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 4 - Tomb Kings (Dual Snakes) vs Beastmen (Gor Herd) - 4/1/12

Hey guys

Another battle report for your viewing against Beastmen.

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)

Beastlord - Crown of Command, Blackened Plate, 4+ Ward, GW
Great Bray Shaman - Beasts
Bray Shaman - Shadow, Scroll
Bray Shaman - Shadow, Herdstone Shard
Wargor - Gnarled Hide, Beast Banner
2 x 5 Chaos Warhounds
Gor Herd - Approx 40-50 models
2 x Tuskgor Chariots
5 Ungor Raiders
Bestigor Herd - FC - Approx 30 models
Razorgor Chariot
3 x Razorgors

Spells

Hierophant - Desert Wind, Smiting, vengeance, Protection
Light - Pha's, Bironas, Speed of Light, Banishment
Lev 4 Shaman - Wissans, Spear, Curse, Flock of Doom
Both Level 1's take Miasma

Deployment:

I roll up first turn after deployment.

TK 1

Magic - 10PD vs 8DD
Desert wind goes off moving my western Necro Knights forward and the archers behind them and finally moving the Hierotitan again in a more central position.
I follow this up with banishment on the Tuskgor chariot however this is dispelled. I try for a light of death on the Razorgor chariot however this is also dispelled. Finally I throw my dice at smiting and my opponent burns his scroll to get rid of this.

Shooting

My Horse archers kill 3 Ungor who pass their panic check.

A well placed skull lands on the Gor wipng out 9 of them however they pass their checks.

Lastly my archers all aim at the ungor wiping out the unit and putting a wound on a level 1.

Not a bad start.

Beastmen 1

Both Level 1's scramble into the Gor unit for protection.

Magic - 6PD vs 2DD

Miasma is cast twice on the archers dropping their BS, now requiring 6's to hit.

Amber spear is failed to cast targetting the Hierotitan.

TK 2

Chariots charge the pig on Eastern flank.

Magic - 10PD vs 5DD

I cast banishment on the Razorgor chariot however this yields no damage after 8 hits. I throw two dice at Vengeance on the Gor unit however this is dispelled. Light of Death fails to kill anything. Lastly I throw the remaining dice at a powered up Smiting which successfully goes through.

Shooting

The only thing worthy of note is the SSC kills 5 Gor and the Archers rack up 5 Gor kills as well.

Combat

After 9 Impact hits I manage to put 2 wounds on the chariot and take the same damage in return. This proves enough however to break the pig and I run him down taking me out of danger of a flank charge from the on lookers.

Beastmen 2

Charges

Razorgor Chariot + Tuskgor Chariot charge Horse archers.

Magic - 6PD vs 2DD

Once again Miasma is cast on the archers dropping BS.

Wissans fails to cast on the Gor.

Combat

Horse archers are smashed unsurprisingly. Units reform to face Necroknights.

TK 3

Charges

Hierotitan charges into the Razorgor.

Necroknights charge into Chaos hounds on the Western flank.

Magic - 9PD vs 3DD

Smiting is dispelled.

Light of Death puts a wound on the Eastern Tuskgor chariot and fails to jump.

I cast Pha's protection on the charging Knights and then throw 2 dice at Neru's Incantation of Protection on the Hierotitan rolling box cars. I roll up an 11 for the miscast result and not really want to reduce my level 4 I opt to re-roll and bingo I get a cascade! This results in my Hierophant getting sucked into the mysterous nether and 12 archers going with him. Further crumbling puts a single wound on the Hierotitan and the Eastern SSC is destroyed.

Shooting

Archers put 2 wounds on the flanking pig and the SSC drops another 4 gor after scattering.

Combat

Hierotitan puts 2 wounds on the pig however it holds.

The Necroknights plough through the dogs and crash into the Gor.

Beastmen 3

Razorgor charges into the Necro Knights

Tuskgor Chariot charges my chariots.

Magic - 7PD vs 2DD

Miasma is once again cast in the usual fashion.
Wissans is also attempted however I scroll this.
Curse goes through.

Combat

Tuskgor chariot kills the chariots.

Pig does 1 wound on the Hierotitan however I manage to swing and kill it reforming to face the East for next turn charge.

The Razorgor chariot puts 3 wounds on the Necroknights with impact hits and crew attacks and takes a single wound in return.

