As I alluded last week I planned on analyzing last year's Adepticon Fantasy Championship's scenario rules and playing a few practice games to work on my gameplay. Overall, I think I'm in pretty good shape for Adepticon, but I still lack specific experience versus a few armies and army-list types. Today I'll go over my list, each of the Adepticon scenarios (from 2012), and what I learned from my practice games.
Note: This post is rather long due to the various topics I plan to cover.
The Army
Grey Seer - Earthing Rod, Talisman of Preservation, Dispel ScrollChieftain - Battle Standard Bearer, Shield, Banner of the Under-Empire
Plague Priest - Level 2, Foul Pendant, Flail
Warlock Engineer - Doomrocket
2x 35 Clanrats - Full Command, Shields, Warpfire Thrower
2x 40 Slaves - Musician
2x 5 Giant Rats & 1 Packmaster
40 Plague Monks - Full Command, Plague Banner
8 Gutter Runners - Poison Weapons, Slings
2x Warp Lightning Cannon
Doomwheel
Hellpit Abomination
Tactics - I use pretty standard tactics for my Skaven army above. The slaves lock down enemy units and my ranged firepower pelts those enemy units until they are finished with the slaves. After that, the enemy should be weakened enough that my clanrats can deal with the remainder. The rat darts provide standard redirection and placement drops The plague monks (horde formation) and the hellpit abomination will handle just about anything else. The Doomwheel and gutter runners are my special forces. The gutter runners go after the war machines and try to strip wounds off of the weak armor monsters while the doomwheel will handle the real anti-monster and monstrous infantry/cavalry.
Magic - Ultimately the grey seer will always have curse of the horned rat (unless I play against ogres) and hopefully end up with plague, scorch, or death frenzy. Skitterleap is also acceptable as are bless with filth and wither. Ideally though, the plague priest will have both wither and bless with filth as both of those spells boost the power of the plague monks dramatically.
The Scenarios
Overall the scenarios for Adepticon follow the basic rulebook with a few small additions. Most of the additions are just small secondary objectives that give bonus points regardless of who wins the actual battle. So without further fanfare, lets go over the scenarios and how I think my Skaven army should approach each of them.
Scenario 1 - Cunning Use of Flags
Scenario 1 uses the traditional battleline scenario rules with the winner being determined by victory points. In addition an 18" box is marked in the center of the table and players score bonus points by having standard bearers inside (and 2 points for the BSB). Finally, bonus objective points can be scored by controlling terrain (closest unit within 6").
As this is largely a standard scenario I'm pretty confident that I will do fine playing this battle. I think I stand a pretty good chance of scoring several bonus points due to necessary tactics of keeping my units close together. The bonus objective points will also be pretty easy due to the speed of some units (3d6 random movement) and the number of units (go horde army).
Scenario 2 - Operate Annihilate
Other than the weird grammar in the scenario title, this scenario follows the rules for a typical blood and glory scenario. As per standard Adepticon scenarios it also has bonus points for killing non-general characters and for controlling terrain.
While my list is less than ideal for Blood and Glory it is still competitive given that I have 3 banners, a BSB, and a general giving me a fortitude of 6 and a break point f 3. That means I must lose 3 banners or a banner and a general before losing. Two things will help mitigate these issues. The first is making sure my Grey Seer has skitterleap in this scenario. This will allow him to jump around even after being in combat. Given the staying power of the Skaven units his clanrats should last long enough for him to escape. The second measure to take into consideration is not to place all my eggs in the same basket. I usually like putting my BSB and general in the same unit, I need to avoid doing that in scenarios that use the blood and glory scenario rules. The bonus points are all dependent on the army I face here. Goblin armies will have plenty of characters to kill, Ogres, Vampires, and Warriors of Chaos less so.
Scenario 3 - Whites of Their Eyes...
A Meeting Engagement scenario that uses reserves. It also offers the typical objective points for terrain and then bonus points for having units in the enemy deployment zone.
