Thank you for the warm words, especially since you were the one that inspired to start writing my own. Here is the newest report
Introduction Greetings friend, and welcome back to my Army Blog. Reading back my last report I realize its either a full detailed battle report, or none at all. My apologies for the lack of quality, it will be a battle report quickly forgotten. However this time I experienced a battle that will likely make up for it by far, as it was simply epic. It was against the hated Dwarven Holds, an army I usually struggle a lot against. If there is one army that can field capable warmachines taking out my Dragon, this would be the one. You can imagine my happiness when I saw his list and realized he did not brought a single warmachine!
Friendly list I took the XIII Legion with some changes:
Prince, Cult of Yema (M8), Giant Sword, Charm of Cursed Iron, Lucky Shield, Dragon - 980
Captain, Cult of Yema (M9), BSB, Heavy Armour, Shield, Lance, Midnight Cloak, Manticore - 551
19 Corsairs, Cult of Yema (M6), FC, Handbows, Gleaming Icon - 448
15 Corsairs, Cult of Yema (M6), Handbows, Musician - 310
8 Dark Raiders, Cult of Yema (M10), Shields, RXB - 368
10 Dread Knights (M8), Champion, Standard, Banner of Speed - 590
5 Dark Acolytes, Cult of Yema (M10), Champion - 390
5 Dark Acolytes, Cult of Yema (M10) Champion - 390
5 Harpies (M10) - 130
1 Kraken (M6) - 360
A strong and mobile list, with lots of warmachine hunting elements that also excell in the remained of the chaff war. Especially the big units of 10 raptor knights was something new for me.
Enemy list Rune master
Thane
Dragonseeker
10 Clan Marksmen, Guild Crafted Handgun
12 Clan Marksmen, Crossbows
20 Greybeards, Vanguard
30 Kings Guard, Vanguard
10 Miners. Ambush
10 Miners, Ambush
14 Seekers, Vanguard
1 Attack Copter
1 Attack Copter
1 Steam Bomber
The enemy brought a complete different list than I had expected (feared) so I was relieved. Three hard blocks with some missile support, two ambushers that would likely focus on the objective and ofcourse the very annoying Steam Copter chaff divided in two copters and one bomber. I should keep my monsters out of that nasty Dragonseeker and take out his copters as soon as possible, but I should be able to win this game big by controlling the movement phase and combo-charging in his blocks one by one.
Pre-game thoughts For those that do not play the 9th age yet, I will give some basic information about the main difference with the old Warhammer. Scenarios have changed a bit, and are more important than before. There are four different deployment types and four different secondary objective types. You roll for both of them at the start of the turn, and they will heavily influence the game besides the two armies facing each other. Personally I like this, as even against the same list you will always have different battles with different terrain, deployment and scenarios.
We rolled for Encircle, that means that the attacker can deploy further on the flanks while the defender can deploy a bit further on the centre. My opponent picked the side as attacker so could deploy more on the flanks while I could push in the centre. As secondary objectives we rolled for Secure the Target. This means we both had to deploy a marker, who controlled most markers (max 2) wins the scenario. He deployed his marker at the right flank, so I deployed it at the left flank with the idea my small units of Corsairs could take it.
The enemy had three spells: Rune of Reckoning (Hatred), Rune of Gleaming (Hard Target + Distracting) and Rune of Resilience (-1 to wound in combat), all very strong in the magic phase on his blocks. I have the auto-selection 2 x Breath of Corruption (toxic breath weapon) and 2 X The Grave Calls (2D6 S5 missile).
Deployment A bit more on terrain before we go to the actual deployment phase. He had build a very nice piece of terrain (also compliment to the Tafelridder) with many elements such as ruins, a building, a wall, a field, several hills etc. It made for a nice and diverse board with some nice opportunities for both of us. Those logos are supposed to show ruins, while that brown fat piece is supposed to show a field haha.
We was the one that could pick the side and those the one with a nice hill in the deployment centre and ruins at one flank. Especially the ruins could be a nice space for my troops to hide or lure enemy combat blocks in. That central wall could also be of use while the hills would be great denying line of sight in case it was needed.
