Warriors of Chaos – army progress # 3

It’s been a while. Reading, play testing 6^th edition 40K, adding more models to my Dark Eldar in preparation for the Invasion tournament (http://teamstormbolter.blogspot.no/2012/09/invasion-2012-day-two.html), have left little time for working on my new Fantasy army.

But finally I got around to it. First out 18 strong Warriors of Chaos unit with hand weapon and shields. I wanted these guys to be all about bringing a big axe and smashing something in the head! This is how they turned out.

Next up my second 18 strong Warriors of Chaos unit. This time fitted with Hellbards and Shield. I used the “Lances” from the Knights sprues, slightly altering them not to be “to big”, but could not resist making them just a little to big – in order to make them look even more intimidating. I used some parts given to me by Jørn (prim arch of the Team Stormbolter gang) focusing on having different banners on all units and individual “heads” to all Sgt. I think they turned out ok.

WHFB Dark Elves vs Skaven 2500p

BETRAIL!!!

DEPLOYMENT

Once again the Dark Elves faces the Vermin menace! Having experienced several defeats and the unfortunate effects of how impassable terrain can slow down the advance, the Supreme Sorceress chose to do battle over an almost open field.

Dark Elves; From the north vest: Cold One Chariot, Witch Elves, War Hydra, Cold One Chariot, Corsairs, Crossbow Warriors, Cold One Knights and yet another unit of Crossbow Warriors. Behind the lines, in centre, Caldron of Blood and a Spear Warrior unit (with the Supreme Sorceress). Two unit of Harpy’s lurking behind the lines. To the north east a Bolt Thrower takes position on a hill.

Skaven; From south vest: Hellpit, Storm Vermin, Slaves, Plague Monks with the Plague Furnace and Plague Priest, Warp Lightning Cannon, Clanrats with BSB and the Grey Seer, Slaves, Hellpit and more Slaves with Engineer. Two units of Gutter Runners in reserve.

 THE BATTLE

Skaven got first turn, the whole army (except the Clanrats) moved at full speed forward towards the dark Elf battle line. Magic; The Engineer managed to kill 3 out of 5 Cold One Knights using Warp Lightning. Looking good! The Grey Seer manages to cast the “13´spell” with irresistible force, killing a huge amount of Corsairs. Looking very good! But, the magical backlash – kills him! Not good!!! The Cannon takes out several Spear Warriors (did not have line of sight to the War Hydra – idiots). The Doom Rocket – 4 dice – and yes – 3 “ones”. Damn thing. It never works. The Dark Elves manages all their tests.

The Dark Elves moves forward, establishing their battle line in centre using forests as cover. That Supreme Sorceress is a sneaky bitch;) Nothing to bad happening in the magic phase. As the rain pores down the shooting does not manage anything decisive, except the Hellpit to the north loosing two wounds. The Cold One Chariot to the south charges the Hellpit, inflicting two wounds, only suffering one in return!

Without the Ld “bobble” from the army general, the Skaven finds the battle line to spread out to secure a “steadfast” battle line. It was only one way to go – all in – and try to break the centre line of the dark Elf battle line, going for an overrun into the Supreme Sorceress and her Spear warriors! Ok – charge. The Plague Furnace has to move through the forest. Dangerous terrain – 1! D6 wounds – 6! Destroyed! I cant believe this! The Hellpit to the northeast does not manage to reach the Crossbow Warriors (damn random). The Slaves charges the Harpy’s in the forest, they flee to safety (sneaky), the Slaves redirect into the centre Crossbow Warrior unit. The rain continues to pore down, the cannon cannot see through it! One unit of Gutter Runners enters behind the Bolt thrower, killing it with poison slingshots. Magic, with the Grey Seer gone, well – nothing to damaging. Close combat then; The Hellpit to the south beats the Cold One Chariot, but does not manage to overrun it. Damn! In centre, not even the “Plague Banner” manages to secure a victory for the Plague Monks. They lose combat, are out of range from the BSB (idiots), flee, get overrun and are all slaughtered! Damn! Inside the wood to centre east the Slaves does not manage to win over the Crossbow Warriors! Despite being Steadfast, their pore Ld of 5 (2 + 3 Ranks), and being without the range of the BSB (and no generals around), proves fatal, and they “blow up”!

That was pretty much it. In the following Dark Elf turn it stopped raining. Hell Pits and Clanrats took heavy fire, and the Supreme Sorceress relatively unhindered caste Hex spells on all nearby Skaven units, reducing their Strength and Toughness. The Witches engaged the hell Pit, lost and where cut down. The War Hydra and Chariot finished a Slave unit.

