February 11, 2011

They are walking all over us

Last night saw the finale of the Annihalation campaign via VASSAL. It really turned out to be a thrilling affair. The interesting thing for me was that I had plenty of points that survived to fill my army up. As most my my 'jacks were scrapped I didn't have much choice there. Otherwise the attrition of the system didn't have much of an effect on me. On my opponent there wasn't much of an effect either. He was still able to field a full regiment of Iron Fang Pikemen along with some Men O' War and a full compliment of 'jacks. Overall I have to say the campaign system was good despite this. It often leaves you second guessing about sacrificing stuff as you may want them later in the campaign.

Hierarch Severius vs. Irusk
Annihalation Finale,Battle reportThe screen shots of the battle can be clicked on to enlarge them. This one shows the game after the first turn. The Menites went first moving more aggresively than usual up the field. I wanted to ensure that I could get in position to threaten the central zone before Irusk put up inhospitable ground! For the Khadorans they advanced somewhat more cautiously. The Destroyer targetted the Repenter and due to superiority was able to get into range. Thankfully the damage roll was abysmal.

Annihalation Finale,Battle reportI then proceeded to throw my Repenter forward. I had hoped to flame the Iron Fang Pikemen to the right of the Destroyer hopefully taking the three out with the aid of the choir and boosting the damage against their shieldwall. I was a little short but clipped the front two taking them out. I knew the Repenter was doomed but it would force the Khadorans to deal with it putting them nicely in range of the Zealots who advanced into position. The Temple Flamguard moved up onto the hill maintaing shieldwall. I also cast Holy Ward unto them to give their defence a much needed boost. The Vanquisher took a shot at the Juggernaut and while hitting rolled terribly and did only a few points of damage.

Annihalation Finale,Battle report The Khadorans on the left went for the bait. The destroyer almost trashed the Repenter alone but left enough systems undamaged that the Iron Fangs had to get in on the action. This scrapped the little 'jack but left my zealots in a perfect position. Irusk then moved forwards and used his feat in an attempt to keep me out of the zone. He didn't move far enough in though and I was able to eventually get regiments in. The other group of Iron Fangs moved up to occupy the hill. The Juggernaut nestled in behind these, I guess to respond to whatever threatened.

Annihalation Finale,Battle reportThis turn was the one where the scenario kicked in. Anyone in sole posession of the central zone at the end of their turn would win. So I really needed to get guys into the zone. The Temple Flameguard advanced into position through the inhospitable ground. I then killed one of the Iron Fangs due to the effect of tough from Irusks feat. They put up Iron Zeal giving them an effective armour of 21 and with Holy Ward and Set Defence they had defence 17. I was trusting that they couldn't be dealt with too easily though I was wary of the Destroyers bombard cannon hitting them. The Vanquisher again hit the Juggernaut but only for a small amount of damage. The zealots then pelted the Destroyer with bombs with a lot of them doing damage luckily. While it was only a rather paltry amount it still adds up! The Iron Fangs were also rained upon but the feat kept them in the game. I only killed one. A scattered shot also landed amongst my zealots and killed one. I then put up the Monolith Bearers feat and make sure I didn't cause a catastrophe!

Annihalation Finale,Battle reportI was expecting a nasty response from the Khadorans. I hadn't been able to deal as much damage as I wanted on that turn due to Irusks feat. The Iron Fang in the front of the Templeguard fell to a free strike. The Men O' War then ran forward to get into position to threaten me. The other two Iron Fangs charged into combat but due to my really high defense were not able to do anything. Then Irusk moved forward casting Superiority on the Juggernaut. The Juggernaut then declared a trample! I really thought the game was over at this stage. Despite the fact that Severius was sitting on six focus the Juggernaut was likely to do a lot of damage. However when we measure the trample the Juggernaut was not able to get into an area where its base was free of models and have Severius in melee range. We checked the rulebook and it wasn't clear on what a failed trample does. So we moved the Juggernaut along the line and then stopped once he contacted the Templeguard. He then spent the focus to kill two of them. The Mekaniks then charged forward to prevent the Vanquisher from charging the Men O' War. The Destroyer took a shot at Severius due to arcing fire but missed. It scattered into the Iron Fangs but did no damage due to Iron Zeal.

Annihalation Finale,Battle reportThings were getting really tense at the start of this turn. Severius was really threatened and it was going to be almost impossible to keep him safe. He acted first giving three focus the the Vanquisher. I had a plan! He popped his feat and took control of six of the enemy. He then cast Fear of God on the Juggernaut preventing it from taking any special actions. This kept me safe from tramples for now. Sadly that was all of my focus. Somtimes I wish I could have more... The converts acted next. The three Men O' War ran into contact with the vanquisher, turned around and began to pray ferverently. The Mekanik had to move over to make room! The Iron Fangs also moved to surround the Destroyer. I wanted to pack them in so that I could get them with the blasts from the Zealots but that would have meant the Destroyer was in melee making it harder to hit. I was able to get one into the back arc. The Vanquisher went next and did a circular strike. These were boosted against the last two Men O' Wars and he managde to take out everyone touching him. That was great as now a huge chunk of the Khadoran forces were gone and the Vanquisher was free to act as he wanted. The Templeguard piled in around the Juggernaut but even with a combined attack I was only able to two a few points of damage. The zealots continued the bombardment of the Destroyer finally blowing off the left arm knocking out the movement and the cannon in the process. This meant Severius was much safer!

Annihalation Finale,Battle report The Khadorans didn't have much of a response this turn.The Destroyer ambled forward now that its movement had been knocked out. The attack rolls were a little poor and he didn't manage to take out many of the Zealots. The Juggernaut got superiority cast on him and a full allocation of focus. Three Templeguard were killed as a result. The mekaniks decided to get involved and charged onto the hill. Against my defence they had no chance. Their wrenches smashed on my resolute shields.

Annihalation Finale,Battle reportThe battle had turned into a slaughter and it seemed to come right down to attrition. Irusk was too far back to be at risk but he also couldn't contribute fully to the game. My zealots once again tried to finish of the Destroyer. I seriously damaged him but still left it functioning. I also used the lucky Monolith Bearer to take out the last Iron Fang Pikeman. I made a lot of mistakes with Severius this turn casting the wrong spells. This left him really vulnerable and I used the Choir to surround him to prevent a trample. The Vanquisher, almost filled with focus moved up and used those two precious points to absolutely smash a Mekanik into the ground. As I said it wasn't my best turn tactically. The Templeguard again failed to do much to the Juggernaut.

The last two turns seem to be bereft of screenshots despite the fact I am sure I took them... hmmm. Anyway the Juggernaut trampled forward smashed the Templeguard out of the way. He was able to get into reach thanks to a nice airburst from Irusk clearing out the Choir. He reached combat with Severius but only managed twelve damage. The Old Man survived. In my response I used the Vanquisher to charge the Juggernaut. This took it out. Now I just needed to take out what was within the zone to win. The Zealots finally wrecked the Destroyer. I would have been very happy for them to have done this a little earlier! However I can't complain. Severius then moved forward and killed the last Mekanik.This cleared the zone and left Irusk as the only surving Khadoran on the field. I had won!

Annihalation Campaign:
Battle One
Battle Two
Battle Three

No comments:

Post a Comment

About Me

Friends