warhammer fantasy battle report :-
"Hey, guess what? I got charged by a Hydra !" (another classy report from xtapl)| source : warhammer.org.uk | credit : Xtapl | 23-Jan-2009 |
Aliethorien, Mistress of the Deep Water Kindred of Caidath, frowned out across the glade. It had been years, maybe more than a decade, since she had last laid eyes on the Druchii. What were they doing here, so far from home? What did they hope to gain by entering this sacred place? Somewhere deep in her soul, almost as if engrained in her very DNA, she felt a sickening dislike for the mere sight of them. Beside her, her twin brother, Melthorien, paced and twirled his blades in his hands. He did not need to remind her that as War Mistress of the kindred, it was her responsibility to repel invaders to the lands. And, with winter's frost making the Forest Spirits thick-headed and sluggish, it would be the Elves of this part of Athel Loren who would have to take arms to turn back their depraved distant cousins.
Her troupe had mustered on the hilly side of the clearing. Wardancers picked their way carefully through the trees all around her. The young ones readied their bows, not yet trained enough to dance the dances of the elders, but still stout of heart and ready to fight. Remembering their lifetime pact with the Kindred of Caidath, two large groups of Nymraif worshippers had answered her call and skulked in the shade of the rock formations to the west.
She looked out across the Druchii. No mercy would be shown today. The Glade must be protected.
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I hate Sergrum, mostly because every time we play, he kicks the holy snot out of me. And me with no Dryads and no Treeman. Eep. I knew he had a couple of assassins lurking in there somewhere, but really, I wasn't looking forward to meeting up with those Witch Elves. They're one of the few units out there that can really go toe-to-toe with a large unit of Wardancers and live to talk about it.
Fortunately, I was able to seize the initiative and pick up first turn. Immediately, I knew the Waywatchers had to secure their flank if they didn't want Dark Riders all up in their faces, so they moved strong to the left to engage the Druchii. Glade Guard took the hill, while Wardancers crept up the right flank, hoping to take out the RBT.
The magic phase was kind, and I Treesurfed about 35 or so models forward a few inches.
Shooting was brutal, as the Waywatchers combined to easily dispatch the Dark Riders, the Glade Guard focused fire on the big unit of Witch Elves and whittled them down quite a bit, and the Glade Guard on the hill thinned the center Witch Elves some.
First blood definitely to the Asrai.
The Cauldron rolled forward with the rest of the army, putting a 5+ ward save on the far left Witch Elves. Harpies swooped over to block and bait my Wardancers at right, while the rest of the army moved aggressively up the guts. The Hydra went into the trees, probably to try and prevent me from Moonstoning, which I have been known to do a time or two or twenty.
The lone sorceress was no magical match for my tag-team spellsigners, and her Chill Wind got dispelled with ease.
Not a lot of shooting, either, as the RBT peppered a couple of Glade Guard on the hill.
There weren't too many places I could go where an overrun wouldn't take me into range of the Hydra, so I charged the right Wardancers into the central Harpies and hoped the overrun would carry me out of line of sight, at least. Everyone else moved into firing position, with the Waywatchers moving to harass the Spearelves' flank. Oh, and Meltherion leapfrogged into a unit of 8 Wardancers and Moonstoned them in behind the Witch Elves, safe from the vengeance (and absolutely insane S7 breath weapon) of the Hydra.
A couple of Fury of the Forests and a sky-darkening rain of arrows took the big Witch Elves down to just a few, even with a 5+ ward save. Also, the Glade Guard on the hill shot down two Harpies and panicked the rest. With that stellar LD, I was confident they were gone permanently.
The less said about what happened to the other Harpies, the better. Now, I only needed to roll about a 5+, and I would be out of the Hydra's LOS and free to wreak havoc in the center of the table.
Of course, the Wardancers rolled a 3, and I was dead meat.
Hey, guess what? I got charged by a Hydra.
The Witch Elves turned to face Meltherion, while the Harpies, as predicted, fled the table. Everything else came on coming forward. The Ward save traveled from the doomed Witch Elves to the Witch Elves in the trees.
Magic got smacked down again by my superior magic defense, and shooting took down another couple of Glade Guard.
The Hydra slammed into the Wardancers. I danced a 4+ ward save, hoping I'd live long enough to put at least a couple of wounds on someone before I died. As it stood, I managed to survive just long enough to kill both Beastmasters before I fled and was gobbled up by the Hydra. The Hydra failed its monster reaction test and would be Stupid for the rest of the game. Well, at least that was handy.
Wardancers charged everywhere. Meltherion and company went in against the WEs in the trees, while Wardancers rolled out against the Witch Elves at center. Both Spellsingers got out of their units, as the Dark Elves were getting a little close for comfort.
A quick miscast ended the magic phase early.
Waywatchers started really harassing the flanks of the Spearelves, raining arrows down on them and killing quite a few, panicking them. Meanwhile, the Glade Guard at left easily handled the last three Witch Elves, while the other two units of Glade Guard combined fire to wipe out the Dark Riders. The Hydra, now on a gorgeous LD6, panicked and was crossfired on the Glade Guard.
