#68: My Cold, Dead Hands...

I am really excited for my upcoming Death army! They have such strong aesthetics, the current range of models are exceptional, and I think Death has more army-wide synergy and combo potentials than any of the other three! The secret is unlocking them!

I've honestly never tackled Vampire Counts or Tomb Kings before Sigmar. Vampire Counts felt like there was only one way to play them, while Tomb Kings suffered from many crippling drawbacks, not the least of which being if your horrifically fragile Heirophant died (usually to rune-etched Dwarf cannonballs), it was basically game over. 

Not that I can really use that excuse. I was, at the time, playing Beastmen which were arguably as bad! 

So when I pondered my options for a new army for 2017, there were three real contenders. Ironjaws, with their plate-armoured wall of infantry and the infamous toad-dragons. Nurgle Rotbringers, with a disgustingly low model count of Blight Kings and a heavy focus on Characters riding virulent monstrosities. Or Death, in its entirety, complete with masses of infantry, several cavalry options, and a menagerie of monsters and constructs that loom over the battlefield. 

A handful of players in the local scene already played Ironjaws, and all of them centred around the Ironfist Warscroll (who can really blame them), which meant I'd be running a similar kind of army as everyone else... Because I would also be succumbing to the lure of the Ironfist (who can really blame me?).

So Ironjaws got scratched. 

Rotbringers were written off for a different reason entirely. Mostly because I felt they lacked range and that I would get distracted from them far too easily! To do a true-to-the-cause Rotbringer force, I was spoilt for choice with characters, both named and generic, but with Blight Kings as my only real unit (Battleline or otherwise), I felt that it would get stale for me very quickly. That's not to say that they are bad models; in fact, they are fantastic. But with an attention span as deficient as mine, it wouldn't take long for me to meander away from an army that revolves around a single kit. I know my flaws, and I can recognise the warning signs!

This made Death an easy decision. Currently, it is by far the smallest and least represented of the Grand Alliances, but here in lies it's beauty. I didn't feel as if I had to pick a sub-faction in order to keep a unified theme. 

While Order for example, is much bigger, and has had several sub factions fleshed out to complete stand-alone armies, it has a lot of sub-factions that borderline on redundant. Stormcast Eternals, Sylvaneth and even Fyreslayers have complete ranges (although it still feels like we're getting a brand new Stormcast character every couple of months), while many other forces (High Elves, Dark Elves and Empire spring to mind) have each been split into several branches that are almost too small to sustain an army themed around them (until GW shows them some love of course!). And I do love a strong cohesive theme, especially on armies as big as the one I'm planning! While I love all of Order's models (and I'm picking Order as an example, not as a target), the grand alliance contains factions so diverse in appearance that I don't know how I could make it into a single cohesive army.

Not so with Death! Literally every sub faction in Death is useful and cohesive with the next. Keywords are abundant and synergies stretch across the entire Grand Alliance! Not only that, but the Death Grand Alliance is currently small enough that tackling it as a single army does not feel unrealistic! Not only that, but every model looks like a natural fit to the eye. The whole Vampire Counts range is just amazing, and really plays on that Victorian Horror theme! Tomb Kings obviously have a strong Egyptian theme, which looks altogether out of place next to VC's but I have a solution! More on that later, though...

Death will be my main army for '17, and I'm keen to try out different units and combos. The options are expansive! But you gotta start somewhere, so I decided to open my foray into Death with Deathrattle. 

This was an easy choice. Skeleton Warriors are generic Battleline, meaning that no matter what kind of army I was building, they could help reach the obligatory requirements if needed. The Wight King offered me with a fantastic (and let's be honest, pretty darn powerful) Hero to lead the first stage of the horde. With Battleline and Hero requirements within easy reach, I was also supplied with faster support in the form of Black Knights and the sheer, horrific damage output potential that can be found in Grave Guard. 

As I researched further, it just so happened that Deathrattle even have their own Warscroll battalion that nearly bundles everything together and gives it some handy bonuses! With that in mind, I punched out a 1000pt list to work toward! And here it is...

