So here it is, BatRep time again...
My brother and I have some... idiosyncratic behavior when it comes to gaming. Real OCD behavior, superstitions, the like. You've even heard me gripe about how I strongly believe that if my opponent touches my dice that I'll have absolute garbage rolls for the rest of the game. Take note of that one...
ANYWAY
My brother and I both believe that freshly painted models will die horribly the first game they get put out, and we both spent a ton of time painting and repainting our armies. Thusly, we have put together a massive game to break the curse so our units will perform admirably from here on out.
We chose 3,000 points per side to basically squeeze in EVERY fresh paint model on both sides.
Q'attlah blinked its large eyes. The field of battle did not seem significant, yet the visions of the Old Ones led it to bring its army to this place. A dull golden casket could be seen partially exposed next to a hill in the center of the lowlands. This must be the odd trinket that Q'attlah was sent to secure, but something felt... different. Wrong.
No matter. The will of the Old Ones was not to be debated: simply followed. Q'attlah signaled the march...
LIZARDMEN
Lord: Slann (Level 4, 4th Gen) - Battle Standard, Plaque of Dominion, Mark of Tepok, Diadem of Power, Totem of Prophecy - 565 points
Lord: Oldblood - Carnosaur, Mark of Sotek, Mark of Quetzl, Mark of Itzl, Scimitar of the Sun Resplendant, Maiming Shield, Light Armor - 478 points
Hero: Skink Priest (Level 2) - Cube of Darkness - 140 points
Core: Saurus Warriors (20) - Musician, Standard, Shields - 258 points
Core: Saurus Warriors (20) - Musician, Standard, Shields - 258 points
Core: Saurus Warriors (20) - Musician, Standard, Shields, Spears - 298 points
Core: Temple Guard (16) - Shields, Standard, Musician, Jaguar Standard - 334 points
Special: Saurus Cavalry (5) - Musician, Standard - 205 points
Special: Saurus Cavalry (5) - Champion, Musician, Standard - 225 points
Rare: Stegadon - 235 points
TOTAL: 2,996 points
For Spells the Mage Priest rolled up Comet of Canada and Storm of Cronos, swapping the Storm for Second Sign. The Slann crossed lores and managed to roll/choose Dark hand of Death and Wind of Death from the Lore of Death as well as Second Sign, Forked Lightning, and Comet of Canada from Lore of Heavens.
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Small flames of multiple colors danced on the ground around the convulsing forms of the Beastmen army. Where once the skin of these mighty warriors was a soft orange, the flesh was now black as obsidian. Their manes had turned white, and their eyes glowed an eerie blue, more intense than the blue of the clear sky. Shoth, the Doombull, was the first to rise, his inner reserves of strength that much higher than those of the rest of his army. He could see the change but felt no different. It became clear that they had caught the attention of Tzann, but had not yet earned the favor of Tzann. What had he done wrong? Did he not follow the omens? Did he not devour Whurghor, his predecessor, and take his enchanted weapons? Did he not lead a much larger force in Tzann's name?
Shoth surveyed the terrain before him and picked out a faded golden casket barely visible in the center of the field. It matched the visions that had led him to this place, to seizing power, to the ritual, to the change in his army. Change, he thought. This was Tzann's will, and this was the task necessary to gain Tzann's favor. With renewed purpose, Shoth bellowed the command to assume positions...
BEASTMEN
Lord: Doombull - Axes of Khorgor, Crown of Horns, Heavy Armor - 281 points
Hero: Wargor - Chaos Armor, Shield, Talisman of Protection - 87 points
Hero: Wargor - Battle Standard, Heavy Armor, Beast Banner - 149 points
Hero: Brayshaman (Level 2) - 135 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
Core: Bestigors (19) - Full Command - 258 points
Core: Minotaurs (7) - Great Weapons - 322 points
Core: Minotaurs (8) - Great Weapons - 368 points
Core: Minotaurs (8) - Great Weapons - 368 points
Core: Minotaurs (3) - Great Weapons - 138 points
TOTAL: 2,997 points
For spells my Brayshaman rolled Creeping Death and Shades of Death from the Lore of Shadows, and I swapped Shades for Steed of Shadows.
