Vengeance Rising - Battle 9 - Tomb Kings vs Empire - 07/05/12

Second game from previous games night. It wasn't going to be pretty, purely because there was no list changes and I have very little to deal with the armoured threat.

Battleline take 2!

My list:

Level 4 - Hierophant
Level 4 - Scroll (lore of light), General
Necrotect - dragon bane gem,
20 Archers - Std
20 Archers
2 x 5 Horse Archers
4 chariots - Std, Mus
6 Necro Knights - FC
2 x Warsphinx - FB
Casket
Hierotitan
2 x SSC

Opponents List (from memory)

Elector - Griffon
Level 4- Fire
Warrior Priest - Steed, Biting Blade, Dragonhelm
BSB - Strider banner, 1+, steed
Peg Captain - 2+, charmed shield
10 IC Knights - FC, Steel Standard, lances
2 x 5 Knights - Muso, Lances
1 x 7 Knights - FC, Lances
2 x cannons
Engineer
Helblaster
6 x Pistoliers - Outrider, repeating handgun
4 x Demigryph Knights - Std, Mus
Hurricanum

Spell selection

Hierophant - vengeance, Dessication, Smiting, Cursed Blades
Level 4 - Bironas, Gaze, Speed, Phas
Fire - Fireball, Flaming Sword, Flamecage, Flamecloak

Deployment:

I was aiming to slowly but surely whittle away the units before committing to combat. Anchoring a flank and basically bearing the brunt of the damage and still bathing in the frustration of having little to deal with the armour. Like turning up to a gun fight with a knife.

Empire 1

All the unit advance upon the Tomb Kings.

Magic is an 8 vs 5 round. The Hurricanum attempts to use its bound spell however it does nothing to the Warsphinx. The 2D6 fireball on archer not deployed in the building dealing 6 casualties. Flamecage is cast again on this unit however it fails to cast.

In the shooting phase the Helblaster unleashes onto the Horse Archers destroying a unit. A cannon drops a single Necropolis Knight whilst the second misfires.

TK 1

I advance the chariots around the flank and decide to concentrate on remove the Demi knights. Horse archers move up to block them.

Magic phase sees a 4 vs 1 round. I throw 2D6 at Light of Death onto the Pistoliers and after the souls dissapear the lone outrider champion remains who passes his panic test. Secondly I throw a 2 dice at dessication targetting the Demi knights dropping their S/T.

In the shooting phase the chariots, archers and SSC all target the Demi knights leaving one remaining after the onslaught. He passes his panic test.

Empire 2

Peg and Pistolier get into the backlines.

Rest of the army advances.

Magic is 7 vs 5 with a fireball going off on the East SSC doing a single wound. Finally flaming sword is cast onto the Helblaster but I throw all my dispel dice at this preventing it from getting through.

In the Shooting phase the Helblaster puts a single wound on the Warsphinx and the cannons finish it off destroying the construct. 

TK 2

Archers leave the building. Hierotitan turns about to attempt to spirit leech the flying menace.

Magic is a 6 vs 5 phase. Right away I throw 2 dice at the casket rolling an 11 targetting the Pegasus Captain. My opponent lets this fly and proceeds to roll a 12 killing the character outright. With no other options for Spirit leech I target the lone Pistolier and drain his life away gaining +1 PD. I then attempt both Burning Gaze and Dessication however these are both dispelled.

Both SSC target the General with one hitting and doing a single wound.

Empire 3

The IC knights declare a charge into the Necropolis knights and fail to make the distance. The general swoops into the archers and the Demi Knight charges the rear of the Hierotitan.

12 vs 6 for Magic and a Fireball goes through to the Necropolis Knights causing 2 wounds. Secondly flame cage goes off on the same target causing another 2 wounds. Flaming sword goes off on the Helblaster IF causing the wizard to lose two levels and forgetting some spells.

The Helblaster fires its deadly payload and after the smoke clears two Necropolis Knights are left. The cannons put two wounds onto the Warsphinx.

In combat the Hierotitan takes 3 wounds from being charged, rear charge and standard. The general proceeds to dish out 6 wounds and I take 7 crumbling damage leaving the characters and a single archer standing.

TK 4

Well I pick up dice to make the charge into the flank of the knights with the Warsphinx and roll a 3. With that I shake my opponents hand and admit defeat.

Result

Empire Massacre

Conclusion:

Well if you read my last battle report then the only real difference is that the scenery changed.

It was a night of gaming last night when I should have just taken a look at my opponents list and not bothered. I don't think that's so much being a badsport as being honest to myself that I haven't equipped the list to handle 'all comers'. Besides why subject myself to those frustrations in hope of 'luck'. Anyway, I don't really have anything positive to say at the moment other than Helblaster Volley guns are great.

