A lesser-spotted Blood Bowl tournament!

 

Not posted one of these for a while! I forgot to take pictures during the World Cup, so it's time for a tournament report from Langden Bowl I over in Ipswich.

This was an everything goes event, with all star players allowed, and was 1,150,000 for team builds.

I decided to take Nurgle, which were my worst performing tournament team, accompanied by everyone's favourite two-headed, four-armed rat - Hakflem! That meant missing the Rotspawn, which is a shame as I quite like them even if tentacles isn't as strong as it used to be, and only two Pestigors which I definitely missed in one match.

The team:

4 Bloaters (4 x block)
2 Pestigors (wrestle, leader)
5 Rotters
Hakflem Skuttlespike
2 rerolls
1 assistant coach

It seems most people had a similar idea to me, with Hakflem appearing on many of the tables, along with others including Varag and Morg. And Nurgle are rubbish, Ag4+ rotters - why? Nevermind!

Game 1 vs Wood Elves

So I was up against Ben and his wood elves - a tricky team at the best of times. No star to worry about, but obviously strip ball is a real issue as is countering all that speed.

He had:

2 Wardancers (strip ball, frenzy)
3 Catchers
Thrower (leader)
Treeman (guard)
5 Linemen (kick)
1 reroll

I lost the toss and was asked to kick. Fine by me! Ben made steady progress, but an early rooted tree didn't help much. I was able to apply pressure, trying to force a score if I could, and Ben eventually made a couple of rushes to hand off to a catcher for the score.

My drive also went fairly well, as I employed a loose screen to make the strip baller think twice, and then eventually injured him to remove that threat. Wood elves piled in front of my cage though, and I was left with a dodge with Hakflem having failed to knock down the offending elf. He promptly snaked. Oh dear.

Second half, and finally I could make my number of blocks pay off as I began to remove wood elves. Over the course of 4 or 5 turns I removed the second wardancer, two catchers and caused some KOs too and decided to go for broke. Hakflem scored in turn 14, giving me two turns for a winner (or Ben 3 for one).

Without rerolls the wood elves couldn't afford any 1s, and the dice gods obliged me as an early turnover meant I could grab the ball with Hakflem and score in turn 16.

Nuffle wasn't finished though - and gave the wood elves a riot to even the scores. A catcher ran through into range, and Ben scooped up the ball. I could place disturbing presence everywhere, and fashion 3 dice on the catcher, but with all pushes went for a reroll and promptly got triple skulls.

Thankfully for me, a rush from the thrower to make the pass a little easier was a 1 and I could breathe a sigh of relief. The catcher was marked by disturbing presence and a rat tail as well, but I'm glad it didn't get that far!

Result: 2-1, 4-0 CAS

Game 2 vs Vampires

Apologies to Dash, I forgot to take a picture before this game. Was nice to take on the new vampires roster, complete with a new star player as well.

She had:

2 Vampire Throwers (block)
1 Vampire Blitzer (block)
Captain Karina Von Riesz
9 Thralls (3 block)
3 Rerolls
Apothecary

This time I had to receive, and conscious of all that hypno-gaze I had to work to keep vampires away from my cage.

I could knock down thralls fairly easily, but didn't break much armour. Fortunately the vampires removed two of their own thralls after bloodlust rolls, and the Nurgle drive went off without a hitch, scoring in turn 8.

It didn't get easier for the vampires, as they began to fail bloodlust rolls more in the second half, and the Nurgle began to knock out thralls.

My team then knocked the ball loose and scored in turn 11, and repeated that trick twice more in the half as the depleted vampires struggled after using their rerolls. Foul appearance was pretty strong here - effectively rolling D6 twice just to make a block with a vampire used up rerolls and made it hard for them to progress.

Not really sure on the vampire roster, but one game doesn't really teach me much.

Result: 4-0, 1-0 CAS

Game 3 vs Chaos Dwarfs

Lovely Darren was up last with his chaos dwarfs, and another Hakflem. A Skuttlespike-off no less!

This was tricky as he has block all over the place, guard as well, and a threat in his own rat star.

He had:

2 Bull Centaurs (2 x block)
6 Blockers (3 x guard)
3 Hobgoblins
Hakflem Skuttlespike
2 Rerolls

I chose to kick in this one, not sure if that was the right idea or not. I hoped my foul appearance might slow the chaos dwarfs down, and it did a little, but all that block meant they could progress.

I got a bull centaur down and surrounded, so wisely opted for the boot, but got sent off for my efforts and Darren capitalised by knocking out a rotter and a bloater immediately. Oops.

Eventually all I had was a Hakflem blitz on his Hakflem, and I got a both down. Result. Except it knocked out my Hakflem, while his got up and scored anyway. Ho hum.

I did make all 3 KO rolls including Hakflem so potentially a draw on the cards unless one of us caused some damage.

