)So, now I've managed to cook to the perfect pizza and slowly devoue it (check it out - its the best I've cooked for ages! If you live in the UK, a certain supermarket whose symbol is a giant M are doing Dr Oet's (I probably cant actually spell the correct company names for legal reasons on here) pizza for £1.25 at the moment - bonus! Anyway, heres the pizza: [url=http://i80.photobucket.com/albums/j179/littleclum/goodpizza.jpg[/url]Oh right, the report...
So yesterday afternoon I played against my ever vigilant opponent Dan. Sadly theres not much of a gaming community up here in north wales so I have to get all my tournament practise games in against Dan's lizardmen... Which probably means my list is rather unconciously tailoured to fighting lizzies more than anything but who cares!
Dan has been having repeated trouble in coming up with a list for this tournament too. He had a break from gaming just over a year or so ago, and myself and our ex-housemate were the only people he's gamed against, so he's still a little behind on the experience front. We've discussed the new lizardmen for countless times - feel free to add your thoughts about lizzies on here as some hints, tips or useful ideas might crop up that I could pass on or suggest to him. Dan's record for our games so far is he's won about a quarter, with myself claiming the other 3 quarters.
Here's his first list (off top of my head sadly):
NOT SO THIN-LIZZIE(s)!
Sarus Oldblood
Sword of Might, Bane Head, 5+ Ward Save
Full Mundane Armour
Carnosaur
Skink Priest Level 1
Dispel Scroll
Skink Priest Level 1
Dispel Scroll
Skink Chief
Steg War Spear
Stegadon (normal)
15-ish Saurus
Spears
stand and dance (music)
10 Skinks skirmishers
Blowpipes
10 Skink skirmishers
Blowpipes
3 Terradons
Stegadon
5 Cold One Cavalry
stand and dance (music)
Banner of +D6" charge
2 Salamanders (seperate teams)
I think thats about it!
Hedron the vile's host of Karond Kar (the updated list is near the bottom of page 1)
Can be located [url=http://www.druchii.net/viewtopic.php?t=60777]HERE[/url]
soooo... 2 stegadons, cold one knights and a carnosaur eh... and thats besides the infinitely irritating salamanders, skinks and terradons.
The terrain roughly fitted as follows:
Code: Select all
-----------------------------Sally1---Priest1--------------Priest2-------------
----------Carnosaur-----Chief Steg--Cold Ones--Saurus---Stegadon---Sally2------
-----------Terradons-----------------------Skinks1--------------------------
------------WOOOOOOODS----------------------------POND--------------------
-----------WOOOOOOODS------------------------------------------------------
---------WOOOOOOODS-------------------------------WOOOOOODS--------------------
--------------------------------------------------WOOOOOODS------------------
-------------HILL (Crossbows)---------------------Harps1--Harps2---------------
------------Dark Rs1----------Cold Ones--D.Rs2--Hydra1-Hydra2---Warriors--
---------------------------------------------Dragon--------------------------------
Spells
Lizardmen:
- Priest 1 = Forked Lightning (Heavens)
- Priest 2 = Portent of Far (Heavens)
Dark Elves:
- Sorceress 1 (in crossbows) = Dark Hand of Death, Steal Soul (Death)
- Sorceress 2 (in warriors) = Chillwind, Bladewind (Dark)
The Lizardmen rolled first turn!
Turn 1
marching forward, the entire army came at the Druchii, the Saurus Lord atop his Carnosaur urging his mount close to western woods, relying upon its predatory instinct to creep upon on the souless, vicious elves of the night. The Terradon scouts soured over the small copse in front of them, perching high upon the branches within the deepest recesses of the western woods, their fellow skink huntsmen sprinting along on the ground below. Salamnder1 sprinted into the centre of the battlefield, leering at the druchii with fiery, acidic saliva pooling on the ground - the enourmous stegadon near to it was clearly too large to be attacked by the small sail-finned dinosaur. The stegadon itself with the chief on top merely walked forwards allowing the well trained skink commander a clear view of his intended victim: the black dragon and its rider. The cavalry next to the chief walked forwards too keeping a firm eye that the salamanders back was facing them and not its head... The Saurus marched forwards as quickly as possible, with the skinks screening them taking up positions on the eastern edge of the pond. The 2nd Stegadon plodded forward to the western edge of the pond whilst the last salamander sat right in the middle of it. The priests remained near the back of the army, Priest 1 moving to being within range of the skink chief whilst Priest 2 sat where he was.
