warhammer fantasy battle tournament report :-
"The dragon march blocks my Mages, so they cannot get away from him. Nor can their entire bodyguard get out of the dragon's LOS. The only solution is to step out alone, so both Mages walk into the dragon's flank..."
[Ed. Uh-oh !](High Elves education, some nice tips in this report)| source : warhammer.org.uk | credit : David L | 11-Mar-2009 |
High Elves Army 2000 pt army list
Archmage, Staff of Solidity, Ring of Fury, Seer, dispel scroll
Mage, Jewel of the Dusk, Ring of Corin
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
6 Dragon Princes, champion, banner of sorcery.
9 shadow warriors
2 RBTs
2 Eagles
Dark Elf 2000 pt army list
uh oh, its a dragon !Highborn on a Dragon, 5+ ward, weapon with Strength 8
Sorceress, extra dispel dice, scroll, Dark Hand of Death, Drain Life
Sorceress, extra power dice, scroll, Chill Wind, Black Horror
3x5 Dark Riders, no upgrades
15 Witch Elves, command
10 Executioners, banner of D6 extra charge distance
2 RBTs
Cauldron of Blood
The little Mage takes Death, and rolls great - Wind of Death and Doom and Darkness. The Archmage goes for dragon slayage with Lore of Metal - 1, 3, 4, 6.
There is a huge hill in the center of his deployment zone which gets the cauldron and both RBTs. To the left of the hill are the Witch Elves, screened by Dark Riders, and the Death sorceress on her own. To the right of the hill are the Executioners, screened by Dark Riders. Just beyond them are the last Dark Riders and the Dark sorceress in a forest.
I have two pieces of impassable terrain roughly in the middle of my deployment zone. Eagles hide behind each. Little Silver Helms with BSB (intentionally placed in the middle of the unit) go in between. Other Silver Helms go on the left and right, although neither at the table edge. Big Silver Helms go behind the small unit on the right.
He drops his characters while I have Dragon Princes and characters left. This gives him the all-important +1, but lets me control the part of setup most important to me. His dragon goes behind a forest on the left, I drop the DPs on the extreme right and the Mages in a forest on my right. We both roll a '6' to go first, but he decides to give it to me. I think that was decisive.
Deployment 
Turn 1 The center cavalry and BSB ride forward to get in charge range of RBTs and cauldron.
The Eagles land immediately behind them. This gives the Eagles LOS to their targets on the hill while ensuring they cannot be charged by Dark Riders. The Mages and their bodyguard move up to the edge of the forest to get LOS, the big cavalry unit and its screen advance cautiously, while the Dragon Princes gallop forward - they are hunting a sorceress, despite the forest she is hiding in.
Between magic and shooting, I kill 2 or 3 Dark Riders from each unit, including putting Doom and Darkness on the unit on the far right. The unit on the left panics off the table. The 'Doomed' unit panics, but stays on.
End of my (High Elves) turn 1 
He charges his three remaining Dark Riders at my center Silver Helms with BSB. Good thing I put the BSB in the middle, or he would have been out of combat here. Despite being Doomed, the right Dark Riders rally. His sorceresss advance to get range and LOS, the Executioners move up somewhat and the Witch Elves a bit more. The Dragon flies out and lands about 8 inches left of my BSB's unit.
His (Dark Elves') turn 1 movement 
I use a scroll to stop Black Horror then the Death sorceress produces an IF Drain Life that kills 4 Silver Helms and wounds an Eagle. RBTs kill the healthy Eagle.
BSB and his remaining friend kill the Dark Riders outright.
End of his turn 1 
Turn 2 Remaining Eagle charges RBT. As the one remaining Silver Helm won't help much, the BSB charges the other RBT by himself. Dragon Princes charge Dark sorceress, who flees.
My left Silver Helms advance slightly, but they are just trying to keep the Witch Elves occupied. The last center Silver Helms rides to the edge of the hill and faces left, march blocking the witch elves and Death sorceress and perhaps positioning for a sorceress charge next turn. On the right, the big cavalry and their screen wheel inward slightly. Most importantly, I decide to move the Mages within casting range of the dragon. I do it correctly - I put them 22 inches away.
