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.