MSU-Battle-Reports (English)

Sorceror Lord, mark of slaanesh, level 4, charmed shield, talisman of preservation, arabyan carpet, chaos familiar, scaled skin - 420 - Lore of Slaanesh
Sorceror, level 2, biting blade, enchanted shield, luckstone, ironcurse icon - 170 - Lore of Death
Exalted hero, mark of slaanesh, great weapon, BSB, steed of slaanesh, dragonhelm, dawnstone, other tricksters shard - 224
Exalted hero, mark of slaanesh, halberd, steed of slaanesh, helm of many eyes, dragonbane gem, potion of foohardiness, burning body - 194
5 chaos warhounds - 30
5 chaos warhounds - 30
24 chaos warriors, mark of slaanesh, full command, great weapons, banner of swiftness - 477
8 marauder horsemen, mark of slaanesh, standard, flails
chimera, regeneration 245
dragon ogre shaggoth, great weapon 227
dragon ogre shaggoth, great weapon 227

Comp score: 13.6

A very fast army with powerful individuals. Each character is capable of either holding against any of my unit or crushing it eventually. So are Shagoths and Chimera. In particular if they combined their efforts and attacked together. It is not easy to prevent them from doing so either. Chimera and sorcerer lord fly, steeds of slaanesh are incredibly fast. Even the warriors are M5 with the banner.

There is also a problem of magic. The ability to land amidst my units and 6-dicing Cacophonic Choir to affect anything in 12" is nothing short of a fantasy version of a nuke. Because of that I had to deploy my units far away so that there was no option to face that danger round 1.

I looked for my chance in the fact that I have more unit and that WoC armies tend to be small. Because of that I could try and separate the elements and try to overwhelm them or at least wound them in the process of their rampage. Shooting and magic have the chance to wound some of the big beasts too so that finishing them in combat is possible.

At the same time I wanted to be prepared for an immediate charge. Also because we played Blood and Glory that allowed Sam to deploy closer to my lines than normal (we totally forgot about that scenario in the course of battle, however :oops: ).

Armies arrayed for battle

Forces of Order vs Forces of Evil

Since Chimera hid behind the rock in the middle of the battle field, Dragon Princes with the flaming banner positioned themselves in the centre. Also Sisters tried to cover some angles so that if the beast showed up at any side it could have been targeted too.

Loremaster deployed on the flank to avoid Cacophonic Choir too early and BSB was deployed in the centre to help as many regiments as possible.

BSB of the army of evil deployed on his own but being careful not to present himself as a target to the eagle claw crew. Sorcerer Lord hovered on his carpet just behind the phalanx of warriors. Another hero personally led marauders to battle.

Surprisingly, I won the roll off and got first turn! Wow, what am I going to do with such a gift! :lol:

Elves do not rush to meet the enemy

Shooting is focused on a Chimera

Elves are in no hurry to meet the enemy as they can first soften them down with some shooting. Chimera becomes the priority target and many units shoot at the beast. It is very badly wounded but not dead yet and limps away to the safety.

Forces of Chaos move at a double

Shagoths lead the way

Forces of Chaos do not waste their time and move forward as fast as possible. Sorcerer Lord does not want to expose himself yet and casts a single spell that makes proud elven knights move at his will.

Sam's dilemma - which unit to attack first?

Edit - a mistake, it was Shagoth S2 that was wounded by shooting

Elves kept moving on the flanks to surround the enemy and in the meantime the units in the centre tried to wound rampaging Shagoths. One of the beast was bleeding but it didn't stop its advance.

Forces of Evil attack

Surprisingly Elves can't hold the line

Chaos Champion charges on his own against Loremaster and his bodyguards. Some of the Swordmasters die and their blades just cannot penetrate the armour of the lone warrior. That breaks their nerve and the flee but were not caught by pursuing enemy.

Shagoths attack too. One charges Dragon Princes who do not suffer many casualties but somehow they too flee despite desperate calls of their BSB. On the other hand, Ellyrians show bravery and hold the line.

