Baldur vs Thagrosh Battle of Assassination

Legion vs Circle 500 points

Description

This is a straightforward 500 point game with caster kill as the only objective.

Set Up

Readers of our other reports will notice that the table and terrain have changed. This is my new table which I have built so we can have two games going at a time. On it is terrain all from the new GW terrain package, as at the moment I have more money than time.


The table was set up in essentialy a mirror fashion. A large hill down (my) left side, a forest a third of the way up from each table edge, and then a hill with some ruins on top of it.


Forces

Legion:

• Thagrosh, Prophet of Everblight
• Seraph
• Seraph
• Harrier
• Harrier
• Shredder
• Shredder
• Apostle + 4 Warmongers
• Forsaken
• Forsaken

500 points.

Circle:

• Baldur the Stonecleaver
• Woldwarden
• Woldwarden
• Woldwatcher
• Beastlord + 5 Tharn Ravagers
• Shifting Stones

500 points.

Deployment

Myantek (Circle) won the roll off and decided to go first. Baldur was placed in the centre of the table with the woods on his left. The two Woldwardens flanked him with Woldwarden 2 facing the ruined hill and Woldwarden 1 behind the forest. The Ravagers were placed behind the forest to its right.

I responded by putting Thagrosh down nearly opposite Baldur. Seraph 2 and Harrier 2 were placed to his right facing the ruined hill. Progressing left I placed the Warmongers in the gap between the ruined hill and the forest with Forsken 2 behind them. Continuing left came Shredder 2, Shredder 1, and Seraph 1, all set up beside the forest. Forsken 1 was at the forest edge, ready to move up around it.

Myantek then advance deployed the Shifting Stones in front of Woldwarden 2 and the Woldwatcher into the forest.

The Battle

Turn 1, Circle

Circle opens with the Woldwardens. Number 1 moved into the forest and used its animus Undergrowth while number 2 moved forward into the Shifting Stones and did the same. The Ravagers then crowded into the forest. Baldur moved up to join them and cast Stoneskin on himself and Rapid Growth in the open space in front of the Warmongers, then sits on 2 fury. The Woldwatcher hunkered down and went into Stone Form while the Shifting Stones just sat there.

Turn 1, Legion

The Warmongers run forward as fast as their stubby legs can carry them. Shredders 1 and 2 then each go Rabid, walk forward through the forest, and use Tenacity on a Warmonger. Seraph 2 then Slpistreams Thagrosh forward 2 inches while advancing up behind the ruined hill. Harrier 2 dashes forward to lurk amongst the ruins on the hill. Thagrosh then walks forward to stand behind the Warmongers and casts Death Shroud and Tenacity on the remaining 3, holding one fury for himself.Harrier 1 riles for 2 and walks into the forest beside the Shredders with Seraph 1 moving up beside it. Forsaken 1 then moves up beside the forest using it as cover.

Turn 2, Circle

Baldur leeches 4, drops Stoneskin, and upkeeps Rapid Growth. Woldwarden 2 in the Shifting Stones decides to Earth Spikes Harrier 2. I have elevation and cover. Oh wait, it ignores those so I have nothing. Looks like it isn't just Legion that ignores stuff. Boosted hit and damage rolls mean Harrier 2 gets knocked down by the critical and loses its Body aspect. The Woldwatcher then moves forward out of the trees and shoots at Harrier 1, but misses. Woldwarden 1 then moves up and Earth Spikes at Harrier 1. It is short and so misses but the template deviates onto it anyway and Seraph 1. Both take 4 points of damage from boosted rolls. The Ravagers move up partially out of the trees. Baldur then walks through the trees to beside Woldwarden 1 and puts Stone Skin on himself.

Turn 2, Legion

Thagrosh leeches 6 fury. Harrier 2 gets up and moves forward to flank Woldwarden 2. Seraph 2 Slipstreams Thagrosh over and moves up. Unfortunately it can't quite clear the bases of the Warmongers and so lands behind them. This puts it just out of range of Woldwarden 2. Thagrosh then walks past the Warmongers and casts Obliterate at Woldwarden 1. He does 8 points to it and a point to Baldur with boosted damage rolls, before ending his activation with 1 fury. Forsaken 2 moves up and grabs the 2 fury on Seraph 2. The Warmongers, desperate to get stuck in before Baldur feats, chrage Woldwarden 1. Two manage to squeeae past the Rapid Growth template to make the charge and do 14 points to Woldwarden 1, knocking off its Body aspect. Seraph 1 moves out of the trees and unloads a devastaing Blight Strike on the Woldwatcher. With 5 extra shots the construct is destroyed in one hail of fire. Forsaken 1 them moves behind Seraph 1 and grabs the 3 fury. Shredder 1 goes Rabid, moves up, and puts Tenacity on Serpah 1. Shredder 2 does the same except to Thagrosh. Lastly, Harrier 1 tries to screw up the Ravager chrage by flying straight across the field and engaging the first two Ravagers.

Turn 3, Circle

Baldur leeches 4 and upkeeps nothing. Woldwarden 2 begins the turn by charging the Warmongers. His charge attack kills one and second attack kills another. Baldur then activates and heals Woldwarden 1 for a point of Body, restoring that aspect. He then Forest Walks over to Harrier 1 which he promptly beats to death, freeing the Ravagers. He then casts Rapid Growth in front of the Warmongers and uses his feat Broken Earth. The Ravagers, their line of sight not blocked by forests, charge through the Rapid growth into the Warmongers, killing 2 more. Woldwarden 1 then Earth Spikes the Warmonger Apostle, criticaly hitting him and knocking down both him and Shredder 1. Happy at how things are going Myantek then forgets to move her Shifting Stones.

Turn 3, Legion

Thagrosh leeches. Seraph 2 aims and unloads on Woldwarden 2, but only gets 1 extra shot and does minimal damage. Shredder 1 stands up, shuffles left around Baldurs control zone, and puts Tenacity on Seraph 1. Seraph 1 slides right and shoots at Woldwarden 1 but does mediocre damage with some rolls missing and others bouncing off. Forsaken 1 walks up and Blight Shrouds Woldwarden 2 for 23 points of damage while Forsaken 2 moves up and grabs 2 fury off Serpah 2. The Warmonger Apostle then stands up a pokes Woldwarden 2 for a couple of points. Desperate to make one of these constructs die Thagrosh Obliterates Woldwarden 1 again and kills him, and does a couple of points of damage to a Ravager as a bonus. As an insult to injury he then casts Twisted Form on Woldwarden 2, reducing it to 1 fury. Baldur reaves the fury produced. Harrier 2 finishes the turn by skirting back closer to the action.

Turn 4, Circle


Baldur leeches the 1 fury remaining, putting him at five. Baldur casts Earth Spikes at Seraph 1, gets the critical yet again, and knocks it down along with the Apostle. The Shifting Stones move up closer to Woldwarden 2. Woldwarden 2 tries to Earth Spike Thagrosh but misses, and the scatter hits nothing. The Ravagers then charge, killing the knocked down Seraph 1 and Apostle, as well as Shredder 1 from which Thagrosh reaves 2 fury.

Turn 4, Legion

Thagrosh leeches and combined with the Anthanc is at full fury. Seraph 2 moves over and Slipstreams Thagroahs clear of the forest before shooting up Woldwarden 2. Forsaken 1 moves up and grabs the Seraph's 3 fury. Forsken 1 then Blight Shrouds, but does little, just plinking the Woldwarden and Ravagers. Harrier 2 charges the Woldwarden and manages to inflict a couple of points of damage. Shredder 2 then shows how it's done. He goes Rabid, walks up, kills Woldwarden 2, and then a Ravager with his second attack. Baldur reaves the 1 fury off the Woldwarden. Thagrosh hefts Rapture and charges the Ravagers. He kills two with blows and two more from Eruption of Ash. He tries to finish the unit with a Mutagenisis at the Beastlord but only wounds him. He then uses his feat Dark Revival to bring back Seraph 1 beside him.

Turn 5, Circle

It's the do or die turn for Circle. Baldur cuts himself for five fury. The Beastlord charges Thagrosh to avenge his pack but misses. He buys a second attack with the heart token he had remaining and this time connects heavily. Thagrosh spends his fury and transfers the damage to Seraph 2. Baldur then Forest Walks into the woods Thagrosh is standing beside. He savagely beats Thagrosh until he is dead, dead, dead.

