#124: Festering of February Game 3 - Skaven Pestilens vs. Slaves to Darkness

After my absolute rinsing in Game Two, I was sitting level in the middle of the pack with a major win and a major loss. It was honestly anybody's guess who I would be facing, and there were a few other armies on a win and a loss that would have been very brutal matches. As fate would have it, I was drawn to face a Wildling-themed Fatesworn Warband from Slaves to Darkness.

Darkoath Warqueen (General)
Chaos Sorcerer Lord on Manticore (Chaos Talisman)
Chaos Lord on Daemonic Mount
Chaos Lord on Daemonic Mount
Slaughterpriest (Allies)
Slaughterpriest (Allies)
1 Chaos Chariot (Battleline)
1 Chaos Chariot (Battleline)
1 Chaos Chariot (Battleline)
1 Gorebeast Chariot
1 Gorebeast Chariot
1 Gorebeast Chariot
1 Gorebeast Chariot
Chaos War Mammoth
5 Wrathmongers (Allies)
Fatesworn Warband

With enough chariots to make Boudica green with envy, my opponent had an very low-drop army of single models, almost completely negating the effects of Battleshock. While I was confident that I could kill just about everything in his army on its own (there was obviously a slight degree of concern about the Mammoth), I knew that if he hit my lines too hard with the Gorebeasts and Mammoth, he was going to mash my rats with impunity. I was also acutely aware of the mortal wound potential of the Slaughterpriests.

The scenario was Scorched Earth, which was great for me! I had the bodies to hold down my objectives, and if I could just hold the line, and break the wall of chariots, perhaps I could push for my opponent's objective and flood it with bodies to burn it. On the downside, there was an absolute ton of Mystical Terrain throughout the battlefield, so it was inevitable that someone's unit was going to start drooling. 

I decided to deploy my Arch Warlock on the left flank, as I knew he was probably my best shot at putting some hurt on the Mammoth. I couldn't let that thing hit my lines at full health! He was also close enough to the objective that his Balewind would zone out half of its control area. Even though he couldn't hold it, he could close off a large area near it, making it harder to grab. 

My opponent deployed his army in two main battle groups. The Warqueen and Wrathmongers offered support to the Mammoth and three chariots...

...while the Sorcerer on Manticore (converted to be riding a big ol' grizzly bear!) commanded the right side of the board. 

My opponent, knowing that he needed the charge, and potentially the double turn, gave me priority. My centre pushed forward, tripping over itself a little but also very aware of how close it was coming to the very long threat range of the chariots. The Furnace got Rabid Fever off on both 40-man units, and the catapult managed to plink a couple of wounds off the Manticore, but little else occurred on the right flank. 

 On the left flank, it was all business. I managed to pop a super-prayer with the decrepit Priest lurking in the woods, and with no enemies in range, I was content to take the bonus to prayers. The Catapult and Arch-Warlock put in work, though, taking 8 wounds off the mammoth! An excellent start.

In a terrifying burst of speed, the Mammoth slammed into my army and went to work on the Monks. Despite having a still-terrifying damage output potential, my opponent rolled the single worst round of attacks I have witnessed and killed a total of six Monks... Who then piled in and attacked before exploding, chipping yet more wounds off the towering behemoth. 

In an equally disastrous spate of bad luck (with a little help from my Bale-Chimes), several of my opponent's charges failed, leaving two of his chariots unsupported and in a real spot of bother. Aware that this was their moment for glory in the eyes of Chaos, the two chariots went to work. One managed to bump off a few monks, while the other fell painfully short of trampling a Priest. 

While the Verminlord and his underlings managed to dispatch of the chariot in their face, the double turn was upon me! Single models began to slam into my lines, dishing out damage left, right and centre, but my line held. 

The central conflict quickly turned into a wild brawl, with both sides taking a horrific amount of punishment. I was extremely lucky to have been out of range of both Slaughterpriests, and my opponent had, thanks to his low model count, left his objectives wide open, ripe for the claiming...

