Dark Elves vs Ogre Kingoms, 2/20/10

Played a 2250 game vs Ben's Ogre Kingdoms army last Saturday at the Games Workshop Battle Bunker in Glen Burnie.

My List:
Dreadlord w/ Sword of Might, Potion of Strength, Enchanted Shield, Pendant of Khaeleth, Cold One, Heavy Armor, Sea Dragon Cloak - 277
Sorceress (lvl 2) w/ Dispel Scroll, Darkstar Cloak (rolled Black Horror and Bladewind) - 185
Sorceress (lvl 2) w/ Focus Familiar (rolled Doombolt, Chillwind) - 160
Death Hag w/ Manbane, Rune of Khaine - 140
5 Dark Riders w/ musician, crossbows - 117
5 Dark Riders w/ musician, crossbows - 117
20 Corsairs w/ Sea Serpent Standard, Full Command - 250
- Assassin w/ Extra weapon, Rune of Khaine, Manbane - 146
10 Crossbowmen - 100
Cold One Chariot - 100
5 Cold One Knights w/ Full Command, Standard of Slaughter - 210
6 Shades - 96
War Hydra - 175
War Hydra - 175

Fairly standard stuff, I tried running a Death Hag in with the Corsair unit. I thought I'd give it a try. Makes it more killy, certainly.

Ben's List will be on his page, likely tomorrow. (EDIT- Ben's post regarding the game is here)

Deployment:



Deployment on my left. Pretty standard stuff.



Aaand deployment to my right. Pretty normal.

You can see some of the Ogre Deployment, he can probably explain it better than I.

I won the roll to go first

Turn 1:

Everything of mine aside from the crossbowman advances.



I manage to roll Irresistible Force on my 2-die attempt to cast Power of Darkness... then miscast on my 2-die attempt to cast Chillwind. This all meant that my magic did nothing. Hydra dropped 6 trappers with a breath weapon attack, panicking them, while the shades killed a Leadbelcher.

The Ogres responded by advancing as well. His shooting goes well, dropping a Scrappalauncha template right on top of my corsairs, killing 4. The last Leadbelcher to my right fired 10 shots into the Dark Riders nearby, killing 4, and panicking them to uselessness. The ones on my left killed 3 Dark Riders. Pretty effective shooting for an Ogre army!

Turn 2:

My Cold One Knights go stupid. Not so impressive. The Hydra bravely charges the Maneaters in front of him, the corsairs, chariot, and right hydra charge the Ogre Bulls in front of them, which they flee from, right through an Ironguts unit who proceed to panic off the board (taking a Butcher with them). My shades finish off the right Leadbelcher unit. The Hydra deals three wounds to the Butcher, and receives a wound in turn (combat was a draw).



The trappers and bulls rallied, and Ben charges the Chariot on the Right with his Scrappalauncha. The chariot flees, so Ben redirects into the Hydra's flank. 2 units of Bulls charge the Hydra on the left.



The Butcher healed a wound during the magic phase, and the Gnoblars killed a corsair with shooting.

In close combat- the Scrappalauncha killed only a single Handler (the Hydra held), and in the other combat, the Hydra took 2 wounds, a handler died, but in return they killed Ben's last Butcher. The Hydra lost combat by 4, but held.

Turn 3:
Chariot rallies, Cold One Knights charge into the Maneaters, Corsairs charge the Gnoblars who run.

A Leadbelcher dies to Bladewind, and the Scrappalauncha takes a wound from shooting.

In combat, the Scrappalauncha kills the last handler (hydra holds again), the Knights deal 3 wounds to the Tyrant, kill a maneater, and deal 2 wounds to the other one. The Hydra ends up dieing, as does a Cold One Knight, but I win combat by 4. One unit of Bulls flees from combat, everything else holds.



Ben's Bulls and Gnoblars all rally, and a unit of Bulls charges the flank of my corsair unit.

The Hydra takes a wound, deals two the the scrappalauncha (another draw combat).

The Bulls kill one corsair, and because Ben wasn't sure whether I had given the Hag a ward save, he only sent 3 attacks its way, causing one wound. In return, the Hag killed a Bull, the Corsairs do a few wounds, and the Bulls lose combat by 4 and get run down.

I lose a Cold One Knight and the champion, the handler dies, and I end up losing combat by 5. I roll a 4 and stay! Now, Ben's major combat unit is stuck for ANOTHER round of combat!

Turn 4:
The Chariot charges a Scrappalauncha, the corsairs charge the other one. I do minor damage with magic and kill 7 gnoblars with shooting.





The Chariot kills the one Scrappalauncha, the Death Hag kills the other one almost by herself.

The Knights, Dreadlord, Tyrant, meaneaters, bruiser... everything in the general vs general combat fails to wound. I lose combat by 1, and hold.

Ben's Bulls charge my Cold One Knight's flank. The Trappers wound my one sorceress once. In combat, the Bulls' impact hits kill a knight, the dreadlord deals 2 wounds to the Bruiser, but I lose combat by 3 and run, getting run down.

