Rats in the Walls

We've been itching for another siege battle ever since our End of the Year 2014 Siege Battle, and six months was enough time to pass. Hence, another siege battle. For this one, I kicked my painting into overdrive and added three new models to my Skaven force: three Stormfiends all with Ratling Cannons. These guys put out an absurd amount of firepower (each model fires 3d6 shots), so I was happy to add them to my team. I also love the little rat-brain controllers strapped to their backs (you can see the one on the left). 

 "Hot Warplead" is the absolute right name for their rules.

The battle itself featured the two races that are the children of Morrslieb versus a mighty host of Undead. It was my Skaven (ratmen) and Brian's Beastmen (goatmen) that held the walls against the onrushing force of David and Tom's combined Undead host. The defenders each had 2,000 points, while the attackers fielded 3,000 each. Victory was counted by the sections of the castle controlled at the end of six turns, plus the courtyard. For each piece of wall it was one victory point, plus one victory point for each half of the castle courtyards, and a bonus one point for the gate section. With weapons sharpened, rocks gathered, and hot oil bubbling on cauldrons, the defenders were ready to repel the attack.

 I forgot to take close-ups of the Skaven and Beastmen starting forces, so the long shot is the best we'll get. The Skaven were led by Warlord Ripear in his Wizarding Hat, who commanded a unit of Clanrats in the gate section. The Stormvermin held the adjoining section, led by the Plague Priest Cardinal Fang. Two units of Slaves held the two far ends, the one led by an Warlock Engineer. The courtyard held two Plagueclaw catapults, two units of Giant Rats, and a Hellpit Abomination. I also placed the Stormfiends, the Stormvermin's Warpfire Team, and a Warp Lightning Cannon in the towers. The Beastmen had two huge units of Gors to hold each of the wall sections flanking the center, one led by a Beastlord and Great Bray Shaman, and the other with a Wargor with Battle Standard. Behind the wall waited an enormous Cygor with a pile of rocks, and a unit of Ungor Skirmishers were moving up to the remaining Tower. Finally, a big unit of Minotaurs led by a Doombull were waiting right at the gate to be let out--they were not the type of creatures to (beast)man the walls! 

 The Undead Warhost in all their glory. Their blocks of infantry and weapons of destruction crept forward--the menace even worried the Skaven and Beastmen. Normally, Skaven and Beastmen were far more comfortable in tearing down buildings rather that defending them--but the Undead needed to be stopped, so a loose alliance of the children of the Chaos moon was struck. 

 The right flank of the Undead host contained a variety of units, most worrisome the Siege Tower. Pushed by a unit of Skeleton warriors and containing a small squad of Ghoul assault troops, it would be grim for the defenders if it reached their walls. 

 The rest of the left side of the force contained a massed unit of Skeletons, a huge mob of Ghouls, and a big group of Fell Bats. 

 The Undead had been busy and constructed a covered battering ram to assault the gate (great building and painting work by David on this one... it was even motorized so you could pull it back and it drove forward). Two Banshees floated near the ram and a massive Necrosphinx strode alongside as well. 

 A horde of Skeleton Bowmen, led by a Hierophant (on the right) and Queen Khalida herself. Their asp arrows were likely to be highly deadly to the attackers--even with the wall between them. 

 The left flank of the Undead force were a unit of Blood Knights and a massive Terrorgheist. 

 Near last but hardly near least, a Vampire Lord astride a Zombie Dragon lurked in the backfield, his spells and deadly mount ready to wreak havoc across the battlefield. 

 The true back line of the Undead force was a Casket of Souls, and a line of Screaming Skull Catapults: four total catapults! 

 As planned, the game began with the defenders flinging the gate open and the Minotaurs surging out. They began to close on the enemy, but quickly found themselves taking casualties. Most were from the screams of the Banshee, but a few came from friendly fire--the Stormfiends' shooting was a little less than reliable. 

