MKWGW Escalation League results

Game 1

Vampire Counts vs Skaven - 500 points

(Andrew Hogan vs Alex Hogan)

Result - Crushing Victory - 5 points

   Fully painted army - 3 points

   Newly painted units - 3 points

   Battle report - 1 point

   Total - 12 points

Game 2

Vampire Counts vs Vampire Counts - 750 points

(Andrew Hogan vs David Rouse)

Result - Defeat - 0 points

   Fully painted army - 3 points

   Newly painted units - 2 points

   Battle report - 1 point

   Total - 6 points

Game 3

Vampire Counts vs Orcs & Goblins - 1,000 points

(Andrew Hogan vs Anthony Lown)

Result - Crushing Victory - 5 points

   Fully painted army - 3 points

   Newly painted units - 3 points

   Battle report - 1 point

   Total - 12 points

Game 4

Vampire Counts vs Skaven - 1,250 points

(Andrew Hogan vs Iain Wilson)

Result - Victory - 3 points

   Fully painted army - 3 points

   Newly painted units - 1 point

   Battle report - 1 point

   Total - 8 points

Game 5

Vampire Counts vs Lizardmen - 1,500 points

(Andrew Hogan vs Liam McNamara)

Result - Defeat - 0 points

   Fully painted army - 3 points

   Newly painted units - 3 points

   Battle report - 1 point

   Total - 7 points

Game 6

Vampire Counts vs Skaven - 2,000 points

(Andrew Hogan vs Alexander Hogan)

Result - Defeat - 0 points

   Fully painted army - 3 points

   Newly painted units - 3 points

   Battle report - 1 point

   Total - 7 points

Totals

League Points - 13

Hobby Points - 39

Total Points - 52

The Final Battle

or

Here Come the Rats Again...AGAIN!!!

Upon reaching Luthor Harkon's fleet, Gotred Onjur was able to slink aboard a ship commanded by a Vampire Lord, Friedrich Carzon. The ship set sail as part of a vanguard flotilla ahead of the main fleet, but upon approaching Zandri in the Land of the Dead was blown off course and crashed just north of the now ruined town of Aznio in the realm of Tilea. To make matters worse, Estalia and Tilea had become overrun with Skaven.

Gotred had no choice but to concur with Carzon's decision to break through any Skaven forces as quickly as possible and try to reach Sylvania with the forces they had at hand that had survived the crash. Gotred had access to other skills and magics besides Necromancy, and was able to construct a Corpse Cart from the wreckage of the ship, and an abandoned cart was converted into a Black Coach. The nearby town of Aznio was strewn with corpses, which were animated into skeletons and zombies, and a prowling pack of Crypt Ghouls also joined their forces.

Having assembled a sizable entourage, Carzon led his forces inland and northwards. At first, their was little sign of any opposition, but on the third night of travelling, a large force of Skaven interrupted their progress.

The Forces

Vampire Counts

Friedrich Carzon (General) - Vampire Lord mounted on a Nightmare (Level 1 Lore of Vampires)

Dietmar Rabanov - Vampire mounted on a Nightmare (Level 2 Lore of Death)

10 Black Knights with full command and a Banner of Eternal Flame

Gotred Onjur - Master Necromancer with a Black Periapt (Level 4 Lore of Vampires)

30 Zombies with standard bearer and musician

20 Skeleton Warriors with full command

20 Crypt Ghouls led by a Crypt Ghast

Two packs of 5 Dire Wolves

2 Fell Bats

Spirit Host

Corpse Cart

Black Coach

Skaven

Warlord on a War-Litter (General)

Gey Seer

Chieftain with battle standard

Warlock Engineer with a Doomrocket

Assassin (hiding in the clanrats unit with the swords and shields)

34 Stormvermin

Poisoned Wind Mortar

20 Clanrats with sword and shield

Warpfire Thrower

20 Clanrats with spears

Poisoned Wind Mortar

6 Gutter Runners

Doomwheel

2 Warp Lightning Cannons

The Battle

Things started well for the Vampire Counts. Rabanov slew the Grey Seer with a single death spell before he could utter a syllable in response. The Skaven responded by unleashing their fire-power, demonstrating typical Skaven accuracy. A Warp Lightning Cannon and a Poisoned Wind Mortar exploded.The Doomrocket overshot slightly, only managing to obliterate nine of Gotred's Zombies. The Gutter Runners managed to slay four Dire Wolves. The second pack was wiped out when the Doomwheel charged into them.

Carzon led his Black Knights in a charge against the Doomwheel, hoping to quickly smash it and overrun out of range of the Stormvermin horde. Unfortunately, the Crypt Ghouls and even a newly raised unit of Zombies failed to slow the Stormvermin down. However, this manoeuvre had played into Gotred's hands, buying him time to hold off the advancing Clanrats. The Black Coach had already gained sufficient power to fly ethereally around the Skaven, smashing the Gutter Runners and running around the rear of the Skaven army to threaten the remaining Warp Lightning Cannon. Gotred in the meantime effectively used Gaze of Nagash to slay the Warpfire Thrower and send the Clanrats and Assassin running, though not before they had wiped out the Skeleton Warriors.

