16 Oct 2014
Alrighty, I got another game in! This time, it's against an opponent who, although being in the hobby on-and-off for the past 8 years, has never played a game! So, I offered to give him a tutorial battle, and with the help of a veteran Bret player, my opponent got himself assembled and ready for battle!
My list, to start off:
Heroes:
Firebelly - Lvl2, GW, Talisman of Endurance, Powerstone
Bruiser - BSB, HA, Enchanted Shield, Sword of Striking
Core:
7 Ogres - FC, Ironfists
3 Ironguts - mus
3 Ironguts - mus
Special:
4 Leadbelchers - mus
3 MFC - FC, Gleaming Pennant
Rare:
Ironblaster
Overall, 1497.
My opponent's list:
Damsel, Lvl2 Beasts, horseback
Paladin BSB, 1+rerollable
Paladin, 1+rerollable
10 Knights of the Realm, FC, War Banner (all characters here)
9 KotR, FC, Flaming Banner
9 KotR, FC, Swiftness Banner
20 Peasant Bowmen
3 Peg Knights, various upgrades
Yeah, so I wasn't too worried about this list, but I wanted to change up my own stuff just to try different things and figure out more information on Bretonnia, which is an army I've barely played. I would like to note, however, that we didn't know about the KotR's banners until near the end of the game, since the player who made the list didn't have the list written up for either of us to look at; but, again, no biggie, I don't think that they would have changed the outcome anyways!
Deployment:
The line-up was simple, as we chose to work in only a 4'x4' area (small enough game, kept it from getting too spread out and crazy).
My lines: MFC on the far left, then IGuts, Ogres, IGuts, Leadies, and IBlaster on the back hill.
His lines: Pegs on the far right, then KotR, KotR, Archers in back, and Character bus on side.
For Magic, I rolled double 3's, and chose to take Fireball and Flaming Sword of Rhuin. He rolled Savage Beast of Horros and Transformation which he traded for Wyssan's.
Just a close-up of his guys. I have to say, his hobby was definitely the painting, and it shows; it was really a gorgeous army, very well painted and organized. He told me afterwards that he actually had sold his collection a few years ago and was getting back into it, so he's starting again from scratch. Not a bad paintjob, I'd have to say!
He prays, and I go first, as per Bret-battle tradition.
Important Notice: I made a lot of choices that would seem sub-par in most normal scenarios, but since I was teaching my opponent how to play his very first game, I didn't want to steamroll him, but rather gave him opportunities to learn the rules and figure out how to play. I will, however, highlight a couple key errors that I made that I think really affected the outcome of the game.
OK1:
Movement: I inched everything forward a bit, and put my MFC at about 19" away from his flank forces.
Magic: I roll double one's, and he channels, so we're 2v2. I successfully cast a small Fireball onto his green KotR, which bounces off his armor.
Shooting: My Ironblaster lines up a shot for his green KotR, but misfires, and 'spins' a fraction of a degree to his right. My Leadbelchers open up on his red KotR (the character-bus), and knock 5 of them off their high horses with a large volley of fodder.
CC: Not Yet!
Yuck, I didn't realize how blurry my camera was... Stupid phone on low battery... This was the end of the movement.
Bret1:
Movement: He attempted two long charges with his Pegs and yellow KotR on my MFC, and just barely missed both charges, rolling a 10 and a 9 when he needed and 11 and a 10 respectively! (I actually had wanted him to make the charge, just to get the excitement going for the new gamer). He was going to long-charge with his other KotR's but I told him to hold back and wait, because if he failed either charge and left himself wide open I'd be able to piecemeal his army and decimate him.
Magic: He gets a few dice, and attempts a Wyssan's on his green KotR; I proceed to dispel it.
Shooting: Arrows fly, and put a wound into the left-flank Ironguts. The piece of terrain next to them was treated as a forest, and they could've gotten cover, but I decided that it would be easier this game not to worry about that.
CC: Almost there!
Getting there...
Preparing for the great battle...
OK2:
Movement: I declare a charge with my MFC into his yellow KotR(*), and I also declare long charges with all of my non-shooting Ogre units (needing 10's and 11's). I successfully make the MFC charge, but fail all of the infantry charges. I then shuffle the Leadies and Ironblaster forward a bit more.
Magic: I get Flaming Sword off onto the Leadbelchers... mwahaha...
Shooting: The Leadbelchers then proceed to chip off a couple green KotR models (crazy armor saves!!). The Ironblaster targets the character-bus, and almost overshoots the whole unit; he manages to clip and annihilate one regular knight at the back of the bus, however.
CC: The MFC kill just under half the unit, and their armor soak up the couple wounds sent through on them. The knights outrun the pursuers but don't make it off the table edge.