In a last desperate attempt the Hellpit to the northeast charged into, and killed, the last two Cold One Knights. The Clanrats finally left the hill and moved towards centre, surviving the sheer slope of rocky terrain. The Hellpit to the South vest charged the War Hydra, and the Storm Vermin charged the Corsairs. Again the Skaven units did not mange to win any engagements, and again with using Hex spells and flank charges, the Dark Elf’s managed to kill of the Storm Vermin.

Having only a small Clanrat unit, some Slaves and two heavily damaged Hell Pits left, The Skaven warlord felt betrayed by his own keen. Betrayals cannot be accepted, and to set an example he decided to execute all his remaining units!

Victory went to the Dark Elves. Smart deployment, clever use of Magic and otherwise skilful use of the dark Elf units, would have secured a solid Victory (that would possibly turn into a massacre, so we can considered to be one). Killing the Grey Seer (army general and best magical defence) proved devastating to the Skaven army. Also loosing all wounds on the Plague Furnace from a terrain test was just…. However, this was a very fun (funny) game with lots of laughter, and it teaches my a lesson. Hellpits are good, but if you don’t get into contact (random is – random), and if you roll low on the attack ability chart (random is – again random), they are hardly worth their points. 2 of them are a real big point sink. Also, the Grey Seer should not be the General, and the Slaves need more backing up. 

Warhammer terrain

To make a nice terrain and at the same time make possible to move movements’ tray is not an easy task. Therefore I decided to “pimp” existing Games Workshop terrain. Since I wanted to use my existing Warhammr 40 K table, it restricted what I could use of colour and structure.

The biggest challenges was to find a surface structure that was not to coarse-grained. Since Games Workshop sand is not longer available, I have to find another option Ended up using sand purchased from Amundsen Hobby AS .

I purchased the following from Games Workshop:

2 pieces of Citadel Wood

1 package of Walls and Fences

2 pieces of Citadel Gaming Hill

2 pieces of Citadel Modular Gaming Hill

Gaming hills:

I tested with Rough Coat to get a fine structure but it did not give the effected I wanted. Therefore I ended up with spraying the terrain with Chaos Black. A mixture of water and glue were used to attach the sand.

The next step in the paint the terrain with a special brown colour called Coffee, with additional black.  The colour also contained mixture of water and glue. I dry brushed the terrain with a light grey. Then I used black painting in the areas that should represent rock.

To finish it of, I use artificial snow on random places. (An easy way to hide mistakes.)

For the Citadel Wood, walls and Fences, it use another approached. After spraying the terrain with Chaos Black, I used Tin bitz to illustrate burned tree. To “freshen” up things such as sculls, rings and cordage, I use an appropriate colour.  To create the effect of that it has been burned, Badar Black wash.

The base was treated the same way as my hills.

This is how my Warhammer 40K table looks like with Warhammer terrain.

Vampire Counts, en start...

Etter mange år med 40 k spilling, har jeg nå latt meg overtale til å få igang en fantasy hær, og kanskje kan jeg klare å få den ferdig denne gangen...
Jeg tok noen runder med ider før jeg til slutt falt ned på en hærliste jeg synes hadde kombinasjonen jeg trengte, kule modeler og harde i nærkamp, valget falt på en Vampire Counts hær basert rundt en Strigoi King på Terrorgheist!
Det jeg starter med i denne hæren er en unit med 10 dire wolves og en unit med 20 Crypt Ghouls.
Her kommer de første bildene, 10 ulver er ferdige, det samme er 10 Ghouls, så da er det bare å sette i gang med 10 nye Ghouls....

WHFB Elves vs Dark Elves 2500p

Keen strife! The Dark Elf menace once again descends upon the shore of Ulthuan. Destroying all that lie in their path, there is only one solution – an al out combat war with no pardon asked – or given!

DEPLOYMENT

The Dark Elves goes first. To the north the Dark Elves deploy (from vest to east): A Cold One Chariot, Cross Bow Warriors (behind them Harpy’s), Witch Elves, Corsairs (behind them Spearmen with the Supreme Sorceress Lv4 and the Cauldron), Cold One Chariot, War Hydra, Cross Bow Warriors (behind them Harpy’s), Cold One Knights and a Reaper Bolt Thrower (a lot of models….).

The High Elves deploy to the south (from vest to east): A Eagle, White Lions, Spearmen, Phoenix Guard with BSB and Archmage (Lv4), Archers with Mage Lv2), Archers, Dragon Princes and a Eagle (not that many models…. – ore units….).

