So after a rushed lunch (queues in the cafe were huge) round 2 began. As I said at the end of the game 1 report, I faced off against Ivan McGowan and his Dark Elves in the Watchtower scenario. At this event there was a slight catch; the tower wasn't always a tower but instead whatever piece of terrain was in the centre and any unit within 6" of the centre of that could contest it. I was told on Friday night to watch out that Ivan's list was full of filthy cheese (the fuzzy green kind) however I thought his list was rather balanced.
Supreme Sorceress [ Level 4 ]
Lore of Shadow, Sacrificial Dagger, ???
Death Hag
BSB, Cauldron of Blood, ???
Sorceress [ Level 2 ]
Lore of Fire, Dispel Scroll
Master
Dark Pegasus, Pendant of Khaeleth, Lance, Heavy Armour, Sea Dragon Cloak, Shield
20x Black Guard
Full Command, ???
10x Shades
Extra Hand Weapons
10x Shades
Extra Hand Weapons
30x Corsairs
Full Command, Sea Serpent Standard, Extra Hand Weapons
25x Spearmen
Full Command, Shields?
5x Dark Riders
5x Harpies
War Hydra
My main concern here was what the Corsairs and Black Guard could do with the right magic and/or Cauldron boost to my guys in combat. This made the Cauldron an obvious priority, however capatilising on it would be difficult. For spells I rolled up Miasma, Enfeebling Foe, Withering, and Pit of Shades. His Level 4 along with Power of Darkness had Miasma, Withering, Pit of Shades, and Okkams Mindrazor. The Level 2 had PoD, Fireball, and Flaming Sword of Rhuin. The Chosen swiftly rolled the 12 this time which was great for me as it would help them hold the hill. Ivan got the hill but had no unit to deploy on it. I got first turn. Deployment and his vanguard and scouts can be seen in the diagram below; his vanguard blocked mine as he won the roll off. As usual I was very careful to deploy so the Shades couldn't go behind my lines.
Turn 1I advanced my whole army bar the Warriors who took a strategic spot to view the Hydra. With all my spells pretty much out of range I took on the Fire spells from his Level 2 an chucked all 6 of my dice at a top tier Fireball at the Hydra however I fluffed and rolled about a 9 on 6 dice
Hellcannon missed its target and the Horsemen failed to wound the Dark Riders. The Shrine gave the Chosen +1 AS.
In his turn his Dark Riders reformed to allow the Shades to move up and shoot down the Horsemen. The Harpies moved to redirect the Knights and everything else shuffled a bit. The Master flew up and faced the flank of the Marauders. His magic did nothing and his shooting took out the Horsemen and 3 Marauders.
Turn 2Thinking the Master likely had the Crown of Command in order to hold up the Marauders all by himself I flank charged him with the Hellcannon. The Knights charged into the Harpies and the Marauders failed a long charge on the Shades losing a few men on the way in. The Chosen moved up onto the objective and the Warriors shuffled a bit.
In magic I managed to Miasma the Shades and then in shooting the Shrine gave the Chosen MR(3). In combat the Hellcannon and Master fought to a stalemate with the Master than passing his break test on a 6 (turning to face the Hellcannon), though it had previously been revealed that he had the Pendant not the Crown and thus the threat to the Marauder flank was just a bluff to make me assume he had the Crown. Smart move
The Knight easily butchered the Harpies and overran out of the LOS of the Corsairs.
In the Dark Elf turn he charged the Hellcannons flank with the Dark Riders. The Shades moved back to safer pastures and the Hydra moved in on the horde's flank. The Black Guard advanced toward the objective and the Corsairs turned to face the Knights. The Cauldron put up a 5+ ward on the Black Guard.
In magic he made the Chosen T1 and gave the Shades the Flaming Sword but they still failed to wound any Chosen come shooting. She also got off Mindrazor on the Black Guard however in doing so miscast and blew up half of the Spearmen and wounded both Sorceress'. The Hydra and other Shades combined their shooting and killed off about half of the Marauder horde. In combat the Hellcannon killed one Dark Rider but the Dark Elves won the combat.
