On 10 March I played my first game of the second edition of The Ninth Age (T9A). I played a doubles game with Steve, Jonjo and Gareth, and each of us fielded a force of approximately 4000 points. Steve (Warriors of the Dark Gods) and Gareth (Empire of Sonnstahl) squared off against myself (Highborn Elves) and Jonjo (Saurian Ancients). I initially thought that I should pair off with Gareth, who was a Fantasy neophyte, but both Jonjo and Steve pointed out that the Lizardmen, ancient defenders of the Old Ones and a bastion of Order, would never ally with the forces of entropy represented by Chaos. We ended up with more logical (fluff-wise anyway) teams with the High Elves standing shoulder to shoulder with the Lizardmen, and the men of the Empire being corrupted by Chaos and falling under their sway.
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| My High Elves in 2018, before I bought Warhammer 8th edition of E-Bay, and added more Sea Guard, Swordmasters and a Prince on a Griffon. |
We played a standard pitched battle, and immediately Jonjo advised me to deploy all my units as quickly as possible to ensure that we get first turn. In T9A the person who finishes deployment first gets +1 to their roll to get first turn for every non-deployed unit the opponent has. Deployment is taken in turns like old Warhammer, but you can deploy as many units as you want on your turn. You could dump down your whole army, which is what I eventually ended up doing as per Jonjo's advice.
It was a good thing we got first turn, because the Empire army I was facing had three artillery pieces, two units of pistoliers, and sixty handgunners. I knew the list well because I wrote it for Gareth for his first Fantasy game. I wanted to give him an army that was easy to use, didn't require too much manoeuvre and was tough as nails. I just didn't know I would be marching my High Elves into my own damned gun line. Most of my High Elves were deployed on the left flank staring into the teeth of the Empire's shooting. Jonjo's infantry was on the right, squaring off against Steve's Chaos army. A titanic combat was in the offing on Jonjo's flank, as two of the Warhammer world's best close combat factions stared each other down. My High Elves, on the other hand, were about to walk into the Valley of Death and shitting themselves. I knew my Swordmasters and White Lions could chop up the Imperial infantry. The question would be whether they could make it into combat.
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| High Elves in prep for the March 10 game. Just tried to splash three colors on - undercoat white, green base, and another random color. |
Luckily for us we had our own shooting. My High Elves had a unit of Seaguard, two bolt throwers, and a pair of fast cavalry units. Jonjo supplemented this with his skink skirmishers, who performed awesomely in the game, taking the buildings in the center and using them as fire bases to rain down short bow and javelin fire. He also had a pair of Salamanders, one of which incinerated a goodly amount of Imperial Greatswords, and another which survived multiple charges by Chaos Warriors and White Wolf knights. The damned thing would get beaten in combat, flee, and somehow outrun its pursuers again and again. It couldn't shoot for shit, however, compared to its counterpart in the middle. Its sole attempt to belch fire at the knights resulted in a giant reptilian hairball which wounded itself.
High Elves/Lizardmen Turn 1
My High Elves started off well enough. Having secured first turn, we advanced down the field as fast as we could. Our bolt throwers started pinging off pistoliers, panicking one unit, and leaving one at half strength. Jonjo's lizards advanced towards the center, while my Seaguard stationed behind them killed a few Marauders. Jonjo's aforementioned skinks took out one cannon in a stunning display of shooting. War machines in T9A are now one model with a combined profile, which makes them easier to kill. Older editions of Warhammer had you randomising hits between the crew and the machine, which gave them great survivability as hits on the war machine were effectively misses (the chassis usually had Toughness 7). In T9A the cannons have 5 Wounds (HP) and Toughness (Resilience) 4. Sturdy, but killable, especially to skinks with poison attacks. Artillery have no armor saves.
