JOE PLAYED A GAME!!!

I know its a miracle but hey they happen every once in a while. So I played the new VC book against Spencer and a 2 Furnace, 2 Aboms + Bell list. It was like being baptised by fire but thats the only way you learn right.

So here was my list, and before the hordes of experts pick apart my list like carrion on a dead guy, it was meant to feel out th new book while playing with units I like. The book really brings back the feel Undead had in 6th and 7th editions which where the most fun for me. So I decided that I would get back into playing with this book and just have to deal with the stupidness that is 8th edition.

Vampire Lord - 448
Sword of Strife (40), Dragon Helm (10), Dawnstone (25)
Potion of Strength (20), Heavy Armor (6), Shield (3), Barded Nightmare (24)
Red Fury (50), Quickblood (30) and Fear Incarnate (20)

Wight King - 165
BSB (25), Armor of Silvered Steel (45), Ironcurse Icon (5)
Great Weapon (5)

Necromancer - 125
Lvl 2 (35), Dispel Scroll (25)

Necromancer - 125
Lvl 2 (35), Book of Arkhan (25)

39 Skeleton Warriors - 225
Full Command (30), Hand Weapons (0)
Light Armor (0) and Shields (0)

40 Zombies - 130
Standard (5) and Musician (5)

40 Zombies - 130
Standard (5) and Musician (5)

40 Crypt Ghouls - 410
Ghast (10)

5 Dire Wolves - 40

5 Dire Wolves - 40

Spirit Host - 45

Spirit Host - 45

Spirit Host - 45

Spirit Host - 45


9 Blood Knights- 480
Standard (10), Musician (10) and
Banner of Eternal Flame (10)

Total: 2498


Game Summary: I knew that Spencers army was just going to bunch up together and hit me straight on, not too much else you could do with 2 Furnaces, Bell and 2x Abominations. I had more units to deploy so I could wait to drop the Lord and Blood Knight unit to be near at least one Abom. most of both of our armies set up on the right side of the table (spencers left) and we just flew at each other. Spirit host were awesome at helping direct units where I wanted them to go, and the dire wolves did the same. One key note is that Spencer did not have the points to get Magical attacks on the Aboms, which you will rarely see, but it allowed me to charge them with Spirit hosts and even with no wounds I would win the combat by charging. This worked well and Spencer fled on both occasions, sadly my dice did not help as usual.

The game really came down to a combat that involved my Lord and Blood Knights against the Bell Unit to the front and a Furnace unit to the side. I completely forgot about the Combat reform in 8th which is what allowed the Furnace in the side, if I would have placed a Spirit host base properly it would have gave me one full turn on comabt against the Bell's unit with the Blood Knights and Lord. The lords unit would put out 17 Str7, 7 Str 5 (Red Fury could make it 14!) and 10 Str4 attacks. So that would have been a lot of dead skaven and put me in a good spot for the following rounds.

In the end the Blood Knights were taken down by toughness tests by the Furnace, but the Lord survived until the last turn and single handedly killed 90% of both the Clanrat and Plague Monks he was fighting. The combo on the lord is great and will certainly shred any unit that he comes into contact with. No Ward save is a little worry some but I will keep playing games and see how he fairs.

Spencer handed me a sound defeat, but I did kill 2 Aboms, Plague Priest, Clanrats pushing Bell, Monks pushing 1st bell and all but 3 of the ones pushing the other bell.

After Thoughts:

- A Lvl 4 is needed in my mind. In the game with Spencer I only got one Invocation off. Now this was partly to do with the fact that I never rolled higher then a 6 on the winds of magic, and Spencer had a Lvl 4 to dispel what I did throw.

- Just play more games, I am so rusty that I was not aware of alot of little things that I could do. Combat reforms, pre-measuring (I did it just not as much as I should have). So practice it is.

- 8th is till very random for me and I will just have to make armies that dont have to rely on the random or minimize it.