MSU-Battle-Reports (English)

Runelord, Anvil of Doom, Shield, M. Rune of Balance, Rune of Spellbreaking, Rune of Stone
BSB, M. Rune of Grungni, Rune of Guarding, Rune of Slowness
Thane, GW, Xbow, M. Rune of Gromril, M. Rune of Challenge, Rune of Brotherhood, Rune of Furnace

29 Warriors, Shields, Full Command
24 Quarrellers, Great Weapons, Full Command
20 Thunderers, Full Command
20 Longbeard Rangers, GW, Full Command, Rune of Determination

Cannon, Rune of Forging, Rune of Burning
Grudge Thrower, 2 x Rune of Penetrating
Organ Gun

I am not sure about the details as the army list I got from TO is different to what I faced but I hope the characters are the same.

Hm, Blood and Glory means the deployment zones are a little closer and flanks have to be empty for that purpose. That means Dwarves cannot form their castle in the corner. But could as well form it close enough. Sam had traditionally looking army and that meant trouble. His shooters are not only dangerous to my small units but they can also fight in close combat well. Especially crossbows with great weapons. A good mixture of war machines didn't make the things easier but at least there were only three of them and "only" one organ gun

Rangers with Thane were a problem too. They could nicely counter my deployment and Rune of Challenge can be really nasty with them. But as it is hard to predict if they are going to be deployed as scouts or rather, if they are going to be deployed far forward, I decided to worry about it as soon as I saw were they are.

Anvil of Doom is always a pain and I expected it will cause a lot of trouble. I decided to deploy in many thin lines to avoid the grudge thrower as a single shot with S5 hits can easily destroy whole units. I also knew that shooting will be very limited so I wanted to use archers as a first wave instead. Yes, I was going to try and win against Dwarven castle. Crazy idea as it may be I needed to keep trying!

Looking at the battle field I noticed that it had to be divided into two halves. Hence, I had to advance from both flanks or try to deploy everything on one side. I decided to spread forces a little.

War of the Beard - yet another episode!

As expected Rangers were a problem. I didn't know when they are going to use the rune of challenge and with anvil movement I could expect some nasty charges. At least they didn't have throwing axes!

Rocks in the middle were as much cover as a problem. From one point of view they limited amount of targets for thunderers but at the same time narrowed path to the flank of the enemy formation.

I wanted to bypass rangers and use the cavalry to destroy organ gun. It was very risky business as thunderers were there to help.

I was totally at a loss what to do with chariots They seem free points against cannons I didn't even want to deploy them. I also felt crowded on the other flank but at a time it seemed like a good idea. I also had open right flank to advance with fast troops and avoid nasty shooters.

Unfortunately, I didn't get first turn, that might be very helpful here. Let's see what nasty surprises Dwarves had for me!

Who needs to move when enemy will come to you anyway?

Shooting warm up

Dwarves, confident in their impregnable formation, didn't even flinch. The war machines opened fire as did the quarrellers. A few elves fell here and there but it was clear it was not yet the hell Dwarven gunline can unleash.

On the contrary, Elves move fast

But show they can shoot too!

Almost entire elven army moves at a double. On the far East light troops use the cover in wide outflanking manoeuver. Even the shooters moved as fast as possible with the exception of one regiment of Sisters and Eagle Claw who started thinning down some quarrellers. On the West cavalry also moved forward, although a little bit shy as they all faced organ gun and a group of grumpy thunderers.

Fireworks!

Anvil explodes!

Rangers reform swiftly and use the gap between the elven units to move towards the flank of the cavalry formation. All around them fire of various colours erupts and it does feel like some kind of celebration. The only difference is that together with disappearing fireworks great eagle, chariot and full unit of reavers perish too.

Quarrellers aim at White Lions this time and it seems their furs are for decorative purposes only as half of the unit dies to well placed crossbow bolts.

Unfortunately for Dwarves, something goes terribly wrong with the anvil and the ancient artefact explodes taking lives of runelord and his apprentices.

Rangers and their tricks!

