Dark Elves vs Bretonnians!In a prelude to their campaign in Bretonnia, a Dark Elf force has seized control of a strategically vital Watchtower. But one lone survivor of the attack has brought word to the local Lord who, gathering to him what strength he has available, now rushes to take it back...
Bretonnians:Bretonnian Lord with Luckstone, Birth-Sword of Carcassone, Virtue of Confidence, Gauntlet of the Duel, Shield. General.
Prophetess of the Lady with Warhorse, Mane of the Purebreed, Level 4 Life.
Damsel of the Lady with Icon of Quenelles, Level 2 Beasts.
Damsel of the Lady, Level 2 Beasts.
Paladin with Virtue of Empathy, Enchanted Shield, Morning Star, Grail Vow.
Paladin with Battle Standard, Charmed Shield, Wyrmlance.
12 Knights Errant, Full Command, Errantry Banner.
12 Knights of the Realm, Full Command, Banner of Swiftness.
40 Men-At-Arms, Musician & Standard.
10 Peasant Bowmen, Musician & Braziers.
Grail Reliquae & 12 Battle Pilgrims.
3 Pegasus Knights, Full Command.
Field Trebuchet
Field Trebuchet
Two big lances led by very strong characters looked fairly scary to me, and there was no way I wanted to let them charge my Knights or Executioners. The Pegasus Knights and Trebuchets were also a concern, and if the Men-At-Arms ever got into the tower it would be game over. The list above only comes to 2300 so I'm definitely missing something, probably equipment on the characters.
Spells:Supreme Sorceress: Searing Doom, Enchanted Blades, Glittering Robes.
Prophetess: Throne of Vines, Flesh to Stone, Dwellers Below, Awakening of the Wood.
Damsel: Wildform, Flock of Doom.
Damsel: Wildform, Amber Spear.
With only the Battle Pilgrims and the Men-at-Arms presenting themselves as serious threats to the Watchtower, I decided to focus on keeping them out of it and doing what I could to bait the two Knight lances away. To that end, I threw up three of my Vanguard units to tempt early charges that I could flee, whilst the second Warlock unit held back, eyeing up a potential turn 1 charge into the Knights...
The Bretonnians elected to pray and receive the blessing of their Lady, so the Dark Elves had the first turn.
Spurring their mounts forward, the Warlocks hurled themselves at the Pegasus Knights, drawing on the Winds of Magic en route to hex their prey. Though the Knights put up a brave fight and even managed to pull one of the Warlocks down, with their strength sapped they were no match for the coven and were slaughtered as they attempted to flee.
Elsewhere, a unit of Dark Riders and Warlocks darted through the gap in the Bretonnian lines. Together, the combined firepower of the Dark Riders, Shades and Crossbowmen brought down nearly half of the Pilgrims guarding their Reliquae, and the survivors fled under the hail of bolts despite the urgings of the Paladin leading them and the nearby Battle Standard Bearer.
Both RBTs fired at a Trebuchet, but one went wide and the other thudded into the woodwork without inflicting any damage.
The Knights Errant, keen to avenge the Pegasus Knights, charged the Shades and when the elusive Dark Elves withdrew, they instead elected to storm the Watchtower. The Paladin promptly slew the Reaver after his armour easily turned the Dark Elf's attacks, whilst two more Corsairs were cut down by the Knights for the loss of one of their own. The Corsairs held.
On the other flank, the Knights of the Realm advanced cautiously alongside the Men-at-Arms, who received a boon when a Damsel used her Icon of Quenlles before departing the unit. She then cast a Flock of Doom on the Dark Riders, which was let through though it killed two (argh!), but a subsequent Wildform on the Knights Errant was blocked by the Supreme Sorceror.
The Peasant Bowmen killed one of the Bolt Thrower crew, with one Trebuchet killing one from the other when its rock scattered. The other Trebuchet killed two Executioners, again after scattering form its intended target of the Shrine.
Unable to resist the temptation, the Warlocks charged the exposed rear of the Knights of the Realm hoping to repeat the success of their brethren. The Shades rallied, but in doing so continued to block the Dark Elves from charging the Knights Errant, who had dangerously exposed themselves also. Anticipating that the Knights of the Realm would soon be upon them, the Executioners reformed into ranks (which I then forgot to move forward – d'oh!).