He started with a drop of his Crossbows at the far right flank close to his placed marker. I reacted with the Dark Raiders and the chess game started. His Handgunners were deployed to the other marker, supported by a Attack Copter. While I devoted the Dark Acolyte pair to this flank helping out the 15 Corsairs to clear those troops I also placed the BSB close. This is because I find that leadership is one of the weak spots of the Acolytes and the enemy would at least be able for 1 turn to maybe force a panic test, probably even more when stand & shooting. The Corsairs would be too slow so I devoted my BSB to this flank. I would like to hear your opinion about this, as my reasoning was that my BSB would not like to be in one of the combat units with great weapons as he would easily die, while his Handgunners + Copters might be able to take out my Acolytes with a lucky strike. I did placed him within 18" of the Dragon might something happen there.
It soon became clear the enemy would focus on the right flank, placing its infantry blocks there. I reacted with the Dread Knights in the far flank, hoping to smash into a juicy flank together with the big hammers (Dragon and Kraken) while Corsairs could provide some ranks and bodies. Dark Raiders could maybe take out a Steam Copter on the charge or the crossbows.
There were several moments, Oh sh*t he will deploy everything and take first turn, something that I was afraid of especially at the left flank. So when he had two units left I deployed the rest of my force, and won the first turn with +2 to start.
His first vanguard surprised me, as it was an aggressive one with his main block. However he also provided his flank for my Dread Knights? They also stubborn with the general yes, but 10 knights in the flank? I prevented the other blocks from vanguarding too far with my own Dark Raiders and he made diagonal battle line in his corner.
Turn 1 - XIII Legion First turn, I pass my stupidity test on LD10 of the general. Charges, hmm. I think hard and deep about this one. It is 16" for the Dragon, needing an 8 with swiftride. The Dread Knights can make it automatically because of the champion. Corsairs need 13", so an 7, possible on average. When I get stuck so early the enemy can charge my flanks.. But is there ever going to be such a nice charge opportunity for the Dread Knights in the flank.. When either the Dragon or Corsairs make it, I can finish him next turn when the Kraken joins.. I decide to do it and charge them all in! Unfortunately only the Dread Knights make it, not good as the counter-attack will likely hurt when they reform in his next turn. To make sure I can at least do a massive combo-charge next turn I move up the Kraken as far as possible. The Dark Raiders man the wall, luring the Greybeards to them while the Harpies get into position when something goes wrong. The right flank I discover I come a bit too short to get into the ruins, something I had hoped to do while deploying. They aggressively move up to hopefully take the Copter down and maybe do some damage to the Handgunners, so is the BSB on his mighty manticore. The Corsairs reform into 8x2 formation for sacrifices and sneak a bit forward.
Magic is 6 vs 4. I directly cast Breath of Corruption but making the huge mistake to not first sacrifice two Corsairs, making it useless as I am not within 6" yet. I do get the Grave through while the opponent fails to dispell it, inflicting just two wounds on the Copter. Not good.
The Raiders kill two Greybeards from a distance, nice one.
OK, the big flank charge! I was excited what the Knights could do in such big numbers. I challenged with my champion, reasoning I could kill a character or the enemy champion with some luck. He accepted with his champion that was quickly slain. Also the attacks of the other knights struck home, 8 more dead Kings Guard. Even the Raptor did significant damage and killed 3 more. In return he just killed a single knights. BAM. He regrets his choice and had clearly not expected this kind of damage so early. What a shame the others did not make it, especially the Dragon ofcourse. The enemy is stubborn on LD10 and makes his save (I just discovered he was LD9 all along). He combat reforms into full contact for some pain next turn.
Turn 1 - Dwarven Holds Being overpowered at the left flank his wounded Copter try to get away while getting a last chance for some ranged damage with the Handgunners. The Greybeards do not give in on the Dark Raider provocation and also mans the wall. The Seekers reform to get in the flank of my units if they get stuck in his now nearly halved Kings Guard. His bomber moves up to shoot the Manticore that is in the field and the other Copter at the right flank.