Retribution was swift from the Skaven horde. All three units of Monks popped their Books of Woes, with each unit having at least four enemy units in range. Mortal wounds were handed out in volume, chipping wounds off just about every chariot and character on the board. The Priest on the right hand side of the board, quietly underachieving until now, launched a Pestilent Breath at the trio of characters to the rear and rolled some of the hottest dice of his miserable life. The Sorcerer suffered yet another two mortal wounds, while both Slaughterpriests took three wounds each! 

The left flank was fairing no better for my opponent. Having suffered terrible losses, the Monks showed signs of crumbling, but the minions of Khorne fell first. The Wrathmongers had buffed not only the Mammoth, but the Monks as well, and were punished for it under a flurry of blades. The Warlock added his considerable weight to the conflict, dishing out yet more damage, as well as finally being able to use his shooting attack to melt a Wrathmonger's face off. Even with the hardest work, and best laid plans, my opponent couldn't outnumber me to control the objective.

I managed to double turn my opponent back, and this allowed me to completely swing the flow of battle to my advantage. His main charge had shattered against my army (in reality, I assume many of the chariots simply got too many monks jammed in the wheels and broke down), and my counter-offensive was brutal. Another barrage of prayers, spells and catapult fire allowed me to start removing key models from my opponent's army, and clearing whole areas of the board. 

In easily one of the most memorable moments I have been lucky enough to have in gaming, the monks finally managed to slay the Mammoth. I won the roll off to decide which way he fell, and chose to suffer more casualties by hitting my own unit. This was completely worth it, however, as the Mammoth also came crashing down on the wounded Warqueen, smashing her into oblivion in a moment of cinematic tragedy. 

With the core of my opponent's army broken, I went on to push forward, slay all in my path, and burn one of his objectives to claim the major win. 

This was a great game to finish the tournament on. I think even if I'd been bulldozed, it still would have been a great game. With the mindset that neither of us were in the running for winning the event, it allowed us to relax, have a laugh and enjoy the game in all of its comedic calamity. 

The event as a whole was a really fun, well run day, and all the armies were painted, which is always lovely. There were a few real stand outs as well, that just shone on the table.

Results wise, I came in 4th place, having landed two major wins and several Sports votes. I managed to win Best Sports, which is always a real privilege to win. Sportsmanship, I think is something that I always aspire to compete for, as I think everyone should, but to win it is a bonus! I was also in a three way tie for Coolest Army, but was beaten to the punch by a very cool Squig-heavy Moonclan Grot army (which got my vote). I cast a vote for a Stardrake in the Coolest Model category, and it cleaned up the prize; deservedly so, as it was gorgeous! 

All in all a great event, even considering the absolute massacre of Game Two. 

Next time, I'll be throwing up my review of the Daughters of Khaine Battletome. Keep an eye out.

Thanks for reading, 

Gabe

#122: Festering of February Game 1 - Skaven Pestilens Vs. Seraphon

The draw for the first round of the tournament was completely random and was announced the day before the event. I had never met my opponent, but saw Seraphon, and knew I was going to be up against it. Seraphon requires some finesse to play efficiently, but when put in the hands of an experienced player, they are truly something to be feared.

To read my list, check blog post #121.

My opponent ended up being one of the venue's Youngblood players, and he was fielding an intimidating list. 

Scar-Veteran on Carnosaur (General)

Scar-Veteran on Carnosaur

Lord Kroak

Engine of the Gods

40 Skinks

40 Skinks

20 Saurus Warriors

10 Saurus Knights

While the Saurus units weren't a major concern, considering how unheathly it is to be in combat with Monks, the rest of the list was a concern. I was delighted to see that Kroak didn't have a Balewind Vortex, but he was still a formidable wizard. The two massive units of skinks were going to be frustrating to whittle down, as they're incredibly hard to pin down. And two Carnosaurs is never a good thing!

The scenario was Duality of Death, so I knew I needed to kill his four big pieces if I had a hope of winning.