1 Shagoth down - 1 to go

Elves try to counter attack

Swordmasters and their Loremaster rally to face Chaos Champion one more time. Dragon Princes destroy blocking warhounds and reform to be able to aid their companions soon. Unfortunately, Ellyrian Reavers this time do not survive the combat and nearby Sisters panic. That is not good as Lions positioned themselves to counter another Shagoth. The wounded beast was targeted by the shooters though and this time it fell down for good.

Sorcerer Lord joins the attack

Chaos presses forward

Sorcerer Lord joins the attack and he focuses his powers on a single devastating spell. Cacophonic Choir is not stopped and Sisters, Archers and Sea Guard are affected. Sisters die on the spot, Archers cannot withstand the horror and flee while Sea Guard stoically holds the grounds.

Marauders pick the easy target and charge the eagle claw crew but elves miraculously survive and hold. Chaos Champion once more attacks Swordmasters who manage to wound him once and keep fighting. Shagoth furiously storms the flank of White Lions and no elf survives that rampage.
!

Bracing for impact

Dragon Princes come to the rescue

Elves fought back and Dragon Princes relieved eagle claw crew just in time. Knight reformed to be able to help Swordmasters but unfortunately they could not hold against the Chaos Champion again, this time not being able to flee.

Shagoth was looking hungrily at the Sea Guard and their bows were no match for the tough beast they were about to fight.

Shagoth charges in while other Chaos champions move to the cover

Shagoth storms in and many elves die but they hold the line bravely. They needed to hold if the cavalry was to help them.

Wounded Chaos Champion raced towards the safety but would have to dodge some missiles from eagle claw soon. Sorcerer Lord was in a better position as he flew on his magic carpet behind his warriors.

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Preparing one more trap

Elves surround the warriors

Bob the BSB drunk his magical potion and moved to the first rank. He ignored pleas of his warriors and stepped to the front. He wounded the beast many times but not enough to fell it to the ground. In return he was mercilessly cut down. His warriors kept fighting as they didn't want the Shagoth to escape their revenge.

Warriors prepare to face the attack

Sorcerer and Champion hide from the elven war machine

Sea guard pushed one more time and finally one of the spears found a weak spot and the lumbering Shagoth was put down for good. In the meantime Warriors moved towards the elven lines preparing for the attack.

Last chance!

It was the last chance for elves to turn the tide of the battle or at least to minimize the margin of defeat. Lions and Swordmasters attacked together but somehow Dragon Princes hesitated and didn't join the combat. That proved to be disastrous as despite heavy casualties, Warriors kept the formation intact enough to hold the line.

Warriors destroy their attackers

Warriors managed to finish off the Lions and Swordmasters, who also fought without hope for victory, soon broke and fled from the battle field entirely.

With their leaders dead, survivors of the Elven army had to withdraw and admit defeat.

Ouch! That hurt! I have made so many mistakes that game :oops: When I was making that report I simply could not believe I played so poorly.

But let's start with some mistakes in rules we unfortunately made:

1. Scenario

As I have said before we totally forgot it was a scenario and we played as if it were a normal game. Sam broke me when I lost BSB so we should have stopped the game then. From that point of view I lost even more than in the end (4-16 to be precise).

I didn't form the plan to defend myself or attack properly with the scenario rules in mind. Had I broke that warriors unit with bsb, for example, I would have won instead and I didn't even try to do so. Instead, I focused on battling shagoths simply because they were immediate threat. Bad planning, bad results.

2. Challenges

When chaos champion attacked Swordmaster with the Loremaster we didn't issue challenges at all. That champion has to do so. I could have accepted with my bladelord and then the Loremaster himself. Would that change much? I don't know really. It was the fact, however, that I failed 2 ld9 steadfast tests here anyway.

3. Spell effect

Cacophonic choir has an additional effect on the units that makes them moved randomly. We forgot about that with Sea Guard unfortunately.

