Classichammer

As I found another tablet full of cliff notes and shorthand from a Batrep that was lost during the move and not on the Wayback Machine I get to sit at the computer and type out another for the masses. I can’t remember when this was originally posted, but as it is in my basement I know it had to be after April 10, 2021.

Today’s entrée is Meeting Engagement with the forces clocked in at 2,000 points. Depending on time constraints and overall motivation I MAY try to detective work the army lists. What you NEED to know is that this is a Beastmen vs. Chaos Warriors match up.

So now we move to deployment, which works as such.
Essentially just assume neither of us were happy with our deployment, which I’m pretty sure is the point of this scenario…

Ashley wins the roll off and so his Beastmen go first…

TURN 1 BEASTMEN

Unruly tests are passed and the entire army lurches forward at top speed. These are both close combat armies with no shooting, there won’t be time wasted on anything that isn’t an axe to the face…
Dark Hand of Death is cast by EACH Brayshaman at the Marauders with total failure to dispel. The Marauders lose 4 men total.

TURN 1 CHAOS WARRIORS

On my turn all units either moved directly ahead at full speed or were forced to wheel around terrain at full speed.

This game is going by FAST.
For Magic my attempt at Conflagration of Doom drew out a Scroll, Fiery Blast (Possibly Fireball, damn abbreviations…) failed to cast, and the Banner of Wrath’s bound spell is dispelled.

TURN 1 SUMMARY

This turn is going by fast AND uneventful. The turn pretty much consisted of rushing the 50-yard line (Goddamn it, I hate being drawn into sports metaphors…) and a couple random corpses. As fast as we’re closing the gap, though, I have a feeling the next turn may be incredibly eventful and possibly decisive.

TURN 2 BEASTMEN

All Unruly tests pass. Not that it’d matter as they’d be moving toward/charging the enemy anyway.

The Right Flank Minotaurs charge the Giant, passing their Fear test while the Giant holds. The Center Bestigors move up onto the hill 1” away from the BSB’s Warriors. The Brayshamen move back from the battle line, the Mixed Herds also back away for better positions, and the Left Flank Minotaurs use facing movements to back up 3” and face the battle line again. Lastly the Right Flank Bestigors move up to the back of the Right Flank Minotaurs, preparing for whatever direction the combat goes.
The Magic Phase starts with a successful Drain Life which I failed to dispel. The spell killed 1 of the BSB’s Warriors, 2 from the Left Flank Warriors, and 3 Marauders. Dark Hand of Death is cast unopposed on the Marauders resulting in 3 more dead, forcing a Panic test. I fail (Me? Botch a LD roll? Shocker, right?) and flee 7” away.
The Minotaurs do 3 wounds to the Giant, who responds by Thumping With Club to do 9 (!) wounds to 1 Minotaur. The Break test is passed, and combat goes on next turn.

TURN 2 CHAOS WARRIORS

The Knights start the turn by declaring a charge on the left flank Minotaurs, with the BSB’s Warriors charging the center Bestigors, and the right flank Warriors charging the right flank Minotaurs. All units hold and all Fear tests are passed. The Marauders cap the movement phase by rallying. I didn’t note any other moves.
Conflagration of Doom is cast on the claw holding Brayshaman who scrolls that thing like it was his JOB.

The Knights do 1 wound to the Minotaurs while the Chaos Steeds manage to do 2 wounds (!) finishing off the beast. In respons the Minotaurs slaughter 2 of the Knights. The Knights break and flee 13” with the Minotaurs pursuing 12”.
CHALLENGE!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The center Warriors’ Champion manages to whiff all attacks and is killed with 2 Overkill wounds. The BSB and Warriors kill 3 more Bestigors with 1 falling in return. The Warriors pass their Break test.

Over on the right flank the Sorcerer does 1 wound while the Warriors whiff everything. The Giant ‘Eadbutts a Minotaur, doing a wound and ensuring no attacks back. The return Minotaur attacks see the Giant take another wound while the Sorcerer takes 2, falling dead to the ground. The Minotaurs Break from combat and flee 7” with the Giant pursuing 3” and the Warriors pursuing 6” which slams them into the right flank Herd.
TURN SUMMARY

I’m going to take this time to lament about the Minotaurs falling under the Monsters’ side of the Giant’s attacks. That should have been 3 dead Minos, but instead it wound up with 1 REALLY dead Mino. I’m not happy about that.

Anyway, back to the summary…

The battle lines have met and the flanks are proceeding in opposite pressures, resulting my forces spearheading further into the right flank while my forces are being pushed back on my left flank. So far the center is holding, but something tells me it’s only a matter of time…

TURN 3 BEASTMEN

The left flank Minotaurs charge the fleeing Knights who flee a further 13” and leave the Minotaurs clipping the left flank Warriors who Hold in response. The right flank Minotaurs rally while all the rest of the army moves up ahead full or enters through the Ambush, with the exception of the Brayshamen who reposition to facilitate spell targeting.
Dark Hand is cast on the Giant but is dispelled. Dark Hand is miscast by the other Brayshaman resulting in 8 – Magic Phase ends.

