Battlereport from a 2000 pts. tournament (June Contest)

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Omnichron
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Battlereport from a 2000 pts. tournament (June Contest)

Post by Omnichron »

Having the MSU contest going on, I decided to bring one of my evil lists to a local tournament. The list can be found here.

The last year I went to this tournament, I got my first good tournament result in 8th edition (second place), and I was aiming at doing well this year as well. The list I had back then was a double hydra list with CoB, Peg Master, shadow sorc and so on, while this time my list was focused mostly on shooting and counter charges (mostly thanks to the meta).


Battle 1: Beastmen
His list had a doom bull as lord (1/2+ armor, 4+ ward and close combat craziness), a beastman BSB, two Shamans level 2 (Shadow and Beasts lore), a unit of beastmen (20 gor herd I think), a unit of bestigors (17-20), 3 chariots, Razorgor and a Ghorgon.

Slow Infantry blocks, little maneuverability from the main units and no armor. I knew I should win big if I played my hand right and felt a bit sorry for him as my list was probably the worst thing he could get matched up against. His Doom Bull was the most dangerous thing to my MSU list, but also a lot of points that would be neat to collect if I got the chance.

We started out with rolling for magic before deployment. I didn’t get to choose my spells much after the roll, getting mindrazor, withering, pendulum and steed of shadows. As I felt equal happy (or not happy) about Steed and Pendulum, I let him draw the one I’d change to miasma, which was the pendulum. The main spell I wanted was withering and miasma, so I went into the deployment phase with a good feeling. He got miasma and enfeeblement on his shadow shaman and wild form and the crow swarm thingy (2d6 S2) on his beast shaman.

In deployment, I set my chaff up at mid areas, to the left and right and the harpies more to the back, as well as putting the hydra out quite early in the middle, making it harder for him to see where I might place the rest of my units. He on the other hand put his Razorgor to the very left flank and a chariot to the right, to avoid my shades getting any nice positions. Unfortunately he forgot about the middle left area, making a huge gap between the Razorgor and the rest of his army, giving me what I needed for my shades.

I put my crossbowmen on the hill to the right when I noticed he put most of his army there. I set them back enough to make it impossible for him to reach them if he got the first turn and would pull them back a bit if I got the first turn… making it impossible for him to take them without a lot of moving about. My BSB was in the center of my army in case something nasty should happen, and my sorceress was close by (and also close to the hydra)… quite safe.

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Turn 1 - Dark Elves:
As I was finished first I had a +1 for the “to start” roll, and after 3 rerolls, I got the first turn!

There was really no question about where the shades would go, even with the razorgor behind them, I revealed assassins and moved closer to be within short range. I wanted to make it hard for him to catch both of the units, so I moved closer to the edge with one and close to the house with the second. I still kept myself at such a range that I could move max back and get out of reliable charge range if need be. I moved my chaff up closer and the master more to the left flank as he was the only one who really could handle the Doom Bull. I also moved the crossbowmen backwards as I had planned, while my sorceress went a bit closer with the bunker to get better reach with spells (mostly for the coming rounds).

In my magic phase, I went for withering on the Gor Herd, which he dispelled with a scroll (I rolled quite high), and I didn’t throw any miasma with the rest of my dice as I needed a double 6 to get that one through… and I didn’t want any double 6!

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Shooting phase, and it was time to bring some pain to the table. I immediately let my shades, furthest away, to fire on the chariot. The multitude of shots brought it down quickly, and the second unit started firing at the herd took out about 7 of them. The sorceress aimed her lifetaker at the mid chariot, picking off two wounds from it. A good start for me.

Turn 1 - Beastmen:
He decided to move the doom bull straight out towards the hydra, a somewhat desperate move, although the unit he was in was getting picked apart quickly. Getting a bit of pressure against my sorceress there and forcing me to react on his move, he turned the herd around to face both shade units slightly. The wounded chariot went slightly behind the hill, ready to charge the shades if need be. The Gorghon, Bestigors and chariot moved further up the flank to threaten my weak right flank. His Razorgor moved up to threaten the shades flank and back.

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His magic phase didn’t do much as I dispelled the +1 T/S on his herd, and he failed casting any other spells that round. As there was no shooting or close combat, it was my turn again.


Turn 2 - Dark Elves:
The Doom Bull was the immediate danger I needed to take care of… I decided it was better to just run the master into him and declared the charge into the his flank. For the movement phase I went with my Hydra up to breathing range of the gor unit, moved the dark riders behind the same unit and the last dark riders unit up to block both the Gorghon and Bestigors. I decided I had time to take out the razorgor with the shade unit closest to it, so I turned about and went within short range and out of reach from the herd. The other shade unit could move to the edge of the table, out of sight from the herd and enough distance to get stand and shoot if the chariot charged (It was a bit too close on the overview picture from battle chronicler). I moved the harpy unit between the sorceress unit and crossbowmen, preparing for operation “bump on the road”.

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In my magic phase, I got a low number of PD and decide to just roll a miasma on the doom bull, lowering his statline. In the shooting phase, I let my hydra make a bit of barbeque of a lot of the herd unit, while the shots from the shade unit take down a bit more of their numbers. They are still a few left, and manage their panic test. The Razorgor on the other hand gets pierced by so many arrows and stars that it falls over, dead. My crossbowmen now fire the big Gorghon at the back, taking off 2 wounds in the first volley of 20 shots, and failing to do any wounds in the next. As the chariot is a bit out of reach and the herd won’t do anything to me the next round either, I let the lifetaker take some shots on the Gorghon as well, but failed to score any wounds on it. In the close combat, my Pegasus managed to deal one wound, and the master got in another while he failed to score any wounds back thanks to the pendant. With a -4 to his breaktest, he fails and runs off with the master following pursuit. The Doom Bull were caught up and the biggest threat to me was off the table.


Turn 2 - Beastmen:
By now he was feeling the pain. It wasn’t even round three, and his army was getting blown to smithereens. He charged his bestigors and Gorghon into the dark riders, who stood their ground as the sacrifice they were (Knowing that he wouldn’t overrun into the master that was now in a more risky position). His wounded chariot doesn’t charge into the shades as it would most likely die before it reached them. Instead he moves around to threaten the hydra and dark riders, and moves the remaining herd around to face the hungry looking hydra.

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In the magic phase, I dispel another +1S/T, and he gets the flock of crows to kill off two dark riders. The riders stood their ground though, and after the dark riders in close combat is wiped out, the Ghorgon overran slightly forward while the bestigors couldn’t move about much. He kinda forgot about doing a reform at this point, or maybe he wanted threaten the hydra/riders with a charge.


Turn 3 - Dark Elves:
The master were in a nice position to take care of the chariot which was getting too close to my crossbowmen, so I charged into its flank. The beastmasters managed to hold the hydra at bay from a feeding frenzy, forcing it to move back and out of range from any potential charges. Both shade units moved close at the back and front/flank of the herd, knowing that the combined firepower would be enough to wipe them. The remaining dark riders went to the back of the chariot… not only to threaten it, but for some other reasons that could happen in the shooting phase.