Would I have done anything differently for deployment? No. I'd like to think it was pretty good. I was playing the conservative approach this game and not rushing anything in at all. As soon as this list loses the Knights then there is pretty much nothing in the list to make up for that loss. Secondly it's uphill when I can't use my stomps/thunderstomps as that's nearly what I rely on to get some much needed combat resolution.

I can't really comment on the list as well as only two games to test it against the same list isn't great. I don't think it will work anyway unless I find some points to add another standard to the second unit of archers, as it currently stands in a game of Blood and Glory someone only needs to either ping the general and that's the game or get the standard from the unit of archers and Necropolis knights and once again that's the game. The general is usually in the unit with the standard or the Hierophant is so that's a huge design flaw right there!

Not much else to say!

Vengeance Rising - Battle 8 - Tomb Kings vs Empire - 06/05/12

Battleline

My list:

Level 4 - Hierophant
Level 4 - Scroll (lore of light), General
Necrotect - dragon bane gem,
20 Archers - Std
20 Archers
2 x 5 Horse Archers
4 chariots - Std, Mus
6 Necro Knights - FC
2 x Warsphinx - FB
Casket
Hierotitan
2 x SSC

Opponents List (from memory)

Elector - Griffon
Level 4- Fire
Warrior Priest - Steed, Biting Blade, Dragonhelm
BSB - Strider banner, 1+, steed
Peg Captain - 2+, charmed shield
10 IC Knights - FC, Steel Standard, lances
2 x 5 Knights - Muso, Lances
1 x 7 Knights - FC, Lances
2 x cannons
Engineer
Helblaster
6 x Pistoliers - Outrider, repeating handgun
4 x Demigryph Knights - Std, Mus
Hurricanum

Spell selection

Hierophant - Wind, Cursed Blades, Smiting, Protection
Level 4 - Bironas, Gaze, Speed, Phas
Fire - Fireball, Flaming Sword, Flamecage, Flamestorm

Deployment:

I knew it was going to be an uphill slog all the way. Against all these highly armoured targets and very little in the army with a save worse than 1+ the key to winning was going to be in cutting off elements of his army and dealing with them piecemeal. Once again, an extremely tough ask seeing as the Empire troops have a significant movement advantage (well every other army in the game but TK!). I was hoping the Eastern Warsphinx could tie up the knights long enough for the Necropolis Knights to do some damage in the centre and then have them reinforced with the Warsphinx. Hopefully I could deal with the enemy cannons in time. If I could take out the pistoliers with archer fire and then merely delay the western flank then that would be the best I could hope for. On the flyers all I could hope for between magic and shooting was sloppy positioning from my opponent which I didn't think would happen.

I won the roll off and decided to take the first turn.

TK 1

Everything advances in the movement phase however the Necrotect is just out from Regen range on the Eastern Warsphinx.

Magic - 9 vs 5

I throw 2 dice at light of death targetting the knights housing the fire wizard is dispelled. I think throw 3 dice at a powered up Pha's which is a big

roll and goes through. I then throw 2 dice at Birona's on the Knights to increase their threat range a little and keep the IC Knights in check. The

last 2 dice I throw at the 5+ ward on the knights and this is successfully cast. Not a bad phase.

Shame the shooting phase didn't follow suite! Combined archer fire drops a single pistolier. I target a SSC on the wizard which scatters and wounds a

Demigrpyh Knight and the second SSC targeting the General promptly misfires.

Empire 1

Everything advances cautiously taking note of the higher movement Necropolis Knights. The Demi knights take a wound from a difficult terrain test.

Magic is 12 power dice versus my 6 dispel dice. I let a 2D6 fireball go through onto the archer killing 3. Secondly flame cage is cast and I let this through on my chariots who lose one of their number. Flaming sword is attempted on the Pistoliers however I dispel this. Lastly flamestorm is cast onto the archers however I throw my remaining dice at this dispelling it.

Luckily enough in the shooting phase both cannons fail to bounce into the Eastern warsphinx who is just outside of Pha's protection. The Helblaster unleashes into the Necropolis Knights causing 3 wounds however I regen 2. The Pistoliers unload into the western Horse archers completely wiping the unit out.


TK 2

The Necropolis knights charge into the knights who elect to hold. I was hoping just to be able to roll high enough if I destroyed them to overrun into the Inner Circle knights. The Horse archers charge into the Pistoliers who kill 1 on a stand and shoot reaction. Lastly the chariots charge into the Pegasus Captain.

I reform the archers into a block in case the Peg captain breaks through my lines and move the Hierophant into the other unit of archers. The West Warsphinx moves up to support the combat in the following turn.

