Battle Report - Ratkin v. Vampires in Pillage

This morning Ryan brought his Vampires around and we had a game of Pillage.

I made changes to my Ratkin list subbing out a Weapons Team, the Hackpaws and the Murant Rat Fiend to try our some Death Engines. Recently I had found that the MRF had really suffered from his De 4 and so the ability to add some De 5 into the army was attractive.

We sprinkled some terrain around the table and then rolled up 6 objectives.

Here you can see five of the counters - one is behind the wood on the hill. The final counter is in the corner to the right of the photo, past the house.

When we rolled for sides, Ryan won and took the side with three in the deployment zone leaving me with the side with three centre pieces.

My deployment was concentrated on the centre. I knew I had to make sure I had all three of them and then I could use the Deamonspawn to contest one in Turns 5 & 6. Well that was the plan anyway.

You can see the three I had to take here.

Ryan had Ghoul regiments babysit his three objectives. In the centre he had his cavalry, the revanent on wrym plus a big unit of Skellies. Behind them were an allied Night Stalkers screamer, a regiment of Doppelgängers plus a necromancer.

Turn One

Ryan edged his line forward for an assault on the centre. He had the three rear objectives under Ghoul control and needed to at least contest one in the centre. The Screamer inflicted one wound on the Daemonspawn.

 

The Skellies were a little bit tentative and positioned themselves for a move forward in Turns 2 & 3.

On my right the Werewolves moved to cover an attack on the Ghouls.

I pushed forward and was able to inflict three wounds on the Revanent from a Lightning Bolt.

The Ratkin line advances with hordes of Shock Troops and Slaves.

Turn Two

Here is the view at the start of Turn 2. The Wrym manages to regenerate a wound.

The Vampires again are tentative - positioning for the multi charge. This allows the Ratkin to roll up to the centre line.

More magic and shooting wavers the wrym while the necromancer is killed outright. This removes Surge from the centre for the next turn at least. I got very lucky with my Death Engine shooting rolling up 12 and 13 shots respectively. The first did 9 hits on the wrym while the second inflicted 8 on the Necro.

Here you can see a "necromancer-sized" gap between the Night Stalkers. Maybe it was them that got him? Below the wrym is in a lot of trouble. Wavered he has ten wounds to shake off.

Turn Three

The Wrym regens two wounds but is still very much under pressure. He edges back as does the Screamer. The LB from the Screamer fails to wound the Daemonspawn.

In come the Skeletons to attack the Shock Troops. This is part of a long game move by Ryan. They inflict 7 wounds on the brave Rat elite.

In my turn the Shock Troops countercharge the Skeletons who also wear a Slave regiment in the flank. My magic and shooting removes the wrym and starts in on the Wraiths to my left.

Here you can see the left of the board. The Wraiths nearest the building have taken 5 wounds.

On my right the Slaves have charged the Werewolves - no yellow bellied for me - and inflict three wounds. The Brutes have moved up behind.

Turn Four

Now the Wraiths and Doppelgängers come forward and hit the Shock Troops. Stealing the Rats' 25 attacks in conjunction with the ghost attacks and I'm on double 1s. No tale of glory and they disappear.

On the right though a heroic tale is about to be told as the Slaves take 14 wounds but do roll double one and hold.

Here is the centre after Ryan's combats. I do think he should have pressed forward with the cavalry and second unit of Wraiths with the Vampire Lord.

The Werewolves bounce back after the heroic Slaves hold.

In my turn the Blight flank the Wraiths. I was only able to do this because of the space the Slaves could move into. If Ryan had pressed I would have been fighting on multiple fronts and the Blight would have been unable to flank.

The Slave Horde also flanks and both Death Engines hit the front of the Doppelgängers.

The Brutes multi charge the Werewolves with the Slaves

The centre has now been cleared out and I've managed to put a Slave buffer line out in front.

Turn Five

The Wraiths charge the Slaves while the Cavalry make a hindered charge on the other Slaves.

Both charges bounce. In the background you can see the Vamp Lord has moved back to babysit the Ghouls.

In my turn I move Slaves back to allow my Weapons Teams to shoot off the Wraiths. The Warlock and Daemonspawn finish off the Screamer.

The Ghouls holding the objective on the right have sat behind the wall. I think this may have been a mistake as if they had charged the Slaves they would have broken them and then had a 66% chance of getting back behind the wall. As it was I charged both units in and although Hindered they broke the Ghouls giving me a fourth objective. Regardless though I would still have been contesting so it wasn't pivotal in the outcome.

Turn Six & Aftermath

Turn Six was very timid. There was little Ryan could do and I was unwilling to commit my Daemonspawn to contest one of the two objectives he was holding - given I was already up 4-2.

In the end it was a comfortable Ratkin win but I do think I had the best of the dice. The Death Engines rolled three sixes and a five for shots - more importantly on the critical turns. While I benefited from a Double 1 with the Slaves I believe the Brutes would have broken the Werewolves eventually and moved to contest the counter.

Overall the list worked well I think I was helped by the early hits on the Wrym which created unease in Ryan's mind. The Death Engine was an improvement over the MRF as it participates earlier in the game without having to risk its points.

I'm keen to give the list another runout soon.

Thanks to Ryan for the game (and bringing Chocolate Caramel Slice)

 

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