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Author Topic: Path to Glory, Round 1: Deepkin Vs Gloomspite Gitz  (Read 1122 times)

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Offline Wyddr

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Path to Glory, Round 1: Deepkin Vs Gloomspite Gitz
« on: August 27, 2019, 10:19:41 PM »
Path to Glory, Gloomspite Gitz Vs Idoneth Deepkin, Round 1

Gloama Neckbiter yanked the chain of his giant cave squig, Gitgobbla. "Hold still! Listen!"

Around him, the goblins in his small band went still, all of them eyeing the fang-jammed jaws of the huge squig as it obeyed its master. They sank low in the tall grass, only their spears poking high enough to be seen.

After a minute of quiet, one of the grots closest to Gloama cleared his throat. "Wh-what izzit, boss?"

Gloama turned his baleful gaze on the hapless goblin. He pointed a finger at him.

The goblin went stiff, holding up his hands. "No! No boss, I didn't mean it! I shut up now! I..."

Gloama snapped his fingers. With a sudden lunge and one quick bite, the offending goblin vanished down the gullet of Gitgobbla. After that, the goblins were
really quiet.

It came like a breeze at first, but too slow. The air felt
thick somehow, like they were watching the world through a bubble of water. Sound was muffled. A bird tried to fly from a nearby tree, but couldn't quite make it through the strangely viscous sky. It tumbled through space, eventually bouncing off a branch and falling into the grass below.

Something was off. Something strange and probably magical was coming. But Gloama knew that, whatever it was, the Bad Moon had summoned them all here to witness it--he felt it in his bones. He grinned, happy that fate had finally recognized his talents. He, Gloama, was destined for big things. Very big things.

And it all started with this weird, fishy air.


Gloomspite Gitmob
Gloama Neckbiter--Loonboss w/Giant Cave Squig (Backstabber's Blade, General: Fight Another Day)

20 Stabbas w/Spears, 3 Netters, Gong-basher, Grot Banner, Boss
20 Stabbas w/Spears, 3 Netters, Gong-basher, Grot Banner, Boss

5 Boingrot Bounderz
5 Boingrot Bounderz

Idoneth Hunting Party
Tidecaster (Coral Ring, Magic Tidal Wave spell)

3 Morrsarr Guard
3 Ishlaen Guard

Mission, Terrain, Deployment
This Path to Glory campaign is set to take place in Chamon, so all Chamonite rules were in place. This game the winds of Change were strong, so rolling any doubles for spellcasting made them irresistible, but they also did moral wounds. 

We took a few liberties with the Path to Glory rules on the outset here, primarily because my grot units in the book were set beneath minimum unit size (which was stupid, so we upped it to the minimum of 20) and it wasn't entirely clear if you could take the Deepkin's eel cavalry to start with (so my opponent elected to count them as 2 choices apiece). We rolled for mission and got Starstrike, meaning we'd be fighting over the fall of comets full of starmetal--perfect for two fledgling warlords!

Terrain was relatively sparse--some forests around the edges, some fences to hurdle. The center of the board was dominated by a ruin that was designated as "dangerous" (by which we decided to mean haunted by vengeful spirits), so anybody getting too close could wind up taking mortal wounds.

My opponent won the roll-off and chose the northern half of the board to deploy in. He dropped the Ishlaen Guard in the NE corner and the Morrsarr Guard in the NW, who were then backed up by the Tidecaster. My big mob of goblins deployed in a clump just to the east of the center of my DZ. A mob of stabbas guarded each flank, Gloama took up the center, and the two groups of Bounderz acted as his bodyguards, deploying just behind him and to either side.

Deployment


Three Fishy-fishy
Four Fishy-fishy
Just a *tiny* scouting force...

Turn 1
The Deepkin out-deployed me by a country mile, so they go first. They start out by having the Tidecaster throw some sort of magic tidal wave at me that mashes 4 goblins in the western stabba squad, causing another 2 to run away. Ouch. It then becomes painfully obvious that catching those thing will be an exercise in futility as the Ishlaen Guard shows off with a massive 18" move or something to the west. The Morrsarrs stay put this turn. Nobody has a charge and nobody has any shooting, though, so that's about it for the turn.

Top of Turn 1


In my half of the turn, I run my forces forward as fast as I can go, particularly the western stabbas (the closer you get to that tidecaster, the weaker those tidal waves get). I recognize that there is no real way I'm going to force battle with the Idoneth--I need them to come to me. I save my command point, hope for the Bad Moon, and wait.

Top of Turn 1


Advance!

Turn 2
SURPRISE! A double turn for me as I win initiative for the second battle round! The first falling star hits this turn, too, landing, as luck would have it, just to the north and east of my eastern stabbas. For a final bonus, the Bad Moon cruises out to center board! Bonuses for everybody!

