Sunday, January 31, 2010

Resolution progress for January

Alright, one month done, not much accomplished :(.

My resolutions can be found here.

No new armies, no proxying!
So far so good. I haven't started a new army, and I have not been proxying in games. This has led me to start working on my backlog of stuff, which is always a good thing!

Build my Empire army
Made some progress, mainly on infantry. On pace to complete this.

Paint Dark Elves
ALMOST done with my Cold One Knights. I've made a lot of progress, but real life has really slowed me down. A little behind pace here, but this is salvageable.

Build Witch hunters
Still need to write an army list. No progress on this front. I had a decent head start at least.

Play more games
Played two games of Warhammer Fantasy. A bit behind where I'd like to be, but this isn't so bad.

Great Battles of Alexander
Not started yet. Should get to it though.

Fellowship of the Ring
No progress. Need to build terrain.

100 painting points
Been working at this, but real life has worked against me. 5 Cold One Knights will put me at 10, which will keep me on pace, but they aren't done yet :(.

Top 50 movies
Watched the Godfather, Lawrence of Arabia, Vertigo, and City Lights. 4 new out of the 41 needed means I'm on track here.

So.... I'm still on pace for 4 out of 9. Kind of disappointing. I am hoping February will be better. If I make the initial progress on some of these, I will keep the momentum. We'll have to see.

Friday, January 29, 2010

Dark Elves vs Lizardmen, 01/23/10

Saturday included a 2250 pt Fantasy game vs Ben (from Impact Hits) and his Lizardmen. The Glen Burnie Battle Bunker was overrun with a 50-man Fantasy tournament, so we played in his basement. I again took pictures, but with poorer lighting, they may not turn out so well.

My List:
Dreadlord w/ Heavy Armor, Sea Dragon Cloak, Cold One, Sword of Might, Enchanted Shield, Pendant of Khaeleth, Potion of Strength
Master w/ Ring of Hotek, Crimson Death, Heavy Armor, Sea Dragon Cloak
Sorceress w/ 2 dispel scrolls
Sorceress w/ Focus Familiar, Dispel Scroll
5 Dark Riders w/ musician, repeater crossbows
5 Dark Riders w/ musician, repeater crossbows
20 Corsairs w/ Full Command, Sea Serpent Standard, Assassin w/ extra hand weapon, Manbane, Rune of Khaine
10 Crossbowmen w/ Musician, Shields
Cold One Chariot
7 Cold One Knights w/ Full Command, Standard of Slaughter
5 Shades w/ extra hand weapon
Hydra
Hydra

Same list as my last post, just changed the Seal of Ghrond into a Focus Familiar on the Sorceress. I wasn't sure how magic heavy Ben would go, but if he went real heavy, the 5th dispel die wouldn't help much, if he didn't go magic heavy, I could get some extra distance on my spells. One of the redshirts at the Battle Bunker recommended trying it while the sorc was hiding in the middle of a forest, so I figure I'd give it a shot.

Ben's List:
Saurus Oldblood w/ Light Armor, Shield, Blade of Realities, Bane Head, Cold One
Saurus Scar-Veteran (BSB) w/ Light Armor, Additional Hand Weapon, Totem of Prophecy
Skink Priest w/ Dispel Scroll, Diadem of Power
Skink Chief w/ Ancient Stegadon, Stegadon WarSpear
20 Saurus Warriors w/ Full Command, Spears
9 Skink Skirmishers w/ Javelins and Shields, Champion
9 Skink Skirmishers w/ Javelins and Shields, Champion
5 Saurus Cavalry w/ Musician
5 Saurus Cavalry w/ Musician
10 Chameleon Skinks w/ Champion
3 Terradons
2 Razordons
2 Salamanders

Both his Saurus characters joined the big Saurus unit.

Deployment:


Normal deployment again. Dark Riders on edges, everything off-center, used the forest to anchor my right flank (plus a Hydra and sorceress to help secure it).



Ben had his Stegadon near the far table edge, his Terradons and a unit of skinks on the near table edge, and most other things off-center. That Frisbee is a hill (he did not have a better one at the time ;) ).

I won the roll to get the first turn.

Turn 1:
I slowly advanced, trusting my superiority in shooting to force him to enter charge range. Sorceress moved into the forest, the Hydra moved through it.

The Sorceress in the forest used her focus familiar to get line of sight on the Chameleon skinks. She cast fireball, killing 6 chameleon skinks, who panic and move towards the nearest board edge.

During shooting, I managed to kill 3 Saurus out of his big unit.

On the Lizardmen turn, his Chameleon Skinks rallied, and one of the Saurus cav units went stupid. He then advanced all of his armies slowly forward.

Magic did nothing, during shooting BOTH his Salamanders misfired, and chomped through all 6 of their skink handlers (delicious!), but pass their Leadership test. The Razordons roll 14 shots at the shades, but fail to kill any, fortunately the nearest skinks kill one.

