#51: Age of Sigmar Battle Report - Beastmen & Dwarfs VS. Stormcast Eternals & Dark Elves

The day had come. We had barely gotten our armies finished and table ready, but we had made it. We were confident in our lists, but honestly pretty unsure of what to expect, and our first game would prove to be quite the challenge. 

Game One of the Organised Game Day was against two gentlemen fielding two terrifying and very streamlined forces. 

The first was Stormcast, led by a Lord Celestant on foot. He had some Prosecutors for mobility, five Judicators for ranged attack and the lethal Vexillor-Retributor combo for a turn one Alpha Strike. 

His army was perfectly complimented by a fantastic Dark Elf list (that I believe won Best Presented on the day, and deservedly so). A sorceress was joined by ten Executioners and five Dark Riders, to mop up any survivors of the Retributor assault. Lastly, he brought a Hydra. As it turns out, Hydras are incredibly powerful, and incredibly hard to kill! 

The scenario required us to hold as many objectives as possible, the three on our deployment line being worth one point to us at the end of the game, while the three objectives on our opponents line would be worth two, and vice versa for our opponents. 

Deployment was pretty straight forward for us, trying to match up threats as best we could. 

And our opponents' deployment...

Our opponents went first, and we braced for impact. Without wasting any time, the Retributors blinked into reality behind our left flank. 

The remaining dark elves, supported by the Lord Celestant, pushed forward. The Vexillor, his role in the battle complete, would begin his slow march to the objective in the woods, where he would bunker down for the rest of the game, having no further impact on the events as they unfolded. 

On the other side of the board, the imposing Hydra was joined by Prosecutors, intent on getting into range with their Javelins and hurling spears at the Magmadroth in an attempt to weaken it. 

The Retributors double charged my Tuskgor chariot and my team-mate's first unit of Irondrakes, and barely even raised an eyebrow as they obliterated both units in a single round of combat, the Star Maces proving why they are so lethal!

In our turn, the Magmadroth wasted no time tackling the Hydra with the assistance of my remaining Tuskgor Chariot, while my Giant couldn't reach anything and was content to press forward and apply pressure the the centre field. 

On the other side of the board, we quickly realised that we needed to control the damage potential presented by the newly arrived Stormcast, so my twenty-man Bestigors charged on in...

...and got slaughtered! Only managing to drag down one of the gold-clad Warriors, the return damage was horrific and was topped off by an awful Bravery roll. Things were looking dire.

On the other side of the board, we were quickly learning just how tenacious Hydras can be, only managing to sneak through a handful of wounds which would be healed shortly after!

And as it turns out, Hydras turn out to pack quite the punch as well! 

My giant finally got a piece of the action in a combat that was, to be fair, a bit of a gamble. I had heard how brutal executioners can be in combat, so I had accepted that I might lose the big fella, but he surprised all four players by stuffing one unfortunate elf down his pants before killing all nine of his comrades with a flurry of attacks, kicks and headbutts! Wow!

And to top it off, the Runeson and Chariot went to work, and managed to drag down the Hydra, which was pretty lucky given that the naked dwarf was down to his last wound! The right flank had definitely fallen, and we fully intended to press our advantage. 

Retaliation was swift. The Lord-Celestant charged out to face the Giant, now wounded by the Judicators, while a Javelin found a soft spot on the Magmadroth, slaying it, and removing a serious threat from the game. 

Hope was not lost, however. The Giant took two wounds from the mighty warrior, before softening him up with a chunk of masonry before his Mighty Kick sent the Lord Celestant flying with a mighty kick, shattering him completely. 

On the other side of the board, the Ironbreakers fell to a hail of crossbow bolts and star-touched hammers, completely crumbling our defensive line. 

With our backline in tatters with only Morghur and a handful of Irondrakes still alive, I knew I had work to do. Thanks to a Mystic Shield, my Giant has shrugged off all the shooting our opponents could muster, and he barrelled into the exposed Judicators. Originally, my lone chariot was going to tackle the Prosecutors, but I rolled an 11" charge which allowed me to join the Giant in crushing the celestial archers. Even with Word of Pain cast upon the Giant, he wasted no time jamming a Judicator down his trousers before stomping the remaining warriors into the dirt. 

Continuing their rampage of destruction, the Riders and Retributors fell upon the mutated Shaman, killing him without remorse. Only two Irondrakes remained on the objectives. 

In our final turn, my chariot drew back to hold an objective, while the Giant continued his bloody rampage by slamming a rock down upon the terrified Sorceress, claiming her objective without resistance. 

Our opponents were swift and decisive in their last turn. The two surviving Prosecutors leapt forward to contest the objective held by the surviving dwarfs, while the Riders and Retributors retreated to hold the two objectives they had just swept clean of enemies. The four points from those two objectives were pushed to five by the all-but-forgotten Vexillor, handing them a narrow victory. 

This game's one-point margin did not really reflect the game for us. I was very impressed at how smoothly and cohesively our opponents played. They knew what they were doing, and straight up outplayed us! But, as a compliment to their character, they were good sports throughout the entire game, despite being in almost complete control for the majority of the game. The only hitch in their game was evidently the Giant, who decided to go on an unstoppable rampage, slaughtering a whole unit of executioners, the majority of the Judicators, as well as both the enemy Generals. 

Hands down MVP, right there. 

Despite losing, it was a very entertaining and enjoyable game, and we weren't taking the day too seriously. Our goal, both being among the least experienced in the player pool, was just to play three games against painted armies, and pick up a few new tricks and tactics. And that's exactly what we did... 

Keep posted. 

Thanks for reading,

Gabriel