The over-arching theme of Nighthaunt is that it is a properly evil army. They're not misunderstood, or using horrific means to further a noble cause. They're straight up evil. And they are really drawing a crowd.
With the release of Soul Wars and AoS2, Nighthaunt have kicked Chaos to the curb and taken up the mantle of "the big bad", posing a worthy villain to the noble and slightly broken Stormcast Eternals. And they have done it in style. Where the last couple of battletomes have had well supported model releases (Legions of Nagash as one of the few exceptions..), Nighthaunt has been spoilt beyond belief. From named characters, generic characters, a huge diversity of units and one of the coolest centrepiece models around in the form of the new and greatly improved Black Coach, there's really not much to complain about in the model support department (some would say the abundance of Easy-To-Build, but it sacrifices neither quality or dynamic design, so I don't really see that as a bad thing). But today, I really wanted to dive into the book, and go through what has me excited for this latest addition to the Age of Sigmar universe.
THE TRIUMVIRATE OF SPOOK
Probably the most significant models to be released as part of the new range are the three named characters, Lady Olynder, Reikenor the Grimhailer and Kurdoss Valentian.
Olynder has probably made the biggest impact so far. While she was hyped up and hinted at in the media lead up, there was plenty of speculation who this new Mortarch actually was. The obvious guess was Isabella Von Carstein given new form as the Mortarch of Grief for obvious reasons, and Khalida's name was thrown around a bit, but I for one am stoked that it's an original character. Her model is absolutely exquisite, and while some players had some concerns about the structural integrity of the model, there's no question that it looks ominous and forboding on the table. As for rules, if there are two words to summarise her warscroll, it's "mortal wounds". And she generates a LOT of them! She's not the safest ethereal lady to be around, and is quite capable of nuking off pretty much any character she lays her eye-sockets on. With a great command ability, and a great spell, she looks to be worth every point of her price tag.
Kurdoss is less subtle in his methods. While his command point mechanic is hugely disruptive to the enemy, his real purpose is in his ability to smash his enemies to smithereens with his hefty sceptre. With a very respectable stat-line, he's not out of place on the front line crushin' skulls and takin' names.
The third is Reikenor. Of the three, I think Reikenor is not only the cheapest, but the most flexible of the three. He's got a great spell backed up by Corpse Candles, plenty of rules that make his combat prowess something to actually be concerned about, and most importantly, he's FAST! Speed and movement make or break armies, and having such a mobile character means that you can apply pressure wherever you want.
It's not all rainbows and lollipops, however. All three are no small investment of points, and all three have a measly seven wounds. The unmodified saves go a long way, but you can still fail saves, and the Deathless Spirits save is hardly something to rely on. If you can keep these characters alive (figuratively speaking, of course) for most of the game, they'll have a significant impact, but they will be target priority #1.
THE MOST UNDER-RATED HERO IN THE BATTLETOME (in my opinion...)
Well, here goes. There's one character that I keep coming back to that no one seems to rate. And that's the Dreadblade Harrow. While he doesn't look like much at first glance, with a so-so combat profile and fairly situational re-roll wound rule, his teleport is where he comes into his own. He can essentially shadowstep anywhere on the board as long as he's not in combat. Handy, right? But with the new-found freedom of command abilities, combined with named characters being unable to carry artefacts or be bestowed with Command Traits, this guy because prime candidate for your general. Nighthaunt get a command ability as part of their Allegiance called Spectral Summons, where a unit on the battlefield teleports to wholly within 12" of your general, and 9" away from enemies. With the other-worldly speed of the Harrow, your opponent has to be prepared for everything, as you can redeploy a scary combat character, blender unit, or tarpit into unexpected quarters. Keeping your opponent on the back foot and playing reactively is how to win with Nighthaunt, and this guy plays to that strength.
IF ONLY YOU WERE BETTER...
Glaivewraith Stalkers are probably the most underwhelming unit in the book. I love the models, and I love that they can retreat and charge... that's huge. But I just don't know where they fall. It's not that they're garbage. I mean, it's only 60 points for a unit of four. It's just that I think there are far better options for the points; namely Grimghast Reapers. Reapers have the same attack profile, but with a pip of rend, they get re-rolls to hit against units of 5 or more, rather than being dependant on charges, they're faster, and they're Battleline. The points per model also works out to be cheaper. I want Stalkers to be used and to have a purpose, but right now, I just can't see where they fit in the army as a whole. The only possible use for them that I can think of is to charge into something, survive combat, then use Fly to retreat over the top and charge a unit your opponent thought was safe. But, well, there's other units that can do that better too... If you've found a combo that works, I'd be fascinated to hear it.
THE STANDOUTS
There are two units that really shine in my eyes. The first, and unsurprisingly, is the Myrmourn Banshees. With such a heavy focus on magic in the current game, these anti-magic falsettos are guaranteed to be a practical inclusion in any army. Offering some much-needed magic defence, these ladies not only give you a great amount of utility to handle arcane threats, but when they do, they get reeeaaally angry! With Rend -2 and D3 damage, they're actually very scary once their attacks start piling up!
The second is the Bladegheist Revenants. They're perfect for smashing their way through tough opponents, with enough rend, attacks and re-rolls to make sure the jobs a good'un. In addition, they can retreat and charge, making the poor Glaivewraith Stalkers even less appealing. I'm expecting to see these spooky spectres a lot, as I think they're reliable and hugely threatening.
ARE SPIRIT HOSTS STILL RELEVANT?
Yes. Very.
SHOULD I PUT A BLACK COACH IN EVERY ONE OF MY LISTS?
Also, yes.
THE MORTALIS TERMINEXUS
In what looks to be the new trend, Nighthaunt has got three allegiance-specific Endless Spells, and while they're all focused on doing mortal wounds, the standout has to be the Terminexus in my eyes. Being 60 points, it's yet another thing you would purchase before dropping points on Stalkers (I genuinely feel bad for this unit, because it's an alright unit... it's just that the rest of the book is better and inadvertently makes it look bad). But the Terminexus is great because it yields reliable results and has a great amount of flexibility. If you're going second in the turn, you can potentially fling it into your opponent's army, hasten time and dish out some hurt, then rinse and repeat the following turn before your opponent can react. Worst case scenario, you manage to chip a few wounds off some units; best case scenario, you drop a couple of support characters into the underworld. There is, of course, the possibility that your opponent will gain control of it and slow down time to heal back those wounds, but we don't play dice games for guarantees (unless you play Tzeentch...).
Alternatively, you can summon it in your own lines, heal up some wounded units, then eat the Terminexus with your Myrmourn Banshees and buff them up in a chain of events that has next to no negative ramifications. Sure, the Banshees might take some mortal wounds, but you're still in the hero phase and there are several ways of replenishing the unit. Eating the Terminexus also prevents your opponent from turning your eldritch weapon against you. For only 60 points, it's another mechanic your opponent has to keep in the back of their mind.
PROS OF PLAYING NIGHTHAUNT:
There are plenty of reasons to collect and play Nighthaunt. Being supported by the new starter sets, along with plenty of Easy-To-Build sets, means that this is a financially cheap army to collect. There is not much outlay to get your army off the ground and on the table, with only a couple of big ticket units. Even Reikenor is ETB at no expense to the quality, which is reflected in his affordable price tag.
They're also famously easy to paint. If you wanted to invest in a single pot of Hexwraith Flame and paint the entire force in a single day, you can do that. Of course, there are more complex methods that painters are using to get astounding results, but it's an army that is as quick or slow to paint as you make it. 'Ghosting' an army used to be considered a bit of a dirty way to get painted models on the table quickly, but with Nighthaunt, it's how it should be.
