Bay Area Open – Round 3 – Sean Smaker – Lizardman

Round 3 and it had already been a rough day. It was nearly 6pm when we STARTED this round, due to the late start time and the judges being generous in holding people to the clock (the 40k was much more strict, but we were working within the same window at 3 rounds as they were with 4). I was not happy to read that not only was I playing a club mate, but that it was this club mate. Sean plays a nasty list, and this version of it was in the realm of his nastiest. I knew I didn’t have the list to play against him and win (though I think there were a few chances to pull it out), and so he had been at the top of my ‘oh shit don’t make me play this list’. It also made meant I was lined up against 1, 2 and 4 of that list. Henri’s chaos dwarves being slightly tamer than Alex’s only got him to 3rd. Sean’s list was:



Slann, General, BSB, Focused Rumination, Focus of Mystery, Becalming Cogitation, Soul of Stone, Book of Ashure, Divine Plaque of Protection, Banner of Swiftness, Lore of Death (that’s all spells as a level 5 wizard, getting an extra die, cancelling my 6s, rerolling miscasts, booking it at movement 5 and with a 2+ ward save against shooting). Yuck!



Skink Priest, Level 1, Lore of Heavens, Dispel Scroll, Ruby Ring

Skink Priest, Level 1, Lore of Heavens, Cube of Darkness



10 Skink Skirmishers

10 Skink Skirmishers

10 Skink Skirmishers

10 Skink Skirmishers

10 Skink Skirmishers

10 Skink Skirmishers

10 skinks in block, banner

10 skinks in block

10 skinks in block

Jungle Swarm

Jungle Swarm

Jungle Swarm

Jungle Swarm

Jungle Swarm



6 Chameleons

6 Chameleons

6 Chameleons

3 Terradons

3 Terradons



3 Salamander, 2 extra handlers

3 Salamander, 1 extra handler



This list is just all sorts of gross. It’s gross in every phase, and I do mean every. Yes, it’s not strong in combat, but you get to flail away for 70 points or less. That, and the swarms can deny (and did) even the over run. It’s just gross. This list (and perhaps mine and Alex’s) are prime examples why list comp is a bad way to do it. Alex was max, and the rest of us were -1 (for -15 points). But our lists wouldn’t compare to someone who just took to eagles, like I’m sure a few of the wood elf players did. Just silly, and still gross.



Both his skinks took the basic spell, though they never tried on it. Slann got all spells.



This mission was a modified blood and glory. First person to score the break, instead of winning gained 500 points. The second person would still be able to earn 100 points for also breaking his opponent. I started with 8 fortitude (5 Dark Riders, 1 BSB and 2 for General) while Sean only had 4 (1 skink unit and the other 3 in the Slann for BSB and General). I however was forced to use my fortitude in the process of winning, while Sean was able to hide it all in the back behind multiple waves of stuff.



The terrain felt fairly sparse in this game, but perhaps that’s just because of the massive footprint of Sean’s army. Due to the modified deployment, it might have felt a little more packed than normal. Sean didn’t seem to deploy on the 15” line, and from left to right his deployment was a unit of 10” skirmishers (who were the only unit on the 15” line), another unit of skirmishers, a block of skinks, 4 swarms, with terradons behind and two units of block near the back table, then two more units of skirmishers one behind the other, his salamanders and a unit of terradons behind (and behind that his banner unit with Slann), than his last swarm and his last two units of skirmishers (one behind the other).



I deployed on the 15” line across the board, with a dark rider unit on the left (which I didn’t vanguard – sneaky!), the hydras with a unit of dark riders in between, by BSB and General for support than three units od dark riders going through to the edge of my deployment (and my level 2 with them near center).



For scouts it’s important to note that my units are deeper than his, and even at 15” up and 9” in, two 25mm bases deep blocks off rear scouts. That’s not true for skink skirmishers, allowing me to place a unit in his deployment zone in the rear left corner. The other unit went center to block one of his vanguards. He countered my corner with one of his own, put one unit on the far left to come up behind the impassible arch wall and placed the third in the center in front of his salamanders. I vanguarded my four units into range to shoot so I wouldn’t have to eat the -1 for movement, including taking advantage of the wall for my own -1. Sean vanguarded with one unit of terradons, not liking the options for the other (due to my scouts in center). We rolled off and I got the first turn.



I started off by making that “long” 16” charge with my unit that didn’t vanguard, losing 1 to either the stand and shoot or the forest (I think the stand and shoot). I would kill half the unit in the combat. My scouts the corner advanced to start putting pressure on the trap chameleons, taking off a few with shooting. The hydras advanced aggressively, and the rest of my army didn’t move to allow for maximum shooting. Magic was ineffective at 7PD/6DD due to his cube ending the magic phase.

On Sean’s first turn the non-vanguarding terradons put 5 wounds on the center shades and the other unit puts 2 wounds on the walled dark riders. His army advances aggressively. An 8PD/6DD magic phase sees an irresistible caress kill the center assassin, leaving one shade to die to shooting. The skinks lose combat, and 4 get away to land on the table edge. The dark riders overrun into the chameleons, which have killed one shade from the corner unit.

My turn 2 and the chameleons get cleaned up on the left, as do the fleeing skinks. I walk a hydra up and flame a unit of skirmishers, doing 5 wounds but the bastards refuse to run even outside the general’s inspiring presence. I push a few units back with charges. Even with an 11PD/7DD phase, not much of consequence happens.

Sean’s turn 2 and he moves up on the right flank, his left having collapsed. Killing a unit of Dark Riders panics a Hydra. A lucky salamander hits an entire unit of dark riders, rolling 6 4+s to wipe the unit. This causes another full unit to panic and run off the table and the remaining unit behind the fence (now 2) panic as well. This causes my whole right flank to collapse.

Turn 3 and I’m clearly down in points. Time for a hailmary play. My General has a perfect flank charge on the unit of salamanders that just killed 2 units of dark riders. I take aim launch, catching a flank and killing the unit on the overrun… yay points. I push a few more units back with charges and my BSB makes a long charge into a swarm hoping to jump into another swarm and take control of Sean’s back field. I do kill the swarm, but only on crumble, denying me the overrun (which would have left me kill a swarm on his turn and charge his slann on my next, dang!).

Sean’s turn 3 and he surrounds my BSB but fails to do much with all his S3 shooting. He gang bangs my general, who after having over run into skirmish skinks gets flanked by the other unit of salamanders and reared by a unit of terradons. He would die in this fight, giving Sean a broken opponent.



The game ended due to time at this point. I think that if my BSB had survived another round of magic I would have killed his slann on turn 5. With 2 hydras still on the table, I had the means to clean up more chaff, but as the game sat on turn 3 I was down almost a grand (390 for caster, 100 for general and 500 for breaking). I’m convinced that by the end of turn 6 it would have been much closer if not a win for me.



Well phew… that was a long first day, ending nearly at 8:30. I had faced 3 of my worst match ups, and while having lost two, felt that each could have gone either way, and that I was more of a 40% than the 25% I had figured. I still had day two to look forward too, and possible another matchup from my ‘please g-d don’t let me play this list’. That night I went and thought about how to make a list without assassins as in a few games the shades dying early meant I didn’t even put him on the table.