1 (Thorir Skull-splitter- of Norscian descent, given his commission
for
political reasons rather than tactical ability) General @ 118.0
pts
Flail; Pistol;
Armor of Fortune [15]
23 Halbrediers @ 399.0 pts
Standard Bearer; Musician;
1 Champion @ [32] pts
12 Crossbowmen Detach. @ [96] pts
12 Hand Gunners Detach. @ [96] pts
1 Hero @ 71.0 pts
Flail, Normal Bow, Heavy Armor
10 Flagellants @ 100.0 pts (Formerly knights, all have failed in
their
own eyes and now preach of their and other knights failures, all
the
while seeking to redeem themselves in battle)
7 Halflings @ 31.5 pts
6 Halflings @ 27.0 pts
5 * Kislev Horse Archers @ 80.0 pts
5 * Kislev Horse Archers @ 80.0 pts
1 Hero @ 78.0 pts
Flail;Pistol; Heavy Armor
1 Barded Warhorse @ [4] pts
5 Ogres @ 210.0 pts
2-Handed Weapon
1 Halfling Hot Pot @ 50.0 pts
1 Hero @ 71.0 pts
22 Spearmen @ 315.0 pts (with stand and musician)
1 Champion @ [32] pts
10 Archers Detach. @ [80] pts
5 Greatswords Detach. @ [35] pts
1 Hero @ 71.0 pts
1 Hellblaster Volley Gun @ 100.0 pts
1 Wizard Champion @ 118.0 pts (got Destruction and Bless-never got
a
spell off the entire game)
5 Archers @ 40.0 pts
5 Archers @ 40.0 pts
Total Army Cost: 1999.5
The sun was already dipping
low in the sky when with the blaring of
trumpets and beating of drums, the army approached Karlstein. They
made
more noise than a drunken dwarf chorus and it is not at all
surprising that
the Dark Elves were ready for their approach. As the army began
to deploy
Rutgar lead his fallen knights out of the woods to join them.
(warning Ascii art ahead)
RepeaterRXCs House City Guard
Wizard
Bolt houseHedge--------Bolt
throwerCorsairs House Cold Ones
Harpies Crossbows-- House Dark Riders
wall-------------
hhhhhhhh
ffffffffffff
hhhhhhhhh (Forested hill)
fffffffffffffffff
hhhhhhhhhhh
ffffffffffff
he-
hedge
hhhhhh
dge
House
House
House
Horse Archers Archers HouseFlagellants Halflings Halflings
Horsearcher
archers hot pot House
Greatswords Helblaster
Ogres
House Spears Archers
Handgunners
crossbows
Halbrediers
(I set up a bit deep,
and we rolled 4 turns. Bad. Plus I rolled the
surprise attack scenario and he ended up getting about 7 extra
4 inch
moves while I deployed. Question- do detachments deploy with
their
parent unit or do they count as separate deployments. We counted
them
separately. Magic will not really be mentioned as the WoM never
provided
more than 7 cards and only one spell was cast, but it was important,
more on that later.)
Thorir surveyed the
field. What was this. The elves were ready for
them. Wait, elves behind defended obstacles. Thorir was almost
crushed
by the wave of deja vu (see Empire vs WEs battle report) which
swept over
him. No, it couldn’t be. He banged his fist against he helmet a
couple of
times to shake everything back into place. There that was better-
When these
stars clear away we can begin. Wait, the Dark Elves are already
advancing.
The Harpies tried to
charge the Hot Pot, but fell an inch short. The
City Guard, and both bolt throwers fire at Rutgar and his flagellants
killing four. The Crossbows behind the hill are out of range. The
other
crossbows and the Dark riders kill 2 horse archers who look to
their
‘inspiring’ leader, but pass their panic test anyway. Corsairs
move a
bit to charge anyone coming after the bolt thrower.
Thorir bellows the order
to advance. The horse archers and archers
break into skirmish formation and move into the forest. The centre
marches forward. The Halflings set out from behind the house and
don’t
have enough movement to reach the hedge. The right flank all marches,
except for the horse archers who charge the Dark Riders. The rider
fire
and flee, killing two more horse archers. The last one passes his
panic
test.
“Ha Ha, you had better run. Any one tribesman is worth six
of you
cowards.” he shouts at the fleeing dark riders. Taking this threat
seriously, the Dark Riders fail to rally and quit the field.
