Greetings everyone!
Last saturday (April 24th) did I face off against a host of Lizardmen with my Bretonnian army. I didn't have much experience with the new edition of Lizards, and the opinions around here seems to suggest that it is one of the stronger armies out there (only bested by
VC,
DE and DoC). So chances where good that I was about to find myself in trouble! We decided to document the battle and let me try and make a battle report of the event. Without much experience with battle reports, please be gentle when judging me
The following battle also turned out to be dramatic, bloody, surprising and overall very enjoyable!
We decided to play this battle strictly after the rulebook. That meant rolling for placing terrain pieces, using the rules for houses (we soon came to hate that) and all that.
The battle was a 2000 point Pitched Battle.
Without further ado, the army lists:
Bretonnia:
The Green Knight (275 Points)
Heavy Armour, Barding, Immune to psychology, Causes Terror, Ethereal, Spirit Form, 5+ Ward save from blessing
Paladin (110 Points)
General, Lance, Shield, Knightly Vow, Gromril Great Helm
Paladin Battle Standard Bearer (129 Points)
Virtue of Duty, Twilight Banner, Knightly Vow
Damsel of the Lady (150 Points)
Magic Level 2, Chalice of Malfleur, Dispel Scroll
9 Knight Errant (221 Points)
Full Command, Errantry Banner
7 Knights of the Realm (217 Points)
Full Command, War Banner
10 Peasant Bowmen (65 Points)
Villein, defensive stakes
18 Peasant Bowmen Skirmishers (136 Points)
Villein, musician
5 Mounted Yeomen (87 Points)
Musician, shields
5 Mounted Yeomen (87 Points)
Musician, shields
3 Pegasus Knights (175 Points)
Gallant, Musician
6 Grail Knights (258 Points)
Full Command
Field Trebuchet (90 Points)
Total: 2000 Points
Casting Pool: 4
Dispel Pool: 3
Models in Army: 71
Both my general and BSB joined the KotR unit, the Damsel joined the Peasant Skirmishers (The Green Knight was playing hide & seek at this point in time).
I haven't played with my favorite special character (The Green Knight) for several years, so it was a joy finally bringing him back to the tabletop. I usually play with the Giant Fanatic (Danish tournament) rules for practice, and they don't allow special characters. It was not until I placed my army at the table that I realized that this is a rather fast moving army. I usually like to have some men-at-arms and Battle Pilgrims even. I didn't have much planning behind this list, other than the "pick a boo" effect of The Green Knight.
Anyways, the reptiles! :
Lizardmen:
Slann Mage-Priest (470 Points)
General, BSB, Focus of Mystery, Focused Rumination, Dispel Scroll, Power Stone, War Banner
Saurus Scar-Veteran (124 Points)
Charm of the Jaguar Warrior
Skink Priest (435 Points)
Magic Level 2, Ancient Stegadon with Engine of the Gods, War Drum of Xahutec, Plaque of Tepok
Skink Priest (125 Points)
Magic level 2, Cloak of Feathers
12 Saurus Warriors (144 Points)
Spears
10 Skink Skirmishers (70 Points)
10 Skink Skirmishers (70 Points)
5 Cold One Cavalry (230 Points)
Huanchi's Blessed Totem, Standard, Musician
Salamander Hunting Packs (75 Points)
1 Salamander, 3 Skink Handlers
Razordon Hunting Packs (75 Points)
1 Razordon, 3 Skink Handlers
14 Skinks (125 Points)
1 Kroxigor
10 Skinks (56 Points)
Musician
Total: 1999 Points
Casting Pool:11
Dispel Pool:7
Models in Army:75
After looking through his list it seemed likely that he planned to blast my knights to kingdom come.
I used Paint to make an overview of the battlefield:
My opponent won the dice off to see who deploys where. He choose to deploy on the northern part of the map, as shown.
Spells:
My Damsel choose Beast and rolled 5 and 6. (The Hunters Spear and The Wolf Hunts). I decided to keep both spells.
The Skink Priest on Foot rolled on the Heavens table, and rolled 2 and 5 (Second Sign of Amul and Uranon's Thunder Bolt). He (it?) kept both.
