It was time to have another game against Brets and I took a list that certainly wasn't optimal (no idea why I did this).
Level 4 - Rod
King - Mask, Scales, Dragonbane gem, GW
Death Priest - Scroll
20 Archers - Std, Mus
6 Chariots - Std Mus, Flaming
2 x 5 Horse Archers
38 Tomb Guard - FC, +1 Movement
2 x Warsphinx - FB
2 x SSC
Casket
Hierotitan
My opponents list from memory:
Lord - Grail Shield, HKB, +1A
Level 4 - Feedback Scroll, Crown of Command
Level 2 - Silver mirror
BSB
10 Skirmishing Bowmen
10 Bowmen
6 KOTR
12 KOTR - FC - Warbanner
8 Grail Knights
4 Peg Knights
2 Trebuchets
Spells:
Hierophant - Cursed Blades, Desert Wind, Desiccation, Protection
Death Priest - Spirit Leech
Prophestess - Comet, Harmonic Convergence, Iceshard Blizzard, Thunderbolt
Damsel - Wissans Wildform, Amber Spear
Deployment:
The Brets dismount and pray to their lady of the steamy Oasis a few clicks away. Without my go to spell Vengeance I was going to be hard pressed to control the magic phase so I'd really have to put my Horse archers to good use early but again with only two of them available it was going to be tough. A lot of armour sat across from me but I guess I had over 45 KB attacks available before spells. The main thing was to delay elements of the lances and take them out piecemeal. I deployed one of the SSC's right out on the left flank to entice him to take it out with his Peg Knights and the bait was taken, this would keep them out of the game for a few turns and it was 90 points I was willing to live without.
Tomb Kings Turn 1
Everything on the right flank shuffles up a little in preperation for his Grail Knights making a push up to support the main bus. I roll a very low magic phase and I think a Light of Death gets through onto the Peg Knights however my opponent makes the required rolls. In shooting the SSC hits the Bowmen taking out 6 of their number and they flee also causing the Trebuchet crew to hide under their machine for a turn. Not a bad start.
Bretonnia Turn 1
The Bowmen flee from the table. The Peg Knights zoom down the flank as predicted whilst the lances very cautiously move towards the centre sensing a trap oncoming. Magic doesn't do anything however in between a shot from a Trebuchet and the shooting from the skirmishers two chariots turn into splinters.
Tomb Kings Turn 2
The Horse archers get into position to charge the Trebuchet or hold up the Grail Knights. Magic sees me get Protection off onto the chariots healing a single warmachine back to full health whilst a well timed Spirit Leech from the Priest drops the BSB from his mount throwing a sense of shock through the enemy army.
Bretonnia Turn 2
The Peg Knights charge into the SSC on the right flank wasting no time in tramping the crew into the desert sands. They reform to face the juicy bits of the army. The remaining lances once again shuffle a little forward however unwilling to commit. I wasn't entirely sure what my opponent was working to achieve here however I'm sure he was waiting for his Peg Knights to get into a better position and secondly he wanted to get as much out of the Amber Spear as possible to try and take out some big nasties. His magic phase sees me fail to dispel a comet which targets a spot right in front of my Tomb Guard.
Tomb Kings Turn 3
My Tomb Guard attempt to charge the small lance of KOTR however I promptly roll a 1 and a 2 on the dice landing me right on the comet - beautiful. Time to call my opponents hand so I start some moving some units into key positions. Chariot sit and wait for an exposed flank, Horse Archers move to block the Grail Knights from moving further, Warsphinx gets behind them in an over run position.
The Comet comes crashing down in my 12 dice magic phase destroying the Horse Archers, putting a few wounds on the Warsphinx, Taking out 10 Tomb Guard, 8 Archers and putting 2 wounds on the Hierotitan. Ouch. I cast Desert wind to recoup some of the losses and move the Warsphinx further up. I have a crack with Spirit Leech on the small KOTR unit and IF on 3 dice killing the knight but at the expense of 5 Tomb Guard and the remainder of the magic phase.
Bretonnia Turn 3
Finally the line breaks and the Bret Lord signals the charge with a raised lance. The KOTR bus slam into the Warsphinx. The Peg knights fail to make a long charge into the rear of the chariots. The other lances move slightly however the grail knights are having a headache with the Horse archers.
An Amber spear is cast putting a wound on the Hierotitan.
In combat the Warsphinx is brought down by the sheer number of attacks however the Howdah crew sneak through a killing blow dropping the enemy general before becoming part of the landscape. Opponent doens't over run as it would halt him short of the ruins however I'm sure he reformed and I haven't illustrated it.
Tomb Kings Turn 4
Time for some charges of my own. The Chariots smash into the front of the Knight Bus whilst also in the centre the Tomb Guard charge into the small lance of KOTR with the addition of the Hierotitan. They promptly fail their terror test and are cut down before they can flee too far from the battle.
