Saturday game days at the local Workshop are team games, two teams evenly split, one fighting for Chaos, the other for Order. Usually there are eight or ten people attending the game. Today, in the wake of Christmas, there were sixteen players attending, so many that we had to abandon the Fantasy table and move to the 40k table which was notably bigger as the Fantasy table is currently undergoing some reconstruction with a part of it temporarily out of commission. Looking at our fantasy armies now surrounded by giant metal towers and gun encampments, we decided that this game would clearly take place in the Realm of Metal. Seems legit. Every player chooses a general. These generals are then put in the middle of each of our lanes to duel the general of the enemy army directly in front of them in a cataclysmic 1v1 battle using the rules for the Archaon vs Nagash battle depicted in the Everchosen battle tome. No troops may interfere with the duel as to do so would be too dangerous. Across the board, Skarbrands and Glottkin face down Empire Generals on Griffons and Lord-Celestants on Dracoths. But my lane opponent and I have had a rivalry for some time between our heroes, and we know exactly who must duel this monstrous battle. Batskink the Starpriest vs Darth Skink the converted undead Starpriest. We add a small lava pit to the middle of our lane for the two to duel atop of while we play Star Wars music and yell bad Episode 3 dialogue at each other. Who needs Skarbrand vs Karl Franz anyway? Due to the size of the game, we agreed that while buffs may be shared with teammates, we could only attack the opponent directly in front of us to avoid over-complicating things. After all, we don't want to be affecting the whole board because that would just be a nightmare to co-ordinate. First turn, I instantly roll a triple six on the Engine of the Gods, time stops and a global buff affects the entire board. The staff member running the game breaks down and leaves. My main host of Eternal Starhost march forward and take up positions at a quarter of the way in to the board where they intend to bait the enemy into charging, keeping a tight formation so that all are within range of the Eternity Warden's buffs with Kroak stood safely by his Warden's side. On the left, Mal the Oldblood atop a Carnosaur runs ahead of the main force to act as a scout and vanguard. On the right, the Thunderbeast Starhost does the same. Kroak shields the Oldblood ad scatters a weak Comet's Call through the enemy ranks. To the left, the Thunderbeasts can see a large unit of Skeleton Archers with Khalida atop an iron tower. Supported by Chameleon Skinks who appear in a missile silo strange arcane device to the side, Apricot the Basitladon fires at the skeletons who suffer moderate wounds. But then comes the great battle that this was all for, Batskink vs Darth Skink. Declaring awful dialogue delivered in a Lucas monotone, our generals clash. Darth Skink opens with a defensive form to counterattack a melee strike, but Batskink surprises his nemesis by stepping back and unleashing an Arcane Bolt instead, causing a great three wounds and lowering Darth Skink to a mere single wound. Darth Skink's counterattack falls flat as his defensive form is worthless against a volley of magic like that and Batskink simply dodges the counter. As my team take their second turn thanks to the Engine's time stop and as Apricot and the Chameleons wipe out the Skeleton Archers, the Skinks move into the next round. Seeing how well it worked for Batskink, Darth Skink steps back to unleash his own magic. However, Batskink anticipates this and instead rushes Darth Skink with an all out attack. With Batskink up in his face, Darth Skink is unable to cast his spell as he is too busy having to defend himself in melee. However having caught his enemy off guard, Batskink gains a severe advantage and buries his knife in Darth Skink's gut, casting him into the lava pit. Having destroyed his rival, Batskink retreats to the back line of the formation where he can work his supportive magicks. Prince Apophas explodes from beneath the snow behind my formation, but the formation's arrangement prevents him from appearing close to any truly vital targets and he is forced to waste his attacks on some Temple Guard. He is disintegrated by the Engine of the Gods next turn without scoring a single kill. Skeleton Archers fire at my Oldblood but do no damage due to his mystic shield. The Oldblood then has his shield renewed and is further blessed with the Starpriest's Starlight as he charges a Vampire Lord that has appeared before him. Bad roles on both sides result in the Oldblood taking a single wound and the Vampire taking three from a single bite as all other attacks missed. However this proves to be a trap, as more archers are summoned to fire upon the Oldblood while a horde of zombies charge in, as do more converted undead Lizardmen heroes. However, thanks to his shield and Starlight, the Oldblood survives all this without so much as a single wound while he murders the Vampire Lord and begins cutting into the zombies to thin their ranks and lower their To Hit/To Wound bonuses. Meanwhile the Thunderbeast Starhost finishes Khalida off with a volley from some Sallamanders, while Apricot the Bastiladon begins firing his Searing Beam across the map to snipe the two remaining Death Mages over the course of the next two turns. With no summoners remaining and with my army mostly unharmed, the enemy concedes defeat. I don't know which team won overall, but I think it was us.
That does not matter , I love seeing models especially after reading battle reports, I can then visualize your army marching into war.
Really nice report. .. and some envy because we cannot afford such kind of big games (few players, and different free time).
Why thank you. It was a particularly funny battle to play because I was up against what is basically the comic relief army of our circle's little narrative, hence the Star Wars stuff.