Game Five – Tim Joss (Tomb Kings) – Watchtower
Over the weekend Tim had been telling people that he felt that his Tomb Kings had the measure of my rats so I was keen to see how this game would go. I wasn’t uncomfortable with the scenario as I felt that I certainly had the tools to remove the Tomb Guard from the tower if they ever got ensconced. If they didn’t I also felt I knew enough to work over the TKs to get sufficient points to win whether or not I held the tower.
Tim’s list has two key point sinks – 450 points plus character in Tomb Guard and 400 points in Necropolis Knights – and to get a significant win both of them have to be “harvested”. That, along with destroying his warmachines, was my key strategy.
The Early Rat Gets The Bone
Tim won the roll-off for the Tower but chose not to put anything in the building. My deployment was heavily concentrated towards the centre while Tim’s was more spreadout but along his baseline.
I went first and killed one catapult with a WLC shot. I was able to start the whittling away of Tim’s TG unit through magic – warp Lightning and Scorch – and shooting, Ratapult. This was to be my mode of attack for the game. On Tim’s first turn the Storm Banner went up and eventually stayed up for three player turns.
The Doomwheel and the WLC start to work on the Necropolis Knights and eventually these were reduced to a single wound. At this point Tim threw them into some Slaves. The last Knight won the first round but lost the second round.
I stopped Tim’s first “Light of Death” attack from the Casket which was targeted at my warmachines – burning a scroll to do so. In my second turn, the Bell rang Defeaning Peals (24% chance on three dice) which inflicted D3 wounds on any T7 units. It put wounds on the remaining catapult and Necrosphinx but importantly destroyed the Casket.
The HPA went down in one shot to the remaining (and now re-healed) SSC and a unit of Gutter Runners took out two small units of archers before being panicked off the board.
As we moved into the last turns I managed to get the last of the TG as the Prince abandoned them for the safety of the Hierophant’s unit. At the same turn I moved up the Gutter Runners and they occupied the tower. Tim said that he felt this was a mistake but I was worried that Necrosphinx would charge the tower last turn and felt poisoned attacks were a better dissuader.
In the last turn, Tim approached the tower to shoot the Gutter Runners out. I stopped Smiting and knew that as long as I made a Ld test of 8 with re-roll I would get the 600 points for the tower. Tim managed to shoot four but they held and won the scenario.
I felt I had the right tactics for the matchup and a plan that would allow me to get the big win I needed. In the end I lost 412 VPs to get a 1392 VP victory.
Win 17-3 (1804 VPs earned)
Interestingly, this left Tim and I equal in 4th Place on 59 points going into the last round. Tom was on 72 points, Rory on 70 and Peter Williamson on 63. Tom had played the others in the top 5 so was drawn against Antony’s Brets and with Rory playing Peter, Tim and I were drawn against Mike’s Lizards and Raymond’s Beastmen respectively.
Game 6 – Raymond Dick (Beastmen) – Battleline
Raymond had a flying Doombull and I knew that if I could ensure that this fellow never got into contact then I was likely to be okay. I believed I had the magic and firepower to target his Bestigor and big Gor unit and get the win.
My first turn shooting whittled away the Bestigor and when Ray’s Great Bray Shaman miscast killing several more they were very vulnerable. He managed a joint charge on my Doomwheel with Razorgor and Chariot but was one wound short of making me make a Ld 5 (with reroll) break test. In the second turn the Bestigor became rats, panicking the Gor who fled towards the side edge.
Last Picture of Stormvermin Raising The Storm Banner
With a mix of initially the Storm Banner and then Howling Warpgale I was able to ensure that a Doombull “No Fly zone” was in place until Turn 5. He then picked up my Warp Lightning Cannon who had been sniping him all game – one 4+ Ward Save and one single wound – Grrrrr.
The rest of the Skaven army did what it does and picked up the rest of his points, isolating units and picking them off.
In the end I had lost only the WLC for a maximum win.
Win 20-0 (2163 VPs earned)
With that 20 points I finished on 79 points. Tim also managed a max win but over the course of the event I had scored more VPs and so was ahead on tiebreaker. Peter W beat Rory 19-1 to jump ahead and Tom got the necessary points to take out the event.
The Skaven Brains Trust Indulge In the Obligatory Furpile After the Event
Tom was a most deserving winner given his strength of schedule (he played everyone else who finished 2nd to 7th). I was happy to be called out 3rd Place Overall. I thought I had played well over the course of the weekend, been unlucky in places and had luck in others. That’s what you get with Skaven – a rollercoaster of fun!
Late on Monday Night the Storm Banner Holder Arrives Back Home
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