My deployment was pretty conventional for the most part. The bulk of my Congregation deployed on the left, with a unit of forty lining up the left hand objective, and supported by a Priest. The Arch-Warlock delpoyed far enough toward the centre so as to be in range of both objectives once he popped up on a Vortex. Then the Furnace and the other unit of forty deployed in the centre, ready to push straight up the middle and hit whatever got in their way first. 

 My right flank consisted of the last unit of monks, the Censer Bearers, a Priest and the Corruptor. My hope was that each flank could push onto an objective, with the middle force serving as reinforcements to whoever was in most dire need. Catapults sat on the back board edge, with more than enough range to hit anything that wandered outside the opposing deployment zone.

My opponent deployed in quite a conservative manner, making sure to wrap his most valuable units in bodies for fear of some unforeseen Skaven trickery. I was very happy to see Kroak as far back on the board as he was, as this meant he wouldn't really be a huge threat until later in the game. But I've faced (and used) Seraphon and their teleporting shenanigans before, and I wasn't about to lull myself into a false sense of security.

Thanks to his Command Trait, my opponent utilised a second teleport in turn to launch both Carnosaurs onto my left flank, leaving one on the objective to start racking up points, while the second slammed into my Monks! Not exactly how I envisioned turn one...

Elsewhere, Kroak and the Engine of the Gods pushed over toward the other objective, while the Seraphon infantry advanced toward the centre of the table. Luckily for me, the Carnosaur absolutely tanked his rolls and did very little damage to me. In return, I managed to put four wounds on the giant dino-rider.

I knew that if I wanted to win this game, I couldn't afford to get bogged down in my own delpoyment zone, so my first turn was pretty active. The Arch-Warlock popped up on his vortex successfully, and unleashed the arcane arsenal into the Carnosaur, chipping another three wounds off him, as well as killing a Saurus Knight as collateral damage from Warpstorm. Both my large units popped their Contagion Banners, and the central unit benefited from the Corruptor's command ability. With the Furnace successfully casting Rabid Fever on both large units, it was about to get bloody.

I made a mistake on my right side, by moving my Censer Bearers before my Corruptor, which meant that his superior movement was hampered, preventing him from reaching the objective turn one. With both objectives outside of my control, things were not looking good. Both Plagueclaws took aim at the Saurus Warriors with limited success. Guess it was down to my Monks to save the day...

And save the day, they did! While taking minimal casualties, they absolutely blended the Saurus Knights, leaving only one standing after Battleshock, while the Saurus Warriors were completely slaughtered. With four attacks each, the Contagion Banner and Rabid Fever, the monks were on a rampage!

The monks on the flank, not to be outdone by their brethren, ripped the wounded Carnosaur apart, leaving the Scar-Veteran on the objective horribly exposed and unsupported. A double turn would really swing the tide of battle, and allow me to capitalise on the momentum...

But alas, it was not to be. In fact, I failed to win a priority roll all game long! Kroak was in range of several spells now, and had begun putting the hurt on several elements of my army. My opponent made some mistakes with target priority here, as he chose Plagueclaw, the Corruptor and the Monks as his targets for Comet's Call, leaving the Priest (crucial to the scenario) completely unscathed. I also managed to use Verminous Valor to great effect on my Verminlord, passing off the high-quality damage onto the lowly (and entirely disposable in the eyes of the Corruptor) monks. Rapidly running out of units, my opponent pushed the Engine of the Gods onto the right hand objective, applying a great deal of pressure to my army to get points on the board. The Engine also pulled out some Seraphon sorcery, nuking my Furnace with a whopping 6 mortal wounds! The two massive regiments of Skinks materialised on my back corner, with one of them making a cheeky move after the jump. To the surprise of absolutely no one, the forty blowpipes managed to trim the last three wounds off my Plagueclaw.

