Thanks for another great report sir! I enjoyed it immensely, and you are seriously making me want to bust out my tiny dwarf throng and get it going!
Thanks for another great report sir! I enjoyed it immensely, and you are seriously making me want to bust out my tiny dwarf throng and get it going!
Originally Posted by SiNNiX
Another enjoyable battle love seeing fellow dwarf players battle reports.
Thank you for another great report! Feels nice to get some fluff reports here again
Current Campaigns: A World in Flames
Old Campaigns: The Rise and Fall of Rhatep
Current Projects: Lizardmen 1500 Points
Old Projects: Orcs & Goblins 5500 Points
Hi guys, I'm glad these reports have been received so positively. If you have any suggestions for my thread - then I'd be glad to hear them. If you want to comment on my terrible tactical / list decisions then that'd be cool as well.
I'm also going to play a friends TK army on Friday, and I'd like to let the people at Warseer choose one of my combat units. I'll make this unit at least 25 strong (unless the most voted choice is a single unit (Gyrocopter etc.) and I'll take the most voted choice in my army.
Hope you continue to enjoy, will post another report on Sunday I hope
Hiya, I just wanted to let you guys know that I was planning to post my BRP tonight but my PC is after dying. I don't think there's any hope of recovering the BRP, so I'm going to have to try and write it up AGAIN in the next few days :<.
I'm really gutted that all my work was destroyed, but I'll just have to get on with it and write it up again. I did in fact use Ironbreakers instead of Hammerers as I asked in the poll. So you guys will get to see them in action
Hope to have it up in a few more days!
Dwarves versus Tomb Kings - 2,000 points
This battle report won't feature my usual fluff opening, I know it's fairly popular but honestly I just want to get this one written and out of the way. I've been putting it off for ages due to a ridiculous series of unfortunate events with two previous computers that both had a meltdown. As a result I lost the battle report even though I did have a large amount of fluff written. The usual fluff will return next battle report, and I hope you'll enjoy it.
2,000 Dwarf Army
Characters 393
Dwarf Thane (Durgaz Dragonback) - 114 General
• Great Weapon
• Gromril Armour inscribed with a Rune of Stone, Rune of Preservation and a Rune of Resistance
Dwarf Thane (Grikk Goldridge) - 130
• Battle Standard Bearer
• Gromril Armour inscribed with a Master Rune of Gromril and a Rune of Preservation
Runesmith (Finn Rockbeard) - 151
• Great Weapon
• Shield
• Runestaff (talisman) inscribed with a Master Rune of Balance and a Rune of Spellbreaking
Core 875
30 Dwarf Warriors - 325
• Great Weapons
• Full Command
25 Dwarf Warriors - 275
• Great Weapons
• Full Command
20 Quarrellers - 275
• Great Weapons
• Musician and Standard Bearer
Special 610
25 Ironbreakers - 355
• Full Command
Cannon - 125
• Inscribed with a Rune of Forging
Grudge Thrower - 130
• Inscribed with a Rune of Accuracy and a Rune of Penetrating
Rare 120
Organ Gun - 120
Total: 2,000 Points
2,000 Tomb Kings Army
Characters 255
Liche High Priest - 255
• Hierophant
• Level Four
• Lore of Nehekhara
• Talisman of Endurance
• Channelling Staff
Core 690
25 Skeleton Archers - 170
• Musician and Standard Bearer
25 Skeleton Archers - 170
• Musician and Standard Bearer
3 Skeleton Chariots - 175
• Standard Bearer
3 Skeleton Chariots - 175
• Standard Bearer
Special 645
4 Necropolis Knights - 225
• Full Command
30 Tomb Guard - 420
• Halberds
• Full Command
Rare 410
Casket of Souls - 135
Screaming Skull Catapult - 90
Screaming Skull Catapult - 90
Total: 2,000 Points
Scenario: Battle for the Pass (his roll)
Table Size: 6x4
Points per side: 2,000 (equal)
Terrain: He rolls a 2 for terran, so we're setting up six pieces of terran (D6+4). I rolled the first piece of terrain and we rolled in alternate orders after that, the terrain we got from the table (in order) was:
#1: Obstacles - Three Fences
#2: Sinister Structure - Tower of Blood
#3: Mysterious River
#4: Marsh - Mist Wreathed Swamp
#5: Obstacles (again) - Three Blazing Barricades
#6: His last roll he gets a Magical Mystery, then gets the Nehekharan Sphynx
We roll off, I roll a five, he rolls a six, so he places the first piece of terrain of his choice. He puts the Tower of Blood straight in the middle of the battlefield. I then place a blazing barricade in each deployment zone, and one in the middle of the map next to the tower to make movement inconvenient for him when he's crossing the halfway point. He places down three 11" sections of river in the top half of the map. I realise this means there's a river coming from the mountain pass, but come on, that's been known to happen
I place the marsh down on the bottom of the field between the blazing barricade and the table edge, now he'll be trapped between the barricade, tower of blood and impassable board edge as he tries to move up any big units (or chariots). He puts down the statue on the left side of the board, and I place the three fences in fairly random locations, at this point the battlefield was getting cluttered so I just tried to get them down and out of the way.
Screenshot of board after terrain: http://imageshack.us/f/152/tkvsdawi2kterrain.jpg/
Deployment: I win the roll for board sides, he wins the roll for deployment. I pick the left side, and he makes me set up first. Check the picture for the way that deployment turned out.
He did decide to set up his first Skeleton Archer unit in the mysterious river, it turns out to be a boiling flood! Good news for me.
http://imageshack.us/f/831/tkvsdawi2kdeployment.jpg/
The Plan:
So I'm feeling more than a little bit intimidated by these skellies, as you can see from the board diagram I'm trying a much more forward deployment than Dwarves would ordinarily be used to. I did this because the centre of the board was so cluttered with terrain I thought I could block each lane between the terrain and the fences / blazing barricades with my superior combat units and grind him down one unit at a time. Using the terrain to my advantage to prevent him from getting flank charges with his big smashy units.
After that it's just a matter of cleaning up the shooting and other garbage that he has lying around as filler.
My general and BSB join the Ironbreakers, while my Runesmith joins the general and BSB join the Ironbreakers, while my Runesmith joins the 30 strong unit of warriors at the top of the field.
His Liche High Priest joins the second Skeleton Archer unit at the bottom of the map.
Magic: He rolls for magic before deployment and gets: Neru's Incantation of Protection, Ptra's Incantation of Righteous Smiting, Usekhp's Incantation of Dessication and Sakhmet's Incantation of the Skullstorm. He elects to swap the Incantation of the Skullstorm for the signature spell.
I finished deployment first, so I get +1 to the first turn roll. I get a 4(+1 = 5) and he gets a 2. I decide to take first turn.
The Throng of the Dragonback Clan, Turn One:
So first things first, my units are way too fat and I only left them in the bus formation for deployment purposes, he fields two lists, one that has two catapults and one that has a sphynx. I thought he'd take the sphynx honestly, but since the two catapults are present it's time to sort that out.
I obviously have no charges so my very topmost (DW2) warriors make a swift reform, passing their LD test and moving into a horde formation, I then move them 3" forward to occupy as much space as possible.
I wheel my Ironbreakers slightly as I move them up next to the tower of blood, now if he moves into the centre too rashly I might be able to get a double charge on him and make him crumble double quick.
My bottom unit of warriors (D) also swift reform into a horde formation and move up as close as possible to the Blazing Barricade, hoping to occupy it before my TK opponents can get too close. GW warriors behind a defended obstacle are fearsome opponents.
I have no magic of course so we move onto shooting, both my Quarrellers and Organ Gun are out of range and can't shoot. My cannon has line of sight to the casket of souls, however my opponent cleverly hid it behind an obstacle, meaning the first shot would destroy the obstacle and not hit the casket, so I elect to shoot at the Necropolis Knights (NK) instead.
I place the shot 10" in front of them, I roll the artillery dice, which first time rolls a misfire, however I have the rune of forging so I can reroll it and get a 4" but the bounce roll also rolls a misfire.