You ignore rend entirely, which is nice!
Nighthaunt are spoilt for units, good artefacts and spells, allegiance abilities and combos. One of the hardest things when writing a list is deciding what NOT to take, because you simply will not be able to fit in everything that you want to. For such a compact army, there are layers and layers of combos that are just waiting to be unlocked and enacted upon the foes of Nagash. You do have to be pretty intentional about what you want in your list.
THINGS TO CONSIDER:
I don't really like using the term "cons", because every army has intentionally designed shortcomings, in whatever form they come in. But like any other army, it's not all decisive victories and crushing empires. Nighthaunt do have some limitations that need to be worked around in order to overcome. The first and most obvious thing is that, with the exception of a handful of heavier units, all of your infantry are single wound models. From the lowly Chainrasps and Stalkers to Harridans and Revenants, every point of damage you take is a model off the board. There are ways to replenish units, such as the Guardian of Souls, but that's using a single spell, which can be stopped.
Nighthaunt also have a distinct shortage of Wizards. The army has a solid spell lore, but only one generic wizard in the Guardian of Souls, and then Reikenor and Olynder. There's an artefact that makes the bearer a wizard, which I think will see a lot of play, but magic users (and defenders) must be factored in when writing lists. The Guardian is pretty much going to be in every list, because of his utility and his signature spell, but is he enough on his own? I don't think so.
The last and most important consideration to keep in mind is your movement phase. While the movement phase is vital for every competitive player, this is especially true with Nighthaunt. The army is built on aura's, areas of effect and being "wholly within". That sounds really obvious to say out loud, but mastering the movement phase, model placement and setting up for turns ahead is what is going to separate the good Nighthaunt players from the great Nighthaunt players. Put a single model too far away, over-extend by a little bit, and you can see your whole battleplan unravel. This Battletome is full to the brim of intimidating tools, but having access to them and using them with ruthless finesse are two very different things. A player who's not careful with his movement phase will find himself giving away the advantage, where I think a player who can keep track of what everything is doing and exactly where it should be will be infuriatingly tough to beat!
On the other side of the coin, the high movement levels and Fly army-wide will make this an incredibly tricky army to pin down!
In summary, I think we're about to see a metric ton of Nighthaunt armies hit the scene, and I can't wait. Usually, when a new army drops, it's a few months before fully painted armies start surfacing at events, but considering the speed with which the army can be built and painted, I'm anticipating a much faster turn around. It's definitely an army people will need to get their head around, even as opponents. Know your enemy.
I like this army, and I think it's a fantastic release. The model range is amazing, and I was lucky enough to put a brush to the Soul Wars models in the lead up to their release. Will I start my own Nighthaunt army? Perhaps. But not yet. I've got a few armies on the queue before I tackle the spooky bros!
What are your thoughts on the army? Are you diving in? And how do you plan on beating this new threat?
Let me know in the comments.
As always, thanks for reading,
Gabe
Sunday, 15 July 2018
Sunday, 1 July 2018
#135: Legion of Azgorh Compendium Review...
Evening, all.
It's no secret that I'm a big fan of the Chaos Grand Alliance. There's plenty of flexibility, there's a unit for almost every role and there are enough Battletomes to keep them current and competitive (for the most part... poor Skaven). But while most armies see the tabletop every now and then, regardless of how obscure, we're here to talk about the rarest army in the entire game.
It's no secret that I'm a big fan of the Chaos Grand Alliance. There's plenty of flexibility, there's a unit for almost every role and there are enough Battletomes to keep them current and competitive (for the most part... poor Skaven). But while most armies see the tabletop every now and then, regardless of how obscure, we're here to talk about the rarest army in the entire game.
The Legion of Azgorh.
That's right, in case you've been living under a rock, or perhaps just missed it in the onslaught of information and releases leading up to AOS2 and beyond, Choas Dwarves got an update. And what an update it was!
In a pseudo-Battletome release, Forgeworld dropped a PDF (which can be found for free on the Forge World website) with updated scrolls, as well as brand spankin' new allegiance abilities, artefacts and warscroll battalions! And because Duardin aligned with Chaos are clearly the coolest Duardin in all the realms, I'm here to break this PDF down and talk about what's good, whats changed, and why they're a viable competitive army in the current meta. Yep, I said it. I think these guys are poised to kick some ass and take some names.
While I will refer to the older scrolls occasionally, this is not going to be a direct comparison back, as it's not really relevant what they used to do. We live in the now!
ALLEGIANCE ABILITIES:
We'll kick things off with the Allegiance Abilities, as that's the lens through which we'll inspect the rest of the army. The first rule is Blackshard Armour. This used to only affect the infantry and characters, and gave you a re-roll of 1's to saves against shooting; not bad, but hardly game-changing. Well, hold onto your pants, because this has all changed. Every unit in the army, every hero, every war machine has Blackshard Armour now, and here's what it does. A model with this armour can ignore the first wound they suffer in the shooting phase, as well as the first wound they suffer in the combat phase. This would be a solid artefact for any other army, and Chaos Dwarfs get it on every single unit. Wow! While it doesn't sound like much, that's a ton of damage mitigation. There's just a heap of wounds that will be inflicted, that make it past armour saves, that will be ignored. Yes please.
The second battle trait is Burning Skies. This is a little more situational, as some armies will be largely unaffected, but it's a handy little board control ability. If an enemy unit with the Fly rule moves more than 6", there's a decent chance they'll be copping some volcanic mortal wounds to the face. This probably won't win you the game, but mortal wounds are mortal wounds, and flying units are usually pretty high-value targets. This will be particularly annoying for Nighthaunt, who's speed and army-wide Fly ability will make them second guess how aggressive they want to be.
Every Legion of Azgorh wizard also knows the Fireball spell. In the light of Arcane Bolt's tone-down, this spell is brutal. If it's a single model, you're going to chip a mortal wound off it. However, the bigger the unit, the more poor fools get caught in the ensuing inferno. If the target has ten or more models (so, a lot of units...), it's eating D6 mortal wounds! Brutal. Oh, and it only casts on a 5, so there's now very little incentive to ever cast Mystic Bolt.
The army gets three new command traits to pick from. Contemptuous is a nice little re-roll for wounding, but there are other, more efficient ways to include this in your army, so it's a hard pass from me. Relentless gives you the chance to pile in and attack twice on a Hero or Monster, and while it's a little situational and requires some luck, a Taur'Ruk could get some use out of it. But hands down the best of the bunch is Grotesque; a flat -1 to hit in combat makes your general far more survivable than he already was with Look Out, Sir and Blackshard Armour.
Lastly, there are three new artefacts and they're all good! Considering the battalions we'll be covering later in the article, it's likely you'll be taking at least two of these, so I'm glad there aren't really any duds.
The Black Hammer of Hashut gives one weapon on the bearer re-rolls to hit. The more you hit, the more you kill, and with some pretty intimidating weapons on several heroes, this isn't at all bad.
Then we have the Armour of Bazherek the Cruel, for when you absolutely, positively do not want your character to die. This artefact gives the bearer a 5+ wound negation that stops wounds AND mortal wounds; essentially a Nurgle save. Combine this with Grotesque and Blackshard Armour, and all of a sudden, it becomes REALLY hard to make wounds stick. You have to get past the hit modifier, past his save, past his artefact save at least twice, because the first one is going to be ignored by the Battle Trait.
Lastly, and in my mind, the artefact you will see in absolutely every list, we have the Chalice of Blood and Darkness. It's a one use item, but when you do use it, get ready to drink the tears of enemy wizards. Every enemy wizard within 30' must roll a dice. On a 4+, they reduce the number of spells they can cast by one. It doesn't say "to a minimum of 1", so you can effectively turn single cast wizards off for a hero phase, and severely cripple more powerful wizards. In an age of endless spells, Spell Portals and Wizard Councils, this is a must-take in every single list. Not only will it shut down a large amount of magic coming at you, but also makes your opponent's dilemma of turning off your endless spells an excruciating decision.