The Stormvermin charged into the rear of the Black Knights. The Vampires managed to take down a handful of Stormvermin, but were inevitably overrun. Gotred was able to prevent the undead from taking severe losses from the loss of their General and hold what was left of the army together.

The Stormvermin made an attempt to return to the centre of the battlefield to deal with the Master Necromancer but were just too far away to be effective. The Warlord left his unit to attempt to intercept the Black Coach. The Black Coach was able to outmanoeuvre the Warlord (and the Poisoned Wind Mortar, which was futilely attempting to block its charge) and smashed into the Warp Lightning Cannon, destroying it utterly.

Gotred was able able to stave off total defeat by finally raising a large mass of Zombies to block the remaining Clanrats. This final spell was at extreme risk, causing a Dimensional Cascade, which he was fortunate to survive, and only destroyed five of his Zombies.

Aftermath

Gotred was able to escape from Tilea and eventually found his way to the borders of Sylvania, only to find that someone had surrounded the realm with a wall of bones. Oh well, maybe he could hitch a lift in the Black Coach and fly over the top of it.

Victory Points

Vampire Counts - 863 pts

Skaven - 1,510 pts

The Battle That Time Forgot

Vampire Counts vs Lizardmen - 1,500 points

The fifth round of the MKWGW Escalation League saw my Vampire Counts matched up against Liam McNamara's Lizardmen. I had seem Liam play against my son in April so I had a fairly good idea of what to expect.

The Forces

     Vampire Counts army

Lords

Gotred Onjur - Master Necromaner (Level 3 Lore of Vampires)

                         Dispel Scroll, Talisman of Preservation

Heroes

Vampire - Level 1 (Lore of Death), Barded Nightmare, Heavy armour

       Red Fury, Sword of Might,    Enchanted Shield, Book of Arkhan

Vampire - Level 1 (Lore of Vampires), Barded Nightmare, Heavy armour, Shield, Lance

                          Obsidian Lodestone

Core Units

20 Crypt Ghouls - Champion

15 Skeleton Warriors (Sword and shield)

30 Zombies

Special Units

10 Black Knights - Lances, Full command

Rare Units

Terrorgheist

            Total points cost: 1,500 points

   



Lizardmen army

Lords

Slaan Mage Priest - Battle Standard

                          Wandering Deliberations, Becalming Cogitations, Dispel Scroll

Heroes

Skink Priest - Level 1 (Lore of Heavens)

                          Cube of Darkness

Saurus Scar-Veteran

                          Gold Sigil Sword, Enchanted Shield

Core Units

25 Saurus Warriors - Full command

10 Skink Skirmishers

Special Units

16 Temple Guard - Full command

Bastilodon

3 Ripperdactyl Riders

            Total points cost: 1,499 points

The Battle

   Turn One

The Vampire Counts won the roll for the first turn. The Terrorgheist moved at full speed towards the

Skink Skirmishers and the Black Knight unit with the Vampires moved towards the Slaan and the Temple Guard. In hindsight, I should have deployed the Terrorgheist on the right to deal with the Ripperdactyls. The Black Knights didn't make the most of their movement, and despite a bit of pre-measuring, I didn't move them as far forward as I could have, keeping them out of range of an imagined charge from the Temple Guard instead of being more aggressive.

The Terrorgheist screamed off four Skinks, and in the Magic phase, the Master Necromancer summoned up a few more Zombies in his own unit.

In the Lizardmen's first turn, the Sauruses (or is it Sauri?) on the left (my right) advanced cautiously, keeping their options open to either deal with the advancing skeletons or counter charge the Black Knights in the flank. The Ripperdactyls flew right over the Skeleton Warriors to attack the Master Necromancer's Zombie bunker. The Skinks attempted to make a screen in front of the Slaan and his Temple Guard, but didn't quite have enough movement to completely block a potential charge from the Black Knights.

In the Magic phase, the Lizardmen had twelve power dice to my seven dispel dice. The Terrorgheist was bombarded with magic, taking the brunt of four spells before being brought down. The Skink Priest even
sucked himself into a hole casting Urannon's Thunderbolt (and put a wound on the Bastilodon). The Black Knights were also whittled down by a combination of Searing Doom and some lucky shots from the Skinks.

   Turn Two

The Black Knights had the option to charge the Skinks. If they took a Stand and Shoot, they would have most likely been wiped out and the Knights would have an easy overrun into the Temple Guard. More likely, they would have fled, in which case the Knights could have attempted to redirect into the Temple Guard. With a Leadership of 8, I didn't fancy my chances and the Knights would have been left hanging in no-man's-land and counter charged on two sides. Instead, I had the Vampires and Black Knights charge at the Temple Guard through the opening on the right side of the Skinks. Here is where I paid for my previous miscalculation and failed the charge by 1". Result: The Knights were left hanging in no-man's-land.

In the Magic phase, one of the Vampires Irresistibly cast Purple Sun of Xereus, which went right through the Saurus block and reduced them to five left out of twenty five. The miscast was a Magical Feedback, and every wizard hit made their respective armour or ward saves, but the dice gained from Spirit Leech were lost.