 The Terrorgheist proved to be the first main threat to the integrity of the walls--with a single scream it killed scores of Skavenslaves, who then immediately fled from the walls and off the battlefield, leaving that section unguarded. I suddenly realized why the Skaven were more inclined to tear down buildings than defend them: they add their rank bonus to their leadership, but don't get rank bonuses while inside buildings. So the Slaves were perhaps the worst possible castle defenders ever (no surprise)--with Leadership 2, they were gone like rats off a sinking ship!

 While the first turn had only some maneuvering and shooting, turn two saw combat reached. The Skaven sent their tunneling Gutter Runners forward, taking out both a Screaming Skull Catapult with the Warp Grinder and the Casket of Souls with the Gutter Runners--the flashing Weeping Blade of the Death Runner making short work of the defenders. The casket burst open, and blasted the Warp Grinder and some nearby Skeletons--mercifully the Gutter Runners avoided the deadly retributive curse they released. 

The other back line support, a Skaven Assassin, showed up to menace the artillery crews. While his throwing stars did nothing, his wicked poisoned blades were ready to attack next turn. 

 The Minotaurs also reached combat--failing their Frenzy test they had to charge the nearest unit, so they flung themselves headfirst into the Banshee. Both the champion and the Doombull had magic weapons, so the ethereal Banshee was cut down in an instant--and they crashed forward into the Necrosphinx. While that combat would last for a bit, and a couple Minotaurs were killed, they kept winning their fights--so their Bloodgreed Frenzy kept increasing (Minotaurs get a bonus attack for each combat they've won, which stacks until they are defeated). They eventually cut down the Necrosphinx, and were up to 3 bonus attacks each by the time they did so. 

 The ominous approach of the Siege Tower had the Skavenslaves on the left side of the castle worried. They saw how weak the leadership was from the other slaves, so it was only a matter of time until they might break. They called to their Warlock Engineer leader to do something, anything, to help them. 

 So help them he did. The Engineer coordinated the shots of all the weaponry in the area--the slings of the slaves, the Warp Lightning Cannon, and the two Plagueclaw Catapults, to attack the unit pushing the Siege Tower. If enough were killed, they wouldn't be able to move the tower--wasting time by having another unit have to begin pushing it. All that firepower got them down to 10 Skeletons, the exact number needed to push it. It was then that the Warlock Engineer drew his Warplock Rifle, and took aim at a single Skeleton. With a crack, the pellet of Warpstone flew down and struck the Skeleton, destroying him and leaving the Siege Tower temporarily immobilized. A great cheer came up from the Skaven because of his accuracy. 

 Things didn't go quite as well for the Assassin, as the left the war machine crew to the Gutter Runners and charged to protect them by taking on a small unit of Skeletons--the crew that had been pushing the Battering Ram until they took too many casualties. However, his blades missed their marks entirely when he struck. And the Skeletons found a spot for theirs: right in his stomach. Wounded multiple times, the Assassin died ignobly taking on just a few weak troops. 

The Minotaurs, having downed the Necrosphinx, continued their trail of bloodshed and destruction. The Skeleton Archers, however, let forth a mighty volley of arrow fire--killing each of the Minotaurs except for the champion and the Doombull. While they were frothing at the mouth, the casualties were piling up. 

 The Warlock Engineer was also in a frenzy, albeit one of dead-eye shooting. He had suffered a wound miscasting a spell, but that spell had damaged the Zombie Dragon. The Warp Lightning Cannon had self destructed in a shot against the same Dragon. Yet he led on--and the fusillade of slings from his Skavenslaves improbably managed to wound both the Dragon and its rider severely. He mounted the ramparts yet again, and took aim with his Warplock Rifle--and again scored a wound on the target. This time, the mighty Zombie Dragon took the bullet straight to the brain, and it collapsed in a pile--leaving its wounded rider standing below.

