Big Box o' Terrain

VNL just delivered this box at my doorstep. The poor driver had to move his van thrice because of some of my retired neighbours driving past  (and NEVER ask a senior citizen to wait a couple of minutes for a working man to finish his business - they have NO patience, and are always VERY busy, as if they haven't got about 100% more leisure time than the rest of us...)

I shall be unboxing this in the attic, adding most of the pieces to the jungle table, taking some more photos in the process and of the  finished table, so stay tuned and watch this space!

2016-08-07 God of Battles 40 Points Half Game, Part 2

As promised, the rest of the AAR from Sunday's half-game.

The Dwarf Priest got to work.

One of my center units moved forward...

...was shot at, managed to roll 1 save (on 10 dice), lost 3 and recoiled. This was the point when I started to lose heart.

My right flank advanced.

Some of the Dwarves started to move around the ruined watchtower.

Although I had covered the most ground by now, my battle-line began to look a little jagged.

A  view from my far left flank.

Some Dwarves moved up to counter my flank attack...

...and my Skinks poured a volley of arrows into them, killing... one.

Ulrik then used his Stratagem to re-activate them, attacking the Saurus Warriors. As the reptiles had the Berserk Blessing, they got the chance to strike twice, before the melee ended. They killed a whuppin'... one(!) Dwarf.

The Dwarven archers then opened up on my Saurus Ravagers, inflicting 3 hits. My former experience with Defense rolls led me to use my Standard for an extra 2+ chance for a save, rolling 11 dice. I just barely managed to save the 3 hits on the normal Defense dice - and, of course, the Standard die rolled a 1, losing me the Standard Bearer never the less. Makes sense only if you are me..

The next Turn opened with nother fight on the extreme right, causing another whuppin' ONE Dwarf casualty. Yay! I think I even used my Stratagem to but I am not suer. I had used it before Ulrik used his, which proved fatal for one of my units.

I now did what would probably have proven a big mistake, should we have played the battle to the very end: I started abandoning my initial plan to surge forward and engage the enemy as soon as possible, and instead I drew units away from the centre and started 'tunnelling' them over the flanks to avoid the arrows from the centrally placed archer unit.

The reason for my decision was probably that I was a little shaken by my bad luck, and the bowfire causing casualties every time. Normally, I would have stuck to my plan and pushed on, but the bad dice-rolls made me lose confidence, and I wavered.

The Ravagers waded through the reeds and started moving towards the left flank.

Ulrik used his Stratagem to put an activation counter on the Saurus Warriors (Brutes) in front of his crack unit, then moved the unit up close to them. As I had used my Stratagem, I could not remove the Activation Counter, and as Ulrik had one unit less than me, he was certain to be able to charge with his hard-hitters next turn.

The battlefield at the conclusion of this turn.

Then came the charge, which cost me half the Saurus Warrior unit. This was the  point where I gave up. One too many bad rolls for one afternoon/evening. Besides that, I was getting tired, with a beginning headache, and I did not fell like gaming on.

Next time I play the Blood Gorged list, I shall stick to the plan of surging forward and get stuck in, maybe screen the main battle line with one or two expendable Skink/Youngling units to soak up incoming missile fire, and see if I can disrupt the enemy formation and get able to get a couple of units into the rear of it.

I guess, the Blood Gorged are much alike to a barbarian/celtic army, needing to get stuck in, and, hopefully, build up some impetus through their Blood Gorged rule (get a Trophy Token each time they inflict casualties in melee, Tokens can be exchanged for extra Attack Dice in subsequent fights).

Well, lesson learned, and hopefully I have used up my share of bad dice rolls for a while...

2016-08-07 God of Battles 40 Points Half Game, Part 1

As it says in the header, we did not finish the game yesterday. I do not remember how many turns we played, but it will be revealed when I run out of pictures of the action.

My Blood Gorged Lizardmen rolled highest aggressionm so Ulrik had to deploy half of his force (including Camp and Baggage), first.

I then deployed my entire army, using the Temple Guards (Bodyguard), and the Slann Priest in his Chariot (palanquin) to guard my Camp on the extreme left. I know I cannot defend both camp and Baggage against the Dwarf Miners without dedication too big a portion of my army to rear guard duty, so the Baggage was to be left open for their attack.

A view from the left flank.

The rest of the Dwarves deployed

And a full view of the battlefield.

As the attacker, I opened the ball, moving my rightmost Saurus Warrior (Brutes) unit forward.

In my next activation, my Slann Mage Priest cast Burak's Rage (Berserk) on them.

The Dwarf Miners moved forward.

Both armies advanced steadily, some more steadily than others.

Ulrik used his Stratagem to re-activate the Miners.

And I did the same with my flankers.

The Dwarven right tried to keep up an acceptable pace.

I started to maneuver the chariot in response to the potential Miner threat.

I think that was about the end of Turn 1.

Turn 2 will be described in a later post - right now I have some rules to brush up on for the weekend!

Attic Attack: The Blood Eagle Table

I also mocked up a table for the Blood Eagle fantasy game. I still have not finished my vikings, so the game must be played with the Lord of the Rings minis I prepared some time ago,

Attic Attack: Dragon Rampant Table Ready

While waiting for the ordered aquarium deco stuff for the jungle table, I have configured the table for Dragon Rampant.

Thje forces on the table are the two 27-points warbands i brought for Åcon earlier this summer, but I think I am going to expand them to 30 or 40 points, to give the players a little more tactical options.

Reptile Line-Up, Sort of...

Yesterday, I prepared rosters for various army configurations at 36 and 48 points of my Blood Gorged lizardmen.

One of the 36 points armies can be seen here (minus one Temple Guard I have to re-attach an arm to).

This afternoon, my opponent for tomorrow's game(s) announced that he will be bringing a 40 points army, so I had to get back to the drawing board, and rethink my army composition.

Luckily, I have a LOT to choose from (this is still not all the painted models I have):

We shall be using Priests/Miracles tomorrow, and I have to cut out a set of Blood Gorged Miracle Cards for my Shamen to use (I printed and laminated them yesterday).

We may play well into the evening tomorrow, so the AARs may have to wait to Monday to get written and published, but I shall strive to get the first one uploaded ASAP after gaming ceases.

Games in the Attic: Preparing a Jungle Table.

After almost three weeks of sun, water, and visiting sites of interest, touring Germany, France, Spain, Belgium, and the Netherlands, I am now back in the attic and busily preparing for some test games before Attic Attack IV.

Today, I have set up a jungle-themed table for God of Battles, as I have prepared rosters for various configurations and points costs for my Lizardmen Blood Gorged proxies.

I have ordered some additional aquarium decorations which should arrive Thursday or Friday, leaving me time to adorn the table further for the weekend.

I am preparing a Dragon Rampant table for which I provide both warbands, and a small Blood Eagle table using my Rohan and Isengard warbands. I hope to be able to play both God of Battles and Blood Eagle tomorrow afternoon, as I have an appointment with Duregar/Ulolkish at 13:00.

Pictures and AARs from tomorrow's games to follow over the next few days!