeomen.

    No shooters left in the ranks of the Lizardmen. Only fighters that are tougher than kevlar!

    No close combat. Even if there was, it wouldn't be called "combat", it would be called massacre.


    Bret 5

    The Yeomen rally and the Errants swift reform and head towards the Saurus block.

    The Damsel is too busy traveling towards the Void to cast anything. His troops still dispel the Throne of Vines.

    The Bowmen shoot the Saurus block but fail to wound. Trebutchets continue bombing the Slann, one scatters to the block, but kills only the one that was directly below it. Other one is a hit, but cannot harm the Slann. Booyah, etherealness!


    LM 6

    Saurus block reforms towards the Errants and Cold Ones follow again. Skink Priest moves to the safer grounds, well away from both of the horse units.

    Finally, this last magic phase sees a strong Wind and Throne, Flesh to Stone and Earth Blood is up. With the remaining dice, I cast the Dwellers on the Knight Errants. Three of them die, but they hold.


    Bret 6

    The Yeomen try to make a long charge to the Cold Ones, and succeed. Errants stay in place.

    More rocks fall, but scatter badly. Shooting makes no difference.

    The brave Yeomen manage to kill the last regular Cold One rider, but the Scar-Vet breaks them and hacks them down.



    Game Over! A good win for the Lizardmen. I had only lost the Skinks of both kinds, the Salamander and some Cold Ones. He had lost all of his characters along with his most pricey unit.

    A really exciting game, which could have gone either way. In this game, my opponents inexperience, both with Lizardmen, Life Magic and his own units shone through. He should have charged my rear with the Yeomen much earlier. Then they maybe would have made a difference. Also, I think he overreacted to the scouting Chameleon Skinks. If those Knight Errants were on the battle field against the Saurus block, it would truly have had an impact. Still, a lot learned from this game and the next time I don't have that many tricks anymore. The game made me completely fall in love with the Lizardmen. I guess it's partly because of my other army, Tomb Kings. I really think that I'm not that strong in deployment (like in this game, deploying the Skink Priest to the stupidest place possible), but with the lizzies, I can still win a game without HUGE luck with the dice. With the Tomb Kings, you need phenomenal luck if you screw up the deployment and maybe even that won't help. The rumination on the priest was immense, I always felt I had enough dice at my disposal. The Scar-Vet performed well, although the Burning Blade wasn't a big help, as he didn't match against the cavalry units at all. Next time, I'll probably give him a great weapon or something that adds attacks. Skink Priest sucked, but that was my fault and the fact that he rarely had enough dice on his disposal. If he had gotten the Casandora's Comet, the game would probably had been quite different. Maybe next time.

    So, if you had the patience to read this battle report all the way down here, I thank you. All questions and comments are welcome. For the Old Ones!
     
  2. Scalenex
    Slann

    Scalenex Keeper of the Indexes Staff Member

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    Re: Walking the Walk, first battle with Lizzies (1400 points

    Good battle report. The damsel's miscast reminds me of the last game I played.

    I did an army swap with my dwarf collecting friend. I had a very drawn out battle between a unit of dwarf warriors and the Temple Guard till only a few warriors were left and all the Temple Guard were dead. My friend rolled a miscast towards the end of the game that causes a hit for every unit in base contact with the wizard. That was infuriating! His first miscast and the miscast took only hit ME.

    I like Skink Priests but I doubt I'd want one for an army of 1500 points or less unless I'm going Slann-less. I'm starting to become a big fan of Skink Priests with the Forbidden Rod.
     
  3. Caprasauridae
    Stegadon

    Caprasauridae Well-Known Member

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    Re: Walking the Walk, first battle with Lizzies (1400 points

    Thanks, Scalenex! Yeah, the Suicide Bomber is a some what common tactic in our group, but it is only used when the player is in dire straits. I have used it couple of times, once it helped me squeeze a draw. Usually it just eats my power dice or wizard level. And regarding the Skink Priest, I would have liked to swap him to another group of Skink Skirmishers, but I don't have enough models table top ready yet. That, and I was really hoping for the Comet to bring down on his Trebutchets.
     

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