Baggronor:
[align=center]Summer Incursion 2 Battle Report[/align]
My Chaos Dwarfs have been to quite a few tourneys, using the Dwarf list, since they were first sighted back in 2007/8, their natural habitat being somewhere on the middle tables. In fact, they have had something of a reputation for being monstrously average over their long years of service, always pulling in a few wins, a few losses, a best army nomination here and there, nothing special. Summer Incursion 2, at Maelstrom Games, would be the latest tourney they would attend. 8th came as a bit of a shock to my short, twirly-bearded fellows, as everyone suddenly had to buy great weapons or face redundancy. The requirements for larger units meant several of my command groups were now out of work. But after a few games of average to poor results, a few tweaks and the elimination of as much tactical finesse as possible, I finally had a list that might win some games. Then I read the comp and had to change it. Summer Incursion 2 was 2400pts, 5 games. The only comp that mattered to Dwarfs was that no unit could be over 400pts and only two of any war machine could be taken. So some Warriors and the Master Rune of Grungni had to go, and I had 70 odd points left, which I filled with a Dragonslayer, reasoning he was the least useless option (how wrong I was). The list was thus:
Blackhand�?Ts Daemonhunters, Dwarfs 2400pts
Marrog Blackhand, Runelord
Master Rune of Balance, 2 Runes of Spellbreaking, Rune of Stone, Rune of Preservation, Rune of Resistance and Shield
Grulka Blackhand, Thane
Battle Standard, Rune of Fire, Master Rune of Gromril, Rune of Preservation, Rune of Resistance, Rune of the Furnace
Kromlek Blackhand, Thane
Rune of Cleaving, Rune of Fire, Rune of Stone, Master Rune of Challenge, Rune of Brotherhood and Shield
Dhurz, Dragonslayer
Rune of Striking, Rune of Fire
34 Rangers
Full Command
35 Warriors
Great Weapons, Full Command
30 Hammerers
Full Command
Cannon
Rune of Forging, Engineer
Cannon
Rune of Forging, Rune of Burning, Engineer
Grudge Thrower
2 Runes of Penetrating, Rune of Accuracy, Engineer
Organ Gun
New additions:
Full army shot:
The plan is brain-meltingly simple. Pick a corner, plonk the army down with machines at the back, Dwarfs at the front, cannon anything big and expensive, Grudge Thrower any units that are too big for the Dwarfs to handle and then apply large axes to the faces of anyone who was left. Organ Gun anything that doesn�?Tt fit into the above categories and stop all the magic with absurd amounts of dispelling power. The large units of Dwarfs should prove hard to get points off, the important characters are virtually indestructible to 90% of enemies and hopefully there would be no silly running away.
So, time to see just how far you can get with only one tactic. And the answer is: pretty far. Apologies if this is the longest report in the history of CDO, hopefully people can come back to it bit by bit. I haven’t done any diagrams, as that’s a bit too much work and I’m lazy.
Game 1: Caz Ziafat, Dark Elves
Caz seemed very young to me, young enough that his dice rolls would no doubt be much better than mine (it’s a well-known fact that youthful dice-rolling beats age and experience hands down). I had read Caz�?T list on the forums and wasn�?Tt overjoyed at the presence of the Death and Shadow lores, Pit and Purple Sun are both highly unpleasant for Dwarfs, not to mention the horde of Corsairs who would be looking to get those Strength 8 attacks from Mindrazor. His list was thus:
Supreme Sorceress, Dark Pegasus, Lifetaker, Dispel Scroll, Talisman of Preservation
Sorceress, Dark Pegasus, Tome of Furion, Pendant of Khaeleth
Death Hag (Battle Standard Bearer), Cauldron of Blood
10 Repeater Crossbowmen, shields, standard and musician
10 Repeater Crossbowmen, shields, standard and musician
30 Corsairs, Full command, Sea Serpent Standard
5 Harpies
20 Black Guard, Full Command, Banner of Eternal Flame and Crimson Death
Cold One Chariot
6 Witch Elves
6 Shades
6 Shades
War Hydra
So, all very killy with the usual outrageous Elfy synergies. The one thing I did decide almost immediately was that the level 4 had to die; she had only a 4+ ward, not the pendant, and without her magic the Corsairs weren�?Tt very scary at all and the Black Guard would be manageable. This is where open lists gets a bit questionable in my opinion, as I would normally have assumed the level 4 would have the pendant and would only have realised this wasn�?Tt the case when a cannonball bounced off the level 2. As it was, I went into it intending to drop the level 4 at all costs. The level 2 didn�?Tt roll Purple Sun, which was a massive relief; virtually everything in my army is strength 5 or higher (and thus unable to get through the pendant) and the open lists meant Caz would know where the Master Rune of Challenge was, so she would have been almost impossible to stop.