 On the defenders right flank, the Beastmen held a valiant defense against their attackers. The Blood Knights had a magical banner that allowed them to ride their steeds directly up the walls to fight. Yet the boiling oil of the Beastmen Gors managed to kill a number of them, and while the Blood Knights were the superior fighters, the Gors managed to tie the battle--and with a burst of sound from their horn, they won! The Knights crumbled a little, and had to retreat back off from the walls. 

 At the center of the ramparts, the Skaven Stormvermin and Clanrats waited and watched. They took some fire from Skeleton Archers, but otherwise were waiting as the strength of the enemy attack seemed to be in the wings--their battering ram lay damaged and abandoned by the unit that had been pushing it. 

 The Vampire who had been mounted on the Zombie Dragon continued rushing forward, planning on potentially assaulting the walls himself. Another wound from slings hit him, leaving him hanging on by a single wound. And the Warlock Engineer, twice a hero before, leaped up to the battlements to fire his now-signature Warplock Rifle for a third time. As he pulled the trigger, however, the gun misfired. Even the reliability of the Skaven warplock technology couldn't save him, and the gun exploded in his hands. He was slain in a single instant by the very weapon that had made him a hero twice before. Such is the (short) life of a Skaven. 

 With their leader dead by his own misfiring weapon, the Skavenslaves were in no way ready for the arrival of the Siege Tower. The Grave Guard had taken over pushing it, and they finally reached the wall. The Ghouls poured out of the tower, and lay about attacking the Skavenslaves who quickly faltered and broke, leaving the Ghouls in control of that section of the wall. 

The two remaining Minotaurs crashed into the Skeleton Archers. The champion of the unit slowed down their attacks somewhat, but the sheer destruction they meted out continued to increase their frenzy. Eventually they hacked Queen Khalida and the Hierophant to bits, and then quickly carved their way through the rest of the unit. By the end of it all, they had won a whopping 7 rounds of combat during the game: that meant 7 bonus attacks each, over and above their already whopping stat line. 

On the wall, the Beastlord led his unit of Gors from their side of the wall to try and repel the Ghoul assailants. While they lost some of their own number, they destroyed the Ghouls and left that section of wall empty. 

The Skaven General, Warlord Ripear, had struggled with the subtle commands of his Wizarding Hat all game--at one point not even being able to cast spells for a round. But that all changed when he used the spell Transformation of Kadon. With a burst of green smoke, he transmogrified into a massive Emperor Dragon. Perched atop the gatehouse of the castle, the mighty beast gave a bellowing roar of defiance--ready to swoop down from the battlements onto the Undead below. 

Rallied by the magical prowess of their leader, the Stormvermin watched as a unit of Ghouls tried to scramble up their walls with grappling hooks. After killing a great number with dropped rocks, the combat was quick and decisive--the Ghouls crumbled and were thrown off the wall. 

The Great Bray Shaman led his unit of Gors in a similar fusillade of dropped rocks--theirs clattered off the unit of Ghouls assaulting them with devastating effect, leaving only a single Ghoul left standing from that first unit to reach their walls.

Yet not all the Undead were dispatched climbing the walls. The Grave Guard, now led by the injured Vampire who once rode the Zombie Dragon, climbed up the siege tower themselves, taking the wall segment and offering a deadly foe to the Beastmen nearby. 

Likewise on the right side of the castle, a Spirit Host managed to get a purchase of room up on the wall. With the Gors unable to damage the ethereal creature, they had to rely upon their leadership--which managed to hold through the end of the game, leaving that combat locked between the two foes--and that section of wall not awarded to either side for victory points. 

One last large block of Ghouls remained, again threatening the walls of the castle. The Plague Priest Cardinal Fang was ready, using his magical powers to send a tide of scurrying rats swarming over the battlefield in their direction. While it killed a few Ghouls, it was not enough to stop or slow them down. 

The battle ended with a last desperate surge for control over the castle. The Grave Guard and Vampire charged down into the courtyard, hoping their charge into the Plagueclaw Catapult would panic the Giant Rats that were possessing the courtyard. While the war machine was close, it wasn't that close and the Grave Guard failed their charge. This left them only contesting that half of the courtyard, not scoring its point at the end of the game. 

