007 Necron Vs Space Wolves 1500

Hi,

Bit late on upping this on the blog but here's a YouTube Battle Report from last Thursday. My Necron 1500 against Zeke's Space Wolves.

Interesting game and thanks to the Necrontry forum for reminding me (after the game) that the Necron Lord can take a wound to mitigate an immobilized result on his barge

Hope you enjoy

006 High Elves Vs Lizardmen 2400 Watchtower

Hi guys,

Managed a game over the weekend against Jeff's Lizardmen. Since it's still on unpainted MDF and the scenery was "whatever i could find" i'm calling this "GHETTOHAMMER".

It's a youtube vid this time round as ive recently got an iPhone (i know...i know...) and thought i could have another crack at the ol' OnceBitten style...

Hope you enjoy. Let me know in the comment section Hopefully be getting lots more batreps up now!

Ogre BSB and a long overdue update!

Wow, so i've not updated since July 8th! - allow me to explain! My six weeks holidays (from school!) was broken up thus: I moved house in the first 2 weeks! This left me with no internet and pretty much sets the tone for the following 6! I had no internet! I went on my overdue honeymoon the next 2 weeks (which ibviously meant no gaming/painting) and in the final two weeks (still without internet) we got 2 kittens. This meant babysitting them and teaching them that my models were not infact, toys for their amusement and tooth sharpening!

Gaming - i actually have managed to get several games from both systems in and sadly haven't properly batrep'd any of them due to sheer lack of time!

In fantasy, my Ogres lost to Lizardmen (again!), beat Wood Elves and lost (heavily) to a variant of the Warriors of Chaos "Slaaneshi Ld Bomb" list!

In 40k, i've been playing in an escalating points league at Games Workshop Sheffield. This saw my 600pt necron list go 0 for 4! This was down to me not understanding the leagues rules (amongst being very poor at the game!!!) and going for the rulebooks 1 HQ and 2 troops, when apparently we could have gone for  just one troops @ 600pts.

At 1100pts (the nest step) i lost to a questionable Guard/Ork list which i still suspect was actually about 1500pts worth...(sigh!). At this point, honeymoon called and i missed the rest of the 1100pt games.

In september, at 1500 i'm currently 1 for 1. People appear to expect a necron player to be all wraith/flyer heavy and so my list (which will be given more time in a near future BatRep) appears to be outside the norm and contain unexpected loadouts!

Modelling
So, this summer, i've painted up all my 1500pt necron army (except the Veiltek! - ran out of undercoat dammit!), and finally finished the school club stuff (Assault on Black Reach!)

I've managed to buy some more ogres stuff and thus "sort of" finished my ogre list! I just need to paint a lot of it. I think the only thing i can see me buying for this army in the future would be more ironguts - and this would only be if i wanted to take my ogres ot a tournament as right now i just stick the battalion bulls behind them!

So, here's the current state of my ogre army:

What you might spot is my new BSB. Yup - finally made a BSB. Inspired by all the folks on the "Ogre Stronghold" forum, i really wanted my BSB to be unique and be mine and basically, you get SO much extra stuff on the other ogre kits that it was really fun making this. It was also my first foray into greenstuff which sounds all big - but really it was just a bit of rope to strap the banner to the ogre!

So, the base of this model is quite recognizably Bragg the Gutsman which appears a popular choice for Ogre BSB conversions. I toyed with the idea of using the pole he comes with to build the banner around but decided against it.

First i hacked the weapon away and replaced it with the head of a hammer from the Slaughtermaster finecast kit. For a gut plate i used a plastic piece from (i think) the Ironguts kit (might have been the mournfang. This is a hand grasping a beartrap and i thought it looked cool. As i like adding "bitz" from all the armies i play and my mates just started his Slaaneshi Ld Bomb warrior list, i felt that a Slaaneshi Warriors shield would be a good Ironfist. On the base is a little brazier from the High Elf Pheonix Guard kit.

The base of the banner itself is made from the Stonehorn/Thundertusk kit. I then stuck a spare Dragonhead from the Mournfang kit in the hole and used the flag bit from the same kit at the rear. And since one mate has recently started Empire, there's a dead Empire Greatsword dangling from the banner.

Whats Next?
Well, on my paint table at the mo is my Firebelly, 2 Sabretusks (Which are actually the lions fromt he High Elf Chariot kit) and 20 Gnoblars so you can expect a post with them hopefully finished within the next week.

I also intend on going down to GW SHeffield again this Thursday for a game of 40k so hopefully can bring you a 1500pt Necron BatRep

I also made a start on Brettonia and bought the Battalion - however i'm forbidding myself from even opening it until my Ogre army is painted! (2 Mournfang, 4 Leadbelchers, 1 Ironblaster and a Stonehorn!)

Warhammer 40,000 6th Edition and Necrons

6th Edition 40k

So having sold a lot of stuff on eBay, i've managed to build up enough funds to buy the new rulebook, the necron codex, and enough models to make a 1500 Necron list. This should do me for the after school club next year!

I managed to get down to Games Workshop yesterday and have a game against my mates Space Wolf army. This was an army led by Logan and so was totally choca-block with termies! Reading the 6th ed rules, one of the biggest "things" seems to be that power weapons are now AP3. This means terminator armour (or anything with a 2+) got a huge boost!

I (foolishly) thought that Deathwing armies would sprout up everywhere! This wont happen! My Necron list has 40 warriors in it, and the sheer weight of shots just whittle them down! Granted he couldn't deep strike them!

Fantasy and Wood Elves

We then went back to mine to play a High Elves V Wood Elves game where i got tabled again! Really hating Wood Elves! I think i'm starting to hate them more than Skaven. He said it felt exactly the same against my Necron army! Even my Pheonix Guard just got shot to pieces trying to march across the board!

