So after Leeds Last Stand last weekend, me and Mike wanted to play an open-play battle just bringing all the models we wanted and then putting it on the table. We created a custom scenario, with L shaped deployment and three realmgates, one in each of our deployment corners and then another using the Arcane Ruins in the middle of the table. We then placed objectives in the opposite corners and also on the arcane ruins in the centre with the army holding 2 out of 3 objectives at the end of turn five declared the winner.
This was the first time we were using realmgates and made some custom rules for them to add some random play to the game;
As as unit attempts to travel through a Realmgate, roll a D6 for the unit, rather than every model in that unit. On a 1 the unit has traversed the Realmgate but rather than travelling through to another part of the realm they ended up facing horrors from another Realm. The unit is SLAIN.If the unit rolls a 2-6 roll another D6 to determine which realmgate the unit re-enters the battlefield;- 1-2 = The unit has been tricked by the fickle powers of Chaos amongst the realms and end up re-entering the battlefield through the same Realmgate. The unit cannot move and are left where they were at the start of the phase.
- 3-4 = The dark powers from within the Arcane Ruins pulls the unit towards the energy. The unit finds a secret portal and is deployed in the centre of the board and within 3" of the Arcane Ruins.
- 5-6 = The unit travels through the realmgates with no worries, in the distance they can see their enemies marching forward to battle and know this is their call. Place the unit within 3" of the realmgate in the enemy's deployment zone.
The armies, I took an culmination of my Stormcast Eternals and the Sylvaneth I had painted. I've got all the new toys for Sylvaneth on pre-order so I know for a fact that the Stormcast will probably be relegated to the side for the time being while I get to grips with the new army.
Mike on the other hand has an awesomely painted Serpahon army, he busted out most of it in a couple of weeks for Leeds Last Stand and in the past week has added another couple of units. Annoyingly they look phenomenal, but Mike is an awesome painter so it's to be expected.
Here's what we took;
Stormcast Eternals and SylvanethCelestant Prime
Lord Celestant on Stardrake
Lord Celestant on Dracoth
Lord Castellant
Knight Ventator
Knight Azyros
Knight Heraldor
Treelord Ancient
Treelord
Branchwraith
20 x Dryads
5 x Judicators
5 x Judicators
6 x Prosecutors
SeraphonLord Kroak
Skink Starpriest
Saurus Oldblood
Scar-Veteran on Carnosaur
15 x Saurus Warriors
15 x Sarurus Warriors
5 x Chameleon Skinks
5 x Chameleon Skinks
6 x Ripperdactyls
Bastiladon
Bastiladon
Stegadon
Stegadon
Turn 1 - Seraphon go firstJust as the Sylvaneth and Stormcast were getting a lay of the land, a distinctive deafening roar filled the silence. The Treelord Ancient knew what was coming, he had faced these monsters before and was well prepared. A Carnosaur smashed through the woods and straight into the waiting Treelord Ancient. It was apparent the Carnosaur was under the illusion of some sort of magic, the fangs and claws of the monster were dosed in some sort of serpent venom, meanwhile the Carnosaur shone with the power of a star, dazzling the giant tree. Despite being blinded by the starlight the Treelord managed to expertly block all of the attacks, despite desperatly swinging his huge staff around, the Carnosaur was agilely directed by the Scar-Vetaran riding on top of the beast and evaded each sweeping blow.
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As the Judicators and Knight Heraldor cautiously advanced forward a plump purple bloat toad bounced out of the nearest Sylvaneth Wyldwood. Before the Heraldor could heed a warning to his nearby arches the sky was darkened as the frenzied Ripperdactyls swooped down from the sky. Before they could even fire a shot at these winged beasts the Judicators were snapped up by the Ripperdactyls and sent back to Sigmar, the Heraldor left alone to fight these crazed monsters. Knowing that the odds of survival were slim to say the least the Heraldor lifted his mighty sword lopping the head off one of the fliers and then stabbing the rider through the chest, Heraldor looked to the skies as they regrouped to attack again. Muttering one last prayer to Sigmar the Heraldor lifted his horn aiming at the Wyldwood in front of him. The blast sent shards of trees up into the sky, another orange monster dropping from the air lifeless as branches impaled his body, that was the last image Heraldor saw before Sigmar's flash of lightening plucked him out of the realm and out of the battle, just moments before a tree trunk filled the space in the battleground where Heraldor had just stood.
Knowing that a Carnosaur proved the biggest risk at the moment the Celestant on Stardrake directed his whole army to focus on the big lizard.The Judicators guarding the relic behind the Treelord Ancient unloaded their arrows on the beast but only a couple found their way through the thick skin of the monster. The Treelord Ancient attempted to use the vines from his staff to strangle the breath out of the monster but the Scar-Vet on top used his blade to slice away the vines before they could reach their target. Knowing this vicious beast needed to be topped the Knight Venator drew his star-fated arrow and aimed it for the heart of the Carnosaur.
