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BATTLE REPORT: Tomb Kings vs Chaos ARMY SHOWCASE: Chris Bells uber-funky Lizards NEW! Lergy the Lerker miniatures unveiled
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CREDITS
The Graveyard Shift
Editor: Isaac Alexander Graphic Design: Heath Moritz
Unseen Lerker
Editorial
This has been a long time coming, let me tell you. When I first started putting together the groundwork for Unseen Lerker in 2009, I had always envisaged it as an online publication. But every single person I spoke to about it said, Yeah, thats cool...but can you print it too?. As it turns out we ended up doing it in the other order, but at last we have arrived! If youre just joining us, welcome, traveller. Take off your mink coat, brush the rain off your lizard skin hat, pull up a stuffed walrus and join us by the heat of this roaring candle. I hope you enjoy your stay. I think theres a whole plethora of possibilities to be explored with our venture into the online world; already my head is reeling with ideas. The upcoming months should be pretty exciting for all of us if my master plans come to fruition which, with my dedicated support group helpfully whacking me with big sticks to guide me, they should! Anyway, Ill shut up now before I blabber on too much. I hope you enjoy the latest issue. -Isaac Bobo Alexander, Editor
CONTENTS
Pressganged Contributors:
Lergy feature: Max Karpsten, Wojtek Flis, Rob Ing Event Coverage: Rob Henson Army Showcase: Christopher Bell Battle Report: Chris Taylor & Matt Howley Test Dummies: Greg Dann & Dan Comeau
6 Army ShowcASe
All the way from the USA, Christopher Bells yellow Lizardmen hop and frolic on our pages with amphibious glee.
10 event SpotLight
Never been to an Unseen Lerker event? Youre missing it out weve got penguins, beer wenches, and tankards and swords as trophies. Rob Igor Henson gives us the low-down on the latest event.
editor@unseenlerker.com www.unseenlerker.com
13 BAttLe report
Its a race for the desert treasure in this Tomb Kings vs Warriors of Chaos encounter. Will generals Chris Taylor and Matt Howley be able to see through the mist and keep their eye on the prize?
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ISSUE 10
ISSUE X
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Unseen Lerker
As the magazine evolved, so did Lergy. New drawings were made to support special articles and Lergy heads became the official rating system (also thumbs up and thumbs down).
The following phase of his immortalisation came with the creation of Lergy dice, where an imprint of his head appears in place of 6.
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Unseen Lerker
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Unseen Lerker
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Unseen Lerker
Unseen Lerker: So, Chris, I suppose the first question has got to be...why? What was the inspiration behind this very funky army? Chris Bell: So heres the honest truth: when I walk into a room to play Warhammer, whether its the local game store, a small RTT, or a big Indy GT, the first thing I do is walk around and look at everyones armies. I take stock of whats there and what kind of armies other people are playing, and then I try really, really hard to figure out how to play not that. It sort of bums me out when other people in the room have an army thats really similar to mine. So every army I ever build is born from that incessant need for uniqueness. I really love the idea of Lizardmen, but everyone plays basically the same thing: Slann, Temple Guard, lots of Saurus, Scar Vets, skirmishing Skinks ... yawn. On the other hand, everyone hates to paint yellow, and nobody believes in the power of Skink Cohorts as mainline units.Voila. An army is born.
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Unseen Lerker
As mentioned youve done a few themed armies now. Tell us about the process; what do you find more enjoyable, more challenging and more rewarding about creating a themed army compared to a normal one? All I really do are themed armies. Part of it, as I said before, the quest for uniqueness, but part of it too is a chance to explore the things about an army book that I really dig without having to take the big, shiny SUPERAWESOMESAUCE unit just because thats what GW wanted me to take. Sometimes, it forces me to hamstring my army a bit, but Im okay with that as long as it looks really spectacular and I can still be relatively competitive. For example, I am currently building a Skaven army. To me, the part of the Skaven army that I really dig is Clan Eshin. So, if I can justify the unit under my understanding of Clan Eshin, Ill take it. If I cant, I wont. I can have a single Abomination because Im building it as an Eshin Sorcerer conjuring up a giant Chinese dragon. I cant have a Doomwheel because it just doesnt seem Eshinesque to me. Out goes the Warp Lightning Cannon, Warpfire Throwers, and Engineers that can cast spells (because also, out goes the entire Lore of Ruin Eshin will poison you with Plague, but fry you with electricity? Too inelegant). In go multiple units of Gutter Runners, multiple Assassins, and Clanrats/Slaves. I think Id like to try them with little coolie hats, to make them more Eshinesque. If I decide to do Stormvermin, Ill probably model them as samurai rats - maybe with a unit filler of a Rat Ogre or two modeled as big temple guardians. Ooh, and If I do that, I can use Irongut bodies, green stuff the gut plate hole and shoulders with fur, use a Rat Ogre head and tail and feet and cover the join between the pants and foot with green stuff. Add a few plasticard plates, and Ive got a giant armored temple guard rat. Thats the process for me: what do I think it should look like, and what units should I take that will present that visual theme the best?