HEROES:
Legion of Azgorh is spoilt for choice when it comes to heroes, so lets break them down.
Drazhoath the Ashen is first and foremost. If you ever wanted and angry wizard on a burning bull, do I have the scroll for you! Weighing in at 320 points (so, in the same bracket as Arkhan the Black), you get a 13-wound 4+ save model with a 5+ after-save that bounces mortal wounds. He can cast twice, unbind twice, can actually fight his way out of a soggy paper bag, has a so-so shooting attack and can move 15" a turn! Now, he can't fly (don't let the model's MASSIVE WINGS fool you!), so there's something to be said about leaving him enough room to actually have an impact on the game, but his signature spell is pretty solid. It casts on an 8+ (ouch), but does D6 mortal wounds at 18". Keeping in mind that he can cast twice, and already knows Fireball, he's actually a potentially lethal caster. To top it off, he has a command ability that lets units from his army ignore Battleshock while wholly within 24" of him. I think he's definitely worth his points, considering what he brings to the army. The army as whole is pretty CP-rich, and doesn't need to expend a lot, so the Battleshock bubble is incredibly good! And considering the range of the aura and the speed of Drazhoath, you're not often going to find units too isolated.
The only other wizard available is the Daemonsmith. These angry bros are essential to the army, as they not only provide magical support, and carry important artefacts (cough*chalice*cough), they fill the role of engineer, buffing all of your war machines. If they've been wounded, they're better at unbinding, and they also carry a hand grenade, that'll be a nasty surprise for anyone who wanders too close to them. Their signature spell is also ridiculously good! With a measly casting value of 6+, Ash Storm has a whopping 36" range, and not only stops the target from running, but slaps a -1 To Hit modifier on them as well, building upon the sheer tenacity of your army. Intimidating ranged units will be at -2 to hit most of your heroes! Splendid.
Continuing on with the Duardin side of things, the Infernal Guard Castellan fills the role of infantry captain. He's fairly straight down the line with his Warscroll. Five wounds, a decent save and low movement are all to be expected. He's actually pretty solid in combat, being able to really dish out some pain against other heroes of equal stature, but his Command Ability is quite cool. He can select an enemy unit (or more, if you have the CP) within 12", and you add 1 to all wound rolls against that unit. This doesn't stack on the one unit, but means you're going to be wounding more, and therefore killing more. The glaring problem with this is that you have to get your Castellan within 12" of a viable target. Easier said than done, when you consider he has a 4" move...
The last Duardin hero is the Battle Standard Bearer. This guy is the reason that Contemptuous is a questionable command trait. He carries the Black Banner of Malice, whic gives +1 Bravery to all units wholly within 18", as well as allowing those same units to re-roll wounds of 1 in combat. He's also fortunate enough to be able to walk around. The banner doesn't need to be planted in the ground and him stand still for it to work. He can follow the main battleline around at will.
Moving over to the Bull Centaur heroes, we first have Shar'Tor the Executioner. He's 220 points, can't carry an artefact or have a command trait, but he's an absolute beat-stick in combat! With five high-quality attacks (-2 rend, damage 3), he's going to hurt someone, and hurt them badly! His command ability is great, too! All centaur units (himself and Taur'Ruks included) can re-roll charge distances and re-roll hits of 1 on their hooves, which go from damage 1 to damage D3 the turn they charge. This can make for a devastating assault!
The generic character for centaurs is the Taur'Ruk. This guy is the foundation warscroll for making your tanky hero. He has the same high-quality profile as Shar'Tor, but can take the artefact armour and Grotesque. He's got one less wound and a less powerful CA than Shar'Tor, but he's also 60 points cheaper. Considering how hard he is to bring down, I think he's worth his points, especially in a Bull Centaur-heavy army!
UNITS:
Let's start with the basic infantry. Infernal Guard Ironsworn are really, really good. While they have the standard dwarf problem of 4" move, the musician gives them bonuses to run, and the banner increases their bravery. Where they get good is their 4+ save, -1 rend on all of their weapons, and shield that bounce mortal wounds. They're also only 90 points per ten, or 240 points for a unit of 30. That is incredibly cheap. The champion did lose his grenade from the last scroll, but it's a minor change that cleans up the new warscroll.
Next are Fireglaives, the ranged infantry with their Pyrelock rifles. They're identical in almost every way to Ironsworn, except that they swap the mortal wound-bouncing shields for mortal wound-inflicting guns! 6's to hit will inflict a mortal wound in addition to the actual damage caused by the attack, which has streamlined the scroll nicely from iterations in the past.
Both of these units are Battleline for the army.
Bull Centaurs are your heavy shock cavalry (can you call them cavalry if the rider is also the mount? Maybe, they're just big, angry, fast guys...). They carry the same shields as the Ironsworn and sport Rend -1, damage 2 weapons. With five wounds each, they're tough to shift, but they're 180 points for three models, so it's an investment to take a decent unit of them; an investment you want to build around.
The last unit is the K'Daai Fireborn. The models for these guys are unreal, and they give you some much-needed speed! Movement 8" and run & charge allow them to be where you need them to be. Their save can't be modified, which is nice, and their attacks have a 3" reach and D3 damage, so they can actually beat down on low save units.
WAR MACHINES:
Let's be real, you don't take Chaos Dwarfs and leave all the war machines at home. These are some of the most lethal war machines in the game, and have had the fortune of not only combining the profile of the crew and machine into one, but sitting under that 8-wound threshold that allows them to benefit from cover.
We'll start with the Magma Cannon, because this model should be in every army. With a 2+ save in cover against shooting, and no deterioration chart, the Magma Cannon takes some effort to destroy. Its 18" range is increased to 24" if there's a Daemonsmith nearby, and it straight up murders things. It doesn't roll to hit, bypassing Look Out, Sir and any other negative modifiers. It doesn't roll to wound. You just pick a target, roll a dice, and on a 3+, it suffers that many mortal wounds. Boom. If the target has 10 or more models, you add 1 to the roll, meaning less chance of failure and the potential to do 7 mortal wounds per shot. In the current meta with -1 to hit modifiers being very much a common sight, this war machine is a must-include in my eyes. And I don't mean just one...
The Deathshrieker Rocket Launcher is similarly hard to kill, except that it has the luxury of a 36" range and ignoring line of sight. With bonuses for targeting units with 5 or more models, and an extra shot from a nearby Daemonsmith, its worth all 120 points!
The last "Artillery" war machine is the Dreadquake Mortar, with a 40" range, ignoring LOS, and with 10 wounds (missing out on that cover bonus). This is the most expensive and least useful of all three war machines. It only hits on a 4+ (3+ with a Smith nearby), and has a single attack unless it wants to risk D3 mortal wounds for a second shot. IF you hit and wound, you do have Rend -2, which is nice, but D6 damage. If you've used a D6 damage profile before, you know full well how underwhelming that can be sometimes. For me, the Mortar just doesn't stack up to the far more reliable Magma Cannon or the far cheaper Deathshrieker.
The next two war machines are Behemoths, rather than artillery, which means they're not competing for slots with Magma Cannons. The Iron Daemon comes with a pretty nasty Rend -2 shooting attack, while the Skullcracker is built for one thing and one thing only; pulverising everything it touches! Both come with 11 wounds and a 3+ save, and start with a 10" move characteristic, giving you some valuable assault units, but they aren't just a blunt force tool. They can also tow artillery pieces behind them, giving the shorter-ranged Magma Cannon movement 10" rather that its pretty pathetic movement 3". There is no negative repercussions for moving with war machines, so it means you can quickly redeploy your Cannons and threatun heroes and monsters that your opponent perhaps thought were safe!