The Dwarfs set up in the right corner and the Elves set up opposite, using a building to hide as much as possible from the two cannons. The Rangers fooled �?~em good by making absolutely no use of their scouting deployment and turned up next to the Hammerers. I saw no benefit in them spending the game chasing Shades and getting shot and zapped.
The Dwarfs went first and the first Grudge Thrower shot of the tournament atomised the Level 4 on her Pegasus. That kinda set the tone for the rest of the weekend really. The Cannons put 3 wounds on the chariot, having no line of sight to the Hydra or Cauldron.
The Elves moved forwards, the Crossbowmen entering the building and the Shades and Harpies swept towards the Dwarf flank. The Cauldron put a ward on the Black Guard and the Sorceress�?T spells were stopped. Shooting didn�?Tt do anything.
The Thane wandered out of his unit, ready to Challenge the Shades into himself. Still unable to see the Hydra and Cauldron, the Cannons finished off the chariot and the Grudge Thrower killed some Corsairs. The Shades charged the Thane, the Corsairs charged the Warriors and everyone else moved into crossbow range. Magic was stopped again. The Corsairs got absolutely mullered by the Dwarfs who elected not to pursue to avoid exposing themselves to a flank charge from the Black Guard. The Corsairs fled a paltry 4�?�. The Thane swatted some Shades, who held.
The Warriors ran down the Corsairs and the Hammerers moved up to force the issue with the Black Guard. The Cannons and Organ Gun annihilated the Crossbowmen in the building, which panicked the Hydra, sending it running for the board edge. The Thane broke the Shades but failed to catch them.
The Black Guard and Witch Elves charged the Hammerers, the Harpies charged the nearest Cannon but failed and land in a wood, the Shades and Hydra rallied. Doom and Darkness went off on the Hammerers on a lucky roll. Shooting picked off two crewmen from the Organ Gun. The Hammerers lost the combat with the Black Guard but held on a re-rolled 6. Phew.
The Thane charges the rallied Shades. The flaming Cannon, now able to see the rallied Hydra, blew it to bits in one shot. The Black Guard were reduced to just the Champion, who held. The Thane wipes out the Shades and turns to face the Harpies in the wood. The Black Guard Champion challenged, the Runelord looked sheepish and moved to the back, and the Hammerers great-weaponed the Elf to death.
The Thane charged the other unit of Shades who fled and the Runelord and BSB shouldered their way through to the flank and killed the remaining Witch Elves.
The Harpies charge the cannon but died to the crew.
Caz then realised the 10 Spears weren�?Tt even in his list in the first place. Thankfully, they didn�?Tt do anything, so it didn�?Tt matter.
Result - Dwarfs: 1862 Dark Elves: 0
Thoughts: I think the level 4 on Pegasus with no pendant is a hugely bad idea, especially when most of her spells have a decent range and don�?Tt need line of sight. She would have been trickier to get rid of in a spearmen bunker or with the crossbows, possibly with the Sacrificial Dagger.
I need to remember to dispel Remain in Play spells. Doom and Darkness remained up when I could have easily stopped it in my turn.
