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8th Ed. 2000 points Invasion Scenario. LM attackers, WoC defenders

Discussion in 'Battle Reports' started by Scalenex, Feb 22, 2017.

  1. Scalenex
    Slann

    Scalenex Keeper of the Indexes Staff Member

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    @eron12 and I had the plan to play two Invasion games, taking turns as attacker and defender at 2000 points. We only had time for one game. We were rusty on 8th so had to look up more stuff than usual which slowed us down, and we took a leisurely pace which slowed things down. Mostly, Invasion games take longer than normal games. There are 8 turns rather than 6. Also because the attacker gets fresh reinforcements often, most of the turns took about an hour. Normal games, the latter turns go much quicker as both sides run out of models, but the constant reinforcements form the attacker takes time to deploy.

    I was invading lands controlled by the Warriors of Chaos.

    Lizardmen

    Slann, BSB, Harmonic Convergence, Soul of Stone, Becalming Cognition Focus of Mystery Iron Curse Icon, Channeling Staff, High Magic

    Skink Priest, Lore of Beasts, L1, Dispel Scroll

    15 Saurus Warriors, HWS, Champion, Standard
    15 Saurus Warriors, HWS, Champion, Standard
    15 Saurus Warriors, HWS, Champion, Standard
    2 Kroxigor, 16 Skinks, Standard Bearer,
    2 Kroxigor, 16 Skinks, Standard Bearer,
    12 Skink Skirmishers, Javelin and Shield*
    * I played with a patrol leader forgetting I hadn’t bought one, oops.

    5 Chameleon Skinks
    24 Temple Guard, Champion, Standard, Bearer of Eternal Flame

    Warriors of Chaos

    L4 Tzeentch Lord with 3+ ward save, Disc of Tzeentch. Plague of Rust, Transmutation of Lead, Final Transformation, and Enchanted Blades of Aiban.

    Exalted Champion with Demonic Steed, mark of Tzeentch and 3+ Ward save.

    19 Chaos Warriors with Mark of Nurgle, HWS
    19 Chaos Warriors with Mark of Khorne, extra handweapon.
    10 Chaos Hounds
    5 Chaos Hounds

    Chimera with Breath Weapon and Regeneration.

    Hellcannon

    The table was smaller than an Invasion set up, we basically played a normal table but my starting position was in a cramped zone at the far end like Battle for the Pass. The defender pretty much got to set up wherever he wanted and in this scenario, the Defenders deploy after the attacker’s total force is down. For those rusty on how Invasion works. The defender gets a more advantageous starting position but the attacker can replace all destroyed Core units as reinforcements endlessly. It’s in the defender’s interest to let severely depleted and fleeing enemy Core units live as long as possible.

    Up to seven victory points. One point for dominating a table quarter which means having twice the units as the other guy (or being the sole occupant of the quarter). Single models that are not monsters do not count, but fleeing units do with the RAW. We decided if we play Invasion again to house rule that fleeing units do not get to hold objectives, but it’s generally a good idea to play RAW once before house ruling new stuff. We could get one point for occupying the three watch towers or being the closest to the watch tower, and within 12 inches.

    In the lower left corner a little bit towards the center so it wasn’t quite the lower left was a watch tower surrounded by a U-Shaped mysterious river segment. This was my easy pickings. Opposite on the other end of the table was a watchtower on a hill almost as far as it could be. This was my hardest to gain tower, in theory. The third tower was on my center right closer to my opponent than I.

    The dead center of the board had a Magic Circle (bestows MR 2 to units near it). The MR never came into play because I never bothered attacking models near it with magic missiles. My lower right corner had a nice useful feature, Arcane Ruins (boosts channeling attempts). Just above my deployment zone towards the center of the table was an ordinary forest. Far right corner there was a house which no one ever went near.