Magic Phase saw Portent of far being cast (he rolled a 6, I used 2 dice, 5) on the skink chief and his stegadon, whilst forked lightning was attempted on the crossbowmen but was dispelled.
The shooting phase only saw 1 occurence: the chief's great bow (being fired by the chief as we've discovered as a temporary clarification courtesy of GW) shot at the Dragon, as did the other great bow from the stegadon. Both hit (the chiefs thanks to portent
) and struck the dragon, however only the chiefs weapon wounded, inflicting 3 wounds on the poor beast!
enraged by the insolence, the druchii general screamed the cold blood of the lizards - his Dragon going somewhat beserk from the pain, roared with anger and charged the salamander in the centre of the field. The beast held, despite the sheer size and ferocity of the wyrm. The rest of the druchii were less impetuous, calculatingly plotting the quickest downfall of the pathetic scale skinned beasts before them that were not even of use as slaves. The western Dark Riders (DRs1) moved around the west of the hill and marched towards the carnosaur, staying careful to remain near the maximum distance that the beast could charge, ready to feign flight away before gunning more bolts into its face. Harpies 1, flew to the back of the hill ready to sow disruption and slow the advance of the enemy. Hydra1 walked to north east edge of the woods whilst its cousin ran across towards the skinks near the pond, looking towards the flank of the stegadon and the salamander nearby. The other harpies flew over to the far eastern edge of the board, staying within charge range to the skinks but remaining far enough away that any shots at them would doubtless miss. The slave warrios and sacrificial fuel for the sorceress walked forwards a little into range to cast at the salamander and the skinks. The Cold One Knights passed their stupidity and walked towards the Saurus, the dark riders moving onto the lower tier of the hill with the crossbowmen, who wheeled slightly to face the predicted spot of where carnosaur might end up if it charged the dark riders.
Magic didnt see too much - the sac dagg sorceress killed 1 warrior to cast Power of Darkness, but that was dispelled, then used her remaining dice and the army's to cast Bladewind at the Salamander, which was scrolled. Finally the sorceress on the hill tried to cast Power of Darkness, intending to scorch the saurus and knock a rank off - it was dispelled.
Shooting saw both dark rider units shoot at the carnosaur; aiming for the beasts eyes to sent it blind with rage (literally!
) and managed to wound the beast but saved it - the rider saving the 1 wound on him. The crossbowmen fired at the saurus as they couldnt quite see the carnosaur, they knocked 1 model off but it was enough to drop the rank ready for combat. The Hydra then tried to breath on the saurus but was just out of range - which is good as it meant the saurus would not be able to charge it next turn. The last hydra flamed some skinks and a partial on the salamander - the skinks lost 6 of their number and the salamander took a wound, the skinks fled a very short distance...Combat saw the salamander torn into tiny pieces by the Dragon and his rider, the remaining skinks fled from the terror causer, and it pursued eagerly gulping the small skinks down like they were those squishy lizard sweets you can get in haribo sometimes... The pusuit move I'd hoped would reach the cold one knights (I'd reckoned they were 8" from the combat - I rolled an 8 on 3 dice and measured: they were a hairs whisker over 8"s
I halted 1" away and waited for the pain to begin: luckily I was out've charge arc of the chiefs stegadon otherwise that'd have REALLY hurt...Turn 2
The Sarus Cold One riders watched the slaughter of the salamander, and, though relieved that the beast was no longer going hock huge amounts of nasty phlegm (what a word!) at them as soon as its goaders were dead, they were pained to see their smaller, pansier, cousins be eaten like so much haribo by the big and nasty dragon. So, as the ancient beast gulped down the little guys, their big brothers urged their steeds onwards: just managing the wake one of the beasts who had sat down to doze in the last rays of the dusk sunshine... Feral reptilian roars erupted at the Dragon spied them - too late to fly above them... The Saurus Oldblood was angered by the insolence of the dark cowled riders in front, and shouted one of the few gutteral utterances it knew of the lizardmen language - the terradons responding by flying from the tree tops, branches and clutches of rock in the claws of their flying charges. The