Ok, now the long list of things I have don wrong:

1. Deployment

While in general it didn't look that bad there were a few things that were simply wrong. Sisters blocked lions simply because once again I didn't deploy them 3 wide. Swordmasters on the left flank were too far away from the BSB. I didn't use the opportunity and I didn't put the pressure on Warriors right from the start so that I could have a chance to destroy that unit in the end.

2. Units positioning

I just could not believe how I moved some units. Dragon Princes opened the gap for the enemy to charge in. Since that hero had flaming attacks they had nothing to fear. Yet I moved them away and even positioned them so that rallied dogs blocked them nicely.

I moved reavers to the back instead of moving them to the side. Thus I was not in position to counter dogs or anything in that matter. I simply threw them away against Shagoth. The fact they held one more turn in the end was probably even worse as that allowed Sam to charge with it in his own turn. The relative positioning of reavers, sisters and lions was horrible.

I wanted lions to be able to help sea guard but that doesn't mean I could not do so with them not exposing the flank. I was considering holding with sisters but unfortunately they fled.

There was a lucky moment when eagle claw crew held against marauders and I managed to make that charge with Dragon Princes. I had a tough decision to make then which way to face. Seeing how the things shaped up I am wondering if that was the right call.

3. Indecisiveness

I simply don't understand why I didn't charge with Dragon Princes against the Warriors in the last turn. First, it was my only chance to get significant amount of points back. Dragon Princes would ensure that Warriors had not steadfast. Instead I wasted 2 more units and made the defeat even bigger. #-o

4. Ability to roll well

I failed here as well. Very frustrating when I could not pass that ward saves despite quite significant amount of attacks directed at the champion of chaos. I could not get his last wound despite 2 rounds of shooting. I could not get BSB in combat. I could not even get that few 6's after 3 (?) rounds of shooting at Chimera when I sent reavers to do that. I had an opportunity to charge it once with them and I wonder if I should have risked that instead.

I don't mind losing games. But I hate when it happens due to such a huge amount of silly mistakes My only hope now is that this report will be a great example on how not to play with MSU army!

Thanks for reading anyway

Arch Lector, Great Weapon, The armour of meteoric iron, Luckstone, Van horstmann's speculum - 200
Battle wizard lord, Level 4, Sceptre of stability - 215 - Lore of heavens
Captain of the empire, BSB, Full plate armour, Enchanted Shield, Dawnstone, Sword of might - 141
Captain of the empire, Imperial pegasus, Lance, Shield, Full plate armour , Potion of foolhardiness, Dragonhelm - 135
Battle wizard, Level 2, Ring of volans, Scroll of shielding - 145 - Lore of beasts
Master engineer - 65
45 Halberdiers, Full command - 300
5 Knights, Musician, Banner - 130
5 Knights, Musician - 120
10 Archers - 70
5 Demigryph knights, musician - 300
28 Flagellents - 336
Great cannon - 120
Hellblaster volley gun - 120

Composition Score - 13

Quite user friendly Empire army if you ask me. Not too many war machines but 2 of the with engineer ensured that they pose a significant threat to a variety of foes. Huge unit of Halberdiers were there to protect the characters. Wizards and Archlector provided nice variety in the magic phase and good defence against enemy spells. Some knightly orders were good counter charge force and flagellants were there just to add flavour.

The army was not easy to defeat though at all. It could deny points very well. It looked to be quite defensive but with huge blocks of infantry supported by cavalry it could actually go on offensive mode and try to grind enemy down. Hatred and some prayers (or wildform) on lowly state troopers were thing to be afraid of. Some nice hexes from Heavens magic also were there to help.

Last but not least Max told me he read my reports so I was about to face the opponent who knew all my tricks already. A very important advantage!

Max is confident he has that game in the bag already!

Deployment of the armies after vanguard

Building very close to the Empire's deployment zone meant the human army could go defensive. It was a castle formation with Halberdiers being very well protected in the building and knightly orders securing the flank.

I decided I will go in outflanking manoeuver with some combat units. In the meantime I will use magic and shooting to get rid of the Hellblaster and position regiments for all out attack. I wanted both Swordmasters to head for the building as I though they had a chance to grind Halberdiers down with repeated attacks even at the cost both regiments. Or maybe they could scare the characters off too.