Game 2: Danny Pegg, High Elves.
Danny was a very nice bloke, with what looked like it would be a very swish HE army once his excellent paint jobs were completed. His list was thus:
Prince, heavy armour, barded steed, shield, great weapon, amulet of light, vambraces of defence, dragon helm
Archmage, lvl3 shadow folariaths robe, talisman of saphery, dispel scroll
Bsb, great weapon, dragon armour of caledor, dawnstone
Noble, great eagle, dragon armour, great weapon, helm of fortune
35 spearmen, full command
18 seaguard, full command, banner of eternal flame
26 white lions, musician
16 swordmasters, musician
5 dragon princes, musician, standard, banner of ellyrion
The Dwarfs took up position in the left corner and the Elves deployed opposite.
Going first, the High Elves surged forwards. Magic was uneventful and there was no shooting.
The Warriors on the left moved to block the Dragon Princes. The non-flaming cannon shot the High Elf General dead, as he had left his unit hoping to get into the artillery. The Grudge Thrower blew up some White Lions (they are very scary indeed for Dwarfs).
In the High Elf turn, the Thane used his Master Rune of Challenge to compel the Dragon Princes to charge him, just in case there was any chance they might just sit there and be content to keep the Rangers blocked off. The rest of the High Elves moved forwards again. Magic was dispelled. The Dragon Princes fluffed mightily, killing only one or two Dwarfs, and then the Rangers showed them how it was done by wiping the Elven elites out in a flurry of chopping axes and whirling beards. Nice. They reformed to face the now-exposed flank of the White Lions.
Seeing a now-or-never chance, I sent the Hammerers and Dragonslayer into the White Lions�?T front, and the Rangers into their flank, intending to overwhelm them with weight of attacks while I had plenty of bodies. The Grudge Thrower landed a shot in the Spearmen, blasting 17 of them into tiny little Elven pieces. Satisfying. In combat, a lot of Hammerers and White Lions died. It was epic casualties, but there were more Dwarfs than Elves left by quite some margin. The Stubborn Woodsmen obviously held.
The Spearmen charged into the Hammerers�?T flank, attempting to salvage the situation, while the Swordmasters strode menacingly towards the Warriors (as menacingly as one can whilst wearing a bedsheet anyway). The Eagle-rider charged the Grudge Thrower, but fell short. Some magic almost got cast, but it was not to be. The White Lions were wiped out, leaving the BSB standing alone. The Dwarfs lost the combat overall, but held.
In the Dwarf turn, the Warriors decided to let the Swordmasters get shot some more before going anywhere near them. This was duly done, and the Organ Gun blew away six of them. In combat, the Elf BSB killed more Hammerers and was wounded once. The Elves held.
In the High Elf turn, the Swordmasters charged the Warriors, and Eaglebloke charged the Grudge Thrower again, making it this time. Mindrazor went off on a double 6, giving the Spearmen strength 8 attacks. Then the mage made a big explosion and killed loads of Dwarfs. How irritating. As if that weren�?Tt enough, he challenged, having the dirty combo of the ethereal robes and the other doohicky that turns magic weapons into normal ones; I accepted with the Runelord, reasoning that he had the least attacks to waste and would also yield the most VPs should the Elf BSB manage to kill him. In combat, the Spearmen barely managed to hit anything and got a good kicking for their troubles, and the elf BSB was struck down. The Spearmen fled, but the Hammerers ran them down. Cushty. The Swordmasters killed a bucketload of Dwarfs and the Dwarfs killed some Swordmasters back, and held on a steadfast 9. The Eagle-rider killed three crew but the Engineer held his ground.
In the Dwarf turn the Hammerers charged the Sea Guard, which ended swiftly as the Dwarf elites butchered the Elves and ran them down. The Swordmasters were wiped out by the Warriors, and the Dwarf crew were killed by the Eagle-rider.
