Classichammer

Originally posted on 1-26-2022

Today’s BatRep is going to be a brutal one for a few reasons. First, I had worked a 12 at work on 3rd shift so I wasn’t my normal alert self. Second, we were both running cheaper swarm armies and I knew it’d be a battle of the bulge with little battle line space wasted. Third, I know Ashley would have read the Skaven book more thoroughly and that he is much more adept at playing books to their strengths rather than trying to break the book to my playing style, which is what I tend to do.

We made our lists on the fly, and so they probably weren’t nearly as thought out as they normally are…

BEASTMEN

Hero: Wargor – Chaos Armor, Shield, Crown of Horns – 102 points
Hero: Wargor – Battle Standard, Beast Banner, Heavy Armor – 149 points
Hero: Brayshaman (Level 2) – 2 Dispel Scrolls – 160 points
Hero: Brayshaman (Level 2) – Staff of Darkoth, Dispel Scroll – 160 points
Core: Beast Herd (6 Gors, 12 Ungors) – Extra Hand Weapons, Full Command – 125 points
Core: Beast Herd (6 Gors, 12 Ungors) – Extra Hand Weapons, Full Command – 125 points
Core: Beast Herd (6 Gors, 12 Ungors) – Extra Hand Weapons, Full Command – 125 points
Core: Bestigors (19) – Full Command – 258 points
Core: Bestigors (19) – Full Command – 258 points
Special: Tuskgor Chariots – 85 points
Special: Tuskgor Chariots – 85 points
Special: Minotaurs (8) – Great Weapons – 368 points

TOTAL: 2,000 points

You read that right. Hero level general. Wanted to try to not repeat every army I ever run.

For spells the Darkoth armed Brayshaman got Dark Hand of Death and Wind of Death from the Lore of Death, while the other Brayshaman got Steed of Shadows and Shades of Death from the Lore of Shadows.

SKAVEN

Lord: Grey Seer (Level 4) – Warpstone Amulet, Warp Scroll, Eye of the Horned Rat, 4 extra Warpstone tokens – 335 points
Core: Clanrats (21) – Musician, Standard – 120 points
Core: Clanrats (20) – Musician, Standard – 115 points
Core: Clanrats (20) – Musician, Standard – 115 points
Core: Clanrats (20) – Spears, Musician, Standard, Warpfire Thrower – 210 points
Core: Clanrats (20) – Spears, Musician, Standard, Warpfire Thrower – 210 points
Core: Stormvermin (25) – Standard, Musician – 215 points
Core: Rat Swarms (4) – 180 points
Special: Plague Monks (20) – Standard, Musician, Banner of Burning Hatred – 200 points
Special: Rat Ogre packs (4) – 200 points
Rare: Warp Lightning Cannon – 100 points

TOTAL: 2,000 points

Kinda neat that we both stuck the landing at exactly 2,000 points, no?

For spells the Grey Seer got Skitterleap, Warp Lightning, Vermintide, and Plague.

At this point we rolled on the mission randomizer we’ve been using and land on Capture. No problem, we meet all criteria and place a simple rock dead center to mark the objective. From there we roll for sides,

Deployment was as such:
That’s right, 6 pics and it still didn’t communicate the nuance of the deployment NOR did it illustrate how massive the armies were. I had finished deploying first and didn’t need the bonus for the choice of 1st turn roll…

TURN 1 BEASTMEN

I fail 1 Unruly roll, but as I was planning on moving all ahead full with all units I didn’t bother writing which one failed. The only units that didn’t push up full were the Wargor’s Bestigors and the Chariots who parked at the base of the objective hill ready to chase whatever Skaven unit camps up there on my next turn. That’s the plan at least…
In the Magic Phase I successfully cast Shades of Death on the BSB’s Bestigors to mitigate any Fear shenanigans from a Rat Ogre charge. Surprisingly Ashley lets it through. Next, I cast Wild Call on the left flank Beast Herd which gives it a chance to charge the left flank Clanrats. Ashley throws a few Dispel at the spell but can’t roll high enough to beat it. I fling the Herd forward into the Clanrats. At this point Ashley asks what’s next as he shakes his last dispel dice in anticipation. “All done. I’m out of Power Dice.” At this point he laments that he thought I had more stuff, and made the same bound spell mistake regarding the Staff of Darkoth that I did at his house years upon years ago in a previous BatRep.
So my massive onslaught manages to kill 4 Clanrats who can’t manage a wound back in return. The Clanrats break and flee 11” while my Herd rolls up 12” (!) to pursue, wiping them out. No Panic tests failed over the deaths, but there was some laughter over how unlikely that should have been as a result.

TURN 1 SKAVEN

The Skaven turn starts with multiple charges I had carefully set up in the previous turn. The center right flank Clanrats charge the right flank Herd, The right flank Clanrats charge the Minotaurs, the Rat Ogres charge the BSB’s Bestigors, and finally the Swarms charge backwards into the left flank Herd who were in the enemy deployment zone after my victory earlier. All units hold and Fear test is passed.

