Madness, right? Two batreps in such a short amount of time? Well, the slight slowdown at work has earned me a touch more time off on the weekends, so it works out well.
Our choice today was Reclaim The Stones, a scenario published in White Dwarf after the Albion campaign concluded. Essentially you had to capture the center area which also let Wizards within the feature generate twice the Power and Dispel dice. I misinterpreted which scenario he was talking about at first, and pointed out that in the Albion campaign the opposing armies could have a Truthsayer vs a Dark Emissary for free. We went for it, I realized I got it wrong, we said the hell with it and ran with it anyway.
The Dwarf army was built as so, and defended the Stones.
Hero: Thane - Great Weapon, Master Rune of Gromgril, and the Rune of Resistance - 109 points
Hero: Battle Standard Bearer - Gromgril Armor, Master Rune of Groth One Eye, Rune of Courage - 198 points
Core: Warriors (19) - Musician, Champion - 186 points
Core: Warriors (19) - Musician, Standard - 186 points
Core: Warriors (20) - Musician, Standard - 195 points
Special: Slayers (10) - Giant Slayer - 125 points
Extra: Dark Emissary (Level 4) - free
TOTAL: 999 points.
The Dark Emissary rolled Bolt of Dark Light, Betrayal in Death, Nightmare, and Fog of Death for spells.
Here's a snazzy look at the characters in this list...
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Hero: Scar Veteran - Mark of Itzl, Mark of Quetzl, Heavy Armor, Shield, Cold One Mount, and the Scimitar of the Sun Resplendant - 182 points
Hero: Skink Shaman (Level 1) - 65 points
Core: Saurus Warriors (20) - Full Command - 270 points
Core: Saurus Warriors (20) - Full Command - 270 points
Special: Saurus Cavalry (9) - Full Command - 365 points
Special: Chameleon Skinks (10) - 150 points
Rare: Salamander Hunting Packs (3) - 195 points
Extra: Truthsayer (Level 3) - Free
TOTAL: 1,497 points
The Skink rolled up Portent of Far, which I swapped for Second Sign of Amul. The Truthsayer rolled up/chose Wings of Fate, Light of Battle, and Blessing of Valor.
Here is my all-star line up...
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Deployment was basic. Dwarfs castled in the circle while I split my forces with a Saurus regiment, the Truthsayer, and the Salamanders on the left flank, and the Saurus Cavalry, second Saurus regiment, and the Skink Shaman on the right flank. The Chameleon Skinks scouted up as close as possible.
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TURN 1 DWARFS
With no charges to declare, the only real thing for the Dwarfs to do is adjust the position of the Dark Emissary so as to be able to bring line of sight towards multiple units, but predominantly the Chameleon Skinks.
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Nightmare is cast, but I let it pass as I'm saving what dice I have for what I assume to be worse spells. My reward for this is the Chameleon Skinks failing their Panic check and fleeing 4".
Last but not least, Bolt of Dark Light is targeted at the fleeing Chameleon Skinks but the wizard fails to cast.
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Passing the Cold One's Stupidity roll, I manage to rally the Skinks as I have no charges to declare this turn. All units move ahead at top speed with the exception of the Salamanders who move 6" to enable them to fire, and the Truthsayer who joins the Salamanders to avoid the Fog of Death.
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The Salamanders flex their toxin sacs and belch forth 16 balls of liquid fire at the Yellow Dwarf Warriors. 8 wounds manage to land, with 2 turned away by armor. Despite losing 6 Warriors the Panic test is passed.
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The Yellow Warriors move forward full speed while the Dark Emissary moves away from the Chameleon Skinks, lining up line of sight to the left flank. The rest of the Dwarf army holds its ground.
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It's here that my brother, who used to teach high school Academic English, points out the exact verbiage of the miscast result "... the wizard's level is reduced by -1", which if you apply grammatical structure, means that the wizard now becomes level 5, since reducing a -1 makes it +1. Oh, the joys of gaming with two word nerds...
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The Saurus Cavalry pass their Stupidity and declare a charge on the Battle Standard's Warriors, who hold and are Immune to Psychology.
The Salamanders back up 3" to try to pull the Yellow Dwarfs from the circle, while all the rest of the units move ahead full.
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Goading the Salamanders, 1 Skink croaks in horror as the beast turns and bites deep into its side, shaking it until its form goes limp and dropping it to the ground. The rest of the Salamanders, however, perform their task and spit at the Yellow Warriors, killing 1 of them.
On the other side of the circle the Scar Veteran roars a challenge which is accepted by the Warriors' Champion, saving the Battle Standard from the Saurus General's onslaught. The Scar Vet and his mount rain down a flurry of blows and slice the Dwarf Champion in three wide arcs, shredding him limb from limb. The rest of the Saurus Cavalry strike home, wounding the Battle Standard once and killing 2 Warriors. The remaining Dwarfs in the shield wall strike back, killing 1 of the Cold One Riders. The Battle Standard Bearer easily passes his Stubborn Break test.
Hmmmmmmmmmm. Ranked heavy cavalry unit didn't manage to wipe out a unit in one turn. Even had a Hero in the regiment with 6 attacks PLUS his mount. The BSB wasn't even that much of a tank. So odd...