BATTALIONS:
In this most recent publication, there are three Warscroll Battalions available to the Legions of Azgorh, and depending on what you prefer, one of them will fit your list. There's one for Bull Centaurs, one for War Machines, and one for massed infantry.
The Blackshard Warhost is built on the back of Ironsworn and Fireglaives, and gives them a boost to their bravery. They also re-roll hit rolls of 1 if they haven't moved that turn. This formation is good, because it covers your Battleline requirements, cuts down your deployment drops, and gives you a Command Point and an Artefact. The actual bonuses from the battalion are fairly so-so. With such low movement to begin with, you don't really want to be standing still, particularly with Ironsworn. They need to be pushing up the board, and ensuring they have an impact on the flow of the game. The bravery bonus is also made significantly less important if you're including Drazhoath in the list, as he allows them to ignore Battleshock anyway. Worth taking for more of a practical list building perspective, but the battalion itself doesn't offer much in the way of rules.
Hashut's Wrath Artillery Train has me torn. It allows you to treat all units from the Battalion to act as if there is a Daemonsmith within 3" allowing them to act at full capacity without having to be babysat by the Daemonsmith. But you MUST take at least one Iron Daemon, and there's no option to take Skullcrackers. This, to me, is still a fantastic Battalion, as it allows you some flexibility with your Smith, and encompasses all the artillery pieces you were already going to include in the army (because let's be real, if you're not taking two Magma Cannons, what are you even doing...). This formation allows your Iron Daemons to tow Magma Cannons 10" and still shoot 24", as they no longer care about outrunning the Smith. It's also the cheapest of the three Battalions, weighing in at only 120 points. Great Value.
While the first two have had previous iterations, this last Battalion is brand new. The Execution Herd is all about Bull Centaurs. To run it, you need Shar'Tor, a Taur'Ruk and three units of Bull Centaur Renders. This covers all three of your Battleline if you make Shar'Tor your general (which is a no-brainer in this battalion). If you're going in on Centaurs, I'm of the mind that you might as well go all in. All the bonuses to them from heroes are Auras, so you might as well get the most out of it and jam as many centaurs into those auras as humanly possible. The battalion rules are also pretty great. You mark an enemy unit for death at the start of the game, and all units from the battalion re-roll hits against it. Once that unit's dead, you can pick a new unit and keep rampaging. Super solid!
THE DOWNSIDES:
There are three significant downsides to this army.
Firstly, and most glaringly obvious, is the model range. The army is purely Forge World, and its not what you'd call a budget army. The models are actually pretty cool, and if you're not opposed to working with resin, then you'll have no problems, but if it's out of the question, your only real choices are third party miniatures (of which I'm yet to see a suitable range), or convert, convert, convert! With more Duardin models available than we've ever had before, and with a kit for almost every possible bit, converting an army isn't a terrible idea, but can often end up costing you as much as the Forge World models anyway.
Secondly, Chaos Dwarfs have all the same drawbacks in gameplay that all the other dwarfs have. They're slow. And unlike Kharadron Overlords, Fyreslayers and Dispossessed, they have zero movement tricks up their sleeve. There are no avenues for unconventional deployment or reserves. If you want something on the other side of the table, you're going to have to march over there and get it. Or ride a steam engine of death... But there's no flying in the army, which means punching through every unit that is thrown in front of you. Artillery can compensate for that a little, taking out key elements from a distance, but bodies will need to hit the ground to win games.
And thirdly, emblazoned on the first page of the PDF is that big, dirty word... COMPENDIUM.
This is a brand new document, and it's important to keep in mind that these models are still 100% available. It should also be noted that Forge World seems to march to the beat of their own drum, so I'm honestly not expecting them to "Bretonniate" the Legion of Azgorh anytime soon. But, it's something to keep in mind.
SUMMARY:
This was a big boost for the Legion of Azgorh. Great allegiance abilities, artefacts and command traits, coupled with the new rules and endless spells, have made the army far more viable, despite a few adjustments to scrolls that could be seen as toning back. All in all, the document and the army are very streamlined with plenty of cool options and units. I don't think they're in that upper bracket of armies, but they're viable. They lack any kind of summoning or healing mechanic, but I think in the hands of a good player, they could be incredibly effective. And with the meta in the place that it's in, and knowing that obscure armies have been very successful in the past, they're so crazy that they might just work...
I, for one, would love to see the army on the table.
What do you think of the new rules? Are they good enough to entice people into the army that's been lurking in the shadows for years? Or do you think they're irrelevant and and should be going the way of Tomb Kings? Let me know your thoughts.
Thanks for reading,
Gabe
The next two war machines are Behemoths, rather than artillery, which means they're not competing for slots with Magma Cannons. The Iron Daemon comes with a pretty nasty Rend -2 shooting attack, while the Skullcracker is built for one thing and one thing only; pulverising everything it touches! Both come with 11 wounds and a 3+ save, and start with a 10" move characteristic, giving you some valuable assault units, but they aren't just a blunt force tool. They can also tow artillery pieces behind them, giving the shorter-ranged Magma Cannon movement 10" rather that its pretty pathetic movement 3". There is no negative repercussions for moving with war machines, so it means you can quickly redeploy your Cannons and threatun heroes and monsters that your opponent perhaps thought were safe!
BATTALIONS:
In this most recent publication, there are three Warscroll Battalions available to the Legions of Azgorh, and depending on what you prefer, one of them will fit your list. There's one for Bull Centaurs, one for War Machines, and one for massed infantry.
The Blackshard Warhost is built on the back of Ironsworn and Fireglaives, and gives them a boost to their bravery. They also re-roll hit rolls of 1 if they haven't moved that turn. This formation is good, because it covers your Battleline requirements, cuts down your deployment drops, and gives you a Command Point and an Artefact. The actual bonuses from the battalion are fairly so-so. With such low movement to begin with, you don't really want to be standing still, particularly with Ironsworn. They need to be pushing up the board, and ensuring they have an impact on the flow of the game. The bravery bonus is also made significantly less important if you're including Drazhoath in the list, as he allows them to ignore Battleshock anyway. Worth taking for more of a practical list building perspective, but the battalion itself doesn't offer much in the way of rules.
Hashut's Wrath Artillery Train has me torn. It allows you to treat all units from the Battalion to act as if there is a Daemonsmith within 3" allowing them to act at full capacity without having to be babysat by the Daemonsmith. But you MUST take at least one Iron Daemon, and there's no option to take Skullcrackers. This, to me, is still a fantastic Battalion, as it allows you some flexibility with your Smith, and encompasses all the artillery pieces you were already going to include in the army (because let's be real, if you're not taking two Magma Cannons, what are you even doing...). This formation allows your Iron Daemons to tow Magma Cannons 10" and still shoot 24", as they no longer care about outrunning the Smith. It's also the cheapest of the three Battalions, weighing in at only 120 points. Great Value.
While the first two have had previous iterations, this last Battalion is brand new. The Execution Herd is all about Bull Centaurs. To run it, you need Shar'Tor, a Taur'Ruk and three units of Bull Centaur Renders. This covers all three of your Battleline if you make Shar'Tor your general (which is a no-brainer in this battalion). If you're going in on Centaurs, I'm of the mind that you might as well go all in. All the bonuses to them from heroes are Auras, so you might as well get the most out of it and jam as many centaurs into those auras as humanly possible. The battalion rules are also pretty great. You mark an enemy unit for death at the start of the game, and all units from the battalion re-roll hits against it. Once that unit's dead, you can pick a new unit and keep rampaging. Super solid!
