A tale of two forts - the final Vanguard

This weekend we neared the conclusion of the Tale of Two forts campaign with the final Vanguard skirmish game. This scenario involves trying to tame a rampaging giant by wounding him and killing the enemy. This is my favourite of the scenarios - random but it looks great.

The Nightstalkers deployed mostly centrally with small units of shooters on the flanks. I went for two pods; Sisterhood troops supported by men-at-arms and sergeants to attack the giant with ogre and Paladins looking to block the enemy.
 

The faster moving Nightstalkers reached the giant in turn 1 and by the end of turn 2 were 6-0 up on VPs. The rampaging giant had though tenderised the Nightstalkers with a few well placed stomps.  

By turn 3 I[ pulled back to 6-5 and causalities were mounting for the Nightstalkers as my Basileans managed to chew through the centre of their lies.  

As we hit turn 4 the Nightstalkers were mostly dead and I had pulled-out a lead that could not be overtaken.

So a solid win for the Basileans who now have the honour of using the giant in the final siege battle of the campaign. Despite famously killed few Nightstalkers through the campaign they did win 3 and draw 1 of the 5 games.  

Triple wammy of games

This weekend being a bank holiday I had more time than usual and got in three games - two Kings of War and a Vanguard. So lots of piccies

Vanguard Skirmish 

The demonic Forces of the Abyss took on the beastly Herd contesting a Pillage-style scenario with three objectives to capture. This ended a 1-0 win for The Herd due to my traditional inability to finish-off enemies when they are knocked to the ground.  The Abyssal Seductress hero proved very powerful though.

 

Tale of Two Forts Campaign

The second game was the forth instalment of the ongoing Fishponds KOW campaign between the Salamanders (Lizardmen) and The Herd. This was also Pillage, with 5 objectives up for grabs. As usual with the slow-moving Salamanders I looked to attack with my Ancients on one flank (the right) and refused the other (the left) with this being held by a Greater Fire Elemental, some Tyrants and Blizzard Lizard. The Herd focused most of their troops opposite me with a fast force of Eagles and Chariots against my refused left.      

In the early turns my Blizzard Lizard cleared the Eagles on my left and gave me the chance of a bonus objective I was nt originally planning to content. More centrally though the charge / counter-charge did nt favour me, with the crucial Ancients of Rinosaurs not having the impact needed, leaving my right badly weakened.  

Some fun was had on the left as a I scooped-up the objective and then managed to Surge my Greater Fire Elemental into the flank of The Herd line. After couple of moves I made decent progress in the centre but all too slow to push for a win as the right had collapsed.  

The game ended with 1 objective to the Salamanders, 2 contested and 2 to The Herd. so a 2-1 loss which means the Lizardmen are pushed back to their fort for the final game.

Boarder Skirmish Campaign

The final battle was the third of the Salamanders vs Forces of the Abyss. The scenario was Invade, so points are scored for units over the half-way line. Both sides deployed with their strongest units opposite each other (the lizardmen left).  

The Salamanders sat back initially looking to rely on their shooting before looking to counter-punch against the advancing Abyssals. With both sides largely static on the Salamander right the Abyssals attacked with their Molochs, who were held-up by the Lekelidons before being counter charged and routed by the Ancients on Rinosaurs.  

Centrally the infantry lines clashed and the resilient Salamanders were eventually able to win the grind against the more lightly equipped Abyssals.

Go a solid win for the Lizardmen in this one, ending the weekend on a win. I must admit though to some distraction as the game overlapped with the end of Stokes innings at Headingly.

The Crew of the Embers Dance

One of the special formations available to the Lizardmen armies is a band of pistol totting pirates under the command of Firebrand. I'm not sure they are worth the points but the modelling options are fun so I've had a go at the full compliment - 3 Troops of Corsairs and Firebrand herself.

The modelling involved was not very complex - most of the figure was Northstar's Snakemen. I added pistols harvested from Warlord Games ECW cavalry and hats from infantry their range.

