INITIAL THOUGHTS:
I’ve played against Kevin “DaBeav” Beaver’s dwarfs in several games before. He is very thematic, and every single one of his units is short angry guys with bad haircuts or short angry dogs with bad tempers. I really like that he stays in theme. Of course, this means Sveri Egilax is always going to be present. These guys are like the counter force to my army in a lot of ways. One, everyone in this army is fearless, and we are creatures of nightmare. Two, with berserkers, my stealth is pretty much wasted, and 3, his infantry have wild charge, meaning they are potentially faster than me (pretty odd for dwarfs, right?) and the brock riders near Sveri will also have WC1. I have to be cautious around them.
Add to the above, the scenario is Raze. This means victory points start in Turn 2 so there is an extra bit of score keeping that has to be added. I’ve actually only played this scenario a couple of times, the most memorable was against Visibly Riley’s “Slaves No More” ratkin list during a tournament in Seattle. The scenario itself wasn’t memorable, but me rolling 5 snake eyes for nerve tests made it really stand out in my mind. That, and the fact that the army itself was 100% full model count (FMC.) The tremendous number of rats was frightening.
SET UP
Looking at the terrain and the way the objective markets went down on the board, I’m hoping that I can pull the roll for sides and take the top. I just think it would be to my best advantage to have the hills closer to me. I don’t know that I’ll get many down hill charges, but it’s always nice to have some extra TC, which is something my army completely lacks. I also don’t have any pathfinder, so it’s best for me to avoid too much difficult terrain in the early part of the game. The building in the center is also a good place to anchor a flank while taking hold of the center objective. I lose the roll for sides, but DaBeav takes the bottom anyways, so I’m content.
The plan is the next thing I should discuss. As noted, he is potentially faster than I am all the way around. Thus, he can move his guys through the forest to try to claim the objectives. Two of his objectives are on the right, and 2 of mine are on the left. I want the main fight to be on the right side, so will stack more forces there. I’m still going to try to control the center as well. If I can get the scarecrow horde anchored on that building, I have a significant chance of scoring a lot of points there. (I need to remember, points are scored each round in this game.) On the left, I will run with an economy of force, hopefully enough to contest the objectives there.
My forces, from left to right: 2 phantom troops and the dread fiend with slashing blade. Then comes a big rock. Next is the pink horror, then a reaper troop followed by the vanilla reaper regiment and a scarecrow regiment. Next comes the scarecrow horde followed by a reaper troop and the reaper regiment with Gaze of the Gods, a shade with another reaper troop, the blue horror (LB3, BC 2, aura, and Conjurer’s Staff,) a scarecrow regiment, the mind screech, another scarecrow regiment and 2 more phantom troops.
DaBeav’s forces, from left to right: mastiff pack, vanilla brock riders (all of his brock riders come standard with throwing axes, guess I might just need my stealth after all,) and a brock rider troop followed by Sveri. Next comes a berserker troop in the woods, another mastiff pack, a berserker lord on brock, and the Jesse’s Boots of Striding brock riders. His third battle group is a berserker regiment followed by a standard bearer with Lute of Insatiable Darkness, and a berserker troop. His final combat group is a berserker lord on brock with slashing blade, a brock troop, a erserker lord with Wings of Honeymaze, and a brock regiment with Potion of the caterpillar followed by a final mastiff pack. The die is tossed, and I will have the first turn.
TURN 1:
I advance my forces pretty much online since I’m facing a double envelopment formation with a lot of hitting power. I can hopefully create a stand-off that will give me an opportunity to get my hitters into position. The mind screech and blue horror zap the right brock troop for 3 damage.
Talk about setting the trap. The whole left side surges forward, joined by the J-Boots brocks. All except the mastiffs who drop back out of phantom charge range. Apparently DaBeav doesn’t want my flyers in his backfield. On the right, The brocks all move forward as well, but the infantry stays put, protected by the woods. The one potential error he’s made this turn is that my scarecrow horde has wild charge D3. His J-Boot brocks’ flank is just under 11 inches away. I have a 1 in 3 shot at getting them on turn 2.