The magic phase pulls up a 5 vs 3. Once again I throw 2D6 at Light of death onto the knights, the basic idea here is to kill a single knight then I can target the Fire wizard with bow fire. The opponent dispels this however. I then throw 2D6 at spirit leech onto the general and this causes a single wound (no dice generation). Lastly a single dice Pha's protection goes through on the Necropolis Knights.

In the shooting phase the archers put a single wound on the Hurricanum and both SSC's misfire. At least they're consistent!

In combat the Pistoliers obliterate the Horse archers before they even get to swing. Wasn't expecting that to be honest! However another unexpected turn of events comes in the form of the chariots impact hits destroying the Pegasus Captain, this allows me to overrun into the Demi knights. Lastly the Necropolis knights smash through the knights however I don't roll high enough to crash into another unit. Perhaps I should have waited another turn before charging?

Empire 2

The Elector count charges into the Hierotitan, the Knights + IC Knights + Hurricanum charge into the Necropolis Knights.

The Pistoliers get closer to the SSC, whilst the nearby knights reform to sneak through a gap.

The magic phase blows in favour of the empire player giving him 5 power dice and me 2 dispel dice. The priest casts the re-roll wounds prayer successfully had I dispelled this then flaming sword would have been cast on them granting them auto wounds. Flaming sword is then cast on the Demi knights and lastly the 5+ ward is attempted on the knights and I throw everything at this.

Shooting - one cannon misfires and the second fails to bounce into the Warsphinx. The Helblaster unloads into the Warsphinx and hits 8 times but fails to inflict damage. The Pistoliers manage a single wound on the SSC with small arms fire.

In combat the impact hits from the chariot dispatch a single knight and once the knights swing back there is a single chariot left vs 2 knights.

The Necropolis knights get absolutely smashed, with the hatred, re-rolls to wound it was never going to be pretty. Secondly with the Hurricanum granting +1 to hit to nearby units I was really outclassed and didn't take this into consideration at all. Big mistake. I ended up killing the Hurricanum and then crumbled into dust as both units of knights overran. This was the beginning of the end. 

The Hierotitan took a single wound and kills the general in return however the Griffon doesn't shift.

TK 3

The Warsphinx charges into the Demi Knights flank and the second Warsphinx can just see the rear of the knights however they flee in reaction to the charge.

I didn't move the archer block here hoping to get some advantage in the magic phase so I could pick off the level 4. Regardless of them getting charged in the front of the flank by a knight bus they simply weren't going to survive anyway.

The magic phase blew a 9 vs 6. once again I started the phase with a 2 dice light of death on the knights but this was dispelled. I then power up the Hierotitan with Pha's and Speed of light and throwing my remaining dice as a powered up Burning Gaze onto the knights however this is dispelled.

The shooting phase kills a single Pistolier and of course the SSc remaining true to form do nothing.

In combat the Demi knights are broken and the Warsphinx holds and the chariot pursues. The Hierotitan takes a single wound and replies with 2 into the Griffon however the beast still holds.

Empire 3

The Pistoliers charge into the West SSC. The Knight bus charge into the archers.

The fleeing knights fail to rally and flee some more.

Magic is 7 vs 6. Flaming sword is attempted on the Helblaster with 6 dice and a I scroll this. Secondly the re-roll to wounds is cast on the priests unut and I dispel this.

In the shooting phase between the cannons and Helblaster the Warsphinx is destroyed.

The Pistoliers destroy the SSC in combat and reform to face the East. The archers are destroyed and the Knights overrun into the casket of souls.

TK 4

I move the archers into the building. Warsphinx turns around, chariot moves to face Helblaster.

Magic is 12 vs 7. I cast speed of light on the casket hoping to score a kill at least on a character however this is dispelled. Next I throw a powered up burning gaze on the unit of Knights containing the wizard and this kills 2 and puts a wound on the wizard. Smiting goes through onto the Hierotitan and a final attempt at Birona's is cast onto the casket which succeeds. Shooting produces no results whilst the Hierotitan kills the Griffon before the Casket dies, failing to detonate.

At this stage I shake my opponents hand and concede the game. With combat/shooting superiority it was only a numbers game of him whittling down my unit in the building and/or destroying the building.

Result - Empire Massacre

Conclusion:

Where to begin.....1+ saves. I have nothing to tackle them with. I didn't help either by not analysing the situation with the Knight bus either, I should have waiting a turn and attempted to take out the Hurricanum at least to give me some shot at survival. The Hierotitan really surprised me when it finally toppled the Griffon as did the chariots running over the Pegasus on their first charge.

What have I learnt from this? Well all knight armies are damn tough. Besides the points mentioned above I don't believe I could have played much differently. Burning gaze is possibly something I should have been casting from turn 1 to try and damage the wizards unit to gain some magic superiority.

Anyway, thoughts and critique always welcome.