The Skink Priest with Engine of the Gods rolled a 1,3 and 4 (Plague of Tepok gives an additional spell)which gave him Portent of far, Celestial shield and forked lightning.
Slann, being able to chose an entire lore, choose Beast.
Bretonnian Deployment:
Right Flank:
My Grail Knights and a unit of Mounted Yeomen were deployed on the far right. Ready to outflank the Lizardmen. My Trebutchet took the hill at the center of my lines, giving it a nice view of the battlefield. The second unit of Mounted Yeomen was deployed at the front of the Trebuchet. The general and his unit took up position to the Trebuchets right, and my Knight Errant unit was deployed to the left. The 10 Archers was deployed in such a manner, that they were touching the building at the start of the game.
Left Flank:
My Skirmishing archers was deployed next to the Knight Errants, hiding behind the wood with the Damsel. The Pegasus Knights took position at my extreme left, watering their pegasi.
Lizardmen Deployment:
Right Flank:
(Sorry about the blurry picture)
From left to right: Saurus Cold One Cavalry, Razordon, Skink skirmishers, skinks with krox. The Slann is deployed behind the skirmishers and the Stegadon riding priest is hiding behind the house. The Skink Priest on foot is also hiding behind the house (cannot be seen at the picture).
Left Flank:
From left to right: Saurus Warriors, skink skirmishers, Salamander, skink unit.
The Battle!
After deployment it was time to see who got the first turn. I decided to pray for the blessing of the lady, and my opponent then choose to go first.
Lizardmen Turn 1:
What fool claimed that dinosaurs became extinct 65 million years ago!?
He started with rolling for stupidity for his Cold ones, which they managed with ease.
His line then cautiously moved straight ahead, while the stegadon played hurdle race and jumped the hedge next to the house, taking the center. The Skink Priest on foot placed himself between the skirmishers and the Skinks with Krox unit, standing at the foot of the hill. The Scar-Veteran and the salamander pack takes up position in the woods to the right side of the picture. Ready to annoy/divert any Bretonnians heading their way.
Then it was time for magic. Here I realized that my petty 3 Dispel Dice was up against 11 Power dice
hock: !
The skink priest on foot casts Second Sign, giving him a single re-roll.
The priest with engine then tried to cast Forked Lightning on my unit of Yeoman in front of my trebuchet, hoping to panic them and maybe the
Treb crew with them! Needing a 6+ to cast, he rolled two dice and came up with 5.
The Stegadon priest was apparently afraid of my treb, so he casts celestial shield on himself with three dice, rolling 8. I let it go through.
The engine then choose to lower the casting costs of the Beast lore.
The Slann then tries to cast Crows Feast at my Yeomen in front of the treb (he channels through the stegadon). He use 2 dice (one free from focused rumination), rolls 8 (needing only 7+). I use all my not-so-many dispel dice and rolls 15.
Then the Slann casts Beast Cowers on my KotR containing both my general and BSB, using 2 dice he rolls 10. The spell goes through and my general starts eating mud.
Then he casts Hunters Spear on the same unit, 3 dice, rolls 12, but the unit is 25" away (Phew).
With nothing within range, he skipped his shooting phase.
Bretonnia Turn 1:
I had no charges this round (everything was too far away) so I starts by rolling for The Green Knight and comes up with a six. Yay! I wish I had taken a picture of my opponents face when I told him what the roll was for. It was a golden moment. I decided to place Mr. Green in the wood containing the Scar-Veteran and Salamander pack.
I am greener than thou!
He did not move that turn. He had
LoS to two units, and several juicy targets was within his Terror range.
On my right flank I moved my Yeoman close to the same wood Mr. Green appeared in, showing their middle fingers to the Skink unit on front of them. The Grail Knights followed close behind. My generals unit could not move, thanks to Beast Cowers. But the unit of archers next to him decided to enter the house.
My Pegasus Knights hides behind the hill, ready to charge anyone trying to move around the hill. The skirmishing archers with Damsel moves up behind them. My second unit of Yeoman moves up towards the Stegadon and Skinks with Krox, again raising their middle fingers while blocking the Stegadons LoS to the unit of Knight Errants, which moved up behind the Yeomen.
Magic time! Okay, 4 Power Dice Vs. 7 Dispel Dice is not so bad... is it?
