After a few months of painting his Minotaur Blood Herd army my friend was ready to let the blood thirsty monsters loose! He hadn’t played in quite some time so we made things simple by just doing a regular battle without any objectives. Let’s get right on to it and check out the army lists!
Nurgle Daemons
- 331 – Daemon Prince, Heavy Armour, Fly (9), Daemon of Nurgle, Wizard Level 3, Battle Magic
- 355 – Great Unclean One, Plagueflail, General, Wizard Level 1, Battle Magic
- 235 – Herald of Nurgle, Daemonic Locus, Totem Of Eternal War, Palanquin Of Nurgle, Trappings Of Nurgle
- 60 – 5 Chaos Furies
- 135 – 3 Nurglings
- 213 – 15 Plaguebearers Of Nurgle, Plagueridden, Standard Bearer, Musician
- 200 – 14 Plaguebearers Of Nurgle, Plagueridden, Standard Bearer, Musician
- 124 – 2 Beasts Of Nurgle
- 124 – 2 Beasts Of Nurgle
- 210 – 3 Plague Drones Of Nurgle, Rot Fly, Plagueridden, Standard Bearer, Musician
Minotaur Blood Herd
130 – Bray-Shaman, Pelt of Midnight, Wizard Level 2, Daemonology
399 – Doombull, Great Weapon, Slug-skin, General, Wizard Level 2, Battle Magic, Full Plate Chaos Armour, Lore Familiar
270 – Gorebull, Crown of Horns, Battle Standard Bearer, Rampaging Banner, Full Plate Chaos Armour
100 – Herdstone
178 – 3 Minotaurs
• 1x Minotaur, Great Weapon, Bloodkine
• 1x Minotaur, Additional Hand Weapon, Standard Bearer
• 1x Minotaur, Additional Hand Weapon, Musician, Ambushers
364 – 6 Minotaurs
• 3x Minotaur, Great Weapon
• 1x Minotaur, Great Weapon, Bloodkine
• 1x Minotaur, Great Weapon, Standard Bearer, The Beast Banner
• 1x Minotaur, Great Weapon, Musician
72 – 13 Ungors, Shortbow, Half-horn
89 – Dragon Ogres, Light Armour, Additional Hand Weapon, Shartak, The Fur of Sharggu
73 – Dragon Ogres, Heavy Armour, Great Weapon, Shartak
52 – Razorgor Herds
52 – Razorgor Herds
218 – 5 Chaos Ogres, Great Weapon, Mark of Nurgle, Champion, Musician, Standard Bearer
The Nurgle forces lined up across the center of the table with the fliers in the back ready for a quick redeploy as needed. I placed the troops so the blocks and characters should be able to fit past the impassable Herd Stone in the middle and sent the other elements to the other side of the Herdstone to delay the troops on that flank.
The Beastmen spread out a little bit more to avoid the woods in the middle of their deployment zone.
The forces of Nurgle didn’t need their +1 to go first rolling a solid 2 versus the Beastmens roll of a 1 to go first. The forces of Nurgle surged forward to get the fight on against the Minotaurs. Magic was ineffective as the Fireball was dispelled, but the Pillar of Fire was successfully cast to possibly slow down or delay the Beastmen from their advance.
In the Beastman turn the troops on the Nurgle Daemons right angled around the forest and advanced on the delaying elements while the Ogres escorting the Minotaur characters angled their way around the Herd Stone, either oblivious or unconcerned about the Pillar of Fire. The Bray Shaman prayed to the dark gods and was struck by Stupidity for his efforts but managed to pass his leadership test to move behind the relative safety of the river. (The woods and river were all deemed to be dangerous terrain.)
The Pillar of Fire avoided the Minotaurs that walked right up to it proving, at least this turn, they had nothing to fear from it. The Beasts of Nurgle charged the Dragon Ogre champions in the hope of eliminating them before the combat got really ugly with the Minotaurs…
and both units made it in! (It was close to auto but I’ve failed enough of these over the years to not count it as a guarantee!)