In the Lizardmen's turn, the Ripperdactyls charged the Zombies, but because off the building, were only able to clip onto the rear few models of the unit.

The Slaan had another blinding Magic phase (I think it was 10 dice to 5) and ended up blowing the Vampires and Black Knights away with a Searing Doom spell. The Obsidian Lodestone carried by one of the Vampires failed to make a single ward save, all my dice could roll were 3's and 2's.

   Turns Three to Five
.
Suffice to say, after the first two turns, it was all but over. The Skeleton Warriors made a valiant charge (if Skeletons have a sense of valour) into the remaining five Saurus Warriors, but couldn't make a dent and were eventually wiped out. The Crypt Ghouls moved to block the Temple Guard from advancing on the Zombie bunker, all the time being harassed by poisoned shots from the Skinks. The Master Necromancer and his Zombies actually fought their way out of combat when their numbers were reduced sufficiently and the Ripperdactyls couldn't reform sideways because of the building. Gotred Onjur, the Master Necromancer, managed to raise up a couple of small units of Zombies to slow down the advancing Temple Guard and Bastilodon. The Necromancer and his Zombie bunker reformed to face away from the bulk of the Lizardman army, but were again charged by the Ripperdactyls.

By the Vampire Counts fifth turn, the Necromancer was fighting on his own against the Ripperdactyls. He took two wounds and crumbled away. The remaining Crypt Ghouls.were then finished off by a charge from the Temple Guard.









Final Victory Points were; Vampire Counts - 95, Lizardmen - 1,600.

Despite being totally crushed, it was an enjoyable game. Also it was a learning curve for me to be more aggressive when playing Vampire Counts. It could have been an entirely different result if the Vampires and Black Knights had got into combat with the Temple Guard, and I would love to have seen how the combat would have gone, but it was not to be.

Thanks to Liam for a great game, and also for some of the pics in this blog.

The Fluff

Gotred Onjur had seen signs of the coming of the End Times, and had been sent by a mysterious (even to one as used to the Black Arts as he) hooded, semi-ethereal figure to venture to Lustria to recruit the services of Luthor Harkon, the vampire-pirate. There were also rumours that the Lizardmen were embarking on some migration to another dimension to escape the End Times. If there was indeed to be a mass invasion by the forces of Chaos, the absence of the Lizardmen from the Old World would be a crippling blow indeed. They needed to be persuaded that leaving this world was not such a good idea.

After arriving in Lustria and getting word to Luthor, a war band of Lizardmen led by a powerful Slaan was detected heading for some ruins where it was believed a portal between worlds existed. Gotred saw his arrival as timely and took the opportunity to intercept the Lizardmen before they could depart.Gotred had already sacrificed a portion of his life essence to summon a Terrorgheist,
and two of Luthor's vampires also joined his band.

Upon sighting his quarry, the land around seemed to shimmer. Rather than the Lustrian jungle that he was expecting, the battlefield looked more like some ruins of an ancient and forgotten Tilean civilisation. Gotred began to suspect that the portal that the Lizardmen were heading for did not have a physical presence as such, and that both the Necromancer's army and the Lizardmen had already begun to pass through it into another dimension.

Gotred ordered his forces forward, particularly the Terrorgheist and the Black Knights led by the Vampires, but held back with the Zombies that were protecting him. The Terrorgheist was eager to feast on the scaly things taking up position on the opposite side of the battlefield and flew out at full speed. The Vampires, however, seemed sluggish, taking an eternity to cross the sands between the two armies.

As soon as the Terrorgheist let forth a soul-rending scream which saw four Skinks fall to the ground and shimmer out of apparent existence, Gotred realised his mistake. Three Ripperdactyls on the right flank came swooping in a banking curve, right over his Skeleton Warriors assigned to protect his flank and heading towards the rear of his own Zombies which were only partially shielded by some strange acropolis.

Distracted by the flying long-beaked lizards, the Necromancer was unable to counter the volley of arcane power unleashed by the Slaan which saw the quick demise of the Terrorgheist. One of the Vampires retaliated by sending a purple vortex of death into the ranks of a troop of Saurus Warriors. Once the cloud had passed, barely a fifth of the regiment remained, the rest seeming to have just disappeared. No blood, no bodies....nothing.

Gotred sent the mental command to Luthor Harkon's vampires to engage the Slaan and his Temple Guard, but again, they were too slow and another powerful blast of magic from the Slaan melted the entourage of Knights along with the Vampires long before they could bring their lances to bear.

The Necromancer, already drained by his previous weeks efforts at summoning the Terrorgheist and the long journey to Lustria, soon found himself fighting for his unlife against the Ripperdactyls whilst what remained of his army put up some attempt at fighting off the slowly advancing reptilian battle-line. The Skeleton Warriors, having already failed to protect his flank, tried to redeem themselves by launching an attack at what was left of the Saurus Warriors that had depleted by the Vampire's last spell, but were no match for the martial skill of the lizard warriors. The Crypt Ghouls shambled around apparently aimlessly, looking for a the best spot to be harassed by poisoned darts from the Skink Skirmishers.

