Been a while since we managed to get a full-scale battle on, so ended up with 2500pts of Andy's Spire facing a combined 1250 each of my 100Kingdom and Chris's Old Dominion..
My 100 Kingdom force consisted of a Noble Lord on Foot in 5 stands of Household Guard and with six Stands of Household Knights. My second warband had a Chapter Mage with School of Air in 5 stands of Mercenary Crossbowmen and with six stands of Men at Arms.
Chris's Old Dominion was led by a Xhiliarch in four stands of Praetorian Guard, with a second warband with a Strategos in 5 stands of Legionnaires with a support unit of 3 Kataphraktoi. A third warband under an Archamandrite in 3 stands of Legionnaires with support of 3 Moroi.
Andy went for a Drone and Clone heavy force, as below:
A Pheromancer Warlord in 6 Force Grown drones, with support of 3 FG drones, an Abomination and 6 brute drones A second warband with a Biomancer in 5 bound clones, with support from 3 FG drones, an Abomination and 3 incarnate sentinels A third warband led by a High Clone Executor in 3 Marksmen clones, supported by 3 FG drones, 3 Vanguard Infiltrators and 3 Vanguard Clones.
We were playing the Maelstrom scenario, where the centre objective was worth 2 points turns 5-8, the out ones 1 each 5-8, but points reversed in 1-4 and 9-10. Having a joint command is easy, as Chris and I simply alternated turns in who places the cards in order. (And allows for errors due to communication issues)
ANDY and some of his Evil Spire forces
The Vanguard clones with their two attacks are lethal...
Chris's Old Dominion, he has only started painting them but they look awesome...
My small, elite 100 Kingdoms force...
TURNS 1 & 2
Chris and I got both our light units on the table, Andy got four of his
Three Spire FG Drones (plus Pheromancer) spread out across the board, as my Air Mage and Crossbowmen spread out across the centre.
TURN 3
My Air mage and crossbows swap fire with the newly arrived Marksman clones with more drones and clones swarming on. The Old Dominion Moroi moved up onto the hill as the Strategos and his Centurions made for the Pheromancer and his massive entourage
The Spire were simply everywhere, whereas I had failed to get any 100 Kingdom medium units on in Turn 2.
With my long-range crossbows firing at full effect due to the School of Air spell support, Andy marched up his right small FG Drones right up into charge range
And the unit to his Pheromancers right, as the Spire moved up cautiously. My Men at Arm made it on to support my crossbows as the Old Dominion came on heavily to the right
The Strategos Legionnaires marched into the jaws of the Spire Horde
The Kataphraktoi came on centre left to help out the Crossbows, assumign they got first activation
On the right, the Legionnaires lost a few mento the Vanguard Infiltrators, as the Old Dominion formed up into a front line and a back line.
TURN 4
I put the Kataphraktoi top of our pile, and we got the first activation. They easily made the charge into the small FG drone unit
And obliterated them in one glorious charge...
By passing the smaller FG drone unit, the main Legionnaires with the Strategos smashed into the Pheromancers FG drones...
In return activation, the Catabolic Node exploded killing a stand of Legionnaires
My Household knights moved up in support of their allies, as the Moroi moved up on the right
My crossbowmen were being whittled down by the Marksmen Clones, who kept healing up the damage I inflicted
With the Old Dominion front rank engaged, the rear rank had yet to advance
But when they did, Andy countered with 6 Brute drones!!!
As I brought on the Noble Lord and his Household Guard, which Andy countered with both Abominations on our left and in the centre
The nasty Vanguard Clones hammered into the Kataphraktoi but the rusty old barding held and they only lost one dead Knight. (Old Dominion do not take resolve tests, much to Andy's chagrin)
My Men-at-Arms charged to assist the horsemen, but fell just short of engaging
But units clashed all along the entire battlefield....
At the END of TURN 4, the score was 1-1
TURN 5
Andy won activation and opted to activate the unpainted Abomination, to charge the Men at Arms. However, he would have clipped the hindering terrain of the woods, so "changed his mind"...
Instead he moved up his central one to threaten the Household Guard next turn. I charged into the Vanguard clones with my Men at Arms and killed two/thirds of them. The other Abomination marched into my rear through the woods, again threatening to envelop my forces
The small FG drones charged my Knights holding them up, as the Moroi went into the woods attacking the FG drones there. Even as an ally, I found the Moroi to be horrific. 2 attacks each, I thought these guys were the poor relations of the Old Dominion forces, but they were elites in every aspect. Andy had wisely withdrawn his Vanguard Infiltrators behind the woods
The Pheromancer sought a new escort as he was being challenged by the Strategos
The Moroi totally overwhelmed the small drones and took the woods...
