#175: BrisVegas Open Order Army Lists

Below are the Order armies attending BrisVegas Open 2019, at the time of list submission.

Gary Den Otter

Jennah Grimsey

Mark Warhurst

Nick Cambridge

Steve Baglin

Will Ferguson

Luke McFadden

Andrew Wright

Davey Keegan

Scott Kutzer

Pat Carter

Adam Huey

Adam Norris

Isaac Fletcher

Jess Thompson

James Sharman

Akeem Wallace

Daniel Batchelor

Jesse Gough

Keaghan Watson

Michael Creighton

Sam Linde

Sean Muller

Shaun Chen

Steven Fleming

Tim MacDivitt

David Lancaster

Hayden Walker

Matt Hibble

Ryan Kruger

Tyson Probyn

Brady Abberton

#171: Championship Heat 1 Battle Report - Game 2: Legion of Azgorh Vs. Dispossessed

Coming off a big win against the Greenskins, I found myself facing an ancestral rival. The arch-enemy of the Chaos Dwarfs. Dispossessed.

Probably fueled by their jealousy of all the cool magic and war machines of the Dawi Zharr, the Dispossessed were ready for a proper brawl, and had called up all their mates to help out. The scenario was Starstrike, which actually had me really concerned. As you can see by Dion's list, he had a massive numbers advantage, and off the charge, almost all of those Duardin would be re-rolling their saves. To top it off, between his Warscroll Battalion, the Order allegiance ability and the mechanics built into his warscroll, it was going to be almost impossible to battleshock them off, unless the dice favoured me in a significant way.

Here is what I was facing.

Allegiance: Dispossessed
Mortal Realm: Ghur

Leaders:
Warden King (General, Master of Defence, Gryph-Feather Charm)
Runelord (Rockjaws)
Unforged

Units:
40 Warriors
30 Warriors
10 Warriors
30 Longbeards
20 Ironbreakers
10 Hammerers
10 Irondrakes

Battalions:
Grudgebound Warthrong

Total: 1980

My opponent deploying 153 models in a single drop was pretty confronting. I was confident my shooting would be able to put in work, but my combat units would potentially get bogged down in prolonged combats, and stop me from capping objectives.

Knowing that if he took first turn, there was zero risk of anything even being able to try and charge me, I deployed everything on the line. No screens or layered deployments; no zoning out my backfield. This game was going to be a brawl in the middle of the table with no prisoners taken. I knew that given the opponent and the scenario, I was going to have to try and focus-fire off a unit at a time, prioritising whatever was most threatening to the objectives.

Dion took first turn, and marched almost everyone up onto the three possible locations of the objective ready for turn two. The Longbeards marched up and locked shields opposite my K'Daai, while a 40-strong unit of warriors parked on the middle point with an aftersave from the Runelord and the 30-strong unit marched on the right side of the board. The Irondrakes, Hammerers, Ironbreakers and 10-man Warrior unit all moved up in support, but remaining close to where the Turn 3 objectives would drop. 

Left facing a metric ton of Duardin in the middle of the board, I decided to commit, and hopefully start grinding down these blocks of infantry. My shooting phase began with one of my Magma Cannons burning the Runelord to ash in a single shot, and that set the tone for one of the most horrific displays of violence I have ever witnessed in a game of Warhammer. The Fireglaives opened up, slapping through an uncharacteristically high number of wounds and mortal wounds, weakening the dwarfs for the imminent assault on their lines.

The Warhounds pushed up the flank, hoping to get a good dash at the Turn 3 objective, should it drop nearby. Before the Runelord's fiery demise, he'd managed to stop Daemonic Power from the Sorcerer Lord, so the K'Daai had to be content with Oracular Visions as they charged headlong into the Longbeards. Many of the grizzled veterans fell, despite re-rolls on their saves.

On the other side of the table, things were getting significantly more bloody.

The Taur'ruk and Skullcracker, knowing that they would never be able to outnumber the Warrior units, decided to go in anyway and try to chip down the units for an advantage later in the game. They both made long charges, and then went absolutely postal. The Taur'ruk pushed through four of his five axe attacks and a few plinks with his hoofs for fifteen dead dwarfs.

Then the Skullcracker took a swing at the forty Warriors. Both myself and Dion knew it was going to get messy when I rolled 22 for his 4D6 attacks, and it all spiralled from there for the Dispossessed. The towering war machine went on a bloody rampage, killing almost thirty Warriors in one activation.

But, they would surely hold strong. They're dwarfs, with a re-rollable battleshock check that is ignored on a 1-3. All three units, with their re-rolls, rolled nothing but 5's and 6's. The usually stalwart core of the Dispossessed army was swept aside in a bloody display of power! The 40-man Dwarf Warrior unit in the centre completely dissolved, the K'Daai were left fighting 4-5 Longbeards, and the Taur'ruk was busy hacking down survivors on the hill.

Including the Runelord, 84 Duardin met their end in my first turn.

To say that Dion and I were both completely stunned is putting it lightly...

