Game 4 – Will Dunn – Dwarfs – Dawn Assault
After my defeat to
Dwarfs in game three I was rewarded with another game against Dwarfs in game
four on table 29 (just one above the bottom).
Will’s list was more of the expected gun line Dwarfs so despite my
experience against Terry, I wasn’t expecting any vanguard moves except possibly
for a couple of the Gyrocopters.
This game was a
teensy bit of a struggle for me in terms of note taking as I kept getting
Will’s Quarreller and Thunderer units mixed up.
I think I’ve sorted it out in the report in the end but if there’s a
couple of bits relating to those units that doesn’t make sense, that’s why.
Grim Burloksson
Runesmith
Thane
- Battle Standard Bearer
14 Thunderers
- Champion
- - Brace of Pistols
- Musician
12 Quarrellers
- Musician
12 Quarrellers
- Musician
12 Quarrellers
Gyrocopter
- Vanguard
Gyrocopter
- Vanguard
Gyrocopter
34 Slayers
- Musician
Cannon
14 Irondrakes
- Standard
- Musician
Organ Gun
Organ
Gun
Spells
Archmage - Lore of
High Magic
1 – Soul Quench
2 – Walk Between
Worlds
3 – Tempest
4 – Fiery Convocation
Archmage – Lore of
Light
1 – Pha’s
Protection
2 – Net of Amyntok
3 – Banishment
4 – Birona’s
Timewarp
Deployment
This game was something of a novelty as it was played on a
table with a river running down the table on the right hand side as I looked at
it, starting about a foot from the right board edge at Will’s end, coming in to
about eight inches from the right edge as it hit the middle of the board, and
then back out to about a foot from the right edge when it hit my long board
edge. The river had a bridge over it
midway up the board.
Other scenery on the board included a hill about eight
inches from the left board edge and just inside my half of the table. There was a building slightly straddling
Will’s deployment zone line parallel with this hill. The next scenery was a bit
of marsh and another hill about six inches further on and just inside Will’s
half of the table. Finally there was a
hill in my half of the table a couple of inches to the left of the river.
For this game we were back to a funny deployment scenario. Rolling for his units Will ended up with an
Organ Gun and a unit of Irondrakes in his left corner, the Irondrakes taking up
residence in the building. The bulk of
his army ended up in the central zone; in line there were the Thunderers with
the BSB, the other Organ Gun, a unit of Quarrellers, the cannon and another
unit of Quarrellers.
Behind
this front line there was a Gyrocopter behind the Irondrakes, Grim Burloksson just behind the
Organ Gun with the Slayers behind and to the right of him and a second Gyrocopter
behind the cannon.
In the right corner was the last Gyrocopter and the last
unit of Quarrellers, who deployed in the river.
My deployment ended up being not too dissimilar to what I
would have planned had it been a normal deployment. In my left corner there was just an
Eagle. In the other corner there was the
second Eagle close to the board edge, one of the bolt throwers, the Lion Chariot,
a unit of Reavers and a unit of Archers.
In the centre, in a line to the left of the river, was the
other Archer unit and then the remaining two Reaver units, behind whom went the
Swordmasters – the unit with the Razor Standard on the left and the unit with
the flaming banner on the right. The
Light Archmage went with the left unit while the BSB and general went with the
unit on the right. Finally the remaining bolt thrower was right back on the
board edge about 28” from the left board edge.
With vanguard moves Will moved the Gyrocopter on the right
out the full 12”, effectively stopping my Reavers on the right being able to
vanguard themselves, and the Gyro on the left moved out towards the hill in my
half of the table. I was able to push
the Reaver units in the middle of the table forward.
Game
The Dwarfs had the first turn and the Gyros moved up, with
the one on the right carrying our a bombing run on the bolt thrower on that
side, killing the crew and causing the Great Eagle to panic off.
In
the centre of the table the Gyrocopter there shot its steam gun at the Reavers,
killing one. Grim Burloksson used his ability to extend the range of
shooting for the nearby Quarrellers, giving them range to hit the remaining
bolt thrower and kill one of the crew.
The left unit of Quarrellers shot at the depleted Reavers and killed the
remainder, while the other unit shot at the Reavers in the centre but failed to
kill any. Finally the cannon shot at the unit of Swordmasters on the left,
killing three.