Afterward

Defenstrator

This was a good game. Lots of killing and a close finish. My man of the match was Seraph 1 who vaporised the Woldwatcher and put down a pretty solid hail of fire throughout the game. My other Seraph did well, using Slipstream to get Thagrosh into position time and time again while adding his own firepower to the fray. I'm still getting a sense of this army but it is definately a kind of brick. I actually think of it as a mobile fortress. The Warmongers and Thagrosh form a keep while the Serpahs act as the defenses guns, pounding the approaching foe. The Harriers and Shredders can sally forth and attack as needed.

My biggest mistake was not keeping the main plan going. My first turn I had the brick in solid shape with Death Shroud and Tenacity. Then I dropped it all to dash forward, which left the Warmongers hanging in the open ready to be savaged by Myantek's counter attack. I think I felt rushed because of Baldur's feat. Those Earth Spikes were chewing me up and I was worried that the army would be destroyed at range while my Warmongers were unable to close. Instead I rushed up to engage and got them slaughtered. Fortunately they bought me enough time for my own shooting to soften up the Circle.

I also didn't see coming Baldur's last ditch Forest Walk beside Thagrosh. I had been watching out for that move all game but Baldur had always been too far away to accomplish it. In my rush to charge the Ravagers I didn't realise I had put myself that much closer to Baldur, a fact which Myantek capitalsed on to end the game when I had been counting on the Eruption of Ash templates to block LOS and keep him safe. Unfortunately my beasts either had full fury or no fury so I had no way to kill one and keep the transfer process going. Something else to watch for next time, especially as I could have prevented it just by putting my revived Seraph in that spot.

Myantek

I was really happy with the way the Ravagers worked out for me this game. I'm getting a bit better at keeping thme out of danger until they can make that charge. Maybe I'll learn how to do that with the Woldwatcher someday.

I felt like a lot of the battle I was just a little bit further away than I'm used to. I've gotten pretty used to Kaya's mobility, and Baldur's just a bit... slower. My plan was to ignore his hard wall and try to pick off some of the smaller beasts (the Harriers and the Shredders) before having to deal with the harder , tougher things. That didn't quite work as Defenstrator's force was just that much faster than mine. On the positive side, Baldur's army is so compact that it's easy to throw support to either side. I never really feel in danger of being flanked.

I had planned to pop the feat on the second turn but I'm glad that I waited until the third. In the end it worked out a lot better for me. I probably should have used the Beastlord's heart token to boost the charge attack but I didn't think he'd have a problem with his +2 to hit bonus and was trying to use up the Fury before Baldur walked in. To my great surprise, the assassination run with Baldur actually presented itself. It was tight but there was just enough room to put Baldur both completely within the forest and completely within his control range while being close enough to Thagrosh to hit him. I didn't feel like the game was really ever out of control but I knew that last turn was do or die. I knew that if Baldur had to cut himself for Fury that he only had one turn to get it done.

No, we can't believe it happened either.

Desperate Times Scenario 5, Retribution

Circle vs Legion 1000 points

The final chapter of the mini-campaign from Privateer Press' No Quarter no 9.

Description

Whether for vengeance or domination blood will flow freely today on the fields of battle. Two savage armies array against one another to determine the future of their people in the wars across Western Immoren.

Special Rules

Deep snow covers the battlefield (rough terrain and provides concealment, it does not block line of sight). Great, white flakes mingle with the battle cries in the sky overhead. Models suffer -1 on ranged and magic attack rolls when targeting models greater than 5" away.

Set Up

Players alternate placing four terrain features each that may be forest, hill, ice, or naturally occuring terrain features such as rock formations. No structures with an ARM value are used in "Scenario 5, Retribution".

A stand of trees was placed in the upper left hand corner of the table with a stony ruin placed beside it and slightly ahead. A small hill was right on the table edge in the centre of the table and a second stand of trees was in the upper right hand corner. More trees were placed in front of this stand and a large hill angled toward the lower right hand corner. This was mirrored by a second large hill and a set of trees in the lower left hand corner.

Beginning

The victorious player from "Scenario 4, Home Fires" chooses to take the first turn or the second turn. The first player gets his or her choice of table edge.

Victory Conditions

A player wins when his or her opponent's last warlock has been destroyed or removed from play.

Rewards

Fight Another Day: Their victories assure the winning faction's survival through the harsh winter to fight many great battles in the future.

Forces

Circle:

• Kaya the Wildborn
• Baldur the Stonecleaver
• Argus
• Argus
• Woldwatcher
• Woldwatcher
• Warpwolf
• Woldwarden
• Woldwarden
• 9 Wolves of Orboros + Huntsman
• 5 Tharn Ravagers + Beast Lord
• Shifting Stones
• Lord of the Feast
• Alten Ashley, Monster Hunter
• Totem Hunter
• Swamp Gobber Bellows Crew

Note: Circle receives an extra 50 points as a reward for winning the previous scenario "Home Fires".

Legion:

• Lylyth, Herald of Everblight
• Thagrosh, Prophet of Everblight
• Shredder
• Shredder
• Shredder
• Shredder
• Harrier
• Harrier
• Harrier
• Harrier
• Seraph
• Seraph
• Teraph
• Carnivean
• 8 Blighted Swordsmen + Vassal
• 4 Warmongers + Apostle
• Spawning Vessel + 6 Acolyths
• Forsaken
• Forsaken
• Swamp Gobber Bellows Crew

Note: The Warmongers chose to use Serric Steel (+1 on attack and damage rolls) the reward from Scenario 2: Raiders http://myantek.blogspot.com/2007/08/desperate-times-scenario-2-raiders.html.

Circle Set Up

I opted to take the first turn and so I got to set up first. I chose the hillier side of the table and started to deploy my force. On the left side of the table in the trees I placed the Swamp Gobbers and the Ravagers. The Totem Hunter was placed on the hill, Baldur was placed just at the base of the hill and both Woldwardens were in the valley between the two hills. Kaya was placed behind the second hill with the Warpwold and both Argus. Once Defenstrator finished setting up I placed both Woldwatchers on Baldur's hill with the Lord of the Feast behind Woldwatcher 2. The Shifting Stones and Alten Ashley were placed on the second hill.

Legion Set Up

Shredders 1, 2 and 3 were placed in the clear on Defenstrator's left with the Swordsmen behind them. The Teraph and Forsaken 1 were placed beside the Shredders. Behind this group were Harriers 1 and 2. The Carnivean was placed beside the Teraph and then Thagrosh was placed with the Warmongers beside him. Defenstrator carefully measured to ensure that his Swamp Gobbers were 3" behind the abominations that are the Warmongers. The Acolyths and the Spawning Vessel were stood beside the Warmongers with Seraph 1 and Shredder 4 behind them. Lylyth stood beside Seraph 1 and then Seraph 2, Harrier 3 and Harrier 4 were placed span nearly the entire length of the deployment zone.

Circle Turn 1

The Swamp Gobbers moved forward as best they could through the deep snow. The Ravagers had no problems with the rough terrain but did not want to outpace the army so simply moved forward as well.

Woldwatcher 1 took on its Stone Form, as did Woldwatcher 2 after moving forward. The Lord of the Feast ran behind the the Totem Hunter and thus beside Woldwatcher 1. Baldur moved onto the hill to get a better view of the field as the Woldwarchers moved forward.

The Warpwolf ran into the Shifting Stones and both Argus simply moved forward. Taking advatage of their Pathfinding abilities the Wolves ran forward through the snow. The Stones then telaported the Warpwolf in from of the Wolves. Kaya moved behind the Stones and chose to burn a Fury.

Legion Turn 1

The Warmongers began their slow plod across the field by running straight forward in an inverted "V" formation with the Swamp Gobbers running behind them maintaining a safe distance. The Acolyths moved forward dragging the Spawning Vessel with them. Running up beside them was the Teraph and the Carnivean. Forsaken 1 ran forward behind the Carnivean ready to remove any excess Fury the great beast might generate.

Shredders 1, 2 and 3 each went Rabid in turn and walked forward.