The game concluded with a pretty steady defense of the walls by the Skaven and Beastmen. The defenders scored 5 total points: one courtyard, three sections of wall, and the bonus point for the gate. The attackers only scored 1 point, as they were left contesting in two spots. I think everyone had a fun game, and there were triumphs and follies on both sides. We all agreed that Undead are not particularly suited to attacking castles, and that Skaven and Beastmen are not particularly suited to defending them either. In the battle of bad ideas, at least the Skaven managed to triumph. 

Battles

Total 2015: 23 (Win/Loss/Tie: 15/6/2)
Total 2014: 15 (Win/Loss/Tie: 8/6/1)

Skaven:
10 Wins (Undead 2, Empire 1, Lizardmen 2, T&T Daemons and Dwarfs, Siege Dwarfs and Bretonnians, T&T Daemons and Empire, T&T Dual Undead, Siege Dual Undead)
9 Losses (Lizadmen 1, Skaven 1, Empire 1, Dwarfs 1, Daemons 1, T&T Daemons 1, T&T Dwarfs 1, Special Game Nurgle, T&T Bretonnians 1)
1 Tie (Empire 1)

Dwarfs:
11 Wins (High Elves 1, Lizardmen 1, Dwarfs 3, Wood Elves 2, T&T Undead and Dwarfs, T&T Lizardmen and Wood Elves, T&T Chaos Legions and Lizardmen, Team Daemons and Tomb Kings)
2 Losses (Dark Elves 1, Empire 1)
1 Tie (T&T Dual Undead)

One Little Pox

Time again for my slavering ratmen to take the field in a game of Warhammer. Painting progress this week went very well: I finished seven Clanrats. 

Clanrats

I'm trying to balance between painting the rank-and-file of my forces and the special units and characters. I've got a thing for mixing up which characters I field, so I often add those more often in my painting rotation. But for this game, I wanted to get some line troops done. Seven more clanrats to push the Screaming Bell into battle!

This game pitted 3,000 points of my Skaven against 3,000 points of Tom's Lizardmen, in a rematch from last week's game. I kept basically the same units (cutting two Plague Monks, changing a magic standard, and adding a warplock pistol to the Stormvermin Fangleader), and Tom kept basically the same list as well. We got the "Battle for the Pass" mission, where the deployment zones are on the short edges of the table. With sides decided, it was time to deploy and clash again. 

 The Lizardmen battle line... Having retreated after the final battle, the Slaan and Oldblood regrouped with further spawnings for support against the approach of the vile ratmen. They formed together ample blocks of Saurus Warriors to hold the front line, along with a large unit of Saurus Cavalry and a Skink Cohort. The Lizardmen command lurked behind the lines: the Saurus Oldblood on a Carnosaur, a Skink Priest on a Stegadon, and a the Lore of Undeath-using Slaan Mage Priest. 

 The Skaven pressed their attack, their lines mostly intact from the prior battle--swelled by surging reinforcements from behind. The Screaming Bell pushed by a unit of Clanrats remained at the center of the push--the Blue Rat again shouting commands and blasting spells from his high perch. The great Verminlord Corruptor stalked alongside the horde, with rats careful to remain out of his poisonous miasma. Groups of Giant Rats, Rat Swarms, and Skavenslaves were forced to be close to the Verminlord, while the Stormvermin and Plague Monks remained far from his deadly spells. A Ratling Gun, a Warpfire Thrower, a Plagueclaw Catapult, and a Hell Pit Abomination rounded out the force that came crashing into the Lizardmen's reserves. 

 The early phase of the battle showed the two sides being wary, and relying upon magical prowess to build a comparative advantage over the opposite side. The Slaan Mage Priest began with bursts of unholy power, summoning his ability to raise the very dead from the ground. A haunting figure was the first: a Cairn Wraith rose from the ground to terrorize the Skaven.

