Battle Report 4: Bretonnians vs. Skaven

Right, my fouth 8^th ed. game with my Bretonnians and this time I was taking on a small Skaven force (1150 pts.).  First of all it should be noted that my mate fielding the Skaven only has a very small number of models available, and (awesomely) has chosen them for flavour rather than power – they were great fun to play against!  Also, my apologies about the grainy pictures – my wife commandeered the camera for use at a Hen’s Party and I had to rely on my somewhat antiquated mobile phone.

DEPLOYMENT:

We rolled up the ‘Defend the Pass’ scenario – a first for both of us – and deployed as follows:

From left to right I had 12 knights errant (KE) with full command, then 28 men-at-arms with spears and full command and finally 12 knights of the realm (KotR) with full command as well as my general (a paladin), battle-standard bearer (BSB, another paladin) and a level 2 damsel.  To the far right and off screen were my 5 mounted yeomen.

From (screen) left to right for the Skaven were four rat-ogres (just behind the trees), then a skaven weapons team, then a chunky block of clan-rats along with the general, then another weapons team and a smaller unit of clanrats along with a sorcerer.  To the far right, and off-screen, was the whirling ball of chaos and death that is the skaven doomwheel!

My stalwart mounted yeoman vanguarded up the right flank to try to delay/distract the doomwheel and prevent it crashing into my knights’ long flank at an awkward moment.  My devout Bretonnians elected to dismount and pray to the Lady, giving the skaven first turn.

TURN 1:

Skaven:

Most of the skaven decided to hold their ground in turn 1, the general no doubt hoping that the doomwheel would solve the problem of the annoying knights quick-quick.  The doomwheel started hurtling wildly towards the dumbstruck mounted yeomen, but before it could make contact the skaven sorcerer hurled a burl of greenfire into their midst, incinerating all bar one.  The lone remaining yeoman fled as fast as his surefooted pony could carry him.  The doomwheel had already charged its bizarre weaponry however and, denied the opportunity to discharge into the yeomen, began to spin out of control, careening off the side of the board into the mountain side and splintering to pieces.

Bretonnians:

The Bretonnian KE unit, eager to get into battle, began cantering forwards, accompanied by the less eager peasant men-at-arms.  Under the command of my general, my KotRs broke a promise I make to myself every time I play: don’t change the battle plan at the last minute!  My initial plan was a simple two pronged attack down the centre with both KEs and KotRs, supported by the men-at-arms.  However, in a feat of last-minute tactical madness I decided to rather use the KotRs’ superior movement to go around the clump of trees centre-right to set up a flank attack on the right flank.  I made this decision because the doomwheel no longer posed a threat, but did not consider that this took my BSB and general out of range of my impetuous KEs (who needed someone to yell at them to hold them back) and my cowardly men-at-arms (who needed someone to yell at them to stop running away).

TURN 2:

Skaven:

Cursing the incompetence of the doomwheel (which had clearly smashed itself to smithereens in an act of treachery on the part of some rival…), the Skaven warlord ordered his weapons teams and warlord to obliterate the idiotic prancing humans approaching them.  A few KEs fell to noxious fumes but the strange magic of the Bretonnians’ goddess spared them from the worst of the magical assault.

Bretonnians:

The Bretonnian KEs had been given explicit instructions NOT to charge until the signal of the KotRs hornblower, NOT to leave the lowly men-at-arms without instruction and above all NOT to charge the hideous rat-ogres unsupported.  However, without the BSB and general to keep them in line, the KEs promptly failed their impetuousity test and declared a suicidal long range charge against the rat-ogres.  I wasn’t too worried about this because there was almost no chance of them making their charge distance… their swift spirited chargers thought otherwise, however, and promptly smashed into the towering rat-ogres.  Needless to say the men-at-arms were left in the dust, gaping dumbstruck at the stupidity of lordlings (and probably wondering whether anyone would notice if they slipped away back to their farms…).  I think we were all pretty much resigned to the fact that my impetuous KEs were about to be slaughtered needlessly for their vainglory.  Unbelievably, however, the shock of the KE’s reckless charge smashed through the mighty rat-ogres, who broke and fled but were run down by the young gallants. 