    My tiny deployment zone was packed tight. I had to be 12 inches from the long table sides. My zone was only three units wide. A Saurus block took my front right and left flanks with Skroxigor in the middle. Behind this was a unit of Skroxigor on my left, Slann bunker in the center, Saurus Warriors on my right. Behind the rightmost Saurus Warriors were my Skirmishers and Skink Priest.

    A small unit of Chaos Hounds the back left corner opposite the house. Chimera deployed in back right corner near house. Hellcannon deployed on the on the hill. Khorne Warriors deloyed towards my center left. 19 Nurgle took the center right near the middle watch tower. General/wizard and Exalted Champion of Tzeentch deployed pretty far forward. Just past the river on my left side were five Marauder horseman. Opposite them were 10 Chaos Hounds.

    Chameleon Skinks deployed in the mysterious river. I found out it was Necrotic ooze, yay they got poisoned attacks!

    LM 1
    My front right Saurus needed a 9 to reach the Chaos hounds, they failed their charge which impeded the marching of the Saurus behind them. My Skirmishers moved to take a pot shot at the hounds and let my Skink Priest be in range of the arcane ruins. Front left Skroxigor advance. Front left Saurus advance into woods, Slann bunker follows wake of Saurus and Skroxigor. Skroxigor back left point towards marauders. Chameleon Skinks occupy the closer watch tower

    4 PD versus 3 DD. Cast Soul Quench to knock four hounds off of the larger hound block. Walk Between Worlds shut down with dispel dice.

    Skirmishers had to fire at the hounds through the arcane ruins which provided hard cover. I actually rolled some 7s but no scored no wounds. Chamo Skinks take out one Marauder shooting from the tower. Many sixes were rolled. I got great poison, Marauders got great armor saves. The Skink Cohort nearest the Marauders shooting fell flat.

    No close combat.

    Chaos 1
    Closest hounds charge the skirmishers and lose one to stand and shoot. Because they had to charge around the Arcane ruins only about half of our respective units were in base to base. Note, back right could charge the hounds in retaliation if front right Saurus wasn’t barely in the way next turn. Marauders march behind me into my back field to annoy me. Distant hounds move towards the tower with my Chameleon Skinks stopping just barely out of range of my shooting. Khorne Warriors advance full as did the Chimera. Nurgle Warriors moved a few inches. Exalted Champion moved around the magic circle. Tzeentch moved to far right edge.

    7 PD 7 DD. I let Plague of Rust hit my front right Saurus. They were on a path to fight the Chimera and the armor wouldn’t really matter. I dispelled his other stuff.

    I lost four Temple Guard to a direct hit from the Hellcannon. I got great saves. Yay 3+ armor save and Iron Curse Icon.

    Skinks kills one hound, hounds kill one Skink, Skinks barely in range of Slann, held without needing Slann. I reformed to maximize frontage because the Skinks seemed to be winning.

    LM 2
    Chameleon Skinks exit building to get in range of hounds. Rearmost Skrox advanced to be able to charge Khrone or take building later. Skroxigor B marches to Nurgle with TG on their heels and Plague of Rust Saurus group. Other front Saurus group move towards Khorne Warriors. Third Saurus block plays catch up between their brethren and the TG, still not having line of sight to the enemy. Skirmishers still engaged, I chose to ignore the Marauders in my back field.

    8 PD and 4 DD (arcane ruins helped me a lot). He dispelled Arcane Forging, I cast Wyssans on my engaged Skinks. Failed a one die Walk Between Worlds.

    Chameleon Skinks kill two out of five of the hounds threatening them.

    Skinks wipe out the Chaos hounds before the hounds could strike. Skinks triumphing in close combat. That weirds me out too.