Did your resolve ever falter during the project i.e. did you get sick of painting Skinks? You werent tempted to compromise your original idea and throw in a cheeky Saurus Scar Veteran or two along the way? Really, it didnt. I really dig the Skink models. I think theyre gorgeous and they paint up easily. On the other hand, I dont particularly like the Saurus models, so I didnt want to take them. I found a way to cut them out of my list entirely. The only cheeky part I conceded was the taking of a Slann ... which I dont always do. When I play with friends, and I know theyre not bringing three cannons, I shelve the Slann and bring out my Engine of the Gods. In a tournament, though, not taking a Slann is suicidal to the point of making for a not-very-fun experience. When everyone else stops bringing Tac Nukes to a knife fight, Ill stop bringing my cheeky Slann.
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Unseen Lerker
So by now we kind of get the idea that the army looks really nice, blah blah, have a cookie, well done... But no doubt our readers have begun to wonder if this force actually works on the tabletop? Tell us a bit about how it operates in-game. Conceptually, its pretty simple: KEEP STUFF TOGETHER. The three big bricks hang out and advance very slowly in front of Xtapl, who pitches Phas Illumination to keep them safe. On the wings, Salamanders try to roast what they can, softening up large blocks until Im reasonably sure they wont be steadfast. Terradons go for war machines, and in the process, try to rock drop onto support units with low wounds/armour, like skirmishers, fast cav, or chariots. Chameleons scout as best I can and try to march into range quickly to take out war machines and monsters with high toughness but low armor, like Giants and Khemri Sphinxes. Once the enemy is softened, Skink Cohorts are actually quite good in combat. The high initiative coupled with WS10/I10 buffs and/or Bironas Timewarp makes them unpleasant...mostly because the three Kroxigor in each unit cant really be touched under most circumstances, and nobody likes 9 ASF WS10/I10/S6 attacks coming at their faces. Nobody at all.
Whats in the works next then? A Bretonnian Peasant force? An Ungor Horde? Clan Eshin Skaven, as I mentioned earlier. Although those new Ogres are looking mighty tempting Im full of ideas. At any one time, I have about a dozen full army ideas rolling around: Witch Hunter Empire with no wizards at all, Wood Elves with an Ancient, Branchwraith, two Treemen, Treekin, and all the Dryads in the world, Barbarian horde using almost nothing but Marauders, Chariots, and Marauder Horsemen I have a lot rolling around in my head.
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BNL-012 NaGaUsITH Black lf Augurer 9.99 BNL-014 MELODa Warrior-Queen of Mercia 8.99
BNL-006 CYNUIsE OF OLD Barrow Knight Banner Bearer 9.99 BNL-011 ORNUNG Bone Orc Shaman 9.99
BNL-003 GUILLaUME LE PLERIN Vagrant Knight 19.99 Foot and Mounted Vagrant Knight
BNL-015 VIkTOR CEL RaU Vojvod of Ardeal 9.99 BNB-017 kEIRIOC-CR The Sea Devil 49.99 coming in November 2011
BNB-009 GaLaGaak Ox-Gore of the Darkwald 49.99 BNB-006 sCaR-sCaTH Fiend of Vermin 29.99
www.maelstromgames.co.uk
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Unseen Lerker
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Event Coverage
DAY 1
Despite Bobo having gone and booked a room which included a buffet breakfast, I decided to instead to break my fast with last nights pizza. For the record, cold pizza is GLORIOUS and I recommend it to everyone! We did see a few bleary-eyed gamers in the restaurant area though, building pyramids of hash browns and baked beans and such. Player registration for the tournament opened at 8:30am so we scurried across to the venue nice and early to beat the frenzied hordes of players. Registration went very smoothly. Bobo noted to me at least once over the weekend that the Tempest tournaments have such a high number of returning players now that everyone pretty much knows the drill. Come up to the desk, tick your name off the draw, hand in your army list and take your Goodie Bag*, before heading off to find your table. *At all his events Bobo insists on giving away Goodie Bags, containing sweets, chocolates, stickers & party poppers, and of course the much sought after custom Unseen Lerker dice only available at these events. As we checked through the army lists during the first round we were pleased to see a wide variety of armies, with every race in attendance. The Indy GT Dwarfs of Chaos book (which was being allowed for the first time) outnumbered Daemons of Chaos 2:1 and we were surprised to find that one of the players was using Games Workshops newest army, Warhammer Armies: Ellyrian Reavers. The first round passed without incident, and then it was onto the phase that I think we were all most interested in: lunch! This time Bobo had gotten in contact with some new caterers, and for the Saturday they had put on a buffet of various sandwiches, crisps, pasta and other assorted cold foods. As the day went on Bobo could be found peddling his wares at the Middle Earth Games market stall fully painted armies, bits bags, and of course Unseen Lerker magazines. As well as this there was a big raffle on offer of all of the new Ogre Kingdoms releases (about 15 prizes all in all).
