We'd be fighting a 2,250 point Pitched Battle. Here's my list...
1 Highborn w/ Crimson Death, Ring of Darkness, Heavy Armor and Sea Dragon Cloak (General)
1 Sorceress (A) w/ Wand of the Kharaidon (Level 2)
1 Sorceress (B) w/ Darkstar Cloak and Dispel Scroll (Level 2)
19 Warriors w/ Shields and Full Command
19 Warriors w/ Shields and Full Command
15 Warriors w/ Shields, Musician and Champion
15 Warriors w/ Shields, Musician and Champion
15 Corsairs w/ Musician and Champion
15 Corsairs w/ Musician and Champion
9 Harpies
2 Cold One Chariots (COCs) w/ Spears
1 War Hydra (That's "Ghedrah, Monarch of Serpents" to you)
2 Reaper Bolt Throwers (RBTs)
I understand that a lot of people might scoff at this list, but it's a configuration that just seems to work for me. Multiple Medium Units? Maybe. I like to think of the infantry blocks as being just big enough. My opponent was trying a new "Bear's Anger/Alter Kindred" combo list, which looked roughly like this...
1 Spellweaver w/ Wand of Wych Elm and Dispel Scroll (Level 3, General)
1 Spellsinger w/ Dispel Scroll and Ranu's Heartstone(I think) (Level 1)
1 Noble w/ ??? (Not sure what he had) (Battle Standard Bearer)
1 Noble (AK) w/ Alter Kindred and ??? (Again, not sure)
10 Glade Guard
10 Glade Guard
10 Glade Guard
10 Glade Guard
8 Dryads
8 Dryads
3 Treekin
5 Wardancers w/ Champion
5 Wardancers w/ Champion
5 Wild Riders w/ Musician and Champion
1 Great Eagle
1 Treeman
He was going for an MSU composition, which is funny because according to most Dark Elf players I've run across, that's what I'm supposed to do. Deployment looked like this...
Brown Areas are Forests, Green Area is a Hill.
For magic Sorceress A took Dark Magic, coming away with Chill Wind and Black Horror. Sorceress B took Lore of Death, scoring Wind of Death and Drain Life, which I rolled for Dark Hand of Death. My opponent's Spellweaver took Lore of Beasts, getting Crow's Feast, The Beast Cowers and Bear's Anger. His Spellsinger got Treesinging.
My opponent won the rights to the first turn, which is never good when fighting against Wood Elves.
TURN ONE (DIAGRAM)
My opponent pushed everything but his Glade Guard, sending his Eagle on ahead directly towards my leftmost Repeater Bolt Thrower. The Spellweaver and her pet Wardancers advanced into the safety of the small forest ahead of them. Pushing through the forest, his Wildriders streaked towards my Bolt Thrower on the right. The Alter Kindred bolted across the field on a mad dash towards my lines, coming into charge range of my Hydra and one of my Chariots. Onto the Magic Phase, where he attempted The Beast Cowers in my War Hydra. My dispel was successful. Next he Treesang the forest on my left 4" forwards. His Spellsinger attempted to Treesing the same forest, failed, used a Magic Item for a re-roll...and still failed. Finally, his Spellweaver cast Bear's Anger on his Alter Kindred. Ten shots from one unit of Glade Guard took out a Reaper crewman from my Bolt Thrower on the left, and seventeen more took out a crewman from the machine on my right. My leftmost block of Corsairs (w/ General) also suffered a wound from Glade Guard arrows. Passing both Stupidity Tests, I sent the Chariot on my right and the War Hydra at his Alter Kindred, who promptly fled to safety. It might have been a hefty mistake to let my line get pulled apart so much, but his damned Alter Kindred really caused me a serious headache during our last game. The Wild Riders bearing down on my right flank gave me cause for concern (the last time I faced Wild Riders they caused me a great deal of trouble), so I unwisely directed the block of Warriors right-of-center and my rightmost Chariot to deal with them. Finally, I cut my Harpies to the left to bolster that half of my line. In the Magic Phase I started by having my Highborn use her Ring of Darkness, which he failed to Dispel. Next was my Wand of Kharaidon, which was dispelled easily and burned out. *Sigh* Wind of Death failed, Dark Hand of Death was dispelled and Black Horror failed. When Magic sucks, it sucks hard. Respite came in the form of my Bolt Throwers, with the one on the right killing three Wild Riders, and the one on the left killing three Glade Guard. Nice! Shame they were both about to die.
