We had a last-minute Skaven vs Empire game, set at 1500 points.
Pitched battle. Lots of fun.
Here is a brief recap that has not been edited, proofread, spellchecked, or anything resembling quality control checked.
Deployment Shots.
turn 1
movement/ cannons do some decent damage to storm vermin. hand gunners shoot but only pick off one giant rat. Empire scout archers forget to fire. SKaven warp fire thrower kills two. Most other Skaven artillery is ineffective. The Skaven general sees the oncoming Knights Panther and hasn't faced them in combat before so unleashes Warpfire but The Wiz senses it and uses his dispel scroll to stop it.
turn 2
empire knights panther and the pistoliers charge into the plaguemonks with the pistoliers hitting their flank.
cannons unleash significant damage on storm vermin; they flee.
 |
| boom |
helblaster rips over 16 shots into the clan rats doing serious damage, along with the crossbows. Handgunners fire into the giant rats and do some damage.
Knights only kill two, warhorses kill one more, but the pistoliers open up with a fusillade and kill over 5 plaguemonks. Only one can fight back and he lashes out causing two wounds on the knights who promptly fail their armor saving throws with double ones.
either way, the plaguemonks break from combat and the Knights pursue after them.
Skaven general fails his panic check. The fleeing storm vermin cause the clan rats to fail their panic check and they run too. the Skaven center has fled and almost off the board. Things look really bad for skaven at the end of the Empire's turn 2.
But in the Skaven's half of the turn, the Skaven general rallies and the gutter runners arrive right in front of the crossbows, charging into them. The newly rallied general looks at his crumbling army and unleashes his vengeance on the Knights Panther with furious warp lightning, killing all of the remaining knights. This causes the Pistoliers to panic and flee. Suddenly the Empire left flank has disappeared. Seeing all of this, the Storm Vermin rally in Turn 2 as well. Things are beginning to swing back to the Skaven.
The gutter runners kills half of the crossbows who break from combat and flee off the board. the gutter runners hold and don't pursue. the sight of the fleeing crossbows causes the crew of both cannons to turn tail and flee even with the general nearby. Which then the Empire general on his pegasus also fail his panic check and flees off the board. So not only has the Empire left flank disappeared, the center has now collapsed.
turn 3
xbows pick off a few more fleeing clan rats. Empire archers loose their arrows into the giant clan rats killing a decent amount. The Helblaster Volley gun fires three more barrels into the Storm Vermin cutting down the heavily armored rats with ease. With the cannon crew having fled their war machines, the unit of Swordsmen charged into the gutter runners that had caused the break in the line, overwhelming them and breaking them from combat. The swordsmen ran them down over the bodies of the fallen crossbowmen. The remaining Empire troops waited for the rat men to crash into their lines.
With a feral scream from their handlers, the mass of giant rats slams into the Handgunner detachment on the Empire right flank. The other warlock engineer blasts the Huntsmen archers who were scouting in the burned out village with warp lightening, killing 5 of their number. With that, their nerve broke and the Hunstmen fled off the board. The men barely get off one more shot before the giant rats overwhelm them. The hand gunners turn and flee off the board.
turn 4
Not much remained of the Empire army. The central block of spearmen reformed their ranks to prepare and engage the giant rats that had destroyed their detachment of gunners, while the swordsmen reformed and prepared to deal with the storm vermin who had almost crossed the copse of trees for the second time that day. The helblaster crew prepared another round of shots but the second barrel misfired, the crank mechanism jammed. It would take them an entire turn to fix it.
The skaven handlers whipped their giant rat herd into submission and turned them around to face the spearmen. The clan rats and Storm Vermin continued their advance upon the imperial lines. Various attempts at warp lightening and warp fire throwers were unsuccessfully due to misfires, miscasts, and bad range guessing. But the Warp Lightening Cannon finally hit its mark, sending a crackling streak of green lightening burning through the trees and scorching 5 of the swordsmen to death. The momentum was now fully with the Skaven as the game hurtled towards the final two turns.
turn 5
Knowing that the helblaster crew were still trying to work out the jam and wouldn't be able to fire, the spearmen charged into the mass of giant rats with a battle cry on their tongues.
It was a brutal combat and the rats were ready. The spearmen, better suited to repel a charge then conduct one, only killed a few rat while the Skaven killed 5 of the men. It looked like the men would lose the combat but the weight of their numbers, the pounding drum of their musician, and the magical War Banner that they carried pushed them over the edge, breaking the rats. The spearmen pursued them trying desperately to run them down but the giant rats skittered away barely faster than the men.
The rest of the skaven host continued to advance hoping to engage the dwindling Empire army. The Storm Vermin charged the Swordsmen, eager to put their halberds to the test. Men and Rat-Men were cut down with ease and the combat was a draw.
turn 6
It was the final Empire turn. The spearmen charged the fleeing giant rats and running them down, right off the board. The Wiz, nominally in charge after the Captain fled, cast Creeping Death on the warlock engineer, killing him. The helblaster crew finally got the jam cleared and aimed the engine of death upon the creepy Skaven General. With a flourish, the crew unleased the full three remaining barrels on the rat general, with devastating affect at such short range. 22 Strength 5 hits peppered the skaven leader, mowing him down.
Meanwhile the swirling combat continued between the Swordsmen and Storm Vermin. With the Initiative going to the Storm Vermin, they attacked first, killing two of the men. Four of the swordsmen were able to strike back, but they all missed! The Storm Vermin won the combat but the Swordsmen would not be broken; the Banner of Sigismund infusing them with resolve, making them Stubborn. The Storm Vermin pressed the advantage, however, lapping around the edges and encircling the remaining fighters.
It was now the Skaven's final turn. Sensing a chance to steal victory in the most rat-like way, the Warp Lightning Cannon crew fire a blast of lightning through the trees and into the combat between the Swordsmen and Storm Vermin. A few rats died along the way, but then 3 swordsmen were killed, causing a panic check against losses from shooting. They failed and ran. This caused The Wiz to take a panic check, which he failed, and then the Helblaster Volleygun crew also failed their panic check.
That was the end of the game. After victory points, the final two units that ran from Warp Lightning (Wiz and Swordsmen) were enough to turn a draw into a Minor Victory for the Skaven!
It was a fantastic game and lots of fun.
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