On the other flank the fliers continued their swing around the flank of the Beastmen army in an attempt to engage the Bray Shaman and his Ungor bodyguard. I realized I wouldn’t be able to get the Great Unclean One around the Herd Stone so the Herald dropped out of the unit to make room for the corpulent Greater Daemon. (The Great Unclean One was not in the unit, he was just outside.)
The Beasts fighting the Shartak with the extra hand weapon won combat causing three wounds and only taking one in return forcing the Dragon Ogre to fall back in good order behind the Minotaur unit. I opted to not Follow Up, but in retrospect I should have to pin the big unit of Minotaurs further back. The second unit also managed to put three wounds on the Great Weapon wielding Dragon Ogre and also only took one wound in return causing the Dragon Ogre to Give Ground.
At the start of the Brayherds turn the Bray Shaman befuddled himself and failed his stupidity test. Leadership 7 and stupidity is not a good combo!
I got over excited and forgot to take a picture of the charge of the Minotaurs. It was quick and bloody as the Beasts failed to save almost any wounds even with their 5+ ward and their 5+ regeneration save and with a bad leadership roll they disappeared back to the warp! Not only did the Beasts of Nurgle fail to kill off the very wounded Dragon Ogre they were fighting they also had some bad luck with rolls and lost one of the friendly pups in the process. With a lucky instability test the remaining “dog” stayed in the fight!
Meanwhile the Minotaurs overran into the tarpit that is the Nurgling unit.
The Plaguebearers and the Great Unclean One charged the Sabertusk blocking their way in an attempt to free up a charge on the Minotaur characters and their Ogre retinue.
The Daemon Prince and the Plague Drones moved forward to set themselves up for a charge against the Bray Shaman and his bodyguard next turn.
The Furies flew to provide support in the center of the table and potential prevent a charge against the Herald.
The remaining Beast of Nurgle finished off the Dragon Ogre but failing it’s test to restrain overran away from the action! Off camera the big unit of Minotaurs killed a stand of Nurglings, and put two wounds on another but only caused them to Give Ground due to the steadying presence of the Great Unclean One and the Herald! (I forgot to reduce the wounds they took due to the Herald. Did that cause me any problems? Ready on to find out!)
The the surprise of no one the Great Unclean One thumped the Sabertusk killing him outright. I did not realize when a unit is using Overrun it goes straight forward, not in the direction of a pursuit which caused me to be quite disappointed when the victorious forces of Nurgle couldn’t overrun in to the Minotaur bunker!
As the start of turn the Beastmen characters continued to pray to their Dark Gods. They must have been using rotten meat, or maybe fresh fruit, whatever it is the Dark Gods don’t like because the Minotaur Battle Standard Bearer fell to stupidity while the Bray Shaman again rolled stupidity dropping his Leadership to a 6! The Battle Standard was able to maintain his focus and with the rest of his unit declaring a charge against the Plaguebearers on the far flank. (They were able to wheel back the other unit closer to the Great Unclean One but about 1/4 of an inch!) The remaining Sabertusk and the wounded Dragon Ogre both charged the Furies and the Minotaurs hoped to be able to finish off the remaining Nurglings. The Bray Shaman was unable to pass his Leadership test and stood their staring at the Giant Flies stupidly daring them to charge!
Despite the long (but not unreasonably so) charge the character bunker slammed into the Plaguebearers.
Shockingly the Sabertusk and the Shartak were unable to wipe out the Furies and only managed to kill three!
The Sabertusk followed up on the Furies while the Shartak opted to not follow up to be ready to attack something else in a following turn.
The Minotaurs were unable to finish off the Nurglings but dropped the last stand to only four wounds. Rather than follow up they opted to turn and face the bigger targets on the Nurgle left flank.
I was cursed by a friend who was watching the game as he mentioned I’m normally very good at making saves after having to admit it’s true I lost my mojo and hardly made any in this combat of Nurgle Daemons versus Nurgle Ogres (and friends.) The Plaguebearers were wiped out and did nothing in return!
The Brayherds player attempted to restrain the monster unit but failed and the unit overran straight into the house. The Great Unclean One would have to live with his disappointment at not getting a charge against the point heavy unit!
