Tactical Decision Game 2.1: Strategy & Deployment
***Note- read the following thread to follow along with the Tactical Decision Game 2 storyline: Tactical Decision Game 2.0: The Beginning
--The Green Team List can be found here
--The Blue Team List can be found here
-------------------------------------Tactical Decision Games are a fun way to think through tough situations that Empire Generals face. It is all about making tough decisions in tough situations… so the next time you face similar situations- you are ready for them! Check out
Tactical Decision Game 1: Empire versus the Ogrebus if you haven’t seen it yet to get an idea of what a TDG is all out. You are coming in at ground zero on this one- so join us and participate!
-------------------------------------Setting the Stage: The BattlefieldThe battle is over an Arcane Ruin in the snowy, hilly northern forests of the Middle Mountains. Wizards far and wide have seen stars and signs in the heavens that point to something unnatural, something otherworldly, happening in the area. The College has wizards at the ruins but they can’t explain exactly what is causing the magic disturbance. Hochland and Ostland have suffered numerous incursions of Destruction raiding parties attempting to reach the ancient ruins.
Our mobile Empire force sent to the scene had little trouble securing the area and enjoying some time out of the cramped cities, catching local game by day and enjoying the stars while telling war stories around the campfires at night…until the Dark Elves arrived…and in force. TerrainSnow-silted open fields are doted by small rolling hills in this area with spotty patches of forest. The
Ruins are sandwiched between two hills to the west. A larger hill to the east has a strange carving near the peak that looks like some kind of
Magic Circle.
ScenarioDeployment zones and rules are per a normal Pitched Battle. 6 turns.
The Arcane Ruins give the normal bonus to channeling dice, but it also gives off a special magic energy that grants all Wizards within 6” a +1 to their cast and dispel rolls. The ruins are impassable terrain- as it represent a mass of fallen walls, boulders, and debris.
The Magic Circle on the hill is also more powerful than normal- it grants MR3 in a 12” radius instead of MR2 in 6.”
Victory Points are calculated as per a normal Pitched Battle, except there are two ways to gain Special Victory Points:
--at the end of the battle, both sides will count up the point values of all units within 6” of the Arcane Ruins (
only need 1 model of the unit to be in the 6” range). The army with the most points in the area gets +100 VPs.
--the army with the most Wizard levels within 6” of the ruins (
the total of all Wizard levels in range) gets +100 VPs (
no points on a tie).
TDG “Winner”Since Team Blue and Green are not only competing against the Dark Elf opponent but are also competing against each other- the “TDG winner” is going to be the list that beats the Dark Elf army by the greatest VP margin. In the event that both Empire lists lose their battles, the “winner” will be the “best loser;” in other words the army that loses by the smallest margin.
The Bad Guys: Blood VengeanceWithout further ado, here are the Dark Elves you will be facing.
The List47 Warriors Spears, Shields, FC, Banner of Murder Dreadlord (Gen)
Executioner’s Axe, Other’s Trickster Shard Noble (BSB)
Banner of Hag Graef Sorceress Lvl 2 Death Mage, Dispel Scroll40 Har Ganeth Executioners Mus, Standard15 Warriors Standard, Musician Supreme Sorceress Lvl 4 Metal Mage, Sac Dagger, Seal of GrondHydra 12 Shades 2x 5 Dark Riders 2x 5 Harpies Dark Elf spells: Metal-
Searing Doom, Plague of Rust, Enchanted Blades, Glittering Robe Death-
Spirit Leech, Fate of BunjaDark Elf Army AnalysisYes, this isn’t your normal DE list. And no, our opponent didn’t create it specifically to play against us. I asked him to use his latest and greatest list that he has been working/tweaking for the past month and this is it (
you can see an older version of it in my Griffon Battle Report thread as the Half-Griffon versus DE 2500. I beat him, of course… we are talking about a Griffon Formation…!)
He has learned a few lessons since playing me last time and has made significant improvements to his list and strategy.
He has two main hammers- the character-backed Warriors and the Executioners. A horde of Executioners is just plain nasty- yes, they strike last, but they will pretty much annihilate anything they hit unless you reduce their numbers first.
The Warriors are less potent- but are still tricked out to cause wounds. He will run them either in a bus or horde formation depending on what he is up against. They are supported by two banners- an ASF banner and AP banner. Taking out the BSB with the ASF is always a priority. He runs this vulnerable BSB because he likes having his Dreadlord with Executioner’s Axe get to swing in Init order (GW and ASF cancel each other out). The Axe’s Strength is double the Toughness of whatever it is whacking on…and each unsaved wound is multiplied to D3 wounds. I made the mistake of running a STank into his unit before and he almost killed it in one round (
he should have killed it but his dice failed him).
Of course, what is a DE list without a Hydra? I don’t think I need to explain that beast.