Deathrattle Horde Warscroll Battalion (80)

Wight King (120)

20 Skeleton Warriors (160)

10 Skeleton Warriors (80)

10 Skeleton Warriors (80)

20 Grave Guard (320)

5 Black Knights (120)

Eventually, I'll fill all three units of skeletons to twenty and add another five Black Knights (for the OCD in me), but this formation will be the foundation upon which my whole army will be built! But I want to have the 1000 points painted by the Blog's birthday in January. 

Not so hard, right? It probably wouldn't be until I realised how intricate and detailed even the most basic infantry is!

First off the bat was, of course, my fearless leader, the Wight King!

Well, I wanted this army to catch people's eyes and pop on the table, and I'm happy with where my pallet landed. The worn, rusty armour and dark cloth of the model are offset by the pale bones, and of course, the flashes of pink that are designed to contrast starkly on the table! Not to mention, pink armies are few and far between, and I'm hoping this gives it a unique look!

After finishing my hero and settling on colours, I got stuck straight into the masses of infantry on my painting desk, the first of which were half the unit of Grave Guard. I'm really happy with how the colours looked on a full unit, as it can sometimes be hard to visualise how it will appear after only painting a single model. 

It's a long process painting the Death infantry, but hopefully I can slog my way through it! I better; there's plenty more to do. 

After I finish this formation, I'm going to pick another subfaction to give attention to, and hopefully build my army in large chunks that way, though I'm not opposed to picking and choosing random units that catch my eye or to break up the monotony of painting bones. The key is to keep it fun! 

Flesh Eater Courts will make an appearance at some point, as will Nighthaunt and Deadwalkers. These two factions could have some fantastic work done on them I feel, similar to the love that FEC received. Both are iconic to the Death faction, with the spirits and ghosts of Nighthaunt floating across the battlefield (oh, for a new Black Coach model!), while it would be great to see Deadwalkers get some new models in the form of perhaps some monstrous infantry (zombie ogres?) or perhaps even a Zombie Giant! Wishful thinking I know, but wait! I'll fill you in on one of the elements of this project that most excites me! 

Conversions!

With the Tomb King range gone, and the Egyptian theme not matching anyway, this opens the door to many potential hobby projects, not the least of which are Ogres and a Giant being converted and 'zombified' to represent Ushabti and a Bone Giant respectively! This allows me to continue using these out of production units, while still fitting the theme and looking the part! I also have some plans for Necropolis Knights and a Casket of Souls that will fit seamlessly into the force! 

All in all, I'm very pleased with how this project has launched! It's humble beginnings, but I feel that if I can remained focused (and I am determined to do so), that it won't be long before I'm adding some of the titanic models in the Death range to my own army! Yes, Nagash, you...

Cheers for reading, and for coming on this journey with me!

Gabe

#67: The Road Ahead...

Today, I want to look back as well as looking forward. 

This year has been a big one, both in hobby and in life. In hobby, I painted a Tau army, a Bloodbound army, and made some considerable additions to my Salamander Legion. Throughout the year, I also added models to projects here and there, as well as a few new projects that never really got off the ground (Tyranids, I'm looking at you...), as well as repaint ing elements of my Grey Knights. 

In life, I changed jobs, became a dad, and rediscovered a lot of great things that I used to enjoy as a young chap. So yeah...

You could say it's been a big year on all fronts. But this post is not about all fronts. It's about this here blog!

I want to chuck out a few shout outs before we carry on to thank a few people. Al and Blake, two Games Workshop store managers from my city,  have been constant supports of the blog and my endeavours. You're both enablers of my spontaneous hobby projects, and you've revitalised the Toruament scene for me through your series of events focused on celebrating the great aspects of the game!

There are several other people who I'm going to send messages to in the next couple of days, who have been steadfast supporters! 

The reason that I'm getting all sentimental is because the Rune Axe has its second birthday in January! There'll be some special stuff coming up to celebrate! I'll be doing a bit of a give away, too, to show some love back to you, the readers!

As with every new year, and accompanying resolutions, I have two. I know, right? A bit early to be doing resolutions, isn't it? Perhaps. But wait, it will all make sense soon!

My biggest weakness (but definitely not my only one) in my hobby is a minuscule attention span, to the point where it can be difficult to finish a project before starting two more!

