Massive warhammer battle report :-
Two armies, two great writers and, from the sound it, a superb battle.(these are the sort of guys that make Warhammer great)
| source : warhammer.org.uk | credit : Marcoos14/Bobster | 17-Apr-2009 |
by Marcoos and Bobster (from 2004)
Marcoos
We arranged our game for Easter Monday, which should have given me plenty of time to prepare, right? Well sadly not. A combination of beer, food and poker meant I managed very little preparation, so with 10 minutes to go I decided to keep the same list as for an earlier battlerep.
3000 pts Beasts of Chaos Army
Beastlord - GW, Shield, Armour of Yes You've Guessed It, Dark HeartWargor BSB - HA, Sword of Might, Rune of the True Beast
Lv4 Great Bray - Braystaff, Power Familiar, Scroll, Chaos Armour
Lv2 Bray - Staff of Darkoth, Scroll
16 Bestigor - FC, Warbanner
Herd - 8 Gor/9 Ungor FC
Herd - 8 Gor/9 Ungor FC
Herd - 5 Gor/6 Ungor Mus
Herd - 5 Gor/6 Ungor Mus
5 Dogs
5 Dogs
4 Chariots (if I put it on one line it doesn't seem too bad )
5 Centigor - Spear, LA, Shield Champ & Mus
10 Furies
4 Minotaurs - Great Weapons
4 Minotaurs - Great Weapons
Giant
Spawn (still no marks )
Shaggoth - GW, LA
Again, everything that could be was Undivided, and it was almost a pure Beast army.
Here's the army in full:
And here's a closer up shot of the characters:
Bobster
When Marcoos mooted the idea of another battle report like the one against AndyP, I was very keen to take part for a number of reasons:
1) The first one was quality and I enjoyed reading it a lot.
2) It gave me a chance to play a 3000 point game, something I hadn’t done for a long time.
3) It gave me a chance to get my Chaos Army out of the mothballs, after 2 years playing it (one year as a Hordes of Chaos list and 1 year as Beasts of Chaos) I have retired it and even thought about selling it. The army was a labour of love at one point and it was very cool to see it all out on the battle field one again.
When writing my list I decided that I would go with a Mortal lead Undivided list and try to get as many units on the board as possible, in the end I settled on the following:
Characters
Exalted Champion – Chaos Steed, Barding, Hand Weapon, Great Weapon, Chaos Armour, Shield - General
Aspiring Champion – Battle Standard Bearer, Hand Weapon, Chaos Armour, Sword of Might
Mortal Sorcerer (Level 2) – Hand weapon, Chaos Armour, Power Familiar
Beastlord – Hand Weapon, Great Weapon, Shield, Armour of Damnation, Crown of Horns
Bray Shaman (Level 2) – Hand Weapon, Braystaff, 2 x Dispel Scroll
Bray Shaman (Level 2) – Hand Weapon, Braystaff, Staff of Darkoth, Dispel Scroll
Core
6 Chosen Chaos Knights – Full Command
5 Chaos Knights – Full Command
5 Marauder Horsemen – Spears, Throwing Axes, Musician
22 Chaos Marauders – Light Armour, Shield, Full Command
1 Mortal Chariot
5 Chaos Hounds
Special
Beast Herd – 8 Gor, 9 Ungor, Full Command
Beast Herd – 8 Gor, 8 Ungor, Full Command
4 Minotaurs – Great Weapons
Tuskgor Chariot
6 Furies
Rare
4 Dragon Ogres – Light Armour, Great Weapons
Chaos Giant
I wasn’t convinced it was a great list but good enough and able to handle itself. If I could use the fast hard hitting units properly and support them properly I should be able to cause Marcoos a few problems.
Anyway the pictures:
The whole army –
The Characters -
Marcoos
With two basically combat oriented, fast and manoeuvreable (sp???) armies, terrain would be unlikely to favour one army over the other, but a few choke points would certainly make for an interesting game.
The terrain set up as below, with long grass and a wood in the bottom left and bottom right hand corners (effectively out of the game) and rocky ground in the centre of the top deployment zone (again out of the game). Much more interestingly, right at the centre of the table was a long hill, with a small gap to a largeish wood, and then another small gap to a large piece of rocky ground.