The incantation of desiccation goes off on the Knight Bus whilst a Light of Death drops a single Pegasus Knight.
Impact hits drop a few casualties and I take a few in return. The Crew attack and manage 5 wounds which my opponent rolls up the following: 1,1,2,2,2 and fails his ward saves. This swings the combat in a big way but not to worry his Stubborn lady will fix everything. Up rolls a 9 for his break test. ouch. Chariots over run wiping out the unit and making it into combat with the Skirmishing Bowmen.
Bretonnia Turn 4
The Grail Knights spring into action charging the Horse Archers whilst the Pegasus Knights move into position for a Turn 5 charge on my Hierophants unit. Magic is uneventful and in combat the Chariots wreck the bowmen before reforming to face the rear of the Grail Knights. The Horse archers are predictable annihilated and over run into the fresh Warsphinx tightening the noose around Bretonnia's elite.
Tomb Kings Turn 5
The Chariots and Tomb Guard slam into the Grail Knights whilst the Hierotitan moves to counter the Peg Knights. I also reform with the Hierophants archer bunker and pull them back 2" to increase the range. I get a big magic phase off with Light of Death dropping another Pegasus Knight causing them to Panic. I then move onto buffing the Tomb Guard with Cursed Blades and Protection bringing the unit back to full strength. Finally Desiccation is attempted onto the Grail Knights however my opponent reveals his Silver Mirror and my Hierophant takes a wound for his troubles.
Between Impact Hits, Statues and blades with enchantments of cursing on them Bretonnian blood soaks the desert sands in a large pool and they're crushed underfoot with no survivors.
Bretonnia Turn 5
The Peg Knights rally determined to avenge their army.
Tomb Kings Turn 6
The chariots charge into the Trebuchet. Shooting and magic drop another Pegasus Knight. The Trebuchet is turned into dust.
Bretonnia Turn 6
The remaining Peg Knights undeterred kicks the mounts into gear towards the towering Hierotitan however the determination of the Pegasus waivers and fails to carry them far enough.
Result - Tomb King Massacre.
Conclusion:
On deployment. I think the only error I made was deploying the left hand SSC too close to my lines, I should have deployed even further right into the corner but lesson learned. There was more terrain involved in the game but it didn't impact at all so I didn't worry about putting it in Battle Chronicler. These reports take long enough to create without dragging out the process.
The army. I really don't know about Warsphinx. After using Knights successfully for so long it's hard to drop them from the lists. The only advantage they have is they've got such a smaller footprint in comparison, had I had knights this game I'm not sure where they would have ended up as a really tight deployment was key to pulling the lances apart. Knights have a better save, more wounds and I beleive they can put out more damage. I guess the key with the knights is they become wrecking balls when buffed correctly where as the Warsphinx is very capable of operating on its own without being augmented in anyway (although it sure does help).
The 60 point mask on the King didn't do a thing but that's not to say it's not valuable. My spirit leech did take out the BSB early negating the armies use of its Stand Your Ground rule and the Warsphinx crew slotted the Lord which left the Inspiring Presence out of the question so I'm on the fence about it. I can see how some armies it would be incredible against however for the most part I'm left thinking these points could be better spent elsewhere. That's practically the only reason I included a King in the list was to access that piece of kit. I could downgrade to a prince and save some points there and invest into more special units or even double my spirit leech potential with another death priest.
The magic setup worked so there isn't anything to say there.
On core the new addition for me was the chariots as I haven't used them in nearly a 20 games. I was hoping to see some S5 impact hit action but getting them to survive any incoming fire is a big ask. All the opponent has to do is score 3 wounds and then your rank is pretty much wasted. By that stage they're generally out of augment range to be healed so I really feel these units won't see much more days in my list. A unit of 3-4 would have achieved the exact same result as the unit of 6 netting me some more points to spend on other core choices (More archers and another unit of Horse archers). I'm keen to hear from Veritas in regards to how he makes them work so well as his two units of 6 always seem to make it into fray without so much as chipped paintwork.
Special units - the Tomb guard horde was new for me. If anything I've been playing the dual knights list for a long time now and it's almost a counter punch army, I think I was trying the same thing here up until I realised it wasn't going to work and I really a. didn't want to take a lance charge & b. can't afford to sit back with a movement 5 unit. I need to use these guys much more aggressively and get them into combat ASAP. Just a shame they only saw one combat. Warsphinx - see comments above. I think I'd rather a unit of Stalkers and a unit of Knights.
Rare setup - nothing changes here.
On the opponents list and deployment. He had the right tools for the job but just couldn't get his timing right and unit placement. If I were him I would have been nearly tempted to ignore the SSC on the flank and get the Peg knights involved in the centre combats and use the Trebs to take out my fire support.
Thanks for reading, I hope you've enjoyed this and perhaps I'll write up another from today's game if it happens.
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