A Warhammer Morning

So nobody went anywhere from our house today (great grammar there) and Griffin has a Vampire Counts Army he hasn't used yet, so we decided to have ourselves a little game. It was a 1300pt battle. Here are the army lists.

Vampire Counts

Heroes

Vampire Hero

Blood Drinker, Forbidden Lore, Summon Creatures of the Night

Necromancer

Hand of Dust, Extra Spell

Units

20 Zombies w/command

20 Skeletons w/command Banner of the Dead legion

20 Grave Guard w/command Screaming Banner

10 Dire Wolves

4 Bat Swarms

1 Banshee with 2 Cairn Wraiths

Dwarfs

Heroes

Thane

Master Rune of Alaric the Mad, Master Rune of Gromril

Runesmith

Master Rune of Spellbinding

Rune of Spellbreaking

Units

20 Warriors w/command

20 Warriors w/ command

20 Ironbreakers w/command Rune of Courage

10 Thunderers

1 Grudge Thrower w/Engineer Rune of Penetrating

Table

We played on the Kitchen table which is 5ft wide but only 3 ft deep. So we made our deployment zones 6 inches. (btw, that's my new imac in the background)

It's hard to see but the Dwarfs are on the near side of the table. From L-R GrudgeThrower on the Hill, Thunderers, Ironbreakers with Runesmith, Warriors with Thane and Warriors. On the Vampire side from L-R its the Direwolves, Bat Swarms, Grave Guard with Vampire, Zombies, Necromancer, Skeletons and Wraiths.

Griffin won the roll off and so the Vampires went first.

VC Turn 1

Every unit except the Wraiths were within 12 inches of the Vampire and so marched 8 inches ahead except for the wolves who marched 18 inches. The wraiths floated 6 inches forward. (they're ethereal after all) G tried to cast Gaze of Nagash on my Ironbreakers but i dispelled it. he then managed to get Vanhel's Danse Macabre on the Wraiths and so they floated 8 inches ahead into the ruins on my right side of the board.

Dwarf Turn 1

I had my three blocks of units move forward and left my Thunderers and Grudge Thrower in place to shoot. FYI I don't move either of those units during the whole battle.

In the shooting phase I opened fire on the Dire Wolves and took out 6. The Grudge Thrower scored a direct hit on the Zombies and took out 11 of the 20. Griffin was not impressed.

VC Turn 2

Well Vampires really like Dwarf blood so this particular Vampire was not going to be discouraged.The Dire Wolves charged the Thunderers while everything formed up into a new battle line. The Necromancer failed to cast Invocation of Nehec. The Vampire cast it successfully and the dispel failed so up sprang 6 new Zombies to replace the ones that had been crushed by the Grudge Thrower. In combat the Dire Wolves killed one Thunderer while the 4 Dire Wolves were hacked up in return.

Dwarfs Turn 2

The Ironbreakers moved up a little to form up with the Warriors. The Thunderers fired on the Bat Swarms and did 2 wounds. The Grudge Thrower must have been affected by the wind because this shot sailed off course and landed harmlessly between the two armies.

VC Turn 3

The Bat Swarms moved in front of the Thunderers, the wraiths moved beside the warriors on my right while everything moves up carefully. In magic both his attempts at Invocation were dispelled. His Banshee did her howl at the Warriors and one fell to his death.

Dwarfs Turn 3

The three blocks of units move back 1 inch to try and stay out of charge range. The Thunderers do 6 wounds on the Bat Swarms while the Grudge Thrower's artillery veers off course again.

VC Turn 4

Wraiths and Skeletons charge the Warriors on my right flank. Warriors have to take a terror test and fail so they flee. The skeletons fail their charge but the wraiths catch the warriors and they are destroyed. The Banshee then howls and destroys three more warriors from the other unit. The Bat Swarms charge the Thunderers who fail their fear check and flee off the board. (I needed to roll a 9 or less on both and rolled 11 twice!!!) Grave Guard and Vampire charge into the Iron Breakers who don't have to take a test because they have the Rune of Courage on their banner. The Zombies charge the Warriors who pass their fear test. The necromancer moves forward. Invocation of Nehek by the Necromancer fails while the Vampire (who must have hated his necromancer) cast Vanhels on the Necro and charged him into the warriors as well. The Necro has a bound spell but that is dispelled. In combat the Zombies whiff while the Warriors dispatch of 5. With combat resolution the Zombies unit had 3 left and the necromancer crumbled to dust. In the other combat the Grave Guard do no wounds while the Iron Breakers do 1 wound so the Grave Guard lose by 2 and 2 Grave Guard fall to the ground.

Dwarf Turn 4

Nobody moves cause everyone's in combat except the Grudge Thrower, and who'd wanna move that thing anyway. In Close Combat the remaining Zombies are destroyed. The Ironbreakers destroy one Grave Guard and one Iron Breaker falls in return. The Grave Guard lose one more to combat resolution.

VC Turn 5

The Bat Swarms move in behind the Iron Breakers and the Wraiths move behind the Warriors. The Banshee Howl fails this turn and Invocation of Nehek is dispelled. In Close Combat the Grave Guard destroy the Runesmith and combat ends up as a draw.

Dwarf Turn 5

The Warriors charge into the flank of the Grave Guard unit. The Grudge Thrower shoots at the unit of skeletons but misses AGAIN!! In combat the Grave Guard kill two warriors on the front and side but still lose combat by 6. They only have 9 left.

VC Turn 6

This was not a good turn for the Dwarfs. The Bat Swarms charge the rear of the Iron Breakers, the Wraiths charge their flank and the skeletons charge the rear of the Warriors.

In combat the Vampire Counts won by about a million and outnumbered the dwarfs so they automatically run and are subsequently are caught. All that's left is the grudge thrower and they decide discretion is the better part of valour and take off. (I conceded).

It was a lot of fun to be able to play. Griffin gets older all the time. I'm glad he's old enough now that we can do these things together.

cheers