Saturday, January 31, 2015

Daemons of Chaos vs Skaven, 21.08.2014

Another old battle report. This was the first game I played with my own models, so it occupies a special place in my wargaming heart :D
So on to the setup. A 1000 point game. I heard that Skaven are a horde-based army (much like daemons in 40k) so I made a slaaneshi list to deal with it.
Setup:
Daemons:
  • 2 Heralds + 38 Daemonettes, full command. This allowed me to have a General, Battle Standard Bearer, and Greater Locus of Swiftness (i.e. Always Strike First) in a Horde
  • 3 Fiends of Slaanesh
  • 5 Seekers of Slaanesh, both for flanking
Skaven:
  • 2x40 clanrats, each hiding a weapon team (one mortar, one flamer)
  • Warlord
  • Giant rats
  • Plaguemonks
  • 3 Rat Ogres
Setup:
This is my home table, so it wasn't large enough as we've later found out. The Skaven artillery only got 2 turns to fire. We also didn't have any terrain, so the book on the left is a hill, while the one on the right is a mysterious forest.
I had the first move, so I quickly advanced with everything at my disposal. The Fiends occupied the hill.

* Neither of us had painted models. At least mine were primed (mostly).
* Fiends are proxied by some Chaos spawn.

The Skaven fired everything they had (killing... 1 Daemonette). The Giant rats were sent in to occupy the Fiends, which they did admirably well, giving time for the Plaguemonks to set up a flank charge for later.
*Note the weapons teams, already out of hiding.
*The giants rats in combat with the fiends, holding fast.
*The skaven warlord kept falling on his face, so he was placed behind his unit (for show only).

At this point I had to do something - so I declared a charge. And I have to say, it went well. The Daemonettes absolutely butchered the Skaven unit (2 attacks, alwas strikes first, superior weapon skill, 2 rows of supporting attacks) and it (and the general with it) ran off the table. (again, small table).
* You can see the middle horde of clanrats missing and the Daemonettes reformed after combat, facing the other clanrat horde.
I also charged in with the Seekers, catching the other clanrat horde in the flank, and they ran. (I'm sorry to say that we forgot the rule were more ranks makes a unit discount leadership penalties)
*The Seekers chased the rats off the map. They're placed where they are as a reminder/marker.
*The plaguemonks are busy eliminating the fiends.


With only 3 units remaining and the Daemonette horde having taken minimal loses, the battle was mostly won. The dice were also in my favor, as some charges failed, and the Rat Ogres found themselves fighting the horde alone. Taking casualties, they failed their test and ran.
At this point, the Skaven surrendered.

Things learnt:
  • Daemonettes work well against hordes of weaker units.
  • Skaven, keep your general in a back unit.
  • Hordes don't work for Skaven. A 5-man (5-rat?) wide unit in 8 ranks would have been Stubborn, and would have resisted a couple of turns while everything else prepared for flanking.
  • Remember the rules!

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