Daemons of Chaos vs High Elves 2000 points

warhammer fantasy battle tournament report :-

"The Demon Prince is too smart to take the Eagle bait, but he sends in the chariot."
(this writer performs well in GW tournaments)

source : warhammer.org.uk

credit : David L

13-Feb-2009

High Elf Army List

Last Ride of the Silver Helms

Archmage, Staff of Solidity, dispel scroll, Amulet of the Purifying Flame, Seer
Mage, Silver Wand, Ring of Corin
Commander, BSB, mounted, Helm of Fortune, Sword of Might

5 Silver Helms
5 Silver Helms
5 Silver Helms
11 Silver Helms, full command, Banner of Ellyrion
this will be called "the big unit" while the other 3 are just "silver helms"

6 Dragon Princes, full command, Banner of Sorcery
2 chariots
5 Shadow Warriors
9 Shadow Warriors (bodyguard for Mages)

2 Eagles
2 RBTs

Yes, its a High Elf power list. Hopefully without being rude. I didn't feel at all bad about 9-11 power dice plus a bound spell after 7-9 plus a bound got matched or exceeded 4 times at Lonewolf. The big Silver Helm unit usually gets the BSB and can be used to pound medium strength enemies or flank nastier ones.

In deployment, my first 5 drops are the same. The little Silver Helms go in the middle and the extreme left and right. One eagle goes in each gap. That spreads my harassment units out so some of them will be in easy reach of the meatier enemies. The chariots usually go next somewhere in the middle third of the table and adjacent to each other. Dragon Princes tend to go on a flank where the enemy looks weaker and try to avoid combat for the first few turns.

Daemons of Chaos Army List (edition 6)

Daemon Prince of Slaanesh, ignore armour saves, re-roll first round hits, +1 ward save, Always Strike First
Daemonic Herald on Steed of Slaanesh, BSB, +1 ward save, war banner

26 Daemonettes, banner, musician, Unholy Icon (4+ ward save)
17 Daemonettes, banner, musician
7 Mounted Daemonettes
7 Mounted Daemonettes
Chariot of Slaanesh
Chariot of Slaanesh

Now that the beer wench had ensured everyone was drunk from game 2, in game 3 your army would suffer from a drinking problem. In order to move in the remaining moves phase, a unit had to not roll a '1'. Charges or not moving were unaffected. Or you could choose to stay sober, but then you couldn't get the objective (I forget the other conditions required for the objective). Facing a lightning fast list, I felt my wizards needed to be moving around almost every turn. If I failed one of those rolls and got stuck in place, I was likely to lose the wizards and the game. Certainly my troops are incapable of killing that Daemon Prince. So I gave up the objective and stayed sober.

More T3 infantry blocks means more Flames of the Phoenix. Now with Vaul's worthless, the Archmage took Curse, Fortune, Fury and Flames. Little guy took light and got the magic missile, Ws 1, and AoE immune to psych. Not bad, but Cleansing Flare would have been sweet. For even more fun, the level 2 gets to the be the general!


Deployment

He infantry blocks took the middle, the Demon Prince in the small one to the west and the Herald in the large one. Chariots ride alongside the blocks. One cavalry went on the western edge, the other hid behind a hill to the east.

My chariots went down opposite his demon prince. Because his eastern cavalry were hiding behind the hill, I could deploy my scouts between a forest and a hill near his big block.


Turn 1

Bowman won the first turn and promptly failed drunk tests on the Demon Prince's unit and the western cavalry (the rest of the game everyone stays sober). With its friends drunk, the western chariot stays in place. Big unit moves forward slightly while its associated chariot hides from RBT fire. The eastern cavalry go looking for my scouts without coming forward.

Since Bowman's eastern cavalry are behind the hill, I send my eastern Silver Helms well forward. Scouts move out of his cavalry's sight and march block. Dragon Princes shift sideways to give the RBT a shot at those mounted daemonettes. Big unit, chariots and western helms advance slightly. Central helms are more agressive, needing to threaten any forward movement he makes. My western Eagle throws himself forward in front of the Demon Prince. I want to get charged, flee, be caught, and leave the Demon Prince sitting in front of my chariots. Impact hits go before Always Strikes First!

The Ring of Corin has literally one use this game - the war banner on the Herald. I'm hoping he'll waste dice on it, but he makes the right move and lets the war banner go away. Other magic did not hurt the enemy, but Flames of the Phoenix got through on his big unit with devastating affect. Unbothered by their 4+ true ward save, the Flames burned away half the unit.



