I had finished pretty much the entire Dark Elf forces and was anxious to get a 3,000 point Paint Curse Breaker game in. As Ashley was not wanting to be bothered with bringing an army to my house, he selected a Warriors of Chaos force to take against me. The lists were as such:
CHAOS
Lord: Chaos Lord – Sword of Striking, Armor of Damnation, Talisman of Protection – 285 points
Lord: Exalted Sorcerer (Level 4) – Power Familiar, Dispel Scroll x2 – 370 points
Hero: Aspiring Champion – Banner of the Gods – 240 points
Core: Warriors (20) – Shields, Full Command – 330 points
Core: Warriors (20) – Shields, Full Command – 330 points
Core: Warriors (20) – Shields, Full Command – 330 points
Core: Marauders (23) – Great Weapons, Full Command – 186 points
Special: Knights (5) – Full Command – 215 points
Rare: Spawn – Fire Wyrm – 75 points
Rare: Dragon Ogres (6) – Great Weapons, Shields – 474 points
Rare: Chaos Giant – Mutant Monstrosity – 225 points
TOTAL: 3,000 points
DARK ELVES
Lord + Hero: Highborn – Dragon, Heavy Armor, Shield, Sea Dragon Cloak, Crown of Black Iron, Dark Sword – 513 points
Hero: Noble – Heavy Armor, Sea Dragon Cloak, Banner of Nagarythe – 255 points
Hero: Sorceress (Level 2) – Dispel Scroll x2 – 180 points
Hero: Sorceress (Level 2) – Dispel Scroll x2 – 180 points
Core: Warriors (19) – Spears, Shields, Full Command – 177 points
Core: Warriors (10) – Crossbows – 110 points
Core: Warriors (10) – Crossbows – 110 points
Core: Dark Riders (5) – Spears, Crossbows, Full Command – 155 points
Core: Corsairs (19) – Full Command – 215 points
Special: Cold One Knights (10) – Full Command, Banner of Murder – 380 points
Special: Cold One Chariot – Spears – 97 points
Special: Executioners (19) – Full Command – 239 points
Special: Shades (5) – 70 points
Rare: Reaper Bolt Thrower – 100 points
Rare: War Hydra – 220 points
TOTAL: 3,001 points
We wound up running Flank Attack with Dark Elves as the Attackers and Chaos as the Defenders. I chose my right flank as the board edge I’d be entering and left the Highborn on Dragon, the Knights, and the Chariot as my flanking force. Deployment went as such.
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Ashley then had the first turn.
TURN 1 CHAOS
Ashley starts the turn by all models surging forward at full speed with the exception of the Spawn, who ambles forward 6”.
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TURN 1 DARK ELVES
The Shades start the turn with a Terror test passed, and move up 5” by the Giant. The Corsairs and Executioners edge up a bit, the Hydra advances 6”, and lastly the Dark Riders move up to square off against the Spawn. All other units stay stationary.
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The Dark Riders manage to wound the Spawn twice with crossbow shots. The Chaos Knights save the 2 wounds done to them by the Warriors with Crossbows directly across from them, while the other Warrior unit with Crossbows manages one wound on the Dragon Ogres. The Hydra breath weapon wounds once, but is saved. The Bolt Thrower and Shades both fail to wound at all. I didn’t write down who I shot, but the relevant part is… WHIFF!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
TURN 1 SUMMARY
So largely some repositioning and some shots fired. Ultimately all that was really accomplished this turn was some set up for charges next turn as well as a fair failure to wound with spells or shooting.
TURN 2 CHAOS
The Dragon Ogres charge the Spearmen, who pass their Fear test and Hold. The Giant charges the Hydra who also Holds. The Knights charge at the left Crossbowmen who Flee 7”, resulting in a failed Charge. The Spawn ambles up 5”, so cannot charge. All other units ahead at the fasted speed they can go.
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The Spawn’s breath attack fails to wound.
The Dragon Ogres hit HARD, wounding the Sorceress 3 times and killing 4 Spearmen. The return Spearmen attacks fail to wound, leaving the Spearmen to take an Insane Courage roll, which they promptly fail and flee 7”. The Dragon Ogres pursue 12”, wiping out the Spearmen and charging into the Right Flank Crossbowmen, who pass their Panic test.
The Giant ‘eadbutts the Hydra while the Handlers fail to wound, resulting in a draw.