Vengeance Rising - Battle 7 - Tomb Kings vs Beastmen - 26/4/12

By this stage I was really having a great time playing the Necropolis Knights and they were fast becoming my favourite unit in the Tomb Kings army. At the time I think they were the only monstrous cavalry units next to Mournfang Cavalry and Demigryph Knights to enter 8th edition Warhammer.

Battle for the Pass

My list:

Level 4 - Earthing Rod
Level 4 - Scroll (lore of light)
Necrotect - dragon bane gem, iron curse
20 Archers - Std
20 Archers
2 x 5 Horse Archers
4 chariots - Std, Mus
2 x 6 Necro Knights - FC
Casket
Hierotitan
2 x SSC

Opponents List (from memory)

Doombull - Ram Horn Helm, 1+ re-rollable
Level 4 Shadow - Scroll
2 x level 1 beasts - Herdstone
BSB - +1 Leadership

5 dogs
40 Gors - FC, XHW
3 tuskgor chariots
5 Ungor Raiders
25 Bestigor - FC
Razorgor Chariot
3 x Razorgor
4 Minotaurs - XHW

Spell selection

Hierophant - Smiting, Skullstorm, Protection, Wind
Level 4 - Light of Battle, Birona's, Pha's, Gaze

Great Bray-Shaman - Miasma, Withering, Steed of Shadows, Pit
2 x Shaman - Wissans Wildform

Deployment:

Opponent won the roll off and opted for the first turn.

Beastmen 1

Magic - 7 vs 3

Pit of shades is attempted onto the knights on the flank however this is dispelled. A single dice cast for steed of shadows to put the doombull into an annoying position is failed to cast thankfully. Miasma is cast on the Necroknights dropping their movement to 5.

TK 1

Magic - 12 vs 6

Light of death is cast at the doombull however after a re-roll with the BSB he takes no damage. Spirit leech is attempted on the same target however this is dispelled.

Shooting

Both SSC’s target the doombull as it’s the only chance I’ve got of taking him out. First one hits, wounds, and a single 1 only comes up for wounds.

The second shot scatters killing some Gor who fail their panic test after a re-roll and turn tail and run.

The archers combine their fire into the Razorgor killing one outright and putting a single wound on another. This causes a nearby chariot to panic.

Beastmen 2

Charges:

Razorgor Chariot, Doombull and chariot all charge into the Horse Archers. The flank chariot combines with the Razorgor to charge into the Knights.

The Gor and Chariot both rally.

Magic - 8 vs 5

Enfeebling Foe is cast on the Knights in combat which is dispelled. Once again Pit is attempted but fails to cast (thankfully!).

Shooting from the Ungor puts a single wound on a chariot.

Combat

The impact hits alone from the Razorgor Chariot turn the Horse archers into dust, this causes both chariots to overrun into the Necroknights however the

Doombull isn’t as quick.

Impact hits kill a snake and the unit takes a further 8 wounds. In retaliation the Knights drop the pig and the chariot in the flank, I do crumble a

further 2 wounds however leaving me with 3 models left.

TK 2

Chariots charge into the Ungor.

The Necropolis Knights smash into the flank of the Razorgor Chariot.

Magic – 12 vs 7

Light of death is attempted on the Doombull however this burns the opponents scroll. I then attempt Pha’s protection on the smaller unit of Knights

which fails to cast. Lastly I attempt to get a 5+ ward on them however this is easily dispelled.

Shooting

Accuracy in undeath proves itself as the SSC looses another volley at the doombull this time spilling his primitive brain matter across the battlefield into a pool of his own gore. This was the turning point for me. Now I had a chance to claw back this game.

The Archers wasted no time and killed 4 dogs panicking the other 11”. The second unit dropped 7 gor.

In combat the chariots killed the Ungor and overran 10” getting them free of a flank charge from the nearby Minotaurs.

In between all the Necroknights the chariots are destroyed and the units reform into ranks to face the oncoming threats.

Beastmen 3

No Charges

The lone dog continues to flee.

Magic – 12 vs 5

Pit is attempted on the larger unit of Necropolis Knights however I use my scroll to get rid of this. Miasma then drops their movement by 3. Lastly 2

attempted are made on Wissans wildform on the Gor one being dispelled and the other failing to cast.

TK 3

Slight re-shuffling in the magic phase. I figured here I’d happily sit back and bomb the enemy and hopefully he couldn’t take out any units with the pit

to claw back points. The horse archers continue to play around with the pig.

Magic - 8 vs 3

I cast protection on the archers as the Mino’s will hit me in combat. I manage to get Pha’s protection up as well followed by Smiting to increase some damage output.

Shooting

I lobbed a shot into the Mino’s however it scattered into my archers killing 7 however the ward save kicked in and only 3 were lost.

The Horse archers manage to wound the razorgor.

