Vern and his Wonderous Journeys

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Thursday, March 30, 2006

They have returned...

"Oh shit, am I seeing things? Is it really them." The Druchii warrior point at the new regiment joining the column.

"Yeah its them, all right. it seems that the Temple got interested in our "adventure" orn shall i say misadventure. I pray for a battle soon, that will quench their bloodlust."

"Shut up you fools", came a voice from above, it was the army's general on a dark pegasus, "You shall be grateful that the Temple have sent reinforcements to aid in our strength. Do not forget that the Clan came into power with the help of the Temple. Anyway the Lady Corps are here to boost your morale."

"Yeah, either make us excited or make us quiver in fear," mumbled the first druchii warrior.

The double wielding she-elves are relatively quiet this time, obviously they have not taken any combat drugs yet and were still in their senses. One of the witch hags was having an in depth discussion with Lilth, an irony considering enmity between sects as well as Lilth's rumored slanneshi origins. But the situation is different now, its a matter of life and death and the thought of spending the next 3 years in the wilderness in enough to quell any animosity among the troops.

"As long as the flanks are secured, there would not be a problem. We must keep to the battle array at all times." remarked the Witch Hag

"it can be a problem if the foe manage to seep into the gaps between our formations." Lilth replied

"The manticore squadron should be able to take out infiltrators"

"I hope so too. There are many random variables involved but fortunately we have more than enough resources to test trial and deal with the problems."

"What about the blackguard? They are so stoic, they could help."

"Fielding them will take up too much rations, even if they could secure one flank the other will become vulnerable. No its better to spread out the risk."

As the Druchii general observe the tactical discussion among her officers, she gave a smile. As long as there is cooperation, there will be hope. The army must learn to fight as a coherent battle force once more. Veronia smiled, they will reach the Chaos Waste in a month, time for practice.

(say so much but may not be able to play on sat...damn the library!!!)

Tuesday, March 28, 2006

I am still using my Dark Elves!!!

Lord Darkspear, stepped down form the dais and stroll towards the army in the parade square. It was one of the few moments that he had the stern look when looking at his soldiers.

From the corner of his eye, Darkspear saw a unit of darkriders, pointing at those horsemen, he asked his Aunt(we assume), Veronia DArkspear,"Are those musicians accompanying that squad the survivors of the previous battle."

"YEs my Lord."

"Right, kill them." Darkspear say matter of factly.

Those who heard their lord's words were shocked.

Darkspear look at his troops with a stare from the dead," Why not, they are weak, they underperformed and had compromised the flank of the army. They deserve to die, and by the way those executioners. Kill all of them too. They did nuts in the last battle. If those so-called knights were still around, i would have them executed too, fortunately for them, they died."

As the executioners fell onto their own blades, DArkspear glared at his aunt, "If YOU screwed up in ur spell casting again, I could not guarantee that I will give you the respect u used to received."

After purging his army, the Dark Lord return to the dais, "Our Ally King Rameses III of Khemri had great victories in the borderlands of the old world. However we had been under their shield for too long and our edge has become blunt. Our troops had slacken leading to the substandard result lately. Where is that army that accompany me in the raid into Kazak-Korn, where is that army that beat off the Chaos Hordes in the north. I do nt recognize the army in front of me and to be honest, I am disgusted with you. You guys do not deserve to serve the darkspear clan. I understand that repeat campaigns had led to lots of restructuring and raw recruits are present in every regiment. Whether this is the cause of the recent failures I cannot say. But I have already received permission from Lord Malekith to declare u cannot-make-its into a penal legion. Lead by Lady Veronia Darkspear, the leader of the rag tag band, you were to fight in Ulthuan and the Old world for 3 years. Only then will you be allowed to return and join the army. U will expect no reinforcements other than other failed druchii troops from other armies.
And finally you can no longer deserved to be called Druchii, just call urself the Penal Legion"

the last remark gave rise to an outroar as well as cries of anguish. Many warriors have not felt so insulted before. Suddenly, Yishenwuhui stood out, "My fellow warriors, we have disgraced our KIng Malekith and Lord Darkspear, our failure has also tainted Lady Veronia's record. We deserve to die a thousand times but our lord has showed mercy. I say we accept this challenge and come back after an expedition of glory. Shout after me my fellow warriors. No guts no glory, no feelings no desires, no mercy and no remorse. TO WAR and GLORY.