TURN 3:

Skaven:

Cursing the incompetence of his rat-ogres (clearly Clan Moulder had treacherously sold him inferior rat-ogres in jealously of his obvious greatness), the Skaven warlord realised that he was probably going to have to get involved in the battle himself.  Seeing the knights of the realm thundering towards his line on the right while the dazed peasants stared on idiotically in the centre, the skaven Warlord knew immediately where his supreme combat abilities would be most needed.  As such the skaven Warlord ordered his sorcerer (of whom he was becoming somewhat suspicious) to hold the advancing knights while he led his clanrats (from just-behind) into a charge against the men-at-arms, who broke in terror at the sight of his awesome majesty (with a little help from the blades of his clan-rats).  The Skaven Warlord curbed his desire to capture the peasants to sell into slavery back in Skavenblight, and instead reformed his troops ready to finish off the foolish KotR who should by now have been held up by his warlock’s clan-rat unit… but it was not to be…

Bretonnians:

My Bretonnian KotR lead by my general and BSB had finally arrived around the woods, lowered their lances and charged at the skaven warlock and his clan-rats.  The cunning warlock had seen what the Bretonnian lance charge had done to the rat-ogres, however, and ordered his unit to feign flight, enraging the frustrated Bretonnians who could not close with their foes.  Meanwhile the KEs had reformed after running down the last of the rat-ogres and were trotting back towards the fray from the top of the battlefield.  Impressed by their chivalry, the mysterious damsel riding with my general wand and healed the wounds of all those KEs who had fallen fighting the rat-ogres, bringing their unit up to full strength!

TURN 4:

Skaven:

The Skaven Warlock had not survived this long in Skaven society without learning to spot a potential threat, and he was all too aware of the KEs reforming ahead of him even as the KotRs failed their charge behind him.  As such he decided that his feigned flight might as well just become a real one, and he lead his clansmen in continued headlong flight.  He had never had much use for that Skaven warlord anyway, this expedition would have all gone according to plan if it was better lead…

Cursing the cowardice of the treacherous warlock who was running from the KotR, the Skaven warlord realised that he was going to have to finish off the KotR himself and, what is worse, he would now have to do it from the front.  If you want something done properly, he mused, you’ve just got to do it yourself.  Besides, he still outnumbered the stupid man-things and their ridiculous animals.  Resisting the urge to squirt the musk of fear, the Skaven warlord ordered his clan-rats into a charge, running into the front of the KotR and denying them the shock of their lance charge.  The KotR found themselves rather taken aback by the savagery of the biting, stabbing horde accosting them, and they were forced to stab ineffectually at the fast moving foe with the butts of their lances. 

Bretonnians:

Just when it seemed that the numbers of the Skaven might overwhelm the Bretonnians, the KEs smashed into the rear of the skaven horde, who as one squirted the musk of fear and scattered before the Bretonnians.  The battle was won, and the unicorn-banner of Quenelles raised over the mountain pass once more!

I thoroughly enjoyed this game, in no small part because of the spirit of my opponent who has chosen a Skaven army for flavour rather than the ridiculous net-builds you find online.  I have to admit that I think my strategy in this game was more than ordinary… splitting my KEs from my KotR at the last minute in this particular battle was a terrible move which should almost certainly have cost me the game if my KEs hadn’t (VERY IMPROBABLY) smashed through the rat-ogres on their charge like that.  If they hadn’t, the rat-ogres would surely have ripped them limb from limb, my men-at-arms were left isolated without knightly leadership and could be disposed of piecemeal (as they were, though they managed to rally when the clan-rats reformed to take on my KotR), and my KotR would have been at the mercy of the entire skaven force.  I had other luck as well: the doomwheel careening into the cliffs, the skaven warlock’s inability to do anything worthwhile in the magic phase, and my damsel’s incredible ability to heal the wounds (regen spell) of about NINE of my knights over the course of the four turns. 

Still, while I can’t claim any credit for it moments like the KEs breaking the rat-ogres on a front-charge are pretty much the most fun you can have as a Bretonnian general, and I really savoured this moment!  All I can say is that sometimes fortune DOES favour the bold.

Battle Report 3: Bretonnians vs. Empire

Right, so the next game was 2,500 pts. against was against an Empire force out of Carroburg.  The scenario we rolled was 'Meeting Engagement', which meant that we'd have little time before coming to blows.  This suited my Bretonnians just fine, but was a tad annoying for my Imperial opponents with all their dishonorable black-powder weapons.