Rob: Welcome, sports fans, to the Tempest IV event coverage. The latest in a series of tournaments run in association with Unseen Lerker magazine (www.unseenlerker.com) Tempest IV proved to be a great success with 90 veteran gamers in attendance. Having previously aided the organiser, Warhammer celebrity Isaac Bobo Alexander, with the 2010 Unseen Lerker GT at Warhammer World I was quite excited to jump on the Tempest events team and get the chance to run an event in sunny Stockport. We rocked up at 9pm on the Friday to do as much event setup as possible. Bobo spent most of the evening delegating (that is to say, running around and saying hello to his regular tournament buddies). This left myself and our loyal butler Bernard with the task of carrying a car load of stuff up the fire escape. In the dark. Warhammer: may be dangerous to your health. (For the record, Darran has promised to fit a light for next time Yay!) I spent the rest of the night trying to figure out our new spreadsheet database and scoring system (which I had been informed was crafted by pixies or George King, in this case, who isnt too far off...). Writing this in retrospect, the spreadsheet is fantastically complicated and really does work, when you figure it out. At the time however there was a risk of me catching fire while trying to decipher it. We stayed at the Britannia hotel just down the road, and left the venue at 1am or so to go and check in. Much to our surprise, the hotel staff there managed to lose our reservation and we were left waiting for 20 minutes while they rummaged through the waste paper basket (no-joke) to find us. Not impressed with their professionalism, I decided that I would steal all of the towels to make up for it.
The early birds arrive and start warming up, setting up their armies and flexing their dice wrists. There was even a star jump or two executed.
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Unseen Lerker
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The remainder of the day passed in a bit of a blur as the men were separated from the boys, the boys from the crustaceans, and the crustaceans from the Geordies. The friendly atmosphere of the event was quite evident, and something which I hadnt seen even at the Unseen Lerker GT last November. The final round was allowed to play on into the night as people took their time and had fun with their opponents, the last game finishing at 8pm or so. By this stage we were all outside, watching King Pash preparing his event scale BBQ. While this was going on the rest of players tried their hand at the Arena of Death, which Bobo ran upstairs, to great amusement. Almost 30 players took part, and the rules were simple: you could use any combat character from your Tempest IV army, including mounts. There were many heroic clashes, but slowly the knockout competition boiled down to the central table so everyone could watch. The clear favourite to win was the Heroic Killing Blow Bretonnian Lord, who had battered his way to the final through 2 Dwarf Lords, another Bretonnian, a Saurus Scar Veteran, a Chaos Lord, and a Balesword Great Unclean One. And opposing him was....a Wood Elf on a Dragon! 10 rounds of combat passed and still no one could land the decisive blow.
At last the Green Dragon failed its 3+ ward and was slain, but as the elf toppled from its back he lashed out with his simple great weapon, cutting the Bretonnian in twain! After the titanic battles there were burgers, and much rejoicing. Bobo and I then played our very own Warhammer variant; Cardhammer. Many spectators experienced this exciting and varied take on the game, Jon Pugh was particularly impressed and cheered us on with almost nonstop cries of Fire the Cannon! The cannon fired 5 times and did f*all, thanks Jon. With a drinking game of I have never... starting up over by the bar, and the infamous plumbing duo of Mark and Gareth running around trying to put things in peoples pockets, we decided to retire to the Britannia. The details of anything that took place at the venue afterwards are, blissfully, unknown to me.
The lovely beer wenches (sorry, bar staff) went around from table to table using their, er, persuasive talents to sell off some tickets. Even Bobo Myself and Bobo were relieved of 4 and were given 4 tickets in return. Im just hoping that the ticket we are splitting 70/30 does not win the joke prize the last edition Ogre Kingdoms army book!
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The Bretonnian Lord takes down opponent after opponent during Saturdays Arena of Death, only to fall short at the last hurdle and be killed by a Wood Elf!