dark riders were assailed by this assortment of painful barrage material and lost 4 of their number, the musician holding his nerve and swearing at the terradons as they landed behind the crossbowmen, just as the harpies landed next to them... The oldblood, satisified with the scouts performance urged his beast onwards, ignoring the last rider and coming round the southern edge of the woods into view of the battlefield - spying another unit of the dark cowled riders right next to the hill... The Chiefs Stegadon walked forwards slightly and turned to face the dragon's flank. The skinks in the western woods sprinted out into the open where the salamander had been moments ago - spying the hydra in the woods - they had marched however and would have to hunt it later. The skinks in the east rallied and the salamander walked around to the salamander's flank - eyeing the handlers with hunger. The other stegadon, unable to march, plodded forwards to the south western edge of the pond. The Saurus plodded forwards slightly and wheeled a little to face the hydra and so protect their flank. The priests both moved west, the Portent one hiding in the woods, while the other ran to the back of the cold one cavalry - staying away from the sorceress's magic missile/bladewind
Magic saw nothing being cast - it was all dispelled this time.
Shooting saw relatively little occuring: the terradons shot at the crossbowmen but missed. The Skinks in the middle had marched, the other skinks had rallied, the salamander shot at the handlers and covered both with a good roll but failed to cause any wounds! The chief's stegadon and the other shot at the Cold One knights and killed 1.
Close combat saw the cold one cavalry tearing into the Dragon and inflicting 2 wounds on it, putting it on its last wound (I passed 4 out of 6 saves!
) The Lord retaliated and failed to do anything (S4 is pants ) while the dragon tore up 2 Cold One Knights - they had beaten me by 1 (I outnumbered them) but the lord held check and fought on wishing to wipe out the pathetic, stupid looking creatures the lizardmen called cavalry: his knights would show them!
and show them they did! The dark elves began with a spate of charges: the western harpies attacking the terradons in a combat that see the 2 duking it out all game (he had good LD tests and neither of us could hurt the other until eventually the harpies wiped them all out but took no further part in the game). The other harpies charged the skinks in the east, losing none of their number on the way in. The Hydra charged the flank of the stegadon, while the other hydra combined a charge with the cold one knights at the saurus infantry. The dark riders finally charged the skinks in front of them with no stand and shooting as they were so close. The warriors edged round and could only see the salamander through the bulk of the hydra and the mass of skinks. The last dark rider musician moved towards the east of the woods, eyeing up the skink priests. The sorceress in the crossbowmen left the unit to move out of LOS of the Carnosaur and towards it into range for steal soul.
Magic saw the last salamander dieing from chillwind and bladewind. The other sorceress had much more luck with casting both steal soul and dark hand of death on the carnosaur - popping 2 wounds off it: the rider again saving them all - all this magic was courtesy of power of darkness spell: such a cool addition to our wizards: I think its much better and more fluffy than +1 to cast!
Shooting - the dark rider musician thought he'd be cheeky and have a pop at the stegadon as it was a large target close to him (the carnosaur would've been 6s and the skink priest would've been 7s - the steg was 4s), he hit with both shots and scored one on the chief - who failed his save! The crossbowmen followed this show of marksmenship by getting one of their bolts through the eardrum of the carnosaur and another through its tongue taking 2 more wounds off it - putting it on 1 wound!
Close combat saw the Dark riders shredding the skinks apart: losing 6 of their number with no loss in return. The damned skinks though passed on insane courage! This left the dark riders utterly open for carnosaur fodder...
. The Harpies in the east tore apart the skinks and chased them down WOOT! (I hate fighting skinks!), the Hydra bit into the stegadon's crew taking out 4 of the 5 of them. It took 1 wound in return but the stegadon held. The Hydra and Cold Ones ripped the saurus to pieces - proving to them what the worlds 'true best bred fighters' were. The Cold Ones overan a ridiculous distance into the dragon/saurus cold one combat (WOOP! 