Turn 2:
Dark Riders start the turn off by charging the chameleon skinks who try to run, but don't get far enough. The Dark Riders, excited by their slayings, continue their charge into the Ancient Stegadon, who stand and shoot, killing two of them.

I march my Hydra forward into the shadow of the building, out of the Stegadon's eventual way.

During shooting, I breath weapon all over the skinks, killing 5. 4 more Saurus also die to pinpoint Dark Elf shooting.

In combat, the Dark Riders do a single wound to the skink chief, but get slaughtered in return.

Start of Lizardmen second turn:


The skinks near the Hydra flee out of terror (AND WHO CAN BLAME THEM!).

The Saurus Cav charge the Shades, who flee out of the woods, leaving the cav stranded in the forest. The Salamanders charge the Hydra, who takes it.

Lizardmen finally get some use out of their magic, and get the portent of far off. He casts it on the skinks near my shades.

Those skinks kill a single shade, and the Stegadon crew kill a single Cold One Knight (18 shots!). No other effect from shooting (it was pretty much like this the entire game).

In combat, the Salamanders do no wounds, get beat in combat by 6, break and run 6", and get run down by the Hydra.

Turn 3:
Shades rally. The farthest Hydra attempts to charge the nearest unit of Saurus cavalry who flee, but get caught (poor flee rolls all game for Ben).

In the shooting phase, 7 more Saurus warriors die, and the Terradons die with them.



At the start of the Lizardmen 3rd turn, the Saurus Warriors attempt to charge the nearest Hydra, who flees to safety. At this point, Ben concedes. I've taken large chunks out of his army, and have lost 2 shades, a unit of Dark Riders, and a Cold One Knight. He still had a decent amount of army left, but without any way to effectively get it into a favorable combat, I could wait him out and gradually deplete him with my shooting. Well on it's way to a major victory.

My left:


Dark Riders + shades vs Skinks. Not a terrible matchup, but greater range would eventually win this out, most likely.

Center:


Depleted Saurus unit vs a few completely untouched units. Not a good matchup. Sad reptile :(.

Overall, Ben took a lot of units that just didn't work. Salamanders, Razordons, Chameleon Skins... none of these did much good. Ben wanted to run a shooting list... sadly Dark Elves are a lot better at this.

Thursday, January 28, 2010

Dark Elves vs Skaven, 01/22/10 (with pictures!)

Busy busy month, sorry about the long delays for posting (I'm sure no one is crushed though :)).

I played a game vs Frans (from Warhammer and Beyond, though he rarely blogs) on Friday, 2250 pts, my Dark Elves vs his Skaven. I finally took pictures, however this is my first attempt at taking them during a game, so they are not perfect (or even good). I'm trying, and would love advice if anyone has some.

My list:
Dreadlord w/ Heavy Armor, Sea Dragon Cloak, Cold One, Sword of Might, Enchanted Shield, Pendant of Khaeleth, Potion of Strength
Master w/ Ring of Hotek, Crimson Death, Heavy Armor, Sea Dragon Cloak
Sorceress w/ 2 dispel scrolls
Sorceress w/ Seal of Ghrond, Dispel Scroll
5 Dark Riders w/ musician, repeater crossbows
5 Dark Riders w/ musician, repeater crossbows
20 Corsairs w/ Full Command, Sea Serpent Standard, Assassin w/ extra hand weapon, Manbane, Rune of Khaine
10 Crossbowmen w/ Musician, Shields
Cold One Chariot
7 Cold One Knights w/ Full Command, Standard of Slaughter
5 Shades w/ extra hand weapon
Hydra
Hydra

Sorceresses for magic defense, Cold Ones and Corsairs for offensive punch, Hydras and Chariot for support. Pretty basic army.


Frans' List:

Warlord w/ Foul Pendant, Warpstone Armor, Tail Weapon, Sword of Might, War-litter
Plague Priest w/ Shadow Magnet Trinket, Portent of Verminous Doom, Plague Furnace in a unit of 29 Plague Monks w/ Banner of the Under-Empire
Warlock Engineer w/ Warp-Energy Condenser, Doom Rocket
Warlock Engineer w/ 2 Dispel Scrolls
26 Clanrats w/ Full Command
25 Clanrats w/ Standard, Musician
25 Clanrats w/ Standard, Musician
10 Giant Rats w/ 2 Packmasters
8 Jezzails
7 Censer Bearers
7 Censer Bearers
Doomwheel
Hellpit Abomination w/ Warpstone Spikes

I'm sure Frans can tell you what his plan was.

Deployment

We played at the Battle Bunker in Glen Burnie, so one of the red shirts (a new guy) set up our table. The primary feature was a rock formation in one of the deployment zones. Having won the roll to go first, I of course chose the other side.



My deployment was fairly standard. Dark Riders on the flanks, hard hitting center of Hydra/Chariot/Corsairs/Knights/Hydra in order off the center. You can see the rock formation on his side. Frans did not plan for it at all, causing him to put the Plague Furnace WAY out of position.