Tried Shadow on my High Elves and still dont rate it!. Going to try Heavens next time as i need more ranged offense! Need to find a way of squeezing a L2 with Seerstaff in for defensive buffs and can't decide to go for life (Regrowth and Flesh to Stone), Metal (Glittering Robes and Enchanted Blades) or High (Shield of Saphery and Flames of the Pheonix)

Necron

Anyway, i've already managed to paint some of the Necrons! I find them really enjoyable and easy to paint )although this extends to most of the 40k range) - maybe there's something about being able to drybrush more!

Here's some pics!

Ogres Vs Bretonnians 2400 Pitched Battle

Hi guys,

Let me start by saying straight away - this is a battle report i played against myself.

It's not that i'm sad (not that sad anyway!), it's more that i really needed to try the two lists out and what better way to learn about them by playing a quick game.

The Ogres list has come about due to the previous incarnation winning 2 straight matches against one of my best mates and him calling "filth" on it - this was further cemented by an interesting post on The Warhammer Forum regarding "The Sweedish Comp" system. This system works out a score for your army based on certain factors. A horrible list is 0-5, a mid tier list 5-15 and a "soft" list 15-20.

Well my old Ogre list came out at...erm... -2 (yes, that is a minus!)

So i made some changes. Took out the Double Ironblaster, chopped the Leaddies down and removed the Crown of Command. It now gets a 5.2 - not perfect but a lot better!

The Bretonnian list is the list i'm trying to finalise before i make the big purchase!

Deployment

Brets
The Lord has Heroic Killing Blow and the Heartwood Lance, meaning he can re-roll unsuccessful to-wound rolls, and the Dawnstone. He goes with the Knights Errant who have the Errantry Banner.

The BSB has the Grommil Great Helm and Wyrmlance. He and the L4 Life Prophetess (Dispell Scroll) go with the KOTR who have the Banner of Chalons.

The Grail Knights have the Banner of Eternal Flame and all archers have Braziers.

The L2 Beasts Damsel has the Prayer Icon of Quenelles and goes with the 40 strong Halberd Men @ Arms

Ogres:
The L4 Heavens Slaughtermaster has Gnuts Sickle which i've been wanting to try for a while. He also has the Dragonbane Gem and Glittering Scales and goes in the unit of 12 Ironguts. The BSB also goes in here and has the Banner of Eternal Flame.

The Butcher started solo due to the spells he rolled and he has a Dispel Scroll and the Ruby Ring of Ruin not that he ever used it!

The Mournfang now come with just heavy armour and Ironfists, havinhg dropped the Dragonbane Banner.

Spells:
L4 (Life): Flesh to Stone, Throne of Vines, Regrowth, Dwellers
L2 (Beasts): Wyssans, Curse of Anraheir

L4 (Heavens): Iceshard Blizzard, Harmonic Convergance, Comet, Chain Lightning
L2 (Maw): Bonecrusher, Trollguts

Bretonnians, seeing the Leadbelchers and Ironblaster get down on their knees and pray!!

Turn 1 - Ogres

Stonehorn resists charge.
Leadbelcher 1 occupy building for protection.

Magic: 3/3
Comet dispelled

Shooting:Leaddies in building kill one Bowman. Leaddies in centre kill two KOTR.
Ironblaster would have killed 2 KE if not for the blessing of the lady!
Stonehorn Harpoon Launcher misses

Turn 1 - Bretonnia

 Mounted Yeomen charge Kitty which holds.

Magic is 12/6
Throne goes up uncontested. Curse of Anraheir then goes of with IF against the trappers (wanted to hold the IG up), killing 3 M@A, putting a wound on the Damsel and losing the remaining dice!

Shooting:First treb misses the central Leadbelchers, second one lands dead on the MFC doing enough wounds to kill one! They pass their panic check.
The Bowmen on the right kill the oncoming kitty. The unit close to them only manage to kill one Gnoblar and the unit on the far left are unable to wound the stonehorn!

Combat:The Yeoman lose one of their number putting a wound on the kitty, which flees from combat and is promptly run down

Turn 2 - Ogres

Everything moves forward as the Gnoblars shrug off the curse and lose 3 of their number

Magic: 7/5
Bubbbled Harmonic Convergence dispelled.
Comet cast infront of the knight blocks. Didn't use dispel scroll...

Shooting:Leaddies in centre fail to wound (actually, only one shot hit!) the KOTR after the Ironblaster reduced their number by one again.
The leaddies in the tower kill one Bowmen, finding their defensive stakes hard to shoot through!

Turn 2 - Bretonnia

Grail and Errant charge the Mournfang and make it. The KOTR fail against the Leadbelchers.
The Peg Knights charge the flank of the Ironblaster.

Magic: 6/3
Comet goes off, catching the GK and KE with their pants down - fortunately, the lady is with them and only 2 Grail Knights fall from their horse!
Regrowth is dispelled and Wyssans goes through on the M@A

Shooting:Both trebs land direct hits on the Ironguts - enough to kill 5 outright!!
The bowmen combined manage a wound on the leadbelchers in the tower.

Combat:The lord fails to get any HKB off, but the Errants and Grail combine for 5 wounds for zero loss in return (The lady is strong today!) The Mournfang flee and are promptly chopped down by the persuing Grail Knights. The Errant reform to face the Leadbelchers.

The Peg Knights put a wound on the Ironblast for one in return but it passes its break test and hangs around.

Turn 3 - Ogres

Stonehorn charges the Bowmen, Stand and shoot does nothing. Gnoblars charge the M@A
Leadbelchers and Butcher rally, having fled from the destruction of the Mournfang on the previous turn.
The other unit of leaddies leave the tower.

Magic:Iceshard on the peg knights was dispelled and comet scrolled.