Bobster won the roll for deployment, and chose the top table edge to attack from rather than into the rocky ground. Can't say I blamed him
For spells, I got a reasonable selection:
Lv 4: Steed, Creeping Death, Shades and Lurker
Lv 2: Bears Anger, Oxen Stands (plus the Staff )
Having both Creeping Death and Unseen Lurker was a real bonus, as both spells would be "must" stop in the later game.
Bobster was less fortunate, rolling up:
Mortal: Fireball, Burning Head
Beast: Creeping Death, Shades (plus the Staff )
Beast: Steed, Pit
Burning Head was the only spell that I was particularly worried about, although if Pit of Shades was ever cast on a big gribblie it would almost guarantee a scroll.
A nicely balanced magic phase for both of us, 9PD vs 6DD in both cases should make for a good match up, although of course Bobster had to steal the edge in shooting with those 5 throwing axes :roll:
As Bobster had won the deployment roll, he was forced to set up first. I had about 4 more deployments than him anyway which meant I got to see where most of his army was going before committing my main stuff.
I planned to have a strong centre advancing in two waves, with a relatively powerful left flank and a delayed right flank. I was expecing the Dragon Ogres on the open right flank outside of the ruins, and didn't feel I could really deal with them without using the Lord, so I planned on a delaying tactic with 2 chariots, a small herd and the Furies. I was a little surprised to see the Chosen out there too, but it just meant I had more to delay (and significantly less chance of doing it ).
Both herds and the Centigor would head for the central wood to claim it, with the Bestigor and Giant going through the gap between wood and hill. My dogs and Minotaurs would hide behind the hill ready to get the charge on anything coming over the top, whilst the Minotaurs and two chariots coming round the left hand side of it.
Probably not the best plan in the world, but it would have to do!
From my point of view, Bobster had deployed (from left to right); the Marauder Horse, Hounds and Minotaurs to hold the left flank. Normal Knights, Beast Chariot, Giant, Furies and Marauders with BSB and Mortal L2 in the centre. The two herds and beastly characters would advance into the difficult terrain in the centre, supported by the chaos tank. And then the small matter of the Chosen and the Dragon Ogres on the extreme right.
Here's the map of set up, I'll let Bobster explain his cunning plan (TM).
Bobster
Sorry for the delay in posting, I was dying yesterday with the ‘mother of all hangovers’ anyway normal service should now be resumed. When winning the roll for table sides I decided to deploy around the rocks rather than ending up fighting in them.
With the wood in front as well I decided that this centre ground would probably be important during the game and deployed both Beast Herds and the Beast Lord in this area due to their flexibility and hoped to get one of them into the woods. I knew this would mean getting the first turn otherwise Marcoos would be firmly controlling this area with his herds and Centigor. I also deployed the Giant, Marauders and Chariots centrally to support the herds where needed.
This left me with the faster harder hitting elements of my army to be deployed on the flanks; I also thought I probably had enough high strength units to deal with the opposing Beast Chariots which lurked there. Being able to break through on at least one of these flanks was going to be crucial to me and, as Marcoos has enough lighter units to delay my advance, I decided to team up the Chosen and the Dragon Ogres on my left to hopefully allow one unit to break though and support in the middle. This left me with the Chaos Hounds, Horsemen, Minotaurs and Normal Knights plus character to work together on the right flank.
I was relatively happy with my deployment and plans (the usual vague nonsense - but what the hell!!) but I was very aware that getting first turn would be more than handy. Whenever I play beasts and they get the first turn they invariably march right out and encircle me, meaning that I can charge early but there will be the inevitable fleeing and counter charge or I could end up shuffling around and end up fighting later but in my half of the board. I would much rather me making the first move and placing Marcoos on the back foot. Anyway at least through finishing deployment first I have the +1 to the dice off….
Anyway for completion here is the map of the deployment again…
Marcoos
Sadly for Bobster, and happily for me, I won the roll off for first turn (always nice to see the Gryphon aka Camp Pony come up on the roll off ).
