Dude, Where's My Tomb King?

The Elf Lord considered the hunched figure before him. Mizard Wodel, was possibly the most unconventional Elven mage in all of Athel Loren. A dabbler in many different magic lores, his appearance didn't bear the normal appearance of most Spellweavers in the forest. He was the only elf with a beard the elf knew of. Where most mages rode unicorns or elven steeds, Wodel rode a rather vicious wolf he called Dobbin. Rumors around court stated that Dobbin was a transformed Dwarf that was compelled to obey his every whim. Whether true or not, it added an air of uncertainty around him. 
"My Lord, The Great Necromancer has returned. He is already moving towards Greywater Tower.". Wodel's words had a chilling effect on the Elven Prince.
"Sound the hunting horns, we ride to Greywater Tower, the crows will feast!".

Yes, it's time for another battle report. Another team effort from the usual bunch of reprobates. This time it was Vinny's turn to suffer my Elven wrath. Despite advice to the contrary, I have had a hankering to play a game using the new magic rules from the Khaine - End Times book. The rules are pretty much Warhammer but not as we know it Jim. Double the magic dice, every mage knows all the spells from their lores, special End times spells and a few other whistles and bells to go along with it. Basically, a rather roided up magic phase which in all probability will be detrimental to the rest of the game - or will it? One thing we did decide is that a dispelled spell counted as a failed casting as otherwise (it was thought) the magic phase would become too overpowered.

The Elven Undead Redeadeners

 Lords 

The Elf Without a Name - Glade Lord Daith's Reaper,  Charmed Shield,  Potion of Foolhardiness,  Talisman of Endurance, Asrai Longbow, Great Eagle, Hagbane Tips, Hand Weapon, Light Armor
Elfinel The Eternally Cackling - Spellweaver Dispel Scroll, Talisman of Preservation, Tormentor Sword, Asrai Longbow, High Magic, Level 4, Unicorn
Mizard Wodel - Spellweaver  Fencer's Blades,  Obsidian Amulet, Asrai Longbow, Elven Steed, Level 4, Lore of Beasts

 Heroes 

Glimmerdill The Bellicose - Glade Captain  Hail of Doom Arrow, Gambler's Armour, Asrai Longbow, Asrai Spear, Battle Standard, Elven Steed, Hagbane Tips, Light Armor, Shield
Prawkus  - Branchwraith

Core 

Dryads Branch Nymph, 24x Dryads
Glade Guard 13x Glade Guard 13x Starfire Shafts
Glade Riders [Standard Bearer] 7x Glade Riders Starfire Shafts
Glade Riders 5x Glade Riders, Hagbane Tips

Rare 

Great Eagle (Eddie)
Great Eagle (Squawkie)
 8x Waywatchers

 Special 

 7x Sisters of the Thorn, Standard Bearer, Musician
8x  Wardancer, Champion, Musician
3x Warhawk Riders, Wind Rider
5x Wild Riders, Champion,
5x Wild Riders,Champion, Standard Bearer,

Nagash's Ever Increasing Hordes

 Lords

Nagash
Rules: Arch-Necromancer, Death Magic Incarnate, Large Target, Level 5 Wizard, Supreme Lord of Undead, Bit of a Know-it-all, Terror, Undead
Krell, Mortarch of Despair, Nagash's Bitch.
Tomb King No sense of direction

Heroes  

Liche Priest Hierophant, Lore of Nehekhara, Wizard Level 1
Necromancer Lore of the Vampires, Wizard Level 1

Core 

Crypt Ghouls Champion , 20x Crypt Ghoul
Crypt Ghouls Champion, 20x Crypt Ghoul
Dire Wolves Champion , 5x Dire Wolf
Dire Wolves Champion , 5x Dire Wolf
Skeleton Warriors ,Champion , Musician , 20x Skeleton Warrior
Zombies , 20x Zombie
Zombies Musician , 20x Zombie

 Rare

Casket of Souls
Screaming Skull Catapult Skulls of the Foe

 Special 

Grave Guard,Champion , Musician
20x Grave Guard with Shield
Standard Bearer  - Banner of the Barrows