    Chaos 2
    Hell Cannon fails its Ld test and advances towards the nearest Skroxigor block. Its advance was cut short by the magic circle, though it was much too far anyway. Nurgle Warriors charge the nearest Skroxigor block. Khorne Warriors charge the nearest Saurus block along with their wizard. The Warriors had to cross the river of Necrotic Ooze and lose three models doing so. Chaos Hounds charge Chamo Skinks and the chamo Skinks take one out with shooting causing them to panic and abort the charge running 3 inches. Chimera charges SKroxigor joining the Nurgle warriors. Tzeentch Wizard flies to arcane ruins to get in on the sweet extra channels and aim spells at me. Marauders move right advancing parallel my table edge.

    4 PD vs 6 DD (extra channels for the lopsided dice). Wizard irresistibly casts Final Transformation killing three Temple Guard, thankfully auto-killing the Slann. Miscast makes him a L3 who loses Final Transformation

    Nurgle Warriors kill 8 Skinks, Skinks kill a Warrior, Monster takes 5 off of the Kroxigor, surviving wounded Kroxigor flattens 2 warriors, Thunderstomps kills 3 more Skinks. Skinks flee through the Temple Guard who are not surprised at all

    Other fight went well for one considering how hopelessly out classed 15 Saurus Warriors are against 20 Chaos Warriors. The Exalted Champion kills one Saurus. The Khorne Warriors only kill one Saurus between them, the Champion’s mount whiff, and the Saurus take out two Warriors. They hold.

    LM 3
    Plague of Rust Saurus charge Chimera. TG charge adjacent Nurgle troops. If I had thought this through they should have charged the Chimera and let themselves hit the Nurgle troops naturally. That means I couldn’t attack the Chimera with my TG (and their flaming banner). My fleeing Skrox Rally. Healthy Skrox march towards Khorne Warriors, Skink Skirmishers back up to 12 inches from Marauders. My backmost Saurus march as far forward as they can. Chameleon Skinks march after fleeing the hounds.

    9 pd 5 dd, Hand of Glory +1 WS for TG, Soul Quench the Marauders to death from the Skink vassal (so the Skinks don’t even get to shoot. Opponent Dispelled Aposthesis on Skroxigor. I flubbed an easy casting of Walk Between Worlds. Failed a long-shot casting of Wyssans Wildform.

    Chameleon Skinks plink a wound off the fleeing Chaos hounds, one left. It needs snakes to rally now.

    Exalted Champion whiffs. Khrone Warrios kill 6 Saurus. Demonic mount kills 1 Saurus. I killed two warriors, lost by 6, Saurus break, run 3 inches, hero runs 10, Khrone run 4. Leader smacks back of depleted Skroxigor who just rallied last turn.

    I should have had the Temple Guard charge the Chimera, technically not in combat, no flaming banner. Saurus lose 8 models against the Chimera, inflict no damage back. Ouch. Nurgle Warriors kill 3 TG. TG kill 2 Nurgle Warriors. Static CR means I won that fight by a slim margin, but the warriors hold.

    Chaos 3
    Hellcannon passes Ld test, Khorne Warriors have no legal charges, so they reposition. Wizard charges TG flank, Khorne Warriors Swift Reform move towards rear of TG. The last Chaos Hound fails to rally runs a very short distance.

    9 PD versus 9 DD. Chaos got a very good non-IF roll on Enchanted Blades, I opted to scroll it, I diced his other spells

    Hellcannon kills a Krox and 11 skinks on my healthy Skrox block in the river

    Nurgle Warriors kill 7 TG, TG kill 2 Nurgle Warriors. The Chimera wiped out the Saurus block it was fighting. Exalted champion kills all but one Skink who predictably bolts. Exalted champion restrains pursuit to let him. If no Skinks survive, who will tell the story? There must be a witness to his glory.

    LM 4
    Skroxigor charge rear of Khorne Warriors. Chameleon Skinks charge the last doggie to make it run further. My only original undamaged unit of Sauri charges the Chimera because watching the Chimera singlehandedly butcher their comrades made no lasting impression. My solo Cohort Skink rolls snakes and rallies. The one time I needed a Skink to keep running, it didn’t! Saurus reinforcements come basically from my original deployment zone. Skirmishers advance as far as they could while keeping priest in range or ruins.