Looking good for the Ogres so far!
Bret2:
Movement: It's go-time! After a bit of discussion with some of the other guys in the shop, we all agreed the best course of action for the knights would be to charge the mini Irongut units, in an attempt to overrun and avoid the Bull-star. He makes both charges easily, and proceeds to fly the Peg Knights around the back field to try and join the rest of their compatriots. The yellow KotR rally, preparing for another MFC assault...
Magic: He rolls for the boosted Savage Beasts, and ends up getting a 19 (needing 20). Sad day for the damsel
Shooting: The arrows fly into the Leadbelchers, who happened to have the right armor in the right spots to keep the wounds down to only 1 unsaved. They picked the wrong targets to start a shooting war...
lol
CC: As predicted, the knights mow over the Ironguts (while each losing 1 knight apiece), and the Ironguts both break. The red KotR pursue but fail to catch them, while the green KotR restrain and prepare to set up the Bull-trap!
The games beginning to switch directions...!
OK3:
Movement: Looking at my options, I decided to charge the MFC into the yellow KotR, the Ogres into the green KotR, and the Ironblaster into the red KotR (**). I move the Leadbelchers up closer to the archers, to prepare to show them how shootin' works
Magic: I decide to give Flaming Sword to the Ironblaster, since it was going to be an uphill fight against those characters.
Shooting: Leadbelchers shoot off a payload and manage to kill... two archers. (They did more damage to knights than they did to archers, funny huh?).
CC: The Ironblaster whiffs his attacks, and breaks due to pure static rez. He runs, and gives them a free reform to face the Bulls' rear... whoops... The Ogres, however, prove to do much better, and choosing to use my Firebelly's fire-breath (***), manage to wipe the unit out completely. I then realize the error of my ways, as I'm now in easy charge range for both the red KotR and the Peg Knights. I choose to face the KotR. The MFC respectively smashes and sends off the yellow KotR, although they fail to restrain and barely stay on the table edge (by like 2").
Oh dear, here we go...
Bret3:
Movement: Knights and Peg Knights into the front and rear of the Bulls. That pretty much sums that up!
Magic: He gets the Boosted Savage Beasts... oh crap lol. So there's three characters that now just got really scary...
Shooting: The game was running really late by this point (since we had to stop a lot to go over rules), so we decided to just call it after this big combat, so we skipped the shooting (or, if he did shoot, I don't think he caused any wounds to the leadies, I don't recall).
CC: Needless to say...
Before...
...and After. He kills a rank of Bulls, AND practically one-shots my BSB (who didn't have a ward save, oops!) with both Paladins. I kill a couple Knights, and manage to stay Steadfast, where I roll a 7 to stay in the fight.
We call the game as is, and here it stands! Officially, it ends up being a draw, but, honestly, it really could have gone either way (most likely in his favor, IMO).
Special Notes upon the Key Errors I made:
*: I should have charged his Peg Knights. He wasn't planning on running with any unit, and if I had done that, the odds would have been that I would have tied up that whole flank with my MFC, and it would have kept the Pegs from getting over to the Bulls, which would have allowed that fight to be much more balanced.
**: I should not have charged with my Ironblaster. I was kinda thinking I'd be able to tie them up, but that was an error. I should have shuffled it forward out of the charge arc of the knights (or heck, he could've stayed there, delaying his knights from my Bulls that much longer) and used Grapeshot. I think the Grapeshot could've done more damage than what I did with the charge. But, allowing him to reform as I did because of the charge just put the nail in the coffin for that game lol
***: This was just a silly choice, as I had already clearly won the fight and they would've had to hold on double 1's. If I had saved the Fire-breath, it could've given me the possibility of an extra wound or two in the big fight at the end, which probably wouldn't have changed much, but could've done something.
Overall, the game was fun, although it was really long for 1500 points, but hey, we were training, he was learning, and everyone was more or less having fun. The dice felt pretty balanced, I had some good rolling early on but he caught up towards the end, and the fact that I didn't table him or just utterly beat him was important for me; I gave him a good run, but I kept him still interested in playing; nobody wants to be destroyed in the game, let-alone a first-timer. I want to make their be a challenge, but not a slaughter. And that's what we both ended up having: a solid game with a more-or-less solid outcome.
If the game had continued into the last three turns, my guess would be that the Leadies would've panicked the archers off the table, and it would have been MFC and Leadies versus Pegs and a very depleted character bus. Who would've won? I dunno. But I'm happy with a draw, and I was willing to let my opponent have it as a victory, because to learn to play the game and be excited about the game is always considered a victory in my book.