At the start of Turn 2, the first objective landed next to the building in the centre of the board, just outside of control of the Skullcracker, and after what he'd done to the Warriors, his name was at the top of the Grudge list in bold font. The Ironbreakers and Hammerers both committed to the combat, to try and bring down the infernal construct,

As if to balance the luck from last turn, the Skullcracker only rolled six attacks this turn, but still managed to clobber a good number of the Ironbreakers. It took two full rounds of combat, and the rest of the Ironbreakers, but the Skullcracker finally fell at the hands of the Hammerers. He'd done his duty! 

Many of the combats continued in bloody fashion, with the Taur'ruk dispatching the last of the Warriors on the hill, and the K'Daai incinerating the Longbeards. 

In my turn two, the K'Daai continued on their bloody rampage, killing the Unforged and the Irondrakes, who had already suffered losses at the hands of the Magma Cannons. This signalled a catastrophic collapse of the Dwarven battle line, as the twenty Fireglaives pushed into the centre of the table, firing as they went into the Skullcracker's combat, preserving the machine as long as they could and eventually murdering the Hammerers after the Duardin had finally dispatched the Skullcracker. 

The game ended at the start of turn three, when Dion issued a challenge to my Taur'ruk to fight his Warden King in single combat. The King struck first, but his labour was in vain, as the hulking Dairy Queen shrugged off the damage before beheading the Dwarven lord and holding his head aloft in victory. 

This game caught everyone by surprise, purely based off the fact that so many models died so quickly. Between long charges, lucky Magma Cannon shots, horrendous battleshock checks and the luckiest Skullcracker War Engine in history, I managed to forge a massive advantage in the first turn, and dominate the battlefield from that point onward. It was a scenario where I think I had the advantage, both in my ranged firepower, and ability to move around the table and react at speed. 

I've played Dion several times before (most recently at RCGT last year), and he's always a blast to play, throwing plenty of insults and making many entries in the Book of Grudges. We had some great back and forth regarding the battle between ancient foes, but the Legion of Azgorh rose to the challenge on this day, with a bloody and decisive victory!

This left me with two major wins and maximum kill points going into my third game, propelling me to Table 1; not somewhere I'm entirely familiar with, but absolutely stoked to be there. It also put me into the top bracket full of armies that were no joke. From here on in, it was going to be tougher and tougher if I wanted to do well! 

Check back in soon for my third game against Sylvaneth! 

If you enjoy these articles, be sure to like and follow the Rune Axe Wargaming Facebook page for regular, weekly content! 

Thanks for reading, 

Gabe

#132: Age of Sigmar Battle Report - BrisVegas Open Game Four - Skaven Pestilens Vs. Swifthawk Agents

Heading into Day Two, I honestly had no idea who I'd be facing. There were a lot of diverse armies on the middle and bottom tables, so it could have been anyone!

As it were, I found myself facing down the solitary Swifthawk Agents player! And I'll be completely frank; I had no idea what his army did. I've never seen Swifthawk on the table before, let alone played against it.So, I was well and truly ready for some nasty surprises!

Skywarden (General)
High Warden
Archmage
Branchwych (Allies)
Treelord Ancient (Allies)
30 Spireguard (Battleline)
5 Reavers (Battleline)
5 Reavers (Battleline)
30 Swordmasters
Gryph-Hound (Allies)
Guardians of the Dawnspire (Warscroll Battalion)

While the Guardians of the Dawnspire has no points value, and is not usable in matched play, the TO made the decision to allow it. The Battalion allows the Archmage and Swordmasters to gain the SWIFTHAWK AGENTS keyword, meaning that they don't come out of the Allies pool, and allows the High Warden to order a unit to move or shoot in the Hero Phase.

Going into this game, I knew that i was going to be up against it when it came to movement. The army is incredibly fast, even without the Battalion, so I needed a plan. The Scenario was Total Conquest, where you gain more objective points if you seize an objective off your opponent.

 I deployed pretty conservatively, as I wasn't too concerned if my opponent took either of the two diagonal objectives. I was confident that I could smash units off the objectives with buffed up rats, and so had no huge need to be too far forward. If he gave me first turn, they were all within reach turn one, so I could comfortably react. My catapult and priest were content to park on my back objective, while the forty man units were supported by either the Verminlord or the Furnace, and were preparing to push straight up the middle if I need to.

I ended up being given first turn, as my opponent really wanted the double turn, so I wasted no time in pushing. The Arch-Warlock didn't wast any time popping his vortex, and giving the unit next to him a push. The Verminlord lurked behind some Arcane Terrain, and shielded himself, while the Warlock munched on a chunk of warpstone and decided to start zapping things! The characters were high-priority targets, but he didn't manage to kill any; just bruise them up a little.

On the right side of the board, my Monks and Furnace wasted no time pushing up and asserting what little authority they had on the objective in the shadow of the ruined tower, while their ninja rat mates showed up and peppered the Reavers with throwing knives, broken bottles and a brick. They inflicted no damage. All things considered, I was happy with turn one. I'd put my army into a good position, and had set myself up for what would hopefully be a successful assault on the aelves. 