The Damsel uses 3 dice and attempts to cast Hunter Spear on the Stegadon. I roll 9. My opponent uses 4 Dispel and rolls 13. End of magic.
Now it was time for some shooting. My Trebuchet guessed 26" towards the Stegadon, which turned out to be a perfect guess. But I unfortunately rolled a 10 and an arrow, hitting absolutely nothing. Must have been a strong breeze. All my archers and Yeomen gave me nothing but misses.
The turn was over fast. WAY to fast in my opinion. The Lizardmen clearly outmatch me at magic, and I have failed to produce any wounds on the engine, let alone the Slann! No casualties so far... but if I was lucky, then Mr. Green just might scare of the Scar-Veteran and maybe a few units with him. I know Cold-blooded is difficult to fail, but there is always hope... right?
Lizardmen Turn 2:
My opponent starts out by passing the cold ones stupidity test. We then measured for The Green Knight's terror, and the Salamander pack, Skirmishing Skinks and the Scar-Veteran was all within range. my opponent picks up three dice, points at his Scar-Veteran and says
I'll start with this guy...
I held my breath, and he rolled the dice:
Because my opponent have such a big heart, he would even let me decide which dice to remove.
Bummer.
The Salamander pack rolled a 4, 5 and 6. With a Leadership of 6 they flee 5", directly away from Mr. Green and out of the woods. The Skink Skirmishers roll three 2s, going nowhere.
On to movement;
The skinks on the left flank moves 1.5" forward and increases their frontage to a single rank of 10, facing my Mounted Yeomen. The Saurus warriors next to the Stegadon wheels a few inches, threatning the flank of my 2nd unit of Mounted Yeomen. The Skink skirmishers next to the wood moves back a little, out of LoS of The Green Knight. The Stegadon moves up next to the Skink Skirmishers, facing forwards.
On his right flank is the Saurus cavalry moving around the hill, threatning the Bretonnian left while looking angrily upon my Pegasus knights. The Skink skirmishers behind that same hill have now moved up on top of the hill, accompanied by the Razordon pack to their right. The Skink priest on foot reveals that he have the Cloak of Feathers, and flies into the house behind him. The Slann places himself behind the Skinks containing a Krox.
Magic:
The engine cast Burning Alignment, hoping to cause some damage on the Green Knight. But he rolls 3" for range, and the Green Knight is 6" away.
The Skink Priest inside the house choose to cast Uranons Thunder Bolt at my Knight Errants. He rolled 3 dice and came out with 10. Having only 3 Dispel Dice, I decided to bite the bullet. He rolled 4 hits, and then rolled 1,1,2 and 5 for to wound. I then roll a 6 for my Ward Save.
I like the taste of rubber bullets.
The Slann attempts to cast Crows Feast on my Yeomen near the Hill and the Pegasus Knights. He rolls 3 dice (one free) and gets 12. I decide to bite the bullet again, letting the spell through. 5 hits, 3 wounds, 2 saves resulting in one dead Yeoman (Always put shields on Mounted Yeomen!). First kill of the match!
The Slann the casts Hunters Spear with 3 dice (one free) on the Knight Errants. He rolls 6,6,4 which is an Irresistible Force. Can't do much about that. He then rolls a 1 to wound!
Then the Slann uses his Power Stone and casts Beast Cowers on my generals unit again with 4 dice (2 from Power Stone, 1 from Power Pool and 1 from Focused Rumination) and rolls 16. I spend all my dispel dice, rolling 11. Dang. More mud for my general.
End of magic. I must admit, so far I feel a little lucky about this battle.
Shooting = 10 Shots from his skinks on the left flank on my unit of Yeomen. 3 hits plus one auto wound (poison), then 1 more wound from the hits. I pass a single armor save.
The Razordon on the hill tries to shoot at my Pegasus Knights, rolling the artillery dice:
Auch!
6 hits, randomize 3 hits on champion, 3 on rest. 1 wound on each. Champion makes his amour save, and the ordinary knight makes his 6+ ward save. Thanks again Lady!
The Skinks next to the Razordon also shoots at the pegasus knights with multiple shot. -1 for movement, -1 for multiple, short range = 20 shots with 6+ to hit.
9 hits. 9 auto wounds (poison) = Lucky [Bleep!]