Here's a few photos;
Deployment
Mortal's centre
And the two units set to cave in my right flank
And the congestion of my centre
With less than a second's hesitation I decided to go first. I'd much rather be fleeing and counter charging from the middle of the board rather than my own deployment zone, and it would give me a chance to get the centre rolling before Bobster's heavier flanks got into the game.
There was very little of note in my first turn - I advanced rapidly on the left and in the centre, but kept everything out of charge range (barring the Minotaurs on the left - I'd happily let the dogs or Marauder Horse charge them). All my characters jumped into units - I was wary of an irresistable Pit of Shades taking someone out early doors.
My delaying units matched their speed to the Spawn so as not to deny him any targets in my second turn if Bobster advanced rapidly. The Furies headed out to the right flank, and were boosted by an Unseen Lurker (the only spell cast that phase) over to the extreme right. The Furies were planned to be an integral part of my delaying tactics - and a threatened flank/rear charge would be pause for thought for either of the heavyweight units over there.
Map at the end of my turn:
And yet another photo:
Bobster
Ah well first turn didn’t materialise and now as predicted I now have an advanced much more spread army to face, nevermind on with the show. On my left I moved my Chosen and Dragon Ogres forward enough be able to threaten the units in front of them - I was hoping that the Spawn on the side wouldn’t go very far and give a charge in turn 2 with the chosen and maybe a decent overrun. However, I was already sorry I had let those Furies out to the right flank; I could see that they might cause a bit of bother.
In the middle I pushed the Giant forward to cause a few terror tests and to slow the advance of the Beasts' centre, I hoped to be able to move up behind him next turn and set up some charges of my own.
On the right I moved the marauders right out in front of the opposition Minotaurs and shielded my own unit with my dogs knowing that if the chariot charged I could flee and counter charge. My knights and character plus the Furies got themselves a view of the hill in case anything decided to stand on top in turn 2.
After movement things looked like this:
During the magic phase I spectacularly managed to not cast a single spell – no I don’t mean that Marcoos had to stop a couple or use a scroll, I mean I didn’t pass a casting value once. Excellent.
As they could, the Marauders threw their 5 axes at the Minotaurs – 3 hits and 2 wounds later was a decent result and also meant that when the charge I was expecting next phase came I was hoping that the mounted Marauders were completely wiped out so that the Minotaurs wouldn’t be able to overrun while they feasted. Thus would then mean I would only need 1 wound to have the Minotaurs testing.
End of turn photo:
Marcoos
Well my delaying tactics had got off to a good start - the combined chariot and Fury threat had caused the Dragon Ogres to advance fairly tentatively.
My only charge saw the Minotaurs crash into the Marauder Horse. I figured I could get the small herd in the way of the hounds to protect the Minotaurs from a flank charge if they wiped the horse out, but sadly the herd was march blocked so my minotaurs were looking a little exposed!
In the centre, the giant failed to go boo on the dogs, which looked as though it would really mess my central advance up. When the herd containing my level 2 went unruly, they were also dragged right next to the giant making the centre of the board incredibly congested! The spawn decided to go turbonutter this turn, and sped into the gap between the rocks and the wood. Not wanting to miss out on a party, my Shaggoth ran forwards to try to terrify the Beastlord and his herd off the board.
On the left, my two chariots lined up for counter charges. On the right, I carried on with the delaying tactics with the Furies flying behind the Dragon Ogres to march block them.
In the centre I started trying to clear some units out of the way. With an unruly herd just in front of the giant, I blocked off his charge onto the herd with the dogs in front of the bestigor. The giant tried to get a view past the dogs for a charge next turn. I pushed the other unit of dogs onto the hill trying to tempt a Fury charge - but this would prove to be a mistake!
My magic phase drew out a scroll but then things got very interesting - an irresistable Creeping Death on the Chosen saw 2 Knights die, and what's more they promptly failed their panic test. Sadly I had kept the Furies just behing the Dragon Ogres to keep them out of range of a potential charge by the beast herd in the ruins, so the Chosen were not crossfired... but at least they were out of the game for a while .