Beastmen 4

Charges

Minotaurs smash into the archers. The Tuskgor chariot slams into my chariots.

Magic – 7 vs 4

Pit goes off and I’m unable to dispel it. It targets my Necropolis knights but scatters wide taking out the lone light priest. Wissans wildform sneaks

through on the Gor.

Combat

The chariot easily dishes out 7 wounds to the unit and doing none in return is crumbles into dust. He reforms to take out these pesky Horse Archers.

The Mino’s dish out the hurt and leave 4 archers standing after the carnage. I think I did at least 5-6 wounds back here?

TK 4

Charges – Hierotitan into the flank of the Minotaurs.

Magic – 10 vs 4

Smiting and protection get through onto the archers again resurrecting 7 models into the unit.

3 Bestigor drop to shattered skull fragments as a SSC drifts off target.

In Combat the Minotaurs kill 3 archers only and I do 3 wounds back leaving one standing. The Hierotitan did no wounds.

Beastmen 5

The Razorgor declares a charge into the Horse archers however fails.

Lone dog rallies with BSB/general range or insane courage!

The Gor swift reform.

Magic – 10 vs 5

Pit goes off taking out a single knight and the Necrotect. Miasma goes off on the Knights also miscasting the level 4 who promptly forgets 3 spells and ironically enough is left with Pit.

In combat the Minotaur is finally taken down by the Hierotitan.

TK 5

Magic – 7 vs 2

I through 6 dice at Skullstorm hoping to cause some damage to his blocks however it’s not to be, a huge casting roll helps but my opponent rolls boxcars.

I then attempt desert wind on the archers however this fails to cast.

In the shooting phase the last dog is cleaned up by bow fire and 4 Gor drop to a screaming skull however no panic goes through the ranks.

Beastmen 6

The chariot and the pig charge into the Horse archers.

Magic – 11 vs 5

Everything is thrown at Pit onto the snakes once again, it goes off IF however scatters into the archers behind it taking out 13 of them. 4 Bestigor are roasted as a result of the miscast.

In combat the Horse archers manage to kill the pig as the chariot takes them out.

TK 6

As a parting gift I unleash more skulls into the unit of Gor killing another 6, this causes the unit to panic and they flee 10”, not quiet enough to get them off the board however.

Result -Tomb Kings Victory

Once again even though there wasn’t a great deal of combat in the game out of the 4 major combat units my opponent had, only 2 of them saw action. Once again the Knights came into play here purely for points denial, and secondly area denial. There was a huge danger zone in front of the knights and I
don’t think anyone would be keen to take a dual charge from units of Necropolis Knights. It’s a shame my light priest jumped in the pit, otherwise a Birona’s on the knights could have been a way to get rid of the Gor, however I did manage to kill the following:

Doombull
2 Tuskgor Chariots
Razorgor Chariots
2 Razorgor
Minotaurs
Dogs
5 x Ungor

Maybe a boring game with the mexican stand off between the knights and Gor/Bestigor however I didn't want to charge in, bounce and then eat a Bestigor flank the next turn. Without the Light Priest to get off some much needed buffs it was going to be a tough up hill battle so I figured I'd let it go as it would be very unlikely he'd be able to destory both units of snakes with Pit alone.


At the end of the game I’d lost:

Light Priest
2 x 5 Horse archers
Chariots

I was worried that the Minotaurs would just cleave through the archers and make their way into the back of the army but thankfully the magic paid off and the lowly S3 archers saved the army.

Scenery was a pain in the backside in this game. Perhaps I should have deployed a unit of Knights in a line next to the chariots to put pressure on the other flank of the Beastmen army?

Anyway, I’m thoroughly enjoying this army and the Knights are a real thorn in anyone’s side and take a lot of work to overwhelm and destroy them. Oh and that was the first game where my Hierophant didn’t die!

I am contemplating about dropping a unit of Knights and replacing them with two warsphinxes however they wouldn’t have the fiery breath option. One thing this army doesn’t deal well with is tooled up characters like the Doombull. It would be nice to have the flexibility to slap a warsphinx into a unit/character like that to hold him up. The loss of fiery breath would be annoying however it’s still a very functional unit with out that upgrade.