So my goal for the first six months of 2016 is to work on two main projects! 

Despite my love of Chaos, my Age of Sigmar focus will this year be aimed almost (disclaimer for future distractions) exclusively at the Death Grand Alliance. I'm kicking things off with a large contingent of Deathrattle, and a heavy focus on creating a unique force of Death to spread their cold grasp amongst the realms!

My second project that will be getting attention is none other than my 40k Word Bearers, who are getting dragging out of suspended animation (a.k.a. My shed) to once more launch crusades across the galaxy in the name of Chaos. Unsurprising, this was inspired by the recent announcement that not only are Thousand Sons getting all the love they deserve and more, but that Chaos Legions are getting a codex supplemen, doubtless full of delicious goodies and new tools of war that are hazardous to people's health! I've had a large Chaos Marime army for a long time and I feel now is their moment! Let's go big!

So they're going to be my main armies (for now) for next year! 

Other big announcements. I'm finally going to be moving toward some video content with elements of my blog changing from written word to film! This has been something I've talked about for some time and have dabbled in behind the scenes, but I feel it is the natural next step in growing this media platform that we all share here!

To do that, I need you! Id love to get you involved, whether it be an army showcase, a narrative campaign or a straight-down-the-line battle report. If you have a fully painted force, get in touch! Next year is going to be the year of community, where this blog is less about me and more about us.

Because at the end of the day, this game is about community and relationships and coming together to celebrate a common interest with other like-minded people!

I know this has been a bit rambling, but what I want to really convey to you is that I appreciate your support, and the future holds bigger and better things! 

Wow, I condensed pretty much the whole post into one sentence! 

Next week, I'm going to be showing you the fledgling start of my Death army! I can't wait! Thanks for reading, guys and gals!

Gabe

#66: Age of Sigmar Battle Report - Hunters of Khorne VS. Harbingers of Decay

After game two, which ended with my Great Unclean One's corpse face down in a ditch, I was ready for some redemption! And when the draw was read out, I found myself staring down an imposing (and very fast) Khorne army, captained by one of the gentlemen who regularly visited the store. This game was going to be a laugh! Both of us knew that, as the field sat, we were unlikely to hit podium grounds, so we both went into this game with nothing to lose. 

This is a view of what I was staring down! Hounds, a Daemon Prince, more Hounds, three Skull Cannons, a Bloodthirster...

...more Hounds and Skulltaker!

The scenario was Gift from the Heavens, where at the start of turn two, a meteorite lands somewhere in each player's deployment zone and each turn, whoever controls the meteorite gains points! 

I went first and advanced very, very cautiously.

I didn't mind getting to grips with the enemy, but both my opponent and I were vividly aware that we really didn't know where our objectives would land, and therefore were hesitant to commit large portions of our armies to prolonged combat!

Unsurprisingly, my opponent did the same, resisting the urge to attempt the long charges that my movement had offered. 

Cannonballs started flying, and while my Great Unclean One remained relatively und amazed, the Herald responsible for keeping the Beasts under control caught one straight to the face, only just saving a single wound. Lucky! I was going to need  his help in the ensuing struggle. 

Meteorites started raining! My enemy's objective lagged behind his Daemon Prince, leaving my Beasts with one job and one job alone; kill everything in their way to claim that objective! Things, however, did not start well; the Herald and left unit of Beasts failed 6" and 5" charges respectively, leaving the right unit to slog it out on their own! Far from ideal, but if there's one element of the army that I can trust to deliver, it's the Beasts. They've proven this again and again. 

My meteorite (as represented by a Nurgling base at bottom of picture) landed right at Epidemus' feet! Perfect! He is almost always on a position of being protected as it is, so there was double the incentive to keep him safe! Plaguebearers made a string across the front of terrain in order to screen my objective, while the Drones and Soul Grinder advanced quite aggressively, opting for a offensive defence; take the fight to my enemy and keep them far away from where they needed to be! Shooting did very little, but I managed to put down two Hounds. Every little bit helps!

With some frankly ridiculous charge rolls, my central battle line hit the unit of Hounds with considerable force, pinning the middle battle in place. I was confident I had the numbers to overwhelm him, but last game taught me numbers don't always save you...