Tactical Type Stuff

Following my last successful outing. I again went with a cavalry heavy army. Especially against undead mobility is key. Of course when your enemy can just raise units around you mobility get even more important. So the only infantry block I took was dryads mainly because if you don't have something that looks like a decent target, then stuff you don't want targeted often is. I took a unit of Wardancers with Branchwraith to hopefully buff them. Warhawks and eagles to get any artillery (hopefully), Wild Riders to smash face and Sisters of the Thorn to be annoying (and with End Times magic, have access to two lores). Waywatchers as they can ruin cavalry rather easily, especially if there are Blood Knights knocking around. We had only decided that day to use Khaine magic so I changed my Dark Mage to a High one, also there was a mini drama where Vinny misplaced his Tomb King, so last minute rejigging of his list saw a Terrorgheist materialise instead (joy!). My general took a pot shot at Nagash and unsurprisingly failed to kill him. We rolled off for the first turn and it went to Vinny's undead. So with minimal vanguarding (the northernmost Direwolves only) we started the game. Not shown in the picture i deployed my waywatchers in the woods directly in front of the ones containing the wardancers, it actually turned out to be wild woods.

Setup

From up to down Warhawks,Sisters of the Thorn, Squawkie, Glade Guard, Elf general,wild riders,Beasts mage, BSB Dryads Wardancers avec Branchwraith and more wild riders. On the other side Casket of Souls, Wolves, ghouls, skeletons, grave guard (with Krell), Nagash, Terrorgheist, Zombies, Ghouls, zombies screaming skull catapult and more wolves.

least scary vanguard ever

Turn One

The undead trundled forward and the Terrorgheist flew round into the front of the tower. Something undead stumbled through the river (it was made of blood- Rraarrgh!!). Magic dice were rolled giving us an 18 - 10, the casket of souls was pretty helpful with 2 dice. Then came the casting! To be honest there were a few failed casts that only summoned a unit of three Crypt Horrors and three Vargulfs, the fomer in front of my wild riders the latter behind my glade guard. In the shooting phase the Terrorgheist attempted to scream at my Glade Guard but all that came out was some kind of miaow that scared no-one. The catapult killed a few blades of grass and maybe a bush this turn as well. No combat so it was a surprisingly unscathing turn.

Undead turn 1 movement

The ol' switcheroo

Vinny had presented me with some targets to charge so I did. Eddie the eagle charged one unit of wolves, my Warhawk riders the other aided by Squawkie. I charged my Wild Riders into the Crypt Horrors and the dryads into the succulent flank of the Terrorgheist. I  about turned my glade guard to receive a kicking from the Vargulfs and scooted the general well out of their possible overruns. Magic was 13 - 9. What does Soul Quench, Arcane Unforging, Wyssan's Wildform, Flock of Doom, Throne of Vines, Amber Spear, Walk Between Worlds and Hand of Glory all have in common? I tried to cast every one of these spells to no avail. My most sexually charged magic phase ended up in frustration. The glade Guard managed to inflict 5 wounds on the Varghulfs ,it almost seemed like they didn't want to get in combat with them. Close combat was actually pretty good for my elves, Eddie won his combat by one against the Direwolves, the Dryads crumbled the Terrogheist due to a rather weedy thunderstomp.The Warhawk riders and Squawkie went through the Direwolves like a sledgehammer through a Cadbury's Creme Egg where the Warhawks overran into the ghouls and Squwakie overran menacingly towards the Casket of Souls. The Wild Riders did a number on the Crypt Horrors mainly due, in fairness to Vinny failing 7 regeneration saves and causing 2 hits that were saved in return. Crumblicious! So ended turn one.

The mysterious case of the vanishing Undead

Meanwhile.....

