Beastmen vs Lizardmen

Date: Thu, 28 Jan 1999 13:45:07 -0500
From: Nicholas Kost <[email protected]>
Reply to: [email protected]
To: [email protected]
Subject: [WHFB] Crush the Scaly


Taken from the records of Slann-mage lord QuQu.

"The following tale recounts the battle between the foul beastmen led by
the Maggrig the Traitor in the 22nd Year of Sotek. The litus constellation
was slowly coming into alignment and Maggrig's warband was hired by one of
the warmbloods leader to raid the temple city of Quetzacoatlville. Rather
then disturb our Mage-Lord's contemplation, a small force was dispatched to
deter the invaders."


The armies
Beastmen:
Beastlord Maggrig
Doublehanded weapon
Helm of many eyes
Armor of Fortune
Jade Amulet

Shaman Champion-Barak-Geh
Extra hand weapon
Destroy Scroll
Warpstone charm
Touch of Tzeentch-model in base combat takes d6 S4 hits
Slaanesh spell- leadership test or immobilized

Shaman Champion-Barak-Goh
Extra hand weapon
Crown of Command
Chaos Armor
Acquiescence-model in base combat makes I test or characteristics halved
Blue fire of tzeentch-d6 s4 hits

Maggrigs Boys
15 gors
SB, musician, lt armor, shield, Banner of Rage
1 Champion, with lt armor, shield, Biting Blade(-1 enemy save)

Barak-Gehs boys
15 gors
SB, musician, lt armor, shield, Banner of Rapture(immune to psychology)
1 Champion, with lt armor, shield, Copper Sigil sword(+1 I)

2 chariots
crew has lt. Armor, Doublehanded weapons, 1 has Banner of sorcery

Barak-Goh retinue
17 ungor
SB, musician, Spear Shield
1 champion, with Chaos Armor, shield, spear

Allies
6 harpies
2 chaos Spawn



Lizardmen:

I was teaching my friend to play and wanted to give him a fairly flexible
force that had high strength, high maneuverability, high magic skills, high
leadership, and no obvious weaknesses, I planned too well.

Slaan Mage Champion
BSB
Banner of Sorcery
Shrieking Blade
Staff of Flaming Death
Fiery Convocation, Hand of Glory

Saurus Hero-Badass™
Shield, Armor of Fortune, Sword of Swift Slaying
insanely hard guy-requires a general to be killed.
2+ armor save, 5+ special save, attacks first at S5 with 4 attacks, and is
5 toughness

Skink shaman
2 dispel scrolls, riding terradon, short bow, poison, spear
Hold Fast

Skink shaman
2 dispel scroll, short bow, poison, spear, riding stegadon
Destruction

Regiments:
19 saurus
spear, shield, SB, musician, saurus hero leading

2 Lizard swarm

19 skink
SB, musician, Short bow, poison
2 kroxigor

19 skink
SB, musician, Short bow, poison
2 kroxigor

1 stegadon
2 extra crew, banner of might

15 skink
short bow, poison, skirmishers


This was a battle severely stacked against me before it began.
He got 5 cards in banner of sorcery, I got 1. He got the best spells from
both decks-fiery convocation, destruction, hand of glory, hold fast. I got
4 weak spells. The chaos gifts were uneventful-only exception being eye of
god, I now have 8 good rolls, to 12 bad rolls-+1 T to crown of command
shaman(very important). The game was slated to last 6 turns, he chose not
to have any scenery for his first game. My friend has played the other
game for 4 years, and has a respectable blood angels force, this was his
first fantasy game.

Setup:
Beastmen:
>From left: Chaos spawn, ungor block with crown of command, 2 chariots,
frenzied gor block with beastlord, 5 skirmishing ungor in front of gors,
2nd gor block with rapturous standard, harpies

Lizardmen:
>From my left: skink/krox block 1, lizard swarm, saurus block, 15 skink
skirmishers in a mass, skink/krox block. Behind main unit he placed slaan
mage priest, stegadon, terradon.

Beastmen Turn 1:
The beastmen charged forward with a slow growing roar. Maggrig's vacant
expression and froth of saliva running down his tusks convinced all the
beastmen that drawing his attention would be fatal. The harpies flew to a
great height to plan their assault. The shaman's tried to draw the winds
of chaos to cast spells, but the fickle winds tapered off- mocking the
mortal attempts to control them.