Oh. So that's how you beat the Hydra.
In the center, the Witch Elves were hacked down from the flank, and the remaining Druchii turned and ran. Crossing over the Spearelves saved their lives, as the Wardancers weren't fast enough to kill them before they got away.
The other combat was very interesting. I danced 4+ ward save, and Meltherion found himself staring down a vicious Dark Elf assassin with an extra D3 attacks and Killing Blow. Eep! The assassin flailed at the Wardancer Noble, and managed five wounds, three of them Killing Blows.
Meltherion then ward saved all three Killing Blows, and one of the wounds to boot. A two wound Wardancer Noble survived five Assassin wounds, then promptly hacked the unarmored elf limb from limb. When he turned around, though, he realized that his unit hadn't killed as many Witch Elves as he had hoped, and had been butchered down to a single Wardancer. Badly outnumbered and outgunned, Meltherion and his Wardancer fled, narrowly escaping the Witch Elves...for now.
Of course, the Spearelves rallied. The Witch Elves continued to pursue Meltherion and his last Wardancer, forcing them to flee from the battle. The Black Guard countercharged the Wardancers, all hopped up on their fresh new +1 attack. The Witch Elves rallied and looked to finish off the Glade Guard soon.
Again, magic was ineffective. Poor sorceress didn't get off a single spell the whole game. Meanwhile, the RBT continued its assault on Glade Guard, taking them down to three.
The Black Guard found tougher resistance than they had expected, as the 4+ ward save meant I only lost one Wardancer, and in return, I killed two Black Guard. But the Cauldron nearby made them Stubborn, and they hung in.
It was getting to be time to get aggressive if I wanted to finish this thing off. Aliethorien and her Wardancers entered the woods, while Waywatchers continued the harassment role and the Glade Guard at center backed up a bit and prepared to be bait. I all but skipped the magic phase, trying to get right to shooting. The Waywatchers and Glade Guard continued to decimate the Spearelves, while the other Glade Guard and Lissësúl's Hail of Doom arrow punished the other Spearelves.
In the center, the Black Guard were felled down to just two, but put out two casualties of their own and kept the battle raging.
The Spearelves at center revealed an Assassin of their own, and he charged solo into my Wardancers, attempting to assassinate Aliethorien. The Cauldron moved up and tried to help him accomplish his goal by giving him an extra attack. The Witch Elves trundled joyfully into the last three Glade Guard.
RBT fire thinned out a few more Glade Guard.
The Witch Elves made quick work of the Glade Guard. The Black Guard still couldn't deal with the Wardancers, and were taken down to just the champion. The assassin lined up on Aliethorien, ready to Killing Blow her, until he found out that she had also danced Killing Blow, had a swarm of Nettlings flitting all over her that prevented the assassin from landing a single blade on her, and then promptly found his head separated from his body in two neat pieces.
With that, Sergrum conceded. With my Wardancers in position to ransack the Spearelves on my turn, Glade Guard and Waywatchers continuing to pound away at his Sorceress's unit, and his only two combat units left badly out of position, it was just a matter of time before I wiped out anything that could fight me back. The battle had already been won.
My list:
=Aliethorien's Kindred of Caidath=
Wardancer Highborn (285)
Blades of Loec
Stone of the Crystal Mere
Annoyance of Nettlings
Wardancer Noble (140)
Wardancer Weapons
Moonstone of the Hidden Ways
Spellsinger (120)
Hail of Doom Arrow
Spellsinger (140)
2 Scrolls
10 Glade Guard (120)
10 Glade Guard (120)
10 Glade Guard (120)
15 Wardancers (277) Musician
8 Wardancers (151) Musician
8 Wardancers (151) Musician
8 Wardancers (151) Musician
8 Waywatchers (200) Sentinel
8 Waywatchers (200) Sentinel
The list was a little shootier than I normally would bring, but people complained when I had 4 units of Dryads as core. So I removed them, and used the points to spread out with Glade Guard instead. Then, I figured, just one Forest Spirit? That's kind of weird. So I took out the Treeman, and picked up a buttload of Waywatchers.
I loved this list, but I think I'm going to scale back the number of bow shots I have in my next game.
Big win for the Asrai, though!
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Aliethorien wiped the Assassin's blood from her blades and scanned the field for Melthorien. Everywhere she looked, Druchii were running for their lives, scattered to the winds, or desperately trying to push the Cauldron of Blood from the field. She could not find her twin brother anywhere, and her search became increasingly frantic.
Suddenly, she heard a screech from overhead, as a giant Athel Loren eagle swooped down from the sky. It circled for a moment, then dropped a single red ribbon from its talon and lifted off into the canopy. It was the sign Aliethorien and Melthorien had been using since they were children - he was well, but he was hiding until it was safe to come out. If he had been forced from the field, she thought, it must have been with good reason.
At any rate, the Kindred had been successful. The Druchii had been repelled. And, at least for a little while, the slumbering Forest Spirits were once again safe and sound.
Comments and such are always welcome.
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