For my first turn I pushed
forwards with the Swordmasters moving in line with the Archers to the left of
the river who moved up onto the hill. On
the other side of the river the Reavers moved up towards the flank of the Quarrellers
in the river with the Lion Chariot moving up as quickly as it could behind
them. The Archers wheeled to draw line
of sight on the nearby Gyrocopter.
In the magic phase the general
attempted to cast a boosted Walk Between Worlds on his unit but failed to meet
the casting value. To compensate
somewhat, the Light Archmage managed to cast a boosted Birona’s Timewarp. On the right the Archers shot at the
Gyrocopter but could only do one wound to it.
The other Archers and the Reavers on the right shot at the damp
Quarrellers, killing four between them.
The other Reavers, who’d marched right up in front of the central Quarrellers,
managed to shoot one dead for their troubles while bolt thrower killed three
Irondrakes.
Dwarf turn two kicked off with
the Gyrocopters moving round for shooting positions and bombing runs and the
Irondrakes wheeled to face where my Swordmaster units could be expected to end
up after their next movement phase. The
Slayers also wheeled round to face towards the Reavers menacing the central Quarrellers.
The central Gyrocopter’s bombing
run ended in a mishap with the bomb misfiring as it flew over the Swordmasters,
causing it a wound. The Gyro on the
right bombed the Archers there, causing them to flee 6” towards my long board
edge.
Shooting saw the most advanced
Reaver unit shot down to the last elf. Burloksson’s
special ability was put to use to extend the range of the nearby Quarrellers
who proceeded to shoot off a rank of the Archers on the hill. The cannon targeted the left unit of
Swordmasters again but misfired.
High Elf turn two saw my
surviving Eagle charge the central Gyrocopter while the Reavers on the right
changed into the flank of the Quarrellers who were struggling to keep their
heads above water. With the effects of Timewarp in place both Swordmaster units
made the most of their potential 20” march range to move right up into the
faces of the other Dwarf units, while the Archers on the hill moved to the
other end of it. The lone Reaver had
moved out of the way of the Swordmasters
and positioned himself to prevent a flank charge by the Thunderers. Meanwhile,
the fleeing Archers had rallied.
Magic saw the general try and
cast Tempest on the Slayers but this drew out a Rune of Spellbreaking. A bubbled Pha’s was dispelled with all the
Dwarf dispel dice leaving just Khaine’s Ring of Fury to unleash at the
Quarrellers ahead of the Swordmasters on the left, which killed two.
In the shooting phase the bolt thrower tried to gun down one
of the Gyrocopters but firing a single bolt saw it miss. The Archers on the hill shot at one of the
Quarreller units and managed to kill one of their number. In combat the Reavers beat the Quarrellers
but the unit held. The Eagle surprised
me by beating the Gyrocopter (albeit only through having charged, with neither
combatant managed to land a blow on the other) but then failed to run it down
as it fled, ending up an inched behind it.
Unsurprisingly, the Gyrocopter rallied in Will’s third turn
while the other Gyro in the middle of the board positioned itself to take an
interest in the Eagle or Archers on the hill.
The remaining Gyrocopter positioned itself on the flank of the recently
rallied Archers. The cannon crew decided
they didn’t like the look of the Swordmasters bearing down on them and
retreated behind the Quarrellers while the Slayers moved as far forwards as
they were able with the units nearby.
The Irondrakes exited the building.
In my right corner the Gyrocopter shot its steam gun at the
Archers, killing three but the unit held its nerve, unlike the unit on the hill
who took four casualties and fled towards the river. The Irondrakes shot down the Reaver on the
left. The Dwarf shooting then
concentrated on the Swordmasters on the left, killing 12 of the unit. In contrast, the unit on the right took only
two casualties.
Combat saw the Reavers overcome the Quarrellers in the river
and run them down. With the Quarrellers
now out of the way the Reavers charged the
cannon at the start of turn three as my Swordmaster units charged the
Quarreller units in front of them – the unit on the left taking two more
casualties from the Stand and Shoot reaction before making their charge. Elsewhere the fleeing Archers rallied while
their compatriots in the right corner moved forwards away from the board edge
and the last Eagle and Lion Chariot moved up.
In the magic phase the general successfully cast Fiery
Convocation on the Slayers which only killed six. The Light Archmage then attempted to cast a
bubble Timewarp but failed to reach the required casting value.
