Dark Elves (vs) High Elves- 5,000 points

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Jabroniville
Warrior
Posts: 66
Joined: Thu May 30, 2013 7:01 am

Dark Elves (vs) High Elves- 5,000 points

Post by Jabroniville »

DARK ELVES (VS) HIGH ELVES- 5,000 points

My army:

Dreadlord on Black Dragon (+2 Attacks, Dawnstone)
Supreme Sorceress (Level 4, Life Magic, Sacrificial Dagger, 4+ Ward)

Master on Manticore (+1 Attack, 5+ Ward)
Sorceress (Level 2, Dark Magic, Dispel Scroll)
Sorceress on Cold One (Level 1, Beast Magic)
Master on Cold One (Black Dragon Egg)
Death Hag on Cauldron of Blood (Witchbrew, BSB)
Death Hag (Witchbrew)

All units have Full Command unless otherwise noted:
24 Dreadspears
16 Darkshards
5 Dark Riders
5 Dark Riders (Musician)
39 Corsairs (Horde, 2 Hand Weapons)
20 Witch Elves (Razor Standard)

20 Black Guard
20 Executioners
2 Bolt Throwers
10 Cold One Knights
Cole One Chariot
War Hydra (Fiery Breath)

Chimera (used as a Rare Unit since I built & painted it years ago but don't actually play Chaos :))

HIGH ELVES:
Lord on Star Dragon
High Magic (Level 4, High Magic, Book of Hoeth)
Loremaster (Crown of Command, 2+ Armour Save Magic Item thing)
Dragon Mage on Sun Dragon
Sea Guard Hero Guy
Hero on Chariot
Hero on Horse
Hero on Horse (BSB)

10 Silver Helms
25 Spearmen
30 Lothern Sea Guard
30-40 Archers

20 Phoenix Guard
20 Swordmasters
Flame Phoenix
White Lion Chariot
2 Bolt Throwers

-I actually outnumbered him by a fair bit, which is scary since I took a LOT of Heroes. I was going with a Beastmaster on Manticore, but I realized that it's 80 extra points for D3 attacks and one higher WS & BS, which really isn't worth it in my opinion. His Magic is very high-end, and there's TWO Dragons on there. My Master & Cold Ones are basically designed entirely around killing off Silver Helms (it was either them or the Executioners to be paired off that way), especially with that Black Dragon Egg.

---

DEPLOYMENT:

LEFT FLANK:

5 Dark Riders, Hero on Manticore, Bolt Thrower, 20 Executioners, 39 Corsair Horde (with Witchbrew Hag), 20 Black Guard (with Dark Sorceress)
(VS)
Bolt Thrower, 30 Sea Guard (with Sea Guard Hero), 20 Phoenix Guard, Dragon Mage on Dragon

CENTRE:
16 Darkshards, Lord on Dragon, War Hydra, Bolt Thrower, Cold One Chariot, 20 Witch Elves (with Death Hag on Cauldron of Blood), 24 Dreadspears (with Life Sorceress)
(VS)
30-40 Archers, Lord on Star Dragon, Bolt Thrower, 20 Swordmasters (with Loremaster & Level 4 Mage), 25 Spearmen

RIGHT FLANK:
5 Dark Riders, 10 Cold One Knights (with Master with Egg), Chimera
(VS)
10 Silver Helms (with Hero and Hero BSB), White Lion Chariot, Hero on Chariot

-So deployment wasn't quite ideal. I wanted to have the Black Guard & Witch Elves beside each other, but there was just no room since I wanted the Sorceress block to be in the main combat area as well- terrain just wouldn't allow it. Black Guard thus were more centred away from the big blocks. I'm WAY stronger on the Left Flank, while his Silver Helms can go either down the centre or right. My plan is to basically come down the flanks with the Manticore and crush the left side, take out the right, and plow forward in the centre. Granted, it never works out that way, but that's the idea...