In my turn, I was intent on claiming the objectives and putting some kind of numbers on the board. It was 4-0 in my opponent's favour, and I simply could not let him widen the gap any further. I cast Arcane Bolt with the Corruptor and put two wounds on Kroak, while the Warlock was left to cast Warpstorm at whoever was in range, crucially managing to kill the last Saurus Knight who was locking the Monks in combat.. The verminlord also put Mystic Shield on the Plague Priest, who had triggered his Plague Tome on the Engine of the Gods before making a dash for the safety of the ruins (and the glory of the objective). The forty man unit in the centre, swept around to launch an assault upon the cursed Engine, while the Verminlord and his accompanying Censer Bearers made a line for Kroak. The twenty monks at the back made the noble (and fanatically insane) choice to screen my army from the eighty Skinks. Retribution was brutal upon the Blowpipe Skinks, my surviving catapult unleashed a shower of corrosive spew that killed twelve and forced another seven to flee! Excellent. 

When combat rolled around, the odds were stacked against the Engine, and it simply couldn't withstand the onslaught of rats. It fell, and the objective was mine! The Verminlord cursed as Kroak managed to wound the Corruptor (and as a flow-on effect, kill two Censer Bearers... seriously, Verminous Valor is amazing!), suffer seven wounds, then refuse to crumble, heal and teleport away!

On the other side of the board, the second Carnosaur was overrun and slain by the bloodthirsty rats of the other massive regiment. The Furnace had manged to sneak close enough to the objective to claim it the moment the Scar-Veteran drew his last breath. 

Cowering behind his swarms of Skinks, Kroak tried his hardest to kill the Priest, but spells either failed or were out of range. He did manage to cast mystic shield upon himself, but that was little solace for the wasted damage potential. The Skinks had even less luck, failing to wound anything with their shooting. Things were beginning to look bleak for the Seraphon. 

In the dying moments of the game, My Arch-Warlock and remaining Plagueclaw unleashed an avalanche of damage upon Kroak, inflicting another seven wounds in hopes of claiming the huge chunk of victory points that would result in his death. Against all odds, he survived AGAIN, and healed back all of his wounds. My dastardly schemes were foiled. With the clock out of time, our last turn was very much just rolling out the crucial parts of the game, but in the end, I managed to win 12-4, securing a major victory, and losing less than four hundred victory points. 

I had complete control of the left hand side of the board, and managed to keep my Furnace alive (just) on only two wounds after all of the magic and Engine mayhem caused earlier in the game. 

I think my opponent had the tools to beat me. We talked briefly after the game about his list, and I think the verdict was that he was going to drop the Knights, and use the points to flesh out the Saurus and invest in a Balewind. It just makes Kroak so much scarier. As it was, I only ever really needed to worry about being in range of one or two spells, and it allowed me to ignore his damage output for the most part, which is not something you want said about a 450 point model. 

My opponent lost sight of the objective a few times, not in regards to his army, but in regards to mine. Other than the Verminlord, my heroes do not hold up well to damage, and several times, he targeted units of monks with spells and abilities that dish out mortal wounds. If he'd blasted my characters off and clawed a big enough lead, there would have been nothing for me to do but watch. But these things come with experience, and considering how long he's been playing, I think he's definitely going to be a player to watch in the future. 

This left me on a major win with a large amount of victory points, pushing me into the top bracket of players, ready to face down whatever horrific list awaited me in round two...

Thanks for reading,

Gabe

#121: The power of Hobby Democracy and Festering of February tournament prep

Well, the people have spoken. Last week, I put up a poll to decide what my next army painting project would be. With only two possibilities allowed by Facebook, Ironjaws crushed Beastclaw Raiders in popularity, and so my fate has been sealed. My next army will be the ironclad orruks with a severe anger management issue. I'm going to use this to push myself from a painting perspective, especially in regards to free hand painting; something I have always avoided if possible. With the abundance of flat plates of armour, as well as a banner or two, there are plenty of opportunities to stretch my hobby legs and try out some techniques I haven't committed a whole lot of time to.

For all you who voted for Beastclaw Raiders, fear not. I'm sure I'll be tackling them soon enough*.