TURN TWO (DIAGRAM)
The two remaining Wild Riders charged my Bolt Thrower on the right, which I had flee. They caught the lone Dark Elf and trampled him to death. The Great Eagle charged my other Bolt Thrower, but I had that crewman hold. The Dryads deployed right of center charged my rightmost block of Corsairs, which passed their Fear test and held their ground. The Treeman got cozy with his fellows in the forest, as did my opponent's leftmost War Dancer block. The Dryads on the left continued advancing towards my line. Serenading his friends, the Treeman pushed the forest he was in right 2". Again he attempted Beast Cowers on my Hydra, which I smacked with a Dispel Scroll (he cast on an 11 and I didn't want to take any chances). Finally, my opponent used his last two Power Dice to nuke my Ring of Darkness. Ten shots at the Warriors on my left yielded one wound, ten shots at the Warriors on my right yielded four wounds and twenty shots(!) at my Corsair block on the left inflicted one wound. In melee his Dryads killed one Corsair, lost two of their own number, broke and were run down. At the start of my second turn, my Chariot on the right went brain-numb and rumbled forwards. I charged his Great Eagle with my Harpies. After a minute of deliberation I decided to send my Corsairs on the right forward. They were now 7" or so ahead of the rest of my battleline, but I figured that for 165 points I could afford to waste a unit in order to give my opponent something to worry about. I pushed the Warrior block on my right ahead, abandoning the hill that they had occupied. The Warriors right of center faded back, while the Warriors left of center advanced towards the Treeman in the forest. My Hydra and my General's unit pushed forward, as did my leftmost Chariot. Once again I fired up the Ring of Darkness. Black Horror got scrolled, and Chill Wind got dispelled the old fashioned way. I had no shooting left, much to my chagrin. The Harpies traded a wound with the Eagle, broke the budgie and ran it down, avenging one of my Bolt Throwers.
TURN THREE (DIAGRAM)
This turn opened with his Alter Kindred charging my leftmost Chariot. The Dryads on my left faded back behind the forest, trying to get away from my Black Horror attempts. His Glade Guard right of center faded back away from my Corsairs. Finally, he had his Spellweaver leave her unit and move out of the forest, heading towards my left. The Treeman sang his forest 4" forward. The second Treesinging attempt was eaten by dice. Crow's Feast inflicted two wounds on my leftmost Corsair block. Strangleroot crushed four Warriors from my block left of center. The Glade Guard left of center whiffed, but the unit right of center scored two wounds against the Corsairs that were almost breathing down their necks. I was confident that my Chariot could take care of his Alter Kindred, and I wasn't wrong. The Alter Kindred came up empty handed, and took a wound from a Cold One. He lost the combat and broke, but fled behind the Glade Guard and clear of my pursuit. The Glade Guard had just enough time to crap their pants before I had that same Chariot charge them, an inch too close for a Stand and Shoot response. The other Chariot was still Stupid, and its compulsory move created a pretty nasty snarl on my right flank. My Warrior block on the far right wheeled in, trying to give my Sorceress LOS to something. The Hydra was pretty badly blocked, so I had it circle around to get within range of his Spellweaver. The Harpies over flew my leftmost Warrior block, advancing on his Glade Guard and Dryads. Dark Hand of Death and Chill Wind both got dispelled, Wind of Death got hit by a Dispel Scroll, and my opponent failed to dispel Ring of Darkness with his last dice. A strange burning sensation overtook his Spellweaver, and my Hydra did its best to look innocent (Breath Weapon for 1 wound). Five Glade Guard died under the wheels of my Chariot (out of seven impact hits), enough to break the unit and run them down. The Alter Kindred, being right in the path of the pursuit, ran straight off the board. Things were definitely looking up for me.