and so the crowded echoed "No guts no glory, no feelings no desires, no mercy and no remorse. TO war and GLORY"

Touched Veronia looked back at her nephew and remarked," I will prove it to you, I will show it to you. I will show you that we are the pride of the Darkspears and what a Druchii really is."

Saturday, March 25, 2006

My current 2250 army is a flop

Its crazy. Unless I revamp by army by pumping troops in, my army is just a bunch of infantry blocks with mages waiting to lose. i have neither enough dark riders or crossbows. Today i tried using the executioner detachment again, it turn out to be a poor substitute for the spear block. granted that luck plays a role but it did not make a good shield. and once again, the lifetaker dude failed to act as an effective mage hunter due to targeting rules my conclusion....de mage hunting sux. perhaps that's y no one can give a proper solution on the internet...ok de not sux la juz that our prey can do better.

as for the corsair block, its veri gd but not for a "static army" since the whole de army is slow...230 points is juz another juicy point sink for the enemy. it shuld be used in an army with no point sinks(like the original highborn list)i think i m gonna scrap the whole 2250 touurney army...its not woorth the time. I will do a new list for 7th edition(since i almost know the changes liao) and plan my shopping list. now: should i fork out 70 bucks for a bone giant or shuld i b realistic and borrow frm tsui.

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40k:

"My Lord, this is Canoness Katherine. Our vanguard has been securing some ancient artifacts when we were attacked by Xeno Witches(Eldar). My entire force is obliterated, sister Adeline was taken out in the first wave of fire and sister sophia was knocked out by witchcraft(edritch storm that hurt no one except sophia)most of the other sisters were either grievously wounded or dead. Only me myself and my rhino crew are combat fit. i have salvage wat artifacts i could and place them in my rhino. I re...t reinfor.. ments. This holy war may had to be called off since we were fighting more than Tau or Chaos."

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AHX's performance with eldar makke me nostagic. his army works very similarly to Peng De huai's People's Volunteer Army...granted he had more firepower and 1 more tank i have found a way to make dark reapers wrk...as well as rangers. Eldar got hope...as long as GW dun change them too much. Given my shortage of funds...i muz plan my purchases very carefully.(edit: later i find out from soo that AHX's army is not efficient. its a pity that an effective tournament ready eldar army is unlike wad i would like to have. if eldar remains like this, i will not do it. And dat seems very likely from current trends)

Thursday, March 23, 2006

FAtigue

I ma very tired due to late nights on essays and some(i really mean some) gaming. I m suppose to do readings now...but i m too tired and simply scan thru. YawnZ.

Anyway I have been plagued by a tactical problem lately. In the even of a battle, it is extrmely common for a battle array to fall about due to collasped formations as well as the pursuing of broken enemy formations. The latter case is extremely serious when cavalry units are absent/or when u have too few regiments around.

3 questions

Is the retention of a battle array a key priority?
If so how shuld we keep the battle array in place?
Does it meant we had to sacrifice the chance of obliterating the enemy totally juz for the assurance from defeat?

Thursday, March 16, 2006

Fri Morning...very free

Yes I have survived another one of Prof Tsui's lecture. once again he did not teach much today...therefore no readings => very free to write fluff!!!

i bought more sisters yesterday and read about Medusa V on US WD. Inquisitor Vondire naturally knows abt the peril the Imperium faces and the below is one of his usual memoirs to the High Lords of Terra.