TURN 2:
I roll the wild charge for the scarecrow horde, but it sadly turns up a 1. The center advances to seize the center objective. The horde has less than 2 inches between its flank and the building. What I’m forgetting is that the mastiffs are a swarm, not a troop. That means they’re only 4omm wide instead of 50MM. The right flank elects for a triple charge on the brock troop so in goes a hindered reaper troop, the dread fiend and a phantom troop. The scarecrows set up a blocking position for the J-Boot brocks, while the reaper regiment and other phantom troop set up for a counter punch against the brock regiment. On the left one phantom troop decides to take a shot at the now injured brock troop. I realize that the troop is set back far enough that if I get them, I can position for a flank charge without getting flanked myself, and that I’m safe from the infantry neither of whom actually has line of sight since neither has its leader point in the woods (or even touching for that matter. The other phantom troop slips up onto the hill behind the scarecrows and angles a touch to prevent getting hit by the PF brock regiment. effectively the PF Brocks and mastiffs have the option for a dual frontal charge on the scarecrows which sets me up for some counter punches. The mind screech only manages a couple of wounds on the right mastiff pack, and they are fine. The triple charge on the left does its business well. The phantoms advance right up into the vanilla brock’s face. The dread fiend backs up, and the reaper troop positions to face the infantry in the woods, and their corner blocks off Sveri’s option to charge the dread fiend. He can still flank the reaper troop, but he can’t slip past them. I claim my first point of the game for having the scarecrow horde unchallenged in control of the center objective.
I did a pretty good job of limiting what charges I would accept this turn. There was a spot of contention on Sveri’s ability to charge the dread fiend. Ultimately, it was discovered that Sevri’s base size was wrong, and we just left him as is for the time being, but agreed he couldn’t get through that block. What I didn’t notice until he did it was the dog packs are only 40mm wide instead of 50. Thus the dogs in the woods took the flank charge on the scarecrow horde while the berserkers on foot and the brock champ double hinder charged the reaper troop, and the vanilla brocks and mastiffs double charged the phantom troop. On the right, the brock hero and brock troop double charge the phantom troop, the wing hero charges the blue horror and the PF Brocks and matiffs charge the scarecrows on the hill. The infantry advance into the woods so they will be able to see for the next turn. The combats on the right definitely go in DaBeav’s favor as both the crow regiment and phantom troop go down for the count. the PF brocks back off the hill, and the dogs hold their ground, not realizing, I think, the other scarecrow regiment has a flank on them. The wing hero doesn’t waver or kill the blue horror, but he surely won’t be casting bane chant this coming turn. The mastiff pack in the center can’t really seem to get its act together, and the horde laughs off their feeble attempt on them. On the left, the berserkers and brock hero waver the reaper troop, ouch, break the phantom troop, and double 1 the scarecrow regiment, oops, that might hurt. The mastiffs advance a significant 6 inches, while the vanilla brocks stop just short of the reaper troop flank. The PF Brocks on the right claim an objective point, it is now 1 to 1.
