It was February 2012 and I decided to begin an epic journey to publish my battle reports to the greater Warhammer community for some simple documentation. I was hoping to become a tactical genius at the end of it all of course, but what really happened was I switched armies a few times, painted a heap more models, won a tournament, lost many more and developed an intimate understanding of what has become my favourite faction in the Warhammer lore.
I went on to surpass the 100 battle reports and through some friendly reminders from a certain member on the forum I was gifted with the title 'Centurion' and the cool post that followed:
"As far as the eye could see the fields were littered with the bodies of the fallen. From the mountains in the east to the shining seas in the west a layer of dead spoke to the gods louder than any prayer. And amidst all that carnage a warrior stood alone. An oath he had taken and an oath he had fulfilled. He battled for a century, where ever, when ever and against who ever crossed his path leaving all the challengers in the dirt. From heaven high and hell below gods approached dipping their blades in salute. The warrior cared not for glory and accolades, a cold smirk dancing on his lips. A salute was given and then he charged. Mortals had fallen, immortality awaited!"
"Congratulations Jimmy, your dedication have been an inspiration to many. May your arm stay strong and fortune favours you!"
"Congratulations Jimmy, your dedication have been an inspiration to many. May your arm stay strong and fortune favours you!"
It was very humbling to know people read the content I was producing. Fast forward to 7 years after my last battle report was posted and e-mails from Photobucket threatening to delete all my content, I figured it was time to immortalise the content somewhere, rather than it be lost to the black holes such was the fate of 8th edition.
It all begun on the Ultuan.net forums with a simple post:
"Hi All
Well after a few interesting ups and downs with the Tomb Kings I’m just getting little enjoyment out of them so for the time being I’m getting back to the High Elves for some fun and games whilst painting my Ogres and Tomb Kings (maybe in that order!). I’m jumping on the band wagon and creating somewhat of a journal of upcoming battles.
The basic aim of this journal is to document 100 of my games, gather thoughts and feelings whilst playing and pre/post game commentary noting key areas to improve on and areas to watch out for in the next game. Obviously this is a long term project but I’m hoping to remain active enough in the community maintaining it with regular updates.
At the end of the day this is purely about gaining more experience with my favourite armies in Warhammer and hopefully becoming a much better player during the course of it all.
I’m taking inspiration from a tonne of members here who contribute on a regular basis including but not limited to Curu, Brewmaster, SpellArcher, Swordmaster, Seredain, Elithmar, Bolt Thrower, and rdghuizing just to name a few.
I'm coming up with a good account of Warhammer Battle Reports and I'm sure I'll end up surpassing the 100 mark."
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Hey guys
Finally a battle to report!
High Elves vs Empire. I got to my mates house and he presented me with the following Empire 'coven of light' list, wow what a challenge to begin with and straight away I felt like I was on the back foot!
Level 4 AM – Shadow Lore, Book
Level 2 – High Lore, Seerstaff, Flames of the Phoenix, Vaul’s Unmaking
BSB – GW, 2+ re-rollable
29 Spearelves – FC
20 Archers – FC, flaming
10 Archers – Mus
5 Dragon Princes - Mus
20 Phoenix Guard – FC, Banner of Sorcery
29 White Lions – FC, Standard of Balance
2 Great Eagles
2499 points
Archlector on War Altar, with Great Weapon, Dawn Armour, VHS.
Wizard Lord of Life, lvl 4. Seal of Destruction, Immune to Panic Item
Wizard w/ Dispel Scroll
Wizard w/ Power stone (got banishment)
Wizard w/ Channelling Staff
BSB w/ Fullplate, Flaming Banner
Captain on Peg, w/ Lance, Pistol, Full Plate, Charmed Shield, Aldreds Casket of Sorcery.
40 Halberdiers FC
18 Xbows, champ muso
20 Swordsman FC
5 Flaggies w/ Prophet
10 Knights Full Command
Great Cannon
Great Cannon
Stank
5 Flaggies w/ Prophet.
So the idea is the walter hangs around the level 1's who are all bunkered in the Swordmen for protection coupled with a life mage to heal wounds from miscasts. So straight away the 3 big threats for me identified were the War Alter, the Steam Tank and the Coven of Light.
