Topic: 1000 Beasts of Chaos Vs Ossiarch Bonereapers

[Wyddr]

1000 Ossiarch Bonereapers Vs Beasts of Chaos: Path to Glory

The caves had been chosen for how inhospitable they were, how hidden. Flooded with fumes too toxic for men or aelves to breathe, too worthless for the dwardin to mine, there was nothing there but the ruins of some long forgotten city, dumped deep in the earth after some cataclysm. The perfect hiding place for Kraggoth the Seer to plot, to build strength.

But of course, the dead found him anyway. The bone constructs, each ten feet tall, strode through the ashen darkness with utter disregard for the poor air, the oppressive heat. These were no mere legionnaires--these were Nagash's elite. True killers, remorseless and implacable.

"Begin the evacuation," Kraggoth barked at the great Bloodkine, one of the Doombull Maygog's lieutenants.

"No," the beast growled. "Kill."

"They are already dead. We do not have the numbers to win."

The bloodkine brayed his disgust. "Coward, you are. Afraid."

Kraggoth's gors gathered close, listening to the argument. The Bray Shaman was well aware of what was at stake, here - either they fled, and he would be deposed as a weakling, replaced by Maygog, or they stayed, and he could send the fools off to die. It was no real choice. "Very well," he said. "Attack, if you wish. But mark me - you will regret this."

The bloodkine, though, wasn't listening. He beat his chest, and him and a sizable portion of Kraggoth's herd ran off into the smoky darkness with glory on their mind.

Kraggoth, meanwhile, took care to gather the sacrificial bones from the foot of the herdstone, knowing full well he would have to erect another before long.

Some weeks ago I got in another 1000 point Age of Sigmar game, against a changed Bonereapers. Hopefully I could do a bit better this time.

Kraggoth's Battle Regiment
Subfaction: Allherd

Great Bray Shaman w/Brayblast Trumpet, Tendrils of Atrophy, Warlord: Twistfray Cursebeast

20 Gors w/shields
10 Ungors w/Spears
10 Bestigors
3 Bullgors
2 Tuskgor Chariots (1 unit)

Petrifex Elite Battle Regiment

Mortisan Boneshaper w/Artisan's Key, Empower Nadrite Weapons, Warlord (don't remember the trait)

3 Immortis Guard
3 Immortis Guard
3 Necropolis Stalkers
2 Mortghast Harbingers

Mission, Terrain, and Deployment
We opted for a Matched Play mission this time, if only because the Open Play and Narrative missions we felt had a tendency to be pretty lopsided. We rolled up Battlelines Drawn from 2022 General's Handbook, though we weren't using any of the special rules (so, no Proving Grounds and anything referred to as Galletian Veterans we just interpreted as "battleline w/ <5 wounds" or whatever).

The game would be fought over control of table quarters, which were treated as giant objectives. The board had ruins in most spots, but the only thing of big note was a bridge in the south which was Arcane - a spot that the Bonereapers needed to accomplish their quest of finding an endless spell. My quest was researching new spell lores (because I just cannot seem to get in range to cast Tendrils of Atrophy, like, ever).

During deployment, the Bonereapers were determined to be the attackers and they stuck all their stuff together in a tight group as close to the center of the board as they were allowed. My strategy was to hang back and stay away from the killer ball of death that was my opponent's army, running my faster, more numerous guys along the edges of the board and just trying not to engage. Therefore, my Gors hung back in my DZ and the Bestigors would go west while the Ungors would go north. My chariots and Bullgors went into reserve.

Deployment:


The Bonereapers stick together
The Beasts aim to spread out
The board overall

To Be Continued... 

[Wyddr]

Turn 1
The Bonereapers had the first turn and they spent it doing not much more than walking forwards, somewhat. They had no shooting and magic was constrained to casting buffs on themselves. I don't remember which battletactic they selected, but they managed it. They ended play in three table quarters and earned a total of 5 points for the round.

Top of Turn 1


In the bottom of the first turn, I started out sticking to my initial plan - I sent the Ungors scurrying northwards with the At The Double command, claiming the NE quadrant for myself while staying well away from the big skeletons at the center of the board. I send the Bestigors westwards in much the same fashion. Honestly, this should have been my plan all along and I never should have deviated. But...BUT...I desperately wanted to smash face with my new heavy-hitting units.