He gets a nice magic phase where I can dispell hatred and distracting, but he gets -1 to wound on the Kings Guard, not good. Not sure I should have spared my dice for this one, all others seemed as dangerous.
Combined shooting of the Copter and Handgunners kill 3 Acolytes, but it passes its panic test. The bomber fails to wound the BSB, even with re-roll because of the field.
With the -1 to wound and now S4, I only inflict two wounds on the Kings Guard. In return they inflict exactly 9 unsaved wounds, and the Knights are gone.. He reforms to face the next wave.
Turn 2 - XIII Legion The Dragon, Corsairs and Kraken charge the Kings Guard, which passes his Terror test. Also the BSB Manticore charges the Handgunners that stand and shoot, but they fail to inflict a wound on the beast. Unfortunately the Kraken does not make the charge and now provides his flank for the enemy. The Acolytes move up to make sure the enemy Copter is dead this turn, while the Dark Raiders move up the hill to flank charge the Crossbows. For Harpies I decide to use them as speedbump so Seekers need a 11 to overrun into flank of the Dragon might it stick, should have likely used them more to redirect the Seekers in different direction than as speed bump.
8 vs 6 for winds of magic. I first cast The Grave with four dice with the full health unit, and roll double 6. Hmm. He kill the Copter but also lose three Acolytes with the miscast. Both units only have the champion with a single acolyte left.
Dark Raiders do great work and kill two crossbow wielding Dwarfs.
The combined attacks of the BSB and Manticore kill 5 Hangunners, too few as he will be steadfast. In return his 5 Handgunners inflict two wounds that I fail to save, so BSB already at half health! But stomp kills another one, breaking the unit. Unfortunately they run 12" and I fail to catch them, resulting into lots of delay as we will see. The big combat! The Kings Guard still have the -1 to wound on. I do not challenge, so does he. This allows my general to inflict two wounds on his general, and I devote four more Dragon attacks to his general, just killing it, pfew... His Thane has a special S10 strike against my dragon however and inflict two wounds, his Kings Guard another two. The Corsairs inflict two wounds while the Dragon breath weapon and thunderstomp kill some more Kings Guard, that is getting small now. I win combat and he rolls.. 10. Re-roll... 9! Yes! No he says, as Thane is LD10. Unfortunately we do not check this as he had full conviction (likely from old version or rules) as ofcourse it would had made for a very different battle. I also discover now that his units would even auto-break as without a King or General his Kings Guard are not bodyguard and my Corsairs had more ranks, so no stubborn or steadfast. Ah well!
Turn 2 - Dwarven Holds The Seekers with Dragonseeker charge the Harpies as expected, I hold. Also the Greybeards charge the Kraken, somehow I thought I was going to be obliterated because it was in the flank, but in reality it just matters 2 CR, as in front also 5 models are in base contact. That 2 CR might still be too much, and I fled with the Kraken hoping it would escape and then face them in the front when rally. This was a mistake as I rolled low and just barely escaped without a fight! His Miners arrive at the battlefield and his Bomber flies over the Dark Raiders killing 4. Handgunners rally, hmmm.
The hill provides hard cover for the Dark Raiders, and he only manages to kill two more. Just two left though, so while they survived I need to save them asap. They pass both panic tests.
The Harpies kill 3 Seekers before they are slain without mercy. Then the Dwarf rolls for the overrun, 11! Nooo! The Dragon is doomed.. Or? We start that combat and ofcourse I try to save myself by challenging with the general. He discovers that I have higher initiative, and with four attacks hitting on 3's, wounding on 2's there is a high chance I kill him before he gets to strike. For a moment he is considering all options.. What to do, what to do. He decides to let the Dragonseeker do what is was trained to do, bred to do, no.. what is was born to do! Lord Drakon rolls: 3, 4, 4, 6, all hits! to wound: 2, 5, 1, 1.. sh*t. The Dragonseeker lives.. However the Dragonseeker has lost it nerve after being so close to death and its life purpose. It only hits once! but that single hit also just wounds on a 3. But that 3 is enough, and the Dragon has no armour left. Because of the upgrade it inflicts multi-wounds (2) and the Dragon dies before it gets to strike. My compliments and congratulations to my opponent for actually slaying a Dragon with his Dragonseeker though, it was a very fluffy ending of my dragon this time
. We shake hands over this major victory to his side, but the battle is not over yet! The Corsairs strike down some more Kings Guards, that have become very small now. The Seekers and Kings Guard also kill about 4 Corsairs, but I actually win combat because of my ranks, banner and wounds. He holds with the Guard while the Seekers are unbreakable.