I tried to hide eagles and eagle claw behind the building from the cannon. Sea Guard was there to shoot Flagellants (as I knew where they are positioned early enough) and to prevent them from joining the fight in the centre. I also thought that 2x Dragon Princes and 2 x White Lions should be able to defeat Demigryphs if they attacked all together.

Before we started Max rolled for the spells for his wizards:

Wizard Lord - Iceshard, Harmonic Convergence, Thunderbolt, Chain Lightning
Wizard - Wildform, Curse
Ring of Volans - Wildform

That complicated things for me a little. In particular due to Chainlightning but also thanks to the combination of Thunderbolt/Chainlightning. Both spells, even if cast once have a chance to cripple any unit I have. Beast magic is, on the other hand, very good for Demigryphs, already powerful. Double Wildform can even further help Halberdiers. Ah well, let's see how strong the winds of magic are going to be!

Max unsurprisingly won the roll-off and Empire had the first turn!

Imperial Castle

Not much movement on the Imperial side

Predictably, Empire forces didn't move much. Halberdiers moved into the building and then wizards started to cast their spells. One of them destroyed an eagle and somehow that also panicked nearby Swordmasters who had enough after 5 previous battles and decided it is time to go home.

Elves move forward!

Elven troops in outflanking manoeuver

Elven troops, in particular on the left flank, move forward at a double. Well placed fireball destroys the crew of the hellblaster which is a great achievement as that infernal war machine can cause a lot of trouble. Other shooters pick their targets and a few knights and flagellants also fall.

Only Flagellants move forward

More thunders and lightnings!

Ellyrian reavers draw the Flaggellants forward as planned but are caught by the magical lightnings as are other elven troops nearby. Empire troops maintain close formation. Only cannon crew had some troubles as they loaded a dud and now were busy repairing their war machine.

Max still claims all is as planed!

Although they need to slow down the advance slightly

The assault force on the left flank move to positions where they can still threaten the enemy but be at a relatively save distance. The foe is powerful and well entrenched so some magical or shooting support is required. Unfortunately all the efforts are not quite impressive this time and only one knight and several flagellants die this time.

Empire forces tighten their formation

Yet another strike of the Lightning

Empire troops fill the gaps and cannon crew repositions to a new placement to be able to target elven bolt thrower. Wizard Lord once again gets his spells through and chain lightning jumps through a few units. White Lions, however, take the most sever damage but stubborn Chracians keep advancing regardless.

Elves in a daring move towards the enemy

Will Empire troops ignore the elves this time again?

Elves had to push forward or risked being killed by the magical storm. 4 units surrounded the Demigryphs, while light cavalry diverted any possible help. Loremaster led his bodyguards to help from another flank. Unfortunately, magic and shooting were still inefficient.

Empire strikes back!

It was clear that Empire inactivity was a disguise for a counter attack. Pegasus Captain swooped down and he attacked exposed flank of White Lions. Champion challenged and even wounded the captain but his companions still withdrew. Probably to avoid the fate of another White Lions regiment, destroyed by the Demigryphs.

Halbardiers went out from the building, led by the Archlector and BSB and blocked Swordmasters from joining the fight in the centre. Wizards were in the house and some archers went in to keep them company.

The cannon crew redeemed themselves for the previous blunder and destroyed elven bolt thrower with a well placed cannon ball.

You can't lose if you have the support of the TO himself!

Elven attack falters and the troops re-group

Powerful Empire strike left the gaping hole in the centre of the elven formation. The units had to regroup. Dragon Princes avenged the noble sacrifice of the reavers and destroyed the Knights. The road to the cannon was open.

Another unit pulled back as they had a suspicion that the Empire captain might not be that vulnerable to their flaming lances. Swordmasters also swift reformed and moved out of sight of the Halberdiers.

