nice to see you won more glory for the dark gods :laugh:
Warriors of Chaos vs Vampire Counts - 1000points
My first battle against Vampire Counts, so I thought I would try a Battle Report. I have edited out the phases where nothing happened (mostly the Shooting Phases). As I am not sure what information people might want I have aimed for a more mechanical statement of events; a narrative retelling can be found in my army fluff thread.
Warriors of Chaos
Chaos Sorcerer
- Mark of Nurgle
- Level 2 Upgrade
- Barded Chaos Steed
- Biting Blade
- Charmed Shield
- Infernal Puppet
- Luckstone
- Bloodcurdling Roar
12 Chosen
- Mark of Nurgle
- Full Command
- Halberds
- Shield
- Favour of the Gods
- Banner of Wrath
20 Chaos Marauders
- Mark of Slaanesh
- Musician
- Standard Bearer
- Light Armour
- Shield
20 Chaos Marauders of Slaanesh
- Mark of Slaanesh
- Musician
- Standard Bearer
- Great Weapon
- Light Armour
5 Marauder Horsemen of Slaanesh
-Mark of Slaanesh
- Musician
- Standard Bearer
- Flail
- Throwing Axe
- Light Armour
Vampire Counts
Vampire Lord
- Deployed in the Ghoul unit
Vampire Hero
- Deployed in the Skeleton unit
20 Grave Guard
- Seneschal
- Great Weapon
20 Crypt Ghouls
- Crypt Ghast
19 Skeleton Warriors
- Full Command
10 Dire Wolves
Set Up
Scenery
We agreed to define Scenery ourselves rather than use the random Scenery Tables, so that we could focus on the rules and how units performed.
Chapel: hard cover; dangerous for cavalry
Graveyard: counts as Wood with Walls around outside; hard cover, dangerous terrain for cavalry, obstacles.
Hills: no special rules
Walls: hard cover; obstacles
Hedges: count as Fences; soft cover, obstacles
Woods: hard cover; remove rank bonus
Spells
Chaos Sorcerer: rolled Magnificent Buboes, Fleshy Abundance
Vampire Lord: Invocation of Nehek; rolled Wind of Undeath and Gaze of Nagash; swapped Wind of Undeath for Raise Dead
Vampire Hero: Invocation of Nehek; rolled Gaze of Nagash; swapped for Van Hal’s Danse Macabre
Eye of the Gods
Chosen: rolled +1 Attack; I chose not to modify
The Battlefield after Deployment
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Vanguard
Marauder Horsemen forward 12” towards flank of Skeletons.
I get first turn.
Turn 1
1.1 Movement
Marauder (HW) march 8” forward to top of Hill 1
Chosen march 8” to crest of Hill1.
Sorcerer advances 7” to base of Hill 1.
Marauder (GW) march 8”, wheeling to avoid Hill 2.
Horsemen march and wheel to stop 5” from flank of Skeletons.
1.1 Magic
Sorcerer targets Vampire Hero in Skeleton unit with Magnificent Buboes; dispel failed; 1 Wound
As only two power dice were generated this ends the Magic Phase.
1.1 Shooting
Horsemen shoot Skeletons with Throwing Axes; kill 1 Skeleton
1.2 Movement
Dire Wolves advance forward 9” and wheel towards Marauders (HW)
Ghouls remain in Graveyard
Grave Guard remain in Graveyard
Skeletons reform to face Marauder Horsemen
1.2 Magic
Vampire Lord casts Gaze of Nagash at the Chosen. No dispel attempted.
Fortunately the Chosen suffer no casualties.
Vampire Hero casts Van Hal’s Danse Macabre on Skeletons; I dispel
Vampire Hero casts Van Hal’s Danse Macabre on Skeletons again; I dispel again
Turn 2
2.1 Movement
Marauder Horsemen successfully declare a charge against the Skeletons
Marauders (HW) advance towards graveyard
Chosen march forwards 8” to defend hedge.
Marauder (GW) march forwards 8” to defend hedge.
Sorcerer advances 7” between rear ranks of Marauders and Chosen
2.1 Magic
The Chosen unleash the Banner of Wrath on the Grave Guard but do a paltry one hit, which does not wound.
Sorcerer casts Flesh Abundance on the Marauder (HW) unit with irresistible force.
Given my Sorcerer is in a gap between two units, I am hoping I do not get an area affect miscast.
Fortunately I roll high, so using the Infernal Puppet, I have a choice between Magical Feedback and Power Drain. To avoid losing all my magic this early I opt for the Feedback. Even more fortunately when the blast clears the Sorcerer is unscathed.
