last updated:
21.08.08 | 19:43 gmt
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written by:
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Third Time Lucky (Again)
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The Dragon Slayers' Bash was the third tournament I ever attended and I was still pretty much green behind the gills back then (I thought two special saves on a Slann Master Mage was great). I still maintain those two wins beforehand (the WPS 2nd GT and the Ribble Rumble) were completely down to luck and the Venom Sword, so here I was, being lucky (again) for the third time, yet with the Bone Blade...
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organiser:
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venue:
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city:
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country:
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Sheffield
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United Kingdom
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system:
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event rules:
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Warhammer 5th
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unavailable
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The Loren Guard
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1 General, Slann Master Mage-Priest
2 Skink Shamans
1 Saurus Hero
14 Temple Guard with standard and musician
15 Saurus Spearmen with standard and musician
16 Skinks and 2 Kroxigors, with standard and musician
16 Skinks and 2 Kroxigors, with standard and musician
5 Terradons with 10 Skink riders
3 units of 5 Skink skirmishers
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opponent:
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army:
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Mark Jarvis
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Undead
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After the rather eventful journey I was just glad to get to Sheffield, but I was in for another shock; in the first round I was drawn to play Mark Jarvis' Undead, my nemesis from the 2nd Grand Tournament last October. It proved to be another stinker of a game, with neither of us willing to yield on any point, and I think this battle is probably the worst game of Warhammer I have ever played.
It started off amicably, with me winning the first turn and advancing forward as fast as I could. I managed to cast Tempest - to take out his war machines - and Hand of Glory. My Skink Shamans had two useless spells against the Undead, though - Fear and Shield! In Mark's turn he moved cautiously forward, although he did try to charge the chariot into a unit of Skink skirmishers and failed - the Tempest held him back. In the magic phase that same spell did for the two war machines, and as soon as he cast anything I threw down the Drain Magic card. In my turn I moved forward to within an inch of his units - putting the Terradons behind everything - confident that the skirmishers would soak up any charge so that I could charge in return. It was not to be, though - I'd left a gap big enough so that his big unit of Skeleton Halberdiers could charge my Temple Guard, which they did in his turn. I didn't manage to cast Hand of Glory again, either; not what I wanted, because they managed to break the unit easily, even though my Saurus Hero had killed his Wight Champion - the Skellies had the Banner of Defiance. Mark even tried to pursue again, but I pulled him up, and the Temple Guard fled to exactly where my Slann Mage was (this is an important point, so remember it). However, Mark actually moved this unit to the left rather than leaving them around the Slann Mage. I let it go at the time. His magic phase was fairly ineffective, too - luckily his Potion of Knowledge exhausted on his first try, which gave me a big boost.
In my turn the Temple Guard rallied, and I charged a unit of Skeletons on the left flank with a Skink and Kroxigor unit, and a unit of Skeletons on the right flank with the Spearmen and the other Skink and Kroxigor unit. These two combats went brilliantly. I also charged his big unit of Skeletons with my Slann Mage, hoping to kill the Liche, but it was not to be; I didn't cause any wounds on him, and of course I fled because of fear. He didn't pursue, of course, but because he had fled I couldn't cast anything. Then came Mark's turn. He charged the Spearmen in the flank with his Liche and Skeletons, and although I had taken his other skeleton unit down to two models he managed to break both the Spearmen and the Skinks & Kroxigors because of that bloody Banner of Defiance. Both units fled, but the combat on the left went better; even though his Zombies had charged my Skink & Kroxigor flank, the lizzies managed to win the combat and the Zombies promptly crumbled. His skeletons did the same, his Necromancer fled, and I was left with a free flank.
Then came the magic phase. Mark managed to cast Summon Undead Horde, and he summoned nine skeletons, placing them just behind the Slann Mage. He then cast Vanhel's Danse Macabre, which I couldn't dispel, and charged my general; but I pulled him up on this. For a start, the Temple Guard were in the way of the unit even though he'd moved them four inches to the left, and so was a unit of skirmishers. Mark wasn't having any of this and decided that he could charge. So I said no you can't, the Temple Guard are still there, reminding him he'd actually moved the unit out of the way, not me. So then he tried to say well if you're having that, I'll raise the skellies to the Slann Mage's side - and I said you can't do that either, you've already raised them at a certain point on the battlefield. This degenerated into a big, big argument that lasted fifteen minutes and involved
Pete Scholey (umpiring for the tournament), who told him he couldn't do anything to the Mage. So he said fine, I'll get the Spearmen instead (who were still running). I just sighed and let him get on with it.