Eagle-bloke charged the Cannon and killed the crew, overrunning a paltry 7�?�.
In the Dwarf turn the Organ Gun shot him 10 times and he died messily.
Result - Dwarfs: 2675 High Elves: 315
Thoughts: I make no secret of the fact that I have always hated High Elves. The fact that they simply ignore a whole bunch of the rules of the game in every single edition is probably what annoys me the most. Thankfully no amount of fancypants posturing can save them from being T3 and really quite expensive. Which is not what you want to be when fighting Dwarfs. Its difficult to see what Danny could have done differently, other than rolling better dice in the magic phase. Its tempting to say, �?~Take a more varied army�?T, but I don�?Tt actually think that would do better.
Dragon Armour meant the flaming cannon was less useful this game, which meant the Eagle-rider got to the artillery unscathed. Not really much else that could have been done to stop him, considering how things went.
Game 3: Will Goodwin, Skaven
Mr Goodwin and his Skaven. Damn. I had played Will before at the 2009 GT, where his disgusting Kairos Power Dice circus neatly erased my fluffy Samurai Vampire Counts, leaving only a Vampire Lord standing in a wood, looking disappointed. Hopefully, that wouldn�?Tt happen this time.
Grey Seer
Earthing Rod
Plague Priest
Flail; Plague Furnace
Chieftain
Heavy Armour; Shield; Battle Standard, Standard of Discipline
Warlock Engineer
Dispel Scroll [25.0]
Warlock Engineer
Warp-Energy Condenser
Warlock Engineer
Doom Rocket
2 x 33 Clanrats
Light Armour; Shields, Full Command
2 x 5 Giant Rats with Packmasters
3 x 39 Skavenslaves
Pawleader and Musician
2 x 7 Gutter Runners
2ndWeapon; Poisoned Attacks; Sling; Throwing Stars
24 Plague Monks
Full Command, Plague Banner
Hellpit Abomination
Warpstone Spikes
Plague Claw Catapult
Warp-lightning Warp Cannon
I chose the right corner, the sea of rats deployed opposite, with the Abom hiding behind a building.
The game opened with a bang, or several bangs, as the Warp Lightning Cannon, Plagueclaw Catapult and 17 Slaves were removed in quick succession by the Dwarfs�?T laser-guided artillery. I went for the Slave bunker, as if Will failed his panic test, the flee move would almost certainly carry the Grey Seer and BSB off the board. Alas, he passed with flying colours.
With that, the ratmen surged forwards. Magic was thin on the ground this turn, with the Seer too far away to make his presence felt.
The Thane left the Ranger unit, turning to face the rear of the army, ready for the Gutter Runners to show up. The Grudge Thrower scattered, killing a few slaves and the Cannons destroyed the Plague Furnace, killing the Plague Priest.
In the Skaven turn, one unit of Gutter Runners arrived, moving on near the right flank. The ratmen moved forwards again; the Skaven wizards attempted a multitude of spells, all of which were denied by the Runelord. One of the Warlock Engineers whipped out the Doomrocket and removed a grand total of 21(!) Hammerers. Despite firing a long range shot with 6 dice, Will managed to land it bang on target. Upsetting. The Gutter Runners unleashed a hail of poisoned slingshots at the flaming cannon, killing precisely no-one.
The Rangers moved up to threaten the Plague Monks, and the Thane BSB evacuated to the Warriors. The Runelord didn�?Tt have enough Movement, so would have to remain with the depleted Hammerers for now. The Grudge Thrower shot fell wide again, missing the Seer�?Ts unit. The Organ Gun mowed down the Gutter Runners, but nobody panicked. Disappointing.
The Plague Monks charged the Rangers, the Slaves charged past the Hammerers into the Organ Gun through a gap that was precisely the same width as they were, and the other Slaves on the flank charged the Cannon. The Abomination came out of hiding and the second unit of Gutter Runners came on behind the Thane. Magic didn�?Tt do much again. The Gutter Runners shot down the Flaming Cannon�?Ts crew. The Dwarf crews held against the Slaves. The Monks unleashed the Plague Banner and rolled the most appalling dice I have ever seen, killing only half a dozen Rangers. In response, the Dwarfs laid the smackdown and routed the bubonic buffoons.