Turn 3 - XIII Legion I want to get my BSB useful in at the right flank, but also fear that even while 4 left, those last Handgunners might for example force a crucial panic test losing me that marker, so the Manticore charges in. The Kraken fortunately rallies while the Dark Raiders get between the Kraken and Greybeards, so that they will flee out of range of the enemy Crossbows when the Greybeards charge them in order to get to the Kraken. Both Acolyte teams race as fast as they can towards the right flank to help out.
Dark Raiders pick off another Greybeard. 3 Greybeards and 2 Marksmen, the RXB upgrade was a good investment, so far scored 108 points.
The BSB and Manticore kill 3 Handgunners that break and BSB overruns of the board, at least that marker is secured. Will he be back in time to do some useful instead of hunting a 250 point unit? The Corsairs do really well and kill some more Kings Guard and Seekers, while they also lose a lot in return, I think I have 6 left at this moment. But still steadfast so I pass my break test.
Turn 3 - Dwarven Holds The Greybeards charge the Dark Raiders that flee, and he passes his redirect test and charges into the Kraken. The Steam Copters and Miners prepare to shoot down the incoming depleted Acolyte team. Crossbows have no good targets to march towards the marker.
Not sure if I am in range already of his Copter shooting, no Acolyte dies yet.
The Corsairs inflict a bit more wounds on the Kings Guard, only left! In return all but two of the Corsairs die, and they break from combat. He tries to catch them with the last Kings Guard that is still joined by his BSB while the Seekers reform to face the other unit of Corsairs, Acolytes and BSB. However the Corsairs barely escape and live! Then the Greybeard vs Kraken fight. He rolls to hit and discovers how difficult it is to hit a Kraken, just 3 hits resulting in two wounds. Unfortunately the Kraken has not hit well either and just kills one. However his thunderstomp makes well up for it, and kill 5 more! I win combat by 1 and he.. breaks!! I pursuit and even while he rolls high I catch him and can now charge the Miners in my turn! Well done Kraken!
Turn 4 - XIII Legion Suddenly things look for me again, thanks to that Kraken. He charges into the Miners, that inflict 1 wound with their stand & shoot after they passed their terror test. The BSB moves as fast as possible towards the battle, while the Acolytes get into nice blasting positions. The fleeing Corsairs decide they have done enough for today and run off the table, while the Raiders move to the board edge seeking cover from a building against crossbow fire.
A good phase, 10 vs 5! I first sacrifice two Corsairs and roll for Breath of Corruption, which is let through. Then another sacrifice of two Corsairs and I roll for my first Grave with four dice, but fail to get the 12+, hmmm. He easily dispels the other Grave. I had higher hopes for this phase, lets hope the Breath of Corruption will at least kill one Copter.
The Breath of Corruption get 11 hits, but unfortunately only 2 6's, not enough.
The Kraken again fails to hit and only kills 1 miner, but its thunderstomp kill 5 more. In return they inflict another wound on the Kraken, he has one left! They break and I pursuit. Because I was within 6" of the other Miners they need to panic test, I hope.. and he fails its panic test! It flees, even off the table! Wow, thank you Kraken for saving my ass!
Turn 4 - Dwarven Holds We are both down to some small and wounded units, but the battle is not over yet! His Bomber flies over the Acolytes and inflict 6 wounds, I save 4, so the Champion is left with a single wound. His Crossbows move to the objective while his Seekers push towards my Corsairs / BSB. He list Attack Copter is assigned to take off that last wound of the Kraken.
