Being munched again

Another battle using my 2000 point army that I defeated Tracy with was used again against an Undead Army of Kevin from our club.

Now I only have one picture of the event(only ran 4 turns, I conceded as he had to leave), so I will best explain what happened:-

We did not play a scenario so I spread my forces, setting up first and moving first, by holding the left flank(my side being on the right of the picture), with a Tortured Soul Horde beside a Tower (unseen in pic).  Moving up the line my Imp Horde, Lower Abyssal horde, Lower Abyssal Horde (+2H), a Moloch horde and Gargoyle troop supporting and another Tortured Souls Horde in the far woods supported by the other Gargoyle troop.

Kevin had several Zombie hordes, a Zombie Legion, several Liche Kings, A Wraith regiment, a Wight horde, a Skeleton Archers horde, a Skeleton Swordsmen horde and Revenant Cavalry on the far left(my) flank(out of sight in pic, other side of the tower).  Most of his units Shambled and his Liche Kings provided a lot of Surge.

Opening round making me go first, I tried to close quickly on him, hoping he could not surge everyone, allowing me to get into a favourable attack position.  My strategy was to hold my left while cleaning up the Zombie units on my right flank and roll the flank up.

His Wraiths hit my Tortured Souls, killing them with a lot of hits(even he was amazed at how many hits he rolled every time).  His Zombie Legion hit my Imps, cleaning them up in one hit, leaving my left flank wiped out in one turn.
On the far side, I hit one Zombie horde with both Gargoyles and Tortured Soul horde, rolled for the nerve kill and rolled snake eyes.  Second time that night.  He counter attacked and killed the Gargoyles.  I tried hitting his Skeleton archers with my two Efreet, but after two rounds, with him healing, sixty dice still had not brought him down as I rolled a low never dice twice and his Wights flew in as my Efreet got to close with the Archers and they were not only hit and the first one killed, he then used the break through and killed the second one.

Throughout the battle, my dice rolling was abysmal, as I rolled another pair of snake eyes yet again.  It was a disaster as more than half my army gone for a loss of a Zombie horde and Zombie regiment.  We called it quits at Turn 4 and I conceded as he had to get up for work early and his heavy hitters had done their jobs and I had yet to receive a charge from his Revenant Cavalry.  All I had left effectively was a Moloch Horde, a Warlock and Matu-bu-su, a Lower Abyssal horde and a Tortured Soul horde.

On several occasions, all I needed was a roll of 5 or more to kill a unit and I could not even roll that.
Well done to Kevin, I don't think I played that badly, but the dice gods favoured him way more than me. I have to rethink what units to take to fight an Undead army in the future as this army option was ineffective against the Undead, considering how bad I rolled through the game.

The Abyssals strike back!

Another battle between my wife's Forces of Nature and my Forces of Abyss.  I tried a different build while my wife changed her Fire Element for a Tree Herder instead, but pretty much had the same build.

Here is what I have:-

I fielded a different army this time using my Tortured Souls.  It turned out that in our setup, I totally missed my Imp Horde and went into battle without them!

Turn 1:-

 

Left flank:  I fielded a Lower Abyssal horde, backed up by a Tortured Soul Horde and a troop of Gargoyles.  I was facing the Wyrm Riders  and Heart Piercers again!   Next were another Lower Abyssal Horde with 2 Efreet and a Warlock between my mighty Moloch Horde.  In the rear was another Tortured Soul horde with another troop of Gargoyles on the flank.

Facing me were a horde of Earth Elements, a horde of Forest Shamblers, then a Naids horde and on the extreme right, a Salamander Horde.  Tracy moved first.

Turn 2:-

Tracy's Wyrm Riders moved forward along with most of her army. I charged her Wyrm Riders with my Lower Abyssals(2H weapons), inflicted lots of hit and casualties then rolling high twice to remove them from the game.  I charged her Heart Piercers and killed them off, turning he Lower Abyssal horde around to fight the Tree Herder.  All the time her Green Lady kept casting Cloak of Death on everyone within 6 inches, so I decided to get my Hero Matu-bu-su to take her out.

On the right, the Salamanders and Niads who had scouted forward, moved forward to flank me.  I turned a horde of Tortured Souls to face the onslaught.

Turn 3:-

I had moved the Molochs forward to take out another Regiment of Heart Piecers leaving my flank guarded by a Tortured Soul horde.  The Salamanders moved up behind her Niads so they could move around on my flank.  A second horde of Tortured Souls meanwhile tackled the Tree Herder to try and bring it down.

