FBVW Mk. IV: Round 4 - Match 34: Arklite (winner) v. Bleyden

[Spector]

Map = 16. Picnic Spot

First Turn = Bleyden

Kazzad Dolvir's March of Vengeance

Glorel Delsten (Dwarf Lord)
Great weapon
Shield bearers
Rune of stone
Rune of resistance
Master rune of challenge
231 points

Urkral Dollyr (Thane)
BSB
Strollaz rune
Marvelous hat (rune of guarding)
175 points

Cohag Redforge (runesmith)
Shield
Rune of stone
Master rune of balance
127

Yurbir Durgak (runesmith)
Shield
Rune of stone
Spell breaker rune
102

Redforge clan Dwarf warriors [24] (Cohad's unit)
Full command
Shields
241 points

Durgak clan Dwarf warriors [24] (Yurbir's unit)
Full command
Shields
241 points

The Valbek Regulars Long beards [19] (Falent's unit)
Full command
Great weapons
Shields
Master rune of grungi
341 points

Durrak Clan Dwarf Rangers [10]
Great weapons
Shields
Throwing axes
Champion
Musician
145 points

The Bazdukr Brotherhood Hammerers [18]
Full command
Shields
264 points

Big Brunhilda
grudge thrower
rune of accuracy
rune of burning
110 points

The wicked sisters

bolt thrower
rune of burning
engineer
65 points

bolt thrower
engineer
60 points

the Grungbad special
flame cannon

total models in army 115 (4 of which are warmachines, 12 warmachine crew and 4 characters)
power pool – 2
dispel pool – 7 with 1 dice removed from the enemy power pool and 1 scroll.

shield bearers - +2 to armour, model becomes US3, 2 extra WS 5 S4 attacks. (note that shield bearers are not a true mount and the lord gains +2 strength as normal from his great weapon)

rune of stone - +1 to armour, a single rune of stone may be placed on any number of characters in the dwarf army. (case in point, runesmiths)

rune of resistance – re-roll failed armour saves.

Strollaz rune – all dwarf units within 12” may make a free move before the game starts, units count as moving in the first turn in regards to missile fire.

Rune of guarding – 5+ ward save

Master rune of balance - -1 from enemy power pool, +1 to dispel pool

Rune of spell breaking - dispel scroll

Master rune of grungi – 5+ ward save against shooting and magic missile attacks for all dwarf units within 6” of the standard.

Rune of accuracy – re-roll the scatter dice (5/9 chance of direct hit)

Rune of burning – warmachine causes flaming damage

Engineers – bolt throwers may use the engineers BS

Royal blood – hammerers joined by a dwarf lord are immune to fear and terror

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Slann Itzakai 590 Points
2nd Generation
Sacred Plaque of Tepok
Divine Plaque of Protection
Sun Standard of Chotec
Lore of Metal - Rule of Burning Iron, Law of Gold
Lore of Shadow - Shades of Death, Unseen Lurker
Lore of Life - Mistress of the Marsh

Skink Priest Munzdalo 100 Points
Level 1

Diadem of Power
Lore of Heavens - Uranon's Thunderbolt

15 Saurus 204

Champion, Banner

15 Saurus 204

Champion, Banner

10 Skinks
Javelins and Shields

10 Skinks
Javs and Shields

14 Skinks
Javs and Shields

10 Skinks
Scouts
Blowpipes

4 Kroxigor

4 Kroxigor

20 Saurus 284
Champion, Banner
Spawn of Tlatzcotl (Slann goes in here)

2 Salamanders

Points - 2250
DD - 5 (maybe 2 more from diadem)
PD - 7 (maybe 2 more from diadem, plus free PD for every spell)

Diadem of Power – Can store up to 2 dice from current magic phase to use in next magic phase

Plaque of Devine Protection – 2+ Ward vs shooting

Plaque of Tepok – The Slaan knows 1 extra spell

Sun Standard of Chotec – All shooting at the unit is at -1 to hit

Spawning of Tlatzcotl – Immune to Psychology

[Brother Tiberius]

It seems that this battle is going to be a very close one to call. Both armies are somewhat tailored to defeat the others primary tactics. The lizzie list is anti shooting in the fact of its wards against it and the Dwarf list like all other dwarf lists is pre-dominatly anti magic.

