Beastmen vs Bretonnia Battle (Maps) 1500 pts

Argentbadger kindly posted a link to one of his battle reports through my 7th edition warhammer fantasy battle reports hub. This battle is actually 8th edition so I'm adding it to this site (that Argentbadger wouldn't have known about at the time because I hadn't advertised it's existence).

"The gors roll poorly in their attempt to charge the Grail Knights, condemning them to an inevitable fate as a kebab on a Bretonnian lance."

I understand Argentbadger has just picked up 8th edition after a 10 year break (although he was still blasting away with bolters and lasers in Warhammer 40k). He runs a very tidy blog and has added a few other excellent reports which are all Beastmen vs..., if you're of a bestial nature then you should check them out.

source : http://thebovineoverlord.wordpress.com

credit : Argentbadger

27-Nov-2010

Aramoro and I managed to have another game of Warhammer last week. His Bretonnians put my army to shame since he has a load of lovely painted knights from his previous foray into the game, a bit more than 10 years ago. If my Beastmen looked like Aramoro’s Bretonnians, I might have taken some photos. But as it is, the sight of glorious heraldic knights crashing into cardboard unit footprints is less spectacular. Anyway, at Aramoro’s request we moved up to 1500 points, which I soon found out was to allow him a more expensive Lord character.

The Beastmen Army

• Beastlord, talisman of preservation, sword of strife, heavy armour, shield
• Wargor, BSB, talisman of endurance, heavy armour, shield
• Bray shaman, level 2, additional hand weapon (Lore of Beasts)
• Bray shaman, level 2, additional hand weapon (Lore of Beasts)
• 20 Gors,shields, full command
• 20 Ungors, full command
• 12 Gors, additional hand weapon, full command
• Tuskgor chariot
• Tuskgor chariot
• 9 Ungor raiders
• 18 Bestigors, full command, banner of eternal flame

The Bretonnians' Army

• Aramoro went for (approximately)
• Green Knight
• Paladin, BSB, warhorse, lance
• Damsel, level 2, dispel scroll, horse (Lore of Beasts)
• Damsel, level 2 (Lore of Life)
• 9 Knights of the Realm, full command
• 15 Men at Arms, full command
• 9 Grail Knights, full command
• 3 Pegasus Knights, musician, standard bearer

The mounted Damsel is the Bretonnian general, because the Green Knight can’t lead, and neither can the BSB. Rolling for spells, both Bray Shamans took Wyssan’s Wildform, one getting Amber Spear and the other Transformation of Kadon. The mounted Damsel also took Wyssan’s Wildform and Amber Spear, the one using Longshank’s pony got Earthblood and Dwellers Below. Once again, we just took a bunch of the terrain that was spare from Forkbanger and Gary pounding each other at 40K, set it up to look cool and then rolled for the appropriate parts. We decided that the river would be different on either side of the bridge.

The temple was a Temple of Khaine (causes frenzy) which caused no end of problems as we continually forgot about the extra attacks and that frenzied models can’t use shields. The North-most swamp was a mist-wreathed swamp (or a Fimir-rape swamp as Forkbanger calls it, for aficionados of very old fluff), the Eastern one was an Earthblood mere. Somewhat disappointingly, both hills were just normal. We get the Blood and Glory mission (break points, which was 2) and duly set up. This picture shows the scene after the Pegasus Knights have made their vanguard move.

The Bretonnians take the first turn. The Pegasus Knights zoom forward as fast as they can, and the Green Knight appears out of the river on the flank of the ungors. Everyone else just shuffles a bit to set up thundering charges next turn. Magic is very effective, with a Dwellers Below going off on the Bestigors. A few of the horny beasts are dragged to some unspeakable doom (although surely not as bad as the one potentially awaiting in a mist-wreathed swamp), and the BSB is sucked down too. Ouch!

The beastmen respond by moving most units forward, realising that they’re not likely to be doing much charging anyway. The ungors fail to swift reform, so they just turn to avoid being flanked by the Green Knight and the Pegasus riders. The Bray Shaman behind them joins the unit, although I’m not really sure what difference it was likely to make. The raiders move into the river, which turns out to be a river of Light. Even though almost the whole Lore is made up of augment spells, they manage to roll Net of Amyntok, which will do a lot of damage if they move. Not surprisingly, they stay put. Finally, the ambushers appear on the right flank (as a side note, I have been really lucky with ambushing – in every game I’ve played they’ve arrived on turn one, and never on my own table edge). The Bray Shaman on the left puts Wyssan’s Wildform on the ungors he just joined which I hope might help out a bit against all those armoured maniacs over the river.

