AoS Killer Angel's BatReps

[Wilhelm Stürmer]

@Killer Angel That does, thank you! So do you tend to try and get your Slann back into range of the Cogs each turn?

 

[Killer Angel]

@Killer Angel That does, thank you! So do you tend to try and get your Slann back into range of the Cogs each turn?

that really depends on the situation. If i need to keep the slann near the engine for the additional dice, i move the Slann and leave the cogs behind.

All in all, i saw that the cogs are very useful in the first 3 turns… if you need them also in the 4th, it means it's a close game and probably you are forced to keep the Slann in a defensive position, so still in cogs' range.

 

[Lizerd]

Well with some luck we could get a new battletome this year meaning a huge update in our stuff such as rend and and harder hitting units to counter bs like sequitors for 120 points.

 

[Lord Agragax of Lunaxoatl]

oh, definitely a possibility, but in the "total commitment" scenario, you cannot keep unit in reserve.
For example, a shadowtrike couldn't set the rippers high in the sky.

Ah, that sucks. Didn't realise that.

You know what? I'm not sure about the placing of the heroes, because i recall a Vulkite unit with a 4+ save. But i cannot tell if it was the central group of the other one.

I imagine that unit was armed with Bladed Slingshields though - those do give Vulkites a 4+ save without Battlesmiths but at the penalty that they can't re-roll hits due to not having paired handaxes. My plan is to give those Vulkites a 4+ save with an attendant Battlesmith as well as re-rolling their to Hit rolls with their paired axes.

 

[Killer Angel]

I imagine that unit was armed with Bladed Slingshields though - those do give Vulkites a 4+ save without Battlesmiths but at the penalty that they can't re-roll hits due to not having paired handaxes.

Yeah, that was it. Slingshields

 

[Killer Angel]

GHB 2019​

with the new GHB and our new abilities, time to see how we can perform.

A friend of mine plays Fyreslayers (not the same as the last battle, this is another one) and, given that he plans to buy another army, and he's thinking to Seraphon (hooray!), he wanted to see how they perform.


so…

Seraphon Vs Fyreslayers
(2000 pts)​

Battleplan

TOTAL CONQUEST

4 obj pectives, deployment along the diagonal; each obj gives 1 pt, when you conquer an obj which was in enemy's hands, it's worth 2 points.



Army Lists

SERAPHON (mortal real: Ghur)

Dracothion’s tail
Slann (Quotek) stellar tempest
Astrolith bearer
Skink Starpriest stellar tempest
Skink Starpriest Mystical Unforging
Engine of the Gods
Stegadon, great bow
Stegadon, great bow 200
3 razordons
Firelance Starhost
ScarVet on CO
5 Saurus Knights
5 Saurus Knights
5 Saurus Knights

Balewind vortex
Purple sun


It's a list with good summoning potential, enormous mobility and finally some nasty combo to deal with hordes.



FYRESLAYERS

- Runesmither on magmadroth (tyrant slayer, prayer of ash)
- Auric runefather (general, warrior indominate)
- Runesmiter
- Battlesmith (icon of ancestors)
- Battlesmith
20 vulkite berserker
20 vulkite berserker
15 hearthguard berserker (these ones proxied by space marines: the models are not yet arrived)

plus the Forge and 2 magmic invocations (runic fyrewall and molten infernoth)

Hermdar Lodge: don't take battleshock if nearby an obj; vulkite and herthguards can attack first in combat

Battalions: Lords of the Lodge (hearthguards can pile in and attack twice)


basically the usual very hard to kill list, and a strong melee





Set-Up

i one-drop the DT: Slann, EotG, Astrolith, 1 Starpriest, 1 stegadon, 5 knights,
all the rest is put in reserve.
i just control one obj.

my opponent places the heartguards on my left (supported by the general and a battlesmith), then 20 vulkite in almost central position with a runesmiter and the magmadroth) and 20 vulkite on my right, with the last battlesmith.
he's in control of 1 obj but it will be trivial to take also the one on my right, near those vulkite.




I opt to let my opponent go first.

The constellation gives me a +1 to cast, which is nice given that I've got spells that needs a 8+

Let's go!

 

[Killer Angel]

I know you won't be happy with this report, because alas it will be heavily incomplete.
But i wanted to post it anyway for a good reason:


this is a sort of tutorial "WHAT IS THE POTENTIAL OF A SERAPHON ARMY IN THE FIRST ROUND IF I WANT TO DEAL A SERIOUS BLOW?"