The Necroknights fighting the Gor challenge out the BSB who takes no damage and dishes out a single wound in return. The NK dish out 6 wounds on the unit, 1 wound on the Great Bray Shaman and take 7 wounds in return.

TK 4

SSC Crumbles. 

Hierotitan charges the Chaos Hounds.

Magic - 11PD vs 6DD

I cast Pha's on the Necroknights agains.

Speed of Light is dispelled however and I sneak Birona's through onto them instead.

Light of Death kills the chariot on the flank.

Shooting

Archers take out the pig threatening the archers.

Combat

Hierotitan proceeds to do sweet FA to the pig holding it in place. At least it's consistent! 

NecroKnights chop into the chariots with 3 wounds taking none in return but combat holds.

The challenge against the BSB continues with neither side gaining an advantage. The rest of the unit puts 7 wounds onto the gor and take 3 in return but this proves too much for them and they break running from the fight however the serpents prove to swift and the Gors are cut down in the withdrawal.

Beastmen 4

Chariot moves to support Razorgor chariot against Necroknights.

No magic - Hooray! 

Combat

The Hierotitan takes a wound before destroying the dogs as they flee moving me closer to the Razorgor chariot.

The Necroknights take 2 wounds and hold combat.

TK 5

2 Horse archers crumble.

Hierotitan charges flank of Razorgor Chariot.

Necroknights with Bironas allows them to move a huge 14" to setup a rear charge onto the Bestigor next turn.

Magic - 7PD vs 3DD

Speed of light goes off onto the Necroknights engaged with the Razorgor Chariot.

Light of Death then proceeds to delete the remaining chariot.

Combat

Hierotitan slices through the Razorgor chariot and I reform to face the inevitable.

Beastmen 5

Bestigor charge into Hierotitan. I manage to put a single wound on the Wargor before he dispatches the Giant overrunning into the Necroknights.

TK 6

Remaining archers crumble and the Horse archers.

Necroknights charge into the rear of the Bestigor.

Magic - 12PD vs 6DD

I get a powered up Pha's protection off making the Knights -1 to hit however I fail to get speed of light through.

Combat

The bestigor fail their fear test hitting me on 6's which is always a good advantage!  I challenge and the champion accepts who dishes out 3 wounds to the beatman dropping him. The warlord puts a wound on the snakes before taking one. In between the 2 units the Necroknights drop 9 of the beasts however they're steadfast and hang around.

Beastmen 6

Combat

The beastlord puts 2 wounds onto the snake riders before a fatal wound dispatches the beast leader dropping him into a pile of mangy fur. The Necroknights continue the carnage dropping a further 6 of the Bestigor and taking 4 wounds in return. With the loss of their leader and the continued damage the Bestigor turn tail and run but prove no match for the speed of the Necroserpents cutting down every last beast.

TK Victory.

Conclusion:

Wow, what a game. Firstly I want to thank Mark Wildman for the inspiration behind the list. I've never had much success at all running the Necroknights in any unit size and I certainly can see the advantages of running 2 units of 6. They're possibly the best thing in our list and even my opponent commented on how he was going to be fighting an uphill battle when he found out I was running two units of 6 of them.

The loss of the Hierophant on the second turn was a nightmare and possibly the worst case scenario, luckily the Level 4 light priest was the general so I didn't lose two birds with one stone. The loss of the Hierophant didn't really effect me that badly and although it would have been nice in the late game to get a wound or two back here and there and dish out more attacks but it probably would have just confused my spell casting a bit more.

The Necrotect saved 6 wounds through regen rolls on the Necroknights so certainly a worthwhile addition to the army. Keeping him tucked away like that behind the unit is the way to go.

On the chariots, it's such a shame one chariot took the unit out however I don't see what else I could have done differently on the Eastern flank. Perhaps sat them right back a few inches in and waited a few turns?

Horse archers were great however I have a tonne of room for improvement in using them.

Each magic phase was certainly a relentless endeavour for my opponent, I find low rolls are actually the best for Tomb Kings as you can 2 dice most spells with a level 4 and a Hierotitan backing it up and with a casket in tow and 2 channels you can really turn a low roll into a formidable magic phase that the enemy just can't tackle.

SSC's were great in pressuring the enemy and chipping ranks off the Gor, I was tempted to have a crack at dumping skulls onto the razorgor chariot but eventually decided against in and keep the wounds up onto the horde unit.

Well I appreciate any comments and critisms.