) while the hydra, panted - its asthma clearly catch up with it (I keep telling it its all that parafin drinking for fire breathing that does it), and walked a bare 3" toward the centre of the battlefield: eagerly able to spot the scrummy looking stegadon (and staying way out of range of the Carnosaur - phew! 
). The lord and dragon, coupled with the new knights only killed 2 of the remaining saurus cavalry - with no wounds taken in return. The remaining sarus cavalryman fled only to be run down by both units: the dragon pursuing off the table and the cavalry hitting the poor priest who'd taken refuge back there!
Turn 3
The saurus lord was enraged at what he saw unfurling: all of his spawn brothers had been butchered and erased from the field of battle: nothing remaining but broken and bloodied bodies all over the ground. Loqnir, his carnosaur had taken severe wounds from the enemies vile magiks and harsh bolts - fired, he noted with extrme accuracy, and though he greatly wanted to punish those who had caused such wounds, he did not wish to risk a further barrage that could kill his mount whom he'd trained with since they were both early spawned creatures. His bond with the beast was greater than any of his spawn brothers - though his instinctive duty to the slann and protection of the jungles overuled all this of course. Before he realised what was happening, Loqnir had roared, confused by the lack of hearing and the pain and sped into the flank of the black cowled riders theyd spied, smaller skinks scattering before the giant beast... The Chief on Stegadon charged into the rear of the cold one Knights while the remaining Priest moved towards that combat to lend his support.
There was no shooting.
In combat, the beastmasters cracked their whips causing the stegadon to back off slightly, allowing the duo to climb aboard into the howdah, lithely avoiding the sweeping spiked tail of the skink's beast. The remaining skink tried to turn the giant bow on the two but died as he fumbled loading an arrow into its strings. The Hydra reared forwards, claws grasping the spined flanks of the stegadon, its several heads darting quickly in, biteing the leathery thick scales of the stegadons neck, though not without injury to its and the horned head turned in time to prevent the hydra getting a firm deathgrasp and instead inpaling one of its head through one its crest horns. The stubborn beast refusing to back down from the titanic duel - unaware that another multi-headed beast was bearing down it with slavering jaws and eyes of hunger...
The saurus lord and carnosaur of course killed the dark riders with ease - the carnosaurs frenzy driving it onwards in a heightened sense of fury: sniffing the nearby woods in the attempt to track another scent: the hydra thatd been there earlier.
The skink chief on the stegadon tore into the cold one riders - the impact hits impaling 2 knights on the horns of the beast, a 3rd skewered on the end of the skinks barbed lengthy spear and a 4th by the stegadon itself: normally a herbivore, the stegadon bit the knight in two in its frustration at being kept from close quarter fighting. The remaining knights however urged its cold one mount forwards: the creature screaming a deathly howl as at crouched and pounced onto the edge of the howdah allowing its rider to thrust his lance through the shoulder of the skink chief who'd caused so much grief: the champion dying even as the cold one was forced off by the stegadon shaking violently in an attempt to rid itself of the small clawed predator: the knight fleeing from the field of battle, ignoring the skink priest - the stegadon hot on its heels, thundering forwards.
The hydra turned one of its heads backwards, glancing somewhat fearfully at the beastmasters who cracked one of their whips at its head, but not before the hydra spotted the carnivorous beast smelling the forest. The hydra had suffered at the jaws of one before, and though itd survived the attack it had not been a pleasant ordeal. Instead, it thought better of its stomach and sprinted towards the massive beast its cousin was bringing down: not ready to miss on an opportunity of such great prey...
The Black Dragon flew in from the north of the battlefield straight towards the carnosaur and its rider: glaring at the beasts flank: the time to eradicate the enemy commander had come... The 2nd unit of Harpies flew towards the western woods - ignoring the priest in the north near to where the stegadon would re-appear and scare them away! The crossbowmen executed a reverse wheel before facing forwards again at the back of the carnosaur. The warriors edged towards the skink priest in the north so that the sorceresses spells would be in range while the other sorceress walked towards the back of the carnosaur...
