Daemons of Chaos vs Empire, 10.01.2017

Warhammer Fantasy lives again! 

My opponent freshly got into collecting Empire, so I accommodated him by playing an 800 point game. It was, probably, my first ever game where all my miniatures were painted AND I didn't use any proxies! We were both rusty on the rules, so we went for the simplest mission and deployment type.

Deployment: Battleline

Lists:

Daemons of Chaos

• Herald of Slaanesh, lvl 1 wizard (lore of slaanesh), greater locus of swiftness (always strikes first), lesser gift (exchanged for magic weapon of +1 attack)
• 21 Daemonettes, full command
• 5 Flesh Hounds, ambushers
• 5 Chaos Furies, Daemons of Slaanesh
• 5 Seekers (no upgrades)

My Daemonettes were my hammer and anvil, with that 200 point Herald sitting inside the unit providing both buffs and killing power. Everything else was supposed to be chaff.

Empire

• Captain (3+ armor, magic weapon that ignores armor - very useful in this battle)
• Light Wizard, level 2
• 20-ish Halberdiers, full command
• detachment of 10 Handgunners
• detachment of 10 Archers
• 10 State troopers, sword & shield
• 5 Reiksguard, full command

A much more balanced list, providing infantry block, cavalry and ranged capabilities.

Deployment

No proxies on my side, just a unit filler in the Daemonette block. Ahead, we have the wizard all alone; state troopers; halberdiers, with archers in front; handgunners; and invisible Reiksguard knights.

Flesh Hounds coming in as Ambushers, everything else deployed. I also vanguarded the Seekers up the right flank, out of average charge range for the knights.

Daemons of Chaos, turn 1.

I sent the Seekers up the right flank to threaten the back lines. Fast Cavalry is awesome. Other than that, I bided my time, awaiting for the Flesh Hounds to arrive. Magic phase was underwhelming, at 4 dice (-1 ward save to top it off), the enemy wizard dispelled my attempt at a magic missile into the archers.

Empire, turn 1.

The knights took the bait and turned towards the Seekers. Some shots were fired, killing two Furies. I dispelled the enemy magic missile, so nothing else this turn.

Daemons of Chaos, turn 2.

The Flesh Hounds have arrived, so it was time to swing into action! The Seekers marched up, going around the knights, settling just outside their charge arc. I sent up the Furies to get in the way, and followed up with the unit of Daemonettes. 

This time, the magic phase was more successful, and I managed to snipe the enemy wizard. Sadly, I suffered a miscast, and took a wound with the herald.

Empire, turn 2.

The Empire had no good charges to declare, so here's the maneuvering: the knights turned around, keeping things in their front arc. The state troopers turned towards the Flesh Hounds. The archers moved to block the Seekers. Shooting was abysmal, killing only 1 Seeker.

Daemons, turn 3.

Time to declare all the charges! Good thing that Furies can fly, and could clear the way for the Daemonette unit.

I made the mistake of doing the combat with the archers first, thinking to overrun into the main combat. Alas, I beat them by only a couple, and they held the line. The Daemonettes, however, successfully routed the halberdiers, and I chased them down and killed them - leaving me open for a flank charge. The handgunners were, of course, annihilated. The Furies overran into the archers. I tried to reform the Hounds, but failed the Leadership.

Empire, turn 3.

The Empire strikes back! The knights beat the Hounds and they phased out due to instability. Then the knights overran into the other combat, again giving enough combat resolution to phase out most of my units. Where's a BSB when you need one?

At least I successfully beat back the state troopers, who ran away. I reformed to face the knights, not wanting to take a charge in the back.

Turn 4.

I charged into the knights, and managed to turn the combat around. Both units fled, with the Furies chasing down the archers and the Daemonettes not catching the knights. The knights then rallied.

Turn 5.

I again charged the knights, making them flee. They would have died in turn 6, leaving me with enough points on the table for a solid victory, even with the state troopers regrouping and sticking around.

Resolution

• I still love this game! Also great to see movement trays in action.
• Mistakes were made on both sides; I just managed to get lucky and capitalize more on my opponent's mistakes.
• The knights should have ignored the Seekers. (Although, maybe a lucky flank charged would have made them run? Who knows?)
• I shouldn't have chased after the Halberdiers. (Although I got lucky beating the swordsmen. Could have gone either way.)
• I think we didn't miss any rules; of course, we poured quite a lot over the rulebook for the duration of the game.
• Maneuvering in the movement phase is still the most important part of the game.