The left flank Minotaurs do 1 wound but it is saved by the Warriors. The Warriors have three attacks back due to positioning. After hitting with all three I roll to wound...
Hot damn...

The Minotaurs pass their Break test.

The Beastlord in the center combat does 4 wounds to the BSB, the Warriors kill 2 Bestigors, and 1 Warrior dies from the retort. The center Warriors Break and flee 7” with the Bestigors pursuing 2”.
CHALLENGE!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The right flank Warriors kill 2 Gors and do 1 wound on the Wargor. The Warriors’ Champion dies and the Herd whiffs all attacks. The Herd then Breaks and flees 8” with the Warriors pursuing 4”.
TURN 3 CHAOS WARRIORS

The turn starts with the Marauders declaring a flank charge on the left flank Minotaur combat, to which the Panic test is passed. The Giant charges the right flank Minotaurs who pass their Fear test, and the right flank Warriors charge the Wargor’s Herd which flees 8” further, resulting in a failed charge.

The center Warriors rally while the Knights flee off the board. Of COURSE they do…
The Giant winds up rolling “Yell And Bawl” which leads to the right flank Minotaurs failing their Break test. The Minotaurs then flee 5” with the Giant pursuing 9” and NOT falling over.
The Marauders wound 1 left flank Minotaur while the Warriors deliver 3 wounds, killing one of the beasts. 2 Marauders die in the return attacks. The Minotaurs then fail their Break test and flee 11”, easily outpacing the Warriors who pursue 8” and the Marauders who pursue 6”.
TURN 3 SUMMARY

You ever see the movie “Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan”? There’s a part where they show an image of the moon with the two ships circling it both going the same direction but on exact opposite sides of the planet. THAT is what the battle line is doing. There’s a rather forceful push coming my way via my left flank while I’ve made great strides pushing my right flank forward. The center? Floundering a bit. I guess the key is seeing who gets to spin their flank inward the fastest…

TURN 4 BEASTMEN

The left flank Herd charges the Marauders who flee 9” out of harms way, thus allowing the Herd to clip the left flank Warriors and then align into combat. The center Herd and Bestigors charge the center Warriors in the front and rear, but the Warriors choose to hold.

The left flank Minotaurs fail to rally and flee a further 10” while the Wargor’s Herd flees 8” off the board. The Brayshamen adjust postions to align spells
The first Dark Hand of Death fails to wound the Giant but the second Dark Hand manages to take 1 wound off of the beast.

The left flank Herd kills 1 Warrior but receives 7 wounds back. Insane Courage is rolled for the break test.

The Beastlord and Bestigors kill 7 (!) center Warriors while the Herd whiffs. The Warriors kill 1 Gor in response. The Warriors then break and flee 10”, with the Herd pursuing 6” and the Bestigors pursuing 4”.

*Now the key here is that we figured that the Bestigors were the largest unit, ALSO did the most damage, AND that the board edge was the most sensible way to go. This led to some issues with where the Herd was going to be deposited, but we chose to align the Herd with the Bestigors and move them forward from that point.

TURN 4 WARRIORS

ALL UNITS RALLY!!!!! The right flank Warriors reform while the Giant moves up full to the hill.
The Lord and Warriors kill 6 Ungors with no losses back. The Herd then flees 10: with the Warriors pursuing 5”.

TURN 4 SUMMARY

So both my flanks are pushing forward toward the Beastmen’s table edge while my center is rallied and waiting to die in my backfield. Not at all what I thought was going to happen. At this point it seems to be a waste to do anything but push away and ignore the 2 units in the backfield and focus on wiping out the flanks.

TURN 5 BEASTMEN

The Bestigors and Herd in my backfield charge the beleaguered Warriors. You know what? I don’t have the patience for that match anymore. My Warriors flee off the board. Might have helped having the two units off the board due to pursuit, but I wasn’t confident that would happen. Best option at the time, I suppose…

The Ungors rally on the left flank while the Minotaurs flee 5” further.
The first Brayshaman kills the Giant with Dark Hand of Death, while the 2nd Brayshaman kills 1 right flank Chaos Warrior with Dark Hand.

TURN 5 CHAOS WARRIORS

The left flank Warriors charge the Ungors who flee 7”…
And THIS is where we call it. A quick add up on VP results in 988 to 841 in Ashley’s favor. As far as the hindsight portion of the game? I can’t really isolate any massive changes I could have made to have a different result.

If anyone spots a colossal blunder on either player’s part, fell free to chime in as always.