Turn Two

The start of turn two was filled with the pitter patter of tiny undead feet charging. The Grave Guard tried a long charge on the Dryads (and failed), the Varghulfs charged my glade guard, a skeleton unit charged mt BSB (he fled) and the ghouls charged the Waywatchers. We then had a 14 - 9 magic phase. Invocation was cast but Ole Big Hat. A large unit of Skeletons were summoned in front of my advancing wild riders and the Ghoul unit were replenished and another 10 zombies were 'found' and added to an already big unit. I scrolled the cavalry raising spell as I thought there was far too much for me to deal with anyway, the casket was also dispelled and  Nagash ate 4 dice of power for later. The screaming skull catapult rekills a skeleton (aimed at my unicorn rider). In close combat the ghouls beat the waywatchers but I make the test on goblin leadership. Eddie kills the remains of the wolves and reforms to face the looming large unit of skeletons. The Varghulfs beat the Glade Guard but steadfast saves the day. The Warhawks win their battle with the Ghouls by 8 (much crumblage).

Wood Elf 's , eh?

It's ok guy's I think you got this

Kissagram for nagash, but instead of kisses, it's arrows!

In my turn my BSB came to his senses and rallied. All my ambushers arrive behind Nagash. The Wild Riders and Eddie charge the newly summoned skellingtons. Squawkie charges the Casket of Souls. The Dryads entered the big tower in the centre of the battlefield to mitigate the chances of getting routed by Krell's unit. I was looking forward to an awesome destructive magic phase. It turned out to be a 9 - 6 magic roll (Cuz Jason is awesome at magic). Long story abbreviated, I caused 1 wound with Flock of Doom and the wound was saved anyway. So my second assassination attempt on Nagash was in the shooting phase. Of the 20 odd shots I had on him, 5 wounds, 4 saves. This was going to be trickier than I thought! Close combat then. The lone Varghulf beats the Glade Guard but they don't break. The Warhawk Ghoul dance off is a draw. The Wild Riders/Eddie/Skellingtons combat was swift and brutal, the forces of order win combat by 15 destroying the entire unit allowing the Wild Riders to overrun into the Ghoul/Waywatcher combat. This combat went well (good job I sequenced this combats correctly) 6 Ghouls die for no dead elfs - a rare occurence in close combat considering Elven Armour usually consists of spider webs and children's dreams. Last combat was Squawkie vs the Casket of Souls. This didn't go well. Squawkie got his neck wrung by the unpleasantly competent crew.

People need to sit down while pictures are being taken because it results in me having to crop out a lot of peoples crotches!

Turn Three

Only one undead charge this turn, Grave Guard into the Dryads in the Big Brother House hoping for an eviction. Magic was 11 - 8. Scrolled Vanhel's as I didn't like the idea. Half a dozen other spells were cast (unsuccessfully) until Protection of Whatsit (sorry, that was what was written in the notes) was cast on the Grave Guard. Shooting was off target. Close combat and the Glade Guard finally dealt with the final Varghulf. The Dryad vs Grave Guard eviction special was unsuccessful for the Grave Guard and the Warhawk/Ghoul war of attrition continued.

Zombie Tactica Chapter 1 - use them to tarpit with.

 My third turn consisted of lotsa charges. My general charged Nagash. The Sisters of the Thorn and painted Glade Guard charged the zombies which contained the liche Priest. My BSB and unpainted Wild Riders charged some skellies, whilst my other Wild Rider unit, eagle and Glade Guard charged the zombies (see above picture). Magic Phase was good, 14 - 8. Then I started my next assassination attempt on Nagash. Three spells cast on my general were Pann's Impenetrable Pelt, Flesh to Stone & Shield of Thorns. Unfortunately what i didn't manage to cast was Savage Beast & Wyssans. The upshot of this magic phase was I now had a toughness 10 Elf General who now had the ability to crush rocks by smashing them into his gonads (temporarily at least). Shooting was largely uninspiring two Grave guard got skewered.

Zombie Tactica Chapter 2 - this is a bad tactica

Zombie Tactica Chapter 3 - ultimately being a zombie is about bringing people together

Close combat was fun! The Warhawks vs Ghouls ground on. The Sisters & Glade Riders vs zombies was a win by 13 ensuring that unit crumbled to nothing. The BSB & Wild Riders vs skeletons was won by 12 so they crumbled away to nothing and the Wild Rider/Glade Rider/Eddie/Zombie fight was won by a massive 29 (in the picture above the counters represent combat res).