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ANYWAY
We set up a pretty simple board with a Pitched Battle scenario since we knew time was going to be an issue.
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We then reach the point where the Dice Gods take control and roll for choice of 1st turn, which Ashley wins and takes.
TURN 1 LIZARDMEN
The battle line moves forward 5", with the exception of the Priest who keeps hiding behind the woods.
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In the Shooting Phase the Stegadon Great Bow fails to hit.
TURN 1 BEASTMEN
First things first the Comet arrives and has insufficient range to damage anything.
I start off with no charges to declare and no tests to take other than Unruly, which causes the Mixed Herd on the right flank to surge forward at max speed. The rest of the battle line surges forward either 8 or 10" in order to bait some possible charges as well as keep the line solid.
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TURN 2 LIZARDMEN
The turn starts with both Cold One units passing their Stupidity test.
From there the Carnosaur charges the Minotaurs who declare a Flee reaction but must still roll for their Fear test, which they pass. Their Flee move comes out to 3", which is fortunately enough to outpace the Carnosaur resulting in a failed charge.
Both Cav units use turning to essentially back up 3 1/2", the right flank Saurus do the same to back up 2", and the rest of the units redress to castle around the hill in the center.
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next to them.
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TURN 2 BEASTMEN
The Comet arrives, blasting 6 wounds into the Doombull's Minotaurs and hurling 3 Bestigors to the ground. However, the Panic test is passed.
The right flank Mixed Herd passes its Terror test from being in proximity of the Carnosaur, freeing me up to start declaring charges.
The Mixed Herd declares a charge on the Carnosaur. I'm not sure if I was supposed to, but explicitly it states that once Terror is passed, the test becomes Fear, and you need to test any time you try to charge a Fear causing unit. I interpreted these as two separate tests and rolled accordingly, promptly failing and not being able to charge. The right flank Minotaur unit DOES pass its test and flank charges the Carnosaur.
The left flank Minotaurs charge the left flank Saurus who pass Fear and Hold. The center Mixed Herd charges into the Saurus Spearmen who Hold, and the Doombull's unit charges into the Temple Guard who Hold.
The small Minotaur unit continues to flee 8" and all Unruly tests are passed.
The left flank Mixed Herd stands its ground in anticipation of the next turn, and the Bestigor unit next to it surges forward at top speed to bait the left flank Cold Ones in the next turn. The right flank Bestigors left step 2" to position for better casting and the center Bestigors push forward 2" awaiting the results of the combats in front of them.
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Now, onto combat!!!
It's during this round of combat that my daughter started to occasionally roll dice for my brother. Not me. Why, you ask? His army was purple. Color trumps nuclear family loyalty, apparently...
ANYWAY
The left flank Minotaurs kill 8 Saurus, who promptly fail their Insane Courage roll and flee 5". The Minotaurs pursue 13", obliterating the regiment and taking them out of position to do much of ANYTHING next turn.
The center Mixed Herd kills 2 Spear Saurus' and lose 4 in response but manage to pass their Break test.
The Doombull Minotaurs manage to kill 7 Temple Guard, but the Temple Guard pass their Stubborn Break test.
The right flank Minotaurs deliver 5 wounds to the Carnosaur, killing it outright. The Oldblood manages 7 wounds on the Minotaurs in return (Charlotte rolled those...) but still loses combat, fleeing 8" with the Minotaurs pursuing 8", wiping the ancient warrior out completely.
Fresh Paint Curse. Telling you, it's a thing...
TURN 3 LIZARDMEN
All Cold Ones pass Stupidity. (I swear, I must be the only one unlucky enough to fail that roll with Saurus Cav...)
The left flank Cold Ones charge the Bestigors that I set up to be charged, and the elite Beastmen fail their Fear test and Hold.
