 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
Jarrett's Necronomicon 2007 Battle Report
Game 1 My first pairing was against Jeff Crouse, a jolly looking fellow who brought infantry Empire. His list was roughly: a Mounted Empire General, BSB w/ Griffon Standard, a level 2 Mage, Great Cannon, 5 Outriders, 5 Knights, 15 Flagellants, 18 Greatswords w/ 8 Halberdiers & 5 Crossbows, 25 Spearmen w/ 10 Men at Arms & 5 Handguns, 20 Swordsmen w/ 10 Free Company & 5 Handguns, and a Steam Tank. Here's Jeff! What was interesting about this first pairing is it was indicative of the composition ranking the judges had given you. Looking at Jeff's very fair list, I could see that my mix of troops, the presence of saurus, and relatively few skinks had landed me amidst the softer comped armies. Save the wood elves for later, I always say. Jeff's army had respectable shooting, and one thing my army lacked: ranks and numbers. In an attempt to spread Jeff out, I deployed my skinks in wide formations across the table, and my terradons centrally (the cannon a priority), committing to no one end of the board or the other. My kroxigors would be deployed last as they're ideal against a stank and knights, and the stegadon would wait till last to avoid the cannon. I heavily committed my saurus to square off against his infantry on my right flank, not in hopes of winning one on one, but rather to delay and redirect until harder elements could be brought to bear. My oldblood squared off against his stank alongside some kroxigors (and skinks to hide in), either one of these likely enough to put some hurt on the unsupported construction. My stegadon found a perfect spot far opposite the stank, faced off against his great swords and their detachments alongside some saurus. I weighed this flank heavily with both my bsb and general, my plan to take the rightmost hill and win the area through kills where he had res. The salamanders would help thin those ranked numbers. The objective this mission was a Breakthrough! - to move more points off the board than your opponent (non flyers). I didn't concern myself with this terribly, figuring his army was generally too slow to make it past mine and I would take opportunities as they arose. Arrayed for battle: Jeff shifted his flanks forward. He held his center back, I guess thinking I'd run the gauntlet and arrive thinned. The steamtank rumbled in line for a cannonball shot at the oldblood, misfired, and gave itself 3 wonderful wounds. His other cannon overshot. The Stank misfire made it vulnerable to my Oldblood, who moved into charge position. I knew that, with 3 wounds and my subsequent charge, it was effectively out of the game. Stank 101: The oldblood charged the stank subsequently with it's 6 strength 7 attacks, and finished it off over several turns, weathering but one successful grind. The kroxigors on the left shifted towards the swordsmen, the skinks subsequently breaking off to do their thing in the woods. My advance was general, my right flank moving to occupy the hill, salamanders shifting for LOS to his juicy flagellants, one unit of skinks screening saurus while the other took the woods. Both terradon units advanced up the center to threaten the cannon, now also crewed by a Jeff's mage. I doubled up so one failed panic wouldn't seal the deal. One full unit of dons and another lone survivor (suffering from shooting) double charged the cannon, eliminating the crew and mage with pursuit. Jeff advanced his knights to meet Kroxigors, but botched the 12" barely, and they were wiped in a subsequent charge. A side note: Now I firmly believe we attend tournaments with a limited quantity of luck. Luck and good play, spread evenly like jelly on a good PB&J, wins tournaments. Disproportionate luck during one game means a lack of luck in another. My pubic hairs were literally standing on ends with luck-tricity this game. I sensed it come on with the stank misfire and silently begged it to stave off, but when it rains... On my right my salamanders let loose on the flagellants. This picture summarizes what happened: X Marks the spot where the flagellants were: With the loss of the flagellants on the right, I moved onto the hill in front of the greatswords with saurus containing my general and bsb. Skinks shut down the outriders by the woods (via luck-tricity), Jeff saving but two: These skinks would finish off the outriders, subsequently being chased off by men at arms. The subsequent greatsword charge saw only several saurus dead, and in return I killed my fair share of the count's troops. I held for a counter charge, clipping with my stegadon and hitting the detachments rear with the salamanders. The overwhelming casualties saw the general off, and he escaped pursuit only to be run off the table. Counter-punch: Jeff's right flank was effectively gone, and I turned the salamanders attention to the ranked spears who were squared off against my central saurus blocks. Several casualties and the lack of a general sent the spears running. A botched rally attempt later and the terradons effortlessly ran down his most expensive unit. Salamanders ran off the table as did a unit of saurus. Objective gained! The central kroxigors, after finishing Jeff's knights, turned to face the rear of Jeff's swordsmen, his only remaining block. My leftmost kroxigors advanced between the woods, and my now free oldblood prepared to flank the unit. Skinks played skink games with his detachment. On my right, Jeff advanced his men at arms through the woods to contest a quarter and, well, to survive. I broke off both my scar veterans in pursuit. I triple charged Jeff's swordsmen with both kroxigor units and my oldblood, while my terradons hit the detachment. Sandwich! My scar vets caught up with the detachment mired by difficult terrain, and double charged, wiping Jeff's last models from the table. With that the game ended. Jeff was a really nice guy. A few small errors and unrelenting luck on my part made this game a bit lopsided, but he took it all in stride, laughed at his ill-fated troops, and was a real pleasure all around. Here's Jeff, taking it all in stride: 27 point victory for the lizards!
|
