#168: Cancon Game 6 Battle Report - Beasts of Chaos Vs Legion of Blood

After suffering three losses to only two wins, my goal going into the last game was to simply break even. If I could land a win in the last round, it would finish my weekend off on a high, and I was all about that. I arrived at my table to discover that my opponent was Evie, a familiar face around the Brisbane scene, though we had never actually played.

I knew she was an avid Death player, and I asked the dreaded question.

"How many Grimghast Reapers do you have?".

"None."

Well, alright then...

Eschewing the trends of most of the other death players at CanCon, Evie had built a Legion of Blood army based around Bravery bombing and debuffing, using her array of characters.

Allegiance: Legion of Blood
Mortal Realm: Aqshy

Leaders
Neferata Mortarch Of Blood (400) - General
Vampire Lord On Zombie Dragon (440) - Deathlance & Shield & Chalice - Artefact : Ignax's Scales Coven Throne (260)
Kurdoss Valentian, the Craven King (220) - Allies
Tomb Banshee (80) - Allies

Units
40 x Skeleton Warriors (280) - Ancient Blades
5 x Dire Wolves (60)
5 x Dire Wolves (60)

Endless Spells
Chronomantic Cogs (60)
Soulsnare Shackles (20)
Quicksilver Swords (20)

Total: 1900 / 2000
Extra Command Points: 2
Allies: 300 / 400

The scenario was Focal Points, which is hands down my favourite of the latest set, being a very dynamic and tactical challenge that most armies can compete in to some degree.

Despite how much the first turn rush had betrayed me (or was it my own foolishness...), i chose to take first turn, in order to get bodies on objectives as early as possible. The first order of business was moving up the Spawn and Ungor Raiders, as that would dictate where my main push was. While the Ungor casually strolled onto the central objective thanks to their pre-game move, the Spawn had clearly taken one too many energy drinks, as both of the blasted across the table at breakneck speed! 

Finding myself in a position to use the Gavespawn command ability to its fullest extent, I commited my army in its entirety, with devastating results for my opponent. Facing the full might of fifty Bestigor and the Enlightened, the Skeleton shield wall crumbled and the Dogs were slaughtered. Leaving her with a dozen or so skeletons, and barely any surviving dogs, I'd guaranteed myself a huge numbers advantage. I capped all five objectives in turn one, giving me a grand head start! 

The big unit of 30 Bestigor was the target of most of Evie's incoming damage. Keen to save her Skeletons from imminent death (again?), the Bestigor suffered some pretty horrific Bravery penalties before getting screamed at, and losing a decent number. Despite their casualties and the replenishment of the Skeleton unit, the Bestigor still held a numerical advantage on the objective, and denied my opponent the objective. The Vampire Lord on Zombie Dragon slammed into the other unit of Bestigor, causing some real carnage, and taking a negligible amount of damage in return. However, despite her best efforts, Evie wasn't able to claim back any objectives! 

Having dealt with the bulk of Evie's army, with the Enlightened cleaning up the last of the dogs on the right flank, I was in a commanding position on the table, but was also now suffering some pretty serious debuffs. Neferata had made sure that my embattled Bestigor on the left objective had their hit roll dropped through the floor, but even then, they managed to put out some pretty serious damage. With some tough as nails characters left on the board (including a Coven Throne that spent the rest of the game Beguiling my Enlightened), I changed gears into the avoidance game, retreating out of combat wherever I could, and spreading out my units to make sure that objectives were safe. Above, despite the Ungors meeting a predictably bloody end at the hands of the Zombie Dragon, my Spawn and Shaggoth were both in range of the objective, meaning that Evie would have to kill both in order to claim it. Not an impossible task, but it was highly unlikely to only take a single turn, which would buy me some valuable scoring time. 

I was also pretty confident that, even if she did manage to kill my heroes, there was a good chance that I'd generate a spawn from their death, buying me an entire extra turn of objective denial.

At the end of turn two, I'd managed to forge a 16-1 lead, managing to cap all five objectives for two turns in a row. 

Having crippled the Enlightened with Beguile, the Coven Throne got some help from Neferata to butcher the enraptured birds, taking back the home objective. The Tzaangor Shaman also met a terrible end, and then rolled a 1 to generate a Spawn. It wasn't to be!

The Zombie Dragon had remained pretty much unchecked on his rampage across the table, and with the scoreboard running away from Neferata, Evie turned her attention to killing as much as she could. And kill, she did. The Zombie Dragon ignored the Shaggoth, and instead launched headlong into the Bray-Shaman and Ungor sitting on my deep objective, slaying all in her path and healing on the way. The Bray Shaman did what he was meant to and generated a Spawn, denying the Vampire Lord the objective once more, while the Spawn on the left of the photo above moved around to get within range of the objective in the following turn, stacking two bodies on it.