This is going to come down to who-ever hits the hardest.
The flame cannon will play havoc in the saurus blocks causing a few casualties and possibly allowing the dwarfs to concentrate on specific targets.

The strollaz rune will allow the dwarfs to be up close and personal which will give the lizzies little time to re-arrange themselves.

The hill gives a perfect vantage point for the bolt throwers to lay down some fire on the kroxigor.

The only real problem i see is magic from the Slaan that is not dealt with as it is inevitable that spells will be cast and also the sallies who's spit could make mincemeat out of the more expensive units for easy VP.

After waying up the odds etc. im going to go for the Dwarves who will narrowly win this.
(sorry for early post)

[Bleyden]

Ooh this is gonna be a tough one.

My scouting skinks will go either in the forest or behind the hill (depends on where the warmachines set up). They will hopefully get into combat either turn 1 or 2 and tie up the dreaded flame cannon and maybe even win the combat, a Unit of 10 skinks should beat 3 dwarf warriors and if they dont they have cold blooded to stick around. Even if the skinks dont kill the warmachine crews they should stop them firing for one or two turns, giving me more time to advance my line.

The Slann unit is pretty immune against the shooting of the dwarfs as the unit is -1 to hit and he himself has a 2+ ward save (and 8 wounds). The Saurus Units will stick close to him so if they need to take a panic test they can with his Ld, cold blooded and the BSB. These guys are going nowhere.

The strollas rune should mean my units get in combat with the dwarfs quicker (and should still be able to get the charge, either my maneouvrability or by baiting them with skink screens) and 11 S4 attacks will hurt the dwarfs somewhat. the Krox will charge through a skink unit hopefully on the same turn as the main battle line so that they can get their S7 into action. There are only 4 main battle units (the rangers should be given the run around by skinks) and this will mean that I can attack each unit one at a time and hopefully win the combat and pursue into the next one, going along the battle line.

The salamanders will make sure that there are less dwarfs to killin combat. They will either head for the rangers (and release up to 20 shots = dead rangers) or if the skinks dont need help then they will head for the dwarf units and pound some flaming mucus into their ranks. The shots are armour piercing so they should get through the dwarf units easier. They also cause fear so could combine with the other Krox unit to charge a unit of warriors, making them take 2 fear tests. The sallies aren't useless in combat either and have enough unit strength that they can charge a flank and take away that oh so desired rank bonus.

Magic will still impact this game immensely as I will use the Diadem offensively meaning the skink priest can use 3 dice a turn for casting his spells (hopefully comet or thunderbolt) and not have any of the 2 dice (1 coz of the rune of balance) that would need sharing. The Slann will produce 5 spells (Drain Magic is useless against dwarfs) and will have 5 dice, plus 1 FREE dice every spell, plus he has +1 to cast . These 10 PD should overpower the DD of the dwarfs and he only has 1 scroll.

For spells I will take 2 spells from the Lore of Metal. Any of them are good apart from Commandment of Brass. This is the perfect Lore for Dwarfs, High Armour save? how about a S7 hit with no armour save for your troubles. Magic weapon? Not anymore!! This should play havoc with the Lord himself (and his super-save) as well as the other characters (especially that BS and because Spells 1 and 6 aren't magic missiles his ward save is useless! He will probably spend a lot of dice getting this dispelled meaning that I get another kick ass spell off, like the one that causes -1 to hit, wound and save. I would likie the order 6,5,4,3,1,2

I will also take 2 spells from the Lore Of Shadow. Pit of Shades will do great against I2 dwarfs. Steed of shadows will be pretty useless here as the skink priest will have LOS on his hill. 6,5,4,2,1,3 is the order I would want. Having a unit get the charge on the unsuspecing dwarfs will be handy as a Saurus unit will stick around a turn so the Krox can follow in as a hammer next movement phase. Another fear causing unit will be nice aswell (meaning if this unit charges with the sallies and krox the dwarf unit has to take THREE fear tests.) The no armour save of creeping death should mean a few dead dwarfs a turn.

I will also take on spell from the Lore of Life. Hopefully I will get Rain Lord and this should silence his war machines even more, meaning I get to his battle line even more intact. SO I could get skinks attacking them and even if theyre not being charged they have a 50/50 chance of firing at all, and even then they might misfire. If i dont get Rain Lord I could still get Mistress of the Marsh (meaning when the battle lines hit the dwarf units will be even less manouvrable (with their 3" charge range ;o) and there are always those woods and hill that he will be near D6 S4/5/6 hits out (again a warmachine killer). I would want these spells in the order 5,6,3,2,1,4.