Shooting:Leaddies kill a couple of M@A

Combat:Stonehorn predictably destroys the M@A, causing the nearby Treb to panic and flee.
The Peg Knights manage another wound on the Ironblaster for no loss but again, it stays!
The Wyssan'd M@A butcher the Gnoblars

Turn 3 - Bretonnia

KE charge the leaddies infront of them. M@A charge the front of the Ironguts.

Magic: 11/7
Everything was dispelled with the help of the scroll.

Shooting:Treb misses the leaddies. Bowmen dont do anything.

Combat:BIG PHASE!
Peg Knights do another wound on the Ironblaster for a wound in return, killing a model. The Ironblaster finally breaks, survives TWO dangerous terrain tests from the marsh and from running through the KE/LB combat. Here's the tricky bit - the Peg Knights dont roll high enough to catch them but high enough that hitting the Leaddies in the flank is unavoidable. Played as if they had then overrun into the leaddies flank - not sure if this was correct!?
So, this combat next -The HKB lord and the knights completely wipe out the leaddies - the Peg Knights then overrun again! Into the flank of the Ironguts!!! The KE and Lord reform to face where the stonehorn will come back on from next turn.
The Peg Knights manage a wound on the Slaughtermaster who manages nothing in return. The M@A's, with the help of Hatred form the nearby Tower of Blood, do 8 wounds for loss of 5! Ironguts flee 8, Peg knights only pursue 6 and M@A 3!

Turn 4 - Ogres

Ironguts rally. Stonehorn returns. Leadbelchers roll Snake Eyes trying to charge the Bowmen.

Magic:Bonecrusher on the KE is dispelled.

No Shooting, No Combat

Turn 4 - Bretonnia

M@A charge leaddies in flank. Grail Knights and Mounted Yeomen run down the Butcher. Peg Knights charge the Ironguts - i knew this last one was suicide but it was necessary to enable the M@A to be able ot complete the charge!

Magic:Wyssans goes off with IF! Kills 3 M@A and nukes the rest of the dice pile - again!

Shooting:The treb hits the newly returned Stonehorn for 2 wounds which gets reduced to one due to the tough hide rule!

Combat:As predicted, the PK do nothing and get mullered! The M@A kill 2 Leaddies, forcing them to flee but fail to catch them by an inch!

Turn 5 - Ogres

Stonehorn manages to get to the KE with the HKB lord - could be fun!
Leaddies rally

Magic:Comet IF'd (8) - no wound on Slaughtermaster

No Shooting

Combat:The HKB lord fluffs all his chances! The KE can't do anything but the stonehorn kills 3 with a ferocious charge, winning combat and chasing the Brets down!

Turn 5 - Bretonnia

The grail Knights reform and together with the Mounted Yeomen - leg it!
The KOTR move round the tower of blood for a 6th tuirn Stonehorn charge

Magic:The Comet comes down with a radius of 11" - doing 3 wounds to the poor Stonehorn! Friendly Fire?!?!
Regrowth is cast on the KOTR with IF, restoring them to full strength. Throne ignores the IF

Shooting: The treb misses the IG's

Combat:The M@A finish of the Leadbelchers and reform to face the building.

Turn 6 - Ogres

The Stonehorn backs away to try and get out of the charge arc of the KOTR. The IG's move into the nearby building.

Magic:Chain Lightning IF's, killing 2 bowmen before jumping to the treb and putting 2 wounds on that. The miscast removes 2 IG's from the unit.

Turn 6 - Bretonnia

KOTR charge the Stonehorn.

Magic: Comet doesn't appear! Enhanced Flesh to Stone cast on KOTR though.

Shooting:The Trebuchet misfire's trying to get the Ironguts

Combat:The BSB fails to wound the Stonehorn, uses the Wyrmlances breath weapon to get a wound on. The KOTR then finish it off!

Final Scores:Bretonnia: 1341
Ogres: 860

Bretonnia takes a crushing victory!

Reflections
Of the Ogres:

• Gnuts Sickle - i didn't feel this item had enough of a fair crack today
• Ruby Ring of Ruin - forgotten all game - but this is an all comers list and so this will come in handy against Vampires!
• Leaddies @ 4 small. Boy - i went back to using this really poorly! With a building generated i thought it would be great to stick them in there - they'd be tough to shift and then as deployment played out i realised i'd wasted them
• Overall - i think they work better when they can sit back and dictate when the charges should happen and i rushed them forward to soon!

Of Bretonnia:

• Fun - This is a very fun list that can play in all the phases of the game!
• Trebs - jesus. fucking. chirst!
• Defensive stakes on bowmen are amazing and really hindered the leadbelchers ability to get to them!

 Well, 6th Ed 40k is out on Saturday and with £300 coming my way courtesy of ebay, i've already earmarked a Necron army - so this blog will be growing again (or i may just start a new blog!). It will also give us another army to play with at the after school cluh - something i really want to push next year! (there's a school tournament!)

012 Ogres V Orcs & Goblins - Battle for the Pass

So managed to get down to Games Workshop today nice and early and managed to get a game in against my regular arch-nemesis (see: best mate who always beats me!). He'd brought an O&G list down which was slightly altered to the one I faced last time - no Warmachines!

We rolled up and got Battle for The Pass which i usually really dislike but as i'm testing out a new Ogre list then anythings game really!

Deployment

Ogres
 From left to right i have 4 Mournfang (like usual) with Heavy armour, Ironfists and the Dragonhide Banner. 2 Ironblasters are on the hill at the back. 2 Sabertusks are as far forward as possible - critically, more than 6" away from any other unit! These have one purpose only in this game - kill the damn Manglers! (in my last game I learnt the hard way what they do, when I charged my Mournfang into them....didn't have no Mournfang after that!...sad times!)

A unit of 12 Ironguts with Full command and the Wailing Banner house my Slaughtermaster, Butcher and BSB. The Slaughtermaster is  L4 with Heavens, Crown of Command and Dragonbane Gem. The Butcher is a L2 with Maw and a dispel scroll. The BSB has only got the Banner of Eternal Flame.