My list, to start off:
Heroes:
Firebelly - Lvl2, GW, Talisman of Endurance, Powerstone
Bruiser - BSB, HA, Enchanted Shield, Sword of Striking
Core:
7 Ogres - FC, Ironfists
3 Ironguts - mus
3 Ironguts - mus
Special:
4 Leadbelchers - mus
3 MFC - FC, Gleaming Pennant
Rare:
Ironblaster
Overall, 1497.
My opponent's list:
Damsel, Lvl2 Beasts, horseback
Paladin BSB, 1+rerollable
Paladin, 1+rerollable
10 Knights of the Realm, FC, War Banner (all characters here)
9 KotR, FC, Flaming Banner
9 KotR, FC, Swiftness Banner
20 Peasant Bowmen
3 Peg Knights, various upgrades
Yeah, so I wasn't too worried about this list, but I wanted to change up my own stuff just to try different things and figure out more information on Bretonnia, which is an army I've barely played. I would like to note, however, that we didn't know about the KotR's banners until near the end of the game, since the player who made the list didn't have the list written up for either of us to look at; but, again, no biggie, I don't think that they would have changed the outcome anyways!
Deployment:
The line-up was simple, as we chose to work in only a 4'x4' area (small enough game, kept it from getting too spread out and crazy).
My lines: MFC on the far left, then IGuts, Ogres, IGuts, Leadies, and IBlaster on the back hill.
His lines: Pegs on the far right, then KotR, KotR, Archers in back, and Character bus on side.
For Magic, I rolled double 3's, and chose to take Fireball and Flaming Sword of Rhuin. He rolled Savage Beast of Horros and Transformation which he traded for Wyssan's.
Just a close-up of his guys. I have to say, his hobby was definitely the painting, and it shows; it was really a gorgeous army, very well painted and organized. He told me afterwards that he actually had sold his collection a few years ago and was getting back into it, so he's starting again from scratch. Not a bad paintjob, I'd have to say!
He prays, and I go first, as per Bret-battle tradition.
Important Notice: I made a lot of choices that would seem sub-par in most normal scenarios, but since I was teaching my opponent how to play his very first game, I didn't want to steamroll him, but rather gave him opportunities to learn the rules and figure out how to play. I will, however, highlight a couple key errors that I made that I think really affected the outcome of the game.
OK1:
Movement: I inched everything forward a bit, and put my MFC at about 19" away from his flank forces.
Magic: I roll double one's, and he channels, so we're 2v2. I successfully cast a small Fireball onto his green KotR, which bounces off his armor.
Shooting: My Ironblaster lines up a shot for his green KotR, but misfires, and 'spins' a fraction of a degree to his right. My Leadbelchers open up on his red KotR (the character-bus), and knock 5 of them off their high horses with a large volley of fodder.
CC: Not Yet!
Yuck, I didn't realize how blurry my camera was... Stupid phone on low battery... This was the end of the movement.
Bret1:
Movement: He attempted two long charges with his Pegs and yellow KotR on my MFC, and just barely missed both charges, rolling a 10 and a 9 when he needed and 11 and a 10 respectively! (I actually had wanted him to make the charge, just to get the excitement going for the new gamer
). He was going to long-charge with his other KotR's but I told him to hold back and wait, because if he failed either charge and left himself wide open I'd be able to piecemeal his army and decimate him.Magic: He gets a few dice, and attempts a Wyssan's on his green KotR; I proceed to dispel it.
Shooting: Arrows fly, and put a wound into the left-flank Ironguts. The piece of terrain next to them was treated as a forest, and they could've gotten cover, but I decided that it would be easier this game not to worry about that.
CC: Almost there!
Getting there...
Preparing for the great battle...
OK2:
Movement: I declare a charge with my MFC into his yellow KotR(*), and I also declare long charges with all of my non-shooting Ogre units (needing 10's and 11's). I successfully make the MFC charge, but fail all of the infantry charges. I then shuffle the Leadies and Ironblaster forward a bit more.
Magic: I get Flaming Sword off onto the Leadbelchers... mwahaha...
Shooting: The Leadbelchers then proceed to chip off a couple green KotR models (crazy armor saves!!). The Ironblaster targets the character-bus, and almost overshoots the whole unit; he manages to clip and annihilate one regular knight at the back of the bus, however.
CC: The MFC kill just under half the unit, and their armor soak up the couple wounds sent through on them. The knights outrun the pursuers but don't make it off the table edge.
Looking good for the Ogres so far!
Bret2:
Movement: It's go-time! After a bit of discussion with some of the other guys in the shop, we all agreed the best course of action for the knights would be to charge the mini Irongut units, in an attempt to overrun and avoid the Bull-star. He makes both charges easily, and proceeds to fly the Peg Knights around the back field to try and join the rest of their compatriots. The yellow KotR rally, preparing for another MFC assault...
