The scenario was Battle for the Pass, which, due to the fact we were playing on a 4x4 table, essentially meant playing Border War. This was totally ok with me, as I hadn't actually played Border War that many times, so the game was still fresh. In trend with the new scenarios, units of 20 or more take precedence when claiming objectives, which was great for me.
My deployment was fairly similar to Game One with the exception of making sure that I actually had somewhere advantageous to place my Verminlord. My Catapults held down the two back corners to make sure no Stormcast units dropped in to gain a foothold in my territory. In contrast to Game One, I actually had a really valuable objective to defend in my half of the table, so I wasn't about to just hand my opponent an opportunity to sneak a 4-pointer.
My opponent deployed a Lord-Castelant, a Lord Relictor and two Fulminators on his objective, keeping 10 Retributors, 10 Liberators, two units of 5 Liberators and a Celestant Prime in the sky to drop in and cause havoc. Knowing that I had very few viable targets for shooting, and that I could snatch objectives off the enemy with my big units, I chose to give turn one to my opponent.
In true Stormcast fashion, a massive unit of Retributors materialised, intent on shattering my right flank, while five Liberators dropped onto the right hand objective. The Fulminators who started on the board moved onto the the left hand objective, claiming five points in the first turn. The Retributors weren't satisfied with that, and attempted to charge both the Plagueclaw and the Plague Priest hiding in the woods, but Bale-chimes (musicians who emit a 12" -1 to Runs and Charges of enemies aura) in the nearby unit of Monks proved their worth, neutering the charge potential and ultimately preventing the Retributors from reaching combat. This failed charge absolutely saved my bacon. Losing those elements so early in the game would have been catastrophic.
Having made it through my opponent's first turn completely unscathed, my army launched into action, orchestrating a perfectly executed series of prayers and buffs. The Priest in the woods bumbled through his Prayer and mortally wounded himself, but was within 13" of the Retributors and cursed them with his Plague Tome. This gave me re-rolls To Wound against them. The nearby unit of Plague Monks had Rabid Fever and the +1 Attack Command Ability on them, while a Mystic Shield was placed upon the Furnace and Rabid Fever was cast upon the forty-strong Monk unit bubble-wrapping my objective. My shooting achieved very little, killing a single Retributor. The furnace also managed to trigger the Neverblight, adding 1 to all Prayer attempts, and negating the possibility of my priests hurting themselves.
On my left flank, my other twenty-strong unit pushed up onto the objective, clawing it away from the Fulminators, while the Verminlord charged into the Fulminators to pin them in place and stop them from getting their truly destructive charge against anything. Unsurprisingly, I inflicted next to no damage to them!
The real conflict was on the right flank, however. The furnace made a successful charge, which put some serious hurt on them. But the real highlight was a successful charge from the monks. Thanks to a re-roll from the Furnace as part of the Congregation of Filth, the monks made it well and truly into combat, and politely explained to the Retributors that it was time to get shanked...
In a combat phase that left the entire player pool stunned, the monks absolutely blended the Retributors, killing five outright, only losing five of their own (who in turn piled in and exploded, kiling two more), and claiming objective for having more models within 6" of the objective! Battleshock cleared out the ragged survivors of the Retributors, and the Furnace suffered four wounds in exchange for three Liberators. The flank was well and truly mine! This was a huge psychological advantage for me, as I was really concerned about the Retributor unit, and my opponent had a lot leaning on their performance!
On the other side of the table, I quickly learnt that Fulminators do not need the charge to kick teeth down throats. My Verminlord suffered ten wounds, somehow escaping its demise with some truly ridiculous save rolls.
My opponent took the next player turn, and in a brilliant move, killed my barely-standing Corruptor with their thunderous shooting attacks, then charged into the nearby monks, obliterating them to a man, but not making it out unscathed. A single Fulminator held the objective with a single wound!
The Liberators embroiled in the fumes of the Furnace were reinforced by a second unit of five Liberators, which was fortunate, as the first unit had but a single model on a single wound! Also in this photo, you'll notice that my Monks from last turn that killed the Retributors is no longer on the table. There is a very good reason for this. The Celestant Prime also arrived this turn, hitting the battlefield like a comet, and going to work. His AOE mortal wound blast rolled a 1 for its radius, which was catastrophic, as he had dropped it between the Furnace and the Monks and any result other than a 1 would have resulted in significant damage to both. He then used his dice modification ability to guarantee his charge into the Monk unit. He absolutely obliterated them in the combat phase (no surprise to anyone), but simply wasn't prepared for the Rabid Fever and sheer damage output of the monk in their death throes, still fully buffed from my last hero phase. The Prime is brutal, but against the mortal wounds and volume of saves he was required to take, he simply couldn't survive the odds! This was the second huge blow to my opponent, as the one unit of monks had successfully slaughtered both of his main offensive pieces.
A this point of the game, I started to tear away with the points scoring. The unit of Plague Monks unclasped their Book of Woes, clipping a wound off the Liberators near the furnace, and more importantly, killing the last Dracoth. My catapults leant their weight to the Furnace, trimming wounds off where they could, while the foul stench of the Furnace's aura also took its toll. The Furnace also managed to bless itself with Filth, and in the process, manifested the Undulant Scourge, killing two Liberators! On the left, now that the objective was wide open, my Priest made a dash for it and took up residence on it, hopefully claiming it for the rest of the game. My large unit of Monks spread out as much as they could, as I was painfully aware of the fact that there was still a 10-man unit of Liberators in the sky.
The Furnace now held the right-hand objective, as the last remaining Liberator was a hairs-width outside of 6" of the objective to contest, further pushing me ahead on the scoreboard. Running out of bodies, and facing a daunting points margin on the scoreboard, my opponent started the last turn of the game with the sole intention of claiming as many VP's as he could (for which there were significant rewards at the event). His 10 Liberators finally came down behind the ruins in front of my Furnace, but failed their charge, as did his Lord-Castelant, who finally left his woods to smite down the pretentious Priest currently holding the left objective but he failed his 7" charge.
In the dying moments of the game, I followed suit and also attempted to claim some last minute Victory Points. The last remaining Liberator in combat with the Furnace fell to his knees, coughing and spluttering as the noxious fumes filled his lungs. His demise came at the hands (?) of the Great Censor, whose impact saw Sigmar's finest launching into the nearby Dias, shattering the golden warrior against the ancient masonry.
The opportunistic Priest on my left middle objective took the opportunity to cast Pestilent Breath, managing to clip both the Castelent and the Relictor! To top it off, he manifested the Bubonic Blightplague, which outright killed the Castelant and caused another two wounds to the Relictor! Huzzah!
This was my first win with Clan Pestilens, and I was much happier with my performance after the defeat in game one. I think I was much more aware of unit placement, planning a turn ahead for prayers, and elements supporting each other. I don't think anyone was expecting the absolute blinding carnage inflicted by twenty humble Monks as they rampaged through 10 Retributors and a Prime! 780 points killed by a 140 point battle line unit… not too shabby at all!
I wish I could take full credit for the win, however. Luck did not favour my opponent. His units arrived piecemeal, and there were several crucial charges that he failed, allowing me to dictate the flow and pace of the battle. He was a great sport, though, and I'd gladly play him again!
Game Three will be published in the coming days. Until then, thanks for reading.
Gabe
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