#130: Age of Sigmar Battle Report - BrisVegas Open Game Two - Skaven Pestilens Vs. Sylvaneth

After suffering a horrific loss in my first round, and failing to score my secondary, I started Round Two with zero battle points. Just how I like it...

I found myself lurking down on the bottom tables, and my opponent turned out to be a Sylvaneth Player running a Gnarlroot Wargrove. His list is as follows.

Treelord Ancient (General, Gnarled Warrior, Oaken Armour)
Branchwych (Acorn of Ages)
Drycha Hamadreth
30 Dryads (Battleline)
5 Tree-Revenants (Battleline)
5 Tree-Revenants (Battleline)
3 Kurnoth Hunters (Scythes)
3 Kurnoth Hunters (Bows)
3 Kurnoth Hunters (Bows)
Household (Warscroll Battalion)
Gnarlroot Wargrove (Warscroll Battalion)

The scenario was Battle for the Pass. This was probably the best possibly scenario, as it meant my wave of rats could box my opponent in his own half of the board, making it very hard for him to get behind me. I knew that the Tree Revenants would be in a position to assault my home objective, but I had every intention of zoning out as much of the board as I could to prevent the unwelcome spread of hostile forestry.

Now, I haven't played Sylvaneth a lot, but I knew they had some pretty wild moves, and I knew what to look out for. They're not an army that I face a lot, so I was acutely aware of my actions in the game. I knew that one mistake from me would leave my opponent with an opportunity to absolutely punish my force.

 The table was set. My opponent deployed the majority of his force in and around his three Wildwoods. He won the roll off to pick sides, and chose the end with two pieces of Mystical Terrain, hoping to gain those precious re-rolls but risking a horrible price. His objective was deep in his forest surrounded by thirty Dryads, and I knew that my chances of claiming it were pretty slim. My deployment was very much scenario based. Both Plagueclaws deployed behind my objective, close enough to lay claim later in the game, but as far back as possible. The Arch Warlock parked his mangy backside next to some arcane terrain to assist with Balewind casting, while the small unit of Monks lurked on my other back flank in preparation for zoning out my backfield objective once the main force had moved forward. Both big Monk units prepared to march upon each midfield objective, supported by my other four heroes. All I had to do was survive that first turn...

The trees weren't playing games! The Ancient successfully summoned some woods, which encircled the middle left objective, and was pounced upon by both units of Kurnoth Hunters with bows. They successfully teleported on, and had no need to make any further moves. He unleashed the full power of their longbows, but the Plague Furnace shrugged off almost all of the damage.

Knowing that I needed to take control of the midway line, the bulk of my army pushed hard onto the objectives. Thanks to a cheeky Balewind push and a lucky run roll, the right unit made it to the ruins to lay claim to that objective, making sure that they were close enough to the Verminlord to dive in front of any incoming damage. The Warlock popped up on his Vortex, chipped three wounds off the Treelord, two off a unit of Kurnoth Hunters and four off the Branchwych! Nearly got her before she could plant the Acorn! The left unit of monks were ready for battle. Popping the Contagion Banner, and gaining the bonuses for Rabid Fever and the command ability, they were almost at optimum damage output. I managed to avoid too many casualties from charging into the Wildwood, while the pile-in allowed me to get a huge number of Monks into the fray! Fighting the trees in the woods was not ideal, but if I wanted to gain the lead, I needed to get them off that objective and zone it out to prevent reinforcements teleporting in and causing mayhem. 

I also knew that Drycha was going to give me headaches if she got near my big units, so in a vain attempt to draw her (or anyone really...) away from the battle, and in turn, the objectives, the Gutter Runners popped up on the backfield and pelted her with gravel. 

The ensuing beat down in the forest was a sight to behold. The monks mashed their way through four Kurnoth Hunters, and actually managed to pull up relatively in one piece. That's not to say there weren't casualties (which I am all about, if Rabid Fever is active), but they were still on the board and above twenty models. Excellent. 

In a stroke of pure good luck, Drycha AND the Scythe Hunters wandered a little too close to Mystical Terrain, and found themselves dumbfounded by the wonders of stone architecture. This was a real blessing, as she was probably the one model I hadn't quite figured out a solution for yet...

Things really started to slide for my opponent, when the last two Bow Hunters fell to a flurry of poisoned blades. The objective was mine! To add insult to injury, the Treelord Ancient successfully called forth a woods, only to find that purely through accident, I had zoned out my back left field with a solitary Plague Priest! He had successfully closed out any space large enough for a woods to fit by less than half an inch! In response to this immense frustration, the Treelord charged up the purple hill, and reduced my damaged Plague Furnace to a smoking pile of splintered wood and twisted metal.