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DAY 2
To our surprise all of the players managed to make it to Day 2, the Cardiff Big Macs were a tad tardy (shame on them) but all proceeded as planned. At the end of the fourth game the event suffered its first casualty. Matt Dodgon suffered a miscast was removed as a casualty, this caused the database to catch fire and we had to call King George to put out the blaze. Day 2 provided us with hot food. Thank you, master! Bobo had gone around on the Saturday and taken lunch orders for all the players: you were offered the choice of a lamb hotpot, beef chilli and wedges or toasted Panini with chips. While they devoured the tasty treats the players were given the chance to vote for the Best Army award. The players nominated were David Crabtree with Chaos Dwarfs, James Bolle Bolsover with Tomb Kings, Ben DeBosdari with Skaven, Dave Sweeting with Orcs & Goblins and Dave Pyle with Dark Elves. Even Bobo and I couldnt agree which one we liked the most. The final rounds took place without too many surprises, though we saw some very tough games going on on the top tables! Paul Scott and Martyn Cooper played off for the overall win on table 1, round 6. As a final aside, I should apologise to the players for the last minute hiccup regarding the results. It was the end of a long weekend and I simply sorted the results by the wrong column, leading to a few people wondering what the heck was going on! As mentioned the spreadsheets complexity had caused a few issues over the weekend, and despite trialling it in the weeks before the event theres no test that can compare to running a 90 person event on the software! King George has promised a newer, shinier, fire resistant version for future events. That about wraps it up from this little data-minion. Thanks to everyone who came along and made for a very enjoyable weekend, and look forward to seeing you all again next!
OverallChampion:Martyn Cooper(Lizardmen) BestGeneral:Martyn Cooper(Lizardmen) 2ndBestGeneral:Mark Wildman(Empire) 3rdBestGeneral:Andy Robinson(WarriorsofChaos) BestSports:Daniel Bailey(WoodElves) PlayersChoiceBestArmy:Dave Sweeting(Orcs& Goblins) JudgesChoiceBestArmy:James Bolle Bolsover (TombKings) ListeArtiste:Paul Brown(EllyrianReaverArmy) MasteroftheMeat:Pasha Korniyenko Best In Race Generals Beastmen:Hugh Allen Bretonnia:Neil Peckett ChaosDwarfs:Dave Crabtree DaemonsofChaos:The One And Only Chris Stokes DarkElves:Craig Namvar Dwarfs:Andy Spiers HighElves:Pasha Korniyenko Lizardmen:Martyn Cooper OgreKingdoms:Ross OBrien Orcs&Goblins:Anthony Jackson Skaven:Andy Russell TheEmpire:Mark Wildman TombKings:Stu Lidbetter VampireCounts:Oliver Carrdus WarriorsofChaos:Andy Robinson WoodElves:Tris Buckroyd
Martyn Cooper claims the Overall Champions sword as his trophy - his look of shock, we presume, was due to the weight of it.
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Unseen Lerker
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BATTLE REPORT
greed Is good
The stars really did align when it came to putting this report together. We knew that we wanted to do a Tomb Kings battle report to showcase the new army book, and we thought the dust had settled enough by now that we could give them a fair trial. Of course, no one at Unseen Lerker actually plays Warhammer any more (were all addicted to Angry Birds and barely have time to change our colostomy bags, let alone play wargames) so we needed to outsource in order for the report to actually feature any, well, players. Fortunately this did not prove too difficult a task; being based in Nottingham means that every man and his dog play a wargame of some sort and it wasnt long before we drummed up two eager (if unwashed) volunteers. Chris Taylor has been playing Tomb Kings as long as anyone can remember (like the desert sands, hes kind of always been there). Of late he has been mysteriously absent from the UK tournament scene, not making the UK Masters for the first time in three years (something to do with having a life, apparently), but we ventured forth into the bleak wasteland of West Bridgford and dragged him out of his pyramid. Matt Howley has followed the opposite trajectory, bursting onto the UK tournament scene in late 2009 and never really going away, despite the occasional attempt to push him in front of a rampaging Lamassu. Formerly ranked the #1 Warriors of Chaos player in the world (according the www.rankingshq.com) Matt was affectionately known as The Gateway King due to his love for making people take off their most expensive unit while cackling like a lunatic. When setting the stage for the battle report, we wanted to do something a little bit special. As fate would have it, a wargaming friend of ours, Mr Nick Eyre of North Star Figures (www. northstarfigures.com) happened to have a fantastic desert-themed scenic gaming board that we were able to borrow for the game. All that was left was to get our hands on the most deserty terrain we could (including building a pyramid which was surprisingly easy, not like the Egyptians make out, the wusses) and come up with a fun scenario for the lads to play. Enter Rob Henson, organiser of one of the most established multi-system wargaming events in the UK, Open War. For their most recent doubles tournament they utilised a fun Treasure Hunt scenario, which weve recreated here for your viewing pleasure.
Treasure Counters
Starting with the player who has the fewest number of characters (roll of in the case of a tie) players take turns placing 4 treasure counters on the table. The counters cannot be placed within 12 of another counter or any table edge.
Game Length
The battle will last for six turns, or until one side is wiped out!
Victory Conditions
Calculate Victory Points as per normal. Treasure Counters are worth +125VPs each (see below). A difference of at least 300VPs is required for a winner to be declared, otherwise the game is a draw.