In a strong magic phase, 6 dice were used to cast Soulblight on the Knights of the Realm but the Prophetess dispelled it with ease. Alas, the other unit of Warlocks was too far away to do the same, instead hexing the nearby Knights Errant.
Once again the Bolt Throwers were unable to find a weak spot in the Trebuchets, and the shots from the surviving Dark Riders on the Damsel went wide, but the Crossbowmen delivered a hail of bolts onto the Pilgrims which, their courage already sapped, forced them to retreat once more.
The Warlocks killed two Knights for the loss of two of their own to the Lord, but held under the urgings of the nearby Dreadlord.
The Knights Errant reformed to size the Shades up once again, whilst the Men-at-Arms continued their steady march and the Damsels both sought to escape the wrath of the Dark Riders.
In an utterly disasterous magic phase, the Prophetess and her Damsels were unable to cast a single spell, but the Trebuchets made up for this by dropping a rock directly on the Dark Riders, killing three. The Lord killed another Warlock and broke the two survivors, though elected to turn and face the Dark Elf lines once more rather than pursue his beaten foe.
Seeing a potential opportunity, the Bloodwrack Shrine charged out of the Executioners and into the Knights of the Realm, but could not reach them. The Shades reformed to draw the Knights Errant away from the Watchtower and the Dark Elf centre, and towards the Crossbowmen. Sensing danger, the Supreme Sorceress quietly slipped out the unit when the Crossbowmen were looking the other way.
Both the Dark Riders and the Dreadlord ran towards the menacing Trebuchets, and this time the Bolt Throwers found their mark – although could only inflict one wound (I hate rolling 1s with D3 wounds!).
Another Soulblight was cast on the Knights Errant this turn, but despite a hail of bolts from the Crossbowmen and Shades only one of the young Knights was knocked from his saddle.
The Bretonnian Lord sounded the charge, leading his own Knights into the Dark Riders ahead of him whilst the Knights Errant charged the Shades, and the Men-at-Arms charged the Shrine. The Dark Elf light cavalry were no match for the chivalry of Bretonnia and were cut down, though the overrun was blocked by the nearby Men-at-Arms (again, not clear on the map – however, the KotR charged first, and due to the proximity of the MaA, my Dark Riders had to align to him. This meant the angle was much narrower than I had set up, but they were still prevented from going into my Knights. Phew!). For their part, they managed two wounds on the Shrine despite taking a number of casualties from the crew and the Medusa's deadly gaze. At the end of the combat, the Shrine reformed to open a gap which would allow the Executioners to join the fight.
Despite their best efforts, the Shades could not find an opening in the armour of the Knights Errant, and escaped when three of their own were trampled beneath their hooves. Under the leadership of the Paladin, the Knights Errant demonstrated surprising caution when they turned back towards the Tower rather than follow up their charge into the Crossbowmen, steeling themselves to storm it once more.
The Prophetess was able to cast Throne of Vines, whilst Flesh to Stone was stopped. A big Amber Spear on the Dreadlord was blocked by a Dispel Scroll. One Trebuchet scattered, whilst the other misfired and inflicted one wound on itself.
Having absorbed the initial Bretonnian charge, the Dark Elves now sounded their own warhorns – with combined charges on the Knights Errant into both flanks, and the Executioners joining the Shrine. Up in the corner of the field, the Dark Riders and Dreadlord killed both Trebuchet crews, which panicked the nearby Peasants.
The Winds blew strongly in the magic phase, and the Dark Elves were able to make two attempts at a bubble Soulblight, with the first dispelled. Such was the position of the Warlocks that virtually all the Bretonnians were affected by it!
One Bolt Thrower unleashed a hail of bolts on the Damsel, killing her outright, whilst the other fired at the Bowmen (I think? Sorry not too sure at this point!). In the centre, the Crossbowmen turned towards the Knights of the Realm but could only kill one.
The Shrine and Executioners unleashed a furious assault on the Men-at-Arms, but the protection afforded by their Blessing saved many from being cut down by Draichs. Though the Dark Elves won, the Men-at-Arms held under the steel gaze of their nearby General.
