Tomb Kings vs Wood Elves 2250 points

warhammer fantasy battle report :-

Ouch, a very nasty massacre ! (nicely summarised by turn/phase)

source : z4.invisionfree.com/Khemri

credit : Sepulcher

28-Jan-2009

Tomb Kings Army

King - Flail of Skulls, Cloak
Hiero - Jar, Scroll
Priest - Steed, SoR
Priest - Steed, 2 Scrolls

2 x 25 Archers - Command, 1 with BotUL
2 x 3 Chariots - Banners, 1 with War Banner
6 Light Horsemen
2 Scorpions
5 Carrion
21 Tomb Guard - Command, IotSE

Wood Elves Army

The Swiftleaf Vanguard

Calariel Swiftleaf - Lord on Pony, Bow, Spear, Light Armor, Shield, Harp (gave him and his unit a 5+ Ward)
Starys Swiftleaf - Noble on Stag, Bow, Spear, Magic Armor (Light Armor, gives Regen), Kindred allowing him to join Wild Riders.
Aryja Windsong - Level 2 mage with 2 scrolls and bow. Rolled the Regen spell and the spell that makes a unit cause Fear or Terror.

10 Glade Guard
3 x 10 Dryads
2 x 10 War Dancers
5 Wild Riders
30 Eternal Guard
6 Way Watchers

Terrain comprised of 2 small hills, 3 forests, and a small house. The Wood Elf deployment, from left to right was: A unit of Dryads, War Dancers behind, his Eternal Guard block with Lord and Mage in it, more Dryads, more War Dancers, his Glade Guard on the small hill, another unit of Dryads in front, and then his unit of 5 Wild Riders with accompanying hero on Stag on the flank. Last he setup his Way Watcher scouts nearby the forest.

My deployment, from left to right, is regular Chariot unit, War Banner Chariot unit, 6 Horsemen with Priest behind on the hill, 25 Archers with Priest, Tomb Guard with King, 25 Archers with BotUL and Heiro, Carrion behind, and a Scorpion to watch the flank. I burried my 2nd Scorpion near his Glade Guard in case the Carrion couldn't deal with them.

Deployment:



Calariel stood looking out at the mid day sun. "Beautiful" he thought. The snap of a small branch quickly moved his attention to his left. It was his brother, Starys, back from his scouting run with the Wild Riders. Giving a quick but respectful bow, Starys began his report.

"It looks as if the whisperings of the trees were right, brother. There is some sort of foul Undead host making it's way towards our land. Nothing good in their intent, I'm sure."

Calariel took pause for but a moment before ordering his vanguard to be assembled. He did not know what these Undead were up to, but he would not see his forests despoiled by their necromantic powers.
Calariel looked out towards the sun and then back at his brother, "We will try to stop them before they enter our forests - if we can not stop them, then we will fall back into the woods and ask the forest spirits for help." Calarield sighed, "Pray it does not come to that."


Turn 1:

I won the roll for 1st move and chose to take it, wanting to get as many shots in as possible before making it into combat with my ranked units. I advanced all my units up a few inches. My War Chariots advancing, ready to charge anything that got too close. My Scorpion went towards the right table edge, determined on holding up the Wild Riders on the flank. My Carrion flew up ahead of my Heiro ready to fly after his Glade Guard.

For Magic I attempted a few Smiting incantations and managed to draw out both scrolls. So I opened the Jar and charged his Glade Guard with my Carrion. He passed his Fear test and killed a bird with his Stand and Shoot.
Shooting was fruitless. Even though I advanced he had deployed a few inches behind his 12" line... clever.

In Combat my Carrion did an outstanding 5 wounds, taking 1 in return. The Glade Guard failed their break test and ran off the board. I persued but rolled a meager 5" - just enough to get them behind his small hill.



Aryja doubled over in pain as she was overcome by the 3 Liche Priests chanting in unison - they were too much for her, she would not be able to stop all of the foul magics moving the Undead. Calariel knew his forces were now at a disadvantage. He had to close on the Undead as fast as possible. What was left of his Archers were now falling back and were of no more use. Sounding his horn, the Elven vanguard advanced steadily under the hail of magically blessed arrows.