Thagrosh walked forward and cast Draconic Blessing on the Carnivean and Tenacity some of the Warmongers. Running forward into the the trees were Harriers 1 and 2 as the Swordsmen ran behind the Shredders.

On the other side of the table, Lylyth cast Slipstream and moved into the ruins. Pushed by the spell Seraph 2 landed on the surrounding wall of the ruins and shot at Woldwatcher 2 but was not within range. Seraph 1 moved forward to precariously perch on the edge of the ruins. Forsaken 2 ran forward to slip in behind Lylyth. Finally, Shredder 4 went Rabid and ran behind Lylyth as Harriers 3 and 4 moved beside the ruins.

Circle Turn 2

Kaya leached the 1 Fury generated by the Warpwolf's run.

Desperate to keep pace the Swamp Gobbers continued trying to run through the forest and deep snow. Woldwatcher 1 walked forward to shoot Seraph 2 but missed due to the falling snow. The Totem Hunter and Woldwatcher 2 walked across the hill attempting to close in on the ruins. A shot from Woldwatcher 2 on Seraph 2 also missed. The Lord of the Feast ran to join the Totem Hunter as Woldwarden 1 walked across the hill to cast Earth Spikes on Seraph 2 but was not in range.

Moving on to troop movement, the Wolves walked forward so as no to completely out distance the floundering warbeasts and the Ravagers ran along the hill drawing cover.

Baldur moved along the hill again and cast Stone Skin on himself.

Woldwarden 2 walked forward from the hill and attempted cast Spirit Fang on the Warmongers as it was out of Baldur's control range. Unfortunately, the range was on the short side. The Warpwolf ran to join Woldwarden 2.

On the hill top, Argus 1 walked into the ring of Stones and Argus 2 walked in front of them. The Stones then teleported Argus 1 behind Woldwarden 2.

Kaya walked in behind Alten Ashely and burned a point of Fury. Alten resisted the urge to cap the Warpwolf in the back of the head and continued to wait for the Legion to move within range.

Legion Turn 2

Lylyth and Thagrosh both leached to full Fury and chose to upkeep Draconic Blessing.

From the trees the Teraph aimed and shot at the Wolves, killing 3 of them. Harrier 1 gave itself True Strike and charged the Wolves killing another one and Harrier 2 did the same thing. At this point the Wolved were forced to make a command check that they easily passed as, for once, I placed the Huntsman far enough back in the unit to avoid getting killed.

The Warmongers ran forward and the Acolyths followed behind with the Spawning Vessel. The Swamp Gobbers moved forward and Fog Clouded three of the Warmongers as the Carnivean moved into the trees. Forsaken 1 moved in beside the Carnivean and pulled three Fury off the Teraph. Shredders 1, 2 and 3 went Rabid in turn to run through the trees.

Thagrosh moved forward, cast Death Shroud and burned 3 Fury.

The Swordsmen ran forward through the trees.

On the other side of the table Lylyth aimed and shot Woldwatcher 1 and, with boosted hits and damage rolls did a total of 8 points in two shots. Seraph 2 aimed at Woldwatcher 1 and boosted to hit, getting 2 extra shots for a total of 17 points of damage. Finally, Seraph 1 walked forward beside the Seraph 2 and also shot the Woldwatcher, getting 5 extra shots, and was able to destroy it. Baldur reaved the Fury left by the departing Woldwatcher. Forsaken 1 walked down the stairs of the ruins to remove 1 Fury from Seraph 2 as Shredder 4 walked forward to cast Tenacity on Seraph 2. Harriers 3 and 4 pulled back.

Circle Turn 3

Baldur and Kaya both leached to full Fury and chose not to upkeep any spells.

The remaining Wolves paired off to do battle with the Harriers. The first pair did 4 points of damage to Harrier 1 and the second pair (with the help of the Huntsman) did 11 points to Harrier 2.

Argus 2 moved down off the hill as Alten Ashley moved forward to shoot at Shredder 3. He missed. Damn snow.

Woldwarden 2 moved around the hill to Spirit Fang the Warmongers but they were out of range. Kaya then opened a Spirit Door near this construct and moved in behind it. She cast Cloak of Mists on herself.

Riling up to maximum Fury the Warpwolf moved closer to Argus 1 while Argus 2 ran behind Kaya. The Shiting Stones moved into position around Argus 2.

Woldwatcher 1 continued the fire fight on the other side of the table by shooting, and missing, Seraph 1. Woldwarden 1 cast Earth Spikes on the same Seraph and with a boosted damage roll manage to do 8 points. It also caught Seraph 2 in the area of effect for 2 points.

The Totem Hunter charged Seraph 2 calling upon Flying Steel for 2 additional attacks did 12 points of damage. He was attacking up the ruins so did not get the buckler attack.

The Ravagers moved toward Harriers 3 and 4 and Baldur moved behind his constructs to cast Earth Spikes on Seraph 2 in a big to finish the beast off. Unfortunately he missed. The Lord of the Feast moved behind Woldwatcher 1 and the Swamp Gobbers continued their useless run forward.

Legion Turn 3

Lylyth and Thagrosh both leach to full and Draconic Blessing was upkept.

The Teraph moved into the woods and shot the Warpwolf but missed. Thagrosh moved up into the trees, Healed Harrier 2 for 2 points and then cast Tenacity on the Teraph and Blight Shroud. After being healed Harrier 2 gave itself True Strike and attacked the Huntsman, killing him. With a second attack, a second Wolf was also killed. Harrier 1 gave itself True Strike as well and attacked another Wolf. It failed to do any damage with the first attak but killed him on the second. The Wolves were forced to make a command check and they failed.

Shredder 3 went Rabid and charged Argus 2 for 9 points of damage. Shredder 2 went Rabid and charged Alten Ashley and killed him while Shredder 1 went Rabid and charged Argus 2 for an additional 5 points.

Forsaken 1 moved up to take 1 Fury off the Teraph as the Warmongers continued their slow run up the field. The Acolyths moved in behind them still dragging the Spawning Vessel. The Swamp Gobbers moved forward and Fog Clouded the Warmongers and the Carnivean moved up behind the Warmongers as well.

On the other side of the table things were about to get very bad for the Ravagers. Harrier 3 and 4 gave themsleves True Strike and charged over several Ravagers into the Beast Lord, killing him. Lylyth pulled back a bit and began the Field of Slaughter. She shot at the Ravagers killing one and badly damaging a another (4 points). Seraph 2 moved in front of Lylyth and shot the Ravagers getting an 5 extra shots. It killed two of them. Shredder 4 went Rabid and charged a Ravager and killed him. One Ravager was left standing.

All that was left for Seraph 1 to do was to pull back and shoot the Totem Hunter to death.

Circle Turn 4

Kaya and Baldur leach to full Fury but are forced to leave a Fury on Woldwarden 1. The Wolves ran and 1 more was cut down by the Swordsmen.

The Swamp Gobbers ran forward. Soon they might actually be in range to do something other than being points I put on the table.

Woldwarden 1 cast Earth Spikes on Seraph 1 and killed it. Woldwarden 2 tried to follow that example on the Warmongers and killed one of them as well. In a bid of desperation, the Lord of the Feast sent Raven after Shredder 4. He missed.

Baldur moved in behind the Lord of the Feast and cast Stone Skin on himself and Earth Spikes on Harrier 3. He did 8 points of damage to the beast and caught Harrier 4 for 1 point. The remaining Ravager attacked Harrier 4 and missed. Woldwatcher 1 shot Harrier 3 and missed.

Argus 1 ran toward the hill as Argus 2 tried to attack Shredder 2. Boosting to hit it managed to miss twice. The Stones then telaported the beast between Woldwarden 2 and the Warpwolf. Kaya moved beside Argus 1 and cast Cloak of Mists on herself and opened a Spirit Door to bring the Warpwolf beside the ruins, effectively abandoning the right side of the field.

Legion Turn 4

Lylyth and Thagrosh both leach but were forced to leave some Fury on beasts. Thagrosh upkept Draconic Blessing and then the Frenzy checks began. Harrier 2, Shredder 1 and Harrier 4 all made and passed their Threashold checks.

Lylyth aimed and shot at Woldwarden 1 but only did 1 point of damage. She then chose to heal Harrier 3 for 1 point.

Shredder 4 went Rabid and charged at the Ravager doing 3 points of damage.