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Unseen Lerker
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MATT INTRO
Matt: So Being asked to play in a battle report against Tomb Kings has me a little confused, as Ive had mixed results against them since the book came out. I still dont have a strategy set in stone for when I play against them. I was playing Warriors of Chaos, which is the army I know best, and an army that has several different ways to play. I decided to bring a close combat orientated force which I felt would put the Tomb Kings army under pressure as I have found that if you fight the game on their terms you will often come up short. This being the case I wanted a force that was quite hard hitting, could soak up a lot of damage and was really fast. I decided to go with a Chaos Lord to lead my force, and quite a character-heavy army in general. The Chaos Lord with his ability to fly on his disc, 3+ ward save and good combat abilities is a very flexible character who gives me options to deal with a variety of threats. Also with his Glaive of Putrification he can fly into combats and reduce high Toughness enemy targets to Strength and Toughness 2, which could come in handy against the Toughness 8 monsters that are a staple of every Tomb Kings list! I backed the Chaos Lord up with a Sorcerer Lord with spells from the Lore of Shadow. Shadow is a fantastic lore, probably the best going around at the moment; if anything its one flaw is a lack of things to do to pass the time until you get into combat (at least with a Chaos army). To this end I included two additional Sorcerers with Fire magic to give me some long range threats, and a rock-hard Battle Standard Bearer on a chaos steed as another fast combat character. As my frontline units I selected 80 frenzied Marauders with great weapons, a bunker of Chaos Warriors and two units of Knights. Unfortunately that was all my points used up! However I felt I was good to go, with an army that was fast and very good at killing things when it got there. With my subtle battle plan (smash their faces in) in mind I decided to leave my Hellcannon out of the list as it didnt fit with the play style of the rest of the army. I felt quite happy with my armys ability to fight combats and also to capture the objectives. I know from experience that some armies struggle to handle two units of Chaos Knights; I had a feeling that this would be the case with Tomb Kings as the combination of the Knights speed, combat prowess and 1+ armour save makes them a cause of headaches for opposing generals. The only issue with my army that I could see is the fact that most of it is frenzied. This is good on the one hand as it is all immune to psychology and better in combat for being frenzied, but I was a little concerned that my army would be pulled out of place by the Tomb Kings forces (and then promptly killed by Sphinxes) I was looking forward to the battle as I was interested to see how my army would match up with Chriss. Ive played Chris twice previously and its been a hard fought battle each time, so Ill need to make sure I stay on my toes to avoid getting mummified!
Lore of Shadow, Charmed Shield, Necrotic Phylactery (250) Lore of Fire, Infernal Puppet (120) Lore of Fire, Silverjirs Hex Scroll (135) Mark of Tzeentch, Chaos Steed, Shield, Armour of Destiny, Stream of Corruption (236)
40 Chaos Marauders 40 Chaos Marauders 12 Chaos Warriors 5 Chaos Knights 5 Chaos Knights
Mark of Khorne, Full Command, Great Weapons (250) Mark of Khorne, Full Command, Great Weapons (250) Full Command, War Banner (289) Mark of Khorne, Standard, Musician (260) Standard, Banner of Rage (255)
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Unseen Lerker
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CHRIS INTRO
Chris: When Bobo got in contact and asked if I would like to take part in a battle report with my Tomb Kings I readily agreed. It wasnt until afterwards that I found out I would be facing one of the harder opponents for the undying legion Chaos Warriors. Garr, Ive been tricked! Still, I always enjoy a challenge, so taking this on board I set about designing a list for the upcoming battle. With the coming of the new army book Ive trialled a number of different ideas, but the list I have been having most success with has included a level 4 High Liche Priest to act as my Hierophant. To ensure that he could survive any miscasts (I hear the Infernal Puppet is quite popular among Chaos players ) I gave him the Earthing Rod. In addition I decided to take two level 2 Liche Priests with Light magic; a staple of my lists. I normally dont bother with the level upgrades on these, but for this battle I wanted to have access to both the magic missiles and spells that may allow my units to strike before the high Initiative enemy. The good thing about going into a battle report game is you usually know what youll be facing, so can tailor your list a bit to face. With Warriors this meant I would be expecting Warriors, Chosen, flail-toting Marauders, Hellcannon/s, Chaos Knights and potentially multiple flying characters. Therefore I wanted some hard hitting troops of my own, and they dont come much harder than two units of Necropolis Knights, backed up with two Warsphinxes with fiery breath. My theory being that either of these units would deter the enemy characters due to killing blow, and have the survivability to stand for a few rounds of combat vs Knights/Marauders. The Core I wanted was mainly made up of Skeletal Archers. These always form the basis of my army and I took two units of 10 and one of 17. Their role was not the lucky shooting of a Knight here or there, but to whittle down any Marauders that came to the battle. 37 shots a turn meant 6 kills on average dice, rising to 12 if I cast the boosted Smiting spell, hopefully leaving manageable units if they reached my lines. A small unit of Light Horsemen could also prove an irritance, or a last-minute speedbump if need be plus, they shot too! These were backed up by a unit of four chariots to act as a throwaway unit against Marauders. The theory being 4D6 impact hits and a decent amount of attacks, combined with a little luck would reduce the already diminished blocks to make them ineffective (or dead, which also works). Another benefit was that if Matt was to take any great weapons on his units instead of flails they should do 14 kills prior to being struck back; usually enough to win the combat and break a block on the charge. Since I had taken casters as my character choices it seemed prudent to use my Rares to back this up, in the form of a Hierotitan and Casket of Souls. Both the extra casting bonus and additional power dice would prove very useful in what I suspect could very turn into a magical duel. The lack of Screaming Skull Catapults may already have some veteran Tomb King generals shaking their heads in wonder.Youre right, of course; they are very good and usually form the backbone of any Tomb Kings army. Which is exactly why I didnt take them Ive used them in almost every game now and was interested to see how the army would perform without them. Finally, I did actually remember to read the scenario description before writing my list, and this encouraged me to include command models in a number of my units to ensure I had ample opportunity for capturing the treasure at the end. Which pretty much sums up my gameplan: shoot Matts blocks down to manageable size, countercharge, mop up, then grab the treasure when no ones watching!