Both charges were successful on the right flank, as both units slammed into the hounds. These were currently the biggest threat to Epidemus, so the sooner I could be rid of them, the better!

The Beasts, being out of range of their Herald, didn't have the impact I was hoping for, but they made up for it by taking zero damage from the furious dogs!

The right flank put work in and killed a few more dogs, while in the middle...

The GUO and company made quick work of several hounds, while losing only a few in return. 

Straight out of the gate, the counter charge was feirce! Karanak, two Skull Cannons and the towering Bloodthirster all joined the fray with bloody (pun wholeheartedly intended) results! 

The ensuing carnage saw more than twenty Plaguebearers fall and the Great Unclean One suffer several horrific wounds! I managed to keep my eye twitch under control as I started having flashbacks to Game Two. It was happening again! On the bright side, before getting punched in the throat by the Thirster, GUO managed to turn Karanak to paste with his massive flail! Moral victory!

With the Beasts getting serious about killing things, the Prince sprung into action, leaping over the swirling melee to severe the head of my Herald lurking in the shadow of the Realmgate. As the game moved forward, I realised that victory lay not in claiming the enemy objective, but simply denying my opponent the points for a turn, launching me into the lead! With a fresh unit of beasts, I knew that I had a Cannon and a Prince to get through but I was confident!

And I wasted no time in getting stuck in!

On the right side of the board, a single hound opposed me! With my Soul Grinder on a measly three wounds, he was nearly crippled to the point of redundancy, but he had managed to mash Skulltaker into the ground before he could unleash his fearsome blade!

So you know how in Game Two, my Great Unclean One had suffered a horrible and lightning fast death? Not so in this game, despite spending the first half of the game catching cannonballs. His accompanying Plaguebearers had fallen. His foe had amassed lethal combat units to go in for the kill! But he would...

not...

die. 

He took three cannonballs to the face in one shooting phase, and shrugged almost all off, taking a single wound. Then in combat against the entire remaining centre force of my enemy, he took zero wounds. Zero! The hell blades, the hounds, even the Bloodthirster's gigantic axe could do nothing against him!

He was a sole light of pestilent optimism holding back the darkness of bloodshed and non-surgical skull removalists!

In the dying moments of the game, my Beasts got the job done, getting stuck into the Daemon Prince and successfully denying my opponent points essential to victory!

And with that, the game ended. 

What a hilarious match! The too's and fro's of battle, Lady Luck tipping the scales one way and then the other, and non stop banter between myself, my opponent and everyone watching the game. Voting Best Sportsman to my opponent from game three was an easy choice, and he ended up winning Sports overall!

All in all, it was a very evenly matched game. I don't think either of us made major blunders. I think if my opponent had sent his Thirster behind my Drones and Soul Grinder, he would have butchered the units guarding the meteorites, and changed the outcome dramatically! While the GUO was certainly an object of pressing attention, his location and role on the battlefield had not a great deal of effect upon the outcome or objectives!

As always, thanks for reading!

Gabe

#65: Age of Sigmar Battle Report - Harbingers of Decay Vs. Beastclaw Raiders "Frosty Reception"

So, my first game went well, and I'd managed to jag a sneaky win! The combos were definitely there in my list. All I had to do was keep my wits about me and outsmart my next opponent... 

Beast.

Claw.

Raiders. 

Of all the armies I could have faced, I was throwing down against Beastclaw. "What's so bad about that?", I hear you say. Well, two reasons. 

1: My army gets significantly stronger once I get Epidemus' tally up, and Beastclaw have an incredibly low model count. There's literally not enough models to hit half the bonuses, and the models that are there to be killed are all multi-wound and tough-as-nails.

2: The Scenario was Three Places of Power, where only Heroes can hold or reclaim objectives. And my opponents characters were riding gigantic stone mammoths with the attitude of an enraged grizzly. I knew that if he got onto an objective, it was going to next to impossible to shift him off. 

But I'm usually a pretty positive guy, and so I chose to look on the bright side. I had something my opponent did not. Numbers. If I could bog down important models, perhaps I could buy myself enough time to kill the weaker elements before bringing the full power of Grandfather Nurgle down upon my foes.