Vengeance Rising - Battle 6 - Tomb Kings vs Beastmen - 25/4/22

My list:

Level 4 - Earthing Rod
Level 4 - Scroll (lore of light)
Necrotect - dragon bane gem, iron curse
20 Archers - Std
20 Archers
2 x 5 Horse Archers
4 chariots - Std, Mus
2 x 6 Necro Knights - FC
Casket
Hierotitan
2 x SSC

Opponents List (from memory)

Doombull - Ram Horn Helm, 1+ re-rollable
Level 4 Shadow - Scroll
2 x level 1 beasts - Herdstone
BSB - +1 Leadership

5 dogs
40 Gors - FC, XHW
3 tuskgor chariots
5 Ungor Raiders
25 Bestigor - FC
Razorgor Chariot
3 x Razorgor
4 Minotaurs - XHW

Scenario - Meeting engagement

Not deployed

TK - Necrotect, Hierotitan, SSC
Beastmen - Bestigor, Ungor, Dogs

Spell selection

Hierophant - Smiting, Vengeance, Dessication, Wind
Level 4 - Light of Battle, Birona's, Net, Gaze

Great Bray-Shaman - Miasma, Withering, Enfeebling Foe, Mindrazor
2 x Shaman - Wissans Wildform

Deployment:

TK win the roll off and opt to take first turn.

TK1

Units enter play. Light Priest enters building.

Magic - 9 vs 7

Light of Death on doombull - scrolled
Speed of light on NK

Shooting on Doombull does nil

Beastmen 1

doombull and minotaurs charge the horse archers but fail to make the distance!

Bestigor, 5 hounds and Ungor arrive to the battle.

Magic - 9 vs 6

Wissans is cast twice on the bestigor with one IF causing 7 dead bestigor and the remainind power dice being lost.

TK 2

Chariots charge into the Razorgor.

Magic - 10 vs 5

Desert wind is cast on the Hierotitan
Light of Death fails.
Dessication reduces the S & T of the doombull.

Shooting - nil

Combat - chariot unit loses a single model and kills the pig.

Beastman 2

Razorgor chariot charges into the chariots but fails the distance!

The doombull and minotaurs repeat their charges from last turn making it easily.

(please excuse me as I didn't put the dogs in the right place, they deployed near the Northern knights)

Magic - 2 vs 1

Wissans goes through on the Gor

Shooting sees an arrow hit and wound the Level 4 light wizard in the building.

Combat

Horse archers are deleted, minos overrun 4" whilst doombull overruns 6".

TK 3

Chariots charge into the Razorgor chariot making the distance easily. The Necroknights slam into the dogs.

Magic - 4 vs 3

Spirit Leech onto Doombull is dispelled.

Birona's Timewarp is cast on the Necroknights not in combat.

Shooting

A SSC puts 2 wounds onto the Doombull. The second scatters. Archers pour fire into a pig (R3 - forgive my map, wasn't taking many photos this game) killing it and panicking the nearby other.

Combat

The Chariots put 3 wounds on the pig causing it to break however I fail to catch it but do slam into the flank of the Gor.

Necroknights kill the dogs and overrun into the Minotaurs.

Beastmen 3

Charges

Doombull charges into the Necroknights front supported by a single chariot as a second fails to make the distance. The northern chariot charges into the

Necropolis Knights.

West razorgor chariot rallies, north pig flees further.

Magic - 11 vs 6

Withering on the combat NK fails to cast.

2 attempts at Wissans on Gor are both dispelled.

Combat

The Necropolis knights take 3 wounds from the chariot and kill it in return, the champion challenges out the doombull taking 2 wounds in return however

the combat still holds.

The Northern Necropolis knights put 8 wounds onto the Minotaurs and 2 onto the chariot before taking only 2 wounds in return breaking the enemy. The

Knights pursue and cut down both the chariot and the Minotaurs.

Chariots cause 5 wounds with impact hits and take no damage in return. Gors reform to face them.

TK 4

Northern Knight swift reform to push past terrain.

Magic - 12 vs 7

Smiting and Bironas are cast on the Necropolis Knights, followed by Dessication onto the doombull.

Shooting

SSC lands a shot on the chariot killing it outright. Archers kill 2 ungor.

Combat

Chariots vs Gor (fail fear). Chariots take too much damage and crumble.

Necropolis Knight champion falls in combat, 3 wounds are crumbled.

Beastmen 4

Gor block declares a charge into the Necro Knights however fails to make the distance (Reform from last combat not shown).

Magic - 11 vs 4

Miasma is cast on the archers dropping their BS to 1.

Withering is cast onto the Necroknights however I scroll this.

Wissans is cast twice on the Bestigor.

Combat

Necroknights vs Doombull - Doombull does damage, I do none, crumble, 2 snakes remaining.

TK 5

NecroKnights charge into Ungor

Magic - 10 vs 6

Powered up Dessication goes off on the Gor dropping their S/T by -3.

In the shooting phase a SSC hits and drops 16 of the Gor panicking them but leaving them in range of the archers who drop another 14. That is art my friends.

Combat

Necroknight die to the Doombull.

Ungor die to knights and overrun.

Beastmen 5

Gor rally on double 1's. 

Doombull charges into the Hierophant (stupid placement on my part just not paying attention)

Razorgor chariot charges into the Knights.

