warhammer fantasy battle report :-
"Scorpion again fails to emerge !" [uh-oh. Ed.] (this battle reporter writes useful summaries)| source : z4.invisionfree.com/Khemri | credit : Sepulcher | 21-Jan-2009 |
Another pitched battle at the local store. I wanted to give shooting a try so I revamped my list dramatically from the HE game.
Tomb Kings Army list
King with GW, Golden Ankhra, BroochPriest with steed and Staff of Ravening
Priest with steed and 2 Dispel Scrolls
Hiero with Jar and Cloak [Pink]
25 Archers with command and BotUL [Banner of Undead Legion] [Green] (Scroll caddy here)
25 Archers with command [Yellow]
3 Chariots with banner [Orange]
3 Chariots with banner and War Banner [Red]
7 Light Horsemen [Purple] (Staff priest here)
21 Tomb Guard with command and Icon of the Sacred Eye (+1 to hit) [Blue] (King in this unit)
2 Scorpions [Blast templates]
5 Carrion [Charcoal]
Dwarves Army list
Lord with shieldbearers (not sure of runes, it was WS 8, Str 7, 1+ armor 4+ Ward)Runesmith with 3 scrolls (I believe Dwarves use a rune that's like Spell Breakers for demons)
Thane with BSB and Banner with +1 to CR within 12" (really nice banner)
Master Engineer
10 Thunderers [Blue]
21 Warriors with command [Blue]
21 Warriors with command [Yellow] (Thane here)
21 Longbeards [Green] (Runesmith here)
21 Hammerers [Red] (due to the Lord joining the unit it become immune to Terror/Fear, correct me if I'm wrong - they might be Ironbreakers)
3 Bolt Throwers [Gray] (all 3 had an Engineer upgrade)
1 Organ Gun [Black] (Master Engineer)
2 forests and 2 peaks (impassible terrain) for our randomly generated terrain. He set up heavily on the right and I put my fast elements on the left. Turn 1 went to me.
Turn 1
I moved up with my fast flank in an attempt to collapse his flank and get those valueable flank charges on his hero lead units. My Tomb Guard also shuffled up their 4". And the Carrion flew up ready to be magic'd into the Thunderers.
Both of the King's MWBD's were dispelled easily, as was the Staff. All 3 Liches tried to move a unit but were scrolled right off the bat. So I opened the Jar and charged the Carrion into his Thunderers. Productive magic phase for me as he used all his scrolls.
His Stand and Shoot put 1 wound on a Carrion.
My shooting saw no wounds done even with all my bowfire. (T4 and a 4+ armor save is tough to beat)
I whiffed in combat and did no wounds, he returns with 2 wounds and I lose another 3 from CR so I'm down to 2 models.
Added where I placed my Scorpions
In the Dwarf half no charges were declared. The Dwarf warriors near the Thunderers wheeled a bit to face the combat, but that was it for moving. In his shooting phase his Organ gun killed 4 Tomb Guard. All 3 Bolt Throwers also went for the Tomb Guard, only 2 hit, but came up double 1's for his To Wound roll, phew. With no magic we went straight to combat, where my birds whiffed (again) and his return wounds and combat res saw the Carrion crumble. What a disappointment.
Turn 2
The turn started with my right Scorpion failing to come up, and my left Scorpion misfiring on his Scatter roll. Ugh. So I'd have to weather another turn from those war machines.
I didn't declare any charges but continued shuffling my War Banner chariot unit into position to magic charge his Thunderers. My fast cav skirted further up the side to get into position to shoot his Thunderers. My Tomb Guard shuffled 2" to the left instead of continuing forward because I didn't want that Organ Gun to fry my unit.
Magic saw my Tomb King move his Guard unit further back and behind the peak so they were out of LOS from that cursed Organ Gun. My chariots managed to charge his Thunderers thanks to the Priest out on that flank. And lastly my green archers were able to shoot and managed to kill a Dwarf from the Warrior unit directly in front of it.
His Stand and Shoot put a wound on the chariots.
My shooting phase was sub-par as the green archers fired again and failed to wound. My yellow unit fired into his Lords unit (Red) and managed to pick 1 off.
Impact hits saw 6 Dwarves crushed and the crew and steeds another. The Thunderers auto-broke and were run down, putting my chariots out of LOS of the Warrior block. They easily passed their Panic check.
The hero led blocks began to move foward this turn, seeing I wasn't coming to him. His Warriors on the left wheeled a bit more to face my 2nd chariot unit still hanging around on the flanks.
His shooting began with his Organ Gun misfiring and blowing itself up! The remaining Bolt Throwers killed 3 from my Guard unit and a single skeleton from the yellow archers.
Turn 3
Scorpion again fails to emerge. More movement on my left flank. The orange chariot unit moved closer to the Warrior block and my War Banner unit turned around and moved along the Warriors' flanks to hopefully sandwich it next turn. My TG wheeled a bit to start heading towards midfield.
Magic saw a wound from my priest's Staff and 3 wounds from bowshots into his left Warrior unit. My Hiero raised 2 TG back to the Kings unit.
