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Jarrett's Necronomicon 2007 Battle Report
Game 3 So feeling pretty good after two wins I headed to see my next pairing. I knew 2-0 put me in the pool with some pretty big sharks, and at this point the comp tiers were done so I was curious what nastiness I drew. I climbed in my bathtub and filled 6 hollow point rounds with poison, sealing it in wax, then loaded my revolver. I was ready for one big shark. Matt Lewandowski. I was immediately suspicious of this individual. Clearly his discordant surname was designed to mess with me. I don't like being messed with. I'd seen Matt skulking around at previous tournaments. He's a slave to Games Workshop, his pallid complexion indicative of his time spent in their dungeons. He buzzed around the gaming room "on the job", his ankle-chain clanking after him. It took a while for him to get settled in at our table and I made it as difficult as possible by sneering and spitting ceaselessly. Matt was playing a classic looking Tomb Kings army, sporting a clean paint job with some great conversions, and an atmospheric display base: Matt ran a recognizably solid build (no discredit to him, but most TK armies look similar to me) consisting of: a Tomb King w/ Destroyer of Eternities & Collar of Shapesh, Liche Priest Hierophant w/ Cloak of the Dunes & Hieratic Jar, Liche Priest w/ Staff of Ravening, Liche Priest w/ Scroll(s), 3 Chariots, 20 Archers w/ Standard of Raise More Archers, 20 Tomb Guard w/ The Annoying Standard of Free Move, 10 Archers, 2 Tomb Swarms, 7 Carrion, 2 Scorpions, Bone Giant, and a requisite Catapult w/ Skulls of the Foe. The scenario was Capture the Losers! or something like that. We each selected our cheapest unit and our objective was to keep ours alive while killing our opponents. Matt's was his unit of 10 archers, while mine was a unit of blowpipe skinks. Easy to hide, I figured. Matt's setup was somewhat standard Tomb Kings. After winning the roll for table sides, his army naturally took to the single available hill, and deployed around the catapult. His 20 archers also took position on the hill towards my left (fuckin' hill!) and his tomb guard settled to my right. One atypical thing Matt did was deploy both his scorpions. Most TK players I know tend to tunnel these. I think Matt's is generally a smart move, as their mobility and charge threat is too important to risk losing or being delayed. Matt's swarms guarded the catapult's front. He kept his 10 archers tucked in his backfield on my right, wedged between the hill and what we designated to be an impassable house, with a Giant bodyguard nearby. Matt was visibly outraged at the clear superiority of the forces arrayed against him. My plan was simply to engage him en masse and crush him through res. In my experience, TK have very little that can stand toe to toe with lizards. Naturally, a huge priority was to kill his Liche priests to reduce his relentless supply magic. I wasn't concerned with killing his archers for a battle point as they were utterly non threatening - I'd take them if I got the chance. I did, however, want to preserve my own unit, and hid my objective skinks on the far corner opposite Matt, behind some woods, along with my caddy priest. Deployment was simple for me. I set up my saurus blocks centrally facing off against his infantry as they easily compensate for ranks with kills. Terradons were out of LOS behind woods in case Matt got first turn, along with salamanders who would shuffle forward and thin skeleton ranks. My kroxigors deployed on either flank, the ones facing the bone giant accompanied by skink redirectors. My stegadon was to swing left around the woods alongside the krox, avoiding at least a turn or two of catapult fire, and put the hurt on his flanks. I deployed my oldblood left as well, his strength 7 an easy threat to Matt's chariots, while my scar veterans stayed central, my general covering most units with his important LD8, my BSB present to generate some res later. Best laid plans... I made the general advance, moving aggressively up the left side with my heavy hitters, my steg covered from the catapult. My terradons hopped in front, covering his full line with potential charges, and my saurus shuffled up behind. I screened my rightmost kroxigors with skinks knowing they could still see the large giant and charge if he advanced. Salamanders moved into the woods, a turn from emerging and firing on the other side, and covered from the wrath of Matt's catapult. Matt soon calmed after my first turn, as do all TK players with the prospect of panicking units off the board with their catapults. He sat back, and contemplated which units to eliminate first. He moved forward aggressively with his Carrion directly in front of the kroxigors skink screen. Matt first asked me if Kroxigors could see through their skink screen, and I said no. I realized afterwards that I should have checked the rule, but Matt had already made his move based on what I had told him, so I just stuck with it. It would have hampered him a bit more, but it was hardly a game breaking moment. So sayeth the idiot who know not his own rules. Matt gave me a gift, moving a liche priest up to magically target my terradons. Matt's magical catapult salvo was denied as I let his shuffle-about spells through, their effect on me minimal. I also shut down his magical blasts. Arrows and the mundane catapult shot accounted for several wounds on saurus and terradons, but the units were intact. All psych tests were passed. My terradons espied a liche priest dangling on the corner of his Tomb Guard and charged the juicy opportunity. My other terradons hit his swarms, lined up for the catapult. On the left I was unsure if Matt's chariots had shuffled entirely out of 18", so I took the chance with my Oldblood as either way he'd get in next turn. He failed, but the terradons passed their fear test easily, and ripped the priest to shreds. Suffering a loss in return, they hit and ran little worse for wear, parking it in front of my saurus. 