This doesn't work in Ben's favor sadly. All his characters are out in the open, waiting for my turn.



Poor Ogres, just waiting for the punishment I'm going to unleash.

Turn 5:
My chariot charges into his Gnoblar. I do a wound to his Bruiser and Bull unit with Black Horror, then kill the Bruiser, the Maneater, and deal another wound to the Tyrant with shooting. The Chariot destroys the Gnoblar without issue.

Ben's Ironguts fail their fear test, and don't charge the Hydra (a common theme through the game), and the Leadbelcher does a wound to the Hydra with shooting instead.

Turn 6:
My Hydra charges his Ironguts, and chillwind kills the Tyrant. Ben concedes.

Conclusion:
Well, I will say there were several points where I was concerned about the game, around turn 3 and 4. In the end, I calculated that I had won a solid victory. Given that Dark Elves are considered the best army in the game by some, and Ogres are universally considered the worst, that really says something about Ben's play. I was outplayed almost all game, and still came out with a victory!

A few things made this so (aside from Dark Elves being a better army). My shooting was VERY effective throughout the game. I did a few wounds every turn throughout the board. After 6 turns, that really adds up, especially when Ogres have a low model count to start with.

Ben had a hard time passing fear tests. One of his Scrappalaunchas spent two turns trying to charge my Hydra, but couldn't. Killing it would have freed the units up to keep up his momentum.

My Dreadlord holding as long as he did really helped as well- if he had broken a turn earlier, Ben would've been able to set the unit up for a run at my crossbowmen and sorceresses, and I would've lost a lot of my ranged threat, which may have made the game very close.

In the end, I won, but I have to say it was the closest game I've seen against Ogres since they originally came out. Well done man!

MeleeCrons!

YEAH! Sweet sweet MeleeCron goodness.

I've been playing Necrons since they came out with their own codex- they were my first 40K army, and they've been the one I've run the most often.

However, Necrons are not a... hmm.. very dynamic army. Every army I've seen people run has been pretty much the same. Not for me. I decided to try to run a close combat- based Necron force.

Of course, this is generally not a good idea. Poor initiative, plus the fact that Necrons tend to start dropping FAST once they're in combat means that it's usually not good. With that said- it sure makes for an interesting army, and it can pull out some surprising wins! Honestly, it's usually a loss (sometimes badly!), but I have seen this army keep things very close and tense to the final end!

One note. I don't use a C'tan in this list. The C'tan is definitely a very very very scary item in close combat, and certainly would be useful in this list. However, with the points cost, you can buy a lot more Necrons, which may be the difference between keeping you in combat and not. Of course, I've tried this with both the C'tan, so I know they certainly can help (even Assault Terminators get nervous!).

Anyway, here it is, 2000 points of Necrons:
Necron Lord w/ Warscythe, Destroyer Body, Phase Shifter, Resurrection Orb - 210
8 Flayed Ones w/ Disruption Fields - 168
8 Flayed Ones w/ Disruption Fields - 168
11 Necron Warriors - 198
10 Necron Warriors - 180
10 Necron Warriors - 180
3 Wraiths - 123
3 Wraiths - 123
10 Scarab Swarms w/ Disruption Fields - 160
3 Tomb Spyder w/ 1 Particle Projector - 165
3 Heavy Destroyer - 195
2 Heavy Destroyer - 130

The Heavy Destroyers are my long-range tank destroying support, the Warriors sit back and hold/contest objectives, and everything else prepares for the glorious charge!

I'm hoping to get another game in fairly soon, so hopefully you can see this in action (against the new Tyranids hopefully!). Hopefully it goes well!

I would ask for thoughts, but really this is a list to keep me entertained until a new codex comes out. I expect it to be a little on the weak side. Doesn't matter though :)

Sisters of Battle, Fire and more Fire!

Alright, finally got around to writing up my 2000-pt Sisters of Battle list. I actually have a large part of this, but finally deciding the route I want to go will help me focus on what I build/paint/assemble to get it down.

I've been playing Sisters for almost as long as I've been playing 40K, I started them not long after starting my Necron army (so right after Necrons came out!). Once the new Witch hunters codex came out, I was really excited- being able to use Witch Hunters + Daemon hunters + Imperial Guard or Space Marines meant there were so many different ways I could run an army!

I've tried several different things during my time using them. Ran a 3 Daemonhost/Radical Inquisitor + sister support + Penitent engine/arco-flagellant list for a bit, just to really throw people into confusion. Really though, the best Sister lists seem to focus on short range firepower and plenty of flame templates.

Now, this is a fairly typical Sister list: plenty of Immolators, plenty of Meltaguns, plenty of flame templates, and an inducted Imperial Guard platoon for numbers. It should be able to handle most things my opponent throws on the table, and against infantry- heavy armies I should be able to do a LOT of damage right from the beginning. Combined with potent anti-tank abilities, I should be able to stay in any fight until the end!