After that we were both daggers drawn, and in my phase I rallied my Slann Mage and the Skinks and Kroxigor. The Temple Guards took care of the Carrion Mark had sent against them, and then I cast Hand of Glory in my magic phase. Mark contested this, saying I couldn't cast when my Mage was rallying. Pete Scholey sorted that argument out again, telling him that I could. So Mark let me cast the spell. In his turn he charged my Temple Guard, and the skeletons he had raised charged my Slann Mage. He defeated the Temple Guard, but because of Hand of Glory, there was no way they could flee. Mark contested this, and again Pete Scholey told him in no uncertain terms that they simply could not be broken. Then he tried to dispel it, and failed, rolling a 2.
In my last turn I charged my Terradons into his big unit of skeletons, and my Skink and Kroxigor unit on the left threw their javelins at the level three Necromancer who had panicked earlier and rallied within range. They caused three wounds on him, and killed him; Mark, however, told me that because he had a warrior familiar, I had to randomise my hits. I sighed and killed the warrior familiar and caused a wound on the Necromancer. The battle ended under a bad cloud; because of all the arguments we were the last to finish, and I really felt like I didn't ever want to play a game of Warhammer ever, ever again. It drained me physically, mentally and emotionally, and I was just about ready to give up and go home.
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Lizardmen:
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Undead:
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16.75 points
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3.75 points
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opponent:
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army:
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Andy Barnes
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Lizardmen
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We had our lunch and after speaking to Pete (who reassured me I was in the right) I felt a little better. I went into the next battle against Andy Barnes and his Lizardmen feeling refreshed that I was going to play someone I'd never played before. It turned out to be an excellent game, opening with me having the first turn, moving forward as fast as I could and ending with me casting Glamour of Teclis on his long line of skirmishers. They promptly failed their Ld test to move, so I moved them off the board! Unfortunately I'd not made sure my Terradons were out of the charge arc of his salamander on the left, so the spitter charged. I then cast Hand of Glory.
He moved his units up - his Slann level one on my left flank with Saurus warriors and the level three in the middle with more Saurus warriors, facing mine - and charged his Stegadon and Skink & Kroxigor unit at my right flank. He tried to cast a couple of spells which I managed to dispel (and I even destroyed Fiery Convocation), and then in my turn I moved up very close, charging his Stegadon and Skink & Kroxigor unit. I got off a few poison arrows at the level one mage, causing a wound, and in hand-to-hand I finished off the Salamander with my Terradons; the Skink & Kroxigor unit, however, was beaten but they didn't break because of Hand of Glory. Then in his turn he charged the skirmishers that were left - somehow managing not to kill them - and charged my beleaguered Skink & Kroxigor unit on the right with his two Swarms. Together with the Stegadon and his Skinks & Kroxigors, they beat my unit again but it didn't break because of Hand of Glory (oh how I love that spell)! In his magic phase, he too managed to cast Hand of Glory, which was novel.
In my turn I charged his level one Slann Mage's unit in the flank with my Skinks & Kroxigor, and as two skirmishers were still left I couldn't put my Temple Guard in too. I charged the Spearmen and the Terradons into his big unit of Saurus with the Slann general, and joined it with my Slann Mage, who decided to take a few rank and file out (which he did). On the right my by-now very under strength Skink and Kroxigor unit survived another round of combat, and in my magic phase I cast sod all. His turn went almost exactly the same, although I challenged with my Slann Mage and he took it up with his own; unfortunately nobody caused a wound. He didn't manage to cast anything but he did dispel Hand of Glory, which in the next turn did for the Skink & Kroxigor unit on the right; they fled, and were caught by the Stegadon. In my turn I charged my Temple Guard into his level one Mage's unit, and Cuylatec killed him; the unit was completely destroyed, and the two Slann Mages again bounced their weapons off each other. However, as the Skink Shaman with Move Unit was in with my left-hand Skinks & Kroxigors, I cast it and they charged into the rear of his general's unit. This proved decisive, especially as I managed to dispel his Hand of Glory spell.
In the last turn I broke his general's unit and the remaining Terradon ran them down. After that he had very little left; just the Stegadon and a unit of Skinks & Kroxigor. An excellent battle all round - we both enjoyed it, and it was refreshing that we didn't argue once.
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Lizardmen:
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Lizardmen:
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20 points
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3.75 points
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Nathan, Sunday Morning...