My grudge thrower fires at the near unit of Skeleton Chariots, it scatters 2" and destroys one chariot.
So much for the famous dwarf shooting phase!
There's no combat so we move onto TK turn one.
http://imageshack.us/f/32/tkvsdawi2kturn1dwarfthr.jpg/
Tomb Kings, Turn One:
He moves everything forward, but things on his right side get really badly crowded and he ends up having to take a dangerous terrain test on one of his chariots because it crosses the obstacle - which he passes.
Ten of his Archers are in the boiling flood (mysterious river) at the end of his movement phase, and he suffers six casualties from the raging waters.
In the magic phase he rolls an incredible 11 for the winds of magic, his Liche High Priest rolls a five for channelling, which means he does actually get an extra dice because of his Channelling Staff. I steal one dice however, because of the Master Rune of Balance. When alls said and done I end up with seven dispel dice to his twelve power dice. It would've actually been 14 if the cap at 12 hadn't been in place since he rolled a five for his Caskets D3.
He six dices the Caskets Light of Death spell, targeting my lower Dwarf Warrior unit and rolls an absolutely abysmal ten on six dice (complete with three 1's!). I throw three dispel dice at it and dispel it with an even ten (not including my +2 for Dwarves).
He throws three dice at Khsar's Incantation of the Desert Wind (which in this case would only affect his lowermost unit of chariots and Skeleton Archers) and gets an 11 (15 with his magic level) and I decide to let it go. He moves his Archers up another 4" and his Chariots only 1" or 2" but more importantly he revives the fallen charioteer with full wounds as the spell is an augment spell.
He uses his last three dice to cast Ptra's Incantation of Righteous Smiting, and rolls irresistible force (two six's and a one), so the spell does of course go through, allowing his Archers to shoot twice in the upcoming shooting phase. His miscast result is tragically a dimensional cascade, he loses 14 archers, but the wizard is miraculously left unharmed by his insane shenanigans.
In the shooting phase the decimated unit of 11 archers fire 22 shots at my unit of Warriors and manage a single kill. The upper unit of archers shoot at their corresponding Dwarf Warrior unit and get two kills.
The top screaming skull catapult targets the top unit of warriors and gets a direct hit! The result is five kills, but the stout hearted Dwarves pass their panic test. The lower screaming skull catapult targets my lower warriors, but scatters off and fails to hit anything.
There's no combat so it's time for Dwarf turn two.
http://imageshack.us/f/855/tkvsdawi2kturn1tombking.jpg/
The Throng of the Dragonback Clan, Turn Two:
I move my Dwarf Warriors up to occupy the defended obstacle, I recall positioning this unit extremely carefully, his skeleton chariots literally can't move past me on one side, so either have to go around or charge me, and I left enough room for the Organ Gun to have line of sight to them. Otherwise I leave my army stationary.
In the shooting phase my Quarrellers are slightly out of range of the Tomb Guard, and can't all see the Chariots, so I fire at the Knights instead, I actually wound him five times but he makes every... single... armour save.
My cannon fires at the Tomb Guard, aiming 10" short, the added range is 8" and the bounce is 8" too, which is enough to go through the whole unit, hitting six and killing five, taking a rank off them.
The Organ Gun targets the skeleton chariots and rolls 4 hits, I decide to reroll it and get 6 hits, every hit wounds which smashes two chariots into the dust.
My Grudge Thrower really has no good targets, so I decide to fire indirectly on the Tomb Guard who are out of LoS, I roll a direct hit and a 2". When firing indirectly you subtract the crews BS from the artillery dice roll, so the shot goes right on target. Getting twenty hits, and causing nine kills.
I'm very happy with the way this turn has gone anyway, so we move onto TK turn two!
http://imageshack.us/f/688/tkvsdawi2kturn2dwarfthr.jpg/
Tomb Kings, Turn Two:
He seems to be afraid of losing his last chariot so he reforms it (musician dead) and moves it near the archers, who wheel slightly to face the nearby warriors.
His uppermost archer unit swift reforms into a 7wide formation and moves out of the boiling flood so he won't lose anymore skeletons to it. His Necropolis Knights and Tomb Guard move forward, but there just isn't enough space to fit the other skeleton chariot unit anywhere so he swift reforms them to a 2 wide formation.
In his magic phase he rolls nine for winds of magic, he fails to channel and I steal one with the master rune of balance. He ends up with 11 (rolling 3 extra from the casket) power dice versus 6 dispel dice. He uses the caskets bound spell and targets my lower unit of warriors with it, he throws six dice and gets irresistible force. Bound spells aren't really affected by miscasts unless they're in items so the spell goes through, on 3D6 I roll a 10, resulting in only a single Dwarf casualty and there are no other Dwarf units within 6". The casket really sucks against Dwarves : /.
He throws his remaining five dice at Khsar's Incantation of the Desert Winds (the powered up 16+ version), he rolls a massive result and gets another irresistible force. He rolls a five and the big S10 template kills 8 archers and puts a wound on the Hierophant.
The spell enables him to move his chariot out of the lane of fire of my organ gun and moves all his topmost units forward another few inches, well within charge range for him next turn which brings the magic phase to a close. (It's worth mentioning at this point that we both critically forgot that this is an augment spell which would've let him restore D3+1 models on his chariots and Tomb Guard).
The screaming skull catapults both target their nearest enemy dwarf warrior unit, the top one rolls a misfire and can't shoot for two turns, the lower catapult scatters off only killing one warrior.
As the lower archer unit only has three guys left they fail to do anything but the top archer unit kills three warriors.
http://imageshack.us/f/196/tkvsdawi2kturn2tombking.jpg/
The Throng of the Dragonback Clan, Turn Three:
I decide the threat on the bottom side of the battlefield has been dealt with, I move my warriors out from behind the defended obstacle and march them towards the casket, at this point I don't think anyone has any victory points, and I fully intend to rack some up before the game ends. I move my Ironbreakers and other Dwarf unit back slightly, hoping to force some failed charges, or in the event of successful charges I can counter with my Quarrellers who have Great Weapons.
In my shooting phase, I fire my Quarrellers again at the Necro Knights, I score six wounds from twenty shots and two Knights die under the barrage, bringing the unit down to a manageable two.
The Organ Gun can draw line of sight (and has range) to the Tomb Guard, so I open fire but the Organ Gun misfires and explodes. My cannon fires on the Necropolis Knights, initially misfiring, but thanks to the rune of forging it rerolls and the bounce roll results in one VERY dead knight.
At this point I notice he has fewer than five rank and file models left in his Archer unit, so I fire at them with my Grudge Thrower, dropping the template directly on the head of the Hierophant. It scatters 2" taking the centre hole off the hierophant, which kills a different skeleton. However, I still wound the Hierophant and he fails his ward save, leaving him on a critical one wound.
Aside from the regrettable loss of the organ gun, it was a great turn.
http://imageshack.us/f/341/tkvsdawi2kturn3dwarfthr.jpg/
Tomb Kings, Turn Three:
He declares charges with his Necropolis Knights against my Dwarf Warriors and with his chariots and Tomb Guard against my Ironbreakers, he makes it in all cases despite the Tomb Guard needing a 10".
Both units of archers move forward (his Hierophants unit move out of the charge arc of my warriors), while his chariot continues to run from my vengeful warrior unit.
He rolls a five for winds of magic, fails to channel and the casket only adds a single dice, looks like his magical luck just got deadwalled. In the end, he has four power dice and I have four dispel dice. He throws all four dice at Usekhp's Incantation of Dessication (-1 S and T) at my Ironbreakers. He makes the casting value and I scroll it, just to be sure.
His shooting fails to do anything so we move quickly onto combat.
In combat, his Necro Knight champion issues a challenge, which I decline, and since it's just a champion he can't move him to the back of the unit. He allocates an attack on my champion and killing blows him though, he really did want that kill. Between his remaining attacks and his mount two more warriors die (3 total). I get five attacks back and inflict two wounds, one of which he fails. So that kills off the Knights.