Game End - Nagash & the Elf General settle their differences over a nice cup of tea and complained about the smell of skaven lately

Cool guys don't look at their armies exploding

The battle between Nagash & Ole Ironuts was pretty incoclusive, Nagash inflicted one wound on the elf but it was saved by the Charmed Shield. Sadly due to the redonkulous amount of time it took to play with End Times magic, we had to call the game there. We totted up the vps and a decent win for the woodies, Squawkie was the only casualty for me, dozens of corpses were deanimated.

Conclusion

Well the pre game caveat of a spell being dispelled counting as unsuccessful was I think, unnecessary. Probably the large number spell lores gave way too much choice to the magic phase, in particular Nagash with 4 or 5 lores to choose from. So to be honest I'm still not 100% sure whether I love or hate End times Khaine magic. I suppose we will have to have a rematch and add another hour to allow for it next time. I will just leave the final words on the games notes written by Stuart:

Game End Impressed skeleton continues to be impressed by elves

Game Called Due To Stupid.

Thanks for reading.

Cast

Jason; Hero Treehugger

Vinny: Villainous Treedespoiler

Stuart: Conscientious Scribe & Picure Narrator 

Phil : Magnanimous Houseowner & Luck Changerarounder

Aaron : Cameo Role 

Mizard Wodel, birth of a legend!

The time has come round for another Warhammer Fantasy Battle Battle Report or W.F.B.B.R. Again this was another combined effort from various members of the gaming group, Stuart for providing the opposition and snazzy camera, Donal for his copious note taking, and of course Phil for allowing loads of gamers into the house.

The Armies

The game was 2500 points. Stuart had gotten the new Thanquol & Boneripper model and wanted to give him a run out. I'm always eager to play so accommodating him wasn't a problem. Stuarts army consisted of this:
Thanquol and Boneripper (End Times) (Dreaded 13th, Howling Warpgale, Death Frenzy, Skitterleap)
Chieftan, BSB, Storm Banner, Shield
Plague Priest, Lvl 2, dispel scroll (my left unit of plague monks, Pestilant Breath and Bless with filth)
Plague Priest, lvl 2 (other unit of plague monks, Wither, Cloud Of Corruption)
30x clanrats, banner, shields
30x clanrats, banner, shields
30x slaves
30x slaves
40x giant rats, Skweel Gnawtooth (additional attack), 4 packmasters
20x plague monks
20x plague monks
Hell Pit Abomination
Hell Pit Abomination

My army was :

Glade Lord Daith's Reaper , Charmed Shield ,  Talisman of Endurance , Asrai Longbow, Great Eagle,  Hand Weapon, Light Armor

Spellweaver   Dispel Scroll,  Talisman of Preservation, The Terrifying Mask of Eee. Dark Magic ; Arnizipal's Black Horror, Shroud of Despair, Word of Pain, Bladewind.

Glade Captain   Hail of Doom Arrow ,  Dragonhelm ,  Tormentor Sword , Asrai Longbow, Battle Standard , Elven Steed , Hand Weapon, Light Armor, Shield , Starfire Shafts 

Spellsinger  Level 2 , Obsidian Amulet , Elven Steed ,Lore of Beasts: Wyssan's Wildform, Amber Spear.