Combat saw the minotaurs score 7 hits, but then only kill 4 Marauders - played for and got . The horse propmtly kicked the head in of one minotaur, but when Bobster didn't roll snake eyes on the break test the minotaurs hotfooted it off the board.
Here's the map:
And a photo of the action:
Bobster
Well that turn didn’t help. The panic on the Chosen was most unexpected (I had a scroll ready for the Creeping Death) and even when the IF came and I lost 2 of them I thought I would be okay as 4 can still handle themselves in combat but when I failed the test on 8 twice, not nice. Add to that the Minotaurs rolling 3 1’s to wound so that the Marauder Horse were broken by fear causers and the Turbo Nutter Spawn getting away and it couldn’t have been much worse. Nevermind, onwards an upwards.
I declared charges with both my Mortal Chariot and the Beast Lord’s Herd into the spawn. I has hoping to kill the fiends and then use overrun to move beyond the approaching Shaggoth and it wouldn’t take too high a roll for the Beast Lords unit to reach Marcoos’ unit in the woods which could be very handy as getting the charge plus the Lords attacks should mean a win right in the middle of Marcoos’ battle line…
I also declared a charge with my Furies at the small herd next to the hill and a second flanking charge with the Chaos Hounds. Finally as the Fury obstacle was out of the way the Chaos Knights and Character charged the dogs on the hill. At last I was getting moving.
Unfortunately the Beast Lords unit failed its fear test and managed to block the charge for the chariot the loss of the opportunity to get rid of the Spawn was bad enough but losing the overrun past the Shaggoth was a big blow - nevermind the chance to fight in the woods
In slightly better news, the Herd elected to hold and promptly failed its fear test against the furies and was on 6’s in the first round, the dogs then moved to flank.
The dogs fled from the Knight’s were caught and then the unit Enemy In The Way into the lurking Minotaurs who also flee but get away – this has enabled by General’s unit to get across the hill behind the Beast’s line somewhat.
Then very bad news – a failed rally on the Chosen!! That’s lost me over 300 points and means that Chaos’ finest have been routed by 2 strength 1 attacks – Ace!!
In the remaining movement phase I shuffled round the remaining units and continued to use the Giant to hold the Beasts middle in line hoping to get one or 2 of the unit behind to cause them subsequent trouble.
In the Magic phase I managed for a second time to not meet the casting value of a single spell and didn’t even give Marcoos’ the chance to use his dice or scrolls for the again!
Having lost my 5 axes ( ) I forewent the shooting phase and went straight on to Combat where the Furies and Hounds broke the small herd and with the hounds Pursuing into Fresh Enemy – the 2 chariots behind and the furies missing them into the Beasts backfield.
All in all not too bad a turn, but it could have been so much better.
The current state of play:
and the end of turn photo:
Marcoos
Blimey charlie, things were not going to plan at all. My weaker delayed flank suddenly looked like it might be the stronger suit.
I had paid dearly for my mistake with the hounds, with a low pursuit roll meaning that the Knights got to move their full distance, and get behind my army, whilst the rest of the left flank was in tatters!
On a brigther note, I was passing terror tests left right and centre. And I had the chance to prove how rubbish herds are when they don't get ranks against monsters.
Seizing the day, I declared charges with the furies and both chariots into the Dragon Ogres - sadly one chariot decided the great axes were just a bit too scary! The Shaggoth went into the Beastlord's herd and the Spawn again ran (oozed?) like the clappers right into the second herd.
The hound mistake took another turn for the worse when my fleeing minotaurs failed to rally and left the board. To compensate, my other minotaurs returned and looked in scary fashion at their opposite number. The giant moved behind the Knights, keeping close enough to hop back in front of them if the terror gambit failed. The rest of my army milled around in confused fashion trying to work out how to get to, or past, the giant!
My magic phase was less successful this turn, but it did see the use of another two scrolls - I was guessing this was the end of Bobsters store now, so future turns could be interesting!
But it was all happening in the combat phase; on the left my chariot beat off the dogs, and one PIFE'd into the Minotaurs behind. My spawn caused a couple of casualties, but only drew combat, and despite the herd failing it's fear test my Shaggoth only scored one casualty against them and took a wound in return. So much for herds being rubbish without their rank bonus :roll: , but at least the Shaggoth held .
