So yet another battle report against the high elves. This time I had better notes and I've learned from the mistakes I made last time (and from feedback ofcourse!)
The Scenario was Battleline and here are the lists:
High Elves:Archmage lvl 4 265pts
Talisman of preservation
Mage lvl 2 160pts
Ring of fury
Barded elven steed
Noble (bsb) 149pts
great weapon
armour of caledor
Noble 122pts
Shadow armour
Potion of strenght
Long bow
Additional hand weapon
24 spearmen 236pts
Full command
14 archers 140pts
5 silver helms 125pts
shields
Champion
20 phoenix guard 330pts
Full command
16 Swordmaster 225pts
Full command
Tiranoc chariot 70pts
7 shadow warriors 98pts
Bolt thrower 70pts
Total 2003 pts
The Empire: Battle Wizard Lord (255pts)
Lore of Metal, Wizard Level 4
Dispel Scroll, Talisman of Endurance
Captain of the Empire (96pts)
Battle Standard Bearer, Full Plate Armour
Enchanted Shield
Captain of the Empire (168pts)
Full Plate Armour (6pts), Shield (2pts)
Imperial Pegasus (50pts)
Iron-hard Hooves
Dragonhelm, Ruby Ring of Ruin, Sword of Striking
Witch Hunter (55pts)
Brace of Pistols
40 Halberdiers (270pts)
Full Command
Swordsmen Detachment (140pts)
20x Swordsmen
14 Handgunners, Musician (136pts)
3 Demigryph Knights (184pts)
Musician
Great Cannon
5 Outriders (105pts)
5 Pistoliers (100pts)
Musician
Helblaster Volley Gun (120pts)
Steam Tank (250pts)
Total: 1999pts
There is two special pieces of terrain on the field: An Acropolis of Heroes in the top left corner of the pictures, that has absolutely no offect on the game, and a Sorcerous Portal in the middle, that has HUGE effect on the game...
Spells:
Empire - Metal (lvl4): Searing Doom, Enchanted Blades of Aiban, Gehenna's Golden Hounds, Final Transmutation
High Elves: - Fire (lvl2): Fireball, Cascading Fire Cloak - Heavens (lvl4): Harmonic Convergence, Curse of Midnight Wind, Uranon's Thunderbolt, Chainlightning.
Deployment and vanguards:
After a tied roll, the Empire wins the first turn in the second roll.
Also, In the maps, my Withc Hunter and Wizard Lord have swapped places, so the witch hunter is in the right corner of the halberdiers for the whole game (and dies there), while the wizard lord is in the left corner and leaves the unit before the big fight.. just a mixup while making the report on the battle chronicler, and I was too lazy to correct it in the end...
Turn 1 Empire
Steamtank lets off a long whistle of venting steam and rumbles onvards. The Empire line moves up, carefully at the center and a bit more agressively on the sides.
Magic is six power dices against four dispel and is begun with Sorcerous Portal casting Plague of Rust on to the Halberdiers unit. My Wizard Lord uses five dices to cast Final Transmutation on Phoenix Guard, totalling 22 from the dices, and my opponent only gets 21 on his four dices. Six Phoenix Guards are turned into golden staues. The Captain on pegasus points his ring at the Tiranoc Chariot and lets loose a fireball, that does two wounds to the chariot.
In shooting, the pistoliers finish off the chariot, while Outriders kill three Swordmasters. The steamcannon lands short of the Bolt Thrower and the Great Cannon decides to blow up on the very first turn. I haven't blown up a cannon in ages, so I guess it was bound to happen sometime...
Turn 1 High Elves
The Spearelves try to charge the Captasus, who decides to flee (On hindsigh, I shouldn't have fled, as my Captasus would have been stubborn near the Acropolis of Heroes, with 2+ armour save... oh well, live and learn) and the failed charge move the spearmen only an inch /they tried to redirect to the halbers, a desperate charge mainly to keep looking at the main front...). Phoenix Guard moves next to the building as Swordmasters advance. The Shadow warriors jump out from behind the building and take positions so that the Demigryphs cannot charge the Silverhelms without clipping the Shadow Warriors (it might not look like that in the map).
Magic is eight power against siven dispel (Empire channeled one). The Sorcerous Portal continues to bully the Halberdiers, this time with a fireball, which turns out to be ineffective. The mounted firemage throws a 2d6 fireball at the Demigryphs, which I don't try to dispel, doing a wound to them. Archmage fails to cast Chainlightning and the firemage uses the last dice to cast a lucky Cascading Firecloak, which I dispel with 7 dices...
Archers desperately try to shoot the Steamtank, with no effect, while the Bolt Thrower kills 2 of the Pistoliers. Shadow Warriors and the Noble in them shoot at Demigryphs and manage to score one wound.