This is where it gets messy; you should look away for a few turns if you like Beastmen. The Pegasus Knights and the Green Knight charge the ungors (the Green Knight gets Light of Battle from the river, which is useless since he already automatically passes leadership checks), nuking them for the loss of two of the Pegasi and overrunning toward the Temple of Khaine. The Grail Knights do pretty much the same to the gors on the right, except that they don’t even take a casualty in return. The only light for the Beastmen is that the Knights of the Realm fail a charge on the raiders. This is a part where I’m not really sure if we did it right. The chard only failed because of the way skirmishers rank up when receiving a charge (i.e. the charge would have hit if the raiders hadn’t all huddled around the middle guy). Also, since they had Net of Amyntok on them, it might be that they should have taken a load of hits when they ranked up, and then some more when they returned to skirmishing formation. Anyway, we didn’t make them take hits.

The surviving goat people try to get even. Most of the units shuffle to try and get out of the charge arcs of the knights sweeping all before them. The chariot on the left charges the Knights of the Realm, and does at least manage to kill a couple of them before they beat it senseless and run it into the ground. I’m still a bit disappointed in its performance though. The Bestigors and Beastlord (who I should probably name, but I’ll wait until he gets a model first) crash into the men at arms, smite them mightily and then laugh (or bleat) in triumph as a couple of survivors flee the field, taking the Damsel with them. Incidentally, the Damsel on foot was represented by a miniature of a fat guy with a keg of beer, not very lady-like. The Bestigors reform to face back toward their own table edge.

In turn 3 for both armies, there isn’t much more than a bit of milling around. Both the Pegasus Knights and the Green Knight try to charge the surviving chariot, which sensibly flees, rallying only long enough to find itself right in front of some grim-looking (but brightly coloured) Grail Knights. Otherwise, the only event of note is the Bray Shaman killing 3 Grail Knights with an Amber Spear. Over 3 consecutive turns, he successfully cast it 3 times, and only once did it even hurt the first knight. All 3 times were irresistable force, and he actually survived due to lucky rolls on the miscast chart (and more importantly because we forgot to roll at all the first time).

The Grail Knights charge the newly rallied chariot, which flees again, leaving them standing around in (possible) charge range of the gors. The Knights of the Realm have another go at charging the raiders. This time they succeed and annihilate the little blighters, but the overrun puts them right in front of the Bestigors. The Green Knight uses his magic powers to walk into the river and reappear in another part of the river. Slightly boringly, this turns out to also be a river of Light (so it was all part of the same river after all), and once again he gets Light of Battle, which is useless to him. The Pegasus Knight turns to face the Bray Shaman who has been trying to stay out of his charge arc for a few turns.

The gors roll poorly in their attempt to charge the Grail Knights, condemning them to an inevitable fate as a kebab on a Bretonnian lance. The Bestigors have no such troubles, splattering almost all of the Knights of the Realm. The Beastlord issues a challenge, and duly smites the Knight champion (though I was hoping for a more heroic shot at the Paladin). A couple of survivors flee off the board (they also lose the BSB and standard bearer when fleeing). The Bestigors despoil the remains and then reform to face the Green Knight who is looming behind them.

The Green Knight charges the Bestigors, and will spend a few combat phases enduring a rather limp slap-fest in a challenge with the Beastlord and taking wounds from combat resolution. In fact, if I had remembered about the Despoilers rule (which allows them to use captured standards) the supernatural knight would have evaporated in the first turn. Oh well, we live and learn. The Grail Knights have no such problems, crashing into the gors, pulverising them and making the last few flee in hot pursuit of the chariot. Finally, the Pegasus Knight hits the Bray Shaman, fails to wound, saves all the return attacks, and presumably sighs and throws his lance aside.

The Beastmen turn is fairly dull. The Bray Shaman is killed off by the Pegasus Knight, and the Beastlord and Green Knight trade blows to minimal effect. Everyone else keeps on running.

The Grail Knights move toward the Green Knight so that they can (and do) put Wyssan’s Wildform on him. It doesn’t help, and he loses his last wound to combat resolution. The Pegasus Knight inexplicably doesn’t move a long way away from the bestigors, which will cost him dearly very soon.

The Bestigors charge the Pegasus Knight and grind his bones to make their bread, then the game ends.