Left flank in trouble, right flank advances

Silver Helms were about to move forward but the obscene gestures of the dwarven rangers offended their senses so much they decided it is beneath their dignity to fight against such a dishonourable foe and withdrew. Dragon Princes had to follow up to cover their retreat.

Rest of the regiments moved towards the enemy, quarrellers being the main target at the moment. Larry the Loremaster tried to help his warriors and aimed with a well placed fireball against the Grudge Thrower but a crew member still survived!

Rangers on the rampage!

Things start to look very bad for Elves

Rangers charge Dragon Princes, destroy them and even manage to catch fleeing Silver Helms. Elven left flank totally collapses!

In the centre, Thunderers charge exposed flank of the Archers who flee and trigger chain reaction. Not only that causes nearby lions to flee (Edit: Despite re-roll from the battle standard bearer! #-o ) but also panic second group of archers!

Cannon crew loads a grapeshot and Shadow Warriors are no more. Nearby great eagle is more lucky as it is wounded but not killed. Is that the end of the Elven attack?

First elven charges

Elves attack but with mixed success (Edit: Please note the wrong angle of A1 archers)

Despite a disastrous turn of events so far the Elves keep attacking. Great eagle enacts vengeance on the Grudge Thrower and destroys the last of the crew members. Ellyrian reavers attack the flank of the Dwarven crossbows and tie them in combat, preventing from shooting. Lions run towards them to be able to help out.

Reavers are repelled

Dwarves form new battle line

Quarrellers managed to fend off pesky light cavalry and reformed to face more dangerous foe. Warriors and Thunderers both reformed to make a new battle line while Rangers chased off the chariot.

Elves attack again!

But the stubborn Dwarves refuse to give ground

Swordmasters and White Lions charge together against quarrellers. Many Dwarves die but they hold, despite being affected by Iceshard Blizzard.

Archers and Sisters block the Dwarven regiments from joining the combat. Larry the Loremaster challenges Dwarven BSB to magical mental duel and manages to fry the brain of the stubborn Thane. Now Dwarves are truly leaderless.

Few Elves remain

Quarrellers still hold!

Dwarves keep shooting at advancing Elves and while group of sisters perishes then a some archers are still there. The combat between the Quarrellers and Elven warriors still continues! Dwarves can be really stubborn!

Last gamble!

Seeing that only one more push can bring the victory to his bloodied army, Larry orders an attack and leads the charge himself. Swordmasters and While Lions finally finish the Quarrellers. Then Larry and his Swordmasters smash into Thunderrers. Many of them fall but also many Swordmasters die. Dwarves still lose and to everyone's surprise - they flee! Larry and last of the Swordmasters pursue and capture the standard. At this point Dwarven army is broken and Warriors decided to retreat too! What a turn of events!

Edit: I am not sure if I got the cannon but I guess I did as I was shooting with everything at it and I don't recall it shooting last turn.

I must apologise for the lack of diagrams for turn 6. We were in a hurry to finish it before the time was called and I didn't take pictures. I assume that the warriors rallied but the most important was the fact that Organ Gun had Loremaster and his companion as a target. Sam rolled and got "2". Not enough as I could distribute the hits evenly. Sam decided to re-roll and ... got a "4"! That meant that Larry survived the game and there were not bonus points for him! The gamble paid off this time!

After turn 3 I thought there is not coming back for me. Left flank collapsed, I made some stupid mistakes and lost units instead of attacking war machines and on top of that my assault was stalled by fleeing units. But I am glad I pressed forward as there was really no turning back.

But let's start from the beginning.

The deployment was not good, in particular on the left flank. I didn't take into account ranger's mobility (especially with the anvil) properly. I thought I had them in check and blocked but that was a mistake that cost me cavalry. What is more I didn't move well and left enough space in between the regiments so that they could move in and challenge Silver Helms. I also moved these units too slow. As a result they were shot to pieces and defeated in combat.

I think I should have fled with Dargon Princes and if Sam redirected towards Silver Helms I would have had to flee with them again. Not going to save the day but at least the units had a chance to survive.

