Battle Report 1 - Lizardmen vs. Dark Elves - 2200 pts. A few weeks ago I played my first battle with my Lizardmen army. 2200 pts. against Dark Elves. Dark Elf list is an estimate of what he had but should be close. I am new to WHFB and my opponent stopped playing at 6th Ed., and is just starting up again with 8th Ed. Lizardmen: Lords: Slann: General Lore of Light Harmonic Convergence Channeling Staff Iron curse Icon Heroes: Scar Vet on foot Light Armour Sword of Striking Enchanted Shield Luckstone Scar Vet on Cold One BSB Light Armour Handweapon Dawnstone Skink Priest Lvl 1 Lore of Heavens Dispel Scroll Dragonbane Gem Core: 20X Saurus HW and Shield (Saurus 1 in report) Musician Standard Bearer 18X Saurus Spear with Shield (Scar Vet Here)(Saurus 2 in report) Musician Standard Bearer 10X Skin Skirmisher Blowpipe (Skink Priest here) 10X Skink Skirmisher Blowpipe Special: 20X Temple Guard Halberd with Shield (Slann here) Revered Guardian Standard Bearer - Standard of Discipline 5X Cold One Riders with Spears (Scar Vet cowboy here) Musician Standard Bearer Jungle Swarm (2 swarms in unit) Rare: Ancient Stegadon EOTG Sharpened Horns Dark Elves: Lords: Sorceress Lvl 4 on Cold one Dark Magic Heroes: Death Hag BSB Cauldron of Blood Core: 20x Black Ark Corsairs 2 HW Standard Bearer 20x Black Ark Corsairs 2HW Standard Bearer 50-60 Witch Elves (Cauldron of Blood here) 5X Dark Riders with Crossbows 5X Dark Riders with Crossbows Special: 5X cold One Knights (Sorceress here) Rare: War Hydra with two handlers The battlefield was set so that on my deployment area there was a hill on the left side and a forest on the right side. The Dark Elf deployment (from my perspective) had a hill and forest on the left side and a hill on the right side. In the center of the field was a large ruin that caused fear in any unit within 3 inches of the ruins. Lizardmen Deployment: - Left side was a Skink unit on the hill and my Ancient Steg. - Center/right was Saurus 1 unit, Jungle Swarm, and Temple Guard/Slann. - Right side was Saurus 2 unit, Cold One, and the second Skink unit with Priest in the forest. Dark Elf Deployment: (From my perspective) - Left side was two units of Dark Riders. - Center/Right was the War Hydra , one unit of Corsairs, and Witch Elves/Cauldron. - Right side was the second Corsair unit and Cold One Knights/Sorceress. Turn 1: - Before anything else happened, the Dark Riders had a vanguard move up the left side of the field. - Dark Elves won the roll for who goes first. Dark Elves: - All Dark Elf units moved forward. - Dark Riders moved forward to shooting range and shot at Skinks and Steg, killing 2 Skinks. The Skinks passed their Leadership test. - Winds of magic were OK but the Slann dispelled the first spell cast and then the Sorceress failed to cast the next. Lizardmen: - The Temple Guard, both Saurus units, and the Jungle Swarm moved only 2 inches to maneuver them around the ruins and prepare for charges. - Skink unit with Priest moved out of the woods to spell range. - Cold Ones moved in behind the Skinks. - Skink Unit on left stayed on the hill and the Ancient Steg moved to face the Dark Riders. - Winds of Magic were weak and the Slann used the Skink Priest as an arcane vassal to cast Shem’s at the Cold One Knights causing 2 wounds. - The EOTG bound spell affected both units of Dark Riders and one fled off the edge of the board. - Skinks shooting at the other Dark Riders killed another (unit was down to 2) but they passed their panic test and held. Turn 2: Dark Elves: - The Hydra charged and with a great roll got to my Saurus 1 unit. The Saurus passed the fear test. (Not sure why he did not use the breath weapon), The combat ended with the Saurus causing some wounds and winning the CR. Two Saurus were killed. The hydra failed his leadership test and fled. The Saurus did not catch the Hydra. - The Dark Riders charged the Skinks on the hill and the Skinks tried to flee. They were run down. (This was a tactical error on my part. I should have done a stand and shoot