The other combat sees the impact hits kill three Ironbreakers, then my Thanes, the Tomb Guard and the chariots strike at the same time (all I3), the chariots fail to kill anymore Ironbreakers (some wounds, but Gromril Armour + shield is tough). My GW Thane kills one chariot, and my other Thane puts two wounds on another. The Tomb Guard is the real story here however, they have nine attacks, hit with them all (with hatred reroll from the tower of blood) and roll SIX killing blows, with a further attack going unsaved. My Ironbreakers manage to kill the 1 wound chariot and kill one more Tomb Guardian.
Since he has a charge, two ranks a banner and ten kills he wins combat by a mile, breaks me even with the reroll (needed snake eyes), his chariots fail to get me but his Tomb Guard pursue and destroy my unit. So I just lost my Ironbreakers and both my Thanes, including my general. That hurts : /
However, he has set himself up for a juicy flank charge from my Quarrellers and my Dwarf Warriors (who I reformed after I won the combat.) So bring on the next turn!
http://imageshack.us/f/138/tkvsdawi2kturn3tombking.jpg/
The Throng of the Dragonback Clan, Turn Four:
I declare charges with my Quarrellers (who make it) and my Warriors (who don't) against his Tomb Guard, so the Quarrellers smash into his flank and prepare to bring the pain. Otherwise I march my lower unit of Warriors towards his Casket and all the delicious victory points contained within.
In shooting I fire my cannon at his topmost catapult, I get a "hit" with the bounce but of course it strikes the obstacle, which destroys it (you can't actually remove the obstacle while doing a BRP in battle chronicler so just bear with me and imagine it was gone...).
My grudge thrower targets his Hierophant again, I'm determined to at least kill the unit if I'm not going to kill the Hierophant, and I roll a direct hit, I'm giddy with excitement as I roll a six to wound and then roll six wounds. As well as this, I kill the two remaining Skeletons and at this point I'm feeling like I've secured the win.
From the crumble (which happens first at the end of the phase in which the Hierophant dies) one of the chariots loses a wound, a catapult loses a wound but everything else passes.
In the Quarreller vs Tomb Guard combat he goes first (great weapons vs halberds) and gets three kills. I strike back with ten attacks and kill four Tomb Guard. Due to my charge, banner, flank and kills he loses three more to crumble. I combat reform to have a 5 wide formation and he attempts a similar reform but fails because he lost the combat by three.
http://imageshack.us/f/848/tkvsdawi2kturn4dwarfthr.jpg/
Tomb Kings, Turn Four:
The Casket loses a wound to crumble, the wounded chariot passes its test but the other one fails and is destroyed, the skeleton archers lose five models and both catapults pass their tests.
He moves his remaining archer unit towards my cannon, with obvious intent, his remaining two wound chariot continues to run in an attempt to save the 200 or so victory points the unit is worth.
Both of his catapults fire at my warrior unit (the one near the casket), both get direct hits, but one rolls a misfire and can't shoot for two turns. The catapult that hits kills five warriors but they pass their panic test.
The uppermost archers fire on the cannon crew but fail to do any wounds (T7 like a boss).
In combat the Tomb Guard go first killing one Quarreller, the Quarrellers strike back killing four more Tomb Guard, and the crumble kills the remainder of the unit. At this point he decides to call it a game, even with my dead Ironbreakers, BSB and general, he has lost his general, a unit of chariots, skeleton archers, tomb guard and the Necro Knights.
http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images...4tombking.jpg/
Result:
Post-Game Thoughts:
A fun game, and you guys finally get to see Ironbreakers in action, just like you voted in the polls ages ago. Didn't they just live down to your expectations and then some?
On a more serious note I think the two factors that were the biggest influence on me winning the game were the terrain, which absolutely sucked for him. He clearly intended to break through the top half of my line then move downwards, using his chariot and archers + hierophant to tie up my warrior unit for a few more turns. But the terrain setup cramped him into a tiny space and he could barely move. The casket did nothing (1 kill? I think?) and the catapults did minimal damage.
The big issue here is that this is my all-comers list @ 2k, and it's his all-comers list @ 2k. I think my list would be favoured to beat his any day (especially if I had hammerers). Anyway, tragic as it is for me to admit, I think it might be time to retire the Ironbreakers until the new Dwarf army book presumably makes them useful
I realise a lot of people read my battle reports because I write a lot of backstory into them, but honestly I just couldn't bring myself to do it. I had good backstory written twice then both my PCs died (and I'm an idiot so there was no backup), and I just didn't have the heart to try and replicate it.
I hope you enjoyed this nonetheless, and you can look forward to more regular BRPs from me as I've just finished college and now have a break before I go on my next course. I hope you enjoyed, leave me a comment with your thoughts!
That's an absolute shame about the PCs, but I'm really happy to read more of your great reports.
When I die, I want to go peacefully in my sleep, like my grandfather. Not screaming like the other people in his car.
Got those old 5th edition lizardmen collecting dust? PM me, I really need more metal skinks with javelins.
I really enjoyed reading your reports. I haven't played in ages because I'm at university, so I've been living vicariously through battle reports on here, and its great to see Dwarfs do so well. Your choice of lists are different to what I normaly use, but seem to work better, so I may have to start changing the way I play. The game against the Orcs and Goblins sounded really fun, and I'm glad you didn't get to see what those manglers do (they're nasty). I'm sorry to have to nitpick, but in the O&G game you use the Rune of Forging to reroll your cannons shot from a 2 to a 10, but the rune only allows you to reroll a misfire, just thought you should know. But I can't wait to see some more reports come up.
Check out my painting blog: http://www.warseer.com/forums/showth...Boy-s-Painting
Thank you, I'm glad to see you're still reading them.
You're 100% correct, my opponent pointed this out to me politely after the game, I checked my army book and found he was right, was a real derp moment for me. I guess in my mind over time the rune of forging gradually evolved. Obviously I knew it only let you reroll misfires, but misfires are bad, and over time it just got meshed with "rune of forging lets you reroll pretty much anything bad", so it was a silly mistake and I'll try not to repeat it.
Dwarf vs VC battle report coming up TONIGHT. I'm just writing the post-battle fluff now, I hope you enjoy
Dwarves versus Vampire Counts - 2,500 Points
Annnddddd it's back
Opportunity Knocks
Extract from Karak Izor's Book of Grudges, in the year 6,505 by the Dwarf reckoning:
Terrible news for in this year, Goghbad, cousin of the King of Karaz-a-Karak and betrothed to the daughter of King Barrin of Zhufbar has been slain. By all accounts he was an honourable Dwarf investigating the destruction of the barley fields west of his hold when he came upon the outpost of Duraz Urbazund. The area was desecrated, and not a single Dwarf body was to be found. The disgusting Orcs are initially suspected, but as the search continues the outpost is attacked a second time by an undead host led by a blood-drinker! The Dwarves hold out for many hours despite the countless dead that assail them, by the account of ranger Urzuk Stoneheart, Goghbad met the blood-drinker itself in single combat, but was overpowered by its unnatural speed and regenerative powers.
Goghbad is slain but his body remains unfound, without burial he is consigned to wander the Dwarf afterlife for all time a mere spirit, unable to find joy or peace. For such a vile crime this creatures head must be struck from its shoulders!
Extract from Karak Izor's Book of Grudges, in the year 6,510 by the Dwarf reckoning:
In this year the creature known as Vlad von Carstein has cast off his guise as a mere manling and shown himself to be a vile vampire! Only the ignorant humans of the Empire, fraught with division and strife could fail to see such a traitor in their midst. In his invasion of the Empire, Vlad uses treacherous death magic to command the spirits of the dead to do his bidding. Such unnatural abuse of the sacred dead cannot be tolerated! The king of Karak Izor sends a quarter-throng, in accordance with the High Kings wishes to stop Vlad before he can realise his desire to be Emperor.
A formal grudge is lodged against him here, as it is likely he or one of his servants are responsible for the murder of Goghbad. Penance for such a crime can only be retrieved in blood!
Extract from Karak Izor's Book of Grudges, in the year 6,551 by the Dwarf reckoning:
The Dwarf realms are fraught with wrath, for Vlad von Carstein has been slain on the walls of Altdorf by a manling. Though we are glad he is surely dead, the grudge against Vlad cannot now be completed, who is to answer for the sacking of Duraz Urbazund or the murder of Goghbad?