Seraph 2 aimed at Woldwarden 1 and with 6 extra shots did a total of 21 points of damage. Lightening the Fury load from this volley, Forsaken 2 took 1 point of Fury off this beast.

The last Ravager was then faced by Harrier 3 with True Strike and boosted damage. The attack was enough to kill him. Harrier 4 moved to engage Woldwarden 1 but missed with its attack.

Shredder 1 went Rabid and moved to attack Argus 2 but only did 1 point of damage. Shredder 2 did the same but managed to kill the Argus with its attack.

The Warmongers ran toward the Warpwolf and were able to engage with reach.

The Teraph moved forward to shoot at Woldwarden 2 and did 7 points of damage.

Shredder 3 and Harrier 1 concentrated on one of the Shifting Stones and managed to kill it removing my ability to use them as telaporters.

Moving forward and spraying at Woldwarden 2, the Carnivean managed to miss the Warmongers standing in front of the construct while still getting a boosted 6 points of damage. The Acoloyths continued dragging the Spawning Vessel forward and the Swamp Gobbers moved forward to Fog Cloud the Carnivean.

The Swordsmen ran behind Shredder 2 and Forsaken 1 ran towards Lylyth.

Thagrosh ended the turn by using his feat to return Seraph 1 to the table. He then cast Death Shroud, put Tenacity on the Teraph, himself and Seraph 1.

Circle Turn 5

Kaya leached to full Fury and Baldur had to cut himself for 1 Fury to get to full. The final Wolf runs off the table.

Woldwarden 1 moved closer to the wall of the ruins and then boosted to hit Harrier 4. With the chain attack it killed the beast Slamming it into Harrier 3 which was also killed. The Swamp Gobbers moved off the hill and placed a Fog Cloud on the construct. Woldwatcher 1 shot and missed Shredder 4 and then moved between the Swamp Gobbers and Woldwarden 1. Still trying to get into the action the Lord of the Feast moved between Woldwatcher 1 and Woldwarden 1. He then sent the Raven after Shredder 4 but missed.

As he should have been doing all along, Baldur cast Earth's Blessing on the Warpwolf and then moved beside the Swamp Gobbers. He cast Earth Spikes on Seraph 1, boosted but still missed. The beast was caught in the area of effect but no damage was done. He then put Broken Earth into play making sure that nothing would be moving closer to him in the next turn.

Argus 1 riled for 1 Fury and then ran toward the hill. The Warpwolf also riled and ran after warping for +2 ARM.

Woldwarden 2 cast Spirit Fang at the Carnivean for 8 points of damage. Kaya moved beside the wall and opened a Spirit Door to move construct to the hill just behind her. Using its animus she cast Undergrowth.

The Shifting Stones continued trying to catch up to the rest of the army by telaporting beside the hill.

Legion Turn 5

Thagrosh and Lylyth leached as much Fury as they were able, leaving Shredder 1 and Harrier 2 to make Frenzy checks. The Seraph failed and the Harrier passed. Thagrosh then paid the upkeep for Draconic Blessing.

The frenzied Shredder charged Harrier 2 and did three points of damage to it removing its Spirit and Mind spirals.

Seraph 1 aimed at Woldwatcher 1 and with 6 extra shots managed to destroy it. Lylyth aimed at Woldwarden 1 but her shot missed. Shen then put Tenacity on Forsaken 1, Seraph 1 and herself.

Shredder 4 moved back from the Circle forces and cast Tenacity on itself. Forsaken 1 moved into the ruins and the Warmongers ran around the ruins. Moving forward towards the ruins the Carnivean used its spray attack on Kaya. The 16 points of damage it did were transfered to Argus 1. It also did 5 points to the Warmongers who were unable to get out of the way before the attack. Running to get into position around the ruins the Acolyths left the Spawning Vessel where it was so that they could cover more ground. Harrier 1 ran toward Forsaken 2, Shredders 1 and 2 went Rabid and ran towards the hill and Seraph 2 ran in front of Lylyth. The Swamp Gobbers moved around the Spawning Vessel and once again put a Fog Cloud on the Carnivean. Thagrosh burned all his Fury and ran between the Acolyths and the Spawning Vessel.

Frustrated by their inability to actually enter the battle the Swordsmen turned on themselves and began attacking each other. Four died. Harrier 2 moved back into the trees, Forsaken 2 Blight Shrouded simply to rid itself of the Fury sitting on it and the Teraph ran in behind Thagrosh.

Circle Turn 6

Kaya and Baldur leached for full Fury and Baldur upkeeps Earth's Blessing.

The Lord of the Feast started the turn by making his first real move the entire game. He charged Shredder 4 and did 4 points of damage in the single hit he got this turn.

The Shifting Stones continued to try to play catch up by telaporting to the hill.

Woldwarden 1 cast Earth Spikes on Seraph 1 with a critical hit to knock both it and Lylyth to the ground. The spell did 10 points to the Seraph and 3 points to Lylyth. Woldwarden 2 followed up by casting Earth Spikes on the same Seraph, killing it and doing 3 points to Lylyth. Baldur moved into the trees and cast Earth Spikes on Seraph 2 getting a critical hit for knock down and doing 8 points of damage.

Argus 1 riled for 2 points and ran to engage Shredder 4.

Kaya opened a Spirit Door behind the Warpwolf and moved herself into the trees and then cast Cloak of Mists on the beast, negating Earth's Blessing.

Finally, the Swamp Gobbers moved up beside Argus 1 and placed a Fog Cloud on Woldwarden 1.

Legion Turn 6

Lylyth and Thagrosh reaved for full Fury and Thagrosh upkept Draconic Blessing. Several beasts were left with Fury so Threashold checks had to be made. Shredder 1 passed its test but Shredder 3 Frenzied and charged Shredder 2 doing 2 points of damage.

Shredder 2 went Eabid after weathering the charge of its fellow and charged Woldwarden 2 for 2 points of damage.

Still trying to get into the battle the Warmongers continued to run around the ruins. The Teraph ran towards the battle and Shredder 1 moved towards the trees.

Lylyth stood and shot at Baldur for a total of 8 points on two shots. Seraph 2 shot at missed the enemy warcaster. Forsaken 1 then moved beside the Seraph.

Harrier 1 ran to engage Woldwarden 1.

Shredder 4 went Rabid to engage the Lord of the Feast doing only 2 points of damage in two hits.

The Carnivean moved behind the Warmongers and once again sprayed Woldwardern 2. This time it missed both the Warmongers and Shredder 2 but did 5 points of damage to the construct causing it to lode its Body spiral.

The Acolyths continued to spread out around the ruins and Forsaken 2 ran toward Lylyth.

Thagrosh cast Death Shroud, healed Harrier 2 for 2 points and the Carnivean for 1 point and moved back beside the Teraph. Harrier 2 then ran toward the caster and the Swordsmen moved closer to the Acolyths and attacked each other. This time 3 Swordsmen died and their essences were put into the Spawning Vessel.

Circle Turn 7

Baldur and Kaya leached for full Fury but were forced to leave a Fury on Argus 1. The beast passed its threashold check due to Kaya's Calm ability.

The Lord of the Feast attacked and killed Shredder 4.

Moving along the back of the board the Shifting Stones telaported along the hill.

With Baldur's activation he cast Earth's Blessing on the Warpwolf, healed Woldwarden 1 for 1 point and healed Argus 1 for 2 points. Argus 1 could then move to engage Harrier 1 and kill it with boosted hit and damage rolls. Woldwarden 1 cast Earth Spikes on Forsaken 1 but missed due to the snow. The construct then riled for 2 points.

Woldwarden 2 attacked and killed Shredder 2.

Kaya opened a Spirit Door to bring Woldwarden 2 towards her and then cast Cloak of Mists on herself.

The Warpwolf warped to receive the +2 STR and Slammed into Seraph 2. The Sam did 8 points to the beast and a further 5 points to Forsaken 2 who was in its path.

The Swamp Gobbers moved up beside Argus 1 and placed a Fog Cloud on the Warpwolf.

Legion Turn 7

Lylyth reaved to full Fury and Thagrosh pulled in as much as he could and then called upon the Anthanc to top him off. Nothing was upkept and only Shredders 1 and 3 were required to make Frenzy checks. They both passed. Shredder 1 then chose to walk forward.