2.1 Close Combat
The Vampire Hero strikes first killing two Horsemen.
The two Horsemen in base-to-base with the Vampire both direct their attacks at him and manage to take his last wound, denying my opponent not only a hero and a wizard but, more importantly, taking away Van Hals Danse Macabre.
The last Horseman kills a skeleton Unfortunately, the Skeletons take no wounds from the trusty steeds.
The Skeletons also fail to cause any wounds.
Sadly, the Horsemen lose the combat by one and flee 8”. The Skeletons attempt to pursue but only get 7”.
2.2 Movement
The Skeletons charge the Horsemen. Not having had a chance to rally the Horsemen are forced to continue fleeing, this time, due to an awful roll, a paltry 3” leading to them being cut down.
The Grave Guard charge the Chosen, who hold.
The Ghouls attempt to charge the Marauders (HW) but roll two 1’s for their charge and end up milling around in the Graveyard.
The Dire Wolves are more successful and hit the Marauders in the flank.
2.2 Magic
Vampire Lord cast Raise Dead on the top of Hill 1; dispel failed; six Zombies summoned
Vampire Lord cast Invocation of Nehek; on the new Zombie unit; dispel failed; adding another seven Zombies.
2.2 Close Combat
The Marauders strike first and kill two Dire Wolves.
The Dire Wolves strike back and kill a Marauder.
The Dire Wolves lose the combat by three so lose the remainder of their rear rank to Instability. The Marauders reform to face the Dire Wolves (and avoid a rear charge from the Zombies).
Unfortunately my Chosen retained some vestiges of human feeling so failed their Fear check against the Grave Guard. Fortunately, Mark of Nurgle made the drop in WS less crippling.
The Wight Seneschal issued a challenge that my Chosen Champion accepted. Rather fittingly the Seneschal is dealt two wounds reducing him to fragments and granting me +1 overkill.
The rest of the Chosen kill three Grave Guard.
The Grave Guard responded by killing one Chosen.
The Grave Guard lose the combat by one and suffer another casualty to Instability. The Chosen reform from 6x2 to 5x3(1 in rear rank) in hope of not losing a rank to a single casualty next turn.
Turn 3
3.1 Movement
The Sorcerer and Marauders (GW) are both in the flank arc of the Grave Guard, so, ignoring the Skelton Unit between Hills 2 and 3, both declare charges against the Grave Guard, and both complete.
3.1 Magic
The Sorcerer casts Fleshy Abundance on the Marauder (HW) unit; however it is irresistible dispelled.
3.1 Close Combat
This turn no one fails their fear check.
The Chosen kill another rank of Grave Guard.
The Sorcerer manages to kill a Grave Guard.
As the Grave Guard and Marauders (GW) are both armed with great weapons, they strike simultaneously.
The Grave Guard direct their entire front rank and two supporting attacks against the Chosen and manage to hit and wound with all six; matters worsen as I fail all their armour saves.
Fortunately the Marauders manage to kill the remaining Grave Guard without casualties and overrun forward 5” across the front of the Graveyard.
The Sorcerer restrains pursuit, and the Chosen reform to face the Zombies on Hill 1.
The Marauders (HW) deal a further three casualties to the Dire Wolves and receive none in return.
The Dire Wolves are eradicated by Instability and, face with enemies on either side the Marauders reform to face the bigger threat, the Ghouls with Vampire Lord.
3.2 Movement
The Ghoul unit declare a charge against the Marauders (GW). I elect to hold.
The Zombies charge the rear of the Marauders (HW).
The Skeletons reform to face the battle.
3.2 Magic
The Vampire Lord cast Raise Dead in front of the Chosen with irresistible force; 5 Zombies raised.
The Miscast came up as Calamitous Detonation; however with the Infernal Puppet I modified this to Dimensional Cascade. The resultant explosion wounded killed eight Marauders and all but two Ghouls, and wounded the Vampire Lord.
The Vampire Lord was then sucked into the Realms of Chaos casing the entire army to start to crumble. The Skeleton Unit on the far side of the board and the large Zombie unit suffered several casualties; amazingly the small Zombie unit only lost two casualties. Annoyingly, both surviving Ghouls were lost, leaving the Marauders unable to do anything in the close combat phase.
3.2 Close Combat
The Marauders (HW) managed to kill two Zombies.
The Zombies managed to kill two marauders in return.
