Today I had the pleasure of seeing my army in action against...my own army. A friend of mine, Reuben, was interested in getting an 8th edition game but his army wasn't ready for playing. Reuben, a staunch veteran of wargaming in general, had only played a single 500 point battle of 8th edition and before that had not touched Warhammer Fantasy for many years. So I decided to let him play my newly assembled and battle tested Beastman army against my own crafty Wood Elves. While it was a learning game, it was an absolute total blast because it really didn't feel like one after turn 2. The Beastmen who normally fold to a strong ranged army did an extremely impressive job of beating the ever living hell out of my Wood Elves.
Since it was Reuben's second game of 8th we decided to play a standard line em up and knock em down match. His army (my army hehe) had strong emphasis on close combat (I should know it was my list keke) and my Wood Elves had a very strong hit and move methodology to them. The two armies could not have been more mismatched.
I won't go into play by play for this battle since I didn't bring a camera but I will say that Reuben is an exceptional player. It's pretty hard to play well in a new game system with an army that you are unfamiliar with. It's even more difficult to play with an army that your opponent assembled and crafted the list. In the first few turns it looked like a total route of the Beastmen but Reuben hung in there and managed to reduce my 2000 point army down to 490 points. That was just mind boggling, Six turns and for a while I was afraid that I was going to get my ass kicked with my own army - and honestly I almost did!
Needless to say, after playing against my own Beastmen with my Wood Elves and seeing how my list stood up against my primary army was very gratifying. The Doombull General managed to wipe out 2 units all by himself including the Wood elf General.
Reuben is now charged with completing his Warriors of Chaos army and throwing down again against me for a killer rematch. The gauntlet hath been thrown!
Also on a side note: I'm super pleased with how well the Beastman army list did. I will continue to use that composition against my friends. This was a rather effective way of testing out a list without having to play it!
The Army Lists:
2000 Pts - The Great Hunt, War Host of Athel Loren
Waywatcher Lord Sylvos Greystorm the Huntsman, Ranger General of Athel Loren (1#, 239 pts)
1 Wood Elf Highborn, 239 pts (General; Scout Kindred; Hand Weapon; Longbow; Extra Hand Weapon; Light Armour; Extra Attack)
1 The Bow of Loren
1 Arcane Bodkins
The Stalkers of the Silent Path (10#, 240 pts)
10 Waywatchers, 240 pts (Hand Weapon; Extra Hand Weapon; Longbow; Extra Attack; Scouts; Skirmishers)
Archdruidess Nysa Greystorm the Storm Maiden, Heirophant of Athel Loren (1#, 230 pts)
1 Spellweaver, 230 pts (Hand Weapon; Longbow)
1 Talisman of Protection
The Farstriders of Lady Dreamsinger (14#, 186 pts)
14 Glade Guard, 186 pts (Musician Mus; Standard Bearer Std; Hand Weapon; Longbow)
The Twilight Host (14#, 186 pts)
14 Glade Guard, 186 pts (Musician Mus; Standard Bearer Std; Hand Weapon; Longbow)
The Handmaidens of Durthu, the Verdant Rage (10#, 132 pts)
9 Dryads, 132 pts (Causes Fear; Skirmishers)
1 Branch Nymph
Scryah, the Last Shadow (1#, 50 pts)
1 Great Eagle, 50 pts (Flyer)
Gwynador, the Scion of the Sethayla (1#, 50 pts)
1 Great Eagle, 50 pts (Flyer)
The Wolfkin, Feral Knights of Durthu (6#, 390 pts)
6 Tree Kin, 390 pts (Causes Fear; Flammable; Scaly Skin)
The Outriders of Twilight, Huntsmen of Kurnous (10#, 296 pts)
9 Wild Riders of Kurnous, 296 pts (Musician Mus; Standard Bearer Std; Spear; Light Armour; Fast Cavalry; Magic Resistance (1))
1 Wild Hunter (Spear; Light Armour)
10 Elven Steed
VS.
