Battle Report: The Melbourne Chalice

Alright ladies and gents it's good to be back. Tonight I'm blogging my first (of hopefully many) battle report. Ever since my last post I've been keen as chips to get my Vampires out and about and recently I got the chance in a huge 2,500 point game! I was lucky enough to be playing with my dear friend/mortal enemy Lord Mantor (I highly suggest you check out his blog http://lordmantor.blogspot.com.au/) and because it was the Melbourne Cup, a horse race us Australians get a day off for, we decided to have a bit of fun with it and play for a cup. A chalice in fact! So we figured we'd play for a single objective (the chalice) that was pretty much smack bang in the middle of the table. I'd use my Vampires and he was using his High bloody Elves.

*sigh*

Now before we get stuck into it just let me say this. I hate High Elves. They have been the thorn in my side for my entire Warhammer career. Ever since I started playing, in 1998-99 maybe?, there has always been someone in my immediate group who has collected and played these righteous little guys. Don't get me wrong, they do need to be used cleverly, I don't think they're bullshit or cheesy or anything (maybe a bit), but the trouble is they have everything. The best of everything. And can play anything. Awesome spearmen that are also awesome archers, repeater bolt throwers, dudes with great swords who always strike first-in fact their entire army always strikes first, incredible magic, mages on dragons, chariots pulled by lions, chariots pulled by giant birds!?!, Teclis-that bastard, Tyrion-*spew*, when does it end? And then of course there's that cold feeling I get in my stomach when I'm battling them. The dread. Because even though they have access to all these awesome things, their basic core stuff is brutally awesome. If High Elves throw down a couple of units of spearmen (that fight in 4 ranks btw) and a couple of units of archers they have a damn good chance at winning. I should know, as I said I've played these shiny little elves all my life and lost many, many games to them. That being said, I've learned a thing or two about how to beat them too...Any way lets have a look at my pre-battle plans.

So my list looked a little something like this:

THE BLACK HOST

Now that's more like it!

Ghoul King Jimzan the Everliving
Quick blood
Flying Horror
Aura of Dark Majesty
Sword of Bloodshed
Talisman of Endurance

Master Necromancer
Black Periapt
Level 4

Necromancer
Level 2

Necromancer
Level 2

Tomb Banshee

Cairn Wraith

30 Skeleton Warriors
Full Command
Spears
Screaming Banner

30 Skeleton Warriors
Full Command
Spears

30 Zombies
Standard
Musician

30 Zombies
Standard
Musician

8 Dire Wolves

5 Black Knights
Full Command
Lances/Barding

Corpse Cart
Lode Stone

3 Vargheists
Vargoyle

1 Varghulf

1 Terrorgheist

So that was pretty much it, coming in a little under 2,500 but close enough. In terms of the list there were a few thing I hadn't used before, the vargheists and dire wolves, but I needed the wolves to make my army legal (they count as core) and I recently bought some forgeworld chaos skin wolves to use as sort of ware-wolf things for my undead. Both vargheists and crypt horrors are the same base size as the skin wolves and I was keen to see how they played. Originally I was going to use the horrors for their toughness 5 and regeneration 5+ for some stoppages but seeing as I was coming up against the elves I thought the horrors weapon skill of 3 was too low, considering the elves would be striking first and re-rolling missed hits. Where as the vargheists, though easier to kill, are harder to hit, can fly and pack a nice punch.

Apart from that it was business as usual. I love to use a Ghoul King. A normal Vampire lord is great but I find once they're tooled up with 2, 3 or 4 magic levels plus magic items plus vampire powers they start to get pretty expensive. For the Ghoul King the choices are easier. You can't wear armour so no need to bother with that and you can't take extra magic levels. So really you just have to build the most killy thing you can. And really that's what a Ghoul King should be. And I know, I then have to purchase more wizards for magic, but really the more wizards the better. Each wizard can only cast invocation once per turn and that's a spell you want going off all the time.

Because they're elves they're all toughness 3. This, and their relatively high point cost, is pretty much the only weakness High Elves have. The trouble is we (undead) can only really touch that T3 in combat, due to no shooting and not very offensive magic, and although anything that's vampiric has crazy high initiative High Elves always strike first. So it was imperative that my Ghoul King also always strikes first. Hence Quick Blood. I choose to give him the sword of Bloodshed which grants him 3 extra attacks because even though his strength is only 5 your still wounding EVERY elf on the table on a 2+. I also gave him Flying Horror which allows him to fly which comes in very handy when dealing with those pesky elves and it would mean he could get quickly to the chalice if need be. After that a took a Master Necromancer and a couple of level 2's just to boost up the magic. Then a range of big blocks of core troops and fast maneuverable hard hitting units that (hopefully) would mop up anything too small or anything that strayed to far from his main battle line.

