Battle Report- Empire Vs Vampire Counts

2000 points @ Plastic Legions HQ 2/26

This was our scheduled game from our 2/19 Mighty Empires campaign at Games Workshop, Oak Park. We decided to play the game a week late mainly so we could both get our VC Spearheads and check out the new book and Bill could run a new list.

ARMY LISTS

VAMPIRE COUNTS

LORD

Vampire Lord
-Dread Knight
-Walking Death
-Master of Black Arts
-Talisman of Protection
-Book of Arkham
-Rod of Flaming Death
-Barded Nightmare

HEROES

Vampire BSB
-Avatar of Death
-Walking Death
-Royal Standard of Strigos

Necromancer
-extra spell: raise dead
-Scepter of noir
- Corpse Cart
-Balefire

Wight King
-Hand of Dust
-Skeletal Steed

CORE

23 Skeletons FC/ War Banner

20 Zombies

20 Zombies

5 Fell Bats

SPECIAL

11 Black Knights
-Champion
-Standard Banner/ Banner of Barrows
-Skeletal Steeds

3 Cairn Wraiths
-Tomb Banshee

RARE

1 Varghulf

total= 2143
________________________________________________

THE EMPIRE

LORD

General of Empire
-Sword of Power
-Holy Relic
-Enchanted Shield
-Warhorse w/ Barding

HEROES

Captain
-Battle Standard Bearer
-Armor of Metoric Iron
-Sword of Justice

Wizard
-Level 2
-Dispel Scroll x2

Priest
-Icon of Magnus


CORE

29 Swordsmen/ FC with War Banner
Detachment 10 Spearmen
10 Free Company

10 Handgunners
marksman w/ HLR

10 Huntsmen (scouts)

15 Flagellants

SPECIAL

2 Great Cannon

10 Knightly Orders /FC
-Inner Circle
-Bannor of Valor

14 Greatswords / FC

Total= 1993

( yes, no rares for me in this list, thou in retrospect I would have rather had the Hellblaster than the Huntsmen)


Mighty Empires disclaimer- Being this a Mighty Empires game there are few things that need mentioned as this is different than the standard Warhammer pitched battle. Bill's list is at 2143 because he has the option of spending gold earned in campaign to increase his army size up to 250 points. In this case he went with 143gp, the are two strategy events that took place that effect deployment. In Bill's case he had "Survey the Battlefield" which allows him to rearrange two pieces of terrain anyway he wants before deployment. In this case we started with a 4x8 table laid out completely even on both ends, he moved a forest and hill (thereby denying my cannons use of the terrain feature). My event is "Espionage" which takes place after the game is concluded and allows me to steal back victory points. We also both control hexes with "special buildings" in them and these buildings effect the game we are playing. I have an observatory, which allows me to have the "scouts" campaign rule, which forces Bill to set his entire army up first, then I deploy and get 1st turn. Bill has a graveyard which gives him a gravestone randomly deployed on the battlefield which is static item with a bound 4 casting of "raise dead" attached to it.



Deployment- Vampire Counts-
Bill deployed tightly on his right half of the table, with his Black Knights on the Left flank and his Fell Bats on the right, There are some Proxies here due to the fact Bill just got some new models, you'll see my Griffon in some photos, which is proxying for the Varghulf and one of Bills BlackCoaches is proxying as the Corpse Cart. Late in the game you will see a lone banshee which is actually a raised spirit host chasing down my wizard thanks to the spell, "Wind of Death".
Bill's got magic heavy list with 8 base power dice and 6 Dispel Dice, his spells are 3 Raise Deads, Van Hels Dance Macabre, Wind of Death, plus Vampires get Invocation of Nehek for free.



The Empire-

I deploy in a much wider line with The Greatswords on the left flank and my Knights on the right, I have gap in my line where both cannon have a wide channel to fire into the VC lines, Bill put zombies there but I still have angles first turn to try to get some better units. My Huntsmen set up in the forests hidden right in front of the Cairn Wraiths. I sent my Handgunners up so they are making a beeline to take the watchtower, which means they aren't going to be able to fire until turn 3 but they will take the focus of a strong unit to dislodge. For Spells I choose the lore of Fire and Roll "Wall of Fire" and choose to take "Fireball" I have 4 Power Dice and 4 Dispel Dice. ok, enough deployment talk-On with game!