The chariot and furies went beserk on the Dragon Ogres, and won combat by lots, despite the chariot learning the hard way about strength 7. The Ogres feld so far they not only escaped the furies, but they ran past the cowardly chariot, so I couldn't charge again if they rallied. For the second turn in a row I missed an obvious crossfire chance with the small herd. I might get the hang of 7th edition one day :roll: .
A bit of a mixed bag this turn, I really had to get to grips with the giant in the near future!
Here's the map...
And a pic:
Bobster
Well we certainly had a game on now! I had been a bit surprised when the Beast herds had managed to beat both the Shaggoth and Spawn. True, I had been held in place and still couldn’t move on those expensive middle ground units, but on a brighter note I still had some units to play with. The loss in combat for the Dragon Ogres was coming from the moment the Chosen decide they really fancied being in the pub instead of a battlefield but a least they had outrun their pursuers and had a chance to rally.
I declared 3 charges this turn:
1. The Furies into the rear of the closest chariot. I was hoping to either fear and outnumber it or beat it in combat and then help the Minotaurs fighting the second charging one behind.
2. The BSB into combat with the Spawn, to hopefully help kill the monster this turn.
3. The Mortal Chariot into the Centigor.
All of Marcoos’ unit held and the Chariot being charged by the furies passed its fear test. The BSB also managed to overcome any worries about the Spawn and moved into base contact but unfortunately the Chariot was a mere fraction out and missed the Centigor failing its charge.
During the rest of moment I managed to rally the Dragon Ogres and faced them towards the Chariot and Furies, I also turned the Chaos Knights and Exalted Champ to look at the rear of the Beasts battle line.
More shuffling ensued with the rest of my army as until it could move forward together and support each other I felt I had to stay out of too much harms way.
In the magic phase something miraculous happened I actually cast 2 spells, even getting one into play!! – Shades of Death on the Marauders. Oh I know that it wasn’t going to do much good yet but after Magic phases 1 and 2, it was a start.
In the combat phase things started brightly, the Shaggoth lost to the Herd again with the Beast Lord’s Armour of Damnation and Great Weapon both being used to their full potential, unfortunately the Shaggoth held but was looking very ill indeed.
The BSB also did his job and killed the spawn on the Charge.
Then some bad news, the Furies do a wound on the charge but then take one in return from both the Bestigor and the Ungor. This loses the rear bonus and means I am testing on -1…POP! No more Furies then, oh dear :roll: .
The chariot also crashes into the Minotaurs and does 5 wounds but the brutes manage to hold but, are now staring at a charge from the newly returned to the table, opposition Minotaur unit.
Here’s the map at the end of my Turn 3
And a photo of the battlefield.
Well I'd had a stroke of fortune with the chariots on my left still standing - doing 2 wounds to the Furies was certainly a bonus! Sadly two of my big griblies were either dead or dying but they had held up Bobster's herds for a while, so it wasn't too bad.
I had taken a risk in letting Bobster cast the Fear spell, as I had plans for the dogs and those Marauders, but I was unwilling to use a scroll at that stage so took a chance.
I declared charges with the Minotaurs into the chariot/Minotaur combat, the Centigor at the Chaos Tank, the dogs at the Marauders and my Bestigor into the giant. My small herd on the left also went unruly and charged the Dragon Ogres (gulp!). Continuing my good fortune leadership test rolls, everything passed. And Bobster held all charges.
My giant moved to block the Knights, whilst the herd behind it took up a speed bump position, allowing the 2 mages to hide in the wood. My herd in the wood finally felt sufficiently confident to poke it's nose out and have a look at the lone BSB daring him to charge! On the right I tried to get everything out of harms way when the Dragon Ogres beat the herd!
My magic phase was uneventful, and we decided to skip shooting and went straight onto combat. On the left, the minotaurs and chariot fought out a no score draw, whilst the centigor only managed to win by musician against the tank which also held. The Marauders easily saw off the dog, although not before the hounds had put a cheeky wound on the Mortal Mage .
