Bloodstone Marches – Destroy Supply Fortress

Destroy Supply Fortress
Sunday, October 28th, 2007

With a number of Trollkin rescued from the Skorne at Ternon Crag, the Trollbloods were in desperate need of supplies to feed the newly freed hungry mouths. To assist their kin fighting in the area, Madrak had decided to lead an attack on an recently constructed supply fortress south of the town. Unfortunately unbeknownst to Madrak Everblight had claimed the supply depot as his own only shortly before. At the Trolls push for the fortress the blighted Nyss stationed there rally to defend their newly claimed prize.

Prorpger declared his first attack on one of his Strategic Objective deep in my territory for round 2. The fortress itself was a 6″ x 10″ structure located in the middle of the defender’s deployment zone with a lone door facing the defender’s table edge. The Trollbloods had two opportunities to win: destroy the structure (ARM 18, can take 10 damage per 1″) or hold the structure for one round.

Although the space between the fortress and his closest territory was enough to qualify for Distant, he payed a hefty 15 VPs from his war chest to reduce this to Near. This was significant since the fortress was armed with large cannons, and a Distant attack would allow the defender to fire 3 cannons per round instead of the 2 the defender could fire in a Near attack. To fire a cannon the defender selected a point at least 20″ from the back of his deployment zone. Once all points were nominated, each blast deviated 2d6″ in a direction determined by the blast template and any models caught under the resulting 4″ AOE suffered a POW 12 damage roll.

Everblight – Myself

Lylyth, Herald of Everblight
Angelius
Seraph x2
Teraph
Shredder x3
The Forsaken x2
Incubi x5 (Proxied by Bog Trog Ambushers)
Shepherd (Proxied by a Druid of Orboros)
Feralgeist (Proxied by an old Mage Knight figure)
Blighted Swordsmen x10
Swamp Gobbers Bellows Crew

Trollbloods – Prorpger

Madrak Ironhide
Dire Troll Mauler x2
Winter Troll
Feralgeist (Proxied by an old Mage Knight figure)
Krielstone Bearer & Stone Scribes
Trollkin Champions x2
Trollkin Long Riders
Swamp Gobbers Bellows Crew

I won the roll to go first so started by deploying Lylyth and most of my beasts to the right of the fortress. The Gobbers were put nearby but far enough from the Angelius’ Forsaken to not suffer from Abomination. The other Forsaken and the Shepherd went on the other side of the fortress with my second Seraph and the Swordsmen. I figured if Prorpger deployed in such a way to let me flank with that side, the Shepherd and Forsaken could help me run the Seraph further from Lylyth than usual.

Prorpger didn’t really give me the chance to do so, though. He deployed most of his trolls in a block positioned to try to dash between the ruined building and the rough terrain that was placed near the front of his deployment zone. Out on the flank across from my Seraph/Swordsman group he put his three Long Riders and his second Mauler. Keeping his beasts that far apart would be difficult for Madrak’s shorter control radius but it was still a deterrent for me.

Turn 1

Everblight
At the start of my Maintenance Phase I was able to fire the cannons on the fortress twice. I nominated both to fire at a point behind the Troll brick, hoping for decent deviations. One shot went off into the middle of nowhere but another landed on Madrak and a Champion. the Champion escaped unscathed but Madrak suffered a point of damage from the blast.

I didn’t want to just sit in my deployment zone and wait for Prorpger to get to me so I rushed my forces forward first turn. Over on the left flank, the Seraph was forced to run forward. The swordsmen, Forsaken, and Shepherd file in behind. On the other side of the folder paper we were using as the fortress the rest of the beasts advanced upfield. The Angelius uses its animus and runs up to the linear obstacle and its Forsaken sidekick advanced and consumed the Fury.

The right Seraph advances up towards the wall, dragging the Teraph along with it. After it lands the Teraph makes its advance and Digs In. The Feralgeist runs through the Supply Fortress and Lylyth and the Shredders advance, throwing Tenacities around like candy. I didn’t have enough Tenacity counters so had to use Rabid counters to represent them this turn. Finally the Swamp Gobbers moved up and tossed a cloud down in front of Lylyth.

