Wood Elves vs High Elf Army Battle Report 2000 pts

warhammer tournament fantasy battle summary report :-

"On the left, his dryads charge my eagle, and I lead them on a merry chase." [Ed. :) ]

(neatly summarised. it sounds like this one went right down to the wire)

source : warhammer.org.uk

credit : Silas7

20-May-2009

2000pt High Elves Army list

Elendriel – Archmage, lvl 4, annulian crystal, dispel scroll, ring of fury
Farendil – Mage, lvl 2, jewel of the dusk
Mithrandel – Noble, army standard bearer, dragon armor, shield, barded steed, helm of fortune, sword of might

10 archers
20 spearmen: full command, lion standard
15 phoenix guard: full command, war banner
14 white lions: full command, standard of balance
6 dragon princes: champion, musician, amulet of light
Lion chariot
2 phoenix claw bolt throwers
2 eagles

[Ed. sounds like a good fun overnight tournament] Another night of lousy sleep, but it was our last night there. Breakfast was even better this time around, with bacon! All the wine was gone, [Ed. aha, it was a good fun overnight tournament !] and I figured I could really use my wits about me today as I started my next game.

2000 pt Wood Elf Army List

spellsinger: lvl 1, 2 dispel scrolls, general
alter lord: spirit sword, light armor, shield, longbow, ?
alter noble: wraithstone, great weapon light armor, shield, longbow
alter noble: hail of doom arrow, briarhearth, light armor, shield, great weapon, longbow

3 x 8 dryads
2 x10 glade guard
2 x7 wardancers
3 treekin
5 wild riders: standard, musician, war banner
eagle
treeman

Objective: Control the markers on the battlefield by having the highest amount of US within 6” of the markers. Banners add 10 to your unit strength. Control more markers than your opponent to win.
Bonus Points: Score 300 pts more than your opponent for 4 battle points.

On paper I had a big advantage going into this fight, as I had a lot of ranked infantry with banners. My numbers would mean nothing if my infantry was shot down of course. I decided to cede the right objective and concentrate on holding the left one. As the game neared the end, I would rush over and seize the middle and win. Theoretically.

The wood elves were pretty evenly spread out: To my left were wardancers, dryads, and an eagle. In the center were more dryads and wardancers, a treeman, the spellsinger, and an alter noble. To the right were dryads, treekin, wild riders, archers, and the two remaining alters.
My eagle and white lions were on the left. Left center were the phoenix guard. The bolt throwers, archers, spears, and dragon princes were in the center, with the lion chariot hanging back to protect the spears. My other eagle sat on the far right.


The trees are moving!

Turn one: His eagle flies close up to my line. One alter peeks out of the woods and fires the hail of doom arrow at my bolt thrower. The crew is safe, but the machine nearly breaks.

My eagle charges his eagle, starting a dramatic aerial duel. The lion chariot moves to deter the oncoming dryads and wild riders. Most of the dryads are out of range for spells, but Farendil withers a dryad with dark hand of death. (My other spell was the fear causer. Had I chosen fire I would have had fiery blast instead!) Elendriel curses the altar noble who shot at us. A bolt thrower opens fire on him, and Brian is astonished when I hit the altar four times, even with the protection of the briarhearth!! The noble dies of shock (and arrows). Further shooting kills a dryad in the center, and on the left. The eagles each wound one another.

Objectives: Wood Elf – 0, High Elf -0

Turn 2: Both alters charge the dragon princes. The dryads and wardancers on the left flank move towards the dueling eagles. His center dryads move to the side to join the treeman, while the treekin move through the woods.


The trees are closing!

On the right, the dryads and wild riders own the objective, clearing room for the glade guard to fire. Arrows fly, two archers die, and a lion yowls in pain. The alter lord challenges my dragon prince, weathers his attack, and strikes with the spirit sword. One wound gets through, and the altar wins his test by five for a lot of combat resolution. The princes break and flee off the table. The two alters pursue and hit my spear unit. The eagles remain locked in combat, wounding each other again.

Mithrandel bravely charges into the center unit of dryads. The white lions move forward slowly, while my eagle on the left flies behind the wild riders to stall their advance. Elendriel can’t cast most of her combat spells, but she can curse the treeman, and throw a shield over herself and the spears. One bolt bounces off the treeman. Put off by this (and remembering the goal of the scenario) my archers and the other both thrower killed six of the much softer glade guard. My eagle finally emerges triumphant from his fight. Mithrandel is also triumphant, killing two dryads and running the others down, heading right for the glade guard, who flee to safety. The altar lord cuts Elendrial down where she stands, and the noble kills the unit champion in a challenge. The spears heave a great sigh, but stand fast.