At this point, my opponent conceded, due to some factors outside the event. While I had suffered horrific losses, and hadn't managed to dent any of the big pieces, I had rampaged away on the scoreboard, creating a lead that could not be caught. Evie was great to play, and I'd happily play her again. 

So, there it was. The event was wrapped up, and after a disaster of a Saturday, I'd redeemed myself to a degree on the Sunday, finishing the event with three Major Wins and three Major Losses. I was stoked to have played six people that I'd never faced before, and over the course of the event, I got to meet a ton of really cool people from all over the country. It was great to meet (and play) people from different states and different gaming clubs (got to meet all the lads from Measured Gaming, as well as the legend that is Doom and Darkness). It was a great event for the community, and I feel like, certainly from my experience, that it was a really unifying event for the national community. 

Overall, I finished 88th out of 196 players, which I was alright with. Going into it, I had pretty high hopes of cracking the top fifty, but it's easy to forget that almost every top-tier player in the country was there too, crushing skulls and taking names. I did walk away with one of only Coolest Army Nominations for my Beasts of Chaos, which I equal parts thrilled with and stunned by. Anyone who was following my Road to CanCon knows what a scramble it was to finish that army, but I think that a striking colour scheme partnered with conversions throughout helped it to stand out from the crowd. 

Once again, thanks to all six of my opponents. You were all a delight to play. 

This was my first CanCon, and I'll definitely be going back next year! 

Until next time,

Gabe

#167: CanCon Game 5 Battle Report - Beasts of Chaos Vs. Daughters of Khaine

Leading into game five, my mind was full of optimism. After an up and down Day 1, I'd kicked the sunday off with a win, and was hopeful of keeping the momentum going. Knife tothe Heart is not a terrible scenario for me at all, as I have the bodies and speed to get across the board, the units to zone out my back corner, and the ever-present threat of Primordial Calls bringing units on my opponent's back board edge.

Of course, the game was not without its twist, as my opponent had an army just as mobile and tricksy as mine. Dayne was playing a Khinerai-heavy Khailebron list, which posed some serious threats in a game that is so dependant on sudden death, and striking hard and fast.

Allegiance: Daughters of Khaine -
Temple: Khailebron
Mortal Realm: Ghur

Leaders
Slaughter Queen on Cauldron of Blood (330) - General - Command Trait : Mistress of Illusion - Artefact : Gryph-feather Charm
Bloodwrack Medusa (140) - Artefact : Shadow Stone
Hag Queen (60)
Hag Queen (60)
Sorceress (100) - Allies

Units
30 x Witch Aelves (270) - Pairs of Sacrificial Knives
10 x Witch Aelves (100) - Sacrificial Knives and Blade Bucklers
10 x Sisters of Slaughter (120) - Barbed Whips and Blade Bucklers
10 x Khinerai Lifetakers (160)
10 x Khinerai Lifetakers (160)
10 x Khinerai Heartrenders (160)
10 x Black Guard (140) - Allies

Battalions
Cauldron Guard (120)

Endless Spells
Aethervoid Pendulum (40)
Geminids of Uhl-Gysh (40)

Total: 2000/2000
Extra Command Points: 1
Allies: 240/400

Knowing that this game would come down to who made the first mistake, we both knew going in that the pressure was on and that whoever made the first mistake would suffer greatly from it.

I knew that the major threat in this army was, of course, the 30-strong Witch Aelf unit, and that I needed a way to deal with them. I refer to hindsight a lot, but in this particular game, I chose to take first turn, as I knew I had the speed to get across the board and hit what I wanted. The reasoning was that I wanted to fight the Witches before they received all of their crazy buffs that are available through either prayers or spells. So, for better or worse, I took first turn.

Speed was never really going to be a problem, but the one phrase that seemed to ring true in this game was "Fools Rush In". I didn't need to go in turn one. I didn't need to commit so much of my army in that initial assault and show my hand. I wanted to hit the Witch Aelves before they got Witchbrew to ignore Battleshock, but Dayne had a CP in his list anyway, so the point was moot. But I'd committed, and shock and awe would be my strategy. 

On the right flank, my 30-strong Bestigor launched forward, flanked by the Enlightened and Tzaangor Shaman, close enough to lend battleshock immunity if it was needed. On the left side, my 20-strong Bestigor fired across the table to hit some of Dayne's smaller, less threatening units. The rest of my army was dedicated to zoning out my entire half of the table to keep those pesky Khinerai as far from my objective as possible. 