All eyes now turned to the combat on the left flank, and it looked to all that the Knights Errant would be sent to an early grave along with the colours. But disaster began to unfold when the Warlocks' steeds buckled at the flaming lance of the Paladin, and despite landing home with all of their attacks, the Cold One Knights found their lances were nearly all turned at the last minute. Only two Knights Errant were killed, and the remainder calmly held their ground.
The surviving Battle Pilgrims and the Knights of the Realm joined both ongoing combats (there was just enough space on the left of the Executioners to allow them to clip). The Prophetess feinted with a Flesh to Stone on the Men-at-Arms, which was dispelled, allowing her to embolden the Knights Errant with a Wildform.
On the right, the Shrine was finally toppled by the brave Men-at-Arms, though not before they once again lost a great deal of their number, and the Bretonnian Lord slew the Draichmaster in combat. This time, despite inflicting heavy casuatiles, the Executioners were on the losing end, but they held.
Turning to face the Battle-Pilgrims who had the audacity to charge them in the rear, the Warlocks wiped them out and turned over the Grail Reliquae, scattering its holy contents and leaving just the Paladin standing. Both he and his mounted counterpart then killed two of the Warlocks. Once again, the Knights found that they could not penetrate their opponent's armour, nor could their mounts, and worse still one of their own was slain. Though the surviving Warlock held, the Cold One Knights broke, with the Standard Bearer and Master both pulled from their saddles as they attempted to flee. The chivalry of the young Bretonnian Knights had prevailed!
Despite this victory, and with both sunset and the main Dark Elf force fast approaching, the Bretonnian Lord signaled for his men to withdraw. The Dark Elves had held the Watchtower, but it had been a costly victory (a 6 was rolled to end the game there).
Result: Dark Elf Victory!Argh, not again! Another ideal double-envelopment, this time backed up with a great hex and no penalties on myself, and I still suffered from rubber lance syndrome and bounced off! Rolling two 11s on the break test twice was just insult to injury. But my opponent was making armour saves and Ward saves like an absolute boss, and this was a frequent occurrence throughout the game. Thanks to Soulblight, through shooting and combat I was consistently inflicting horrendous damage time after time, but no matter whether he was being asked to make a 3+, 5+, or 6+ on armour saves or Wards, my opponent produced results time and time again. To be fair, my opponent was very unlucky with his leadership rolls throughout – which makes up for his luck with armour and ward saves! - especially on the Pilgrims, who failed everyone that they were asked to make!
Was Soulblight the right call here? Should I have tried for Enchanted Blades on the Knights instead, so they were hitting on 2s with Armour Piercing? Having crunched the numbers, on average dice the results are even - with the benefit to the Knights from Blades balanced out by the reduced performance from the Warlocks.
Nonetheless, despite this I had a great game, and it was one of those that demonstrated the importance of focusing on the objective. Still, had this been in a tournament then I would have been in a serious trouble – the game would have gone on for another two turns, and neither combat would have lasted much longer, giving the Bretonnians ample time to make final assaults on the Tower or to clear up my remaining points. I had already given up about 675 at this point, and was about to give away at least another 125 for the Warlocks, and expect that the Executioners would have eventually gone down as well. To preserve their points, Knights needed to rally without the BSB or the General – and do so quickly, before either combat was finished and they were charged. Maybe I could have pulled something back when the Dreadlord returned, but I'm not so sure. Assuming 500 VPs for the Tower plus the 450-500 VPs that I had taken, it was a very shaky 12-8 to me but could have swung back to a draw or even a significant loss very quickly.
So, onto the usual post-battle analysis. What went well?
The Warlocks. Taking the Sorceress out of the unit really encouraged me to take risks, some of which paid off (taking out the Pegasus Knights which took a very real threat out of the game turn one, and pinning the KotR lance) and others that didn't (the flank charge). Although I didn't bother casting Doombolt once – those 5++ saves preying on my mind – I did relish the opportunity to cast multiple Soulblights, especially the bubble version turn 4, making it very tough for my opponent to dispel. Again, its just a shame that I wasn't able to follow this up with casualties inflicted. Sending the one unit into the rear of the KotR lance was a risk, but if I'd been able to win through CR something might have happened – and you can only exploit opportunities like that if you take them! I just need to remember to get into 24” Soulblight range with both units for the double threat.