Turn 2 Empire
At the start of the turn the High Elf Noble in the Shadow Warriors drinks a Potion of Strenght, which really takes away the fighting spirit from the Demigryphs (he would have had 4 attacks at strength 7, with always strikes first, I thought I'd probably take atleast 3 wounds, and if the warriors get lucky, I'd end up with two dead demis before even striking a blow).
Steamtank generates four steampoints, misfires and loses two steampoints.
As there are no charges, the Captasus decides to continue his flight, ending right on the edge of the table, nay, on the edge of the world!
Halberdiers and Swordsmen take positions at the ruined building, while pistoliers gallop behind the enemy lines, threatening the Bolt Thrower...
In magic, it's eight dices against four, and the Sorcerous portal does a favor for the halberdiers, giving them Wyssan's Wildform. I manage to cast Enchanted Blades of Aiban on to the Helblaster, while an attempt to cast Golden Hounds of the elven Battle Standard fails.
In shooting, Helblaster and previously unnoticed Handgunners go to town on the Phoenix Guard, killing seven (they managed to make only two ward saves with their 4+). Outriders open up on the Swordmasters once more, scoring five wounds.. however, the Swordmasters don't give a shit about bullets and they deflect three shots with their swords...
Turn 2 High Elves
The Phoenix Guard valiantly charge to their deaths.. I mean the Steamtank. Swordmasters advance almost at full march, while the Spearelves are distracted by the vulgarities shouted at them by the pistoliers, and are not able to march. Silverhelms position themselves to make the charge difficult for the Demis, while Swadow Warriors set up at the flank.
Magic is seven against six. The Sorcerous portal seems to be wanting to apologise for his behaviour in the early turns and give the Halberdiers the Speed of Light. Archmage casts Chainlightning with five dices that is barely dispelled with six dices, and the firmage uses the last two dices to cast another medium fireball at the demigryphs, scoring six wounds, but the Demigryphs make their saves like the bosses that they are..
Archers kill a pistolier, and Bolt Thrower kills three outriders. Both units pass their panic checks. Shadow warriors shoot their bows at the demigryphs, who at this point seem to take everything dished at them and laugh...
Phoenix Guard fail to get any wounds through to the Steamtank.
Turn 3 Empire
The Pistoliers charge to glory, engaging the Bolt Thrower. The Demigryphs had avoided rolling 1's for too long, so they roll three on their charge, making their charge range 9, when they would have needed 11. The Wizard lord quits the frontlines and moves to safety (well, to relative safety).
Also, on the edge of the world: The Captasus decides he has better things to do and quits the field...
Magic is only five against four as the elves manage to channel one dispel dice. The Sorcerous Portal really wants things to go well for Empire and blesses the Halberdiers with yet another Vyssan's Wildform. The Wizards Lord gets lucky again with Final Transmutation sneaking past the elven magical defence, killing six spearelves.
Steamtank kill four Phoenix Guards with grinds and steamgun, but the elves hold. Pistoliers manage to dodge the attacks of the bolt thrower crew, and even kill an elf! But the last elf standing has decided to fight to the bitter end.
Turn 3 High Elves
The whole High Elf line charges. Swordmaster go first, and they are met with grim faces and a countercharge. Spearelves are the next to charge and the middle of the battleground is a huge whirling melee now. On the flank, the Silverhelms and Shadow Warriors make the most of the Demigryphs failure last turn and charge the front and the flank.
Magic is a deadly elven against five. I managed to pull a rabbit out of the hat with a channel, but the odds don't look good. Also, the Sorcerous Portal turn coat and gives Speed of Light to the Spearelves, who are the closest unit now. The archmage casts Curse of the Midnight Wind on the Halberdiers and I decide to use a scroll on it. He then casts Uranon's Thunderbolt on the Wizard Lord that left the unit. I let it pass, it does 3 hits, and I manage to pass two look-outs on 4+ (btw, can I take Look Out Sir rolls if the unit is on combat?), and the Wizard lord takes a wound and one halberdier dies.
Archers shoot the Helblaster to no effect and the combat is on...
Steamtank and Pistoliers have a pillowfight with their opponents, while the Demigryphs take two wounds from the Silver Helm lances and loose a model. Rest of the elves do nothing and now it's payback time: Demigryphs kill the mage, two shadow warriors and stomp one Silverhelm to death. Shadow Warriors stick in the combat while the Silver Helms flee.
In the big combat, a challenge is issued by my BSB. Unfortunately he only gets to fight with a Swordmaster champion, and instead of a real fight, they decide to tickle eachother. The Elven battle standard strikes a wound to the Witch Hunter. The Swordmasters kill five halberdiers and two Swordsmen, while the Spearmen have a hard time getting through the toughness four of the Halberdiers and manage to kill only three. The Swordsmen flanking the Swordmasters kill three and Halberdiers kill another six of the Swordmasters and two Spearelves. The huge slaughter ends with Empire winning the combat by one (flanking Swordsmen huzzah!), but the elves are determined to get rid of the humans.