In retaliation, the Arch Warlock and both Plagueclaws unleashed their considerable arsenal into the Ancient, taking him below half wounds. Filled with blind, misguided optimism, the Verminlord Corruptor cast Mystic Shield upon himself and charged in, inflicting some actual wounds. The towering Treeman was down to four wounds, and I took the lead in scenario points. The Plague Priest who unintentionally saved the day moved to a more commanding position to zone out forests, while the Monks on the left objective spread out to stop any units from teleporting into the forest. They were taking damage left, right and centre from shooting and the woods, but they were stubbornly holding the objective. 

Having suffered my fair share of wounds on the Verminlord, I used the double turn to my full advantage, and sent a chain of Monks from my right objective to get within 3". This allowed me to make the most of Verminous Valour. Despite my best efforts, I simply could not put the Treelord Ancient down! 

Finally dropping the Acorn, the Branchwych opened a path for the Scythe Hunters to teleport and threaten my right flank. Luckily for me, their charge was far too short to reach me! They were swiftly (and surprisingly) dealt with by my Plagueclaws, of all things... On the other side of the board, Drycha teleported over to my Monks holding the objective in the wood. I wasn't worried, as she was only in range of six rats with her hectic shooting attack.

She rolled a six for her teleport. Moving to just outside of 3", she proceeded to melt the faces off almost every rat within range, obliterating the unit and wiping out the survivors with Battleshock. Well, then... That was probably fair, after she stood around in Mystical Terrain. But she had now cleared the objective, leaving it ripe for the picking by the recently arrived Tree-Revenants.

 Not content to stand by, and watch his brother-rats die for nought, the Plague Priest hobbled forward from where he was zoning out forests to lay claim to the objective once more. I was determined to throw everything that I had at that objective until the very last. For the scenario, every unit in my army is expendable; it's just the Skaven mindset to have.

Atop the hill, there was unfolding a true duel of the titans. Both the Treelord Ancient and Verminlord Corruptor stood bloodied but not beaten, each on a single wound. The fight had lasted several rounds by this point, with the Treelord healing and mystic shielding himself, while the damage inflicted upon the Verminlord were either passed off to nearby Monks or saved by some of the most ridiculous rolling I have ever seen!

Intent on cleansing their precious woods of the vermin that plagued them, the Spite Revenants charged in to claim the objective, and kill the Priest. He was in for a bad time... 

As if to spite me, Lady Luck once again smiled upon my opponent. Drycha, coming off the adrenalin rush of clearing one objective, decided to try her hand at the other flank, and teleported over. Now worries, she could only hit four rats this time...

And another six. She moved right up to the unit and nuked half of them off the board. Luckily for me, I'd planned for the worst and given them Inspiring Presence, so the impact was not quite ass horrific, despit losing sixteen monks to the onslaught. 

Filled with confidence, Drycha made a terrible mistake. She charged into the severely depleted Monk unit, who were, by this point, thoroughly upset. With other crucial combats elsewhere on the table, her attacks were left too late, and the deranged lunatics piled in and hacked her to pieces! The right flank was secure! At long last, the Treelord Ancient fell; his healing and natural armour not enough to save him from the slicing blades of the Corruptor! This was a huge deal, as killing my opponent's General was my secondary.

I was not to be so lucky on the left flank. Both units of Tree-Revs made their charges and cut down the solitary Priest, taking the woods and the objective back for Sylvaneth! 

The game came to an end there, with a satisfying win for Pestilens. While I managed to tear away on the scoreboard, it didn't accurately reflect the pace or fever pitch of the game. It was one of the most up and down games we'd both played, with dice favouring us against all possibility one minute, before indiscriminately punishing us for taking the most negligible of risks! It was an excellent game, and my opponent was a great fellow who I'd gladly play again in a heartbeat. I think the scenario didn't favour my opponent, as he struggled to place Wildwoods with any kind of serious impact upon the game. Sylvaneth needs room to stretch its legs and take control of the board, and having only a 48" frontage, he just didn't have the room to gain the flexibility it needs.  It was unfortunate that he wasn't able to plant woods over the top of my army and assault my poorly guarded rear objective, because ten Tree-Revs wouldn't have been able to do it unsupported. 

I was stoked to be at one win-one loss going into game three. I wasn't throwing punches with the big dogs on the top tables, but I was also off the very bottom of the ladder. My goal to hit the top half of the roster at the end of the event. 

Tune in next time for my third game against a Greenskin horde!

Thanks for reading,

Gabe