So, I ambushed my Bullgors and my chariots into the southernmost Immortis Guard. And, yeah, the Bullgors absolutely crushed those guys, throwing down something like twelve mortal wounds and a bunch of mundane wounds, besides. But the chariots were too close to the Stalkers, who were able to pile in and kill a whole-ass chariot in one round of fighting (it is then that I discovered just how filthy the rend is on all those Bonereaper units). Anyway, the idea here was to pick off the Bonreapers units as they got overextended, but overextended they were not at that moment. I had the satisfaction of killing one of those units, but now I was going to lose two units in the process. Not a great trade.

Still, I scored 3 objectives and the battle tactic, so we were technically tied (for now).

Bottom of Turn 1


Not pictured: the ground up powder that had once been an Immortis Guard unit
OOPS.
At least THESE guys are following the plan!
And yes, them too.

Turn 2
I did not manage to win priority for the double turn, which is deeply tragic, because the Bonereapers very quickly pounced upon my hammer units and killed them both. I almost took a harbinger with me with the bullgors, but they scored *one* wound too few. Alas.

They got 2 primary points for objectives and scored their battle tactic, as well.

Top of Turn 2


Well if it isn't the consequences of my actions. How rude.

In the bottom of turn 2, what I should have done is STUCK TO MY OWN STUPID PLAN, but I didn't. Instead, I declared Eye for and Eye for my Battle tactic and made a play for killing off the Harbingers. I charged the Bestigors at them and used the Brayblast Trumpet to ambush a squad of ten Gors w/double weapons into their back. I did...four wounds. An absolutely terrible showing by the Bestigors, believe you me. Then, in the counter attack, the Harbingers killed all 10 gors in one fell swoop. So, yeah, PLAN NOT ACHIEVED.

Oh, and even the *gors* moved a bit closer, mostly because I was getting Yhwh-condemneded frustrated that I was never in range for any of my spells.

The Ungors, though, kept hustling their little goaty butts around, claiming their table quarter. If only the rest of my stupid army was half that smart. I scored 2 points on objectives, and was now two points behind my opponent.

Bottom of Turn 2


Well, if it isn't another dumbass decision by Captain Stupidpants...
Do we have them surrounded, or have we just fed them extra portions?
That's right, get CLOSER to the deathmachines, you idiots.
The Ungors - the only guys who can follow a plan.

Turn 3
I again failed to claim the initiative, and so I again would be punished by merciless death constructs. Feeling pretty good about themselves, they encircle my Bestigors and even the Boneshaper is getting into it now, selecting the Battle Tactic that has him taking out the last of a unit himself. Well, joke was on him because his other guys smacked around the Bestigors so effectively that they killed all the Bestigors close enough for him to pile into. That left me with one ornery old goat left, and I used my Triumph to automatically pass the battleshock test and stick around, mostly out of spite.

Top of Turn 3


Before!
After!

In the bottom of Turn 3, I had the brilliant (note: not brilliant) plan of trying to bog down his forces with my pack of 20 regenerating Gors! I loaded them up with Mystic Shield, took care to only charge one group of Immortis Guard, and charged in! I did NO DAMAGE AT ALL and they killed 10 of my gors. No problem, right? I've got a command point just for keeping them in the fight and I'll get almost half of them back! BUT WAIT: the Immortis Guard get to fight twice, apparently! Oh...uhhh...well... yeah, he killed the other 10. 20 Gors slaughtered in a single turn. Amazing.

Hey, at least the ungors are still running around!

Bottom of Turn 3


Now, technically speaking, the Bonereapers and I were tied at this point (which gives you an idea of how well I might have done if I had stuck with a disengagement policy), but everything except the ungors and my general were dead. This being a Path to Glory campaign, I didn't really fancy having my general put down, so I conceded the game. It was obvious he would be able to score full points in the next two turns and get his Grand Strategy as well (which was just "have battleline left alive"), so I wasn't winning the game, anyway.