Extract from Karak Izor's Book of Grudges, in the year 6,558 by the Dwarf reckoning:
Another so-called Vampire Count has risen in Sylvania, Konrad is his name and he has claimed control of the von Carstein family. The High King decrees that Vlad's crimes shall pass to Konrad, who is by all accounts a demented and insane beast entirely ruled by his bloodlust.
Extract from Karak Izor's Book of Grudges, in the year 6,621 by the Dwarf reckoning:
Joy fills the Everlasting Empire, as Konrad von Carstein is slain. At the battle of Grim Moor a combined Empire and Dwarf army met the Vampire Counts shambling horde in battle, and with steel and blackpowder they were destroyed in their thousands, a rich price in Necromancers blood was taken as recompense for the dishonour done to the dead.
Konrad himself died fighting Thane Grufbad, and Elector Count Helmar by the combined efforts of Rune-axe and Runefang. The king deems the slaughter of Goghbad and the sacking of Duraz Urzabund resolved by the death of Konrad, and the previous grudges against him can be struck out with satisfaction.
Extract from Karak Izor's Book of Grudges, in the year 6,624 by the Dwarf reckoning:
Once again the barren land of Sylvania has churned out another lord of undeath, this one is named Mannfred von Carstein, and reliable reports suggest that though he has a weaker sword arm than both Vlad and Konrad, he is possessed of a devious mind. Our people once again sharpen their axes and prepare for war, this time we will root out the evil and ensure it is destroyed forever.
Extract from Karak Izor's Book of Grudges, in the year 6,632 by the Dwarf reckoning:
Our people sleep uneasily. In this year Mannfred von Carstein has launched a surprise attack against the Empire while in one of its many civil-wars. Such a thing is unknown to our people, but the Empire, founded by Sigmar Dwarf-friend, which has stood for two-thousand years is almost toppled.
We here lodge a grudge against Grand Theoginist of Sigmar, Kurt III, as he used a book of Necromancy in order to unbind the magic keeping the damned in check. Though we as a wise and noble people understand why the Grand Theoginist saw this necessary, it is still the usage of evil manuscripts.
Mannfred is unable to take Altdorf, and flees before the power of this magic back to Sylvania.
Extract from Karak Izor's Book of Grudges, in the year 6,640 by the Dwarf reckoning:
Woe be upon us! In this year a joint army of Karak Kadrin and Karak Izor has been destroyed! Thane-Lord Durar Dragonback and Velsik Ironfist, a distant relative of the ruling Ironfist clan have been struck down in battle. Reports from the few surviving rangers name Vampire Countess Elsypth Ophilia as the leader of this group, and though frail and sickly by appearance, she is in fact devilishly cunning and possessed of unnatural vigour and strength. She struck down fully three Thanes in single combat - They Will Be Remembered, though our Runesmiths are convinced that magical trickery must have been involved.
The King has summoned another throng, under the command of Thane-Lord Grimbol Stoneheart to march to Sylvania to bring both the Countess and Mannfred to justice!
Extract from Karak Izor's Book of Grudges, in the year 6,645 by the Dwarf reckoning:
Though endlessly quagmired by their worthless intrigue and politicking, in this year the manling leaders have shown leadership and intelligence as they temporarily put aside past differences and united against their common foe. At the battle for Hel Fenn, a marsh of the most nauseating and despicable qualities, Mannfred was brought to battle by true Dwarf steel and manling resolve. Mannfred grinned at our people from the darkness, believing the marsh would prevent us from pursuing him, but he underestimated the determination of his enemies, and he was pursued deep into the marsh. Though we paid a dear price in blood, Mannfred von Carstein was struck down by the Elector Count of Stirland, armed with his mighty Runefang cut crippling mortal wounds into Mannfreds body. Neither man nor Dwarf has been able to locate Mannfreds body within the treacherous swamp, but for the moment we consider the matter settled.
Elsypth Ophilia was brought to battle, and injured by Thane-Lord Grimbol Stoneheart, as the Rune of Preservation guarded him against the treacherous underhanded strikes of the Vampire Countess. Unable to achieve victory, she fled like the coward she is and abandoned her Necromancers and fellow Vampires to our wrath. Though many are slain, some flee and we are unable to find them all. Thus the grudge still stands and our people shall remain restless until she is found and brought to justice.
Extract from Karak Izor's Book of Grudges, in the year 7,005 by the Dwarf reckoning:
The manling Felix Jaeger claims to meet Mannfred von Carstein in Drakenhof Castle, our wise Lords and Runesmiths are prepared to dismiss this as mere conjecture. However Felix Jaeger is a Dwarf-friend and honourable man by all accounts, having sworn - and kept - a blood oath with the Slayer Gotrek Gurnisson.
The King orders the hold into a state of readiness, to prepare for another war with the Vampire Counts, armour is oiled and polished, and axes are sharpened in preparation. When the beast rises we shall not be caught unprepared this time.
Extract from Karak Izor's Book of Grudges, in the year 7,015 by the Dwarf reckoning:
Vampire Countess Elsypth Ophilia has been sighted in Sylvania! A manling army was sent to investigate and few have returned, the descriptions given of the Vampiress are almost identical to those made by our own people centuries earlier.
The King calls a throng, under the command of Thane-Lord Durgaz Dragonback, and dispatches him and his throng immediately to strike the witches head from her shoulders. May the Ancestor Gods speed them to a quick victory, and a swift return.
2,500 Dwarf Army
Characters: 659
Dwarf Lord (Durgaz Dragonback) - 241 Army General
• Great Weapon
• Shieldbearers
• Gromril Armour inscribed with a Rune of Stone and a Rune of Preservation
• Runic Talisman inscribed with a Master Rune of Spite
Thane (Grikk Goldridge) - 145
• Army Battle Standard Bearer
• Gromril Armour inscribed with a Master Rune of Gromril and a Rune of Resistance
• Hand Weapon inscribed with a Rune of Fire
Runesmith (Finn Rockbeard) - 149
• Great Weapon
• Runic Staff (talisman) inscribed with a Master Rune of Balance and a Rune of Spellbreaking
Runesmith (Godri Stonetooth) - 124
• Great Weapon
• Runic Staff (talisman) inscribed with a Master Rune of Spellbinding
Core: 1075
30 Dwarf Warriors - 325
• Great Weapons
• Full Command
30 Dwarf Longbeards - 415
• Great Weapons
• Full Command
25 Quarrellers - 335
• Great Weapons
• Standard Bearer
Special: 765
25 Hammerers - 355
• Shields
• Full Command
Cannon - 125
• Inscribed with a Rune of Forging
Grudge Thrower - 130
• Inscribed with a Rune of Accuracy and a Rune of Penetrating
Grudge Thrower - 155
• Inscribed with a Rune of Accuracy and 2x Rune of Penetrating
Total: 2,499
2,500 Vampire Counts Army
Characters: 776
Vampire Lord (Elsypth Ophilia) - 371 General
• Ogre Blade
• Potion of Strength
• Talisman of Endurance
• Enchanted Shield
• Heavy Armour
• Red Fury
Necromancer - 140
• Level 2
• Staff of Damnation
Necromancer - 140
• Level 2
• The Cursed Book
• Ironcurse Icon
Necromancer - 125
• Level 2
• Book of Arkhan
Core: 924
40 Zombies - 125
• Standard Bearer
38 Zombies - 119
• Standard Bearer
40 Skeleton Warriors - 210
• Standard Bearer
30 Crypt Ghouls - 310
• Crypt Ghast
5 Dire Wolves - 40
5 Dire Wolves - 40
5 Dire Wolves - 40
5 Dire Wolves - 40
Special: 560
Corpse Cart - 120
• Unholy Lodestone
30 Grave Guard - 440
• Great Weapons
• Full Command
• Banner of the Barrows
Rare: 240
Mortis Engine - 240
• Blasphemous Tome
Total: 2,500 Points
Scenario: He rolls a six, so it's the watchtower scenario, I roll control of the watchtower, but I don't have a core unit of 20 or fewer models, so I leave it empty.