So my battle plan was pretty simple: Sit huge blocks of zombies and skellies on the actual objective whilst the faster, harder units dealt with anything capable of destroying those blocks. Okay, enough blither blather lets have a look at how it all went down...

So the Elves got the initiative and got to go first. And as I watched Mantor set up I knew I was in trouble. To keep in the theme of the Melbourne Cup Mantor had decided to build a cavalry list. This included two units of Reavers, a unit of Dragon Princes, a big unit of Silver Helms, a Tironic chariot and a lion chariot. Accompanying them were two units of Greatswords, a unit of archers, a couple of mages, two bolt throwers and a Prince riding a Dragon. I was particularly worried about what the Bolt Throwers were going to do to my Terrorgheist and I really wasn't very happy about all these knights he had running around. He had deployed each Bolt Thrower on each side of the table so there wasn't really anywhere I could hide from them. On the left side of the board he'd put most of his heavy knights (including the large unit of Silver Helms directly in front of the chalice). He also had his Lion Chariot, a unit of Reavers, a unit of Swordmasters and his Dragon. On the other side was his archers with a mage in it, another unit of Reavers, his other Bolt Thrower and another unit of Swormasters containing the other mage.  

In response I set up all my blocks of Zombies and Skeleton Warriors facing his knights and Dragon, with the Corpse Cart behind them, Then all my quick killy stuff on the other side of the board. The idea was to quickly take the right side of the table and try to swing what ever I had left back towards my infantry blocks and the chalice itself. I threw my Ghoul King in with the center block of zombies and my Master Necromancer into the center block of Skellies. The Ghoul King (I hoped) would give the infantry a real punch against the Knights and the Master Necromancer and Corpse Cart would keep regenerating the troops.

 TURN 1

High Elves:

Mantor moves his forces forward. His Dragon Princes look like they will charge my outer Skeleton unit as a unit of Reavers and the Lion Chariot begin running up the side of the battlefield. Their intentions of charging and flanking the Skeletons next turn become very clear. His magic begins with a mage casting Tempest which kills one of my Dire Wolves. His Reavers and a Bolt Thrower fire at my Skeletons killing 4. Then his archers and other Bolt Thrower open up at the rest of my wolves killing them all...The Tironic Chariot and other unit of Reavers fire at my Black Knights but don't manage to get through their armor.  

Vampire Counts:

I move my Banshee into the wooded area in the middle of the board. My Skellies that are threatened to be flanked move forward as do the Zombies on the other side of the board. I don't want to move my other infantry blocks into charge range of the Silver Helms so they stay where they are. My Ghoul King fly's into the threatened Skeletons to provide some back up for the upcoming charge/flank. My Varghulf fails his charge against his Reavers and only moves 2"! Whilst my Black Knights and Varghiest move up behind cover from his Bolt Thrower. The Terrorgheist fly's to the flank of his Reavers and prepares for a scream. My magic phase turns into a disaster as my Master Necromancer casts Invocation, which brings back a couple of Zombies, then tries to destroy a Bolt Thrower with Gaze of Nagash but instead causes a miscast which results in a Dimensional Cascade. He takes a wound, kills a Zombie from the unit next to him and then kills 18 Skeletons from the unit he's in. What a dickhead! Luckily though I manage to roll a 4+ so he isn't sucked into the warp. Fortunetly the Terrorgheist's Death Shriek at the Reavers kills them all! And, to sweeten the moment, upon seeing this the poor old Tironic Chariot flees! Nice one Terrorgheist.

TURN 2

High Elves:

Well his chariot doesn't manage to rally and continues fleeing all the way off the board. My initial happiness is dashed though as his Swordmasters make a mean roll and get themselves into combat with the Terrorgheist. Lucky for me they fail their terror test so their weapon skill is reduced to 1, but still those great weapons could make a mess of my big boy. On the otherside of the battlefield the Dragon Princes slam into the Skellies and also (due to the screaming banner) fail their terror test caused by the Ghoul King. The Lion Chariot also charges them in the flank but passes their test. I thought his remaining unit of Reavers were also going to join the fray, but instead the gallop up behind my lines and open fire at my Corpse Cart. I totally did not see this coming...*groan*. His mage casts Glory Hand on his archers and they begin shooting at my Zombies killing 6 then his Bolt Thrower shoots at them too killing another 5. Those sneaky Reavers shoot at the Corpse Cart but luckily only cause 1 wound. Combat begins and I'm excited because my Ghoul King gets to fight first. But then Mantor explains that his Dragon Princes are carrying a magic standard that doesn't allow magic weapons to attack them. (That cold feeling in my stomach starts up). So my Ghoul King has to fight with his hands. Fine. He manages to kill 3 of them though. Then they kill 3 Skeletons. Then the Chariot kills 10. Needles to say the Elves win combat. A lot of skellies collapse because of this. Oh well, the combat with the Terrogheist go's a little better with the Swordmasters unable to cause a wound and in response 2 of them are killed. Combat is drawn.

