So last campaign day we had a new player participate in the campaign. He hadn't played any Age of Sigmar before, but was keen to give it a shot and had certainly done his homework, asking all the right questions about how we played Age of Sigmar at the club. During the time available, we ended up playing 2 games back to back (As people had to take off, so weren't able to swap opponents for the second game). So here's two battle reports of my Chaos versus Seraphon.
The Armies
We are playing 15 pool points deployed this month, so I'll only list the stuff that was actually used in the game.
The Shadowborn
Chaos Lord - Zagul Darkbsoul
Be'Lakor
10 Chaos Warriors
10 Chaos Chosen
5 Marauder Horsemen
5 Chaos Knights
Chaos Gargant
Chaos Warshrine
Seraphon
Slann Starmaster
Saurus Scar-Veteran on Carnosaur
40 Saurus Warriors
Stegadon with Giant Bow
Bastiladon with Solar Engine
Very different to the lists everyone else is running. We haven't seen unit really any bigger than 10-15 models at the club so far, so 40 Saurus in one unit is a lot! Especially with their bravery of 10, and the ability to make them immune to battleshock.
The Scenario
To keep things simple, we didn't end up using the Night Rules and we just played the second scenario - Capture and Control - from the campaign pack. This is a very simple scenario that deals with controlling a few objectives to win the game.
The Battle
Both armies, Chaos and Seraphon arrived on the battleground. The dark sponsor of the Shadowborn, Be'Lakor had revealed himself, and the Seraphon Starmaster sensed a sinister purpose and personally led the Seraphon on the field.
The armies lined up, Be'Lakor hidden behind the bulk of the Warshrine |
3 Marauder Horsemen felled from afar |
Alive, but will need to face their masters wrath for fleeing the field |
The shadowborn take up position to launch an Assault |
However, things fell apart for the Shadowborn quite swiftly. Miscommunication in the lines, led to stalled charges from the Chaos Knights and Chaos Chosen. However, Be'Lakor and the Chaos Gargant leapt into the frey and punished for their lone assaults. Be'Lakor's hide pierced by the swarm of Saurus spears, while the Gargant is unable to make much progress and gets battered by the twin monsters of the Seraphon.
Punished for their charges, both Be'Lakor and the Gargant are vastly outnumbered |
The Gargant falls in the wrong direction |
The beginning of the end |
The damage just doesn't show against the Seraphon host |
The Chaos forces destroyed by the Seraphon |
Obviously, neither of us really played the scenario, and that's fine for a first game or two. So we'll put aside that. My forces got punished hard, I set up for some average rolls to get in my entire army, and I should've just pulled back when the Chosen failed and let the enemy come to me. Sending in Be'Lakor and the Gargant alone was just asking for them to die, and was a stupid call. Especially Be'Lakor into the Saurus, as it's really not where you want him at all (Given he ignores Rend, and Saurus are just going to use their vast number of attacks to get through his save). So with those thoughts in mind, off we go into the second game.
Game 2
So we moved the terrain around a bit, changed up our lists and decided to go again. Here are the revised armies for the second game.
The Shadowborn
Be'Lakor
Chaos Lord - Zagul Darksoul
Chaos Sorcerer Lord - Argrar Darkblood
Chaos Sorcerer Lord
10 Chaos Warriors
10 Chaos Chosen
5 Marauder Horsemen
5 Chaos Knights
5 Chaos Chosen
Seraphon
Saurus Scar-Veteran on Carnosaur
Saurud Oldblood
40 Saurus Warriors
3 Kroxigors
Bastiladon
Troglodon
The Battle
Once again, the forces of the Shadowborn would clash with the Seraphon. They had remustered their armies under their Dark Master and would launch the assault while the Slann Starmaster was busy elsewhere. It was left to the Saurus Lord on the Carnosaur to lead the battle.
The armies deployed to fight again |
With the combined might of the Troglodon, Carnousaur and Kroxigors, the Marauder Horsemen were slain and removed from the battle.
The Horsemen are vastly outclassed |
While the Saurus cautiously move up, the Bastiladon turns 3 Chosen to ash |
The Knights wiped out, but what plans does the Dark Master have... |
In combat, the Kroxigors took a brutal beating from the Chosen and Lord, decimating their numbers while returning almost no damage in return.
The Kroxigor are not much longer for this world |
Both monsters battled by the Shadowborn elite |
Unable to pierce the Chosen's armour, the Saurus may have picked the wrong fight |
The Seraphon general falls |
Be'Lakor remains victorious |
So again, objectives not really an objective, lets ignore them! Or we'll talk about them briefly. I think the lesson learnt here is that, in tournament games, having plainer scenarios with somewhat plain objectives is probably fine. They lead to more balance games. But I think perhaps, to get people more involved, you need more interesting objectives for the players. Without an engaging story, it's hard to just say "Sit on these objectives and try and claim your opponents", doesn't make for a very interesting battle story. Perhaps the armies were slightly too small as well, and not able to have a force that engages while also having enough units to defend the home ground. Probably also doesn't help that most of us are running fairly elite armies.
Anyway, that's more than what I thought I'd say on that, back to the game. So turns out that Be'Lakor is pretty good! Especially if you buff him. Daemonic Power is not a spell I've really used that much, for single sorcerer's it's usually always been better to cast Mystic Shield. The only times I've cast it before I think were on Chosen and a Chaos Gargant. Both times it's worked out really well, but I do find it's a spell that you use at the right time right place, not something you really cast all the time. Be'Lakor is right time right place, as it makes him extremely tanky and able to dish out damage with his attacks. Coupled with a Mystic shield, and it's back to the days of 3++ and re-rolling 1's.
Perhaps Be'Lakor caught my opponent off guard, since he performed pretty poorly in the prior game. This game he just chopped through the Carnosaur when he was able to choose the better fight. Also the Troglodon really didn't impress, the lack of rend really kills it's potential. I get the feeling my opponent thought the two of them should be able to sweep the left side of the board while the rest of his army mustered in the centre. As it turned out, neither really happened. 40 Saurus sounds awesome, but they really didn't do too much once I buffed my Chosen up a bit with Mystic Shield and the Oracular Visions.
I guess probably the most important thing was that the lists were probably better/worse in the 2nd game. I had more utility by having the Chaos Sorcerers, while my opponent lacked it without his Slann Starmaster.