I've been fancying Heavens for a while and think that the buffs can really help a shooting army and the hexes can really make up for ogres having crap WS!

A unit of 5 Leadbelchers sets up in a Wizards Tower on the right flank with another unit of 5 to the right of it!

Orcs
From left to right: An Orc Boar Chariot, Mangler Squig and Snotling Pump Wagon load up his right flank. A horde of 40 Night Goblin Archers contain his goblin BSB with the Poison Banner and a L4 Goblin Shaman.

Behind these is a unit of 24 Black Orcs, 6 wide and a unit of 24 Savage Orcs, also 6 wide and containing his Orc Warchief and Level 4 Orc Shaman.

On his left flank, a Chariot hides behind a building. Then an Arachnarok lines up behind a mangler squig and 2 units of 5 Wolf Riders.

Spells
I cant quite recall which i was missing but i was within the Wizards tower the whole time so essentially have Loremaster of Heavens and Maw!

He had spells...he only got to cast Foot of Gork.


Ogre - Turn 1

The Leadbelchers move out of the building to enable them to shoot whilst the other group move slightly forwards to get the back row firing.
I move the Ironblasters forward after realising they only have a range of 36"

In the magic phase i get Harmonic Convergence bubble through and comet is dispelled. I manage to get Bonecrusher off on his Wolf Rider squad, wiping them all out and forcing the Chariot to flee off the board!

In the shooting phase, my leadbelchers kill the mangler stick a wound on the other unit of wolf riders.
The Ironblasters then hit the Arachnarok and cause a single wound!

The Sabretusk breathes a sigh of relief as its apparent suicide mission is no longer there!

Orcs - Turn 1

The Arachnarok and wolf riders move towards the Leadbelchers and i'm getting a bit nervous - i need a good shooting round next turn again or that will mince those units! (Still hating on poison here!)
On his other side, he moves everything up and i'm bemused to see that his Savage Orc squad is being hindered by his desire to allow his archers to shoot the Sabertusk!

The magic phase sees me using my dispel scroll when he tried to "Foot of Gork" my Irongut unit! Nothing else happens as i wither dispel or he fails to cast.

In the shooting phase, he kills my Kitty and i'm left thinking "21 pts to stall his entire army for a turn - oh. hell. yes!"

Ogres - Turn 2

 The Leadbelchers daringly move closer to the Arachnarok to enable them to hit on 4's.
The Ironblaster move so that they can kill the Arachnarok but also see other viable targets if it goes down quicker than expected.

In the Magic phase, he dispell scrolls my bubble casting of Harmonic Convergence. I then IF Curse of the midnight wind on his arachnarok just in case i fail to kill it and it charges - gets rid of poison at least!

In the shooting phase, i fire an Ironblaster first doing 3 wounds. The first leadbelchers open up hoping to take that last 3 off it and only manage 2 wounds. The next unit of Leadbelchers then finish it off causing the wolf riders to flee.
The 2nd Ironblaster then kills the Snotling Pump Wagon and goes through and kills a single Black Orc.

My opponent is shaking his head in a combination of frustration, anger and ...other stuff at this point!

Orcs - Turn 2

The Wolf Riders rally and hang back.

Everything else muddles forward a bit - ill take this again. Look like kitty-pin-cusion again!

In the magic phase, the only thing of note was he got Foot of Gork (but quite possibly - it may have been Mork!) on my Ironblaster. It does 3 wounds and then just to add more despair on my opponents day, he rolls a 1 and i place it lovingly on his Orc Shaman's head! He passes his Look out Sir! roll but 5 Savage Orcs aren't so lucky!

Predictably, my kitty doesn't make it out of the Shooting Phase!

Ogres - Turn 3

I move the Leadbelchers round to start shooting his Wolf Riders then start work on his Savage Orcs. Sensing no real reason to keep my Ironguts out in the open, i move them into the wizards tower. I have about 1200 pts in this unit currently, if he wants it he's going to have to come over this side everntually which should give me a turn or two of shooting them and trying to comet them! At this point my Leadbelchers are totally expendable!

In the Magic phase i fail to do pretty much everything - no comet again!

In the shooting phase, my unit of Leadbelchers kill his Wolf Riders which panics his horde of Night Goblin Archers. the roll 11 and bounce through his units and off the table. Lucky for him they're both Immune to Psychology! My opponent wanted to call it here but since i've lost to him the last, i dunno, 20 games, i took the time to Ironblaster his Mangler and last Chariot off the board before (not so) graciously accepted his defeat!

Result: Ogre Victory!


Afterthoughts
Well, its hard to judge a list off one game. My mate reckons this list is filth and that Leadbelchers are overpowered! My view is - no. I didn't have the Runemaw Banner on my Ironguts - it wasn't even a true Horde (had em 5 by 3). I didn't have the Hellheart either!

I think this game was won by Deployment! He allowed me to have 2 units of Leadbelchers shoot all his chaff and support units and by wanting to shoot his horde, blocked the 2 units i wanted to avoid all game (BlOrcs and SOrcs) behind them!

I've certainly never won a game of Warhammer before without a single close combat being fought! I only lost 42pts of disposable Sabertusks too!

I think i deployed well and my tactics were sound; Don't engage the Savage orcs or Black Orcs until absolutely necessary, Order of shooting: Manglers, Arachnarok, Pump Wagon, Chariots and Try and use magic as much as possible to hold him up

Which leads me to Heavens. I think that when i use Maw, because of the buffs to Strength and Toughness along with regen and Stubborn, i always rush forward think i need to be in combat ASAP to get the most out of it!

Heavens on the other hand, by nature of having movement controlling spells and magic missles, allows me to sit back and pop a few units off before the brunt arrives.