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opponent:
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army:
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Chaos Warrior
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Next game saw me up against
Nathan Hoole's Slaanesh Warriors again on Table One. I fought him at the Ribble Rumble, but for this tourney he'd changed his army around a little - he'd got rid of the Trolls that had bugged him in the last game we played - and it seemed a lot more balanced.
I set up flank-heavy, to the right, and Nathan let me have the first turn. I staggered my right flank, and then tried to cast Assault of Stone on the hill that Nathan had put his hounds and his Marauder chariot near. Unfortunately it was dispelled and in his turn Nathan moved his troops cautiously towards mine, keeping them out of my charge reach. He put his Harpies high, and I knew he would then charge my Terradons; so after an ineffective Slaanesh magic phase I gambled and smacked them into his Knights, killing two. Not enough really, but at least I had caused some damage. The Knights broke them and the Terradons flew off, but they weren't pursued. In the magic phase I finally managed to get Assault of Stone off, and the hill crushed the Marauder chariot and killed the hounds. Nathan's other chariot - pulled by Steeds of Slaanesh - was hovering dangerously near, however...
In his turn Nathan charged the skirmish screen with his general, managing to kill four only and therefore breaking them rather than destroying them. He pursued into my Temple Guard. He also charged the skirmishers on my left with his Marauder Horse and did the same thing, killing four and breaking them, pursuing into a Skink & Kroxigor unit. Very canny! His magic phase was worse than useless, so in my phase I moved my right-hand Skink & Kroxigor unit to face his Chaos Knights and his big unit of Marauders. In the combat phase I challenged with Cuylatec the Saurus Hero against the Slaanesh general. Unfortunately he died very quickly - his opponent had the Chaos Daemon Blade which causes D6 wounds! The unit didn't break, however, but the Skinks & Kroxigors on my left suffered a nasty death at the hands of the Marauder Horse, fleeing off the table and taking their destroyers with them (who would return next turn). Everybody passed their panic tests, and in my magic phase I tried to destroy the Knight's War Banner with the Ring of Corin, but it was not to be.
Then came the crunch when the remaining chariot and the Chaos Knights smacked into the Saurus Spearmen, killing loads and making them break off. Nathan pursued and ran them down, charging into my Slann Mage in the process. The general was still killing Temple Guard, but the lizards managed to give him a wound, and again Nathan's magic phase was ineffective. In my turn I manoeuvred my remaining Skink & Kroxigor unit to catch the Marauder Infantry in the flank, and then in the combat phase prayed that the chariot wouldn't cause much damage to the Mage Priest. I had challenged the Chaos Knight Battle Standard Bearer so that all the Knights wouldn't get to hit, but the impact hits from the chariot still counted; he rolled a 6, with the scythes 8, and caused five wounds. Phew! The Slann splattered the Chaos Knight but still lost the combat - but because there were two models (the Slann and his familiar) Nathan couldn't claim the auto-break for fear (we had to roll on this one because even the umpires couldn't decide whether I was right or not, but luckily it turned in my favour). In the magic phase, I managed to cast Fiery Convocation on his Marauder Horse, killing three; so in his turn he only had two to charge in. I also managed to resurrect Cuylatec with Apotheosis, and put him into combat with the chariot. Again, the Temple Guard held their own against the Slaanesh general.
In our last turns I charged the Marauder infantry with my Skinks & Kroxigors, broke them and ran them down. Fiery Convocation did for the rest of the Marauder Horse, and Cuylatec splattered the chariot as the Slann Mage chopped up the rest of the Chaos Knights. The Temple Guard were reduced to one dude against the general, but they still stood there resolutely, and the game ended with a win for me; but it could have been a nightmare in that third turn when his chariot charged my Slann Mage (little did he know I had the Escape card in the Banner of Sorcery)!
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Lizardmen:
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Chaos Warrior:
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20 points
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5 points
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images:
06.03.99
The Beer
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Daz and myself enjoy a pint
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That Night
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After the last battle on the Saturday we all piled into the back rooms and ate the tea that the girls behind the scenes had provided us - I had a particularly hot chicken curry and I distinctly remember drinking two pints of Coke to keep my tongue from burning. It didn't work, though. Once we'd eaten we sat about talking and as we knew we were up against each other the next day, Paul Hartshorne and I decided to set our table up and talk about what we were going to do. Well, I knew what Paul was going to do - rip my spine out (or was it my lungs)? We even told each other what our spells were, and everybody was looking on wondering what the bloody hell we were doing. Then once everybody had returned from showering and freshening up we proceeded to get a bit sloshed and take lots of pictures, and although Paul and I were supposed to be going home for the night, we didn't make it and so ended up sleeping in Pete Renn's room at the Noose and Gibbet (nice name for a pub, eh)? We didn't even have to pay!
