Monday, November 11, 2013

Infernal Zoo – Round 1 – Donovan Gilliland – Orcs and Goblins


The Mission
Plain old Battleline

Bonus Objectives
Mark Territory – largest terrain
Love Connection – Monsters killing Monsters

The List
Black Orc Big Boss, General, Whip of Bestial Subjugation, Obsidian Amulet

Night Goblin Big Boss, BSB, Standard of Discipline
Goblin Shaman, Giant Wolf, Dragonbane Gem, Enrapturing Ball of Fetch
Orc Shaman, Level 2, Ironcurse Icon
Orc Shaman, Level 2, Dispel Scroll

35 Night Goblins, 2 fanatics
50 Night Goblins, Nets
50 Night Goblins

30 Night Goblin Squigs/22 Night Goblins
30 Night Goblin Squigs/21 Night Goblins

Mangler Squig
Doom Diver
Doom Diver
Rock Lobber
Rock Lobber

Rogue Idol of Gork
Colossal Squig
5 Sabertusks, ambush, killing blow, scout

So two big monsters and a big unit of sabertusks.  These aren’t your momma ogres sabertucks though.  They are monstrous beasts, so 3 attacks in addition to all their nice shiny upgrades.  While Don wasn’t the only person to take them, I’m sure he had the largest unit as he came up with a cool way to use them – but I’ll hold that for the surprise as I received it.  The other two are just 2 mid-tier monsters, the squig maybe not even that good.  They were both the forgeworld models that Don usually uses as unit fillers and he jumped at the chance to use them for reals.

Magic
For my magic I took warplightening on the condenser, as I would every game, and then rolled scorch on my other wizard.

For his magic, the orc with the dispel scroll took Foot of Gork and Gaze of Mork.  The other orc wizard took Hand of Gork and Eadbutt.  The goblin took Gork Will Fix It.

Deployment
For deployment, I didn’t have my usual “normal” and so things weren’t quite the same every time.  This is probably better, as I should learn to be more adaptive.

Don shelled up in the center of the board, with the tow units of squigs in the front depending the character bunker in the back.  The idol sitting between.  The left flank got bolt squigs.  The right flank got the sabtertusks and the solo goblin caster.  One of the 50 man (the one with nets) went on the right side of the bunker, but the other unit wasn’t placed to the left as I was expecting.  Instead he lined it along the back edge of his deployment zone to discourage me from slinking my gutter runners (I wouldn’t have either way) and getting into his warmachines.  I figured regen would save me, and wanted to use the gutters to collapse a flank before moving on the warmachines.  I had no other way to kill the mangler and colossal squig otherwise.

For my deployment I spread out the stormvermin to discourage scouting by the big unit of sabertusks.  I put the monstesr in the center, wanting to shove them into the squigs as soon as possible.  The assassin I put out in the middle, figuring the warmachines would have a hard time getting to him with their scatter and a ward save would save me.  As you can see I put the night runner token on his left flank, so that it couldn’t scatter off the table, but would be in a good position to charge warmachines.

We rolled off and I got the first turn.






Turn 1 – Skaven
With no charges available for the first turn, I get prepared to advance towards the squig line, the idea being to slam all into one unit or two into the other.  So I pick up three dice and roll the abomination… a 15.  That’s good, because its much slower than the brood horrors, but puts out way more hate.  But the 15 is 3 5’s, and I think triples means something.  Just to be clear, I used to play lots of skaven, but not so much this year, and then not with an abomination.  So I pick up my book, turn some pages and figure out I do indeed need to roll on the misfire table.  Two dice rolls later and we are trying to figure out if I have to do impact hits to my own cannon as the abomination has turned around and moved into it… and I do, and my cannon dies.  Awesome.  Have I mentioned I dislike warplightening cannons?

Anyways, with that wonderful start I advance with my army.  Brood Horrors in the center, watching out for the swinging sabertusks trying to get into my soft stormvermin/engineer center and with the gutter runners on the right.