The Nurgle didn't make as much progress as their opponents, and neither team were removing the other, so it was looking like a draw. I did surf the opposing Hakflem, but Darren dodged out a blocker who knocked mine down. This happened a couple of times, until the rat was stunned in my opponent's end zone, but I had two turns to recover and score.

The crucial moment came, clear a tackle zone, make a pick up on a 2+ and dodge to score. 1. Loner! 4! Pick up reroll 1. Oh you silly rat...

Result: 0-1, 0-0 CAS

Good enough for sixth place in the end, which isn't bad I think with Nurgle. They are even worse than they were last time I used them, Hakflem notwithstanding. As for the star rat - well it's easy to see why he is banned. I think 5 of top 6 fielded him. Nice to try out a tournament with stars - I missed all the star tournaments as wasn't playing then - and it gave me an excuse to paint the old 3rd ed model!

Happy with how I played for the most part. And happily, my Nurgle are back above 150 now so they are no longer my worst-performing tournament team (looking at you high elves...).

Here's me and Tom - fellow Welwyn Wargamers member - at the event. He walked off with most CAS with his black orcs!

Thanks for reading!

Arrogant druchii welps...

This was the Legion of the Bronze Scarab's third outing against the elven kin, but the first against their dark brethren. Lahmizzash resisted the urge to smirk after sending his second-born son Shotek out in his chariot, especially as he caught sight of no less than 4 bolt throwers in the druchii force. The perks of being the king, I suppose.

Welcome to another Warhammer 8th edition campaign battle report. This affair was a Blood and Glory scenario against a dark elf list complete with a big chunky unit of witch elves. Wasn't sure what I was going to do about them..

We were playing 2,400 points, so had a break point of three. The tomb kings had 6 banners/general whilst the dark elves had 5. We both had some tasty looking units, with Black Guard featuring for the elves and Tomb Guard for my forces.

The lists!

Dark Elves

SS: Supreme Sorceress: Lvl 4, Dark magic
S1: Sorceress: Lvl 2, Shadow, dark steed
DH: Death Hag: BSB, Cauldron of Blood, Witch Brew

DR: 5 Dark Riders, musician, repeater xbows
WE: 32 Witch Elves, full command
D: 20 Dark Shards, musician
RBT: Reaper Bolt Thrower
RBT: Reaper Bolt Thrower
RBT: Reaper Bolt Thrower
RBT: Reaper Bolt Thrower
S2: 5 Shades
H: 5 Harpies
BGo: 24 Black Guard of Naggarond, full command

Tomb Kings

TK: Tomb King, shield
LHP: Liche High Priest: Lvl 4, Heirophant, Nehekhara
LHP: Liche High Priest: Lvl 4, Death
N: Necrotect
TP: Tomb Prince, Grt Weapon, Chariot

SA: 20 Skeleton Archers, musician, standard
S: 35 Skeleton Warriors, full command, shields
SH1: 5 Skeleton horsemen, musician
SH2: 5 Skeleton horsemen, musician
SC: 3 Skeleton chariots, full command
C: 4 Carrion
TG: 34 Tomb Guard, full command, halberds, shields
CoS: Casket of Souls
SSC: Screaming Skull Catapult, skulls of the foe

I felt if I could land some catapult shots I might get a chance of thinning down the big units, but I couldn't really take that witch elf block or the Black Guard to the front. I was hoping my tomb scorpion might be able to do something about the bolt throwers, or maybe my casket.

Fred won the roll off and decided to take the first turn! After vanguards, there was only a bit of movement as the dark elves played defensively and looked to make use of those bolt throwers.

Dark Elf Turn 1

The Doomfire Warlocks moved to threaten my flank, whilst the shades went to deal with the screaming skull catapult. On my right, the dark riders zoomed forwards to deal with my chaff.

Magic saw only 3 dice for the dark elves, and after I channelled they were unable to get any spells through.

Shooting saw the bolt throwers wipe out my skeleton horsemen on the right flank, and kill off one of the chariots.

Tomb King Turn 1

Both the carrion and remaining horsemen ventured forwards to try and get in the way of those witch elves. My tomb guard shuffled forwards and the archers, facing the prospect of a hail of bolts and with a heirophant to protect, moved into the building.

Magic saw me get 12 dice. Fred wisely dispelled my movement spell, but I did get the double shot off on the archers. A doom and darkness was also cast on the second from right bolt thrower. The casket failed to get its spell off though, leaving that bolt thrower unscathed.

The double shot archers quickly shot off the shades. One threat dealt with! My chariots also killed a single dark rider. The catapult - I guessed 40" which was the back of the witch elf unit, it scattered a small amount and hit the cauldron dead on. Wound roll - 4. Wounds? 1. Curses :)

Dark Elf Turn 2

In went the harpies, charging into my skull catapult over the skeleton warriors. I think the witch elves decided not to restrain their possible charge on the carrion, but only shuffled forwards 4". The doomfire warlocks moved to threaten my big skeleton block flank and the dark riders made a nuisance of themselves.

