Artifacts of Power - Battle Report

The Lichemaster has uncovered an ancient and promising site, hidden deep within the Forest of Woe. As Morrslieb rises high in the heavens, faint lines of energy from the geomantic web have surged to life, revealing three artifacts of power. Time is of the essence. Kemmler must assemble a hasty force from the local settlements cemetery. A horde of zombies, freshly dead from plague, the spirits of ancient dead that haunt the cursed burial grounds, and a tomb of skeletons to protect him as he unlocks the regions power. But the prying eyes of Clan Eshin are wise to his plans. For a reasonable sum of warpstone, they reveal the location of the site of power to Arch-Warlock Shock Fur, who assembles his claw guard of Stormvermin and Clanrats. He hires Pack Master Skweel Gnawtooth to bring some enhanced Rat Ogres to ensures his triumph in securing the artifacts, before the Lichemaster.



The Undead won the roll to choose sides and deployed among the graveyard, 30 zombies rising there and 30 skeletons rising from the copse of trees nearby. Spirit hosts rose between the two units and to the right flank. The Cairn Wraith join those Spirits while Kemmler and Krell stood at the center of the battle line.

Across the battlefield gathered the Skaven. At the far end of the road, opposite the Skeletons, and unit of 20 Clanrats formed up with a block of 20 Stormvermin behind them. Leading them was Arch-Warlock Shock Fur. On their left flank gathered a large block of 30 Clarets bolstered by two rat ogres lead by pack master Skweel Gnawtooth and accompanied by a warfire thrower.





Undead

Having finished setup first, Kemmler’s forces take turn one. The line surges forward, the majority of troops running forward, clambering over fences, or silently floating through walls. Kemmler inspires the skeletons and casts Mystic Shield upon them.



Skaven

Seeing the dead shamble forwards, the Skaven to race forward to meet their enemy. The 20 clanrats and Stormvermin run up the road, while the 30 clanrats take up cover within a forest. All the units are still out of range for shooting of charging, so with some bared teeth, turn 1 comes to a close.



Undead

Kemmler’s forces take the initiative in turn 2 and clamber forward, eager to get to grips with their living foes. The skeletons and Spirit Hosts on the undead’s left flank charge forward and crash into the unit of 20 clanrats. On the right flank the zombies, wraith and spirit hosts hurtle into the large unit of clanrats. Attacking first to take advantage of their superior numbers the Skeletons attack the 20 clanrats. After 97 attacks, the rats were no more, hacked down to the rats by the hateful dead. The 30 clanrats in the forest attack next and target the zombies, cutting down 10 of their number. The spirit hosts, formerly engaged with the now dead clanrats, take advantage of the situation and move into combat with Arch-Warlock. Much to everyones surprise, 3 6s are rolled and he takes 3 Mortal Wounds! Shock Fur fights back and returns on base of Spirits back from whence they came. The wraith attacks, slays 4 rats and the spirit hosts on the right flank are ineffectual. Closing out the massive round of combat the Stormvermin pile in and slay 7 skeletons. The zombies lose 6 more to battleshock, while the clanrats only lose 1. Otherwise, the rest of the units stand firm and prepare for the next round of combat…

Skaven

With the majority of Skaven units locked in combat, the few remaining unit join the fray. Shock Fur cast Arcane Bolt, inflicting a wound on the Spirit Hosts. The Warpfire thrower shoots the zombies and incinerates 1. The packmaster charges into the zombies. Both sides fight, casualties inflicted on both sides, notably the wraith slays another 4 clanrats, forcing another 6 to run. At the end of turn 2, Skweel captures on the of the artifacts of power.



Skaven

And the Skaven steal the initiative and gain the double turn! The stormvermin slay some more skeletons and the wraith earns his keep, killing yet more clanrats, to the point that the remaining rats, run! The stormvermin finish off the skeletons.

Undead

Kemmler wraps the Cloak of Mists and Shadows around him and is transported within range of the center artifact. With the clanrats dead, the wraith shifts further right, with plans to attack the rat ogres and claim the right artifact. Kemmler charges the pack master and neither are able to inflict a wound.



Skaven

Turn 4 sees the demise of Krell as he is charged by the Stormvermin. While kemmler and the pack master fight. Kemmler inflicts 2 wounds while he takes 1.

Undead

The lichemaster starts the turn by casting invigorate, returning a wound to himself and the wraith. Kemmler slays the pack master to take the center artifact while the wraith finishes off the rat ogres.



Undead

Only Kemmler and the Wraith remain, but the Skaven are out of time. Kemmler and the Wraith move to put an extra inch or two between them and the remaining Skaven.

Skaven

With not much to do, the Skaven claim the third artifact but nothing can be done about the remaining Undead Characters.

Filthy ratmen, thinking they can steal my artifacts...

Kemmler stays alive and captures the artifacts. Can’t lie, I’m amazed I pulled out a victory. The skeletons and wraith are the MVPs of the match. The skeletons killed a 20 strong unit of clanrats and half the Stormvermin while holding them up for 2 turns. We figured out that Cairn Wraith killed or forced to flee 24 of the clanrats he was fighting. The zombies… were zombies; An overgrown speed bump that didn’t actually do much. That said, the did enough to allow the wraith to wipe the unit and survive to take the objective. Holding back Krell could have played out far worse if the skeletons hadn’t performed so well. Spirit hosts, my god, dangerous if you manage to roll well. I think they pumped out 6-7 mortal wounds, which put Shock Fur in a precarious position and softened up the Rat Ogres for the Wraith to finish off. All in all, Kemmler was luck to be able to make off with this artifacts.

While Shock Fur, in his magnificence, managed to survive the battle, his plans were meddled by coward rats fleeing and dying from a pathetic single wraith, he'll make sure to send the rest of their brood to the hellpit. Holding the center was looking good with my clanrats, securing a nearby wood and shrugging off a charge from the zombies and spirit host, but then the wraith started to reap them like corn and the rats began to flee! An early, long charge from the skellies and spirit hosts put Shock Fur in danger and out of range of keeping inspiring presence on the block of 30 clanrats. That proved a huge undoing. Taking extra troops rather than a 3rd hero in 3 places of power was risky, but almost paid off. In the end, I ran out of time to swing the stormvermin into the center to finish off Kemmler and the wraith. Those skeletons proved too much of an obstacle, but it was a blast!