Randomize = 5 on champion, 4 on ordinary. The champion makes all his amour saves . The ordinary peg knights makes one save, failing 3! One and a half Pegasus Knight dead. They roll a 5 for panic, staying calm.
There is no close combat yet, so end of turn 2.
Bretonnia Turn 2:
Charge!
My 4 remaining Mounted Yeomen on the right flank charges into the skinks who just shoot their comrade. They hold. The Grail Knights declare charge on the fleeing Salamander pack, which flee's 8" directly away, resulting in a failed charge.
Left Flank:
My Knight Errants on the left flank declares charge on the Skink Skirmishers on the hill. They decide to stand and shoot, making 4 wounds which are saved. Successful charge. The two remaining Pegasus Knights charges the Razordon, which holds because it is too close to stand and shoot. Thankfully.
My Yeomen on the center of the battlefield tries to be "clever" and moves up next to the house, their backs to the hedge. Now they are out of LoS of the enemy, while march blocking several units.
The Yeomen are trying to earn some extra soup this evening!
The skirmishing archers moves 4" to the side, away from the Saurus Cavalry. A quarter of the unit is now inside the wood.
The Green Knight is feeling a bit optimistic, he moves up next to the fleeing Salamander, hoping to panic the Saurus Warriors with his Terror, so they will flee into the Mounted Yeomen and die.
While my general is still eating mud, my movement phase ends.
My Damsel uses 3 dice, trying to throw Hunters Spear at the threatning Saurus Cavalry. I roll double 6 and a 1. Irresistible force!
Hooray! Take that mr. 7 Dispel Dice! Bwahaha! I then roll a 1 for to wound...
The Trebuchet guess 30" towards the Skink unit with Krox. Again is the guess perfect, but that dosen't help much when I then roll a misfire followed by a 6.
The "clever" Yeomen at the center shoots at the Saurus Warriors, causing zero wounds. The Skirmishers shoots at the Saurus Cavalry, causing 6 hits and 1 wound which he saves.
My 10 archers hiding in the building to the south-east shoots at the same Saurus Warriors as the Yeomen, killing a single Saurus.
Close Combat:
The Yeomen on the right flank turned out to be killing machines. 4 attacks, 4 hits, 4 wounds! Then the horses killed another 3! I win the combat by 8 (7 Kills and Unit Strength). He roll 6,6,5 for break test. They flee 3", I pursue 13". This causes a panic test on the nearby Scar-Veteran, which fails and flee 8" through the wood. Not bad for 4 Mounted Yeomen.
The Knight Errants on the left flank makes 8 attacks, 8 hits and 7 wounds! The horses kill a single skink. I win by a lot. He rolls 1,3,3 for break test, and rerolls because the Slan is within 12 and rolls 1,5,5. The frog is no help. I pursue 9", he flee 8". Another dead unit.
The Pegasus Knights direct all attacks at the Skink Handlers, with 3 attacks, 3 hits and 3 wounds, the skinks are gone. The Razordon fails to cause any wounds. I then win by 4 (3 kills and Unit Strength). He fails the break test a flee 5" while I pursue 9". The dead razordon caused a panic test on the Saurus Cavalry, and they fail! Since they are only a few inches away from the table edge, they leave the battle.
The Lady certainly seems to be with me this day!
Lizardmen Turn 3:
My opponent start with succeeding the terror test on the Saurus Warriors. The Salamander fails to rally and flee 7" through the Skink Skirmishers (towards closest table edge) which pass their panic test.
None shall pass!
The Scar-veteran rallies.
There are no charges, as the only unit he can see (and have range to) is the Green Knight.
The huge Stegadon is apparently afraid of ghosts, so it hides behind the forest on the Lizardmen left flank.
The Skink Skirmishers moves 6" up in front of The Green Knight, trying to block his LoS to the Saurus Warriors.
Right Flank:
The Slann is float-blocked from the Mounted Yeomen, so he floats 4" behind the house.
The Skinks with Krox moves 4" alongside the house.
Magic:
The Engine of the Gods reduces the casting costs of Heavens.
Now I suddenly remember that my Damsel was equipped with the Chalice of Malfleur! DoH! I roll a 4, adding +1 to my Dispel Pool.