It will be interesting to see how this list fares in a standard game!

011 Ogres V Lizardmen - 2400 Pitched Battle

So managed to get a game in against my mates Lizardmen yesterday. Pitched battle, 2400pts and he'd re-written his previous list, dropping the Steg and a few Skink Priests in favour of a crap load of Skirmishing skinks

When i saw the sheer amount of poison shots i thought this was gonna be a short game!

Deployment

Lizardmen (from Left to right)
10 Skink Skirmishers with another 10 in the wood. Outside the wood, he has a Salamander, another 10 Skinks skirmishing, the first of 3 20 strong Saurus units and another Salamander.

He then has a BSB with an Enchanted Shield in the second Saurus units and then another Saurus unit.

Behind all this is his unit of 20 Temple Guard containing his L4 Life Slann. The Slann ends up having Loremaster, Ethereal, the "no 6's within 18"" one and the "i get an extra dice on every cast one"

On his left flank is two more units of 10 Skink Skirmishers and a unit of 5 Cold Ones.

Ogres (Left to Right)
Ironblaster behind some walls and next to an (unused) Elven Waystone.

The Mournfang with the Dragonhide Banner line up followed by 10 Gnoblar Trappers. Behind these are a Sabertusk and a Thundertusk.

A big unit of Ogres with the Firebelly (with Hellheart) line up infront of the Ironguts which contain the Slaughtermaster (L4 Maw with Glittering Scales, Fencer's Blades and Rockeye) and BSB (with Enchanted Shield and Talisman of Protection).

On the right flank is 4 Leadbelchers, 10 Gnoblars and another Sabertusk!

Despite finishing first, i fluff the roll for first turn...this is gonna hurt!

Spells
Slann (Life) has Loremaster
L4 (Maw): Bonecrusher (2D6 S2 no AS), +1T buff, Panic test, Trollguts (Regen)
L2 (Fire): Fireball and Flame Cage

Lizardman - Turn 1

Lizardman player pretty much moves everything up. Skink Skirmisher 3 take a wound to Dangerous Terrain and SS5 lose 2 to the venom thicket!

Magic: 11/6
Throne of Vines cast. Flesh to Stone Cast on Saurus(2) unit. Shield of Thirns cast on Salamander (2). Oh and the Sorcerous Portal Fireballs an entire Leadbelcher off the table!

Shooting:
Both Salamanders shoot at my Mournfang Cavalry but fail to cause a wound! With everything else being out of range, i escape a turn of venomous shooting!

Ogre - Turn 1

The Ironblaster charges the Salamander(1) and the Mournfang charge the Salamander(2). With his S2 saurus unit buffed to high heavens i'm ignoring it! There's no way i'm taking it on yet! He may be able to cast a lot of spells but he can't get every unit buffed right?

The IB's Salamander flees, through the Skirmishers behind  but they hold their ground (Damn cold blooded!). The Mournfang make it in!

Magic: 6/3 > 7/3
First, the sorcerous portal rusts the Leadbelchers light armour away!
The Firebelly attempts a mid level fireball at the Saurus to soften them up but it's dispelled with authority!
The Slaughtermaster then casts Trollguts (bubble version) with IF (9), causing a wound on himself and one on the Firebelly!
The Regen does save the Mournfang from Shield of Thirns damage though!

Shooting:
I forgot to fire the bloody Thundertusk (the problem of playing with just a base until i figure out what i want it to be - i forget it's there!)
The Leadbelchers roll abysmally and fail to do anything on the  Cold One's

Combat:
The Mournfang easily beat the Salamander and only overrun 7"...they needed like, 8-9 to get into the Saurus! Gutted! Despite how the pic looks, they wouldn't have clipped the skirmishers!

Lizardmen - Turn 2

Brutal Combat turn!

The Saurus my MFC had almost reached charged which i tool, His S2 saurus unit then charged the Trappers which i was cool with - they lost 4! The S1 Saurus unit charged the Sabertusk again i'm fine with! The Cold Ones charged teh Sabertusk which was fine - i just needed a good turn of shooting with the Leadbelchers and they'd die quick! What i wasn't expecting was being flank charged by the Slaan's Temple Guard. The pic doesn't make it look like a flank was possible but it was - and because his S2 Saurus unit was in the way at the start of the turn i didn't even realise i was in danger! In hindsight i should have flee'd! Doh!

Magic: 3/2
Thank god - a crap winds roll - and i needed it.
My Firebelly was just in range of his Slaan and so i popped the Hellheart needing a 3.....and got a 2! Gutted! Really could've done with him blowing up some of them temple guard!
As it goes, that stupid ability to add a die to each cast meant he could play with more spells than someone should be able to with 3 bloomin dice!
I used my dice to dispel ToV. This meant he had to use dice to recast it leaving him with enough to cast the enhanced Flesh to Stone on the S2 Saurus unit (clearly hoping they'd overrun into the Ironguts!)
Oh and the Leaddies took a soulblight on the chin from the portal.../sigh!

Shooting:The Leadbelchers take 2 more wounds courtesy of blowdarts, losing another of their number! The Ironblaster shares a similar fate, taking 3 wounds as the poison erm...gets in the eye of the Ogre...and really REALLY annoys him?? (Damn poison!!!)

Combat:Cold Ones take a wound from the kitty before eating it and reforming!
The Mournfang unleash the Dragonhide banner on the saurus unit and between that, stomps, ogres and rhinox, manage a total of 5 measley wounds! In return, they take 4 but lose on res and get cuts down by both units eager to pursue their prize!
The S2 Saurus unit, having lost 4 to trappers only kill 3 Gnoblars in combat!!! Regen baby - i lol'd!
The S1 Saurus unit didn't have any better luck! They take a wound from the kitty and can't do anything back! The Kitty shuffles down to make way for the next turn charge!