14x Glade Guard Starfire Shafts 

7x Glade Riders 7x Hagbane Tips 

5x Glade Riders Starfire Shafts

5x Glade Riders  Starfire Shafts 

8x Deepwood Scouts Starfire Shafts 

7x Sisters of the Thorn, Champion, Standard Bearer 

3x Warhawk Riders , Wind Rider 

5 x Wild Riders Champion , Standard Bearer,  Banner of Eternal Flame 

5 x Wild Riders Champion 

8x Waywatchers

Pre Game Tactical Analysis Type Thing 

One thing that recent games has taught me is that the fragility of Wood Elf armies leaves a lot to be desired. They are pretty much the spoilt brat of the Warhammer world; good at giving it out, not much cop at taking it. Anyone who has read my recent Wood Elf batreps will probably notice a trend of my army collapsing during the magic and close combat phase (I still like to think I can hold my own in the shooting phase). A couple of units I do like are Wild Riders and Warhawk Riders, the former is I think the hardest hitting fast cavalry in the game and Warhawks are one of the few units in my army with a bit of durability. Obligatory Sisters of the Thorn to hide my BSB and Darkweaver in and my new favourite thing in my army Daith's Reaper. I was expecting lots of awful Skaven war machines so I built up my core troops with lots of Glade Riders with anti-Skaven arrows. Glade Guard, Scouts and Waywatchers provided missile support. A couple of dirty tricks Terror causing Darkweaver and the Tormentor Sword for the BSB nearly made up my army. I went for a mounted Amber wizard as I thought there were enough buffs in the lore to help my army's staying power, added to the fact that as most of my army was mounted, I'd get a +1 to my casting rolls.
As far as Stuart's army was concerned I was a bit surprised to see no artillery just lots of awkward units of 20+ ratmen ready to steadfast the shit out of my army. What I was displeased to see was two Abominations, generally I only have one of these to deal with, but this time there was a double dose!

Setup and Stuff I forget Phase

After I won the roll for table edge (the side of the table furthest away from the kettle is best as you don't have to make the tea), the set up is below, both Abombs were deployed on the flanks as were the Plague Monks with the grunt infantry in the middle. Skweel Gnawtooth gave the giant rats an extra attack due to his advanced animal handling routines. I deployed from left to right Warhawks, Glade Guard, Waywatchers, Wild Riders #1, Mizard Wodel, Sisters, General, Wild Riders #2. I deployed my scouts to the far right. This is actually the second or third picture of setup as prior to this I won the roll for first turn but didn't deploy either scout unit. Subsequently I did deploy them and lost the roll for who goes first. Didn't vanguard as both Abombs were disadvantageously positioned (ok, ok I forgot). Also forgot to give Thanquol his Arrow of Kurnous . D'oh!

Setup

Turn One

The Skaven advance sounded with the synchronized squirting of the musk of fear (possibly trumpets too). The Abomb #1, opposite the Warhawks virtually rocketed forward 15" (thank Odin I forgot to vanguard) and Abomb #2 moved forward an also impressive 12". The rest of the army moved forward with two unit occupying buildings to the left and right (this was to become a common theme in the game). the river turned out to be a raging torrent and 7 Clanrats drowned trying to get into the tower. The skavenslaves were far better at negotiating the water though and lost none. Stu's magic roll was a 6 + 4 with a channel. He cast Death Frenzy on the giant rat unit, I dispelled Blessed With Filth and scrolled Howling Warpgale. Two packmasters hearts gave out due to the spell ( Death Frenzy not  Howling Warpgale) . I was 9-0 up on casualties so far this game so it was all going swimmingly..........

Rocket Abomination

Stuart activated his Storm Banner so any cool shooty stuff or clever flying maneuverings were out the window for this turn. I charged Wild Riders #1 into Abomb #2 knowing that the other Wild Rider unit had the Banner of Eternal Flame. Oh well, they would have to elf up and do one! my Warhawks skipped back with their paltry move of 1 and the Eagle Rider strode forward 2.   Magic was a 5 + 2 with no channels. I attempted to cast Bladewind on the Plague Monks - rolled a 1 + 2 so that didn't happen. The Sister's then cast Curse of Anhreir on the giant rats which was narrowly undispelled by 1 (due to them being war beasts). Also cast Wyssan's on the Wild Riders. It had been a not too bad magic phase. Shooting wasn't so bad all thing considered (the fucking Storm Banner to be precise) 9 were killed from the giant rat unit including 2 packmasters. Close combat was eventful, my Wild Riders alone caused 11 wounds (after regeneration 4), then the stags saved the day by goring it to death. The Wild Riders, ever the impetuous deer jockeys leap over the steaming mound of purulent offal and hurtle off into the Clanrats. Then something awful happened Abomb #2 came back to life! Back on 3 wounds Abomb #3 was born! now my plans were well and truly scuppered!

