Ok so it was the second game with my brother over the long weekend and I thought I'd give the Tomb Kings a break and try out a list I'd been toying with in my mind for a long time.
The 'Satellite Rain' list was a concept I'd been itching to try for nearly 18 months but had just been immersed with the Tomb Kings and trying to string some victories with them. The concept was simply to smash the opponent with dual comets from the Lore Of Heavens every turn, would it be effective? Probably not but I was determined to have fun with the list and make sure I had some 'hunters' with awesome saves against spells to enter the danger zone when required.
2500 Points - Heavenly Glory
Archmage - Loremasters Cloak, Robes, Jewel
Mage - Seerstaff
BSB - 1+ re-rollable, Sword of Might
30 Archers - FC, Flaming
13 Archers
10 Archers
7 Dragon Princes - FC, BOS, Potion of Strength
20 Swordmasters - FC, Razor Standard, Loec (More of a fluff choice)
20 Phoenix Guard - FC, Banner of Arcane Protection
2 Eagles
2500 Brets
Lord - HKB Peg
Level 4 - Life
Damsel - Icon
BSB
Paladin - On foot
50 Men @ Arms - FC
2 x 10 Bowmen
8 KOTR
2 x 5 Mounted Yeomen
4 Pegasus Knights
4 Grail Knights
2 x Trebuchets
Spells:
Archmage - Comet, Iceshard Blizzard, Harmonic Convergence, Thunderbolt
Mage - Comet, Iceshard Blizzard
Level 4 - Throne, Flesh to Stone, Dwellers, Regrowth
Damsel - Tranformation, Wildform
Deployment:
I won the roll off for sides and picked my chosen side as there was only really a single place my brothe could put down his horde effectively. Straight away I knew where that would go and most of the other units would go to support it. With a tower in my deployment zone I could really force him to come to me if he wanted a victory whilst dodging comets.
High Elves Turn 1
PG run down flank, as do Dragon Princes and Swordmasters. 12 Dice magic phase sees me miscast comet with the level 2 killing 6 archers and doing a wound to the mage. I only lost 1 dice luckily enough and proceeded to cast Harmonic Convergeance on the archers whilst my further attempts at Comet and Icechard Blizzard were dispelled.
Shooting sees me take out the Mounted Yemon however all panic tests are passed. Lastly a single knight is plucked from his steed as a member of the KOTR drops.
Bretonnia Turn 1
Everything screams down the flank whilst the Men at Arms horde reforms to face the oncoming threat of the Dragon Princes.
The Comet smashes down but rather unexcitedly just takes out the Mounted Yeomen, hardly worth the miscast!! Pegs are hit however pass all the saves required.
Throne is cast in the magic phase as is flesh to stone on the KOTR. I was holding my dice for a dwellers or transformation! As usual though my opponent miscasts (doing no damage to his army) and dwellers goes through on my small unit of Archers. 6 Archers dive down to the dwellers and run away and in usual mortal fashion the archers nearby decide to take a hike aswell - consistency is key to victory I've always said!
Bowmen take aim at the Dragon Princes however can't hit much. Treb misfires and the second scatters from the Swordmasters.
High Elves Turn 2
Archers rally to meet their doom. Great Eagles shift to cause some Turn 3 dramas. Left flank get's the push to cause some problems for the horde shortly.
12 Dice magic phase but there was only so many miscasts I could cop! With all the dice though and 2 comet attempts and my opponent matching my roll of 19 for zapping the Peg lord with thunderbolt I could only manage Iceshard Blizzard on the Treb and dispel the Throne of Vines. Very dissapointing! Certainly hoping in further turns I could improve on that!
Shooting drops 7 Bowmen causing no panic. Not a very productive turn unfortunately!
Bretonnia Turn 2
KOTR charge into the unit of Archer who stand and shoot in retaliation but against T5 there was no damage. The volley proved enough to undo the Knights morale who faultered in their charge luckily enough for the now sweating Ulthuan bowmen.
The Damsel activates the prayer icon giving the Men at Arms a ward save.
The winds of magic blow 9 PD to the Ladies representing the magic phase of the Brets with their high gluten snacks. Throne of vines is thrown with a low number so I choose todispel that. Regrowth sees 4 bowmen resurrect from their deaths and re-join the ranks.
Dwellers goes off IF on the swordmasters causing the Level 4 to lose dwellers. 8Swordmasters succumb to the dwellers along with the Archmage. Drats, it was now an uphill battle! Then I promptly remind myself Direct damage spells need to have a valid target in the forward arc and put all my models back. My opponent resolves the spell against the Archers instead.
Shooting drops a stone on the Swordmasters and bowmen drop a few more leaving only 6 remaining. I had whispers in my head about warriors of Chrace right about now. Pass panic test. Also the eagle about to stick the Treb was dropped by sudden accurate Bretonnian fire.
High Elves Turn 3
Dragon princes level their lances and charge into the Trebuchet. The Swordmasters follow suit into the Bowmen who can't hit any of them.
In the magic phase I manage to cast Iceshard Blizzard onto the Men at Arms horde and a single comet. Harmonic is dispelled on the Dragon Princes.
I do a single wound to a Peg knight with the archers.
Dragon Princes skewer the Treb Crew however the Horde passes the panic test. They over run into the Horde. Swordmasters cut up the Bowmen before reforming to face the flank of the horde as well.
Bretonnia Turn 3
KOTR charge into the Archers and the Peg Knights follow suite. Lord and Grail Knights move into the horde combat.
Comet comes down doing a wound on the Peg Lord, nothing on the Treb, 7 casualties on the Men at arms, and finally it drops 2 Grail Knights.