Table Size: 6x4
Points Size: 2,500 (equal)
Terrain: D6+4 terrain pieces gives us the maximum 10 pieces of terrain, we actually didn't have THAT much so we rolled up five bits of terrain, which resulted in:
#1: Ordinary Hill
#2: Encampment of Destruction, 3 obstacles which are blazing barricades and a charnel pit
#3: Magical Mystery - Sinister Statue
#4: Sinister Structure - Bane Stone
#5: Steadfast Sanctum - Elven Waystone
We also add one forest, because... come on you gotta play warhammer with forests.
I roll higher than him so I set up the first piece of terrain, putting the hill in the north deployment zone. He places all three blazing barricades outside of anyone's deployment zone. I asked him about it afterwards and he said he didn't want me to be able to put any of my units behind the obstacles, because Dwarves + defended obstacles = nightmare for undead units, which already aren't very killy.
Which I understood. He then places the charnel pit next to the watchtower, which I thought was smart, there's gonna be a lot of fighting going on there and he's gonna have a 6+ regeneration save from the pit.
I place the sinister statue way out of the way in the flank of a deployment zone, just to keep it from burning up my units.
He puts the bane stone between the charnel pit and the obstacles. I put the Elven Waystone on the north side of the map. He puts an ordinary forest on the right side.
http://imageshack.us/f/96/dwarvesvsvcterrain.jpg/
Deployment:
Since I won the roll for the watchtower, he auto wins sides. He picks the south side, so he can get all his casters next to the Elven Waystone.
We deploy in alternating turns, I'm not going to regale you expansively on the deployment, here's the order the units came down in:
Zombies (Z1)
Dwarf Warriors (D)
Zombies (Z2)
Longbeards (LB)
Skeleton Warriors (S)
Quarrellers (Q)
Crypt Ghouls (CG)
Hammerers (H)
Dire Wolves (DW1)
Cannon (C)
Grudge Thrower 1 (GT1)
Grudge Thrower 2 (GT2)
Dire Wolves 2 (DW2)
Dwarf Lord joins the Hammerers
BSB joins the Hammerers
Runesmith 1 (master rune of balance) joins the Dwarf Warriors
Runesmith 2 (master rune of spellbinding) joins the Longbeards
He puts down the rest of his army, his Vampire Countess joins the Grave Guard, and two of his Necromancers join a unit of Zombies each, and the third joins the Skellies.
http://imageshack.us/f/15/dwarvesvsvcdeployment.jpg/
The Plan:
Whenever you play any of the new 8th edition armies, you always wonder how many monsters he's going to have, it sets you on edge. I thought I was being conservative by only bringing one cannon, but it looks like I didn't need any more. As a Dwarf I'm used to being outflanked quite heavily, though the Dire Wolves could make things painful for my warmachines after turn three or four. But by then they'll have to have done their work anyways. The Grave Guard possibly occupying the tower with the Vampire has me worried, that unit will basically be indestructible with his many wizards.
It's not like I can really stop him from occupying it, since he's going to have first turn. But what I'm thinking is that I can wreck the unit with artillery, then when he occupies the tower try to shift him in one turn with my Longbeards. I'm really worried, I think that any other scenario would've favoured me much more, but oh well, let's see how it goes.
Magic:
All his guys are using the Lore of the Vampires.
The Countess rolls swaps whatever spell she got for Invocation of Nehek
The Necromancer in Z1gets Curse of Years and Vanhel's Danse Macabre, he keeps both.
The Necromancer in S gets Raise Dead and Hellish Vigour, he swaps Raise Dead for Invocation of Nehek.
The Necromancer in Z2 gets Wind of Death and Raise Dead, he swaps Raise Dead for Invocation of Nehek.
Pre-battle moves:
The dire wolves all vanguard forward.
Vampire Countess Elsypth Ophilia's Legion, Turn One:
His Vanguarded Dire Wolves on my right flank attempt a charge on the exposed Cannon (needing a really high roll) but fail the charge. The other dire wolves circle around the VC players right flank, setting up to make themselves very irritating in my near future.
Everything else marches, or moves depending on their range from the general, we move onto magic.
He rolls a shocking 3 for winds of magic, and gets one channel, but I steal one dice from the master rune of balance. So he ends up with 3 and I end up with 5 (Runesmiths baby). The Mortis Engine rolls a double for its dark aura, and takes a wound. His Necro in the zombie1 unit throws two dice at Vanhel's on the Zombies. I dispel it easily. He uses his last dice to try and cast the Vanhel's from the book of Arkhan on the Grave Guard but fails to meet the casting value.
He has no shooting so we move onto my turn one.
http://imageshack.us/f/839/dwarvesvsvcturn1vampire.jpg/
The Throng of the Dragonback Clan, Turn One:
I march all my melee units up, getting the Longbeards as close to the tower as possible. I figure I may end up having to try wipe out the rest of his army before I take the watchtower, but I'm not sure at this point.
I of course have no magic so it's straight onto Shooting.
I fire my Quarrellers at his Zombies (Z1) unit, killing six.
I fire my cannon at the Mortis Engine, placing the marker 10" away as you do. The extra range is 6" and the cannonball bounces 10" scoring a direct hit on the engine. I wound and do four wounds, killing the Mortis Engine. At this point I was really feeling like he could've positioned it a bit better. I mean it was right out there in the open, clearly in LoS of my cannon. I talked to him about it after the game and he said he wanted to get it up behind his blocks to buff them, or get a lucky terror bomb. In any case, the engine explodes and does 2D6 S1 hits to all units with 12" (+ the turn number).
The blastwave of dark magic kills a dire wolf, a zombie, puts a wound on the corpse cart and two crypt ghouls.
For my last shooting I fire both grudge throwers at his Grave Guard, and miraculously score two direct hits (without even needing the reroll!)
The first grudge thrower (+2 strength) racks up 16 kills, the second (+1 strength), kills six. Bringing the unit down to dangerously low strength, HOWEVER the close proximity of the charnel pit (6+ regen to undead) brings back 7 Grave Guard, leaving the unit at a total of 15.
There's no combat so it's VC turn two.
http://imageshack.us/f/267/dwarvesvsvcturn1thethro.jpg/
Vampire Countess Elsypth Ophilia's Legion, Turn Two:
The Grave Guard with the Vampire Countess move up to the Watchtower and occupy it. The second unit of Zombies (Z2) march through the charnel pit to get a flank charge on the Longbeards if I should try and assault the tower next turn.
The flanking dire wolves continue angling to get around my rear, though the DW3 unit moves next to the zombies, presumably to dual flank charge my Longbeards in the flank. The central dire wolves take advantage of my clumsily planned movement phase and move between the Warriors and Hammerers, for a certain charge next turn against the cannon. Everything else moves or marches, as appropriate for its position from the general.
However, please note that the Necromancers in his Skeleton and rightmost Zombie unit leave the unit to avoid certain death in the next turn charge. The third Necromancer stays in his unit.
In magic he rolls a 7 for winds of magic, and gets one channel, but the master rune of balance sets that straight. He ends up with 7 PD vs my 6 dispel dice (Runesmiths are probably a bit imbalanced in the new magic system, to be honest).
The centremost Necromancer puts 4 dice into the 12+ invocation of nehek, and easily makes the casting value (would've JUST made the higher level casting, but hey... hindsight? is 20/20). I throw five dispel dice at it, and dispel it. He uses the cursed book, which sucks up his last three power dice, and casts the enfeebling foe on my Longbeards, and I decide to scroll it. I only had one dispel dice left and I didn't want my Longbeards to be -D3 strength in the critical upcoming combat.
With my rune of spellbreaking the turn ends, leading us onto Dwarf turn two.
http://img221.imageshack.us/img221/1...rn2vampire.jpg
The Throng of the Dragonback Clan, Turn Two:
I declare a charge with my Hammerers against his Skeletons and my Longbeards against his Zombies, I figure there's no point in assaulting the building, it's early days yet, and if I can kill his Skellies and Zombies, I won't have any more flanking issues (save the dire wolves, but they pose no threat to my flanking units). Both units make it, and I keep the rest of my battle line stationary, to pound down his left flank with a combined effort from my Warriors and Quarrellers.