The Warmongers continued to move around the ruins but had finally come within range of some Circle models. They killed one Shifting Stone and did 2 points of damage to the other and did 7 points of damage to Woldwarden 1.

Lylyth shot Woldwarden 2 doing 5 points of damage. She then cast Eruption of Spines on the same construct to take advantage of Hellsinger's ability. The Spines killed the Swamp Gobbers, and did 4 points of damage to the Warpwolf but did nothing to Woldwarden 1, Kaya, Baldur of the Lord of the Feast. She then Bushwhacked to move back from the front lines.

Shredder 4 attacked the last Shifting Stone but did nothing.

Healing Seraph 1 for 2 points and the Carnivean for 2 points, Thagrosh used his activation to move closer to the ruins.

Serpah 1 stood up, riled for 2 points of Fury and then cast Slip Stream as it moved into the ruins. Forsaken 1 was the target of the Slip Stream and it was pushed forward and then walked closer to the Circle forces to Blight Shroud. Argus 1 and Woldwarden 1 were both killed by the blast, the Warpwolf suffered 10 points of damage and the Lord of the Feast remained unscathed. Forsaken 2 simply moved into the ruins and took the Fury off Seraph 1.

Harrier 1 attempted and failed to charge the Warpwolf and riled for 1 Fury. The Teraph moved and shot the same beast for 8 points.

The Carnivean moved up behind the Swamp Gobbers moved up the field and the Spawning Vessel was finally able to make a fifth Harrier. The Acolyths ran around the ruins. The Swamp Gobbers then ran behind the newly spawned Harrier 5. This beast then ran to engage the Warpwolf.

This is where we decided to end the game. Technically it was a draw because neither of us met the scenario objectives but we were unwilling to spend another night trying to slog through snow and ice to finish the game. Plus, we really needed to dismantle the table before the next day. This game took much longer than either of us were really expecting. So, by the scenario it was a draw and both forces will live to fight again, by Victory Points, Legion was a clear winner having won 19 VPs compared to my 9 (most of which were from Legion killing itself).

Afterword

Myantek - I did not like this scenario. And it isn't because I lost. Again.

Ok, I did make some very basic mistakes that I was kicking myself for when we took a break after turn 4. The Warpwolf should have been under Baldur's control range to take advantage of Earth's Blessing. Kaya was left with all the beasts that don't have pathfinder and my original plan to do the whole pincer thing flew out the window when I just couldn't move forward fast enough on that side. If I'd given her a Woldwatcher and a Woldwarden and just used the Argus as Fury batteries I might have done a little bit better. I should never have attempted to get into a fire fight with two Seraphs and Lylyth. They have Eyeless Sight, I don't so the penalties were just stacking up on my side and Defenstrator wasn't having the same problems. And if I am going to get into a fire fight remember that the Earth Spikes are an AOE attack and thus, even if I miss, have deflection and might catch something in the blast and I can boost that for damage too. I also should have just gone all out with Kaya at the end. We hadn't really planned when the game would end but at midnight of the second night of playing it was just too long. She didn't even use her feat which is just poor management on my part.

But yeah, the conditions for the scenario just made a long game longer and a hard game harder. Everything was just getting clogged in by the terrain and the slow movement of some key units and it was difficult to really get anything started. The snow fall gave everything on my side a -3 to hit but only a -1 to anything with Eyeless Sight. I really had trouble getting things where I wanted, and needed them, to be.

Defenstrator - I didn't like this scenario either. The special condition just seemed to suck the fun out of what could have been a great end game. My infantry just couldn't move. Watching the Warmongers stagger along 5 inches a turn was just painful, and they at least manged to engage the enemy. You know it's bad when most of a unit of Swordsmen is falling on their swords just to provide blood tokens in order to get a beast that can actually do something i.e. move.

While the Swordsmen and the Warmongers were exercises in frustration my beasts made me feel I was cheating. Getting a concealment bonus on everything as well as there being a minus one penalty on targets over five inchs away was just crazy when added to Legion's already high DEF. Seraphs at effective DEF 17? Harriers at DEF 18? Before Tenacity or Cloud effects? Yes please. And because of eyeless sight the penalty was pretty one sided. I could shoot her but she had a hard time shooting back. Without that bonus her flanking force with the Woldwatchers and Tharn would have steamed over the Serpahs and turned it into a whole different game. As it was between the snow and their placement on top of the ruined tower they were an almost unassailible firebase.

Kaya, the Wildborn

I finished Kaya this week, and with her done the original box set of my Circle forces is finished. Now I move on to the Wolves of Orborus.

Desperate Times Scenario 4 - Home Fires

Legion vs Circle 750 Points

Description

As winter deepens armies have returned to mountain holds with captured supplies and prepared their defenses to repel invaders. Invaders have encircled the homes of the dug in defenders who stand determined to inflict a heavy price in blood for every inch gained.

Special Rules and Set Up

The defending player places 4 structures on his side of the table before the start of the game. The buildings are the defender's holds and count as stone buildings with ARM 18 that can take 10 damage points per inch.

If an attacking model damages one of the structures comprising the defending player's holds the nearest model/unit in the defending army is filled with a desire for vengeance. The model/unit gains +1STR and +1 ARM for one round. A model/unit may only be affectedby this ability once per round.

Players alternate placing 3 additional forest, hill, deep snow, or ice terrain features each. These terrain features cannot be placed within 3" of the opponent's deployment zone.

Myantek set up the four buildings in her deployment zone. One on each flank in her deployment zone, another in the zone to the centre left, and the largest building centre right just outside her deployment zone. A large hill was set up on the right flank and on the edge of the Legion deployment zone. Forests were placed centre right directly in front of Myantek's largest building and to the back left in front of the Legion zone. Finaly a template with two small mounds was placed on the left flank.

Beginning

The defending player deploys first and takes the first turn.

Victory Conditions

The defending player wins if the attacker's warlock is destroyed or removed from play.

The attacking player wins if he destroys all 4 buildings comprising the defender's holds.

Rewards

Victory Spoils: If the attacking player wins scenario 4 that player gains an additional 50 points to spend in scenario 5

Cry of Vengeance: If the defending player wins scenario 4 that player's models gain +1 STR and +1 ARM for the first two rounds of scenario 5

Tactical Advantage: The victorious player choses whether to go first or second in scenario 5.

Forces

Circle:

• Kaya, the Wildborn
• Argus
• Argus
• Warpwolf
• Woldwatcher
• Woldwarden
• Lord of the Feast
• Totem Hunter
• 4 Tharn Ravagers + Beast Lord
• 9 Wolves of Orboros + Huntsman
• Shifting Stones

Legion:

• Lylyth, Herald of Everblight
• Carnivean
• Seraph
• Seraph
• Teraph
• Harrier
• Harrier
• 8 Blighted Swordsmen + Vassal
• Spawning Vessel and 6 Acolyths (proxied)
• 4 Warmongers + Apostle
• The Forsaken
• The Forsaken

Setup

Circle- Myantek set up Kaya in the table centre behind the large house. The Warpwolf and Argus 1 were set up on the left with Tharn Ravagers behind them. To the right were the Woldwarden, the Wolves of Oborus and then the Totem Hunter. The Shifting Stones were advance deployed just behind the centre house while the Lord of the Feast and Woldwatcher ended up being put in the forest in front of the centre house.

Legion- I (Defenstrator) put my Warmongers and Swordsmen on the far left in the only open ground on which they could approach. Proceeding right I placed my Teraph, Seraph 1, Harriers 1&2 behind Seraph 1. Forsaken 1 and Lylyth were in the centre opposite the woods and centre house, with the Carnivean, Forskaken 2 and Seraph 2 to the right. The Spawning Vessel was put right behind Lylyth.



Turn 1

Circle- The Totem Hunter ran to the Woldwatcher and Lord of the Feast. The Wolves moved to the right flank behind them while the Ravagers ran to the left flank. The Woldwarden moved up into the Shifting Stones. Kaya and the Warpwolf moved up beside him and Kaya cast Cloak of Mists on the Woldwarden. The Shifting Stones then teleported him into the woods beside the Woldwatcher. Argus 1 & 2 moved to the right side of the house to get to the open terrain.