Turn 1 The Empire
I cautiously move forward with the exception of my Flanks both My Knights and Greatsword move ahead, I want to bait the Cairn Wraiths with my Greatswords are they are immune to Fear (Icon of Magnus)and Bill doesn't know that yet, My Knights have cover from the watchtower and while it won't until turn three I going to get hopefully get around or flank someone. My huntsment stay hidden because to expose themselves now opens them up to charges from the Wraiths or Varghulf which is sucide, I want them to weed out Zombies so I need to wait it out and hope bills goes for a more dangerous unit. In My Magic Phase I find out about Balefire from the Corpse Cart, I move my wizard forward enough he's within the 24" of the corpse cart and I get -1 to my casting for Wall of fire my difficult to get base "12" is now a "13" and my risky 1 die follow up now needs a "6" ouch, I whiff on both spells. the Shooting phase is equally a dud, as I am short on my first guess and my second cannon "misfires" right off the bat, thankfully I roll a 4 which "may not shoot" so I just lose this turn. Nothing for me 1st
turn, so much for "Scouts"



Vampire Counts

All Bill's troops advance, and of course the Wraiths and Varghulf head straight for the forest and my Huntsmen, I woun't need to take psych test until my turn they weren't charged but are surrounded. The Magic Phase starts off with using the Gravestone to raise some Zombies, I let the 7 zombies take the field and they pop up right infront of my flagellants so they are going to get crushed., Bill cast Wind of Death, which fails, he casts another raise that I dispell with dice. He then breaks out the magic item, "The Rod of Flaming Death" which is a bound item and is as nasty as it sounds, I Dispel that with dice too, he has another Raise Dead and raises another unit of Zombies, not wanting to use my scrolls yet, this time I let 10 Zombie pop up but they are right near my Huntmen, bill uses "Dance" to make them charge my Huntsmen who wisely flee, lucky I roll high enough I get out of the forest and away from the wraiths and Varghulf as well. In the shooting Phase the Tomb Banshee's ranged attack is in range of my Greatswords and one falls to it, it is the games 1st Kill, we both get past the 1st turn unscathed.

Turn 2
The Empire

My Flagellants have no choice (thanks to being Frenzied) then to charge those zombies right in front of them, My Huntsmen Rally and the rest of my troops advance, except for my swordsmen who hold as I dont want to risk getting flanked by one of those fast units bills got on the loose. I use my detachments to block, the Free Company move to block the Fell Bats who came 20" up the left side (obviously headed to my backfield and cannons) but If I dont block them he's got clear charge on the rear of my Greatswords which I definitely dont want., My spearmen move to block the Varghulf, My Knights keep advancing around the back of the watchtower and my Handgunners move and capture the watchtower and will be able to shoot from it 360 next turn. Again Bill's dispel dice in combination with my tough success rolls, mean I get nada out of the magic phase. My cannon do a little bit better, my guesses are perfect but my bounce one is bad and I only kill 1 zombie, second one (aiming at the corpse cart) put two wounds on it. In close combat my Flagellants blow right through those seven zombies and overrun right into the rear of that other unit of Zombies that tried to charge my Huntmen. I Kill 8 zombies that turn, not much. but with the new rules you get 50VP for every raised unit you destoy regardless of size so that's a good thing for the Empire.

Vampire Counts

Bills Black Knights use the ethereal ability to wheel thru the center hill and make along charge attempt at my Flagellants rear, they come close but fail. one of his starting units of zombies charges into the flagellants flank. The Wraiths and Varghulf reposition but dont engage yet. The Wraiths movement causes a terror check on the Huntsmen who fail and are fleeing again. The Fell Bats take another 20 inch move toward my cannons, I am only going to only get one more round of shooting with them unless I intercept. Bill's core unit of Skeleton Warriors led by his General and BSB are currently looking at flank charge from my Knights, so he rotates to face me and holds/ Magic Phase starts off with Wind of Death with a dice roll, it goes off big and I use a dispel scroll to get rid of it, Next up is the bound spell with Rod of Flaming death, Bill has 10 power dice with the bonus 2 from the Vampire Power "Master of the Black Arts" so I only throw one dispel die at the rods bound spell luckily I roll a 3 and get it on the nose. So I am holding my remain three dice for what ever else bill has in store for me which is definitely a bunch of Raises, Dances on the Black Knights and some Invocations to heal but the dice had something different to say as his General casts and its a miscast, he then rolls an 8 meaning among other things the Magic Phase immediately ends, which puts a BIG stick in Bills plans. I lucked out there. In the shooting phase the Banshee tries another Ghostly Howl but this time can't beat my Greatswords Leadership ( 8 with Priest). On to Close Combat, My Flagellants martyr I roll a "6" (3) and get all three bonuses, they shred the unit of Zombies the rear charged and the other unit strikes out and loses combat by 6 so it takes six wounds, I get another 50 points for a destroying a raised unit.


Turn 3
The Empire

My Knights charge the Skeletons, I pass the fear test and am in. My Greatswords charge the Cairn Wraiths they too pass the fear. My General also charges the Cairn Wraiths, I need to succeed as he has the magic weapon needed to destroy them, He fails so no charge. My Huntsmen were fleeing and fled off the table. the free company is too close the wraiths and they flee as well. My other units adjust the positions, my swordsmen rotate away from the Varghulf and face the oncoming black knights. In the Magic Phase I finally get a Wall of Fire off on the Black Knights with high roll, Bills dispel fails with double "1"...unfortunately Bill only loses 1 Knight. The shooting phase starts off with another "misfire" this time one cannon blows up, the other scores a great hit into the Black Knights and Kills 2 more, My handgunners shoot at the black knights from tower, with really strong rolls, I kill 3 more Black Knights. I take down 1/2 the unit in the last two phases...pretty optimistic so far. Close Combat thou goes sideways as despite tons of hits on my charging knights I only end up with 3 kills. This is the VC main unit with two characters, I soon find out he has static CR of +9!!!, on the strike back I lose 1 knight ...I lose combat by "5" and need insane courage, I fail, manage to escape but knights are fleeing and dont go far. My Greatsword cant wound the Cairn Wraiths due to ethereal but I can still beat them due to static bonus, the wraiths fail to kill a single greatsword this round and I win combat by "2" killing one of them. My Flagellants finish off seven more zombies from the unit that was flanking them on the previous turn.

