Having recently finished assembling the second half of my Nighthaunt army I was eager to get a full 2,000 point game in with them. I also plan on taking this army to a few tournaments over the next year, so I wanted to see how it would do in a hardcore setting. Luckily for me Brad, aka Rhellion on Twitter, is in my local gaming group and is known to run pretty tough lists. In fact, I haven't won a game against him yet; could my Nighthaunts clinch the win though?
I met up with Brad yesterday at Imperium Games in the Detroit area to get a game in. Brad brought his "Mooclan," aka Beastclaw heroes mixed with Moonclan grots for Battleline, while I brought my double Mourngul pure Nighthaunt army.
Army Lists:
Nighthaunt:
- Banshee
- Banshee
- Cairn Wraith: Cursed Book
- Cairn Wraith
- 6 Spirit Hosts
- 6 Spirit Hosts
- 3 Spirit Hosts
- 5 Hexwraiths
- 5 Hexwraiths
- Mourngul
- Mourngul: General, Red Fury
2,000 points
Destruction:
- Frostlord on Stonehorn: General, Ravager, Battle Brew
- Huskard on Thundertusk
- Huskard on Thundertusk
- Huskard on Thundertusk
- Grot Shaman
- 20 Grot Archers with nets
- 20 Grot Archers with nets
- 20 Grot Archers with nets
- 3 Fanatics
1,990 points
Deployment
We both decided to play the new version of the Escalation scenario since neither of us have played it yet and Brad wanted to prep for a tournament next weekend. Since this was Escalation we had to deploy our Battleline units 9" from the center line, our Behemoths 24" back, and everything else 18" back. I won the roll and decided to take the side that had two pieces of Sinister terrain and a piece of Damned terrain since they would benefit my army the most. I deployed most of my army in the center and on the right side of the board with just a three strong unit of Spirit Hosts and a Banshee on the right to try and grab that objective. Since Brad had less drops than me I was also able to see where he put all of his big hitters before I deployed my Mournguls. Having seen the game on the Warhammer TV Twitch feed with the Nighthaunts vs the Heat 3 winning Moonclan army I made sure to deploy my Mournguls slightly apart so that they didn't get tied up by the same Fanatic. I also made sure to string my larger units of Spirit Hosts out so they were in range of the Damned terrain so I could take advantage of it if I wanted. Brad spaced his three units of Grots out across the three objectives and grouped all four of his Beastclaw heroes in the back in the center. Brad finished deploying first and let me have the first turn.
Brad's Pre-Game Thoughts:
My initial thoughts when rocking up to this match up was the worry about the double Mourngul. I've played them in the past and I know a Frostlord on Stonehorn can handle one Mourngul... but two? We'll see. My initial plan is to ignore them at first and try to kill of Tyler's scoring units. Whether that will be successful will remain to be seen. I have also not ever played the new Escalation, meaning my big stuff will be far back. I think I will be playing catch-up. I don't want to be too aggressive with my scorers and get them killed off before my gribblies can arrive to fight. I've played this list a LOT this year at tournaments so I do know how strong it is, and how best to pick my targets, but over extending with it, especially against a tough Nighthaunt list, can prove to be a problem.
My Pre-Game Thoughts:
I have played this army once before with my Nighthaunts actually, but only at 1,000 points. In that game he only had half the Beastriders, but even then Frostlord had managed to take out my Mourngul in one round of combat before I even got to swing, so I knew how tough the list was. My plan was to try and target the Rider's one at a time, using the Mournguls supported by some mortal wound dealing Spirit Hosts, while the rest of my Spirit Hosts, Hexwraiths, and heroes took care of the Grots and secured objectives. I knew it was going to be an uphill battle since the Rider's are so dang tough and the large units of Grots would always outnumber me near objectives, but I was hoping on the resilience of my army and their mortal wound output to bring me though.
Turn 1
My Turn:
Not having much else to do, I ran my entire army forward, trying to stick to cover as much as I could. I used the Damned terrain rule on both of my larger units of Spirit Hosts, to get them ready for any combat since it gives them +1 to hit. This is a big deal for Spirit Hosts since they normally inflict mortal wounds on a 6, but with this they would now do it on a 5+ in combat. After rolling to see how many mortal wounds they suffered themselves from invoking the Damned terrain (part of that terrain's rules) and rolling for my Death save (I made sure to evenly space out my four heroes throughout my army so everything was covered), I took two wounds on the left unit and one on the right. My Mourngul, who was also my general, managed to roll very well for its run roll and got right up near my front lines. I knew Destruction was fast, but figured with all of his big monsters on the back line there would be no way he could reach me on turn one.