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Standing still with the rest of my forces, it’s time for that magic phase with few PD this time as wel. I managed to get a withering through on his Gorghon… lowering the T by 2, and with no other spells getting through (At least not anything significant), it was time for that painful shooting phase. I started out wiping the herd quite quickly, just as planned, before the crossbowmen let their bolts fly into the Gorghon. As it fell, the chariot (Which was just out of range from BSB), had to roll a panic test, failed it and fled away from the dark riders that was perfectly positioned. The Chariot fled just in front of the bestigors, effectively blocking the unit from charges and moves.

In close combat, my master did short work on the chariot.


Turn 3 - Beastmen:
With almost no chances to do anything at all, he turned he did a swift reform, moving a bit forth toward the sorceress unit while his chariot managed to get their senses back (in a rather awkward position).

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His magic phase was kinda short, getting an enfeeblement spell on the hydra with a rather high result. As close combat wasn’t what I was thinking right now, I let it through and dispelled his flock from doing anything to my units.


Turn 4 - Dark Elves:
I moved my shades within 12 of the bestigors, and the hydra towards the back of the unit. My harpies went in for their operation, just in front of the unit, and I aligned my dark riders and master for the charge as well.

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In the following phase, I didn’t get any withering through as he dispelled it after a weak roll from me. The shoots from one unit of shades took out the chariot, while the rest of my forces shot at the bestigors… as they have T4, just a few of them fell (mostly from the lifetaker and assassin).

Turn 4 - Beastmen:
His turn 4, and he charged in with his last unit, picking the harpies apart and overrunning slightly more.

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His magic phase did a little damage flock, and he tried a new enfeeblement spell on the hydra, which failed.

Turn 5 - Dark Elves:
I charged in with Hydra, riders, master and a unit of shades. In my magic phase, I got mindrazor through on the shades and in the following close combat, I utterly smashed him to smithereens…

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Result:
VP: 2225 - 140
A 20 – 0 victory for me.

Post battle report:
I was really happy with how I handled the battle, doing no mistakes and playing it out safe. Even though I sometimes want to slam my forces into close combat, a shooty list like this is better off with patience and smart moves. As I managed to manouver around his forces and pick him apart over four rounds, it was a nice little wipe up in the end with most of my forces involved. I felt a bit sorry for my opponent though, as well as the other two beastmen players... scoring 0 points the first battle.

With a 20 - 0 victory, the next opponent would be a strong player/army, and after a long break I knew it would be a match against one I've met a couple of times in tournaments before. The empire player that gave me my first 0 - 20 loss in 8th edition.
Last edited by Omnichron on Tue Jun 25, 2013 8:51 pm, edited 4 times in total.
Personal quote: "It's better to do little damage and lose nothing than to do lots of damage and lose everything."
Final tournament score for 7th DE book in 8th edition - W/D/L: 25/5/10
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Omnichron
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Re: Battlereport from a 2000 pts. tournament (June Contest)

Post by Omnichron »

Battle 2: Empire

The player in the first battle (beastmen) was a regular I had met before in tournaments, and the empire player I met now was a friend of him and a regular I’ve met on the tournament battlefield three times earlier. The first battle, he utterly crushed me (old empire book), but in the last two matches I had gotten a double revenge, giving him the same defeats back.

Now it was time for a fourth match, and his list was stronger than ever. He fielded a battle wizard level 4 with life magic and dispel scroll, a war priest and BSB on horses (1+ armor), 13 core knights, 10 halberdsmen with two attachment (archers and huntsmen I think they were), 4 demigriffs with banner and musician, 3 demigriffs with musician, steam tank, Luminark and a cannon.

So, this list was more or less the opposite of what I met in the first battle. Lots of armor to go around with high mobility, the kind of list that a lot of dark elf lists struggle with. As I had few armor killers in my army, I hoped that the 90% chances of getting mindrazor would be enough. We rolled for sides and I chose to have one where I had a hill far back left and a house on the middle left, giving me an opportunity of some tactical advantages. When we rolled for magic, I got my 6, mindrazor, and also got withering, pit of shades and chose miasma. He got Dwellers, Shield of Thorns, Flesh to Stone, and Throne of Vines.

Being the one to start deployment, I quickly decided to go for a setup where I’d put the dark riders in the middle of the left and right side of the table, the harpies in the back and the first crossbowmen unit in a forest. He on the other hand started setting out his demigriffs quite early, one to the far right and the other somewhere in the middle … slightly right. Further on, he set the halberdsmen and detacthments to the left side and I decided that with the current setup I was “safe” enough to put the rest of my stuff to the left. I put the crossbowmen on the hill, the spearmen unit close by (Although over 32” from any battle mages and dwellers below) and hid the hydra at the back. When he put out his big unit of knights to the far left as well, I felt kinda relieved as I knew I could avoid it for several rounds if I played it out well. His battlemage joined the bigger unit of demigriffs for the first turn, which meant it would be safe from shade fire. I set my master close to most of my units, within shooting range of the cannon (so he could take his chances on him with my pendant), and continued my plan on taking out a whole flank early on by putting both shade units on the left of the house. I would be enough firepower on that side to bring down all the infantry in the first turn if I got it. Finally, my dark riders vanguarded to the left, which meant that I had only a dark rider unit and crossbowmen somewhere in the middle to face off all that armor!

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With the armies setup, we rolled off to see who would start… even with my +1 for finishing first, he won the roll.


Turn 1 - Empire:
Knowing very well that his halberdsmen and archers would get cut down swiftly by the assassin and ten shades, he declares no charges and lets the steam tank roll towards the closest shade unit. As most of his heavy units were on the right side (for me), he starts his long journey to close combat by moving them towards the middle of the field and slightly closer to where my poor unit of crossbowmen stood.

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In his magic phase, he got a nice amount of PD compared to my DD, and when he rolled throne of vines and had 6 dice left, I decided to dispel it so that he’d get hurt if he actually rolled everything on a dwellers below on one of my shade units. Still having a few dice left, I let him boost the steam tank with +2T and when he went for the luminark, I dispelled it as well.

He had little shooting and missed/didn’t wound my shades, however the cannon took a shoot at the sorceress… I did get that bad feeling in my stomach even though I had both a 2+ look out sir as well as a 4+ ward. I managed that look out sir and three spear elves fell to the cannon ball. Phew!