Gotred's own Zombies were eventually ripped to pieces, disappearing into nothing before even hitting the sand, until only Gotred was left. The last he saw of the battle was a Ripperdactyl attempting to skewer him with its beak before the strange lands around him shimmered and disappeared. He found himself alone, back in steaming Lustrian jungle. Shaking his head and dusting himself off, he began the long trek back to the harbours of the Vampire Coast. With any luck, he might be in time to get on board one of the ships of Luthor Harkon's fleet before it set sail.

Twenty Saurus Warriors suddenly found themselves back in their jungle. They knew they were miles away from where they were supposed to be. Shaking their heads in disappointment, knowing know they would not be able to catch up with the Slaan that was leading them, they headed for the nearest familiar temple, hoping to find another group setting off for the portals.

Four Skinks uncovered their ears in a vain attempt to cut out the death-scream of the Terrorgheist. Opening their eyes and uncovering their ears, they found themselves in a muddy cave, the scent of unfamiliar marshland pervading their reptilian nostrils. An opening through which daylight could be seen was largely blocked by the form of a huge muscular human screaming towards them, swinging a crude spiked club...

Here Come the Rats Again!

Skaven vs Vampire Counts 1,250 points

In Round Four, I was drawn against Iain Wilson with his Skaven. Iain has had three straight wins out of three, so I knew that this was not going to be an easy game. Nonetheless, I was looking forward to it.

Anyway, here's the battle report as best as I can remember the details.

The Forces

     Skaven

Off the top of my head, this is what Iain had in his Skaven army.

Plague Priest (General) Level 2 - Lore of Plague

Chieftain (Battle Standard Bearer)

Warlock Engineer (Level 1 Wizard - Lore of Ruin)

Warlock Engineer (non-spell caster)

Two units of about 40 Skavenslaves

A Clanrat unit of about 25 with shields and full command

A Clanrat unit of about 25 with just full command (no upgrades)

Poisoned Wind Mortar

Warpfire Thrower

Two Warp Lightning Cannons

Plagueclaw Catapult

     Vampire Counts

The latest addition to the army.

Gotred Onjur - Master Necromancer (General - Level 4 - Lore of Vampires)

Mounted Vampire - Level 1 - Lore of Death

Vampire - Level 1 - Lore of Vampires

5 Dire Wolves

20 Skeleton Warriors with full command

20 Zombies with standard bearer

20 Zombies

7 Black Knights, fully equipped (i.e. lances and barding)

Spirit Host

Deployment

The Plague Priest got Wither and Cloud of Corruption for his spells. The Warlock Engineer took Warp Lightning.

Gotred the Necromancer had Invocation of Nehek, Vanhel's Danse Macabre, Raise Dead and Curse of Years. The Vampire on foot had Wind of Death. The mounted Vampire took Spirit Leech.

The Skaven deployed the two blocks of Skavenslaves in the centre, flanked on each side by a Clanrat unit and its accompanying weapon team. The war machines took up position near their right corner, with the Poisoned Wind Mortar nearby. A Warlock Engineer went in each Clanrat unit, and the Plague Priest and Warlord went in one of the Skavenslave units.

For the Vampire Counts, the Dire Wolves took up position on the right flank while the rest of the army was huddled partially behind a large piece of impassable terrain. The mounted Vampire and the Black Knights were fairly central but facing a swamp. To their right, just within the Master Necromancer's march bubble, were the Skeleton Warriors who were facing a forest. Gotred himself had a Zombie bunker for company. The other Zombie unit took up position to the left of the impassable terrain with the Spirit Host just behind them, ready to head towards the war machines. Into this unit went the Vampire on foot.

The Battle

     Turn One

After vanguarding my Dire Wolves towards the Clanrats and the Warpfire Thrower on the right side
of the battlefield (from the Vampire Counts perspective), the Skaven won the roll for the first turn. The Skaven chose not to advance, and were out of range for using any magic. The war machines proceeded to bombard the Zombie bunker with the Master Necromancer, being able to partially see through gaps in the impassable terrain for targeting. and reduced the unit to about eight Zombies and the Master Necromancer.

In the Vampire Counts turn, the Dire Wolves attempted a charge into the Warpfire Thrower but failed by one inch. The Skeleton Warriors marched forwards so that two of the Skeletons were in the forest, which turned out to be a Venom Thicket. Both Skeleton Warriors passed their Dangerous Terrain tests.

In the Magic phase, the mounted Vampire cast the boosted range version of Spirit Leech at the Plague Priest. The Plague Priest used all of the dispel dice to attempt to stop it but failed. In the dice off, the Plague Priest took one wound (and I forgot to roll for Life Leeching). The Master Necromancer then cast Invocation of Nehek, adding about fourteen Zombies to his unit so that it was now slightly bigger than before the bombardment.