Wildform onto the Men at Arms is dispelled and the next spell attempted by the Ladies is Transformation of Kadon turning the Damsel into a Mountain Chimera.
Treb scatters from the intended target of Swordmasters and hits the Men at Arms and dragon Princes felling one Dragon Prince (and taking the Chimera out of base to base contact!) and dropping a further 3 plebs (9 hits and 6 ward saves made!!).
In combat the archers take down a Peg Knight however 4 are mutilated in return. The Elves flee in panic however the Peg knights fail to run them down running 2" short of the target.
KOTR kill the archers and reform.
My BSB challenges the Bret BSB and cuts him down. 8 men at arms drop to the dragon princes charge. In reply the Men at Arms with Iceshard Blizzard manage a single wound before breaking on 10. The dragon princes pursue easily and reform to face the Lord.
High Elves Turn 4
Dragon Prince charge into Grail Knights. Great Eagle charges into the flank of the Peg Lord but only moves 4", the Swordmasters charge the front of the Peg Lord.
Archers fail to rally and move back to Caledor.
I only manage to get off Iceshard Blizzard on the Grail Knights, I fail to cast comet with the level 2, a further attempt is dispelled on another comet and Harmonic Convergence.
I pop the loec but fail miserably only doing a wound and the Peg lord kills one in return and hangs around. Damn.
Dragon princes destroy the Grail Knights and take no casualties in return cutting them down on the over run and getting to safety.
Bretonnia Turn 4
KOTR charge into eagle. Peg Knights move into centre.
Magic phase of only 3 power dice and one caster. Op attempts a Flesh to Stone on the Peg lord however I manage to dispel this.
Dragon Princes are targetted by the nearby Bowmen however all missiles are deflected. Treb misfires targetting Dragon Princes.
Eagle takes out the champion before going poof in a cloud of feathers. KOTR over run into the nearby Phoenix Guard who keenly observe the Level 4 now in the front rank.
Swordmasters take out the Lord and reform to face the Treb.
High Elves Turn 5
Swordmasters charge into Trebuchet. Dragon Princes charge into Bowmen.
Magic phase sees my attempt at Harmonic Convergence on the Phoenix Guard dispelled however I get two Iceshard Blizzards through onto the KOTR and my attempt at Comet goes off sitting behind the KOTR.
Dragon Princes and Swordmasters both win combats and reform to face the Peg Knights.
Phoenix guard only manage a single wound on the Level 4 but take no casualties and my opponent passes his Ld 6 test!
Bretonnia Turn 5
Peg Knights move to support the KOTR next turn. Comet comes down failing to do any damage to the Knights. The lone lady attempts Throne successfully (fail to dispel) and then 4 dice are thrown at Flesh to stone healing the level 4 of all her damage as well.
In combat the Phoenix Guard drop a single Knight of the Realm but it proves to be enough and they flee 9" with the PG 1" on their tail.
High Elves Turn 6
Phoenix Guard charge KOTR who flee, Swordmasters charge in as well and destroy.
Magic sees Thunderbolt dispelled on Peg Knights however two Comet come down in anticipation of the charge. (Yes I should have spread these out...)
Shooting reduces the Peg Knights to a single model.
Bretonnia Turn 6
Peg Knight does the smart thing and moves away whilst one comet strikes the ground taking out 2 Swordmasters (Loremasters Cloak) and a single Phoenix guard (2+ ward).
Result - High Elves victory.
Conclusion:
So the Heavenly glory list....I'm not sure if I'd use that in a game again unless I was teaching someone how to play.
Firslty after playing Tomb Kings for more than 20+ games and then coming back to High Elves you certainly learn to appreciate a simple to hit roll and that thing called Weapon Skill. It becomes a case of Weapon Skilless with High Elves because most of the time with the re-rolls it makes it sure fire you're going to hit. Not complaining at all, just remembering how good we've got it.
First and foremost the aim of this game was to take a concept that I'd been toying with, apply it and have fun with it, did I succeed in that regard? Absolutely. Although I would have liked bucket loads more comets coming in for the kill I got a few off with some cool results:
Total Comets Attempted: 10
Total Comets dispelled: 4
Total Comets failed to cast: 2
Total Comet wounds: 18 (3 were High Elves)
So there you have it.
On the army it was mainly for fluff purposes. A High Elves force from Saphery with contigents around the place. The BSB was accompanying the Dragon Princes for a speed element and the champion had the potion of strength for taking out big monsters or mainting high strength attacks in later rounds to support the BSB. Obviously Bretonnia don't have big monsters to deal with, my opponent was equally as frustrated when no big gribblies presented themselves for his HKB lord.
I did have two units that could enter the fray or the comet zone but there wasn't really a requirement. In the last turn I should have seperated the Comets to box the Peg in but it was getting late in the day by that stage.
I really feel outside of the Dragon Princes and BSB this list would struggle to take out a monster list or anything high toughness. Ogres and Tomb Kings perhaps could prove to be problematic. I think I was pretty lucky to get 6 comets through but if you look at the averages and stats each comet was netting around 3 wounds, hardly worthwhile I think. Anyway I got the list out of the way in my head and I'm glad I visited it and it was very nice to get back to playing with the High Elves and get the dust off them.
Clearly the Men at Arms horde didn't work very well for my brother, it was unlucky for them to break however these things happen and I don't think that the current Bret list is designed to have this as a viable option. I'm certainly helping him out though in regards to finding a list that suits his play style whilst still playing to the advantages of the Brets in the current edition.
Anyway, back to the Tomb for me and perhaps its time to try out some special characters and throw them into the mix?
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