Turn 2

The Demon Prince is too smart to take the Eagle bait, but he sends in the chariot. Eagle flees and is caught, leaving his chariot in front of my two.
The Demon Prince flies over to join the burning unit and both infantry blocks advance. Eastern cavalry hide from the RBT and the western cav shift centrally. Bowman fails to dispel Flames of the Phoenix.



At the start of my 2nd turn, I discover the flaw in my brilliant plan. Terror test for the central Silver Helms. The guys that were afraid of zombies in game 1, and couldn't make an armour save in game 2, now are terrified of a Demon Prince hiding in a burning unit. They flee... through both chariots... who both panic.

Impact hits kill 4 of the cowardly Silver Helms.

At least both chariots are still on the table, but that was a disaster. I now need a new plan. Facing the Demon Prince, I figure my big unit is dead. I think the Demon Prince can realistically break my unit by charging them frontally. At best it would take him two rounds. So all they can do is be bait. I move them up to where I think an average flee roll would escape the 20 inch flying charge and keep them on the table. Its a slim area where that is possible.

The BSB leaves the unit and moves west out of the Demon Prince's LOS. I figure he can take a frontal charge from mounted daemonettes. The Dragon Princes come forward to threaten a charge on the hugely depleted infantry, while the last Eagle guards their flank by parking in front of Bowman's eastern cavalry. My western Silver Helms advance, but the eastern ones largely hold in case Bowman's cavalry get tricky. Mages run east.

Flames was devastating at S3, but now rolls below average at S4. Various firepower puts a couple wounds on the western chariot and kills some more daemonettes. Flames doesn't go through again.



Turn 3

Bowman is less convinced of his Prince's killing power than I am. The Prince charges my big unit. Along with the Herald AND the chariot. Yikes! I definitely flee, going off the table. I gain some satisfaction from having estimated the distance correctly - an 11 flee roll would have escaped the charge and stayed on the table.

The eastern cavalry charge my Eagle who flees, is run down, and sticks the cavalry in the forest. The western cavalry charge my BSB and I discover they are in the flank. Not good, but I take it anyway. His chariot runs off one of my chariots.

The Helm of Fortune is too much for the Mounted Daemonettes, and my BSB kills two in return. I win by 1 and another pops from instability. This also lets me turn to face, so now its just their numbers vs my banner and I should be a better fighter.

Come my turn 3 and its really shooting time. I've pulled his characters out of their protecting units, so I need to take them out. Mages head north to get out of LOS while their bodyguard stays still to shoot their bows more accurately. Must trust in the power of the longbow! Well, except for the Dragon Princes, who will trust in the power of the lance against the last few daemonettes.
Oh, and my chariot rallies. Flanking units move in.

Everything goes after the Demon Prince, the shadow warriors even contributing a wound, and he dies. 500+ pts earned, the model that can single-handedly kill my entire army gone. I also drop Flames of the Phoenix on the other infantry unit, as his dice go against magic missiles. It appears I also killed Bowman's western chariot, perhaps with that RBT. (??)

Dragon Princes smash some daemonettes and pop the unit. BSB, clearly using neither lance nor longbow, whiffs, takes a wound, and is autobroken! He's very eager to avoid those demons, fleeing about 16 inches.



Turn 4

Free of my BSB, the remaining daemonette cavalry charge my Archmage. He flees, intelligently rolling boxcars for distance, and EitW sends the level 2 chasing after him. Bowman's Herald tries to charge my eastern RBT, but is half an inch short. The second infantry block charges my Dragon Princes, who also flee. EitW at the scouts, who follow the trend. Yes, we are truly elves, fleeing every single charge.



All my troops rally on my turn, and the magic/shooting barrage resumes. My chariot takes out his chariot, ranged attacks kill the Herald and the center daemonettes. Next turn my western Silver Helms take the remaining infantry block in the rear, the chariot hits the flank, and the Dragon Princes the front. No more daemonettes.

Another victory for the Silver Helms!!

Okay, so the Silver Helms themselves had almost nothing to do with winning this game. The Mages did the damage with some assistance from the RBTs and Dragon Princes. I didn't intend to play total combat avoidance (except regarding the Daemon Prince personally), but my first attempt to get into combat fell apart with failed psychology tests on turn 2.