Turn 1 – Dark Elves:
I didn’t like the steam tank getting close, but having prepared for it by having the dark riders close, I moved my shades to face the tank with full firepower against it (even with T8). I placed my dark riders in front of it, making sure that my shades and assassins stayed safe from any devastating charges it could do. I didn’t care about the halberdsmen or archers this time either, although since I could block the halberdsmen with the riders as well, I did so. I withdrew on my right flank, keeping out of range from the dangerous charges I could get, and made sure he wouldn’t take any chances by placing my master ready to counter charge if he would do any failed charges. I also got my dark riders ready to either help against the steam tank, or do a flank charge with mindrazor against the knights. My hydra moved forth, hiding behind the building from the most dangerous shots except if he wanted to use the cannon from the steam tank on it (Which meant my assassins and shades was safe another round and would certainly kill it sooner rather than later).

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In the magic phase, I decided to go for a pit against the steam tank with few dices… sacrificing a spear elf. He dispelled it with scroll, and so I went for a withering with lots of dices. I got a high result and one six, so I didn’t dare to sacrifice another elf. Luckily it was enough as he rolled lower than me with the same amount of dice. Having one last dice left, I cast miasma on the knight unit, making sure they would spend even more time getting closer to my soft.

In the shooting phase, I let my crossbowmen, shades and assassins have a go at the steam tank, picking off 6 wounds and making it harder to stay alive when generating steam points (which I never learn how really works for some reason :p ). The sorceress didn’t have a line of sight for the little unit with the battle wizard (They were more behind it than on the picture), so I took out a couple of halberdsmen instead.


Turn 2 - Empire:
Having a bit of pressure on his tank as well as needing to get those dark riders off his back, he decided to do a charge with the halberdsmen (I think I actually put the side of the dark riders to the tank so that the halberdsmen got into the front, not flank). He decided to also have a go with the steam tank to make a quick end to the dark riders, and got a wound when he failed the steam roll… 3 wounds left. In the rest of his movement phase, he turned about slightly with the first demigriffs, waiting for my master and/or hydra to get closer or failing a charge with that master. The rest of his army moved closer, having good enough charge range to my crossbowmen the next turn while I wouldn’t get a charge off against them in my turn.

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In his magic phase, he used a lot of dice on a dwellers below. He was still outside range from my sorceress, so he tried to get the closest group of shades and assassin. With an irresistible force, I couldn’t do much about it than rolling my strength tests… I lost 6 or 7 shades and managed my strength test with my assassin. Some casualities while not losing any points. The miscast was a high one, and the wizard lost two levels (so no more dwellers, nor thrones). The steam tank got a wound back after a successful life spell.

As I expected, the steam tank crushed my dark riders, while my shades managed the second panic test that turn due to the BSB being close (as planned).


Turn 2 – Dark Elves:
As the steam tank was down in wounds and the wizard having moved into a small unit of only 5 huntsmen, I decided it was time to switch targets. I did no charges and immediately moved my wounded shades unit into the house (where the tank wouldn’t be able to kill them), and the other shade unit backed away, still close enough to give the halberds plenty of shots. The master moved up to a kind of dangerous spot for four reasons. He could charge the cannon in his next round, he could charge the demigriffs in the flank if my opponent would dare a charge against the building or hydra I would place beside the building (Which also could countercharge the demigriffs), he would make the unit of huntsmen flee from him if they panicked and finally he was bait for that steam tank as it could reach the shades with a high roll on its random move. My War Hydra took that position where my master had been, still threatening that zone, and I adjusted the spearmen position slightly.

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As I got 2 or 3 PD this turn, I decided to just go for a simple Miasma, lowering the movement of the demigriffs to make it even harder to reach my units with a charge.

In the shooting phase, I started out shooting down that unit of halberds with my full shade unit as well as the crossbowmen at the back. Together they did some damage, but still way below what I had expected, 4 of them left by now. The other shade unit and assassin shot down the huntsmen while the wizard stood alone, in the open. As he failed his panic test and the BSB had moved out of range, the wizard fled just where I had wanted, in front of the demigriffs. My sorceress aimed the lifetaker, but only managed to wound him once. Still, he would be in the open for another turn.


Turn 3 - Empire:
With the halberdsmen reduced, his cannons and demigriffs threatened by the master, my opponent decided it was time to charge the dark riders with halberdsmen (failing that charge), let the steam tank roll into my master and the rest of his army moved up with more or less maximum speed (except the blocked demi griffs that is). His wizard rallied and he moved the Luminark to cover him from any shots from the building and crossbowmen. The knight unit was now dangerously close, as was the second demigriff unit.

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His magic phase was short as he failed a spell (or I dispelled it) and he dispelled my withering on the steam tank. In the shooting phase his cannon got a misfire when trying to kill those shades in the building. The result was that it blew up. His archers didn’t do much this turn, so we went into close combat.

Generating extra steampoints, the steam tank would get d6 and 3d3 extra impact hits of S6 on my master. I didn’t really think it would be that bad, although when he rolled 6, 3, 3, 3… 15 impact hits(!!!) I wasn’t feeling that confident anymore. Most of the impacts wounded my master and the normal saves didn’t really help me, I had 13-14 pendant saves to make… and I failed 2 of them. Phew, the master was still alive (Even though it was actually a somewhat average result :p ). The guy on the top of the tank hit and wounded but I managed my normal save and hit him back. Getting two wounds of him, I had a -2 in combat resolution and managed my reroll LD test as it was my BSB.


Turn 3 – Dark Elves:
Even though the pressure was on at my left flank, the fight was now where I wanted it. My crossbowmen managed a quite easy charge into the flank of the knights (Needing a 4 or 5 on the dices), and I let my shades run into the archers as well as the dark riders charging into the halberdsmen. My hydra backed off a bit so that it wouldn’t be easy to charge them with anything, and I moved my harpies to the back of the hydra to be ready to move in and help. My crossbowmen turned to take a few shots at the oncoming demigriffs, and I backed away a bit more with my bunker. I think it was this turn my shades left the building as I didn’t want to risk them getting killed by a charge from demigriffs (Although the Luminark would have to charge my master to get out of the griffs way).

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In the magic phase, I got a nice amount of PD (two 4s), and went for a 2 diced miasma to lower the WS for the demigriffs. Not getting any sixes, I sacrificed one and got a quite high result. He kept his dice though, so I rolled the rest on mindrazor. It was a low roll, so I actually sacrificed one to be sure he could only dispel with a double 6. As he failed dispelling it, I got exactly what I needed.

In the shooting phase, I let my sorceress pick off the last wounds of the wizard, killing him even though he was shielded from all the angles I could get to (I love lifetaker). My failed at wounding the second unit of demigriffs, so we got into the most important phase, the close combat.

I started the close combat with my assassin and shades slaying the archers before they reformed. My dark riders killed a few of the halberds and caught the last fleeing halberdsman, past the shades. In the close combat with my crossbowmen, he didn’t make way (as he didn’t want to lose those characters), and so I struck with 10 attacks of S8. I hit with most of them and wounded with 8, he managed one 6+ save and 7 knights was dead. My own unit took two casualities, but I won by so much and broke his steadfast so he fled as he didn’t get any snakeyes (although a 1 and 2 on on his reroll was close!!). When he rolled to flee, he only scored a 6 or 7, while I moved a nice 11, cutting his big bus in one go!