The Dark Riders. Ran around chaffing stuff up and being a general nuisance as usual.
The Shades. Helped shoot off the Pilgrims turn 1, which vastly reduced the chances of occupying the building, and practically took them out of the game (or so I thought!). Acted as good bait for the Knights Errant, but perhaps slightly mispositioned and blocked the charge path of my Knights after their Flee – although, to be fair, I expected the Knights Errant to press home rather than redirect into the Tower, which would have left them deliciously exposed to charges from my centre
The Bloodwrack Shrine. In turn 3, and thinking back to my game against the Tomb Kings, I saw the opportunity to charge the BWS and look to get some Killing Blows and Impact Hits on the Knights of the Realm and the Lord, who only had his Blessing Ward Save, potentially stalling them for a turn or two as I had done with the Warlocks. I needed an 11 on the dice, and with Swiftstride I thought it was worth a shot as I had nothing to lose if I failed. As you can see, I was able to chaff up the KotR anyway, and the Shrine blocked the Men-at-Arms from reaching the Executioners and distracted them from the tower, so its not all bad. Once in combat, the Shrine did a great job on thinning out the Men-At-Arms, easily killing 7-8 a turn thanks to the effects of the Gaze, and ASF. Its a shame it died when it did, having not made a single 6+ save when the MaA were hexed by Soulblight and proving that it is incredibly fragile (at least, without a Ward!
), but it is good to see how it does against rank and file.
General deployment. I was pretty happy with how this went: my fast cav were free to run left, right or up the middle as needed, the Crossbowmen were placed to bait any overrunning Knights on the left, and my Executioners with their Killing Blow were set up to counter-charge any over-impetuous Knights on their flank. My own Knights were deployed centrally so they could swing left or right as needed. As noted in the posts above, pushing out a little more to the right with my Warlocks would have allowed them to get into the Trebuchets earlier, but I couldn't resist the opportunity to get into the middle of his line and bubble a Soulblight - unfortunately, I only rolled 4 for my first turn magic phase.
And what didn't go so well?
The Knights. Despite what I thought to be good deployment, tactically sound early caution to keep their options open, and a decisive turn 4 charge, they still failed to deliver. I'm not sure whether this is just poor luck or if I'm doing something wrong here. Do they just need more bodies, or someone else to roll the dice? I'm going with the latter, given that they hit and wounded all 10 times and only killed 2, and the Cold Ones themselves and the Warlocks didn't kill any.
The Dreadlord. I sent him after the Trebuchets Turn 3, thinking that I'd have time to clear them up and come back to the battle whilst both lances were getting chaffed up, and wanting him to join a combat where a character couldn't hide from his challenge or attacks. This was a mistake, as it was clear that whether the Knights Errant went into the Crossbowmen or held as they did, that I'd have an opportunity to engage in my turn 4. Sending a 300 point Lord to clear up 90 points of Warmachine was a waste – especially when the Dark Riders would have been more than capable of the task themselves!
The Executioners. Again, despite what I thought was a good deployment decision which meant that they'd have good charges on the KotR lance if it came on too soon, or a flank into the MaA going into the Tower, in turn 2 I reformed them deep with the intention of moving them forwards ready to charge the Knights of the Realm in my turn, but forgot to actually do this – instead, just making them a very tempting Trebuchet targets. It also meant that it would be another turn before they could engage.
RBTs. Spent all game uselessly shooting at Trebuchets and only dealt one wound the entire time. Should have focused on trying my luck against the Knights, Blessing be damned, or whittling down the Men-at-Arms.
Supreme Sorceress. Didn't even try to cast with her once all game. There might have been an opportunity for Enchanted Blades on the Warlocks in my turn 2 had she been in range, or on the Knights in turn 4, but I always felt that Soulblight was more useful as I wasn't having much trouble hitting in most cases. For the same reason, I didn't think that Searing Doom was worthwhile with those Wards. It might have been an idea to cast Glittering Robes on my Corsairs turn 1, but as mentioned I rolled low for dice and went for everything on Soulblighting the Pegasus Knights to ensure I won that combat. I can see that putting her on foot is going to cause an issue with range, and in hindsight maybe I should have tried to run her into the tower and join the Corsairs.
Thanks for reading! Please share your thoughts/comments/sympathies below.