First off, I try to make the Bad Moon curse the Ishlaen Guard, but it doesn't take. That's okay, since both boingrot bounder units can charge after running this turn, and the Ishlaens are only about 18 inches away. So I roll my 3d6 for the first group...5" move. amphetamine parrot. Okay, okay--how about the second? 6" move. Dammit. Also that unit parked a little too close to the haunted ruins and one of my squigs took a wound. Welp, so much for getting off a charge.

Meanwhile, the western stabbas keep running their little hearts out toward the Tidecaster and the eastern stabbas move a bit to the north and east to claim the first objective. 2 points for me!

Top of Turn 2


*Still* too far away...

In the bottom of the turn, the Morrsarr's get under way, and they are able to run and charge this turn, too! They cruise to within about 8" of my Bounderz while the Ishlaens get right up in the face of my eastern stabbas--maybe 3.2 inches away or so. The plan was to slam the Ishlaens into the stabbas and the Morrsarrs into the bounderz, but the Morrsarrs tank their charge roll (even with a re-roll). So, the Ishlaens blast the Bounderz with their shock attack (they were *just* close enough to take it, too, though I forgot that this also meant they could pile in!) and killed one goblin knight. They then cut apart about 9 Goblins in the combat phase. Gloama wasn't going to let that stand, though, so he ordered them to Stab Em Good! and I managed to take 3 out of 4 wounds off one of the eels in response. He then used his Inspiring Presence (ie "threatening to feed you gits to my squig") to keep the rest in the fight.

Meanwhile, the hapless western stabbas lost another 3 guys or so, but Gloama used his extra command point (thanks, Mr. Bad Moon, sir!) to "inspire" them as well--nobody wants to get eaten by Gitgobbla, for some reason.

Bottom of 2


Current Score: Gitz 2, Deepkin 0

Turn 3
I win initiative again, so I go first. The Bad Moon moves into the NW quadrant, showering its baleful gaze on the Tidecaster and doing 3 mortal wounds to the Morrsarr Guard. Two more comets rain from the heavens, one landing in the NW sort of halfway between the Morrsarr and the Tidecaster and one lands about board center in my DZ, well behind me.

I slam both groups of Boingrot Bounderz into the Ishlaens. Their impact mortal wounds plus all their attacks *plus* all the attacks from the Stabbas is enough to kill the remaining eels. They directed most of their own attacks at the Bounderz, but their slap-shod armor was more than enough to deflect most attacks and I only lost one knight (plus one more that ran away), leaving 2 in that squad.

The western grots, meanwhile, run for all their worth towards the northern objective. They don't quite get there, but their cousins in the east nab another 3 points from the first one that fell.

Top of Turn 3


The Ishlaens fall beneath a mountain of squig-flesh

In the Deepkin turn, the Tidecaster tries to throw another tidal wave at the closest grots, but fails her casting roll thanks to the Bad Moon and the re-roll doesn't help (not much luck with re-rolls for either of us this game). The Tidecaster moves to claim the northern objective but doesn't get close enough this turn.

The Morrsarr Guard charges the Boingrot Bounderz and do...nothing. Nothing whatsoever. I make every single 4+ save or they just plain miss or fail to wound. I'm so stunned I actually forget to attack back.

Bottom of Turn 3


The eels find squigs *entirely* inedible

Current Score: Gitz 5, Deepkin 0

Turn 4
The Deepkin win initiative this round, so it's their turn again. This time the Tidecaster reaches the objective and then casts a Riptide spell that is supposed to do something nasty to my grots, but to be honest my grots are so miserable at doing...well *anything*...I don't significantly notice any difference.

Needing to pick up some points, the Morrsarr retreat from combat and fly over my grots to attack the stabbas from behind and, if they kill enough of them, possibly claim the eastern objective. They get too greedy, though, and engage the bounderz, too, wasting attacks that might have wiped out worthless little grots on my apparently impenetrable armor (I made saves like gangbusters for them again). They do manage to kill 4 stabbas and one more bounder, but they are too far from the objective and I outnumber them still, so no points there. They also lose one eel.

Top of Turn 4


In my half of the turn, the bounderz (all engaged in combat) and grots continue to grind away at the Morrsarr along with Gloama himself, who scuttles in and tries to kill an eel, but basically chokes on all but 1 attack, which fails to wound. Then, being the sneaky git he is, he nopes right out of combat before anybody can hit him back. I end up killing one more Morrsarr Guard and all their attacks bounce off the INVINCIBLE ARMOR of my goblin knights.

In the west, those western goblins get close enough to the objective to take it from the Tidecaster. I suppose I *could* have charged her, but I can't really see why I should, since all that means is dead goblins. Make the Deepkin do it in their own turn, I say!