Turn 3I realised the Black Guard were still outside the 6" from the objective and despite the Mindrazor I felt I needed to take the risk with the Chosen and charge them to keep them out of the scoring zone. Magic was good as I managed to Pit of Shades the Hydra and get rid of the Withering on the Chosen (not that it would matter this round). My Knight also reformed and ranked up behind the wall.
The Hellcannon killed of two more Dark Riders but they held their ground however the Master broke. The Chosen had a bad run as the Black Guard chopped down 5 of them for only 3 in return however the Chaos boys easily held. His other Shades moved around to try on the Hydra.
In retaliation the Shades charged the Marauders. The Spearmen shuffled and the Master failed to rally. This time in magic he put up the Mindrazor on the Corsairs but miscast again and lost the spell. Shooting yielded no results and combat turned around of the Dark Elves. Despite killing 2 more Chosen 4 Black Guard fell and lost the combat, though they held. The Hellcannon also managed to kill the last of the Dark Riders. The Shades did manage to beat the Marauders but lost a good few men and the Marauders held.
Turn 4Despite the taunting of the Corsairs my Knights weren't going anywhere near a S8 horde and passed their Ld check to restrain from frenzy. Elsewhere the Hellcannon saw an opportunity and made a mammoth 16" charge into the flank of the Spearmen. The Warriors moved up onto the hill and the Shrine moved into range of the now depleted Chosen who had reformed into one rank at the end of the last combat.
Magic was of little consequence however in shooting the Shrine managed to give the Chosen +1 A, achieving the second desired result on the table. As a result in combat the Chosen killed the Black Guard to the last man despite their ward save, and for no wound in return. The Hellcannon killed a swathe of Spearmen however they remained steadfast and turned to face the mosntrous daemon engine. The Marauder beat the Shades and broke the last two. Note that in the diagram they are running east despite the combat facing otherwise; I distinctly remembering they running that way in the game, but I obviously have some detail wrong about the facing of the combat or soemthing or other.
Since the Knights were having none of it the Corsairs chanced their luck and charged. Elsewhere the Shades failed to rally but the Master was more successful. The bigger unit of Shades moved in toward the centre. The Cauldron gave the ward save to the Corsairs this time.
As far as I remember magic had no big effects this turn. The Hellcannon fluffed its combat round, and the Knights killed about 7 Corsairs for a single wound in return.
Turn 5Marauders charged the Shades off the board. The Warriors moved off the hill as they had a better chance to block up the incoming Shades than the Shrine, leaving the Shrine to take the hill. The Chosen moved toward the Spearmen.
In magic the Sorcerer tried a Pit of Shades on the Shades just for points but failed. In combat the Hellcannon killed off the Spearmen. The Knights lost another of their numbe but killed 7 more Corsairs.
The Dark Elves struck a counter-attack by charging the Master into the Hellcannon's flank. The Shades also advanced further toward the centre. Their shooting managed to take down a single Warrior. In combat the Hellcannon took a wound and one of his crew died, but he managed to kill the Level 4 and then the Level 2 with Thunderstomp, so won and turned to face the Master, who held fast. The Knights killed only a single Corsair this round fluffing totally but holding.
Turn 6The last two things to settle for the Chaos were to secure the objective from the Dark Elves and to take the last amount of points possible. The Chosen charged the Master in the flank. The Marauders moved as far away from the Shades as possible in case Ivan decided to try and get point back instead. The Sorcerer Lord left the Warriors and moved over the hill. The Warriors reformed into a line to block the hill with the Shrine parking next to them 1" away with both units just within the 6" meaning the Shades had no means of contesting.
The last bits were to clean up house. The Sorcerer Lord managed a Pit of Shades on the Cauldron killing it. The Knights killed another few Corsairs breaking their steadfast and running them down. Unfortunately however the Chosen failed to wound the Master and he killed a Chosen in return as well as passing his break test.
As a last ditch effort the Shades shot Warriors to try and panic them for points but failed to do any wounds. However despite losing the combat the Master held yet again.