Final Score
Bonereapers: 14
Beasts of Chaos: 11

Post-Mortem
The upshot of all this is that I do not have a big enough can-opener to reliably kill those big Bonereaper dudes with their -2 and -3 rend and their ward saves and so on and so forth. Just not happening. To make it worse, I kept fighting him piecemeal - basically one at a time - which eliminated my primary advantage of numbers. In the future, I need to follow my initial plan and fight smarter, not harder. Also a monster wouldn't go amiss. 

As a final note, Bullgors work very well, but would probably work a lot better if I planned their ambushes more carefully. Same with the chariots. The casualty rolls were not kind to me, either, so the chariots, after their brief appearance, are going to have to ride the shelf for a while so that they recover.

Kraggoth, meanwhile, needs to rebuild his warband again. At least he did manage to research a new spell - Wild Rampage - which, while not as great as Tendrils of Atrophy, I stand reasonable odds of actually getting to use, rather than running around and never getting anything in range until its too late.

We have another game planned for this weekend, so hopefully another report coming soon. Thanks for reading and thanks, as always, to my opponent!

[Roboknee77]

A very nice Batrep, Wyddr.

I have to write-up my own battle against these Bonereapers.  I also found his Phalanx style hard to crack, they can layer defenses, and the Warlord trait, Aura of Sterility (-1 to hit and -1 to wound from shooting attacks), was picked because of my Overlords.  In a mission where they have to break apart, then we stand a better chance of taking down these Skeletal Jerks.

It's also good to see how tactics and grand strategies work in an actual game, versus the open play we had been doing.

Thanks again for the write-up, it was an excellent game to watch as well, and I look forward to our next meeting this weekend!

[Irisado]

Initially, I could get over just how small the Bonereaper army was, but having seen how much damage they do, I now understand why.  As someone who used to play Undead armies, I have to confess that I did enjoy seeing a Bonereaper victory, however, you did make it too easy for your opponent by not using your numerical advantage.  Your original plan was definitely the right approach.

Thank you for posting the report and I look forward to seeing the next stage of the campaign play out.  The Beasts of Chaos need to be carefult though, lest they end up joining the ranks of the Bonereapers .

[Wyddr]

Thank you for posting the report and I look forward to seeing the next stage of the campaign play out.  The Beasts of Chaos need to be carefult though, lest they end up joining the ranks of the Bonereapers .

Oh, I have no doubt there is a fair amount of Gor bone incorporated into those monstrosities at this point. I've lost basically 2 entire armies to them so far. Let's run the numbers:

Across 2 games:
50 Gors
20 Bestigors
10 Ungors
3 Bullgors
2 Chariots
1 Cockatrice

That's a total of 80 infantry and sundry support units. Ouch!

[Irisado]

This reminds me of the casualty list that my old Warhammer 40,000 Ork army suffered  .  That is a lot of models that you have lost.  The next game will surely go better though, as you know what you must avoid doing.

[Wyddr]

I know! It just seems odd that the strategy in a fantasy battle game is "do NOT engage in any fantasy battles UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES."

[Radec]

I know! It just seems odd that the strategy in a fantasy battle game is "do NOT engage in any fantasy battles UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES."

Lol, this is the best thing I've read today . It rings painfully true for me whenever I recall any game against my sylvaneth opponent who just spawns some trees, teleports a walking trunk, gets a swing at my boys and teleports back leaving me strutting for 3 turns across the table  Btw, do you play with the rule that the defender sets up the terrain? I think it is a very good rule, giving armies that rely on staying in formation the luxury of getting all the bonuses they need.

[Wyddr]

Well, we haven't really found terrain to be a terribly big deal in Sigmar, except when dealing with a heavy shooting opponent (like Overlords). It doesn't restrict movement *that* much most of the time, there is never enough of it to block much in the way of LOS (and, again, that only really matters against shooting), and the Mysterious Terrain rules are more of an annoyance than an actual game-changer. 

Even if I did move the terrain around in this match, nothing much would have changed.

[Radec]

I guess it depends on the army one is playing. IMO terrain doesn't get in the way of more mobile armies like stormcast which can deepstrike and ride dragons or the sylvaneth that can teleport near woods, but for me it is another story. All my units have to stay withing a certain distance from each other and walking through and around terrain literally breaks my army. Also I can never escape shooting no matter what so terrain is definitely something I avoid like the devil...