Dec 12 2009

Brian vrs Nate

Lizardmen vrs Vampires

Brian was playing a Vampire army that consisted of 2 units of Ghouls, 1 unit of Skellies, a unit of Graveguard, 2 units of Black Knights, some bats, a Vargulf, a corpse cart, and some wraiths with banshee. He had 3 Vamps and a Wight Lord.

Nate was playing Lizardmen. He had a Slann in a unit of Temple Guard, another unit of Saurus Warriors, a stegadon, another Steggie with the engine, some Pterradons, some Krox, and a few dozen skinks. Nate took 2 Skink priests.

Both players were in the process of getting ready for Sooiepalooza, the largest Warhammer tournament in Arkansas. Brian was refining his list before the finality set in. Nate had already completed his list, and was getting in some practice before the big event.

Brian won the roll off, and decided that he would let Nate take the initiative and go first. Nate advanced with his army, mostly forward, bringing up his Stegadon with a bow on the left flank, while the rest of the army formed a battle line in the center of the board. The Slann knew all the spells from the Lore of Light.

Nate's turn 1 was uneventful. He moved up, cast no magic successfully, and shot a blank with the Stegadon.

Brian had a tremendous turn 1. He raised 13 zombies, added 6 skeletons to a unit, and added 3 fell bats to the existing unit. The bats demolished a unit of skinks, while the terradons fled from another charge. Brian stayed central on the board, allowing his falnks to be exposed to all comers.

Nate's turn 2 was more movement in the center of the board, keeping his 3 Saurus units in formation. The terradons rallied, but were too far away to drop their rocks, so they went arboreal. A flaming spell caused a wound to the Corpes Cart. Shooting at the Vargulf was regenerated.

On Brian's turn 2 he declared a total of 5 charges. His 2 units of Knights charged into units that turned into Undead Suicide. The Banshee's unit and the Vargulf charged the flank of a unit of Saurus, but even though the combat was won by the undead, the Guardian Light spell made them immune to fear, and they passed their break test on a 4. Bats charged into Krox, tying them up temporarily. Brian thought that the Wraith Banshee unit would negate ranks, but forgot that skirmishers do not negate ranks.

Nate began turn 3 by dropping 10 rocks on the Corpse cart. Needless to say, that ended the abomination's day. Nate charged the Zombies, and unleashed the Engine of eht Gods, killing 2 Wraiths, 2 Zombies, and wounding the Vargulf. Nate then miscast, allowing Brian to cast Curse of Years on the Temple Guard. The Slann took a wound, and 5 Temple Guard perished to the heinous incantation. The Temple Guard rolled through the Zombie unit. Nate pondered the overrun move and decided against it. The Krox and the Bats remained locked in combat, while the Vargulf and Wraith unit continued to pound on the Saurus unit,

In Brian's turn 3, he charged the Vargulf into the Engine of the Gods, Ghouls charged terradons that could not flee, because of the Guardian Light making them immune to Psychology. Brian decided that this was a very important Magic Phase, and he began in earnest, healing the Vargulf of 1 wound. Van Hels was then attempted, Brian rolling a 14, and Nate had to let it happen. The Grave Guard charged into the Temple Guard. Since the Vamp cast a spell, the Curse of Years was lifted. The Book of Arkhan granted the Grave Guard the Strike and Reroll gift. The Ghouls severely beat the Terradons, who failed the Break test, running away from the pursuing undead. The Skink priest atop the Engine survived by rolling a 6+ ward save. The combat was a draw. Bats and Krox continued to dance, but not die! The Stubborn Temple Guard stayed against the Grave Guard, and the game continued.

Nate began turn 4 by having his terradons auto rally. The little, if you can call him that, Stegadon charged into a unit of Skeletons. The Engine went off in an 8" radius, killing 3 Graveguard, 2 Ghouls, the remaining wraiths, 1 wound on the Vargulf, and Brian was muttering to himself as the turn progressed. Nate got no other spells to work. Skink shooting killed 2 ghouls. The Babydon got into combat, killing a few skellies, but in the end, he lost combat, rolled 3 dice and stayed there. The Temple Guard against the Grave Guard was turning into a bloody mess. Death and destruction making the air red with misting blood, the Temple Guard lived through the ordeal, and passed their break test. Vargulf killed the Skink on the Engine, but the combat was a tie.

Brian began his turn 4 by charging the poor Saurus unit that finally got rid of the Wraith unit in the previous turn. Battle weary, but full of intestinal fortitude, they passed their fear test, held and waited for the onslaught. The Magic phase saw the bolstering of the Ghoul unit engaged with the Saurus unit. The Book of Arkhan finally exhausted, and the Grave Guard would strike in initiative order. The Ghouls beat the Saurus unit in combat, but the cold blooded monsters rolled snake eyes and stayed in the fray. The undead battle standard saved the Vargulf from certain death from the Ancient Stegadon. The Babydon stayed stubborn against the unit of Skeletons. The Grave Guard were joined by the Head Vamps unit, and the fight was a mass of gore. The Slann and his Temple Guard steadfastly held.

In Nate's turn 5, he charged into the flank of the Grave Guard with a large unit of Saurus Warriors, joining the fray in the center of the board. In the magic phase, the Cleansing Flare went off, and Nate killed 4 skeletons in one unit, 4 Grave Guard, 4 Ghouls in the Head Honcho's unit, and 2 more ghouls. Nate sucessfully cast dazzle on the Grave Guard, and got the Guardian Light to invoke. Quite a Magic Phase. Minor skirmishes aside, the main event occurred in the center of the board. Brian had a close combat result of 8 to Nate's result was 7. Nate passed both break tests. The Game continued.

Brian began turn 5 by not being able to move anyone, as every unit was engaged in combat. The magic phaswe was like watching a MASH unit. Healing every undead unit, character, and Vargulf. The battles in the center of the board continued, with the Temple Guard being slowly whittled away, and at the start of combat there were 6 Temple Guard standing. At the end of combat there were 5 steadfastly guarding the Slann. Brian had a combat result of 5, while Nate had a total of 10. With Brian's BSB, he lost 4 additional models from each unit.

Nate's final turn saw him spread out to gain a board quarter with Skinks. Nate's Magic Phase was an excercise inm futility, no spells cast, taking the two into the close combat phase. The Ghouls finished off the Saurus unit on the flank. The melee in the middle saw a lot of saves, and when the dust cleared, the final result was Brian 4 Nate 7. Brian lost 2 wounds in each unit.

Brian got ready for his final turn, and began by moving a ghoul unit into position to charge in the Mgic Phase. Brian bolstered his unit of Graveguard. He then used the Danse and charged the ghouls in to the main fray, flanking the Temple Guard. The fight in the middle was on! Brian began by killing all but 1 Templar with his initial attacks. Then the BSB attacked, killing the final Temple Guard. Nate could not roll snake eyes, and lost everyone in the final turn.

Here is a link to a video that details all that happened during the battle as told by the participants

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k4laDTMC3x4