Trollbloods
The trollblood turn begins with the entire brick running forward. One of the Champion units is forced to make a detour through the ruined building but they all surge forward regardless. Madrak advances and dumps all five of his fury into the Kreilstone. The Winter troll advances beside the tail of the brick, where it is forced once to use Rhime and twice more to rile. The Gobbers advanced and placed concealment on the Champions on the right side of the wedge. The Dire Troll out on the left flank runs forward to the edge of Madrak’s control area while his Long Rider escort runs out ahead.

Turn 2

Everblight
The second turn of cannon fire from the fortress was kind to me. One blast drifted over the Swamp Gobbers, killing them instantly and the other drifted into the middle of the brick, catching the stone scribe unit. Two scribes and the Krielstone itself were killed, though another scribe was sacrificed so the stone would survive.

The unpainted Seraph starts off by shooting the Mauler, nickeling and diming him across his spiral. Then the Swordsmen spread out to form a perimeter around that Seraph to provide threats of Incubi and to slow down any attempt to get to my little gun platform. The Incubi on that flank then consumed the Fury back off the Seraph while the Shepherd headed to the center of the table.

I wanted to try to keep the painted Seraph back behind cover and just had it shoot at the same Mauler but it was just out of range and missed. The Angelius and the Forsaken beside him shifted back fully behind the low wall and waited. The Teraph pushed up to the edge of the rough terrain, dug in, and used Counterblast to try to slow the Trolls down a bit.

Lylyth advanced and put Tenacity on herself, the Shepherd, and the unpainted Seraph. One of her Shredders ran up in front of her and the others stayed a little behind the Angelius on the right flank. Finally the Swamp Gobbers put another smoke cloud down in front of Lylyth.

Trollbloods
Out on the left flank the Long Riders charged into the Swordsmen. They killed a few but started taking casualties as Incubi were bursting out of the corpses to exact Everblight’s vengeance. The left hand group of Champions charged the line as well. Incubi tried to get a few licks in as well but the Champions just used their second attacks to cut them down. It wasn’t the best use of Incubi in the world but it was either use them or loose them by the end of the turn. The Teraph used a Counterblast on one of the Champions that couldn’t reach the Swordsmen but only did a couple points.

Then Madrak sent the unpainted Mauler toward the Teraph. His goal was to two handed throw it into my backfield but wound up a quarter of an inch short and couldn’t attempt the throw. The Winter troll advanced and tried to spray the Teraph but wound up too far from Madrak to be forced and missed. The painted Mauler then ran to the center of the field where Madrak put Sure Foot on him before advancing himself. With space tight between the patch of rough terrain and the building, the right group of Champions ran around it instead of trying to squeeze past the Krielstone, which had advanced forward slightly and used its aura.

Yup – forgot pictures here. 🙁

Turn 3

Everblight
Out on the left flank the Incubi finish off one of the Long Riders and damage another (not the leader). Nearby the Swordsmen charge the Champions that had engage them, but are unable to do any significant damage. The Sheperd runs up in front of the linear obstacle (behind the Angelius in the second picture) to extend Lylyth’s control radius and the Teraph is forced to charge the Winter Troll. He crits with the tail and destroys the troll’s Mind but the bite only does minimal damage.

Lylyth steps up and fires Hellsinger at the unpainted Dire Troll, doing minimal damage but marking the beast with Witch Mark and Blood Lure. Using the former she casts Eruption of Spines, doing no damage to the Mauler but killing two stone scribes (and knocking down the Bearer) and damaging my own Seraph (the painted one). That Seraph then tries to slam the Mauler, hoping to knock it back into the troll lines. It hits, but only slams the Mauler back 1″ and thanks to Sure Foot on the other Mauler it even keeps its feet.

The Angelius uses Blood Lure and it’s reach to charge that Mauler, killing it. The Trollblood Feralgeist inhabited the dead troll so the Angelius bought another attack and killed it again before retreating back 3″ due to Ravenous. The unpainted Seraph maneuvered for line of sight and finished off the Krielstone unit. The two Forsaken advance, the right one consuming Fury from the Angelius and the left one consuming Fury from the painted Seraph. This fills both of them up. All three Shredders advance out from behind the low wall where they can get to the Champions next turn. The Feralgeist heads up behind the low wall and finally the gobbers put another smoke cloud down over the unpainted Seraph and in front of Lylyth.