     Turn Two

In the Skaven's Magic phase, the Warlock Engineer tried to cast Warp Lightning at the Dire Wolves

but it was easily dispelled. In Shooting, the other Warlock Engineer fired his Doomrocket towards the Black Knights, which landed appallingly short. One of the Warp Lightning Cannons misfired, spinning around and firing off the board. The other managed to hit the back of the Black Knights unit, slaying three of them. The Plagueclaw Catapult got a direct hit on the mounted Vampire but failed to cause any wounds to his unit. The Poisoned Wind Mortar fired at the advancing Zombies and was wildly off target. The Warpfire Thrower got a good range and managed to hit three of the Dire Wolves, but only managed to slay one.

The Dire Wolves charged into the Warpfire Thrower. In Magic, the Master Necromancer raised a new unit of Zombies on the edge of the marsh, with the idea of using them to divert any charges by the Skavenslaves. The Dire Wolves made short work of the Warpfire Thrower and reformed to face the nearby Clanrat unit.






     Turn Three

The Skaven were now beginning to suspect treachery in their ranks. The Plague Priest failed to cast

Wither at the Black Knights, quickly ending the Magic phase. The Warp Lightning Cannon that could fire had its shot land hopelessly short of the Black Knights, the Plagueclaw Catapult was suspiciously off target and the Poisoned Wind Mortar's shot landed nowhere. Only the Clanrats on the right achieved anything by charging and destroying the Dire Wolves that had taken out their Warpfire Thrower.

In the Vampire Counts turn, the Vampire in the Zombie unit leapt out to charge the Poisoned Wind Mortar, which took a Stand and Shoot reaction, scoring a direct hit on the Vampire, and failing to wound anything. The Vampire, having Flying Horror, easily made his charge.

In the Magic phase, the Master Necromancer attempted to cast Invocation of Nehek to bring the Black Knights unit back up, needing a 12+, but failed to cast with four dice!

In combat, the Vampire chopped up the Poisoned Wind Mortar and overran, but only rolled 5 inches for his overrun, an inch short of one of the Warp Lightning Cannons.

     Turn Four

Another poor round for the Skaven. Magic was fairly uneventful. The Plague Priest cast Wither on

the newly raised unit of Zombies, reducing them to Toughness 2 and Warp Lightning from the Warlock Engineer at the Skeleton Warriors was dispelled.

In Shooting, two of the war machines misfired, but didn't suffer any severe mishaps, being unable to fire this turn. One of the Warp Lightning Cannons managed to take out two more Black Knights, reducing the unit to just the Vampire, Hell Knight champion and the standard bearer.

The Vampire on foot charged the Warp Lightning Cannon on the right. The Spirit Host attempted a fairly long charge at the other Warp Lightning Cannon and failed, parking itself right in front of the Clanrats unit. This meant that the Zombies now had to turn to face the Clanrats to avoid being flank charged after an overrun.

In the Magic phase, the mounted Vampire cast the boosted range Spirit Leech at the Plague Priest and got Irresistible Force. The Vampire put two wounds on the Plague Priest, who failed both of his ward saves and was slain. The resulting miscast was a Calamitous Detonation, putting a wound on the Vampire (and I forgot that he had a ward save) and destroying the remaining two Black Knights.

The Vampire on foot slew two of the Warp Lightning Cannon crew and the war machine broke and was destroyed. The other Warp Lightning Cannon failed its Panic test, stopping it from firing on the Skaven's next turn.

     Turn Five

The Clanrats on the left charged into the flank of the Spirit Host. The Warlock Engineer, being the

only spellcaster left after the demise of the general, attempted to cast Warp Lightning at the Skeleton Warriors but failed to cast. The Plagueclaw Catapult launched a shot at the mounted Vampire but was suspiciously off target.

The Clanrats lost one of their number to the Spirit Host, but easily crumbled it with combat resolution and overran into the Zombies.

In the Vampire Counts turn, the Vampire on foot charged the remaining Warp Lightning Cannon. The mounted Vampire marched away to put some distance between himself and the Plagueclaw Catapult. In hindsight, it would have been better to keep him close to the Master Necromancer so that he could get healed from his Lore of Vampires spells, but I think he was looking to Spirit Leech off another character.

In Magic, the Master Necromancer raised another unit of Zombies and added to both his own unit and the newly raised unit with Invocation of Nehek.

The Clanrats whittled the Zombies they were fighting down to about nine between casualties inflicted and combat resolution. The Vampire slew the entire crew of the Warp Lightning Cannon and overran into the Plagueclaw Catapult.

     Turn Six

The Warlock Engineer had the mounted Vampire just in range to hit with Warp Lightning. He cast

the spell successfully though not Irresistibly, and, totally forgetting that I still had a Dispel Scroll, thought I could easily dispel it and failed. The Vampire took two wounding hits and armour saved one of them. Luckily, by now I remembered (or rather looked at my roster sheet) that he had a Talisman of Preservation and made the ward save.

The Clanrats took the Zombie unit down to just one remaining after combat resolution. The Vampire fighting the Plagueclaw Catapult only managed to kill one of the crew. However, the remaining crew failed to get any wounding hits, failed their Break test, and the machine was destroyed.