Pre-game thoughts:
This army had 3 components that could really dismantle my army and cause huge headaches, firstly the coven of light and the war alters ability for all of the light lore which could potentially turn the mediocre combat blocks into potent weapons, the steam tank which can tie up and grind nearly anything in the game and of course the coven of light sitting nicely back belting out S7 banishments on my Phoenix Guard to wittle the numbers down.
The other headache would be the captain on pegasus heading for my Archmage to destroy spells. If I could carefully place my level 2 or even use smoke and mirrors to switch and have a good shot at Vaul's then it would make a difference however it was going to be uphill purely because of the amount of channels my opponent was getting, the extra dispel dice from the Archlector and lastly the ability to dispel two spells and possibly destroy one!
This was going to be tough. I'd never first hand witnessed the 'congo' line and it's looking like a solid way to tie up enemy units with the flaggies, the unit matyrs and either draws combat or challenges so only the champion can be killed. The key here is to missile them to death or get a flank and destroy them but with so many threats I couldn't help but feel my opponent wasn't sharing my concerns!
Spell selection:
Archmage - Pit, Miasma, Enfeebling, Pendulum
Mage - Vauls, Flames of the Phoenix, Drain Magic
I didn't know what I was thinking here with taking Enfeebling as I had the opportunity to take withering instead which could have proved useful in combination with Flames of the Phoenix. Will remember for next time!
Level 3 - Earthblood, Throne, Flesh to Stone
Level 1 - Banishment
Level 1 - Gaze
Level 1 - Gaze
Level 1 - Gaze
Clearly the light wizards were mainly there to add strength to the banishment from the War Alter however seeing as one actually got it for spell selection aswell would prove to be problematic no doubt with double the chances of really causing some problems for the Phoenix guard!
Deployment:
I managed to win the roll off with a comfortable +2 to the dice roll and opted to take the first turn. Just a quick note, in error I put the High Mage in the smaller archer unit however he was always in the large archer unit however this doesn't impact the battle at all and in my turn 2 he's shown as switching units.
High Elves 1:
No charges
Magic - 3+2+1 (9PD vs 8 DD)
The first threat I identify that can really foil my plans is a bus of knights hitting me in the flank so I figure I need to get rid of them. I consult the wonderful chart Curu recently uncovered for me and throw 4 dice at Miasma reducing the knights initiative by 3 (I1!) with a roll of doubles. I back it up with a large Pit which lands bang on target on the knights leaving the lone standard who passes his panic test. I did roll 2 x 6's on the casting roll and this detonation kills 5 PG and puts a wound on the AM. A good trade off and a great start to the game for me. I could only hope my luck would hold consistent!
Finally a battle to report!
High Elves vs Empire. I got to my mates house and he presented me with the following Empire 'coven of light' list, wow what a challenge to begin with and straight away I felt like I was on the back foot!
My list for ease:
Level 4 AM – Shadow Lore, Book
Level 2 – High Lore, Seerstaff, Flames of the Phoenix, Vaul’s Unmaking
BSB – GW, 2+ re-rollable
29 Spearelves – FC
20 Archers – FC, flaming
10 Archers – Mus
5 Dragon Princes - Mus
20 Phoenix Guard – FC, Banner of Sorcery
29 White Lions – FC, Standard of Balance
2 Great Eagles
2499 points
Empire list:
Archlector on War Altar, with Great Weapon, Dawn Armour, VHS.
Wizard Lord of Life, lvl 4. Seal of Destruction, Immune to Panic Item
Wizard w/ Dispel Scroll
Wizard w/ Power stone (got banishment)
Wizard w/ Channelling Staff
BSB w/ Fullplate, Flaming Banner
Captain on Peg, w/ Lance, Pistol, Full Plate, Charmed Shield, Aldreds Casket of Sorcery.
40 Halberdiers FC
18 Xbows, champ muso
20 Swordsman FC
5 Flaggies w/ Prophet
10 Knights Full Command
Great Cannon
Great Cannon
Stank
5 Flaggies w/ Prophet.
So the idea is the walter hangs around the level 1's who are all bunkered in the Swordmen for protection coupled with a life mage to heal wounds from miscasts. So straight away the 3 big threats for me identified were the War Alter, the Steam Tank and the Coven of Light.
Pre-game thoughts:
This army had 3 components that could really dismantle my army and cause huge headaches, firstly the coven of light and the war alters ability for all of the light lore which could potentially turn the mediocre combat blocks into potent weapons, the steam tank which can tie up and grind nearly anything in the game and of course the coven of light sitting nicely back belting out S7 banishments on my Phoenix Guard to wittle the numbers down.