Trollbloods
Out on the left flank the Long Riders and Champions finish off the Swordsmen and the Incubi, brutally wiping them off the table completely. Although out of Madrak’s control, the Winter Troll slides to the edge of the Teraph’s melee range and attacks the Teraph and scores two hits. The Chain Attack Spray misses the Teraph but winds up crit’ing the painted Seraph, rooting it in place for a round. The Champions then advanced on the Teraph, circling around (and over) the rough terrain but only one can reach and falls short of killing the beast, leaving it with its Mind and Body intact.

Madrak then advances out to the relatively sparse left flank, putting Sure Foot on the Mauler then bringing the beast in front of himself to try to block the Angelius’ access to himself.

Turn 4

Everblight
The unpainted Seraph passed its threshhold check, but the Teraph failed, frenzying on and subsequently killing the Winter Troll. The unpainted Seraph activates slipstream and moves out to the left flank to the extent of Lylyth’s control area, dragging the nearby Forsaken along with it a short ways. It then opens upon the Mauler, strafing half a dozen damage to him spread across his aspects. Madrak took a big hit but used his scroll to spare the Mauler a damage roll that would have nearly killed it. The Forsaken then advances into the midst of the left group of Champions and Blight Shrouds, catching both Madrak (2 Fury) and the Dire Troll Mauler(3 Fury), doing about 6 points of damage to each.

Lylyth activates and shoots a couple Champions. A boosted damage roll caused one to make its Tough roll and the other didn’t suffer enough damage to be destroyed. She then placed Tenacity on herself and sat on 2 Fury. Two of the Shredders then make use of Blood Lure and go Rabid and charge. The one on the knocked down Champion kills it two more times but it makes each Tough roll. The other eats his Champion on the first attack.

I ran the Shepherd forward with the intent to move the painted Seraph forward and shoot at the Mauler but then I remembered the Seraph had been crit’ed by the Winter Troll and wasn’t going anywhere. He took some shots at one the Champions near the Teraph but didn’t do any damage. The Angelius moved up to get to a position where it could threaten Madrak’s side of the table the following turn but minimize it’s exposure to the mess of Champions on the table.

The Forsaken that had been hanging out on the right flank ran back to the center of the table, the remaining Shredder shifted in front of Lylyth, and the Swamp Gobbers put a cloud down in front of Lylyth just to block charges from the nearest Champions.

Trollbloods
Prorpger started the turn by breaking the Long Riders off from the fight and running them towards the structure, planning on racing to the fortress and holding it for the win. The left unit of Champions clean up one of the Shredders that had attacked them as well as the Forsaken that had just Blight Shrouded Madrak. The right unit turns on the Teraph, killing it and allowing the Trollblood Feralgeist to inhabit it.

The Teraph then activated and circled behind the Angelius, stabbing it with its tail and getting a Crit Poison on the roll. He did 8 damage and another 4 with the bite but spread it across its aspects so the Angelius was still up and going.

Finally Madrak stepped back up on a hill, put Sure Foot on himself, and backed the Mauler up to get them both away from the Angelius hoping to stay alive long enough to get a win on scenario.

Turn 5

Everblight
The painted Seraph frenzied, killing the second Shredder that had engaged the Champions on the previous turn. The unpainted Seraph fires on the Champions, damaging them. The Angelius engages the Champions, killing one with a Thrust attack, moving, killing a second, then falls back back a bit. Lylyth then boosts attack and damage rolls on one of the two remaining Champions in the left-group, kills it, then Bushwhacked around and behind the Swamp Gobbers so that the linear obstacle was between her and the right group of Champions.

The surviving Forsaken then advanced through the area now clear of Champions and throws another Blight Shroud, catching Madrak and the Mauler (3 Fury on each). The Mauler took a decent hit but the roll against Madrak was botched and barely broke his armor.