In the Vampire Counts last turn, the Skeleton Warriors attempted a long charge at the Clanrats unit
on the right, which they failed, needing a 12. The Zombies on the edge of the swamp charged the unit
of Skavenslaves with the Chieftain in it, hoping to get a lucky kill (yeah right).

In Magic, I had something like nine dice to five and made two channels. After seeing two 6's, I decided not to take any chances of miscasting and skipped the rest of the Magic phase.

The Zombies in combat with the Clanrats and Skavenslaves were wiped out without inflicting any casualties.

End of Game

We totted up the points and the Vampires scored 680 points to the Skaven's 357. A victory to the Vampire Counts, though not quite a crushing victory. It could easily have gone the other way, especially if the mounted Vampire hadn't made that last ward save.

We both thoroughly enjoyed the game. I have to admit that before the game I was somewhat daunted by the fact that Iain had had three straight wins so far and was expecting him to have a few tricks up his sleeve (assassins and so forth). I was even expecting to see a Grey Seer and/or a Hellpit.

My star performer in the game has to be the Vampire on foot, who single-handedly destroyed all the war machines and earned double the points he cost. Unfortunately, he is now getting a taste for rat blood.

They (Un)died With Their Boots On

Vampire Counts vs Vampire Counts - 750 points

Gotred Onjur was eager to learn more about battle strategies for the Undead, and was looking to add to his so far victorious force. Having been denied a battle with a rival Vampire, he observed a confrontation between a third Vampire force and the forces of the Empire. Meanwhile, he had ordered another Necromancer in his coven, Costarov Davest, to rendezvous with him, bringing a small troop of Black Knights and carrying the Book of Arkhan.

Unfortunately, Costarov's force was waylaid by the very same Vampire that Gotred had been previously looking to engage in battle. Costarov disobeyed his orders from Gotred to avoid combat and safely deliver the Book and the Black Knights, and rushed headlong to meet the Vampire's oncoming force, a mistake that was to lead to his doom. The enemy was sighted, and it was only then that the opposing force was found to comprise a number of ghostly apparitions which Costarov had no answer for.

The Forces

     Vampire Counts (Andrew Hogan)

Costarov Davest, Necromancer - Level 2 Wizard (Lore of Vampires), Book of Arkhan

2 Cairn Wraiths (Heroes)

20 Skeleton Warriors - Full command

25 Zombies - Standard bearer

5 Dire Wolves

9 Black Knights - Hell Knight and Standard bearer

     Vampire Counts (David Rouse)

Vampire - Level 1 Wizard (Lore of Vampires), Talisman of Endurance

Cairn Wraith (Hero)

36 Skeleton Warriors - Full command

20 Zombies - Standard bearer

2 Spirit Hosts

5 Hexwraiths

The Battle

Costarov had one chance. His magic was more powerful than that of his foe (he had Invocation of Nehek and Wind of Death as well as the Book of Arkhan. the Vampire just had the spell Gaze of Nagash). If he could divert the Hexwraiths long enough while he did as much damage to the bulk of the Vampires army as possible using magic, then weight of numbers might be enough against the Ethereals.

The plan didn't work. Sacrificing the Dire Wolves to buy time against the Hexwraiths provided only a temporary reprieve, and when he did manage to get a Wind of Death spell to run through the Skeleton Warriors, it was largely ineffective, slaying a very small handful of them.

Costarov backed up with his Skeleton Warriors, hoping to get more spells off, but the Ethereals were fast closing in. Meanwhile, the Hell Knight heard Gotred's telepathic summons, and turned his Black Knights to leave Costarov to his fate. Getting bogged down in a fight against such numbers would only mean the doom of the Black Knights as well.

The Zombies provided a temporary shield on Costarov's right flank, holding up the Spirit Hosts and even the Vampire for a short while, until the Vampires own  Skeleton Warriors rushed in to finish them off. Twice Costarov tried to unleash a deadly Wind of Death into the ranks of the advancing undead, and twice the magic backfired, streaming not through his enemies but into his own ranks.

Costarov made a final desparate attempt to make a break to get away from the advancing forces, with a Cairn Wraith attempting to single-handedly slow their advance while Costarov tried to use the Book of Arkhan to give them some momentum. However, he was unable to summon the power to use it, having spent much of his energies summoning the Winds of Death. The Skeleton Warriors of the Vampire crashed into those of the Necromancer's, and were subsequently joined by the Spirit Hosts and Hexwraiths attacking on their flanks. The beleaguered Skeleton Warriors and Costarov fought on valiantly and to the end, the Necromancer himself even felling a Skeleton in hand-to-hand combat, but it was to no avail.

The Black Knights did not even notice the demise of the Necromancer, nor did they care. Their only concern was to report back to Gotred Onjur concerning the failure of Costarov and the loss of the Book of Arkhan.

Don't Say the Z Word!

Vampire Counts vs Orcs & Goblins

Great game against Anthony Lown's greenskins. After missing out on not getting a game in the second round, my Undead were hungry for blood and battle.

The Forces

Orcs & Goblins

Anthony had a unit of 15 Orc Big 'Uns on foot with his Warboss general in it and another unit of 5 Big 'Uns riding Boars.