*subject to awesome new releases and a brutally short attention span

I've settled on a list (in the voting poll post on Facebook) which I'm really happy with, as it gives me a huge variety of units and characters; well, at least in terms of Ironjawz, who are not known for having a whole lot of diversity in units. I'm very much looking forward to painting the Maw-Crusha, as well as the Warboss with the Waaagh Banner, as I think this will almost be the secondary centrepiece model in the army after the General.

But, let's not get too far ahead of ourselves. Before I kick into them, I have a rat-tag handful of models that need to be painted to finish off my Pestilens. I cannot wait to close the painting door on that army and enjoy painting something other than robed rats.

But, speaking of robed rats, I'll be taking my Pestilens on their first tournament outing of 2018 this coming weekend, at the Festering of February. This is a one-day 2000pt matched play tournament hosted by Warhammer Capalaba, and while there's only a small player pool, it's shaping up to be a fantastic day. I was lucky enough to jag one of the tickets, and as it's not large enough to earn points for the Aus Matched Play Rankings, I figured I'd use this event to fine-tune my list for some of the bigger events later in the year. The core is very similar to what I've used at several events last year.

Allegiance: Pestilens

Verminlord Corruptor (General, Vexler's Shroud, Verminous Valour)
Plague Furnace (Liber Bubonicus)
Plague Priest w/Plague Censer
Plague Priest w/Plague Censer
40 Monks (Battleline)
40 Monks (Battleline)
20 Monks (Battleline)
Plagueclaw Catapult
Plagueclaw Catapult
Congregation of Filth (Warscroll Battalion

This left me with 300 points still to spend, with none of my Allies pool used. From there, I began to scour the Skaven warscrolls looking for that perfect element to my army. I toyed with using a Warpseer, or even squeezing in a Deceiver, but what my army lacked was the ability to put mortal wounds out at considerable range from relative safety (as skaven as it gets...). While the Warpseer offers that with his Orb, and comes with a fantastic spell, he kind of has to put himself in serious danger to get the opportunity to fling grenades at people.

No-no, I needed something a little more... distanced.

Two options floated to the surface. The first was a big unit of six Jezzails, who (with help from any Mystical Terrain) were quite capable of punching holes through the head of just about any character on the board. The second was (and I can feel the shudder down your spine, my dear reader, but I'm playing Skaven at the event, and make no excuses!) an Arch-Warlock perched atop a Balewind Vortex. In the end, I leant toward the Warlock, as a friend pointed out just how prone Jezzails were to failing Battleshock, and how reliable a Warlock was at putting out mortal wounds at an extremely long range. With a bonus to cast, and a 2+ save atop the Vortex, I feel like he poses far more of a threat, and has far more utility within the army than the snipers do.

So, I'd spent 240 for the Warlock and the Balewind, which had given me the reach that I needed. This left me with 60 points in change. My knee jerk reaction was to just purchase five Plague Censer Bearers, and be done with it, but upon further thought, I decided to sneak in (literally) a unit of five Gutter Runners. These ninja rats give me that tactical element to let me contest or claim unprotected objectives, assassinate a squishy support character, or tie up a unit and prevent it from being where it needs to be to shift the tide of battle toward my opponent. With these stealthy operatives purchased, my list was rounded out to a neat 2000 points on the dot. Fantastic!

The pool of players is actually a surprising mix of new and experienced players, as well as a couple of Youngbloods testing their mettle. I don't know what all of the armies will be on the day, but I'm expecting three good games. I think a lot of the experienced players are approaching it with the same mindset as myself, more focused on refining their own lists rather than going for the throat with a hectic list. I'm very much looking forward to taking the Pestilens for a run again, and finding my groove before some of the larger events up in Queensland.

The event is next Sunday, so there'll be no blog post Sunday night. But fear not, as I'll be publishing all three battle reports in the following week! See you then.

Thanks as always for reading,
Gabe

#113: Age of Sigmar Battle Report - 2000 points Clan Pestilens Vs. Wanderers (Starstrike)

Having not taken my rats out for weeks, I figured it was about time to throw down, and who else to face but my old rivals, the Wanderers. I took my 1600 point tournament list from the recent event at the city store and used it as my foundation for the 2000k list. The real dilemma was how to spend those extra 400 points. I toyed with an Arch Warlock and 40 Monks, or even a Warpseer and 20 Monks, but in the end I decided to try out two units that I've never fielded before; a Verminlord Deceiver and 5 Plague Censor Bearers. I think Skitterleap adds some much need mobility to the army, and gives me a lethal character assassin!