Turn 4 – Empire:
Having been dealt a crippling blow, the demigriffs would have to do most of the work now. He charged my mindrazored crossbowmen in the flank after charging with the luminark out of the way against the master (even though it was a failed charge). As he generated steam points and had so few wounds left, the steam tank exploded, doing a few wounds to the master who managed his saves. The last demigriff unit moved close to the bunker, threatening them quite seriously.

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Not having any chances with magic, nor any shots to fire we went straight to the close combat. My two crossbowmen managed to pick off two wounds of the demigriffs before they got cut down and overrun. He ended up facing my hydra with a nice flank to my wounded master.


Turn 4 – Dark Elves:
Knowing very well that I had the match in my grasp now, I knew I had to hold off the demigriff threat as well as not risking too much. I decided to charge in with my war hydra in to the front of the main unit of demigriffs and the master into the flank. The Dark Riders moved about to the back, even though it would be suicidal to charge in, and I moved my two shade units in a good range to deal with the Luminark. My harpies finally got to fulfill their role, moving in to block the second demigriff unit, while I moved my sorceress into the crossbowmen and let the spearelves stand close enough to get a potential charge later (as well as out of reach from any overruns).

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In the magic phase I didn’t get that many PD again, using my dices to lower the WS and I of the first demigriffs. It wasn’t enough to make them strike at the same time or after the hydra though, so it didn’t matter that much.

At the shooting phase I took care of the Luminark with the shades, and the crossbowmen failed to wound the second unit of demigriffs.

My beastmasters were the first to strike in the close combat against the demigriffs, not dealing any wounds, the Pegasus managed to get one in. The hydra took two wounds from the griff attacks while it shrugged off the knights. My master managed his pendant rolls and the combination of hydra (using breath weapon of S3) and the master did a combined damage of 4… not enough to remove steadfast! The griffs managed their rolls and stood their LD and stood their ground.


Turn 5 – Empire:
Only having the demigriffs left, he charged the second one into the harpies, slaying them quite easily.

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My hydra and Master struggled with taking the unit down as he managed most of those armor saves. The hydra took another wound, just two wounds away from death, while my master managed to survive one more wound from the demigriff striking out from the flank. He took a few more wounds but managed his panic test by rolling pretty low.


Turn 5 – Dark Elves:
I didn’t like how the demigriff battle went, and didn’t like the fact that he was so close to my sorceress with the second unit as well. I moved my spear elves up as a bump on the road as it was the unit close enough (and cheap enough) to stop them. My crossbowmen moved away from danger and I didn’t move anything else as I was going to just focus on killing the last two of the main demigriff unit. Since I could lose the fight against the demi griffs if I was unlucky, I let the shades stay back so that I wouldn’t lose any unnecessary victory points.

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In my magic phase I went for another mindrazor, this time on the hydra. I kept it quite safe with 4 dice and had the sacrifice as backup, and I got it through quite easily.

I just went for close combat after that and the two beastmasters did short work of the last wounds remaining on the demigriffs. I reformed around to face the demigriffs, threatening to crush the last unit as well if he went for my spear elves.


Turn 6 – Empire:
As he had only one unit left, which was kinda blocked, he decided to just go for it.

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He charged in and killed most spear elves without taking any wounds, but failed to catch up when the spear elves fled for their lives.

As I was happy with the result, I ended it there, not doing anything more in my own turn.

Result:
VP: I don’t have the exact results, but it was about 2050 – 400 to me.
A 20 – 0 victory.

Post battle report:
It felt really good to get good use of some of the tactics I’ve learned over the years of both warhammer fantasy and 40k, putting 75% of my army to use against his 25%, taking out parts of his army one by one and just drawing back on an entire flank. The very core idea of this list was to be really good against the softer targets and still able to smack those heavy armored ones quite badly, and even though I made the list to rely on the spell to be used, it’s a viable tactic as long as you can get the spell and keep the sorceress alive.

I could've used the shades more in the last rounds of battle, moving in to fire on the demigriffs. However, I had the 20 - 0 in my pocket, and once you get greedy, things go wrong. It's actually the first rule in my book: Don't get greedy.

Before the final battle, I was on first place with more VP than the second one who also had scored 40 pts. thus far. As he was yet another competitor that have been playing in most tournaments in the local area over the last year, and having met him on the battlefield twice, I knew what I was up against. A Warriors of Chaos list featuring some armor and trolls! It was time for the final showdown!
Last edited by Omnichron on Wed Jun 26, 2013 9:19 pm, edited 5 times in total.
Personal quote: "It's better to do little damage and lose nothing than to do lots of damage and lose everything."
Final tournament score for 7th DE book in 8th edition - W/D/L: 25/5/10
User avatar
Omnichron
Malekith's Best Friend
Posts: 1378
Joined: Tue Oct 17, 2006 11:10 pm
Location: Norway

Re: Battlereport from a 2000 pts. tournament (June Contest)

Post by Omnichron »

Battle 3: Warriors of Chaos
Finally the last battle was coming up, and I was feeling quite confident about who I was matched up against. This WoC player hasn’t had any top placements in tournaments previously, and I’ve played him twice in tournaments and once as warm up to a tournament (Where we actually met as well). The results was a big victory to me the first time (19-1), a bigger in the warm up (20 – 0 ), and in the very tournament where we met he managed a str 11 gateway on my sorceress bunker which resulted in a loss for me (6-14).

His army was the following: Daemon Prince with flying, 1+ armor and charmed shield, level 4 of Slaanesh, lifestealing… that was about it, a level 1 sorcerer on steed of slaanesh (with dispel scroll), standard BSB on daemonic mount (3+ ward with reroll 1, only 2+ armor and GW), 2x5 warhounds (one with vanguard), 2x5 marauder horsemen of Slaanesh, 10 forsaken of slaanesh, 8 trolls, 3 skullcrushers.

The list was strong and mobile, a good challenge for me, and I knew pretty well the strengths and weaknesses to his choices. What I feared the most, was how much the DP could manipulate my movements and turn, making me less mobile with several of my choices (if he got close and several spells through).

When we set up our armies, I decided yet again to put my dark riders out at the middle of my right and left flank and the harpies more or less in the middle. My crossbowmen was set up in the forest in the middle, and I then chose to deploy on the right side this time, as he had several strong units placed on the left. It wasn’t sure whether it was the best idea at that time, but I knew I could crush his trolls quickly with magic and enough firepower, and keep most of his forces at bay… his high mobility with the DP, BSB and Skullcrushers could be a problem though. I decided to have my shades set up so I could shoot down the marauder horsemen with the dispel scroll sorcerer, although I knew he’d probably vanguard out of the way. The shades on my right position (where there was few threats), meant that I could move everything up on my right flank and hold him off. My dark riders vanguarded up along the left side of the house to try and bait his two frenzied units which were outside the BSB range (Skullcrushers and forsaken), while my other dark riders moved a bit to the left to be in a better chaff position.