1 priest down baby! My balls began to tingle. Matt hopped my lines with the carrion and continued his barrage. In a move that initially seemed an error, but could only be described as prescient in retrospect, Matt magically impelled his King/Tomb Guard forward. They literally were crossing in front of my saurus, flank exposed to a double charge. Further movement spells became an immediate priority now that I had this ideal charge, Matt intending to move the guard in response to my move on the left flank, so I used all I had and stopped the King/Guard cold. X marks the spot of the Tomb Guard's advance In my turn I concocted a brilliant plan I like to call "Balls Out". I declared a charge with the terradons at the swarms on the hill. This would clear the path for both of my saurus blocks with characters, also charging, to double up on the flank the Tomb Guard. On my left, my Oldblood charged Matt's chariots, and my Stegadon hit the ranked archers. My left kroxis maneuvered towards the backfield, my rightmost dancing with the giant. My Salamanders had backed up out of the woods to blast the carrion. I moved them barely in range of the last carrion, hoping to do some severe damage. A mere 2 wounds later (thats 1 carrion model) and I felt regret. On what would come to be known as The Day The Saurus Stood Still, my terradons failed their 3d6 leadership 8 fear test, and blocked both of my saurus units from their key flank charge*. "There goes the game." * After the game my conjecture that this was disaster was in debate. Matt obliged me with a roll off to see what might have been and lo, had the saurus made their double flank charge, despite the king, 2 rounds of combat and the tomb guard and lord would have been no more. Alas for psychology. My Oldblood predictably annihilated Matt's chariots, and my Stegadon crunched some skellies as massive beasts are want to do. I hoped Matt would forget it was his turn next, and let me have another go. It was not to be... Matt, taking full advantage of my afraidy-ness, advanced his Tomb Guard and King. His carrion charged my salamanders, and in no rush to fight combats he might lose, he shuffled back on my right. I fled with the salamanders hoping for a mere 6-7". I ran 5" and was run down. Matt's catapult and bows accounted for 2/3 of the rightmost kroxigor unit. Between Matt's banner and magic, I could not stop the Tomb Guard from taking the flank of the stegadon. The Destroyer of Eternities did massive damage to the steg, and I could not compensate for both this and the static res. Both the stubborn stegadon and oldblood subsequently broke and were either caught or run off the table. In my turn, desperate, my terradons assaulted the catapult PASSING their fear test, and my skinks the swarms. My left kroxigors faced off against a lot of shit. I advanced with all saurus, then cried. Matt went on to annihilate my kroxigors on the left with a lone scorpion. On the right, a double scorp/giant charge owned saurus, my last kroxigor dodging out of the way. On Matt's turn my skinks beat the swarms - huzzah! - and my terradons the catapult. My BSB skipped over to the leftmost saurus unit, aligned for an assault on the few remaining archers that survived my steg/oldblood. Matt made a big mistake and moved the hierophant left to motivate the Tomb Guard. On my following turn, the top of 6, the newly free terradons leapt off the hill and nailed the hierophant - this would cost him his carrion and a scorpion, as well as another big chunk of magic. My saurus and scar veterans hit the archers, killing all but one. On Matt's turn he advanced the Tomb Guard and reformed with his banner, setting up a flank charge on the scar vet-let saurus. During his magic phase I shut him down. He had a single spell remaining to move his Tomb Guard into the flank of my saurus. If he didn't cast this I would wipe the last half of the unit and capture a standard for a decent swing in points. He rolled a 3. I had a single die remaining for dispel... A 2! Matt's flank charge sealed the deal, easily breaking the saurus for the win. Here's a picture of what was left on the board right before the Tomb Kings unit romped the collective asses of - you guessed it! - the units with the big X's of death (though I think a couple of units were pulled off then put back for photogenesis): Woah, what a game! Tomb Kings' biggest weakness is also its biggest strength. The army is rather predictable, but it marries this with unmatched reliability, especially in the magic phase, and good ol' unbreakable, fear causing undead. Any experienced player has been screwed by fear at one point or another, and its just one of those things. Matt took opportunities where they came, made a rather big gambit, and it paid off. He had the foresight and it panned out, recovering from the loss of an early liche and playing a tight game from there on. These bids for glory are exactly what wins games. I made some glaring errors. I should have continued forward with the salamanders and thinned his ranks rather than risking a bid at the carrion. My overall movement was sloppy, especially with the krox. On the left, I should have aborted my plan and not comitted the stegadon/oldblood. My oldblood could crush his fast elements one on one, and I should have held off till my central advance arrived, albeit a turn late. That said, I had my fair share of freebies too, and they kept me in the game. I think Matt got a bit overconfident - who could blame him looking at the table? - and it cost him his hierophant. This nearly put me back in the game with that final combat, but it wasn't meant to be. Matt was a stellar opponent, and a great sport. He's one of those guys you want to hang out with after the game is done, take out to dinner, then maybe go for a drive with. Where you wind up, who knows, and who cares because you're with Matt Lewandowski. Matt makes losing feel good 1 point loss for the lizards! (He never did get those skinks.)
And here's the wacko I played next to round 4:
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