with only 2 Dark Riders coming. I might have killed them with the poison darts). - The two Corsair units, and the Witch Elves moved forward. - The Cold Ones failed the charge on my Skinks with Priest. - Winds of Magic allowed a spell to be cast on my Skinks/Priest which prevented any further actions by them this turn. Lizardmen: - The ancient Steg moved to face Dark Riders. - Saurus 1 Unit, chasing the Hydra, charged a unit of Corsairs and won the battle. The Corsairs fled and were run down as the Saurus overran into the hydra. (This was fortunate because it put them out of the charge arc of the Witch Elves.) - The Temple Guard Moved forward and the Jungle Swarm moved between Temple Guard and Witch Elves. - Saurus 2 unit maneuvered to take a charge the next turn. - Winds of Magic were weak and the Slann cast Net of Amyntok with irresistible force on the Witch Elves and rolled a 7 on the Miscast table. He destroyed 7 of the Temple Guard. The other spells were dispelled. Turn 3: Dark Elves: - The Hydra turned to face the Saurus 1 unit and was killed during the combat. (The Saurus passed their Fear test). - The Witch Elves charged and were intercepted by the Jungle Swarm. The Swarm killed 3 witch Elves but were destroyed. The Witch Elves overran into the Temple Guard due to Frenzy. - The Corsair unit charged my Saurus 2 unit and lost the combat. The Corsairs failed a Leadership test and fled, and were run down by the Saurus. - The Cold One riders charged the Skink unit with the Priest. The Skinks fled through my Cold Ones (who did not panic), and the Dark Elf Cold Ones ended their charge at my Cold Ones. CR was static. - The Dark Riders moved along the table edge toward the Temple Guard. - Winds of Magic were OK. The Sorceress cast a spell that killed one Cold One and two Skinks. The next spell was dispelled by the Slann. Lizardmen: - The Skink unit with Priest rallied. - Saurus 1 unit moved toward the Witch Elf flank. - Saurus 2 unit charged the flank of the Dark Elf Cold Ones and passed their Fear test. The Cold One Vs. Cold One combat killed another of my riders and two of the Dark Elf Riders. The Saurus 2 unit killed another Dark Elf rider and the Sorceress failed her Leadership test and fled off the board. Saurus 2 unit pursued off the table edge, but the remaining Cold Ones both passed their test to Restrain Pursuit because of the Skink Priest nearby. - The Temple Guard fought the Witch Elves and killed a few, but the Witch Elves killed most of the Temple Guard (Cauldron of Blood and Horde formation gave them something like 40 attacks.) Because of the Sacred Guardian rule, the remaining Temple Guard were Stubborn and held their ground. - Ancient Steg moved toward the Dark Riders. - Winds of Magic were OK and the Slann cast Shem’s at the Witch Elves through the Skink Priest, killing a few. - With an excellent dice roll for range the EOTG spell managed to kill the last two Dark Riders. Turn 4: Dark Elves: - The Dark Elves were down to just the Witch Elves/Cauldron with no spell caster. The Witch Elves killed the rest of the Temple Guard, but not the Slann. The Slann failed leadership and fled. The Witch Elves pursued but amazingly, did not catch the Slann. Lizardmen: - The Slann rallied. - Saurus 1 unit tried to charge the flank of the Witch Elves but failed the charge. - Saurus 2 unit moved back onto the board. - The Cold Ones charged the opposite flank of the Witch Elves. For an unknown reason, the Death Hag challenged my Scar Vet on the cold One, who accepted the challenge and sliced the Hag to pieces. The CR with the remaining Cold Ones was static as I lost another Cold One and some Witch Elves were killed. - Ancient Steg moved toward the battle. - Winds of Magic were weak, and the Skink Priest failed to cast Iceshard Blizzard. Turn 5: Dark Elves: - The Witch Elves were still in combat with the Cold One and Scar Vet on Cold One so they could not move. A few Witch Elves were killed in combat, but they passed the Leadership test and held (the ranks and