The Archers in my right zone shot at the central Gyrocopter,
managing to do one wound to it while the bolt thrower fired a volley at the
Thunderers but could only kill one.
In the combat phase the Dwarf crew failed to put up much
resistance to the Reavers’ spears but one was left cowering under the machine
at the end of the combat, preventing the Reavers from getting an overrun into
the Slayers. Despite being outmatched
and failing to cause any wounds to the Swordmasters, the Quarrellers on the
left also held on, again preventing the Swordmasters from getting an overrun
into the Slayers. The other Swordmasters
were not so stymied by the Quarrellers they were fighting and cut them down
before reforming to face the Slayers.
As I expected, the Slayers charged the Swordmasters in front
of them while the Thunderers rushed in to save the Quarrellers. The Irondrakes carried on moving round while
the central and right hand Gyrocopters moved into position to steam the Archer
units. The third Gyro had charged the
remaining bolt thrower. In case it might
have any effect on the battle Will started moving the Organ Gun in the left
zone round the building.
The unit of Archers in the right zone survived the
attentions of the nearby Gyrocopter for this turn but the unit further up the
table were not so bold and fled after taking four casualties.
With Dwarfs in the front and flank the Swordmasters on the
left did only two wounds and took three wounds in reply, leaving just the
Archmage standing. The Slayers killed
seven Swordmasters but not before they’d taken ten wounds themselves. Finally the Reavers finished off the cannon
crew.
In what was to be my final turn
of the game I charged the now free Reavers into the flank of the Quarrellers in
the multiple combat. The Lion Chariot
and Great Eagle moved up to look like they might be thinking about getting
involved with things.
Magic saw the Light Archmage
case a bubbled Pha’s while the general cast Walk Between Worlds on the Lion
Chariot, mainly for the Shield of Saphery boost. He also cast Fiery Convocation on the
Irondrakes for the same reason. At least
that’s what he said after not managing to kill any. Finally the Light Archmage tried to cast
Timewarp on the Swordmasters but this was stopped.
The Archers in the corner shot
at the Gyro hovering near the bridge doing the last wound to it. It was then on to combat. To my surprise and relief the Archmage
fighting the Quarrellers and Thunderers survived and the elves won the combat,
although it was a case of handbags at dawn with neither side causing a
wound. In the other combat the
Swordmasters killed 12 Slayers, losing nine of their number in reply.
The scores as totalled up then
gave Will a 11-9 win. Annoyingly, while
reading up on various magic items, runes etc when writing these reports, I
realised the result should have been a little different.
Will had the Master Rune of
Grungni on his BSB and on the turn I cast Fiery Convocation on the Slayers he used
the ward save from that to roll save six Slayers from the spell’s effects. However, on reading the rules for this rune,
it gives a ward save against shooting and magic missiles. Convocation is a direct damage spell and so
the ward save wouldn’t apply.
With the extra six slayers that
should have been dead from the spell by the time the Swordmasters fought them
in the last turn they would have been wiped them out, rather than having six
left standing. That would have given me
an additional 418 points, turning the game from a 11-9 loss to a 10-10
draw. Not an earth-shattering difference
I don’t think in terms of the final standings but a better result on a personal
score and might have given me a different match up in the last game.
I don’t think this was a deliberate attempt to cheat by
Will. In truth I don’t think he’d been
playing Dwarfs all that long as his army was nearly all unpainted barring the
undercoats.
Game 5 – Joe Sutton – Tomb Kings – Battle
Line
It had taken me
four games but here I was in the last
game on the last table. This time
though, I was there because the only person with a lower tournament score than
me had already played Joe, who was the spare player for the event.
This was, in fact,
only Joe’s sixth game of Warhammer in several years, not that I expected this
to be a pushover by any means considering the huge unit of Skeleton Archers I
had to contend with. This was also only
my second ever game against Tomb Kings so this was still going to be a case of
trying to turn theory-hammer into practice.