 However, the Skaven were not content to lose the magical duel. The Verminlord Corruptor successfully cast his deadly Plague Spell on his first turn, which spread a single dreadful Pox across the battlefield. Ranks of Saurus Warriors in the two units perished, along with an (un)healthy number of Temple Guard. However, hardest hit was the Saurus Cavalry--they lost seven of their eleven number from the single spell. 

 A clash of arms quickly followed the magical duel, with the Abomination and Plague Monks crashing into the Skink Cohort. Many (many) Plague Monks were slain between the stand-and-shoot reaction, the poisoned attacks of the Skinks, and the super-deadly Kroxigors' attacks. 

 However, the attacks of the Skaven were equally destructive--the Skink Cohort fled from battle (the first of three times it would flee from combats only to rally again). That left the Abomination crashing into the Stegadon, a combat that would be locked until the final turn of the game. As the two titans clashed against each other, the remaining forces braced for their own combats. 

 As always, the Skaven brought their assault from unexpected directions. The Stormfiends crashed into the rear of the Temple Guard, and slowly set about massacring them. They took a few wounds (one from the Slaan itself), but eventually killed each and every one of the Temple Guard with their deadly grinding fists. The Lizardmen morale held firm, however, as they were not so easily spooked as the Skaven. 

 A block of Saurus Warriors, decimated from the spells of Plague and Scorch in the magic phases managed to reach a small unit of Giant Rats. The rats mounted a most feeble of defenses, failing to stop even a single one of the deadly foes, and they were wiped out to a man... er... rat... um... maybe man-rat. 

 Early losses from magic had disheartened the Lizardmen, but the victories of even decimated units of Saurus Warriors spurred their resolve. While the Stormfiends attacked his last remaining defenders, the Slaan Mage Priest managed to summon a unit of Dire Wolves to the battlefield to give combat to the Skaven foes. 

 The block of Saurus Warriors continued their rampage, this time smashing through a full four bases of Rat Swarms while only losing a single casualty of their own. The Skaven right flank was seriously weakened by this--and by the unit of Slaves and Warlock Engineer (in the foreground of the photo) who fled directly off the table in panic from the nearby destruction of the Rat Swarms. 

 The Saurus Oldblood on his Carnosaur rode to the defense of the Slaan Mage Priest, but it was too little too late. As he approached up the scree slope the whirling Doom-Flayer Gauntlets and Warp Grinder of the Stormfiends found their mark--the spiked and rotating blades tearing the soft flesh of Lizardmen general to pieces. In anger, the Oldblood and his Carnosaur slew one of the Stormfiends right where it stood, and then chased and ran down the other as it fled from combat. 

 The Slaan Mage Priest's last act had not been to protect himself, but rather to aid his own sides' cause. Another unit of Dire Wolves were conjured out of the earth, this time pointed at eliminating the last of the Plague Monks and their vile Plague Priest leader.

 Meanwhile, at the center of the Skaven line the Screaming Bell and the Clanrats pushing it were under assault from both sides--Saurus Warriors on their flank and the first summoned unit of Dire Wolves in their front. The Clanrats held firm, however: managing to survive more attacks than the enemy did. The attacks back proved to be more devastating than expected, and leaving the Lizardmen fleeing and eventually run down by the Bell and its unit, and the Dire Wolves destroyed. 

 At this point, the Skaven had way more remaining than the Lizardmen: the two Saurus characters were all the stood. And the one who had joined the Cavalry was fated to be another casualty. The Hell Pit Abomination had finally finished off the Stegadon (taking five wounds of its own in the process). With renewed vigor, it turned and crashed into the back of the Scar Vet--and was joined by the Stormvermin unit on his side. The weight of attacks tore him down, leaving only the Oldblood on Carnousair left for the Lizardmen forces. 

