Warhammer Fantasy Battle Report summary:-
Tyrion reigns supreme ! (detail, with a story mode finish)| source : battlereporter.blogspot.org | credit : Sigmar | 31-Aug-2008 |
Today, I enjoyed the company of my friend "J" for a 2000 pt rematch - High Elves vs Wood Elves. Below are the army lists we used.
High Elves Army
Tyrion - 400 pts
Eagle Rider - 203 pts
(dragon armour + enchanted shield + revear bow + lance + great weapon + eagle)
Dragon Prince Hero - 163 pts
(helm of fortune + foe blade + dragon armour + lance + shield + barded steed)
3 x Repeater Bolt Throwers - 300 pts
15 Lothern Seaguard - 195 pts
(std + mus)
5 Dragon Princes - 185 pts
(std + banner of Ellyrion)
13 White Lions - 207 pts
(incl. Guardian)
13 White Lions - 207 pts
(incl. Guardian)
White Lion Chariot - 140 pts
Wood Elves Army
Wood Elf Highborn - 225pts
(gt weapon, shield, light armour, Amaranthine Brooch [3+ ward], bow of Loren)
Wood Elf Noble - 125 pts
(elven steed, light armour, shield, gt weapon, Hail of Doom arrow)
Spellsinger - 140 pts
(2 x dispel scroll)
5 Waywatchers - 120 pts
8 Wardancers - 266 pts
(incl. Bladesinger with Amber Pendant*)
8 Dryads - 96 pts
8 Dryads - 96 pts
10 Glade Guard - 120 pts
10 Glade Guard - 120 pts
3 Treekin - 195 pts
5 Glade Riders - 120 pts
5 Wild Riders - 130 pts
Treeman - 285 pts
*this was a mistake. I think the Wood Elf commander was in a bit of a rush putting the army together. The bladesinger was allowed to use the amber pendant anyway - even though it could normally only be carried by a character - the points cost should have been 7 wardancers * 18 pts = 126 pts; 1 noble, with wardancer kindred and amber pendant 75+30+35 = 140 pts. Total points = 266 pts. The Wood Elf army had paid 226 pts for the wardancer troupe + bladesinger with amber pendant, so effectively used a magic item wrongly but paid slightly over the odds for the privilege (226pts rather than 223 ppts).
Well folks, this was the 3rd rematch between Wood ELves and High Elves and possibly the most intriguing of the 3 Warhammer battles to date.
Intro
Wood Elves had beaten the High Elves with a massacre in the 1st outing and there was a 'technical draw' in the 2nd battle - although given another turn the Wood Elves would most probably have secured a victory.
This battle saw a similar Wood Elf army as last time (see my precious post for the army list) but the High Elves army was very different this time.
In the last battle I had decided to experiment more with magic taking Teclis and 2 other mages from the magic colleges of Ulthuan. This meant that I completely dominated the magic phase but despite this magic was not enough to score me a victory - the heavy investment in spellcasters had left me too light in combat options.
For the 3rd battle I decided to remove spellcasters altogether from my battle plan. It was a risky option because I would be ignoring one of the High Elf Army's greatest strengths.
I thought it was a risk worth taking though for 2 reasons:-
- The threat of my spell casting abilities would probably mean that the enemy would be well 'tooled up' with dispel scrolls (thus using up points that he would not benefit from, if I didn't cast any spells) and
- I wanted to free up points to use against the inevitable Treeman (or Treemen, if he brought a Treeman Ancient aswell !) and possible Treekin.
I also took 3 repeating bolt throwers (eagle claws) this time and the same eagle riding hero with a revear bow (strength 5). I opted for these to:-
- help protect my table quarters from attack and
- in case plan A didn't work or I got the chance to deliver some bolts on the big tree beasts before I put plan A into action.
So, what's plan A.
Plan A (part 1) - eliminate enemy missile threats.
Take out enemy missile troops with cavalry (with the Ellyrian standard - to treat woods like open ground) and White Lions which should be capable of absorbing enemy longbow fire and still have the strength left when they made it to the enemy woods (which, being woodsmen,they can traverse through without penalty)
Killing the enemy missile troops would make the enemy Treeman and any Treekin come to me and face my bolthrowers and reaver bow if the rest of plan A did not work.
Plan A (part 2)
Unleash the fury of Tyrion with his flaming Sunfang magic sword and strength 7 attacks and reduce the enemy's tree shepherds to charcoal.
The Battlefield
We chose quite a lot of terrain again but this time I made what turned out to be an error of judgement. I chose some hard cover to protect 2 repeating bolt throwers. I knew this would come in handy against the expertise of the Wood Elf archers. The problem was, in doing so I allowed my opponent the luxury of 3 woods. The one he gets by default and the 2 other, one of which I could have taken.
Thus gave my enemy the whole center ground in his line protected by Woods which he gradually moved forward towards my lines throughout the battle.
As it happened, I need not have taken the hard cover. The enemy archers were far to pre-occupied trying to eliminate my White Lions and Dragon Princes and barely gave my bolt throwers a second thought (although maybe this was because of the -2 to hit modifier).
The Battle begins
The Wood Elves began the fighting (they started it Sir !). They had deployed all their forces within the 3 woods, their mage suceeded in moving one of the woods forward with Tree Singing while my army dispel dice prevented the Treeman from casting the same spell.
The only other movement had been by a lone brave (or fool hardy) noble who sprang from the forest and in a split second sent a hail of doom raining down on my Dragon Princes. It was brve of him but he felled only one of the cavalry unit and was not dangerously exposed to my bolt throwers.