So, for those keeping count, neither side reached their Breaking Point: the Bretonnians still had 3 (their General and the Grail Knight banner) and so did the Beastmen (their General and the Bestigor banner). We didn’t bother adding up victory points, figuring that the survivors would be about the same value. So it was a glorious draw! I’m not sure what a draw means in fluff terms. Maybe the Bretonnians stop the Beastmen pillaging a large village, but they ransack a few hamlets instead?

What a nice game. I felt like I was getting a sound thrashing on the first couple of turns, with magic taking out my BSB and lance charges wiping out my units, but I was glad to pull it back and give Aramoro a bit of a challenge (especially since I don’t think he’s actually lost a game of Warhammer since we started playing again).

I rather enjoyed the Bestigors, especially if I ever remember to use the Despoilers rule. I definitely felt that they were more effective than the minotaurs that I thought of them as being comparable to. I think that maybe I would have been better with fewer magic items and more hooves on the field, but magic items (and magic in general) are cool. We’ll see what I feel like next time I make a list up.

Orcs and Goblins vs Empire 2250 pts (maps)

A very one-sided Fantasy Battle massacre - I've tried to find a Warhammer lesson here but... I'm not sure where it all went wrong for one player. It's all over by turn 4 !

"The Volleygun empties all their pipes into the Wolf Riders and wipes them off the field. In the south, the Handgunners take out three Spiders and sends them fleeing back to whence they came from. " [Sigmar: Ouch, not a good start !]

BTW, I got the report with permission from Trollhoer's blog which is well worth a visit. It has a nice, tidy layout, very personalized content (it's a personal Hammering record) and is thus a pleasure to visit.

source : http://trollhoer.blogspot.com

credit : trollhoer

06-Nov-2010

I fought my first 8th edition battle last week against one of the store managers. As it was scheduled in a hurry, we decided to play with our fairly recent tournament lists at 2250 points, with minimum changes that took about 10 minutes of rule book browsing to make. I thought this would be a good way of trying out the new edition; use what did work in the last edition and evaluate how they do in the next one, rather than make changes directly from theoryhammering.

The narrative would have the Empire forces of Ostermark defend their land against a Waaagh! from the World's Edge Mountains. The scenario was to be "The Battle for the Pass".

The Empire Army

Arch Lector on War Altar
Captain BSB
Battle Wizard
Level 2
Warrior Priest

20 Swordsmen
Full Command
6 Halberdiers
Detachment
10 Handgunners
Marksman, HLR
10 Archers
7 Knights
Standard bearer, Musician
24 Great Swords
Full Command
6 Halberdiers
Detachment
Great Canon
10 Flagellants
Hellblaster Volleygun
Steamtank

The Orcs & Goblins army

Black Orc Warboss
Boar, Heavy Armor, Enchanted Shield, Akkrit Axe, Kickin' Boots, Best Boss 'At
Black Orc Big Boss
BSB, Boar, Heavy Armor, Spirit Totem
Orc Shaman
level 2, Dispel Scroll
Night Goblin Big Boss
Shield of Ptolos, Martog's Best Basha

2x 25 Orc Boyz
Shields, Full Command
Wolf Riders and Spider Riders
Spears, Musician
4 Snotlings

12 Black Orcs
Shields, Banner of Butchery
5 Savage Orc Boar Boyz
Spears, Shields, Musician
Orc Boar Chariot
Goblin Wolf Chariot
2x Goblin Spear Chukka
Goblin Rock Lobber

Goblin Doom Diver
Giant
3 Trolls


Deployment
The scenario "Battle for the Pass" has each army set up on the short table edges, while the long table edges count as impassable terrain. There were plenty of hills for both forces to deploy their artillery, while in the middle but to the south there were rumors of a magical fountain that could make the drinker unbreakable.

The Waaagh! placed each of their units of Orc Boyz on the sides of the large hill to the west, on which the Black Orcs deployed with Snotlings in front of them. Da Fast Stuff went on each flank.

Meanwhile, the Empire Army placed shooters and artillery in both the southern and the northern side of the eastern pass, while the Archlector and the Knights took up defensive positions on each flank. The troops went in the middle, hidden behind the hilltop.

The Orc Shaman is granted a Headbutt and a Warpath spell, while the Empire Wizard takes a few fire spells that would prove ineffective throughout the game. Unless stated otherwise, the Winds of Magic were not kind to either of the wizards for this battle.

Vanguard move start us out, with both spider riders and wolf riders scouting ahead in search of enemies with missile weapons that they can hunt down.

