Rematch in the Badlands

The Legion of the Infernal Skull faces Waaagh Urthak again in this 2000 point battle report!

 

Before the game, Jay and I both agreed that we would each bring a "dragon." (I say dragon in quotes because his is a wyvern and mine is a terrorgheist, neither of which is really a dragon.) Nevertheless, we were breaking out the big boys for our first 2000 point battle.

The scenario we rolled was Break Point– No turn limit, the battle simply goes on until one player is reduced to less than 25% of his army's total starting unit strength. That would be when we we got down to a unit strength of 31 for me and 23 for Jay.

The Legion of the Infernal Skull was led by Nieman Kimmel again, trying to make up for his failure last time. He was a level 4 wizard equipped with the Skull Staff and a spell familiar, allowing him to have access to five spells from the Lore of Necromancy.

Marduk the Ghoul King was riding his terrorgheist Wolkhar and wielding the Sword of Kings, and infused with the vampiric power Dark Acolyte, which allowed him to use Invocation of Nehek to heal himself or others. Since he was already getting pretty expensive, I didn't bother upgrading him to a wizard. The model was deployed behind the woods to protect them from the pair of orc rock lobbas across the field, which could potentially kill him with one round of shooting!

 

 

The Wight King Oren Koth was leading the Hellfire Knights (black knights), and wielding the Spell Eater Axe to give the unit Magic Resistance 2 (meaning that enemy spells targeting the knights would have their casting difficulty increased by 2). Because I was completely savaged in our previous game, and my banners captured as trophies, I opted not to take a battle standard bearer. The idea was that the army was striking into the orc territory to reclaim their stolen banners. Instead, I brought a corpse cart to help mitigate the extra casualties I might suffer from losing combat. 

 

 

Commanding Waaagh Urthak was Urthak the Red Fist, a black orc warboss riding his wyvern Vengeance.

 

 

Jay deployed his army as far back as he could. On his left flank (my right) was a unit of orc boar boy big 'uns led by the orc shaman Duffgar 'Eadbanger (riding the albino boar), and a unit of black orcs with Zamrog da Banna Wayva carrying their army's battle standard.

 

 

On the right flank (my left) was a unit of savage orcs led by the big boss Urrfk da Mighty. The goblin shaman Blikkit da Kunnin' was at the head of some goblin wolf riders.

 

 

 

After deployment, my dire wolves made their Vanguard moves and then Jay won the roll-off for first turn.

Orcs & Goblins Turn 1

Jay's plan was to get in as much shooting as possible with his rock lobbas, hoping to destroy the terrorgheist before it could get into combat. His entire army was deployed on the back edge of the battlefield and they stayed put, trying to keep out of the terrorgheist's charge range. But, since Marduk and Wolkhar were screened behind the woods, Jay opted to shoot at the black knights instead, and knocked a few of them from their saddles. The other ock lobba picked off a few dire wolves.

Vampire Counts Turn 1

To Jay's chagrin, I was able to resurrect all of the knights' casualties with Invocation of Nehek. Nieman Kimmel left the safety of the skeletons, and took up position behind the woods. Everything pressed forward, but I was careful to keep the terrorgheist back a bit, out of range of the wyvern. The dire wolves and ghouls had Reserve Moves, allowing them to essentially move twice. The Crimson Reaper skeleton unit was equipped with the Standard of Hellish Vigour, allowing them to make a Reserve Move as well.

 

 

The wolves were making a bee-line right for the rock lobbas.  The only thing that would be able to reach them in time was Urthak the Red Fist's wyvern, and I angled the wolf units to make sure that if he charged, he wouldn't be in a position to overrun into anything other than the skeletons, or maybe the Terrorgheist if Jay got really lucky with his rolls.

 

 

Orcs & Goblins Turn 2

The Wyvern charged one unit of dire wolves. On the Orcs' left flank, the black orcs and boar boys marched forward around the large rock pile, while on their right flank, Blikkit da Kunnin's wolf riders advanced a bit, keeping the tower between them and the ghouls. The savage orcs angled forward a little, but held their position near the back of the battlefield.

 

 

With the dire wolves bearing down on them, the rock lobbas had one more shot at the terrorgheist, and threw everything they had at it, inflicting a total of four wounds on the behemoth.

 

 

In combat, the wyvern made quick work of the dire wolves, and chose to restrain and reform rather than overrun.

Vampire Counts Turn 2

Between Nieman Kimmel and Marduk, they were able to heal two of the wounds on the terrorgheist. Kimmel also cast Spectral Steed on the banshee so she could fly 10 inches (a great boost to her normally 6-inch movement, and being able to fly, she could now make a march move).

The dire wolves charged into the rock lobbas and the Crimson Reaper skeletons charged the wyvern. The Banshee flew around the tower with the ghouls close behind. 

 

 

The dire wolves won their combat against the rock lobbas, causing one to flee off the table, and the other gave ground right to the edge of the battlefield! Urthak and his Wyvern killed a few skeletons, forcing the Crimson Reapers to give ground. But Urthak failed his Leadership test to restrain and reform, and had to follow up, remaining in combat.

 

 

Orcs & Goblins Turn 3

My memory is getting hazy here, as Jay and I played this game back in December (and I don't seeme to have any photos from during the turn), but based on the subsequent photos it looks like the Orc units barely moved at all this turn. I suspect Jay was playing it cautiously, hoping to keep the savage orcs and wolf riders out of range of the terrorgheist. And I think the boar boyz attempted to charge the flank of the skeletons, but failed their Fear test and had to stay put. This also bottlenecked the black orc unit behind them.  (That's the most logical explanation for why the the boar boyz don't appear to have moved at all between these two photos, even it just to wheel forward a little to adjust their position. Jason, if you're reading this, please let me know in the comments if I got that wrong or if I've overlooked something.)

