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.
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