Fur Continues to Fly

Mike and I had another “Battle of the Fur” on Saturday afternoon. My list had changed a bit from the previous week. I went with:


Seer on Bell

BSB with Discipline
Warlock with Doomrocket and Condenser
Warlock with Scroll

35 Clanrats
30 Stormvermin with Swiftness
3x 40 Slaves
2 Rat Darts

2x 9 Gutter Runners

Hellpit
Wheel
Cannon
Ratapult

Mike had brought in a scroll and a BSB, sacrificing one Shaman. This week we played Blood & Glory, Mike had 6 Fortitude while I had 5 (four of which were concentrated in Bell unit).

From my point of view the key units in Mike’s list were the Bestigors and the two Minotaur units. They alone had the potential to break the Bell unit. My plan was to direct shots onto the Bestigors and warplightning at the Minotaurs (cannon, wheel, magic). I got lucky with my Doomrocket shot hitting 19/20 Bestigor and killing 15 on Turn One. That Bestigor unit has taken a pounding in the last few weeks! They were finished off by the HPA (I’ve recently taken to using the HPA and Wheel centrally rather than on the flanks. Together they create a real conundrum for opponents due to having to contend with two random movers. Mike looked to charge a unit of slaves with Minotaurs and supporting chariot but the chariot came up short. This left the Minotaurs stuck in combat where they could be targeted by poisoned shots and warplightning. Eventually this proved fatal.

In the centre Mike was left with two Gor blocks. One hit the Bell and the Shamen came to the fore. A quick Miasma on the unit and then a Purple Sun through it gave Mike the chance to kill it. In doing so though Mike’s General (Death Shaman) was sucked into the warp and the bell survived the vortex. Mike got some revenge killing my Seer with 5 Gor attacks – pretty sure one of the Warlocks had interfered with the Seer’s ward save.

Another fun game which reinforced that the rats are a difficult match up for the Beasts. Last week Mike had used Spirit Leech on the Warlocks and I think he erred by targeting the HPA instead (+2 Leadership, 4+ Regen vs. Ld 6). The other thing we agreed is that 20 Bestigors is just not enough in an 8e world. It only takes a lucky rocket or a high 13th roll and they are diminished as a threat.

The Skaven list is really solid against all comers. It doesn’t have the Orb that so many like but generally it answers most questions asked. Thinking I’m going to get the Furnace out again and I’ll look at finishing off my 8 Rat Ogre unit for some summer games.

Hobby-wise, on Sunday I cleaned out my gaming room. The Dunn-geon had become a bit of a rat warren with good nesting material all over the floor. Now it is pristine! That let me identify some more projects. In anticipation of my upcoming disappointment with the Chaos codex, I sold off my Word Bearers. Hopefully, their new home in Auckland will see them supported by the new boxed set cultists.

Last couple of evenings have seen me base up newly painted Temple Guard and Terradons. The intention is they should be finished by the end of the week.