Shooting phase saw another Hammerer picked off from the yellow archers. So many bowshots so few wounds! Ugh.
His Warriors turn to face my War Banner unit, accepting the inevitable. His Longbeards and Hammerers continue forward while his right most Warrior unit holds tight.
Shooting sees a couple more skeletons picked off by Bolt Throwers.
Turn 4
Scorpion finally comes up, scatters a couple inches but is still able to charge the nearest Bolt Thrower. Both chariot units declared charges against his Warriors, he held. TG moved up a bit and my archers back slightly.
Magic sees my TG unit charging his Longbeards who hold. My Heiro tries to raise to the unit but is denied. I also reformed my green archer unit into a 5x5 block to go help the TG if needed (no more targets to shoot at anyways).
Shooting sees another 2 Hammerers die, slowly whittling away a rank bonus.
In combat my chariots crush enough Dwarves for them to auto-break. My War Banner unit persues and runs them down but my other unit tests and holds since I didn't want to risk them running into a forest. The persue roll puts me nicely behind the Longbeard unit for a charge next turn. In the TG combat he opts for HW and Shield. My King kills his unit champion in a challenge but his return attacks cause combat to be drawn. My scorpion does a wound and wins combat, breaking and catching his crew and hitting his 2nd Bolt Thrower.
His Hammerers charge my TG's flank and that's it. Shooting does nothing.
His Hammerers go with great weapons, making it easier for me. His Lord challenges and beats down my unit champion (I didn't wanna risk losing my King). My TG swing before his Longbeards and cut down a few (KB is wonderful). The rest of his guys manage another wound or two, and my King comes through with 4 wounds on his Longbeards. Combat sees me lose by 4, which isn't bad, considering. My scorpion manages to do a wound and break his crew, pursuing into the last Bolt Thrower.
Turn 5
I charge my War Banner chariots into his Longbeards rear. Everything else moves towards the middle of the board. My nearby archers reform into a combat block for a magic phase charge.
Magic sees my raise 6 TG much to the Dwarves chagrin and my archers are moved into his Hammerers flank.
My chariots annihilate about 7 Longbeards. His Lord beats my unit champion down in another challenge (he's getting tired of dying! ), while my King kills another 3 Longbeards. Combat res sees me win by about 10. His Longbeards run and are crossfired by my chariots, but his Hammerers stick around (Stubborn Ld 9). My Scorpion offs the last Bolt Thrower crew (again doing 1 wound) and persues them off the board.
His last turn he just jumps straight to combat. His Lord challenges again but since my King isn't in base to base I have to take it with my Archer champion. He's promptly incinerated. My TG manage 2 wounds, his attacks back kill a Skeleton. I again beat him but he holds again. And that was that. We totalled up points and it was a 1200 to 300 victory in my favor (we don't add VPs for banners and such).
Afterthoughts:
Well overall I really liked how this new list worked. It may have been this was a really good opponent for it though (slow moving and nothing to thwart my shooting) - so I will have to give it some more trial runs. I had been discussing with a friend whether or not to even bother with LA and Shield on my skeletons as they seem to die in droves no matter what you arm them with. I think the 2 x 25 archers are a good investment.. they do the same thing a normal LA/Shield unit does, but gets the added bowshots. Now while they didn't do much this game against T4, I think they'll really start to shine when I play more frail armies (High Elves come to mind)
My 5 Carrion were very disappointing.. charging in and whiffing for 2 turns, to be wiped out by 10 Thunderers! Ugh! I should've bought another Scorpion and more skeletons with the left over points. I feel the 20" move is something that's NEEDED with TK's but this game really made me wish I had went with 3 Scorpions.
My tunneling Scorpions were great, eating his war machines.. however this is the 3rd game in a row where I've burried my Scorpions and had 1 misfire.. seems like such a waste.
My Tomb Guard were great. Holding up 2 units of expensive Dwarf infantry. The +1 to hit banner is great.. having your Str 7 King hitting on 2's is awesome. Even if it's just the 1st round. I was really really skeptical about this 300 point sink unit but they were worth it I'd say. Alone they can't take a beating for long, but with support units and priests to raise, they do well. I always felt 25 skeletons were just as good if not better than 20 Tomb Guard, but after this showing I think I may change my mind. The WS 3 and T4 make a HUGE difference in combats. If they had been skeletons I feel I would've lost the big combat in the middle. Of course more games are needed to see if they continue to impress me.
Chariots are, as always, great, especially with the War Banner - even against armored opponents like Dwarfs.
I'm also really digging my 3 priest set up. I don't miss the Prince at all.. I get much better flexibility with the priests and they're a much bigger threat in the magic phase.
I don't know what to think of my Horsemen yet. I don't I'd ever charge them into anything except MAYBE a rear - and they'd have to be T3 lightly armored troops. They're a nice unit to have my Staff of Ravening priest flying around in - but they seem to be just that.. an escort unit.
Well, hopefully if you've read this far, you've enjoyed it. And I tried to make my maps a bit easier to read, I'm still figuring out a reliable technique. Thanks for reading.
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