Lizardmen Turn 1:
The army wandered forward, slowly readying hand weapons, the skinks
released 33 poisoned arrows, but the large volley fell well short of the
mark or was deflected by the horns and armor of the beastmen.
The slaan mage gathered his will and focused the winds of magic to his
control, the skinks started the assault by casting hold fast on Maggrig's
gor block, Barak-goh rebounded the assault and tried to cast blue fire of
tzeentch- the shaman in the howdah, cracked a baked tablet and the spell
failed. The slaan was pleased with his shaman's quick reaction and nodded
for the shaman to begin his spell. The shaman called a mighty destruction
upon Bark-geh gor block, Barak-geh smiled and decided not to dispel this
feeble magic, conserving his will for the assault yet to come. 1 gor fell
from the destruction spell and another was wounded. The slaan motioned to
a skink to polish the priest's large unlidded eyes. Fiery convocation
started to build and crest in the slaan's mind, but before the spell was
cast , the priest decided to test the beastmen magic with his old,
well-used staff. Barak-geh dispelled the magic with a wave of his hand.
The fiery convocation that had been building erupted from the ancient
frog's hands, burning into the ungor block- 4 ungor fell immediately as the
spell crashed through the beastmen magical defense. Pleased with the
magical assault, the slaan reclined back upon his throne.

Beastmen Turn 2
With a wild yell the beastmen chariots cracked the reins and charged toward
the main saurus block, the harpies flew down from above to attack the rear
of the saurus grouping. Barak-goh led the ungor against the skink shaman
who had flown too far forward to cast his hold fast spell. The rest of
the beastmen jogged forward ready to join conflict with the slow-moving
lizards. The harpies killed 1 of the giant reptiles and the other 3 struck
back and killed a harpy and wounded another. The 2 chariots killed nine of
the lizards with the crew striking and killing another. The saurus hero
swung in fury and hacked a large chunk out of one of the chariot frames.
The saurus hero looked around and saw only 8 of his fellows remaining, a
young saurus had stepped forward and picked up the dropped banner, but the
saurus was beginning to know fear-the slaan's thoughts bludgeoned into his
brain[[[HOLD FAST]]]. Barak-goh killed the shaman with 2 strong blows, but
the other crew member wheeled the terradon sharply and fled for his life.
The pursuing ungors crashed into the large lizard swarm. As the ungors
struggled to avoid their fellows who continued to burst into flame the
beastmen shaman tried for a few magic spells to aid their effort, but
another cracked clay tablet and they were done. Barak-goh lowered his
hands in defeat and began to feel some concern. A wildly hopping, burning
ungor crashed into him and he noticed the conflagration around him. A
moment of concentration and the spell subsided.

Lizardmen Turn 2:
The skink/krox unit charged into the pulsing masses ahead of them, the
skinks swung their weapons into the gooey mass, but didn't know where to
strike. The masses sprouted tentacles and dragged 6 skinks into hundreds
of mouths. With a might roar the 2 kroxigors struck as one carving huge
rents and gaping holes into the hide of one of the foul beings. With a
final quiver, it's gelatinous mass fell still. The beastmen shaman
barak-goh and the champion hacked and swung their weapons wildly surrounded
by leaping lizards. The saurus continued to fight on two fronts and their
numbers continued to diminish. The saurus hero slew one of the beasts
pulling the chariot, but the combat was going poorly-the slaan relaxed and
concentrated on the 5th star of the litus constellation- *the moment was at
hand*- the saurus sensed their master's shift and fled from the chariots
and their insane crew. The drivers cracked their whips and urged their
beasts on, but only succeeded in charging into the skinks skirmishers that
had been flanking the saurus unit. The other elements of the lizard man
army maneuvered for position. The slaan being distracted by events
elsewhere aimed his staff at the harpies, one of their number was wounded
and they flew madly away from battle. The slaan concentrated for a moment
and cast hand of glory to keep his followers loyal while he concentrated on
other matters. Barak-geh had been waiting for this moment and shattered
the skull he had etched the destroy spell on. With a quick tug on his
warpstone charm for added power, Hand of glory was gone.

Beastman Turn 3
The Gors led by Barak-Geh charged the skink/krox block in front of them and
prayed for the chaos gods to help them destroy their foe. As the Maggrig
felt a gor's hand on his faithful axe Orc-Killer. He turned from the
approaching conflict to ram a fist into the disrespectful gors head, this
caused the unfortunate gor to slam into the hornblower and he added a kick
to teach some respect. The other gors quickly followed suit and the
remains were quickly eaten. Goreskull ratskin(an unfortunate warpfire burn
that never healed right) was never very smart, but he had been strong.
Barak-Goh continued to kill lizards, but couldn't finish them off. The 2nd
spawn was cut down-- again by the kroxigors. The 2 chariots, killed 13 of
the 15 skirmishers, the remaining 2 ran from the field. Their pursuit led
them within inches of the saurus unit. The harpies rallied at the edge of
the field of battle and considered their next move. Barak-geh dodged a
kroxigors axe as his champion blocked the other axe with his head. A
number of skinks fell but the skink unit held firm, with the kroxs there to
lead them. Magic was once again pointless with no spells being
successfully cast.