I hate reserves. I usually get screwed and miss key elements of my army right off the bat or I miss my general and start off with crappy leadership. Fortunately I can bring units on when I choose so I usually only have a single turn before vital units appear. Another reason I hate meeting engagement? Only 12 inches separates the two deployment zones which mean combat is joined much sooner and fewer warmachine shots before then to thin out the enemy units. All that being said, units in the enemy deployment zone is pretty easy for my list as long as the HPA, doomwheel, and gutter runners aren't taken down.
Scenario 4 - Assassination
A battleline scenario with some new victory conditions. Standard victory points are in place but the key focus of this scenario is killing generals. If a general is killed then the player can nominate another character as the general. If a character is killed and no other characters can be nominated then the army is leaderless and loses automatically. Bonus points are award for controlling terrain and for killing characters.
Again, my battleline tactics work pretty solidly, however, I need to make sure that my characters survive. So again, I probably need to separate my general and BSB into two different units. This means my suicide warlock is no longer a suicide unit and I need to play very conservatively with my other characters
The Games
Game 1 - Warriors of Chaos - Scenario: Cunning Use of Flags
The List
Tzeentch Sorcerer Lord - Level 4, Third Eye of Tzeentch, Enchanted Shield, Disk of Tzeentch, Talisman of Preservation
Exalted Hero - Mark of Tzeentch, Shield, BSB
18 Warriors of Chaos - Full Command, Shield, Mark of Tzeentch
18 Warriors of Chaos - Full Command, Additional Hand Weapon, Mark of Khorne
5 Warhounds - Vanguard, Poison
2x Chaos Chariots
5x Chaos Knights - Full Command, Ensorcelled Weapons
Chimerae
2x Hellcannon
This game started off incredibly weird with the doomwheel misfiring against the chimerae and running out of control into a chariot, plowing through it and straight into the flank of the Khorne warriors. The unintended consequence of this was that it left my flank wide open for the chimerae to fly down the flanks and threaten pretty much everything. After that, my army went into overdrive and everything fell into place for once. I even had an added bonus of my WLC crew killing the Tzeentch sorcerer in an amusing display of incompetence. I ended up winning this game pretty handily with only the chimerae and a few of the khorne warriors. I had all my remaining standards in the box and controlled half the terrain.
So this game taught me a few things and reinforced a few ideas I already knew. First, it reminded me how crucial it is for me to keep all my units within range of the BSB and general. I had one run in where my slaves almost popped after a single round of combat on leadership 10, butt hanks to the BSB, the reroll worked out just fine. Next, beware of clumping up too much around artillery as those hellcannons really hurt for the first three turns. Next, breath weapons wreck havoc on horde armies. Finally, there isn't much an HPA can't do as I watched it wipe the floor with the chaos knights in a single round of combat.
Game 2 - Warriors of Chaos - Scenario: Operate Annihilate
The List
Sorcerer Lord - Level 4, Scaly Skin, Talisman of Preservation
Exalted Hero - BSB, Fencer's Blades
18 Warriors of Chaos - Full Command, Shield, Mark of Tzeentch, Standard of Discipline18 Warriors of Chaos - Full Command, Additional Hand Weapon, Mark of Khorne
5 Warhounds - Vanguard, Poison
2x Chaos Chariots
18 Chosen - Full Command, Mark of Nurgle, Halberds, Banner of Eternal Flame
War Shrine
4 Skullcrushers - Full Command
I admit, I was worried when my opponent rolled his magic and had Mindrazor, Enfeeble, and Pit of Shades. Combine that with my weakness in Blood and Glory scenarios and I felt I had a real uphill battle here. This game started off well with my army on the high ground and me set up to pelt him with firepower as he approached. Then, I cast plague on the chosen. It killed a few and I rolled a 6 to continue the effects. Without thinknig a chose the khorne warriors that were fighting my slaves without remembering that plague effects everyone in combat (friend or foe). When it was all said and done, I killed 5 Chosen, no Chaos Warriors, 20 slaves, 15 clanrats, a warhound, and an already wounded skullcrusher. This allowed the warriors to break the slaves and open up a flank and the chosen an open avenue to my grey seer unit (where I had gone against my best judgement and put both my general and BSB). The Chosen broke the Grey Seer's unit and they ran for the hills, only an inch away from the board edge. Now I was in a predicament. My Grey Seer's unit had two models remaining outside of characters, that meant I needed double ones or I lose the game. What happens? Double ones. With that I rallied, and my HPA finally hunted down his general's unit and won me the game.