The shot to the head was true however the Venator was not expecting the Scar-Vet to pull the beast to the side at the last moment and use his shield to deflect the arrow off into the woods. The distraction from the arrow was enough for the eagle to use his talons and find an opening and weakened the beast some more. The resilience of this beast from the whole army's ranged attacks was not expected, the Celestant called down a fragment of the stars and it found it's mark, the wounded Carnosaur realed back for a moment but only momentarily before it smashed back into the Treelord Ancient.
This time the Carnosaur was a bloodied enraged machine and starting hacking chunks of wood out of the Treelord, the Ancient wizard was taken back at the ferociously nature of the Carnosaur. If it wasn't the for mystic shield that the wizard had muttered then he knew he wouldn't still be alive. This time the Treeman hit the predator with his massive blows but despite a couple finding their mark it wasn't enough to finally topple the Seraphon's monster.
Seeing their fellow brothers being obliterated by the Ripperdactyls, the Celestant on Dracoth ordered his Prosecutors to take the battle to the skies. Though the command was loud and true yet somehow the Prosecutors didn't hear the command and stayed in a defensive position behind the commander. Meanwhile the Dryads next to the Realmgate decided to see where this portal led. The smaller tree kins went through the realmgate but before they knew it, reality blinked and they found themselves
standing exactly where they were before. Unsure what powers of Chaos were behind this the Dryads didn't know whether to take this as a hint about the realmgate or whether to try again.
Turn 2 - Seraphon win roll off.Seeing the Stormcast forces approach, Lord Kroak calls for his numerous monstrous beasts to advance. The two Bastiladons who spent the first turn defensively protecting the trees from the Sylvaneth teleporting through them, decided they needed to be closer to the battle and marched forwards. The Celestant on Stardrake had led the march forwards but now proved a juicy target for the Solar Engines and both lit up the battlefield and the Stardrake wounding the Stormcast dragon.
The Ripperdactyls took to the air again and flew over to the Arcane Ruins that held one of the Seraphon relics. This time though the Prosecutors saw the winged beasts and followed suit, charging straight into the Seraphon fliers, the winged troops of Sigmar were joined by the Lord-Celestant on his Stardrake who led the Stormcast to battle. The Stardrake immediately swallowed two of the Ripperdactyls whole leaving one left to face off against the six prosecutors, it was safe to say that by the end of the fight the Prosecutors were left standing but now looking down the sights of a charging Stegadon...
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The collosal battle between the Treeman Ancient and Carnosaur was coming to a close, both monsters were both severly wounded and neither wanted to give the other a moments break. With an almighty roar the Carnosaur sunk its claws and teeth into the tree ripping it to shreds and leaving the the ancient wizard a pile of branches. Seeing his mentor slain in battle the younger Treelord seeked revenge charging into the Carnosaur and finally putting the killing blow on it , the Treelords spiny talons piercing the Carnosaurs heart and dropping it in one fell swoop. Finally this massive beast was slain but at what cost to the Stormcast and Sylvaneth?
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Meanwhile the Dryads took to the realmgate yet again, after being tricked by the powers of Chaos last time they didn't think things could go any worse, how wrong the Sylvaneth were. As they entered the realmgate darkness fell upon them, their portal that they came in through closed shut and the twenty trees came up against a full army of Chaos worshippers. While no one saw what happened to them, their anguished screams could be heard through the realmgate and they were never seen again.
Turn 3 - Seraphon win roll offSeeing the opportunity both Bastiladons moved towards the giant Stardrake, firing off their Solar Engines and again wounding the general of the Stormcast. The armoured beasts charged into the Stardrake joined by a Stegadon, pinning the giant Stormcast Hero in place against the three monstrous creatures. Meanwhile the other Stegadon successfuly runs full speed into the Prosecutors killing four off the bat.
Seeing his brothers in peril the Lord-Celestant on Dracoth joins the fray and starts hacking chunks of flesh out of the Stegadon. The Dracoth follows it's mounts lead and inflicts more damage with it's massive claws and fangs. Following retribution for his fallen brothers the Prosecutor Prime with his grandhammer flies up into the air and embeds his hammer deep into the skull of the Stegadon killing it outright.
Meanwhile the Treelord now finally free of the Carnosaur travels through the spirit path of the Wyldwoods and ends up over in the opposite side of the battlefield, he notices the Saurus Warriors and Lord Kroak heading towards one of the relics and instantly leaps into action. Shooting his Strangleroots he throttles three of the Saurus until their bodies flop lifelessly to the floor. Thinning the numbers he charges head on into the Saurus leaving the ancient Lord Kroak in the back contemplating his next action.