Magic was better for the dark elves, and they wasted no time in throwing 4 dice at a pendulum on my chariots, getting irrestible force. One chariot died, before the shot stopped - fortunate for me. The miscast wounded the lvl 2 sorceress, lvl 4 and killed a doomfire warlock. Ouch! 6 Dice were also lost, ending the magic phase.

Shooting saw one chariot remaining on a wound and two carrion were shot down by the Dark Shards.

In combat, the harpies passed their fear check and killed two of the catapult crew. My skellie minion could not reply, and I crumbled to dust. The harpies overran into the building, tieing up the archers.

Tomb King Turn 2

I had potential long charges with the carrion or remaining horsemen, but they would likely die to the Dark Shards or witch elves so I decided to hold put, just moving the carrion slightly to force the witch elves to make a decision.

My remaining chariots turned to face the dark riders, and the skeleton warriors reformed to face the Doomfire Warlocks. My tomb guard advanced on the distant dark elf forces. My tomb scorpion, who was primed to appear near the hill in the top right, did not appear this turn!

Magic was fairly non eventful, I attempted a boosted Caress of Laniph on the Death Hag, but failed to cause any wounds. I did get a soulblight through on the harpies though.

One dark rider was shot down by another charioteer arrow, but not enough to cause panic.

In the combat, this time the harpies failed fear and could only cause one kill, the skeleton archers cut them down in return.

Dark Elf Turn 3

Again the witch elves attempted to charge the carrion, and were just short. Needing a 9 on the dice, they could only muster an 8, so they moved forwards 4" and left their flank exposed.

The dark riders moved away from my remaining chariots and the doomfire warlocks moved into the centre to threaten my tomb guard.

Magic again wasn't great as although I only had 1 dispel dice, the doomfire warlocks failed to cast doombolt. Power of darkness was cast, but cost the supreme sorceress her second wound.

Shooting saw my remaning horsemen shot to pieces, and the skeleton chariot destroyed. Somehow 3 bolt throwers failed to deal with the tomb prince or his chariot, and Fred killed 2 tomb guard to finish off the turn.

Tomb King Turn 3

Lowering his khopesh, Lahmizzash led the tomb guard into the flank of the witch elves, barely getting in with a roll of 5 on the dice.

The carrion moved up to be a nuisance for bolt throwers, the skeleton archers left the building, the warriors reformed and moved up and my chariot pivoted around without much of a hope of getting to grips with the slippery dark elves.

Once again the scorpion failed to show!

Magic saw 9 dice after the casket. An early casket spell killed one dark rider, with them passing panic. I attempted to give the tomb guard an extra attack and a ward save, with Fred wisely dispelling both, but he couldn't stop a doom and darkness on the witch elf unit...

Shooting saw one doomfire warlock die to the archers.

So to the key combat. The witch elves obviously went first, and although they had 4 attacks, rerolling hits and wounds of a 1 with poison attacks, they were up against WS6 tomb guard and could only kill 4. The tomb guard dropped 10 witch elves in return, and with a charge, flank, 3 ranks and a banner, it left the witch elves needing snake eyes to hold. They could not manage it, and due to blood and glory rules, that meant the dark elves hit their breaking point and the field belonged to the tomb kings!

Blood and glory is a funny one. I was keen in the campaign for games not to just be pitched battles, but it's a tricky one unless you keep it in mind needing standards. I couldn't deal with the Black Guard or the Witch Elves face to face, so knew I'd need a flank charge. The carrion were the key, forcing the dark elves to take a leadership test or charge, and opening the witch elves to the crucial flank charge.

Fred's dice were pretty poor most of the game. The 4 bolt throwers were hitting 1 or 2 shots with each salvo, and couldn't roll 4s to wound my chariots. Magic really didn't help him either with low rolls for 2 of the 3 turns played.

Would have been very interesting if a different scenario as although I'd broken the witch elves and BSB, that left my tomb guard exposed to a flank charge of their own from the Black Guard. Suspect I would have lost that unit in response, which would also be a lot of points.

Screaming skull catapult dropped on the witch elf unit as I'd hoped but I left it exposed to the harpies and it never got another chance. Chariots did nothing again - find it hard to get them involved as T4 doesn't last long.

Think that will be last game for a while for the tomb guard - lot of points and difficult for armies in the campaign to deal with. I may have to bring out the necrosphinx instead!

Cheers for reading.

The Asrai were going to pay...

He looked up from the dusty tome, a vague sense of unease passing across what was left of his withered face. Lahmizzash did not look pleased, although in fairness, he never really did.

"You will capture land in the woodland, and drive out the Asrai," the tomb king intoned.

"You will go, now."

Inathor would have sighed, if he had lungs. "Yes, your excellency," he replied and shambled out of the tent. Ugh, wood elves. This wouldn't be easy.