Magic saw Priest 2 die to chillwind, and the magic phase end as the other sorceress miscast, taking a wound (putting her back on 2 - courtesy of steal soul earlier).
Shooting saw nothing happen to the carnosaur sadly as all the wounds were saved...
Close combat: the extra attacks from the fresh hydra ripped the head of the stegadorn forwards, working in coordination with its cousin so that the neck was exposed, which the other hydra prized apart with its claws, gorging
on the exposed flexy area with all heads: the stegadon roared in pain before being pushed over by the combined weight of both hydras: the beastmasters not even needing to lend their support at all...
Closing Turns:
The stegadron re-arrived on the battlefield to find very little left: two hydras lay to its left side, a priest was sculking, terrified of the harpies that were in pursuit of it, and a central showdown between the two commanders seemed to be occuring...
Hedron spied the Oldblood of the lizardmen before the ancient creature had a chance to notice the prescence of the dragon diving straight down from the great heighs above the battlefield: its shadow as small pool of darkness that rapidly grew as the dragon folded its wings back in a deathdive striking straight for the carnosaur and its rider. The creature itself had sensed something, its primeval predatory instinct kicking in as it realisng that it was being hunted by a worthy creature: it lashed its tail as it eratically swung its head round trying to find the source. Then it saw the shadow...
Too late.
The wyrm opened its wings as it neared the ground, its great claws outstretched like an enourmous eagles talons, raking the flank of the carnosaur and toppling the creature sideways, barely holding the weight and impact of the monstrous dragon, its jaws turned to snap at the neck of the the giant black form.
Hedron was fully prepared for the dealing with the oldblood and drove with outstretched arm, the ancient lance Caledor's Bane, slayer of Asur dragons and once wielded by lord Maranith himself, into the Old bloods rib cage, puncturing the lung of the ancient leader and extending the other side. The thrust had been aimed at its heart but a small pendent had glowed gold as the blow struck and threw the lords aim off course slightly - mortally wounding the oldblood and very nearly killing it.
The carnosaur itself could not hold the impact for more than a split second and collapsed under the immense pressure, the dragons gaping maw gripping its throat as the huge predatory dinosaur died. The oldblood fell, the lance being pulled from Hedron's grasp as the creature did so, only to stagger to a stand, closely avoiding being pinned by his mounts death.
The oldblood pulled the lance from its chest, staggering forward in sheer pure rage, hacking wilding at Hedron himself ignoring the wounded dragon: clearly it wanted vengeance for such a daring attack hedron mused, before he could consider further the old blood hacked forwards catching Hedrons armour that rang clear with the blow but did not puncture, hedron leapt free of the saddle and drawing his old blade as the oldblood followed him. As he landed, Hedron turned on the creature immediately switching to the offensive, landing blow after blow on the venerable saurus, the creature's full attention on the druchii lord - alas, as the creature backed away from Hedron's relentless attacks: alas, it had not seen Hedron's mount stalk rounder behind the saurus, its neck snaping slowly back before snapping forwards like a striking snake crushing the oldblood in its vicious jawed mouth - a crunch echoing off the nearby rocky cliff as the oldblood's bones were snapped...
The day had been a resounding victory to the druchii with very few losses indeed: Hedron drank in the heady scent of the battlefield stench and praised khaine for this day.
And there you have it! This was game 1 of 2 that we played that evening: if I get a chance tommorow I'll put up the report of the 2nd game. I basically tested some of the ideas in the army list discussion section (HERE) and switched out the cold one knights for an assassin with rending stars, manbane, and the cloak.
Dan changed his list accordingly too: he lost the cold one cavalry, bought an extra unit of skinks, kept the lord and priests and chief + the extra stegadon, and turned his large unit of saurus into 2 units of 12 saurus.
Please, if you could take the time to look at my army list - I'm now having a little dilema about whether to include a stars/manbane/cloak assassin or whether to have cold one knights: I could do with as much input/thoughts as possible as the tournament is now VERY close indeed (April 19th)
Many thanks!
- Beanz