Turn 1In keeping with my "never go first again until someone gives me a good reason otherwise" strategy, I finished deploying last, so I will go last. The Overlords, wary of ambush, move cautiously. Everything shuffles forwards, nothing is in range. I think maybe the Navigator coaxed a lightning bolt to hit the gors, but the Bestial Might rule replaced those guys at the end of the turn, anyway, so it scarcely made a difference. They chose the "Cunning Maneuver" battle tactic, and so disembark the Navigator in range of the central objective.
Top of Turn 1
"Steady as she goes, men! Keep an eye out for gors!"The Navigator takes some atmospheric readings...Aether-Navigator 2nd Class Darri Maskelport was proud to disembark into untamned territory for the first time. He felt the crunch of unfamiliar soil under his boots, smelled the stink of the nearby villagers, cowering in their houses, and generally felt like a conquering hero. The cache of realmstone, piled haphazardly next to the village well, seemed authentic, too. He took out his omniscope and started to poke around.
Other than the hum of the Enterprise's engines above, the world was quiet. The villagers, evidently unwilling to barter with the fleet, stayed out of sight in their boarded-up houses. Pshaw! Their loss!
The omniscope scanned across the realmstone and the dirt around it. The ore was authentic! But also...something odd. Hoofprints, all over the place. Not small herd animals, either, but big ones. Bipedal, judging by the pattern. Strange.
"Now, why would the beasts go and pile all this realmstone in the middle of a village square only to abandon it...unless..."
The quiet. The boarded up doors. The fleet bunched together, off guard. A...a trap?
Adrenaline surged through Darri short legs. "Trap! TRAP TRAP!" he signaled to the Enterprise to lower their boatswain's chair. The duardin on duty wasn't looking at him, though. He was looking behind Darri.
It was then that he realized the earth was shaking.
It was no longer quiet.For my end of the turn, I chose Reduced to Savagery as my battle tactic. I used it on the Skywardens, which I achieved by using the Blood Taunt from my ambushing Shaman to drag them out of formation and then pounce on them with my Bullgors, who were propelled into combat via the Doombull's Slaughterer's Call, thereby avoiding Unleash Hell (aka "Overwatch"). The Bullgors made very short work of the 12-wound Skywarden unit.
Meanwhile, my gors used their Fleet of Foot Veteran ability to charge after a very sizeable run, propelling them across the field and into combat with the Arknaut Company, Navigator, and (sadly) within 3" the Admiral's Flagship. My attacks were sufficient to decimate the Arkanauts down to 1 guy, though not before their Unleash Hell killed about 4-5 of my guys. The Navigator failed to connect, and then something interesting happened with the Frigate. The frigate had the Admiral aboard, and neither the Frigate NOR the admiral were within melee range (though they were within engagement distance). This meant that my opponent basically
had to activate the Frigate first, which then went on to kill a couple gors, which I then *removed from melee range* of the Admiral. Now, since the admiral is embarked and can't move and the frigate can't make a
second pile-in move, this meant the admiral and his nasty clockwork axe thing didn't kill any of my guys. This is a neat trick, and you should all remember it should you come across this scenario in the last 2 months where this rule-set will matter.
Anyway, I secured the objective handily and achieved my battle tactic--solid turn!
Bottom of Turn 1
Gor Stampede!This one stubborn dwarf with the skypike!Current ScoreBeasts: 4
Overlords: 4
Turn 2I don't get a double turn, so my opponent goes and picks the standard "Turn 2 Battle Tactic" which is Eye for an Eye. He fulfills it by slamming the Endrinriggers into my gors which, between their buzzsaws and a LOT of shooting, wipes out the unit (alas). The Navigator hops back into the Frigate and goes full-steam ahead into the cygor, doing a substantial amount of damage (about 10 wounds) and the Cygor hits back for 5-6 wounds of his own. The flagship Frigate, meanwhile, withdrew from the gor conflict and headed north, trying to get a bead on my hiding Ungors.