DEPLOYMENT

The Carroburgers decided to take the fight to me, deploying right at the limit of the meeting engagement line. The Empire were positioned on a diagonal line dividing the board, with an 'island of rock' in the centre.  Below you can see the right flank.  From left to right you can see the dreaded Carroburg Greatswords (along with a Shadow Wizard), then a line of handgunners and finally a steam tank.  Frustratingly for the Carroburgers, their devastating hellblaster volley gun and crossbowman were still on the march when the battle commenced, so they began the game losing valuable time w/ which to rain death down on the Bretonnians.

Below is a photo of the left flank.  I know the angle of the photo is terrible, we were in a bit of a rush to get the game in.  Anyway, from left to right were a mortar, a formidable unit of swordsmen lead by a ranting warrior priest hurling invective against my damsels (burn the witches!) and, atop the rocky outcrop, a great cannon.

I deployed my Bretonnians somewhat further back than the Carroburgers.  Again, this is a terrible photo to describe deployment, but it will have to do.  In the far right (furthest from camera, peaking out from behind the trees) I deployed a unit of nine knights of the realm (KoTR), next up was a hefty force of men-at-arms armed with halberds, then a large unit of knights errant (KE) with my battle-standard bearer (BSB) and a damsel, then another large unit of KoTR with my general and a damsel.  Rounding out the line was my Grail Knights.  My horde of longbowmen were still on the march when the game began and so I also lost some of my firing opportunities, though this was obviously less devastating for Bretonnians then Empire.  Note that when this photo was taken the Carroburg pistoliers had already used a vanguard move and movment to get in amongst my KoTR and Grail Knights.

The Game:

(NOTE: I haven't divided this game into turns because we were a bit rushed and didn't really get photos of each turn.  Also, this was played a while ago while I was still completing my thesis: mistakes I will have made!)

The game opened with a bang for the Carroburgers, as their mortar blew itself and its crew to smithereens.  The shadow wizard hurled all manner of diabolical spells at my KotR on the right flank, but only a reduction in toughness went through and the knight's faith in the Lady protected them from the hail of shot which rained down on them from the handgunners.  In their turn my KotR cantered up onto that rocky hill over there: my goal was to try to avoid the steam tank and punch a hole through the handgunners, but it was not to be...  My men-at-arms (off-screen to left) also marched forward and set their spears against the famed Carroburg greatswords (noone said the peasants were happy about being assigned this job).

Meanwhile on the far left flank my large unit of KoTR lead by my general, my KE lead by my battle standard bearer and my Grail Knights (GKs) ignored the ignoble pistoliers firing futilely at their flanks and began trotting towards the formidable horde of halberdiers lead by a zealous warrior-priest and a wizard.  We were all preparing for the impact in turns to come, but my Prophetess (who was probably sick of being called a witch by the ranting Sigmarite priest) called on the Dwellers Below, who reached up and pulled said warrior-priest, the wizard and a fair number of halberdiers into the earth.  As it turned out the remaining halberdiers were so terrified of the Lady of the Lake that they turned tail and fled, effectively ceding control of the left half of the battlefield to the Bretonnians.

Indeed, in the following Empire turn the remaining halberdiers continued their flight right off the board, leaving my general's KoTR and the GKs to advance unopposed around the central rock formation and BEHIND the Carroburger's right flank (the Greatswords, handgunners and steam tank) - you can see my knights coming round the bend, somewhat bewildered by the disintegration of the halberdier block, in the picture above.  With the halberdiers taken care of my BSB changed direction with her impetuous KEs, moving around the rock formation in the other direction to get ready to hit the Greatswords in the flank (see below) even as the KoTR and GKs assaulted the rear.

In the meantime, things had not gone quite so smoothly for the Bretonnians on the right flank.  The Carroburg greatswords hurled themselves at the peasant men-at-arms (see above), who were no match for this renowned regiment despite outnumbering them considerably.

Despite my efforts, the Steam Tank charged into my KotR and spent several turns grinding away at them.  Though they had lost their opportunity to charge and found themselves futilely banging at the steamtank with their handweapons, these KotR were probably the unit of the match, because they just refused to be killed off or break.  Adding to the Carroburger's frustration, the delayed hellblaster and crossbowmen had finally arrived but were now unable to find a target amidst the swirling melees engulfing the battlefield.  The crossbowmen ran into the KotRs flank, hoping to help the Steam Tank make shorter work of them, and finally the three remaining KoTRs broke, but by then they had effectively kept the Steam Tank, Hellblaster and Crossbowmen out of the battle.