Legion- The Warmongers ran. Harriers 1 & 2 flew over them and stopped in front. The Swordsmen and Seraph 1 ran up beside the Warmongers. Forsaken 1 then moved up and took the Fury off the panting Seraph. The Teraph moved up in front of the centre trees and dug in. Lylth moved up and shot at the Woldwatcher but it proved to be just short of range. The Carnivean rans over in front of her while Seraph 2 and Forsaken 2 moved up beside. The Spawning Vessel dragged itself 6" along.

Turn 2

Circle- Kaya reaved and dropped Cloak of Mists. The Woldwarden moved up and Spirit Fanged the Carnivean for 3 points of damage, enough to slow it right down and hurt it's DEF. The Woldwatcher followed up by Elemental Blasting the Carnivean for 8 more points. The Lord of the Feast edged forward, with the Totem Hunter running up beside him. The Wolves moved to the right side of the centre building behind the Lord of the Feast and Totem Hunter. Kaya then activated and cast Cloak of Mists on the Woldwatcher and Spirit Doored the Woldwarden back between the Shifting Stones. Argus 1 and 2 then moved up between the forest and the centre building. The Ravagers moved forward and spread out.

Legion- Lylth leeched but found Harrier 1 out of range. Fortunately it passed its Frenzy check. Lylth cast Slipstream on herself and Spiny Growth on the Carnivean. With all the targets in front of her having Stealth she then walked over to the Carnivean and Slipstreamed him up 2". The Carnivean then aimed and shot the Woldwarden for 7 points. Seraph 2 then moved up and finished the job with 6 extra shots, killing the Woldwatcher. The Teraph then walked forward and blasted Argus 1 through the trees, catching Argus 2 in the template. Argus 1 was hit for 8 and lost his Spirit while Argus 2 was hit for 7 points and lost his Body. Seraph 1 then sucked out and shot Argus 1 for a measily 2 points. Harrier 2 then moved in front of Seraph 1 to block charge lanes while Harrier 1 moved up behind it. The Swordsmen ran forward in a staggered screening formaton with the Warmongers moving up behind. Lastly the Spawning Vessel got dragged forward another 6" while the two Forsaken each drained 3 Fury off the two Seraphs.

Turn 3

Circle- Kaya leeched all. The Ravagers started the turn by charging the Swordsmen and killing 2, putting 2 tokens on the Spawning Vessel. The Woldwarden was then telepoted by the Shifting Stones in to the centre forest. The Woldwarden then Spirit Fanged the Carnivean again, but it is stopped due to Spiny Growth. Kaya then Spirit Doored the Woldwarden back to the Shifting Stones and healed each Argus for a point. Argus 2 then moved forward and kills another Swordsman. The Totem Hunter went for the big move and charged the Teraph. Getting two Flying Steel attacks it was his final bash with his shield that killed the Teraph. Two more tokens for the Spawning Vessel and Lylyth reaved the 3 Fury. The Lord of the Feast then charged Harrier 2 but was short. The Wolves then ran onto the hill on the far right while Argus 1 moved back to the Warpwolf, who in turn moved over a bit.

Legion - Lylyth leeched while Harrier 1 tested for Frenzy and passed again. The Swordsmen charged into Argus 2 and whacked him for 11 points. Seraph 1 then moved over and shot at the Lord of the Feast but missed. Lylyth then activated and started by using her feat. She was within 5" and shots at the Totem Hunter, missing. Myantek's relief is short lived however as the second shot promptly killed him, putting 2 more tokens on the Vessel. She then used her Bushwhack ability to move left to where much of the fighting was about to take place. Seraph 1 then unloaded on the Lord of the Feat but, due to bad damage rolls, merely plinked him for 4 points. The Carnivean used Dragons Breath on the Wolves on the hill killing two, one of which was the Huntsman. Without his leadership the Wolves failed the subsequent fear test from this Horrific Attack. The Spawning Vessel then moved up as the Acolyths reposition. The Warmongers then charged the Ravagers. Thanks to the cramped terrain and Lylths feat the Warmongers rampaged, but not in the manner expected. At the end of their activation they had killed two Ravagers, two Warmongers, and severly injured two other Warmongers. Ergh. Harrier 2 charged the Lord of the Feast but only did another point of damage. Forsaken 1 too a Fury off Seraph 1 while Forsaken 2 took 2 Fury off the Carnivean.

Turn 4

Circle- Kaya leeched while on the other side the Wolves retreated but managed to rally. The Ravagers again started things off by killing a Warmonger. The Lord of the Feast whacked the Spirit off Harrier 2. The Warpwolf then used his extra movement to charge out and kill the Warmonger Apostle leaving one Warmonger left. Kaya then moved forward into the Shifting Stones and healed Argus 2 for 2 points before Spirit Dooring the Warpwolf back beside her. Argus 2 then killed two more Swordsmen. The Shifting Stones again teleported the Woldwarden who managed to Spirit Fang the Carnivean for a point which was enough to stall him.

Legion- Harrier 1 and 2 both had to do Frenzy checks, but again everyone passed. Harrier 1 spent his remaining Fury point to charge the Lord of the Feast. He hit but bounced off with a paltry damage roll of 4. Forsaken 2 Blight Shrouded, mainly just to get rid of the Fury, and killed a Wolf of Orborus. Forsaken 1 then moved forward and Blight Shrouded, killing Argus 2. Seraph 2 then shot the Woldwarden doing 9 points of damage. Lylyth killed a Ravager and put Spiny Growth on herself. Then final Warmonger went Beserk and killed two Ravagers, including their leader, to put two more tokens on the Spawning Vessel. Seraph 1 then shot up the Woldwarden some more, blowing off his Mind. The Carnivean added some firepower and shipped off 3 more points of the Woldwarden with Dragons Breath then put Spiny Growth on himself. I finished off by forgetting to use the Spawning Vessel.

Turn 5

Circle- After Kaya leeched the last Ravager killed the last Warmonger, giving the Vessel 2 more tokens. It then got another token as Argus 1 killed a Swordsman. The Woldwarden managed to Spirit Fang the Carnivean for 6 points of damage even with Spiny Growth. The Wolves advanced and stabbed Seraph 1 for 4 points. Nearby the Lord of the Feast finished off Harrier 2. The Shifting Stones then teleported Kaya to Harrier 1. She whacked it with Splinter and got the Critical Knockdown, as well as destroying its Body.

Legion- Flat on his back Harrier 1 Frenzied and did nothing. The Carnivean Frenzied and stomped forward to kill 2 Wolves. The Spawning Vessel produced a Shredder which then activated and charged Argus 1, missing. The Swordsman on Argus 1 also missed. Seraph 2 shot at the Woldwarden but all bounced off. Seraph 1 shot at the clustered Wolves but only managed to kill 1. Lylyth activated last and shot at the last Ravager but couldn't manage to hit him. She then Bushwhacked away and put Tenacity on herself and both Seraphs. A pretty blah turn I have to say.

Turn 6

Circle- Kaya leeched and the last Ravager started things off by killing 2 Acolyths. Argus 1 followed up by killing the last Swordsman, but missed the Shredder. The Shredder's respite is short lived however as the Warpwolf lunged out again to kill it. The Lord of the Feast continued the trend by finishing off Harrier 1. Kaya moved left and Spirit Fanged and Acolyth. The Woldwarden Spirit Fanged the Carnivean yet again, doing 2 points of damage. The remaining Wolves got their act together and beat Seraph 2 for 8 points.

Legion- Lylyth leeched. Forsken 1 moved up and Blight Shrouded, killing the 4 remaining Wolves. Seraph 1 aimed and gunned down the Woldwarden with concentrated fire. The Spawning Vessel then produced a new Harrier, which then charged and killed the last Ravager. Lylyth moved in and got withing 5" of the Lord of the Feast. She easily pinchushioned the ancient monster and then healed the Carnivean's Spirit for 2 points. The Carnivean moved towards the centre of the table. Seraph 2 shot the Warpwolf through the forest template and did 6 points of damage to him. Forsaken 2 then transfered the Fury off Serpah 2.

Turn 7

Circle- Kaya leeched. Argus 1 charged and killed the new Harrier. The Warpwolf advanced in and killed 2 Acolyths, giving the Spawning Vessel 2 more tokens. Kaya circled around and Spirit Doored the Warpwolf to her, then healed Argus 1 for a point. The Shifting Stones ended the turn by teleporting in nearby her.

