A secret romance in the woods?

There’s nothing like pushing your painted army across a well laid out table. But when that is not possible, I am so happy we have Universal Battle 2. And it gets better and better. It’s also a perfect way to test out new ideas for your army, before investing in plastic. So here’s my 2000 point ‘virtual’ Nightstalker army fighting against the evil evil (but not so evil as the Halflings) Basileans, for a game of Loot.

Turn 1 and 2
A slow start. I won the choice of who’s starting, and I chose my opponent. I almost always make that choice if I can. I get to see where his army is going and in the last turn, maybe I can just do something real sneaky before it all ends. I deployed my butchers behind the walls of Scarecrows. Very much still learning the game, the army and how I want to play it. But this advice (cause this is not something I think I would have naturally though of) really paid off for me later. So really taking that advice to heart.

The Basileans were quite content staying back, just inching forward ever so slightly. My Nightstalkers were a bit more greedy.

Turn 3
Jullius and one horde of the Elohi went straight into my Scarecrows, smashing them for 29 points of damage, taking them off the table. Wearing the Crystal Pendant of Retribution, which really paid off this time, meant Jullius walked away with 8 points of damage himself. I believe the only damage he takes in this game. And the Elohi took 9. The pendant definitely paid off this time.

The Phantoms and Shadowhounds in the upper left corner stayed behind. The pups have quite the range and the pahntoms can fly. So I felt pretty confident leaving them there. The other regiment got up to the hill and stayed there. Again, it’s long range made me confident to just leave it there as a threat. The hillside Nightstalkers picked up the token. And Kermit the Terror Frog has taken 1 (1!) damage from the Arbalests.

I should say, at this point I was still super worried about the Arbalests down south. They can reach almost anything with their 48 inch range. And I really didn’t want to run any of my people down there to take care of them. So decided to ignore them, and hope for the best.

After the scarecrows were blown up, my pups and Phantoms moved down to introduce themselves to the Elohi and Foot Guards. It’s a hindered charge for my pups, so loosing their Thunderous as well, but definitely worth it. The horde of Butchers joined the pups, for a closer look at those winged beings.

Terror Frog also wanted to try out a feather meal, so he tentacles forward, not caring at all, that he just left difficult terrain. Gotta love Strider.

Turn 4 and 5
Left side Butchers and Shadowhounds take out the Elohi, and the Pahntoms eventually gets rid of the Foot Guard. But a sneaky sneaky Beare of the Holy Icon moves up and blocks them. Not worried at all. The icon should be super easy to take off the table. If I didn’t Double 1 off course. And I double 1’d (yes 1’d is now a word).

The paladins that had been hanging back finally decided they didn’t want to miss out on the party. I’ve lost the screenshot, but my scarecrows drop the token move into them, as soon as they’re in charge range. One Foot Guard horde is removed. As is the Scarecrows. But that’s exactly what they were there for.

And that made room for my Reapers and Shadowhounds to have a bite at the…Swordsmen?…I can’t remember what they were :s (_{Paladin Defenders. They’re Paladin Defenders. We’ve just been told, by our man in the field, that they are in fact Paladin Defenders}) But I hit them super hard. 29 points of damage. So sure I’ve won this game now. Except…I roll the games second Double 1s. Two sets of Duble 1s in this game. And I deliver both of them. So yeah….

Jullius is moving about, standing on top of the middle Loot token. My Fleshripper has removed two of the Arbalests. Mostly because he had nothing better to do. Now he’s hitting on the last one. But it really doesn’t seem to be all that receptive of his advances.

Turn 6 and and yes spoilers 7
Just putting it out there. I would have lost if there hadn’t been at turn 7. Cause I completely forgot the objective of the game.

Phantoms are still hacking away at the Icon. And eventually it finally goes away. But he was one stubborn dude. The Fleshripper is still trying to woe the Arbalest. And the Arbalest is still not having any of it. A horde of Footguards into one of my horrors. He turns out to be a tough dude too. The other Foot Guards starts slashing at my Reapers, and the utterly devestated Paladin Defenders takes it out on my pups.

And just like that, pups and Reapers are gone. Gone! But this is one of the many things I love about this game. It’s never ‘over’. It can look so dire, and you still have a chance to come out on top.

And we’re at the end. The Fleshripper is still heavily smooching the Arbalest, and it’s willpower is finally wavering. I imagine that at this point, he will just lift it up and carry it with him home, while everyone else is busy fighting north of the forest. “I will love him and squeeze him and call him George”.
I got the pups to run over and grab the leftmost token, turning the game into a Draw instead of a Loss for me.

Had a lot of fun playing this game. And I’m beginning to understand both the game and my Nightstalkers better. It’s really nice getting that feeling that I am actually getting better at it. If only ever so slightly.