Tuesday night 40K was taken over by the Fantasy players last night. A new edition means a lot of new interest in Warhammer. I scheduled a game with John C, and he brought along his old Daemons of Chaos army. John retired them last edition because he believed them to be ridiculously broken, and played his other armies (including his Tournament winning Lizardmen). He is trying to get as many games in as possible, because he will be officiating the 'Ard Boys location that I am playing at.
The list he brought was a pretty solid and balanced Daemon list. It looked something like this:
Bloodthirster
Tzeentch Herald
Khorne Herald
Slaanesh Herald
Large block of Horrors
Large block of Bloodletters
Large block of Daemonettes
2 units of lone Bloodcrusher champions
1 unit of 5 Seekers of Slaanesh
2 units of 3 Flamers
My army list is a smaller version of the list I am wanting to play at 'Ard Boys:
Grey seer on screaming bell, power scroll and skalm
Plague Priest on plague furnace, dispel scroll
BSB with the 4+ ward talisman
Warlock with no magic level, but has the Ruby Ring of Ruin
25 Storm Vermin, storm banner, plague wind mortar
25 Clan Rats with spears, plague wind mortar
30 Clan Rats with hw/sh, pushing the bell
31 Slaves, 5 wide for Steadfast
31 Slaves, 5 wide for Steadfast
25 Plague Monks, banner of swiftness
10 Plague Censer Bearers
8 Gutter Runners, poisoned attacks
Doomwheel
Warp Lightning Cannon
Let me just say, the game was dominated by the 13th Spell. To start, we played Meeting Engagement. John's Khorne and Slaanesh Heralds were put into reserve! My only reserve was my lone Warlock. This made John have to place his units within range of the board edge so the Heralds could join their respective units, totally slowing those units down for the first turns. I placed my entire army on the board first, so he was able to counter my deployment. I was hoping to at least counter his counter with my Scouting Gutter Runners, but I don't think I've got these guys figured out yet. They are their to try and get at war machines, but this game they were chasing Flamers around on the board corner away from the action. I guess they did keep them away from my lines all game!
To start the game, I sent my Doomwheel straight at his Bloodthirster. I had range that I should be able to get close enough to him to blast him, or even charge him first turn! That is, until I rolled a total of 8 on 3d6 coming up short by about 3 inches. I instead had to shoot his Horrors. The cannon came up short as well, rolling 2 for it's strength. But my first turn magic phase I rolled 31 on 6d6 to cast the 13th Spell with no double 6 for Irresistable Force / Miscast! John tried to use all 7 of his dice to dispel, because there was a pretty solid chance he would get double sixes right? Wrong. A tone of dead Daemonettes later his unit had 5 left for the Herald to join.
Daemon first turn was slowed by the Heralds being in reserve. The Horrors and Gutter Runners were dancing around away from all the action, but the Bloodthirster charged and demolished my Doomwheel in one combat. D'oh. One of his Bloodcrushers needed to roll a 6 on 3d6 (keeping the highest 2) and failed, so he watched his other Bloodcrusher buddy getting stuck with Clan Rat spears that were poisoned from Bless with Filth.
Second turn I needed to roll a 3 on 2d6 total to get my Plague Furnace and monks into the lone Bloodcrusher, and hopefully carry into his Daemons beyond. I ROLLED A 2 on 2d6! Epic fail. Hello random Warhammer 8th Edition. We meet again! Shooting was still uneventful, as I rolled another 2 for the strength of my WLC coming up just short of the Bloodthirster. Magic time?! Yes?! 13th Spell! I cast it on 6d6 this time, and used my power scroll. Almost every die rolled a 2 or a 4. Good thing I used my power scroll, this time I warped all but 6 of his Horrors into dead rat pulp.
From here on we could tell the game was tilted towards my side greatly. 2 turns getting the 13th spell of is a bit much to overcome, even for a Bloodthirster. I did charge one of my tarpit Slave units into his Bloodthirster and they performed very well, holding him for 1.5 turns in combat. Plague Furnace did get into combat with the remaining giant Bloodletter unit. Much carnage to be had, but the furnace got his flank and wrecked the unit. My Plague Priest got hit by killing blow in one swing, but the furnace crew, monks, fog, impact hits, and wrecking ball was just too much. Plus on the third turn I cast the 13th Spell AGAIN to turn the remaining Daemonettes into a small Clan Rat unit that helped rear charge the Bloodletters.
The Seekers did get my flank and have an open lane to the back of my line, getting all the way to my WLC! I really should have sent the Doomwheel after them instead of going straight for the jackpot trying to blast away the Bloodthirster. The Bloodthirster himself did eventually get to my Screaming Bell. He was slowed by the Doomwheel, Storm Banner, and tarpitting Slaves... but he got there. The first turn of combat my brave Skaven unit champion challenged the might Daemon! He got instantly split in two. The next turn the Bloodthirster directed all of his attacks on the Grey Seer and only caused one wound!!! The protection of the Horned rat was great indeed. At least until next turn when he got pulped. My Clan Rats and Rat Ogre crew actually did 4 wounds in return to the Bloodthirster in return, but never could kill him.
The game ended and I still had a bunch of models left, including my riderless Furnace AND Bell. John had 4 Seekers, a Bloodthirster, and a few Flamers left. in reflection, the game would have been much different with a few higher charge rolls! Random charge distances made a huge difference in our game. My BSB also survived in the end because of the charge reaction rules. The Bloodthirster declared a charge on his unit of Clan Rats (pre-Screaming Bell charge) that I HAD to accept, or run off the board. When the Seekers also declared, I elected to flee down the board edge instead. They then rallied later before the end of the game to deny John a lot of points. The Seekers and Bloodthirster both then were able to pass their Leadership tests and redirect their charges (including the Bloodthirster into the Screaming Bell). Though the deciding factor was magic. The Dreaded 13th Spell owned the game, going off all first 3 turns. There was really no coming back from it for the Daemons.
We also played some of the mysterious terrain, though we only ended up with 1 piece. The Blood Wood that damages units inside of it if magic is cast in it or into it on a 4+. The wood them MOVES d6" in a random direction. This did actually stop me from casting with my Plague Priest while inside of the woods. I believe terrain, along with the new missions, make the new edition much more about adapting and playing rather than building an uber list that will smash in a pitched battle!
Good game!
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