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To the High Lords of Terra,

In my recent brushes against the forces of Chaos, I have received some data which are rather interesting in my opinion. My men had intercepted some tau messages, apparently they have been looking at our technology and deduced that we r a stagnant society and will gradually be defeated by them. With this new confidence, the Tau had now embarked on their third expansion phase. although strictly speaking i belong to Ordos Hereticus, this matter concerns me also as it involves the welfare of the imperium. Not to mention the countless citizens who will turning traitor under Tau propaganda(and thus becoming my problem). Although some inquisitors felt that this is a good chance to put our citizens to the test, i felt that that will lead to an excessive waste of resources.

I have a good counterplan, which was basically adoptiing a tactic used by the Ordos Xenos. Renegade Tyranids fleets were still found from time to time in the Titan system(where my Adepta Sororitas were based), i can send troops to capture some genestealers and unleash these dudes onto the tau primary sept worlds. as tyranids were a relentless foe, the tau will have a hard time while i will lead a crusade to retake worlds that were recently lost to the enemy. I have no problems if the Ordos Xenos would like to take over the tyranid kidnapping mission themselves, but the freeing of lost worlds from the tau must be strictly done by Ordos Hereticus as its our duty to purge the Witch, the Mutant and in this case the Heretic.

I have already created a roster of troops needed for the program. Most of it can be mustered by my own resources but some elements require the Imperial Guard approval(in blue) while others had to be requisitioned from the order of the Matyred Lady(in red) as the Southern Cross were still at 80% strength.

Adepta Sororitas needed for mission - 1000 (compiled by Canoness Katerine of the S.Cross)

Veterean Superiors - 30 (S.cross), 10(MAtyred LAdy)
Celestians - 60(S.cross), 20 (Matyred Lady)
Active Battle Sisters - 260
Battle Sisters Reserves - 70, 120
Dominions(+V.superiors) and rhinos - 90(+10) , 10 [Matyred Lady]
Seraphim plus respective V.superiors - 80 + 10 (S.cross)
Retributors, H.bolters and support sisters - 30 + 10, 50
Repentias and mistresses - 90 + 10
Rhinos - 10
Exorcist - 20(40 crew)
Immolators - 10

Inqusition Command Company (106 men)

20 Inqusition Storm Troopers
6 Acro-flaggelants
1 Penitent Engine
1 Leman Russ (3 men)
2 Infantry Platoons (50 men)
1 Armored Fist Platoon (10 men)
2 Sentinel Squad of 3 (6 men total)
1 Rough Rider Squad (10 men)
My retinue(undisclosed)


Frateris Militia 17,360

Imperial Guard(hopefully Valhallian Ice Warriors)
100 Leman Russ (300 men)
200 Infantry Platoons (5,000 men)
100 Armored Fist Platoons (1,000 men)
100 Rough Riders Squads (1,000 men)
20 Sentinel Squads (60 men)
Zealots - 10,000 (I will try to get more)

Total Strength - 18,466

As you can see its quite a small number, I hope that the Imperial Guard will send entire Guard Regiments in addition to those that I have requested. I hope that eventually our force will be ten times what i requested

Sunday, March 12, 2006

Holy War on 12th Mar (sunday)

Today the Order of the Southern Cross wage war against the Heretics known as Word Bearers led by Tsui. Both Armies were nearly wiped out. I had squad Yi and Squad Sophia left and 2 immoblised vehicles(squad adeline did well fighting...holding the foe for 2-3 turns) while tsui had a bike unit and some havocs left. but as tsui complete the mission, the game ended in a draw. The Southern Cross had not succeeded in their mission and the forces of the Imperium will expect a major onslaught soon. nevermind that, at the rate attrition is going...chaos will b extinct HA!

Anyway i am quite happy with the performance of my army despite it being a little slow. the main reason why i did not fufill the objective is because tsui took out the fast units rather than the foot sloggers and the rest will do. However he felt that i can do better without the exorcist. that i disagree. although exorcist cost 270 points total and were onli useful in the first few turns...they give me a strategic advantage. the ability to take out power armored infantry and tanks early in the game is something nice. 2 exorcist units and easily neutralise AHX's obliterator squads as proven in the previous battle(not featured here).

