This is part 3 of my report of a recent tournament. You can find the previous part here, or go back to the start here.
Game 3 - Blood and Glory
Chad Smith - Beastmen
- Beastlord with Great Weapon, Armour of Destiny
- Great Bray-Shaman (Level 4, Lore of Death) with Talisman of Preservation
- Wargor with Battle Standard, Heavy Armour, Shield, Gnarled Hide, Beast Banner
- Bray Shaman (Level 1, Lore of Shadow) with Herdstone Shard
- Bray Shaman (Level 1, Lore of Beasts) with Dispel Scroll
- 39 Gor Herd with 2 Hand Weapons, Full Command
- 20 Gor Herd with 2 Hand Weapons, Full Command
- 33 Bestigor Herd with Heavy Armour, Great Weapons, Full Command, Standard of Discipline
- 10 Ungor Raiders
- 10 Ungor Raiders
- 10 Ungor Raiders
- Tuskgor Chariot
- Tuskgor Chariot
- Razorgor
- Razorgor
- 5 Harpies with Scout
Apparently Chad's comp score was -1, which I think was the worst I faced in the event. Beastmen unfortunately tend to be faced with the choice of either going hard with their list, or getting smashed. Chad had opted for the former approach. As it was being laid out opposite me, I wasn't feeling great about the chances of my squishy Wood Elf list...
The scenario was a variant of Blood and Glory, where breaking the enemy army didn't end the game - it just granted 600 bonus victory points. It still meant the deployment zones were closer together than normal, with dead zones on the flanks.
Chad had pretty much complete control of the deployment phase, with piles of low value units to place before he put down anything important. I put the Glade Guard on the hill, the Treekin and Lord behind a forest they could teleport from (if they got the chance), and did my best with the rest of the stuff without knowing exactly where the key enemy stuff was going to be.
By this point I had clued onto the plan of running both my characters in the Wardancers, so they were free to move and find targets without messing with the Glade Guard.
The Herdstone Shard up the back was a bit of a focus for me, because I knew the battery of power dice it was going to generate would be a problem. Getting to it could prove problematic, however.
I thought I had a plan, winning the roll-off for the Waywatchers and placing them behind the Beastman lines. This would have given a clear line of fire to the Shamans and their unit hiding behind the Herdstone. Unfortunately, Chad had anticipated this and consulted the Scout rules in the rulebook. No sooner had we deployed than the Harpies landed right in front of them, within their deployment zone. One inch away, looking at us. And unlike us, they could charge if they got the first turn...
Chad did indeed get the first turn, and apparently I was slightly too distracted to take photos - busy trying to work out what I was going to do. The hordes all walked right at me with the screens of Ungor out front. The Harpies charged the Waywatchers, but that didn't go as Chad had intended. It turns out Elves with additional hand weapons and ASF are more than a match for Harpies. They all died before they got a chance to strike. He did make a last minute attempt to improve their chances with Mystifying Miasma, but given I had already let Doom and Darkness and Spirit Leech through against my Spellweaver, I could at least fend off the Miasma and ensure the Harpies' demise. The magic phases against this army, with 2 extra power dice and 3 channel attempts, were definitely going to be an issue.
In my turn, I decided my only real course of action was to be proactive. The Dryads and Treeman went into one of the Ungor screen units, lining up in such a way that an overrun would put the Treeman into the Gor horde (he was the only thing that could hope to survive engaging that unit in the front, and might be able to assassinate the BSB - which was necessary if I was going to be any chance of breaking through the main Beastman lines). The Glade Guard fired at the other Ungor screen, killing most of them but failing to panic them. I had been undecided about clearing the screen, or hoping it would get in the way of the Bestigor charging. In the end, it wouldn't have mattered.
The charge on the Ungor screen was predictably one-sided. We wiped them out, and the Dryads had little choice but to overrun into the small Gor unit. I knew that aligning to the Gor was going to drag them properly into the charge arc of the Bestigor, but there wasn't much I could do about it. The unit couldn't flee in response to charges, so their best bet now was to have a go at assassinating the Great Bray-Shaman as they got obliterated. The Treeman had made it into contact with the BSB, which was kind of the point of the whole operation to this point.
