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
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