Image


Turn 1 – Warriors of Chaos:
Even with my +1 to start, he won the roll and the battle started. First he had to try and keep his frenzied units at bay, managing both frenzied rolls and immediately moved most of what he had at full speed. To my surprise he decided to move his BSB full speed ahead of most of his other forces, which meant I had to deal with him in my very first turn.

Image

In his magic phase, he used his lash of Slaanesh to take out a few shades, and I dispelled the random movement on my crossbowmen.


Turn 2 – Dark Elves:
There was no question about what I should do about his almost invincible BSB, and I started my round with revealing my assassins, and then charged my own BSB into his, effectively locking them both in an engagement which both has an equal amount of chance to win (Him having a little bit of edge with his extra attack).

I continued into my movement phase to move one shade unit to kill off his warhounds (which could block me or hunt anything that failed LD tests for me in the future of the battle), and the other one to shoot at his trolls. I made sure both units was outside any charge ranges and moved the rest of my army to the right side, as I had planned. I kept the crossbowmen at their position, just moving back slightly to be outside a good charge range from his units as well as forcing him to take some frenzy tests with the skullcrushers. My crossbowmen and spearmen moved up with full speed so that my sorceress could be in range with the most important spells.

Image

I decided to go with one important spell first, a small miasma on his BSB to lower his WS to a more manageable level for my own BSB. He let it through as he knew what the next spell would be: A pit on his trolls. As I didn’t absolutely need it now, I four diced it with the sacrificial dagger ready if I needed to improve it by anything… the main idea was to lure out the dispel scroll, however I got two sixes, irresistible force! I took out four of the trolls at once as he failed his rolls, and then went on with a meager four on the miscast table… In my first round there was a chance I’d lose my sorceress. I rolled my 4+ to survive… and got a six! Phew! The spell continued to wipe out about half of the spearmen unit.

Over to the shooting phase, and my shades killed off the warhounds, as expected, while the other unit took off a couple of wounds from the trolls, not doing much damage as they shot quite badly and he rolled good regen saves.
In close combat my Pegasus managed to pick off a wound from the BSB, while he struck back, taking one from my pendant master. As I won the combat he had to roll his LD, and managed it easily with snake eyes.


Turn 2 – Warriors of Chaos:
Having stayed out of charge range with my shades and most of my other units, he decided to move almost everything he had at max range, threatening several parts of my army with the trolls, skullcrushers and daemon prince. It was a very risky move from his behalf as it gave me the freedom of choice of whom to damage/kill off in my next phase. Having all three chaff at good positions, I’d have several rounds of combat where I could pick his army apart… But first he was going to have a round of spells.

Image

Having experienced how badly it could go for him with my chaff, he decided to go for my harpies. He cast the spell that do d6 S4 and having to manage a LD or get more rounds of damage on the harpies. As I knew the random movement would be worse for me, I let the spell go through. He managed to get 4 hits, and killed of three of the harpies. Since I had the sorceress close by, there was no other rounds of damage. The next spell he tried was the 2d6 with 4+ being wounds and no armor saves, as well as giving random move and ASL. I use all my dices and dispels it successfully. However, with the last dices he gets the random move and ASL on my hydra.


Turn 2 – Dark Elves:
Having my hydra with random d6 move, I knew it’d be hard for me to get any fire onto those last trolls. As he had moved his daemon prince within range of some heavy shooting, I realize I have two choices I can make this round. I could focus fire on the trolls, even without the fire from the hydra, and with withering I could take care of them quite quickly. On the other hand, I could play a bit risky as well, moving closer with my assassins to shoot at the daemon prince. Even if the chances were slim of them taking him out on their own, the combined shots with the crossbowmen and lifetaker should be enough to deal him three wounds or even kill him outright. If I could get those three wounds in, I would limit the dices he would dare on spells, which meant I could be slightly safer later on in the game.

After taking some time considering my options, I go with operation “Kill Daemon Prince” and move in with my dark riders to block those skullcrushers, the remaining harpies to block the trolls and move my main shade unit within 12 range from the daemon prince. My assassin at the second shade unit enters the main shade unit and then I move the second shade unit up to kill either some trolls or his chaff, depending on my magic phase.

Image

Having spent some time before I was happy with the setup of my units and especially the chaff, I went into the magic phase. I got rather few dice, and keep the miasma on his BSB before I try a withering on his trolls. As I didn’t get a high roll, he managed to dispel it with fewer dice, which meant that my chances of picking off trolls this round was at a minimum.

In the shooting phase, I went straight to the point. I started with my crossbowmen shooting at the Daemon Prince. 20 shots, 10 of them hitting and taking out the charmed shield. Several wounds, one armor save failing, but he managed the ward… so close of getting one wound from the crossbowmen! The assassins were next, hitting with five of the six shots and wounding on all of them! With his armor saves, he managed to save one of the five, his life hanging in the thread of his ward saves. Rolling two more dices of 5+, he took two wounds. My lifetaker continued and slammed into the daemon prince, however he shrugged the bolts of with his armor. I was a bit concerned by this, as he now had two wounds and could take a bit of chances in the magic phase. I was really missing the RBTs by this point, but there was no time thinking about that now. My other shade unit killed off the marauder horsemen, making it harder for him to move about with chaffing or threatening my weaker units.

In close combat, my BSB managed to pick a wound of his BSB, leaving just one left for the next round of close combat. That was good news for me as I would be needing my BSB for other tasks soon.



Turn 3 – Warriors of Chaos:
It had been mostly me dealing the damage thus far, and now it was his turn to do some back. However, he only really had the chaff to charge into and did so with the trolls into the harpies, and the daemon prince and skullcrushers into the dark riders. I was a bit surprised that he didn’t move the DP about a bit more, but he had realized how dangerous it was to be outside close combat from the assassin shots and decided he was safer there and with a good chance of overrunning into my hydra. With an eleven needed to charge the forsaken into the crossbowmen, he decided to do it even with slim chances of reaching me and me getting my stand and shoot against them. I kill two of his forsaken, and he manages to get the eleven he needed on his dice.

Image

After a lot of tweaking about in my round as well as his charge round, we end up with his magic phase and less time left than we would have thought. He decides to blow all his dice on one spell this round (six dices), trying to get the boosted Cacophonic Choir through, even though it was just a bit more than 50% chances of managing it. As he had his two wounds left, it wouldn’t be as critical if he got irresistible force, however he doesn’t get a single six and… manages to get the exact amounts he needed! With only 4 dices, I try to dispel it but fail. Things were starting to look bleak as I knew the damage wasn’t the worst of things, but the random moves could be the end of me.

A lot of the crossbowmen die due to the spell, my hydra taking two wounds and four shades dies as well. I hoped that the dark riders would get wiped, although they lose only two of their numbers and my harpies are just outside range.