In a surprising turn of events the herd actually beat, and then broke the Dragon Ogres! Sadly, they just stopped on the board . This also got the Dragon Ogres away from the chariot, which was pointing towards the centre of the table (pessimist? me? nah ).
Here's the map after all the action:
And the photo:
Things were starting to get interesting...
In another surprise, the Bestigor went through the Giant faster than a dose of salts, and the Bestigor decided not to overrun, safe from the Knights for another turn.
Bobster
Well Turn 4 was here and I wasn’t out of it yet, so assessing the current situation I declared the following charges:
1. Knights and Exalted into the Giant
2. Herd and Beastlord into the Centigor (Marcoos didn’t mention that last turn the Herd and Lord had finished of the Shaggoth)
3. The BSB into the now visible herd – I knew this was a gamble and I half expected to lose by 1 but it was my only way to rank up the herd in such a way that the Bestigor wouldn’t be able to charge past and would give me chance to get to that big juicy point sink unit of Bestigor before then end of the game.
Thankfully the Dragon Ogres rallied on the edge of the board and faced themselves with the troublesome herd and the furies in their front arc.
In the remaining movement phase the marauders and Beast Chariot backed off, the former hoping that the Bestigor had left the Dark Heart at home this week.
The Magic phase reverted to type with naff all managing to be cast. So Combat it is then…
Firstly, The Beastlord and unruly retinue manage to destroy the Centigor and overrun.
Next was the Exalted and Knights and having seen the Bestigor chop up their own Giant friend they promptly followed suit and downed the opposition big lad in one easy charge – there looked like being a sting in the tail though. The Giant falls forward onto the unit, all the partial hits are missed by Marcoos leaving the lord as the only model to take a hit – “no problem” says I “I will use my ‘look out sir’ roll to escape this” – you guessed it, 1… oh dear!! Thankfully the lucky Chaos General passed his armour save and a very large sigh of relief was issued. Having survived, the Knights overrun into the waiting speed bump herd…
Then the BSB. As expected he only manages 1 would and loses by 1. He promptly failed on a seven twice, and disappeared over the horizon! Oh good, he is now no more and the Bestigor can still see the Maraurders. It looks a long way I really hope he doesn’t have the Dark Heart!!
End of turn map:
Battlefield photo:
Marcoos
Bobster wrote: "Marcoos didn’t mention that last turn the Herd and Lord had finished of the Shaggoth"
Given his performance, I'm surprised he got mentioned at all
Onto turn 5, and things were still very much in the balance. The sad demise of the Giant was going to mean the end of a Beast Herd, so abandoning them to their fate I got on with moving to get into position for turn 6.
I only had one charge to declare, the victorious beast herd chased after the fleeing BSB who ran to the board edge, and got a PIFE into a Beast Shaman lurking behind him, who again fled, this time off the board.
My Bestigor edged out of the wood - I had hopes of finally getting some magical movement off this turn! Whilst my Furies and Chariot angled to double team the Dragon Ogres in the last turn. Rather than try and repeat their Ogre slaying heroics of the previous turn, my small herd moved within range of Bobster's big herd. They were gambling on a lucky unruly test, but had the back up of being able to charge and rank up the beasts if they tried to surround my two shamen in the wood.
The magic phase was good for me this turn, although I yet again made a mistake in working out the dice for each shaman :roll: . I forgot my L2 had the Staff so threw his dice at Oxen stands on the dogs, which Bobster let through. Remembering the staff, I then groaned and said "bugger, I won't be able to use the staff now that the L2 has no dice left .
I then threw 4 dice and scored an obscenely high Lurker roll, which Bobster failed to stop even using all his dice. The Bestigor managed to just reach the Marauders through the help of the Dark Heart. At this point I had a mental abberation and moved the unit before checking whether all models could reach. I'm pretty slack about that and normal just slide, whereas Bobster plays to the rules and doesn't. Being the gent he is, Bobster let me roll of for getting the Lord in and the dice gods chose to favour me with a 4.
I then realised I still had 3 pool dice and could try to use the Staff - but it seemed a little harsh after my previous declaration, so I pulled out a Shades of Death on my herd - it might just keep them alive! A fairly memorable phase, although not for the right reasons...