Charging after the fleeing Plague Monks, the Rangers again failed to catch the Skaven. The Warriors charged the Nearest Slaves and the Hammerers flanked the Slaves that were fighting the Organ Gun. The Thane used his Master Rune of Challenge on the Gutter Runners who predictably ran away. The Grudge Thrower misfired and couldn�?Tt shoot. The Hammerers broke the Slaves they were fighting, who exploded and killed the last crewman that they had failed to kill in combat! Vindictive vermin indeed. The Slaves on the flank killed the last Cannon crewman and reformed a rank thinner to try and slip past the Dragonslayer next turn. The Warriors batted some Slaves around, but they held. Oh dear. Now the Abom was looming�?�
Bellowing loudly, the Abomination wibbled into combat with the Warriors. Or so we thought, but then I pointed out it had rolled a triple 2. Which meant it had to roll on the chart and something bad had to happen, right? Apparently not, as it rolled a 6 and became Strength 7 instead. Arseflaps. The Slaves on the flank charged past the dozy Dragonslayer and contacted the Grudge Thrower. The Gutter Runners rallied but the Plague Monks didn�?Tt and continued to leg it. Warp Lightning fried some Hammerers. The Abom did its random thing and killed loads of Dwarfs, who in turn killed loads of Slaves. Nobody ran away.
The Hammerers charged the flank of the Slaves and after some immense casualties on both sides, the Dwarfs had won by one. The Slaves detonated themselves but crucially the Abom held. The Hammerers overran and the warriors reformed to face the Abom.
In the Skaven turn, the Plague Monks fled off the board. The Slaves killed the Grudge Thrower crew and reformed to face the Dragonslayer. The Abom struck out with automatic hits that ignored armour saves and did D3 wounds, and then failed to wound the Dwarf BSB, who promptly jabbed him in the eye with her flaming axe and the Warriors put four more wounds on the beast with their great weapons. It still won combat but it was now on one wound.
Seeing no alternative, the Dragonslayer charged the Slaves. The Runelord was evacuated from the Hammerers into the Rangers. The Abomination again rolled the auto-hits ability and killed the Dwarf BSB. It was all down to the last Dwarf. He swung his great axe. It hit. It didn�?Tt wound and the Abom stomped on him gratuitously�?�
�?�before piling into the remaining Hammerers and wiping them out. The Slaves dragged down the Dragonslayer and that was that. Ho hum.
Result - Dwarfs: 1336 Skaven: 1665
Thoughts: Skavened again. They really are very tricky for Dwarfs, having both the man-power (rat-power) to swamp them and the toys to do horrific damage very quickly. I don�?Tt think I made any obvious mistakes, the Dragonslayer should have been better-placed but he is just total rubbish anyway. Will had enough Slaves that his Seer�?Ts Ld was never in peril, and the Abom did most of the business. 21 Hammerers dying to the Doomrocket didn�?Tt do me any favours either�?�
Game 4: Ben Diesel, Daemons of Chaos
Ben looked hung over. Very hung over. Like, reeeeeeally hung over. Apparently he drank all the booze in Mansfield, or so legends tell.
Bloodthirster of Khorne 450
Armour of Khorne, Dark Insanity, Immortal Fury
Hearld of Slannesh
Siren Song
Herald of Khorne
BSB, Armour of Khorne, Firestorm Blade
Hearld of Tzeentch (lv2)
Chariot of Tzeentch, Spellbreaker, Master of Sorcery: lore of shadow
24 Daemonettes
Full Command
26 Bloodletters
Full Command, Icon of Endless War
5 Furies
7 Fiends of Slaanesh
6 Flamers of Tzeentch
I chose the right-hand corner, as it had a little hill on it, but more importantly it was as far from the board�?Ts only building as possible, which is where the Bloodthirster would be hiding.