On the Elf half, everything moved forward as far as it could. A couple units were now marchblocked by my Carrion, giving me extra time to shoot them as they advanced. His Wild Riders went their full 18" and aligned themselves to charge my Archers next turn.

In Magic he made his Eternal Guard cause Fear - I was unable to dispel it on 3 dice.
Shooting didn't do much since all he had were his characters and Way Watchers. His Lord and Mage picked off 2 Skeletons and the few Way Watchers that had LOS also picked another 2 off.



Turn 2:

My Scorpion pops up this turn but misfires, allowing my opponent to put the token anywhere. He pops up behind my BotUL Archers near the board edge.
I declared a charge with my War Chariots into his Dryads, and my Scorpion on the flank at his Wild Riders.

For remaining moves I flew my King out towards the Wild Riders to hopefully magic move him into the combat. My normal Chariot unit moved out of LOS behind the building, ready for a flank charge next turn. My Carrion flew in just behind his Eternal Guard to march-block for another turn.

In the magic phase, he let my King charge himself into combat, opting to stop the bowshots. My SoR got through and killed 2 of his Dryads near the building. Smiting saw a few Eternal Guard dropped from mass bow fire. The Heiro did the same and the BotUL Archers dropped a single Dryad from the unit ahead of them.

Shooting phase I targeted his Way Watchers and killed 4, panicing the unit (love always hit on 5+). My BotUL Archers failed to kill more Dryads.

In combat, my King issued a challenge and his hero accepted. I made a mistake and didn't swing at the Stag - instead putting 1 wound on the hero which was Regen'd. His hero whiffs but the Stag puts a wound on my King! The Scorpion gets nothing, but his returning Wild Riders whiff as well. I lose by 2 and my King is hanging on by a thread. My War Chariots drop 8 of the 10 Dryads and the remaining 2 flee, I persue, catch them, and just manage to clip a War Dancer, so they line up to me. His Eternal Guard makes the Panic check.



Calariel was growing worried. The magics of the Liche Priests were too much for Aryja to handle alone and the Undead were running rampant across his lines. He had also lost sight of his brother Starys, who had led his unit around a forest on the far flank. Calariel prayed Starys was alright. His Scouts were falling back in a panic - the ranged weapons and magics from the Undead were proving deadly. His Elves had to close the gap! Blowing his horn once more the Elves made another rush towards the Undead ranks.

The Wood Elves start by charging his War Dancers at my Carrion. Everything else advanced half movement due to march blocking. His Dryads towards the middle decided to go help the Wild Riders and marched off in that direction. The Way Watchers failed to rally and continued running towards the table edge.

In magic, his mage didn't cast anything succesfully.

Shooting sees a couple more Archers killed from his 2 characters.

In combat, his War Dancers did the extra attack dance. Doing a whopping 30 attacks and wounding with 15! He overran towards the hill in his deployment zone.

My War Chariots butcher his other War Dancer unit, persuing and running the rest down. The persuit move putting me close to his overrunning War Dancers. Last, in the challenge, his hero and stag swing before me, but surprisingly (and very luckily) do no wounds. I wise up and swing at his mount, doing 3 wounds. (Correct me if I'm wrong but I counted it as 6 wounds for CR because I was in a challenge [overkill + Flail of Skulls]). The Scorpion does no wounds and his Wild Riders whiff as well. The unit loses by enough and they break, fleeing off the board, along with my King.



Turn 3:

My normal Chariots charged his exposed Dryads, hoping to blow through and hit the Eternal Guard on the flank. My King returned to the board and flew towards my War Chariots, who had repositioned to face the War Dancers (who were just out of LOS for a declared charge). My Scorpion retreated back to my deployment zone, while the other one moved up behind my Guard - who were also heading towards his Eternal Guard. My Horsemen moved a few inches back to be safe.