The Skink Priest inside the house attempts to cast Uranon's Thunder Bolt at my unit of Pegasus Knights. Using 3 dice he rolls 16! I won't even try to stop that, so I bite the bullet once more
(that has worked out well so far, eh?)
1 hit!
(told ya!) randomize = wounded musician hit. He rolls a 3 to wound, which is too low.
Hooray!
The Slann casts Beast Cowers on my generals unit for the third time. He uses 3 dice and rolls 11. I decide to burn my Dispel Scroll, meaning my second-most expensive unit is finally free to move in the next turn.
The Slann then casts The Oxen Stands on his Salamander pack. He roll 2 dice and get 6, I use two Dispel Dice and get 5. The Salamander rallies.
The Scar-Veteran uses his Charm of the Jaguar Warrior and charges into the flank of my Mounted Yeomen on my extreme right. I hold, because I am close to the table quarter.
The Charm of the Jaguar effectively ends the Mounted Yeomens killing spree
The skirmishers in front of the Green Knight tries to single shot at my Grail Knights, but he only have 1 model within reach which misses his shoot.
The Scar-Veteran makes 3 wounds on my Mounted Yeomen, which meant I could not strike back. I failed my break test and my surviving musician fled 10" with no hope of rallying. The Scar-Veteran restrained his pursuit.
Bretonnia
My Mounted Yeomen in the center declares a charge on the flank of the Saurus Warriors. They hold.
The Green Knight declares charge on the Skinks, and my Pegasus Knights declares charge on the Slann. Both choose to hold.
Unfortunately, the Slann was 21" away from the Pegasus Knights, which meant the charge failed!
Let's have a rest right here Sir Roderick.
Indeed sire, that is a wise decision. Oh look sire! A frog! How cute...
The Generals unit is finally free from the mud, so they move 13" straight ahead. The Knight Errant makes a reform, looking straight into the flank of the Skink with Krox unit.
The Knight Errants prepare to earn full knighthood, if only the Damsel would have paid more attention when receiving magic lessons from the Fay...
The Grail Knights moves up next to the wood, flexing their muscles while the Yeoman musician leaves the table.
In the Magic phase I try to cast Wolf Hunts on the Knight Errants, with 3 dice I roll 1,1 and 4... miscast!
I roll a 6 on the miscast table, meaning my opponent may cast one of his spells for free. He casts Uranon's Thunder Bolt at my generals unit, killing 3 Knights of the Realm. Luckily I rolled 6 for the panic test (Phew!!)
With only 1 Power Dice left, my hands were tied.
Crappy magic phase.
My Trebuchet shots 30" towards the house containing the Skink Priest. Another spot on guess, even with a 2" scatter the building is still hit. The priest then took 6 wounds, which meant he was now a pancake and removed from play.
My archers hiding in the other building shoot at the rallied salamander. 10 shots, 2 hits, both on crew = 2 kills.
The Skirmishers tried their luck with the Skink and Krox unit. 18 shots, 11 hits, randomize 4 on Krox, 7 on Skinks, zero wounds on the Krox and 5 kills on the Skinks.
The Salamander "pack" passed their panic test, but the Skink with Krox unit was not so lucky. They failed their panic test, even when within 12" of the Slann. They were only 1" away from the house, which meant the unit was destroyed. The Slann passed the panic test.
Nice shooting boys. I'll lower your taxes with 1%.
Close combat:
The Green Knight choose to generate +1D6 attacks, rolling 3. 7 attacks, 4 hits, 2 wounds. No wounds caused from the Shadow Steed... not very impressive. 1 Skink was able to strike back, but being ethereal there was no point. I win the combat by 2 (2 kills Vs Unit Strength) and the skinks fail their break test.
They flee 5", but I pursue 11", running them all down and pursuing into the Salamander which holds.
My opponent removes his Skinks, revealing a Salamander behind them
My Yeomen flanking the Saurus Warriors failed to cause any wounds.
The Saurus also gave zero wounds in return (may you use spears in files? We were unsure and diced it = not allowed). I won the combat by 1, but the Saurus Warrior passed their break test.
With knights threatning from the front, rear and both flanks, the Saurus Warriors shakes their scales
Lizardmen Turn 4:
There was no charges this turn.