Next weekend I've got 3 games against Skaven, either Lizardmen/Dark Elves and probably Beastmen again.

Vengeance Rising - Battle 3 - Tomb Kings vs Beastmen (Re-match) - 11/3/12

Hey guys

Rematch against the Beastmen and a few changes to my list:

TK - mask, ward, GW
Hiero - level 4, nehek, rod
LP1 - level 1, death, Dispel Scroll
LP2 - level 1, death, powerstone, icon

4 x Chariots - Std, Flaming
2 x 20 archers
39 x warriors - FC, LA
2 x 5 Horse Archers
2 x Warsphinx - FB
Casket
Hierotitan
2 x SSC with skulls

Ops list:

Great Bray Shaman - WS10, Jade Dagger, 5+ Ward, Lore of Beasts
Beastlord - Black Plate, Stubborn
BSB - Beast Banner, gnarled hide
Wargor - Shield, Heavy Armour, ASF, Other Tricksters Shard
Wargor - XHW, HA
Wargor - GW, HA
58 Gor - FC, XHW
2 x Tuskgor Chariots
2 x 5 Dogs
5 Ungor Raiders
3 Razorgor
1 x Razorgor Chariot
24 Bestigor - FC Flaming

Spells:

Great Bray Shaman - Wissans, Amber Spear, Savage Beasts, Panns
Hierophant - Wind, veng, Smiting, Cursed Blades
LP1 - Spirit Leech
LP2 - Spirit Leech

Deployment:

TK won the roll off with a 6.

TK 1

Everything advances

Magic - 9PD vs 5 DD

2 x Spirit Leech on his Bray shaman and both fail to cast.
Vengence is dispelled.
I fail to cast Casket with two dice.

Shooting drops a single dog and a well placed SSC bomb takes out 5 Bestgor whilst the other scatters into a dog killing it and panicking it off the board.

Beastmen 1

Everything advances

Magic - 7PD vs 7DD

Amber Spear goes off and puts 4 wounds on the Hierotitan.
Wyssans Wildform goes IF and pops 3 Gors taking them up in toughness and strength.

TK 2

Charges:

Chariots into Pig
Horse Archers into Dogs

Magic - 6PD vs 4DD
2 x Spirit Leech fail and one is dispelled.
Vengeance is cast on remaining dice on the Gor and goes through sticking them in place.

Shooting

SSC does a single wound on the Gor who pass the panic test. The other SSC scatters.

The archers do a single wound on the pig and 2 ungor drop to the archers closest to them.

Combat

The chariots do 2 wounds via impact hits on the razorgor and then the crew proceed to chop it to bits and overrunning a healthy 11" out of the arc of the onlooking chariot.

Horse archers vs dogs - Dog are annihilated and the archers overrun 9 and 8 inches.

Beastmen 2

Some repositions to get into better charge opportunities for turn 3.

Magic - 10PD vs 5DD

Wyssans goes through on the gor
I fail to stop Amber spear which goes through the head of the Hierotitan crumbling it to ruin. 
Savage Beast goes off and then Pans pelt on the BSB.

TK 3

Warsphinx charges the chariot who holds.

Magic - 11PD vs 5DD

2 x Spirit Leeches are dispelled and a single fail.
Light of Death goes off and kills a chariot and a pig but nearby units pass panic tests. 
vengeance is successfully cast again on the Gors reducing them to Movement 2.

Shooting

SSC onto the razorgor chariot threatning my chariots scatters and misses however the second hits smack on target and splinters the chariot destroying it outright. Timing couldn't have been better on that!

2 Bestigor drop to bow fire as well as a single Ungor.

Combat

The Warsphinx shatters the chariot with no damage in return, this is enough to panic the Bestigors nearby who flee in a prime position for the chariots to charge.

A very productive turn with the clearing of nearly all of the opponents chaff units.

Beastmen 3

Razorgor charges SSC.

Bestigor rally to face the chariots.

Magic - 7PD vs 5DD

Wyssans goes off.
Amber spear fails to cast.

Combat

Pig kills SSC and reforms to face Casket.

TK 4

Chariots charge Bestigor

Magic - 12PD vs 6DD

Spirit Leech - No damage
Spirit Leech - IF - No damage and Liche Priest loses his levels. 
Vengeance - IF - result kills 7 archers.