Objectives: Wood Elf – 2, High Elves 1

Turn 3: WE 3 – the wardancers charge after my eagle, which flies to safety (and pulls them away from the objective). The treeman stomps forward to sow terror among my fire base. The center wardancers charge Mithrandel from behind, calling on their killing blow dance.


far too close for comfort

On the left, his dryads charge my eagle, and I lead them on a merry chase. The treekin charge into the spear combat, but due to the position of the noble they can only clip their way in. The wild riders surge close to assist their companions.


thank Isha for awkward charges

The fleeing glade guard rally, the other turn towards my center. A treesinging slips past Farendil’s defense and the lashing braches kill five white lions. The left flank is looking rather tenuous… Vines reach up and strangle six archers, who run away before they are pulled underground. Six spears die in the combat with the treekin and altar lord, but we kill the altar noble and stay in the fight. Mithrandel kills two wardancers and saves two regular wounds. The wardancers break, and he runs them down, heading back towards his own lines again!

Disaster strikes the high elves when both bolt thrower crews fail their panic tests, and both eagles fail to rally and fly away! At least the archers make their rally test. The lion chariot charges into the flank of the altar lord. The phoenix guard starts moving towards the center objective hoping to avoid the treeman. Mithrandel faces the left dryads and prepares for a charge. The lions devour the altar lord before he can swing, and the treekin lose their nerve and run. The chariot runs down the treekin, while the spears stay put.

Objectives: Wood Elf – 2, High Elves 1


Isha’s light shines on us!

Turn 4: the phoenix guards are too slow, the treeman charges them in the flank! The wild riders charge the chariot, which flees into the treeman and explodes, wounding it slightly.


caught between a tree and a pointy place

The dryads hide behind a wall, while the wardancers move up to charge the flank of the white lions. The glade guards try to eliminate the war machine crews, but fail to. The treeman flattens one phoenix guard, but we win the combat and turn to face the tree.

The white lions reform to face the wardancers in a single file. The fleeing crew all rally, and the spears make their way towards the center objective. Farendil rushes forward and with all his might casts an irresistible dark hand that chokes four of the wild riders to death! The phoenix guard wins against the treeman and expand frontage to regain their rank bonus. Things look good, but the wood elves currently hold the center and right objectives, and threaten to take the left as well.

Objectives: Wood Elf – 2, High Elves 1

Turn 5: The wardancers move towards the objective, and the dryads move close as well. I’m only outnumbering them by about five models, including my banner. The glade guard concentrates their shooting on the spears and kills nine of them at close range! The spear panic, unable to rally! This is a major blow for me; I was counting on their banner and numbers to hold the center. The phoenix guard wins combat again, and the treeman breaks!! The guard restrain from pursing it, focused on their goal.

The guard turns and moves towards the center. Mithrandel prays the white lions can hold the flank without him, and gallops towards the center to threaten the depleted glade guard unit. The crews man their war machines, and the bolt throwers are back in action.

Objectives: Wood Elf – 2, High Elves 1


it all comes down to this

Turn 6 – The wardancers charge the white lions, calling on their extra attack. The treeman rallies, but too far away to strangle root, too late to charge. His wild rider tries to march block my phoenix guard. The glade guards kill the last of my archers. The white lions kill three dancers, and he kills six lions! The white lions refuse to run, with victory almost in their grasp.

Mithrandel charges the small glade guard unit and runs them down. The phoenix guard march and claim the center objective. The bolt thrower kill nine glade guard, the survivor doesn’t panic. The wardancers switch to their always strike first attack, hoping ot wipe me out before I can strike. He misses every single attack, and we kill three wardancers in return. The survivor flees, and we stand fast.

Objectives: Wood Elves – 1, High Elves – 2

8 pt win for the High Elves!

When we added up the battle points, it was a draw. I had the edge on victory points, but Brian had two tabled quarters and the bonus for my general. His stayed safely in a woods for the rest of the game. Brian was a little non-plussed about his luck this game (and he did get some tough breaks) but he was actually winning for the majority of the game. I had banners on my side, but he had mobility and a lot of attacks, a great benefit against my T3 army. He very nearly took the right objective and almost stalled me from taking the center.

It just occurred to me as I wrote this, that I should have charged the treeman with either my archers or Farendil once he broke from combat. He would have fled back into my phoenix guard and been wiped out, give me enough extra points to win the bonus objective! I’m not overly upset, as a win is a win. I haven’t won three games in a tournament since the Boston GT in 2004, so whatever the outcome of my last game, I was very pleased.