Infernal Zoo – Round 3 – Ziv Lang – Tomb Kings

The Mission

Dragon Brood

Bonus Objectives

Feed the Beast

Fido Sick Balls

The List

Liche High Priest, General, Level 3, Lore of Nehekhara, Dispel Scroll, Ironcurse Icon

Liche Priest, Level 2, Lore of Light, Enkhil’s Kanopi

Liche Priest, Level 1, Lore of Light

Liche Priest, Level 1, Lore of Light

Liche Priest, Level 1, Lore of Light

Liche Priest, Level 1, Lore of Light

15 Skeleton Archers, full command

15 Skeleton Archers, full command

9 Skeleton Archers, champion

40 Skeleton Warriors, full command

3 Carrion

6 Sepulchral Stalkers

Tomb Scorpion

Tomb Scorpion

Casket of Souls

Hierotitan

Necrosphinx

Incarnate Elemental of Death

So a nasty light council able to put out a huge banishment and 6… that’s 6!!! Shem’s burning gazes a turn.  I think it’s so overkill as to be obsessive.  The monster contingent consists of one monster just out of his book and the Elemental, which is just a wacky monster able to heal wound and then go over his starting 5 by killing off units (getting D3 per unit).  This gives it the potential to really hurt my little 10 man units.  It also can give itself D6 wounds to hit units as it they were in combat with it.  Instead of attacking in combat, it wounds each model on a 4+, with monsters taking D3… and no armor saves.  Very scary.  The idea being, kill a unit or 2 and then blow itself up – but as it will have more than 6 wounds it won’t actually die.  The self-nuking can only be done once, whether or not it dies.

Magic

For my magic I once again go double warplightening… really wanting that Crack’s Call.

For magic Ziv has to roll up the best spells… Banishment on the level 2 and defaults for all the light wizards.  The Nehekhara wizard rolls Desert Wind, Smiting and Protection… so movement, shooting and 5+ ward save.  Going to be a rough couple of phases.

Deployment

Part of the set up phase in the Davis events, as I have said in previous posts, is that each player gets to move a terrain feature.  For us, we moved that massive impassible into the corner and a water feature into another.  I regret that because Ziv ended up with the side with the impassible and bunkered up against it.  If he had stayed behind it I would have been in even more trouble, but thankfully he would come out during the game.  Just to note on the all the pictures, Ziv was using the swarm models as his carrion. 

For deployment Ziv but his 50 man unit in the front with a small unit on each side and two behind.  He put two light wizards in the left most front unit, and the others in the back with the hierophant in the left most rear unit.  He then lined all the monsters up to the right of his army.  The giant Bones Reaper model is the elemental of death.  The casket he put behind the monsters.  Not sure what he was thinking, I would have put it in the corner against the building.

Seeing early that he would be bunkering in that corner I deployed accordingly.  Monsters in a line eager to get into some nice soft skeletons and break through to the hierophant and the waiting crumble to finish off everything else.  The assassin went on the left by the building (whose placement allowed me to sneak in the assassin).  I then put the gutter runners on the right to move behind his army and get to the casket which will love my low leadership and could table me on its own.

We roll off and I once again get to go first.

Turn 1 – Skaven

I start off moving aggressively.  The assassin moves up to the edge of the pyramid, making sure to stay out of charge arches.  One brood horror moves up the left flank while the others move up the center, with the abomination.  The gutter runners move up strong on the right flank, thinking I’ll take out one of the scorpions with one and the casket with the other.  I would have doubled up on the casket but there wasn’t room.  For the one shooting at the scorpions, I placed them at sufficient angle to all him long charges with the idea that I might get lucky and kill the other on a charge, which could then be failed.

I roll an 8/7 magic phase (I may have three channels but he had 5).  He dispels my first casting with all his dice and scrolls the second.

In shooting the first unit of gutter runners manages to pop the casket solo, which then puts a wound on the necrosphnix and kills 6 skeletons off the large unit.  The smaller unit takes 2.  He rolls a lot of not 4+s for the rest.  The other unit of gutter runners only manages to get 2 wounds onto a scorpion.  The cannon rolls strength 2 and doesn’t wound (shot at the center of the 6 pack of stalkers).

Turn 1 – Tomb Kings

Ziv starts his turn out with some large charges.  He declares the necrosphnix into my general, needing an 11.  Then the full scorpion in the gutter runners – I kill it.  Then he declares with the one wound scorpion and I hold.  He makes it in with both...