Turn 1 - The Empire
Flagellants march forward, eager to martyr themselves in battle on the northern flank while the rest of the army hang back, trusting in their artillery to soften the enemy up.

The Canon and the Steamtank take aim on each of the Black Orcs on boars, but some snotnosed goblin must have dampened the gun powder and so they both misfire. The Volleygun empties all their pipes into the Wolf Riders and wipes them off the field. In the south, the Handgunners take out three Spiders and sends them fleeing back to whence they came from.

Turn 1 - Orcs & Goblins
The Squig Hoppers start squabbling behind the hill, while the rest of the army moves forward. The Trolls start drinking eagerly from the magical fountain, but turns out the water is poisoned! This would halt their progress for a turn while they throw up (an experience they probably enjoyed, all things considered).

The Orc Shaman manages to call for a Warpath and Gork stomps all over the canon in the north, inflicting two wounds. The Empire Wizard invokes a magical item which forces the Shaman to re-roll all the dice he used for the spell and for each 5 or 6 he takes a hit (or a wound, not sure). Mork is with him, however, and he survives with one wound remaining.

The Doom Diver takes out two of the Knights, the Spear Chukkas puts a dent or two on the Steamtank, while the Rock Lobber drops a stone on the Greatswords, killing a few.

Turn 2 - The Empire
The Flagellants, eager to meet their doom, charges the Giant but comes up short. The Archers move up around the Swordsmen to get a better view.

The canon still malfunctions, and the Steamtank misfires for a second turn and causes more damage to the hull. Meanwhile, the Volleygun takes out a Savage Orc Boar Boy, while in the south the trolls suffer a wound from missile fire. To add insult to an already miserable Orc Shaman, the Markman among the Handgunners takes out the Hochland long rifle and puts the shaman out of his misery.

Turn 2 - Orcs & Goblins
In the north, the Giant charges into Flagellants and reaches them without trouble. The Wolf Chariot charges an impressive 21" and hits the Volleygun. In the south, the Boar Chariot charges into the Handgunners, who stand and shoot but fails to wound it.

The Doom Diver takes out most of the Knights, who fails their panic test and flees to the east. The Lobba continues to bombarde the Greatsword with rocks while the Chukkas pick their noses.

The Wolf Chariot kills the Volleygun crew and overruns into the Canon, while the Boar Chariot takes out half the unit of Handgunners and sends them running. Instead of pursuing, the crew decides to reform and turn the chariot to the left to threaten the forces north of it. Unfortunately, things aren't going as well for the giant, since the Flagellants get to strike back after his club swing and with Sigmar's aid inflicts nine wounds on the big fellow, killing him outright.

Turn 3 - The Empire
Set in my 7th edition ways, I had placed my center units safely away from the 8" infantry charge range, which of course would cost me in my first 8th edition game. The Greatswords have no problem charging alongside the War Altar straight into the Orc Boyz led by the BSB. Even more upsetting, the Swordsmen charges almost cavalry-like and hits the Black Orcs in the center. Unfortunately, their attachment can't find room. Unsure how to settle it, I allow them to instead charge the snotlings. What remains of the Flagellants eagerly charges to their death against the Savage Orcs. In the south, the Handgunners continue running, but in this edition they apparently run away from the nearest enemy, which is the Boar Chariot so they are still on the field. The few remaining knights manages to rally.

In combat, the Flagellants take out a Boar before they all meet their end. The War Altar and the Archlector does very little, but the Greatswords, spurred on by the eager Warrior Priest, kills more Orcs than the BSB manages to keep in line. Luckily, their flee roll shows a double 6, which is too far for any of their pursuers to match, and the Greatsword detachment overruns to join the Swordsmen against the Black Orcs.

To no avail, as even though they take out 3 of the brutes, the Black Orcs unveil the Banner of Butchery, grabs plenty of their choppas, and proceeds to chop up 11 Swordsmen, putting them on even ranks (none for either). The Swordsmen fail to find their insane courage, breaks and are chased down by the Black Orcs.

The impact hits of the Wolf Chariot takes out the Canon crew, and the chariot reforms to face the center.

Turn 3 - Orcs & Goblins
In the north, the Wolf Chariot charges into the War Altar, hoping to at least keep it occupied for a turn, while the Boar Chariot charges after the Handgunners and catches them. The Trolls, finally done throwing up, charges into what remains of the Steamtank. Sadly for the Savage Orcs Boar Boyz, I forget to declare their charge (even though I rolled to pass their leadership test, doh!) and they're forced to move into a better position for next turn instead. Close to the hill, the broken Orcs manage to rally.