FIRST ROUND



FYRESLAYERS' turn

Heroes do heroes' things and the prayers are summoned on the battlefield. The vulkite on my right are buffed to a save 2+ vs melee and 3+ vs shooting.

the vulkite on the right take that obj.

the berserker on the left run by 6" tnx to a cp and, with the buff granted by the rune, arrive to seize "my" obj on the left.




Fyreslayers take THREE obj points




SERAPHON's turn


ok, time to plan some decision.
the rune of speed has been used, so i will be relatively safe for a while, but time is not on my side. I must take on obj from the fyreslayers, hold it and then take another one before it's too late. all of this should be done within 3 rounds, more or less

the Hearthguard are only 15, but they are buffed by 2 heroes and already save at 4+/4++. and i'm not in the most favorable position to concentrate muy strenght, due to the limitation of the reinforcements from Dracothion's Tail (18" within the Slann)

the vulkite on the right are a much more favorable target for the number of units i can call…. but save at 2+, and they are anyway "protected" by the lava monster, which can deal big damage to my units that will arrive in that zone.

Nothing is optimal, but i select the vulkite (40 wounds that save at 2+, "only" 3+ vs shooting), and i go all in.


Hero phase, pt 1:

- 1° DT: a Starpriest arrive.
- that St.Pr. casts successfully Purple sun against the vulkite
- The Slann casts the vortex
- the Slann casts the tempest on the vulkite
- the EotG directs d6 MW on the vulkite

after deleting the models, i can place the other reinforcements, exploiting the ranges for shooting and charges.

- 2° DT: razordons arrive
- 3° DT:1 unit of knight arrives
- 4° DT: the scarvet on CO arrives



the Hero phase is still not finished.

- LoSaT on the Astrolith, to buff the razordons and the charges
- LoSaT on the stegadon + Alpha
- DT: the other stegadon arrives
- the Knights are buffed by the starpriest (serpents staff) and by the command ability of the scarvet

then, in the shooting phase, i have the 2 steggies and the razordons that further punish the Vulkite




Charges:

- the stegadon charges successfully, going within 12" from the astrolith bearer
- the knights roll a double 2. Command point and also them arrives.

after the magic and the shooting, 8 vulkite are still alive, but their attack (the go first) is poor.
I manage to kill 3 of them.



in the end, i've killed 15 vulkite. the 5 survivors don't flee.
I've got 5 knights and a stegadon, Fyreslayers have 5 vulkite and a hero.
I'm not able to take the obj, so i collect only 1 point.

3-1 for the Fyreslayers, but this was still a good result, if we consider how much resilient they are.

 

[Killer Angel]

OK, the real BatRep ends here.
it was too much intense, i took another couple of pictures, but then we were both too much into the game.

SECOND ROUND

The fyreslayers kept their initiative (and they will til the end of the game!), the vulkite moved away from the melee but kept the obj, going 6-1

in my second turn i conquered that obj, killing some other vulkite, summoned a Carnosaur and call the other knights. 6-4

i charged the Hearthguards with a stegadon, but failed to support it with knights and carnosaur (4 failed charges), so it was easily shredded by the hearthguards

THIRD ROUND
fyreslayers again.
the Hearthguards move away from the obj (now guarded by the general) butcher the knights and the carnosaur, the magmadroth begins to approaching my units that conquered the left obj. 8-4

i create a defensive line to protect my left obj, then tnx to magical attacks i kill the general and take the obj with LoSaT. 8-8

in the fourth and fifth round the fyreslayers delete my army: the 2 starpriests, the EotG, the Astrlith bearer, all the knights and the Scarvet.
but the price is high: they have only 2 hearthguards with a hero, the magmadroth and the unit of 20 vulkites which was forced to hold the obj for the fear of my teleports


in my last turn Fyreslayers are 14-11.
one obj is mine so i will go to 12.
to conquer an obj won't serve… 14-14 but my opponent killed more points.

so, i kill the wounded hero near the hearthguards with spells and razors shooting. 3 razors will take the obj against the 2 hearthguards, without entering melee.

i LoSaT the Slann where the magmadroh holds the obj. I summon 10 skinks, which, being at 9" from the magmadroth, cannot take the obj.
Skinks charge the magmadroth. Fail.
Command point: try the charge again and succeed. being the first to decide, i wary fighter the skinks at more than 3" from the magmadroth, that cannot fight. the obj is mine.

16-14 for Seraphon




MAJOR VICTORY for Seraphon, in one of the most intense game I've ever played.






I am vary happy, but also very sad because i would pay good money to have kept a rep of this epic match.

at least, i've got a solid report of the first round, and you can see the development of my coordinated attacks, which i hope it can be useful for you, in giving some idea for your games.