Brad's Turn:
Brad promptly used the Battle Brew on his Frostlord on Stonehorn and started moving his army forward with his destruction move. In his movement phase he moved even further, with all of his Grots inching forward towards the objectives, the three Thundertusk Huskards hanging back a bit, and his Frostlord running forward ending its move right in front of my lines. In the shooting phase he managed to kill two of my Spirit Hosts on my left flank with the combined fire of the Grots and Thundertusk there. In the center he killed three of my Hexwraiths with one of his Thundertusks. Those things are incredibly nasty since they can do 6 mortal wounds on a 2+. His Stonehorn also has the ability to charge even if it ran, so he plowed headlong into my Mourngul after rolling an 11 on his charge move. He also rolled a 6 on his run earlier, so I stand by my statement of in normal circumstances I should have been safe for the first turn. A Frostlord on Battle Brew is nothing to mess with, and even at -1 to hit from the Mourngul, he managed to take him off in one round of combat. It didn't help that I couldn't make a 3+ save to save my own life, or a 6+ Death save. In return my Spirit Hosts piled in, and combined with the Hexwraiths, managed to knock a few wounds off of him. With both our battle lines close together and turn two the start of when we could start scoring from the objectives we rolled for priority with Brad getting the double turn.
Turn 2
Brad's Turn:
Brad continued to advance his Grots towards the objectives, ensuring he was in place to score all three points at the end of his turn. In the Shooting phase he knocked all but one wound off of my Banshee on the left flank, but my Spirit Host managed to hang on despite the attention of a Thundertusk and Grot archers. He also killed a few more Spirit Hosts in the center with his other two Thundertusks as well as my Cairn Wraith with the Cursed Book. In combat his Frostlord managed to kill off the rest of the Spirit Host unit, while my Hexwraith's did a few wounds back in return. Securely in control of all of the objectives he scored 3 points at the end of his turn.
My Turn:
In my movement phase I advanced my last Spirit Host and Banshee on the left flank towards his Grots, while on the right flank the other unit of Spirit Hosts, Banshee, and Hexwraiths moved towards the Grots over there as well as that objective. In the center, with little other choice, I flew my second Mourngul over towards the Frostlord in hopes of maybe killing it, and sent the remaining Cairn Wraith towards his Grots. My unit of Hexwraiths on the right ran and managed to run over the unit of Grots, inflicting a few mortal wounds, and wound up back where they started. My Hexwraiths in combat with the Frostlord retreated and ran in a zigzag pattern over both the Frostlord and the nearby Thundertusk, but didn't manage any mortal wounds. In my shooting phase I was finally able to use one of my favorite attacks in the army, the Banshee's scream, and killed a handful of Grots on both flanks due to their low Bravery. In the combat phase I charged my Mourngul into his Frostlord, and everything else into his Grots, which triggered his Fanatics. On the right the Fanatic charged my Spirit Host and also tied up my Banshee, while the center Fanatic charged my right unit of Spirit Hosts on their left side, who were also charged on their left side by the other Fanatic, ensuring they couldn't pile in towards the main unit of Grots. I then charged my Banshee over top of the combat and into the Grot archers since she can fly. Luckily all of the Fanatics failed to do any damage and were all killed in return, but they did their job and held up the bulk of my army for a turn of combat. The Wraith killed a couple of Grots and the Banshee, amazingly, also manage to kill a couple of them. The Mourngul managed to do about four wounds to the Frostlord and was reduced to one remaining in return. In the ensuring Bravery phase even more of the Grots in each unit ran away, including the entire unit on the right, wiping them out. This allowed me to secure that objective, scoring me 1 point. This was a pretty pivotal priority roll, and Brad got it once again.
Turn 3
Brad's Turn:
In Brad's hero phase his Grot Shaman cast Arcane Bolt and caused a few wounds on my Wraith and then in his movement phase he shifted his middle Thundertusk around and advanced another one of them towards my right flank. In the shooting phase he tried to shoot my Banshee and Spirit Host on the left again, but somehow they both managed to hang on, even though they both only had one wound left. He did pick off the two remaining Hexwraith's over there though. On the left I lost three more Spirit Hosts to Thundertusk shooting. In the combat phase he charged his Grot archers into my last Spirit Host on the left and decided to attack with them first. Finally they managed to drag him down, but since they went first that allowed me to attack with my Mourngul in the center. He only did two more wounds though, healing one wound, before being killed in return. On the left my Banshee was in range to pile into his Grots, but failed to do anything. The Wraith in the center had his last wounds knocked off and fell to the Grots. At the end of his turn he scored 2 more points, for a total of 5.