My Knights struck down two-thirds of the FG drones holding them up, but they were doing their job
On our left, the Biomancer and his Bound Drones charged the Kataphraktoi
But again, with no resolve test, only one horseman was toppled...
With the Moroi rampaging on the right, the Pheromancer rejoined his FG drones but skulked to the back when challenged
OLD DOMINION/100 KINGDOM ALLIANCE 3VP's
SPIRE 3 VP's
BOARD at END OF TURN 5
The Incarnate Sentienls showed up in Turn 5, joining the Spire Heavy deployment on our left. But the HouseHold Guard got the first activation, and tempting though it was to cut down an Abomination, the Biomancer and his healing was more of a threat to our alliance, so I charged into the Bound Clones
On the right, the Brutes refused to advance last turn, leaving the right objective firmly in the Old Dominion's control and the Moroi only lost 3 wounds from the hail of darts from the Vanguard Infiltrators
TURN 6
The Household guard cut down11 Bound clones
The Moroi left 3 Infiltrators alive after they charged in...
The Abomination flanked the HouseHold Guard
And though damage was done, the unit remained unbroken. With the Armsmaster pointing the way, the Noble lord cut down the Biomancer in a single round of their duelling challenge
The Kataphraktoi survived further attacks but the Men at Arms finished of the Vanguard Clones
A few Bound Clones survived, but the Heavy Spire units were about to get stuck in...
My Knights did not inspire, but still managed to hack down the FG drone blocking detachment
Allowing them to seize the centre fully and threaten the rear of the Abomination engaging the Household Guard
The Strategos and Pheromancer also duelled, with the Pheromancer surprisingly eeking ahead
The Incarnate Sentinels charged the Men at Arms, whose Seasoned Veteran had not raised the Bastion effect yet...
But the Men at Arms held quite well
The Brutes had moved up and got charged by the smaller Legionnaire unit...
END OF TURN 6
OLD DOMINION/100 KINGDOM ALLIANCE 6 VP's
SPIRE 4 VP's
Battlefield at end of Turn 6
My 100 Kingdom forces were in real jeopardy as the Spire Heavies got heavy...
But the Spire were crumbling on the right as the Moroi single handedly went through them. (Their Aura of death had kicked in and killed the last 3 Infiltrators when they activated) Lots of tricks with teh Old Dominion when they start losing stands in their army
My Knights are poised to charge...
But it may be too late as the rear Abomination cuts my Household Guard down to the Lord and Armsmaster
The Praetorians finally got involved and flanked the Pheromancers unit
Led by their Warlord, the Xhiliarch, who then issued a challenge with his great Blade of the Caelesor, cutting down the Pheromancer.
The 100 Kingdoms had a harder time on the left, as the Incarnate Sentinels easily finished off the Men at Arms
While the Archamandrite and his legionnaires held up the Brutes, the fluid formation of the Moroi allowed them to charge home and finish of the large FG drone unit
My Knights caused 5 hits on the Abomination, but it managed to save them all
Still, the Knights held the centre objective and the Old Dominion held the right, and they hadn't lost a unit. The Kataphraktoi leader was the only allied model left alive (or not actually) on the left
The Strategos and his lead Legionnaire unit was down to 5 men
And the Hero of the left...
END OF GAME
OLD DOMINION / 100 KINGDOM ALLIANCE 9 VP's
SPIRE 6 VP's
That was great fun, and been too long since we got a game like that in. The Old Dominion were awesome, as they literally do not break!!! No resolve tests were major factor in our win, as was the surprises the Moroi kept showing as they got better. As usual, I got smacked by the big Gribblies in the Spire list, but I'm sure the Old Dominion would welcome some more recruits into their Undead forces. My crossbowmen died valiantly, outshot and out healed but they did draw the fire of the Marksman Clones and while the push and shove of the larger units went ahead, the Moroi simply went through three small units in three rounds of melee (thought the Aura of Death killing the last 3 infiltrator's was sneaky) before tipping the balance in the centre.
Hetairos, the leader of the Kataphraktoi
And his "wounded" horse...
Chris is now itching for a bigger game to try out some Bone Golems, which look phenomenal...
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