In close combat, my dark riders are wiped, making the skullcrushers over into the DP that overruns into the hydra. His trolls slay the two harpies and are kind of stuck behind the skullcrushers. My crossbowmen manage to hold their ground against the forsaken, taking few losses and killing off a forsaken as well. My BSB finally manages to kill his BSB, although I let him use his breath weapon even though he should have said he’d use it before he knew that his BSB died (As it was on the same initiative). He gets a lot of hits and rolls a huge amount of wounds on me. Having 3+ armor and 2+ ward against flaming attacks, I’m not afraid for his health. Rolling a weak armor save where 5(!!) wounds gets past, I continue failing two 2+ ward saves… the BSB is fried at the same time as his BSB is slain. Curses!


Turn 3 – Dark Elves:
Having got the Cacophonic spell onto my shades, I knew that there were few chances of getting them out of charge range, and with my hydra in close combat with the daemon prince, I knew what I had to do to win the battle. I decided to take some chances with the Shade unit, having to score less than 4 on the random move to not charge the troll unit, I take my chances… getting a 2 on the dice and staying out of close combat, facing the trolls. My other shades move around the back of the trolls to get some shots on them, while I switched about at the back to have my spearmen as a defensive wall and the sorceress in the repeater crossbowmen. The switch was for safety reasons, in case I didn’t get the mindrazor off and the DP would kill the hydra.

Image

In the magic phase, I got lots of dices and realize that the only chance I had to get the mindrazor off was irresistible force (as he had the scroll left). I decide to just go for it, getting five sixes and the spell through quite easily. As I manage my 4+ ward with my sorceress, she was still with full life, and a few crossbowmen died as they were in base contact of her. Things went more or less according to plan when I went into my shooting phase.

Having all the shots on the trolls, I expected them to get hurt plenty. I rolled below average on my shooting and wounding, however with so many shots, I knew they would be reduced quite heavily in numbers… except that he managed another 75% of his regen saves, leaving two trolls with full health. I was less happy, but it should be enough with the assassins in the unit.

In close combat the forsaken took the last of the crossbowmen, even though the crossbowmen picked another two of them, almost making up for themselves against the forsaken in points. Then it was the DPs turn to attack the hydra. Having three wounds left and with 3+/3+ to hit and wound as well as a 4+ regen, the numbers were really on my side. However, with five attacks he hits with all of them and continues to wound with the rest… having to take 5 regen saves, I fail three of them and the hydra dies before he gets to strike with 13 rerollable S8 attacks! F***! :burns: :badh:


Turn 4 – Warriors of Chaos:
As we had used plenty of time and it was getting close to the end for us, we decide it is our last turn. He was having the edge now, even though he hadn’t picked that many points from me, yet. His trolls charged into my shade unit which took a stand and shoot action due to the “quick to fire” rule on the rending stars. Once more I failed on a lot of my hit and wounding, while he managed the rest of his regen saves. His DP charged into the spear elves and he moved his skullcrushers as well as forsaken about, and brought the marauder horsemen around as well.

Image

In the magic phase, he got the random move and ASL on my shades and assassins, something that meant he had a better chance of dealing some damage with the trolls as the shades would get the same initiative.

In close combat, the assassins failed me once again by dealing only two wounds on the trolls, getting the full attacks back from them on my shades. He managed to kill the six of them in return by an awesome close combat and stomps. Losing that close combat by 5, I ran 7’ with my two assassins while he followed with a 5’… then we realized that the random move also affects the flee maneuver, so I had to get a 6 on my d6. Unfortunately I got a 3 and the assassins were eaten by the trolls as well. Meanwhile my spear elf champion decided he would take on the daemon prince, getting smashed into tiny fragments. Of course, this made my other elves want to kill him back and they managed their steadfast easily.


Turn 4 – Dark Elves:
Having taken my risks with good chances on my side and failing all the way to my very last turn, I wasn’t that optimistic about my chances. Still, with 8 spear elves ready to strike the daemon prince, I decided it was my second chance of getting him with mindrazor. Even with that, I still needed to take some more chances and decided to flank charge the trolls with the dark riders. With my last unit of shades, I went for the Marauder Horsemen, and moved the lifetaker sorceress about to do some last chances of sniping.

Image

In the magic phase I once again got mindrazor off, losing some levesl in my last turn. With mindrazor on the spear elves I knew there was a chance to kill the daemon prince.

In the shooting phase, I picked off the marauder horsemen, leaving only the sorcerer on the steed. I failed killing him with my sorceress though, and so I went into close combat.

I started with the spearmen as I knew there was a good chance for the troll to flee if I managed to win that combat and he didn’t have the daemon prince about. The DP started out though, getting five hits on his five attacks and wounding five spear elves. Yet again his max amounts of wounds was destroying my chances, and when I flopped the entire close combat phase by dealing zero wounds, that fight was over with, the DP stomping the last spearmen to smithereens. Finally the DR got into the flank of the trolls. I failed dealing any damage to them, while he took down two of my dark riders. As I had flank and charge, I won the combat due to having a musician. As he had the Daemon Prince close, he got to use his LD… and failed! Finally some good news as I overran and took some points home at the very last moment.

Result:
7 – 13 Loss


Post battle report:
The first thing you think/feel after such a loss as this one is: “Damned dice! If I got average results I’d win the different combats and the whole battle!”

Even though there is some truth to this, I could have minimized my losses and gained a win with the bad rolls. When it was my round two, I had the decisions: Go risky or go safe. The latter would have meant moving away from the daemon prince and the most dangerous parts of his army with the shades, waiting with the shots against the DP for later and taking care of those trolls at that very round. With a round where I focused on withering as well as all my firepower in my army, I’d destroy them soon enough. The bad side to this choice would be that his DP could try and hunt my sorceress, but as I had a dark rider unit left as well as two units I could sacrifice while she could move into a shade unit, I think I could have pulled it off. Why did I chose the more risky way? Because I could gain a lot if I got his DP down at once or damaged it enough to prevent him from casting spells. As I moved my chaff the way I did, I was completely safe from any charges the following turn. The Cacophonic Choir prevented the moves I wanted to do later, although I thought I would kill enough trolls to win that battle anyways, so I had that in my plan already. What I did wonder about was what he would do the following turn with his daemon prince (after killing the dark riders). He could've gone anywhere from there, but decided to try and take that hydra, which was what I wanted him to do. If he hadn't, he could try to hunt down my sorceress earlier on, but I'd gain a flank charge on his skullcrushers and a round or two of shooting the DP down.

Choices choices choices :mrgreen:

The thing to learn from this last battle is the difference between safe play and the risky one. While the safe play usually means smaller victories, with the right play you can win big (like the first and second battle). In the risky battles you can win huge, but with a few bad rolls you can lose as quickly as you’d win (And as badly). I chose the risky way because I wanted a fun and tough battle where both could enjoy the results… Unfortunately the dice was a bit too much against me in the last half of the game, so it felt less enjoyable for me. I’ll make sure to play it safe and win in the next tournament I meet him though!