Welcome to the latest battle report in my Tomb King campaign adventures. This was another 2,000 point affair, but we were playing a meeting engagement this time as I looked to steal some territory from the Asrai.

The lists:

Wood Elves

S - Spellweaver: Lvl 4, Beasts        (Wyssans Wildform, Flock of Doom, Amber Spear, Savage Beast)
B - BSB

GG - 14 Glade Guard - Hagbane arrows
EG - 19 Eternal Guard - full command, shields
GG2 - 5 Glade Guard - musician

TK - 8 Treekin
W - 7 Wardancers
WR1 - 5 Wild Riders - standard, musician, shields
WR2 - 5 Wild Riders - standard, musician, shields

T - Treeman
GE - Great Eagle

Tomb Kings

TK - Tomb King: Great wpn, shield
LHP - Liche High Priest: Lvl 4, Nehekhara, heirophant (Desert wind, smiting, vengeance, desiccation)
LHP2 - Liche High Priest: Lvl 4, Death (doom and darkness, purple sun, fate of bjuna, soulblight)
N - Necrotect

SA - 19 Skeleton Archers: Standard, musician
SW1 - 35 Skeleton Warriors: Spears, shields, full command
SW2 - 20 Skeleton Warriors: Shields, full command
SH1 - 5 Skeleton Horsemen: musician
SH2 - 5 Skeleton Horsemen: musician
SC - 4 Skeleton Chariots: full command

NK - 4 Necropolis Knights: standard, musician
C - 4 Carrion

CoS - Casket of Souls

The wood elves won the roll off, but chose to go second!

Tomb King Turn 1

With a lot of creaking and clacking of bones, the Tomb King line advanced steadily. Vanguarding skeleton horsemen made use of their additional pace to be a nuisance and the carrion flapped lazily towards the glade guard in front of them.

I needed to deal with those wild riders. My poor opponent had been bringing some warhawk riders, but they fell out of a case or off a movement tray and had to go to the great repair tree first, so he'd had to sub in more wild riders. Deadly stuff for most of my units. I also needed to work out what to do with those tree kin...

Magic was fairly quiet with a low roll for the winds, but I did manage to cause a wound to the eagle with my death liche priest, and even caused the feathered fiend to suffer stupidity!!

On my right, the chariots didn't feel lucky enough to make a long charge into the wild riders, but managed to kill 2 of them with their short bows. Tidy.

My much-feared skeleton archers also cut down 4 of the glade guard with a double volley, after casting the smiting spell. Over the wood elves!

Wood Elf Turn 1

Both wild rider units lowered their spears and charged, one crashing into my chariots and the other into the skeleton horsemen on my left flank.

In the centre, there wasn't much movement but the eagle did fly in front of my necropolis knights to prevent them getting into the heart of the wood elf lines.

Magic was painful, as a boosted amber spear went off and killed 2 necropolis knights and injuring a third. Inathor cursed under his breath...

The wood elf shooting targeted the necropolis knights but only got one wound through (thankfully!).

In combat, the chariots and horsemen were utterly destroyed. Oops!

Tomb King Turn 2

With a sibillant hiss, the necropolis knights charged into the eagle in front of them, and it chose to hold. My remaining horsemen moved to be a nuisance on the treeman's flank and the carrion flapped forward again to deter any charges at my lines.

Finally the large block of spearmen advanced to the edge of the central building.

Magic was again a fairly low roll, but the casket claimed some more souls as it destroyed the wild riders on my right flank - one down!

In the shooting phase, three more glade guard were cut down.

The eagle struck first in the combat, but was unable to do any damage, and my elite unit absolutely whiffed, causing zero wounds. The eagle held its nerve!

Wood Elf Turn 2

Inathor's inexperience and left the hapless skeleton horsemen open to a charge from the hulking treeman, and so he crashed in.

In the centre, the wardancers decided to charge forwards into the carrion, hoping to remove my chaff units entirely.

Magic was reasonable, with the wood elf mage casting Savage Beast of Horrors on himself, but me dispelling Wyssans.

There was no shooting that I recall, due to the combat in the centre.

The uber wood elf spellweaver and the wardancers managed to cause a bucket of wounds, but left one carrion alive and as he crumbled into dust, the winged beast was able to kill the spellweaver in return...

This was to prove critical as the tomb kings now had utter magical dominance.

Tomb King Turn 3

This time the tomb kings' executed a pair of charges of their own. A mistake by the wood elf general had meant the spearmen could get into the flank of the wardancers, and in they charged. My remaining necropolis knights almost made a long charge into the remnants of the glade guard.

In the magic phase, my heirophant lost two magic levels as he attempted to dessicate the Tree Kin. However, I did cast purple sun, which destroyed two of the magical trees.

Shooting didn't do anything as I plinked arrows off the tree kin.

