AoS 3.0 Battle Report - Sylvaneth vs Gloomspite Gitz

[acr0ssth3p0nd]

Hey up, folks, just wanted to share a narrative-style Battle Report I wrote up during and after today's game.

I played my partner in our first game of AoS 3.0. We used Open Play so we could get right into the action, with 1,000 points of Gitz and Sylvaneth.

SYLVANETH - 1,000 pts

Wargrove: Winterleaf

Leaders:

Treelord Ancient - 295 pts

• General (Warlord trait: My Heart is Ice)
• Artifact: The Frozen Kernel
• Additional Spell: Regrowth

Branchwych - 90 pts

• Additional Spell: Deadly Harvest

Battleline:

10 Dryads - 95 pts

5 Tree-Revenants - 95 pts

Other Units:

3 Kurnoth Hunters with Greatswords - 225 pts

3 Kurnoth Hunters with Scythes - 215 pts

 

GLOOMSPITE GITZ - 980 pts

Allegiance: Jawz of Mork

Leaders:

Loonboss on Giant Cave Squig - 110 pts

• General (Warlord trait: Envoy of the Overbounder)
• Artifact: Syari Screamersquig
• Core Battalion: Warlord

Madcap Shaman - 80 pts

• Additional Spell: Itchy Nuisance
• Artifact: Spiteshroom Familiar

Madcap Shaman - 80 pts

• Additional Spell: The Hand of Gork

Battleline:

10 Squig Hoppers - 180 pts

12 Squig Herd - 160 pts

12 Squig Herd - 160 pts

Other Units:

10 Boingrot Bounders - 210

• Core Battalion: Warlord

 

TABLE SIZE: 30" by 48"

BATTLEPLAN: Drawn and Quartered - four objectives, one in each table corner.

DEPLOYMENT: Territories along the long edges of the table, separated by 18" of no-man's-land.

ROUND 1 (3-2 Sylvaneth)

The first round saw the Sylvaneth dealing a brutal alpha strike, dropping four separate Wyldwoods, with a Treelord Ancient and a unit of Kurnoth Hunters with swords crushing the Loonboss and their Squig mount before the git could even react, and crippling the Boingrot Bounders to take three out of four objectives and score 3.

The Gitz tried to fight back, but their Squig Hoppers bounced uselessly off a wall of Dryads and more Kurnoth Hunters with scythes, taking only a few of the tree-ladies with them. Their Squig Herds moved into position, one of them thrown across the board by a spectral green hand. The Ancient and the Sword Hunters wrapped up the rest of the Bounders, losing a single Hunter in the fray. 5 Tree-revenants guarded the rearline objective for the Sylvaneth, while two Mapcap Shamans guarded the lone Gloomspite objective. But the earth rumbled like it had eaten a bad mushroom, and 5 more Bounders leapt from their Loonshrine to take back the objective from the Kurnoth Hunters who had slain their brethren, scoring 2 points for the Gitz.

 

ROUND 2 (6-4 Sylvaneth)

At the start of the second round, the Bad Moon rolled into view. The Sylvaneth took the first turn, and the Sword Hunters moved to crush the new Bounders. These gitz gave as good as they got, taking out another Kurnoth Hunter before they, too, were crushed into the earth and the Sylvaneth reclaimed their objective. The Dryads and their Scythe Hunter brethren cut through the rest of the Squig Hoppers.

Things looked bad for the Gitz, but the power of the Bad Moon cannot be underestimated...

One Squig Herd surged towards the Dryads and their Scythe Hunters, the light of the Bad Moon nipping at their heels. The other herd, recovering from their trip via Hand of Gork, crashed into the Tree-Revenants holding the back line for the Sylvaneth. And then, the awful Open Play Ruse of the Gloomspite Gitz (determined by our cat who loves to bat dice around) revealed itself - a full unit of reinforcements, ten Boingrot Bounders, who charged the Tree-Revenants and nearly wipe them to a man. The nearby Squig Herd cleaned up the rest, while the other chewed through the Kurnoth Hunters with Scythes even as the Hunters and Dryads cut them to ribbons, finally managing to kill one Hunter as the unit scattered in panic during the Battleshock phase.

End of the second round sees the Sylvaneth leading 6 to 4, but hurting badly. Half the Kurnoth Hunters and all the Tree-Revenants are gone, and the Dryads are reduced to a single solitary warrior, wailing in grief. Only the Treelord Ancient and the Branchwych stand unharmed, and they now face a double turn in favor of the Gloomspite Gitz, with a full unit of ten Boingrot Bounders, a solid herd of Squigs, and whatever reinforcements the Loonshrine may spit up at the end of the Gitz' turn.

The Sylvaneth must make cunning use of their remaining forces and command points to blunt the Squig spearhead and reclaim their hold on the battlefield, while the Gitz must pull off a cruicial charge or two to take out the Treelord before it can strike them back. It's anyone's game at this point...

 

ROUND 3 (9-6 Sylvaneth)

The game resumed, with the Gloomspite Gitz taking the first turn.

At this point, the Gitz made a critical error. Intimidated by the size of the Treelord Ancient, the Bounders and Squig Herd decided to instead push towards the Kurnoth Hunters with Scythes, who were notably further away. A good Run roll put the Gitz just inside 9" - allowing the Hunters to Redeploy 2", causing the Bounders to fail their charge! At the end of their turn, the Gitz earned two more points to tie at 6-6, and the Loonshrine's squighole failed to cough up any reinforcements.