The other headache would be the captain on pegasus heading for my Archmage to destroy spells. If I could carefully place my level 2 or even use smoke and mirrors to switch and have a good shot at Vaul's then it would make a difference however it was going to be uphill purely because of the amount of channels my opponent was getting, the extra dispel dice from the Archlector and lastly the ability to dispel two spells and possibly destroy one!
This was going to be tough. I'd never first hand witnessed the 'congo' line and it's looking like a solid way to tie up enemy units with the flaggies, the unit matyrs and either draws combat or challenges so only the champion can be killed. The key here is to missile them to death or get a flank and destroy them but with so many threats I couldn't help but feel my opponent wasn't sharing my concerns!
Spell selection:
Archmage - Pit, Miasma, Enfeebling, Pendulum
Mage - Vauls, Flames of the Phoenix, Drain Magic
I didn't know what I was thinking here with taking Enfeebling as I had the opportunity to take withering instead which could have proved useful in combination with Flames of the Phoenix. Will remember for next time!
Level 3 - Earthblood, Throne, Flesh to Stone
Level 1 - Banishment
Level 1 - Gaze
Level 1 - Gaze
Level 1 - Gaze
Clearly the light wizards were mainly there to add strength to the banishment from the War Alter however seeing as one actually got it for spell selection aswell would prove to be problematic no doubt with double the chances of really causing some problems for the Phoenix guard!
Deployment:
I managed to win the roll off with a comfortable +2 to the dice roll and opted to take the first turn. Just a quick note, in error I put the High Mage in the smaller archer unit however he was always in the large archer unit however this doesn't impact the battle at all and in my turn 2 he's shown as switching units.
High Elves 1:
No charges
Magic - 3+2+1 (9PD vs 8 DD)
The first threat I identify that can really foil my plans is a bus of knights hitting me in the flank so I figure I need to get rid of them. I consult the wonderful chart Curu recently uncovered for me and throw 4 dice at Miasma reducing the knights initiative by 3 (I1!) with a roll of doubles. I back it up with a large Pit which lands bang on target on the knights leaving the lone standard who passes his panic test. I did roll 2 x 6's on the casting roll and this detonation kills 5 PG and puts a wound on the AM. A good trade off and a great start to the game for me. I could only hope my luck would hold consistent!
Empire 1:
No charges
Lone knight moves away to preserve the points of the entire unit so I'd have to try and take him out later in the game with either bow fire or a pendulum/pit.
Most of the enemy stays in place however the stank and captain move around the flank ready to envelope. Flaggies move up.
Magic - 3+2+1 (Empire channel)
Throne of vines goes up and I allow this through. Banishment is cast and I fail to dispel and it takes out 3 dragon princes however pass their panic test and I think how am I going to make use of them and have them still count for something towards the game.
Shooting
Eastern cannon shoots at the PG however it doesn't bounce and misses. The second cannon however targets the DP but falls short and kills 3 WL instead.
The crossbowmen add a further death to the WL.
No charges
Archers enter the building for better position and some protection. Eagle setups flank charge on cannon.
Magic - 6+4+3 (12PD vs 9DD)
So a critical phase with another opportunity to remove a huge threat in the game being the juicy coven of light bunker. Time to get to work! I immediately dispel Throne of vines with 2 dice successfully. Opted to do this first rather than miscast with other spells and potentially lose dice. I throw 5D6 at Miasma and don't roll any doubles and my opponent dispels this. I use my last 5 to throw at Pit however I fail to meet the casting value!
This can really upset the plan!
Shooting
The archers drop 2 flagellants.
A less than impressive turn and it was beginning to feel like Turn 1 was going to be the high point of the game!!
No charges
Knight moves further away. Stank move in closer and the Captain moves in to steal a spell!
Magic - 6+4 (10PD vs 6 DD)
The captain rolls a 4+ and randomly steals pendulum, so that takes 50% of my magical options for dealing with the steam tank. Damn!
Burning gaze is cast on my archers in the building twice which sees 6 of their number toast however I pass the following panic test.
Banishment is cast on 6D6 and I manage to dispel this and then my opponent reveals the powerstone using this to cast banishment again on the PG however fails to meet the casting value thankfully for me!