Turn 4:-

This is where it fell apart for Tracy.  After taking out my Tortured Souls horde, I explained to her the options available for the Tree Herder, because no matter which way she went, she would be flank or rear attacked.  She didn't fully comprehend the damage a rear attack would do.  After she choose what she thought was the best option of moving forward(only 3 inches), I rear charged her with Lower Abyssal horde with Crushing +1.  With 75 dice, the result was obvious in killing off the Tree Herder.  Also, she tried to kill off my Efreet with the Heart Piercers, which in turn were flank charged by the Molochs.    I also had rear charged her Earth Elements with a troop of Gargoyles.  She also forgot to move her Salamanders(even I missed that) and the results were obvious.

Turn 5:- 

I finally pinned her Green Lady down on 3 sides and the forth side with my hero Matu-bu-su.  The other 3 heroes got little or no damage, but Matu with her 'Duel' and Crushing +1, rolled enough hits, then wounds. Tracy had to roll, she failed, rolled again, but luck was not smiling on her that day.  The Niads and Hear Piercers also fell, leaving her with just the Salamander horde and one other hero left for turn 6.

Turn 6:-

I hit the Salamanders on three sides and killed it in one hit.  All that was left of her army was one hero, who beat a hasty retreat.  I had lost one Efreet and a Tortured Soul horde.

Luckily there was no 7th turn.

For us, its still a learning game, but Tracy learnt the value of protecting your flanks, never letting a unit(Hero Tree Herder) go into battle by itself with little or no support and to also make sure you move every unit before firing(I would pay that penalty in my next game).
In all, we both learnt how to move and attack and how to look up rules that were not clear.  Shambling and Surge were things we didn't understand, but YouTube tutorial on it cleared it all up.  I have a healthy respect for the Forces of Nature and would never underestimate them if you were to fight them.  We have found a 'Hydra' for her which can be a real apin, not to mention 'ScorchWings' as they move and shoot.  We are trying to find suitable figures for them.

I hope that you have found this battle interesting.  Feel free to leave any comments or recommendations.

First battle against my wife

Greetings,

Well, we came to blows finally.  My Forces of the Abyss and my wifes Forces of Nature(2000 points).

My Army List:-

Our friend Alan came over to help Tracy as she is not very experienced in wargaming, so he was umpire and advisor to both of us.

As our table is smaller depth wise, instead of 12 inches in, we had 8 inches in the deployment zones to set up in.  She set up first and I won the roll to see who went first and made her start.  Just note:  I only took pics from my side.  I dont have her digital list to put up.  The pics are put up at the end of a complete turn.
Turn 1:-

From left to right, I had my Gargoyle Troops on the left behind my Hellhound and a regiment of Succubi.  Next on the other side of the house was Lower Abyssals with 2h weapons, a Warlock and then another Succubi regiment.  Behind them were my Molochs and Abyssal Fiend.  On the right was another horde of Lower Abyssals, Imp horde and on the extreme flank a Hellhound troop and a Warlock.

Turn 2:-

Tracy's Wyrm Rider drove in and killed my Hellhound in one hit!  Her HeartPiercers shot my succubi causing several casualties.
In the center, her Earth Elements attacked my Lower Abyssals and locked them in combat.  The Naids attacked through the forest and hit my second Succubi regiment locking it into melee.  On the right, her Greater Fire Element moved in to attack my Hellhounds.

Turn 3:-

My Succubi regiment moved on ignoring her Wyrm Riders, leaving it to the Gargoyle troops to hold them by moving to the flank and behind them, with my Efreet attacking in front to hold them in place.The battle was in full swing in the middle while the Imps eyed off the Salamander Horde.

Turn 4:-

The battle between the Succubi and the HeartPiercers rages on.  They just won't break as they regenerate and have a Green Lady healing them as well.  My Lower Abyssals break the Earth Elements and prepare to hit the Niads on the flank.  However, her Heartpiercers moved forward to shoot at my rear Gargoyles but I attacker them with my Lower Abyssal 2H horde and killed them in one hit.  Meanwhile,  I had sent in both the warlock and the Abyssal Fiend to try to take those Niads down, but they were both eliminated before help arrived.  On the right, the Hellhounds and Imps combined to try to bring down the Salamanders, but both died in the following melees.  A Warlock played with the Greater Fire Element, keeping it occupied.

Turn 5:-

I had them on toast, the Wyrm Riders where still stuck with my Gargoyles, and I finally killed those pesky Niads and both Heart Piercers were taken out.  My Molochs crushed the Salamanders, because of the damage they took from the Imps and Hellhounds.

Turn 6:-

I dont have any pics, sorry.  However, I was going in for the kill against Tracy's Forest Shamblers, broke them and was robbed by the horrible double ones!!!!!!!!!!!!!  We rolled for a seventh turn, but didn't happen, so we counted the points of all the troops on each side.  I had 760 points of troops and Tracy had 950 points left.  Well done to Tracy beating me.