My deployment followed the trends of game one, forming my three "pods" in front of each Place of Power in the centre of the board. I only had three heroes, so they were gonna have to put in the work and survive long enough to actually get some points on the board. 

I was confident that the Beasts could drag down some of the bigger models on the board, or at the very least, tie them up for several rounds of combat. 

I won first turn, and usually I would hand turn one to my opponent for the possibility to get back to back turns early in the game, but I needed to get to those objectives. If a Stonehorn reached that objective before I did, I was not gonna shift him off in a hurry. Speed was key, and if there's one weakness that my army struggles with, it's speed. The Drones and Soul Grinder made a successful push, with Epidemus just falling short of holding the Place of Power...

... While my central pod flopped miserably. To be fair, I needed pretty high run rolls to begin with. Odds were against me, but I'm always optimistic. 

The Beast flank found itself in the same predicament. And this is where things began to spiral...

Four Mournfang cavalry launched at the Soul Grinder, which I wasn't devastated about. He's pretty tough, and I had a couple of units to counter charge with next turn. 

A Stonehorn slammed into my GUO, causing three mortal wounds from the charge alone. Things could get ugly...

The Beast flank was starting to look pretty shaky. Yhetees blasted forward and tied up some Beasts (which I could handle), while the Thundertusk fired an ice beam at my Herald (which I couldn't handle). If it wasn't for my pseudo-Feel No Pain, I would have lost him and forfeited all possibility of gaining points from that Place. 

It was in this combat phase that I realised what I was up against. The Mournfang ripped eight wounds off my Soul Grinder...

...while in the centre, Yhetees joined the Stonehorn in administering a sound flogging, wiping thirty Plaguebearers out in a single round. Mystic Shield, Feel No Pain, nothing could protect them. It was bloody and savage. So much for the numbers advantage.

My battered Great Unclean One stood alone, my centre completely collapsed...

The clobbering continued on the left flank, with the Drones joining the party. The Mournfang were beginning to falter, but I was still concerned for my now-crippled Soul Grinder. 

Beasts proved how tough they are by mauling the Yhetees to death, only conceding two wounds in exchange. 

Just as I thought I had a flank protected and controlled, a Hunter and his pack of flea-ridden cats showed up, intent on removing Epidemus from the Place he currently held!

My opponent wasted no time in dispatching my GUO with frightening ease, before redirecting his units toward the beast to cleanse the area of the Nurgle incursion. 

The swirling combat on the right was all about one thing; protecting my Herals. And boy, oh boy, was I rolling dice like my life depended on it! I could not fail a save with him, infuriating my opponent, who had chosen not to commit another ice beam to finishing the job. This had a snowball effect, as his lingering presence allowed an increased damage output by the Beasts! 

As if the Hunting Pack's arrival wasn't inconvenient enough, the Stonehorn decided to continue its rampage across the board, slamming into the hulking Grinder.

And just like that, I lost a flank. The Hunter on foot took up residence upon the Place of Power, and the Stonehorn turned its attention to the surviving Drones.

On the other side of the board, my opponent finally got the job done, slaying my Herald before moving his Thundertusk-mounted hero to the central objective. 

This signalled the last glimmer of hope fading for a victory. My opponent was racking up points at an alarming rate, surpassing my current score, and with no Heroes of my own to earn any more points, the win was his. We played out the game, but it consisted of my surviving units getting systematically bulldozed off the board. 

All in all, it was a hilarious game, despite the outcome. I had completely underestimated Beastclaw. They are fast and they hit like a ton of bricks! I was straight up outplayed in this game. My opponent was calculated in his actions and didn't bite off more than he could chew. If I could play the game again, I probably would have been less aggressive turn one, denying him those convenient charges, while also probably consolidating my force around two objectives instead of trying to claim all three. I feel my army was spread a little thin, but then I also wasn't expecting thirty Plaguebearers to crumple in a single charge from four models...

Four.

It should be said that my opponent was a great sportsman, and won my vote for best army with his fantastic looking force!