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| Deployment. |
Chaos/Empire Turn 1
The Empire responded in kind. Handgun and pistolier fire wiped out my fast cavalry, but the surviving cannon whiffed badly. Steve charged his Chaos Knights into my Elven Chariots and they both fled. He redirected his charge into my White Lions, initiating the first combat of the game. I was quietly confident. I play against Rodion all the time, and this edition of the game makes elves with great weapons formidable foes thanks to the Lightning Reflexes rule, which removes the great weapon penalty of striking last. Besides I would much rather be in combat than be shot by the volley gun, which trained its sights on my Swordmasters instead. One volley later and half my Swordmasters were dead. The rest of Gareth's shooting was directed at the skinks occupying the buildings in the centre, but it was largely ineffective thanks to cover and the skirmishing nature of the skinks. On the right flank the Chaos line advanced forward to meet the oncoming lizards. In the middle another unit of Chaos Knights ploughed into a unit of Saurus. It was declared a draw, but the Saurus should have actually lost by 1 as I failed to mention that T9A gives a +1 combat resolution modifier to charging units. This omission became even more embarrassing when I remembered the rule when it came time to resolve my own combat one turn later. In my defence I was concentrating on my side of the table when I was asked the first time, but I feel bad about it. When Steve called me out I didn't add the modifier in my combat either to square things up, which made that combat a draw, too, rather than a win by me. Sorry, guys! It won't happen again.
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| The generals. |
High Elves/Lizardmen Turn 2
On my second turn I was able to rally one of my fleeing chariots, but the other ran off the table. Putting them within charge range of Steve's knights was a really massive blunder by me, because I was counting on the pair of them either absorbing some shooting or doing some counter-battery work. They did nothing the whole game. My White Lions broke the Chaos Knights but were now stuck in the middle awaiting execution by firing squad. My Swordmasters, sadly diminished, managed to pull off a long range charge against Steve's chariot and got into combat. They were unable to break the unit, as its Toughness of 5 and 3+ save gave it good survivability. The warriors on them with 2 attacks each at Strength 5 were smashing my frail Toughness 3 elves and negating my combat bonuses.
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| Jonjo and Steve in deep thought. |
On the right flank Jonjo decided to wait for the Chaos hordes, and so the reptilian masses held the line impassively and waited. Jonjo's skinks and salamanders continued to peck away at the Chaos hordes. I found that my Seaguard's shooting was largely ineffective against Chaos armour, so I had to be content with killing a model here and there hoping to negate a rank bonus. The big fight would be coming in the next turn.
Chaos/Empire Turn 2
The ground shook as the Chaos hordes crashed into the lizardmen line on the east flank. Bloodthirster, Chaos Knights and Chaos Marauders all hit the lizards in unison, but the cold-blooded minions of the Old Ones showed no fear, and held their ground. The Chaos Marauders attacking the Temple Guard fared the poorest, and were driven back, opening up the Chaos Knights' flank for a counter-charge next turn. The White Wolves smashed into a salamander, still choking on a hairball, and broke it. The salamander ran away with surprising speed and outdistanced the startled knights. Chaos Warriors in the wood in the center of the battlefield charged skinks hiding there, and the skinks, startled and ill-prepared, were run down.
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| Epic clash in the center as Chaos and Lizardmen throw down. |
On the left flank Gareth blasted my White Lions with the volley gun and killed half of them. Ouch. The rest of his shooting was directed at the remaining skinks lurking in the buildings, but once again they proved elusive targets. In combat my Swordmasters once again failed to break the chariot. Gareth elected not to charge his halberdiers into the combat which would have routed my Swordmasters. He wanted to shoot them instead.
High Elves/Lizardmen Turn 3
On what would be my final turn I charged my White Lions into Steve's lone surviving Chaos Knight and killed him. In our overrun move we finally made it into combat with Gareth's Greatswords unit containing his general. My Swordsmasters finally killed the Chaos chariot, but it left us standing in the open much like the White Lions had been in the previous turn. We had some support from the skinks and the salamander in the center, who softened up the Greatswords in the previous turn by removing two rank bonuses. This would prove crucial in the coming melee.
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| The Temple Guard flank the Chaos Knights. |
On the right flank Jonjo's Temple Guard took advantage of the hole left open by the flight of the Marauders and charged into the flank of Steve's Chaos Warriors. The pressure was too much for even these elite warriors, and they collapsed as well, leaving the Bloodthirster as the only Chaos unit holding up the right flank. The White Wolves were pursuing a salamander, and the Chaos Warriors on the extreme right were only now getting into position to get into combat. The Bloodthirster would have to hold for at least another turn before reinforcements could be brought to bear. Unfortunately for the Greater Daemon, the damned salamander rallied right in front of the White Wolves and the Chaos Warriors, serendipitously protecting the Saurus' right flank.