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opponent:
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army:
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Paul Hartshorne
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Bretonnians
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Once Martin had returned my green fleece the next morning (the git had nicked it cos I took incriminating pictures of him) Paul and I sat down at our table and proceeded to rip each other's spines out. It had been decided the night before that Paul's Bretonnians would go first, which I was quite happy about - I had a cunning plan.
In his first turn Paul moved virtually everything forward apart from his foot squires on a hill. He shot a few arrows at the Slann Mage but didn't manage to hurt him, and then in my turn I moved all my troops forward to within my charge range. The thinking behind this was simple; in his next turn Paul would either charge the skirmish screen or shoot it to death, leaving him open for me to charge; panic would take care of any of the other skirmish units. In my magic phase I tried to cast Fiery Convocation, but unfortunately Paul managed to destroy it. Ah well, at least my overall plan worked! In his turn he charged his Mounted Squires into the skirmishers on the left, killing them all, and because of this one of the other two units panicked and ran off, again leaving him open for a charge from me. His magic phase was pretty ineffective.
In my turn I charged everything I could. On the right, the Skinks & Kroxigors charged his Questing Knights, as did the Terradons. The Spearmen charged his foot halberdiers, and the Temple Guard charged his Knights Errant. The Skinks & Kroxigors also charged his Mounted Squires. The Questing Knights counter-charged using the Virtue of Ardour, but five of them fell to rocks dropped by the Terradons or blows from Kroxigors; by the end of it only the Hero was left, and he auto-broke because of fear (unfortunately the Terradons didn't catch him). My pursuit also led me against his Grail Knights - meaning, thankfully, that I didn't have to endure one of their charges. The Spearmen battered the halberdiers but they rolled snake-eyes for breaking, but on the left the other Skinks & Kroxigor splattered the Mounted Squires and pursued so that I could hit the Knights of the Realm in my next turn; the Temple Guard had charged into this unit after battering the Knights Errant (there were now only three left of those). It was looking good for me, although I still didn't manage to cast anything in my magic phase, even with the Ring of Corin.
Paul managed to consolidate a little in his turn; he rallied the Knights Errant and the Questing Knight hero, and his Grail Knights completely battered the Skinks & Kroxigor set against them, who ran 7", and the Terradons, who ran lots more. Luckily his Knights only rolled 7" too, so my Slann Mage was safe for the moment (he was now about an inch away from the Bretonnian General within the Grail Knights). The Knights of the Realm and the Temple Guard had a bit of a stalemate, and again the Spearmen battered the halberdiers - killing seven - but Paul rolled another double one for his break test. In my turn I rallied the Terradons and the Skinks & Kroxigor, and charged the Knights of the Realm with the other Skink & Kroxigor unit; the Knights of the Realm crumbled and auto-broke because there was only one bloke left and the Kroxigors outnumbered him. I chose not to pursue him and the just-rallied Knights Errant failed their panic test and ran off the board. The Spearmen brought the halberdiers down to three men and the unit still didn't break! In my magic phase I tried to destroy the Tress of Iseulde on his general, but the Ring of Corin was on the blink and the attempt failed.
Paul charged his Grail Knights into the just-rallied Skinks & Kroxigor and took them apart, pursuing into my Slann Mage. His Questing Knight hero barrelled into the Spearmen but he died on a spear point and the halberdiers finally gave up the ghost. The Spearmen were victorious! Unfortunately the Grail Knights didn't care... again Paul didn't manage to cast anything so in my turn I moved my Spearmen menacingly towards his Squires on the hill and charged his Grail Knight unit with my Terradons. Then came the biggy; I challenged so that I wouldn't get a storm of lances, but the General was bad enough on his own. With the Tress of Iseulde and the Virtue of Knightly Temper he managed eight wounds, but I saved five of them, and then saved the warhorse's attack. In return I managed two wounds on his General, but lost the combat - however as the Terradons had killed a couple of Knights (he'd rolled some ones for armour saves) I managed to pass my break test. The Terradons ran off, though. In my magic phase I decided to Ring of Corin the Tress of Iseulde, and Paul let me, the bugger - even though he knew it was one use only! So, sportingly, he allowed me to try against the Armour of Brilliance, which I finally managed to destroy. I also cast Protect on my Slann Mage, giving him two 4+ special saves, which proved invaluable.