Second place in the tournament was a good result anyways, so I went home with a good feeling of the list I made, even though my choices in the last battle could have been less orcish.

And with that I'll just say thanks for reading up on my reports (which was kind of my 1000 post celebration on druchii.net), and I hope you both enjoyed and maybe picked up a trick or two along the way :D
Last edited by Omnichron on Mon Jul 01, 2013 12:47 pm, edited 8 times in total.
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Scyloc
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Re: Battlereport from a 2000 pts. tournament (June Contest)

Post by Scyloc »

Good 1st report. Of course a very good matchup for your list.

Waiting with interest for the 2 reports against high armor opponents.
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Re: Battlereport from a 2000 pts. tournament (June Contest)

Post by Gwii2510 »

Wow, a nice rapport mate :)

Looking forward to the next two battles.
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Re: Battlereport from a 2000 pts. tournament (June Contest)

Post by T.D. »

Impressive destruction. Watching the battle play out was like witnessing a wolf pack encircling and taking down their prey!

The stars n shades is a very powerful yet fragile ballistic unit. It would be interesting (for us, not you :P) to see how things play out if an opponent targets them with magic missiles early.

Thanks for the 'rep n pics 8)
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Re: Battlereport from a 2000 pts. tournament (June Contest)

Post by Omnichron »

Glad you enjoyed the first battle!

I'll put out the next battle tomorrow... a lot of stuff to do these days, but I'm working on these last two while the memories still are kinda fresh. It's proven that your memories get less and less accurate over just minutes and hours, so I won't delay on these for too long for sure!
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Re: Battlereport from a 2000 pts. tournament (June Contest)

Post by Jvh792 »

I loved the last slide from BR 1. Hilarious seeing that unit get converged on from all sides. TD put it well, it was like a wolf pack nipping at the heels of the Bison over and over again. Death from a thousand cuts. And a hydra.
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Re: Battlereport from a 2000 pts. tournament (June Contest)

Post by Setomidor »

Awesome report, thanks a lot :)

The list is very close to what I like bringing, with the major exception being that I prefer Death over Shadow. In this particular matchup it seems Shadow did you well, were there any restrictions on the amount of power dice you are allowed to use per spell?

Looking forward to battle #2!
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Re: Battlereport from a 2000 pts. tournament (June Contest)

Post by Ilmaestro »

Fantastic battle report, it's always good seeing and hearing thoughts behind a game and the choices made - especially when they're as high level as yours!

Really looking forward to the next few :D
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Re: Battlereport from a 2000 pts. tournament (June Contest)

Post by Omnichron »

Thanks for the great responses! :)

I was going to post the second report as well, but realized that I have done a few mistakes in the battlechronicler (forgetting some movements and did some wrong moves in the chronicler compared to the pictures I actually took :roll:), so I will fix the battlechronicler moves and post it later tonight :D
Personal quote: "It's better to do little damage and lose nothing than to do lots of damage and lose everything."
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Re: Battlereport from a 2000 pts. tournament (June Contest)

Post by Omnichron »

Fixed the chronicler (Almost the entire thing as it isn't forgiving with changes early on!).

The last battle will be ready somewhere on friday I guess as I got lots on my plan these coming days. I'll write up a bit now and then and hope to get the battlechronicler part done before the weekend.
Personal quote: "It's better to do little damage and lose nothing than to do lots of damage and lose everything."
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Re: Battlereport from a 2000 pts. tournament (June Contest)

Post by Ilmaestro »

Awesome post again! I'm amazed at how you picked apart an army that on paper (and in the hands of a lesser general) would have done horrible things to you!

Having said that, how much of an impact do you think his deployment made? I mean, playing against your highly mobile force, what was his reasoning behind the two DG units and the big knight unit all basically on the same side? Seems like a bit of a mistake from my end, but then again I haven't played in a long time so I might be totally wrong :)
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Re: Battlereport from a 2000 pts. tournament (June Contest)

Post by Lord Drakon »

Very nice battle report again, your army is an inspiration!
Truly a nasty Dark Elf player, those shades and sorceress are the gamemakers, putting him under constant pressure and destroying his battle bus with a unit of crossbowman? Wow!

Your manipulation in the deployment zone was the winning factor in this game I guess, you flank tactic worked for sure, but what if he put the speed / armour on all sides?
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Re: Battlereport from a 2000 pts. tournament (June Contest)

Post by Omnichron »

Ilmaestro wrote:Having said that, how much of an impact do you think his deployment made?

Putting the most dangerous parts of his army in one spot meant that I had no pressure on my soft units, and it gave me lot of space to move about and have a certain control over the battlefield. On the other hand, if he had spread himself out, I'd just use my chaff a bit more effectivly. It's a bit hard to predict how he would have done if he had put his knight unit on the left side of the table. I'd still try to get a mindrazored charge onto him... What he would effectivly have prevented was my shades and assassins getting close to deal with the tank and his other units, and I think that is one of the things that has to be done against shades with assassins.

The thing about this empire list, is that he will do well against plenty of lists, but a spell like mindrazor will have a huge impact as it'll destroy the toughest of units. The thing about MSU (and more MSU kind of lists where I could have 3x7 shades) is that you can easily sacrifice the small units for torpedo charges. If you get the correct spells/combinations of charges in, you win. If you don't, you just lose a few VP, or tie the unit up for a round or two.

Ilmaestro wrote:...what was his reasoning behind the two DG units and the big knight unit all basically on the same side?
It could be plenty of reasons, although if I had been in his shoes, I'd know that the key to victory would be to use dwellers to kill the sorceress. Once she was out of the way, there would be no mindrazor and then the dark elf player would have to sacrifice units to hold cavalry at bay. I guess I'd have the big demigriff unit in the middle, the smallest one to the left and the big knight unit to the right, and kept the halberd/archers/huntsmen close to the middle as well. With the wizard moving up behind the building and casting dwellers while the cavalry moved up slightly and threatened my shades and assassin from getting close... it'd be much more dangerous for me to move up against hist steam tank and infantry.

The very reason I could get this huge victory off, was that I kept my sorceress (main armor killer due to the spell) alive for that key moment. The rest of my list can do okay against some armor (Assassins shooting with S6 against T4 as well as plenty of shots and the hydra of course), although I can't win big against an empire list like this without mindrazor... I'd still be able to get a win (If I played well), but not by much.

Lord Drakon wrote:Your manipulation in the deployment zone was the winning factor in this game I guess, you flank tactic worked for sure, but what if he put the speed / armour on all sides?

Then I have to use my chaff and units perfectly to make his charges fail and get out of position, and focus one of the dangerous units down. I could sacrifice harpies, dark riders and crossbowmen without any major impacts to the final result. The hydra and spearmen (without the sorceress) would be the next I could sacrifice, while the most valuable units would of course be shades, assassins, master and sorceress.

