Age of Sigmar: Tzeentch Daemons Vs "Dark Elves", Relocating OrbThey called this place "the Realm of Death." The title fit. Cold, empty and mournful, a harsh wind whipped across bare tree trunks and stirred ancient drifts of snow, scattering across the heavy dragon scale cloaks of Thasia's corsairs. The Corsair mistress took a deep breath--their air was sharp, dry. She was assaulted with memories of Naggaroth. Of her tenure on the northern border as a young druchii, in a world many ages dead.
She pushed them away. Looking backward was death. She intended to live.
"Mistress," one of her retainers whispered, pointing his blade through the gloom. "There!"
A riotous glow--almost like an aurora from the distant northern reaches of her long-lost homeland--danced along the horizon. In those days it had meant the taint of chaos. In this new age, it meant much the same. And it meant they were close.
"There's our quarry." She said to her corsairs. "Let's go hunting..."Played another exhibition game, this time using my Tzeentch daemons to slap together another 1000 point Vanguard.
Tzeentch Daemon VanguardGaunt Summoner (Wellspring of Arcane Might, General: Arch Sorcerer; Spells: Arcane Bolt, Bolt of Tzeentch, Glimpse the Future, Infernal Flames, Infusion Arcanum, Mystic Shield)
10 Pink Horrors (Treason of Tzeentch)
10 Pink Horrors (Unchecked Mutation)
3 Screamers
Burning Chariot
Burning Chariot
The Corsairs of Thasia Hell-tamerBlack Ark Fleetmaster (Thasia) w/Relic Blade; General (Tenacious)
Sorceress
20 Black Ark Corsairs (w/blades and cutlasses)
5 Drakespawn Knights
Drakespawn Chariot
2 Repeater Bolt Throwers
War Hydra
Endless Spell: Chronomantic Cogs
Terrain, Mission, and DeploymentWe opted to play in the realm of Shyish, and that meant all terrain was "haunted"--given all the leadership boosts running around in our lists, this really wasn't a big deal and didn't affect anything. It did mean each of our spellcasters got a bonus spell and we both got access to a really nice Command Ability--Honor the Dead.
The board had a river down the center and an old ruin and a hill in the western half of the board and a big forest in the eastern half. The mission was the Relocating Orb, which meant we essentially deployed in quarters and the orb went in the center of the board. My opponent won the roll-off and chose the NW corner in which to deploy, giving me the SE corner. He deployed his force in a balanced way--the Chariots holding each flank, the Horrors supporting them, and the Summoner and the Screamers in the center. I, meanwhile, kept as much as I could in the forest (did you know that cover applies in combat *as well as* shooting in AoS? Cool, right?). The corsairs with the fleetmaster covered my northern flank, the hydra and chariot in the south, and the Knights with the sorceress hung out in the middle. The two bolt throwers hung back, keeping their sightlines as open as possible.
Deployment:
Tzeentchian DeploymentCorsair DeploymentTurn 1The Daemons won the roll-off but elected to go second, noting that the victory points would be better and taking a lesson from our first game of AoS where an over-eager Khorne player had been slaughtered by hard-hearted druchii pirates. So, with the first turn, I had no real reason to move forward by much (and thereby break cover). The Sorceress failed to get off the Chronomantic Cogs and my most expendable unit--the Drakespawn Chariot--zoomed forward to claim the orb for that turn. In shooting, I
tried to snipe the Gaunt Summoner but missed. The other bolt thrower and the repeater crossbows on the chariot killed five pink horrors from the southernmost group, but they used a Destiny die to get a 1 on their battleshock test and regenerated 1 horror.
Top of Turn 1
No rush, boys. No rush...Current Score:1-0, Dark Elves leadIn the bottom of the first turn, the Summoner predictably summoned 10 Blue horrors from the five pinks I'd just killed. Their firepower along with a charge by the screamers killed the Drakespawn chariot dead. I was mostly out of range for other magic, but lost a Drakespawn knight to pink horror shooting and a burning chariot swept north and killed about 3 corsairs with it's own flame weapons. The screamers claim the orb for the end of the turn.
