WHFB: Storm Of Chaos

Well we’ve had the book since it came out, but it was only the week before last that we managed to get round to playing a battle using the rules. This is a woefully late report on the battle. Set up is a sper normal except you have the Arcane Fulcrums, and you deploy magic users onto them before the main army deployment.

I used the Chaos archway, the Tindalos monument and the actual arcane fulcum, along with a huge tree I’;d got – another aquarium item bought from the local pet shop.

Now I’d read the book, but this was the first game I’d played. So I stocked jup on bound creatures, 5 Cold Ones, a Carnosaur and a giant mostly so I could get some models I’d had ins torage out and in battle. Other than that a fairly vanilla DE army with one main tweak.

Byakhee Jim, didn’t go for bound creatures, instead going for items, so it was an interesting contrast.

Initially I seemed to do well, and then made some disaterous and self inflicted mistakes in retrospect. Including deplpyment. My idea was to flank him on both side which went well to begin with and then it all unraveleld rather quickly due to my mistakes in the magic phase and some luck on his part (and good deployment).

Magic phaeses were not as much fun as I’d expected. yes you get buckets full of dice to roll.

But so does your opponent, and in Jim’s case he’d min/maxed to get more dice than I did. So magic didn’t really make a huge difference.. yes I got one key spell off that ahd the Carnosaur magically lifted to the rear of their flank (that set of Night Goblin Fanatics) but it didn’t make a battle winning move.

The Cold Ones, frenzied as they were, were also no match for the 25 Orcs Jim deployed against them, and he also managed to unbind my Giant which was the back up I’d intended for the Cold Ones.

Under the rules, the Giant ahd to go against the nearest enemy, not the nearest enemy he could see, so rather than wading into the Orcs, he did a 90 degree turn and waded into a large Night Goblin Unit.

The Carnosaur suprisingly bounced off the Orc Shaman atop an Arcane Fulcrum – they have significant advantges !
The Cold One Knights got zapped by a big spell and the Goblin Shaman blew themselves up, but this left a magical vortex on the loose.

And then my Sorceress imitated him and another magic vortex was on the loose – in both cases behind my lines.

The Cold One Knights charged into combat and did a lot of damage against the night goblins (finally hurrah) but not enough to break them so we set in for a war of attrition.

Ultimately, Jim’s central units came into close combat with my DEs including a rathr odd move of charging the COB which finished off my army.

It was certainly not the usual game of Warhammer, and certainly does require subtely different tactics to be used in both choosing the army list and in deployment.

The Storm of Magic element was fun, even though it strangely seemed to have not that much effect, though we did only play for 3 rounds IIRC and in one of those I miscast and drained all the magic (and fun) from the battlefield.
I am keen for another go though. I suspect that we just didn’t use our spells wisely as we are SoM newbies. (assume Darth Vader voice) “Of course last time I played, I was but the learner, now I am the master” {cue lightsaber sound effects)….does Warhammer have a lightsaber spell?

A shed laod of photos are here.