My100K force had 4 elements, with 4 characters, 4 light regiments, 5 medium regiments (3 infantry and 2 cavalry) and 1 heavy regiment of foot as per below:
Warlord Noble Lord on foot with Standard of Steel, in a 5 stand unit of Men-at-Arms, with 3 x 3 stand crossbowman regiments
Mounted Noble Lord with Laurean Lance leading 5 Household Cavalry, with 6 Men at Arms regiment
Chapter Mage with Ninuah's Tears in a 5 stand unit of Men-at-Arms.
Imperial Officer leading 3 stands of Steel Legion and Militia Bowman regiment of 3 stands
Andy's Spire force came in at 1995pts had 4 Characters, 6 Light Regiments, 3 Medium Regiments and 1 Heavy Monster:
This was broken down as follows:
Warlord Character, High Clone Executor, with Marksmanship and burrowing Parasites in a unit 3 stands of Marksman Clones. The other choices in this element were 2 x 3 stands units of Force Drone Clones and 3 stands of Vanguard Clone Infiltrators.
Mimetic Assassin, with enhanced reflexes, venom and expose weakness (i.e. the usual attributes for killing my Warlords and characters) The Assassin lead 3 stands of Vanguard Clones with a second choice of 3 stands of Force grown drones in the element.
Pheromancer with Biotic Wellspring and Accelerated hibernation leading 5 force grown drones with a catabolic node, with a 6 stand unit of Brute drones as a second choice for this element.
Pheromancer with accelerated hibernation leading 4 stand of force grown drones and tagging along an Abomination
Terrain set up as below, with 2 hills and 2 woods and 3 garrison terrain (12 size 1infantry models max)
TURN 1
The Spire managed to get 5 Light regiments on against the 100K solo regiment. For the Pincer Attack scenario 3 objectives scored within 6" of the two on the flank, and 3" in the centre
With a whole horde of Force grown drones covering the board, my Crossbowmen were aiming to garrison the house in front of them.
Andy kept off his Mimetic assassins regiment (his final light regiment) but got all 3 medium units on, whereas I got the rest of my lights on as well as 2 medium.
The small drone units centre on my left advanced, as my crossbowmen moved up to garrison the house as more crossbows arrived.
The Pheromancers and their accompanying drones went centre right, while a small unit of drones advanced up the hill far right.
Advancing on from my left flank, the Chapter Mage climbs the hill to survey the Spire Warlords forces, as he advances with his Marksmen clones centrally in the distance
Having advanced up into sight and range, the Vanguard Infiltrators make an appearance and target the Men-at-Arms...
Four of the Mages regiment die to the long range volley.
Ignore the handsome chap as I was still unsure having taken Chris's advice to keep the cavalry off and bring on my Men-at-Arms on, as I'm very much of the get 'em on and get 'em in mentality!!! Below me, the 6 stand unit of Men-at-Arms advance on with crossbowmen moving near to the large house and with a unit of Militia Bowmen being tasked with holding the centre...
At the end of Turn 2, the Brutes had came up on my right while the crossbows on my left had garrisoned the house. The battle lines were shaping, and the fight would soon begin in earnest...
TURN 3
Rolling for reserves (3+ for Medium, 5+ for heavy) and neither force got anything on... (Andy only had his Abomination, as the assassins was biding his time)
Still, I did get to go first and decided to fire off my Militia to see if they are as bad as I'd expected. I wasn't disappointed, they didn't even get close...
Having seen the our reinforcements lagging, Andy threw his expendables up...
On my right, the Vanguard clones dropped another stand of Men at Arms as the Dornes close don my ranged troops
Ignoring the Knights who aren't on the board yet, the drones on the hill had advanced up and over halfway, closely followed by the Brute drones who were close enough to claim the objective. Just out of shot (well, you can see their shields) were my Men at Arms, who were alos just out of range to contest...
The Pheromancers units held back slightly as my left was being hammered by Vanguard Infiltrators and Marksmen clones, as my right looked under pressure from the Brutes Drones and Force Grown Drones
Andy seldom looks happy, but in this case he has a valid reason: his secondary objective cards weren't easy to get...