The Waywatchers weren't able to focus onto their original plan of harassing the Shamans behind the Herdstone, because a Chariot had unsportingly turned around to threaten them. They moved out of its arc and fired on it, as the Warhawk riders moved up in support and my Lord abandoned the Treekin and used the Moonstone to teleport by himself in behind the Gor horde (there wasn't room for him to do it with his unit in tow).
The Ungor successfully charged into the Treekin in order to clear the path of the Bestigor. The combat did not go well for the Ungor, but they were out of the way.
The Bestigor swept around into the flank of the Dryads as expected, and they prepared themselves to at least try to scratch up the unit in front of them before they went. This plan was significantly undermined when Chad unleashed a boosted Soulblight with irresistible force. With its ridiculous 24" bubble, it hit my entire army. The Treeman was not amused, as his assassination run on the enemy BSB was pretty much doomed as a result. Or at least, it should have been. Even at Strength 4, he still managed to land 2 wounds on his opponent, and the BSB managed to roll double 1s on his save and keel over! This was good compensation for the 3 wounds the Treeman took (again, thanks partly to the Soulblight lowering his Toughness), and he stoically held his ground as planned. The Dryads were not so fortunate. Reduced to Strength 2, I think they still managed to tickle 2 or 3 of the Gor to death, but then they got walloped spectacularly (let's face it, that was on the cards anyway - they just lost the chance to maybe take a piece of the enemy with them), and broke.
Everyone chased the Dryads. They got away, but they were below quarter strength and doomed to keep fleeing until they left the field.
I honestly don't remember why the Chariot had turned to face this way, apart from the fact they it was going to struggle to get to grips with 2 skirmishing units. I think Chad might have positioned it for a rescure, expecting me to charge the Warhawks into the Ungor and Shamans behind the Herdstone, but I came to the conclusion that even though I could see them, I couldn't contact their front due to the terrain. The unit was actually focused on hiding from my Lord more than anything else, shuffling around in a circular motion like a hairy clock hand...
With the BSB gone, there was always a chance that I could beat and break the Gor herd with a single high break roll. Unfortunately they were always going to be Steadfast - I had barely any units in my list that could negate that, and they were not in the area. Instead I focused on what I could still do - winning the combat in the first place. The Lord swung into their rear, and the Warhawks went into the flank. I'm pretty sure I did all this without fully processing that these units that were out of the flank were still affected by Soulblight - they were so far away and kind of uninvolved when it went off. I realised in the combat phase and wondered then whether my plan was fatally flawed.
Aggression! I charged the rear of the Chariot, figuring the bonuses would see me win the combat. We actually did beat it and break it, but it got away. It was doing a good job of distracting me from the Shamans. Of all my units, the Waywatchers were the best chance to do something about them.
On my left flank the Treekin decided to dispose of the Razorgor lurking over there. It was not really relevant to anything, but it could become relevant. It was also about the sum total of what the Treekin could contribute. Even if they chased and caught up to the Bestigor herd, Soulblight meant they'd lose the combat and it would all have been a bit sad. The Razorgor was at least an achievable target - they killed it on the charge.
I can't remember if the Wardancers could see the flank of the Gor unit in my next turn, but with my Strength and Toughness reduced to 2, it wouldn't have been an inviting prospect anyway. I'm pretty sure I decided shooting and magic were better.
I'm pretty sure I threw everything at that target. Magic, Hail of Doom Arrow, fire from the Glade Guard... We did pretty well. Got the whole unit and gave the Great Bray-Shaman a fright. Unfortunately he passed his ward save and lived to cast another day.
In his turn, Chad did what he could to try to rescue the Gor horde. The Razorgor went into the rear of the Warhawks. Then the Shaman again forced through boosted Soulblight (I never seemed to have enough dispel dice or rolling skill to actually stop it when it was thrown with 6 dice). Fortunately I did still manage to win the combat. I think my various weakened Stomp attacks were really keeping me in the fight, and the Lord was doing his best with his reduced Strength. The Razorgor whiffed its attacks, so its rescue effort was not all it could have been. It broke and fled back the way it had came (eventually rallied on the board edge, out of the game). The fleeing Chariot rallied and turned back toward the Waywatchers, ready for another round.