 The final round of magic saw the Verminlord Corruptor doing his best to destroy the Oldblood and his Carnosaur. Plague, Cloud of Corrupton, and Cracks Call were all leveled at the Oldblood, yet he took only a single wound from the entire onslaught. The Oldblood saw the course of the battle, and knew that the day was lost--but that the war was just beginning. He rode off again, hoping to rejoin other units and finally drive his spear into the heart of the Skaven army and end its threat to the Old World for good. 

As always, an entertaining game against a good player. The two turns of standing off most of the battle line really hurt the Lizardmen, as once they got into the mix--even with highly injured units--they tended to win most of their battles against the Skaven. Though I don't blame him, as that amazing first-round Plague spell resulted in the entire left flank of the force at half or worse strength. Just one little pox was enough to do so much. I won the battle on points, which finally drives my Skaven record to even in terms of wins and losses. There's definitely more tinkering to be done with the force, and sadly (or excitingly) a great deal of painting left as well. Next up: defending in a siege battle with a very different style of Skaven force!

Battles

Total 2015: 22 (Win/Loss/Tie: 14/6/2)
Total 2014: 15 (Win/Loss/Tie: 8/6/1)

Skaven:
9 Wins (Undead 2, Empire 1, Lizardmen 2, T&T Daemons and Dwarfs, Siege Dwarfs and Bretonnians, T&T Daemons and Empire, T&T Dual Undead)
9 Losses (Lizadmen 1, Skaven 1, Empire 1, Dwarfs 1, Daemons 1, T&T Daemons 1, T&T Dwarfs 1, Special Game Nurgle, T&T Bretonnians 1)
1 Tie (Empire 1)

Dwarfs:
11 Wins (High Elves 1, Lizardmen 1, Dwarfs 3, Wood Elves 2, T&T Undead and Dwarfs, T&T Lizardmen and Wood Elves, T&T Chaos Legions and Lizardmen, Team Daemons and Tomb Kings)
2 Losses (Dark Elves 1, Empire 1)
1 Tie (T&T Dual Undead)

The Bells of Death

Time for another Warhammer battle, and as always I added a new unit to my force for the game. Painting and then battle report below.

 The Blue Rat's new ride

The Blue Rat is the name I gave the Grey Seer that I conceptually have leading my Skaven army, and it was time for him to get a Screaming Bell to ride to war. You can see the original Blue Rat in the photo above--I matched the Seer atop the bell to him.  The bell is a combination of the bell, seer, and brazier from the new plastic Screaming Bell with the frame and crew of the oldest metal Screaming Bell. I'm pretty pleased with how it turned out: a nice mix of old looks and new together. And I'm really happy with the paint job. I like the idea of my charlatan Grey Seer mixing blue chemicals in all his warpstone and dyeing his own fur to match, all to manipulate his rise to power and the cults following his standard. And I like the way that the blue-tone warpstone and smokes gives it a different feel than the usual Skaven green glow... which so ubiquitous it has a paint color named after it.

The original is a cool look, but Hawk Turquoise, Stegadon Scale Green, and Ice Blue won out for my palette. 

The battle was 3,000 points of my Skaven versus 3,000 points of Tom's Lizardmen. I had built my force to achieve one of my Skaven Achievements: fielding all 13 spells from the two Skaven lores of magic in one army. A Grey Seer, a Verminlord Corruptor, two Level 2 Plague Priests, and a Level 1 Warlock Engineer got the job done--while I wasn't entirely pleased with the spread of spells and where units would be, it worked as a fun army concept to try at least! Preparing to start the battle, we rolled the Watchtower scenario, which meant another battle for control over the building at the center of the board. However, as events would play out, it turned out to be a rather different scenario. Time to cue the appropriate music: "Tubular Bells" from the Exorcist Soundtrack.

Ominous and disturbing bells tolled in the distance, their eerie clamor alerting the Lizardmen to the arrival of their foes. 

 The Lizardmen began with control of the tower, garrisoning it with a large unit of their deadly Saurus Warriors. They were determined: no rats would infest the tower this battle. 

 The Lizardmen's left flank was composed of a large Skink Cohort with three Kroxigors, and a unit of Saurus Cavalry on the far end. 