 

[Lizerd]

That, hands down, was the most nerve wracking report I have read. The fact that for much of the game you were so close in points to each other meant that each roll was crucial and mistakes were really not affordable. Very awesome battle report, this was awesome.

 

[Aginor]

Holy crap, nice game!

 

[Vexcor]

Did you enjoyed our new spell lore? how does stellar tempest and unforgiving work out for you?

 

[Killer Angel]

Did you enjoyed our new spell lore? how does stellar tempest and unforgiving work out for you?

Immensely enjoyed. Tempest is finally a solid tool to deliver some MW to those pesky hordes, and unforgiving is a nice characters sniper when you really need to kill that "weak" hero

 

[Killer Angel]

Seraphon Vs Fyreslayers
(Lord Kroak vs Gotrek)
(2000 pts)​

CHOICE OF TERRAINS.

with the GHB2019, each player can select a certain number of terrains, and you play with their own rules.
I selected 2 arcane ruins and the huge wizard tower, for the +1 to cast, placing a ruin in the middle of the battlefield.


after that, we rolled for the battleplan.



Battleplan

SCORCHED EARTH

you deploy on the short edge and have 8 objectives to deal with (4 in each person’s territory).
an obj gives 1 point, if you control and "burn" an obj in the enemy's territory that one is gone but you gain d3 VPs.

A great scenario for Seraphon!
In the moment we rolled this one, i knew i was going to have an easy time, but the point of my list was more "how far i can go in deliver a crippling blow by turn 1?"



Army Lists

SERAPHON

Dracothion’s tail
Slann (Quotek) stellar tempest
Lord Kroak
Astrolith bearer
Skink Starpriest Mystical Unforging
Engine of the Gods
3 salamanders
3 skink handlers
Firelance Starhost
ScarVet on CO
5 Saurus Knights
5 Saurus Knights
5 Saurus Knights

Balewind vortex
Purple sun




FYRESLAYERS

- Gotrek, the avatar of Grimnir
- Runesmither
- Runefather
- Runemaster
10 vulkite berserker
10 vulkite berserker
20 hearthguard berserker
5 Auric earthguards

plus the Forge and 2 magmic invocations




Set-Up

i one-drop the DT:
Slann near a arcane ruin
all the firelance starhost to control the 4 objectives on my side (the little black dices)
3 handlers

the rest is kept in reserve.


the Fyreslayers are set with the 2 units of vulkite in the rear, to control the objectives in the backfield, then we have a strong line of 20 earthguard berserkers and the 3 heroes (the red circles), on my left the 5 Auric dwarfs and Gotrek on my right.





I don't care about possible double turns, i prepared the battlefield and my set-up exactly to deliver the maximum damage possible.

So i elect to go first. The constellation is the hunter, +1 to run and charge.

 

[Killer Angel]

this is a sort of another "WHAT IF I WANT TO DEAL A CRIPPLING BLOW SINCE TURN 1, THAT WILL DICTATE THE GAME?"



FIRST ROUND



SERAPHON's turn

Hero phase (a VERY long phase… ).
Quotec calls Lord Kroak, which is placed in front of the central Arcane Ruin
Astrolith bearer between Quotek and Kroak, to cover both of them
Starpriest near the central ruin, in range by AB and in range to magically shoot the enemy
All my casters enjoy a +2 to cast.
Quotec casts Balewind vortex
Kroak starts with an amazing Purple Sun, killing 4 berserkers, but failing to damage the 3 fyreslayers heroes.




Kroak continues with COmet CAll, rolling a nat 10!
d6 units, but I roll a 1... i damage 1 hero.
Kroak again: celestial deliverance, it goes well and damage all 3 heroes
2nd celestial deliverance. I damage again the 3 heroes and 1 dies. Kroak is done with his spells.

the Starpriest successfully casts the hero-killer spell. the 2nd hero falls dead.
Only one remains, with 2 wounds.
I call the EotG, and roll for the engine. I select the d6 mortal wounds, and also the 3rd hero is dead.

Leaving aside Gotrek, i killed ALL the 3 fyreslayers heroes. What a crippling blow, and I've still got many things to do.
(OK, not the best placing by my opponent, bad mistake to keep the auric guards away, but still impressive.)

With the FNP 4+ gone for the berserkers, Quotek casts Stellar Tempest, and 3 other naked dwarfs fall.

Lastly, i call the 3 salamanders, setting them at 11.5" from the fyreslayers' line.

At that point, i LoSaT away both Kroak and the Astrolith Bearer, while keeping the sallies within range of the AB.