TURN 4
Things could get quite interesting this turn, as we both got all our regiments on this turn, so first activation was important. Andy managed to pip me narrowly to it, then declared his Supremacy to gain an additional pair of activations before me. His High Executor and his Marksmen's long range volley hit my Mage's Men at Arms hard...
Surveying the battlefield, he had plenty of options...
First up were FG Drones into my crossbowmen in the garrisoned house on my far right, who lost 8 men...
The Infiltrators then reduced my Mage's regiment to a single stand of 3 Men-at-Arms
With only 3 Men at Arms with Mage, and being broken by shooting, I decided to try and relieve the crossbowmen besieged on my right and charged the drones there. They were reduced down to one stand and broken. My Men at Arms were also now in range to contest the objective
My other garrison of crossbows received a charge from drones
And were broken to a stand of 3...
Fortunately, having survived a hail of arrows and a failed charge by the drones to their front, my Mage activated and healed 6 Men at Arms...
And to aid their comrades, the crossbowmen took aim at the Drones who had charged the house, their crossbow shadows showing below in an excellent firing line.
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The paltry two hits was unexpected, as was the drones shields effectiveness!!! (My attacks in black, Andy's saves in yellow) |
And peek a boo!!! 8 of those rubbish crossbowmen were dropped by the Marksmen Clones fire and the High Clones burrowing barrage
My Men at Arms held well against a drone flank attack, but the Brute Drones, well, they were pretty brutal...
15 hits for 15 Men at Arms...
But they held, albeit barely...
Having activated his Supremacy to gain the initiative on the field, Andy had sacrificed the reinforcements initiative and accordingly, brought his Mimetic Assassin on centrally, as had he came on at a flank, I could have deployed away from him with my Warlord...
The Abomination advanced on to threaten my left flank...
But I decided to face it down with the vaunted Steel Legion led by the Imperial Officer
As I wanted my cavalry concentrated on my right to scythe through the Spire there. My Warlord and Men at Arms came on just to left of the house, to pen in the bulk of the Spire forces...
END of TURN 4
With the right objective now contested, my Men at Arms charge had gained me a point for breaking the Drones...
TURN 5
Well, this would be a pivotal initiative roll, as I assumed we would both be looking to activate on my left.
I had the drop on the right as the late arriving cavalry couldn't be charged and the sole stand of Men at Arms were doing a sterling job keeping the Spire pinned in combat. Sure the Assassin was a worry for the mounted Noble Lord, but I had a cunning plan for that duel when it came...
The Initiative roll came in my favour...
And with Spot the dog snarling yapping away, the Steel Legion charged home and badly wounded the Abomination, doing 5 wounds and their armour saving 6 return attacks from the flurrying beast!!!
My cavalry then drove home against the large Drone unit in a panoply of lances and impact hits....
which was not quite such a splendid display as they managed to hold...
The smaller regiment of Knights struck the flank of the Brutes to keep them pinned
Having failed the turn before, the Drones charged up the hill to engage the Chapter Mage's regiment
And having failed to inspire and finish off the sole stand of Men at Arms (it was a risk from Andy but he hoped to roll better, finish them off and allow a move to delay my Noble Lord), the Pheromancers Drones received a hard hitting charge.
They weathered it quite well, to be fair!!!
The Brutes managed to finish the Men at Arms off while scoring 3 wounds on the flanking Knights (I managed to pass all the resolves thankfully(
The Drones killed two crossbowmen in the house as the melee swirled around them, but two remained,
Back on my right, the Vanguard Infiltrators managed to do more damage with shooting, dropping 3 Steel Legion veterans...
While the solo stand of crossbowmen out in the field watched the sky darken with Marksmen arrows.
and after wiping them out, the Fire and Advance order moved them up the centre
Back on the left, the Assassin was left out of melee as the Vanguard Clones charged in against the Knights. It came as a surprise to lose a whole rank of Knights due to the 2 attacks the Clones had and some shocking save and resolve rolls
End of TURN 5
I'd scored a secondary objectives with my Steel Legion delivering the first successful charge of the turn, so the scores were tied at 2-2. My centre had collapsed with only Militia Bowmen there.