Shooting
The steam tank engineer drops a WL with a pistol shot. The crossbowmen fail to wound the Western Eagle.
The eastern cannon easily destroys the Great eagle threatning the warmachine line whilst the second cannon shot harmlessly bounces off a Phoenix Guard.
High Elves 3:
After much thinking I decide to declare a charge with my BSB onto the Peg rider to either kill him or get him out of range of stealing another spell. My opponent elects to flee (rolling 4"!!) with him so I re-direct into the flagellants.
I move the archers out of the building to take out the cannon or tempt my opponent to waste a round of shooting on them. The White Lions reform into 6wide to get through gap. Dragon princes move to attempt to block the steam tank from charging the BSB/White Lions in the flank. Phoenix guard march hard to charge next turn.
Magic - 6+1+3 = 10PD vs 9DD
A critical magic phase and I spend a lot of time weighing up what threat to attempt to remove first with the options being throwing miasma + pit at the swordmen bunker or just throwing a pit at the steam tank. I end up opting for the swordsmen as I feel I can delay the steam tank with the dragon princes for a turn at least and I want some Phoenix guard left to get into combat and I don't feel them taking punishment from banishment would help in the war effort!
I throw 5D6 at Miasma and fail the doubles so it is scrolled immediately. I back it up with 5D6 for a large pit and I fail to meet the casting value! I manage to hold my tongue though and don't have an aggressive outburst so for me that's a win in itself!
Shooting
The archers put a single wound on the eastern cannon.
Combat
The flaggies martyr killing 3 of them and leaving the prophet who is promptly dispatched by the BSB of course this leaves me in a bad situation in that I overrun and face a round of punishment or I reform and risk a charge from a steam tank. I opt to overrun and roll a healthy 11" taking me closer to the enemy line and of course the oncoming wave of crossbow bolts!
Empire 3:
No charges (surprisingly)
Flaggies move to block WL, Stank moves to position next turn charge against PG. War Alter moves to block the flank of crossbowmen from eagle charge.
Magic - 5+2+1 = 8PD vs 5 DD
Captain fails to steal a spell thankfully!
Wizard casts banishment on the PG and I throw all my dice at it dispelling however it goes off again with the War Alter and 4 PG drop.
Shooting aka "The Nuln guide to killing a BSB"
So I had already envisioned some half arsed plan on how to proceed without the BSB before my opponent starts shooting away. The cannon opens up on the BSB hitting him easily and op rolls to wound and then the amount of wounds.....1. Grapeshot with the second cannon, 10 hits, 2 wounding and I save both.
The engineer adds his pistol shots however the Caledor armour proves too much for the blackpowder weapons and between the crossbows he proceeds to emerge after the smoke clears and the proud standard of Ulthuan flaps in the wind. Wow! Statistically I think I just beat the odds by a large margin.
No charges (surprisingly)
Flaggies move to block WL, Stank moves to position next turn charge against PG. War Alter moves to block the flank of crossbowmen from eagle charge.
Magic - 5+2+1 = 8PD vs 5 DD
Captain fails to steal a spell thankfully!
Wizard casts banishment on the PG and I throw all my dice at it dispelling however it goes off again with the War Alter and 4 PG drop.
Shooting aka "The Nuln guide to killing a BSB"
So I had already envisioned some half arsed plan on how to proceed without the BSB before my opponent starts shooting away. The cannon opens up on the BSB hitting him easily and op rolls to wound and then the amount of wounds.....1. Grapeshot with the second cannon, 10 hits, 2 wounding and I save both.
The engineer adds his pistol shots however the Caledor armour proves too much for the blackpowder weapons and between the crossbows he proceeds to emerge after the smoke clears and the proud standard of Ulthuan flaps in the wind. Wow! Statistically I think I just beat the odds by a large margin.
High Elves 4:
Charges:
- Archers into the eastern cannon
- BSB into the western cannon
- Dragon Princes into Halberdiers
- Spearelves + White Lions into the Flaggies
- Phoenix Guard into the Swordsmen
- Archers into Captain (keep in mind this combat was much more central and not as close to any others!)
Magic - 5+4+3 = 12PD vs 8DD
So two sucky magic phases in a row, let's see if this one could stack the odds in my favour!