Vampire Counts:
To begin with my Varghiests charge the Swordmasters in the flank adding some much needed support to my Terrorgheist. The Black Knights position themselves behind some cover ready to charge through it and into the Bolt Thrower next turn. My Varghulf marches way up the board also preparing to make a nuisance of himself next turn. On the other side of the table my Wraith leaves the unit of Zombies it's in and begins drifting towards the Chalice. And due to those sneaky little Reavers behind my lines I'm forced to move all my infantry blocks forward and into charge range of his heavy hitters. This magic phase goes a lot better with a bunch of minor spells being dispelled then my Master Necromancer getting off a boosted Invocation. Well, suddenly a lot of dead things get back up including, 8 Skeletons from his own unit, 11 Zombies from the unit next to him, 6 Skeletons from the unit with the Ghoul King and the Corpse Cart heals back up to full health. And because an augment spell has been cast on the Corpse Cart suddenly everything within 6" of it is now striking first, which still won't make them strike before the Elves, but will mean they can't re-roll against me. The Master also manages to create a new unit of 10 Zombies behind the Silver Helms. Both the Banshee and Terrorgheist scream but do nothing. The Swordmasters then manage to wound the Terrorgheist twice before the Vargheists kill 5 of them. Though the Elves lose combat they pass their leadership and stick around to fight. The Ghoul King kills a further 4 Princes (including the Standard Bearer so he can now use his sword) but the Lion Chariot kills another 5 Skellies. The Elves win combat by 3.

The Ghoul King slowly hacks through the Dragon Princes

  TURN 3

High Elves:
Charge! Charge! Charge! The Reavers charge the Corpse Cart, The Swordmasters leave the Chalice and charge the Skeletons containing my Master Necromancer, And the Dragon charges the Zombies. The Silver Helms casually move forward and capture the Chalice. The mage casts Glory Hand again on his archers. In turn they then kill 8 Zombies. His Bolt Throwers fire, 1 shoots at the Black Knights but doesn't cause any wounds, the other shoots into the recently created unit of Zombies killing 4. Combat begins and the Swordmasters manage another wound on the Terrorgheist as does the mage in their unit! However their joy is short lived as the Vargheists kill them all. The Ghoul King kills the remaining Dragon Prince and the Chariot kills another 3 Skeletons. The Reavers cause 2 wounds to the Corpse Cart and in response it kills 1 of them. And the big ol' Dragon eats 7 Zombies and somehow the Zombies wound the Dragon back. Losing combat, a bunch of them drop.

The Swordmasters meet a grisly end.

Vampire Counts:
The Black Knights charge through cover into the Bolt Thrower. Both the Terrorgheist and Vargheists fly right up to the archers. The Varghulf charges the archers taking a wound as they Stand and Shoot. My right flank Zombies turn 90 degrees and start moving toward the Dragon. The newly created Zombies charge the Dragon in its rear. For magic the Ghoul King summons 8 Skeletons back into his unit, the Master Necromancer heals some infantry units and the Corpse Cart regains another wound. The Banshee screams at the Swordmaster killing 3 of them (YES!) and the Terrorgheist screams at the archers, also killing 3. The Black Knights obliterate the Bolt Thrower (also YES!) and the Ghoul King kills the Lion Chariot finally freeing himself from that combat. The archers strike before the Varghulf and sneak in a wound.....bloody High Elves and there always strike first....anyway it then kills 4, they flee, it catches them and feasts on their souls so I guess that's good. The Reavers kill the Corpse Cart but the Necromancer on it lives. The Dragon kills like 10 Zombies but amazingly again they manage to wound it back! Then came the big blow. Those mean old Swordmasters single out and KILL my poor little Master Necromancer. This was bad. Sure he could have attacked the unit and probably won combat but killing the Master really hurt. Mantor had been killing a lot of my troops but I was able to raise them back, in fact I'd managed to maintain my units and build a new one. But now that I'd lost my major magic bread winner every Zombie suddenly became precious. Any way the Skellies strike back against the Swordmasters killing 1. We win combat and they flee but the Skeletons don't manage to catch them. I assume the Skeletons were too overcome with grief for their favorite friend to go around chasing elves.