The Stegadon and right flank Cold Ones flank charge the Doombull's Minotaurs, who pass Panic AND Fear and hold their position. (Stupidly, I think, but I'm pretty sure I would have failed the Flee roll...)
The right flank Saurus pass their Fear test and charge the right flank Minotaurs in their right flank (That's a TON of those two words being typed together repeatedly...) who Hold in response.
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The Close Combat Phase starts off with the left flank Cold Ones killing 7 Bestigors, The Wargor manages to kill 1 (And I just noticed that I forgot to roll the Champ's attacks in the confusion) which allows the Cold Ones to only win combat by 1. However, the Bestigors fail their Break test and flee 7" and are pursued 7" by the Cold Ones. (SERIOUSLY?!?!?! This girl has the most obscene luck I've ever seen!!!!) The Mixed Herd passed their Panic check from their proximity to the slaughter.
There it is, folks!!!! How many batreps have we done? FINALLY, a 5-man cavalry unit sweeps a full regiment, verifying every net post ever!!!!! Wait. Wasn't that a multiple attack cav unit that caused Fear against a unit with low armor and no ability to fight back in ranks? I think we have a word for this: OUTLIER.
The center Mixed Herd manages to kill 2 Spear Saurus while losing 5 Ungors in return. The Mixed Herd then breaks and flees 9" while the Spear Saurus' pursue 5". To add insult to injury, the center Bestigors Panic and flee 7". (Okay, if I manage to organize a 6th Ed. tourney she's not allowed to play unless I'm betting on her...)
At THIS POINT RIGHT HERE disaster strikes. Chari retrieves some of Ashley's dice that she left on another table while he was counting the rather MASSIVE batch of dice for the next combat. I asked her to fetch those dice thinking she'd fling them into the big dice pool in the corner, not predicting she'd fling them into the rolled dice Ashley was trying to count, guffing the entire roll. We didn't yell or anything, just made it clear we were frustrated and asked her if she wanted to reroll it since we needed to redo the roll. Not at all. She curled up in her chair and hid her face for the remainder of the turn when she insisted that I run her home. On the way home she stressed she never wanted to come play Warhammer again. Absolute bummer.
The Stegadon and right flank Cold Ones do 10 wounds on the Doombull's unit, the Doombull promptly kills 2 Temple Guard (With rerolls to hit, mind you...) who then land 1 unsaved wound on the Doombull himself. Needless to say the Doombull's unit lost, and I didn't come close to rolling snake eyes, so they fled 7" with the Cold Ones pursuing 7", wiping them out. The Temple Guard restrain pursuit but the Stegadon winds up failing and pursuing 6".
The right flank Saurus wound the right flank Minotaurs 3 times while only losing 2 of their numbers. The Minotaurs then flee 9" with the Saurus passing their restrain roll.
TURN 3 BEASTMEN
The turn starts with NEITHER Comet arriving.
The left flank Mixed Herd fails its Fear test and cannot charge the left flank Cold Ones. As an aside, we originally played this out with a Flee result from the Cold Ones who went 10" away from the Herd, towards the Minotaurs that were in the center facing Ashley's deployment zone. While this would have worked WELL to my advantage, we decided that it made more sense that the actual charge attempt didn't happen at all. I know they clarified things in Annual 2002 or Chronicles 2003, but I haven't bothered to look it up yet.
The center Bestigors and center Mixed Herd fail to rally, fleeing 7" and 8" respectively. All Minotaur units do indeed rally, though. The right flank Bestigors with the Brayshaman moves forward while the right flank Mixed Herd moves forward as well. The rear most Minotaur unit reforms to face the battle line.
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TURN 4 LIZARDMEN
The left Comet hits, while the right Comet is delayed again. The blast claims 5 Ungors from the fleeing Mixed Herd, who then Panic a further 9" (Couldn't find anything stating fleeing troops are immune to panic), a Cold One Rider from the right flank unit, 5 Spear Saurus, 1 wound on the Stegadon and 1 of its riders, and 2 Temple Guard. All Lizardmen pass their Panic test if applicable.