4 Necropolis Knights
Standard, musician (280) Standard, musician (280)
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Unseen Lerker
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The Setup
Bobo: Our brave combatants arrived at the Unseen Lerker HQ on an unnecessarily bright Saturday morning, and upon presentation of their armies I must say I was quite impressed. Both forces looked formidable while not being over the top, and I immediately began wondering which army Id rather be in command of given the choice. But then someone handed me a biscuit and my mind went elsewhere. As the scenario didnt do anything particularly radical to the deployment phase, the players could actually implement their cunning strategies right from the get go. As the armies unfurled it was evident that both players had set up with a similar plan in mind, having their hard-hitting units interspersed throughout their lines to support the weaker infantry, with one or two rock-hard combat units on the flanks to apply some pressure. Chriss trio of Liche Priests (joined at the hip, apparently) decided to bunker up in their Skeleton unit behind some Necro Knights and the Casket hid behind the pyramid, while Matts Sorcerer Lord led the advance from the Marauders in the centre and both Fire Sorcerers joined the western Chaos Warriors. Finally, the Skeleton Light Horse brigade scouted up the far east flank. What their plan was only Chris could know The treasure tokens were placed fairly evenly across the board; two very central and one each a tad closer to the deployment zones. We lowly spectators discussed in hush tones who would made a bid for which objective marker, and when. They werent worth an awful lot of victory points, but in a tight matchup like this they might prove to be the telling difference between victory and defeat. With all that boring stuff out of the way, the players shook hands and rolled for the first turn!
Magic
Chriss Liche Priests
Level 4 (Nehekhara): Incantations of Protection, Smiting,Vengeance & the Skullstorm Level 2 (Light): Shems Burning Gaze, Net of Amyntok Level 2 (Light): Shems Burning Gaze, Banishment
Matts Sorcerers
Level 3 (Shadow): Okkams Mindrazor, Enfeebling Foe, Pit of Shades Level 1 (Fire): Fireball Level 1 (Fire): Fireball
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Turn 3 Asphinxiation
BOOM! The unengaged Chaos Knights levelled their horses and charged into the Necro Knights currently entertaining the Chaos Lord. Nearby, despite the protests of the Sorcerer Lord, the frenzied Marauders surged towards the Warsphinx in front of them! Their charge roll was not high enough however, simply leaving them standing in front of it instead! The Sorcerer Lord tried to bail himself out of a tight situation using another Pit, but the Liche Priests were expecting such a ploy and produced a Dispel Scroll to foil his efforts. Combat was pretty brutal this turn, with the Chariots being wiped out to a man and the Necro Knights being decimated by the Lord and charging Chaos Knights, with only one model left standing when the dust had cleared. The fact that the dust had, up until recently, been Necro Knights was somewhat poignant. Accepting the inevitable, Chris committed the Warsphinx into the Sorcerer Lords Marauder unit. The main advantage of charging them before they charged him was that he could choose the alignment, namely getting into contact with the Sorcerer Lord to try and Killing Blow his ass! On the far west flank the sneaky Warsphinx continued its sneaky ways, darting around behind the monument and eyeing up the rear of the Chaos Warrior unit. With so much in combat now, the Caskets bound spell was abandoned in favour of the Liches magic. Banishment was the only spell of note this turn, targeting the Chaos BSB and his two Knight buddies. A snap, a crackle and a pop later and the unit was reduced to just the Exalted Hero and his now crispy banner not a bad result! Combat too proved quite fruitful: although the last Necro Knight was eviscerated, the Warpshinx fighting the Marauders went absolutely mental. The Tomb Guard put a wound on the Sorcerer Lord, then the fiery breath killed eight Marauders, the Thundercrush Attack killed a further eight, then the Thunderstomp killed three. 20 wounds in one phase yowzer! The Marauders were so shocked that they didnt inflict any wounds in return, and only just managed to pass their Steadfast test.