ConclusionsWell, that went much better than I had expected. After totting it was a 20-0 victory to me. I think things might have been closer had the Corsair taken Killing Blow from the Cauldron in the first round rather than the ward save as taking out the Knights would have netted back a lot of points to the Dark Elves and possibly been able to push through to the objective. As for my own army, the Hellcannon was easily the MVP accounting for the Dark Riders, the Spearmen, and both Sorceress'. I thought I played the Marauders badly getting bunged up in the centre but I can't complain as things worked out.
This win put me up to table 3 to face Dermot Maguire's Dwarfs in the Meeting Engagement. Seemed like a good scenario for me, but would it be? He had a rock solid list that didn't give away much points wise but relied on bunkering down in a small space to protect its war machines.
Runelord
Anvil of Doom, ???
Thane
BSB, Master Rune of Gromril, Rune of Resistance, ???
24x Hammerers
Full Command
Miners
Full Command
Grudge Thrower
Engineer, 2x Rune of Penetrating, Rune of Accuracy???
Grudge Thrower
Engineer, Rune of Penetrating, Rune of Burning, Rune of Accuracy???
Cannon
Engineer, ???
35x Dwarf Warriors
Full Command, Great Weapons
35x Dwarf Warriors
Full Command, Great Weapons
Organ Gun
Getting points back from this list without giving too much away myself was going to be tricky and it looked like getting points off the Warriors would take a dedicated assault from either the Marauders or two smaller units backed with magic. I rolled Miasma, Enfeebling Foe, Withering, and Pit of Shades. The Chosen for the first time did not roll up the ward save and instead got +1T. Deployment and Vanguard can be seen in the diagram below. The Marauders were kept in reserve unfortunately.
Due to deploying his whole army first he got first turn unless I stole it on a roll of a 6, which I failed to do.
Turn 1Unsurprisingly the Dwarfs didn't move. Seeing the well placed Horsemen behind the hill (they could see his cannon ready to charge it, but were out of site of his Organ Gun), Derm started by hitting them with the Anvil, killing 4. With the Organ Gun out of range I thankfully weathered the first storm of shooting only losing one Warrior and one Chosen apiece, with the Cannon missing the Hellcannon and taking out one of its Chaos Dwarf crew instead.
In my turn the Marauders came on and the whole army advanced. The lone Horsemen tried to charge the Cannon but failed. I won't mention a magic phase in this report as Derm managed to dispel every single casting I got off; that is to say I failed a few castings as well. In shooting the Shrine gave the Chosen +1Ld, and the Hellcannon luckily took out one of the Grudge Throwers.
Turn 2Again not much movement (the Miners came on the board) and the shooting commenced. The Miners were Anvil'ed into the back of the Marauders. The Organ Gun reared getting 8 shots, wounding with all 8 on the Knights, and then I proceeded to fail 7 armour saves, losing nearly the whole unit to one shot. Grudge Thrower was greatly unsuccessful but the Cannon managed to flatten the Hellcannon. Already things were going bad. In combat the Marauders beat the Miners and chased them off the board due to Frenzy.
To start my turn the Marauders came back onto the board exactly the same as last turn
In my turn the Knights tried a comfortable 12" charge at the Grudge Thrower with a nice overrun into the Anvil. Now that they were only 3 strong they were no good against the large infantry units after all. Going with the current theme of the game, they failed the charge by rolling a 3. The Shrine also tried a charge on the Organ Gun which also failed, however this was to be expected this time. The lone Horseman also managed to hit the Cannon. In shooting the Shrine once again failed to help, giving the Chosen +1Ld again. In combat the Horseman killed on Cannon crew, but failed to break them.
Turn 3The Dwarfs finally moved this turn, with the Hammerers charging the now weakened Knights and the Warriors moving out also. The Anvil smashed down on the Marauders, killing 3 and halving their movement. The Organ Gun opened fire on the Chosen and despite their T5 got multiple kills. The Grudge Thrower killed a few more Marauders. In combat the Knights fluffed only getting 2 kills and they were subsequently cut down. The Cannon crew managed to take down the Horseman too.