Fortunately he only wounds one with his Bomber repeater shooting which I save. His Attack Copter has more luck and inflict 1 wound that I fail the save, the heroic Kraken is dead. He scored about 900 points by himself, taking out 3 scoring units, so great job to him!
Turn 5 - XIII Legion I am thinking hard about what to do with the Acolytes, and decide those Copters really need to die so opt for blasting them away. The Raiders that are forgotten see a small opportunity by charging the flank of that last Kings Guard, scoring a lot of points and maybe even routing his BSB. This was not so smart as his BSB can just make way ofcourse. The BSB gets within charge range.
8 vs 4 magic phase! Unfortunately I don't roll high enough to get the 12' for both the Grave Calls, ughh!
The Raiders discover their mistake but still inflict 1 wound on the BSB, that misses its attacks. He has BSB and banner, I flank charge and wound, I win by 1, but he holds.
Turn 5 - Dwarven Holds Crossbows get to the objective, Seekers push on and unfortunately his Copter and Bomber are still alive so try to assassinate the BSB. The Bombers flies over the Acolyte unit that still has two models, and inflict 3 wounds, I fail all saves so they are dead..
Fortunately the Midnight Cloak stops all damage and the BSB remains at two wounds left.
The Thane BSB decided he is done with messing around and slays the two Dark Raiders.
Turn 6 - XIII Legion My last turn, I want to finish this game at least with a Grand Finale and charges my BSB into the Seekers to revenge Lord Drakon and his dragon Luna. Acolyte gets another time within blasting range of the Copter.
4 vs 3, come on! I roll 3, 3, 2, 1, again not high enough for the Grave Calls! I could have done some 3-5 Graves by now if I just had rolled 11 total with all those four dices!
The enemy is wise unfortunately and takes the charge with his champion, so the Midnight CLoak + Lance benefits won't be there next turn.
Turn 6 - Dwarven Holds His Bombers moves over the Corsairs, but not kiling enough to force a panic test. Copter tries to kill that last Acolyte champion while his Crossbows get into the objective range. His last Kings Guard + Thane have been hold up too long and also get to the Objective. My compliments to this unit for surviving all the onslaught though!
I inflicts a wound on the Acolyte, but I save it once more! Thank you 4+ ward saves. Very close every time this battle. Bomber kills one more Corsair, not enough to force a panic test.
Normally he would not take the risk, but because it is a friendly game and he also likes to find out the epic clash he challenges with his Dragonseeker. I hit first, and luckily I manage to kill him. However he has that You are Coming with Me rule. He wounds and just as with the Dragon, he only needs 1 wound because of the multi-wounding. I only have a 6+ AS left.. I roll.. 6! The BSB survives and has restored the honour of the XIII Legion.
Result Do not remember the exact score anymore, I think it was 700 points more victory points scored for him, we both had a marker so nobody took the secondary objective therefore a 12-8.
Post-Game Thoughts Pfew, what an epic game! Very bloody and exciting chaff war until the end. Unfortunately we played two crucual rules wrong in the second turn, that would have otherwise make the Dragon and Corsairs overrun out of Seeker range, killing the Crossbows next turn. I was unlucky with the Acolytes this time, while also making that initial Breath of Corruption mistake, however I definately see how much potential they can have, especially in the later turns when units get smaller. Unfortunately they lost 3 man early at the left flank, but those models per unit could still have been absolutely devastating and survived a lot of ranged damage from those Copters. It was glorious to do that flank charge with the knights, they can bring a lot of pain! Imagine they would have remained in the flank and survived that initial battle. Very satisfied with them. The Corsairs surprised me once again. I have experienced my last battles how great shooters they, but they can also fight! They stayed in combat for four full rounds, nearly killing that last Kings Guard. Oh and the Kraken, he literally saved the battle for me by that epic counter-attack. Unfortunately the BSB was not too useful in this game, as he had no good targets but I think I played his correctly in the beginning while that last charge was ofcourse not too professional? Dark Raiders in big group were also nice, however I do think it was a mistake to use them so aggressive in that second turn.
MVP The Kraken!