TURN 4

High Elves:

So the fleeing Swordmasters pull themselves together, rally and capture the Chalice. The Silver Helms charge into the grief stricken Skeletons but fail their fear test so their weapon skill drops to 1. The remaining Bolt Thrower takes a shoot at the Varghulf but misses *phew!* Then combat begins. The Reavers Kill my Necromancer further inhibiting my magic. The Silver Helms, despite only having weapon skill 1, kill 4 of the Skellies and the Skeletons only kill 1 back. And as for his Dragon, remember when I said suddenly all my Zombies are precious? Well the stupid Dragon kills all of them. Like all of them, the unit in front and due to combat resolution the unit behind got completely wiped. So yeah.... 

Vampire Counts:

So the Wraith comes drifting out of the woods and charges the Swordmasters that are holding the Chalice! The Ghoul King and his Skeletons are finally free so they head directly for the Dragon. My right flank Zombies (who are now on the left flank) charge the Dragon. The Varghulf and Vargheists combo flank the Silver Helms, whilst the Terrorgheists flies right up to the remaining Bolt Thrower in an attempt to kill it before it kills him. So for my much needed magic phase of course my Ghoul King rolls a fucking miscast immediately ending the magic phase and wounding my last Necromancer. The Terrorgheist takes in a deep breath and screams at the Bolt Thrower but only manages to kill 1 of the 2 crew! (oh dear). The Dragon kills 7 Zombies and naturally they lose combat but luckily there are enough there to keep the Dragon stuck for another turn. The Wraith kills 1 Swordmaster and because it's ethereal they can't strike back at him so combat is drawn. The Silver Helms kill all but 1 Skeleton before the Vargheists and Varghulf kill 4 of them and force them to flee. But again neither the lone Skeleton, the Varghulf or the Vargheists can catch them. 

TURN 5

High Elves:

To Mantors dismay and my elation the Silver Helms continue to flee off the edge of the table. Suddenly things are starting to look good for the Vamps. His Reavers flank my Zombies who are in combat with the Dragon. His Bolt Thrower lines up and shoots at my Terrorgheist....killing it :( All his mages are dead so there is no magic. The Wraith kills another Swordmaster leaving just the Standard bearer left, again combat is drawn. Between his Reavers, Prince and Dragon the last of my Zombies are utterly destroyed, but they have served their purpose, It's now my turn and the Ghoul King is within charge range of the Dragon.

Vampires:

The Ghoul King and his Skeletons plow into the Dragon and his Prince. The Vargheist wish to avenge the Terrorgheist and charge the lone crew member of the Bolt Thrower. The Varghulf charges the Dragon in the rear and the Banshee leaves her woods to get in on the action. The lone skeleton warrior from the Master Necromancers unit claims the Chalice! The Ghoul King raises a few more Skellies to boost his units numbers. The Banshee screams some abuse into the combat but to no effect. Combat begins. The Vargheists naturally tear the Bolt Thrower to pieces. As it turns out the Ghoul King and Elf Prince both strike at the same time! The Elf general and his mighty Dragon wound the Ghoul King twice whilst the unholy Ghoul King simeltanously wounds the Elf Prince twice! Both Generals in combat with each other on only 1 wound each! The Skeletons attack and through sheer numbers manage to pull the Elf from his saddle and deliver the fatal blow. The last hope for the Elves dies in the cold mud as the Ghoul King bellows a triumphant roar! 

At this stage we decide to call it a game.

THE DAY BELONGS TO THE DEAD!

After thoughts:

Well it was a bloody and hard fought battle. Honestly I feel lucky to have gotten away with the win. Mantors force is no push over and really I think the dice were in my favor for a couple of crucial moments. The fact that he lost his big unit of Silver Helms and a chariot from fleeing off the table edge was a lucky break for me and I'm sure a sour sting for him. He deployed well and I really felt under the pump for most of the game. His trick with the Reavers getting behind my lines really tripped me up and I lost a Necromancer, a unit of Zombies and the Corpse Cart because of it. I'll tell you, I won't make that mistake again. Ultimately I think what won me the game was the fact I could take control of the right side of the table whilst my Ghoul King was able to hold the left. At the beginning of the game I considered leaving my Ghoul King in the middle of my force to deal with the Silver Helms and letting Mantor take the Skellies with his Lion Chariot and Dragon Princes. But stopping them was the right call. Even though it held up my Ghoul King for way too long, I couldn't afford to have my entire left flank exposed. Esspecially with all that cavalry facing me. He did a good job of holding it all up. I'm very inspired to paint up my Ghoul King now, perhaps with a High Elf helm or broken shield at his feet. I'll post some pics when it's done. Anyway what a great and tense game! It was a heap of fun. Hats off to Mantor for putting up such a fight. I'm sure our paths will cross again soon and his Elves will be determined to avenge their fallen comrades who, of course, now swell my ranks. Mwahahahaha!

Well thanks for reading, feel free to leave comments about all the rules I'm sure we got wrong or your thoughts on any of it and what not.

Cheers

Jimzan the Everliving

Keeper of the Melbourne Chalice.