Loremaster managed to sneak in a fireball and all archers were destroyed. Then Sisters of Avelorn, despite the odds, managed to find the target well and wizard's apprentice also fell down. Flagellants were still preaching the doom and it looked like it was certainly coming. At least for them.

Rampaging Demigryphs

Empire on the attack

Empire troops kept attacking. Demigryphs destroyed White Lions, who left alone stood no chance to the ferocious attack. Halberdiers moved back to the building to rescue lonely Wizard Lord.

Another chain lightning took more elven lives and some regiments started to look miserable.

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Few troops remain

Elves still try to bite

Dragon Princes charge the cannon and overrun into the Engineer. Other troops manoeuver but neither magic nor shooting is successful (Edit: nothing like rolling double 6 for winds of magic only to fail to cast the very first spell ). Sea Guard shots down a few religious fanatics though.

The charge of Pegasus Captain

Pegasus Captain charges Dragon Princes who kill the Engineer but still are forced to withdraw. Luckily for them they are not caught in pursuit.

Other troops move away from the Loremaster so that his magic is less dangerous. Even flagellants figured out it is more beneficial to stay alive and preach inevitable doom for longer than to face one themselves and be silent forever.

Parting Shots

As it was clear that Empire troops didn't want to fight anymore and that the elven army lost cohesion, some of the troops shot some farewell arrows at the human regiments.

Bob the BSB gulped his potion and aimed carefully at the wounded captain. The arrows went true but somehow one of them was still deflected and the Captain lived (Edit: Max rolled a 6 when he needed it to keep his character alive on a single wound! )

Larry the Loremaster cast a fireball at the lone, escaping knight but the fire extinguished over the distance and the imperial armour saved the last member of that regiment.

Only Flagellants were not that lucky and were shot down to the last.

After that salvo both armies disengaged and re-grouped after bloody but not resolved battle.

A draw! The last game ended up with a draw that, I think, was quite satisfactory result for both of us. However, I wanted to highlight far more important thing that occurred this game.

Max was a very pleasant opponent to play against as he was cheerful and easy going. However, I wish there was a Best Sport nomination so that I could vote for him. I had fantastic 6 games this tournament but what distinguished Max from my other opponents is that he was very sympathetic when some bad luck occurred to me. Although it was beneficial for him and his army, he was not cheering when I lost my Swordmasters turn 1 or when I failed to cast first spell and lost my 12 power dice when good magic phase was needed. What is more he offered some kind words as he knew well that that is the nature of the game and sometimes the dice gods are fickle.

Thank you so much for that, Max! Many veteran players should learn from you! =D>

As to the game itself I think there were few good and bad things that happened to both of us. Some comments then:

1. Deployment - as always a crucial stage. I shouldn't have placed these units so close together. While I was save from the cannon turn 1 I risked the lightnings and paid for my stupidity. That units of Swordmasters was very much needed to keep the Halberdiers in the house. If I had them there Halberdiers would not risk moving out and leaving the wizards in the house or would have risked the building to be occupied by elven troops.

2. Over extension of the forces - I ignored the captain and that was my mistake. I had no unit to counter him so that he attacked the flank of the Lions. I could have at least try to present the front to him so that there were more attacks directed at him. Instead I lost both units for nothing.

3. Magic pattern was to cast Spirit Leach to try and kill the Wizard Lord and follow with magic missiles. I succeeded in killing the hellblaster and archers but failed to do anything to the wizard and could not get that last knight. A little bit luck on Max part and he also saved Pegasus Captain when only a 6 was good enough to save him! At the same time I was lucky to get that last Flagellant and save the draw.

4. Moving Loremaster and Swordmasters to support was good but I was too close to the building and had no units to block Halberdiers from moving out or divert them afterwards. Hence the counter attack was very successful and I was lucky I managed to withdraw them to the safety.

5. Max played very good defensive game when it was beneficial to him to deny my the flanks so that I could not outflank him. He had good spells to fight me from afar and the only thing I guess was not good in his plan was to move flagellants forward to let them be shot to pieces.

Well, I guess that's the last game of the Australian Masters!

Thanks for reading!