Due to the Zombies charging down hill the Marauders lost the combat, failed their Break test and fled 3” before being cut down.
Turn 4
4.1 Movement
The Chosen successfully charged the small Zombie unit.
As the Zombies had pursued forward last turn, they were just in the Marauder (GW) front arc so they successfully charged the remains of the unit.
4.1 Magic
To avoid another ignominious defeat by Zombies, the Sorcerer cast Flashy abundance on the Marauders with Irresistible Force.
For the third time the Infernal Puppet moved the result just enough, turning a Strength 10 miscast into a Strength 6, and again the Sorcerer emerged form the smoke intact.
4.1 Close Combat
The Marauders managed to wipe out the Zombies.
The Chosen dealt seven wounds and obliterated all three Zombies. They reformed to face the Skeletons.
4.2 Movement
The Skeletons suffered a few more casualties to crumbling then failed their charge against the Chosen, sputtering forward 3”.
Turn 5
5.1 Movement
The Chosen successfully charged the Skeletons.
5.1 Close Combat
The Chosen unsurprisingly wiped the Skeletons out.
Thoughts
Fighting Undead was interesting, as I was stuck in combat until I destroyed them all
The Marauder Horsemen probably performed best: not only did they draw the Skeletons far away form the battle preventing them from playing a part but also removed Van Hals Danse Macabre, denying my opponent both mobility and the ability to Reform then charge in the Magic Phase.
As a close second, the Infernal Puppet saved my Sorcerer from an unavoidable wound and made the Vampire Lord explode.
Apart from dying to a unit of Zombies, both units of Marauders performed as expected.
I was disappointed with the Banner of Wrath as my Chosen were in close combat for most of the game so could not use it; I suspect that it might have more opportunities against a different opponent who sought to avoid combat more. Also, even when I did have many power dice, the Sorcerer’s spells always seemed a better use for the two power dice it costs to have a good chance of using it than a few Strength 4 hits.
I think choosing not to alter the Eye of the Gods was the right decision: the Halberds definitely made increased Strength a luxury; against unbreakable troops casualties seem more important than a slightly increased chance of survival.
I did not use Bloodcurdling Roar at all; again it might have been more useful against an opponent who was not seeking combat.
I think I also owe part of my victory to my opponent having not given either of his Vampires armour. If he had a save on the Hero then he would almost certainly have still had Van Hals Danse Macabre for several more turns and I would probably have had to direct my Great Weapon Marauders against the Skeletons rather than the Grave Guard.
Warriors of Chaos
Chaos Sorcerer
- Mark of Nurgle
- Level 2 Upgrade
- Barded Chaos Steed
- Biting Blade
- Charmed Shield
- Infernal Puppet
- Luckstone
- Bloodcurdling Roar
12 Chosen
- Mark of Nurgle
- Full Command
- Halberds
- Shield
- Favour of the Gods
- Banner of Wrath
20 Chaos Marauders
- Mark of Slaanesh
- Musician
- Standard Bearer
- Light Armour
- Shield
20 Chaos Marauders of Slaanesh
- Mark of Slaanesh
- Musician
- Standard Bearer
- Great Weapon
- Light Armour
5 Marauder Horsemen of Slaanesh
-Mark of Slaanesh
- Musician
- Standard Bearer
- Flail
- Throwing Axe
- Light Armour
Vampire Counts
Vampire Lord
- Deployed in the Ghoul unit
Vampire Hero
- Deployed in the Skeleton unit
20 Grave Guard
- Seneschal
- Great Weapon
20 Crypt Ghouls
- Crypt Ghast
19 Skeleton Warriors
- Full Command
10 Dire Wolves
Set Up
Scenery
We agreed to define Scenery ourselves rather than use the random Scenery Tables, so that we could focus on the rules and how units performed.
Chapel: hard cover; dangerous for cavalry
Graveyard: counts as Wood with Walls around outside; hard cover, dangerous terrain for cavalry, obstacles.
Hills: no special rules
Walls: hard cover; obstacles
Hedges: count as Fences; soft cover, obstacles
Woods: hard cover; remove rank bonus
Spells
Chaos Sorcerer: rolled Magnificent Buboes, Fleshy Abundance
Vampire Lord: Invocation of Nehek; rolled Wind of Undeath and Gaze of Nagash; swapped Wind of Undeath for Raise Dead
Vampire Hero: Invocation of Nehek; rolled Gaze of Nagash; swapped for Van Hal’s Danse Macabre
Eye of the Gods
Chosen: rolled +1 Attack; I chose not to modify
The Battlefield after Deployment
Vanguard
Marauder Horsemen forward 12” towards flank of Skeletons.