TURN FOUR (DIAGRAM)
The Wild Riders charged Sorceress B's unit of Warriors. Elsewhere, the Treekin attempted to charge my Hydra, but fell a few inches short. The Treeman rumbled left out of the forest and towards Sorceress A's unit. Emerging from the forest near the center of the board, his rightmost Wardancer block moved behind my Corsair block sans General. Once that forest was empty, he Treesang it back 4". His attempt at the Beast Cowers failed, as did Crow's Feast. A pair of Harpy corpses dropped from the sky, shot down by Glade Guard. The Treeman unleashed his strangling root, mauling my leftmost Warrior block and inflicting eight wounds. Finally, two more of the Corsairs from my block on the right fell to arrow fire. The combat between the Wild Riders and my Warrior block ended with the death of Sorceress B, who absorbed all of the attacks from the Wood Elven cavalry. Still, the Wild Riders lost on static combat score, but held. My chariot on the left returned to the field, and its counterpart passed its Stupidity check. My Warriors on the left failed their Terror test, running madly from the Treeman. I tried to send the Harpies against his Dryads, but they failed their Fear test and contented themselves with eating the corpses of their fallen kin (whatever the reason, they weren't moving). The Warriors right of my center charged into the flank of the Wild Riders, adding their weight into what should be a lopsided combat. Finally, my General's block charged the Treekin, as did my Hydra. My Wizards were either dead or fleeing, and my Hydra was in combat, making the Magic and Shooting phases irrelevant. In the combat against the Treekin my Hydra scored one wound, my Highborn inflicted four(!) and the unit inflicted one. Two dead Treekin, and the other one whiffed. No one was surprised when the last one broke, getting toppled by my Corsairs (the Hydra restrained) and chopped to pieces while my unit blundered partially into the woods. The Warrior blocks on my right completely failed to do anything and lost three of their number to the Wild Riders, who still lost (but hung around).
TURN FIVE (DIAGRAM)
The Wardancers behind my rightmost Corsair block finally moved in to charge them. On my left, the Treeman attempted to charge my fleeing Warrior block, but fell short. His Glade Guard block right of center wheeled in to improve their shooting options. The remaining unit of Dryads cut to the right where the action was. On into the Magic Phase, which saw his Treesinging spell inflict two wounds on my General's unit. I dispelled an attempt at Crow's Feast against my Harpies. Bear's Anger found its way onto his Battle Standard Bearer. In the shooting phase Sorceress A's unit suffered more bad fortune in the form of four wounds from another Strangleroot. I really wouldn't blame them for not rallying at this point. The Harpies absorbed two more Glade Guard arrows, panicked and fled. The unit of Corsairs in combat with his War Dancers took a few wounds, broke, and was crossfired by his Glade Guard. He had his War Dancers restrain pursuit (why I'm not sure)...which left them right in the sights of my Chariot on the right. The Champion of his Wild Rider unit challenged the Champion from one of my Warrior blocks. I refused, just because I had a unit armed with spears primed to put six attacks into the guy. Unfortunately every single one of my Warriors missed or failed to wound. The Wild Riders themselves scored four wounds...all of which were saved. That was enough for the Asrai cav, who broke from combat and were crossfired immediately by the unit in their flank (which sounds strange, but at the time we both agreed that the Wild Riders would clip the other infantry unit as they fled). Bottom of the fifth, and both of my (lovely, lovely) Chariots passed their Stupidity tests. I sent the one that ran the Alter Kindred off of the map into my opponent's remaining Dryad unit, and the other one at the War Dancers who foolishly restrained pursuit. My General's Corsairs charged the Glade Guard line right of my opponent's center. Sorceress A's unit rallied for some reason (I wouldn't have). They reformed facing the Treeman. The Harpies however were no longer interested in the battle and fled off of the table. I moved my Hydra again to menace his Spellweaver (and potentially crossfire his Dryads), who already looked a little crispy. Another blast of fire enhanced the look, and the air was filled with the smell of burning Elf hair (she still had a wound left, but couldn't have been pleased). Onto combat, where I choose to resolve the fight between my Chariot and his Wardancers first. Three War Dancers were crushed by the Chariot. Unable to damage the wicked engine of death, they fled and were run down. My Chariot pursued on into his Glade Guard, which were already locked in combat with my General's unit. C-C-C-Combo! Two more impact casualties, my Highborn inflicted three, and the Glade Guard broke. They fled to safety by an inch. The other Chariot inflicted a handful of casualties on his Dryads, broke them and restrained pursuit (I didn't want to inflict impact hits on my own unit). The nancy forest spirits ran right into my Hydra, and were crossfired to death. Mmm, salad.