Vampire Counts

If you play Warhammer you know that turn three is always the big turn. I did some damage to Bill last round so it was payback time, and I paid and then bill must of forgot I paid, because I just kept paying. Bills General and his Skeletons charge my fleeing Knight they are 4" of so inches behind after the flee and pursue next move, I don't need to roll more than "5" on the 3d6 to get away. I roll the dice one at a time to add to the drama, 1 die- ONE , (not good), 2 die - ONE, (holy shit) 3 die - ONE !! I roll a "3" on the flee and am caught by the 8" charge and destroyed. Of course I am seriously bumming, although the same thing basically happened to High Elves in the last game I played only it was worse because his General was in the unit. Anyway that kind of shit happens, way to often I laugh it off...but I am crying!!! LOL. The Fell Bats charge my remaining cannon, kill the crew and spike it. The Varghulf charges my spearmen detachment. The remaining Black Knights charge into my Flagellants who are still tied up with Zombies. The magic phase starts of with raising on Black Knight back to life, Bill fails to raise a wraith. I get hit with big wind of death and use my second and final scroll on that, and use my dice to dispel another raise and a dance. out of dispel options I take the rod of flaming death on my Handgunners in the building and am lucky to only lose 3, then Bill reveals the Black Book and the Hand of Dust which give him a free move on his General's Unit and the Hand of Dust take out the remaining Flagellants but fortunately it gets exhausted after one use. In Close Combat the Varghulf crushes my spearmen who break like a twig and get run over, the overrun plows him into the flank of my swordsmen, exactly what I wanted to avoid as I worried about the Black Knights. That also causes my wizard to flee from the Varghulf and he does. The Banshee kills 2 Greatswords this time I still combat (rank, outnumber, standard) by 1 so one the wraiths takes a wound. my casualties are brutal, 9 Knights, (lose Banner), 10 Spearmen, 10 Flagellants, 2 Greatswords, 3 Handgunners, 1 Cannon and Crew . 38 units in one round, and I have two units (free company and wizard) fleeing. that's got to be a record for me....Bill is pretty psyched right now.




Turn 4

The Empire

Despite the massive losses, I still have my best units except for knights still alive so I carry on. My General tries charging the Wraiths again, this time he is in. My Free Company Rallies, but my wizard keeps running. In the magic phase my priest tries a soul fire and bill fails to dispel its bound 4 ( rolled a three or double "1"s not sure) anyway that kills the other other wraith and puts a wound on the Banshee. shooting from the Handgunners takes out three zombies. In close combat my General polishes off the Banshee. Varghulf is flanking but is only US 4..he kills 3 swordsman and I can't hit it but my unit has a static CR of +6 plus another for outnumber so I win by 4 and the Varghulf take four wounds, but because of regeneration it only takes 2 of it four wounds. since I won the combat I get a free turn to face and get my BSB into attack it next turn.


Vampire Counts

The VC General and his Skeletons charge the watchtower, my handgunners are butchered and the VC claim the watchtower, Bill reforms his Black Knights to get into position to use dance to get them to charge the greatswords.(but ends up being too far away) The Fell bats fly off into the far quarter to claim it and score. The magic phase the General casts Wind of Death, luckily I only take two wounds from it but the spell raises a 2 wound spirit host at the end of the spell another unit I have to deal with. Bill then uses a "dance" to have the spirit host charge my fleeing wizard but I roll high and escape. all the rest of Bill's spells fail (3 raise deads)The Varghulf kills a few more swordsmen, my BSB puts some wounds on him and the Swordsmen win combat, bill makes alot of regeneration saves and the Varghulf hangs on with 1 wound.



Turn 5 Empire
Greatswords charge the Black Knights, my general is pointed the wrong direction and can only turn to hope to get in with Black Knights in turn 6. My free company moves up to help either the swordsmen or greatswords last turn. My wizard rallies, I get nothing in the magic phase and I have not shooting left. In close combat The Wight King Issues a challenge against my Greatsword Unit champion. I accept and they fight to a draw...I still lose 2 Greatswords, I do lose combat this time but I am stubborn and I pass the break test. My swordsmen finish with Varghulf with one wound it can't hope to win, it kills couple more swordsmen and while I fail to wound it, it loses combat and can't pass enough regenerations saves to live, and it dies.