The List:
HQ:
Palatine w/ Book of St. Lucius, Melta Bombs, Bolter, 5 Celestian Retinue w/ 2 Meltaguns, Immolator - 197

Elite:
5 Celestians w/ 2 Meltaguns, Immolator - 150
5 Celestians w/ 2 Meltaguns, Immolator - 150
5 Celestians w/ 2 Meltaguns, Immolator - 150

Troops:
5 Inquisitorial Stormtroopers w/ 2 Meltaguns - 70
5 Inquisitorial Stormtroopers w/ 2 Meltaguns - 70
5 Inquisitorial Stormtroopers w/ 2 Meltaguns - 70
Infantry Platoon (total 485 pts):
-Platoon Command Squad w/ Meltagun, Flamer, Chimera - 100
-Infantry Squad w/ Autocannon, Chimera - 115
-Infantry Squad w/ Autocannon, Chimera - 115
-Heavy Weapons Squad w/ 3 Autocannons - 75
-Heavy Weapons Squad w/ 3 Autocannons - 75

Fast Attack:
5 Dominions w/ 4 Flamers, Immolator - 156
5 Dominions w/ 4 Flamers, Immolator - 156
5 Dominions w/ 4 Flamers, Immolator - 156

Heavy Support:
Immolator - 65
Immolator - 65
Immolator - 65

The Stormtroopers head into the Immolators from the beginning. I will admit that some of the ideas are probably taken from someone else (maybe Stelek?). For instance, I never ran my Dominions with solely flamers- but the idea of doing so is so cool, how could I not want that? mmm... so many templates.

Well, there you have it. Now I just need to get to work getting it up and running so I can give it some games!

Also, I'm going to put pictures of them as I start getting them painted- I am painting them as part of the Order of the Bloody Rose, so red and more red.

Teaching Lord of the Rings

Well, I spent my President's Day teaching Lord of the Rings to Rob (link to his blog). We used the armies I've been building for my teaching games with some small changes (basically the good force had fewer Rangers, and more regular warriors.

We ran a random scenario from the Legions of Middle-Earth book, generating 'The High Ground'. In this scenario, there is a large hill in the middle of the table, and at the end of ten turns, whoever has the most models on said hill wins the game. Tied rolls for priority cause all the models on the hill to be knocked down, which would certainly make it the center of action (and bloody with all the trapped models, hopefully!).

I used a large block of Minas Tirith Warriors with shields backed by spearment to advance straight to the hill, with Minas Tirith Knights on my left to hammer the first things they came across, with Rangers providing some covering fire. Rob sent his Troll and Orc Warriors to attack the hill supported by the Nazgul.

I didn't take any pictures, since I don't like disrupting teaching games with them, but Rob won a minor victory. Brave Faramir and his knights got stalled in the middle of Orc Warriors, who with Nazgul support eventually brought them down. The Troll took the hill, but got gradually worn down by Minas Tirith Warriors.

On the start of turn 9, both of our armies reached the half model threshold, and the break checks started. I was left with only Damrod to rally the troops, and between his 3 Courage and Nazgul's menacing presence, meant he beat it from the field, followed by large sections of my army. His Nazgul passed his Courage test easily, keeping the majority of the Orcs fighting. At the end of the game, there was a single Minas Tirith Warrior on the hill, opposed by the Nazgul, Shagrat, an about 8 Orc Warriors.

Overall it was a good game, with plenty of back and forth action. I may change the setup a little for a more balanced game, toning down the Nazgul (who didn't have much to do throughout the game) and adding more Orcs to give the evil army some more staying power. Not sure what to do with the good guys yet. I think they may need another cheap hero. Regardless, the two armies get the job done for now.

With this, Rob has some knowledge of the rules, and me and him are intending to build some terrain and start moving through the Fellowship of the Ring scenarios. Those playthroughs will definitely have pictures!

For further hobby updates, I picked up both the Forces of Warmachine: Cygnar book, as well as the Beastmen book. The Cygnar book is fantastic- full color, plenty of information about the Cygnar military organization and history, as well as theme armies for every warcaster. I don't own enough Cygnar things to start playing them, but I like the way the books look, and can't wait to see the Cryx one (months from now....). The new Cygnar toys look to be FANTASTIC as well. The Cyclone looks like it will be worth taking in most lists (TWO BIG GATLING GUNS!), and Kara Sloan looks like she may be competitive.

The Beastmen book... I'm not sure. I can see that it's definitely for 8th edition (due to some of the wording), but I don't know how good it's going to be, since I don't know anything about 8th edition. For 7th, however, it seems to be really ineffective- the magic lore they have is poor, the monsters are overpriced, and the magic items as a whole are mediocre to terrible with few exceptions. However, I've not seen the army used yet, so I guess I could be surprised. Definitely disappointed, however. It IS a step up over what they have currently though.

I haven't made much progress painting thus far this month, either, since I was missing some of the paints I needed, and haven't made it to the GW yet. Hopefully I'll get back on track there later this week!