THE DOWNSIDES:
There are three significant downsides to this army.
Firstly, and most glaringly obvious, is the model range. The army is purely Forge World, and its not what you'd call a budget army. The models are actually pretty cool, and if you're not opposed to working with resin, then you'll have no problems, but if it's out of the question, your only real choices are third party miniatures (of which I'm yet to see a suitable range), or convert, convert, convert! With more Duardin models available than we've ever had before, and with a kit for almost every possible bit, converting an army isn't a terrible idea, but can often end up costing you as much as the Forge World models anyway.
Secondly, Chaos Dwarfs have all the same drawbacks in gameplay that all the other dwarfs have. They're slow. And unlike Kharadron Overlords, Fyreslayers and Dispossessed, they have zero movement tricks up their sleeve. There are no avenues for unconventional deployment or reserves. If you want something on the other side of the table, you're going to have to march over there and get it. Or ride a steam engine of death... But there's no flying in the army, which means punching through every unit that is thrown in front of you. Artillery can compensate for that a little, taking out key elements from a distance, but bodies will need to hit the ground to win games.
And thirdly, emblazoned on the first page of the PDF is that big, dirty word... COMPENDIUM.
This is a brand new document, and it's important to keep in mind that these models are still 100% available. It should also be noted that Forge World seems to march to the beat of their own drum, so I'm honestly not expecting them to "Bretonniate" the Legion of Azgorh anytime soon. But, it's something to keep in mind.
SUMMARY:
This was a big boost for the Legion of Azgorh. Great allegiance abilities, artefacts and command traits, coupled with the new rules and endless spells, have made the army far more viable, despite a few adjustments to scrolls that could be seen as toning back. All in all, the document and the army are very streamlined with plenty of cool options and units. I don't think they're in that upper bracket of armies, but they're viable. They lack any kind of summoning or healing mechanic, but I think in the hands of a good player, they could be incredibly effective. And with the meta in the place that it's in, and knowing that obscure armies have been very successful in the past, they're so crazy that they might just work...
I, for one, would love to see the army on the table.
What do you think of the new rules? Are they good enough to entice people into the army that's been lurking in the shadows for years? Or do you think they're irrelevant and and should be going the way of Tomb Kings? Let me know your thoughts.
Thanks for reading,
Gabe
Sunday, 17 June 2018
#134: Mayhem 2018 Tournament Overview
Well, as what was expected to be my last event before Age of Sigmar dropped it's new edition, I wanted to see out the current edition how I started it...
Playing a sub-par army and getting rinsed by everyone.
Mayhem was a 1500 point, 3-Game Matched Play tournament a few weeks ago that I managed to clear my schedule for. And while I originally wanted to take one of several other armies, with the time I had, I simply wasn't going to have them painted. So, as a last hurrah for the edition (and the army for a while), I once again took to the battlefield with the unreliable but entertaining Clan Pestilens.
Verminlord Corruptor (General, Verminous Valour, Vexler's Shroud)
Plague Furnace (Liber Bubonicus)
Plague Priest
Arch-Warlorck (Allies)
40 Monks (Battleline)
40 Monks (Battleline)
20 Monks (Battleline)
Congregation of Filth (Warscroll Battalion)
Balewind Vortex
Rather than split the tournament into three battle reports, I've chosen instead to do a single article on the event as a whole. Going into this tournament, my goal was simple. Don't come last. I was 1.3 points off claiming the Best in Allegiance: Pestilens icon, and as long as I didn't hit the bottom of the barrel, I'd be alright. I say that, but despite the tournament not being huge, the player pool was of the highest calibre. Some of the best players in the country had converged on this event to roll dice and take names. I would need some good luck surrounding match ups...
My first opponent was a young player who I'd played at the last event at the store. I'd beaten his Seraphon soundly, and after the game, we'd talked about things he could have done differently to give me a lot of trouble. Unfortunately for me, he'd taken that advice (along with the advice of several other players) and showed up with a Kroaknado, a ton of skinks and one angry, angry Carnosaur.
The scenario was Battle for the Pass, and I wasted no time in pushing up onto the middle objectives. My Warlock was shut down from casting Balewind, which made his impact on the game very minimal do to an unhealthy amount of magic missiles to the face from Kroak in the bottom of turn one. The game was incredibly close, with objectives changing hands several times. I got a little bit greedy and made a rush for his exposed rear objective, but he managed to scramble enough to scurry back with skinks and push me off. In the end, scenario points were dead even, and he beat me on victory points. With no way of damaging Kroak enough to threaten him, and with limited ways to stop his magic, the arcane onslaught just brutalised my army. It was a really close game, and despite taking a minor loss, I was stoked to see my opponent taking advice from older players on board and achieving better outcomes as a result.
Lurking in the bottom half of the field, my next opponent was running a Stormcast list. He was very new to the matched play side of things, despite having a beautifully painted army, and I believe this was his fourth game. The scenario was Scorched Earth, and this was his list.
Knight-Venator (General, Consumate Commander, Luckstone)
5 Judicators
5 Judicators
5 Liberators
2 Fulminators
5 Retributors
3 Prosecutors with Hammers
3 Longstrike Raptors
3 Longstrike Raptors
Gryph Hound
The first thing that stood out was that there was a lot of shooting, but not a lot to threaten my objectives. The Liberators and Retributors deployed on the table, so I knew that I had plenty of time to handle them. What I wasn't expecting was for the shooting to kill my Arch Warlock off a Balewind, and the Plague Furnace on turn one. The Fulminators failed a 6" charge on my lines, which really saved my bacon, and the counter attack from the horde of frenzied rats made short work of them. From there, my army launched forward, slamming into his lines, and cutting down the infantry units with relative ease. It came down to a numbers game, and my opponent just didn't feel like he had the tools to combat 100 rats with what he had left on the board after the Fulminators failed to do anything. In the end, numbers won it for me, as I was able to mob his objectives and burn them for the win. He was a great sport about the game, and we had a chat afterward about strong Stormcast builds. This left me on a Major Win and a Minor Loss.
It was a bizarre set of results that saw my next match up against an undefeated Khorne player. There were only a handful of players on two wins, and my Minor Loss put me ahead of most other players who had gotten a major loss. My initial reaction was one of dread, as the Khorne player had, in his first two games, smashed off a Fyreslayers and a Nurgle Daemon army with his Letterbomb/Gore Pilgrims/Wrath of Khorne Bloodthirster list. Anyone who has played either of those armies knows how resilient they are, and he'd just waded through them in no time at all. Great.
But I had a plan.
The scenario was Knife to the Heart. I knew that I outdropped him, and I knew that if he went first, I was toast. So, I accepted what was going to happen, and screened my entire army with a long screen of 40 Monks. They were going to die, no matter what, but I was going to take the Letterbomb with me...
At least, that was the plan until I failed to cast Rabid Fever... my Pile In and Attack upon death didn't go off, which meant that the Letters flew in, inflicted 53 mortal wounds and removed them from the game. From that point onward, I had some of the best luck of my life. If I'd lost turn two priority, that virtually unharmed (bar a few casualties from 40 exploding rats) Bloodletter unit would hit all of my characters and other units, pin me in place, and just hack me to pieces. As it was, I didn't lose a single priority roll for the rest of the game. My 20-strong Monk unit counter-punched the Bloodletters, slaying all of them.
From there, the game took a violent turn, with stuff dying left, right and centre. My remaining 40-man unit of Monks managed to kill the Bloodthirster, a Bloodstoker, a Slaughterpriest and 10 Blood Warriors. The Corruptor decided to roll hot, streaking up a flank to kill ten Reavers, Riptooth and the Bloodsecrator!