It's time to get rid of that steam tank otherwise it could really tip the game back into my ops favour. I throw 5D6 at it miscasting sucking the Steam Tank into oblivion however another S10 template strikes taking out some Swordsmen, another wound on the AM and dropping a PG. I use smoke and mirrors here to swap the position of the BSB with the AM in an attempt to give me better odds at doing damage in the combat and hoping the cannon crew have never used a sword before!
I only have a single dice left and throw it at Miasma however this is dispelled easily.
No shooting
Combat
Archers vs Cannon
The archers easily destroy the crew and reform to face the West to support their general next turn.
White Lions + Spearelves vs Flaggies
WL Champ kills the prophet and the Spearelves dispatch the remaining zealots reforming to face the Halberdiers.
Dragon Princes vs Halberdiers
The dragon princes clearly enraged with the loss of their kin skewer 4 bodies and their steeds stomp a further 2, I lose one in return and win the combat which I wasn't expecting and the unit holds.
Archers vs Captain
I declare a challenge with the archer champion to delay the death of the Mage and secondly because I should win the combat for a few turns before the stomps and pegasus attacks start tipping the combat in his favour, obviously I fail to wound and the captain makes short work of the champion however I win the combat and reform into 4 ranks.
PG + BSB vs Swordsmen + Wizards
I delcare a challenge with my champion and he accepts with his wizard lord and both proceed to break dance rather than fight causing no wounds. Not impressed!
The BSB promptly kills a wizard. The PG drop 5 swordsmen including the champion and I take nil damage in return however the unit holds on steadfast.
Archmage vs Cannon
I was already wincing expecting my AM to be slotted however his agility training paid off as the cannon crew couldn't land a blow on the nimble elf, now just to hold on for one more turn before reinforcements arrive!
Charges:
- Archers into the eastern cannon
- BSB into the western cannon
- Dragon Princes into Halberdiers
- Spearelves + White Lions into the Flaggies
- Phoenix Guard into the Swordsmen
- Archers into Captain (keep in mind this combat was much more central and not as close to any others!)
Magic - 5+4+3 = 12PD vs 8DD
So two sucky magic phases in a row, let's see if this one could stack the odds in my favour!
It's time to get rid of that steam tank otherwise it could really tip the game back into my ops favour. I throw 5D6 at it miscasting sucking the Steam Tank into oblivion however another S10 template strikes taking out some Swordsmen, another wound on the AM and dropping a PG. I use smoke and mirrors here to swap the position of the BSB with the AM in an attempt to give me better odds at doing damage in the combat and hoping the cannon crew have never used a sword before!
I only have a single dice left and throw it at Miasma however this is dispelled easily.
No shooting
Combat
Archers vs Cannon
The archers easily destroy the crew and reform to face the West to support their general next turn.
White Lions + Spearelves vs Flaggies
WL Champ kills the prophet and the Spearelves dispatch the remaining zealots reforming to face the Halberdiers.
Dragon Princes vs Halberdiers
The dragon princes clearly enraged with the loss of their kin skewer 4 bodies and their steeds stomp a further 2, I lose one in return and win the combat which I wasn't expecting and the unit holds.
Archers vs Captain
I declare a challenge with the archer champion to delay the death of the Mage and secondly because I should win the combat for a few turns before the stomps and pegasus attacks start tipping the combat in his favour, obviously I fail to wound and the captain makes short work of the champion however I win the combat and reform into 4 ranks.
PG + BSB vs Swordsmen + Wizards
I delcare a challenge with my champion and he accepts with his wizard lord and both proceed to break dance rather than fight causing no wounds. Not impressed!
The BSB promptly kills a wizard. The PG drop 5 swordsmen including the champion and I take nil damage in return however the unit holds on steadfast.
Archmage vs Cannon
I was already wincing expecting my AM to be slotted however his agility training paid off as the cannon crew couldn't land a blow on the nimble elf, now just to hold on for one more turn before reinforcements arrive!
Empire 4:
Charges
- Crossbowmen into PG flank
Magic - 2+2 - No steal!
Regrowth goes off healing the champion on the Swordsmen and 2 troops. Speed of light fails to meet the casting value.
Combat
Dragon Princes vs Halberdiers
The lone DP kills the unit champion and then falls in return.
Archers vs Captain
Once again I need to have my best chance at winning this combat so my Mage steps up to challenge and once again meets a sword to the neck for his troubles but buying valuable time for the unit. The captain continues to hold.
PG + BSB vs Swordsmen + Wizards + Crossbowmen + BSB
In the continuing challenge the break dance off continues with neither side crumbling to the encore of 'It's raining men', what a shame.