In the next battle I was on the same table (as the setup of terrain stayed the same as the first setup during the whole day, and I stayed on table 1), but then you'll see how you can tackle massive pressure on several fronts (with more or less success :lol: ).
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Re: Battlereport from a 2000 pts. tournament (June Contest)

Post by Lord Drakon »

I really like your army and style, but as I love the reaper bolt throwers, I use two of them instead of a hydra. Do you think your tactics are possible with 2 reapers instead of the hydra?
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Re: Battlereport from a 2000 pts. tournament (June Contest)

Post by Omnichron »

Lord Drakon wrote:I really like your army and style, but as I love the reaper bolt throwers, I use two of them instead of a hydra. Do you think your tactics are possible with 2 reapers instead of the hydra?

That is a good question.

I've had lists with two and even four RBTs and mostly the same kind of setup to the list. I usually take death lore then, although I think shadow is better in some ways as it gives you the mindrazor countercharges (If you're allowed to use mindrazor in the tournament), as well as withering, miasma (lowering movement) and pit to take care of some tough units/warmachines.

The problem with the RBTs is that you have to place them at a spot and they can't move about at all... it means you'll have situations where your list can't handle a certain unit or situation very well and you'll have to withdraw from a position where one or two of the RBTs are stationed. As they are quite costly for us still, they become rather easy points for some lists.

The RBTs do a lot of damage against certain things, and I'd even consider dropping the two assassins for 3x7 shades and 3 RBTs. However, you go from a very dynamic list to a slightly more static list, and especially for static lists, so you will need more chaff to stop your enemy in their tracks.

I think that a torpedo kind of approach (MSU with mindrazor) is a perfect way to deal with the current meta, so if you set yourself up with RBTs and shades as your main shooting units, adding counterchargers like the peg master and chariots and two units of harpies and dark riders to stop your opponent, it should work out really well. Just remember that you have to deal with one unit at a time, or your opponent will breach your lines and break you.
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Re: Battlereport from a 2000 pts. tournament (June Contest)

Post by Helle »

Definitly among the best battle reports I've read so far. I really liked it! That moment when you killed the DG with your Rxb was golden!

Your report made me wanna try a MSU/Shadow list next time I play.
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Ilmaestro
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Re: Battlereport from a 2000 pts. tournament (June Contest)

Post by Ilmaestro »

I wonder if I can report you to the mods for NOT updating this thread with the third battle yet... it seems like a very cruel and harsh torture, even for a Druchii :P
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Re: Battlereport from a 2000 pts. tournament (June Contest)

Post by Omnichron »

Ilmaestro wrote:I wonder if I can report you to the mods for NOT updating this thread with the third battle yet... it seems like a very cruel and harsh torture, even for a Druchii :P

Muhahahhahahahhahahahahhaa.. :twisted:

Sorry guys, but I didn't manage to finish it before the weekend, and I've been busy until now. I managed to fix the things in battlechronicler, so everything is ready to finish the report tomorrow.

Edit: Report done! Phew, took a lot of time getting all those details in, especially in the last battle even though I remembered it the best. !lol!

@Helle: Great that you enjoyed the report of the second battle as well. MSU is truly a nice way to go, although I'm not as sure about the close combat units as I am with the more shooty approach in the current meta. The only think I felt I lacked was the flaming banner in battle 3, and I think it would have been nice to sacrifice one of those crossbowmen units for a flaming spearmen unit... would've been perfect for an assassin to shoot at the trolls and get that regen off them.
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Re: Battlereport from a 2000 pts. tournament (June Contest)

Post by Setomidor »

Excellent battle reports, thanks a bunch!

I actually find the Lvl4 Slaanesh DP to be even worse than the Nurgle one. I truly hate that lore :) Random movement just messes with everything, and the choir can even kill our Pendant characters when they're stuck in CC :(
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Re: Battlereport from a 2000 pts. tournament (June Contest)

Post by Dyvim tvar »

Nice reports.

Question about the game against Empire. How did you do so many wounds to it in Turn 1 when it had +2T on it from Life Magic? Withering wouldn't have helped that much.
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Re: Battlereport from a 2000 pts. tournament (June Contest)

Post by Omnichron »

@ Setomidor: Yeah, the slaanesh lore has been what I've been thinking about when I was considering going for both WoC and DoC... I didn't end up with either as I went with VC as my secondary army, but clearly the Slaanesh lore has some devastating spells. Manouverability is key in this game, and with those spells you can outright win the battle.

Dyvim tvar wrote:Question about the game against Empire. How did you do so many wounds to it in Turn 1 when it had +2T on it from Life Magic? Withering wouldn't have helped that much.

It was the 6 shots from the assassins and 60 shots from shades and the crossbowmen that brought so much wounds. With T6, the assassins hits on 2+ and wounds on 3+, which gives him 5+ saves. I don't remember exactly, but I think I did 3-4 wounds from them and from the 60 shots I got enough sixes while he failed a couple of saves. It's just about the amount of shots that eventually gets through.

I wouldn't recommend that people use all their shots on the steam tank like that, but if you can hold off everything else and he is the biggest threat, it's a great way to make it kill itself eventually.
Personal quote: "It's better to do little damage and lose nothing than to do lots of damage and lose everything."
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Re: Battlereport from a 2000 pts. tournament (June Contest)

Post by Setomidor »

Yeah, especially at 2000 pts a Slaanesh DP must be an absolute nightmare to take care of.

Omnichron wrote:@ Setomidor: Yeah, the slaanesh lore has been what I've been thinking about when I was considering going for both WoC and DoC... I didn't end up with either as I went with VC as my secondary army, but clearly the Slaanesh lore has some devastating spells. Manouverability is key in this game, and with those spells you can outright win the battle.


Haha, interesting, my other army is VC as well :) I'm going in the other direction though and I am about to sell mine. Probably relocating end of this year so I'm only going to keep my DE.
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Re: Battlereport from a 2000 pts. tournament (June Contest)

Post by T.D. »

Wow.

Battle 2

This was an absolute masterclass from deployment to finish!

The mindrazor RXBs was the best trick in the Shadow book pulled off because you set it up perfectly. But I particularly liked fleeing the Wizard back in front of his own lines. It's those heartwarming little details that make for a classic DE battle report :twisted:

Battle 3

Ambitious play, almost rewarded. I personally wouldn't have let him use a breath weapon after death(!) May have cost you the game.

It was a strong enemy list; the combination of Daemon Prince, Invincible BSB and Skullcrushers is pretty hard to counter with only a single flying hero at your disposal.
I thought he could have used his chaff a little better, such as attempting to charge your shades early with his reserve marauder cavalry unit. Maybe he was afraid of the MBRS stand and shoot?

Great play throughout the tournament; I learned a lot about high-level play, and thanks for taking the time to make the graphic batreps 8)
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