Vampire Counts

Spirit Host charges my Wizard, he flees again and escapes (barely), The General and his Skeletons leave the watchtower moving toward combat. Bills holds back his remain zombies and corpse cart trying to conserve points. Magic Phase starts with Raise Deads, I let bill heal up a few Black Knights worries about the other spells I dispel the book, the rod, and a dance, bill fails to get any other dances off to move his Generals unit closer. Combat continues with Black Knights and Greatswords, this time the wight king kills my unit champion, I manage to kill a few knights but lose a few more greatswords, I lose combat and am outnumbered but I am Fearless (icon of magnus), taking the normal break test..I roll insane courage anyway..(go figure)


Turn 6 Empire
Swordsmen charge the Black Knights flank, My General and Free Company Hold. My Wizard Rallies again. In Close Combat the Wight King challenges my BSB, stupidly I accept thinking I can take him or at least hold my own for the round, but I am forgetting about KILLING BLOW, and stupidly I lose my BSB...giving bill some easy points. In the resulting combat I cause a few wounds but the CR loss is what does the Black Knights in, they lose CR by enough to be easily destroyed.


Vampire Counts

Last licks- the Spirit Host charges my Wizard..I have nothing to lose and take the charge, Bill holds all his units back not wanting to give up any more points we know this game is looking like a Draw we both have all our heroes alive my swordsmen are 20 strong with full detachment left, plus I have some greatswords. Bill also has all his heroes, plenty of Skeletons, some zombies, his corpse cart and the Bats way over on the other side of the table. Bill's is going to finish it off by hammering me in the magic phase. He starts off with General throwing four dice for a "Wind of Death", Bill throws the dice and rolls a MISCAST..again oh shit he says...he then rolls his miscast dice and Sigmar steps in and makes them SNAKE EYES....Bill about soils himself the same way I did back in bottom of turn three when I rolled a natural "3". Bills 445 point general dies and units start crumbling after he loses about 15 or so zombies, the spirit host and a few skeletons. (although in retrospect ,writing this I dont think we checked the bats) At that point the game ends there is no close combat (so my wizard lives)


SCORING VAMPIRE COUNTS
Units Destroyed

Captain of Empire BSB- 120
Spearmen - 60
Handgunners- 105
Huntsmen- 100
Flagellants- 150
Cannon x 2- 200
Knights- 330

Units at 1/2 str

Greatswords 85

Table Quarters 1= 100

Capture Banners 1= (Knights) 100

Total Score= 1350


THE EMPIRE

Units Destroyed

Vampire Lord (General) 445
Wight King 157
11 Black Knights 341
3 Cairn Wraiths 175
Varghulf 175
3 units of Raised troops 150
(2 Zombies, Spirit Host)

Units at 1/2 Strength
Zombies 40
Zombies 40

Corpse Cart (2 wounds) 50

Enemy General Slain- 100

Captured Banner ( Black Knights) - 100

Total Score = 1773

Results + 423 EMPIRE, MARGINAL VICTORY.


In the end, without Bill destroying himself and giving me about 600 points all in with the crumbling, it was a draw in his favor at about 200 points. I hate winning that way....but the shitty dice are part of the game...and the back and forth of which made this game very exciting and a total nail biter Huge thanks to Bill for coming over and being a great sportsman...

Battle Report- Empire Vs High Elves

2250 pts @ Plastic Legions HQ 2/22


Jeff from Hammer's Blog brought his High Elves over this afternoon, we been talking about this game for awhile and its a reschedule from a snow out last month. I've recently changed my list up after taking a couple of severe beatings most notably against a Khorne Demonic Legion, which really exposed some unnecessary weakness and wasted points against strong melee armies, I dropped my Pistoliers in lieu of bumping my knights up to inner circle and added more core troops. So far the results are positive, narrowly losing to an old school, very tough Dogs of War army in the last dice roll of turn 6 ( where my knights broke ran and were destroyed) giving my opponent a marginal victory instead of a +40 point draw, and then this game. I'll test it again against a brand new Vampire Counts Army on tuesday night.


Army Lists

THE EMPIRE

LORD

General of Empire
Sword of Power
Holy Relic
Enchanted Shield
Warhorse w/ Barding

HEROES

Captain
Battle Standard Bearer
Armor of Metoric Iron
Sword of Justice

Wizard
Level 2
Dispel Scroll x2

Priest
Icon of Magnus
Sigil of Sigmar

CORE

29 Swordsmen/ FC with War Banner
Detachment 10 Spearmen
10 Free Company

10 Handgunners
marksman w/ HLR

10 Crossbows

10 Huntsmen (scouts)\

15 Flagellants

SPECIAL

2 Great Cannon

12 Knightly Orders /FC
Inner Circle
Bannor of Valor

14 Greatswords / FC

RARE

Hellblaster Volley Gun

_____________________________________________________

HIGH ELVES

LORD

High Elven Prince
Elven Steed
Blade of Leaping Gold
Armor of Caledor

HEROES

Korhil, Captain of the White Lions
Chayal
Pelt of Charandis

Elven Mage
Level 2
Dispel Scroll
Guardian Phoenix

Elven Mage
Level 1
Dispel Scroll


CORE

20 Spearmen /FC

15 Spearmen/ FC

10 Archers

10 Archers

SPECIAL

20 White Lions of Chrace /FC
Banner of Sorcery

8 Silver Helms

1 Lion Chariot

RARE

2 Repeater Bolt Thrower


Deployment- terrain set up was even on both sides with no advantage for either
2 Hills, 2 Woods, and since its 4x8 I added a couple of buildings with similiar fences and hedges in each corner. The watchtower stood on a hill in the exact center of the table.