I played 40k yesterday because no one brought fantasy stuff, next week i will try my new "budget" DE army(basically budget coz it utilise exisitng models rather than buying 200 bucks more of stuff). if it can do well, i will bring it to tourney. yah $200 worth of minis for a lifespan of one yr plus isn't worth it. plus there r rumors of new de warriors...which i believe

Thursday, March 09, 2006

The Coming of the Horse Archer

It was in end 1998 that I came across this beautiful military innovation, I shall illustrate my experience with a short story. I can't think of any fake names so i will use my name as well as my bro's

The Year 1998, system AOE 1.
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The Greek army made camp in a small hill surrounded by a forest. Their sovereign, Lord Gene, judged that this is a good spot to rest. Gene had a guest today, Vern, his younger brother. As usual Gene wanted to bring Vern around and show him the prowesses of his army.

"Look Bro, look at the power of my phalanxes, the might of my heavy cavalry. Their weapons are sharp and their armor strong, no one can crush me and I will crush these Assyrians as if they are ants."

"Indeed, your troops are impressive my bro. I am impressed with the speed by which u raise such an army in such a short time."

It was at this point that Gene heard the sound of hooves. He turned around and saw one of hos scouts was riding into the camp, the man was wounded and behind him were hordes of mounted men with bows. The scout didn't had a chance and was shot dead even before he reach the gate. Gene was enraged and he immediately gave the order for attack. At first the phalanxes were send out. But the enemy cavalry simply ride away, only to shoot the Greek foot when they were a distance apart. Seeing this danger, Gene immediately ordered his phalanxes back and his cavalry ride out to catch the enemy. But it never work, the enemy cavalry work in teams, while one horsemen was being chased by a greek soldier, two other men were shooting at the pursuers. Gene was losing men fast.

"Quickly my bro, we must stay within the range of our towers that is the best way out." Vern exclaimed. The two lords and their surviving escorts immediately retreat back to camp, using the camp's static defenses to hold out. The trick work...for a while. It was not long before the Assyrians brought their stone throwers and start hammering the towers.

"We are done for. "Gene exclaimed,"We got to retreat, Bro you had to flee via the west gate while i retreat from the north. Better for us to leave when there is time rather than dying with our men." Within minutes two groups of horsemen were riding out of the greek camp, with no possessions other than their own lives. Fortunately both lords managed to return to their respectives capitals and live to fight another day.

A month later, Vern received news that the entire Greek army was obliterated in that battle. With memories of the battle fresh in his mind, Vern immediately adopt the tactics and trained horse archers of his own. Tribes from the steppes were courted and incorporated in his army. Vern also developed anti-Horse Archer tactics involving cavalry, elephant troops and bowmen as well as special manuveurs.

From that time on, warfare doctrine between the two brothers has deviated and never look the same again. WHile the eldar brother emphasize on solid ranks, numbers and cold steel, the younger one emphasize on speed, manuveurs and training. Different doctrine led to different goals, Gene will eventually conquer the north and the west lands of hills and forest, while Vern will unify the steppes and deserts of the south and east where his light cavalry will reign supreme.

OK so here ends the romantisized story how my first encounter with horse archers. Bro was wiped out. haha but i actually came up with enuff tactics to ensure that i wasn't defeated when i face the assyrians. Anyway horse archers rock, the ability to shoot and avoid combat meant that victory is only a matter of time. This "horse archer" concept has dominate my mindset in military affairs for years now as it can be seen in the way i play games.

Hint: to defeat horse archers, there are 3 ways. It applies in real life as well(as proven by the persians)

Method 1: Very inefficient
Mass cavalry out all charge. This can onli work if we outnumber the foe by a lot a lot. something which is almost impossible given that horse archers are far cheaper and thus are fielded in even greater quantities(just compare turkic vs saracen. the former's cavalry outnumber the latter despite the latter's wealth and population)

Method 2: Can be effective
Charge of Light cavalry. We only need to outnumber the foe by a little. the ratio falls the faster our light cavalry move