Magic - 9 vs 6

Withering is once again attempted on the Knights but I dispel it. Miasma is cast on the knights dropping everything by 2. Lastly Enfeebling goes off dropping their strength by 2.

Combat

Hiero dies, NK lose 1 to crumble.

Chariot does 5 wounds on the Necro Knights, 3 wounds crumble.

TK 6

Both SSC crumble.

Magic - 9 vs 5

Light of death is dispelled. Spirit leech does 2 wounds on the Doombull.

Shooting kills the remaining 2 Gor.

Combat

Necroknights kill the chariot.

Beast 6

Nothing to do.

Result - Draw

Interesting game.

As soon as we placed terrain and rolled the scenario I went into the game with a losing attitude. Facing off against the 1+ re-rollable doombull who hits me back for every successful armour save he makes was frustrating. The only things I had to kill him with besides magic was a SSC shot on the head so as soon as he hit my lines it was going to be an up hill battle all the way so I was pretty happy with a draw.

Some stupid mistakes on my part, firstly (and by means in no order!) casting all the buffs on the Knights whilst the champion was still in the challenge.

I could have spent those power dice elsewhere. Another huge stupid moment was leaving the Hierophant out in the open like that. Amatuer stuff indeed.

Unit rundowns:

Hierophant - Silly me, read above.
Level 4 - Not much to say.
Necrotect - The Regen certainly helped save at least 5-6 wounds so well worth it I feel.
40 Archers - Slotting that amount of Gor in a single turn with the assistance of magic was fantastic.
2 x 5 Horse Archers - Starting to love these guys as it forces your opponent to react to them.
4 chariots - Std, Mus - I literally through them away this game with a shitty deployment.
2 x 6 Necro Knights - FC - They were never going to kill the Doombull one on one so the best I could do was hold him up. Mission accomplished I guess.
Great for points denial as well.
Casket - Never leave home without it. 
Hierotitan - As above, 2 dice most spells and they all get through. Spam magic phase FTW. If only I could get spirit leech in more often to get a few
more dice by my opponent is fairly wary of this.
2 x SSC - Lastly the ability to rain death on my opponent whilst sitting back. I don't think I'll drop these in a hurry.

Vengeance Rising - Battle 5 - Tomb Kings vs Vampire Counts - 7/4/12

 I was up against VC for the first time in this edition.

My list:

Level 4 - Earthing Rod
Level 4 - Scroll (lore of light)
Necrotect - dragon bane gem, iron curse
20 Archers - Std
20 Archers
2 x 5 Horse Archers
4 chariots - Std, Mus
2 x 6 Necro Knights - FC
Casket
Hierotitan
2 x SSC

Opponents list (from memory)

Vampire Lord - Level 4, Enchanted Shield, Fencers Blade,
necromancer - Level 2, scroll, nightmare
BSB - GW, 6+ ward
40 Ghouls
40 Skeleton Warriors
5 Hexwraiths
25 Grave Guard - FC, Std of Barrows
Mortis Engine
Terrogheist
3 x vargheists - vargoyle

Deployment:

Spells:

Hierophant - Wind, Vengeance, Smiting, Protection
Light - Bironas, Phas, Speed of Light, Banishment

Necromancer - Invocation, Raise Dead
vampire - Gaze of Nagash, Raise Dead, vanhels, Wind of Undeath

TK 1

Magic - 4PD vs 1DD

I throw 3D6 at banishment aiming at the Mortis engine hoping to either burn a scroll or score some damage, looks like its option A as my opponent declares he's using his scroll. A good result. I throw my remaining dice at Casket of Souls which fails.

Shooting

The first SSC unleashes its' deadly payload scattering from the target taking apart a skeleton warrior. The second SSC crew account for wind and nail their target landing into the Mortis engine spreading it into splinters across the battlefield. The ongoing detonation kills 3 ghouls, puts 2 wounds on the Terrogheist and shreds the nearby Necromancer. Wow! Good shooting!  The chariot archers pour fire into the Ghouls dropping a further 3.

VC 1

The Hexwraiths declare a charge on the Horse archers however the distance proves to great for the ethereal steeds failing to make the move required. Everything else in the army advances forward whilst the Terragheist forms to the flank of the Horse Archers to dispatch them.

Magic - 11PD vs 6DD

The magic phase begins with gaze of nagash hitting the Eastern SSC doing 2 wounds. Raise dead is attempted however I dispel this allowing a powered up version of Vanhels go through effecting the Grave guard, ghouls, and skeleton warriors.

The Terrorghiest easily removes the Horse archers from play with his shooting attack however distracting is for a turn to keep it off the heavy hitters is very worthwhile.

TK 2

The Western Necropolis Knights charge into the ghouls with the chariots on their heels for support smashing into the flank.