And in a foolish gambit lay my critical mistake. In an attempt to avoid taking too much damage, and to benefit fully from the re-rolls, I clipped the end of the Witch Aelf unit with my Enlightened, and swung with my Bestigor first, who did a truly horrific amount of damage. They butchered the Black Guard, put a couple of wounds on the Sorceress, and killed fifteen witch aelves.  Dayne took them from the end that the Enlightened had tagged, leaving only a single disc in range to hit, even after pile-ins. There was no two ways about this. I'd completely botched the placement of models for that charge, and I paid the price. Looking back, I'm still baffled as to why I charged the way that I did, but the events were set in stone, and the repercussions would be horrific. 

On the other side of the board, the twenty Bestigor cut a bloody swathe through the ranks of the Daughters, but it was not enough to mitigate the sheer carnage that was about the unfold on the right flank. 

Thanks to a Hero-Phase pile-in and attack from the Slaughter Queen's command ability, the Bestigor were dead before the movement phase even started, leaving the Witches free to launch into the Enlightened, who were helpless in the face of such unrestrained violence. Dayne was forced to drop all of his Khinerai on his left flank in order to deal with the twenty Bestigor threatening his objective. As much as I'd traded two hammer units for some witches and Black Guard, Dayne was still acutely aware of the danger his objective was in on the left flank. 

But his fears were subdued, when he landed a double turn that cost me dearly. The Witches continued their rampage, slaying the Tzaangor Shaman. The Bestigor were cut down by Khinerai, and the Beasts offensive push was completely halted. 

From that point onward, his decisions were made easy. The Daughters of Khaine advanced with clinical precision, removing high-threat targets one-by-one, dismantling the entire army. 

The major victory was well and truly in the hands of the Daughters, along with a ton of kill points. 

This was an incredibly exciting game, despite the outcome. I by no means want to cheapen Dayne's win by pinning my loss on the botched charge. I over-committed and made one small mistake that could have just as easily been overlooked or covered up. Dayne was able to capitalise on my error with crushing results before landing a double turn, and swinging the flow of battle decisively in his favour. 

In hindsight (ah, what a beautiful thing), I really should have handed first turn to Dayne, as it would not only mitigate the double turn into turn two, but also essentially waste a full turn where his army wasn't killing anything. 

With all that said, Dayne got my Best Opponent vote. He was an absolute legend, and we had some great conversations around Warhammer, hobby and general stuff. Great dude, and I'd gladly face him again on the table. 

I found myself with a 2-3 win-loss record going into game six, so my next game would decide if I broke even or bombed hard. 

Thanks for reading,
Gabe

#166: CanCon Game 4 Battle Report - Beasts of Chaos Vs. Everchosen

After bombing out in Games 2 & 3, I was going into Day 2 of CanCon in a pretty grim spot. I was doubtful of winning all three of my games on the Sunday (though, luck might swing my way), but my goal now of breaking even (3 wins to 3 losses) meant that I could only afford to drop one more game.

The draw was posted late Saturday night, and I was going to be facing a gentleman by the name of Glenn, who was showing everyone that he feared no one and nothing by bringing one of the most renegade armies of the entire event!

Allegiance: Everchosen
Mortal Realm: Chamon

Leaders
Archaon (660) - General
Gaunt Summoner and Chaos Familiars (180)
Gaunt Summoner of Tzeentch (180) - Artefact: Chaos Talisman
Lord of Khorne on Juggernaut (140) - Allies

Units
3 x Varanguard (280) - Ensorcelled Weapons
3 x Varanguard (280) - Fellspears
3 x Varanguard (280) - Fellspears

Total: 2000 / 2000
Extra Command Points: 0
Allies: 140 / 400

With a total of thirteen models in his army (17 if you count the Familiars), Glenn was facing an uphill battle with most scenarios. It's not to say this army doesn't have teeth. As it turns out, Varanguard can put out a punishing amount of damage, but they can only be 3 models in one place at one time.

That said, we were playing Relocation Orb, where Archaon would be well and truly capable of holding the Orb and fighting off all challengers if the opportunity presented it.

I was pretty confident in being able to compete strongly on the objective, but that didn't stop me from completely botching my deployment. I started dropping units with the intention of alpha striking, then after considering the scenario (you get three points for holding the objective second as opposed to one for holding first), I changed course. By that point, though, I'd put my Bestigor front and centre, leaving my screens in the back pocket near the Herdstone. All I could do was give my opponent the first turn, and hope that Glenn didn't capitalise too much on my mistake.

Knowing that he needed to make the first round count, he sent his Gaunt Summoner on Disc up onto the Ziggurat to claim the objective, while Archaon soared onto the Temple of Skulls. Fortunately for me, he failed his charge on the scouting Ungor Raiders, but two units of Varanguard hit my lines and caught me by surprise with their double pile-ins! The raiders, spawn and a couple of Bestigor all met horrible ends to the cataclysmic charge.