Cauldron saved them). Lizardmen: - Saurus 1 unit charged the flank of the Witch Elves. - Saurus 2 unit charged the rear of the Witch Elves. - Cold Ones continued combat. - Ancient Steg moved closer to battle. - Skinks stayed put in the forest. - Winds of Magic were strong. The Slann cast the large versions of both Speed of Light and Birona’s Time Warp with no miscast. At this point, knowing that he was going to face 42 Saurus and 10 Scar Vet attacks at WS10 with ASF, the Dark Elf player conceded the battle. The Dark Elf Sorceress returned to Naggarond in disgrace! Analysis: The game went well for me due to some good rolls at opportune times and due to some tactical errors from my opponent. It was the first time using my army and the combination of my two Saurus units with the Temple Guard in the center worked well with the Lore of Light, especially at the end game. I did make a tactical error with my Skink unit by trying to flee the Dark Riders on Turn 2, but that is a good learning experience that did not cost me the game. I also did not have my Jungle Swarm far enough away from my Temple Guard unit to prevent the Witch Elves Frenzy from getting them the charge. That is again a learning experience that will help in future games. The tactical error that really changed the game was my opponent deciding to challenge my Scar Vet cowboy with his Death Hag. Some good rolls with the remaining Cold One in the unit combined with the failed challenge allowed the Scar Vet and a two Cold One Riders keep the Witch Elf unit stationary for 2 full turns. That allowed my Saurus units to get into position for the flank and rear charges, and also allowed my Slann to rally and cast the winning spell combination. Unit performance: - Jungle Swarm – It worked Ok to redirect, but not well enough. I may or may not use them again. - Skinks – Did their job by taking out the some Dark Riders and redirecting the Dark Elf Cold Ones, both for a charge and drawing some magic from the Sorceress. Good job little guys. - Ancient Steg – No charges this game, but the EOTG took out a Dark Rider unit and kept that unit from affecting the rest of the game. - Temple Guard – A big disappointment. They did survive 2 rounds of combat with the Witch Elves, and a miscast by the Slann, but they were destroyed to a lizard. Granted, they were facing the front of a 50-60 strong Witch Elf unit with a Cauldron of Blood, but it was still disappointing to have them destroyed. I will give them another chance. - Slann – The magic worked OK. The Winds of Magic were not kind every turn, but most enemy spells were dispelled, and the casting of the last turn spells were the final nail in the coffin for the Dark Elves. I love my big frog! - Cold One Riders – They did OK. They helped destroy the Dark Elf cold Ones and chase the Sorceress off the battlefield. Then they got a flank charge on the Witch Elves and held them in place for 2 rounds of combat. - Scar Vets – Love these guys. Once they get into combat, they rock and add a nice punch to my Saurus and Cold One units. - Saurus – The stars of the battle! I only lost 5 out of 38 Saurus the entire battle. Saurus 1 took out the War Hydra, a unit of Black Ark Corsairs, and got a flank charge on the Witch Elves. Saurus 2 took out a unit of Black Ark Corsairs and helped kill the Dark Elf Cold Ones and chased the Sorceress off the field of battle. Then they got the rear charge on the Witch Elf Unit.
You can't cast magic missiles into combat, so the shem's into the witch elves shouldn't have gone off. As for the Cold One vs the Dark elf version, if they didn't nominate the cold ones as a redirection target as a result of the skink unit fleeing they have to stop 1" away from the cold one unit and can't engage them in combat. This tactic is used by some lizard players with two units of skinks to double flee from a unit. If he did redirect to your cold ones then that was fine. He would just have to nominate the new target for redirecting the charge before distances are rolled.
