This is the third part of my report of the recent Old World tournament at Arcfest. You can find the previous part here, or go back to the start here.
Game 4: King of the Hill (Baggage Trains, Break Point)
Jacob D'Arcy - Nehekharan Royal Hosts
- Tomb King (General, Hierophant, Level 1 Necromancy) on Skeleton Chariot with Heavy armour, Death Mask of Kharnutt, The Conqueror's Blade
- Tomb King on Necrolith Bone Dragon with Heavy armour, Blade of Antarhak, Talisman of Protection, Shield of Ptra
- Royal Herald (Battle Standard Bearer) on Skeleton Chariot with Shield, Armour of Destiny, Icon of Rakaph
- Skeleton Infantry Cohort (25 Royal Host Warriors, 18 Royal Host Archers) with Light armour, Thrusting spears and Shields (Warriors), Warbows (Archers), Nehekharan Phalanx, Master of Arms [Amulet of the Serpent], Standard bearer
- 3 Skeleton Chariots with Cavalry spears, Warbows
- 4 Tomb Guard Chariots with Halberds, Shields, Tomb Captain [Icon of Rulership], Standard bearer [Icon of the Sacred Eye]
- Tomb Scorpion
- Screaming Skull Catapult with Skulls of the Foe
- Screaming Skull Catapult with Skulls of the Foe
I was also a bit worried about Jacob's Bone Dragon in particular in this game - didn't seem like there was any way I could ever do more than shove it away for a turn.
I wasn't sure if the big unit of mixed infantry were likely to pose a problem for me, but they seemed like they'd be less dangerous than just about everything else.
The little Chariot unit was lurking behind the building, next to the enemy baggage train.
I got the first turn and wasted no time advancing aggressively on the left. The Merwyrm eyed off the Chariots, Hoping to actually get to attack at some point on Day 2... He had literally died without making an attack in the first 3 games.
I'm missing a photo. I had moved the Silver Helms up to claim the hill, ensuring they were well away from the Tomb King's Tomb Guard Chariots. What I hadn't bothered to do was query what the rule "My Will Be Done" does nowadays. Turns out that making it possible to travel 19" is amongst its tricks. I was not out of range after all. It still took a good roll on Jacob's part, but of course he managed it. And now my Sea Guard were doomed as well, unless I had the good fortune to either survive and hold with the Silver Helms somehow, or fail the panic test from them routing and get out of the way...
The Bone Dragon poked out from behind his building, but would not be an imminent threat unless I made him one. I guess I could have charged him, but that seemed like a mistake.
So a single Silver Helm did actually survive the combat with the Chariots, but I didn't happen to roll a freak double 1 to keep him there (that would have been a game changing event). Nor did I manage to panic with the Sea Guard. So now they were doomed...
The Chariots on the other flank had done their best to get around the side, but were never going to get completely out of the Merwyrm's arc. They did ensure they were too close for impact hits, however. Spoilsports.
A combat! And I would get to actually roll dice for attacks!
A couple of Dragon Princes fell to enemy shooting, but the rest made it into the Skeleton Cohort alongside my BSB.
It was too late to do anything to help the Sea Guard, so my other Dragons focused on getting out of the arc of the Bone Dragon, and into range to charge the Catapults.
Poor Sea Guard. Maybe if they'd had a chance to stand and shoot...
The Merwyrm managed to take a couple of wounds to low strength attacks, but he did destroy one of the Chariots and shove the remainder closer to the table edge.
The charge against the infantry went pretty well, with something like 16 of them collapsing after combat resolution.
The Sea Guard perished immediately in combat with the Chariots, who reformed and went to destroy my baggage train. It's worth noting that at this point, I was already getting pretty close to my army's break point. I didn't have a lot of models left with the Silver Helms and Sea Guard gone. I realised this, but it meant I couldn't afford to lose much more stuff (and we were only in Turn 2)...
The Bone Dragon tried to come about and stick his nose in the way of my general, but I could still see the Catapult.
The Skeletons continued to crumble rapidly - wouldn't be long now.
The Merwyrm took another wound, but won combat again and shoved the remaining Chariot off the field. He then turned to look toward the enemy baggage train.
It felt a bit cowardly to be so carefully evading the Bone Dragon, but my general had a job to do.
The Archmage's job was surprisingly similar.
The remaining Skeletons crumbled, the BSB spun about, but the Dragon Princes were excited and overran toward the table edge.
Both Catapults were now gone, and my general was challenging the Bone Dragon to a race.
The Merwyrm was on a mission.
We were getting some big Fast and the Furious vibes from this, eyeing each other off at the start line.
Having dealt with my baggage train, the Tomb Guard Chariots were now on their return journey to their own deployment zone (where I had set up shop). They executed all sorts of mad redressing, reforming, and reserve moving to basically twirl around the terrain and across the field.
The Bone Dragon had a crack at my Archmage, but it was a pretty long way and he didn't make the distance. I think that counted as a false start in his race against my general.
A cheeky Tomb Scorpion appeared from ambush and headed for my Merwyrm, making snippy "come hither" gestures. Of course he did it from outside my charge arc. He didn't actually want me to come over there. He was going to come to me on his terms.
I don't have a photo, but I decided to ignore the threat of the Scorpion and move into contact with the baggage train as planned. The Scorpion then pounced on my flank, but failed to land a wound, and died immediately in return. Hooray, another kill for the Merwyrm! Now he could continue to ransack the enemy's luggage.
The Chariots were not going to go away, but I needed time to turn the Dragon Princes around and get ready for a proper charge. So I decided to send in my BSB.
So the charge... didn't go the way I had hoped. I did literally no unsaved damage, with the Tomb King challenging and then deflecting off all the damage to the Royal Herald, who saved them all. I then took a wound, lost combat, got pushed back, and the unit reformed to look past me at the Dragon Princes. I hadn't given enough thought to what might happen when I engaged the wide unit too close to one end instead of in the middle. Maybe I assumed I'd do a wound. Silly me.
The Chariots charged the Dragon Princes, who had little option but to counter charge. To their credit, they did do some wounds. Then they died, and the Chariots overran into my Archmage. Right as the Bone Dragon got his dice right and charged into the flank.
I'm not sure I lost a wound, but I did lose the combat, broke and fled the table.
At that point the game was over because I had fallen below my break point. Unfortunately that meant the Merwyrm never got to finish looking for anything interesting in the luggage, and I got no points for it.
I had made a couple of key mistakes in that game, and had paid the price. I think I had also been too slow to engage the main Chariot unit. I probably had the muscle to overcome it, even if the Bone Dragon had gotten involved. Ah well, not enough familiarity with what I was fighting.
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