SO he has to defend 5 spells that will all give him a lot of damage with only 7 DD and a scroll. And my slann can still cast while his unit is in battle meaning when the battle lines join he can still thow around spells with wanton abandon (meaning if a combat isnt looking too good, bang goes Mistress of the Marsh and he half pursuits).

I will probably go for a refused flank deployment on my left so he has to move his flame cannon off the hill to get a shot, meaning I can put my scouting skinks in the forest. The Slann will be the middle of the battle line with a unit of Saurus either side. Th side closest to the board will have a unit of Krox and the other side will have Krox and the Slamanders.

My magic/skinks should remove/distract his shooting the vast majority of the time, leaving it mainly inconsequential. My magic/sallamanders should mean his units are reduced when the battle lines crash together and me having more units and more maneouvrability should mean the day should be mine.8Y

(Oh and hopefully these tactics have changed Tiberius' mind :rofl)

[Arklite]

so the lizards are moving towards me at the same time as i'm moving towards them? Excellent!

my dwarf army is geared towards combat anyways so step 1 of my battle plan is complete, now for the rest of it.

deployment: seeing as i'm outnumbered in a pure unit-unit ratio as far as combat goes (the rangers are average at best and really a flanking force. the battle line will form its self up making use of the forest to anchor they're flank and fan out in the following order: Warriors - Longbeards - Warriors - hammerers - rangers. with this formation i will be able to spread my 5+ ward save against shooting AND magic missiles across my 4 main blocks as well as maximize my ld10, re-rolls on panic tests and re-rolls on break tests, lets face it I’ve got a lot of moral protection . the war machines will be making use of the hill to maximize their line of sight and prevent me from blocking them with my own troops.

Movement - seeing as the lizardmen are closing towards combat its only fair i oblige, using my stollaz rune I’ll make use of my free move before the game starts to advance onwards. in my movement phase on turn one I’ll instigate a cunning maneuvered and I’ll fan my units out into a crescent formation. this has 2 powerful effects:

1. My flanks are closed off to the more numerous enemy thanks to the overall shape of the crescent and means that if the lizardmen wish flanking charges they will have to maneuvered around the dwarves. This is time consuming and very dangerous, as the lizards would have to stay outside 6" to avoid the dwarves blitzing out and charging them.

2. I take control of the battle and I get to decide who charges what. Combined with my dwarf lord’s master rune of challenge I’ll be able to dictate the battle on my own terms and exclude at least 1 lizardmen unit from combat and negate the unit advantage.

Throw in the fact that the skinks can't march block me, then no worries in pulling this off

Magic: bleyden has done quite a lot to help me in this regard. The slan trying to cast 5 high level spells a turn with only 2 dice a spell? i couldn't as for more. Between my high T and my 5+ ward against ranged attacks i have little to fear from the lore of metal's strength variable spells (the level 12 spell would only be S4 against my troops, significantly lowering its power and a 5+ ward for my lord is always handy). by trying to overwhelm me with spells he's allowed me to prioritize my anti-magic for spells I truly see as a risk (the pit of shades should he happen to get it... with 2 dice? I like my odds ). between failing to cast, me just ignoring some, my 5+ ward against ranged attacks and my dispel dice I reckon I’ll be able to weather the lizardmen’s magic with more than enough troops to take on the lizardmen combat troops.

Shooting: I'VE GOT A HILL! What more could a dwarf want more than a hill? This gives me some significant advantages in this battle some obvious, others.... a little less but still obvious.

Its clearly obvious shooting at the slan is a waste of time, so... I won't shoot at it there are plenty of juicy targets out there for me to engage

For starters the kroxigors no longer receive the protection of their skink screens from the powerful bolt throwers thanks to the hill and i should be able to knock enough members off them to limit their overall risk to my troops. (More on these guys under combat)

The lizardmen blocks are wonderfully small and as such my grudge thrower will be having a field day. Thanks to its template and rune of accuracy a single good hit will cripple these units leaving them no match for my dwarf battle line.

The flame cannon will target the sallies. Between its flame template, S5 and multiple wounds it shouldn't have much trouble showing these gecko's how spewing fire is done!