In my turn I foolishly sent the Chosen in against the Warriors horde, having been used to being able to send them into just about anything all day so far. I was gambling on getting the ward save this turn however it was a fool's hope. The Shrine managed a charge on the Cannon, and though they would likely fail the Marauders attempted a charge on the Warriors as the average failed charge move was now equal to their march move thanks to the Anvil. This paid off as even though they failed (needed double 6) they made a 6" failed charge, moving faster than they would have it they had marched. The Shrine failed to cough up the ward save and the Chosen were doomed. Several were cut down by the Dwarfs however they cut down 5 in return and actually won the combat by one. The Shrine easily dispatched of the remaining Cannon crew and reformed to have a choice of the Organ Gun and Dwarf horde.
Turn 4The Dwarfs held static again and started shooting. Another Anvil round on the Marauders along with a scattered Grudge Thrower saw a few die (and their movement halved again). The Organ Gun fired at the Shrine but failed to wound it. In combat the Dwarfs lost another few men but killed the Chosen down to just the Champion and BSB, though they passed their break test on a re-rollable 6.
The time to take back points would have to be now. Despite being at half movement the Marauders along with the Warriors had a comfortable charge on the Hammerers and took it. Both passed and both hit them in the front. The Shrine also charged the Organ Gun. As a lst ditch effort the Shrine blessed to last two members of the Chosen block but only managed an extra attack. In combat the Shrine killed to Organ Gun and though only needing a 3 to overrun into the flank of the horde, rolled snake eyes and was left stranded. The Chosen battled on and despite having 9 attack between the two men they fluffed and killed a single Dwarf leaving their doom certain as the Champion was cut down and the BSB died defending his banner. The Warriors and Marauders faired better. The unit champion was killed in a challenge by mine and another ~5 Hammerers were killed. A Warriors and a few Marauders were killed in return but I won and he held.
Turn 5For some reason unfathomable to me the Dwarf horde on the eastern flank didn't counter-charge the Marauders. Perhaps Derm knew that the Hammerers were done for and didn't want to give up more points by sending in the non-stubborn horde also. The Grudge Thrower tried to flatten the Shrine but failed and the Anvil elected not to fire incase it blew up. In combat another good amount of Hammerers were cut down for only a few Marauders in return, and yet the Hammerers stubbornness paid off again. The Sorcerer Lord and the Thane were now in a duel also.
The Chaos turn was for once rather simple with the Shrine simply moving out of the way of the Dwarf horde and blessing the Warriors with +1AS (2+AS Warriors
). Combat went much as it had in previous turns however this time the Sorcerer Lord managed a wound past the Thane's armour. They held again.
Turn 6Though he possibly regretted not sounding the Dwarf counter-charge last turn, too many Hammerers had died for the Horde to risk it now and so they backed off to avoid overruns. The Grudge Thrower fired at the Shrine again and did a wound. In combat the Hammerers were reduced to a single rank.
In the last turn of the game the Shrine charged the Grudge Thrower and failed. The Marauders cut down the last of the Hammerers and the Thane died defending his banner. The Chaos had been brutalised but may have pulled it back quite a bit with the death of the elite Dwarfs.
ConclusionsAfter calculating VP at the end of the game I was astounded to see I only lost 11-9; the killing of the Hammerers and Thane really pulled me back a lot of points. As far as the game went, I think my only true mistake was sending the Chosen in so early. Despite the fact that I likely would not have broken the horde, but keeping the Chosen and BSB's points would have won me the game. It might have been better to hang back an extra turn try get in another blessing and dual charge with the Shrine in the flank. I suffered some horrible luck in this game with the Knights in particular. That being said, a needed a loss to balance out the day.
Despite this outcome, I actually moved up a table as Derm though next underneath me on the table had been a few points below me. I was now set to face Nigel Kavanagh and his Daemons in the Battle for the Pass. Again I had an advantage in scenario but as this game showed, that doesn't always mean something.
I have attached quivers from the Wolf Rider sprues and I still need to sculpt straps onto them.
Oops.
The Shrine gave the Hellcannon +1AS and then it was straight to combat. The Knights fought the GUO to a stalemate. The Hellcannon killed all of the Bloodletters and with Thunderstomp did a wound to the BSB, but was left on a single wound of its own with no crew left to take the shot.