Ogres - Turn 2

The Firebellies' Ogres charge the S1 Saurus unit (gotta get points from somewhere!). The Thundertusk (i'd placed an elf on top so i remembered it was there!) manouvered to support the Ironguts in anticipation of the Gnoblars getting cut down!

Magic: 8/7
Portal belches another Soulblight on the Leaddies again...
Fulminating Flame Cage was allowed through on the Temple Guard in anticipation of me bubble casting Trollguts again. does 1 wound initially.
...i then fail to cast the damn thing! gutted!

Shooting:Leaddies kill a cold one. The Thundertusk harpoons a Temple Guard and through some clever talking from my opponent - i got sidetracked and forgot to fire the bloody stone thrower...AGAIN!!! GRR!!!
The Ironblaster - in hindsight, should have grapeshotted one of the skirmish units surrounding it in the hopes of panicking them - instead i got giddy at the thought of Cannonballing the Slaan and shot the Temple Guard instead - it was at this point that i found out the damn Slaan was ALSO Ethereal! Grr! - one dead temple guard!

Combat:Ogres  get a massive charge off so kill 5 Saurus from impact hits alone! 9 more wounds combined from the Firebelly and the unit make for a pretty good start - i used the breath weapon! In return, the Firebelly takes 2 wounds, the unit takes 2 and the sabertusk takes 1. The Lizzies flee and the Sabertusk overruns and catches them while the Firebelly and his squad reform to face the BSB's saurus unit!

The S2 Saurus unit kill the trappers and reform facing the Ironguts!

Lizardmen - Turn 3

The S2 Saurus with the BSB charge the Ironguts - i'm liking this cause with the Thundertusks ASF aura, they'll be striking at the same time as the Ironguts. The Slaughtermaster and BSB will still get to strike first essentially!
The Tomb Guard quick reform and take the hits from Flame Cage - losing 6! Nice! The Saurus charge the Ironguts! The Cold one charge the Gnoblars.

It has to be said at this point that we were running short on time and so decisions were being made rather rashly!

Magic: 5/4 > 5/5
I dispelled ToV again. He cast it again...Flesh to stone was dispelled. Shield of Thorns cast on the Saurus - does 2 wounds on the Ironguts!

Shooting:A crap load of poison shots on the Ogres takes 7 wounds off them! The Ironblaster is left a pile of wood...and poison!

Combat:The Ogre BSB kills 2, the Ironguts 5. in return, the Slaughtermaster takes a wound as do the Ironguts. I'd put all the attacks on the unit expecting his BSB to have all kinds of 1+ re-rollable - i wish i'd gone fo rthe BSB as the damn things held fast!
The Cold Ones kill the gnoblars and reform to face the Leadies.

Ogres - Turn 3

I try to dual charge (in desperation) the Thundertusk and Firebellies' Ogre unit into the Temple Guard. Only the Thundertusk makes it...the Ogres dont though!

Magic: 5/3
Trollguts bubble cast with IF. the Slaughtermaster takes a wound from the Miscast (9)

Combat:The Ironguts only manage 3 wounds on the saurus for no loss but the damn things hold again thanks to re-rollable cold blooded! Grrr!
Next, i was dismayed to find out that the Thundertusk doesn't have any impact hits!? It does one wound on the Halberd weilding Temple Guard before being hacked to pieces! - really needed that double charge!

Lizardmen - Turn 4

Right. At this point, my missus' was ringing wondering where the hell i was and wondering why i wasn't home, getting ready to go out for our one month wedding anniversary! Eeep! We hastily agreed to play VERY rash and very quick!

As such, my opponent charged his Temple Guard Slann unit into my Firebellies' Ogre unit. Without the rush, he would have no doubt sat them back and regrowth'd them for a few turns whilst dealing out poison death to my ogre blocks!

Magic: 8/5
Once again, i dispelled ToV...Once again, he re-cast it. I'm doing this because its eaier to dispell it on the base value than play against higher rolls. He unfortunately had the extra dice with every ast and so threw so many dice i couldn't keep up! He got Flesh to Stone and Regrowth on the Temple Guard.

Shooting:The Leadbelchers finally succumb to poisonous death!

Combat:The Ironguts wipe out the Saurus unit except the damn BSB - who holds on god damn snake eyes! My only hope was that the Ironguts could overrun into the flank of the Temple Guard!
Speaking of; the Temple Guard do 5 wounds in total, including killing the Firebelly. The Ogres did 6 wounds back....until we realised we'd forggotten about Flesh to stone...and now my missus was REALLY mad...so we decided that i was probably wise to throw in the towel!

Afterthoughts and Reflections
That Slaan is a bitch! I can see why tournaments ban the fucker from having all those toys as you're just powerless to stop him from casting 2-3 spells a turn min and with Life, the inbuilt danger of too many spells (thus higher chance of miscasting) is negated by the Throne!

There's an interesting topic on Warhammer Forum about why Special Characters are banned and things like this are considered sound and i gotta admit - that git is one special character!

I still think pound for pound i did better than i expected. i really thought i'd be shot to death quicker than i was! At 70 pts, i'm not really for going after them units with anything as they're not worth it and i was always wary of the Stand and shoot!

The Saurus aren't all that and it was only the life buffs and the insane Cold Blooded rolling he got off in this game that let them hang around that long!

I didn't mention that his Temple Guard had the Flaming banner - that relaly dicked on my parade with the regen bubble buff!

I really overestimated Salamanders (see: forgot) and thought they were S5 when in fact they're S3 (-3AS)...which makes them significantly less threatening! Probably wouldn't have made them a target priority in early game!


Either way it was a good game - leanrt lots about my list! Thundertusk is on the chopping block and i've not even built the damn thing yet! (still a cool model!)