The Sylvaneth swung back with some calculated spells and movement. Three Dryads returned with a Rally, the Branchwych cast a Mystic Shield upon the Kurnoth Hunters with Scythes, and the Treelord Ancient walked the spirit paths and prepared to charge the Gloomspite wizards sitting on their back objective. Three fantastic charge rolls later, and the Scythe Hunters and Dryads were upon the Bounders, and the Treelord crashed into the two Wizards, stomping one for two mortal wounds. The Kurnoth Hunters kicked off the Combat Phase by reaping four of the ten Boingrot Bounders, but thundering footsteps shook the earth, and a hairy monster from the darkest depths of Ghur descended upon the battlefield!

We decided to resume once the beast had sated its bloodlust and moved on...

 

 

With the Godbeast's wrath abated, the Squig Herd chomped into the Dryads, who somehow held on with only their Nymph remaining. Across the battlefield, the Treelord Ancient squashed one of the Git Shamans to a pulp, avenging the Dryads and further cementing its dominance. To end the Sylvaneth Turn 3, the Boingrot Bounders hit back at the Scythe Hunters, but the Wych's shield held strong and the Hunters endured. The Sylvaneth scored another 3 points, bringing their score to 9 against the Gloomspite's 6.

 

ROUND 4 (12-8 Sylvaneth)

The Gitz won the rolloff for Round 4, taking the next turn. The Bad Moon began to set, but continued to shine on what remained of their forces. The Bounders railed on the remaining Hunters, slaying one of them and losing two of their own in return, while the Squig Herd finished off that heroic Branch Nymph. The Treelord Ancient pulverised the final Madcap Shaman, eliminating the last pockets of resistance in that quarter of the board. All forces passed their Battleshock tests, determined to see this fight through to the end, and 5 Squig Hoppers rose from the Loonshrine, to take the nearby objective and threaten the single Sword Kurnoth Hunter nearby. The Gitz now had two objectives and scored two points, ending their turn 8 to 9.

As the Sylvaneth entered their turn four, that lone Kurnoth Hunter rallied his forces in a last-ditch effort, and was rewarded with the return of one of his fellows. The Scythe Hunter ran the spirit paths and retreated well away from the last four Bounders and that nasty Squig Herd, while the Branchwych run further away to deny the Herd and the Bounders a juicy charge target. Though the Ancient whiffed its Doom Tendril Staff shots at the new Squig Hoppers, the two Sword Hunters charged in and cleared off the objective, reclaiming it for the Sylvaneth, who earned 3 points and extended their lead to 12 points over the Gitz' 8.

 

ROUND 5 (14-10 Sylvaneth)

Turn Five hits, and the Bad Moon continued to loom over that last quarter of the table that was still laden with Squigs! The Gitz took the first turn, and make two tactical moves - one with the Squig Herd towards the Sword Hunters and their objective, and the other with the Bounders towards the objective watched over by the Branchwych. The Hunters rooted in place as the Squigs made their charge, which cleverly prevented one of the Hunters from fighting with careful positioning, and the Bounders struck in at the Branchwych, dealing two mortal wounds on their charge.

The Squig Herd made an All-Out Attack on the Hunters, but only managed to scrape two wounds off one of them, as the Treelord's commands and the Hunters' roots kept their armor save at 3+. That hunter hit back with a great swing of his sword and slew three of the Squigs. The wounded Wych sliced down a Bounder, but the other three brought her down and claimed the objective for the Gitz. Battleshock routed most of the remainder of the Squig Herd, and though the Hunters were wounded in the scuffle, they remained on their feet, retaining hold of their objective for the Sylvaneth. No more squiggly beasts emerged from the Loonshrine, and the Hunters were unchallenged. The Gitz gained 2 points, bringing their final score to 10.

The Sylvaneth easily squashed the last three Squigs, and with little other choice, were forced to allow the remaining Bounders to live, keeping two objectives in the hands of the Gitz. The Sylvaneth claimed the other two, bringing their final score to 14.

 

AFTERMATH

And thus the Battle of the Squighole was ended, and that awful shrine to the Bad Moon brought down. Though the Sylvaneth claimed a solid victory of 14 points to the Gitz' 10, it was hard-fought, and several times the outcome of the battle hinged on a knife's-edge.

Overall, this was a solid entry into 3rd Edition, and my partner and I also discovered a new favorite way to play, spreading rounds out over the course of a day and playing in between chunks of work and chores. This playstyle allowed for us to refresh ourselves and maintain a good sense of momentum throughout the game, and I can't wait to play another game next week. We're looking forward to picking up a set of Mangler Squigs to add some extra oomph to her Gitz and go toe-to-toe with my Treelord Ancient.

Edited July 9, 2021 by acr0ssth3p0nd

[Legatus Seneca]

Thank you for an entertaining read.

My two take away points:

- use monsters to destroy faction terrain; especially if it can deny reinforcements

- I really want these “roaming monsters” for the Season of Ghur.
  Games Workshop gave us Endless Spells. Wasted opportunity if they don’t do it.

[acr0ssth3p0nd]

11 hours ago, Legatus Seneca said:

Thank you for an entertaining read.

My two take away points:

- use monsters to destroy faction terrain; especially if it can deny reinforcements

- I really want these “roaming monsters” for the Season of Ghur.
  Games Workshop gave us Endless Spells. Wasted opportunity if they don’t do it.

Glad you enjoyed it! This was a casual game, and the first one we'd run with Jawz of Mork, so I wanted to give my partner as much use out of her "Squighole" as possible - otherwise, I definitely would have stomped it with the Treelord. And yeah, GW should definitely do a battlepack with a bunch of Narrative/Open Play stuff for Ghur, with things like Wandering Monsters.

[Aezeal]

Nice paint job on that wandering monster