However, with me earning 8 points this round to my opponent's 4, and with him only having two models left on the board, he opts to concede.

Bottom of Turn 4


Yoink! This star-metal is ours, fish-elf!

Final Score
Deepkin: 4
Gitz: 13

Post-Mortem
First things first, I think my opponent counting both of his units as double choices wasn't really fair. He needed more models on the board, period, and he paid for it. That said, he controlled the pace of this game, pretty much--he was way too fast for me to catch and could have, with some more conscientious moves, chosen the ground he wanted to fight much better. Getting caught in all those goblins nets and having to try and slog through the well-armored Bounderz was a death knell for his elite, mobile units.

As for me, all my units pretty much performed as expected. The Bounderz were unpredictable, but steady and pretty durable. The stabbas were tarpits and objective holders. The General used his command points well. The Bad Moon proved useful--not much else to complain about, really.

At the conclusion of the match, I earned 3 Glory points to my opponent's 1. Now to see who I need to hire next (after I face the Overlords, of course!).

Oh, and I've determined that the goblins have dragged that last Lochian Prince off his eel and have tied him up and are holding him captive. Who knows what kind of clout having an actual sea aelf to parade about will earn him with the other goblin clans? Who knows--he might even be able to hire some Troggoths (if they get to eat the elf, of course). Happy days!

Thanks for reading--this was a ton of fun and I can't wait to do it again with larger armies. Thanks to my opponent, and I'll see you next time!   
« Last Edit: August 28, 2019, 12:45:56 PM by Wyddr »

Offline Myen'Tal

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Re: Path to Glory, Round 1: Deepkin Vs Gloomspite Gitz
« Reply #1 on: August 27, 2019, 11:25:02 PM »
Hi Wyddr,

Wonderful Battle Report, thanks for sharing it!

Bounderz are very reliable and a really cool unit to boot! I'm glad they served you well!

I agree with you, the Eels are good, but not two units worth good in a small game like this ;).

Some feedback on the report:

1) Morrsar Guard have the Biovoltaic Blast that let's you do mortal mortal wounds at the beginning of combat. You mentioned it was the Ishlaen Guard that had done that, but they get an improve to their save with their biovoltaic shields instead when they charge.

2) In turn 3, The Morrsar Guard charge the Bounderz, which means that their spears gain an additional -2 Rend on the charge as well as an increase from 1 damage to 2 damage. Which means the Bounderz' 4+ save decreases to 6+.
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Offline Wyddr

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Re: Path to Glory, Round 1: Deepkin Vs Gloomspite Gitz
« Reply #2 on: August 28, 2019, 06:01:53 AM »
I believe what you are describing is me mixing up Ishlaens and Morrsarrs.

Swap them for the whole game and *bingo*--everything makes sense.

We played it right, I just mixed up who was who.

Offline Myen'Tal

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Re: Path to Glory, Round 1: Deepkin Vs Gloomspite Gitz
« Reply #3 on: August 28, 2019, 06:15:35 AM »
I believe what you are describing is me mixing up Ishlaens and Morrsarrs.

Swap them for the whole game and *bingo*--everything makes sense.

We played it right, I just mixed up who was who.

I thought that was the case, just thought I'd certain and mention it just incase. Look forward to the next battles. It's Gitz vs. Overlords, them Deepkin vs. Overlords?
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Offline Wyddr

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Re: Path to Glory, Round 1: Deepkin Vs Gloomspite Gitz
« Reply #4 on: August 28, 2019, 08:09:20 AM »
Yeah, I figure it's fairest if we all face off at least once before applying any Glory Points.

Here's hoping Roboknee gets his airship dwarves up and running soon!

Online Roboknee77

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Re: Path to Glory, Round 1: Deepkin Vs Gloomspite Gitz
« Reply #5 on: August 28, 2019, 09:55:37 AM »
A nice write up, as usual Wyddr.  When we finally play it will be like flipping the script of my Orks; I'll be the smaller force facing off against a vast horde.

It looks like the game went very quick and this will light another fire under me to get my Dwarves up and flying.

Offline Uncle Tungsten

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Re: Path to Glory, Round 1: Deepkin Vs Gloomspite Gitz
« Reply #6 on: August 29, 2019, 03:35:46 PM »
This was a cool game! It really showed how the goblin units synergize as an army. Nice use of a tarpit trap followed by the bounder assault. I totally fell for it.

I like how sigmar doesn't feel as frenetic as 40k, where there's this urge TO ALPHA STRIKE THEM ALL OFF THE BOARD as soon as possiblw. Less rending (ap) and hitting/wounding on 2s seems to balance things out as well.

Looking forward to the next skirmish.

 


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