For goblins, there was a large block of thirty or so goblins and a unit of ten spider riders. Two goblin shaman wizards, one armed with Curse of da Bad Moon and Sneaky Stabbin', the other with Itchy Nuisance and Gift of the Spider God.

Aside from this, he also had two trolls.

Vampire Counts

I had a unit of 20 Skeleton Warriors with full command and the Screaming Banner (which never got used), a unit of 20 Zombies with just a standard, and 5 Dire Wolves for core units.

My special units were 7 Black Knights with a Hell Knight and standard bearer, and a Spirit Host.

My Necromancer general, Gotred Onjur, was equipped with an Obsidian Lodestone and went in the Skeleton Warriors unit, along with two hero Cairn Wraiths. I also had a Vampire mounted on a Nightmare leading the Black Knights. He was kitted out with Red Fury, a Sword of Swift Slaying, Charmed Shield and a Potion of Strength.

For magic, the Necromancer had Invocation of Nehek and Curse of Years, and the Vampire had Raise Dead.

The Battle

Turn One

The Vampire Counts won the roll-off for the first turn. The Black Knights led by the Vampire advanced on the left flank. The Skeleton Warriors, Zombies and Spirit Host moved up in the centre, the latter moving into a forest to find out it was a Blood Forest. On the right flank, the Dire Wolves moved cautiously up to take position behind another forest. The Necromancer increased the Zombie numbers by about half a dozen with Invocation of Nehek.

The orcs and goblins moved forward to meet the advance of the undead army. Having no missile troops, they would have to take them on hand-to-hand. The Orc Big 'Uns and big block of goblins advanced towards the skeletons and zombies, with the two trolls shuffling alongside. The goblin spider-riders and Orc Big 'Un Boar Riders went for the Dire Wolves. In the Magic phase, the goblin shamans, which were skulking behind the main blocks, cast Gift of the Spider God on the goblin spider-riders. There wasn't room yet to cast Curse of da Bad Moon at the undead without hitting their own units in the process.

Turn Two

The Orc Big 'Uns had exposed their flank to a charge from the Black Knights, which they capitalised on. Meanwhile, one of the Cairn Wraiths charged out of the unit at the big goblin block that was alongside the Big 'Uns, and the Spirit Host charged the Trolls. Anthony wasn't too familiar with Ethereals, and had I known would have given him a few pointers before the game. Then again, there is no substitute for experience.

In the Magic phase, the Vampire raised a few zombies behind the shamans.

The Vampire and Black Knights hold the centre....

In combat, the Spirit Host actually managed to put a wound on a troll. The trolls passed their Break test, seeming to enjoy swinging their clubs ineffectively through the air. The Vampire and the Black Knights went to town on the Orc Big 'Uns. The Vampire himself slew seven orcs, having drunk his Potion of Strength at the start of the turn, and several more fell to the Black Knights lances.

Having failed to land a single telling blow, the orcs broke and were run down by the knights, who ran straight into the flank of the goblins that the Cairn Wraith had charged. Another bloodbath ensued (about six kills to the Vampire alone) and despite being steadfast the goblins also broke. The Black Knights couldn't pursue, having already made a pursuit this turn, and the Goblins outran the Cairn Wraith.

....while the Orc & Goblin army is in tatters.

The fleeing Goblins trigger panic, and the Goblin Spider-Riders come close to the edge of the board after being fled through.













In the greenskins turn, both fleeing goblin units rallied. The Boar Riders failed their animosity check and beat up some fleeing greenskins. The goblin shamans moved out of charge position of the undead.

In the Magic phase, the goblin shamans remembered that they were level 2 and should have an extra spell each. One of the shamans cast Itchy Nuisance on the zombies with Irresistible Force and lobotomised himself with Power Drain.

The only combat was between the Trolls and the Spirit Host. The Spirit Host managed to put another
wound on a Troll, again winning combat. With their general dead, the Trolls failed their break test and ran, with the Spirit Host failing to catch them.

Turns Three, Four and Five

The Vampire and Black Knights tried to catch the Orc Boar Boyz that were moving around a building, whilst raising more zombie units to slow the greenskins down. This was hampered both by the fact that they had charged so far ahead that they were too far away from the Necromancer general
and so unable to march, and were blocked by another unit of zombies that the Vampire had raised behind the Boar Boyz and Goblins, intending to charge them into the rear of the Orcs but rolling snake eyes for their charge.

At one point, I had all sixty of my zombie models on the battlefield.

Meanwhile, the Spider Riders advanced down the board and charged the Dire Wolves. They wiped the Dire Wolves out but were then too far away to have any effect on the rest of the battle.

The Trolls were chased off the board by the Spirit Host. The greenskins bravely took down the lone Cairn Wraith in two rounds of combat when it charged into them and whiffed most of its attacks, before running into one of the newly raised zombie units

One goblin shaman did a lot of damage to the zombies with a couple of Curse of da Bad Moon spells, and only the Necromancer's Obsidian Lodestone prevented the Skeleton Warriors from being severely whittled down.

A warning to Skaven player's using Doomrockets...it CAN happen!