In combat, Urthak and his wyvern pushed back the skeletons again and this time was able to restrain, reforming to give himself a better angle on the terrorgheist. The dire wolves chased the remaining warmachine off the battlefield.

Vampire Counts Turn 3

At the start of the turn, Marduk replenished a few skeletons back into the ranks of the Crimson Reapers, who subsequently charged back into combat with Urthak and his wyvern. Nieman Kimmel was able to heal one of Marduk's wounds, with an additional wound healed by the corpse cart, bringing the the behemoth back up to full health.

 

 

Marduk and his terrotgheist made a long charge to engage Urrfk da Mighty and his unit of savage orcs. 

 

 

The tomb banshee and the ghouls made their way around the tower (and the ghouls didn't get as far as I would have liked because I forgot to use their Reserve Move later in the shooting phase). The banshee's Wailing Dirge was ineffective, and didn't inflict any casualties on the goblins! 

 

 

In combat, Urrfk da Mighty challenged Marduk to a duel, and the ghoul king subsequently slew him before the orc could strike, doing the maximum amount of overkill. The remaining savage orc unit being right at the edge of the board, were forced to fall back right off the battlefield, allowing Marduck to reform and face Urthak's Wyvern, alongside the dire wolves that had moved back onto the battlefield earlier in the turn. Urthak the Red Fist himself chopped up a bunch of skeletons, and this time was able to reform to face his ultimate target– Marduk the Ghoul King.

 

 

Orcs and Goblins Turn 4

Duffgar 'Eadbanger and Zamrog da Banna Wayva led their boar boyz on a glorious charge into the corpse cart, obliterating the machine and reforming to face the skeleton regiment in the center of the field.

 

 

Urthak drove his wyvern into Marduk's terrorgheist for an epic duel while the wolf riders inched forward to cover their leader's flank.

 

 

Urthak The Red fist lived up to his name, inflicting a few wounds on Marduk. The Ghoul King lost the combat, giving ground two inches and suffering another wound due to the undead's Unstable rule. Urthak followed up to press the attack and continue the combat.

Vampire Counts Turn 4

With Marduk on his back foot, and the boar boys now positioned to charge the heart of my army, I decided to charge the Hellfire Knights into the wolf riders. As I the knights wheeled to align, they came into contact with the back of the wyvern, bringing them all into a single combat!

 

 

The Crimson Reapers turned 180 degrees and moved back toward the center of the battlefield, and then used their reserve move to get in front of the boar boyz, exposing their own flank, but preventing the boar boyz from charging the rear of the black knights. Nieman Kimmel thinned out the ranks of the boars a bit with the magic missile spell Unquiet Spirits.

 

 

The banshee was able to scream a couple of the wolf riders to death, and the knights killed a few more. Urthak asn't able to inflict any more damage to Marduk, and the Orcs and Goblins lost the combat. Urthak fell back in good order, moving away from the unit with the highest unit strength (the black knights), and the wolves gave ground two inches backward. The knights followed up into the wolf riders, and Marduk pursued into the wyvern, effectively breaking the melee into two separate combats.

 

 

Orcs and Goblins Turn 5

The boar boyz wear unable to resist such a tempting target in front of them, and charged the skeletons. In the combat phase, they nearly obliterated the regiment...

 

 

After removing the extra casualties from the combat resolution and instability, only the unit champion remained standing!

 

 

Warboss Urthak the Red Fist laid low Marduk and his terrorgheist, which exploded into a cloud of bats. The Hellfire Knights killed all but one of the wolf riders, which broke and fled. Although it didn't flee off the table, it was unlikely to rally, requiring double 1s since it was below 25% of the unit's starting size. The Black knights restrained pursuit and reformed to face the opposite direction.

 

 

Vampire Counts Turn 5

Marduk was gone, but I wasn't about to let Urthak and his wyvern get away. The ghouls, which had spent the entire game getting around that tower, declared a charge at the fleeing wolf rider, which

 then had to flee away from it, sending it over the hill toward the black orcs. The Black knights were still too far to reach the boar boyz, and they had a lone skeleton in front of them, which would have impeded contact anyway, so they just moved forward enough to allow Nieman Kimmel to get next to them, keeping him out of harm's way.

Kimmel and the banshee then finished off Urthak's wyvern with a combination of the necromancer's magic missile and the banshee's Wailing Dirge.

 

 

The boar boyz dispatched the remaining skeleton and overran toward the black knights.

 

 

Orcs and Goblins/ Vampire Counts Turn 6

There wasn't much left to do but charge! The boars crashed into the knights, and despite serious casualties, they were unable to completely destroy them, which allowed Nieman Kimmel to use his Invocation of Nehek ability to resurrect some of the fallen knights. The Banshee's Wailing Dirge also did a number on the boar boyz.

 

 

As the ghouls made their way over the hill to engage the black orcs, we called the game. Jay's army was only a couple of models away from reaching its break point, and I still had quite a way to go, and the ability to resurrect my casualties. One solid banshee scream or a couple of the ghouls' poisoned attacks making it through was all it would take.

As Waaagh Urthak retreated into the badlands, Nieman Kimmel recovered the Legion of the Infernal Skull's battle flag from the orcs' abandoned camp.

It was a great game, and Jay and I had a lot of fun. The Break Point scenario seems to favor the undead who– in addition to starting with more models in general– can replenish their losses, making it more difficult to get them down to their break point. I'm looking forward to our next game!

'Til next time!