Recently, I started going to the local games store. The people are nice, and I'm loving Age of Sigmar. There is only one problem...I'm a graduate student and therefore my disposable income is essentially nonexistent. I dithered, I fussed, I tried to think of where I could scrounge up a few extra bucks, and every time I went back to the store I felt terrible leaving empty handed -- the place is, after all, a business, and I'm not exactly helping the bottom line. 

So I talked to my wife and she, as usual, worked out something of a solution. No, we can't afford models or paint or anything else involved in this very (very) expensive hobby -- but we do have a printer. And here we are, super budget wargaming. Stuff from around the house for terrain, paper bases cut to size. The folks at the store don't like it, but that's alright. We can play each other, and without the expensive hobby bits we can experiment a bit. 

With the help of the new Path to Glory (which a friend generously let us borrow for an afternoon...) we've put together a bit of a ladder for ourselves. Eight games, two armies, and every bit of randomness we can manage. 

SUPER-BUDGET WARGAMING STARTING WARBANDS

Mine (Slaanesh)                                                                                                                                                                                                              

Herald of Slaanesh on Seeker Chariot (General)                                                                                                                                                    

- Spiteful Destroyer                                                                                                                                                                                                                

- Daemon Weapon                                                                                                                                                                                                                          

          Herald of Slaanesh on Steed                                                                                                                                                                                                        

          Herald of Slaanesh on Steed                                                                                                                                                                                                        

          Hellflayer                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      

          10 x Daemonettes                                                                                                                                                                                                                        

Hers (Flesh Eater Courts)

 Abhorrent Ghoul King (General)

- Death Incarnate

- Cursed Book

          10 x Crypt Ghouls

          10 x Crypt Ghouls

          10 x Crypt Ghouls

          10 x Crypt Ghouls

ROUND 1 

For our first battle, we are using the Ambush! Narrative battleplan from the new 40k rulebook, because we found it online and liked the look of it. From our narrative we played it as though my Slaaneshi warband wandered into the wrong village in the Realm of Beasts. That village happened to be full of ghouls. Setup wise, the attacker (me) gets to deploy within a 12" by 36" box on one side of the battlefield. The ambusher gets to deploy anywhere outside of 18" away, or within a 6" gap on the flanking board edges. The end goal is for my army to escape the far board edge -- 1/2 or more units is a major victory, 1/3 or more is a minor, and anything less is major defeat. 

We used the concealed deployment recommendation (tokens for FEC deployment, flipped over to reveal what is where once everything is on the table.) I won the roll to deploy first and knowing that the victory condition was escape rather than fighting I pushed everything as close to the far side as possible. This was a mistake, as it also clumped my units together and effectively neutered the mobility that is my real strength. The FEC deployed on the flanks, close as possible and set to close from both sides.

Long story short (we did keep a detailed transcript of everything we did just to keep track of things, but didn't take pictures) the ghouls closed the gap before I could move things around, and the rest of the battle consisted of a single long scrum. I tried to maneuver, but ghouls are simply amazing tarpits, and my chariots are just too big to really move around. The real MVP was definitely the Cursed Book though -- I cannot say how annoying it is for all of my 6's to lose out on spawning additional attacks because of that stupid things -1 to hit!

It was pretty easy game for the Flesh Eater Court really: none of the summoned crypt ghouls units from the Ghoul King's command ability even made it to the fight. Without the charge, the hellflayer couldn't utilize it's soul-scent ability, and my general just didn't have the same punch. That said, she did wipe an enitre unit of Ghouls in 1 round of attacks, which is nothing to sneeze at. On my end, I was happy with my use of the Daemonettes to screen my general -- I caught the Ghoul King on the initial charge with them and he never did make it through to hit my Herald on Seeker Chariot (even if he did knock 4 wounds off the Hellflayer).

I definitely think the game was lost in deployment. If I had been more conservative and spaced my units better, Sally could not have caught everything on the opening charges and I could have either made a break for it and salvaged at least a minor victory or shifted the lines with a quick flank. That said, we both had a great time and can't wait for Round 2. 

ROUND 1 RESULTS

FLESH EATER COURT MAJOR VICTORY

Slaanesh Losses: 2 Heralds of Slaanesh on Steeds, 1 Hellflayer, 10 Daemonettes

Flesh Eater Court Losses: 28 Crypt Ghouls  

Since it's just the two of us and we want things to be even, we are actually switching the rewards from Games Workshop's rulebook. Since I suffered a major defeat, I will roll three times for rewards, and since my wife landed a major victory she will roll once.  If a follower reward is selected, that unit is also increased in size once (i..e. 10 Ghouls become 20, 1 Hellflayer becomes 2).  Here's what the new warbands look like...

SLAANESH                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 

Herald of Slaanesh on Seeker Chariot (General)                                                                                                                        

- Spiteful Destroyer                                                                                                                                                                              

- Daemon Weapon                                                                                                                                                                                 

- Aura of Acquiescence (-1 to hit against champion)                                                                                                                

         Herald of Slaanesh on Steed                                                                                                                                                        

         Herald of Slaanesh on Steed                                                                                                                                                        

         Hellflayer                                                                                                                                                                                        

         5 x Seekers                                                                                                                                                                                    

         5 x Seekers                                                                                                                                                                                       

         10 x Daemonettes

FLESH EATER COURT

Abhorrent Ghoul King (General)

- Death Incarnate

- Cursed Book

         20 x Crypt Ghouls

         - Hunger for Flesh (+1 Attack once per battle)

         10 x Crypt Ghouls

         10 x Crypt Ghouls

         10 x Crypt Ghouls 

* EDITED 10:45 8/3/2017 FOR FORMATTING