The Carroburger's proud banner-bearer issued a challenge, and the brave but woefully outclassed captain of the men-at-arms stepped up only to be cut down by the Imperial veteran.  The Carroburg greatswords lived up to their reputation, smashing through the men-at-arms and putting them to flight.  The Greatswords pursued the men-at-arms, but were then charged in the rear by the Bretonnian KEs under the command of their BSB, who had arrived one turn too late to support the beleaguered peasants.

Unfortunately we had to leave the game there, and my opponent was generous enough to concede me a victory.  My KEs had ploughed into the back of the Carroburg Greatswords and my full strength GKs and KotR were one turn away from charging into the fray.  Also, the remaining Carroburg right flank was scattered and they were now weak in the magic department (one wizard and the warrior priest had been pulled to his doom by dwellers, I can't remember what happened to the more powerful wizard but I remember magic being severely hampered for the Carroburgers for some reason - might have been a death or level reduction through miscast).

Still, having had a large block of greatswords see their way through a unit of KotR, GKs and mounted yeomen in a more recent battle I am not ENTIRELY convinced that the game was mine - my opponent has a knack for stealing victory from the jaws of defeat and I think his concession was very generous.

This game also showed me for the first time some of the potential problems with 8th Ed. re: the power of magic.  Don't get me wrong, I still think that 8th Ed. is one of the best balanced editions, but the relative effectiveness of magic vs. other ranged attacks (war machines, and ESPECIALLY shooting) can make cannons, archers etc. seem a bit redundant.  Also, it seemed a bit 'wrong' to demolish an entire unit (heroes included) with dwellers below, though I think these large spells do serve a function in an edition in which steadfast horde infantry are very very difficult to break.

All in all a great game, though it would have been fantastic to see it through.

Battle Report 2: Bretonnians vs. Vampire Counts

I just realized that I have THREE unwritten 8th Ed. battle reports to catch up on... great battles which took place in the hazy fog that was the last days of my thesis and so thus far haven't seen the light of day.  So, let's see what I can remember.

The first game was a 1500 pointer against one of the Modest Modeler's Vampire Counts, who had defeated my Bretonnians in our first 8th Edition outing.  We rolled up the 'Blood and Glory' scenario, which bases victory on the number of lost banners and slain generals.  As I recall I had a slight advantage because ghouls don't have much use for banners (probably because they are inedible) while my Bretonnians pretty much insist that the only civilized way of killing something is under a rippling silken banner (more cinematic, you see).

DEPLOYMENT:

In my last game my knights had been deployed too far apart to coordinate their charges effectively and got bogged down, so this time I tried grouping a large unit of knights of the realm (KoTR) with my general and a damsel and a large unit of knights errant (KE) on my right flank with my BSB.  I lined up a horde (30 I think) of archers in the middle, and 24 men-at-arms with halberds on the right (just behind the trees).  I took 5 mounted yeoman (truffle hunters!) and marched them up beyond the middle trees in a vanguard move.  My general idea was to old up (at least a bit) the undead hordes with my peasant wretches and roll up the Vampire Count's line from right to left with a combined flank charge.  The mounted yeomen on the far left were basically there to hold up the vargheist.

  
My opponent lined up three large blocks of living dead: from (MY) left to right there was a block of ghouls, a block of skeletons with hand weapons along with the terrifying red raged Vampire Lord general, and then a solid block of skeletal spearmen and a lesser (though still horrifying!) Vampire.  The dreaded Vargheist was on my far left, behind the trees.

TURN 1:

In the face of unholy horrors, my devout Bretonnians dismounted and got out their prayer beads to invoke the Blessing of the Lady.  The Vampire Counts took turn 1 and began their relentless advance, shuffling all units across the board.

Now things started to get more interesting... the Dread Vampire Lord lead his skeletons with unholy speed towards my terrified men-at-arms, and then charged!  Cowardly curs that they are, the peasants turned and fled!  The rest of the undead shuffled forward relentlessly.

If you look carefully you can see the vargheist emerging from the dark woods towards the back of the table (I told you he was there!) having ignored my pathetic truffle-hunting mounted yeoman for a bigger feast.

 My peasants were also obviously shaky... their volley of arrows did little to thin the oncoming skeletal ranks.  Undeterred by the (predictable) cowardice and incompetence of the peasantry, my noble knights swung around ready for a glorious charge...