TURN 2 DARK ELVES
The Executioners start the turn by declaring a charge on the Right Flank Warriors who hold in response. The Corsairs charge the fleeing Knights who flee 7” further and out of charge range, but the Corsairs smack into the Center Warriors as a result.
The left flank Crossbowmen fail to rally and flee a further 7”. The Dark Riders move past the Spawn and the Shades push inward toward the center of the board.
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The Close Combat phase starts with the Dragon Ogres killing a single Crossbowman without taking a wound in return. The Crossbowmen fail their Break test and flee 5” with the Dragon Ogres pursuing 16”. Do I need to say DED?
The Hydra does 4 wounds to the Giant with the Handlers managing 1 wound as well. The Giant rolls up Yell And Bawl, which forces me to take a Break test. I roll a natural 12.
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On the plus side I wind up fleeing 8” to the Giant’s 7” pursuit roll.
The Executioners and BSB wind up killing 3 right flank Warriors while the return attacks manage a wound on the BSB himself. The warriors then pass their Break test.
CHALLENGE!!!!!!!
The Center Warriors’ Champion calls out the Corsairs Champion who gladly accepts. ALL Dark Elf attacks fail to wound. ALL. The Chaos Champion then kills his counterpart with 1 Overkill wound on top of it. 1 wound is then done to the Sorceress while 2 Corsairs die. The Corsairs then break and flee 9” with the Warriors pursuing 7”.
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It was nice having a battle line for a while. As it stood my center is looking especially weak now and my firebase is pretty much depleted. The left flank is down to 1 disruption unit. If EVER there was a game where I needed my reserve rolls to pass, it’d be this one…
TURN 3 CHAOS
The Giant starts out the turn with a charge against the fleeing Hydra, which only manages to flee a further 5” and is wiped out. The Center Warriors then charge the Corsairs who flee a further 11”, resulting in a failed charge move.
The Knights take this time to rally and reform while the Left Flank Warriors and Marauders move forward 8” and the Dragon Ogres wheel to the right flank.
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In Combat the Dark Elf BSB manages to whiff every attack, and the return strike does the 1 wound necessary to finish him off. The other attacks from the Center Warriors manage to kill 2 Exectutioners and dole out the final wound needed to kill the Sorceress. Breaking from combat the Executioners manage to flee a measly 3” with the Warriors pursuing 12” (!), wiping them out.
TURN 3 DARK ELVES
Time for the magic to happen. I need a 3+ to bring in my fast travelling flanking force…
… and I fail the roll.
Undaunted the left flank Crossbows and Corsairs both rally, reforming to face the most imminent threats.
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The Dark Riders can’t wound the Knights in shooting, but the Shades and Bolt Thrower each manage to kill 2 Maraiders.
TURN 3 SUMMARY
My Magic capabilities are now cut in half, I no longer have a BSB to bolster my units, AND my flankers are off for some midmorning tea. I’m sure asking “How can it get any worse?” will doom me to even further losses…
TURN 4 CHAOS
The Marauders (represented by a proxy movement tray due to incline and wobbly model syndrome) charge the Bolt Thrower crew which flees 9”, and the Marauders stay to attack the machine. The Right Flank Warriors declare a charge on the Corsairs but are out of range.
The Giant moves at top speed toward the Bolt Thrower, the Knights move 7” toward the doomed war machine as well, and the two remaining Warriors regiments move up on line.
TURN 4 DARK ELVES
Flank turn roll is failed again.
Damn…
The Dark Riders charge the Knights in the rear, and they Hold in response. The Corsairs charge the Right Flank Warriors who ALSO Hold. Wrapping up the Movement phase sees the Bolt Thrower Crew rally while the Shades move up toward the action. The Crossbowmen hold firm.
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CHALLENGE!!!!
The Dark Rider Champion whiffs. (Yeah, shoot for the moon, buddy…) 2 Knights fall to the Dark Riders while 2 Dark Riders die in return and the Dark Rider Champion is killed twice over. The Dark Riders then flee 7” with the Knights pursuing 13”, killing them DED.
The Corsairs manage to kill a single Warrior, but lose the Sorceress and a Corsair in return. Failing their Break test the Corsairs flee a mighty 4” with the Chaos Warriors pursue 6”, wiping them out.
At THIS POINT RIGHT HERE I go ahead and call it. The thought of another Flank roll failing wasn’t appealing enough to suffer through another turn. I didn’t do anything wrong tactically, I simply fell victim to the Fresh Paint Curse.