The Bestigor went into the Glade Guard and obliterated them, being a smidgen too close for them to stand and shoot. I'm pretty sure Chad was able to reform rather than having to pursue anything - I think we were all dead. The Great Bray-Shaman managed to run through a gap in the lines to get out of sight of the Wardancers, which was sensible. Slippery as an eel.
With the Bestigor free and facing back this way, it was my last chance to break the Gor herd. I think in some. I'm not sure why I bothered sending in the Wardancers, given I was winning the combat anyway. I just knew I needed things to give right now, or what little I had achieved would fall apart when the Bestigor arrived. If I'm honest, I reckon I (again) forgot I'd be reduced Strength with the new unit in the combat because of Soulblight until I started picking up dice to attack. I was dealing with some kind of mental block regarding things that were not in the key space still having been impacted when it was cast. That being the case, and given I was winning the combat each turn anyway, this charge might have been a mistake. I may have been better served spinning the unit and trying to get a spell through to execute the enemy Shaman.
Meanwhile, on the left flank, the Treekin were doing... nothing. They did take a crack at a long charge on that fresh Tuskgor Chariot, but failed. My main objective with the unit at this point was to conserve their points. I didn't want them being fed into the Bestigor.
So. Lo and behold, at the last opportunity, I did actually break the Gor horde. The Treeman managed to run them down (I think the Warhawks rolled too, but hit my other units). At this point the Treeman only had 1 wound left, so his death seemed unavoidable, I let him head out to block the advance of the Bestigor whilst the other units reformed to try to get away. In the background, the Waywatchers managed to remove the Chariot they had been tangling with. I think it took a Stand-and-Shoot reaction to get it - so they nearly failed. In the picture here is the second Chariot arriving from the flank.
The Bestigor ended the Treeman in short order and reformed to menace the Wardancers. Being immune to psychology, they wouldn't be able to run away - basically they were not fast enough to escape. This was Plan B. My already-wounded BSB stepped out of the unit and blocked the advance of the enemy, whilst her unit expressed gratitude for her noble sacrifice and then ran the other way.
Look at all the things we can do, now that we're not slowed down by our BSB! This was the point where the net finally closed in and the Shamans could no longer hide.
The Shamans hiding behind the Herdstone finally realised that the gig was up. Chad toyed with lots of plans about scattering the characters out to try to preserve something, but in the end decided it was too hard and I had too many units there. Instead they stepped out boldly in front of the Herdstone and he tried a repeat of what he'd gone for in Turn 1 - Doom and Darkness followed by Spirit Leech against my Spellweaver. Once again I couldn't stop any of it, but she bravely fended off the attack and took no wounds after saves. I then disposed of the Shamans and their entourage.
This is how the game ended. I think we both had another turn left, but were running low on time. I think Chad had decided he didn't want to chance something risky to claim any more points, and without him stuffing up something like that, I probably wasn't going to achieve much either, so we agreed to call it.
So by the end, I still had my Lord and Spellweaver, Wardancers, Warhawks, Waywatchers and Treekin. Chad still had the Bestigor, Beastlord and Great Bray-Shaman, as well as the Razorgor who rallied off screen. I was actually up in terms of points (which surprised me, given how desperate most of the action had felt for my guys), but I had been broken before him in the scenario (there was some confusion around how the points were being determined - I'm not sure if we were both meant to get the points, or the break point had been changed, since technically we were both broken by the normal book standards - neither of us were great at banners). Anyway, Chad got the bonus 600 points, turning it from a narrow win to a narrow loss for the Wood Elves. It had been a very tight game.
That sounded tense! Good game, and shame it didn't go your way - you made a good fist against a brutal army.
ReplyDeleteThankyou for publishing these - know they probably take a tonne of effort to put together but they're a great read and make me very nostalgic.
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