The Slann floats into the house where the Skink Priest used to be.
The Stegadon sneaks up right behind my Grail Knights like a ninja! The Scar-Veteran hides in the wood where he began the game. Then he had no more units to move!
*Sniff* *Sniff* Eww... was that you!?
In the magic phase I succeeded in generating an extra Dispel Dice with the Chalice. The Stegadon uses Burning Alignment, causing a single hit on my Grail Knight swhich doesn't wound.
The Slann tries to cast Crows Feast on my Skirmishers, he uses 3 dice (one free) and rolls 1,1,3. Miscast! He rolls a 3 on the miscast table, meaning he gets a S6 hit. He then rolls a 1.
Bugger.
Next he tries to cast Hunters Spear on my generals unit, with 3 dice he rolls 12. I use all 4 Dispel Dice and rolls 17.
He then casts Beast Cowers on my generals unit again, and with no Dispel Dice or Dispel Scrolls, I can't stop the spell. My general loses faith in being promoted, and his unit begins to eat popcorn, just enjoying the show.
There is no shooting.
Close Combat:
The Green Knight choose +2S and directed all attacks at the salamander. 3 hits, 2 wounds. I win by 1 (2 wounds Vs Unit Strength) he passes the break test.
The Yeomen fail again to cause any wounds on the Saurus Warriors, The Saurus kills 2 Yeomen in return, meaning I lost the fight by 2 (2 Kills and Unit Strenght Vs Flanking attack). I roll 4, meaning I barely hold!
Bretonnia Turn 4:
My Grail Knights charges into the other flank of the Saurus Warriors.
Not a good day to be a lizard
And that was my only movement.
The Damsel casts Hunters Spear on the Slann, but he uses a Dispel Scroll.
The Trebuchet guess 30" against the house containing the Slann, and I scores a "HIT", only to learn that the Slann can only be harmed by magical attacks.
The archers inside the other house tries to shoot the Stegadon. I manages to wound the Priest 3 times, but he makes all his armour saves.
Close combat:
The Green Knight kills the wounded Salamander and the remaining handler with ease.
The Grail Knights inflict 5 wounds on the Saurus Warriors and he fail his break test (twice). The Grail Knights run them down and finishes the game.
We decided to stop here, primarily because we were running out of time, and because all he had left was his Slann, Skink Priest with Engine and Scar-Veteran hiding in the woods.
He lost everything but the above, plus I could claim 3 table quarters. Giving me 1270 victory points (970 for kills + 3 table quarters).
I lost one and a half unit of Mounted Yeomen, giving him 131 victory points.
1139 Victory Points = Solid Victory
Some afterthoughts:
This game proved to me that skills is only 50% of the game. The rest lies in the dice rolls. My opponent had some real bad luck through the entire match. Failing several cold-blooded leadership tests meant more than one unit dead before ever seeing combat, and failing to take advantage of his magic superiority didn't help either. I decided to save my dispel dice and dispel scroll for any game-losing spells he might throw at me, and just biting the bullet and turn the other cheek when he threw magic missile type spells at me. It really proved to my advantage and paid of, seeing that he constantly failed bringing any real harm with his spells, even when he got most of them through.
My 3 biggest units didn't do much in this fight. The Green knight caused a little terror and killed a unit of skinks and finished of the Salamander. My General, BSB and unit of KotR did nothing but eat mud a loose three models thanks to a miscast from my Damsel. The Grail Knights only came to action during the last turn, but even without that charge would the game have ended in a Solid Victory. This was a true slaughter of my opponents army. I am confident that if we had played for two full turns more, I would have won with a massacre. His only chance was some incredible luck with his magic. The only reason the game "only" ended up as a solid victory, was because my opponent had tied
a lot of points up in the Slann and the Skink Priest on a Stegadon. 51% of his points was spend on characters.
So all in all, this was a combination of bad luck on my opponents behalf, some luck on my behalf (those ward saves surely are handy!) and making the right bets through the game.
This is my first battle report ever. I hope you who have read it could understand it, and enjoyed it. I surely enjoyed playing it.
Though I am sure I won't be this lucky the next time I face off against a Lizardmen host.
Good game, and thanks to my opponent for a fun experience.
Cheers 
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