“I am sure they want to avoid you getting anymore beauty sleep,” responded Chase, captain of the crossbowmen.
“You calling me good looking?” replied the paymaster.
“Hardly, your ugly mug is a great thief deterrent and I would hate for that to change,” harassed the captain as he motioned his men into formation.
In this battle report, my faithful Dogs of War find themselves facing off against 1000 points of Empire fielded by Kevin from Unique Gifts and Games. The scenario for this battle was Dawn Assault played on a 4’ x 4’.
I fielded the same list as in my prior battle report. This time when I rolled for magic, I paid more attention to the results and ended up with Miasma and Pit of Shades.
(The Hireling Wizard should be noted as a level 2, not a level 4.)My opponent fielded an Empire army that was basically a gunline with a couple units of swordsmen to deter me from getting in close. When it came to my opponent’s magic, he had chosen the Lore of Fire.
Wizard Lord (Level 4)
10 Handgunners
10 Handgunners
10 Huntsmen
20 Empire State Troops
20 Empire State Troops
Helblaster
With this game, I decided to take a more aggressive approach and see how my army does when it goes on the offensive. I started the first turn by moving up the Cursed Company, Vespero’s Vendetta, and Bronzino’s Galloper Guns. In the magic phase, I rolled 12 for my casting dice. Using the flood of magical potential, I hit the huntsmen with Miasma and Pit of Shades. Sadly the Miasma was dispelled ad the pit moved in the wrong direction.
The first turn for the Empire was much more productive, as my movement had placed my forces within the 24” bubble of death. The Helblaster unleashed a devastating round of shots, wiping out the Cursed Company before they had even made it to the middle of the battlefield. Bronzino’s crew was also wiped out by the combined firepower of the huntsmen and handgunners sitting across the table. It was a rough turn, but my confidence was not shaken at this point.
In the second turn of the game, I continued to position Vespero to meet the advance of one of regiments of state troops. I also moved my wizard into a position to avoid the huntsmens. The magic phase once again gave me a decent amount of dice to play with in the phase. The results in this phase were a little better, as I got Miasma off, but the pit once again missed its target.
My opponent’s movement phase was rather uneventful as he needed to push his units forward. He did remember his magic phase this time, with his one spell nailing my crossbowmen, killing 8 of them. Overall, my forces were depleted, but I was still determined to turn this one around.
If you are willing to take the punishment, you're halfway through the battle. That the issues may be trivial, the battle ugly, is another point. (Lillian Hellman)
The third turn actually saw me killing some of his forces. My remaining crossbowmen were able to drop to members of the helblaster crew. During the magic phase, my combination of spells was on target and I was able to reduce one unit of state troops by a few. In comparison, my opponent was unable to kill anything and I actual had won a turn of play by my estimate.
The fourth turn was the final collapse of my army, as a few lucky shots and poor dice rolls cost me my paymaster and wizard. During my opponent’s turn, he charged Vespero’s crew. I elected to challenge and was able to kill the captain. In exchange, he wiped out the unit.
Lessons Learned…
1) I really question the value of having a level 4 wizard in a 1000 point force. While it gives a player more options, the additional +2 towards casting/dispelling didn’t seem to be a factor in the game.
2) A guerilla style of game play may be cool to explore, but I need to beef up my numbers for Adepticon. This game proved to me that 8th edition is a game of numbers and unless I come up with an alternative scheme that works, I need to increase my model count.
3) I need to check the size of the table before the game. I like UGG, but the game tables they have are small and may actually be less than 4’x4’.
Wizard Lord (Level 4)
10 Handgunners
10 Handgunners
10 Huntsmen
20 Empire State Troops
20 Empire State Troops
Helblaster
With this game, I decided to take a more aggressive approach and see how my army does when it goes on the offensive. I started the first turn by moving up the Cursed Company, Vespero’s Vendetta, and Bronzino’s Galloper Guns. In the magic phase, I rolled 12 for my casting dice. Using the flood of magical potential, I hit the huntsmen with Miasma and Pit of Shades. Sadly the Miasma was dispelled ad the pit moved in the wrong direction.
The first turn for the Empire was much more productive, as my movement had placed my forces within the 24” bubble of death. The Helblaster unleashed a devastating round of shots, wiping out the Cursed Company before they had even made it to the middle of the battlefield. Bronzino’s crew was also wiped out by the combined firepower of the huntsmen and handgunners sitting across the table. It was a rough turn, but my confidence was not shaken at this point.
In the second turn of the game, I continued to position Vespero to meet the advance of one of regiments of state troops. I also moved my wizard into a position to avoid the huntsmens. The magic phase once again gave me a decent amount of dice to play with in the phase. The results in this phase were a little better, as I got Miasma off, but the pit once again missed its target.
My opponent’s movement phase was rather uneventful as he needed to push his units forward. He did remember his magic phase this time, with his one spell nailing my crossbowmen, killing 8 of them. Overall, my forces were depleted, but I was still determined to turn this one around.
If you are willing to take the punishment, you're halfway through the battle. That the issues may be trivial, the battle ugly, is another point. (Lillian Hellman)
The third turn actually saw me killing some of his forces. My remaining crossbowmen were able to drop to members of the helblaster crew. During the magic phase, my combination of spells was on target and I was able to reduce one unit of state troops by a few. In comparison, my opponent was unable to kill anything and I actual had won a turn of play by my estimate.
The fourth turn was the final collapse of my army, as a few lucky shots and poor dice rolls cost me my paymaster and wizard. During my opponent’s turn, he charged Vespero’s crew. I elected to challenge and was able to kill the captain. In exchange, he wiped out the unit.
Lessons Learned…
1) I really question the value of having a level 4 wizard in a 1000 point force. While it gives a player more options, the additional +2 towards casting/dispelling didn’t seem to be a factor in the game.
2) A guerilla style of game play may be cool to explore, but I need to beef up my numbers for Adepticon. This game proved to me that 8th edition is a game of numbers and unless I come up with an alternative scheme that works, I need to increase my model count.
3) I need to check the size of the table before the game. I like UGG, but the game tables they have are small and may actually be less than 4’x4’.
Special Thanks to Unique Gifts and Games for providing the gaming space.
Yeah, UGG is a nice environment, but their tables are too small for playing a normal sized game. I think they'd work for Combat Patrol or Kill Team / Killzone if they could put enough terrain on them (for the latter game rules).
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