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Result: DRAW!
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Chris: Theres something very satisfying about having a plan come together, and I think it did here. Mostly. The very early loss of both Necro Knight units my main heavy hitters made me very concerned about my armys ability to fight in the late half of the game, but somehow it worked out okay. Matts Marauder blocks, that I was the most concerned about, never made it to my lines thanks to a combination of standoffishness, bowfire, diversionary tactics, delaying them by sacrificing a Sphinx (and by pushing the units backwards when no one was looking).
Ive got to say I was really pleased with the Hierotitan and Casket combo. This pair have proved absolutely outstanding in all my games with the new Tomb Kings; all it takes is a couple of extra dice and casting bonuses and the magic phase suddenly rockets onto a whole new level. The Lore of Nehekhara too I think is really underrated. Tomb Kings get the option of Death & Light as well, which both seem more obvious choices, especially since youre forced to take your Hierophant on Nehekhara, but I have actually found it to be vital to the army operating. The Smiting spell in particular is outstanding, but the ward save is useful too and my personal favourite, which I never hear anyone talking about, is the Skullstorm vortex. Overall I was pretty happy with how the game went though I was kicking myself over forgetting to move the Casket when the Chaos Lord could charge it and thought everything went more or less as intended. At the end of day though Matt played well with a very solid list and gave as good as he got, so I think a draw was a pretty fair result. Thanks to Matt for the game and to the Lerker guys for a fun day out; hope to come back for another go soon!
Did you enjoy that little rollick, and perhaps want to give the scenario a go yourself? We made our objectives very easily using coloured modelling crystals and bases from Arcane Scenery and Models, our local hobby retailer. You can either go to their website to grab some for yourself
www.arcanesceneryandmodels.co.uk
or, if you subscribe to Unseen Lerker before November 1st, well GIVE them to you!
www.unseenlerker.com/subscribe
Matt: Damn, so close if my Fire mage had survived that last Shems spell I would have won! My units were pretty average and were really outshined by my characters. The Chaos Lord proved to be a real thorn in Chriss army as he smashed everything he touched! The Exalted BSB was also amazing in that he took all those chariots in the flank and then crushed them; had it been a regular knight that took the hit I think he would have been in trouble. Even though we had an even number of wizards I found that the Casket and bone genie really swung things in Chriss favour. I underestimated the Lore of Nehekhara as Chris did a lot of
damage when he put the Skullstorm through my big Marauder block. Despite the magical disadvantage I was able to hold my own thanks to the (amphibious) ace up my sleeve. The look on Chriss face was priceless when Bobo replaced his High Liche Priest with an Unseen Lerker model! All in all the game was really close and I was surprised that Chris had a slight lead on me when we were working out the final results. Being able to claim three of the treasure tokens with my faster units was a big boost to my score. I purposefully left these until the late game as I needed the speed of my hard hitters to catch Chriss army. I look forward to our next game and already have some ideas on how to claim victory next time we meet. Thanks to the Lerker crew for setting the game up and to Chris for being an excellent opponent. Will definitely be back for another Unseen Lerker battle report!
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Each Baron receives a stronghold card that bears his name, his color, and his unique crest on it. The strongholds strength is also shown in the lower right of the card. A stronghold card represents the home location of a Baron.
STRONGHOLD MARKERS
There are six stronghold markers, one for each Baron. These markers are placed on the board during setup to show the home location of each Baron.
n back. Each cards have a commo Mercenary Troop and may hire Mercenary Troops, nationality Baron starts with two A Mercenary Troops ary others during the game. left of the card. Mercen is listed in at the bottom may desert when a Noble dies are less loyal and Troops or loses a battle.
Each Baron controls four Nobles, which are represented by plastic pieces of his color. During the game, these plastic Noble pieces are moved around the board to the show the location of a Barons Barons influence over nt a able Influence tokens represe thearmies. Each of a Barons four Noble pieces has a differentthrone. If no player is pose, and each has a by and his claim to Kingdom different Kingdom cities base with a shape (square, circle, triangle, or more than half the to This shape of the most star). take controlcorrespondsthe the then to Baron withthe upper left icon in the end of the game, of the Noble cards. and neul, Influence wins. nt beneficial, harmfu The Event cards represe place throughout the game. NOBLE CARDS CASUALTY TOKENS take tral events that may placed on an army Casualty tokens are ies in battle. AGENDA CARDS when it takes casualt
1. The six overseas areas, each of which has a city. 2. Three Agenda cards are placed in the Current Agendas space at the beginning of the game. These Agendas will be voted on during the first Assembly. 3. The three expedition tracks. 4. The three Action card areas. 5. The Event deck is placed here. 6. The Influence pool area. 7. The Fate deck is placed here.