Liche High Priest
- Level 4 Wizard
- Lore of Nehekhara
Tomb Prince
- General
- Great Weapon
Tomb Prince
- Great Weapon
Liche Priest
- Level 2 Wizard
- Lore of Death
Liche Priest
- Level 2 Wizard
- Lore of Death
6 Chariots
- Standard
- Musician
52 Skeleton Archers
- Full Command
28 Tomb Guard
- Full Command
3 Sepulchral Stalkers
3 Carrion
Screaming Skull Catapult
Screaming Skull Catapult
Casket of Souls
Casket
of Souls
Spells
Archmage - Lore of
High Magic
1 – Soul Quench
2 – Apotheosis
3 – Walk Between
Worlds
4 – Fiery
Convocation
Archmage – Lore of
Light
1 – Shem’s Burning
Gaze
2 – Net of Amyntok
3 – Banishment
4 – Birona’s
Timewarp
Liche High Priest
1 –Djaf’s Incantation of Cursed Blades
2 – Neru’s Incantation of Protection
3 – Ptra’s Incantation of Righteous Smiting
4 – Usekhp’s Incantation of Desiccation
Liche Priest
1 – Spirit Leech
2 – Doom and Darkness
Liche Priest
1 – Spirit Leech
2 – Doom and Darkness
Deployment
There was a large piece of impassable terrain nine inches
from the left board edge and extending from a couple of inches in Joe’s half of
the table to about six inches into my half.
Also in no-man’s land in my half of the table there was a hill eight
inches on from the impassable terrain and halfway to the midline and finally a
group of impassable blocks of stone about 10 inches from the right edge and in
front and slightly straddling my deployment line. Likewise in Joe’s half of the table there was
another large area of impassable about a foot from the right edge and
stretching from his deployment line almost to the mid line.
In Joe’s deployment zone proper there was a smaller chunk of
impassable about 14 inches from the left and just touching the deployment line
and a hill midway along the deployment zone and on it’s edge. In my zone was a wood just to the right of
the centre.
Other than his Stalkers, which started the game entombed,
Joe’s army basically deployed in a line with the chariots to the left of his
impassable terrain and the Tomb Guard to the right of it. Next up were the Skeleton Archers, deployed
25 wide with the Carrion and Screaming Skull Catapults behind them.
Joe deployed his characters in the Tomb Guard and skeleton
archers – one Liche Priest in each unit with the Prince and Liche High Priest in
archers.
For my part I had a unit of Reavers three inches from the
left board edge with another unit about eight inches further on. One of the Archer units was another five
inches on with the Lion Chariot next to them.
The Flaming banner Swordmasters were in the wood while the other unit
went next to them, along with all my characters. In the remaining gap between the Swordmasters
and the impassable terrain I put my last unit of Reavers with the Archers
behind them. Along the back of board
edge I had a bolt thrower behind the first unit of Reavers, an Eagle behind the
next unit of Reavers, the second bolt thrower behind and to the right of the
Lion Chariot and finally the last Eagle behind the Swordmasters containing my
characters.
With vanguard moves I pushed the Reavers on the left and
right up almost the full 12 inches, with the middle unit advancing only three
or four inches.
Game
The Tomb Kings went
first and declared the first charge of the game by the chariots on the Reavers
on the left, who stood and shot, causing one wound. The Reavers’ confidence in staying put was
rewarded as the chariots failed their charge and moved only two inches. The Tomb Guard and archer units moved
forwards, as did the Carrion, who hopped over the archers.
In the magic phase
Joe Succeeded in casting Doom and Darkness on the unit of archers on the left
and then irresistibly cast Righteous Smiting on the archer block, losing a
wound from each of his wizards.
Shooting saw one
Screaming Skull Catapult misfire while the other targeted the Swordmasters on
the right and scatter onto the nearby Archers, killing five. The archers took aim at the Reavers on the
right, shooting the unit to pieces.
Keen to endure as
few monstrous volleys as possible I marched both Swordmaster units at full pelt
towards the skeleton archers in my first turn.
Both archer units moved up into better shooting ranges while Eagle on
the right and the Lion Chariot moved up in support of the Swordmasters.
The general
attempted to cast Fiery Convocation on the skeleton archers but failed to meet
the casting cost by two, leaving Joe all his dispel dice with which to stop
Birona’s Timewarp, although according to my notes he scrolled it, so I must
have rolled quite high for the casting roll (annoyingly I haven’t noted the
total roll down).
My shooting was
pretty ineffectual with one of the bolt throwers managing to knock down a Tomb
Guard and one of my archer units shooting down a skeleton archer.