Empire- My deployment was pretty standard my core in the center, with my Knights on a flank in this case my left. My Hellblaster Flagellants and some Handgunners behind a wall held the right. My cannons in the rear with some ranked crossbowmen on the hill, I usually keep my crossbows on the frontline so they can shoot first turn, but for space purposes, I figured on the hill, they'd miss 1st turn but have targets all game. My Greatswords and priest were also on the left flank, I waited to deploy them last to help deal with his cavalry. finally I have some scouts who set up in the right side wood hoping to harass his backfield.


High Elves- Jeff basically matched mine with his General and Silver Helms on his right flank and Chariot on the Left, one group of archers on the hill behind the bolt throwers. His core spears and white lions directly across from my swordsmen.


Spells- I have 4 PD and 4 DD, I choose the lore of fire and roll Fireball and Conflagration of Doom
Jeffs has 5PD and 4DD he rolls Courage of Aenarion, Guardian Light and Cleansing Flare he also has Drain Magic.


Turn 1- Empire

I move everyone but my shooters forward 4", hoping to delay the melee and maximize my superior shooting phase. In the magic phase, my priest casts a prayer making the Greatswords "unbreakable" it's RIP so Jeff's let go for now.I successfully cast conflagration but jeff decides to use a dispel scroll, I fail my fire ball attempt. My Shooting is solid and I kill 6 white lions
Jeff makes his panic check, there is no close combat.

Turn 1- High Elves

Jeff's moves up similiar to as I did, with the exception of his chariot which takes it full move toward my Hellblaster, hoping to blow through and get around my rear, I am only going to get one chance he to take it out. In the Magic Phase. he mages casts Courage of Aenarion, I let it go in order to dispel something else. His shooting phase is successful as well using his Bolt Throwers to kill 3 Swordsmen and 3 Flagellants, which his Longbows on the left side get lucky and kill one of my knights. Again no close combat.


Turn 2- Empire
I have no charges yet and again slowly advance most of my troops hoping that his Silver Helms and General, who are directly behind a hedgerow are far enough way that their charge will fail when they have to cross the obstacle. I patiently wait but move my Greatswords so if he does successfully charge my the greatswords can flank charge them next turn. My Huntsmen move out the woods to fire on one of the bolt throwers. My Magic Phase is total miss and Shooting phase starts out as total disaster, as despite excellent range guess I roll double miss fires!!, one cannon blowing up and the other malfunctioning ( Out of four dice rolled, I manage to roll 3 "1's" , 2 misfires and the Kaboom) Thankfully my Hellblaster has its sights on the oncoming chariot and I roll 16 shots and score 11 hits, and 7 wounds, enough to blow it away outright with Str 5 -3 to save thanks to armor piercing, I get them all .I couldn't have hoped for better rolls there my Crossbows also manage to get 1 more White Lion soldier.


Turn 2- High Elves

The High Elf General and the Silver Helms charge my knights, and even with the Hedgerow as an obstacle they are just in so I take the charge. I am totally fearing his Generals "7" attacks plus the 10 more from the unit on the charge, but as it went luck was on my side this day.

Jeff's regular moves consisted of moving his core troops around to maximize the soon to be melee with my Swordsmen and their detachments. another Courage of Aerarion goes up in the Magic Phase and in the shooting phase the Bolt throwers kill another 3 swordsmen, one of the HBVG crew and his bows snipe 1 huntsmen and 1 Greatswordsmen. In close combat Jeff gets the kind of luck that I think is usually reserved for myself, with 17 attacks on the charge he only kills 1 of my knights, on the strike back I kill one of his. The break test is 4 to 2 in my favor (one kill, standard, 1 rank and outnumber VS one kill and a standard) Jeff roll's "double 6's" on his break test and then only a "4" on the 3D6 for the flee move, I only roll a "8" myself but more than enough to run them down, taking the general out of the game with them. My Knights also grab the Silver helms Standard. That sucked for big time Jeff and I felt for him, similar has happened to me on numerous occasions.


Turn 3- Empire

My Knights plow ahead charging a unit of Elf Archers who are behind a fence obstacle. The Greatswords move around the woods headed for a unit of Spearmen and the level 2 mage. I also move my HBVG and Handgunners, not having anymore targets on that side of the field, I need to move up to hit something. My flagellants march forward trying to get them to where the action is and I also move my spearmen and free company ahead of my swordsmen so they can block the inevitable charge from the White Lions. My Magic Phase does nothing and in the shooting phase I kill 1 more White Lion with my Crossbows and 1 crewmen from the far side boltthrower as well. My Knight are all I have in the Close combat phase and even losing all my benefits for charging a unit behind a obstacle and including going 1st thanks to Speed of Asuryan- I kill 6 of them, they break and are run are down, my pursuit role is a "14' which takes me off the table so my knight wont return until next turn.