Although I lost a few skeleton warriors, the wardancers were cut down and the spearmen overran into the flank of the treekin.

Again, the necropolis knights failed to cause a single wound to the glade guard, and were now facing a flank charge of their own...

Wood Elf Turn 3

In went the eternal guard into my necropolis knights' flank, with the treeman and surviving wild rider unit moving to threaten my units.

No magic for the Asrai, and no shooting either!

Predictably the eternal guard made short work of the knights with their poison attacks, but they chose not to overrun out of the forest.

My rampaging spearmen however killed two treekin outright, and ran them down despite needing an 11 on the dice!

Tomb King Turn 4

I reformed the spearmen, and chose to move out my heirophant as I was hoping to bolster the warriors and archers threatened by the wild riders on my side of the battlefield.

Magic saw me regrow a couple of units a little, but little else.

I think I may have killed another glade guard in shooting.

Short but sweet!

Wood Elf Turn 4

The remaining wild riders charged into the rear of my warrior block. Both the eternal guard and treeman moved to offer my spearmen a choice of target...

Shooting killed a few of my archers.

Tomb King Turn 5

Inathor chose the eternal guard, keen to cut down the elven BSB if he could, so the spearmen charged. I reformed my archers to threaten the wild rider flank.

Magic saw me regrow some skeleton warriors, and a soulblight go off on the eternal guard. That was a crucial spell really.

In the combat, the elves went first and kill a fair few skellies with their rerolls, but the soulblight meant I cut quite a few down myself. They were stubborn though, so held.

Wood Elf Turn 5

The treeman saw the chance for revenge and charged my spearmen. By this time, the glade riders had also appeared by my Casket of Souls, but I think only caused a single wound to it despite double shots galore! I won't mention them again...

In the crucial combat, my skellies went before the treeman thanks to the tomb king, and although I again lost a fair few to the eternal guard, I put all my attacks into the unit and wiped them out to remove their steadfast. The treeman smacked a few more, but the BSB fled and was removed as a casualty.

Tomb King Turn 6

My archers crashed into the flank of the wild rider and my spearmen prepared to duel a treeman to the death!

By now my death liche was dead - cut down in a challenge with the eternal guard champion! My heirophant only had 2 spells so I couldn't regrow much unfortunately.

The final wild rider cut several more skeletons down before he was felled himself. My tomb king got 2 wounds through the treeman who didn't roll well for his thunderstomp. He was stubborn as well, so stayed where he was!

Wood Elf Turn 6

Could the treeman do enough to the remaining spearmen? Would an epic thunderstomp win the day?

As it turned out, not really. My tomb king put another 2 wounds on the big tree, who caused a few casualties and rolled well on his thunderstomp, but the skeleton warriors just lost a couple to crumble and that was how the dust settled.

A really fun game unfortunately decided by the jammy death of the spellweaver and a little mistake which allowed my spearmen to flank the treekin and get rid of them.

My necropolis knights were terrible! Accounting for an already-wounded eagle, and nothing else. Tut tut - Lahmizzash will not be pleased...

Magic dominance was key - even if the winds of magic rolls were low - the wood elves just couldn't stop at least one crucial spell a phase which swung combats my way.

It ended a solid victory for the khemri, but on another day.

Thanks for reading!!

Betrayal in Bretonnia - Turn 3 start

 

Treachery and skullduggery abound as the campaign nears the end of the spring season.

The men of the Empire and the doughty dwarfs formed an impromptu coalition as they sought to deal with the menace of the greenskins in the centre of Bretonnia.

After defeating the dark elves, the wood elves turned their sites on the vampire counts (or were challenged by them!) and the tomb kings ventured into wood elf territory down at the southern borders of Bretonnia.

The fortress is still lurking in dark elf territory for now, but as spring draws to a close it has begun pulsing with a weird green light. What could that herald?

Battles this turn:

Orcs vs Empire & Dwarfs
Vampire Counts vs Wood Elves
Empire vs Wood Elves
Tomb Kings vs Wood Elves
Tomb Kings vs Dark Elves

Betrayal in Bretonnia - Turn 2

 

The dust has settled on turn 2 in Bretonnia, and it is the wily wood elves and the irascible tomb kings who currently lead the way.

Much fun has been had and tales of woe and glory shared in some memorable battles this turn. And the hatching of an alliance of men and dwarfs has begun to face off against the greenskin menace in the centre of Bretonnia.

Here's a summary of the action!

High Elves

The Asur began the turn with a strong victory over the foul undead in F2 square, sending the resurrected corpses of their foe sinking back into the foetid ground. However, due to an external event, the High Elves' second game against the greenskins could not take place and they were forced to retreat. Mages of the Saphery order have since erected an impenetrable mystic wall around their territory and have rushed back to Ulthuan to attend a Phoenix Court meeting. We hope they will return later in the campaign.