Bottom of Turn 1
Current Score: 3-1, Daemons leadTurn 2The orb moves southwest at the end of turn 1 and I win initiative and take the first turn in the round. The sorceress gets off the Chronomantic Cogs which pretty much immediately opens up a bunch of assault options for me. The Knights cross the forest heading north and charge the chariot, but thanks to the intervention of destiny (lousy destiny dice!), they only do 1 wound. The hydra moves west to claim the orb and then uses its fire breath (along with a bolt thrower) to wipe out the remainder of the southern pink horrors (though an act of spite does a wound to the hydra on the way out). The hydra then charges and devours the Screamers, but remains close enough to maintain control of the objective. Finally, the Fleetmaster uses At Them, You Curs
and the corsairs use Honor the Dead (getting a bonus attack for *each* of their weapons!) and then charge the other pink horrors, which are slaughtered in a haze of rainbow fire and flashing blades (I think I got 64 re-rollable attacks that turn! Wow!). Thasia, my general, was able to pile into the Blue Horrors and kill about half of them.
Top of Turn 2
The Hydra positions itself...The Corsairs and Knights select their targets...Current Score: 3-2, Daemons leadIn the daemons next turn, the Gaunt Summoner proceeds to incinerate seven corsairs with Infernal Flames but my Sorceress is able to stop his Bolt of Tzeentch from getting off. The blue horrors all die without doing much else. The second chariot flies south and shoots/charges the hydra from behind. This does a fair bit of damage, taking it down the four wounds. In the north, the chariot is able to shoot down 1 knight and the remaining three knock one more wound off the chariot.
However, since my Hydra is still standing and there doesn't seem to be any "contested" objectives in AoS, my Hydra is *still* the rightful owner of the orb this turn, and I earn my 3 VPs!
Bottom of Turn 2
Ambush!Current Score: 5-3, Dark Elves lead!Turn 3At the end of turn 2, the orb moved west again, placing it firmly in daemon territory. In turn 3, the Daemons win initiative and opt to go first. The chariot in combat with the hydra burns the monster up with shooting and combat, but the knights have better luck against their enemy, killing that chariot outright. The Summoner summons another 10 blue horrors atop the orb in the SW corner of the board, securing the objective. One of its spells fails, the other the Sorceress manages to unbind.
Top of Turn 3
The Summoner hustles away!Current Score: 5-4, Dark Elves lead!In the bottom of the turn, my Dark Elves finally take some action. The bolt throwers make short work of the remaining chariot while the Knights cross to about the banks of the river in order to get back into the fight. Thasia and her corsairs charge the Summoner, the venerable daemon-slayer making short work of the skinny wizard.
Bottom of Turn 3
Current Score: 7-5, Daemons lead!At the end of the third turn, the orb did a double-move to the NE, leaving it easily under my control. There was no way the Blue Horrors would survive long enough to bash through my defenses and, since I was looking at 4 points in the 4th turn with nothing to stop me, my opponent opted to concede.
Final ScoreDaemons: 7
Dark Elves: 9+
Post-MortemThis was a pretty interesting game, I feel. The mission made flexibility important and the Tzeentch Daemons had some cool tricks. Again, their list was significantly sub-par--they desperately needed something that could fight in close-combat, like Tzaangors--but as a test of how AoS worked, it was educational for both of us. I am really impressed with how effectively Black Ark Corsairs + a Fleetmaster are! I am
not impressed with Drakespawn Knights (I'd need at least 10 to make them worth it) or Drakespawn Chariots (leave. at. home.). Pink Horrors and Burning Chariots are both good, but they needed something else to support them.
Altogether a fun time! Thanks for reading! That's probably all the AoS for now as those of us who are thinking of playing will gradually go about collecting armies. I think it's Fyreslayers for me!