Move.
with the use of a command point, my handlers run 14", and are perfectly able to increase the shooting range of the sallies.
Quotek collects 6+4 CCP, and i use 6 of them for another sally, supported by the handlers and the Astrolith.
(sorry for the crappy pic)
The shooting of the 3 sallies unit is horrible: despite the re-rolls, no one hits the target.
the summoned sally and the shooting by the magical weapon by the skink priest got better luck, and only 8 berserkers remain.



I end the turn with 4 Victory points


FYRESLAYERS' Turn.


not so much to say here.
Gotrek runs (still controls one obj)
the 2 units in the back holds their obj.
The auric and the berserkers units charge my line of salamanders, wiping them away.




VPs: 4-4

 

[Killer Angel]

SECOND ROUND

I win the roll

SERAPHON's turn

I LoSaT Kroak and the ScarVet on CO
Kroak casts successfully only 2 spells, the starpriest fails too. Still some damage.
The EotG summons: i call 20 skinks and place them on my right, to control the obj. So, all the 4 obj in my territory are under my control
Quotec doesn't cast and collects 12 CCP, plus 2 pts from the AB and being the general. with the 4 from the previous round it's 18: i summon 3 other sallies just in front of himself and the EotG (you don't see them in the pic).

Shooting by sallies is still poor (a couple of dead), then i charge with the ScarVet (+4 to charge) and the knights: i manage to finish the auric and kill some of the fyreslayers and they are not strong enough to wipe me away.
tnx to pile-in by the knight (not in the pic) I also control the oby in the rear, and burn it for 2 additional points

10-4 for Seraphon




FYRESLAYER's turn.

the survived berserkers leave one knight alive.
Gotrek moves, but fails twice the charge (9") against my ScarVet.

Only 2 points for them: 10-6




THIRD ROUND

I win the roll again.
My opponent concedes.

MAJOR VICTORY FOR SERAPHON.



what could I say?.


with the current meta, ruled by hard-to-kill hordes, or by hordes that deliver tons of damage, and by monsters that attack before than you, i sense that we Seraphon cannot afford to go toe-by-toe against melee army.
We are simply not able to compete with melee on the same level of other armies, barring particular curcumstances (stegadon against slow targets, Carnosaur with doppleganger cloak).
So, IMO at the moment our best chance is to play with: summon, superior movement, synergies and, most of all, magic and shooting.
This wanted to be a further test about heavy magical barrage , supported by serious shooting (summoned sallies that can shoot immediately tnx to wise placement of handlers and Astrolith bearer).
It's a dangerous game. Even with bonuses to cast, it's not granted that you will be successful to exploit the magic of Kroak & friends (like I did in the first turn), and even with buffs, it's not certain that your shooting will be good (see all the failed shooting by the sallies in the first turn).
But certainly we have the potential to cripple the enemy in a serious way, dictating the flow of the rest of the game.

This scenario was decisely in my favor, and frankly Gotrek is not a threat, with that pityful movement. He truly needs particular conditions to be relevant.

 

[Killer Angel]

Now, i only need to fight some army other than fyreslayers…

 

[Lizerd]

Man that was interesting to see. I do agree with your stuff on our killing power, it’s poor. However we do have stuff that can decently block (saurus knights and warriors) that can put up enough power to deter some attacks. The mobility game you played was very well done, so you should be pleased with that.

So you want to play something other than Fryeslayers?
How about.. seraphon?

 

[Killer Angel]

So you want to play something other than Fryeslayers?
How about.. seraphon?

it really boils down to the players that currently join the shop and/or our private gaming club.

Player 1: ATM the most consistent, he uses Fyreslayers. Not a great tactician.

Player 2: appears frequently, his army is Fyreslayers.

Player 3: sometime in the weekend; plays Idoneth (not lately, and he wants to sell them) and gloomspite. we had a match the past week, but i was using LoN.

Player 4: possesses SCE and Nurgle and he's a nice guy to play with. But lately he favors 40k and the new rules for SM push this trend.

Player 5: kinda That Guy. He plays regularly the strongest army in that moment, fielding the most broken models. So in turn we saw FEC with double mourngul, Tzeenth, FEC with the new dragons, DoK with Morathy... he's good, but obviously the merit goes only to his skills, because those armies and those models are perfectly balanced, and it's a fault of the other players that are not able to find the weak points. Of course, if there's something broken, it's Always in the other armies ("Salamanders cost 40 pts each? they're broken you should pay at least 70 pts for each of them").
I choosed to don't play with him

Player 6: similar to player 5. Except this one don't play friendly games, because he wants to play only when there's some prize to win.
So he don't play often, and when he does i avoid him.