Vampire Counts

Assailed by the high elves on one side and their dark kin on the other, B'dash fumed quitely inside his coffin. Both battles had not gone well for the dead, but the vampire insisted it was all part of his grand plan to gain entry into Fozzrik's Flying Fortress. At least that's what he told his thralls...

Sadly for the vampires, they rolled slave labour on their random event, but didn't have any mines to make use of it! Thanks to their hardy constitution, the vampire emerged unscathed from his defeats, although I believe one of the lesser necromancers has taken one too many blows to the head and now suffers from stupidity...

They also lost ground to the Druchii in E1.

Dwarfs

The doughty dwarfkin were not dismayed by their exploits against the dark elves. Although their three armies didn't move a great deal, they looked to shore up support in the centre as they and an nearby Empire force stared down at a horde of incoming greenskins.

That said, Tylin the thane forged his force into wood elf territory in an attempt to gain some ground and push back the Asrai. Once again, the wily and tricksy elves got the better of his forces and he was forced to withdraw after a humiliating defeat. It got worse - his unit of Thunderers, usually so stolid and accurate, seemed to be gibbering and looning at each other after a bout of stupidity. After entering the grudge into the big book, his anger grew and he felt nothing but hatred for the Asrai for their next encounter.

Wood Elves

It was a big turn for the Asrai - who were glorious victors over both the Dark Elves and the Dwarfs as they expanded their realm.

The wood elves' fast units proved up to the task of taking on their (more) evil kin, scragging bolt throwers before they could do too much damage and winning the key big combat involving black guard and eternal guard thanks to some well-timed shadow magic.

It was a case of what might have been against the dwarfs as that eternal guard unit was left with one model alive, denying the poor dwarves a chunk of points!

They did role an additional tile of movement as a random event, but as the elven forces weren't moving far it didn't really help this turn!

The Asrai seized control of tile C2 from the Druchii.

Empire

Cowed a little by their wizard's defeat by the wizard tower, the men of the Empire opted for consolidation this turn neither issuing a challenge nor encroaching on enemy territory.

Instead it was a turn for diplomacy as the beginnings of a pact with the dwarves in the mountains was thrashed out over ale and roasted pig - perhaps concerned over those self-same orcs and goblins.

However, they weren't to escape this turn without a battle, read on more for later...

Tomb Kings

Lahmizzash was never content. After 467 years on the planet, much of it spent chasing treasure hunters intent on stealing his riches, it was perhaps not surprising. But still, he was quite the conversation stopper at gatherings.

Focusing on expanding his growing empire, he had sent Inathor the Liche High Priest to deal with the greenskins and had dispatched his loyal Necrotect to investigate a nearby stone henge to claim for the Khemri. 

Not content with this expansion and exploration, Lahmizzash decided it was time for the men of the Empire to feel his wrath, laying down a challenge to the humans. His skeleton archer unit outdid themselves by destroying a hated hellblaster in a single volley of arrows, but it was his loyal Tomb Guard who shone after cutting down to a men a halberdier unit filled with Empire heroes. Glory to Khemri!

There was still time to frighten the life out of some goblins, despite their crazy spinning ball and chain units. Again those archers outdid themselves (check previous blog posts for shenanigans). Hmm, they were getting too much glory, maybe he should have them disbanded....

My tomb kings grabbed the stone henge in L4 and seized control of K5 from the orcs!

Orcs & Goblins

Wotz this den? Skellie bones comin into ar land? Zoggin ell.

It was a case of the rough with the smooth for the greenskins this turn, as although they were driven out of their own territory by the tomb kings, the orcs and goblins did seize territory from the high elves before that mystical shield went up.

For the goblins, fear was the mindkiller, as they passed most of their checks apart from when it was really quite important. That cost them a couple of big units against the Khemri and added to some elvish-level archer, they came up short.

However, the gobbos have been busy as they earned a mine from their random event and now have both a castle, and a mine to take advantage of for the rest of the campaign.

There's just the prospect of a human and dwarf alliance that might but a dampner on things...

Dark Elves

The Druchii were defeated this turn by their treefolk kin and driven out of one of their territories, but a strong win against the vampire counts allowed them to win back another tile for their empire.

Their spoils so far allowed the dark elves to build a mine in B4 and expand to the north, allowing them space to move around. They also have the flying fortress itself still lurking in their territory, boosting any magic they might like to employ...

As a result of their defeat to the wood elves, the dark elves earned hatred of their Asrai kin - twice as the wood elf player rolled the same result. They REALLY dislike those tree-huggers...

Current state of play

1. Wood Elves, Tomb Kings - 7 relics
2. Orcs & Goblins - 6 relics
3. Dark Elves, Empire - 5 relics
4. Vampire Counts, High Elves - 3 relics
5. Dwarfs - 2 relics

Filthy greenskins...

Utterly unacceptable. One of the snivelling goblins had even tried to stab him with what looked like a posioned, and rusty, blade. This was outrageous.