 At their center was an enigmatic Slaan Mage Priest leading his Temple Guard, along with another unit of Saurus Warriors and an Oldblood on a Carnosaur (carrying a suspicious-looking egg). 

 On the right flank of the Lizardmen force was a Skink Priest riding a mighty Ancient Stegadon topped by an Engine of the Gods. 

The Skaven marched into battle with the peals of their Screaming Bell echoing from the center of their force. Astride the bell perched their immortal and unstoppable leader, The Blue Rat: a Grey Seer who commanded the powers of magic both great and mundane. A unit of Clanrats wheeled the bell forward, while Slaves, Giant Rats, and Stormvermin all marched alongside. 

Tasked with assaulting the tower, a massive unit of Plague Monks--led by a Plague Priest--arrayed toward the right of the center. Supported by more Giant Rats and Rat Swarms, the force chanted unholy prayers to The Blue Rat and the forces of skittering darkness. 

 The prayers must have been heard, because on the far right of the battle line stalked a towering and decrepit presence: a Verminlord Corruptor. Answering the calls of the monks--enhanced by the magics of the great bell and The Blue Rat--the great daemon burst forth in a cloud of brimstone. Patrons of the nearby inn--"The Equine Elitists"--had not noticed the arrival of the two armies prepared to clash over their watchtower, owing to being deep in their cups with alcohol. However, with the arrival of the Verminlord Corruptor, the beer turned to ash in their mouths as they writhed and died in the putrid miasma that surrounded his powerful magical form. 

 The left flank of the Skaven brought two engines of destruction: a Hellpit Abomination--a mountain of churning, stitched-together ratflesh--and a Plagueclaw Catapult, poised to deliver its poisonous cargo across the Lizardmen lines. 

 Initial deployment and movement centered around occupying the great watchtower that stood at the center of the battlefield, seemingly the objective of both forces. However, it was not long until The Blue Rat commanded a strike of the bell that sent waves of unholy sound across the battlefield. With a shaking and crumbling noise, the watchtower that had stood for years suddenly caved in--killing 18 out of the 20 Saurus Warriors who had sheltered inside. The Blue Rat cackled with glee, then reached out with spells and commands to his weapon teams, to finish of the remaining two dust-coated Saurus Warriors. The Watchtower had never been his objective--simply ruin, destruction, and death. As the battle went on, his great bell would level two more buildings on the battlefield: it's tolling death threatening to bring all to ruin. 

 The Slaan Mage Priest was stunned by the destruction of the tower, but moved quickly to adjust his strategy to the Skaven skulduggery. Reaching his mind into the realm of undeath, the great frog summoned forth a unit of undead hounds set on obeying his commands and slowing the Skaven flanking force. The Dire Wolves scared a unit of Giant Rats into backing down, and then charged into the Hellpit Abomination in an attempt to injure the great beast--or at least slow it up. 

 The Skinks and their Kroxigor allies chose to charge the unit of Plague Monks, hoping their poison attacks would make work of the unarmored monks. While they did inflict a fair number of casualties, the monks also killed a number of Skinks themselves. In the end, it was the depth of the Plague Monks that carried the day--their ranks seeming endless in the eyes of the Skinks. While they only narrowly lost the fight, the Skinks had a sudden surge of fear in the face of the ratmen (rolling 3 sixes for their break test), fleeing and being run down with ease by the pursuing Plague Monks. 

 On the left flank, the Saurus Cavalry was harried by the destructive magics of the Verminlord Corruptor. Using the Plague spell to deadly effect twice, the cavalry was reduced to two members and their Scar-Veteran leader. Even when the plague got out of control and bounced to the rat swarms, the swarms survived without a single wound (improbably) while a few of the Lizardmen fell. Unable to manage a charge on the Verminlord, the cavalry instead launched into the swarms. Their losses must have motivated them to fight all the harder, as they cut through the Rat Swarms in a single turn. 