The right was still nicely balanced though my Noble Lords Knights were outmatched...
If I could fell the Beast on my left, victory could still be mine...
And my Men at Arms led by my Warlord were still untouched!!!
TURN 6
Yellow for Spire, Black an ominous colour for the 100 Kingdoms
The result was a sore blow to the men of the Kingdoms...
However, the Pheromancer and his Drones then were wiped out by the Household cavalry. Andy also then remembered he'd failed to blow his catabolic node, so double joy for me...
Which was shortlived as his Vanguard Clones then wiped my regiment out...
The battle had reached its climax, as we literally traded regiment for regiment, as my Noble Lord and his Men at Arms wiped out the second Pheromancer Drone unit...
And after fluffing their attacks, the drones on the hill lost out to some good attacks from the Mage's Men at Arms...
However, the Water mage and remaining men were literally an island in a sea of Spire...
The last of the crossbows in the right house died to the Drones there...
And the Brute Drones combat reformed to little damage, before swinging at the cavalry
Having performed miserably all game with shooting, the Militia men were ordered into melee, scoring two hits and destroying a stand of Drones...
The Mage cant find anything in her books to stop the hail of Marksmen arrows breaking her regiment, with the Clones moving up after firing to claim the objective on my left
The Infiltrators then advanced up to finish off my left flank...
Still, they'd held the hill for a long time under a hail of fire...
End of Turn 6
Spire 4 VP's 100 Kingdoms 2 VP's
TURN 7
But my Noble Lord led his Men at Arms into the flank of the Brute Drones, although the tough Brutes were not badly hurt, losing only one of their number and they shrugged off a few resolve rolls...
The Militia were inspired and retook the house. (Perhaps unwisely given what was comign)
The Brute drones eradicate the cavalry they faced...
while also hitting out at the Men at Arms...
The mounted Lord and his regiment finally fell to the Vanguard Clones... He had survived several attempted assassination attempts thanks to my cunning plan of declining the duels, much to Andy's annoyance. "Not very Noble, is it?" True, but he has been killed in every duel he had fought and as he wasn't my warlord, it made sense!!! Besides, his Pheromancers never accept a duel and its not like he escaped to live with his shame!!!
I don't think I've ever killed as many Spire in a game before
On my left (or centre to be exact) the Militia suffered a close volley from the High Clone and his Marksmen...
And two of them hid in the attic to survive!!!
End of Turn 7
With the Abomination scoring the left objective and Marksmen the centre, Andy gained an additional 3 VP's. 1 more required for victory...
SPIRE 7 VP's 100 KINGDOMS 2 VP's
TURN 8
I still didnt manage to go first, but my Men at Arms held off worst of the attacks...
and dropped a Brute in return, but couldnt manage to finish of the last two FG Drones
In a display of pure petulance, my 2 Militia bowmen fired at the Abomination, and actually hit, though it failed to wound the beast.
That would have been nice end for them, as the Infiltrators stormed upstairs and hacked them apart...
The High Executor and Marksmen Clones swung round to gain an additional point for a secondary objectvie
Have to say Seize Ground is always good in the last turns...
With that and the additional objectives secured, the game ended with a resounding victory for the SPIRE...
END OF GAME
SPIRE 11 VPS, 100 KINGDOMS 2 VPS
Well that was a pretty disastrous game in all aspects as I was on the back foot from turn 1 when i was outnumbered. Even when unit parity was restored, I was reacting until turn 5 and had some horrific dice. If my Water Mage hadn't been rolling fairly well and healing up men, my left flank would have caved in several turns earlier. My cavalry hit hard for a change, probably because they were two turns behind when I would normally have them on. But the new Vanguard Spire units hit even harder, both from a distance and in melee. Still, with the new compendium, I'm looking to tweak my forces slightly for the next outing
Despite the manner of the loss, I enjoyed the game and it was great to get back to rolling dice. Just need to finish painting my Militia bowmen up, and start on my spearmen...
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