The BSB majorly depressed with the dancing slots 3 Crossbowmen opting for the non parry easy wounds. The PG kill a further 5 swordsmen including the champion and take 2 casualties in return. I win the combat however it doesn't shift the state of affairs. (Due to the champion being alive and the Wizard Lord I was unable to target the Level 1 wizards!)
Archmage vs Cannon
The Hoeth master manages to slice the throat of a cannon crew dropping him immediately however the remaining crewman holds firm.
Charges
- Crossbowmen into PG flank
Magic - 2+2 - No steal!
Regrowth goes off healing the champion on the Swordsmen and 2 troops. Speed of light fails to meet the casting value.
Combat
Dragon Princes vs Halberdiers
The lone DP kills the unit champion and then falls in return.
Archers vs Captain
Once again I need to have my best chance at winning this combat so my Mage steps up to challenge and once again meets a sword to the neck for his troubles but buying valuable time for the unit. The captain continues to hold.
PG + BSB vs Swordsmen + Wizards + Crossbowmen + BSB
In the continuing challenge the break dance off continues with neither side crumbling to the encore of 'It's raining men', what a shame.
The BSB majorly depressed with the dancing slots 3 Crossbowmen opting for the non parry easy wounds. The PG kill a further 5 swordsmen including the champion and take 2 casualties in return. I win the combat however it doesn't shift the state of affairs. (Due to the champion being alive and the Wizard Lord I was unable to target the Level 1 wizards!)
Archmage vs Cannon
The Hoeth master manages to slice the throat of a cannon crew dropping him immediately however the remaining crewman holds firm.
High Elves 5:
Charges
- Archers into Cannon
- Spearelves into Halberdiers - elect to hold
- White Lions into Halberdiers - elect to flee
- Great Eagle into Crossbowmen (poor illustration)
Magic - 6+1+1 (8PD vs 9 DD)
Another critical phase and hoping I could turn the tide of the combats. I cast enfeebling foe on the Pegasus Captain and ping his Strength value to 3, not ideal but better than being wounded on a 3+. I also attempt Miasma but this is dispelled.
Combat
Archmage + Archers vs Cannon
Between the archers and Archmage the last crew member is viciously killed and the archmage prevents the archers from overrunning. Damn!
Archers vs Captain
The archers do no wounds with his 2+ save however I receive 2 wounds in return with the now S3 hits which allows me to win on a musician however the captain holds refusing to give ground.
PG + BSB vs Swordsmen + Wizards + Crossbowmen + BSB
The mega dance off continues however the Wizard lord gets in a sneaky dagger kill to the neck dropping the champion. Oh dear how embarrassing.
The BSB kills 2 crossbowmen and the PG on the flank drops a further 1.
The PG kill a wizard and leave another on a single wound. The Swordsmen kill a PG in retaliation giggling as the Eagle misses with everything and fails to stomp and the combat holds.
Empire 5:
No charges - Reason being the opponent was going to try and cast banishment on the Archmage netting him some big points.
The Halberdiers rally and face the spearelves.
Magic - 1+1 (1PD vs 1DD)
Wow, so this is what happens when you bank on a magic phase coming through for you. I dispel banishment very thankfully.
Combat
Archers vs Captain
The archers do nothing and take a further 2 casualties in response. The combat holds.
PG + BSB vs Swordsmen + Wizards + Crossbowmen + BSB
BSB challenges and the Crossbowmen champ steps up to have his head removed. The Phoenix guard drop another crossbowmen and drop the wizard lord.
The swordsmen drop another PG.
Down to the decider, the eagle misses with his attacks however a lucky stomp comes through and the opponents re-rollable break test isn't enough to prevent their nerves from falling through and the Eagle catches the unit in the following pursuit!
High Elves 6:
No charges
I opt to conserve points and under no circumstance do I even want to toy with the possibility of losing a combat against the Halberdiers.
The AM joins the unit of archers to face the lone knight however in the magic phase I realised I made an error and should have moved him to the other side of the archers so the knight couldn't have hit combat and directed attacks at him.
Magic - 3+2+2 (7PD vs 5DD)
Time to get rid of this War Alter. I throw 2D6 at Miasma and get 2 x 4's and drop the Initiative by 3. I then throw 4D6 at a small pit getting it off and sinking the war alter and Arch Lector into the afterlife.