The Doom Diver kills off the remaining two knights and the Rock Lobber rolls a direct hit and takes out half of what remains of the Great Swords.

In combat, the Trolls start smashing the Steamtank, which is below half its original wounds and won't return much carnage. Meanwhile, the Detachment finally goes through the snotlings with only three soldiers still standing, who charge into the rear of the Warboss' unit of Orcs. The Wolf Chariot takes a wound of the War Altar and pins it while waiting for backup to arrive.

Turn 4 - The Empire
Finding themselves right in the middle of so many bloodthirsty Orcs, the Greatswords spots a way out by charging the Squig Hoppers, who had squabbled for two turns and now foolishly had hopped in to join the carnage.

The Archers on the hill spots a Big Boss on a Giant Squig hopping their way and unleashes a salvo straight at it. The Boss reveals the Shield of Ptolos that grants +1 armor save against missiles much to dismay of the Empire hunters.

In battle, the Trolls finally destroy the Steamtank, while the battle between the Wolf Chariot and the Archlector comes to a draw and what's left of the detachment dies at the hands of the Warboss who moves back in the lines to do some chopping. The Squig Hoppers are cut down, but not before bringing the Greatswords and their heroes down to less than a full rank. Even though the soldiers manages to overrun, out of sight from most of the Horde, things are certainly looking grim for the Empire.

Turn 4 - Orcs & Goblins
And things would turn even worse, when the Squig Hopping Boss hits the Archers who can do nothing but hold, and the War Altar is sandwiched between Black Orcs from the south and Savage Orc Boar Boyz from the north. Meanwhile, the Orc Boyz reform to go after what remains of the Great Swords.

It would prove unneccessary, as the Chukkas and the Doom Diver finds their mark and wipes out the few soldiers still standing. That spells the end of the Empire force as they are wiped out on turn 4, giving the Waaagh! their first victory in the 8th edition. Surely they were bolstered by the spirit of Gork (or possibly Mork).

Empire vs Lizardmen Fantasy Battle Report

A written Warhammer 8th Edition Fantasy Battle Report + maps from Battle Chronicler (I think !) 

"In an absolute schoolboy error I fought the Archlector fight first, meaning when my knights broke the razordon and pursued into this combat, it was too late for them to fight again"


Sigmar: Don't let the above comment mislead you, this Battle Reporter knows what he's doing, his useful after game analysis is testimony to that (this is just a reminder that even the very best gamers make those irritating mistakes especially when trying to learn a new set of rules !). I like ukko's report and I'm hoping to show some more of them - he's to the point and you feel like you're learning something when you read the report and I felt like nodding my head due to similar shared experiences.

source : http://warhammer.org.uk

credit : ukko

05-Aug-2010

Played a game a couple of days ago with my empire against lizzies. Been trying to put together a decent allcomers but this was only my second game with empire and 4th game of 8th.

The Empire Army List

Arch lector on war altar, GW, speculum, meteoric iron
Lv4 (life), horse, scroll, holy relic
BSB, barded horse, dragonhelm, dawnstone, sword of might
Warrior Priest, barded horse, dawn armour, wyrmslayer sword, shield
2*29 halberers with full command
2*10 crossbows
5 knights with banner and musician
8 inner circle knights with full command and flaming banner
2 cannons
5 outriders with musician
Steam tank
Rocket battery

Lizardmen Army List

Slann BSB, warbanner, extra dice, all lore (life)
Oldblood, blade of realities, potion of speed
Engine lv2(3), plaque of tepok
Scar vet, armour of destiny
2*24 saurus with banner and musician
10 skink skirmishers
16 Temple guard with full command and sword of the hornet on champion
5 cold ones
Salamander pack
Razordon pack

Deployment:

He got first turn and pushed forward, magic was uneventful and shooting was out of range except for his salamander which chanced a long shot at the lv4's unit but misfired and ate its crew (gaining frenzy/hatred as a result). My first turn I pushed the altar and stank in front of his central blocks and shuffled the other things around to enact plan stank-n'-flank (Tm). The knights held back in the centre, hoping he'd throw the saurus into the alter and I could counter charge in my turn. I figure'd the stank could probably hold up the entire left flank on its own for 2 or 3 turns while I regrouped, as he didn't really have any other option but to charge it. Magic didn't do much as i rolled low. Shooting saw one cannon stick in the ground short of the engine, the other going straight through it. I wounded everything except one crew dude and he proceded to roll his 5+ wards on all 3 crew and the prest. However, in a classic example of getting the luck when it matters, he failed the ward on the steg and I preceded to roll 6 yummy wounds. To add insult to injury, I then used the stank's remaining 2 steam points to cannon the priest (rules question: we assumed he still got his 5+ ward but I've no idea if that's right). Crossbows and rocket did nada. Have to admit, at this point I was feeling pretty confident.