Magic - 8PD vs 4DD

I manage to get Pha's protection up on the Necro knights in combat followed by smiting, I plan on backing this up with Banishment onto the Terrogheist however this is dispelled.

Shooting

The winds blow stronger than ever this turn causing all my SSC to scatter wide from the targetted Terrorghiest yielding no returns. 3 Grave Guard drop from archer fire.

Combat

3 Wounds are scored from the impact hits in total, the Necropolis knights and charioteers manage to put 13 wounds onto the unit and take 9 in return crumbling the unit of Ghouls into oblivion. I overrun with the Knights to get them out of the charge arc of the grave guard and silly mistake of the game I test to restrain with the chariots thinking of the pursuit rules rather than overrun so they end up zooming past the Knights.

VC 2

The grave guard call to arms and charge into the Hierotitan, the skeleton warriors stomp on towards the Necropolis knights closing ranks and the Vargheists hit into the SSC.

Magic - 7PD vs 4DD

Another Vanhels gets through powered up augmenting the speed of the undead hordes gathered around the Vampire. Raise dead is also attempted however I scroll this immediately.

Combat

The Necroknights cleave into the skeleton warriors causing 11 wounds and taking 2 wounds in return. The Hierotitan doesn't fair as well taking 3 wounds from the Vampire and BSB and dealing back 4 wounds however the scales tip and the Titan crumbles into dust allowing the Grave guard to overrun and smash into the skeletons bunkering the Hierophant. Finally the last crew member of the SSC is slain and the vampires face west towards the casket.

TK 3

The Necropolis knights and chariots swift reform and begin the journey back to the combats.

Magic - 12PD vs 7DD

I start off with speed of light on the archers which is promptly dispelled, I manage the 5+ ward through on the archers before Banishment dishes out 5 wounds onto the Vargheists eager to get into combat. Finally Pha's protection goes through onto the knights in combat before Light of Death is dispelled.

Shooting

The archers and chariots take a wound off the Terrorghiest before the ancient Khemri warmachine unleashes more screaming skulls into the air staying true to their target and piercing magical wounds into the target reducing it to ash.

Combat

The Necropolis Knights dish out 14 wounds in total to the skeleton warriors taking no wounds in return.

The Grave guard and characters slay skeleton archers leaving only 5 left plus the Hierotitan standing after the destruction.

VC 3

Once again endurance proves an issue in the world of undeath as the Hexwraiths fail to charge the Horse Archers. The Varghiest however makes the distance to the Casket of Souls.

Magic - 8PD vs 6DD

I dispel an attempt on Vahels and raise dead gets through raising a unit of 12 Skeleton warriors blocking the unit of Necropolis Knights.

Combat

The Grave guard clean house and destory the archers and Hierophant, the only damage that comes from the crumble is 3 horse archers luckily enough. The grave guard reform to face the East. The Necropolis Knights return the favour and grind the remaining skeletons and reform to face the Vampire and his bodyguard. Finally the Vargheist siezes the crew and in turn detonating the remaining trapped souls in the casket unleasing power that drops 2 Necropolis Knights before overrunning into the archers.

TK 4

The Eastern Necropolis knights charge into the grave guard whilst the other unit of NK charge into the skeleton warriors who are currently blocking the path.

Magic - 7PD vs 6DD

The only spell I'm successful at getting through is Pha's protection on the Necropolis Knights in combat, an attempt at Bironas and Speed of Light is easily dispelled.

Combat

The archers lose 2 of their number to the Varghiest and reform to a combat block in order to win the battle of attrition in further turns.

The Necropolis Knights take 3 wounds in total until the Champion's axe falls true dealing a fatal wound of the enemy general ceasing the animation in the army along with 3 grave guard via stomp attacks. Immediately the Skeleton warriors crumble until 2 are left and the Hex wraiths dissolve to 3 remaining.

The Western Necropolis knights smash the remaining 2 skeleton warriors into the ground and reform to face the flank of the grave guard.

VC 4

(Note the SSC of mine misfired last turn and in true fashion self destructed)

The hexwraiths finally summon the will to charge the Horse Archers making the distance easily.

Combat

In combat the horse archers are ground out to nothing. The Grave guard and Necropolis knights end in a drawn combat whilst the reformed archers is enough to pop the final wound on the Varghiest.

At this stage my opponent admits defeat and concedes the game.

TK Victory.

It was the first time I'd played against VC this edition and the only thing I would have done differently is the mistake with the chariots to get them into the grave guard and cause casualties a lot sooner. Other than that the only things I need to be careful of is 'overrun lanes' allowing enemy units of cull my Hierophant a lot quicker. In both games I've used this list he's slotted it which isn't a great record at all! Again happy with the performance of the list and I beleive I had all the tools to deal with every element in my opponents list.