The Feralgiest stayed put, the surviving Shredder hung back to serve as a damage sink and Tenacity battery, and the Shepherd retreated back near the Angelius to end the Legion turn.

Trollbloods
After the Long Riders make it into the Fortress and block the door, the surviving Mauler charges the unpainted Seraph (which was spun around so the Mauler would fit between its wings). Even boosting its attack rolls the Mauler burns through 4 Fury but mostly missed and left the Seraph alive with only its Spirit out. Madrak steps down forward off the hill and casts Sure Foot on himself, dumps 1 Fury, then orders the surviving Champion from the left group to charge. That Champion goes after the Forsaken but misses both of its attacks. Finally the possessed Teraph charges the Angelius, killing it with another poison tail strike and a good damage roll on the bite. My Feralgeist could have inhabited the creature, but I had needed it for another use…

Turn 6

Everblight
After leeching the both Seraph were left with a single point of Fury. The unpainted Seraph failed its threshold check and frenzied on the Mauler, doing nothing. The other Seraph passed its threshold check. My first activation after that was the send the incorporeal Feralgeist running through the wall of the Supply Fortress to deny the Long Riders their hold to prolong the game.

I had planned on sending both Seraphs after Madrak to try to end the game but with one failing its threshold check I was a little worried. Still I decided to give it a go. Lylyth advanced to get the painted Seraph in her control area and feated. She then boosted a shot at the Champion that was engaged with the Forsaken. The shot killed him and luckily he failed his Tough check. Lylyth then put Tenacity on herself and camped on 2 Fury. The now free Forsaken then to move towards the painted Seraph to consume the 1 Fury on him so he’d be empty for his assassination attempt. Then the Seraph advanced towards Madrak and fired. Unfortunately I only rolled 1 extra attack and Madrak survived the attack with 3 life left.

The Shredder went Rabid and killed the Teraph to protect Lylyth from it and the Swamp Gobbers advanced and put a cloud around the unpainted Seraph and the Mauler to try to debuff the Mauler’s MAT enough that the Seraph would survive the next turn.

Trollbloods
Madrak feated and charged the painted Seraph. A couple swings of Rathrok tore the beast apart (which the trollblood’s Feralgeist quickly inhabited) but for some reason Madrak couldn’t seem to connect with the Shepherd. The Chieftan ended his activation with 1 Fury left for transferring. The geisted Seraph then flew back and fired at Lylyth, but even boosting it found her DEF 17 too high to hit. The Mauler tried to finish off the Seraph but couldn’t hit between its hit DEF and the gobbers’ smoke cloud. Then the remaining Champion unit runs forward to get in Lylyth’s face and threaten her if she stuck around next turn. Finally the Long Riders beat on the Fortress walls to little effect before Prorpger ended his turn.

Turn 7

Everblight
Lylyth fit a single arrow to Hellsinger, drew back, and finished off the beleaguered trollkin chieftain.

Post Mortem

The scenario was interesting but I shouldn’t have forgotten about the cannons I could fire. I stopped mid-game once everything got engaged then forgot to do it again once Madrak had gotten far enough back that I could put the point near him and hope for a good deviation.

Other than that, this was a pretty fun game. Plenty deaths all around and a lot of beasts sticking around longer than they should due to Prorpger’s Feralgeist. I still had a couple beasts left on the board by the end of the game but the second Champion unit was closing in fast. I think that they were part of why I wound up winning – when Prorpger devoted them to killing the Teraph back on his side of the table and off to one flank it took them out of the game for the next few rounds. They did give him the tool he needed to kill my Angelius (the geisted Teraph) but they really didn’t contribute much after that.

War Chest

Legion of Everblight: +18 VPs (37 Total)
Trollbloods: +9 VP (-15 spent, 15 Total)

Result: Victory for Legion, Trollkin Strategic Objective 2 Incomplete.

Bonds: Lylyth’s surviving Seraph scored a Bond, but with an unlucky roll for which bond it would get it wound up with Lap Dog.

The next week after this game was played, Prorpger and Saultydog finished the last game of the round. I wound up with the most VPs for this turn and declared an attack on my final Strategic objective. It was going to have to do it from an adjacent territory but I figured why not gamble?