Verminlord Corruptor (General, Vexler's Shroud, Verminous Valour)
Plague Furnace (Liber Bubonicous)
Plague Priest
Plague Priest
40 Plague Monks
20 Plague Monks
20 Plague Monks
5 Plague Censor Bearers
Plagueclaw Catapult
Plagueclaw Catapult
Verminlord Deceiver (Allies, unpainted)
Congregation of Filth (Warscroll Battalion)

My opponent was bringing a similar list to our last clash, with the addition of a rather large, tenacious ally.

Nomad Prince (General)
Spellweaver
Waywatcher
30 Glade Guard
30 Glade Guard
10 Eternal Guard
5 Sisters of the Thorn
30 Wildwood Rangers
Annointed of Asuryan on Frostheart Phoenix (Allies)

I knew I was going to be outmanoeuvred, but I'd learnt a lot from our last game, and I was going to put up a much harder fight than I did in the past. I knew that to come out on top, I was going to need to keep pressure up on my opponent, and play hard for the objectives.

I deployed heavily on the left hand side of the table, with the the Catapult parked close enough to the back corner so as to zone it out if any elves decided to traverse the board edges. The rest of my army was more central, while giving the Mystical Terrain in my centre right tile a wide berth. 

My right flank was definitely my weaker side. With the catapult being guarded only by a Priest and twenty monks. My opponent deployed in several overlapping ranks, making sure that all units were close enough to a board edge to be able to Wander the Paths. The Phoenix deployed centrally and the Wanderer characters all set up in the woods on the hill, with enough spread that I wasn't able to sneak my Deceiver behind the main battle line. 

Beating my opponent by a single drop, I took first turn. I knew that if my opponent took first turn, key elements of my army would die before I was able to do anything with them, and a double turn in this scenario was not going to win me the game. So I took first and wasted no time in pushing forward. My plan was to push a unit onto the possible landing spot of the middle line objective, meaning that my opponent would have to decide which site he wanted to contest before he knew which was the right one. It forced my opponent to be reactive, rather than controlling the board early-game and the pace of play. And it meant, that no matter where the first Objective dropped, it would probably be in my control. Both Priests cast Pestilent Breath into empty space in hopes of triggering a Greath Plague, but with no luck. The Furnce cast Rabid Fever on both nearby units of Monks thanks to the Liber, and triggered the Neverplague, removing all danger from Prayer casting for the rest of the game. Excellent! The big unit of forty was also blessed with the Corruptor's command ability, giving them an extra attack each. 

On the right flank, the twenty monks and the Priest followed suit, running as fast as they could toward the possible landing sight. The Deceiver Skitterleapt onto the far right flank to threaten the huge unit of Glade Guard. I chose the right flank, as the left had a huge unit of Rangers that would have made a mess of him, and his -2 to hit in shooting made the Glade Guard all but useless against him. The Catapult trundled forward a few inches to make range…

The Catapults went to work and showed just how brutal they can be, killing twelve Wildwood Rangers and eight Glade guard. This was perfect, as not only did it put a big hit on the opponent, it drew a lot of attention to the war machines, making sure that my opponent knew they couldn't be ignored. 

My only other move for the turn was to charge my Deceiver into the Glade Guard in the corner. He only managed to kill four, which was a little disappointing.

The elves wasted no time in pushing forward, Wildwood Rangers creating an imposing screen in front of the Glade Guard and Sisters of the Thorn. The play for turn one was pretty apparent from the Hero Phase. Mystic Shield and Shield of Thorns landed on the Phoenix, who barrelled straight up the centre of the field, eyes locked on my Corruptor. 