While the Great Unclean One would be frustrated by not being able to charge the Plague Drones were finally in position to charge, and with an impossible to fail charge swarmed the Ungors and the Bray Shaman!
In the movement phase the Great Unclean One, Plaguebearers and the Herald moved towards the Bloodherds character bunker, while the Nurglings moved to once again get in the way of the big Minotaur unit while the Beast of Nurgle that overran the Dragon Ogre turned to get back into the game.
The Sabertusk finally took out the two remaining Furies in melee…
while the Plague Drones cut down numerous Ungors and rode them and the addled Bray Shaman down destroying them!
With the combat phase over the Minotaur Ambushers finally made it to the field and set themselves up to get involved in a combat.
The Sabertusk and Shartak declared charges on the rear of the Plaguebearers while the big Minotaur unit had no choice but to charge the remaining Nurgling stand. The Shartak failed his charge while the other two units were automatically in.
The block of Minotaurs was finally able to overcome the Nurglings and scattered the fun loving gits to the four corners of the Warp. (Had I remembered the Herald’s Indominatable rule a few turns back they would possibly have been left with one or two wounds with a passed Leadership test. Sorry little guys!)
The Plaguebearers won the combat against the Sabertusk and opted to not follow up….
Well, they did but their dice did not, and on an 11 the unit turned around and reengaged with the over sized cat, leaving their Lord, the Great Unclean One to have to consider facing the character bunker alone!
In my turn I was faced with the choice of declaring charges in to the massive character bunker with my Great Unclean One, the Plague Drones and the Daemon Prince. The Flies would have been a long shot charge, and while he has a 4+ ward the Daemon Prince only has 4 Wounds and his Toughness 6 would not be much protection against all of those Great Weapons. I was definitely concerned if just the characters made it into combat I would lose one or both of them, especially since they would be fighting for two rounds without backup. With the Beastmens low Leadership I thought I might be able to get one more attempt at Curse of Cowardly flight and finally see these beasts flee. With the exception of the Stupid Bray Shaman my opponent was passing all of his Leadership tests, including Stupidity on the character bunker, and all his important Primal Fury tests so I figured I was in for a fail at some point! (Yes, I forgot Panic only causes a unit to Give Ground, this would be retaught to me in a later turn!)
Opting to not charge the Great Unclean One, Herald, Plague Drones and Daemon Prince all advanced right up to the Minotaur champions and their Ogre friends to ensure they could not fail their charge, assuming the Great Unclean One lived! The Daemon Prince was able to cast Curse of Cowardly Flight but the Minotaurs were seeing red and passed the test with flying colors. All was not bad for the forces of Nurgle as the Daemon Prince was able to immolate an Ogre with a Fireball!
The Plaguebearers cut down the Sabertusk and overran into the Shartak which had been surviving on 1 wound since the beginning of the game. I guess we will see next turn if they can finish the beast off!
Staying true to form the Minotaur Battle Standard Bearer passed his Leadership test and thus his unit was able to charge the Great Unclean One!
The ambushing Minotaur Herd was eagre to sate their bloodlust and charged the rear of the Plaguebearers who were clearly in a very unfortunate situation!
After the combat the unit was dropped down from 15 models to only four, after the Instability test, with the Shartak surviving his fight against the unit champion. I really shouldn’t have issued that challenge, as the Shartak killed the Plaguebearer champion causing only one wound and took no wounds in return, which prevented the remaining Plaguebearers from attacking and potentially finishing him off.
The Minotaur roared a challenge and the Great Unclean One had no choice but to accept. The Minotaur Lord raised his massive axe and put two wounds on the hulking beast in front of him. The Great Unclean One saved one of the two with his ward and saved the other with his Regeneration save. In return the foul smelling denizen of the warp rolled his attacks with his Plague Flail but due to some less than stellar rolling only managed two wounds, one of which was promptly save by the Minotaur Lords Ward. My luck turned around slightly and in a balance to my previous rolls the Plague Flail multiplied up to 3 wounds! The Bloodherd won the combat by one with the help of their banners and forced the Great Unclean One to Give Ground.