The Hot Pot fires at the harpies (sort of- guessed 26 inches
hoping to
hit the city guard or the bolt thrower, cheesy?, even though in
the chronicles
of war it specifically says this is allowed), but the specially
spiced (by more
than 10 but less than 12 herbs and spices) chicken skins fly long
and
splatter on the ground in front of the city guard. The eastern
most
halflings miss the crossbows behind the wall.
This time, the Harpies
screech and descend on the hot pot crew. One
halfling dies, but Master Chef Saunders waves his cleaver at the
remaining waiter and they stand their ground. Shooting kills 5
flagellants and 4 of the easterly halflings, who pass their panic
test
as they don’t want Thorir to yell at them.
The horse archers move
up to edge of the forest and fire at the bolt
thrower to no effect. The other twenty archers and the halflings
on the
west all fire at the bolt thrower in the centre and kill both the
crew.
Everything else advances. In HtH Saunders, who will be given the
honorary rank of Colonel after the battle manages to wound a harpy.
The winged beasts fail their break test and flee. This earns a
bellow of
approval from Thorir.
Somehow, the Harpies
rally. The Cold Ones decline to charge the lone
horse archer. The crossbows in the east charge the horse archers
in the
forest. One was shot down but the others reached the natives of
the
steppes. The ensuing HtH was inconclusive with neither side causing
any
wounds. The city guard and the bolt thrower are not able to kill
Rutgar,
the last of the flagellants. The RxB fire at the halflings, killing
the
last two.
The Halbrediers move
into to position to charge the crossbows on the
last turn. The ogres move up to within one inch of the horse archer
and
three inches of the Cold Ones. The horse archer dances in front
of the
ugly lizards, tempting them into death’s grasp. (I thought this
was a
very good move. I figured I had the combat won. If he charged my
horse
archer, I stand and die, then charge with the ogres. If he charged
the
ogres, he would lose his lance bonus for the awkward charge. If
he did
neither, I would awkwardly charge with my ogres and all I would
lose was
first strike for my hero.) The Helblaster, realizing that the Cold
Ones
cannot advance wheels out to take a shot. One unit of archers in
the
forest charge the Harpies in the flank. They panic and run again.
Shooting accomplishes nothing. The horse archers lose combat to
the
RxBs, break and flee into the forest. The Crossbows pursue and
hit the
flank of the archers who panic and also flee, leaving the Elves
stranded
in the forest.
By this time the sun
had dipped to horizon. The battle would be over
soon. Sensing this, the crossbows all took careful aim at the Helblaster
and scored 18 hits (out of 20 shots) killing all three crew. The
city
guard were finally able to kill Rutgar who was threatening to charge
them. The Bolt Thrower kills two greatswords, who, afraid of Thorir’s
voice, stand firm. Enraged by the horse archers arrogance, the
Cold Ones
dart forward and snap up the brave (foolish?) tribesman. The Ogres
grinned in anticipation of the killing to come. The crossbows in
the forest charged, but failed to reach the archers. Then, calling
all
the power in the area to him (total power) the dark elf mage uses
witch
flight (his other spell was Transformation of Cardan which actually
got
off once, but since I had the Drain Magic card in hand nothing
came of
it. He got to spend one turn, from his magic phase to mine, sitting
on the
ground as a chimera) to charge the ogres.
The horse archers and
fleeing archers rally, but not before panicking
the other archers and the hot pot crew. The spearmen fail to reach
the
corsairs in a charge. The Halbreds crash into the wall sheltering
the
crossbows and despite the obstacle manage to kill three of the
elves.
The elves manage to bring down one halbredier in return. The crossbows
lose by six (2 wounds, 3 ranks, standard) but roll a 4 and pass
their
break test. Meanwhile, the ogres scoop up the skinny little
mage, but just as the hero has made a wish and Grog and Grak have
started to play tug of war with the wizard’s legs, he vanished
in a
swirl of multi-colored smoke and flashing dancing motes of light.
“Look, pretty.” grunted Grog. “Wait. Where’s dinner gone?”
On that note, the Dark
Elves slipped away to their ark in the darkness
while the ogres contented themselves with eating the dead crew
of the
bolt thrower, as well as the machine.
Curses! Foiled by Total
Power and the Escape card. Final score was
De-397 (Hot Pot, Horse archers, Helblaster, archers, Flagellants,
halfings) Empire- 388 (Dark Riders, Bolt thrower, Harpies), with
table
quarters it would be DE-497, Empire- 588. Either way, it was a
draw.
Though a very tactical draw with the variety of ‘tricks’ employed
on the
eastern flank in the tippy-toeing between the Cold Ones and Ogres.
Of course, given that my first game against Dark Elves I lost by
about
1500 points, this is better.