---


TURN ONE:
-I go first, and move every unit forward by a bit. A Doombolt kills eight (!) Sea Guard, but their shooting kills off my Dark Riders before they can do anything. My Manticore prepares to flank charge them. A few Black Guard die to Bolt Thrower fire, and his Star Dragon fails a charge against my Hydra, getting in the Archers' way and is now vulnerable to my Hydra AND Black Dragon Lord!

On the right, things REALLY don't go my way, with the Dark Riders blocking access to the Cold Ones, but the Hero Chariot goes BLAZING in (the Lion one misses) against the Chimera, KILLING IT BEFORE IT CAN STRIKE BACK, and going sailing down to the back end of the board. YIKES.

TURN TWO:
-The Manticore charges the Sea Guard, who do that insta-reform move that Hero lets them do, and gets stuck in, despite killing a TON of enemy models. The Executioners move in to flank that, while everyone else is up by a bit. The Dragon Mage & Phoenix Guard charge my Frenzied Corsairs, resulting in a pretty bloody conflict that kills a dozen of mine and a ton of his, allowing me to be Steadfast and survive- my Executioners & Black Guard are now ready to flank, but the BGs take a TON more wounds to fire (I now have only 8 models left!). His Bolt Thrower kills mine.

The centre is a disaster, sadly. My War Hydra AND my Lord on a Black Dragon charge the Star Dragon, KILL THE HIGH ELF LORD, but utterly fail to do ANYTHING to the Star Dragon, who does a bunch of wounds to the Hydra in return. In the end, I'm down by 2, JUST out of BSB range, and fail both Leadership tests. The Hydra is wiped out, and the Lord barely escapes a now-Frenzied, Hating Star Dragon, which plows into the 16 Darkshards.

The right flank sucks too, as my Dark Riders charge the White Lion Chariot to prevent it from charging next turn, but four models are killed and the other guy flees (eventually off the board), letting both it AND the Silver Helms charge into the Cold One Knights. Despite the BD Egg killing two models and his Heroes failing to do a whole lot, he kills off 5 Cold Ones and I barely stay alive. The Helms' Movement is just TOO GOOD to prevent that charge, sadly- I was quite a ways away (the WL Chariot had a long way to go as well).

TURN THREE:
-Things start to go my way. The Manticore is damn near unkillable to LSG troops and a character not designed to kill Monsters. I was HOPING to see the Black Guard go into the centre, but with so few models left and the Archers too far off, I NEEDED to get them into combat. And so the Executioners flanked the Dragon Mage and the BG flanked the Phoenix Guard. It was a TOTAL bloodbath, leaving only a couple PGs left, and the Sun Dragon dead. The BGs run down the PGs, but hilariously, the Dragon Mage rolls Double-1s for his Break Test and holds against 20 Executioners, who make mincemeat out of him next turn but are basically stuck there. The Bolt Thrower mows down some Execs or BG- I can't remember.

His Star Dragon kills a ton of Darkshards, but they are Steadfast and take two rounds to die- ending in his turn. My Lord rallies about an inch away, but takes ANOTHER charge, my Dragon is killed easily (I can NOT wound that damn thing! My Black Dragon missed with four attacks!) and my Lord only barely escapes. My Cold One Chariot manages to charge the Spearmen, killing 8-10 models on his own (the Witch Elves failed their charge), but they're Steadfast. Six Witch Elves die to shooting.

TURN FOUR:
-My Hero on Manticore FINALLY kills the remainder of the Sea Guard and Hero unit, but the beast is slain by the Bolt Thrower on his turn. Everyone else has to kind of angle around to head to the right flank. My Lord rallies to face the Star Dragon again, but it's no contest- I do no wounds and he utterly destroys the Lord, turning around to face other units. My Executioners fail a Panic Test (I think because of the Darkshards), and start fleeing!

My Bolt Thrower kills the Hero on the Chariot, but his Silver Helms finish off my Cold One Knights, breaking the Master and the last guy (both soon run off the board), then charge into the flank of my Spearmen unit, failing to break it. The Chariot suprisingly holds its own against the Spearmen, as they can't wound Toughness 5 worth beans and I only take 2 wounds, and they have to Steadfastly hold again.