In the combat phase, my minos finally prevailed, although not before the last wheel had been hacked off the chariot, and I ran down the enemy only to end up stood in front of the Beast Chariot. The herd lasted about as long as the giant, only by dint of extra bodies, but were run down to a cowardly beast.
In the Bestigor/Marauder combat, I managed to win and run down the Marauders, although it would have lasted longer than a turn if Beastlord hadn't been fortunate enough to 4+ it into the fight. This also got me into the L2 behind. Lesson learned - always discuss sliding before a game starts, and then measure properly before moving units! A fair dose of pain had been dealt to the mortals, but they still had their two big combat characters ready to deal out some pain!
Here's the map:
And another pic:
Bobster
Bugger!! That hurt. The dreaded charge on the Marauders had managed to occur and lost me the unit, unit standard and soon the mortal mage lurking behind, even the rallied unit of Hounds look like gaining a table quarter. In what was becoming a tight game that was going to be points that would be difficult to claw back.
However, I still had one more chance:
1. The knights could charge the herd near the words and the Beastlord’s unit to the right on the woods would be able to flush the expensive mages from their hiding place leaving them ready for a charge from the mortal chariot in turn 6.
2. I could also get the charge on Marcoos heard in the rocks – with even luck, usually the charging heard will win this confrontation.
3. Finally the chariot could attempt a charge on the Minotaurs, a bit risky this but good impact hits could make that another chance to remove a unit which had really been a thorn in my side. Plan decided I declared all 3 charges, Marcoos held for all 3.
Then the proverbial hit the fan :
The Herd fails if fear test and spends the turn hugging each other due to their fearsome kin and wait to receive a charge instead of dealing one out.
The Beastlord’s unit goes unruly and chares the small heard who are already being ranked up by the knight – talk about overkill.
The BSB fails to rally and leaves the board.
Honestly, right from the Chosen deciding to take a day off, psychology tests have really not been my friend today and have cost me more that one opportunity and I reckon this last round of psychological madness is going to be the final nail.
Only having 2 level 2’s left and not managing to cast all day, magic is unsurprisingly uneventful again.
In combat the Knights and the Beastlord’s unit beat the Herd and both overrun. The mortal wizard was wiped out by the Bestigor. The Chariot manages 5 impact hits and only 3 wounds, all the crew miss and then the Minotaurs do the wounds in return. Fear and outnumber is the name of the day and the Chariot is fleeing off the board!
End of turn map:
And photo:
Marcoos
Well that turn could have gone a lot worse! With the entire left half of the board secure, it was just left for me extract whatever I could from the right flank.
I had a few charges to declare; the fear causing herd went into the opposing beasts, and the furies and chariot combo charged the chariot. Or at least that was the plan.
Both of us failed fear tests, with Bobster's herd run down due to the spawn combat in turn 3 reducing them below my unit strength! My chariot also chose to stand still. Bugger. Although in fairness, I think the only psychology tests I failed all game were from that chariot, so mustn't grumble too much (it just wouldn't be me if there wasn't a slight groan though ).
My Bestigor, Minotaurs and Dogs all went onto quarter grabbing duty, whilst the level 2 felt brave enough to poke his head out again and try another creeping death on the Knights.
In the magic phase, I managed to Staff of Darkoth the herd into the last level 2, who was beaten and run down. In the other combat, the Furies and Dragon Ogres managed to draw.
I'd done all I could, it was just left to see what damage Bobster could manage in his last turn.
The map:
And the photo:
Bobster
Well, what could I manage in my turn 6? The loss of the herd was expected but they could have stuck around long enough to save the mage in the magic phase – useless idiots :roll:.
With 4 remaining units and 1 already in combat my options were now limited, but my choices were:
1. Knights and exalted to charge the Beast Chariot
2. Beastlord and Beast Herd to charge the flank of the Furies
3. Mortal Chariot attempts to charge rear of the Bestigor – I am fairly certain this won’t reach but it’s turn 6 so what the hell?
All of Marcoos’ units hold and the Mortal Chariot does indeed fail - just.