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Despite being outnumbered three on one the Lord-Celestant on Stardrake refused to be taken so easily. His Celestine Hammer taking massive chunks of flesh out the Stegadon, the Bastiladons continue to whittle down the health of the lumbering dragon with it's bludgeoning tails. Though Sigmar was looking down on the Lord who's Sigmarite Thundershield reflected many of the attacks back to its attackers. The three monsters wary of this new threat were joined by the Saurus Oldblood and the four of them upped their predatorial instincts and doubled their effort in killing the Stormcast leader they hacked and slashed and by the end of it the Stardrake was barely left standing. The Lord-Celestant knew his time was near but he praised Sigmar and went on for one last push.
Back where the Stormcast and Sylvaneth first entered the battle the Lord Castellant and Branchwraith were observing the carnage that transpired before them. The powers of the Branchwraith were severly limited for some reason today, all battle she had only managed to summon forth two measily Dryads for the whole battle and needed rest. What the two heroes were not expecting was the Chameleon Skinks appearing behind them, with their posioned blowpipes they left the Castellant severly wounded and barely breathing, the Branchwraith turned her attention to the Skinks who seemed to be charging straight towards them....
Turn 4 - Seraphon win roll off Seeing their opportunity the Chameleon Skinks charged the badly wounded Castellant, the Stormcast hero was at deaths door so this should've been an easy kill for them. However the Castellant was ready for these sneaky assassins, despite the effects of the poison effecting him he readied his Haldberd and cut down all five Skinks before they or the Branchwraith could even swing their weapons.
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The battle in the centre of the board was raging all around, the Celestant on Stardrake was finally overran by numbers of the Seraphon monsters, though with his final swing of his hammer he managed to take down the second stegadon with him, the battlefield fell silent for the barest of moments as the Stardrake crashed down to the floor, but that was instantly distrupted by the rest of the sound of battle. Seeing their general fall the Prosecutors made a dash for the central relic, they knew if they could hold onto this vital piece of the Jade Kingdom they could get some benefits for their efforts but being surrounded by Seraphon they knew the magnitude of doing such a task.
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The Lord-Celestant on Dracoth saw the puppeteer of this war in the form of Lord Kroak off to the side. The age old powerful Slaan was coming to aid his Saurus warriors in their effort against the Treelord, with an almighty battlecry he charged his already damaged beast into the Lord, dealing wound after wound to him. The Lord and Dracoth were possessed with ridding this battle of the powerful mage, but just when it seemed he had done enough to kill the Slaan, Kroak seemed to heal all of his wounds and looked as fresh as he did at the start of the battle!
Next to the Celestant, the Treelord continued to wipe out the Saurus Warriors, with massive sweeping blows the floor became a graveyard for the Saurus and by the end of the combat the Treelord stood over the whole unit of Saurus warriors. The Treelord then turned his attention to Kroak who now faced both of the heroes of the allianced army.
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Knowing the battle was being lost the Celestant-Prime came crashing down in front of the second big unit of Saurus Warriors making a march towards the central Relic. Wielding the all powerful Ghal Maraz, the Prime smashed straight into the warriors and a crater was left where the Saurus used to stand. A lone Skink Starpriest sent out a mystical call to Kroak and their army that this battle couldn't be won with Sigmar's chosen on the battlefield. With that as quickly as they had appeared, the Seraphon teleported out of the battlefield leaving what remained of the Stormcast and Sylvaneth to look through the spoils of the relics.
ConclusionWhat a fun crazy battle. I had a feeling Mike had this in the bag to start with when his Ripperdactyls came down and deleted my Judicators and the Carnosaur refused to budge for two turns. Thankfully once the Stormcast started to advance up the board it was a case of getting into combat and trying to grind the big monsters out. The Bastialdons which ignore rend and when Mystic Shielded have a 2+ save are absolutely vile to get rid of. I was surprised how long the Stardrake stayed in combat with them but even bouncing Mortal Wounds back onto them they've got a 4+ save against them! In the end the Treelord killing on unit of Saurus Warriors and the Prime coming down and killing the other straight away, swung the battle back in my favour and we called it there.
Definitely the highlights for this battle was the Dryads going into the Realmgate twice, the first time returning exactly where they were and then the second turn going in and dying outright. Also Kroak suffering 9 wounds on the last turn from the Lord-Celestant on Dracoth and rolling a 1 for his Battleshock to survive was amazing. I couldn't roll a double turn to save my life, and the only time I did I rolled a 2 and Mike a 1, Kroak used his re-roll ability and managed to get the turn again.
Really fun win despite forgetting the Prime again until turn 4 but in some aspects that was the best thing as it came down and wiped out the Saurus Warriors who were going for the central objective. Cannot wait to have all the Sylvaneth and running them as a sole army, the Treemen are brutal in combat...well unless you face a souped-up Carnosaur!