Top of Turn 2
Cannon and carbine fire rakes the GorsHide-and-seek w/UngorsThe Cygor catches a Frigate by the prowDarri held on for dear life as the Enterprise rose up and took him away from danger...or so he thought. Ahead of him, rising up as tall as a building, was some kind of horrid, one-eyed monstrosity, which bellowed in unclean tongues as the Frigate rammed into it. But the creature, rather than falling, held fast and snatched two arkanauts off the deck with its huge jaws.
Darri scrambled across the deck, firing blindly with his pistol as he looked for shelter. "Retreat!" he screamed over the din. "Captain! Retreat! Retreat!"
The captain, grim campaigner that he was, bellowed orders into his bullhorn: "ENGAGE ON ALL DECKS! SLAY THE BEAST!"In the bottom half of turn 2, I ALSO choose Eye for an Eye, because obviously I do. The doombull and the bullgors earn it for me by moving across the enemy Deployment zone and charging both the last Arkanaut and the Endrinriggers, killing them all (that guy with the skypike was stomped flat by the angry doombull).
In the north, the Tzaangor Enlightened showed up and charged the Admiral's flagship, doing a stupendous quantity of damage (12 wounds or so), while losing 2 guys to the admiral's axe. The Cygor also did quite well, crushing the other frigate down to a mere 2 wounds or so. I blew the Brayblast Trumpet and called in the remaining ungors, placing a group of Gors and ungors on either side of the board, in preparation for when the Realmstome Cache would blow up.
Bottom of Turn 2
The duardin is about to be roadkillThe center of the board is once again mine!The Enlightened board the flagship!The Enlightened board the flagship!Almost got them!Current Score:Beasts: 8
Overlords: 8
Turn 3 (abbreviated)The realmstone cache explodes, and both new objectives go south--in the southwest and southeast.
Now, even though we are tied, both ships are on the verge of destruction and, once gone, all that will leave the Overlords with is 2 characters - little chance he can contest those objectives enough. My opponent elects to concede, rather than play the game out and possibly lose ships which, given the casualty rules of Path to Glory games, means they could be damaged from the outset next game.
I win by default.
Kraggoth's beasts piled the realmstone at the foot of their herdstone and made twisted sacrifices of the captured duardin. Whilst the revelry continued, he met with Ychrrigal on the roof of the tallest house in the village.
The tzaangor was in a state of...ecstatic bliss, Kraggoth supposed was the word, though he had scarcely seen such a thing in years. "We have found the path at last!" he said.
Kraggoth gazed at the bleak, empty horizons. A wasteland very much like the one where the Ossiarch's had nearly killed him, back when he was little more than a bitter upstart, still shaking off the taste of humanity. "This?"
"You do not see, for you have refused the Sight. Look to your bones. Listen to your totems - know what draws nigh."
Kraggoth crouched in the dust and poured out the bones, spitting blood amid them to get a better read. And he saw - across this wasteland, a ruined keep. A keep of ancient and abiding evil - the seat of power for some great and powerful daemon, older than all the realms put together. He looked back at Ychriggal in shock. "This...this is what we've been seeking? Some demon to abase ourselves before?"
Ychriggal laughed. "You object, but you see its inevitability, as well. Despair not, Kraggoth - you will be rewarded for your service. The Dark Master is generous to those who bring him victory."
Kraggoth stalked off the roof, shuddering. He walked into the night, having now lost all taste for victory.Post-MortemA quick game, all things told. To address the elephant in the room, yes I am irritated that the Beasts of Chaos will no longer be an AoS faction - it seems arbitrary and unfair. That said, I've sort of got the beasts down to a science at this point, and I've collected all the models I want, so I was about due for a change of army, anyway.
My opponent's problem, I think, is taking too many ships. Bodies on the ground - another 2 companies, for instance - instead of a second ship would give him the ability to control the board better. Of course, as the point levels go up, his options will increase. I think Arkanaut companies are crucial for his success, though - moreso than any of the specialty units - and I expect to see more of them in the future.
As for myself, what can I say? Everything worked pretty well and nobody choked all that badly. Props to the beasts - they know what they are about. A pity there is only a handful of games left for them.
Thanks for reading and thanks very much to my opponent!
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My son is doing the exact same thing too now. You'd think they'd just be grateful for being born and get on with their own lives, right?