TURN 2

 Crash!  Both my KoTR and KE hurtled into the skeleton horde... skeletons were shattered this way and that, but the shock of even both charges did not break them and my knights were caught up in a slow battle of attrition.  Better news on the left flank, as my mounted yeoman harassed the vargheist, peppering it with arrows and actually wounding it while slowing its advance.

TURN 3

 The Vampire lord runs my fickle men-at-arms off the board... claiming the first banner of the game!  My knights continue to struggle to hack their way through the seemingly endless skeletal horde before them. Worse still, the Vampire ripped the throat out of my battle-standard bearer! Dire times for the Bretonnians...

TURN 4(ish?):

Obviously the war-artist stopped painting to find a safer tree to hide in at this point because I missed out on some photos here...  Basically the Vampire Lord and his skeletons made short work of my hapless peasant archers, running them down and claiming a second vital banner.  He then reformed, ready to attack my knights in the rear.

The vargheist continued its advance, harassed at every step by my mounted yeomen.  The hunters had brought the vargheist down to just one wound, and one well placed arrow would have ended the threat to my knights' flank, but twas sadly not to be.

My Bretonnian knights finally hacked their way through the skeletal spearmen, kicked their mighty chargers into a charge and smashed through the ghouls as well!  A glimmer of hope for the servants of the Lady!

TURN 5:

Disaster!  The Vampire Lord and his skeletons made an improbable charge straight into the rear of my KoTR.  The vargheist hurtled into the flank of the KE.

 The Vampire Lord issued a challenge, and my gallant general of course accepted!  Despite his valour, however, he was no match of the Vampire Lord who contemptuously cut him down where he stood.  The loss of my general and two banners meant that the Vampire Counts claimed victory in terms of blood and glory!

Battle Report: Bretonnians vs. Vampire Counts

Well it has been far too long since I have updated my blog: the old thesis is chewing up most of my time of late but I have squeezed in my first battle with my own Bretonnian army, a 3000 pt. battle line with my uncle's beautifully painted Vampire Counts!

I had recently had the fortune of buying a considerable ready-painted Bretonnian force to substitute my own from a fantastic chap who has unfortunately had to leave the hobby but who did a great job of painting them up.  I might well strip and repaint some of them at some point to go with my personal colour scheme ideas, but in the meantime it is just fantastic to play with a fully painted 3000 pt. army of my very own!  Anyway, without further ado...

I haven't really played with my Bretonnians since 5th Edition, and my army is still pretty 5th Edition in composition (no trebuchets or pegasi or questing knights with great weapons...) so I kept my plan pretty simple.  I deployed a unit of 15 knights of the realm (KotR) along with my grail knight general (a lord) and battle standard bearer on the centre, with another big unit of 15 knights errant (KE) along with a paladin and the errantry banner just to screen right.  Each unit had a damsel safely nestled inside to work their mysterious and subtle magics and favours on the battle... a prophetess (level 4) in the KotR and and a damsel (level 2) amidst the KE.  I popped my mounted yeomen between them as additional support.

The idea was to run down either side of the tower you see in the middle there and jointly smash through the Vampire Counts line. In retrospect I really underestimated what that tower was going to do to the manouverability of my beautiful long knightly lance formations.

To the far (screen) right just behind the woods you might see my unit of 6 solemn Grail knights (GK), behind which I put a unit of 6 KotR in reserve.  In the woods themselves I deployed my merry band of 15 skirmishing archers.

To the left of my main KotR unit I deployed my horde of 50 doughty longbowmen, with braziers and stakes ready to rain Agincourt down on the Vampire Counts.  As it turns out this didn't happen.  To the left of them went my 24 halberdiers (I know... I know... I should have more... but I don't ;-) ).

Finally, on the far left (again, you can just pick them out behind the trees) went another unit of 9 KoTR (this one had no command).  They idea was that these gallants would sweep dramatically around the left flank and ride over the hill and into the fray and just the right moment to turn the battle like a true cinematic epic.  As it turned out this didn't happen either.

For the Vampire Counts battle line from left to right: (offscreen) three monstrous terrifying bat things (varghulfs?) and five dire wolves made up the left flank; then in his central battle line were ghouls (lots) and skeleton warriors (even more), each of which had a vampire in there, followed by a unit of graveguard (thankfully with not so many but still enough, and commanded by a horrific vampire lord); the right flank featured six crypt ghouls, more dire wolves, as well as some black knights, ghostly knights(?) and a varghheist (offscreen, yes, still working on the photography...).