2000 Pts - The Wild Hunt, Warherd of the Drakenwald Forest
Rorg Doombringer, Lord of the Wild Hunt (1#, 311 pts)
1 Doombull, 311 pts (General; Hand Weapon; Shield; Causes Fear; Frenzy; Stomp)
1 Sword of Swift Slaying
1 Armour of Fortune
1 Uncanny Senses
The Blood Guard of the Doombringer (5#, 325 pts)
5 Minotaurs, 325 pts (Musician Mus; Standard Bearer Std; Hand Weapon; Extra Hand Weapon; Light Armour; Extra Attack; Stomp)
Ruld the Prophet of Ruin (1#, 181 pts)
1 Wargor (Battle Standard Bearer), 181 pts (Primal Fury; Hand Weapon; Heavy Armour; Shield; Battle Standard Bearer)
1 Gnarled Hide
1 Totem of Rust
The Blasphemous Host, Doomseekers of the Rust Lord (41#, 353 pts)
40 Gor Herd, 353 pts (Ambush; Primal Fury; Musician Mus; Standard Bearer Std; Hand Weapon; Extra Hand Weapon; Extra Attack)
1 Foe-Render (Hand Weapon; Extra Hand Weapon; Extra Attack)
Shal-guroth, the Blightgiver. Bane of Athel Loren (1#, 137 pts)
1 Bray-Shaman, 137 pts (Primal Fury; Level 2 Upgrade; Hand Weapon; Extra Hand Weapon; Extra Attack)
1 Terrifying Mask of Eee!
The Bane Knights of the Blightgiver (19#, 258 pts)
18 Bestigor Herd, 258 pts (Always Strikes Last; Primal Fury; Musician Mus; Standard Bearer Std; Great Weapon; Heavy Armour)
1 Gouge-Horn (Always Strikes Last; Hand Weapon; Great Weapon; Heavy Armour)
Malacar the Elf-bane (1#, 80 pts)
1 Tuskgor Chariot, 80 pts (Primal Fury; Chariot; Swiftstride)
1 Gor Driver (Spear)
1 Bestigor Warrior (Always Strikes Last; Great Weapon)
2 Tuskgor
Jorga the Shattered Axe (1#, 80 pts)
1 Tuskgor Chariot, 80 pts (Primal Fury; Chariot; Swiftstride)
1 Gor Driver (Spear)
1 Bestigor Warrior (Always Strikes Last; Great Weapon)
2 Tuskgor
Agtha-shalesh, the Terror of Drakenwald (1#, 275 pts)
1 Ghorgon, 275 pts (Causes Terror; Frenzy; Immune to Psychology; Large Target; Stubborn; Thunder Stomp)
There will definitely be more battle reports with images and battle maps to come in the future. I fully intend on using Battle Chronicler for the next few games to showcase the mobility and effectiveness of both of these lists. Thanks for reading!
That seems to be a really interesting way of finding out things about your own list that you may have missed yourself. How did it end in Victory points?
ReplyDeleteI have now played my first 8th edition game with my Wood Elf army, with some tactical inspiration from your blog and it went really well. I beat a more experienced player (with a Goblin army bolstered with Giants, but still) by 700 points. I was actually quite succesful in putting my general in a small Glade rider unit. They could not be caught and killed a Giant and a hero. My Spellweaver blew herself and her unit up first turn, though. Luckily my opponent's Shaman had 4 miscast on six tries, so I got away with it. Keep updating - I am reading with great interest! :)
I ended up killing the entire army turn six but I only had 490 points left on the board.
ReplyDeleteI'm pleased to hear you beat an Orcs and Goblins army. That army is my bane. I'd experiment with using a Highborn on an elven steed but I'm not too fond of Glade Riders sadly. I'd be too tempted to rush into combat rather than play it safe and stay back and shoot. However...hrm... that does give me an idea for a new unit.. well player sir..well played indeed.