Thanks for the clarification on the casting. I knew the Slann could cast that spell even though in combat, but I was confused about the target of the spell. I checked the rule book again and will only be casting hex or augment spells into a unit in combat. We are both still learning the rules and this will help with future battles. For the Cold One charge, my opponent did redirect to my Cold Ones, so that worked correctly.
Once my units got the flank and rear attacks, a lot of the bonus attacks form the Witch Elves disappeared. Those bonus attacks really took a toll on my Temple Guard when they were fighting the front face of the Witch Elves.
Hey fellow Lustrians. I downloaded the Battle Chronicler software and have updated my battle report with the screen shots from the battle report. It took a bit to get used to the software, and I do not think that all the distances are exactly correct, but it should help with the explanation of the battle. I am looking forward to this Sunday. I am meeting my gaming group for some 2500 pt. battles. If all goes well, I hope to get in two games on Sunday. It could be against High Elves, Dark Elves, Empire, Dwarves, Vampire Counts, or Orcs & Goblins, depending on which army everyone brings. I will try to keep track of the battles and continue the battle reports with the results from Sunday.
Battle chronicler does take a little practice to use properly. I've done four or five reports using it, and I've learned some new trick each time. Still, I think it provides a really easy to read battle report. I like seeing pictures, but having the movement arrows and the indicators that units have been hit really helps clarify what happened at a glance. If you ever need any help with it, please feel free to ask. I would love to see more battle reports using battle chronicler. A bit of advice for using the program: Take a few reference pictures during the game. It really helps cement in your mind where everything should be at various points in the game. Also, the control and alt keys are your friends. They let you adjust the orientation or location of a unit without altering any other part of it (so you can spin things around without wrestling with the controls.)
Nice report Kblock. Few questions/comments 1.Was there a tactical reason that you didn't angle your swarms to put the witches in a position for a flank charge? Seeing that the frenzy witches must overrun, it would have been a golden opportunity to flank charge(or rear charge, depending on overrun) the elves. 2. I note the very fortunate saurus (or unfortunate hydra)! I have never seen saurus perform so well. Ever. Congratulations! 3. I feel that moving the stegadon so far away from the main combats might have worked against you in this case. What do you think of the situation? Good report nonetheless!
It has been too long since I added any reports. I want to try and use the Battle Chronicler software but find that my life has become too busy to create the report with the software as well as writing it up. So, before I forget what happened with the battles, I will put in the written reports. I will try to add Battle Chronicler later when I have time. That being said, here is a depressing battle report. Battle Report 2: Lizardmen against Dwarfs - 2500 Pts. Dwarf list is an estimate of what my opponent had but should be close. I am not sure which Dwarf units fit into which category. Lizardmen: Lords: Slann: General High Magic Focus of Mystery Harmonic Convergence Channeling Staff Iron curse Icon Heroes: Scar Vet on foot –BSB (Scar Vet 1 in report) Armor of Fortune Shield Greatweapon Scar Vet on foot (Scar Vet 2 in report) Light Armor Enchanted Shield Fencer’s Blades Seed of Rebirth Scar Vet on Cold One (Scar Vet 3 in report) Light Armor Shield Greatweapon Dawnstone Skink Priest Lvl 2 Lore of Beasts Dispel Scroll Core: 20X Saurus HW and Shield (Scar Vet 1 Here)(Saurus 1 in report) Spawn Leader Musician Standard Bearer 18X Saurus Spear with Shield (Scar Vet 2 Here)(Saurus 2 in report) Spawn Leader Musician Standard Bearer 10X Skin Skirmisher Blowpipe (Skink Priest here)(Skink 1 in report) 10X Skink Skirmisher