My Witch Elves FINALLY get the charge on something, hitting both Swordmasters & Spearmen at the same time. This is INCREDIBLY devastating, as Impact Hits & WE attacks carve up the Swordmasters in particular- the Spearmen flee, with the Chariot following them. The White Lion Chariot charges the Witch Elves in the flank, and my entire unit is ground down to nothing, save the Cauldron (the Swordmasters are also all killed, but the Crown of Command guy still holds). The Fire Phoenix charges my Spearmen in the flank and that finally sees them (and the Supreme Sorceress) off.

TURN FIVE:
-More movement to face the Archers (some Corsairs die to shooting). My Executioners fail ANOTHER Leadership test, and keep running! They rally next turn, but are basically not a factor in the rest of the game. The Black Guard are cut down by a Bolt Thrower AGAIN, but at least one is finally killed by my Master (now on foot).

My Cold One Chariot charges and easily kills the last 10 Spearmen, killing 5 with Impact Hits and seeing the other one off the board. The Fire Phoenix charges my Cauldron of Blood, but I focus enough attacks going around to kill off the White Lion Chariot before it can hit, and the Phoenix itself is quite weak, so I win that combat. The Loremaster FINALLY breaks after three break tests in a row.

TURN SIX:
-The Corsairs charge the Archers in the front, and the sole remaining Black Guard model (stupid Bolt Throwers...) charges the rear. It's ANOTHER bloodbath, as I wipe the unit down to a single rank and run it down. Alas, the remaining BG gets shot by the other Bolt Thrower, handing over 330 VPs, and the Corsairs take a Rear Charge from the Star Dragon & Silver Helm unit, which easily runs THEM down.

My Cauldron of Blood and a flank charge from the Cold One Chariot wipes out the Flame Phoenix easily, but the Loremaster can't be hurt by anyone.

---

So in the end, it's High Elves beating Dark Elves, 4,104 to 3,337. I expected a COMPLETELY lethal game, and was not disappointed. The only infantry unit still left on the table were the Executioners, while most of the Lords were dead (both Generals, both Level 4 Wizards), as well as almost all the Large Monsters. Some stuff could've definitely gone better, though- this was a game where I got badly messed up by the way the units fell onto the table, plus bad rolling.
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Calisson
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Re: Dark Elves (vs) High Elves- 5,000 points

Post by Calisson »

What a bloodbath! :killed:
Winds never stop blowing, Oceans are borderless. Get a ship and a crew, so the World will be ours! Today the World, tomorrow Nagg! {--|oBrotherhood of the Coast!o|--}
Jabroniville
Warrior
Posts: 66
Joined: Thu May 30, 2013 7:01 am

Re: Dark Elves (vs) High Elves- 5,000 points

Post by Jabroniville »

yeah, DE/HE battles are HORRIBLE for the sheer amount of death- everything's high accuracy & low toughness, and I'm re-rolling everything while he's getting more ranks to attack.

---


Two Critical Moments:
#1: The Cold One Knights failing to kill the Silver Helms (the Master with S6 T6 for that turn couldn't wound the BSB), then getting killed the next turn- this resulted in the SHs running roughshot over the rest of my army, killing off the Dreadspears, S. Sorceress and the Corsairs & Death Hag.
#2: The War Hydra & Black Dragon Lord charging a Lord on Star Dragon... and utterly failing to do enough wounds to even win combat. Losing the Hydra and going running off basically cost me almost everything, as if I'd won, I would have overrun into the helpless Archers (who instead killed a TON of Black Guard) and ended that giant threat. Instead, I basically lost my Lord.

Unit by Unit:
The Black Dragon Lord disappointed (extra Attacks against Elves is good, but SUCKS against a T 7 Dragon), but not a lot I had would have killed that Star Dragon. The Supreme Sorceress could NOT get any spells off- my luck was AWFUL for the entire game, often rolling 4 or 5 dice for the Magic Phase, leaving my opponent with nearly the same amount and that horribly-cheap Book of Hoeth to dispel everything.