Legion- Lylyth leeched. The whole Legion army is now converging on the small cluster of Circle models on the left side of the table. Forsaken 2 moved up and Blight Shrouds but was just short of the Warpwolf. Lylyth hung behind him, shot at the Warpwolf and missed. The Carnivean Assaulted and shot through the centre trees. He destroyed a Shifting Stone and hurt the Warpwolf. Seraph 2 also moved in but is only able to hit the Warpwolf once. The Spawning Vessel then produced another Harrier which then charged Kaya, doing 12 points of damage to her. Forsaken 1 ran to put himself firmly in front of Lylyth.

Turn 8

Circle- Kaya leeched. The Warpwolf activated and charged Forsaken 2, killing him. Kaya then Spirit Doored beside him and with her reach is just in melee range of Lylyth. Kaya knocks Lylyth down with her second attack and uses her feat to keep beating on her. On her last attack she is able to cave Lylyths head in and the game is over.







Afterward

Defenstrator

Wow that was a long game. Right off the bat I decided to ignore my victory conditions of destroying the buildings. They were way too tough, had too many hit points, and I would have to fight through the Circle army to get to them. Much better, I decided, to simply kill all the Circle and then destroy the buildings at my leisure. I seemed on track to do that even with a couple of horrible turns that badly hurt me. Unfortunately in my eagerness to finish Kaya I forgot to be ultra paranoid about protecting Lylyth. That cost me the game as Kaya magiced in and gave Lylyth the beat down.

Myantek

It's all about patience. I was fairly certain that he was going to ignore the victory conditions of the scenario and just go for a straight caster kill. (Honestly, he told me that was what he was going to do before the game started.) So I really had to try and use the terrain to my advantage. The buildings are hard cover that Eyeless Sight can't just see through so I wanted to keep my heavy hitters behind them as much as I could. I could just wait for him to come to me so I didn't have to expose my forces to all that Seraph fire. The rest of the terrain I was hoping would funnel his non-pathfinding infantry to areas that I could get a better handle on them. If I'd been a little more agressive with the Wolves I might not have lost quite so many models. It was getting a little dicey for me when I was down to the Warpwolf and an Argus but I knew that Lylyth would have to get close enough at some point that I could Spirit Door in and just keep hitting her until she went down.

I did get lucky in a few places, (who knew that a Lord of the Feast could absorb that much fire power?) but I'm relieved that when we came to a scenario where the odds were in my favour that I actually managed to pull out a win.

Desperate Time Scenario 3 - Imperfect Ambush

Legion versus Circle 750 points

The third scenario in a campaign from Privateer Press' No Quarter No. 9.

Description

Scouts have discovered the depot at Spinepoint is attached to an outpost further up the slope used in warmer months to watch over traffic passing along the Dragon's Tongue River. The Cygnarans also temporarily abandoned this location due to harsh weather. The soldiers feared being trapped if the single, treacherous road should get buried in snow. The unusually heavy snowfall has collected in a precarious heap that could collapse at any moment.

Special Rules and Set Up

A hill was placed between 8"-10" in diameter in the centre of the table. Then a Gun Emplacement was placed in the centre of the hill. A warrior model in base to base contact with the Gun Emplacement's back arc may forfeit its action to fire, reload or change the facing of the Gun Emplacement. After rotating the Gun Emplacement the warrior that changed the facing is placed in base contact with the back arc. The RAT of the warrior firing the gun us used to resolve ranged attacks with the Gun Emplacement (RNG 16" ROF * AOE 4" POW 16). The Gun Emplacement cannot be harmed in any way.

Players alternated placing three terrain pieces each. Terrain could not be placed within 3" of a deployment area. The hill with the Gun Emplacement (a Mule stood in for this feature) had a rocky, impassable left side. Three impassable rocky hills surrounded the centre hill and the table was completed with the addition of three forests - two flanking the centre hill and the third in front of the rocky part of the hill.

Defenstrator chose the rockier side of the table leaving me with a forest and a rocky hill on my side of the centre line.

Beginning

The attacking player deployed first and took the first turn. Since he had won the previous scenario, Defenstrator was the attacking player and deployed his force as normal.

Victory Conditions

A player holds the Gun Emplacement by having one or more models of his or hers in base-to-base contact with the gun and no enemy models in base-to-base contact with the gun. A player scores one scenario point by holding the Gun Emplacement during his or her maintenance phase. The first player to score three scenario points wins the game. The scenario continues even if one warlock is destroyed or removed from play.

Rewards

Scouts: The victorious army routs its enemy and surveys the surrounding area before the next battle. During "Scenario 4, Home Fires". The winning player may place one additional terrain feature.

Tactical Advantage: Tally the victories for the first three scenarios of the Desperate Times mini-campaign. The player with the greater number of wins is the attacker in "Scenario 4, Home Fires".

Forces

Circle:

• Kaya, the Wildborn
• 9 Wolves of Orboros + Huntsman
• 4 Tharn Ravagers + Beast Lord
• Shifting Stones
• Argus
• Argus
• Woldwatcher
• Warpwolf
• Woldwarden
• Lord of the Feast
• Totem Hunter

Legion:

• Lylyth, Herald of Everblight
• 9 Blighted Swordsmen + Vassal
• Spawning Vessel and 6 Acolyths
• 4 Warmongers + Apostle
• Harrier
• Harrier
• Seraph
• Seraph
• Teraph
• Carnivean
• The Forsaken
• The Forsaken

Legion Set Up

Defenstrator set up his forces in essentially two ranks along the front edge of his deployment zone. In the first rank (from left to right) was Seraph 2, the Carnivean, Lylyth, the Swordsmen, Teraph and the Warmongers. Behind Seraph 2 and the Carnivean were Harrier 1 and Forsaken 1 and behind the Swordsmen were the Spawning Vessel, Harrier 2, Seraph 1 and Forsaken 2.

Circle Set Up

I was able to set up a single row along the front edge of my deployment zone so my line was a little easier to deal with. From left to right I had the Totem Hunter, Ravagers, Argus 2, Woldwarden, Kaya, Warpwolf, and the Wolves. Using the Advance Depolyment option I placed the Lord of the Feast in the forest by the objective, the Stones to the left of the rocky hill and the Woldwatcher to the right of the same hill.

The Battle

Legion Turn 1

Defenstrator had won the last game and as a result all his models would have +2" of movement for the first turn of this game. The Swordsmen used this advantage to run to the Gun Emplacement and start to surround it. Running beside them to give support were the Teraph and Harrier 2. Seraph 1 ran behind the Teraph and Forsaken 2 moved behind it to remove the Fury it collected on its run.

Lylyth cast Slipstream and then cast Taint on Seraph 2. She opted to burn the rest of her Fury before she moved up to the nearest rocky hill. The Carnivean was moved forward by the Slipstream and then charged the Woldwatcher. Since it was too far away only the Dragon Breath was in range. It boosted both the hit and damage rolls and did 5 points of damage. Serpah 2 moved behind the Carnivean and attempted to shoot the Woldwatcher but was out of range. It then riled for 1 Fury. Harrier 1 simply ran to join the Carnivean.

The Acolyths ran towards the Swordsmen on the hill in a snaking line to maintain coherency with the Spawning Vessel which also moved forward. The Warmongers ran up the right flank towards the trees.

Circle Turn 1

The Woldwarden moved forward into the Stones and attempted to cast Spirit Fang on Harrier 2 but missed. The Totem Hunter and Ravagers walked to join the Lord of the Feast in the forest as the Wolves moved up the opposite flank. Argus 1 walked up behind the forest to join them.

The Woldwatcher shot the Carnivean but even with boosted hit and damage rolls did no damage. The Warpwolf warped to give itself +2 ARM and then moved behind the large rocky hill behind the Woldwatcher. Kaya moved up behind them and cast Cloak of Mists on the Woldwarden and burned 2 points of Fury. Argus 2 walked up to join Kaya and the Warpwolf.

The Stones and the Lord of the Feast both did nothing this turn.

Legion Turn 2

Legion received 1 Scenario Point for holding the Gun Emplacement this turn.