In regards to the sallies own shooting, I’ve got several things going for me. Although the sallies can pump out a horrific amount of shots they're low numbers seriously limits their overall damage output. Thanks to my T4 they will be wounding on 5's and then facing 5+ armour saves and once again my 5+ ward. Even with a perfect shot they will only kill a handful of dwarves thanks to these reasons. Far from enough to stop them.

The skinks ranged attacks are sadly both laughable and meager. Between my T, armour and ward their short ranged efforts can't achieve much compared to my own mighty war machine assault.

The dwarf rangers will be keeping in line with the battle line on the hammerers flank and to be honest, I don't, expect them to last long. I do however expect them to draw fire. They are after all just as tough as regular dwarves thanks to their heavy armour ^_^


Combat: now this is where it’s going to happen and this is where my dwarf army thrives. I’m going to get charged so its only fair I look at the combat potential of untouched lizard men units against my combat blocks. As my movement plan negates the lizardmens ability to flank everything will be based on a frontal charge. I personally hate math hammer but there is little other way in vote war to guestimate the combat potential of units.

Kroxies - 12 attacks - 6 hit - 5 wounds, no saves

Yes, very nasty... however this isn't enough to pull instant combat. The dwarves have a static combat resolution of 5 pulling a draw. This is before any of my characters make return attacks as well. We can assume that the kroxies would loose combat on the turn they charge. if they do happen to win they will either be taking on stubborn ld9 dwarves or ld10 dwarves. Without winning by a spectacular 4 points (9 dead dwarves) the dwarves will probably hold combat thanks to the BSB re-roll. As the combat continues things will only get worse for the poor kroxigors. with the higher initiative dwarves (can't believe I’m saying this) striking before them even with their own great weapons the shock impact of the kroxies will be lost and they'll start to loose combat by pretty significant margins.

The poor saurus have it even worse off, though they sport a lot of attacks (11) they're low weapon skill lets them down in the face of dwarven heavy infantry.

saurus - 11 attacks - 5-6 hit - 2-3 wound - 1-2 kills.

lacking the ranks to match the dwarven troops they already suffer from being outnumbered and 1 down in the combat res stakes, the dwarves in response are hitting on 3's and have pretty good odds on killing at least one saurus in response. Should the saurus win combat we can again bank on the dwarves holding (we're rather good at this don't y' know ). In the successive rounds of combat afterwards the lizards will continue to suffer against the dwarven WS, T, leadership and (can't believe I’m saying this) initiative. (Sounds... so.... wrong)

Overall through the pure durability of my dwarven battle line, the blunted lizardmen combat power thanks to my superior weapon skill and my powerful shooting i reckon that I’ll be able to smash the lizard men army.

[Brother Tiberius]

I reckon Arky's tactics have just re-iterated my points.

Truely amazing idea the Crescent... truely amazing.

[Bleyden]

tut tut on using MathHammer I expected more.

We will see when I get my spells then your in for trouble, how about D6 S6 hits on your war machine crews?

I shall put another tactica up when I get my spells.

[Arklite]

well what do you know... the skink has more damage output than the slan.... why can't I help but find that hillarious? O_o

I reckon I'm good alround. With the slans only offensive spell (unless it should choose to change some for a 1st spell magic missile) being the rule of burning iron only my dwarf lord is at risk. the skink is rather suprising, but again i've got a lot of protection from magic missile spells.

:party:

[Phoenix]

With a solid magic defense to shut out the Slann, the Dwaves take this one for me. Resistant to ranged attack, and solid in combat the Dwaves will be tough to kill and shift.

[DavidWC09]

Dwarves armor will withstand skinks and sallies. Kroxigors will lose to combat res. Dwarf war machines will knock the stew out of the LM units.

Just not a good matchup for LM here, even with a good list. Dwarfs for me.

[NecroNid]

Once again I must vote against my Lizzies and for the Dwarves. The dwarven war machines will soften up the lizard advance and when the combats do happen the dwarves have the edge with static res. The Lizzies probably won't break in the first few turns due to cold-blooded and the Slann nearby but it looks like a battle of attrition and the dwarves will outlast them. Also, not really impressed with the Slann spell list. The spells don;t seem to work together very well both in terms of effects and casting costs. Sorry Lizzies, I just think you are up against a superior force this time.