I get first turn.
Turn 1
1.1 Movement
Marauder (HW) march 8” forward to top of Hill 1
Chosen march 8” to crest of Hill1.
Sorcerer advances 7” to base of Hill 1.
Marauder (GW) march 8”, wheeling to avoid Hill 2.
Horsemen march and wheel to stop 5” from flank of Skeletons.
1.1 Magic
Sorcerer targets Vampire Hero in Skeleton unit with Magnificent Buboes; dispel failed; 1 Wound
As only two power dice were generated this ends the Magic Phase.
1.1 Shooting
Horsemen shoot Skeletons with Throwing Axes; kill 1 Skeleton
1.2 Movement
Dire Wolves advance forward 9” and wheel towards Marauders (HW)
Ghouls remain in Graveyard
Grave Guard remain in Graveyard
Skeletons reform to face Marauder Horsemen
1.2 Magic
Vampire Lord casts Gaze of Nagash at the Chosen. No dispel attempted.
Fortunately the Chosen suffer no casualties.
Vampire Hero casts Van Hal’s Danse Macabre on Skeletons; I dispel
Vampire Hero casts Van Hal’s Danse Macabre on Skeletons again; I dispel again
Turn 2
2.1 Movement
Marauder Horsemen successfully declare a charge against the Skeletons
Marauders (HW) advance towards graveyard
Chosen march forwards 8” to defend hedge.
Marauder (GW) march forwards 8” to defend hedge.
Sorcerer advances 7” between rear ranks of Marauders and Chosen
2.1 Magic
The Chosen unleash the Banner of Wrath on the Grave Guard but do a paltry one hit, which does not wound.
Sorcerer casts Flesh Abundance on the Marauder (HW) unit with irresistible force.
Given my Sorcerer is in a gap between two units, I am hoping I do not get an area affect miscast.
Fortunately I roll high, so using the Infernal Puppet, I have a choice between Magical Feedback and Power Drain. To avoid losing all my magic this early I opt for the Feedback. Even more fortunately when the blast clears the Sorcerer is unscathed.
2.1 Close Combat
The Vampire Hero strikes first killing two Horsemen.
The two Horsemen in base-to-base with the Vampire both direct their attacks at him and manage to take his last wound, denying my opponent not only a hero and a wizard but, more importantly, taking away Van Hals Danse Macabre.
The last Horseman kills a skeleton Unfortunately, the Skeletons take no wounds from the trusty steeds.
The Skeletons also fail to cause any wounds.
Sadly, the Horsemen lose the combat by one and flee 8”. The Skeletons attempt to pursue but only get 7”.
2.2 Movement
The Skeletons charge the Horsemen. Not having had a chance to rally the Horsemen are forced to continue fleeing, this time, due to an awful roll, a paltry 3” leading to them being cut down.
The Grave Guard charge the Chosen, who hold.
The Ghouls attempt to charge the Marauders (HW) but roll two 1’s for their charge and end up milling around in the Graveyard.
The Dire Wolves are more successful and hit the Marauders in the flank.
2.2 Magic
Vampire Lord cast Raise Dead on the top of Hill 1; dispel failed; six Zombies summoned
Vampire Lord cast Invocation of Nehek; on the new Zombie unit; dispel failed; adding another seven Zombies.
2.2 Close Combat
The Marauders strike first and kill two Dire Wolves.
The Dire Wolves strike back and kill a Marauder.
The Dire Wolves lose the combat by three so lose the remainder of their rear rank to Instability. The Marauders reform to face the Dire Wolves (and avoid a rear charge from the Zombies).
Unfortunately my Chosen retained some vestiges of human feeling so failed their Fear check against the Grave Guard. Fortunately, Mark of Nurgle made the drop in WS less crippling.
The Wight Seneschal issued a challenge that my Chosen Champion accepted. Rather fittingly the Seneschal is dealt two wounds reducing him to fragments and granting me +1 overkill.
The rest of the Chosen kill three Grave Guard.
The Grave Guard responded by killing one Chosen.
The Grave Guard lose the combat by one and suffer another casualty to Instability. The Chosen reform from 6x2 to 5x3(1 in rear rank) in hope of not losing a rank to a single casualty next turn.
Turn 3
3.1 Movement
The Sorcerer and Marauders (GW) are both in the flank arc of the Grave Guard, so, ignoring the Skelton Unit between Hills 2 and 3, both declare charges against the Grave Guard, and both complete.