TURN SIX (DIAGRAM)
The Spellweaver had enough, failed her Terror test and began running like hell away from my War Hydra. That didn't sit well with his War Dancers, who charged the big beast in the flank. The shooting phase was almost an afterthought, but all the same his Glade Guard shot down two more of my Warriors on the left. Apparently death held no more power over them, as they passed their Panic test. The (unmolested) unit of Glade Guard on his right inflicted a wound on my remaining Corsair block. He had Bear's Anger in play on his Battle Standard Bearer, but I sent it packing with Dispel dice. In combat both of my Hydra's Apprentices got torn apart, and the beast itself took a wound. It failed its monster reaction check...and scored a 3! Unbreakable! My opponent turned green. It was my final turn, and my Chariot that had taken apart his Dryads thundered into his War Dancers. At the request of my opponent, I charged his Treeman with the block of Warriors left of my center, which had received no close combat love at all during the battle. I managed to fail Chill Wind, summing up my Magic performance through the whole game. The gimme combat between his Treeman and my Warriors went better than I expected, though they three wounds the unit managed to hold. Impact casualties claimed two of his War Dancers, and my Hydra ripped his Battle Standard Bearer in twain.
The battle was over, the Druchii had massacred the Asrai force.
I really didn't expect to win this battle. After turn one I felt the weight of that old familiar albatross of bad luck dangling around my neck. Still, I knew this Druchii list was a good one, and I knew my Chariots could really be a force to be reckoned with. His opening Alter Kindred advance seemed like a ploy, but when the "ploy" turned out to be a single spell I went after the Noble with reckless abandon. Too reckless perhaps, but he usually runs his Alter Kindred with the Bow of Loren and Arcane Bodkins (a combination I've learned to fear). Redirecting part of my line to deal with his Wild Riders was pretty stupid of me, but again I have a bad history with that unit. I didn't want to risk them breaking through to the back of my line. Then they got Bolt Throwered down to two, and suddenly it was a moot point. One of my Chariots spending two turns covered in drool didn't help, either.
To say my Magic didn't perform to par is an understatement. I don't much care for Black Horror as it is, especially not for a Level 2 caster. Wand of the Kharaidon burning out immediately was a serious letdown, as part of my plan was to stretch his Dispel Pool with two Bound Items. Obviously, it didn't work. The change in Power Pools would have had bigger impact if Sorceress B didn't spend most of her life without anyone to blast with her spells. As it was, it didn't change a whole lot for me.
I managed to use Crossfire to my advantage a couple of times. Not the deadliest application of the ability, but it still did the trick. It was actually fun to cascade one combat into the next, with my Chariot bowling into another unit. These two mechanics are going to end up making a huge impact on the game. I hope it doesn't end up detracting from other aspects of strategy.
While it wasn't the most graceful victory, I'm happy with how I played. It's my first victory against an experienced player fielding a good army, which feels pretty damn good. Maybe next week I can turn it into a mini-streak.
As a curious aside, how in the heck does the fluff explain battles between Dark Elves and Wood Elves? Are there Wood Elf kindreds in forests all over the world, or just Loren?
. You do not get crossfired by a unit in the same combat p.41 as you thought with the wildriders, otherwize a nice and well executed battle.