Lahmizzash I was furious. He turned his eyes on to his liche high priest. Once again another of the legions famed bronze scorpions had been smashed to bits, probably beyond repair, by a ramshackle chariot crewed by capering greenskins.

"My humble apologies, your eminence," the liche priest intoned. He would deal with him later, for now there was territory to seize and enemies to flay.

Welcome to the second battle report in my Tomb King legions' campaign. This was a 2,000pt game against a goblin horde after my Khemri forces invaded my opponent's territory.

The lists:

 Goblins

GW: Goblin warboss - shield
NGB: Night goblin big boss - Cave Squig, shield
NGBS: Goblin big boss - BSB, shield
NGGS: Night goblin great shaman - Lvl 3
NGS1: Night goblin shaman - Lvl 2
NGS2: Night goblin shaman - Lvl 2
NGS3: Night goblin shaman - Lvl 1

G1: 36 goblins - full command, 3 sneaker skulkers
NG1: 36 night goblins, full command, netters, 2 fanatics
NG2: 38 night goblins, full command, netters, 2 fanatics
NG3: 20 night goblins, full command, netters, 2 fanatics
WC1/2: 2 wolf chariots
W: 12 wolf riders
SH1: 7 Squid Herd, 8 handlers
SH2: 8 Squig Hoppers
G1: Giant
MS: Mangler Squig

Tomb Kings

TK: Tomb King - shield
LHP1: Liche High Priest - Lvl 4, Nehekhara, Heirophant
LHP2: Liche High Priest - Lvl 4, Death

S: 30 Skeleton Warriors - full command, spears, shields
SA: 18 Skeleton Archers - standard, musician
SH1: 5 Skeleton Horsemen - musician
SH2: 5 Skeleton Horsemen - musician
SH3: 5 Skeleton Horsemen - musician
U: 4 Ushabti - great bows, musician
TS: Tomb Scorpion
TG: 25 Tomb Guard - full command, halberds
CoS: Casket of Souls
SSC: Screaming Skull Catapult - skulls of the foe

Spells: Goblins had them all, and lots of Vindictive Glare!
TKs had: Desert Wind, Protection, Smiting, Dangerous Terrain
Soulblight, Caress, Doom and Darkness and Spirit Leech

The goblins won the roll off and wasted no time in zooming forward!

Goblin Turn 1

Everything piled forwards in search of bones to crunch. Fortunately for me a double 1 on the winds of magic saw just one spell go off - a vindictive glare killing 4 of the central horsemen.

There was a giant staring me down though...

Tomb King Turn 1

On my right, the skeleton horsemen bravely sacrificed themselves by moving into contact with the mangler squig. There was nothing left of either unit...

I advanced around, and then proceeded to case some buffs to regrow my skeleton horsemen and give my archers double shot.

The Ushabti did well, killing several squig hoppers and the casket also killed a couple. The archers then put an impressive number of wounds on the giant - and this would develop into a theme...

Goblins Turn 2

With a roar the giant lumbered into the archers and the wolf riders crashed into the horsemen on my left flank. Everything else moved up a bit, barring the NG2 unit which squabbled instead.

Because I'd managed to resurrect the horsemen, 4 fanatics in the two night goblin units popped out...

Magic saw quite a few wounds caused on the ushabti with a vindictive glare, and the big vortex spell (can't remember name) killed a tonne of skeleton warriors.

In combat, the horsemen were wiped out and the wolf riders reformed to fit past the marsh. The giant whiffed, only killing 1 archer, and I poked him to death with my bow hafts... He did fall over and kill 9 more though.

Tomb King Turn 2

On my right, the Ushabti charged into the squig hoppers and boss on cave squig. My tomb guard moved a bit as they had two big units eyeing them up. The horsemen moved in front of the fanatics and one of those big blocks. 

My scorpion surfaced, facing down a wolf chariot. His appearance popped more fanatics, and won of them left him on 1 wound.

Magic was decent, with me healing the skeleton warriors a little and the archers got double shot. The casket also got rid of two fanatics and some night goblins.

They managed to kill a ridiculously high number of goblin herders and squigs from the unit in front of them.

In combat, I lost an ushabti but cut all the remaining squig hoppers down and wounded the big boss. He then fled the battlefield as my musician tipped the balance of the combat!

Goblins Turn 3

The chariot crunched into my badly wounded scorpion. One of the night goblin units ignored their own fanatics and smashed into the horsemen in the centre. The badly mauled squig herders failed their charge into the archers.

On my left, the wolves wheeled around eyeing up those pesky archers.

The vortex moved right through my spearmen, killing a lot more.

In combat, the wolf chariot crushed my poor scorpion, and the goblins made short work of my horsemen, overrunning into the tomb guard...

Tomb King Turn 3

All my horsemen were gone so there was little movement. The ushabti moved back towards the goblins.