One of the castings of Curse of da Bad Moon (I think it was in round four) was cast Irresistibly, causing a Dimensional Cascade. Luckily, the shaman was not in a unit and only took a wound himself, and avoided taking a trip down the rabbit hole.

By the Orcs & Goblins fifth turn, goblins with the help of the Boar Boyz, had hacked their way through the zombies, and the Boar Boyz had turned to smash their way through the zombies previously to the rear and charged into the flank of the Black Knights.

Turn Six

The Vampire made way to fight the Boar Boyz, and despite being attacked in the flank, managed to draw the combat and reform, with three Boar Boyz slain for two Black Knights. The Boar Boyz champion bravely fought on but was hacked down by the Vampire on the Orcs Goblin's last turn. The Black Knights unit was whittled down to just the Vampire, the Hell Knight and the standard bearer by a final Curse of da Bad Moon, again cast Irresistibly, though the shaman only lost one Wizard level from the resulting Power Drain.

End of Game

Only the Goblins, Goblin Spider-Riders and one Shaman remained of the greenskins. The undead had lost a Cairn Wraith hero and the unit of Dire Wolves, and only twenty two of the original twenty zombies remained. A crushing victory for the Vampire Counts, scoring 801 victory points, while the Orcs & Goblins scored 100 victory points.

The Vampires Strike Back

Vampire Counts vs Skaven - 500 points

In the first round of the MKWGW Escalation League, I was randomly drawn to play my son, Alexander, and his Skaven. As you might have guessed, we have played each other many times, and he normally wins. Fortunately as the league is starting at 500 points, I didn't have to worry about his big guns (Warp Lightning Cannons, Hell-Pit Abom etc.).

The Forces

The army was led by the level 2 necromancer, Gotred Onjür, equipped with an Obsidian Amulet.

At the start of the game, I rolled the spells Hellish Vigour and Raise Dead for his spells, so I swapped Hellish Vigour for Invocation of Nehek.

With the new 50% allowance for Heroes, I was able to add two cairn wraiths

For core units, I had.....

Twenty skeleton warriors with full command, armed with swords,

25 zombies with a standard bearer.

 and five dire wolves.

Alex had a unit of 20 clanrats with full command and a poisoned wind mortar attached to the unit, another unit of 20 clanrats with a ratling gun attached to it, and five poisoned wind globadiers. His general was Ratchitt, a warlock engineer, who was a level 2 wizard of the Lore of Ruin and carried a Doomrocket. For his spells, he had Warp Lightning and Scorch.

The Battle

Deployment

Gotred the Necromancer bunkered himself in the skeleton warriors unit, shielded by the command group and the two cairn wraiths.

Ratchitt, leader of the Skaven, went in with the unit of clanrats with the command group and poisoned wind mortar.

Round One

The Vampire Counts army won the roll for first turn. The dire wolves moved down the left flank while the skeletons and zombies advanced in the centre. Gotred was able to raise half a dozen more zombies.

The Skaven also chose to advance. Ratchitt took out a single dire wolf with Warp Lightning. The poisoned wind mortar got a direct hit on the skeleton warrior unit, destroying five of them. The ratling gun shot down a few of the zombies, though not as fast as they were being raised. Ratchitt held back with his Doomrocket, hoping to get into a more optimal range before shooting.

Vampire Counts - Round Two

This was a disastrous round for the Skaven. The dire wolves first charged Ratchitt's unit of clanrats, hoping to draw out the Doomrocket with a Stand and Shoot reaction (loose thinking on my part, as the Doomrocket doesn't have to target the charging unit in a Stand and Shoot), then the skeletons charged Ratchitt's unit, forcing a Terror check because of the cairn wraiths. Alex rolled an 11 and they promptly fled. The zombies charged the other clanrat unit and made it in. Ratchitt's unit was charged down and chewed to pieces by the dire wolves.

The magic phase just piled on more woes for the Skaven. Alex let a Raise Dead spell go, saving his dispel dice to stop Invocation of Nehek. I had three dice to his five, and barely managed to cast Invocation of Nehek in a 12" bubble with a score of 12. He rolled 5,2,2,1,1 and the spell went off. The skeletons were back to full strength, and around twenty five more zombies were added between the two units. (MZ in the picture stands for More Zombies).

The clanrats fighting the zombies lost combat by 1, killing three for one, but held their ground.

Skaven - Round Two

On their second turn, the poisoned wind globadiers moved to the flank of the newly raised zombies to avoid being charged.

In shooting, the poisoned wind mortar had its shot go wild, the globadiers managed to take out a couple of zombies, and the ratling gun crew got trigger happy and blew themselves up.

The remaining clanrats unit lost combat to the zombies and this time broke and were run down by the zombies. The nearby poisoned wind mortar panicked and fled.




The game was over by the fourth turn. The globadiers fled off the board after failing a Terror test from the cairn wraiths. The poisoned wind mortar rallied but was charged by the newly raised zombies, fleeing off the board after losing combat. Only a single dire wolf had been lost in the Vampire Counts army, while the zombies total numbers had swelled from 25 to 58.