    5 PD 2 DD, I cast Wyssans on the Sauri fighting Chimera. Eron dispelled hand of glory.

    Skink Shooting at Exalted Champion fails to penetrate his crazy saves.

    Skroxigor who charged the Khorne warriors were wiped out before they could hit back making it the weakest rear charge in history. Saurus and Chimera have a big pillow fight, no wounds inflicted at all. I won by four static CR, monster needed a four to hold position and got snakes. If I beat the Chimera this would be the turning point. Sadly, it did not occur.

    We remembered that Chaos characters have to challenge: Revered Guardian versus wizard. Wizard flubs, but the Disc of Tzeentch killed my Revered Guardian. The Temple Guard did not make a good showing for themselves against the Nurgle troops. Lost many more than I inflicted.

    Chaos 4
    Khorne Warriors are frenzied and have to charge the last of the TG bunker, not that the Nurgle warriors needed the help. Last Chaos doggy runs off table. Exalted Champion moves just enough to dip his toe in the river and gained poisoned attacks.

    9 PD vs 10 DD. Wizard gets IF on his first buff spell, small damaging template splats 2 Khorne Warriors and 1 Temple Guard. I easily shut down the rest of his magic phase

    The Saurus block that came in as reinforcements insulted the Hellcannon by existing. Hellcannon pastes 7 of them.

    Wizard puts a wound on the Slann in a challenge. My last TG is killed, Slann breaks and dies since he is the BSB.

    Chimera finally uses its breath weapon and flubs the extra attacks. Regular attack kill six Saurus, Thunderstomp kills 3. Chimera breaks them and runs them down.

    LM 5
    I can only deploy reinforcements in a table corner I dominate, and I only controlled the lower left at this point. Skroxigor and Saurus reinforcements deploy on or near the river. Saurus show up in my other deployment zone. Damaged Saurus advanced towards Khorne Warriors. Skink Skirmishers move to side of Chimera, Chameleon move to side of Hellcannon within the Hellcannons minimum range.

    No more Slann, I only had Wyssan’s and it was dispelled

    Chameleons shoot the Hellcannon. Skirmishers shoot the Chimera, no damage on either

    Chaos 5
    Hellcannon passes Ld test. Nurgle charges Skink Skirmishers and lose two members to stand and shoot. They make the charge. Chimera, wizard, and Khorne warriors charge depleted Saurus. Khorne warriors fail, but the Chimera and wizard make it

    6 PD vs 3 Dd. Dispelled plague of rust. Saurus engaged with Chimera and Wizards face transmutation of Lead, not that they would last long anyway. Nurgle Warriors fighting Skinks get Enchanted Blade of Aiban because there is no kill like overkill.

    Hellcannon misses for the first time, though I guess the involuntary move is effectively a miss.

    Unit champion overkilled my Patrol Leader by two. Skink priest targeted with individual attacks and slain. 7 rank and filed Skinks are killed. Remaining 3 Skinks bolt. Warriors restrain pursuit.

    LM 6
    Lone Cohort Skink makes suicidal charge against Nurgle Warriors. Saurus Warriors fail to rally which is good for me, but their move stops a half inch from the board which is bad for me. Remaining Skink Skirmishers flee off table. Skrox charge Exalted Champion, Chameleons move closer to Hell Cannon

    No magic phase for me anymore.

    Chameleon Skinks fail to wound Hellcannon.

    Nurgle Warriors paste the crazy Skink, paving the way for a reinforcement unit for me.

    I lost three Skinks against the Exalted Champion. Kroxigor failed to inflict an unsaved wound. Skinks fail too, but I wasn’t expecting them to come through.

    Chaos 6
    Khorne Warriors charge Saurus joining wizard and chimera in this very one-sided fight.