Not really, this is pretty typical and further illustrating how cav do NOT dominate the game and wipe out everything they face.
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The Slayers start the turn moving forward 3", the Thane leads his Warriors forward 1" towards the left flank Saurus. Meanwhile the Yellow Warriors face rear, move 1 1/2", then about face again. Lastly the Dark Emissary moves away form the Chameleon Skinks.
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Bolt of Dark Light is miscast scoring a 7, ending the phase.
In the Close Combat phase the Scar Veteran kills the Battle Standard with everyone else missing their attacks or their wound rolls completely, resulting in a drawn combat.
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This turn both Saurus regiments declare charges which are Held by both Dwarf regiments. The Salamanders meander (heh) up 2"
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The Salamanders generate 12 shots, wounding with 4, but only 2 Yellow Warriors are killed.
The Giant Slayer issues a challenge which is readily accepted by the Saurus champion, who promptly whiffs all his attacks while the Slayer doles out the 1 wound necessary to kill the Saurus champion. (Wow, that was quick...) The rest of the Saurus only manage to kill 1 Slayer while losing 2 of their own. Resolution is on the Saurus' side, but the Slayers are Unbreakable.
The Thane in the left flank combat challenges the Saurus Champion, who accepts. The Champion cannot harm the Thane, who in return lands 3 unsaved wounds and easily kills the Champion. The rest of the Saurus kill 2 Warriors who can't manage a wound in return. All said, the combat is a draw.
The Scar Veteran kills 1 Dwarf, the Cold Ones pull down 2, the Warriors and Saurus Riders both fail to wound. Insane Courage is rolled and failed, and the Warriors flee 5" with the Saurus Cav pursuing 6", slamming into the rear of the Thane's Warrior regiment.
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No charges are declared this turn, and the Thane's unit passes its Panic test, holding til the bitter end.
The Yellow Warriors again use facing turns to move backwards 1 1/2" and face the Salamanders again while the Dark Emissary gets out of the Cavalry's path.
Fog of War is cast again, and the Lizardmen score a double 1 on their Dispel roll. Yeesh. Damage is as follows: 1 of the right flank Saurus, 2 of the left flank Saurus, 4 wounds on Salamanders, and 1 Skink Handler. Two of the Thane's Warriors also fall to the spell. Bolt of Dark Light fails to cast while Betrayal in Death is successfully cast on the left flank Saurus regiment. The Salamanders pass their Panic test.
In the Combat Phase the Cavalry and Scar Veteran manage to kill 2 Warriors with no wounds caused in return. The front rank of the Warriors sees the Warriors cause a saved wound on the Saurus Warriors who answer by killing 2 of the Dwarfs. The Thane gathers his strength and kills 2 Saurus, while the attacks from Betrayal in Death fail to land. With more than enough Resolution favoring the Fear causing unit, the outnumbered Dwarfs fail their Insane Courage roll and flee 6" from the Cavalry, who then pursue 15" while the Saurus Warriors successfully restrain pursuit.
On the opposite side of the circle the Slayers fail to wound while losing 3 more of their numbers. Unbreakable keeps them in the fray.
TURN 4 LIZARDMEN
Stupidity is passed again!!!!! (I'm on a roll compared to that older Batrap vs. DOW...)
The left flank Saurus Warriors charge the Dark Emissary who flees 6", resulting in a failed charge. The Cavalry reform facing the circle while the Salamanders move forward 6".
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The Salamanders are goaded again, but only 1 Yellow Warrior falls to the shooting attack.
The Slayers manage to kill 4 of the Saurus Warriors, and lose 1 Slayer in return. Resolution is still against the Slayers, but they are still Unbreakable.
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The Dark Emissary rallies while the Yellow Warriors backstep 1 1/2" again.
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Bolt of Dark Light kills 1 left flank Saurus, but they easily pass their Panic test.
The Slayers kill 2 more of the Saurus Warriors but lose 1 more of their number. Unbreakable.
TURN 5 LIZARDMEN
The left flank Saurus charge the Dark Emissary who holds in response. The Cavalry fail to rally and flee 12" off the board. The Salamanders dig in and hold their ground.
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The Salamanders again target the Yellow Dwarfs but fail to wound at all.
The Slayer's attack is saved, and the Saurus slam the final warrior into the ground.
The Dark Emissary takes a wound with nothing in return, breaking from combat 6" while the Saurus restrain.
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TURN 6 DWARFS
The Dark Emissary rallies while the Yellow Dwarfs hold their ground.
Fog of War is cast again, this time killing 1 Skink Handler and dealing the last wound to the wounded Salamander. Bolt of Dark Light is failed, and the Salamander pack passes its Panic test.
TURN 6 LIZARDMEN
The Skink Handlers and Truthsayer charge the Yellow Warriors who flee 7" causing a failed charge. The left flank Saurus charge the Dark Emissary again, who holds in response. The right flank Saurus take this opportunity to wheel into the circle while avoiding the fleeing Dwarfs Warriors.
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Neither the Saurus nor the Dark Emissary can land a wound, but Resolution sees the wizard flee the combat 6" with the Saurus rolling the necessary 6 to pursue, wiping the Dark Emissary out.
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A hard fought game to be certain, and a costly battle due more to that free Wizard than anything.