Turn 3- High Elves

The White Lions charge my spearmen detachment. I actually hoping they break here because I they don't cause panic (being a detachment) and my General and Swordsmen are set up to charge the next turn if they do. Jeff's big block of Spearmen move up toward my free company and his others move up as well. During the magic phase I need to use a scroll on high die cast of "cleansing flare" then my dice to dispel another "courage" spell. In Jeff's shooting phase he kills 3 huntsmen fail the panic check and rout, 1 Flagellant, one only free company guy despite scoring 4 hits from a RBG volley, his wounds came up short on the dice. In close combat I only lose 3 spearmen, but its enough that they lose combat by 5 with my General nearby they need a "4" to make the break test and I roll a "4" not ideal, but way to hold on detachment!.

( An interesting thing came up I couldn't find in the rule book during charges and that my spearmen's left side was on difficult terrain and my right side was half off, the White Lions could only reach them if they charged the half that wasn't on the difficult terrain, normally if the charge is successful you snap them over to lock up and maximize models, but because they couldn't reach the portion on the difficult terrain we left them lined up staggered, meaning half the White Lion unit was open to be charged next turn. The problem is when I read Jeff's list after the game is that White Lions are "Woodsmen" and don't take a terrain penalty, so they shouldn't have been in this position and should have snapped over, Jeff's didn't catch this. although I don't it mattered because I just could have flanked charged them, which probably would have been worse)


Turn 4- Empire

My Swordmen charge the exposed portion of the White Lion front ranks., My Huntsmen rally,
My Flagellants move ahead and are now coming around the rear of the White Lion/ Swordsmen Melee, My greatswords march ahead and set up for Flank Charge on the Jeff's smaller unit of Spearmen, My Knight are back on the table and move 7" head towards the rear of everything else. Again my magic phase sucks winds, Jeff doesn't even need to cast drain magic as I can't get an 11+ on 3 dice for conflagration, nor a 5 on for fireball, he's using all his DD to stop my bound 4 prayers from the priest. My cannon over shoots with a roll of "10" on the spot roll. None of my other shooters have targets, except my crossbows who manage to kill a couple spearmen. In Close Combat, the White Lions kill all my spearmen and 1 swordsmen I lose combat by two and need a "7" and make it.



Turn 4- High Elves

Jeff's spearmen charge my free company blocking them from wheeling into the White Lions Flank next turn, he also rotates his other unit of Spearmen to Avoid the flank charge of my greatswords (although my Knights can flank him), Again I use a scroll on Cleansing Flare and use my DD on the "courage" spell, Jeff gets Guardian Light off as well and I cant dispell it. Bolt Thrower Kills 1 one of my knights and again three more huntsmen get shoot down by the archers on the hill, this time they make the panic test. In close combat Jeff's spearmen easily kill most of my free company, leaving three to run, the pursuit puts head into my exposed front portion of my swordsmen battling the White Lions., end result is I only lose 1 swordsmen, while jeff loses 1 white Lion, I win combat thanks to my large static bonuses, the White Lions are break and run 8", I am still stuck in combat with spearmen so I can't pursue. ( although I would have gotten the White Lions banner here, we forgot this)

Turn 5- Empire

My Greatswords Charge the spearmen they are facing and my Knight charge the same units flank. My General has a chance alone to Charge the fleeing White Lions, but they manage to escape. My remaining Free Company guys rally, my flagellants move closer to the fray. Again my magic amounts to nothing. In shooting- my remaining huntsmen killed the lone crewman on the one Bolt Thrower and my cannon scores and takes out the other Bolt Thower but not the crew . Close Combat leaves 6 Spearman dead, but I lose one greatsword, and two knights rolling "double 1"s on my two wounds scored by his spearmen, Despite Jeff's break there my bonuses with the flank are too huge and he fails the break test, My Knights have the bigger unit strength so he flees from them, my knights pursue but are stopped as they run smack into the high elf level 2 mage, the remaining spearmen escape, my greatswords might able to catch them but if they fail, they will be stuck in the woods next turn, so I restrain and make the leadership check. My Swordmen also break his other unit of Spearmen who flee but I again do not catch them. Its looking grim for the High Elves here, as move of his army is fleeing.

Turn 5 High Elves-

Thanks to Guardian Light all Jeff's units auto Rally, his only movement is to have the remaining crew from the destroyed bolt thrower reman the Bolt thrower with the destroyed crew so he will get to use it on his last turn. There isnt much Magic because his level 2 mage has the RIP spell going and his other mages spell is easily dispelled. Jeff's only shooting is the archers on the hill who shoot at my Flagellants (not sure if I lost any here) In close combat his level 2 mage is killed by my knights who overrun right back into the rallied unit of spearmen they routed the previous turn.