Daemons won first turn and everything rushed forwards terrifyingly fast, apart from the Bloodthirster, who stayed put behind his house. A Pit of Shades from the Herald was stopped with a Rune of Spellbreaking. The Flamers legged it forward and roasted the Dragonslayer immediately. Sigh. That guy is so sacked.
At the start of the Dwarf turn, Ben used Siren Song on the Hammerers, hoping to make them stumble forwards close enough to virtually guarantee a charge next turn. The Hammerers had other ideas and rolled a double 6, steaming into combat on turn 1. Dwarfs. Charging into combat. On turn 1. Surely some kind of record. This was less than ideal, but the Rangers now had no choice but to move up and support the Hammerers�?T flank. The Warriors held back, wary of a long-range charge from the Bloodletters; I wasn�?Tt too worried about the Bloodletters flanking the Hammerers for now, as they would only have two or three in base contact, thus wasting much of the Hatred bonus afforded by the Herald, and the Hammerers were stubborn. The cannons overshot the Chariot; due to the proximity of the Hammerers I couldn�?Tt place the initial shot in the Daemonettes. The silver lining of charging the Daemonettes first was that there was no chance of Mindrazor going off on them this turn while they were at full strength. They killed the back rank of Hammerers and I put a whole bunch of attacks onto the Herald to remove the ASF; I really didn�?Tt want Mindrazor plus re-rolls next turn. The Hammerers held, unsurprisingly.
The Fiends charged the Rangers and the Bloodletters went for a 19�?� charge into the Warriors�?� and rolled a grand total of 5 on three dice�?� Well, at least they could still see the Hammerers�?T flank. The Furies swooped over, ready to charge the Grudge Thrower next turn. The Tzeentch Herald failed to cast Mindrazor even on 6 dice. The Flamers fired at the Grudge Thrower, to no effect. Without the re-rolls the Daemonettes weren�?Tt nearly as dangerous and the Hammerers won the combat, dissolving several more of the foe. The Fiends killed a lot of Rangers but the Dwarfs brought one of them down and held firm.
A cannonball was put through the Tzeentch Herald, knocking him off his chariot. The Organ Gun aimed at the Furies, but misfired. In combat, the Hammerers brought the Daemonettes down to only six models and the Rangers continued to grind the Fiends down.
The Chariot and Bloodletters charged the Hammerers and the Furies charged the Grudge Thrower. The Tzeentch Chariot rolled one impact hit which failed to wound, and the Bloodletters killed several Hammerers; the Dwarfs wiped out the Daemonettes. The Bloodletters did a sneaky reform to increase the distance between them and the Warriors who were eying up their flank. I elected not to attempt a reform with the Hammerers, as the Bloodletters were currently only in contact with my BSB, which meant they couldn�?Tt hit the remaining few Hammerers. The Rangers wiped out the Fiends, which was surprisingly quick, and reformed to face the Chariot�?Ts flank.
Clearly in training for London 2012, , the Dwarf Warriors declared a charge and rolled the required double 6 to reach the Bloodletters�?T flank. Epic. In the ensuing combat, the Chariot was destroyed and the Bloodletters crumbled significantly. The Khorne Herald managed to slay the Dwarf BSB (two wounds and no 5+ on re-rolled saves), meaning the rest of the Bloodletters could now hit the Hammerers, reducing them to just the champion. The Bloodletters lost by a lot and crumbled down to half their starting size. The Furies killed the Dwarf crew and charged the nearest cannon in their turn.
Deciding now was the time, the Bloodthirster came storming out of his hiding place, ready to turn the tide. The Hammerer champion, deciding his odds were better in a challenge, entered a duel with the Bloodletter champion, but neither was slain. The Bloodletters lost again and crumbled some more.