With now being as well equipped for magic as I was for shooting I decided to go straight to combat:
The Knights and Exalted destroy the Chariot
The Herd and Lord wipe out the Furies before either they or the Dragon Ogres become involved.
Map of the Battlefield:
Photo of turn 6:
And that’s it!!! I had done all I could, but would it be enough? I suspected not, especially as Marcoos now had three of the table quarters. Regardless, it was time to add up the scores and find out.
It was a bit of an epic this game which lasted for many a long hour - a great way to spend a bank holiday Monday, plenty of twists and turns (most of which left me dismayed) and a good, hard fought battle .
I will let Marcoos deliver the final ‘scores on the doors’ and then pop back for some final thoughts on the game and my army.
counting the cost...
Marcoos
Well it had been an epic game, at least 6 hours and by the finish I only just managed to make the very nice dinner my sister was cooking for me .
The final scores on the doors reflected the carnage that had happened across the battlefield.
Bobster scored points for:
1 Table Quarter
A big herd plus banner
Both small herds
1 unit of dogs
3 chariots
Centigor
Furies
1 and 1/2 units of Minotaurs
Giant
Shaggoth*
Spawn
From Bobster I scored
3 Table Quarters
The BSB plus Banner
3 Shamen
The Chosen*
Marauder Horse
Marauder Foot + Banner
Dogs
1 Herd
Minotaurs
Beast Chariot
Furies
1/2 Dragon Ogres
Giant
* In the fight for most inept unit on the battlefield the Chosen were a surprise winner over the Shaggoth by a mere 14pts!
It looked fairly close, but we both suspected the characters would swing it, and so it proved with a victory of 2591 to 1853 in my favour.
I have to say that fortune favoured me and played a decisive part in the battle. Bobster's magic phase was decidedly unspectacular, but his leadership tests were consistently poor, and mine were consistently above average, which contributed heavily to my victory. I would say we were fairly evenly matched throughout in terms of our skill, game play and decision making, so perhaps the biggest factor for me was getting the 1st turn.
Most importantly for me, it was a great gme to play. Highly enjoyable, hard fought and in the balance right up til the end (if that chariot had of reached my Bestigor and done 6 impact hits it would have been brown trousers time - and there wasn't much in it ).
Hope you have enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed playing the game and writing the report. I hope to do another one soon, but an impending family arrival might impact that.
Bobster
Nuts !! I didn’t think I had a chance, but I suppose a minor loss wasn’t too bad given some of the misfortune that I endured in patches, However in hindsight I think some of this was my own fault.
When creating my list I just went a bit mad and threw the characters together, I should have taken advantage of playing 3000 points and the ability to have 2 lords. Either using a Chaos Lord (this would have given me Ld 9 for some of those crucial tests) or more likely a Lvl 4 mage instead of 2 lvl 2’s. Marcoos ability to throw 4/5 dice at a spell gave him a crucial edge in the magic phases and meant I burnt all my scrolls too early – I just didn’t have the ability to trouble him in the same way.
Other big moments I think went against me – the roll of for first turn being probably the most important, it was just that big in a game with these two armies and meant I was almost always being re-active instead of dictating terms. The other being that on the few occasions that I had a chance to wrestle a degree of control, I failed crucial leadership tests.
1. Obviously the Chosen Knights running off – wouldn’t have given me a chance to win the game but any chance to save 320 points is important.
2. When the furies charged the rear of the Chariot, both the Bestigor and Ungor managing to hit and wound the beats and me then not getting a ward save and pooping was a big moment and lost me the initiative on my right flank where I had invested a lot into trying to win.
3. The Beastlord’s unit failing it’s fear test to charge the spawn and overrun into the middle of Marcoos’s line. This was the most frustrating as in itself it might not have won me the game but could have put so much more pressure on in an area where Marcoos was very comfortable a lot of the time.
Anyway, it was a great game with plenty of tense moments – Kudos to Marcoos for winning (I had to give him this one as a font memory before he spends all those nights changing nappies ) I hope to have another crack at one of the in the future.
[A rare Victory for the Beasts of Chaos - Ed.]
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