In the second turn
the chariots thought better of trying to charge the Reavers on the left and
instead started moving into the centre.
The Tomb Guard moved further forward while the Carrion moved to
march/charge block the Swordmasters on the left. The Stalkers were brought up on the left to
threaten the Reavers who were being ignored by the chariots.
This time it was my
turn to use my scroll as I acted to stop Smiting being cast on the Archers
again. Doom and Darkness was cast on the Archers on the left again. Both caskets went off although the damage was
limited to the archers on the left. A
Screaming Skull Catapult misfired again as the Tomb King shooting again
targeted the Swordmasters, although the second machine managed to put a wound
on my BSB. The archer block targeted the
Swordmasters on the right and managed to kill five while the Stalkers’
Transmogrifying Gaze killed one Reaver of the unit in front of them. However,
one Stalker killed itself with it’s attack.
With not much
choice in the matter, considering I wanted to get my combat units in position
for a third turn charge into the skeleton archers, I charged the Lion Chariot
and Swordmasters into the blocking Carrion in my second turn. The unit of Swordmasters with my characters
in moved forwards at full speed, with the archer unit on the right marching up
behind them since they were going to be shooting with enough modifiers to make
it not worth their time this turn. On
the left the Reavers skipped round the Stalkers to face the rear of the
unit. The middle unit of Reavers moved
back out of charge range of the chariots while the Archers moved back as
well. The Eagle on the left moved to the
edge of the hill in case it might be required in future turns to fly in front
of the Tomb Guard or chariots while its colleague on the right flew out to the
far end of the impassable terrain.
In the magic phase
the general’s attempt to cast Fiery Convocation drew out all of the Tomb Kings’
dispel dice, leaving the Light Archmage able to cast Timewarp on the general’s
unit of Swordmasters.
Shooting was poor
once again with one Tomb Guard being felled by a shot from a Reaver and one
Stalker taking a wound from a volley from the left bolt thrower. In combat the Lion Chariot wiped out the
Carrion with its impact hits and reformed to face the Tomb Guard and Archers
while the Swordmasters overran five inches.
Joe’s turn three
saw the Stalkers move forwards and the chariots reform to face the Reavers
while the Tomb Guard wheeled to face towards the left hand unit of
Swordmasters. I managed to stop Doom and
Darkness going through again this turn but Joe was able to push Smiting through
irresistibly on the archers. He rolled
an eight for the miscast result, killing his Liche Priests.
The chariots shot
at the Reaver but only killed one. The
skeleton archers unleashed at the Swordmasters on the right, killing 10. One Screaming Skull Catapult shot at the same
unit but the magical skulls failed to get past the Banner of the World Dragon’s
ward save. The other catapult targeted
the Lion Chariot but the attack scattered off.
It was now or never
time as both Swordmaster units and the Lion Chariot charged into the skeleton
archers while the Reavers on the left chanced their luck by charging into the
rear of the Stalkers. The Eagle on the
left moved out to block the Tomb Guard while the central Reavers moved to the
front edge of the hill. I completely
forgot to move the other Eagle.
With only a five
dice phase I threw all the dice at a boosted Timewarp which Joe was unable to
stop. My shooting was, yet again,
nothing to write home about as the archers on the right, the left bolt thrower
and the Reavers shot down a Tomb Guard apiece.
In combat the
Reavers caused two wounds to the Stalkers which, combined with the crumble test
wiped out the Stalkers and allowed the Reavers to overrun out of the way of the
chariots. The Tomb Prince called out a
challenge which was met by one of the Swordmaster champions who did a wound to
the undead royal before being slain himself.
The Swordmasters and Lion Chariot caused a further 33 wounds to the
archers while losing four rank and file Swordmasters from each unit in reply. Unsurprisingly, the archer unit an the
characters within crumbled, with one of the Screaming Skull catapults also
destroyed due to Crumble. The
Swordmasters on the right overran into a Casket of Skulls while the unit on the
left didn’t quite manage to make it into the remaining catapult and the Lion
Chariot was on the far side of the hill after the catapult it had overrun into
was destroyed by the Crumble.