Moving in think lines looked good but with one Grudge Thrower I think it was a mistake. Sam pointed out that Anvil would have slowed me down significantly. Lucky me it blew up. And early too that allowed me to cast some magic. I compromise manoeuvrability with such formations.

Then in the rush to reach the enemy as quickly as possible I positioned Shadow Warriors too close and simply lost them. The same with Archers, who at least should have presented their front to both units. Somehow I assumed that thundereres will stay behind that wall forever.

But I didn't give up and it seemed to be a good decision! I managed to reach the enemy to get into combat on the right flank. It took way too long to beat these stubborn Dwarves but I did it. I also could use the opportunity to cast magic and finally got enemy BSB. Very important in the Blood and Glory scenario.

Last charge was a gamble but it paid off too! Why gamble? Because if I didn't break that unit I would have lost my general. But I needed these points because first, I got them for the unit and second, for reaching breaking point. Otherwise the result would have been very close. Not to mention that I had rangers rushing towards my general too.

We had some bad luck this game, Sam definitely more than me but I hope it was still enjoyable game for him. It was definitely for me as Sam was a great opponent! This time I managed to snatch the victory but who knows, maybe we will have a chance to re-match soon!

With all the bonus points and some comp difference the end result was: 16.75 - 3.25

Thanks for reading!

I have faced Simon on many occasions already. We even played against each other on Masters but at the time we didn't know we would. Simon is a hardcore tournament player so I knew I am up to a challenge again. I was very curious what kind of army he came up with for this event and he brought tough Lizards:

[size=150]Lizardmen - Army List[/size]

Slann, BSB, Wandering deliberations, Sceptre of stability - All signature spells
Oldblood, Cold one, Light armour, Great weapon, Charmed shield, Dawnstone, The Other Trickster Shard
Scar Veteran, Cold one, Great weapon, Armour of Destiny
Scar Veteran, Cold one, Great weapon, Gambler armour, Dragon bane gem
Scar Veteran, Cold one, Great weapon, Light armour, Dragon helm, Luckstone, Ironcurse icon
Skink Priest, Dispel Scroll - Lore of Heavens
Skink Chief, Terradon, Spear, Light Armour, Enchanted Shield

10 Skinks, Standard, Musician
10 Skinks, Standard, Musician
18 Skinks, Standard, Musician
10 Skink Skirmishers, Javelins, Shields
10 Skink Skirmishers, Javelins, Shields
18 Saurus Warriors, Full Command
28 Temple Guards, Full Command, Warrior Bane, Standard of Swiftness
Salamander Pack
2 Jungle Swarms

As you can see quite character heavy army. All these S7 Saurus heroes are really powerful in close combat and any of them is a huge threat to my army. As they may lead the big units of Saurus or Temple Guard it also means it will be very hard to get significant points from this force. I have seen more and more armies like that. They have all-or-nothing approach. Either the units is big and supported by the characters or the regiment is small, cheap and expendable.

Lizardmen seem to excel at this type of army lists. The Saurus blocks are already tough enough. With characters inside them they are almost unmovable and fighting them means heavy casualties anyway. Small regiments of Skinks are excellent support troops too. They can divert the enemy, protect the bigger units from shooting and be generally annoying.

My initial plan was to keep back and shoot as much as I can of the support units. Clearing them out may help to get these combined charges I rely on. I could also divert Temple Guard which I probably cannot touch due to large numbers and characters inside. Or if I could I should be able to divert Saurus warriors as I cannot fight two of the regiments at the same time.

Brute force versus finesse and subtlety

Deployment before the vanguard moves

As you can see Simon did a very clever thing and spread his multiple characters. The small risk was with them failing the stupidity but at the same time small units of skinks were not such an easy prey for faster elven regiments.

We rolled the dice and unsurprisingly Simon won to take the first turn.

Lizardmen move forward

Then disaster struck!

Lizardmen phalanx rolled forward. The Elves were too far away for javelins to be thrown so it was up to the Slann to cause some damage. He promptly blasted small group of Sisters and nearby charioteers were shocked so much that they decided to go home immediately.