Lylyth leached as much Fury as she was able but had to leave some on Harrier 2 due to it being out of her control range. Luckily it didn't frenzy. She chose not to upkeep Taint.

The Swordsmen began the turn by continuing to surround the Gun emplacement. Those at the back loaded it, changed its facing and shot the Stones destroying one.

Lylyth moved onto the hill and initated Field of Slaughter. She shot the Woldwatcher with Hellsinger and with a boosted damage roll did 5 points. Eruption of Spines followed for an additional 2 points on the Woldwatcher but did no damage to the nearby Warpwolf.

Harrier 1 cast True Strike and charged Argus 1 but did no damage.

Seraph 2 cast Slipstream and moved beside the Carnivean and then shot the Woldwatcher. With a boost to hit the first time and rolling 6 extra shots the Woldwatcher was destroyed. The Slipstreamed Carnivean was now in front of the Seraph and had a clear path to charge the Warpwolf. With a miss on the charge attack it only managed to do 20 points of damage so the Warpwolf would survive. Forsaken 1 moved beside Lylyth and took 3 Fury off Seraph 2.

Harrier 2 simply moved forward.

The Teraph shot the Ravagers and boosted damage. It managed to do 3 points to one of them and, because the models were so close, also damaged the Lord of the Feast for 4 points and a second Ravager for 2 points. Seraph 1 then flew over the Teraph to shoot at the Ravagers as well. With 5 extra shots it managed to kill two of them. Forsaken 2 moved up to take 3 Fury off the Teraph.

The Warmongers charged the Totem Hunter, using their reach to engage it in the trees. Two attacks and they killed it with a Berserk Warmonger whacking one of his fellows for 4 points of damage. The next Warmonger also reached into the trees and killed the Lord of the Feast and missed his fellow.

The Acolyths moved in front of Lylyth and the Spawning Vessel continued its slow movement up the field.

Circle Turn 2

Kaya leached all the Fury available to her and chose not to upkeep Cloak of Mists.

With the front two dead the Ravagers were able to charge the Warmongers and killed 3 of them with leaving a Heart Token on one of their number.

The Woldwarden charged Seraph 1 and missed with both attacks.

Argus 1 attacked Harrier 1 and also missed with both of its attacks. Not exactly the start to the turn that I was looking for. The Wolves abandoned their plan of getting around Seraph 2 to turn and move to attack Harrier 1. With their Combined Melee Attack they were able to kill the Harrier.

Argus 2 moved to engage the Carnivean and in an extreme effort reared back and double Head Butted the heavy. With a boost to hit the Carivean was knocked down.

Kaya cast Spirit Door to bring the Woldwarden behind her and away from Seraph 1 and then used the rest of her Fury to heal the Warpwolf of 3 points of damage.

The Warpwolf warped to give itself +2 STR and laid into the Carnivean. The knocked down beast was easily dispatched between the automatic hits and Chain Ripper. The inclusion of Argus 2 in the fight gave the Warpwolf +1 on every hit because of Kaya's Pack Hunters ability.

The two remaining Stones surrounded Harrier 2.

Legion Turn 3

Legion received it's second scenario point for holding the Gun Emplacement. Lylyth leached Fury and then Serpah 1 and Harrier 2 made their Threashold checks and did not frenzy.

The Acolyths moved forward again, snaking over the hill and forming a wall in front of Lylyth.

Forsaken 1 cast Blight Shroud with 4 Fury and killed the Warpwolf.

Seraph 1 shot at the Ravagers and got 6 extra shots killing the leader and one other.

The Teraph charged the Stones and destroyed one. Harrier 2 then charged the Woldwarden and did 1 point of damage.

The Warmongers killed the last of the Ravagers and then turned and killed the final Warmonger leaving only the leader of that group.

Lylyth moved forward and shot Argus 1 for an awesome 10 points of damage. The following Eruption of Spines killed the Argus and 4 Wolves.

The Swordsmen once again loaded the gun and this time shot at the final Stone doing 2 points of damage.

Seraph 2 shot Argus 2 and got 5 extra shots. Luckily for me only the first two hit for 7 damage points.

Forsaken 2 moved up and removed 2 Fury off Seraph 1.

Circle Turn 3

There wasn't much hope left for me in this scenario. In one more turn the Legion would have secured enough points that the conditions would be won so I decided to at least try to make it a game rather than a run away victory.

Kaya leached to full Fury but was forced to leave one on the Woldwarden. The Woldwarden attacked Harrier 2 and did 10 points of damage in the one hit that connected.

Argus 2 walked up to Seraph 2 and also did 10 points of damage in one hit. Kaya opened a Spirit Door just beyond Argus 2 which just allowed her to squeeze past the Acolyths and engage Lylyth. Boosting to hit she managed the caster kill in 2 blows and then called upon Wild Mastery. She attacked Forsaken 1 and killed it and then turned to Seraph 2 but only managed to do 1 point. The remaining Wolves combined attacks on Seraph 2 but only managed 2 points.

Finally, in a move that shocked Defenstrator, the final Stone telaported into base-to-base contact with the Gun Emplacement contesting the final scenario point.

Legion Turn 4

All the beasts turned tail and fled towards the nearest table edge.

The remaining Warmonger Apostle ran toward the centre hill and Forsaken 2 boosted to destroy the final Stone.

The Acolyths attacked the Wolves, Argus 2 and Kaya but all missed except one who did 4 points of damage to Kaya. The Spawning Vessel produced a Harrier, which moved up to block access to the field gun.

The Swordsmen loaded and changed the facing of the gun to shoot at the Wolves. With the 4" area of effect 5 Wolves were killed and 1 point of damage was done to Argus 2. The final Wolf ran and was cut down by an Acolyth.

Circle Turn 4

There was no Fury for Kaya to leach so the turn began with the Woldwarden moving to attack the final Warmonger. Although it did 8 points of damage in the first hit the second did nothing and the Chain Attack of Druid's Wrath missed.

Argus 2 attacked the Acolyths, killing two of them and then riled for a final point of Fury. Kaya also attacked the Acoloyths but did nothing.

Legion Turn 5

Legion won on scenario points for holding the Gun Emplacement.

Final Thoughts

Myantek: The best that I can say about that is that I managed to turn it into a game for a turn at least. I think I got the hang of the balance between offensive/defensive that Circle needs to play to win games and if I'd had a little more time (or a little better luck with at least the Woldwarden) then I might have been able to pull it around.

I knew that he was going to be on the objective fast one way or the other so there was no point in trying to take it until I had whitled down his beasts a little. With the Forsaken pulling Fury off it was a bad idea to get too close too fast, even with troops because when one of them decides to blow then it's good-bye to any models that are too close.

I keep making the error of attempting to use the trees as a means of protection for my models. So very little in Legion is actually affected by terrain that it's really much simpler to envision your side of the battlefield as a blank slate. As usual, it was the errors in placement that lost me models right at the beginning. Had the Woldwatcher been a little bit further behind the rocky hill then I might have been able to do something with him. Same for the Totem Hunter in the forest. It's the first time I'd fielded him and was looking forward to finding out what he could do, instead, he died before I did anything more than move him forward.

In this particular campaign I'm finding the take and hold scenarios have been killer. Circle has a much stronger end game than it has a front game and by the time we get to the point that I can really get in and get going the game's nearly over due to victory conditions.

In my mind I won a victory. I killed Lylyth and caused all the beasts to run. That's usually enough. I did better than the last few games I've played. I still lost but I think I may be getting close to turning things around.

Defenstrator: Well I can't deny that she scared me. It looked like the game was firmly in the bag when all of a sudden my warlock was dead and the point contested. I had horrible visions of Kaya and her remaining beasts whittling my remaining forces down and then just standing by the gun on top of a heap of corpses. Fortunately my Swordsmen came though with the gun to blow away the Wolves and any chance that she would be able to kill enough models in time to stop me.

As usual going first in the scenario was a big advantage. I'm not sure if the extra 2" to movement reward from the previous scenario was really needed. I was up the field and on the objective so fast it was tough for Myantek to break through and take it back. What did cause me problems was Lylyth's small control area and my lack of pathfinding models. With the trees on the flanks I was pretty much trapped in the centre of the board. Fortunately I had enough shooting that I was able to make a bit of a firebase on the top of the hill and punish the approaching Circle models.