Tomb King turn four
saw the chariots reform and move up alongside the Tomb Guard. The Caskets tried to fire and I could only
stop one, with the effects of the other putting three wounds on the Lion
Chariot and killing two from the Swordmasters on the left. The last catapult shot at the Eagle on the
left but it scattered off, while the chariots shot at the middle Reavers and
killed one.
I think we may have
forgotten to do the combat with the Swordmasters and Casket as it was still
there next turn and I’ve not made any notes as to what happened.
High Elf turn four
and the Swordmasters on the left charged the nearest Casket while the Lion
Chariot charged the remaining Screaming Skull Catapult. The left hand Reavers moved back out to the
left so they could shoot the chariots while the Archers on the left sidestepped
to give themselves better line of sight to the Tomb Guard and chariots.
Magic saw the
general try and cast Apotheosis on the BSB but this was dispelled. He was, however, successful in casting Walker
Between Worlds on the unit of Archers on the right, allowing them to move up
into better range. Shooting went a bit
better this turn with the Reavers on the left chipping two wounds off the
chariots, while the bolt thrower on the right managed to squeeze a shot through
a take the last wound from a chariot.
The bolt thrower on the left shot down four Tomb Guard.
In combat the
Swordmasters on the left smashed the Casket pieces but lost four of their
number as it blew up, with the nearby Screaming Skull Catapult also taking a
wound. The Lion Chariot finished off the
catapult. On the right the Swordmasters
there destroyed the final Casket but the explosion from that took the last
wound from the Lion Chariot which in turn caused the Swordmasters on the left
to panic and flee off the board. The survivors in the other Swordmaster unit
reformed to face the Tomb Guard across the hill.
Tomb King turn five
saw the Tomb Guard charge the Eagle which fled – but not far enough to avoid
being caught. The Eagle’s death caused
the central unit of Reavers to panic and flee 11 inches. Meanwhile, the chariots moved round to try
and threaten my remaining Swordmaster unit.
High Elf turn five,
which proved to be the last of the game saw me edge the Swordmasters further
away from the hill, the fleeing Reavers rally while the other unit moved round
once more so they could target the chariots.
In the magic phase
I the Light Archmage kicked things off with Shem’s Burning Gaze at the Tomb
Guard which was dispelled. She followed
up with Banishment which turned five Tomb Guard to dust. A blast from the Ruby Ring of Rhuin hit but
one Tomb Guard and didn’t wound. Finally
she cast Net of Amyntok on the unit.
Shooting saw the Archers on the right shoot down a Tomb Guard.
That was the last
action of the game as we didn’t have time to complete turn six..
I don’t think I
need to tell you that this was a win for me, running out as a 15-5 in the
end. I’m not really sure what I’d have
done differently in this game to be honest since as far as I saw I had two
options, sit back and try and take out the ranged threat of the Skeleton
Archers with my own shooting, or push forward and try and get my movement
spells off to limit my exposure to that massed shooting.
Losing the second
Swordmaster unit to a panic check was annoying as with them still on the table
the result would have been a 17-3, which would have been worth a couple more
places in the final standings.
I must admit that
by this game I was definitely feeling a bit worn out and with all the noise in
the hall I didn’t realise when we started that Joe had rolled up Doom and
Darkness on both his level 2 Liche Priests.
It didn’t have an effect on the game fortunately.
Conclusion
So, where did I finish?
Going into the last game I was a bit worried that I might be on course
for the wooden spoon once more, although I hadn’t factored in the Tally Score
into my calculations. While I was
sitting on a -1, the person who was behind me was using a Host of the Phoenix
King Malekith list and was sitting on a -16 comp score and so would have had to
overcome a 17 point difference to overtake me.
In the end I ended up 55th which, while not exactly where
I’d have wanted to be, I couldn’t really complain about given the lack of
practice and not really running the sort of list I’d wanted to.
I also spent my second through fifth games
playing with a bit of an eerie feeling due to a picture that was on the wall
where the row I was playing on was. Take
a look at the picture below and tell me if I’m crazy or not when I say that it
was almost like having Obi Wan Kenobi watching over you for four games.
(As the venue was the social club attached to the local Ukrainian
church I’m assuming whoever the photo is actually of is/was someone of
importance in the Ukrainian church)
Overall though, aside from the couple of moments when my
general ran off the board or fell down a hole before doing much. I had fun at
the event, which is the main thing, and would definitely be back for another
event next year if it were to run.