Then the Slann reminded himself he haven't solved that mathematical formula Lord Mazdamundi asked him but yesterday (or was it a century ago?) and he decided it was far more important to do so now. Slann are not hasty by nature but it was far more important matter in the grand scheme of the Old Ones to be delayed by some meaningless skirmish. Hence, mighty Slann created a door between dimensions and slammed the door in front of the Temple Guards who wanted to follow so hard that fully one third of the unit were nocked down never to get up. No one will disturb his meditation now!

Centre holds still

Flanks in the pincer manoeuver

Loss of the Slann was unexpected but Lizardmen army was still a threat. Units on both flanks moved according to the plan to encircle the enemy. Shooters all aimed at the living skink shield while Larry the Loremaster blasted Salamnder from the pond. That in turn spooked nearby skinks who decided that bath time is over and run away.

Lizardmen adopt defensive formation

Temple Guard starts back pedalling

Surprisingly Temple Guard reformed and started to withdraw. Only Scar Veterans on flanks had the order to attack. On the West, careless charioteers exposed themselves to the charge of the enemy and retreated. On the East, Lizardmen turned their attention to some elven scouts nearby.

Elven fast troops manoeuver

Strike force assembled at the river bank

On the West elven cavalry surrounds the skinks while units on the East prepare for the attack with support troops disrupting enemy opportunities for attack.

Lizardmen attack!

But Elves hold!

Scar Veteran on the East was eager to attack but his mount had other business to attend and the attack was delayed. Saurus pretended they don't notice the stupid behaviour of their leader's mount.

Another veteran led small skinks in the attack against elven scouts. Elves killed skinks in droves but Scar Veteran was too tough for them and only one survivor was left standing. However, he held the line nevertheless!

Skink Chief swooped down and attack Silver Helms but elven nobles also held the line.

On the West skinks threw poisonous javelins at the elven light horse and one unit had to withdraw to safety under such ferocious shooting attack.

Blurry picture number 1

Elves counter charge

White Lions storm through the waters to hit the flank of the enemy group. Brave Shadow Warrior perishes but the Scar Veteran is wounded and many skinks die. Lizardmen hold however with coldblooded determination.

Silver Helms keep holding the Skink Chief in combat as they know another regiment of Lions hurries to their aid.

On the West Dragon Princes trample the swarms and gallop beyond the hill.

Stalemate on the East

But Elven Western flank disintegrates

Scar Veteran on the East finally manages to control his mount and Saurus attack the eagle. Lone Scar Veteran keeps fighting against the Lions who cannot strike him down. Silver Helms hold a little bit longer and it seems the fate of the Skink Chief is sealed.

On the West group of skinks led by Scar Veteran charges elven cavalry that elects to perform feigned flight. They are a little bit too enthusiastic in that manoeuver and flee the battle completely.

High Elves counter attack

And change the direction of the march

White Lions finally dispatch the Scar Veteran while their companions destroy Skink Chief. Eagle lands in front of the Saurus to buy time for the Elves so that they can form a new battle line.

On the centre Elven units reform and unleash a magical and mundane missile barrage. Lots of skinks die and even their leader, Scar Veteran, is wounded.

Something went wrong

That was not the plan

Saurus charge the eagle who flees and then redirect into White Lions who also elect to withdraw. But their companions misunderstood the intention and withdrew as well. So much for a trap.

Temple Guards changed their minds and advanced one more time while Scar Veteran on the West abandoned his unit and moved to the safety of the nearby hut.

Larry chases the Scar Veteran

Eastern Flank in trouble

Larry the Loremaster is determined not to let Scar Veteran escape. But as he cannot attack him he is chasing him down and tries to cast some damaging spells. This time without success.

On the East one group of Lions fails to rally so Silver Helms try to block the Saurus from chasing them down.