Lessons learned. Onward to game three. I was in the middle of the pack with a win and a loss, but as I said with these tournaments, winning is not everything. There were still plenty of prizes up for grabs. 

Thanks for reading,

Gabe

#64: Age of Sigmar Battle Report - Harbingers of Decay vs Charge of the Heavy Brigade

Game One. I was busy remembering what units triggered what combos and the multiple layers of abilities and buffs for my army, but they say that experience is the best form of learning.

They also say a good plan never survives contact with the enemy, so...

My first opponent was a mate whose army has been growing rapidly, and with a strong theme in mind. Cavalry. With the exception of a handful of objective holding Blood Warriors, every single model in his army had mounted up!

And the army was huge!

And what an intimidating deployment they displayed. My own deployment was conservative, as I didn't want to hand over any first turn charges to my very mobile opponent. As you can see, the Drones and Plaguebearers on the right were careful to insulate Epidemus. The Great Unclean One and Soul Grinder stood watch over each flank of my big unit of Plagueys...

...while my Herald guided the two units of Beasts into battle. My last unit of Plagueys encircled the Realmgate to avoid any unpleasant visitors from the other side of the board. My opponent did the same with a small unit of Blood Warriors, effectively nullifying the gates altogether. 

This match was all about objectives (represented here by the blue and white poker chips). I was confident in holding my left hand objective, as I could quite comfortably move the Realmgate-guarding Plagueys to protect it if something made it through my lines. My right-hand objective has several units guarding it, so the real plan was to let my opponent shatter himself against my impregnable wall of virulent soldiers. Once I had broken the back of his army, I could freely advance upon the objectives. But, well...

I had the pick of who took first turn, and it was an easy choice to give it to my opponent. In objective games, it's very useful having the last turn of the game, and nothing was to be gained by going first at the start, as he was well and truly too far away for me to make any impacting moves. On each flank, he pushed forward with Crushers and Marauder Cav; not aggressively, but certainly leading the army. His centre remained immobile. 

I knew that the Marauder Cav had to die. They can be slippery units, capable of rushing around my scary units or breaking out of combats to claim objectives. This simply would not do. 

In my turn, my Beasts (thanks to the ability to move, run and charge) were confident of crushing the Marauders with ease, and after rolling triple sixes for run moves on the beasts and herald, I was confident I could unleash a brutal assault...

...but luck is a fickle mistress. Only one unit made it in with an 11" charge (the other two rolling horrifically), and I decided to loop around and deny the Crushers their devastating charge in the following turn. Luckily, I also managed to drag the Marauders into combat as well, but how long would they stay there? I poured all available attacks into the fast cavalry, because not only were they high on the "to-kill" list, but without the Herald's Locus, grinding down the crushers would be challenging to say the least. 

My other flank was pretty cautious. Some small reshuffling and advancing, but the only real action was my Soul Grinder unleashing his ranged arsenal upon the Knights opposite, clipping a single wound off of them... Disappointing. 

Lady Luck smiled upon me in Turn Two, gifting me with back-to-back turns, allowing me to push the advantage on both flanks and catch my opponent on the back foot by denying him valuable charge bonuses; bonuses crucial for a cavalry army to operate at full potential. The Soul Grinder, capable of a whopping 12" move at full wounds, broke rank and launched across the table to engage the powerful Crushers, while the Drones advanced upon the forest to tie down the Marauders. Epidemus lurked nearby to hand out bonuses while keeping safely tucked away behind the bloated flies, who unfortunately failed their charge.

A second set of phases allowed be to achieve what I couldn't last turn, with the Beasts getting into a fully blown, swirling melee, with the much-needed support of the Herald. In the centre, I pushed right up with both my General and the twenty Plaguebearers on the hopes of drawing a charge from the centre. I was confident that both units could cop a charge without too much detriment. 

The Soul Grinder really took the fight to the enemy! His shooting managed to blast off another wound, but despite tanking the attacks against him, he was woefully bad in combat... Woefully bad. This was not good.

On the bright side, my left flank was holding up splendidly, butchering the Marauder Cav before they even got the chance to make a run for my objective!