The Plague Monks fail their Hatred Banner test and wheel around the stony portion of the hill toward the center left flank Herd. The Stormvermin move up the hill onto the objective while the center Clanrats move up 7” to form a reinforcement line should the Stormvermin come to issues. The Grey Seer moves around the hill to reposition for LOS and everything else stays put.
The Grey Seer casts Vermintide which I promptly scroll. He then casts Warp Lightning on the right flank Herd/Clanrat combat. (Told you he would play more Skaven-y…) 6 Ungors and 3 Clanrats die. Next plague is cast upon the Wargor’s Bestigors, causing 5 casualties. The Plague then spreads to the BSB’s Bestigors and does 7 wounds there before ending. Panic tests seen the right flank Herd passing, the BSB’s Bestigors passing, and the Wargor’s Bestigors failing and fleeing 5”. Guess they won’t be helping against the Stormvermin…

The left flank Warpfire Thrower shoots through the Plague Monks to attempt to hit the center left flank Herd, but manages to miss the Herd completely. The Monks however wind up losing 9 models (!) to the shot.

The right flank Warpfire Thrower falls short of its target, and the Warp Lightning Cannon shoots the Minotaurs, rolling distance to hit and wounding both models hit. Now THIS PART HERE is probably going to get another thread started. When rolling the D6 wounds per wounding hit we wound up with 5 on one Minotaur and 2 on the other, netting a total of 7. Normally shooting into multi wound units has you remove whole models and distribute the wounds accordingly. My interpretation was that it was each model taking specifically those wounds caused. We compromised to speed up a game that was already running FAR too slow and simply agreed to sweep the two Minos and leave the last wound undistributed. Seemed the best compromise. Pretty sure I should have only lost a model and had 1 wound left on the second. ANYWAY, panic is caused but the Minos pass their test.

Combat sees the right flank Clanrats do 1 wound onto the Minotaurs who kill 8 (!) Clanrats in return. The Clanrats then flee 11” with the Minotaurs pursuing 6” on 3D6. Yeah.

The center right Clanrats kill 1 Gor while 3 Clanrats fall in response. Surprisingly the result is a draw.

The Rat Ogres kill 5 Bestigors with only 1 wound back. The Break test is passed!!!

Lastly the Swarms kill 1 Ungor but suffer 11 (!) wounds back. Unbreakable means nobody is going anywhere.

TURN 2 BEASTMEN

I start my turn charging the Minotaurs into the Warp Lightning Cannon which automatically flees and rolls easily enough to leave the board. The Chariots charge the Stormvermin on the hill, both of which fall within the flank arc. Lastly, the center left flank Herd charges the Plague Monks, eliminating any need for an Unruly test and landing ALL my units but one into combat. That unit, the Wargor’s Bestigors, successfully rally.
With all line of sight blocked and a need to keep Shades in play, I don’t cast a thing. EXACTLY what Ashley was waiting for as he dispels Shades after I declared my casting completed. Damn it.

We go back to Combat, opting to go from my right to left.

The right flank Clanrats kill 1 Gor but 5 die in return. The Clanrats then flee10” with the Herd pursuing 7”

The Rat Ogres single out the Champion of the BSB’s Bestigor unit and only manage to get the 1 wound to kill him while the Packmasters whiff. The Bestigors return the favor by doing 4 wounds back. The Rat Ogres then break and flee 8” with the Bestigors pursuing 7”.

The Chariots mow down 8 Stormvermin from impact hits but no other hits landed. The Stormvermin then flee 12” off the objective with the Chariots pursuing 4” and 12”. Now before this moment we hadn’t explicitly stated the rocky crags on the side of the hill were difficult terrain, but we both simultaneously agreed at that moment that they were. Unfortunate, as my chariot managed to easily do enough damage to shatter it on the rocks. I like to picture the Stormvermin pinned to the face of the stone wall looking back in horror as the Chariot smashes into them, flinging wood, Tuskgor innards and blood and fur covered brass armor all around.

The center left flank Herd kills 1 Plague Monk while 2 Gors die in return, but the Monks pass their Break test.

Lastly the Swarms take 3 wounds, and proceed to kill the Foe-render and a Gor in response. Unbreakable keeps the combat going.

TURN 2 SKAVEN

Ashley hits the next turn running by charging the Chariot on the objective, who holds in response. The right flank Clanrats continue to flee 11” while the Rat Ogres and center right flank Clanrats rally. The rest of the Movement phase is spent repositioning the leftmost Clanrats and the Grey Seer.
Magic starts with Irresistible Force on Vermintide and a Warpstone token wound. The swarm moves through the Rat Ogres doing 1 wound, the BSB’s Bestigors killing 1 Bestigor, and the right flank Herd killing 1 Ungor. Plague is cast on one of the units. I didn’t write down which as this was apparently the spell that did the final Warpstone token wound on the Grey Seer, killing him and automatically causing the spell to fail. I hadn’t tracked those wounds as I didn’t realize they were happening until he died.

In the Shooting phase the right flank Warpfire Thrower misfires and detonates while the left flank Warpfire Thrower fails to wound the left flank Herd.

In Combat the Chariot and Clanrats all whiff their attacks but the Chariot passes its Break test.

3 Plague Monks die without wounding anyone in the center left flank Herd. The Monks then Break and Flee 6” with the Herd pursuing 7”. DED. Adding insult to injury the leftmost Clanrats Panic and flee 10”.

Last but not least the left flank Herd finishes off the Rat Swarms.



And that’s where we called it. The game had taken FAR too long to get set up and play due to timing issues and family interruptions, coupled with my 3rd shift sleeping schedule meant we needed to stop early. This was the longest short game we ever played. A year or two ago we had a multi turn game that went by insanely fast, so we now have played the longest short game and the shortest long game. Let’s hope we don’t break either record.

Ashley said that I had the closest qualifying unit to the objective so this was a win for me. Not so sure. What I DO know is that it looked like I was pretty much set up for a hell of a rebound had we gone a couple turns further. At least in my mind.


As always, I welcome comments and debate.