Turn 6 Empire-

My General and Swordsmen both charge the rallied bigger block of rallied spearmen and the Flagellant also flank charge it, I leave the White Lions alone as although I jeff's spearmen somehow hold my general will get flank charged by Korhil, I figure with everything I got on that one unit, If I can break I get what I deserve. As mention my Knight over ran into the other unit of rallied spearmen and my greatswords move toward the white lions, I have no targets for Magic or Shooting, holding back units to score table quarters. In the close combat phase, my knights kill those remain Spearmen they overan into to the man and I do break the other unit of spearmen causing it to run again...I pursue with every one and my General catches them, it also moves my Swordsmen past the White Lions so they cant see them for the next turn and take my remainin flagellants off the table and out of the game.


Turn 6- High Elves

The High Elves last licks, Korhil and his remaining White Lions charge my Greatswords and his Bolt Thrower takes it's last shot using multiple shots and scores two wounds on my Wizard - killing him, His remaining archers shoot at something but I can't remember what. In final close combat we kill a few models and I cant remember how it ended but one of us either made the break test or it was a draw- game over.

Scores-

The Empire-
+ 1812 in units
+ 700 supplemental
( 4 banners, 2 table quarters, enemy general slain)

High Elves-
+623 in units

Result + 1889 for the Empire- Massacre!

A tough, tough game for jeff, everything that could have wrong for him did, losing his General and Silver Helms in turn 2 was the worst luck ever, despite some fluky crap rolls my dice were average to good, and given that my units performed as they should. The White Lions, are a very impressive unit, I hammered them every chance I could every round and at the end of the game there were still hanging in there, Without the shit dice- If Jeff have had two chariots on that left side instead of that second mage, it would have been a whole different game. Thanks for great game Jeff, I look forward to the next one.

Vampire Counts Spearhead Arrives!

Got my VC spearhead today which I am pretty stoked about, I was initially interested the Vampire Counts when I started Warhammer, but I wasn't that into the models not to mention most of the line was metal and I wanted a line with alot plastics for conversion purposes. Since all that's changed with the great new models I took the plunge. The VC are now my fourth WFB army but only the second I plan on investing alot of time into, (I also own about 1000 point each of Goblins and Dwarfs but both of those are only basically assembled and about half of each are primed). I dont plan on these guys seeing the battlefield until sometime this summer as I still have to finish my Empire Army and I want add some additional models so I can field 3000pts painted, but I'll start assembling when I dont feel like painting. I'll post some shots of the contents later tonight I like the choice of models in the box as well, they only that would have really made the line any better would be a plastic customizable lord like the Orcs and Empire have, maybe one day.

I will however get to talk about the army book and new rules in detail very soon, as my next campaign game is this coming tuesday against my friend Bill's Vampire Counts and he's going to use the new book, So expect a detailed Bat Rep soon with the Empire against a new VC list.

Mighty Empires Round 8

Current Scores (in Empire Points, 18 wins)
map post round 7 results-

Chaos (Black)- 13
Orcs and Goblins (Orange)-13
The Empire- 6
Vampire Counts- 6
Lizardmen (White)- 5
Chaos (Brown) -4
Bretonnians- 4
Lizardmen (Blue)- 4
Orcs (Green)- 1



Events
Orc (Green) - Disaster@ Chaos (black)
Chaos (Brown) - Scouts
Vampire Counts- Survey the battlefield
Bretonnians- Land Grab
Lizardmen (Blue) - All or Nothing
Lizardmen (White)- Building Boom
Empire- Espionage
Orcs (Orange)- War Tax +110gp
Chaos- Treasure Trove

Revenue

Orcs (Green) - Had 622gp, spent last round =223gp, mine this round 50 gp TOTAL= 489gp
Lizardmen (Blue)- Had 660 gp spent =250gp, mines= 40gp, Raid 60gp TOTAL =510 gp
Orcs (Orange) - Had 484, spent= 250gp, mines =190gp, war tax 110gp - TOTAL 534 gp
Chaos (Black)-Had 240 , spent= 240, mines= TBA.
Vampire Counts - TOTAL- 184gp
The Empire (total-0gp)
Lizardmen (white) TOTAL= 270gp
Bretonnians TOTAL= 260gp, ,
Chaos (Brown) TOTAL 120gp

Challenges

Vampire Counts VS The Empire
The Empire- Marginal Victory!!! (Battle Report coming)

Chaos (Black) VS Lizardmen (white)
( didn't play, 1 point each)

(due multiple challenges for Anthony's territory
we have 3000 point team game-)

Orcs (Orange) Bretonnians
Lizardmen (Blue) VS Chaos (Brown)
Orcs (Green)

Orcs and Lizardmen - Massacre!!!
( 7 ep for Joe's Lizardmen with All or Nothing, way to go Joe!)