In the magic phase the King moved himself closer to the Chariots and further from the looming Dryads. He then tried to move the War Chariots but rolled a meager 1... (drat!) being dispelled easily and leaving the War Chariots vulnerable to a War Dancer charge. My Heiro healed up the Scorpion who had retreated back. And between the SoR and Smiting bow shots I did something like 17 wounds to his Eternal Guard, which he saved all but 2. Stupid Harp :(

Shooting phase was a bit better and 4 more Eternal Guard are dropped by Archers. The BotUL Archers drop 3 Dryads.

In combat my Chariots do a decent amount of wounds but he is spot on with his Wards, only losing 4 Dyrads. He does a wound in return and manages to pass the break test with his Lord nearby.



Caladriel glanced up at the sun as he had earlier in the day, but this time it was darkened by the constant hail of arrows raining down on his bodyguard. The magical harp he carried kept many of the arrows from finding a mark - Caladriel thankful he had brought it along. A few minutes earlier, one of his runners had reported that Starys failed to break through on the right flank and was now fleeing the field.

"We must break through the center!" Caladriel angrily shouted as he made one last push towards the Undead lines. His bodyguard followed suit, knowing that if they did not succeed here, they would have to fall back to the forests in defeat...

As expecting, his War Dancers charged my War Chariots and his Eternal Guard made a last ditch effort at my Archers. I hoped they'd tough it out and my Tomb Guard would be able to flank them in my turn. He finally rallies his fleeing Way Watchers. Lastly, his Dryads move in closer to my Scorpion.

His magic was again unable to get past my dispel dice. With no shooting we went into combat.

His Dryads did another wound to my Chariots who do a wound back. The Dryads hold again. His Eternal Guard and heros do an impressive amount of wounds and after the dust clears there are 8 Skeletons still fighting on. Meanwhile his War Dancers do the extra attack dance and do 6 wounds to my Chariots. I do a wound in return which gets saved and the last Chariot crumbles under the weight of numbers.



Turn 4:

I get greedy and charge my right flank Scorpion into his Dryads, thinking I could do a couple wounds. My King flew in to rejoin the Tomb Guard.

In the magic phase my King magic'd the Tomb Guard into the Eternal Guards flank. My nearby Priests focus on raising to the Archer unit, bring back 12.

Shooting sees my BotUL drop 3 War Dancers.

In combat I easily break the Eternal Guard who flee. My Guard catches them and scatters them to the wind. My Scorpion only does 1 wound and takes 1 in return, CR see it with just a single wound left. And without the Lord nearby his Dryads finally break and I run them down.



At this point my opponent opted to just end it. I told him to play out his turn, which consisted of him killing my wounded Scorpion, giving him a few more points.

Panting heavily, Caladriel looked back at the Undead army, who were giving chase as best they could through the thick forests. "Summon the forest spirits and ask for help against these Undead," Caladriel ordered his brother. "We were unable to do our duty and can not hold the line alone." Starys, eager to redeem himself, nodded grimly and rode off towards the thicker part of the forest. Great shame was brought to the Swiftleaf kindred this day and Caladriel vowed to redeem himself and his family name against the Undead - even if it cost him his life...


Afterthoughts:

Sooo, another game against Wood Elves but with a dramtically different result. The last game was against a very shooty list where I had my ass handed to me. While this certainly wasn't the hardest Wood Elf list out there (no Treemen and light shooting) it still had it's threats.

Ultimately though, it was just a bad match up for his army. It was primarily close combat orientated and didn't have alot to deal with my shooting. He played a great game though, and had his Eternal Guard been able to overrun past my Archers, he might've had a different ending.

This was a game where everything in my list performed with stellar results... except for my Scorpion... it seems I had terrible luck with those misfires, and if I don't bury them, they suck when I manage to get them into combat. But they have their purposes I suppose, plus they are only 170 points.. so I don't think I'll be dropping them. I did really enjoy the games where I played with 3, but I just can't see myself without Carrion or the Tomb Guard.

Anyways, if you read this far, thanks for reading! Hope you enjoyed it, Sepulcher.