The Master on Manticore did GREAT, eventually wiping out 30-ish Lothern Sea Guard and a Hero, then a Bolt Thrower, all by his lonesome! If I'd known that, I would've spread my army out less- I had too much infantry on that one flank for my own good. The Death Hags frenzying their units without Bound Spells (which I NEVER would have gotten off) was great as well, turning Corsairs into 3-attack models, and Witch Elves into FOUR-attack models. Phoenix Guard are the hardest High Elf unit to kill, and I EASILY did so with that combo. The other Sorceresses failed their magic the same way the boss lady did- I had the Cold One Sorceress (I wouldn't normally do that, but she was my only other model!) behind the Witch Elves to cast Wyssan's Wild Form, but she never so much as came close.

The Master on Cold One disappointed badly, mainly thanks to lucky BSB saves. I guess I should've went after the unit.

The Core was iffy- the Corsairs were made LETHAL thanks to the Death Hag, and the Witch Elves were much the same, handily cutting down Swordmasters like they were nothing (I forgot I had the Razor Standard in the unit, but he barely made any saves whatsoever). The Dark Riders failed badly (holding off that White Lion Chariot for even another TURN would have helped tremendously), but the Spearmen actually held on or two turns of one-sided combat thanks to Steadfast. Never underestimate being the cheapest troop around. The Darkshards never had a shot- they didn't even get to shoot (out of range the first because I didn't realize he wasn't 24" away, then got hit by the Star Dragon)!

Special units were a mixed bag. Most did WELL, but I piled too many into one side where they weren't needed, leaving by Black Guard to get shot out from under me. The Executioners only got to kill a Sun Dragon before Panicking and running all over the place. The Cold One Knights also lost after two rounds to Silver Helms, and the Hydra died quickly. My Bolt Throwers did SOME damage, but not enough. The only one that performed adequately was my Cold One Chariot, who basically solo'd an entire unit of Spearmen, then killed a Phoenix! Elves HATE Chariots!

The Chimera was an utter failure- not even getting to attack! It was a long bomb charge by that Hero Chariot, but I figured I would at least hold on or counter-attack or something. 230 points gone in turn 1.

Overall, I'm not sure how to fix my deployment- the Black Guard would've been shot regardless, and the whole Sea Guard/Dragon/Phoenix Guard flank looked like it needed some serious attention. I guess I could have stuck them behind the Hydra & Black Dragon, thus following in, but then they'd've just been charged by the Star Dragon and probably killed. A lot of this just came down to bad rolling (you don't even want to know how many Ld.8-10 tests I failed), especially in those two critical moments I listed above.
Jabroniville
Warrior
Posts: 66
Joined: Thu May 30, 2013 7:01 am

Re: Dark Elves (vs) High Elves- 5,000 points

Post by Jabroniville »

Reading some Rules Threads on here, plus some pertinent rulebook stuff, leads me to some mistakes made during the battle:

* I put all the Impact Hits from the Cauldron onto the Swordmasters- I would have had to share between them & the Spearmen (same # of wounds, but more Swordmasters would have been alive to fight back)

* Frenzy ceases when the unit is BEATEN in combat, not broken. I always thought it was the latter. So you'd just run if you lost the combat at all, even if you passed your Break Test, right?

* The Cauldron of Blood's Large status means that the Hold Your Ground! rule goes for 18". Of course, I looked in the book for that under the Battle Standard Bearer bit, but it's NOT IN THAT SECTION, so I didn't take any re-rolls for my fleeing Hydra & Lord on Black Dragon. Considering those were testing on 8s and I failed both, that would have come in VERY handy, and could have saved me a ton of grief in the battle.

* No Murderous Prowess on mounts. Since almost all of the Elf-only rules actually SAY "Riders Only", having that one be separate is confusing.

* ASF Re-Rolls are still allowed against Elves using Great Weapons, since "both cancel out".

It never ceases to amaze me how a group that's been playing for TEN YEARS like my friends and I can still be sure to make a dozen rules-mistakes per game.
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