My Turn:
I didn't have much to move anymore, so my right flank started to sweep towards Brad's army, making sure to leave some of my Hexwraiths in range of the right objective. In the shooting phase my Banshee screamed into the Grots and killed a few more, while on the right I knocked a wound off of that Thundertusk with my Banshee over there. I then charged my Spirit Hosts into the Thundertusk, but unfortunately wasn't able to do anything since its aura makes me -1 to hit and takes away my ability to do mortal wounds. In the Bravery phase the Grots on the right lost even more models and were left with only four remaining. Still in control of the right side objective I scored another point, for a total of 2. Not wanting to break a growing trend, I lost the priority roll again.
Turn 4
Brad's Turn:
Without much opposition left Brad started to move his Frostlord towards my right flank. In the shooting phase I lost three of my Hexwraiths to the Thundertusk shooting. Somehow my Banshee with one wound left still managed to hang on despite getting shot at by two units, while the one on the right wasn't so lucky and was taken down. In combat I again didn't do much to the Thundetusk but only lost one Spirit Host in return. My Banshee failed to hit since she was at -1 to hit from the Grot's nets. With his Grots still hanging on by four models on the left, Brad scored another 2 points for a total of 7.
My Turn:
All I could do was move my Hexwraith's into cover, hoping to brave the coming storm. My last Banshee screamed at the remaining four Grots and finally killed them, while in combat I didn't do a whole lot of anything. I did manage to score 2 points though since I had both side objectives, brining my total to 4. Priority once again went to Brad for the final turn.
Turn 5
Brad's Turn:
At this point there wasn't much doubt as to what would happen, and the rest of my army was taken off through shooting before any combat could happen. When all was said and done the final score was 8 - 4 in Brad's favor.
Brad's After Game Thoughts:
Thanks for the game, Tyler! Wow... my Stonehorn sure rolled well turn 1 with Destruction move, runs, and charge rolls. With how fast Tyler moved up with the first turn I gave him, I was definitely worried the objectives would get swarmed. My original plan went out the window when I saw how fast the General / Mourngul moved towards the center of the board. If that guy had gotten into my goblins they wouldn't be scoring,l they would all be dead! The fast Stonehorn gave me the ability to get him turn 1, and from there I think it was gravy locking down the middle of the board. Being able to screen with my goblins and shoot the Thundertusks over them on the double turn is generally a brutal start to any game and it paid off for me. Still, if I hadn't have been so lucky with initiative rolls I do think it could have been a different outcome. You have to have scoring units to win objectives! Tough fought game. Thanks again.
My After Game Thoughts:
I knew this was going to be a tough game from the get go since Brad is an amazing player and his army list is as hard as nails. This was perfectly fine though since two Mournguls was nothing to laugh at either, even though his one Frostlord managed to kill both of mine single-handedly. My dice were pretty terrible all game, with me failing a lot of 3+ rolls and losing every single priority roll, but I also made a few crucial mistakes. I should have played more cautiously in the first turn and hung my hard hitting units back to counter attack later. When I lost my Mourngul with Red Fury I pretty much lost any chance of taking down his Frostlord. Brad also played fantastically and man I hate those Thundertusks. They are crazy good. I forgot about the Frostlord's breath attack doing 6 mortal wounds, which pretty much negates my army's ability to ignore rend, as well as their -1 to hit aura, which negate my own mortal wound output. I suffered from not knowing my opponent's warscrolls too well and should have taken a moment before the game to read them again. I'm not sure how I would have dealt with the Thundertusks with that knowledge, but maybe I would have thrown my heroes and Hexwraiths into them first to soften them up a bit, or even pit my Mournguls against them while leaving the rest of my army to deal with the Frostlord. Now I know for future games. These guys are definitely a hard counter to my list.
This was my first 2,000 point game with my Nighthaunts and it was probably one of the toughest match ups I could have. Now that I've faced this it can only get better from here. Also, double Mourngul doesn't look so bad when they're up against Beastclaws, especially that Frostlord. I would have to say he was the undisputed man of the match, killing both of the Mournguls himself. Thanks again to Brad for a great game and you can follow him on Twitter @Rhellion.
Until next time,
Tyler M.
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