 With a rumble of dirt, the Stormfiends emerged from the ground and charged directly into the Lizardmen lines. While these deadly rat-creatures were able to kill some of the Saurus Warriors, they were unprepared for the deadly strikes in return. One was killed, and another deeply injured in the first round of combat. While the injuries continued to mount for the Stormfiends, their resolve somehow managed to remain firm--keeping them in a losing combat an improbable three times. Finally the last one submitted to the bites and spears of their foes, and fell to the ground dead. 

 The Plague Monks had been heartened by the ease of their destroying the Skink Cohort, and they rushed headlong into the path of the Oldblood and his Carnosaur. The euphoric confidence, no doubt bolstered by the narcotic fumes from their Plague Priest's censer, proved to be mistaken as the mighty Oldblood unleashed a wave of suffering on the Skaven. First, he lobbed an egg into the center of their lines, which gave birth to a strange, hobbled creature that proceeded to tear a full ten of their number to bits. The Plague Priest and the Monks realized that they needed to drop the mighty foe right away lest they flee--and their clawing and clubbing inflicted hideous wounds on both rider and mount. Yet both survived their onslaught, answering with the slaying of a full eight more Plague Monks before their attacks ceased. The unit, severely bloodied, fled and were run down by the vicious predators. 

 Meanwhile, the Hellpit Abomination had chewed its way through the Dire Wolves and reached the Lizardmen lines. It began an assault into the side of the Stegadon, which managed to survive the deadly strikes through only the slimmest of armored plating. The Slaan and his Temple Guard then charged in to try and balance the scales in their favor, only to find the Abomination an improbably deadly foe: he slew all but two of the temple guard in a hurricane of attacks, managed to avoid being slain by the Stegadon despite taking a severe wound from it, and even ducked a Hand of Dust spell leveraged against him by the Mage Priest. The hearty Lizardmen did not fear the beast, however, and all units remained locked in combat. 

The rampaging Carnosaur rider continued to press into the backfield of the Skaven, weathering the fire from a Ratling Gun shooting at him through the trees. When he reached the back of their lines, he realized that this force was just the tip of the iceberg: many more Skaven were rushing forward from a distant valley. It was time to end the battle before more losses were taken. 

As opposed to the last time I played a Watchtower scenario, the game ended right away at the end of the fourth turn. There had been little chance for the two armies to get into each other, and much of the battle had been maneuvering and positioning units while exchanging spells. Normally the Watchtower scenario revolves around who controls it, but with it destroyed--seeming to be the "in the odd case no one can be said to control the Watchtower" from the rules--the game was settled by victory points. My Skaven forces managed to amass 1,142 victory points. The Lizardmen were close behind with 968. That's just outside the 100-point band for a tie, so the Skaven managed a minor victory with this battle. Destroying the tower was both random and totally Skaven thing, and I rolled a "destroys buildings" result three times in a row in the game. Was definitely a signature outing for my Screaming Bell, and a great game against a really tough army list from Tom. 

Battles
Total 2015: 21 (Win/Loss/Tie: 13/6/2)
Total 2014: 15 (Win/Loss/Tie: 8/6/1)

Skaven:
8 Wins (Undead 2, Empire 1, Lizardmen 1, T&T Daemons and Dwarfs, Siege Dwarfs and Bretonnians, T&T Daemons and Empire, T&T Dual Undead)
9 Losses (Lizadmen 1, Skaven 1, Empire 1, Dwarfs 1, Daemons 1, T&T Daemons 1, T&T Dwarfs 1, Special Game Nurgle, T&T Bretonnians 1)
1 Tie (Empire 1)

Dwarfs:
11 Wins (High Elves 1, Lizardmen 1, Dwarfs 3, Wood Elves 2, T&T Undead and Dwarfs, T&T Lizardmen and Wood Elves, T&T Chaos Legions and Lizardmen, Team Daemons and Tomb Kings)
2 Losses (Dark Elves 1, Empire 1)
1 Tie (T&T Dual Undead)