My turn 2 moves 
Magic, however, doesn't work great - Spirit of the Forge fails to cast. I probably draw his last scroll, but I don't think I did anything else useful with magic. Shooting kills the Death sorceress and 4 Executioners. (RBT on left thought killing the Death sorceress was better than shooting the dragon and RBT on the right could not see the dragon).
Combat goes perfectly, as his 4 crew are killed. BSB overruns off the table because the dragon could see him.
End of my turn 2 
His Executioners declare a charge on my screen. I suspected they had the extra charge banner, by his declaring the charge I know it. That causes unpleasant visions of this going badly as he kills the screen and pursues into the big unit. I flee, he rolls low for the banner anyway. The last three Dark Riders charge my Eagle. I didn't think he had LOS when I could have overrun, but he definitely did. The dragon flies over to breathe on my wizard's bodyguard. The Witch Elves advance towards the left Silver Helms. The Dark sorceress rallies.
Black Horror kills 2 Dragon Princes. Dragon breath gets 2 Shadow Warriors and the Dark Riders kill the Eagle.
End of his turn 2 
Turn 3 Dragon Princes charge Executioners in the flank. I'm partially in the forest, so this might fail, but 18 inches goes a long way. I only need about 16. Archmage passes terror and the fleeing helms rally.
The dragon march blocks my Mages, so they cannot get away from him. Nor can their entire bodyguard get out of the dragon's LOS. The only solution is to step out alone, so both Mages walk into the dragon's flank and the Shadow Warriors run into the middle of the forest, out of LOS. The left Silver Helms back up and the last one from the center continues to march block the Witch Elves. The BSB returns and rides onto the hill, facing the Cauldron but staying out of terror range. He also is to the right of the cauldron, so if he fails terror to charge he won't flee off the table. The big Silver Helms move slightly towards the dragon, trying to find the balance between being far enough from the dragon to flee the charge and far enough from the table edge to not flee off.
Magic unleases everything at the dragon. Spirit of the Forge takes 3 off the dragon, but his general ward saves his wounds. Then the Ring of Corin unmakes his ward save and Burning Iron gets one off him. I hit the dragon with 4d6 S4 of magic missiles, but they do nothing. I should have used one of those magic missiles on his last sorceress, wandering around alone, but I got obsessive. RBTs shoot at dragon, but miss and fail to wound.
Dragon Princes roll pitifully, but break and run down the Executioners anyway.
End of my 3 
Dragon charges the big Silver Helms, who flee and escape. Dark Riders ride up to my wizards, and he now really wishes he had found the points for repeater crossbows.
I use four dice to dispel Black Horror at the Dragon Princes, forgetting he has 5 power dice, not just 4. He casts chill wind at my Archmage and I cannot stop it. But I'm saved as it only does one wound.
End of his 3 
Turn 4 My BSB charges the Cauldron. The big unit rallies.
Mages step around the Dark Riders, Shadow Warriors return to the edge of the forest to shoot the sorceress. Dragon Princes move left towards the Witch Elves.
Spirit of the Forge now kills the Highborn and leaves the dragon on one wound. The one RBT that can see misses (again). Other shooting and magic kill the sorceress and the last Dark Riders. The dragon fails his monster reaction test and frenzies.
My BSB whiffs against the Cauldron crew, but his banner saves him from losing and autobreaking.
My turn 4 
Dragon charges big Silver Helms, who take it. Dragon kills 4 and follows them off the table. BSB kills one Witch on the Cauldron.
His turn 4 
Turn 5 Triple charge on Witch Elves: Silver Helms in the front, three Dragon Princes in the flank, one last Silver Helm in the rear. I roll poorly, killing about 3 witch elves and losing a dragon prince and the rear Silver Helm in return. But its still enough to break them. BSB kills the Cauldron and my opponent calls it. The dragon is the only thing left alive, and he is off the table with one wound remaining.
Massacre for the High Elves. Last turn 