With the casket gone, I’m thinking magic should be a little easier.  Then he rolls an 11/5 magic phase and I knew the pain is coming.  Throwing just 1 die at his magic missiles and using the hierotitan to push the cost up, I waste my dice dispelling two attempts at the abomination (I really want him to have his regeneration save for the banishment.  So after using 2 dice, I’ve already used all of mine.  With is 9 dice he casts another missile at the abomination, rolling 5 hits but failing to wound (phew!).  I then scroll the banishment.  During his movement phase he had moved up, and now he casts the movement spell, moving his blocks up again.  I’m not sure why he did this, as it made my abomination need a 6 to charge into combat, and the flank brood horror actually be on a flank.

In shooting he puts 1 wound on the right brood horror.  The stalkers, having turned to face the gutter runners kill 3 and causing them to run parallel to the board edge.  This costs him 3 wound himself.

In combat my general does nada.  He does 1 wound to me, and I fail my stubborn 7, but get away.  The gutter runners pass their fear and kill the scorpion.

Turn 2 – Skaven

Seeing his lines open to my monsters, I barrel forward.  My assassin drinks his potion and charges the hierotitan.  The left front bunker unit gets the abomination in the front and a brood horror in the flank and the 50 man unit gets a brood horror in the front.

My general then runs off the table but the gutter runners at least rally.  Even though I’m in a great position, I’m now actually probably down on points thanks to my general’s cowardice.  I have to hope that the skeletons don’t stick me long enough for his monsters to get into position.

I roll a mighty 5/4 magic phase.  He fails to dispel my magic missile on his incarnate of death and I cause 2 wounds.

The gutter runners, having dealt with the scorpions walk up and do 2 more to the elemental.  The cannon, after 2 games it finally decides to do something more than kill a harpy and hits the elemental and 2 stalkers with S8.  I of course roll a 1 to wound the elemental, but thanks to the FAQ on the cannon still get to do 5 wounds to the stalkers.  I then fire the rocket at the elemental in the hopes of getting a lucky wound but am unsuccessful.  I did this because his units were now sufficiently in combat to restrict my shooting at his units.

In combat the abomination and brood horror do 12 wounds in combat and impact and 5 from thunderstomp, popping the unit and 2 wizards.  The abomination charges forward towards the hierotitan, and the brood horror goes into the side of the 50 block.  With a second chance to fight the two together do 7 on impact, 6 from attacks, only 5 from both breath weapons and another 6 from thunderstomp.  24 wounds done, dropping him to just a rank and banner with flank and charge sees the rest of the 50 man unit crumble away.  The one brood horror can only reform but the other goes barreling into one of the remaining bunker units.  The assassin fails his fear but still manages to do 3 wounds before he dies.

Turn 2 – Tomb Kings

Still striking forward as his center is dying, the carrion charge a unit of stromvermin.  The necrosphnix charges the cannon.

With 1 wound left, Ziv decides to deny me the pleasure of killing his elemental and losing his bubble ability and decides to activate it.  It only rolls 6” on range to hit a brood horror and some skeletons but fails to roll the 4+ to hit and silently dies.

With his magic half gone, Ziv rolls an 8/4 magic phase.  I allow the movement spell to shift the titan and bunkers.  I then fail to dispel the 5+ ward save on the hierophant’s bunker unit.  He then gets off banishment on a unit of stormvermin, killing 9 and the banner runs off.

My dispel scroll wizard takes a wound from bow fire.

My stormvermin fail their fear versus the carrion but still 3 hits.  Sadly none of them turn into wounds, and those 4 and pass their steadfast.  The cannon dies hard.  The Brood Horror kills 3 with impact, 4 with attacks and thunderstomps 1, and after watching the unit crumble reforms to face the hierophant bunker.

Turn 3 – Skaven

Now extremely confident that a single brood horror can take out a skeleton bunker, I put just the brood horror in, allowing the abomination to take on the hierotitan.

I roll a 7/3 magic phase thanks to my own channels… take that Tomb Kings.  He allows the first casting, which puts a wound on the necrosphnix.  He dispels the other.

All the remaining gutter runners do 4 wounds to the stalkers, which finishes the partial model left by the cannon and takes off another, leaving them at 50 percent.

The stormvermin again fail their fear, but do a wound to the carrion.  I then make the two saves on 6s I need to win combat by 2 and take off a model.  The abomination kills the hierotitan.  The brood horror  does 5 with impact and attacks and then 5 more with thunderstomp.  Of those, he only manages to save 2.  The unit then crumbles away.

The crumble leaves the carrion with 1 wound, and does 1 wound to the stalkers.  The hierotitan is fine.

Turn 3 – Tomb Kings

Ziv’s turn starts with the carrion and stalkers both dying off.  While still untouched by the crumble, though previously wounded, Ziv concedes with just the necrosphinx on the table.