Next turn he ploughed into the stank with his cold ones and TG, a mistake he later attributed to just not having enough experience playing empire (he probably liked the idea of keeping those units safe from shooting too). He also managed a mammoth 14" inch charge with the saurus on the halberders on the left flank, who they would then butcher and chase down in the combat phase. Finally, the other saurus went into the altar, along with the frenzied salamander. I managed to keep his magic largely in check, and his shooting only saw his razordon eat its crew as well . In combat, the stank lost a wound to some halberds and the oldblood got speculum'ed but good (again, he just wasn't familiar enough with the empire book - I was shocked when he accepted the challenge). Rules question 2: the blade of realities missed the altar but if it had hit, what leadership would it have tested on?

In my turn the knights charged the TG, as the stank had to realign to close-the-door on the cold one charge (this isn't really captured very well in the diagram). This meant the TG were dragged forwards in front of the saurus and I couldn't squeeze the knights through to the squishier saurus block. Oh well, in for a penny i guess. The halberders charged the salamander in the flank of the altar and the knights charged the lone razordon on the right flank. In an epic display of artillery dice suckery, the razordon demonstrated his eagerness for the upcoming fight by eating his last crew member, instead of standing-and-shooting me (at least he got all hatey though). Now I did something silly. In an absolute schoolboy error I fought the archlector fight first, meaning when my knights broke the razordon and pursued into this combat, it was too late for them to fight again. In said archlector fight, I think I won by one or two but nothing broke. The stank was feeling good about itself and ate all the cold ones with 7 impact hits from 3 steam points, not that the temple guard cared.

The rest of the game was just a slug fest really - I lost a cannon to a misfire, the outriders to keep the saurus away from the rear of the TG fight, and the plain knights, who eventually broke from the combat on my right. He lost all the TG, the scar vet (who dived into the TG combat but broke after I obliterated half a dozen TG with the help of Birona's mindwarp), and the salamander. We didn't bother counting it up at the time but I'd only lost about 400-450 points and he'd lost everything except the slaan, both saurus units and the skinks.

Thoughts after the game:


- Was a bit rash with the archlector. I wanted to pin his eastern block in place but I should have held back and let my shooting have another rip at him on that side. Sending him in front of ranked infantry is a mistake I'll try and avoid in future too, as I really could've paid for it if my opponent had rolled a little hotter.


- Being aggressive with the stank is the way forward. It not only ties down things I want to stay away from, but it also keeps it safe from magic and shooting. I'll also avoid risking extra steam points unless absolutely necessary. I managed to roll 6s on all three occasions where I went for an extra steam point, one less would've been guaranteed points and I would have cracked the TG a turn earlier and got the slaan.


- I need to be braver deploying the crossbows. They get less to shoot at now and really need to make the first two turns count to be worth it. Safety first approach seems to be getting me nowhere with them - in my first two games with the empire they've survived easily but only accounted for 2 harpies and a shade. Next game I'll be more inclined to leave them isolated if it means they can rack up some casualties and impact on the game.


- Loving the +3 DD of the empire. Along with +4 to dispel, it really makes it hard for the other guy to get stuff through.


- Probably drop the rocket battery for another 5 outriders. I wanted the battery to help against big blocks of infantry, which I feel like I'm not very well equipped to deal with. I'm not keen on the randomness though, I think I'd rather more shots to trim ranks off here and there instead.


- I think life is a great deck but I'm not sure it's right for this build. The idea of healing the stank and buffing the knights and halberders to keep them alive seems fantastic but I'm not sure I have the dice to make it meaningful - the slaan is a different story, as are banner of sorcery toting HE. I might try heavens in the next game..


- When playing against this Lizard Slann-life build (which as an aside, I think could be a really effective army), stopping throne of vines is a must. At times, I thought I was over-doing it, throwing 3 or 4 dice at it early on in a few phases and burning my scroll on it later in the game, but I think it was the right thing to do. It forced him to try and plink away with little buffs here and there to avoid miscasting, which usually meant I could stop the one spell which really mattered. I also think that tying down the TG bunker while ganging up on other things to rack up points will be the easiest solution to the match-up in most cases.