Wild Riders don't double tap

End of Turn one

Turn Two

Not all that dreaded 13th

The Storm Banner faded so that was good news, Abomb #3 crashes into the Sisters and Abomb #1 gets the 11 needed to hit the Warhawks. The giant rats charge the Glade Guard in the woods losing 8 to dangerous terrain tests (passing their panic test). Magic was 4 + 6 with a channel. Stu 8* diced The Dreaded 13th and the hilarious picture above shows the result and I dispel both Wither & Cloud of Corruption. Abomb #1 win combat by 4 against the Warhawks but amazingly they hold. Despite the giant rats being jacked up on magical amphetamine my Glade Guard rout them, sadly the rout test were passed by the Skaven around them. The Wild Rider #1 unit caused 9 wounds on the Clanrats but steadfast saved their ratty bacon. Abomb #3 causes a net +4 combat resolution but due to the BSB and general being near pass, they do however fail to reform.

Skweel leads from the front

The cavalry arrives! All three Glade Riders come on the board behind Thanquol but unfortunately the fleeing giant rats are able to provide cover! The Wild Rider #2 (now with added flamingness!) charge the flank of Abomb #3. My general on the eagle charges the Plague Monks. My Darkweaver casts Shroud of Despair, I also manage to get Curse of Anhreir on the Plague Monks but Stuart then becomes a total spoilsport by dispelling Wyssan's on the general. He then dispells Word of Pain. The Waywatchers kill a few Slaves. the Scouts and Glade Riders all shoot Thanquol and the only 2 wounds caused are saved. Wild Riders #2 barbecue the Abomb overunning into the Plague Monks. The Sisters reform saying stuff like "We were just about to open up a can of Whoop Ass, only you geezers spoiled it for us!" . The other Wild Rider unit defeat the Clanrats but they just about pass their break test. The Elf general kills three monks for no return but they pass their break test. Meanwhile on the other side of the battlefield my warhawks were doing a sterling job of unitentionally holding up the Abomb. They even win combat by 1 when after 12 attacks only 1 wounds!

Surprise Party

End of turn Two

Turn Three

Stu's giant rats rally, the Skavenslaves charge through the marsh to the waywatchers losing 5 to dangerous terrain and shooting. Magic - Howling Warpgale failed on a double 1. A Plague Priest miscasts Cloud of Corruption, it kills 4 Waywatchers and a few Sisters. Also Mizard Wodel is hit twice but luckily his Obsidian Amulet saves the day. No other skaven were harmed in the casting of this spell - Thanquol saves his wound but 3 Monks die from the ensuing detonation. Skaven, eh? First bit of shooting from the skaven army sees Thanquol misfire with both warpfire throwers killing 7 giant rats. Skaven again, eh? The Warhawk Abomb battle drew to a bloody close when the elves took another 3 wounds off it only to be thoroughly pulped by flailing fists leaving some birds and elves mangled in one bloody heap. the Skavenslaves rout and catch the Waywatchers whilst the Elf Lord does the same to the Plague Monks without the catching, as he flew into the Clanrats fighting the Wild Riders. Another round of combat was fought with a Wild Rider dying and the skaven losing another 9 rats only to pass their break test on a 5!

Abomination wants to hug flappy friends

Slaves & Plague Monks like to party

End of Skaven turn Three

At the start of my turn I charged my 7 Glade riders into the giant rats next to Thanquol. My glade Guard charge the flank of the unit of Clanrats with the BSB in it too. In the magic phase Wyssan's is cast on my general then Shield of Thorns is miscast by the last remaining Sister so she blows up (probably the best result of a miscast I've had in a long time). Unfortunately it only killed a packmaster. My shooting phase consisted of me trying to kill Thanquol, With a Hail of Doom Arrow and another 18 shots I only manage to take two wounds off him, oh well, slow and steady kills the rat wizard! There was a lot of close combat this turn, the Glade Guard beat the BSB's unit by 2 but due to steadfast don't run and even have the temerity to reform! The Wild Rider#1 and general destroy the remaining Clanrats and reform to face Thanquol. The giant rats totally kick the arse of my glade riders who bugger off away from them, but fail to catch them.