I roll an 8/7 magic phase, splitting my dice between my two spells.  He dispels warp lightening and scrolls scorch.

My first gutter runner unit solo kills the colossal squig, but the other unit only puts 1 wound on the mangler.  The doom rocket lands between the squig unit and the unit bunker, killing 2 handlers, wounding the general and bsb and killing 17 goblins off the bunker unit.  He passes his save, unfortunately but not surprising.







Turn 1 – Orcs & Goblins
With my assassin hanging out in the wind, I debate.  If I use my potion, he won’t charge me with the idol, but if I don’t and he charges I’m dead.  On the other hand, charging would mean a clear counter charge with the brood horrors.  I decide against using the potion, knowing that I can charge if he doesn’t on the next turn, and counter charge if he does.  He decides not to charge.

The mangler moves 14”, leaving him just outside touching the gutter runners.  For the rest of his movement he basically keeps his line, but does swing the 50 man unit a little to take advantage of his bows and the assassin’s vulnerability.

I realized later that he should have been FORCED to charge with the Idol, based on his rules.  He also didn’t take animosity tests this turn or ANY turn.  What should have happened is I should have used my potion and he should have charged me with the Idol.

For magic he rolled a 9/6 phase and started out with a boosted Eadbutt on my dispel scroll wizard.  He rolled high enough that I didn’t want to roll dice so I used my scroll.  I then dispelled foot of gork.

The assassin only took one wound from the bow fire.  All the warmachines together only manage to kill 1 stormvermin and put 1 wound on an engineer.






Turn 2 – Skaven
My turn 2 and we start off with the Night Runners coming up.  He then triggers his ball of fetch on the left flank, throwing it onto my scroll wizard.  This was an awesome maneuver that as far as I knew no one but Don figured out.  The ball of fetch is thrown within 18” and scatters like a stone thrower.  Then all monsters within 12” have to make a leadership test, and failing must move towards the landing point.  Just to be clear, it actually hits ALL monsters, monstrous cavalry or monstrous beasts… ALL.  So it’s my turn 2 and I’m trying to figure out my charges, and all of a sudden I have 5 sabertusks declaring a charge against MY engineer… genius.  One of my brood horrors is within range and fails his leadership test as well.  As its my turn I decide the order of resolution, allowing his sabertusk to act first.  My engineer flees, forcing a failed charge.  My brood horror then moves to the point where my engineer was, no longer forced to charge.  Great… a great maneuver I didn’t see coming, and yet I was able to think my way out of the situation.


Now about to move back to my own charges, but down a brood horror because its facing the wrong direction, I use my potion of strength, and declare three charges at the stone beast, hoping to blow through and into the bunker.  The general and other brood horror fail, but the assassin goes off to try to solo the idol.  In moving close, my assassin triggers the fanatics, my 1 wound assassin.  Don tries to land the fanatics in front of his idol, one over shoots clearly, but he claimed the other landed in my path despite rolling a 10.  I felt there was some post rolling angle changing based on the point he had declared, but I didn’t push it as I wasn’t thinking the assassin would actually do much and the idol was still taking 2 fanatics also.  Despite any shenanigans that may have occurred, the assassin lives through the fanatic, getting 4 his with 3 failing to wound and my passing my ward save.  The Idol takes 10 hits, but only ends up with 1 wound actually being taken.

The newly arrived night runners charge the back board edge 50 man goblin unit… a unit so strung out it only gets 14 attacks and isn’t steadfast (both river and less ranks), hoping to get an easy pick up of points.

I roll a mighty 12/8 magic phase and prepare to 6 dice my only spell, since I now had a fleeing engineer.  He dispels it.  In shooting my gutter runners kill the mangler and 6 goblins off the 50 man bow unit.