Since he started his deployment with those Jezzails, followed by Clanrats on the other side, he had no way to use that line of advance. That turned out to be a huge deal, as the Plague Furnace was nowhere near the center where it needed to be.

Frans won the roll for the first turn, and took it.

Turn 1:
Frans moves most of his army forward, aside from the Jezzails. The Hellpit rolls a 15", and moves WAY ahead of his army.



Not what he wanted, but not much he could do.

Magic kills a Cold One Knight, Jezzails wound the closest Hydra twice, and the Doomwheel rolls Strength 10, killing a single shade (yay 1s!).

My turn started with the Hydra and Cold One Knights charging the Hydra, and a very short advance with the combat pieces of my army.

Magic did nothing, shooting causes the giant rats to panic as well as puts a wound on the Doomwheel (go shades!).

In Close Combat, I deal 4 wounds to the Hellpit, and lose 3 Cold One Knights in return. Hellpit holds.



Turn 2:
Giant rats fail to rally and cause the Jezzails to panic too (we did this wrong, but I don't think it would change the game, they would've gone the next turn ;) ).

The Plague Furnace attempts to charge the Dark Riders, who flee 14" (well out of charge range and almost off the board!).

One of the Warlock Engineers tries to cast Warp Lightning and miscasts (from the Ring of Hotek), but rolls a 12, going off with Irresistible Force, killing the Hydra in front of him. I use a scroll on his other attempt to cast Warp Lightning. Doomwheel gets Str 8 shots, killing 3 Shades.

In combat, the Dreadlord drinks the potion, and deals a wound to the Hellpit, who gets 12 attacks and wounds the Hydra twice. The Hellpit then breaks and gets run down by the Cold One Knights, becoming two rat swarms.

On my turn, the Dark Riders rally, the Chariot and Corsairs charge the rat swarms, the dead Hydra's Beast handlers charge the closest Clanrat unit. The free Cold One Knights charge a clanrat unit, and the Hydra moves to line up the last clanrat unit for a breath weapon.



My shooting claims a Censor Bearer, a clanrat, and a wound off the Doomwheel. Powerful stuff.

In combat, the rat swarms are quickly destroyed, causing an overrun into the clanrat unit with the beastmasters. This clanrat units takes 8 wounds from the mass charge, breaking them and causing them to be run down.



The Dreadlord and remaining knights win combat by 1, but the clanrats stick around.

Turn 3:
Doomwheel moves into contact with the Hydra, Plague Furnace turns to start marching towards the center, Jezzails and Giant Rats flee off the board, and the clanrats on my far right charge my last Shade.

Nothing eventful happened until combat, where the Doomwheel wiped out the Hydra, the Shade dies, and the Dreadlord and Cold One Knights tie the clanrat unit.

At the start of my turn 3, we got a notice about the store closing soon (oops!). Trying to rush to finish the turn, I have the chariot charge the Doomwheel, and the Corsairs charge the Clanrat unit in support of the Knights.

We of course didn't finish the turn, but the Chariot did kill the Doomwheel (7 impact hits!), and I was going to take a HEAVY toll out of the clanrat unit (challenging his lord with mine would've nullified his entire offensive output of that unit).

We ended up calling the game, agreeing that it was a minor victory for me. I had killed more at this point, had taken his most expensive unit out of the game, and still had a large chunk of my army (minus the Hydras) intact. It was very very close though (our closest game yet!)

Some pictures of the location of things towards the end of turn three (prior to combat ending).

My left- the Plague Furnace completely taken away from all the action.



My right corner- a unit of Dark Riders leading some Censor Bearers around, keeping them from hitting more important things.



Right corner on the Skaven side- I kill the Doomwheel, Clanrats to follow, then I turn around and start hunting for that last clanrat unit, hopefully.



Final Thoughts:
I will say that the primary reason I would've won this is because of the terrain, and Frans' deployment. My army would've been okay on that side of the board, since I'm more mobile than he is, but he was not prepared for it, and that worked in my favor. The game did end up working almost exactly as I wanted, and yet was still fairly close. Who knows what would've happened in another turn or two. Me and Frans are going to have a rematch at some point (with more balanced terrain, I'm thinking). Hopefully I can duplicate the results!

Well, there you have it. I played a game against Ben's Lizardmen the next day, and will hopefully have a post up tomorrow detailing it (with pictures). I'm trying the whole picture thing, like I said, though obviously it's a work in progress. I'll keep plugging at it though!

Tuesday, January 5, 2010

Brief update, plus Monsterpocalypse

First, played a game of Monsterpocalypse Monday night. Got destroyed. Brief writeup at my friend Rob's blog Here.

I won't make too many excuses- but I definitely don't have the units to run the Martians. I tried to take a random monster, but alas, it's hard to do with some of these monsters. A lesson for next time.

Primarily though- I've changed my progress bars to show the progress (and status) of my news years resolutions. Seeing it everytime I look at my page should hopefully get me working on keeping them!