Vanguard
My mounted yeomen cantered up to the tower, while the festering dire-wolves loped out of the Vampire Counts force.

Turn 1(ish...)

My devout Bretonnians of course dismounted to pray to the Lady, even as the horrific hordes of undead shambled forward.  The slavering dire wolves were already nipping at the heals of Errant knights' chargers.

On the far right, another pack of dire wolves hurtled out of the haunted woods and into my realm knight reserve.  Fortunately my gallant knights promptly cut them to pieces.

Meanwhile, back in the centre, my horde of doughty longbow-men strung their bows...knocked their arrows and... were ordered to hold their fire!  With the blaring of horns, the noble realm knights of Bretonnia kicked their destriers into a gallop and crashed into the horrific advancing ghouls.  My impetuous knights errant were undismayed at being cut off from the battle by the foul dire wolves, and resolved to run the wretched hounds down on their way into the fray.  (my opponent used his dire wolves really well in this game... he has obviously been practicing all these redirecting tactical stuff... doesn't sound very Bretonnian to me!)

Crash!  Can you feel the impact?  Unfortunately, you can't just cut right though entire units in 8th Edition, but charging with a lance of knights has lost none of the fun or glamour that it had when I played back in 5th.

Turn 2(ish..)

Disaster!  Although my Errant knights quickly dispatched the dire wolves they failed to overrun into the flank of the foul ghouls.  Seeing the danger of getting flanked themselves, my realm knights formed up into two long ranks so that in turn two, they took the charge of the skeleton warriors in the front.  My gallant knights were becoming bogged down, losing momentum, hacking futilely through rotting flesh and bones of foes who were already dead.

The eerily silent Grave Guard charged towards my mounted yeomen (who I had foolishly forgotten to move the previous turn)... needless to say the lowborn huntsmen turned tail and made way for their betters.  Meanwhile, the accursed vampire commanding the ravenous ghouls was using his obsidian blade to deadly effect, slicing through my knights' armour like cheesecloth.  I eventually put an end to him, but he kept the ghouls alive (er... unalive?) and bogging down my knights for far too long...

Meanwhile on the far right the mighty Grail Knights crashed into the crypt horrors, a saintly light shining the visors of their helms.  My other realm knight reserve joined them in the charge.  Unfortunately, my charges both failed to inflict much damage on the hulks of rotting flesh... very uninspiring stuff, especially from the Grail knights.  What DID inspire was the way the Grail Knights hung around until the very final turn - I don't have any photos here (so you'll have to just believe me), but while being savaged by the Crypt ghouls from the front they were charged by ten black knights on one flank and the vargheist on the other.  They might not have won the combat, but hanging around there until the final turn was pretty superb...living saints for sure! Also, we didn't get a photo for some reason, but on the far right flank my knights of the realm were far more successful, charging and cutting down the three large bat mournthings.  Unfortunately this pretty much kept them out of the game until it was too late.

Turn 3(ish...)

At last my stalwart halberdiers crashed through the remaining, so now my knights and halberdiers could move on... ONCE they had cut down the skeletons which relentlessly rose from the earth even as we smashed them to pieces.  In the background you will note that the grave guard finally caught my mounted yeomen and despatched them with deadly efficiency.  Not also the spectral cavalry floating around somewhat aimlessly and going 'boo'.  They are an interesting unit with fantastic character who look superb on the battlefield, but but they are somewhat tricky to use (though in their defense they wandered round less uselessly then my yeomen).

Turn 4 and onwards...
Ok, the photos are a bit few and far between from here on in I'm afraid... things started getting tense and exciting and the drama pretty much distracted the war artist from his duties...

As you can see, all the action had really shifted to the centre of the battlefield, where all descended into a chaotic, swirling melee.  My impetuous knights errant finally found their way into battle.  They careened into the side of the elite Grave Guard surrounding the dread Vampire Lord (what foe could be worthier?), glowing with the power of the damsels enchantment and their magic banner... and fluffed their charge terribly.  Couldn't believe it!  The first time that my knights had the strength they needed (I think it was up to strength 8) to deal out some serious damage and their weapon skill let them down!  My gallant knight champion issued a challenge but the vampire lord sent his personal champion forward in his stead... even as the captain of the graveguard was ridden into the ground, the dread vampire contemtuously began ripping my pour knights throats out.