The night runners than kill 6 in combat, losing a few.  He holds.  The assassin fails his fear test (a common occurrence) but still manages to wound twice, and putting 6 wounds on the idol, taking it off.  He then runs between the squig units to avoid the counter (well, possibly by the Orc wizard… please…)






Turn 2 – Orcs & Goblins
Don responds to my failed charges by putting a squig unit each into the brood horrors.  The sabertusk charge into the left stormvermin.  The squig unit runs into one of the fanatics on the way, losing 2 of each… thinking back, shouldn’t the second have not been there?  My assassin supposedly landed on it… but oh well.  The unit charging my general fails to get in.

The general and bsb bail out of the goblin unit, together to stay away from the assassin and keep the squigs in range.

A 10/6 magic phase has me stopping gaze on a wizard and allowing a 6 dice on foot.  It goes twice but scatters both times off of my gutter runner unit.

The bows fail to wound the assassin.  The warmachines go on vacation, one doom diver giving up its next turn, a stone thrower giving up just this turn, and the second stone thrower being deflected by the assassin’s ward save.  The last doom diver picks a spot close to the assassin, he was inside the minimum range, and hopes for the scatter to enough to get the assassin… it’s not and wasted.

In combat the Brood Horror kills 3 squigs and 1 goblin with attacks and breath weapon.  I thunderstomp another.  I win combat but he holds.  The night runners  kill 5 more goblins, losing 1 rat.  The night runners then restrain and waive while the 50 man goblin unit runs off the table, reforming to see warmachines.  The stormvermin fail their fear test, still doing 2 wounds, they are then butchered and flee from the sabertusks.





Turn 3 – Skaven
My turn 3 and my general uses his potion of foolhardiness.  The night runners charge the left doom diver, the weapons team tries to skip to the next one but won’t make it (and will therefore die as its unit gets too far ahead – stupid rule).  The assassin also charges a warmachine.  A second unit of stormvermin flank the sabertusks and my general goes into squigs.

Abomination turns around and starts going in the correct direction, the mother f***er.

I roll a mighty 9/7 magic phase, and thrower 6 dice at the one spell I have to see it once again dispelled.

My advancing night runners kill 7 goblins and the left doom diver.

In combat, the night runners kill their doom diver and advance.  The assassin fails to kill his warmachine, only doing 2 wounds.  It does not run away.  The brood horror kills some more squigs and then dies.  My general and mount manage to kill 12, but the general rolls 2 1’s and causes 2 wounds to himself.  The stormvermin fail their fear, but still do 4 wounds, allowing the already wounded unit to remove its back rank and limiting its attacks back.  The sabertusks then run off the table.





Turn 3 – Orcs & Goblins
To start off his turn he declares a charge with the goblins.  I point out that the assassin wasn’t at an angle he could make it since he wasn’t at the edge.  Don’s response was to say that during the last turn the warmachine had reformed to shift over, but I didn’t remember any such roll, and roll he would have had to do since he lost combat.  Plus the assassin was physically still centered.  He insisted that he had done it and I didn’t feel like calling him a liar (this is a game right?) and so the goblins flanked the assassin.  The squigs flank my general.  The fast cavalry wizard pushes my wizard off the table, giving his brood horror stupid.

The fanatic kills itself with doubles.

A 7/6 magic phase has me dispelling a 6D foot.

The abomination regenerates the one stone thrower shot.

In combat my general kills three, but the horror only gets 2.  My lord than dies, followed by his mount.  The mount kills 7 squigs on the way out.  The assassin kills three goblins, lives and holds due to the tie.





Turn 4 – Skaven
I go to start my turn 4… the abomination is in easy position to charge.  The last brood horror as come around and its ready to charge.  I see two units of 300 point squigs within easy pickings.  The last of the warmachines are going to die… it’s all easy pickings… but oh, time had been called.  How had that happened?  I have no idea where the time went.  I didn’t feel like I was playing slow, but then I never do feel that way.  But without the ability to keep playing I find myself down, receiving both a minor loss and not having the time needed to put myself into a position to actually earn my bonus objectives.  Don only receives 1 bonus point himself.

Donovan would go on to take best general and second overall.  He would lose is first game on the top table in round 5 to the overall winner.



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