    6 PD versus 4 DD. I dispelled Plague of Rust. He cast Enchanted Blades on the Exalted Champion

    Hellcannon misses for the second time. Huzzah.

    We remember mandatory challenge this time. Wizard kills Saurus champion early, so his disk cannot attack. Khorne Warriors and Chimera claw apart mostof the Sauri. Thunderstomp finishes remnants of the Sauri. Frenzied Khorne Warriors have to overrun towards my table edge.

    LM 7
    Saurus try charging flank of Khorne warriors and fail. Skrox reinforements appear near river tower and occupy it to secure at least one point for me. I got Skink Skirmishers which I deployed near the Chimera. Fleeing Sauri and Fleeing Skrox rally. Saurus reinforcements deploy alongside rallying Saurus.

    No magic phase

    Skink Skirmishers wound the Chimera once. Chameleon Skinks wound the Hellcannon once. Too little too late.

    Chaos 7, Chaos
    I really should have moved my Chameleon Skinks, but I was so focused on the Hellcannon I forgot about the Swiftstride Exalted Champion who charged my Chamo Skinks. I chose to flee. Khorne Warriors charge my largest Saurus block because they have to. Nurgle Warriors fail swift reform test, point towards my deployment zone with a regular reform. Chimera flies back to occupy empty table quarter and be nearest to empty tower to secure two points for Chaos. Hellcannon moves towards far tower to try to secure the points there.

    9 PD versus 6 DD. I stop Enchanted Blades on the Khorne warriors. Wizard gets IF for Transmutation of Lead on Skroxigor in river, Miscast does no damage

    I sneaked a wound on the Exalted Champion, who racked up modest kills on the Skink unit. Skroxigor hold.

    LM Turn 8
    The Frenzied Khorne Warriors pushed so far forward they were ran to where all my reinforcements and rallied troops were. I hit them on the front, flank, and rear with my three Saurus blocks. Two were pretty healthy, one had 4 surviving Sauri. Chameleon Skinks failed to rally, rocketed through the watch tower on my opposite side and lost a member or two to a dangerous terrain test.

    No magic phase.

    Shooting phase was a wash.

    My three Saurus warriors finally take out the Khorne Warriors who were both outnumbered and out -positioned.

    Chaos Turn 8
    So I control the lower left corner completely uncontested. Chaos controls the upper right corner completely uncontested. I should have had my Skink skirmishers contest the lower right corner but I figured they could displace the Nurgle Warriors or Chimera. I hadn’t considered that the Chimera needed to withdraw to claim the nearest watch tower which it did

    The RAW allows fleeing units to contest corners and claim watchtowers. That means my fleeing Chameleon Skinks were able to claim the far watchtower and prevent the Hellcannon from controlling the upper right corner. That means we were both tied at 3 points.

    I had a very slim chance of gaining a win. If the Skroxigor fighting the wizard broke him and chased into the lower right corner. That would deny a point to Chaos. The Skroxigor failed to break the wizard which wasn’t surprising since he was buffed with spells and had great saves.

    Eron12 had a slim chance to win if he could use an indirect shot against my Chameleon Skink and kills two, then I couldn’t contest the corner. If he killed all three, he could gain the tower and the corner. Hellcannon missed though

    End Result
    Tied 3 points to 3 points. I had two towers and one table corner. Eron12 had one tower and two corners. The upper right was contested and yielded no points. I feel like Eron12 played better than I and deserved the win. I made two mistakes, and Eron12 basically made zero mistakes unless you think the Hellcannon chose the wrong targets to shoot at. We agreed that our next Invasion Scenario, we are going to house rule that fleeing units cannot contest quarters or claim watch towers.

    Eron12 and I both agreed that 2000 points seemed almost intolerably small. We played 2000 points because we thought we would have time for two games. That’s crazy. Invasion Scenarios are not fast scenarios.

    We played a smaller table than proscribed for Invasion scenarios and I could barely fit my army into my starting deployment zone. If we play the scenario with more than 2000 points (and we must!), we need a bigger table.