TURN 3:
On the right, the phantom troop shoots over the heads of the PF brocks, and charge the injured brock troop. The scarecrows take the flank of the mastiffs, and the blue horror breaks contact with the flying hero. I move the shade in to add some dread to the scarecrows, since I’m not sure that even with a flank they can break the dog pack. In the center, the crow horde counter charges the dogs for control of the center objective while the reapers move up a touch. On the left, the dread fiend slips between the mastiff pack and the vanilla brocks onto the objective while the wavered reaper troop breaks contact and backs up another 3 inches, this gets them out of the way for some heavier hitters. The reaper regiment happily flanks the brock hero with hopes of over running into the flank of the berserker regiment. The scarecrow regiment counter charges the J-Boot brocks and is joined by the phantom troop in the flank. This could be good. I unfortunately can’t get the pink horror close enough to give the reapers and scarecrows vicious, but he does easily reach the repers, and adds a bane chant onto them for good measure. The mind screech, lacking targets fails to realize he could wind-blast the berserker troop back out of the woods, and zaps them instead for a single point of damage. With that, close combat commences. The right phantom troop finally dispatches the brock troop, and turns back around facing the rear of the PF brocks, and out of the berserker troop’s charge arc. The scarecrow regiment easily beats down the mastiff pack, but the shade’s positioning screws their ability to reform effectively. The horde in the center also easily whacks their mastiff pack, and turns back towards the dudes in the woods. The left goes just as well, and the J-Boot brocks go down under the combined weight of the phantoms and scarecrows. The brock hero gets trampled under foot as the reaper regiment screams through him and the berserker regiment as well. They stop and face Sveri and the vanilla brock’s flank. Sveri is contesting the objective in the woods, and the vanilla brocks are contesting the objective on the left, which gives me a single point again for the center objective, makes it 2 to 1 my advantage. Breaking those units on the left may have just been the decisive point in this battle. I really do now control the left and the center. He has the right, but not with a significant force.
A lot of people forget about wild charge when they are dealing with scarecrows. In a like manner, I forgot about it when dealing with the berserkers in the woods. The troop takes the flank of the right sarecrow regiment, while the brock hero charges the phantoms. the berserker regiment charges the scarecrow horde, the flying hero charges the mind screech, and Sveri charges the wounded reaper troop on the left. the remaining mastiffs roll up onto the hill, and the two brock regiments reposition to try to get some favorable charges. The ASB, you remember him? Stays hidden in the woods, and tries, but fails to BC the berserker regiment. In a shock move, the PF brocks throw their axes at the blue horror, needing 6s on half attacks, they successfully banish the horror back to the Everdark. Sveri destroys the reaper troop, especially since they were already down 4 wounds. He turns back around to face the reaper regiment. The berserker regiment forgets how to hit things after running through the woods, and the scarecrow horde remains where they’re at, in unchallenged control of the center objective. The berserker troop does a lot better by slaughtering the scarecrow troop and turning towards the reapers in the center, and the flying hero Wavers the Mind Screech, but it’s cool, because all he’s doing right now is contesting ground, so even losing his shooting is not an issue. The brock hero on the right fails to break the phantoms, so that combat will continue for at least another round. DaBeav scores another single point thanks to the PF brocks on the hill, and it’s 2 to 2 now.
TURN 4:
The reaper regiment on the left takes the hindered charge on the vanilla brock regiment. The phantoms charge the mastiff pack on the hill, The dread fiend and horror move into positions to lend their auras and powers to the attack on the brocks, while the scarecrow regiment advances towards the objective in the woods. In the center, the crow horde counter charges and is joined by one of the reaper troops in the berserker regiment flank. The one reaper troop, for whatever reason, decides to stay where it’s at, and not get into the fight. The shade, however, does decide to finally attack someone. I know I can’t break the berserker troop with the shade, but if I can wound them with 5 attacks at 3+ and 3+, then I can stop them from hitting something else useful. The phantoms on the right continue the fight with the slashing blade brock hero. The pink horror successfully bane chants the vanilla reaper regiment, so it’s into combat we go. I start on the far left with the phantom troop on the dogs. They roll pretty lousy, scoring only 2 wounds, but successfully waver the mastiffs. Next comes the reaper regiment. These guys have 25 attacks now on hitting on 4s and wounding on 2’s with vicious. They make 15 hits, and end up with 14 wounds, adding the dread from the fiend, the brocks vanish in a fountain of blood; they then reform to face sveri, and are controlling the objective in the woods, while the dread fiend is controlling the far left objective. In a combined effort in the center, the berserker regiment takes 19 wounds, and is devastated after scoring snake eyes on the nerve roll. The shade scores 4 out of 5 possible wounds on the berserker troop, but even with dread, they’re not going anywhere. Finally, the phantoms manage 4 wounds, pretty spectacular actually, but the brock hero is un-phased. I add up my pints for this round, and I am now ahead 5 to 2.