Chaos/Empire Turn 3
The forces of entropy still had forces to spare on the right flank, but they were being blocked by a single hairball eating salamander. The White Wolves and the Chaos Warriors wanted to reinforce the Greater Daemon who was at this point surrounded on all sides by angry lizards, but first they would have to kill the pesky reptile. The salamander was double charged by the White Wolves and the Chaos Warriors, and was broken – only to get away again, and no doubt rally if the game had gone on to turn four (cold-blooded...!).
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| The Elves finally get into combat. |
On the left flank the Swordmasters were cut down to an elf as the volley gun barked again and shattered what was left of the formation. Only my mage was left alive, standing there alone, blinking, amidst the bodies of his comrades. My White Lions were in combat, however, and they sought vengeance for their fallen kin. The Imperial Greatswords were Stubborn at Leadership 10 as long as the general was alive, so I directed my general's attacks as well as my champion's on Gareth's general in a desperate bid to kill him. Thanks to some great RNG six attacks converted into three Wounds which was enough to kill the Empire general. Without him the Empire line crumbled. The Greatswords broke, and all three supporting units within Panic range failed their tests and bailed. It was a bloody miracle. Against all odds the High Elves had broken the Imperial left flank.
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| My mage is the sole survivor of a once proud Swordmaster unit. On the far right you can see the White Lions running down the Imperial Greatswords, along with Gareth's general. |
Back on the right flank the Greater Daemon looked like it was doomed, but this combat it unleashed its Breath Weapon and torched a bunch of Saurus. I don't know what the final resolution of that giant combat was, but neither side budged and that was how the game ended. We called the game a draw, and it seemed like a fair result. My White Lions had broken through on the left but only had six models left plus my general. The Empire, albeit leaderless, still had lots of chaff it could throw at me. The human wizard could probably destroy me on her own with a direct damage spell. On the right the Greater Daemon looked like it was in trouble, but it had two full strength units nearby, and if it held reinforcements could come in and turn the tide of the combat. The result was not clear cut by any means.
Afterthoughts
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| The end of the battle after three turns. Hardly an Elf left in sight on the left flank, while on the right the Lizardmen swarm the Bloodthirster. |
We only played three turns, which is staggering given that we got there at 1 pm, and called it after 7 pm. We had six hours of play time and we couldn't finish the game. Granted, it was 8000 points per side, and it was the first time for all of us, but damn, that was slow. Hopefully we can speed things up significantly next time, because at that pace we would have to spend 12 hours to finish a game. What struck me while playing was how essentially Warhammer the game was. Sure, there are a lot of new rules, but the central essence of the game seems to have been preserved. Most of the changes seem to be cosmetic in nature, and a lot of the verbose explanations given in the rule book seem to have been put there to cover edge cases where disputes may arise. One of the stated aims of the rule set is to completely eliminate the “roll off when in doubt” rule, and the rules reflect that, being extremely finicky, requiring constant cross-referencing, and trying to cover every situation. But despite all that the game is still very much the Warhammer that I played back in high school and university, and I'm very happy for that. Of course we had a lot of misplayed rules which I only realised when I got home (i.e. war machines don't flee, but become Shaken instead when they panic, Cover Volley only works with units who have Martial Discipline, etc.), but the four of us now have a working base to expand in future games. I now have a decent grasp of combat mechanics and the magic phase (the cards really helped, much to my surprise), but pursuits, overruns and post-combat reforms are still a little hazy for me. Whenever in doubt I revert to my 6th edition knowledge, which is not always right for T9A. There are still a lot of special rules that require me to break out the rulebook, but hopefully by the end of this year we will all be playing like seasoned veterans. Let's hope that the T9A rules committee are true to their word and that this is their definitive rule set for years to come, because I'm tired of learning new rules.
Next: TBA
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