010 - High Elves Vs Tomb Kings 2400pt Pitched Battle

Hi again,

I've been really hankerin' for a Tomb Kings army lately. I can't quite explain why but its probably an amalgamation of the following:

1) The models are cool
2) "Teh Internetz" says they're crap and being British i can't quite help but root for the underdog
3) I'm crap, so they make a perfectly good cover-up of my poor generalship if 2) is true!

But mainly i love the models and some of the rules.

So, i drew up a 2400pts army, and since my work filter bans the Tomb Kings of Khemri forum - presumably filed under "necromancy", i haven't had anyone look over it yet! Howeverm before I ran out and spent £307 on it (+what is an as yet unknown Heirotitan model), i thought i'd do a proxy battle with it against my recently new(ish) High Elf "Metal Mage" list.

So:

Deployment

High Elves: (from your left to right)
3 Eagles line up infornt of a hill facing a Bane Stone in no-mans land. To their left, a 20 strong unit of Pheonix Guard with the Banner of Sorcery. The BSB is in this unit and is tooled up to survive with wards and all.

In the centre, is a unit of 20 archers which house the Level 4 Metal Mage with the Annulian Crystal, a unit of 10 Archers and a Repeater Bolt Thrower. These three units are perched rather handily on an Anvil of Doom (flaming and magical attacks for those not in the know!).

To the left of this is a 21 man strong Swordmaster unit with the Bannr of Swiftness and the last Eagle.

On the High Elf left flank is a unit of 25 Spears housing a L1 Beasts mage with a scroll and a unit of Dragon Princes. In front of the spears is a Sinister Statue.

Tomb Kings (Left to right)
A unit of Horse archers hide behind a house. 6 Chariots in 2 ranks squeeze inbetween the house and some Arcane Ruins.

To the right of the ruins is a unit of 20 Skeleton Archers whic house the L4 Liche Priest (also the Heirophant) with a scroll and the Talisman of Protection. Behind this unit is the Heirotitan. On the hill are 2 Screaming Skull Catapults, upgraded with Skulls of the Foe which means any unsaved wounds cause a panic test at -1Ld.

To the right of the hill is a Casket of Souls and a30 strong unit of Tomb Guard which have the Banner of the Undying Legion. This unit also contains the Tomb Prince with the Blade of Antarhok and a Tomb Herald BSB with the Armour of Destiny.

On the right flank is a unit of 3 NecroKnights and a small unit of 10 archers.

Spells:
Level 4 (Metal): Enchanted Blades, Glittering Robe, Transmutation of Lead, Final Transmutation.
Level 1 (Beasts): Wyssans Wildform
Level 4 (Nehekhara): Incantation of Cursed Blades (gives Killing Blow), Nemi's Incantation (5++ ward), Righteous Smiting (+1A) and Incantation of Desication (-1S and -1T)

High Elf - Turn 1

Everything moves forward. Eagles to hopefully hinder the Tomb Kings shooting long enough for me to get in combat. By swarming my right flank i'm hoping one or two will break past and be able to get to the SSC's. I figure with 2 SSC's and good magic coming at me, i should get in combat ASAP with this particular list but want to pick my fights.

I expect the Pheonix Guard to be able to hold up the Chariots but dont have a hammer available to help them out! Hopefully the spears can take the charge from the NecroKnights and the Dragon Princes can help flank. I expect the Swordmasters to be able to deal a lot of damage to the Tomb Guard but this will be reliant on their ability to neutralise the Tomb prince first to get rid of his "My will be done" rule.

With all my shooting having the flaming attacks rule courtesy of the banner and the anvil of vaul hill i should be able to significant'y weaken the Tomb Kings units! Edit: At this point i was mistakenly thinking that ALL Tomb Kings were flamable - this isn't true - only their characters for the most part

Magic: 4/2 > 5/3
Enchanted Blades on the Archers dispelled. Glittering Robe cast on Swordmasters giving them a 3+ save.

Shooting:
With an amazing number of hits and wounds, the archmages archers put 10 wounds on the Tomb Guard! Flaming attacks FTW! Mwa ha ha ha!! (Edit: again - mistake with flaming attacks!)
The smaller archer unit kill 2 of the Liche Priests archers.
The RBT fluff's its shots on one of the Screaming Skull Catapults

Tomb Kings - Turn 1

Damn thats some harsh shooting! It must die!

The Tomb Guard charge the Swordmasters hoping to pull some tricks off in the magic phase! The Necro-Knights failed their charge on the spears. As tempting as it would have been to take out the eagle and over-run into the flank of the Dragon Princes, that would have left me counter-chargable by the spears!

Magic: 10/6
Cursed Blades allowed through on the Tomb Guard, more than making Killing Blow 5+, it allows 2 more bodies back in the squad courtesy of the Nehekaran lore atribute!.
Righteous Smiting (+1A) cast on the 20man Archers
Casket dispelled.
Banner of the Undying brings back only 3 tomb guard!

Shooting:
The Horse Archers put a single wound on the Eagle infront of them (4)
The Chariots manage a meagre 1 wound on their Eagle (3)
The 20 strong archers kill 10 of the Archmages archers but they hold their ground!
The first SSC gets a direct hit on the RBT, wounds...and then only does one wound! Grrr!
The second SSC misfires and can't fire this or next turn!
The 10 strong archers on the right flank put 2 wounds on the Eagle (2)

Combat:
The Swordmasters kill the Herald after he dives infront of the Tomb Prince and proceed to hack another 5 Guard down. The Tomb guard take vengence by slaying 8 men of Hoeth, winning the combat but the High Elves remain put!

High Elf - Turn 2

Eagle 4 (right flank) charges the horse Archers hoping to hold them up for a turn. The Dragon Princes charge the Archers in front of them hoping to one turn them and reform to get a flank on the necroknights!