Immediately after, Ashley asked if he was able to dispel the Comet in his own phase...
ANYWAY
Both Cold One units pass their Stupidity tests. The right flank Saurus regiment charges the right flank Bestigors who Hold in response while the rest of the army moves to better positions, including the Priest who moves farther away from the right flank forces that are getting uncomfortably close to his hiding spot behind the woods.
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The Stegadon again misses with its bow.
In the Close Combat Phase the Bestigors lose 2 of their numbers while felling 1 Saurus in return. The Saurus still come up short in the resolution department but easily pass their Break test.
TURN 4 BEASTMEN
The Comet hits this turn doing 7 wounds to the rear Minotaurs who promptly fail their Panic test and flee 3".
The left flank Mixed Herd passes their Fear test and charges the Cold One unit closest to my table edge, who holds in response. The right flank Minotaurs charge the right flank Saurus' flank, who pass their Panic test.
The center Mixed Herd, too understrength to rally, flees off the board. The center Bestigors rally.
With Unruly passed, the Mixed Herd on the right flank moves further in towards the center.
The Steed of Shadows fails, leaving the Brayshaman in the midst of the right flank combat scrum.
Speaking of which...
The Minotaurs kill 5 Saurus, while the Brayshaman whiffs his attacks completely. The Saurus attack the Bestigors, pulling down only 1, who in return slaughter 4 more Saurus. The combat is far enough away from the Slann to lend his Leadership OR his Battle Standard ability to the Break test, which the Saurus fail. Their flee roll takes them 7" away, but the Bestigors roll 4" to pursue. Thankfully the Minotaurs do a bit better and roll 14", wiping the Saurus out.
The left flank combat sees the Mixed Herd kill 3 Cold One Riders with no wounds in return. The Cold Ones fail their Break test and flee 12" with the Mixed Herd pursuing 11", clipping the other Cold One unit. I'm not one for clipping myself, but my brother and I decided that it was pretty much unavoidable, even as skirmishers.
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However, until I do MORE complex math, I'll chalk this up as an actual Lizardmen victory.
The TRUE victory came later, though. The game was played Sunday afternoon. Monday afternoon before I went to sleep, I fixed a Chaos Knight that is part of a Slaanesh army I'm going to do. My daughter had agreed to paint it, but I figured after the game she'd lose interest. Wrong. She made it clear she was going to paint the army, and then doubled down that she was going to use it to beat her Uncle Ashley. I'm not going to force her, but I REALLY do hope she doesn't rule it out solely based on that one accidental dice issue.
Q'attlah blinked its large eyes in confusion. The battle had been won and the vile Beasts of Chaos were forced to leave the field empty handed. The prize remained inviolate, yet it could feel the Winds of Magic shift. The surviving Beasts carried the broken form of their general, the Doombull Shoth, in a rout towards their herdstone, but the wounds shone with the same light that shone from the eyes of the infernal creatures. The Changer of Ways had indeed marked them, they had earned his favor. How? Did Q'attlah's forces not possess the prize? Scanning further revealed the truth. The prize was more than a simple casket, but a store of arcane items far too numerous for Q'attlah's forces to extract. The battle was NOT to keep the treasures out of the hands of the servants of the Old Ones, but to keep them from leaving this land.
Q'attlah turned away. There were other concerns, now. With the rise of a new enemy foretold by the Old Ones, Q'attlah could ill afford to stay here, stalwart defender of these treasures. It must leave this prize in capable hands, and it turned its gaze to the Carnosaur Z'arag. Perched on the trembling wounded beast's shoulder was Kagaat, Oldblood and consummate warrior. Wounded and trampled by the Minotaurs, Kagaat had sworn to stay by Z'arag's side. They lived together, hunted together, and by Itzl they would die together.
Not today, thought Q'attlah. Outstretching webbed fingers, Q'attlah began to invoke the Healing Light...