Blowpipe (Skink 2 in report) Patrol Leader Special: 20X Temple Guard Halberd with Shield (Slann here) Revered Guardian Standard Bearer - Standard of Discipline 9X Cold One Riders with Spears (Scar Vet 3 here) Musician Standard Bearer Rare: Ancient Stegadon EOTG Sharpened Horns Dwarfs: Lord: Dwarf Lord: General Heavy Armor Greatweapon Hero: Runelord Dwarf Hero – BSB Heavy Armor Greatweapon Dwarf Hero Heavy Armor Greatweapon Engineer Core: 10X Quarrellers 10X Quarrellers 10X Quarrellers 10X Quarrellers 20X Warriors Full Command 20X Warriors Full Command Special: 40X Hammerers – Horde formation (General, Runelord, BSB here) Full Command 5X Miners Rare: Bolt Thrower (some kind of rune) Grudge Thrower (some kind of rune)(Engineer here) The battlefield was set so that on my deployment area there was a hill just left of center. Further left and a little more forward was a forest. The Dwarf deployment zone (from my perspective) had an Impassable hill 18” from the edge on the left side. There was a hill in the center of the dwarf deployment zone. On the right was a forest. In the center of the field right of center was an impassable hill. Lizardmen Deployment: From my left. Cold Ones behind the forest. Temple Guard on hill. Saurus 2 in front of Temple Guard. Saurus 1 next to Saurus 2. Skink 1 next, and then Skink 2. Ancient Steg on the right. Dwarf Deployment: From my left. Quarellers 1 on hill. Grudge Thrower on hill. Quarellers 2 on hill. Bolt thrower in forest. Quarellers 3 in forest. Quarrellers 4 in front of hill. Hammerer horde next to them. Warriors 1 next and then Warriors 2. Deployment was my first error in strategy in this game. First, the Cold Ones were behind the forest. I did it originally to try and give some protection from all the shooting from the Dwarves, but as we will see, all it really did was slow them down for the first 2 turns and prevented me from using them to attack the flanks of other units. The second deployment error was putting the Steg so far away from my troops. I was trying to use the impassable hill to block some shooting, but the Steg ended up being blocked by the impassable hill and I was not able to use it for flank attacks. As you will see in the battle report, this combined with a couple of other strategic errors will result in almost total destruction of my army. Dwarves won the 1st turn. Turn 1 Dwarf: Lots of long range shots from the Quarellers and war machines with no significant effect. The Warrior units and Hammerers all marched forward into the field. Turn 1 Lizardmen: All troops and Steg marched forward except Cold Ones who moved normally through the forest (this left part of the unit still in the forest at the end of the move). Magic was mostly inconsequential with a few Quarrellers killed on my right flank by a long range EotG spell blast. Other spells were dispelled by non-magic(?) Runelord. Turn 2 Dwarf: Warriors and Hammerers marched forward to within my charge range. Quarellers took down a few Skinks from each Skirmisher unit, but they held. The Steg was now in line of sight of the Bolt thrower and took 1 wound. The Grudge thrower misfired but was not destroyed. Turn 2 Lizardmen: Cold Ones moved out of the forest. Saurus 2 charged the Hammerers and Saurus 1 charged a unit of Warriors. (Big error here in charging a horde unit that had great weapons. I was hoping to have flank support from the Cold Ones, but moving through the forest slowed them down enough that they could not charge this turn.) Both Skink units moved into range of the Bolt thrower and Grudge thrower and took shots at them to no effect. (Of course, this also put them into the sights of the Quarellers). Magic on Saurus 2 unit with the horde was dispelled. I did manage to get Hand of Glory on the Saurus 1 unit and got another blast from the EotG that took out 2 more Quarellers on the right. Saurus 1 won the combat against the Warrior unit by destroying about 2/3rd of the unit. Being stubborn, the little buggers did not run away. Saurus 2 was completely destroyed to a lizard, except for the Scar Vet who turned tail and ran. The Horde decided to pursue but did not catch