My opponent's turn was pretty gentle for the most part. The Archmage threw up his aura of protection, while the other characters shuffled around in the backline. The Reavers both raced over toward the centre, and the Spireguard stepped forward to get in range of the Monks with their bows. Casualties were relatively minimal. 

Being spoilt for choice with charges, I wasted zero time in hammering home on multiple fronts. The Monks and Verminlord sliced and diced their way into the shieldwall of the Spireguard, causing their fair share of damage...

...while on the other flank, the Gutter Runners took up objective camping duty, while the Monks barrelled into both units of Reavers and started punching on. I managed to wipe out one unit of horsemen, while reducing the other down to a single model. I was really happy with how the battle was going, but I was painfully aware of the enemy heroes and Swordmasters who were yet to enter the fray. 

My opponent's retribution was swift and brutal. A sloppy pile in with my monks into the Spireguard had unintentionally dragged the Swordmasters into combat by the tiniest of margins. However, the pile in and slaughter that followed was something to behold! The Swordmasters butchered their way through the unit, leaving the survivors to be victims of battleshock. This was a huge blow, as it not only left my Verminlord relatively unsupported and with no unit to pass wounds off onto, but also meant that the Swordmasters weren't locked in combat, and could use the blinding speed of the formation to hit me at my weakest point.

And, as if to prove herself truly fickle, Lady Luck turned her back on me and left me at the mercy of a double turn. Vowing revenge for the lives of the Reavers, the Swordmasters turned about face, and charged down their line into the other large unit of Monks. The monks were butchered once more, but Rabid Fever took a horrific toll on the Swordmasters. Mystic Shield saved many of them, but I felt I was close to breaking the back of the unit. While I was suffering crippling blows left, right and centre, I was still holding three of the objectives, and if there's one lesson I've learnt well, it's to never lose sight of the scenario. Everything is expendable in order to secure the win. I was having to expend a serious chunk of my resources, but I was slowly getting away from my opponent on the scoreboard. 

The High Warden had held back until now, when he decided to go supersonic across the table in an attempt to steal my rear objective. All I had guarding it was a Plagueclaw and a Priest, but I was determined to make it as difficult as possible for him to claim it. In a stroke of sheer bad luck for my opponent, he failed to kill the Priest by a single wound, meaning that I still had more models on the objective. This cost him dearly, as he really needed to get some points on the scoreboard. By all odds, he should have slain the Priest, but some sneaky dodges and rather ridiculous save rolls, he survived! 

In probably the most tactically sound move I'd made all tournament, I retreated with both models, and positioned them so that they were both holding the objective, but were too far apart for the High Warden to kill both of them in a single turn. He was going to charge and kill one of them, but the other would live and contest the objective, delaying his scoring opportunity for yet another turn! 

Elsewhere on the board, I'd secured my left flank. The large unit of monks had suffered heavy losses to the constant shooting of the Spireguard, but the Corruptor had finally silenced their bows, slashing the last remnants of the unit to pieces. My Warlock continued his arcane barrage, which finally downed the enemy general atop his Skycutter Chariot, as well as mopping up the Branchwych lurking on the far left objective. The Plagueclaws both targetted the Swordmasters, and the Furnace smalled into them, hoping to finish them off... But, once again, I completely under-estimated them, even at less than half strength, and the reduced the Furnace to timber, scrap metal and wheezing smoke. 

Realising that he was on the back foot, and seeing an opportunity, he seized the chance to charge my general. The Gryph-Hound, who I had largely forgotten about until now, tried to jump my Priest, while the Treelord Ancient launched out of the woods to engage the Verminlord Corruptor!  

With a combination of shooting and magic, I'd manage to finish off the Swordmaster unit AND the High Warden on my back objective, while still holding the top right objective with the Gutter Runners. Despite getting absolutely trashed, I had a convincing lead on the board. 

In the last lights of the game, I carefully moved Monks forward to absorb damage for the Corruptor! The Verminlord managed to survive the onslaught from the Treelord, and wasn't killed before the end of the game. 

This was a bloody game, and I was stoked to come out of it with a major victory. I think the fact that I'd managed to beat my opponent onto all the objectives made it very hard to push me off. If my opponent had been more aggressive with the Swordmasters from the start, using the double move to get right up in my grill early, I firmly believe he could have swung the game heavily in his favour. They killed the Furnace and 60 Monks, and took an absolute beating; I'm sure they could have killed more. Re-rolling saves against shooting really saved their bacon against the Catapults. I feel like if they'd moved with purpose and sliced their way toward an objective, I wouldn't have had much to stop them. As it was, I was able to throw units at the Swordmasters and keep them occupied in the mid-field, well away from the objectives. All in all, a hard-fought and brutal win, but a win nonetheless.

This win left me on two Major Wins and two Major Losses. 

Finding myself back in the middle tables, I found myself staring down a Maggotkin army. This was going to be rough...

Thanks for reading,

Gabe