So what did I learn? Never put my BSB and general in the same unit for Blood and Glory for starters. Also, make sure I have skitterleap (which I actually traded out this time). Next, that the fickle gods of random number generation can be merciful, but don't rely on them. Lastly, make sure I know exactly how something works before declaring it. My own plague spell almost cost me the game. Good points? THe doomwheel is superb at hunting monstrous cavalry. The skullcrushers never stood a chance.
Game 3 - Ogres - Scenario: The Whites of Their Eyes...
The List
Slaughtermaster - Level 4, Talisman of Preservation, Earthing Rod
Bruiser - BSB, Heavy Armor, Ironfist, Armor of Fortune
Firebelly, Great Weapon, Dispel Scroll
12 Bull Ogres - Full Command, Ironfists
8 Ironguts - Full Command, Standard of Discipline
4 Mournfang Cavalry - Full Command, Ironfists, Heavy Armor, Dragonhide Banner
Gorger
2x 2 Sabretusks
Ironblaster
Thundertusk
Ouch. A Meeting Engagement against Ogres. So he started with the Firebelly and the Gorger in reserve while I had the gutter runners, a rat dart, and a WLC in reserve. Fortunately I won the ability to pick table halves and I picked the side that had only a few narrow defiles for the ogres to traverse. I then posted my plague monks behind a hill, the doomwheel on the far narrow flank and the HPA on the other flank. Everything else was at the back of the pass between the hill and a building. I shoved a unit of slaves in front and everything else backing them up. The Ogres charged up the hill to attack the plague monks and the two stayed locked in combat for rounds. THe Ironguts charged the slaves and also stayed in combat forever. At one point, I thought I had him as I had two WLC and two WFT ready to spray the ironguts with firepower. What happened? Some dirty bastard sabotaged my artillery. One WLC and WFT missed, and another pair misfired and blew up. Ugh. The Ogre player kept trying to go around the flanks but the doomwheel and HPA saved the day on both counts with the HPA taking care of the Ironblaster and the Doomwheel absolutely murdering the mournfangs. The Firebelly proved his worth by breathing on a unit of untouched slaves and causing them to run off the table and then used fulminating flame cage to take all but one wounds off the HPA. At the end of the day, I won a decisive victory after the Ogres took until turn 4 to break into my backfield. where I had plenty of remaining units waiting.
This game is proof that canny use of terrain can win battles. I blocked off all approaches from my opponent so that the only approach was against a giant unit of chaff backed up by artillery and, despite some setbacks, it worked out perfectly. The Doomwheel again proved amazing at destroying multi-wound monstrous models while the HPA held its own against a gorger, some sabretusks, and the ironblaster. THe key player on the enemy's side? The Firebelly. Despite running around solo he buffed several key units making sure they'd our out damage (Flaming Sword) and he really put a dent in the HPA as well as the unit of slaves (I completely forgot he had a breath weapon).
So at the end of the day, I think my forces work admirably in each scenario and against my stated foes. I had a lot of fun playing these games and learned a great deal. I had never played Ogres and figured I'd do much better against them considering they are only WS3 with light armor, but those guys are TOUGH. Thundertusks really make things hurt too. I'm still waiting to play against Vampire Counts though. I need practice against them as they are my weak point. I've played two games against them and always lost.
So next post will hopefully see the finished clanrat unit as well as progress on my slaves. I need to step on it if I want more time to practice. Well, I know this was a long post, but I hope it was a fun read!