My opponent dispels Enfeebling Foe.
Shooting
Archers bounce off the lone knight.
Combat
Archers vs Captain
Captain drops another 2 archers and the combat holds.
PG + BSB vs Swordsmen + Wizards
Swordsmen fail their fear test.
The BSB is challenged by the wizard and puts 3W into the resolution pool.
The PG drop another 4 swordsmen and they fail to do any damage back turning tail and exposing themselves to Elven fury and getting cut down in the chase.
This proceeds to be the perfect outcome for me and the PG block the Knight from charging the AM.
No charges
I opt to conserve points and under no circumstance do I even want to toy with the possibility of losing a combat against the Halberdiers.
The AM joins the unit of archers to face the lone knight however in the magic phase I realised I made an error and should have moved him to the other side of the archers so the knight couldn't have hit combat and directed attacks at him.
Magic - 3+2+2 (7PD vs 5DD)
Time to get rid of this War Alter. I throw 2D6 at Miasma and get 2 x 4's and drop the Initiative by 3. I then throw 4D6 at a small pit getting it off and sinking the war alter and Arch Lector into the afterlife.
My opponent dispels Enfeebling Foe.
Shooting
Archers bounce off the lone knight.
Combat
Archers vs Captain
Captain drops another 2 archers and the combat holds.
PG + BSB vs Swordsmen + Wizards
Swordsmen fail their fear test.
The BSB is challenged by the wizard and puts 3W into the resolution pool.
The PG drop another 4 swordsmen and they fail to do any damage back turning tail and exposing themselves to Elven fury and getting cut down in the chase.
This proceeds to be the perfect outcome for me and the PG block the Knight from charging the AM.
Charges
- Knight onto Archers - fail
Combat
Archers vs Captain
Captain drops another 2 archers however he breaks and is pursued although I can't remember if I caught him or not however I'm sure this didn't change the outcome of the game.
Result - Victory to the High Elves!
Unit of the match:
Honours clearly go to the Archmage
In total he was responsible for taking out the following:
Disabling the Knight Bus
Destroying the Steam Tank (300 points)
Destroying the War Alter (250+ points)
So out of the 3 major threats I identified at the beginning of the game I was able to neuter 2 with magic, even though the steam tank didn't make a difference to the game when I missed out in the earlier magic phases had I not nailed it in turn 4 I'm sure it would have wrecked havoc upon my White Lions and possibly entered the combat with the Archers vs Captain swinging it in his favour.
Conclusion:
Well a great game to get back into the swing of things. So how did I feel I performed? Well I won the game however that still doesn't answer the question. Obviously my opponent missed out on a massive opportunity to sink my Book of Hoeth Archmage into the ground but he only rolled 1+1 for winds which was just bad luck or good luck for me. Deployment was ok. Should I have perhaps concentrated on removing Casket? Maybe however then this directly took away my ability to damage and even intimidate the opponent with the thought of a pit lurking around. I was very lucky that my Pit's didn't scatter at all so no doubt next game they'll be all over the map but wait and see.
The major gripe I have is that the White Lions didn't see combat, an insult to the entire Province of Chrace! The Flagellants really put them into a poor position that I wasn't able to recover from and I couldn't even get a flank charge on the captain due to having to maximise models in base to base so it closed the line of sight off to the Captains flank.
As for list changes, having more archers instead of spearelves could have proved useful in causing more casualties early game and even reducing the numbers of the halberdiers significantly. Secondly this raises the question that the WHite Lions could have possibly got into combat as you'd hope another block of archers would have taken out the congo line of Flagellants allowing them free roam to charge a target. Bit of food for thought though as taking them coupled with Mindrazor just pours out a ridiculous amount of high strength attacks that leaves the enemy dusted.
Turn 4 alternative
After the battle and actually after turn 4 I immediately thought I should have moved the eagle into a blocking position to prevent the crossbowmen from getting into the flank of the Phoenix guard. Obviously this would have allowed them to win their combat perhaps quicker but then again it also raises the question if the crossbowmen and BSB would have eventually got into the archers to support the Captain on Pegasus and swung that combat. Certainly brings up a point though in regards to me placing my eagles a little better.
Well, that's how ye olde 8th edition was. :) Thanks to Todd for being a gracious sparring partner across the battlefield from me and still continues to be today under different systems.
Until Battle 2!
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