In shooting I fire a grapeshot at his Dire Wolves, who are directly in front of my cannon, I roll six shots, three hits and two kills. I fire my Quarrellers at the zombies, killing seven. I'm hoping to bring the unit down to low enough strength that I can wipe them out in one round of combat.
I was sorely tempted here to fire my grudge throwers at either the building or the exposed necromancer, but I was very worried about scatters. In the end I fired my +1 strength Grudge Thrower @ the Zombies, since it would be killing on a 2+, and the +2 strength Grudge Thrower at the building, I figured I could kill a handful more Grave Guard but combat got going.
How wrong I was. The +1 strength GT misfires and falls apart. Though the other GT scores a direct hit against the building, getting six hits and five Grave Guard kills.
In combat my Hammerers are immune to fear, so auto-pass and my Longbeards pass their test (amidst much grumbling about how other, much younger Dwarves would not). In the Hammerer-Skeleton combat, my BSB goes first, killing two, then the Skeletons attack and score one kill. My Hammerers go next and REALLY screw up all their attacks, rolling abysmally and then to add insult to injury the Skeletons PARRY two of the Hammerers wounding hits. I stopped for a moment to ponder the likelihood of that in a real warhammer battle. Have you ever read a description a Dwarf? What about a hammerer? What about the weapons they use? Could you imagine any skeleton parrying a hit from one of them and not having his arm disintegrate? Oh well, I digress, the Hammerers kill one lousy Skeleton *grumble*. My Lord goes next netting three kills. He loses nine to crumbling, but it could have gone a lot better for me quite easily. I then combat reform to a horde formation, it's pretty vital that these guys go down next combat, otherwise I'll be bogged down for ages in a war with my numbers against his magic, and I don't think I'll make it in the long run.
In the other combat, the zombies (naturally) fail to do anything, my Runesmith kills one and the Longbeards kill four more. He loses six more to crumbling. I then combat reform my Longbeards into a horde formation, partly because I wanted the extra attacks, however it was mostly to obstruct the view of the Dire Wolves, who had a pretty clear (and reachable) charge on my Grudge Thrower next turn. Now he has to either charge my Longbeards, which will give me even more combat res, or he has to take the long way round.
http://img502.imageshack.us/img502/7...rn2thethro.jpg
Vampire Countess Elsypth Ophilia's Legion, Turn Three:
Things are heating up now, his Dire Wolf (DW4) unit declares a charge against my cannon and makes it, his DW3 unit decide to charge my Longbeards and make it (since they were already more-or-less in base contact anyway).
His Zombies (Z1) and Crypt Ghouls declare a charge against my Warriors, but miss a flank charge by one inch. Though he either forgot to move his Necro out, or didn't, in any case he's in the combat with the warriors, and I have every intent of killing him fast.
The Necromancers at the watchtower do some minor manoeuvring to stay out of harm's way, and the corpse cart moves up.
I didn't record this part entirely properly, I forget what he rolled for the winds of magic, but I ended up with nine dispel dice to his six power dice. The Zombie vs Warrior Necromancer uses the Staff of Damnations bound spell with one dice and makes it, I let it through. However what I didn't realise at the time is that this will also give the extra attacks rule to the nearby Dire Wolves, who now have the upper hand against my War Machine crew. AND since the corpse cart was nearby when an augment spell was cast, now the zombies have always strikes first. I feel so damn tricked.
He throws all five of his remaining dice at the fully boosted (18+) invocation of nehek, to try and irri. force it through my overwhelming dispel dice pool, which he manages. He's in range of both units of Zombies, the Grave Guard and the Skeletons. The corpse cart and injured dire wolves were thankfully out of range. The leftmost Zombies regain six, basically neutralizing last rounds shooting, the Skeletons also regain six, and the Grave Guard crucially get back the maximum eight (6 + caster level). Lastly, the rightmost zombies get back 11, bringing the unit back to its starting size.
His miscast roll is a nine (Magical Feedback), meaning each wizard on his side (including the miscaster takes a S6 hit). Each Necromancer is successfully wounded by the miscast effect, and the Vampire Countess also suffers a wound. This brings the magic phase to a close, and we move onto combat.
His charging zombies with two attacks and always strikes first *sigh*, do only a single wound despite the flurry of attacks, which is then saved by my heavy armour. The Necromancer also fails to do anything. My Runesmith then puts both attacks on the Necromancer and kills him, followed by 4 more Zombies from my Warriors. He loses four more to crumbling.
The dire wolves (with their extra attacks and +1 strength on the charge) kill one crew member, the remaining two Dwarves fail to wound the wolves despite two hits, fail their stubborn break test and the cannon is destroyed. I'm a really sad panda at this point
In the Hammerer vs Skellie combat, he wounds twice but both are saved by my heavy armour. My BSB kills two, the shieldbearers kill another and the Hammerers strike with a blizzard of great weapon horde attacks and kill 11 skellies (that's what I was looking for!)
This is followed by 18 skeletons crumbling, which leaves a single Skellie on his own to face my Hammerers wrath.
In the other combat, the charging dire wolves kill a Longbeard, the zombies scratch at the Longbeards but fail to do anything, and the Longbeards hit back wiping out the dire wolves and killing ten zombies, the Runesmith kills another. Eight more zombies crumble.
http://img688.imageshack.us/img688/3...rn3vampire.jpg
The Throng of the Dragonback Clan, Turn Three:
I decide to charge my Quarrellers (who are already in horde formation for shooting purposes) into the flank of his Zombies. If I can crumble the Zombies, then his left flank will collapse and I can reform afterwards to face the Crypt Ghouls. Then I can march on the watchtower and hopefully win the scenario, I have a feeling if it was another scenario these combats wouldn't look so rosy, the GG unit would slice up my units pretty well.
Aside from that I have no movement.
I figure this will be my Grudge Throwers last opportunity to shoot, so I shoot the Watchtower again, in the hopes of whittling down the Grave Guard some more for the inevitable combat. Unfortunately it scatters off 4"... into one of the injured Necromancers
In the leftmost combat the charging Quarrellers put ten zombies out of their misery, the Runesmith kills another and the Warriors kill seven more. The zombies scratch ineffectually at the Warriors and Quarrellers and the unit is destroyed by crumbling. I then reform the Quarrellers to face the impending Ghoul threat.
The Hammerers naturally kill the last skeleton (although he did amusingly parry two more attacks, it was THAT one guy the whole time!) I reform the Hammerers to face the tower, and where this match is really going to be decided.
In the Longbeard vs Zombie combat, I could tell you what happened... but you already know, the Zombies are gone and I reform to face the tower.
That ends my third turn, and now we risk the game ending, as it's his turn four.
http://img85.imageshack.us/img85/585...rn3thethro.jpg
Vampire Countess Elsypth Ophilia's Legion, Turn Four:
For revenge he charges two units of Dire Wolves at my Grudge Thrower, but only the depleted unit makes it, I'm hoping to kill them this turn and get one last turn of shooting out of my Grudge Thrower.
His Crypt Ghouls and corpse cart dual charge my Quarrellers, it's a risky combat, but if I can make it - the counter charge should win me the right flank.
His Necromancer moves around the flank of my Longbeards, making sure to stay in range of the tower to buff up the grave guard.
He rolls a 12 for winds of magic (amidst much swearing and "why didn't this happen when I needed it?" style groaning). But in any case, he ends up with 12 Power dice, and I end up with 9 dispel dice. He only has two casters left however, and his Vampire is a level 1. She tries the 12+ IoN with five dice, scoring a total of 22. I equal the casting value with five dispel dice, leaving me with four for his other spells.
He then targets my Longbeards, with his Necromancer, who is in their flank with a 6 dice wind of death (you had to see this coming), he rolls high and I try dispelling it with my last three dice but am way off. The template passes through the entire unit, scoring D6 S3 hits for the units three ranks and ends up scoring 9 kills. He smugly tells me to take a panic test and I smugly retort with LONGBEARD POWAH!