Meanwhile, my brave general and his loyal knights finally managed to slay the vampire in command of the skeletons, running a splintered lance through his black heart.  My bowmen closed their eyes, said their prayers to the Lady, and charged into the terrifying spectral horsemen before them.  The Lady must have looked kindly upon the rustic bravery of these simple folk, for when the bowmen opened their eyes the spectral horsemen had vanished!  Unfortunately, the momentum of the charging bowmen took them charging into grave guard who were no mere phantasm of the imagination, and started to slaughter the hapless peasants like sheep.  Needless to say, peasants are not knights (some might argue they are cleverer, I guess), and they fled the field.  Typical low-borns!

The  rest was a confused mess really.  My gallant knights errant were torn to pieces by the Vampire Lord and his graveguard.  My proud general and what remained of his retinue finally finished off the skeletons but, seeing that the day was lost, prepared to sell his life dearly.  He dismissed his loyal men-at-arms (who wisely followed the way of the archers) and turned to face the dread lord of undead.  The knights I had deployed on the far right FINALLY arrived at the scene of the main battle, but the cavalry had arrived too late to do more than die with some honour really.  With cries of "Quenelles!" "Louencouer!" and "The Lady!" my knights hurtled into the Graveguard.  With Crypt Ghouls, a Vargheist and Black Knights approaching from the left, there could only be one outcome...

...fortunately, the foul magics that had blocked out the sun finally began to unravel (perhaps the Lady heard our prayer?) and the remaining Bretonnians were spared the Vampire Count's fury! (Turn 6, game over.)

So there it is... I can't remember the points difference, it wasn't huge, but it was a definite Vampire Counts win (despite the protestations of my overly modest opponent).  Great game!

Bretonnian Army Update: Stripping metal models

With a few extra funds freed up I am ready to turn my attention to getting back on track with painting my beloved Bretonnians.  I last had a go in the late 90s I think, and this time I’m determined to stick at it (but then we’ve all heard that one).

First step for me was cleaning some old metal men-at-arms.  I wasn’t too keen with the way I’d tried painting them last time round and wanted to try some of the newer paints which have come out since then.

I know heaps of blogs have tips on cleaning various metals so this isn’t going to be a lesson so much as me getting the chance to have some fun with before and after shots too!  I picked up the info on Pine ‘o clean from my knowledgeable uncle and these guys:

http://www.wargamerau.com/forum/lofiversion/index.php/t25007.html

WARNING: WHAT FOLLOWS APPLIES TO METAL MODELS ONLY!  THE PINE O’ CLEAN LITERALLY MELTED THE PLASTIC BASES ON THESE FELLOWS SO I DOUBT THEY WILL BE GENTLE ON PLASTIC MINIATURES.

Right, without further ado…

1. Picked up some Pine o’ clean – it was about $2.50 (Australian) for half a litre at the supermarket.

2. Had one last look at my models and checked whether I had any second thoughts.  I didn’t.  I’d popped the paint on a bit too thickly and was really struggling to deal with a white undercoat.  Decided it was a lesson well learned and looking forward to another go!

3. Popped the models into a glass jar, immersed them in the Pine o’ Clean, screwed the top on tight and left them overnight.

4. Here they are about 8 hours later.  Got an old toothbrush out, pulled on some rubber gloves, switched on the ventilation and started scrubbing.  FANTASTIC fun, and so satisfying watching it all just come away.  In fact I am a little worried that I might enjoy taking the paint OFF models more than putting it ON them.

5. So I was very impressed with the results, but that awful sprayed on white undercoat was as difficult to take off as it was to cover with the other paints – a lot had come away but I decided to repeat the process.

6. Twelve hours later and hey, presto!  With the exception of the odd bit of paint trapped under the armpits (and really, who wants to go rummaging around in there?).  Ready for undercoating and painting!

Four Gaming Projects Commence!

The aim of this blog-space is to help me plan and keep track of my gaming projects.  

There are four rather large-scale gaming projects set in the Warhammer Fantasy world which I have been keen to get going on for some time now:

·         Fully assemble and paint my Bretonnian army for Warhammer Fantasy.

·         Develop a series of Warhammer Fantasy campaigns to share with my mates.

·         To design and build a ‘Massive, Modular, Mordheim’ (MMM) board.

·         To run a Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay campaign.

I have never been a particularly dedicated or able painter or hobbyist, so my hope is that this blog will help me to keep my motivation going with the areas which aren’t natural strengths.

My natural interest is more in the story behind the game, so both sets of campaigns should hopefully come a bit more easily.