When I wrote the list, the Soul Grinder was taken to fill the role of "Big Scary Diversion Guy", and boy, was he cashing in cheques! Aware that he was still sitting on sixteen wounds, and of his potential damage output (garbage rolls notwithstanding), my opponent threw literally every unit available into him, drawing well over half his army in to the one location, freeing up the entire left flank of the board! As you can imagine...

...he died in probably the most cinematic of ways, with the full force of a multi-unit cavalry charge!

In what was very reactionary turn from my opponent, he also scrambled to counter the threat posed by the Beasts, committing another unit of Marauder Horsemen and his furious Khorne Lord on Juggernaut. This was one fellow I was genuinely concerned about, because his Axe could easily butcher whole Beasts at a time! Yikes. 

Priority was back in my hands, and I wasted no time in causing as much havoc as I could. The twenty-strong Plaguebearers launched at the unit of Knights that were originally holding the centre, while the Drones, buffed by nearby Epi, charged into the nearby Marauder Horsemen. This actually tied my opponent down in a tricky situation, as these two combats blocked much of his army from engaging in combat, where they needed to be! 

On the other side of the board, I was beginning to have concerns that my faith in the tenacity of Beasts was perhaps not as justified as I thought.

I had to charge my Herald into the Khorne Lord to stem the carnage by slaying him with a Balesword, but things weren't looking good! The Lord had killed two beasts and severely wounded the third, and the left unit was not fairing well in the grind of combat. Not only that, but he had managed to commit another unit of Crushers to cleanse the flank of Nurgle's filth. I simply didn't have the manpower to counter that! I couldn't afford to let the flank collapse, and if I wanted a win, his objective on the left was much more accessible, seeing as the other had almost his whole army sitting on it. 

Things were turning sour on the other flank as well. The Marauders broke away from the Drones to slam into Epidemus and the Plaguebearers guarding the objective. Epi had spent the game racking up quite the tally, and the bonuses he was liberally dishing out to his comrades was causing my opponent real concern! To make things worse, this opened up the avenue for a unit of Crushers and the Chaos General to launch at my Drones, killing two of them with relative ease! 

The Great Unclean One, who had until this time, played little part in the game beside a spell here and there, decided it was his time to shine! He galloped out of the forest, spewing vomit and swinging his mighty Plague Flail, decimating all before him!

And while my Beasts perished, there was no stopping the GUO from bulldozing the Crushers with impunity, opening up the objective for the spoiling. 

The unsung heroes of this game, my large unit of Plagueys, continued to cause no end of trauma! They had held the Knights at bay for round after round of combat, thanks to their buffs from both Epidemus and the Cohort! I was thoroughly impressed with how tough they had proven to be!

Now, this photo, I honestly am completely stumped by. This drone would... Not... Die! It simply refused. I rolled ridiculously. And by some freak chance, and the proximity to a Plaguebearer Hero, I managed to dispatch the Crushers! What?!?! This prompted a frustrated charge from my opponent in a last ditch effort to bring down the fly. 

Despite the fly dying in the final round of combat, and the Blood Warriors joining the fray to help out the Knights, my line held and I stood firm upon my objective. Epidemus surprisingly dispatched the Marauders with some great rolls and a terrible Battleshock test. My other flank was secured by the Herald and GUO. With that the game came to a conclusion, granting me a hard fought win!

Wow, what a game! Despite an early flop with the Beast charges, luck was definitely on my side! I got priority when I needed it, I rolled saves that had to be seen to be believed, and while my opponent made no significant errors, his dice betrayed him on multiple occasions! 

While the MVP unit went to my twenty-strong Plaguebearers for refusing to die and locking down the centre of the board, I was left wanting from my Soul Grinder. He was always going to die being that aggressive and receiving four charges in one round of combat, but his shooting and combat against the crushers was pretty dismal. But I understand that units won't perform every game, and at the end of the day he did what was needed of him. 

I think I could have been more aggressive with the GUO, as this points heavy model only really made an impact in the closing moments of the game. But he was a good deterrent from advancing cavalry. 

All in all, it was a hilarious, nail biting game, and I was lucky to walk away with a win. Credit to my opponent for being a proper gent!

Thanks for reading...

Gabe