THE BATTLE

The High Elves moves forward, the Eagle to the vest “redirecting” behind a large building, the Eagle to the East moving right in front of the Cold One Knights. The White Lions and Spearmen move towards the centre of the battlefield, the archers adjusting their position. Nothing to dramatic happened in the Magic or Shooting phase.

The Harpy’s to the vest moved past the building threatening the High Elf flank to the vest. To Harpy’s to the East moves straight forward against the main centre High Elf Archer unit, hiding inside a wood. The Witch Elves moves forward hiding behind the farmhouse. The Corsairs and War Hydra moving towards the centre. The centre Cold One Chariot fail its test and the Cold Ones drools and moves 1” forward. The Cold One Knights charge and cut down the Eagle to the vest, reforming towards the Dragon Princes. The magic and shooting is pretty much uneventful.

The Dragon Princes charge and kills the Cold One Knights, and overruns towards the Reaper Bolt Thrower to the northeast. The Eagle to the south move up and blocs the advance of the War Hydra and the Corsairs. The White Lions and Spearmen moves forward towards centre, ready to be charged, or to charge, next turn. Magic and shooting kills most of the Harpy’s to the east and the some Cross Bow Warriors. The magic “buffing” several of the High Elf units.

The War Hydra charges the Eagle in centre, kills it, but does not overrun into the High Elf battle line. "Unfortunately" the Witch Elves are somewhat “boxed in” behind the building. The Harpy’s to the vest charge the White Lions flank, are reduced to 2 models, loose combat and flee. The Chariot to the vest moves straight south in order to advance past the building next turn. The Corsairs fail their charge slightly, moving forward towards centre. The dark Elf magic phase kills several White Lions. A Dragon Prince and several Archers are lost to missile fire.

The High Elf Spearmen charges the War Hydra, passing their Terror test. The Book of Hoeth grants them “Okkams Mindrazor" (Strenght 8 Elves fighting in 3 Ranks with Always Strikes first and re roll to hit....), killing the War Hydra, surging forward destroying the Cold One Chariot. The White Lions move after them preparing a flank assault on the Corsairs once they charge the Spearmen. To the East the Dragon Princes destroys the Reaper Bolt Thrower, moving of the table.

The Corsairs charge the Spearmen in the flank, killing them and reforming towards the main Archer unit to the centre south. The Centre Harpy flies over the High Elf battle line, hiding behind the centre large Archer unit (knowing they would not turn to engage, denying the High Elves victory points). The Cold One Chariot to the vest moves around the building. A combination of magic and shooting results in the White Lions fleeing  - south (not even a reroll on the BSB helped…).

To the northeast the Dragon princes moves towards the Cross Bow Warriors. The White Lions rallies, turning to face the Cold One Chariot to the south vest. Some Corsairs fall to magic and missiles from the Archers, but nothing decisive.

The Crossbow unit to the northeast opens fire against the Dragon princes, who in turn FAIL their leadership when losing a Knight. Damn! They almost flee of the board. Damn!! The Corsairs moves forward towards the centre main Archer unit, but hesitates due to the presence of the large block of Phoenix Guard - guarding them. To the south the Cold One Chariot charges the White Lions, inflicting more casualties then the White Lions (yes… - they did!), but the White Lions held firm (this time...).

To the north east the Dragon Princes rally’s, but are to fare away to re enter the battle, so they just held their ground. The White Lions manages to kill the Cold One Chariot, reforming towards centre, but they are also to fare away from centre to engage any units last turn. Magic and missile fire continue to kill of Corsairs, but with 4+ Sv against shooting and 5+ Ws from the Cauldron, they do not die in droves (as they should…).

Both Cross Bow units turn to face the Dragon princes (an act of "always play at full capasity until it is over"). The Corsairs did not want to engage the centre Phoenix Guard / Archer unit, and maintained their position. The Cauldron and Spearmen moved towards centre. In the magic phase the Supreme Sorceress kills several White Lions, but are killed in the magic backlash!

It was over!

A game that in hen sight was pretty exiting. Through turn 1 – 3 the High Elves had the “upper hand”, but the Dark Elves managed to retake the initiative in turn 4 – 5. Turn 6 seeing both armies trying to avoid unnecessary losses.

The tally showed that the High Elves won a "Crushing Victory" (did not feel like it) over the Dark Elves, mutch thanks to the Supreme Sorcerer (again) killing herself ;)