Sveri decides attacking is not what he is all about (strange, I know) and moves to contest the objective in the woods. The wavered mastiffs stay in place, as do the devastated berserkers. The flying hero rear charges the reaper troop in the berserker’s flank. The PF brock riders charge down the hill into the mind screech, who really hasn’t done anything particularly spectacular this battle, while the berserker troop and brock hero both counter charge their respective enemies. Out of a possible 10 attacks on a 4+ 2+, the berserker regiment manages 7 wounds, that is pretty good, but then blow the nerve roll with a 4, just 1 under what they need to eradicate the scarecrow horde. The troop, brock hero, and PF brocks all successfully run off their respective enemies, and reposition themselves for future fights. The flying hero wavers the reaper troop, who will be stuck where they are at. Th one objective the PF brocks are in is contested by the elite reaper regiment, so no points are scored, leaving the score still 5 to 2.
TURN 5:
DaBeav wasn’t really sure of his positioning with Sveri last turn, and failed to realize the dread fiend could see him and was in his rear arc. The scarecrows charge his front as well, but this happens only after the vanilla reaper regiment positions itself to claim the far left objective. The last phantom troop re-engages the mastiffs on the hill, while the crow horde again attacks the berserker regiment. The elite reapers, yeah, those guys who’ve been standing around all battle with their thumbs up their bu.. yeah, get it, finally decide to do something and charge the berserker troop. The troop behind them advances to just out of the PF brocks’ arc, but into the circle to contest the objective. The wavered reaper troop reforms to face the flying hero. The pink horror bane chants the scarecrow regiment, since the chances of it doing much of anything are pretty slim. It will now be needing 6+ and 3+ to wound with vicious on 15 attacks. effectively, it should hit twice and wound once. The fiend should hit 8 – 9 on 4+ with slashing blade, and wound 8 since it is wounding on a 2+ with vicious. Thus my calculation for the combat puts me at 10 wounds plus dread, a very good chance of dispatching Sveri on a 7+ for the nerve roll. Sadly, math is apparently not UB’s strong point, and instead I manage 7 wounds, nd don’t even come close to a 10 for nerve. The phantoms on the hill do score a kill on the mastiffs, and turn back to face Sveri. The crow horde does manage a wound on the berserker regiment, and doesn’t roll a second snake eyes for them. The elite reapers tear apart the berserker troop, and reform to face the brock hero, or to claim the objective ahead of them next turn. This round, I only can tally 2 objective points, and it is now 7 to 2. DaBeav calculates the possibility of scoring 6 points in two rounds with only 2 scoring units, and decides to quit the field. Victory to the Night Stalkers; 7 to 2.
AFTER THOUGHTS:
It feels a little wrong to me when an opponent concedes the game, but I understand completely why he did. There really was no sense in playing the game out since it wasn’t a tournament game. I needed to get some work done anyways, so I was happy to end it there. The third turn was decisive for me. In turn three I scored 3 unanswered points, which was a pretty defining moment. At that point, he still had 4 scoring units on the board, but 1 was devastated and locked in combat while another was wavered. He still had some heroes left who could likely have finished off a reaper troop and the scarecrow horde, plus Sveri was likely to finish off the scarecrow regiment if he went that route, but there was really no way he would score more than 1 point in turn 5, and that only if the PF brocks boogied over to the objective beside the building, abandoning the one they were contested in currently. In my turn 6 I would likely still be able to claim 2 or 3 points, making the final score a potential 10 to 4. Not much of a difference. It was still a fun game, and there was a point there at the end of turn 2 that I was starting to have doubts. Props to DaBeav for being a crusty old man like myself, and still enjoying the game. I’m sure we will have many other encounters.
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