Magic: He rolls for the boosted Savage Beasts, and ends up getting a 19 (needing 20). Sad day for the damsel
Shooting: The arrows fly into the Leadbelchers, who happened to have the right armor in the right spots to keep the wounds down to only 1 unsaved. They picked the wrong targets to start a shooting war...
lolCC: As predicted, the knights mow over the Ironguts (while each losing 1 knight apiece), and the Ironguts both break. The red KotR pursue but fail to catch them, while the green KotR restrain and prepare to set up the Bull-trap!
The games beginning to switch directions...!
OK3:
Movement: Looking at my options, I decided to charge the MFC into the yellow KotR, the Ogres into the green KotR, and the Ironblaster into the red KotR (**). I move the Leadbelchers up closer to the archers, to prepare to show them how shootin' works
Magic: I decide to give Flaming Sword to the Ironblaster, since it was going to be an uphill fight against those characters.
Shooting: Leadbelchers shoot off a payload and manage to kill... two archers. (They did more damage to knights than they did to archers, funny huh?
).CC: The Ironblaster whiffs his attacks, and breaks due to pure static rez. He runs, and gives them a free reform to face the Bulls' rear... whoops... The Ogres, however, prove to do much better, and choosing to use my Firebelly's fire-breath (***), manage to wipe the unit out completely. I then realize the error of my ways, as I'm now in easy charge range for both the red KotR and the Peg Knights. I choose to face the KotR. The MFC respectively smashes and sends off the yellow KotR, although they fail to restrain and barely stay on the table edge (by like 2").
Oh dear, here we go...
Bret3:
Movement: Knights and Peg Knights into the front and rear of the Bulls. That pretty much sums that up!
Magic: He gets the Boosted Savage Beasts... oh crap lol. So there's three characters that now just got really scary...
Shooting: The game was running really late by this point (since we had to stop a lot to go over rules), so we decided to just call it after this big combat, so we skipped the shooting (or, if he did shoot, I don't think he caused any wounds to the leadies, I don't recall).
CC: Needless to say...
Before...
...and After. He kills a rank of Bulls, AND practically one-shots my BSB (who didn't have a ward save, oops!) with both Paladins. I kill a couple Knights, and manage to stay Steadfast, where I roll a 7 to stay in the fight.
We call the game as is, and here it stands! Officially, it ends up being a draw, but, honestly, it really could have gone either way (most likely in his favor, IMO).
Special Notes upon the Key Errors I made:
*: I should have charged his Peg Knights. He wasn't planning on running with any unit, and if I had done that, the odds would have been that I would have tied up that whole flank with my MFC, and it would have kept the Pegs from getting over to the Bulls, which would have allowed that fight to be much more balanced.
**: I should not have charged with my Ironblaster. I was kinda thinking I'd be able to tie them up, but that was an error. I should have shuffled it forward out of the charge arc of the knights (or heck, he could've stayed there, delaying his knights from my Bulls that much longer) and used Grapeshot. I think the Grapeshot could've done more damage than what I did with the charge. But, allowing him to reform as I did because of the charge just put the nail in the coffin for that game lol
***: This was just a silly choice, as I had already clearly won the fight and they would've had to hold on double 1's. If I had saved the Fire-breath, it could've given me the possibility of an extra wound or two in the big fight at the end, which probably wouldn't have changed much, but could've done something.
Overall, the game was fun, although it was really long for 1500 points, but hey, we were training, he was learning, and everyone was more or less having fun. The dice felt pretty balanced, I had some good rolling early on but he caught up towards the end, and the fact that I didn't table him or just utterly beat him was important for me; I gave him a good run, but I kept him still interested in playing; nobody wants to be destroyed in the game, let-alone a first-timer. I want to make their be a challenge, but not a slaughter. And that's what we both ended up having: a solid game with a more-or-less solid outcome.
If the game had continued into the last three turns, my guess would be that the Leadies would've panicked the archers off the table, and it would have been MFC and Leadies versus Pegs and a very depleted character bus. Who would've won? I dunno. But I'm happy with a draw, and I was willing to let my opponent have it as a victory, because to learn to play the game and be excited about the game is always considered a victory in my book.
38 Gnobs! Almost on my 4th Pack of Trappers! Exciting
Gibblet, Nibblet, Crunchybit, Snorti, Lullzee, Wakezee, Wardler, and Primo! (For sharing the Forum Primer to help out a new member! )
New book WLD: 21/11/3 - Got trounced by one of the "Khaine" elf armies... Stupid new rules...
Gibblet, Nibblet, Crunchybit, Snorti, Lullzee, Wakezee, Wardler, and Primo! (For sharing the Forum Primer to help out a new member! )
New book WLD: 21/11/3 - Got trounced by one of the "Khaine" elf armies... Stupid new rules...