In the dire wolf vs war machine combat, otherwise known as the eternal struggle, the dire wolves hit but fail to wound, and my crew kill one and crumble the last wolf - much to my relief.
In the other combat I pass my fear test, stand-and-shoot and kill four Ghouls. He kills a shocking 8 Quarrellers (poisoned attacks accounting for five of those deaths), and the corpse cart kills another two. I hit back with five attacks on the corpse cart, killing it by virtue of his crap regeneration rolls. And my Quarrellers go on to roll very well, killing six Ghouls. I end up losing combat by one and pass my break test (rolling exactly 8). Then I pass my LD to reform into a bus formation.
It's the end of his turn four, so he rolls but doesn't score high enough to end the game.
http://img99.imageshack.us/img99/281...rn4vampire.jpg
The Throng of the Dragonback Clan, Turn Four:
I charge my Hammerers at the tower, here goes nothing...
I have my Runesmith leave the Longbeards and get face to face with the Necromancer, I'm probably never going to catch him, but just to stop him being irritating and force him to dance around a bit could be useful. I also rotate the longbeards around to try and force him to moving directly back. I charge my Warriors into his Ghouls and we're both pretty sure I have that one in the bag.
In the magic phase the vortex drifts backwards 8"... directly into the tower, someone was looking out for me on that one, it ends up killing just two Grave Guard, but those are still vital kills.
I only really have two available targets so I shoot my Grudge Thrower at the nearer unit of Dire Wolves. The template can only touch three models, but hey it's better than nothing. I end up with a direct hit on the reroll and three dire wolves die.
In the Quarreller-Warrior-Ghoul combat, the Ghouls go first, killing three Quarrellers and three Warriors. The Quarrellers strike back, killing five, the Warriors kill a handful and it's enough to crumble the rest of the unit. I reform my Quarrellers and Warriors to get them as near to the watchtower as possible before the end.
For the assault on the building, he chooses his Vampire, eight Grave Guard and his unit Champ. I choose my Lord, BSB, Champ and we had a bit of a rules discrepancy because we don't know how many models a shield-bourne Lord counts as. We decided to count it as two because he takes up two bases. In any case he brought 6 Hammerers with him for the party.
I issue a challenge with my Lord and his Vampire Lord accepts and drinks a potion of strength, making him S10 for this turn only. He hits four times, wounds four times... and... I make three 4+ ward saves
My BSB as the only participant with no Great Weapon strikes before the Hammerers and Grave Guard and kills two, leaving him with 7 GG including his champ. I let him roll first and he kills three Hammerers, I go next and kill six Grave Guard with OBSCENELY lucky rolling. Since charges, ranks, standards etc. don't count in assaults we were just counting wounds and kills. We both wounded one another in the Countess vs Lord combat, he killed three Hammerers, but I killed 8 Grave Guard which causes the unit to lose five more to crumbling. This leaves him with just three Grave Guard and his Countess.
I roll to see if the game ends and we both hold our breath as the die tilts onto a five, close but no cigar.
http://img515.imageshack.us/img515/2...rn4thethro.jpg
Vampire Countess Elsypth Ophilia's Legion, Turn Five:
He charges both Dire Wolf units in my GT and they both make it, looks like that's the end of that, was fun while it lasted I guess. He can't find a way to move his Necromancer without being in charge range, he can't get behind the flank of the Longbeards, and he can't move past the Runesmith without touching the wind of death template. He elects to move back, but remains exactly 12" of the tower, we all know why.
In the magic phase he rolls up five power dice, but ends up with four. He goes for broke and throws all four at the 12+ invocation of nehek and gets it... with irresistible force. This heals a wound back on the Countess (to 2) and gives the Grave Guard back a shocking 7 models. But the miscast kills the Necromancer (S10 template, one wound left). But you have to admit, his parting gift was rather inspiring. In the only combat the dire wolves kill all the Grudge Thrower crew members and reform to face my Hammerers.
The vortex miscasts and therefore vanishes. Thankfully.
He rolls a die to end the game, but rolls a four. Still in it!
The Throng of the Dragonback Clan, Turn Five:
I assault the building again with my Hammerers and have my Runesmith rejoin the Longbeards for safety, who also swift reform to face the wolves, just in case of any rear charge shenanigans.
In the only combat you're still reading about, I bring the same assault party, and he has the same defense party, I issue a challenge and he accepts with his Countess.
My BSB goes first again and again kills two Grave Guard, which is followed by 7 Grave Guard and 7 Hammerers beating the crap out of each other, the Grave Guard roll better this time and score a lot of hits thanks to the banner of the barrows, and kill five Hammerers.
The Hammerers strike back killing three Grave Guard.
In the challenge his Countess goes first, hits five times, and wounds five times. I make two 5+ armour saves, and the last three 4+ ward saves amidst much undead cursing. My Lord strikes back, hitting three times, wounding twice. She fails both armour saves (6+) and passes one 5+ ward save... why won't you just die? She survives again on one wound.
This time however, I only win by one, which crumbles one more Grave Guardian. Leaving the unit with four models + a 1 wound vampire.
I roll, but once again the game fails to end.
I'm not going to bother posting up any more screenshots, there's no movement that you guys really need to see
Vampire Countess Elsypth Ophilia's Legion, Turn Six:
He moves his wolves as far away from my Quarrellers as he can, not that it makes much of a difference at this point. In the magic phase he gets 9 power dice, and tries to six dice invocation of nehek with his countess, the spell gets through, healing a wound on her and reviving four Grave Guard, but the resulting miscast causes a dimensional cascade, killing all but one of the Grave Guard and sucking the countess into the void.
After this, he rolls the dice, and you all know what happens next. The game ends and he wins, the tower is technically still occupied by him (a single Grave Guardian) and as per the rules of the scenario, he wins.
GG!
Result:
Post-Game Thoughts:
I was initially tempted to think "yeah, whatever, in any other scenario I would've smashed you to pieces". But you really need to consider the fortune I had early game, killing the Mortis Engine in my first cannon shot was remarkably lucky, it was obviously there to help his magic phase and buff his units, as well as being rather nasty in combat. With a Mortis Engine, Corpse Cart, and maybe 1-2 buffs on the Crypt Ghouls the left flank turns out COMPLETELY differently and maybe that entire side collapses.
Him killing off all my War Machines was expected but left me feeling a bit bitter, in future I think I'll invest in some low level engineers (the +15 point ones) to let me reroll the misfire result and give me some punch in combat.
Another thing to consider is that his Lord was 300 odd points and the GG were 400, if that unit hadn't been occupying the Watchtower all game I'm fairly sure he would've blended up at least one of my units, a dual charge with that unit + the zombies against my Longbeards would've seen a lot of severed Dwarf heads.
In any case it's fun and we both agreed the result isn't definitive, and we've agreed to play another game soon (non-watchtower). So stay tuned.
P.S. Apologies in advance for any rules errors, I hope there's nothing so serious that it ruins the game for you entirely.
Unforgivable
If it took him a thousand years Durgaz muttered to himself, he would bring that tower down on that evil witches head. He had come for revenge in the name of the fallen and he would not leave empty handed. The battle had gone well at the beginning, with the cannon crew striking true against the Vampires infernal engine, causing it to split apart and explode in a cataclysm of paradoxically dark light. Even the undead could not withstand it and they fell in droves before the blast.
However his artillery had been quickly disabled by outlandishly overgrown flocks of bats and rotting wolves, which stank so awfully it made him miss the smell of a skaven breeding pit. He doubted the war machine crews had actually been killed, but they would certainly have their hands full and the cannon had been quiet for hours.
Grikk stomped up to him just then, as he had been reflecting on the battle, Grikk was covered in offal, slime and body parts.
"Alright?" said Durgaz as loudly as he could manage, his voice having gone hoarse long ago from shouting orders.
"Aye my lord, it would be an insult to call what these things do fighting" Grikk explained, a longer explanation followed on the nature of the left flank and the number of remaining clansdwarves and longbeards. Durgaz was satisfied that casualties had been kept to a minimum.