Seeing the Bloodthirster was out in the open, the Chaos Dwarfs loaded up the special anti-Bloodthirster shell they�?Td been saving up and blew its head off in one shot. That pretty much sealed the game, as it would now be virtually impossible for Ben to claw things back. The Organ Gun opened up on the Flamers, riddling them with 10 hits and killing four(!). The Bloodletters dissolved.
The last Flamer attempted to shoot the Organ Gun and rolled one shot, which missed. The Cannon crew died to the Furies.
The Organ Gun then tried to return fire at the lone Flamer and blew itself up. Oh well.
Result - Dwarfs: 2370 Daemons: 700
Thoughts: The Dwarfs being in combat so early wasn�?Tt the plan, but it seemed to work surprisingly well, putting the Daemons on the back foot early on. The deep ranks and great weapons of the Dwarfs was proving tough to grind down.
The crucial moment was when the Bloodthirster attempted to turn the tide, and he may have done if the cannon hadn�?Tt nailed him first. That was lucky for me, although I already had quite a few points in the bag by then. Clearly, hiding while your minions do all the work doesn�?Tt go down well with Khorne�?�
Game 5: Stu Lidbetter Tomb Kings
My first game against the Spangly new Tomb Kings; I wasn�?Tt sure what they were like at this point, but as Stu�?Ts army had plenty of big, fat targets for the cannons, I wasn�?Tt too worried.
High Liche Priest (Death)
Earthing Rod
Hight Liche Priest (Light)
Dispel Scroll
25 Skeleton Warriors
Musician
4 Chariots
Standard Bearer, Musician, Banner of the Eternal Flame
20 Archers
Musician
20 Archers
Musician
Khemrian Warsphinx
Fiery Roar
Khemrian Warsphinx
Fiery Roar
4 Necropolis Knights
4 Necropolis Knights
Heirotitan
Casket of Souls
Screaming Skull Catapult
The game went fairly predictably, with the cannons felling both Sphinxes and the Hierotitan in the first three turns while the Tomb Kings walked slowly towards the Dwarf corner. Stu was going for the big movement spell and failing to roll double 6s so I used the Spellbreakers to make sure there was no extra moving for the first few turns while I shot down the big threats - Dwarfs don�?Tt like Thunderstomp. Stu�?Ts shooting killed off the Organ Gun (they must have knee-deep in skeleton arrows by the time he finally rolled enough 6s), panicking the Grudge Thrower. How embarrassing.
The Necropolis Knights got into the fray, and I have to say I was impressed by these guys; they�?Tre a lot tougher than they look on paper. The extra WS and Str of the Hammerers made a big difference here, as they easily crushed one unit of Knights, while the other unit of Knights killed the Warrior block over several rounds; the difference between the Hammerers hitting on 3s and wounding on 2s and the Warriors hitting on 4s and wounding on 3s was big.
The Hammerers then piled into the Archer units and bagged one of the High Priests, before flanking the remaining Necropolis Knights and claiming them too. The Chariots on the flank simply arrived too late to do anything other than run over the Dragonslayer.
Result �?" Dwarfs: 1485 �?" Tomb Kings: 736
Thoughts: The game essentially boiled down to the Dwarfs shooting the big stuff and axing the small stuff, as per the plan (such as it is). It was never really going to go any other way unless I either rolled a lot of misfires or screwed up deployment (which is basically impossible with this army �?" its idiot-proof, a good thing for me) but this was probably the worst match-up possible for Stu. Add to that his total dearth of luck in the magic phase and it ended up being a one-sided game. I still think he is on to a powerful Tomb Kings build, with plenty of hitting power and a nasty magic phase. He beat Will Goodwin�?Ts Skaven and (I think) Ben Johnson�?Ts too, in a pretty convincing show of what the new Kings can do.
Game 6: Rich Laking, Vampire Counts
So, Dwarfs were on table one, game 6. That phrase probably hasn�?Tt bee
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