The completed Crew of the Embers dance is a small formation with decent short-range firepower from its many pistols.

One Troop is based separately do that an Embers Dance themed Vanguard warband can also be fielded.  

Finally Firebrand herself bristling with pistols.

A tale of two forts - a Vanguard game

Round three of the campaign began with a skirmish game - capture the egg. In this scenario both sides must try to capture a dragons egg and get it back to their starting zone. As you can see the terrain was a small port, with the dragons egg sat on the dock-side awaiting transport. A slight twist is that on a 6+ (D8) an angry dragon would appear and breath on the egg thief, possibly knocking them over and forcing them to drop the egg.

The Basileans deployed most of their troops in a tight clump, with the spooky Nightstalkers opting for a slightly more open formation. On this occasion I opted for a force with more Power Dice than previously; 1*Vet Sarg, 2*Sarg, 2*Paladins, 3*Men-at-Arms, 2*Scouts, 1*Wizard, 1*Vet Sister and the Ogre Guard.

The Scouts proved crucial for this scenario though. Being able to deploy outside my deployment zone they could begin the game within 4" of the Dragons Egg and so be certain of reaching it first.

After 2 moves the Scouts had seized the egg and made off with such speed that it was clear the Nightstalkers would be unable to catch them. So with the result all but secure I decide to attack with the remaining Basileans to score some experience, rather than simple withdrawing with the prize.

A fierce struggle ensued around a small warehouse near the docs. As is often the case the Basileans proved resilient but unlucky in the attack. Four rounds in I had lost 2 casualties without seriously hurting the Nightstalkers. The Ogre almost died but was rescued by the intervention of the Lizardman Priest.    

There was a slight wobble when the dragon appeared and downed the Scout, but a skilful flick pass to a waiting Sergeant enabled him to cross the line and win the game. The final score was 3 casualties to 1, in favour of the Nightstalkers but a Basilean victory.

 
As you can see the terrain looked great and its nice to have a themed board, even if the result was decided after turn 1.

A tale of two forts - round 2

The other game fought this weekend was the Vanguard part of the second round of the Tale of Two Forts campaign. The scenario is Capture the Plans where a spies body is place in the centre of the table - on  6-8 (D8) it contains the plans bit on 1-5 they will be near one of the two temples shown on the overview picture. So do you gamble on a specific site, cover them all, or go central and try to react.

Overview of the board

Nightshades force

I tried to cover all three locations in the hopes of securing the plans early as moving was harder for me since I lacked the flying troops present in the Nightstalkers army. One objective was covered by Sisterhood Scouts who could deploy before the battle, the second would be challenged by the fast-moving Panthers, and my main force would occupy the centre.

Basilean force

I swiftly moved the Panthers to challenge for the northern site and reinforced the southern with a Paladin and Sargent. Centrally I search the spy with a man-at-arms and found that the plans were located at the southern site - so the race was on.

As both sides sought to drift towards the plans my Scouts came under attack from 4 Nightstalkers. I threw some reinforcements into the fray and judicious use of Basilan Iron Resolve (which enables a high armour save of 3+) allowed them  unexpectedly bog-down the Nightstalkers for the whole game.

I captured the plans on Paladin hoping that his high nerve and armour would enable him to hold them.

Basileans capture the plans

With the plans secured two distinct strategies emerged. I sought to turtle and prevent any attacks (including flying ones) against the Paladin. The Nightstalkers wanted kills to boost their experience points and maybe break my force before the 5 (or maybe 6 turns) elapsed.

The game ended after 5 turns with no real threat possed to plans, although a 6th turn might have been interesting. So a win for the Basileans albeit and odd on as they wounded many Nightstalkers but were unable to kill any. Losses amongst the Basilean non-grunts proved to not be permeant and I even won some gold betting on the torments. XP was very limited though placing me at a big disadvantage in the next Vanguard battle.      

Heroes of the hour were the Sisterhood Scouts - they never fired a shot but did hold-up some decent Nightstalkers for the whole game. The Basileans are an interstsomg mox