In Paul's turn he moved the Squires off the hill and then hacked away at the Slann Mage with his general. Again he caused eight hits but wounded with only four, and I saved two, leaving him with a single wound; Paul couldn't believe it, and he couldn't believe it either when the Slann Mage bounced his Bone Blade off the Bretonnian General's head. The bowmen failed their resultant panic test and fled, and then the Grail Knights succumbed to the Slann Mage in my last turn. I also managed to rally everything that had fled. Victory was mine, and I'd ripped Paul's spine and his lungs out!
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Lizardmen:
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Bretonnians:
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20 points
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1.75 points
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opponent:
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army:
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Steve Thornton
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Dogs of War
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Guess what;
Paul Scrivens-Smith and I were drawn against each other again, but we decided not to play each other even though I was in first and he was in second place. Instead I fought Steve Thornton of the Troll Slayers, who (with the Dogs of War army he bought from Paul Hartshorne) proved to be an excellent opponent, and it was touch and go for most of the battle.
I set up fairly normally behind the skirmish screen, but as I really didn't want the Marksmen of Miragliano to use my Slann Mage as a pincushion I made sure a unit of Skinks & Kroxigor were opposite them and not behind any skirmishers; this meant I could charge them in my second turn. I won the first turn so I moved everything forward as fast as I could, and in my magic phase cast absolutely nothing cos Steve had Drain Magic. In Steve's turn he stayed where he was apart from the Birdmen of Catrazza, who moved behind my left flank to shoot at my Slann Mage. He managed to cause a wound on him from the Marksmen but the Birdmen were fairly ineffective, and he didn't manage to cast anything in his magic phase. Then in my turn I charged his Birdmen with my Terradons and killed them all - result! I also charged the Marksmen with my Skinks & Kroxigor, but unfortunately didn't manage to break them; still, at least they couldn't shoot my Mage any more. I moved everything up close behind my skirmishers, and then cast nothing in the magic phase again - we were recycling the deck and Steve got Drain Magic again. Ah well.
In Steve's next turn he shot up my skirmishers and again the Marksmen of Miragliano held their own in combat against the Skinks & Kroxigor. His magic phase was pretty ineffective again, though, and in my turn I charged him wholesale (whatever that means). My other Skink & Kroxigor unit charged Long Drong and his Slayers, but lost the combat. My Temple Guard smacked into the pikes of the Lost Legion with his General and Paymaster, and luckily only received a couple of wounds from the seventeen - yes, seventeen! - pike hits. I challenged with Cuylatec and killed his Champion, won the combat but the Lost Legion weren't going anywhere with that bloody Crown of Command. Still, at least the Marksmen gave up the ghost and ran off, only to be run down by the Skinks & Kroxigor. In my magic phase I finally managed to cast something on his Lost Legion - Fiery Convocation, killing seven, and the Ring of Corin also did for the Crown of Command.
In Steve's turn he tried to shoot up my Terradons with Lumpin Croop and his Fighting Cocks but they saved all their wounds, and in the hand-to-hand phase the Temple Guards lost heavily. Cuylatec managed to cause two wounds on his general but the unit fled and were caught by the Lost Legion, but they smacked straight into the Slann Mage who waved his Bone Blade about menacingly and said "Come on!" rather in the manner of Chris Moyles (and just as tubbily). He also moved the Alcatani Fellowship out of charge arc of the Skinks & Kroxigor who had done for the Marksmen, and although Fiery Convocation only killed three blokes this time he didn't manage to dispel it. In my turn the Saurus Spearmen charged the Alcatani Fellowship - who held - and the Terradons charged and killed the Fighting Cocks. The Slann Mage challenged but the Mercenary General declined, so Toady splattered a few pikemen. Long Drong's Slayers, however, managed to kill the other Skink & Kroxigor unit to a man (well, to a lizard). Fiery Convocation killed lots this time - eight I think - and in Steve's last turn the spell eventually killed the last few guys in the unit, including the General. The Alcatani Fellowship - who had held their own against the Spearmen - fled, taking the army's level four wizard with them. This was unfortunate for Steve but it gave me lots of points!
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Lizardmen:
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Dogs of War:
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20 points
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5 points
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Taking Stock
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Well, again I managed to have one stinker of a battle out of the five, but the other four were really enjoyable and we had a good laugh!
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Next Dragon Slayer Tournament
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