The Pheonix Guard move to where they can charge the chariots next turn if need be but due to the footprint of the chariots, can't be charged back due to the eagle! They are also within 6" of the Bane Stone but far enough away so the chariots wouldn't be if they charged! The Spearmen move away from the Sinister Statue after losing one to it this turn!

Magic: 11/7
Failed to dispel "Transmutation of Lead" on the Tomb guard meaning i had to scroll the attempt at Final Transmuattion on my Liche Priests unit. This left the High Elves free to cast Enchanted Blades on the Swordmasters! Ouch! This combat is going to hurt!

Shooting:
The Archmages archers managed to put 2 wounds on the Heirotitan but the archers behind and the RBT all manae to fluff their shots in some manner or other!

Combat:The Eagle manages to kill a horse archer for a wound in return but manages to crumble them and reform to face the flank of the Chariots.
The Dragon Princes likewise kill 6 archers for no loss and the rest crumble back into the sands.
The Swordmasters, in what could/should have been a game ending combat phase, fail their fear test. They still manage to kill 6 Tomb Guard for a loss of 2 of their own. 3 more crumble!

Tomb Kings - Turn 2

Realising i've critically screwed myself with the deployment of the chariots, they reform to 6 wide and angle themselves to shoot an eagle out the way - gotta hope it panics something!! The Necroknights also turn to face the dragon princes! The Heirotitan moves out to start doing...something!!

Magic: 11/7 Damn the annulian crystal and the high Elves double channeling! This is gonna be tough!
Banner of the Undying is dispelled easily!
Casket is Dispelled...easily!
Righteous Smiting is cast on the Tomb Guard...with Irresistable force...sheesh! I roll a 4 on the miscast table and watch as the Heirotitan shrugs off the S10 hit, but the Liche Priest is sucked into the warp...causing crumbles galore! The SSC that can't fire this turn takes 2, the Casket 1, the archers a bunch...the chariots and the TG escape and the Necroknights take 1!

Shooting:
The Archers kill 2 of the Archmages bunker. The SSC misses the spears completely.

Combat:
The SM pass their fear test and slaughter 6 more tomb guard. Enraged and with the extra attack, the TG kill 5, losing 1 to crumble!

High Elf - Turn 3

Dragon Princes charge the NecroKnights. Mage spear unit moves up to help buff. With the Eagles pinning the Chariots in, the PG refrom to face the oncoming Heirotitan.

Magic: 9/4
Wyssans cast on the Dragon Princes and all dispel dice are used to dispel it.
Transmutation of Lead and Enchanted blades are cast on the swordmasters/guard combat.

Shooting:
The Archers and RBT team up to kill the Heirotitan.

Combat:
The Dragon Princes manage 2 wounds on the necroknight but have 3 struck down in return - drawing the combat!
The Swordmasters, hitting on 2 re-rollable and wounding on 3's, wipe out the Tomb Guard unit! Ouch!!!

Tomb Kings - Turn 3

With the only movement being the crumbling of a few archers and a wound on one of the SSC's...

Magic: 6/6
Casket of Souls IF'd on Archmages archer unit, kills 5 and they proceed to flee off the table! Yay!

Shooting:
Archers kill a single Pheonix Guard - ooh that'll swing the upcoming battle >_>
The first SSC misfires (2) and cant fire enxt turn either, the second SSC misfires (4) and can't fire...

Combat:
The Dragon Princes only manage a wound on the Necro Knights who in return kill 3 and reform to face the rear of the spears.

High Elf - Turn 4

The Spearmen Rally!

Eagle 2 charges the Casket, Pheonix Guard chanrge the archers and the Swordmaster take a reach (but fail) at the Necro Knights

Magic: 3/2 > 5/2
Wyssans fails to cast on the spears on three dice!

Shooting: Archers and RBT fail to wound the SSC thats on one wound!

Combat: Eagle does a wound and forces the casket to crumble! Pheonix Guard kill 8 archers and watch the remainig 2 crumble!

Tomb Kings - Turn 4

Necroknights and chariots avoid the crumble. The left SSC isn't so lucky and returns to the sands. The right SSC is lucky and takes a single wound.

The Necroknights (sensing a lost battle) gung-ho charge the spearmen.

The SSC aims at the Archers but overshoots, the Chariots ping the last wound off one of the eagles!

In Combat, the Necro-knights avoid all damage whist killing 8 spearmen. Being steeadfast helps the spears hold their ground!

High Elf - Turn 5

Swordmasters get in the rear of the NecroKnights and decimate them. The Eagle forces the SSC to crumble

Safe to say the game doesn't need to continue!!!

Afterthoughts and Reflections
Well Damn - lots of lessons learnt!

Chariots: Well i screwed myself with these guys from the off! Having never used anything with such a large footprint i placed them pretty much last and had ran out of room for them and didn't realise just how easily they'd get Eagle'd out the game! Jury's still out on these guys as i didn't use em properly!

Archers: The magic synergy (double shotting) is really cool and really useful, but i miss being able to stand and shoot!

Casket: All kinds of awesome when it goes off! I imagine the opponent would get wise and save dice to dispel, but then that leaves room for Nehekaran buffs to get through! The +D3 power dice are just gold-dust for Tomb Kings too!

Necroknights: I like these and should probably find a way of upping them ot 6 or 2 units of 3! WIth Poison and Killing blow, they can pretty much have a fair chance at most things (except Swordmasters in the rear!)

Tomb Guard: Looking back, i really over-estimated these guys - i mean, charging 21 swordmasters!?! What the hell was i thinking? I should have let them come and drop some skulls on their heads!


Catapults: Well i've never known so many stonethrower shots go miles wide or misfire as much!

Main lessons learnt are shoot as long as possible and use magic well! high Elves ASF and magic superiority was always going to make this a hard battle! I'll send the Tomb Kings against  my Ogre List and see how they fair within the next week!

Let me know your thoughts!