Unlike normal Dark Elf lists, he doesn’t have that much non-magic range capability…but the Shades are Scouts and will threaten the rear area almost immediately if we don’t protect it.
He has plenty of diverters to set up charges/combats he likes- 2x5 Dark Riders and 2x5 Harpies.
And, last but not least, his magic phase is plain ridiculous. He runs a Lvl 4 Metal Sorceress- not only because he likes to get rid of things his troops may normally have a hard time with, but the support spells Enchanted Blades and Glittering Robes really work well in helping him kill more or adding a much needed +2 bonus to his troop block’s armour saves. She is carrying the Sacrificial Dagger of course, which gives her an extra power dice if she kills one of the Warriors standing next to her. The Sac Dagger and the spell Powers of Darkness can turn a subpar Winds of Magic roll into a dominate magic phase. She also has the Seal of Grond that grants the DE player an extra DD in each of our magic phases!
The Death Mage runs in the Warrior block to get the benefit of the Dreadlord’s Leadership 10. The DE player always takes Spirit Leech for the sniping spell and whatever else he happens to roll. Our characters are not that safe when in range of her.
With my infantry-based Empire armies, I have been able to go toe-to-toe with his earlier variants of this DE list- mainly due to buffing (prayers and Harmonic Convergence). In this TDG, our cavalry-based troops are going to face some obstacles…but we have significant strengths too, that need to be used to our advantage.
Tactical Decisions for 2.1: Magic, Strategy & DeploymentOkay, now to your part.
First off- magic.
You rolled a
2, 4, 4, 5 for spells.
Which spells do you want to end up with? ***Note- for many rolls in the game, I will roll it once for both teams. Just like the spell roll above, both teams will have the same results/luck to worth with when I can manage it.
Team Blue is working with Beasts,
Team Green Heavens.
We rolled off for who gets to decide the table edge. Empire won.
Which side are you going to pick to start on?Since you are not standing above the war table checking things out, I created the graph below to assist you in visualizing the distances.
--The black lines annotate the two deployment zones.
--The orange circle is the radius of the Magic Circle’s MR3.
--The red rounded rectangle zone is the area that is 6” or closer to the Arcane Ruins. this is the area where the troops and Wizards must be in order to count towards getting the bonus VPs from the special scenario.
Team Leaders and initial people who post- I highly suggest you get the team’s input solidified on the two questions above first. Because the answers to those questions may drive the answers to the questions below. You can do it how ever you want too…but that is my suggestion.
Okay- more input I need.
TDG 1 sometimes suffered from a split personality. The forum as a whole would shift with the wind from turn to turn to try and make decisions about how to handle the nasty Ogrebus.
To avoid that in this TDG, I want the Teams (and forum) to discuss
what your overall strategy is from the start. So- I will get one
Team Blue Strategy and one
Team Green strategy. This will help guide your group in all future decisions. This should focus discussion. Agreeing on this should prevent a “split personality.” It will also help me as a moderator to make decisions/shape the situation for the group in between the tactical decisions I pose to you- so your forces are doing what you want them to, when you want them to, how you want them to.
Of course, a Team can change its strategy mid-game if the situation dictates (
who wants to stubbornly stick to a failed strategy??), but it will require all the members deciding to make a vote on it and the great majority agreeing with the change.
You don’t need to get too specific. Just looking for a basic strategy.
For example- your strategy may be to kill certain units first, while avoiding others. It may be to control certain areas of the board. It may be to set up certain key matchups that you want to win. Your group is only limited by its creativity. The group may not all completely agree, but the majority will rule.
In addition to the strategy, I need a sense of
what your overall posture is going to be- aggressive, wait-and-see, defensive, etc. You may even decide to be aggressive in combat and maneuver but very cautious in your magic phase. Up to you.
And last, take a look at the terrain and your forces, and give me a sense of what your deployment strategy is going to be.
Where would you like certain key pieces to go? Which units do you want to place last? And which units are you trying to line up with the Dark Elf units to get the match-ups you want?-------------------------------------------------
So- I hope this will generate a healthy discussion amongst your team. I will give this step several days. I will warn the Team Leaders when time is starting to run out. Once I close out this step, I will get
one Blue Team and
one Green Team submission from the Team Leaders (
based on the team’s consolidated, agreed upon input) on your
magic spell choices, starting board edge, and your Basic Strategy, Overall Posture, and Deployment Strategy. Please remember- if you are in the
Green Team and talking about
Green strategy….then write your
text in Green!
The same goes with Blue! If you forget, at some point go back in and modify your post to the correct colors. The colors should allow us to work both Teams without getting confused.
I will be able to check the website tomorrow morning before I get on a plane and then I will be out of pocket for awhile. So if you have any questions, get them in early.
HHG