With the Everchosen committing to combat, it was time to swing back with a counter-punch as hard as I could. The Shaggoth and Bestigor moved onto the objective in order to claim it back from the gnarled hands of the Summoner, while other parts of my army went on the offensive. 

Knowing how lethal the Summoner on foot's spell is to hordes (which played a large role in choosing to go second, so he had no target in range turn one), I knew that he and the Jugger Lord were going to cause me no end of dramas. So, I launched my scalpel unit at them, confident that six Enlightened could handle the two chaotic lords. I managed to turn the Gaunt Summoner into a blood-stained wreck, but the Lord of Khorne proved a little more tenacious, withstanding the onslaught in spectacular style.

I managed to nab the double turn going into Turn 2, and the bounce for the orb was incredibly favourable, landing at the very feet of my Txzaangor Shaman lurking in the ruins, supporting the Enlightened. Knowing that there was no point staying in combat with Varanguard, I retreated everyone well away from them, leaving them isolated for a round of combat. Any phase where my opponent isn't swinging with weapons is a good phase, especially with a squishy army such as mine. I threw all available bodies into the gap between the Varanguard and the Tzaangor Shaman, to make sure that nobody pinched the objective off him.

On the other side of the board, I saw an opportunity, and I took it. I couldn't just leave Archaon unchecked to rampage into my army, so my 30-strong Bestigor, who had retreated last turn from the charging Varanguard, now charged back into the same heavy cavalry, as well as wrapping Archaon in angry, angry bodies. Thanks to my Doombull meeting an untimely end at the hands of the Varanguard, I had a perfectly positioned Spawn to start dropping CP into the Bestigor. Three command points and the charge meant that each Bestigor was swinging with 6 attacks (7 on the unit champion). And while I didn't have any of my usual bonuses to hit that are built into the warscroll, I knew that it was a do-or-die play for that unit. They had to hit so hard that they would take no damage in return. 

And that is precisely what they did.

The Varanguard melted under a flurry of attacks, while I pitched 91 attacks into Archaon, getting only 21 wounds through. It was enough to kill him, however, and while I took 11 mortal wounds reflected back for my troubles, it was a great exchange in my eyes. 

Glenn wasn't about to let that rattle him though, as the carnage continued in his Turn 2. The Jugger Lord had finally fallen to the spears of the Enlightened, but he would be avenged. The third Varanguard unit, who'd had no impact on the game so far, charged into the discs, aaaaand...

Completely whiffed... 5 wounds inflicted. 

This was great news, as it meant that my Enlightened would be hitting back with all of their buffs and re-rolls and delete that unit with next to no effort. There was just one problem. 

I was a moron. 

I rested on my laurels, thinking that I'd gotten lucky and could relax. What I completely forgot was that the Varanguard fighting the Enlightened still hadn't used their once-per-game double pile in. I foolishly activated the Shaggoth next, who was not really in any massive danger of dying, leaving the Discs on the receiving end of ANOTHER pile in. This time, the Varanguard did not whiff (quite the opposite!), killing all five remaining discs. While I was in a commanding position on the table, this was the simplest of mistakes that cost me dearly, and all of a sudden, put a great deal of pressure on my flank. 

Lady Luck once again smiled upon me, with not only a lucky double bounce deep into my territory by the orb, but also another priority roll going my way. I wasted no time in locking down my territory, and using some recently summoned Bestigor and Centigor to lock up and kill the remaining Varanguard. The Gaunt Summoner on Disc made a desperate rush for the objective, before realising it was in vain. So, he instead turned his attention to insta-killing the Shaggoth with his dagger. 

Sadly, it wasn't to be, and the Shaggoth brought his hefty axe down upon the frail wizard. 

I finished this game with a convincing major win, and a huge chunk of kill points. 

I'll start my recap by saying that Glenn got one of my favourite game votes. He was genuinely one of the nicest guys, and was just having a great weekend playing an army that he loved. 

I think that, going into this match, my speed and numbers gave me a significant advantage, as a 13-strong army will always be up against it in the scenario. Luck really went my way with the important dice rolls as well. The orb did what it so often does, and bounces deep into one player's territory, and in this game, it went my way. It actually finished the game square on top of my Herdstone. This luck continued throughout the game, where I won every important priority roll, giving me the opportunity to control the flow of battle. 

The game was not without mistakes on my part, but I was able to cover them up without much punishment... Well, except for the Enlightened! 

Picking my best game/opponent votes was no easy task, but Glenn earned every bit of it! He was an absolute gent, and I'd happily play him again. 

Check back in soon, where I met Daughters of Khaine in round five!

Thanks for reading,

Gabe