Warhammer: Beastmen Vs Vampire Counts

Well, other than my attempt to save the world with my article, It's Not a Rodney King World, things have been a bit slow here at Strictly Average.  I've been working on my series over at Blood of Kittens called On Blogging, the first of which published last week and the second of which is in TastyTaste's hot little hands.  The third and fourth installments are actually already written, I'm just waiting for the questionnaires to return.



But that's really not why I've been slow to post here.  I've been working hard on finishing my Not-So-Super-Secret-Army for the team tournament at BoLSCon - er, sorry... WarGamesCon.  I painted the hardest unit first, the easiest next, and I'm saving the most fun for last... but I got stalled out on two units that are right in the middle!  The problem is they're older models from my collection and I based over them.  I didn't think that would make a difference, but they're simply not as sleek and nice as the rest of the stuff, to the point I'm seriously considering dropping money and time on brand new models.

The problem is, I'd have to convert each and every one of them... again.  The entire army has extensive conversions, and while the Aspects in question only have head swaps, it's still not easy to do.  But there is no doubt the units I'm referring to are the weakest of the bunch.  The only question is whether that's noticeable enough to try to change it at this late date.  I may have to shoot some pics to Lauby for an opinion - I'm not sure.

Have I been caught in a monologue again?

Moving on, here's a battle report, me against Little Barerra.  It's from the first week of the new edition, so it is still a bit 'going through the motions' but it includes my best one-two punch to date.

Too bad his one punch was better...

Here are the spells I had.  The General had the Signature Spell for the Lore of the Wild and Bray Scream, a breath weapon.  I'd tried out a little tactic against the Master Manipulator (every store needs one) the previous week, so I'd been shooting for that combo again.  When I rolled a 3, I traded the other dice straight away.

The Winds of Magic have a strange effect on the terrain.  My army isn't terrible, but it isn't good either.  I was testing the theory that magic is the way to go at lower points values, given how favorable the Winds of Magic can be to fewer Wizards.  The problem, of course, is I face an army with better casters.  Another brief note: since this game, I've put away the Minotaurs - which I love - until we start playing bigger games.  If I was going to run this list, I'd put the Gors in the center.  Ranks are important.

His Banshee is going to make or break this game.  Both Bray Shaman's had magic weapons and magic items and the Gors could have won on Combat Resolution, but I'd not counted on his speed.  With ethereal he moved right through the unit, straight at the Minotaurs.  I completely misplayed any opportunity I had to beat this unit, which would be vital for winning.

I charge, foolishly believing my Minotaurs could beat the Banshees via Combat Resolution.  It was stupid - the charge isn't that important anymore; I could have held off one turn to see if my casters could put wounds on the unit.  Instead, I protect it from the Bray Shamans by charging it.  It's a play that might have worked had the ranked up Gors done it.

This was a tactic I was proud of!  I cast my Signature Spell, which allowed units within 6 inches to moved d6+1 inches forward, but not to charge.  Little Barrera literally said, "Bring it!" reasoning he wanted me closer.  The two affected units moved up, the Gors and the Bray Shaman.  The Gors were angled so it would block the Ghouls from going after my General... and the General, my Bray Shaman, wanted to be close to cast Primal Scream, the Breath Weapon!  It works!  Yea me!

Then I roll really, really low to wound.  I didn't kill nearly enough.  After his shock, Little Barrera shrugged and said, "I'll just bring them back next turn - they're only Zombies."  And so he did.

I readjust my lines to try and keep my rank bonus as high as possible, since that and the Standard Bearer were the only things I had going for me.

He charges the Gors - good.  He charges the Bray-Shaman - not so good.  I run away, run away!  Still, part of my thought was that he'd have to redirect into my Minotaurs.  If I had something to hit other than things I couldn't hit, I could win the combat and destroy the Banshee.  Little Barrera knew that and didn't want to redirect.  I was hoping he'd have to make a Leadership test or something to avoid it, but it wasn't to be!  Keep in mind, we were still playing with the store's preview copy at the time, learning the rules so we'd know what to do during the demo-day.

My Minotaurs run.  The Bray Shaman waves to them in passing.

My Minotaurs fail to rally, though they will next turn.  The Bray Shaman rallies, and then both Shamans unload on the Banshee's unit in the magic phase, to little effect.

The Banshees charge my Bray Shaman and I run.  He redirects at my Minotaurs and I hold, being too close the board edge to do otherwise.  In hindsight, it was a mistake.  My Bray Shaman had a magic weapon, so I at least had a chance to win.  This way was guaranteed to lose.

My Gors beat the Ghouls after a few rounds of brutal combat!  The resulting wounds defeats the Vampire!  I have to say, I've learned to really appreciate Primal Fury.  Rerolls to hit with double hand weapons make a huge difference to the combat power of the unit.  I've since tested hand weapon / shield, but found double hand weapon is the way to go, with this unit anyway.

I reform in time to get tar-pitted by the Zombies.  I fail my Primal Fury roll, have a poor round of rolls, and his Ranks carry the fight.  I expected to hold here, but he brings me down.

My Ungor Raiders failed to do much with their bows.  His skeletons didn't do much either, but they really didn't need to, did they?  His casters kept his army healthy... so to speak.

That was pretty much that.  The Banshee killed my General Bray Shaman in the shooting phase after running off the Minotaurs... again.  It was a fun game, but as far as a learning experience it was hugely important.  It changed how I approach building the Herd and ultimately I'm approaching something workable.

(At some point I'm going to do a Vampire Counts in the magic phase post, because Little Barrera is proving all the talking heads wrong...)