Lizard Turn 3
The stegadon charges Barak-Geh's engaged gor unit in the flank, several
gors swoon overcome by the pleasure. Between the stegadon and crew cutting
down 4 gors and the kroxigor finally lining his axe up with Barak-geh's
ears- the gors fled. The skinks and kroxs gave chase, but couldn't catch
the fleeing gors. The 5 remaining saurus, the slaan mage and the terradon
all charge into the 2 chariots. The slaan does no wounds, the terradon
kills nothing, the saurus hero does 2 wounds to a crew member and 1 wound
to a tuskgor. The remaining crew swing their axes and swords and kill 2
saurus. The chariot crew begin to suspect that they have gone over the
thin line between enthusiasm and stupidity, but decide to stay and find
out. Barak-goh slays the last of the lizards and surveys the field to see
who is left. The skink/krox unit that wiped out the chaos spawn about face
to charge the ungor unit. The skink shaman cast destruction on the
general's gor unit, with 1 casualty resulting. The slaan attempts to cast
fiery convocation, but it is dispelled by barak-goh. The staff fails to
hurt the harpies.

Beastmen Turn 4
The charioteers kill the teradon and another saurus leaving the hero and
the standard bearer, the saurus respond by finishing off one chariot and
wounding a tuskgor on the 2nd chariot. The chariot flees and easily
outdistances the 2 saurus. Barak-goh about faces his unit to receive the
skink/krox unit. Barak-geh's unit(minus barak-geh) manages to rally at the
table edge. Maggrig grunts a warcry and charges the stegadon-Orc-Killer
goes high and kills 2 skinks and carves 2 chunks out of the great scaly
hide of the monster. The gor champion brokenskull manages to hurt the
great beast twice more and kill a 3rd crew member. The stegadons return
strikes are slow and easily avoided, the great beast is mortally wounded
and flees, but is run down and chopped apart by the crazed gors. Barak-goh
abandons the magical assault convinced that he has offended his god.

Lizardman turn 4
The saurus hero and standard bearer charge the ungor unit in the flank, the
skink and krox unit charge the ungor unit in the front. The ungor are
slain to a man, including the champion. Barak-goh stands resolute among
the carnage(The crown of command for those still reading). The skink/Krox
unit on the right flank charge the 7 man unit of gors that remain from
Barak-geh retinue- the survivors of this conflict flee off the board with
the kroxigors in pursuit. The slaan mage casts fiery convocation on
Maggrig's gor unit and inflict 3 casualties.

Beastman turn 5.
Maggrig wheels to face the remaining lizardmen and realizes that he will
never reach any units before nightfall. The harpies claim one section of
the battlefield. Barak-goh challenges the saurus hero, he can't refuse
without ranks to hide behind.

I'll close this battle report now, Fiery convocation burned Maggrig's unit
down to 7 troops. The saurus hero, couldn't hurt my 6 toughness shaman,
and my shaman couldn't overcome the armor the saurus had. With the crown
of command, my shaman never broke. He had escape anyway.

I lost at 1080 to 925, but 1 saurus standard bearer prevented me from
winning by 1359 to 1080. 334 for the unit and 100 for most expensive unit.
Damn good game.

My friend made a few poor choices: Letting his skink shaman with hold fast
get charged and killed on turn 2. Charging the ungor block with the saurus
hero, meant I could challenge and thus deny points from my shaman. Not
fleeing with his stegadon from my generals unit- he was about 6 inches
away when I charged, one decent roll and he would have been out of 2 turn
charge range as well.

My army performed well. I failed one infighting roll with my general's
unit which meant they only killed one thing in the game. I simply was not
prepared for the 7 strength of the kroxigors, they just carved my
characters up.

Does anyone know statistics well, I'm sort of curious what the odds are of
rolling a number, with the Lizards coldblooded ability. With the chariot
charge they needed a 2 on 3 dice to not run. They got it on the reroll
from the BSB.



Maggrig
aka
Nicholas Kost
Department of History Psychology
Case Western Reserve University
Cleveland, OH
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