the Vet as they ran directly into the Temple Guard unit. (This pursuit also took the unit out of the charge arc of the Cold Ones.) Turn 3 Dwarf: The Horde unit had charged into the Temple Guard during pursuit of the Scar Vet. Warrior unit 1 was fighting Saurus 1. Warrior unit 2 charged Skink 1 with Priest. The Skink unit flees out of range of the warriors. Skink 2 unit is destroyed by shooting from Quarellers. Steg takes another wound from bolt thrower. Grudge thrower and other Quarellers shoot at the Cold Ones to no effect. Miners arrive on the edge of the board near the Steg. Temple Guard fight the horde and kill 9 of the Hammerers. Then they weather 30+ great weapon attacks and the dice gods fail me miserably. I fail all saves and the unit is wiped out except for the Slann who flees. The Dwarf General laughs at the big frog and does not pursue, but has the unit reform to chase down Saurus 1 unit. Saurus 1 finishes off the Warrior 1 unit and prepares to charge Warrior 2 unit on their turn. Turn 3 Lizardmen: Scar Vet and Slann both rally. Saurus 1 charges Warrior 2 unit. Priest leaves the Skink unit as the unit moves to attack the bolt thrower. Cold Ones finally see some action and with a great long range charge, attack one of the Quareller units. The steg charges the Quarellers in the forest on the right flank to get out of the way of the Miners. Slann magic is dispelled, but in a nice twist of the winds of magic, the Skink Priest successfully casts Wyssans on Saurus 1. Skinks shoot at bolt thrower and do some damage, but not enough to destroy it. The steg charges the Quarellers and impales and stomps some of them, but with lucky wounds from the Dwarfs and again bad saves, the steg is killed. Saurus 1 again wins the fight with the Warriors, but does not destroy. The stubborn little guys stay put. The Cold Ones attack the Quarellers and they flee off the board. Due to PF, I pursue, but stop just 1” away from pursuing off the board. Turn 4 Dwarf: The Horde has reformed, and tries for a long range charge. They make the roll and attack Saurus 1 from the rear. The war machines and remaining Quarellers turn their attentions to the Skink Priest and remaining Skinks. All the Skinks and the Priest are killed. The Hammerer Horde and Warrior 2 attack the Saurus 1 unit and it is destroyed except for the Scar Vet who flees, but is not run down. Turn 4 Lizardmen: I concede the game. On the board I have a Slann, 2 Scar Vets on foot separated by 1/2 the battlefield, and a unit of Cold Ones who can only reform this turn and not charge the war machines due to being only 1” from the edge of the board. It was not possible to wheel and try a charge. My units were spread out on the board so they could offer no support to each other. The dwarf player still had about 1/3 of a Warrior unit, a 30 strong Hammerer horde unit, an unwounded Quareller unit, a second smaller Quareller unit (survivors of the Steg attack), a Grudge Thrower and a Bolt Thrower, plus the Miners who never even saw battle. The Dwarf army did not lose any characters. I do not think I have ever had such a poor game as this, and hope I never do again. I started wrong with my deployment of the Cold Ones and Steg. Then I made the tactical error of charging a Horde unit with a normal unit of Saurus, while leaving my Temple Guard in the line of pursuit after the Saurus were destroyed. My other Saurus unit did show that against normal Dwarf infantry, we stand a chance, and that was encouraging. At least my entire army was not a let down. The Cold Ones could have done OK, but the deployment left them at least 1 turn behind the rest of the battle the whole game.
I had a game against High Elves last Friday. 2500 pts. to try out my new units. I lost , but learned some lessons that will hopefully help in the future. Banner report to follow. I did take photos during the game to remind of what happened each turn. Depending on life issues, I will hopefully have the battle report up within the next week.
Looking forward to another of your well written and not least nicely illustrated battle reports (can you feel the pressure for some graphics here? )