Shooting

SSC - kills 4 Gor (This caused a panic test which was failed but then re-rolled with BSB, had I had my King a few inches closer that would have sealed the deal then!)
Archers - 1 Gor
Ungor drop to bow fire as well.

Combat

Chariots vs Bestigor

Impact Hits cause 7 unsaved wounds and the crew manage to kill a further 3. I take 3 wounds back in return breaking the Bestigor who flee 7" however the chariots only roll a 4" for pursuit.

Beastmen 4

Bestigor Rally.

Razorgor moves towards Casket of Souls.

Magic - 11PD vs 7DD

Wyssans Wildform is dispelled.
Savage Beast fails.

TK 5

Chariots charge into the Bestigor to finish what they started!

Magic - 9PD vs 4DD

Spirit Leech fails to yield any wounds.
I throw 6 dice at Vengeance and get it off via IF pinning the Gor once again.

Shooting

Both the Warsphinxes breath fire onto the Gors to gain some casualties before the oncoming combat in Turn 6, have to try and remove those ranks to negate stubborn. They gain 13 wounds between them and the archers put a further 3 wounds.

SSC - misses the pig.

Combat

Bestigor are destroyed via impact hit and crew and I reform to face the Gor for the turn 6 charge.

Beastmen 5

Razorgor moves closer to the casket.

Magic - 8PD vs 6DD

Wyssans is dispelled.
Savage - Scroll

TK 6

Warsphinxes charge and the chariots charge into the Gor.

Magic - 8PD vs 5DD

Smiting is dispelled
cursed Blades goes off effecting all units regaining some archers and a chariot.

Shooting

SSC hits the remaining pig and puts 2 wounds on it. Bowfire from the army finish off the beast.

Combat

Impact hits from the chariots cause 8 wounds. The beastmen characters make way to be in contact with the chariots and warsphinxes putting 9 wounds on the chariots leaving one left! The unit puts 3 wounds on the warsphinx.

The warsphinx crew Killing blow the BSB and do a single wound to the unit. The chariot crew Killing blow the wargor with a great weapon. Second Warsphinx does nothing.

Thunderstomp yields another 4 wounds.

Gors are still stubborn and hold.

Beastmen 6

Magic - 10PD vs 6DD

Wyssans goes through as I save all my dispel dice to successfully dispel Savage Beast.

Combat

Chariots are destroyed by characters. The gors put another wound on the wounded Warsphinx.

Warsphinxes do 2 more wounds on the unit and a further 2 from thunderstomps.

He still has more ranks than I however the gods bless me and he rolls an 11. I pursue and crush them into the ground.

Result - Massacre to the Tomb Kings!

Conclusion

Well even though I walked away with a very convincing win I was still angry at myself for my King placement. Had I moved him up a turn earlier the game quiet possibly would have been over a turn earlier.

Simple plan was to envelope his flanks and just sit the warsphinxes to block his main combat unit whilst everything removed the chaff and it went into plan full swing.

Spirit leech was just frustrating and I don't know where I stand with it. I was getting it off, just simply wasn't rolling high enough on the dice to cause damage.

Incantation of Vengeance is simply amazing against hordes. Basically pinning them in place and my opponent just couldn't afford to move/solo charge as it would mean dangerous terrain tests and statistically he was going to fail 18 of them which would certainly hurt.

So once again a game where the King really didn't do anything. I didn't charge the skellies in as they would have leaked combat resolution hurting my constructs so I wasn't even thinking about it.

My opponents list is as he said a severe one trick pony however it does that trick very well. Once the spells are up and buffing the unit it takes a lot to take it down. I was extremely lucky in the fact it was me who was dictating his movement so I had the upper hand.

Thinking ahead to the next game I'm entertaining the following changes:

Dropping the King either for a prince or nothing at all. The mask is just to situational I'm starting to think and really only solidly effects a few armies and in order for it to work you have to be winning the combat which for me seems difficult.

Death priests - sheer frustration, admittedly the dice rolls were the culprit however if the King is going then these guys will follow as they only are there to take advantage of his Leadership. Thinking of replacing them with 2 x Level 2 Light Priests.

Warriors - Don't really need a bunker without a king so perhaps swap these out for more archers and/or chariots?

Straight away I was thinking about the inclusion of Knights in this list and against this particular army they would have just bounced. The warsphinxes were certainly the much needed addition in this list I feel.

Everything else was good for once. 

Look forward to hearing everyones thoughts/feelings/doubtful points.