Last attempt to charge by Lizardmen

"Brave" High Elves

Oldblood orders the Temple Guards to charge the Swordmasters. Bob the BSB does not want to risk such confrontation and withdraws. On the East Silver Helms didn't close the gap well and Scar Veteran forces Lions to flee the battle and then redirects into Silver Helms and kills them to an elf.

Not good end for Elven army

Swordmasters with BSB fail to rally!

Larry the Loremaster managed to sneak through his last attempt of Spirit Leach but all this running around took away his strength and he could not muster enough mental focus to fry the brain of the Scar Veteran. Eagle Claw crew aimed at the lonely Scar Veteran but they also failed to hit their target.

What is more, the Swordmasters with Bob the BSB decided a bit too early to go home and celebrate the victory when the battle was not finished yet and the victory slipped through their fingers in the last possible moment.

At first I thought I was simply unlucky. Quite a few panic checks that cost me 2 chariots, one unit of Lions and unit of Swordmastres with the BSB definitely added many victory points for my opponent. But when I was writing this report with every turn put into a diagram I saw more and more evidence that I simply played that game badly. And the failed panic checks were just a consequence of that.

First, I got a great gift in the form of the Slann cascading first turn. It was very unfortunate for Simon to lose his general and very powerful spell caster. But it also meant I should have been able to use the opportunity and win the game. With 4 fighting character intact Lizardmen army was very dangerous anyway but Simon went for defensive mode and that was my chance. I failed to take advantage of that.

Let's go turn by turn so that I can show better what I mean by bad game and inability to use the opportunity when it presents itself.

T0 - Deployment

I was actually happy with the deployment. I separated characters so that they are not close to Slann and potential Spirit Leach. I reinforced the flanks so that if the opponent goes for the centre he immediately surrounds the flanks and risks being enveloped. If he goes for a flank, he risks being shot at (not much of a problem for the Lizards) but also abandons the chance to get many points as my characters are safe.

T1

Too enthusiastic move on the left and not aggressive enough approach on the right. On the left I exposed chariot to the attack, first mistake. Then moved Reavers too close so that Jungle Swarms could block it. As a consequence, I exposed the chariot and instead of being ready to attack with 3 units against one, where I had a chance to break the veteran by killing his skinks, I lost the chariot and an opportunity to attack.

On the right all 3 units should be on the river bank immediately. They were in the charge range of the Scar Veteran but positioning should be such that allows for counter from any other 2 units. If I spread Silver Helms they would have been steadfast too as I had a champion to issue a challenge.

T2

I exposed light cavalry to shooting. I should have charged with one unit to either destroy or stop the jungle swarm. The second unit should have faced isolated skinks and shoot at them too, being in the position to charge in unison with Dragon Princes. I am not sure why I didn't charge with them either. One possibility is that this particular Veteran had 2++ against flaming attacks.

On the right I should have risked charge with White Lions. At worse I would have failed but still be close. Instead I moved three units slowly and what is more without mutual support to cover each other. Because of that Skink Chief attacked SIlver Helms and I was lucky they held.

T3

While the attack on the right flank was good and I had eagles to block the counter from Saurus, then on the left I failed miserably. I attacked the swarms but should have blocked skinks with veteran with reavers. While I had a chance to flee and remain in place with cavalry I risked rolling too high too. As I did.

T4

I should have simply moved Bob to archers and allow Swordmaster better mobility. I slowed them down and made them reactive rather than independent units to guard the flank of a more fragile formation.

T5

Another stupidity on my part. My initial plan was to hold with eagle, let Saurus pursue into Lions and then counter with two other units. Why did I abandon the plan is beyond me.

I also failed to position Silver Helms in the way that blocked individual charge.

T6

Another consequence of my bad play. I should have moved Swordmasters back so that Temple Guard cannot charge them. Instead I was afraid that long 10 or 11+ charge might have happened and fled only to roll box cars to rally next turn.

It is really a miracle I got a very minor loss: 9.65 - 10.35 after so many mistakes that made me ask a question if I know how to play warhammer any more.

I still hope it was a report worth reading if only to know what one can do to lose a game that started so well.

Cheers!