There was however, still much fighting to be done, and the Vampire Countess was occupying a tower at the top of a hill, it was clearly the point of the greatest tactical strength. It gave vision for miles around and was easily defensible, Durgaz had to grudgingly concede that the Vampire was not a complete *****.
Durgaz gave the order to the holds Gate-keeper that the Hammerers were to join him and Grikk at the summit of the hill. The party stalked up the hill carefully, ensuring they did not slip on any loose scree tumble down the hill. Death from such a thing was unlikely, Dwarves were tough creatures, but the shame and the embarrassment would live on forever. The Hammerers, though some of the most elite warriors a Dwarf hold had to offer were still gasping and panting by the time they neared the top of the hill and the entrance of the watchtower. As they approached an eerie blue-green light became visible from its doors and windows, and a number of wights were clearly standing guard. As they approached closer the light grew in intensity and the number of wights seemed to increase with it.
After a number of minutes, Durgaz, Grikk and the Hammerers stood near the entrance of the tower, it was tall, at least four stories and appeared to only have one way in, and out. A Dwarf would never do such an undignified thing like crawling in a window, besides Durgaz reasoned the windows would be barricaded and defended. No, the only way they were getting in is through that door.
Durgaz summoned all his courage and energy, took a deep swig of his expensive Dwarf ale and stepped five paces closer to the tower, it seemed to lean over him, creating the illusion that the vile structure was trying to swallow him up. He suppressed a shudder and called out in a booming voice
"I am Durgaz, lord of the Dragonback clan of Karak Izor. I come seeking recompense for damages done to the Dwarf race".
There was no answer.
"For the murder of Durar Dragonback and Velsik Ironfist we here DEMAND justice, Countess Elsypth Ophilia, come outside and show yourself. We know you are in there, unless you are a coward then..."
No sooner had the word 'coward' left his lips then the door creaked open imperiously gradually. Durgaz heard Grikk let out a low growl and all the Dwarves hefted their weapons. The Countess walked outside, fully thrice the height of a Dwarf and perhaps as broad, it was difficult to tell with her armour, which was well forged, Durgaz could tell that much. In one hand she held a broadsword, the kind seen held one handed by Ogres or used by the Greatswords of the Empire, but she held it like it was a twig. In the other hand was a shield of polished iron with a symbol Durgaz didn't recognise upon it.
Durgaz was at once awestruck by her cold, almost hard beauty which was counterpointed by the brutal savagery of her appearance, and a wild look in her eyes of a barely contained beast within.
"Lord Durgaz Dragonback... yes... Dragonback I remember a Dragonback" her voice was eerily beautiful and it was hard for Durgaz to lock gazes with her, though Durgaz was unnerved by her, he maintained his gaze, staring straight into her soulless beastly eyes.
"Damn right you do, you murdered him and..."
"I drank his blood" She countered before he could finish
"You... did WHAT!?" Durgaz could hardly contain his fury
"Yes I drank his blood... it was thick and disgusting, much like the Dwarf himself"
Durgaz could hear the severe tone of rage and disapproval being conjured up by the Hammerers and Longbeards behind him. Durgaz managed another reply
"For such a horrible crime you will..."
"Do you want to know what a real crime is? Living for centuries and having to deal with disgusting, fat, ugly things like yourselves. Do you have any idea how difficult it is to find an appropriate relic for a Mortis Engine? Centuries, lord Dragonback... centuries it took me to find one that was acceptable and that had the correct quantities of power. You have undone centuries of work in a single night, AND YOU ACCUSE ME OF CRIMES?"
The sudden change in her tone of voice shocked Durgaz and he held his axe tight in a defensive stance, ready at any moment to defend himself
"Your army is defeated, your Necromancers have faced justice or scattered like the awful vermin that they are. I am now here to bring you to justice, our people have awaited it for centuries, and we will wait no longer! Kill her!"
Durgaz let the command sink in for a moment and charged himself, as he did wights exited the tower and ranked up next to the Vampiress. She fixed Durgaz with her gaze and let a wide grin split her face.
Durgaz charged up the last few steps to the doorway of the tower and swung his axe overhead with all his strength and the Countess blocked it. Durgaz immediately felt alarm sink in, he had expected her to block his attack, but it was powered by all his strength, a Dwarf of many centuries with decades of battlefield experience and her blocking it didn't frighten him. It was the fact that her arm didn't move, or even vibrate when she did, she had stopped his attack entirely and absorbed the entirety of the impact without even moving. He had faced warbosses with less upper body strength.
Durgaz immediately found himself on the back foot and found he was utterly unprepared for the Vampires blinding speed or incredible strength. He felt a half dozen blows batter his armour and the runes burned bright to counter her weapons magical properties. Durgaz blocked when he could, but often he was too slow, he knew that eventually he would be overpowered and defeated, as he was already tired from many hours of battle. The zombies and other rabble he had fought that day had truly exhausted him. However he had one advantage, the Hammerers were crushing the wights who were slowly being forced back to the doorway, and Durgaz could see in her eyes that she was feeling each loss suffered.
However, her testing blows had identified a fatal weakness in Durgaz' leg armour, she struck hard from above and Durgaz began grinding his teeth together as the blade cut into his thigh, when she removed it a fountain of blood gushed forth for a split instant before his hardy Dwarf constitution went to work sealing the injury. But the damage was done, he was already much slower as his legs were shorter and now one of his legs was crippled, he could barely turn and each footstep caused him unbearable agony.
Durgaz decided that being defensive would avail him naught, he summoned his remaining strength and launched a series of wild attacks at the Vampire, she would often parry and strike with a riposte, but Durgaz was careful to disallow her further access to the vulnerable join between his leg and waist armour. Finally he had the opportunity he was looking for as she struck his arm hard he felt the armour dent inward, the chainmail shatter and the sword bite into his arm, his tough Dwarf armour had absorbed much of the strike and now he could hit back. Hard.
He struck on her left side as hard as he could, she tried to defend it but couldn't; her sword was awkwardly positioned from having just struck Durgaz, and Durgaz swung with all his strength, feeling the axe crash through her significantly lighter and more poorly forged armour and into the soft flesh beneath. She immediately let out a great keening wail as the runes on his axe inflicted a monstrous injury on her arm. The skin around the struck area turned black and began to flake off, Durgaz quickly raised his axe for a killing blow but she backed away and a wordless command caused the dead to close ranks obscuring her from vision. Durgaz didn't have much time to lament her escape before he was embattled by wights.
Extract from Karak Izor's Book of Grudges, in the year 7,015 by the Dwarf reckoning:
Thane-Lord Durgaz Dragonback in this year has mounted a successful expedition into Sylvania, though the snows were deep and the ground was hard as iron he marched with a throng straight into the heartland of the damned and dealt a grievous blow to the servants of darkness. An engine of darkness, though of unknown power was destroyed by an expertly placed strike from a cannon of the Blackbeard clan, who have received the Kings gratitude and fifty gold pieces from the Kings own coffer.
Durgaz Dragonback, presiding Lord of the Dragonback clan met the Vampire Countess Elsypth Ophilia in single combat, and despite many injuries dealt the foul creature a savage blow. Though a search was mounted for many weeks a body could not be discovered and Lord Durgaz gave up the search, but has twice-vowed revenge for the personal injuries inflicted by this creature upon him. For the moment her army is scattered and her Necromancers and weaker vampires killed, a great blow has been struck against the servants of darkness, and many dark artefacts have been recovered. Even now our Runesmiths are destroying them in the safest manner devisable by Dwarf minds.
Though the grudge against the vampire goes unavenged, we are the Dwarves. We do not forget, and we never forgive, justice will be realised, even if it takes us ten-thousand years.
Awesome battle report - went right down to the wire as watchtower often does!
Thank you Eldorad, glad you enjoyed it.
I've played a few games recently and will probably write up a game against either Empire or a rematch against VC in the next couple of weeks, keep an eye out for it.
If you've got a match-up preference that you'd like to see (Dwarf vs X) then let me know, and any comments or criticisms on my battle reports are always appreciated!
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