Player 7: nice guy, plays Khorne and Nurgle, but lately we don't see him as aften as once.

Player 8: another great guy, huge collector since WHFB 3rd edition. Currently in AoS plays KO, Gloomspite, Order Allegiance.... due to work he plays during the week, so i almost never see him

Player 9: good friend, due to money problems he sold his AoS armies and kept only 40k. Hopefully when things will change for the better, he will return to the hobby (he's a kind of guy that, when he got the money, for him is not a problem to spend 4-500 euros to but a whole 2nd hand army)

Player 10: plays Seraphon, but lately he doesn't appear.

Player 11: plays KO and SCE, see player 10

Player 12: plays nighthaunt, but appears only once in a while.


plus a bunch of very casual players, that live in different places so appears once every 3-4 months.

There are also other factors to consider: for example, when those players appear but don't play AoS because there's Bolt action / x wings / Malifaux...

 

[Lizerd]

Here is an idea; get your family into warhammer, then assert your dominance by annihilating them!

 

[Killer Angel]

SERAPHON 2.0​

After the long quarantine period, i was finally be able to field my new seraphon for their first battle. Time to see if my analysis with seraphon battletome was worth it.


so…

Seraphon Vs Ironjawz
(2000 pts)​

Battleplan

STARSTRIKE

it's the one that starts with no objectives on the battleground, they appear later in the game, with the first arriving at the start of battle round 2 and two more at the start of battle round 3, and you gain for each obj a number points that equal the number of the battleround.
So, this is a long-planning game.


Terrains

Some proxies here because we weren't able to collect all our original pieces. Tnx COVID.
I place the Realmshaper Engine at the center of the board, on one side (in the picture it has been proxied by the Necron's Monolith, which has got the same dimensions and a similar appearance for LoS).
Then I'm able to place an Arcane ruins on the opposite side (proxied by azyrite ruins) and my opponent is so nice that he places a Sigmarite Mausoleum in the middle ("proxied" with less elements than it should have). Te mausoleum is garrisonable, so i like the presence of an element that cannot be charged through in the middle of the board, given that my opponent is a very fast army.


Army Lists

SERAPHON

-Coalesced +1 attack jaws, scaly skin
-Koatl's Claw +1 to hit for saurus on charge

Leaders:
Slann (260)
- General
- Vast intellect (celestial equilibrium, stellar tempest)
- Itxi grubs
Lord Kroak (320)
(celestial apotheosis)
Saurus Scar-Vet on Carnosaur (210)
- Eviscerating Blade
Saurus Astrolith Bearer (140)
Skink Starpriest (120)
(Hand of Glory)

Battleline:
10 x Saurus Knights (200)
5 x Saurus Knights (100)
5 x Saurus Knights (100)
(all with lances)

Other:
2 x Salamanders (160)
2 x Salamanders (160)

Battalion:
Firelance Starhost (160)

Endless Spells:
Geminids (70)



IRONJAWZ

Great Waaagh

Leaders:
2 x warchanter
Shaman
GODDRAKK (i'll be honest, i fear him)

the rest:
10 Ardboys
2 x 5 brutes (basically elite troops)
3 x 3 goregruntas (basically elite on big boars)

battalion
ironfist (+1/turn Mighty destroyer ability)

My Scaly skin will be useful against Goddrakk and the abiliity of the warchanter to increase by 1 the damage dealt by a unit, 'cause nothing deals multiple damage.





Set-Up

My opponent wins the roll, and decides to take the side with the Realmshaper engine to negate me my terrain. So i will pick the side with the arcane ruins (insert evil laugh)

my opponent places all the 3 units of the goregruntas on my left, along with a unit of brutes, backed by a warchanter
hidden behind the pyramid there's the second chanter, then we have Goddrakk, the Shaman and 10 Boyz. The last unit of brutes is on my right, probably to cover that side of the battlefield for the incoming objectives.


I field my units already knowing that almost certainly i will be forced to go first (more drops) and that my oppo will try to jump on me, so i need a defensive set-up.
on the winds, the 2 units of sallies.
the arcane ruins form my headquarter, with all the casters and the astrolithe bearer; in front of them, screen made up by the 2 lesser, disposable units of 5 knights.
in the back, ready to counterstrike, the 10 knights and the scarvet on Carno






As predicted, my opponent decides to let me go first, which was kinda obvious: I'm out of range with most of my spells, there's no objective to take and he will have the potential to deliver a devastating double turn.

Let's go!