In the upset of the tournament, I managed to not only score a victory, but also table my opponent!
Once again, it came down purely to numbers. Having 100 models on the board, no matter how squishy, still needs a lot of killing to get through. My opponent in game three was an absolute legend, and this was actually our first game against each other, despite attending quite a few events.
With kill points playing a big part in scoring, and managing two wins and a minor loss, I landed 3rd place, hitting the podium with Pestilens! This was a huge achievement for me, and a great send off for the army and the edition. I was under no illusion that luck had gone my way at the event, as if match ups had gone in other directions, I might have faced armies that I knew I couldn't beat. But Lady Luck plays a part in every event, and I was stoked to have her favour at this tournament.
My opponent from Game Three claimed second place (thanks to his truly horrific Points Killed tally), while an undefeated Seraphon army took out the crown.
With a trophy for Pestilens, I was happy to put them onto the display shelves and move on to other armies. They'd earned their place there!
Are you starting a new army for the new edition?
Thanks for reading,
Gabe
Playing a sub-par army and getting rinsed by everyone.
Mayhem was a 1500 point, 3-Game Matched Play tournament a few weeks ago that I managed to clear my schedule for. And while I originally wanted to take one of several other armies, with the time I had, I simply wasn't going to have them painted. So, as a last hurrah for the edition (and the army for a while), I once again took to the battlefield with the unreliable but entertaining Clan Pestilens.
Verminlord Corruptor (General, Verminous Valour, Vexler's Shroud)
Plague Furnace (Liber Bubonicus)
Plague Priest
Arch-Warlorck (Allies)
40 Monks (Battleline)
40 Monks (Battleline)
20 Monks (Battleline)
Congregation of Filth (Warscroll Battalion)
Balewind Vortex
Rather than split the tournament into three battle reports, I've chosen instead to do a single article on the event as a whole. Going into this tournament, my goal was simple. Don't come last. I was 1.3 points off claiming the Best in Allegiance: Pestilens icon, and as long as I didn't hit the bottom of the barrel, I'd be alright. I say that, but despite the tournament not being huge, the player pool was of the highest calibre. Some of the best players in the country had converged on this event to roll dice and take names. I would need some good luck surrounding match ups...
My first opponent was a young player who I'd played at the last event at the store. I'd beaten his Seraphon soundly, and after the game, we'd talked about things he could have done differently to give me a lot of trouble. Unfortunately for me, he'd taken that advice (along with the advice of several other players) and showed up with a Kroaknado, a ton of skinks and one angry, angry Carnosaur.
The scenario was Battle for the Pass, and I wasted no time in pushing up onto the middle objectives. My Warlock was shut down from casting Balewind, which made his impact on the game very minimal do to an unhealthy amount of magic missiles to the face from Kroak in the bottom of turn one. The game was incredibly close, with objectives changing hands several times. I got a little bit greedy and made a rush for his exposed rear objective, but he managed to scramble enough to scurry back with skinks and push me off. In the end, scenario points were dead even, and he beat me on victory points. With no way of damaging Kroak enough to threaten him, and with limited ways to stop his magic, the arcane onslaught just brutalised my army. It was a really close game, and despite taking a minor loss, I was stoked to see my opponent taking advice from older players on board and achieving better outcomes as a result.
Lurking in the bottom half of the field, my next opponent was running a Stormcast list. He was very new to the matched play side of things, despite having a beautifully painted army, and I believe this was his fourth game. The scenario was Scorched Earth, and this was his list.
Knight-Venator (General, Consumate Commander, Luckstone)
5 Judicators
5 Judicators
5 Liberators
2 Fulminators
5 Retributors
3 Prosecutors with Hammers
3 Longstrike Raptors
3 Longstrike Raptors
Gryph Hound
The first thing that stood out was that there was a lot of shooting, but not a lot to threaten my objectives. The Liberators and Retributors deployed on the table, so I knew that I had plenty of time to handle them. What I wasn't expecting was for the shooting to kill my Arch Warlock off a Balewind, and the Plague Furnace on turn one. The Fulminators failed a 6" charge on my lines, which really saved my bacon, and the counter attack from the horde of frenzied rats made short work of them. From there, my army launched forward, slamming into his lines, and cutting down the infantry units with relative ease. It came down to a numbers game, and my opponent just didn't feel like he had the tools to combat 100 rats with what he had left on the board after the Fulminators failed to do anything. In the end, numbers won it for me, as I was able to mob his objectives and burn them for the win. He was a great sport about the game, and we had a chat afterward about strong Stormcast builds. This left me on a Major Win and a Minor Loss.
It was a bizarre set of results that saw my next match up against an undefeated Khorne player. There were only a handful of players on two wins, and my Minor Loss put me ahead of most other players who had gotten a major loss. My initial reaction was one of dread, as the Khorne player had, in his first two games, smashed off a Fyreslayers and a Nurgle Daemon army with his Letterbomb/Gore Pilgrims/Wrath of Khorne Bloodthirster list. Anyone who has played either of those armies knows how resilient they are, and he'd just waded through them in no time at all. Great.
But I had a plan.
The scenario was Knife to the Heart. I knew that I outdropped him, and I knew that if he went first, I was toast. So, I accepted what was going to happen, and screened my entire army with a long screen of 40 Monks. They were going to die, no matter what, but I was going to take the Letterbomb with me...
At least, that was the plan until I failed to cast Rabid Fever... my Pile In and Attack upon death didn't go off, which meant that the Letters flew in, inflicted 53 mortal wounds and removed them from the game. From that point onward, I had some of the best luck of my life. If I'd lost turn two priority, that virtually unharmed (bar a few casualties from 40 exploding rats) Bloodletter unit would hit all of my characters and other units, pin me in place, and just hack me to pieces. As it was, I didn't lose a single priority roll for the rest of the game. My 20-strong Monk unit counter-punched the Bloodletters, slaying all of them.
From there, the game took a violent turn, with stuff dying left, right and centre. My remaining 40-man unit of Monks managed to kill the Bloodthirster, a Bloodstoker, a Slaughterpriest and 10 Blood Warriors. The Corruptor decided to roll hot, streaking up a flank to kill ten Reavers, Riptooth and the Bloodsecrator!
In the upset of the tournament, I managed to not only score a victory, but also table my opponent!
Once again, it came down purely to numbers. Having 100 models on the board, no matter how squishy, still needs a lot of killing to get through. My opponent in game three was an absolute legend, and this was actually our first game against each other, despite attending quite a few events.
With kill points playing a big part in scoring, and managing two wins and a minor loss, I landed 3rd place, hitting the podium with Pestilens! This was a huge achievement for me, and a great send off for the army and the edition. I was under no illusion that luck had gone my way at the event, as if match ups had gone in other directions, I might have faced armies that I knew I couldn't beat. But Lady Luck plays a part in every event, and I was stoked to have her favour at this tournament.
My opponent from Game Three claimed second place (thanks to his truly horrific Points Killed tally), while an undefeated Seraphon army took out the crown.
With a trophy for Pestilens, I was happy to put them onto the display shelves and move on to other armies. They'd earned their place there!
Are you starting a new army for the new edition?
Thanks for reading,
Gabe
Sunday, 10 June 2018
#133: Age of Sigmar Battle Report - BrisVegas Open Game Five - Skaven Pestilens Vs. Maggotkin of Nurgle
After two big wins and two big losses, I found myself facing one of the five Maggotkin players!