I buffed my tomb guard with extra attacks and a bubbled protection to regrow some skeleton warriors. 

Shooting again saw far too many casualties caused on the squig herd - leaving them with just 2 squigs and some handlers. The catapult hit the night goblin unit on my right, causing it to panic and flee and sending a goblin shaman with it!

In combat, my Tomb King cut down the BSB and the Tomb Guard caused horrendous casualties on the night goblins. They needed snake eyes to hold, and rolled 1 + 2. So close! I restrained and faced the goblin unit.

Goblins Turn 4

The remaining squig herders charged into the archers, but the wolves failed this turn. NG1 unit fled off the board, as did the shaman. The other unit continued running but not too far. The common goblins failed their charge on my spearmen.

Magic wasn't great again for the goblins as I think they got one vindictive glare off on the ushabti but failed to wound.

In combat I lost a few archers but with the double attack spell up they managed to kill the remaining goblins and reformed to face the wolf riders. Panic caused the nearby chariot to run away.

Tomb King Turn 4

My spearmen made a long charge into the smaller night goblin unit, but my tomb guard failed to reach the common goblins.

In magic I again buffed the archers, although not with double shot this time. I also buffed my tomb guard in case the goblins charged in... Finally I put Doom and Darkness on the small goblin unit.

Shooting killed 3 wolf riders and the catapult chipped some goblins off the big common goblin unit.

My spearmen won the combat, and ran down the night goblins, sending the other chariot fleeing in panic. Everything else held though!

Goblins Turn 5

The wolf riders charged the remaining skeleton archers. Both chariots fled away, one off the board.

The remaining block of night goblins rallied.

Magic was again poor - I think some skeleton warriors died to a vindictive glare but I dispelled Mork'll Fix it and the poison buff on the common goblins.

In combat, the wolves failed their fear check, and only killed 1 archers, before breaking and fleeing away.

In the main combat, I issued a challenge with my tomb guard champion and he cut his goblin opponent down. My tomb guard caused a lot of casualties with extra attacks and my tomb king managed to roll a 5 to save being killed by a nasty skulker! He took vengeance by killing more goblins. It was too much for the diminutive greenskins, and they broke and were cut down.

Tomb King Turn 5

Not much left on the field. My tomb guard reformed to face the remaining night goblin unit. My warriors reformed to face the shaman.

Magic was non-eventful after an early failed cast. My ushabti did kill the shaman on the right, and the crazy archers did the same on the left.

Goblin Turn 6

The night goblins rallied! And the remaining fanatic whizzed around.

Tomb King Turn 6

The Tomb Guard charged the night goblins, who wisely ran away. And that was that!

Victory for the Khemri forces, but the goblins didn't have much luck at crucial times. He did roll snake eyes on fear/panic checks several times, but never when it really mattered.

My archers were ridiculous, accounting for the giant, squig herders, wolf riders, chariot (panic) and a shaman. Rolling 36 shots with double shot, I was hitting like 25. Crazy.

The goblins weren't ever able to stop all my buffs so I could regrow units, and crucially not killing off the final skeleton horsemen early on allowed me to pop the fanatics early and they just got in the goblins way.

Better guess ranging from my catapult in this one, but it scattered quite a bit. And my poor tomb scorpion isn't doing very well!

As a result of the battle, the goblin horde now hates my tomb kings next time we play. And I also hate the goblins, weirdly! The goblin general got +1 leadership though - very handy!

I earned 3 relics and 5 empire points. The gobbos got 1 and 1 respectively. Great game!

Betrayal in Bretonnia - Turn 2 start

 

The blare of trumpets has sounded the start of turn 2 in our Warhammer Fantasy Battle campaign, and things are hotting up nicely in Bretonnia as armies move closer to each other.

Here is the hex map we're working off - with a few pointers to make it clear what's happening!

Pink = Dark Elves
Yellow = Vampire Counts
White = High Elves
Dark Green = Empire
Blue = Dwarfs
Red = Orcs
Brown = Wood Elves
Bone = Tomb Kings

Currently the orcs hold the wizard's tower (G4). The dwarfs and the tomb kings have built mines (axe symbol), whilst the orcs have built a ramshackle castle in I2.

The star symbol is a stone henge - currently being investigated by the forces of Khemri. The red temple is an abandoned mausoleum. Fozrik's Flying Fortress is currently in tile A1!

Battles this turn include:

Dark Elves vs Wood Elves (C2)
Dark Elves vs Vampire Counts (E1)
High Elves vs Orcs & Goblins (G2)
Empire vs Orcs & Goblins (G5)
Dwarfs vs Wood Elves (K8)
Tomb Kings vs Orcs & Goblins (K5)
Tomb Kings vs Empire (challenge)

There is a possible alliance between the dwarfs and the empire to try and rid the goblin scourge from the lower foothills. Lots of relics to be fought over, so we shall where we are at the end of turn 2!