His charge fell barely short, thanks to Bale-Chimes, and so he ploughed into the unit of Plague Monks instead. This triggered a bloody cycle of Monks dying, piling in thanks to Rabid Fever, and then triggering Shield of Thorns (which was ticking on a 4+) to start the cycle all over again. In the end, I lost 19 monks in a single round of combat. Rough! The Glade Guard under attack from my Deceiver Wandered with the Nomad Lord to the centre of my board edge, unleashing upon my left-hand catapult, bringing it down to a single wound. The Nomad Lord released his bird and finished it off in comical fashion. 

After three drawn rolls, my opponent won the second turn, and wasted no time in going to work. The Eternal Guard moved up to screen their weaker comrades, while the Rangers Wandered after the general popped up nearby. Shield of Thorns failed to cast which proved to be vital for me, without mortal wounds bouncing back at me. Glade Guard continued to pepper the central monks on the hill with arrows, and I removed casualties to take them out of combat with the Phoenix. This proved to be a mistake, as they weren't in as much danger as when Thorns was on, and it left the Phoenix free in the charge phase to cut sick. 

The all important first objective landed on the right flank, and the Wildwood Rangers responded, leaping over, and hoping for a long charge on the Monks to bring them into range to contest it. The archers unleashed another volley, their arcane Bodkins stripping wounds off the Corruptor with contemptuous ease, despite his defensive options. The Waywatcher wandered the paths into my back right corner, and unleashed on the Catapult, only causing three wounds.  

The Rangers made an 11" charge, and just butchered the monks, with the last five falling to Battleshock. He claimed that objective for two points. 

Thanks to my mistake with removing casualties from the Monks, the Annointed found himself in a position to launch into the Corruptor and just make a mess of him. Dice were hot and the Corruptor was cold. And dead. Mostly dead…

I knew that I had to make the most of the opportunity to try and bring the big bird down for the brief moment while he didn't have any buffs on him, so I went to work. The Priest that was about to have his face cut off by Rangers cast Wither on the bird, as well as using his once-per-game Plague Tome to add fuel to the fire that would hopefully melt the Ice-Bird-of-Death. Then all I needed to do was send in the Deceiver. He could Skitterleap over, make a short charge, and shank the Annointed in the back with a series of well placed stabs. Job done, right? Well, Snake Eyes for my casting attempt put a quick stop to that idea. This was a disaster. I needed this bird to die, as it was just moving from unit to unit, taking next to no damage. My Furnace once more cast Rabid Fever upon the monks and Plague Censor Bearers, only this time, it triggered another Great Plague! With the Phoenix being the closest enemy unit at the time, I chose the Bubonic Blightplague. I knew it wouldn't kill the Phoenix and bounce on to other units, but the change to do D6 Mortal Wounds was too good to pass up. I rolled a five, which I was extremely happy with, until the Annointed saved three with his mortal wound save. Super, duper… 

My Plague Censor Bearers, with nothing else really to do until the other objectives dropped at the start of turn three, whirled violently into the spearmen. Knowing that I was going to be activating the monks fighting the phoenix first, I knew that the spearmen would most likely kill the Bearers before they could hit back, which is why they were the recipients of Rabid Fever. I think this was one of my first significant mistakes, as I pretty much threw this unit away, before I even knew if I needed them. Even if they did wipe out the whole unit of Eternal Guard, which was unlikely, I would be trading one unit for another and not actually gaining anything. Hindsight is indeed a beautiful thing. Perhaps I should have sent the Furnace into them, but I knew that the unit of Glade Guard at the back were still packing their Arcane Bodkins. So I chose instead to move him into terrain, which he can benefit from, as he doesn't have the Monster keyword. The last Catapult, living on borrowed time in the sights of the Waywatcher, unleashed a barrage of foul vomit upon the Glade Guard in my back line, hoping to cause similar damage, but was less successful. A few elves dissolved in the acidic stench, but not enough to inflict any casualties from Battleshock. The Waywatcher would waste no time in finishing off the war machine in his next phase. The monks went to work on the Phoenix, and started slipping wounds past its saves. It was only a matter of attritional time...