    In hindsight, the Temple Guard bunker maybe wasn’t the best idea. I shouldn’t have led the charge with it at least. A solo Slann hanging back and casting spells would probably be safer, though he would have been a magnet for the Hellcannon. Against another army, they’d have to deal with cannons and rock throwers. My solution. Slann with Skink Skirmishers to get “look out sirs.”

    On a related note, attacker or defender, I want more than one unit of Skink Skirmishers. They can’t kill much (apart from Chaos Hounds), but they can zip around the board and claim empty buildings or table corners. At the very least they can contest table corners.

    I never fielded my defending army because we only played one game, but it’s clear my defensive plan was not solid. I planned to occupy all three watch towers and the other units would run interference. Even though the warriors of Chaos were kicking my tail up and down the board, there was no way Eron12 could have defended the tower closest to me given my steady stream of reinforcements, so he did not bother contesting it. The defender only needs to secure the back half of the table. Two towers, two corners, four points. If I’m on the defender side I will plan accordingly and copy his strategy.

    We enjoyed playing an Invasion scenario. It seems fairly balanced between attacker and defender, and we will definitely consider playing it again.
     
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  2. Qupakoco
    Skink Chief

    Qupakoco Keeper of the Dice Staff Member

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    This bit threw me off, but I figured it out. Made me think you were playing Chaos for a moment.
    Interesting battle! In reading it, you seem to have had your butt kicked, but the ending tie was definitely legal. You cleaned up some at the end, so good job. A great example for playing to the objective and not focusing on tabling your opponent.

    Do you think you would change your army much? I've never really played with 15 strong Saurus blocks. Did you find their lack of staying power was made up for with being able to cover more area?
     
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  3. Scalenex
    Slann

    Scalenex Keeper of the Indexes Staff Member

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    My Skink Priest was near the Arcane Ruins. My Slann had extra channels. So I got bonuses from TWO sources.

    As the attacker I figured since my Core recycled, I didn't need or want to tie up the enemy. I also had the unforeseen benefit that my expendable units ended up pulling the Khorne warriors out of position. If only I could have done something about the Nurgle Warriors.

    I do not believe I would want to field units that tiny in a scenario without recycling Core, but with recycling Core, I think tiny units are better. They're grenades. They do damage then go away. Rinse and repeat.

    Now if we flip the scenario, I am going to have put a lot of hard thought into what an ideal set of Lizardmen defenders would look like, especially if I have to defend against Warriors of Chaos.
     
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  4. Scalenex
    Slann

    Scalenex Keeper of the Indexes Staff Member

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    I guess i had some more belated thoughts. We probably aren't going to do 2000 points again. If we can find a suitable table, maybe 3000 or 3500.

    I like the attackers having tiny Saurus units but I wish I had more Skink Skirmishers. Late game they can claim objectives but there is another thing they can do short term. I only brought in reinforcements into the lower left corner because that's the only one I ever controlled. I can theoretically have a bunch of Skinks sprint to opposite table end and "conquer" a near empty corner around turn 4 or so, then I can drop my reinforcements into the enemies backfield.

    Also, given how the literal and metaphorical core of the attack force is expendable, spearheading the charge with a Slann was not a good idea. I'm going to either run without Temple Guard next time I'm attacking in this scenario OR I'lll run a very small bunker and have the Slann hang back.

    I'll brainstorm what my defenders will look like, but that's realistically months off, if that. Eron12 and I are busy people and rarely have five hours of free time at the exact same time.
     
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  5. Qupakoco
    Skink Chief

    Qupakoco Keeper of the Dice Staff Member

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    Yeah, and if you can't conquer it at least you'll contest areas with your Skinks.

    I'd imagine a defensive list would be similar to your previous list, but maybe with bigger units. Again though, you'll need mobility to secure some corners, but the staying power to hold them.

    Do you have any cavalry available?
     

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