Method 3: Very effective and PROVEN
Superb static counterbattery fire. Persians finally defeat the Sarmartians and Scythians etc with archers mounted on elephant. The huge beasts were almost immune to arrows(due to hide and armor) and the archers were protected by mini towers. Another good example is Richard the Lion-Hearted's march into Acre. He had three columns along the coast with the inner most column facing the sea and the outer most consisting of crosbowmen. The Saracens can't do much unless there is an element of surprise. The final example will be the advent of muskets. Given suffificent numbers + range + accuracy, its possible to shoot the horse archers down even before being shot at. This is why horse archers loses its dominance in later parts of history. When playing games (that dun have muskets) this effect can be achieved by grouping foot archers together although we may lose one or two guys its generally worthwhile as horse archers are a lot more expensive. yeah this is a similar logic to my infantry vs cavalry thread.

Thursday, March 02, 2006

Another Week of many thoughts

I actually have lots of stuff to talk about but i have not really consolidate my thoughts to write all of it down here. there r ideas from many aspects not just warhammer.

ok let's do the easiest...warhammer.
was discussing w Tsui abt Elves on wed...mainly druchii vs asrai. Tsui felt that druchii rely on characters while asrai rely on troops. therefore itts reasonable for druchii to spend nearly 50% of points on characters but not asrai. He mentioned that dark magic is a major factor that makes druchii powerful which i agrees. Dark Magic is a major arsernal of the druchii but its often negated by druchii players especially Kenf, Vic and sijin. ok...that leaves only me left as michael rarely plays.... Well, perhaps I should bring my high sorc back. i dun wan to play the highborn so much onli to lose touch with the high sorc. besides my new 4,2 plus 2 noble peg list still operates similarly to the highborn list therefore i will not lose touch w the highborn. this list has a lower margin for risk but trades off hitting power. I have sacrifice 1 A as well the extra protection a peg rider will get(if i give less wounds...that means i give him less combat res). i lose my small unit of rxbmen but i think its ok. the 2 foot sorc combi can b easily hunted down by my enemy if they r persistent enuff.

the next one will b regards to warfare as a whole. our own country to b exact. after thinking deeply on what Alex(thousand sons dude) have pointed out. Yah...its ok that we do not have combat experience as long as we need not face the enemy face to face. as long as we can bombard them fast enuff, we can survive. which means our artillery and air arm muz b very efficient and fast. I do not wanna tok abt navy here as there is no ground to be held. Navy is mainly to shield the land from bombardment and landing parties....new ways to fight an old war. anyway let us not digress. assume that an imaginary enemy is rushing down on us from the penisular(assume seas r safe). 1 problem is that we will have problem identifying targets in jungles. the enemy can hug terrain, and make their way to our forces in close combat(rem when i first play LM vs Vic...skinks hop from forest to forest and take out rbt). in worst cases they hit our arillery, best our infantry/tanks. therefore despite having a good formula, our armed forces still muz learn to neutralize the problems imposed by the terrain. of coz...this is juz my theory...mabbe the real guys out there have solve this prob long ago.

Rome Total War/Pre Gun Powder Warfare
I realise that I play very low emphasize on cavalry. although 50% of my army consist of fast troops in warhammer, a careful analysis will show that i almost always use them as reserves or as pursuers. in simulation games like dat of TW series, my battles almost consist always of the traditional infantry in center and cavalry in the flanks. cavalry will flank the foe if they can but most of the time its the infantry dat do the job. the cavalry then pursue(fast cav). i rarely commit knights mainly due to the cost(i always feel cav r too expensive to be commited), it was onli in desperate situations do i send the knights in...often at the flanks. however wad abt my warhammer games? y do cavalry play such a significant role. many reasons. 1st: Warhammer is a one shot thing, dead troops r back in the next battle. 2nd: look carefully at my cavalry. TK all cavalry r resurrectable and i use my h..cav like fast infantry aniwae. and let's face it, TK chariots have no counterparts in real life :). cok r very resilent totally unlike the real knights in the real world. how many crossbows need to kill 1 knight? at least twelve. but in reality only one or two.

lol dat's all for my babbling. lots of random military thoughts here and there. lol i can't wait to play warhammer tomorrow.