Lord of Plagues (General)
Rotbringer Sorcerer
Gutrot Spume
Verminlord Corruptor
Plague Priest
Rotigus
20 Marauders of Nurgle
5 Putrid Blightkings (Battleline)
5 Putrid Blightkings (Battleline)
5 Putrid Blightkings (Battleline)
5 Putrid Blightkings (Battleline)
Blight Guard (Warscroll Battalion)
At first glance, I was pretty stoked. Thanks to the Nurgle keyword, I could make use of her Feculent Gnarlmaws to run and charge with my Monks, as well as benefit from certain results on the wheel. Then I looked a little closer and realised what a rough stretch of road this was going to be. The Blight Guard meant that I was at -1 to Hit against all of the Blight Kings, which completely blunted the Monks' melee triggers. The scenario was Scorched Earth, so I had the numbers advantage, but whether I could capitalise on that was yet to be seen.
My opponent built her offence using Rotigus as the anchor. The Sorcerer and Lord of Plagues protected him, along with five Kings. On the left, the Marauders were left relatively unprotected on the objective, while the right flank was held down by two units of Kings, the Corruptor and the Priest. Gutrot and a unit of Kings were waiting off the board.
...a unit of Blight Kings butchered their way through twenty Monks to leave an objective dangerously exposed! Oh dear.
The Blight Kings accompanying Gutrot were losing models one by one, but were able to kill plenty of rats in return. Fortunately, I had the presence of mind to put Inspiring Presence on them, which meant that they weren't going to be going anywhere in a hurry. Through sheer numbers, they managed to hold that objective all game!
Lord of Plagues (General)
Rotbringer Sorcerer
Gutrot Spume
Verminlord Corruptor
Plague Priest
Rotigus
20 Marauders of Nurgle
5 Putrid Blightkings (Battleline)
5 Putrid Blightkings (Battleline)
5 Putrid Blightkings (Battleline)
5 Putrid Blightkings (Battleline)
Blight Guard (Warscroll Battalion)
At first glance, I was pretty stoked. Thanks to the Nurgle keyword, I could make use of her Feculent Gnarlmaws to run and charge with my Monks, as well as benefit from certain results on the wheel. Then I looked a little closer and realised what a rough stretch of road this was going to be. The Blight Guard meant that I was at -1 to Hit against all of the Blight Kings, which completely blunted the Monks' melee triggers. The scenario was Scorched Earth, so I had the numbers advantage, but whether I could capitalise on that was yet to be seen.
I deployed pretty across a pretty wide frontage, being well aware of the threat posed by Gutrot and his goons. I left a Catapult in each corner to zone out my back field, made sure to park my Arch-Warlock next to Arcane Terrain.
My opponent gave me first turn, and I was determined to stop her from ruining my back field with Spume. Luckily for me, I had enough bodies in the list to do that effectively.
My first turn was very conservative. I knew that, especially in Scorched Earth, if I gave Spume & Friends an opportunity, they'd run on, burn an objective and get ahead on the scoreboard. If that happened, I was going to be in serious strife. So, I chose to sit back and force Spume to commit, and then react from there. Usually, I hate playing a reactive play style, but in this situation, I felt I had to. The Warlock jumped up on his Balewind and started chipping wounds off characters that didn't have a built in ability to heal (like Rotigus) but it was to no avail, as in the following turn, the King's Discharge rolled perfectly and healed the nearby heroes back up to almost full wounds. The gutter runners popped up in the right-back corner, in hopes of running along the back board edge, and burning a cheeky objective. Only wounding Nurgle on 6's, my Plagueclaws were pretty much just paperweights this game.
Realising that there wasn't much point in waiting, my opponent made the choice to bring Spume & Friends on the right flank, to strengthen the weaker side. I was confident that the Bale-Chimes would protect me from a long-bomb charge.
Fortunately for me, Mystical terrain was not kind to my opponent. A unit of Kings, the Plague Priest and the Marauders were all befuddled, but fortunately, they were on objectives and had no urgent need to move.
Nurgle got the double turn, and wasted no time in hitting the gas. Spume and his friends had a tree pop up behind them, and got ready for a charge on the Priest and Monks, while on the other flank...
Spume and the Kings made it into combat, and began punching things to death. The Priest was no match for the grizzled sea-captain's onslaught, and the Monks and Catapult took a punishing amount of damage from the Kings. It was at this point that I realised how badly the game was going for me, primarily because of Blight Guard. -1 to hit on all the Blight Kings meant that all of my monks were hitting like wet noodles, as none of their triggers were able to go off.
In my following turn, realising that I had nothing to lost, and everything to gain, my Corruptor sprinted forward, running and charging thanks to the nearby Gnarlmaw, and launched into the Marauders, hoping to slice and dice his way through the unit and maybe even get a sneaky burn!
On the other side of the board, I was celebrating the little wins. After my opponent's Corruptor got befuddled by the same Mystical Terrain that had basically derped out that whole flank, my monks made full use of the opportunity, running and charging to punch on with both the Corruptor and the Priest. Thankfully, they had no negative hit modifiers, so my attacks actually put a great deal of pain on them!
Not content with murdering my Priest and Plagueclaw on my right-hand objective, the Blight Kings chose not to burn the objective, as there was no real threat to it, and instead, tag the tail end on ym unit of Monks, stringing them out and mitigating the volume of attacks.
The Corruptor had also charged in and done significantly less that I would have hoped! Instead of leaping into the horde and decimating them with his scythed blades, he killed three... three marauders. Cool.
The right hand combat fortunately did not result in complete carnage, but it did end with both right hand objectives firmly in my opponent's control. Game ended with a decisive victory for my opponent.
You may have noticed that my Arch-Warlock, Plague Furnace and Gutter Runners had very little to do with this game. This was thanks to Rotigus and some truly masterful Wheel manipulation! The sheer mortal wound output of this army at long range is terrifying. In the end, the game ended up going about as well as I expected. I knew that even with some luck, I was going to have to fight tooth and nail to gain the upper hand. As it turned out, my opponent outplayed me and managed to catch my army in an awkward spot and hold them there.
\
This was probably my most relaxed game of the weekend, as both of us knew we were nowhere near the podium, and therefore weren't playing for sheep stations.
The event as a whole was fantastic, and I actually managed to hit some (but definitely not all) of the goals that I had going into it. To claim the Best Pestilens badge on the Australian Matched Play rankings, I needed to finish 26th out of 48 players or better.
I came 27th...
I missed it by one spot. Spewing. That said, I can't complain too much. I managed to place higher than a lot of scary lists. With two wins and three losses, what really boosted me up was the painting scores. I managed to score maximum painting points, which was a real bonus; the painting journey for this army has been a hard road, and it was paying off! This was a goal that I really wanted to nail for the event, and I did just that.
I also wanted to get a "Best Game" vote from one of my opponents, and while I didn't actually end up seeing if I got anyone else's, I did get one from my opponent in Game Three with his Greenskins. I also gave him my "Best Game" vote, and it was well earned. That was probably the funniest game of Age of Sigmar I have ever played. So.. many... things... died.
The BrisVegas Open was run seamlessly by the Tournament Organisers, had a fantastic pool of players, and ended up being a really enjoyable weekend! I will definitely be going again next year, and if you have the opportunity to, by all means, buy a ticket and get along to it.
Thanks for reading,
Gabe :)
Sunday, 3 June 2018
#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.
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.
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
Sunday, 20 May 2018
#131: Age of Sigmar Battle Report - BrisVegas Open Game Three - Skaven Pestilens Vs. Greenskinz
Going into Game Three, I was optimistic. I'd beaten a Gnarlroot, and was now facing off against Greenskins, of all things. While I hadn't played against them before, I honestly hadn't considered them a particularly powerful army.
Says the guy playing Pestilens...