Results-

Orcs- 5 EP take chaos (brown city), build Castle
Lizardmen (Blue) 7 EP take last remaining Orcs (green) hex, take adjacent free territory
Empire- 3 EP take new hex, build another city
Vampire Counts-1EP Raid =40gp
Bretonnians-1EP Build a City
Lizardmen- (White) 1EP-Build City
Chaos (Black)- 1 EP Build City
Chaos (Brown)- 1 EP Build City
Orc (Green)- Eliminated by Lizardmen (Blue)

Fresh Paint

Just a couple things I got done over the last few weeks, My army generals Griffon mount and some Free Company Archers. The griffon is out of the Karl Franz box, the saddle is magnetized and custom, I cut the saddle off an extra horse and the flags are for the lances in the Knightly Orders box. It needed the saddle because there was no way to really mount a rider model on the beast that would be removable without one. The Karl Franz model, has a *cough* "wide stance" so he is physically created to fit on it, models from the General's kit were problematic without some minor customization.


While it still needs a few touch ups, I am really happy with this model, it was a hassle to build but painting it was fun (even thou all that menial drybrushing gets tedious on big model like this.) Archers are straight up out of the militia box, I have others I built as huntsmen that a lot of conversion from various kits that you could easily call Empire Rangers, if there was such a thing, but since they are not in my Adepticon Army, they're on the back burner for painting. next up is paint up my General both mounted and on foot, then my artillery, then into my Greatswords, last up will be my Pistoliers..then Adepticon!.

Mighty Empires Round 7

2/5 @ Games Workshop, Oak Park






Current Scores (in Empire Points, 18 wins)
map post round 6 results-

Chaos (Black)- 12
Orcs and Goblins (Orange)-10
The Empire- 6
Vampire Counts- 5
Bretonnians- 4
Lizardmen (White)- 4
Lizardmen (Blue)- 3
Chaos (Brown) -3
Orcs (Green)- 2



Events
Orc (Green) - Scouts
Chaos (Brown) -Land grab
Vampire Counts- Survey the battlefield
Bretonnians- All or Nothing
Lizardmen (Blue) - Building Boom
Lizardmen (White)- Eric
Empire- Espionage
Orcs (Orange)- Disaster @ Chaos- Chaos loses another city!..down to 11 EP
Chaos- Treasure Trove

Revenue

Orcs (Green) - Had 552gp, spent last round =0, mine this round 11ogp TOTAL= 662gp
Lizardmen (Blue)- Had 550gp spent =0, mines= 110gp- TOTAL =660gp
Orcs (Orange) - Had 434, spent= 200, mines =250gp - TOTAL 484gp
Chaos (Black)-Had 240 , spent= 60, mines= 60- TOTAL 240gp
Vampire Counts - Had 184, spent=??,
The Empire (total-0gp)
Lizardmen (white) Had 70gp, spent= 0, War Tax +200gp, TOTAL= 270gp
Bretonnians Had 260gp, spent= ???,
Chaos (Brown) Had 120gp, Total 120gp

Challenges

Chaos (Brown) VS The Empire
Chaos + 440- Minor Victory
(espionage resulted in a "5" which didn't apply, no score change)

Orcs (Green) VS Chaos (Black)
Chaos- Massacre!!!

Orcs (Orange) vs Lizardmen (Blue)
Orcs- Massacre!!!

Bretonnians Vs Vampire Counts
Vampire Counts- Solid Victory!!

Lizardmen (white) Vs Vampire Counts
Not played Auto loss-


Empire vs Chaos (Slaanesh) battle recap

First time playing Josh and a Slaanesh list, lots of tricky magic ( titillating illusions is a total pain in the ass) and his fast units like the demonettes where in my face immediately. I lost my wizard early leaving him unattached and thinking my huge round of shooting was going to blow away his flying skirmisher's- unfortunately the dice hurt me and a few lived who in turn killed my wizard. Losing my magic at the bottom of turn two hurt me very badly. His chaos knights were nigh unstoppable ( I managed to kill 1) mainly due to a magic banner that halved the weapon skill of on any engaged unit.

This made my infantry and knights pretty much useless and I got all my kills from my artillery and while Hellblaster blew up early with a Kaboom ( it got 30 shots off but got a below average amount of hits) My range guessing, and dice on the cannons where stellar. Josh did a great job of also keeping my General at bay managing to force his move (via spells) of keep me chasing his characters and out of other combat so he never managed to get engaged the entire game. I managed to rout his dragon ogres who rallied late game, and in the end of the game came down to about 15 swordsmen slugging it out with Chaos Knights....I survived with enough that it came down to break test for my BSB, which if I could have made, would have made the game a "draw" but alas I failed and was caught, the unit alone plus both its banners, gave josh 424 points.
good game-


Results

Chaos +5 EP, Takes Orc City-
Orcs ( Orange) +5 EP, takes two new tiles, upgrades to city
Bretonnians Nothing, All or Nothing
Lizardmen (White) +1 EP, upgrades to City
Lizardmen (Blue) + 2 EP, upgrades to City -building boom- raids 40gp
Empire +1 Ep, upgrades to castle
Vampire Counts + 2 Ep, takes new tile
Chaos (Brown) +2 Ep Take new hex, land grab- upgrades to Castle
Orcs (Green) +1 Ep upgrades to City, taken by Chaos!!!