The situation going into the Nurgle turn.
Last turn I forgot to move the Beast of Nurgle forward but running out of chances to rescue the remaining Plaguebearers he faithfully declared a charge but failed to make it. Once again I’m left apologizing to my eager followers!
On the other flank the character bunker was quite literally swarmed when the Great Unclean One and Herald charged the front of the unit, the Plague Flies charged the flank, and the Daemon Prince charged the rear!
The Plague Drones champions challenge was accepted by the Ogre champion and the two exchanged blows with neither failing to fell the other. The Great Unclean One hoisted his mighty flail and proved why so many opponents do all they can to avoid getting into combat with him when he caused ten wounds on the Ogres! He caused so many wounds one of them needed to be discarded as it couldn’t go into the Ogre Champion in the challenge! The Minotaur Lord opted to swing against the Daemon Prince and caused four wounds. When the Prince hid behind his massive shield he managed to only pass one save, but it was enough to keep him alive! The Plague Drones were able to sneak another wound onto the Minotaur Lord, but it wasn’t enough to kill him! The Minotaur Battle Standard Bearer put a wound on the Herald for no return.
With nine wounds from the Great Unclean One alone the Minotaurs opted to use their Stubborn rule to Fall Back In Good Order and the forces of Nurgle all opted to follow up. In the confusion the Plague Drones almost failed to make it into combat until I was reminded they had Swiftstride! While the forces of Nurgle would no longer have rear and flank attacks things were looking really poorly for the embattled Beastmen.
Less exciting, but more surprising was the battle in the center of the board where the Plaguebearers were able to survive the attacks of the Minotaurs and the Shartak and only lost two more models! I guess in the long run it worked out that the Plaguebearers didn’t kill the Shartak as it stopped the big unit of Minotaurs from charging into the remaining two Plaguebearers, maybe they would survive after all!
In the final turn of the game the forces of Nurgle were able to put the last wound on the Minotaur Lord, and finish off both the remaining Ogre and the Battle Standard Bearer. As it was an overrun, not a pursuit only the Herald would be able to hit the rear of the Ambushing Minotaurs who were trying to finish off the Plaguebearers. Figuring he had enough wounds to survive the attentions of the Minotaurs he ran in to lend his not inconsiderable weight to the fight.
The Plaguebearers were able to finish off the Shartak and survived the swings of the Minotaurs, who must have been confused due to the sudden rear charge of the Herald! With the extra +3 combat resolution (rear and standard) the Herald provided the forces of Nurgle won the combat and the Ambushing Minotaurs realized they left the tea kettle on back at camp fled, only to be run down by the remaining two Plaguebearers!
With that the game was over and this was the final result!
The final Victory Points:
Nurgle Daemons – 1783
Beastmen Blood Herd – 700
A Resounding Victory for the forces of Nurgle!
Wow. What a slugfest. Literally as I had slug Beasts of Nurgle and my opponent had slug skin on his General! In all seriousness I made a few mistakes and forgot a few rules but I definitely feel I fixed a few errors from the last time I played Beastmen. First of all I didn’t allow the big Impassable terrain in the middle to divide my forces in a way that really hurt me. Getting a few spells that caused ranged damage also helped, but that’s just luck of the dice. My opponent really lucked out with most of his Leadership tests, but getting the stupidity result three times on the Favor of the Gods chart was really bad. Getting it on the Shaman effectively took him out of the game and allowed me to swoop down on him without him causing any real damage. I did lose my famous save rolls this game, but I still had some luck when the Furies stuck around a little longer than they should have, and the Plaguebearers were absolute champs when they survived the rear charge of the Ambushers. Had that unit come in a little earlier they could have made a difference for sure. I was definitely concerned when the character bunker overran away from the Great Unclean One, I was concerned they would cause me more trouble from back there, but I forgot to factor in the fact they needed to turn around and so lost a turn of rampaging just as I lost a turn of getting to them. The game was full of silly moments such as the Plaguebearers failing to restrain from following up on the Sabertusk which made the whole thing a fun affair. As always I look forward to my next game!
-Wachtmeister
The Wachtmeister's Patrol 