I'd met my opponent before, and we got along great, sharing a love for all things American Football, but we'd never actually played a game. I was happy with the draw of opponent at the end of day one, as I consider game three of a two day tournament to typically be the hardest. Not because of the game, but because its the third game that day, and being on your feet and thinking all day takes a surprising toll on your energy levels. It always helps getting through that game if you can have a bit of a laugh.
The scenario was Duality of Death, and here's what I was facing...
While the Furnace didn't reach the objective, the Priest on the right did reach the objective. Sixty monks flooded forward to support them too. On the left, the Corruptor Mystic Shielded himself and raced up onto the objective, followed by forty Monks and a Priest. To top the turn off, both catapults moved forward and fired upon the Orruks. They suffered horrific losses, dropping them well below half strength! Excellent start, am I right? Right, guys?
My opponent jagged a sneaky double turn, and, having everything in combat and both objectives firmly in his control, it was straight into the combat phase. Thanks to Mystic Shield, the Rogue Idol had shrugged off most damage from the turn before, and didn't hesitate to start his rampage, wiping out fifteen Monks without even trying! I knew Rogue Idols had some moves, but this was insane! The damage output on them is pretty wild. Luckily for me, Inspiring Presence from the bloody smear that used to be the Corruptor was still in effect until my next hero phase, but it was only delaying the inevitable.
The two Wyverns set about consolidating their flank, by butchering the remaining Monks, and while they took some more mortal wounds from the Plague Furnace, they had overtaken me on the scoreboard, with no signs that I would be taking objectives back. I was running out of Heroes, and getting battered around the ears. Turns began blurring into each other, as the combat and sheer scale of death inflicted reached critical mass.
The only other significant move my opponent made (outside of the two main combats) was to send the survivors of the Plagueclaw barrage to distribute some retribution on the war machines. Not having a bar of that, my Plagueclaws kept showering them with sprays of acidic goo (and who knows what else). My Arch-Warlock didn't miss a spell all game, and consistently took wounds off whatever he could see.
After a decisively positive start to the game, things went dramatically down hill. My opponent ended up running away with the scoreboard, as I was only able to get two scenario points to his twenty. I ended up killing a huge percentage of his army, but the only two significant units left alive were the two holding the objectives. Regardless of the outcome, both of us had a fantastic game. We could hardly believe the sheer level of violence in this game, and were both just laughing. I ended up giving my best opponent vote to this player, and I earned his; a great reflection of how much we both enjoyed the game!
Having managed to grab my secondary before everything hit the fan, I was sitting on one major win, two major losses and two secondaries. I was sitting in the bottom half of the pool, but I was optimistic. Perhaps, sitting on the bottom tables would eventuate in a favourable matchup. But then, leading into this game, I considered Greenskinz a favourable match up.
And look how that ended.
Tune in next time to read about Game Four against Swifthawk Agents!
Thanks for reading,
Gabe
Says the guy playing Pestilens...
I'd met my opponent before, and we got along great, sharing a love for all things American Football, but we'd never actually played a game. I was happy with the draw of opponent at the end of day one, as I consider game three of a two day tournament to typically be the hardest. Not because of the game, but because its the third game that day, and being on your feet and thinking all day takes a surprising toll on your energy levels. It always helps getting through that game if you can have a bit of a laugh.
The scenario was Duality of Death, and here's what I was facing...
Orruk Warboss on Wyvern (General)
Orruk Warboss on Wyvern
Wurrgog Prophet (Allies)
40 Orruk Boyz (Battleline)
10 Orruk Boarboyz (Battleline)
2 Orruk Chariots (Batlleline)
Spear Chukka (Allies)
Spear Chukka (Allies)
Rogue Idol
(bonus points for his three terrain pieces, which are 1:1 scale cut outs of the Rogue Idol)
Now, looking at this list, my main concern was the Spear Chukkas. In Duality of Death, I knew that my Heroes weren't the toughest, and that if I wanted to win, I needed to take them down. I knew the Rogue Idol would take a beating, but other than that, I was overall pretty happy with my prospects of winning.
Boy, was I in for a surprise!
My deployment centred around the two objectives in the middle of the board. I wanted to claim both on the first turn, and made sure that I put myself in the best possible position to do so! A Priest and the Corruptor took up their places on the left side of the board, while a catapult sat back, being in range of anything that set foot near the objective. I also wanted the option to hit the big unit of Orruks if need be, so it sat a smidge off the back line so that I could move and shoot. The Arch Warlock parked his butt next to Arcane terrain, and set himself up for a cheeky Balewind-push on the Furnace, forcing it to move out of the way of the vortex (and toward the middle of the table) before the movement phase to ensure it got into the zone and started ticking points over.
My right flank was held down by a Priest, the other unit of forty Monks and my second catapult, who was similarly deployed to be able to threaten the Orruks and the objective.
My opponent deployed the bulk of his army in the centre of the table, with the Spear Chukkas taking up prime real estate to be able to draw lines on both objectives; no hero would be safe! On my right hand side, both Wyvern Warbosses set up, with the movement and aggression to cause me serious problems...
...while on the left side of the board, the Rogue Idol was supported (because it needs support?) by the two chariots. It was at this point that I realised that I was in for a rough ride. Greenskins are hardly top tier, but in this scenario, I realised I was going to have a real fight on my hands. Rogue Idols are no push overs, and two Wyverns were going for the throat on the other... Uh oh.
Having out-dropped my opponent by a single unit, and knowing that I would really struggle to shift the Idol off an objective, I took first turn; the single bloodiest turn of Age of Sigmar I have ever, ever played. Don't believe me? Just wait.
It all started so well. My Arch-Warlock popped up on a balewind, pushed the furnace forward, and unleashed spells with the best possible outcome. I managed to put a two wounds on the Rogue Idol, as well as wiping out both Spear Chukka crews. Not only did this nab me the secondary objective (kill two units in your first turn), but it shut down a huge threat!
Then came the bloodshed. The boarboys and Wyverns slammed into my right flank, dragging every possible unit into combat...
...while on the left flank, the chariots and Idol slammed into my Monks and Corruptor. Then came a brutal cycle of death and carnage. Between exploding rats, Rabid Fever, Great Plague Censers and rock fists, a LOT of models died. And I mean a LOT!
The Rogue Idol turned the Corrupter to paste, and mashed a few Monks in the process. The Chariots also ran down their fair share of Monks, losing a chariot in return. With the Corruptor being turned into a mashed banana, the Idol took the objective.
In the other swirling maelstrom of combat, things were no less horrific. The Priest on the objective met a horrible end by having the top half of him bitten off the bottom half of him by a Wyvern, while the Monks lost over thirty of their numbers and the Boarboys lost six from their unit. The Plague Furnace made its mark by dishing out mortal wounds, but things had taken a sharp turn toward Greenskinz.
With both players having lost over half their army before the end of turn one, both my opponent and I just stood there staring at the table in disbelief. It had taken us a fair while to get through the turn, as every time a monk died, it piled in and attacked, then exploded before another Greenskin unit swung, killed and was killed in return. We had several players walk past, asking us how the game was going onto to be shocked by the fact that it was still in the opening moments of the game.
But not satisfied with the level of pure carnage already unleashed upon the table, we continued.
Having managed to grab my secondary before everything hit the fan, I was sitting on one major win, two major losses and two secondaries. I was sitting in the bottom half of the pool, but I was optimistic. Perhaps, sitting on the bottom tables would eventuate in a favourable matchup. But then, leading into this game, I considered Greenskinz a favourable match up.
And look how that ended.
Tune in next time to read about Game Four against Swifthawk Agents!
Thanks for reading,
Gabe
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