Now came the inevitable long bow volleys from the Glade Guard and Waywatchers. My Dragon Princes of Caledor bore the brunt of the fire and despite their Dragon Armour another Dragon Prince fell. The White Lions also took hits but they fared better and the Wood Elf arrows were ineffective against their pelts.
The High Elves' White Lions and Dragon Princes continued their advance. The Dragon Princes were accompanied by a hero and none other than the legendary Tyrion himself. The hero was wearing the Helm of Fortune (reroll failed saves) and carried a Foe Blade (always wound on 2+ against enemies with 2 or more on their starting profile).
My plan was for the Dragon Princes to take out the enemy missile troops at the Woods edge, the hero to split from the unit and hold up the Treekin and Tyrion himself to split from the unit to hunt down the enemy Treeman.
The Eagle rider stayed out of range from the enemy missiles and waited in reserve. The Lion chariot protected an otherwise exposed flank (and a single bolt thrower) while the Sea Elf Lothern Guard were used as the personal bodyguard for the 2 bolt thrower battery (separate units but both positioned behind a wall on a hill)
I felt confident !
The following turn saw more withering fire from the Wood Elves. More Dragon Princes felled (although they had absorbed a lot of arrows)
The enemy also brought some mounted Glade Riders up from his line to block my Dragon Princes.
The first major blow to the enemy was dealt by my bolt throwers which 'pin cushioned' the Elf Noble who had tried to destroy my Dragon Princes with a single hail of doom arrow. He at least had been taught a lesson :)
My much depleted Dragon Princes crashed into the Wood Elf Glade Riders who chose to stand and fire and in doing so felled another Dragon Prince.
Tyrion, the noble and remaining Dragon Prince made mince meat of the Glade Riders but amazingly
the one remaining rider managed to stand his ground and gave his life to stall my plans a little.
Things begin to get a little hazy now obscured somewhat by the red haze of battle blood lust.
The glade guard and scouts continued to harry my White Lions and felled the on last remaining Dragon Prince. There were however enough White Lions to finish a glade guard unit although they tool a white lion with them.
The white lions in the center of the battlefield charged into a unit of dryads, as did Tyrion on the right flank. The unit facing Tyrion was quickly dispatched.
The bolt throwers and eagle rider saw to the wood elf waywatchers. Although the eagle rider was reduced to a single wound and may have fallen from his lofty mount had the way watchers remembered to target him rather than the approaching Lothern Sea Guard.
The left flank was a stalemate after a unit of Wild Riders ran down the remaining White Lions. The Wild Riders withdrew to the wood but dare not approach the White Lion chariot. These 2 units remained in a standoff for the remainder of the battle.
The Wood Elves continued to advance their forests with Tree singing but they had no ranged units to tackle the repeating bolt throwers who could now rain bolts down with impunity on anyone foolish enough to leave the woods.
To be continued....
including the valiant ride of Tyrion into the fury of the forest spirits (3 Treekin and a Treeman !)
Tyrion was now alone with no Dragon Prince body guard...
The last surviving noble could not match Malhandir's speed so Tyrion charged on his own, a blinding star through the mirky forest and smashed into the awaiting Wardancer troupe (his noble friend would join the melee in the following turn).The wardancers were well prepared for the onslaught for their leader bore the amber pendant which tarried Tyrion's sword arm allowing the Wardancers to strike first with lightning speed.
The whirl of the Wardancer's blades was a fearful sight to behold but Tyrion was unmoved and struck down two dancers with his reposte.
The Wardancers were a mere distraction for Tyrion, his eyes rested beyond them to the lumbering hulks of three Treekin smashing through the forest to his flank and the mighty Treeman approaching with giant strides behind the Wardancers.
Would this be Tyrion's final folly, would the minstrels tell sorrowful tales of woe in the great halls of Ulthuan ?
The treekin smashed into Tyrion's flank with bestial fury. Branches and roots were raised aloft to thrash mighty blows down on Tyrion.. With god like speed of mind and body Tyrion brought Sunfang down on the first Treekin and split the walking abberration of nature in two. The charred and burning remains of the Treekin littered the Forest floor.
The treekin's companions now struck, reigning powerful blows down upon Tyrion. Had it not been for his legendary armour and divine blessing Tyrion would have been crushed under the onslaught.
In that moment when hope was waning, Felion the noble friend arrived and engaged the Treekin with spite for his fallen Dragon Prince comrades. Alas, Felion proved no match for the Treekin and was brushed aside within a brief moment. He had at least diverted some of the enemy's wrath away from his Lord.
With his dying breath, Felion let out a yell as the forest parted and a mighty and huge age old enemy and keeper of the forests bore down on Tyrion. The Treeman had arrived and now, all hope seemed lost.
Tyrion desperately fought off the malaise of the amber pendant to which he was subjected but to no avail - the Wardancers struck first. With a keen eye for a kill, the wardancer leader lunged in a flash at the High Elf general. The blade slid neatly between Tyrion's magical helm and his gleaming platemail. The blade ran along Tyrion's jugular but Tyrion's fate was his ward. The gods had other things in mind for this lord and it was not to have his life cut short my the lucky thrust of a ragged forest dweller.
With a profound sense of self awareness Tyrion and all those about him realised that he could not be vanquished this day. With an agonising, unstoppable strength the Treeman was felled and erupted in flames under the irrepresible power of Sunfang. The remaining Treekin suffered similarly and in dismay the wardancers fled back into the forest only to be trampled down to the last by Malhandir's hooves.
With dread in their hearts and unspeakable sorrow the Wood Elves melted back into the forests.
After the battle not a single Wood Elf body was found. They had even retrieved the hulks of the fallen treeman and treekin. Only a note on a forest way stone remained...
"you're not barbequeing your Ulthuan cheese bugers with our Treeman charcoal !"
The End
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