3.1 Magic
The Sorcerer casts Fleshy Abundance on the Marauder (HW) unit; however it is irresistible dispelled.
3.1 Close Combat
This turn no one fails their fear check.
The Chosen kill another rank of Grave Guard.
The Sorcerer manages to kill a Grave Guard.
As the Grave Guard and Marauders (GW) are both armed with great weapons, they strike simultaneously.
The Grave Guard direct their entire front rank and two supporting attacks against the Chosen and manage to hit and wound with all six; matters worsen as I fail all their armour saves.
Fortunately the Marauders manage to kill the remaining Grave Guard without casualties and overrun forward 5” across the front of the Graveyard.
The Sorcerer restrains pursuit, and the Chosen reform to face the Zombies on Hill 1.
The Marauders (HW) deal a further three casualties to the Dire Wolves and receive none in return.
The Dire Wolves are eradicated by Instability and, face with enemies on either side the Marauders reform to face the bigger threat, the Ghouls with Vampire Lord.
3.2 Movement
The Ghoul unit declare a charge against the Marauders (GW). I elect to hold.
The Zombies charge the rear of the Marauders (HW).
The Skeletons reform to face the battle.
3.2 Magic
The Vampire Lord cast Raise Dead in front of the Chosen with irresistible force; 5 Zombies raised.
The Miscast came up as Calamitous Detonation; however with the Infernal Puppet I modified this to Dimensional Cascade. The resultant explosion wounded killed eight Marauders and all but two Ghouls, and wounded the Vampire Lord.
The Vampire Lord was then sucked into the Realms of Chaos casing the entire army to start to crumble. The Skeleton Unit on the far side of the board and the large Zombie unit suffered several casualties; amazingly the small Zombie unit only lost two casualties. Annoyingly, both surviving Ghouls were lost, leaving the Marauders unable to do anything in the close combat phase.
3.2 Close Combat
The Marauders (HW) managed to kill two Zombies.
The Zombies managed to kill two marauders in return.
Due to the Zombies charging down hill the Marauders lost the combat, failed their Break test and fled 3” before being cut down.
Turn 4
4.1 Movement
The Chosen successfully charged the small Zombie unit.
As the Zombies had pursued forward last turn, they were just in the Marauder (GW) front arc so they successfully charged the remains of the unit.
4.1 Magic
To avoid another ignominious defeat by Zombies, the Sorcerer cast Flashy abundance on the Marauders with Irresistible Force.
For the third time the Infernal Puppet moved the result just enough, turning a Strength 10 miscast into a Strength 6, and again the Sorcerer emerged form the smoke intact.
4.1 Close Combat
The Marauders managed to wipe out the Zombies.
The Chosen dealt seven wounds and obliterated all three Zombies. They reformed to face the Skeletons.
4.2 Movement
The Skeletons suffered a few more casualties to crumbling then failed their charge against the Chosen, sputtering forward 3”.
Turn 5
5.1 Movement
The Chosen successfully charged the Skeletons.
5.1 Close Combat
The Chosen unsurprisingly wiped the Skeletons out.
Thoughts
Fighting Undead was interesting, as I was stuck in combat until I destroyed them all
The Marauder Horsemen probably performed best: not only did they draw the Skeletons far away form the battle preventing them from playing a part but also removed Van Hals Danse Macabre, denying my opponent both mobility and the ability to Reform then charge in the Magic Phase.
As a close second, the Infernal Puppet saved my Sorcerer from an unavoidable wound and made the Vampire Lord explode.
Apart from dying to a unit of Zombies, both units of Marauders performed as expected.
I was disappointed with the Banner of Wrath as my Chosen were in close combat for most of the game so could not use it; I suspect that it might have more opportunities against a different opponent who sought to avoid combat more. Also, even when I did have many power dice, the Sorcerer’s spells always seemed a better use for the two power dice it costs to have a good chance of using it than a few Strength 4 hits.
I think choosing not to alter the Eye of the Gods was the right decision: the Halberds definitely made increased Strength a luxury; against unbreakable troops casualties seem more important than a slightly increased chance of survival.
I did not use Bloodcurdling Roar at all; again it might have been more useful against an opponent who was not seeking combat.
I think I also owe part of my victory to my opponent having not given either of his Vampires armour. If he had a save on the Hero then he would almost certainly have still had Van Hals Danse Macabre for several more turns and I would probably have had to direct my Great Weapon Marauders against the Skeletons rather than the Grave Guard.
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