8. The three Special Phase areas. 9. The Mercenary Track. 10. An impassable river border. 11. A bridge across the river. 12. An impassable mountainous border. 13. The road. 14. A unrazed city. The citys name, strength (left), and income (right) are listed underneath the plastic city piece. 15. A port icon.
FATE CARDS
, ARRIOR KNIGHTS important role in W Fate cards play an other important to resolve battles and since they are used page 5 for a comng Fate Cards on events. See Drawi and how to use them. w of the Fate cards plete overvie
placed next to a city Breach tokens are ies in battle. REGULAR TROOP CARDS when it takes casualt Each Baron receives four Noble cards, each of which corresponds to one of his plastic Noble by pieces. Regular are voted onand Mercenary Troop cards are placed beneath nt various laws that a Noble Agenda cards represe ly (page 11).card to show which Noble is leading which RS gather for the Assemb troops. A BARON MARKE Barons when they Noble together with the troops he leads in eight Baron markers Each Baron has is referred to as also bear an army. CROWN TOKENS markers his color. Each Barons markers are used his unique crest. Baron order on the to keep track of draft well as to mark who Page 3 Mercenary Track as expeditions. is funding particular
1 crown 5 crowns
BREACH TOKENS
Each Baron starts the game with the four Regular Troop cards, the backs of which match his color. A troops strength is listed in the lower right of its card, and the number of crowns it must be paid is listed within a gold coin. Regular Troops represent the Barons loyal troops, which are less likely to be lost during the course of the game.
EXPEDITION TOKEN
.
BARON ACTION
CARDS
are used to mark Expedition tokens ion is at on one of what point an expedit tracks. the three expedition
cards, which are s 12 Baron Action aries, and Each Baron receive start battles, hire Mercen n back used to move armies, a commo Action cards have which Baron so forth. All Baron on the front to indicate but are color-coded they belong to.
GAME SETUP
OVERVIEW
Place a plastic city over each razed city icon on the board. With fewer than 6 players, some cities are razed and no plastic city is placed over them (see page 19).
FAITH TOKENS
Place the siege markers, breach markers, casual ty tokens, Faith tokens, crowns, Vote tokens, and extra Influence tokens l events the board, within to the side of and to to avoid harmfu easy reach Barons can use Faith of all players. ions.
Shuffle the Agend a deck and place it near the top Place the top 3 of the board. Agendas faceup in the Current Agendas area.
NEUTRAL ACTION
CARDS
bless expedit
not belong Action cards that do There are eight Neutral represent certain actions that cards to any Baron. These any Baron may take.
Shuffle the 8 Neutra l Action cards and place them to the side of the board.
Page 4
After assigning starting Merce naries to each Baron (see below and step 8 on page 5), shuffle the Mercenary deck and place it off the board, near the Mercenary Track. Draw a number of Mercenary cards equal to the number of player s and place them faceup, as shown here.
Use the Fate deck (see Drawing Fate Cards, page 5) to determine who will start the game as Chairman of the Assembly and Head of the Church , and give the relevant player s these tokens. Shuffle the Event deck, place the top card of the the bottom of the deck on deck, then place the deck here. Place 10 Influen ce tokens per player here.
Shuffle the Fate deck and place it here. It will mine which cities be used to deterare razed in a game and to determine with less than 6 players, who will start the game as Chairm Assembly and an of the Head of the Church . The deck should fled once again be reshufbefore the game actually begins .
15 crowns.
12 Baron Action
cards.
As always well be giving away a copy of the game were reviewing (all our subscribers are automatically entered into the draw, so subscribe today for your chance to win!), but if you cant wait and want to pick up a copy of the game for yourself head over to the Test Dummies official sponsor: www.oggames.co.uk
Page 6
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ISSUE 10
Dont forget to come back for Unseen Lerker Issue 10,which will include all your favourite regular columns like
The Army Doctor The Saga of the Quartet, part 3 Special Characters: interview with a Warhammer Pro PLUS! Mega Storm of Magic battle report Brand new hobby column!
Got feedback on the mag? Well were listening.
A magazine f
or ga
Email your suggestions to editor@ unseenlerker.com We promise not to send the flying monkeys after you. www.unseenlerker.com
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We have our own range of fantasy miniatures BaneLegions in stock to order now. Have a look elsewhere in this magazine for more information!
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UK Team Challenge II Scrap Metal IV The War in Golconda Open War XVI Iron Wrath II Mansfield Maul V Official UK Malifaux GT 2011 Sturm ber Deutschland
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