Fantasy Friday: Beastmen vs Dark Elves and More Models Painted!

Wednesday night Tau4Eva and I managed to set aside our 40k for a bit and face off in a sweet fantasy battle. We rolled the Watchtower scenario (apparently this scenario draws a lot of nerd rage - I saw why it could be annoying later on). The only objective is to hold the watchtower.

Tau4Eva's Dark Elf list:

Morathi, The Hag Sorceress

Sorcoress

Cauldron of Blood BSB

5 Harpies

War Hydra

War Hydra

32 Dark Elf Warriors with Spears

20 Dark Elf Repeater Crossbowmen

20 Dark Elf Repeater Crossbowmen

10 Cold One Knights

19 Black Guard

12 Witch Elves

Muggins' Beastmen List:

Beastlord

Great Bray-Shaman (Shard of the Herdstone)

Bray-Shaman

Bray-Shaman

Wargor BSB

40 Gor Herd

40 Gor Herd

30 Ungor Herd

Ghorgon

Giant

9 Minotaurs

I used Battle Chronicler, a sweet piece of software that creates great looking battle reports and even IMPORTS your Army Builder list and builds the units into your map. 

BEWARE: UNPAINTED MODELS AHEAD

This shows our deployment. I lined up with two hordes of gor and some big beasties with minotaurs on my flank (stupid!). Adam lined up with crossbows holding each flanka nd then hydras ready to run me down. The cold one knights lined up in the middle to assault the tower first turn.

Click on the images for huuuuuuuge.

Turn 1 - Beastmen

The gors with Beastlord and BSB (with flaming banner) march into the tower to hold it. [Later I realized that one could not simply march into a watchtower - I would have made it in first, though].  Other units roll up on the sides to hold the flanks. The Great Bray-Shaman uses Wyssan's Wildform on the horde in the tower and then Curse of Anraheir on the Crossbowmen near the ruined tower to make them -1 to hit rolls.

Turn 1 - Dark Elves

The Cold One Knights charge into the gor horde in the tower and do quite a bit of damage. I forgot that I had cast Wyssan's Wildform on my guys so it made it much easier for them to kill my gor. Tau4eva moved his harpies up on the right flank trying to setup a charge from my Minotaurs so then he could counter-charge and flank me. My beastlord had Crown of Command so I passed my leadership test from losing combat in the tower. His crossbowmen shot up the giant and my gor horde on the left.

Turn 2 - Beastmen

The gor horde in the middle with beastlord starts doing some huge damage to the cold one knights. The giant charges the warriors and did some damage. The ghorgon failed his charge on the Black Guard needing a 6 or lower. The minotaurs charged the harpies and destroyed them.

Turn 2 - Dark Elves

Morathi flew to the back of my lines to kill one bray-shaman. I was gathering extra power die from the Shard of the Herdstone and he really didn't want me to get these die. The Black Guard failed a charge on my ghorgon and the hydra moved around back behind them to set another charge on the tower. The hydra on his right flank and the witch elves charge my minotaurs and kill all but three... they break and run. The gor horde in the middle with Beastlord annihilate the Cold One Knights. The gor horde on my left flank failed a charge and took more shots from stand and shoot.

Turn 3 - Beastmen

The minotaurs continued to run and the gor horde on the left managed to kill most of the witch elves that had overrun into them, still losing combat. They stuck around. The ghorgon charged the Black Guard and stomped through some dark elves. The giant finished off the warriors and stood still. I tried to buff my troops with spells but magic wasn't really flying this game.

Turn 3 - Dark Elves

The hydra in the middle sets up a charge on the tower. Tau4Eva had forgotten that I had the flaming banner. Morathi moved behind my ungors + great bray-shaman to do some damage to them. The hydra setup to charge the tower after my gor horde moved out of the way. The lone witch elf died.

Turn 4 - Beastmen

The gor horde managed to survive stand and shoot and charged the Crossbowmen to get some more dead dark elves on the field. The minotaurs rallied and held their ground. The giant tried to charge the crossbowmen on my right flank and he died to stand and shoot (giants have no armor save!?). The flaming attacks from the gor and beastlord wiped out the hydra and his handlers. The gor horde on the left managed to kill the crossbowmen and overrun through the trees. The ungor attempted to charge the sorcoress but she fled.

Turn 4 - Dark Elves

Morathi charged the ungor and great bray-shaman and managed to not kill their champion in a challenge; her pegasus did managed to kill him, though. The hydra charged the tower and had to face down more flaming attacks. 

Turn 5 - Beastmen

The beastmen begin mop up mode. The horde in the middle and beastlord (with +3 attacks and +3 strength from The Savage Beast of Horros) killed off the hydra. The ghorgon attempted a charge on the crossbowmen but died to stand and shoot (ghorgons don't have an armor save!?).

Turn 5 - Dark Elves

Tau4Eva really didn't have much to do now. He had one objective: take the tower, and he couldn't do it. Game over! A win for the beastmen, but it was bloody on both sides.

Overall it was a great game. Lots of stuff died and both sides showed their strengths. I can see why people hate the Watchtower scenario - it can be tough if you get a big unit in the middle.

I also finished painting some models over the last few weeks. For some reason I can't stop painting the really interesting models first :P

I love this giant model. He's huge and comical. He really hates empire dudes just like my beastmen. He has hooves and horns!

The ghorgon is a really cool looking model - it is very bizarre looking, probably one of the most bizarre looking models GW has ever put out. I identified a few things I need to fix on it after I played with it.

The last model I have here is one from a really great line of alternative models that I am basically stockpiling. It is known as Bane Lords / Bane Legions and is now produced by Mierce Miniatures. You can purchase them online from FRP Games.

I really like the aesthetic of these models. They're a little larger than my plastic gor so that is perfect; these guys are my champions. This will be my Battle Standard Bearer.

Preview of the next model :P

I am currently finishing Mark of the Beast. I really like the short stories that BL puts out because they're really quick. Stay tuned to the blog as I paint the Beastmen this winter!