To nobody's surprise, the Plague Censor Bearers died a horrible, horrible death, and to everyone's surprise, the Plague Priest on the right flank survived against the Wildwood Rangers. To my joy, I snagged the double turn, after being on the receiving end of one, so I was ready to put my very contagious pedal to the metal. The second and third objectives dropped in the centre of the table, one in my deployment zone, one in my opponent's. Time to go to work. To protect my objective from those pesky spearmen, I launched into the Eternal Guard with my Priest, hitting the left end of the unit to try and draw them away with pile ins. 

Finally, I was gaining back some control of the board. I had plans to Skitterleap, but the nearby Spellsinger used her auto-dispel to turn it off. The Deceiver took great personal offence to this, and made sure all of her blood ended up not being inside her with a few well-placed stabbings. The Furnace also barrelled down the hill toward the Sisters of the Thorn, obliterating four of them, but much to my dismay, one remained alive. This meant that, with the Deceiver not being able to reach due to the failed spell, I wasn't able to claim the objective. 

On my home turf, I flooded the objective with my previously unharmed unit of Monks that had so far played no significant part of the battle. In a sheer stroke of luck, the last four monks from the forty man unit, with no buffs or prayers, managed to sneak through the last two wounds and kill the flappy bird of death! Huzzah! 

On the right hand side of the board, I retreated my Priest out of combat, and near to the objective. Nothing was to be achieved by him staying in combat and getting his head caved in. This meant that I only scored three points this turn.

After a minor "ankle snapping" incident with the vermin lord, repercussions were swift. Glade Guard appeared from nowhere, unleashed Arcane Bodkins and did a grand total of six wounds. They pushed forward to try and contest the objective, but were unable to get close enough without entering combat with both the Furnace and the Deceiver. 

The Eternal Guard finally pin cushioned the Priest, leaving them free to march upon my objective. Uh-oh! 

In more movement shenanigans, the Nomad Lord and Way Watcher showed up and caused as much damage to the last sizeable unit of Monks, though it cost the Nomad Prince his life. Death by a thousand cuts!

The Rangers finally hacked apart the rabid Priest, clearing the right side of the board entirely of Skaven, and began to daisy chain toward my back objective. Things were beginning to slip through my fingers.

Being very aware that I only had two models holding the far objective, I knew I had to do something about the big unit of Glade Guard. Conveniently enough, my Furnace continued its affinity with the Great Plagues, unleashing the Undulant Scourge upon them, killing 10, before charging in and disintegrating the rest of the unit. The Deceiver didn't need to lift a finger.

 The Waywatcher had Wandered the Paths and held down the right hand objective...

Which left the Rangers free to launch into the fray alongside the surviving Eternal Guard. Enough Monks died that the objective was the Wanderer's. We tallied up the scores and it was 22-21 in favour of the Wanderers! So CLOSE! 

This was a nail biting game from start to finish. Objectives changed hands, units performed far better than they should have, while others choked. In hindsight, there were a few mistakes here and there. I could have risked Skitterleaping in the last turn and shanking the Waywatcher, at the very least denying him the ability to score, but there was no way to know that the Undulent Scourge would rip apart the Glade Guard, and I couldn't risk losing that objective. 

At the end of the day, I think I played a much smarter game than I did in our last encounter, and was able to influence the game far more effectively. I felt I had enough pressure and enough tricks up my sleeve that I could keep my opponent in a reactive play style. He had enough movement shenanigans that he was able to react to everything I did, and keep pressure on in return. This was a very close game, and was on the line until the dying moments of the game! 

I think I'm definitely going to keep the Deceiver in the list. He adds a lot to the list, and I'm sure that as I play more with him and learn his limitations, that I'll get my points worth. The Plague Censor Bearers, I'm unsure of. I'll play a few more games with them, but I think there's yet a place for them in the list, they pose a minor threat, that are capable of beating down chaff units or insignificant characters. I mean, not in this game… I threw them away and they died a horrible death. Whoops.

Until next time, thanks for reading.

Gabe