End of Wood Elf Turn Three

Turn Four

The Hellpit Abomination trundled towards the centre of the battlefield and the Plague monks rally (the 18" leadership bubble from Thanquol really is a pain!). The giant rats flank charge my Glade Riders whilst the skavenslaves charge from the front losing 6 to the cold water. Another eventful magic phase of 4 + 6 with 3 channels. Cloud of Corruption is miscast, puts a wound on my general, kills the solitary Wild Rider next to him and kills 3 Glade Riders. Mizard Woble dies valiantly  makes his ward saves much to my amazement. The resulting miscast wounds all three skaven magic users. Shooting does nothing. The Glade Guard/ Clanrat fight goes on 5 from each side getting killed, the Glade guard make their break test, whilst on the other table side my 5 Glade Riders are chopped up by the combined forces or rattery that oppose them, two combat reforms later and they're ready for a little more carnage.

Turn 4 after Skaven movement

End of skaven turn 4

Turn four was when the shit got real! My general (whom I haven't named yet but I probably will if he makes it through another battle) charges Thanquol with my as yet unscathed Wild Rider #2 unit. the ensuing stand and shoot from Thanquol scathed them pretty good killing 2 and putting a wound on my general. Big magic phase 6 + 5! Black Horror was dispelled, failed to cast Amber Spear but Bladewind was cast (far too sucessfully if you ask me), killing 11 slaves who inconveniently passed their panic test. The resulting miscast left my Darkweaver with a force 8 migraine and a bad case of wizard's block (now a level 1).The only thing shooting achieved was a failed panic test on the now thoroughly dejected Plague Monks who flee a paltry 8". In the combat phase Thanquol gets all tricksy by issuing a challenge. I accept with my Wild rider champion as he is marginally more destructive on the charge than the general, unfortunately he turns out to be a bit of a wuss and fails to do any damage. The Grey Seer riding the Rat Ogre isn't though and pummels him into the ground. The remaining archers in the woods cause no damage losing one to sharp incisors.

Generals meet in the middle

Turn Five

Stuart's incredibrave Plague Monks rally again! The giant rats charge my two Glade Riders who decide flouncing off on their pretty horses is preferable to getting gnawed to death by rabid fleabags who flee. In the magic phase Stuart Curse of The Horned Rat my largely uninspiring scouts who achieved bugger all most of this game ( now they get a chance to do the same in the opposite movement phase). Luckily the spell was miscast so I hoped for something Dimensional Cascadey, what I got was a smug Thanquol 2 dead Wild Riders and a general down to one wound! Not optimal. Close combat was my general against his and at this point I really should mention Daith's Reaper,  it truly is an awesome weapon, rerolls misses and failures to wound whilst successful must be rerolled. All for 50 points, it's a bargain! Back on topic the combat saw no one wound each other at all. The Glade Guard in the wood finally succumbed to the now much depleted Clanrat unit dying to an elf.

Turn 5 post miscast all according to plan

Skaven magic; the somewhat dreaded 13th

Things were getting a bit desperate at this stage in the game, jobs had to be done and I was running out of elves to do them so I had to put faith in the only figure I had bothered to name in my army Mizard Wodel! So he charged into the flank of the Skavenslave unit hoping to achieve something. I also charged my BSB and Deathweaver into the Clanrat unit that had made such a meal of the Glade Guard. Also my remaining Glade riders rallied and sauntered around so they were facing the clanrat flank. Stuart was pretty non-compliant during the magic phase dispelling Wyssan's and scrolling Word of Pain, anyone would think he didn't want me to cast my spells or something. I shot the Abomb #1 but failed to wound (he only had 1 left). The generals fought on with Thanquol taking a wound and my guy passing a save. The BSB showdown wasn't really one as the skaven banner bearer found something really interesting in the back ranks of his unit that he wanted to look at. With that the elf unit kills 1 clanrat for no return, winning combat but not by enough to break them. Then it was time of Mizard Wodel to shine he hits like a thunderbolt killing a slave with such finesse and grace that the entire unit explodes with rat bits everywhere! Job done he overruns so he is next to the Glade Riders, ready to scarper if the rest of the battle goes tits up.

Turn 5 Mizard Wodel gets shit done

Turn Six

The Plague Monks charge my general, more for moral support I think rather than anything else. The Abomb #1 tries to get jiggy with my Darkweaver/BSB unitette. A 3 + 3 magic phase and Bless with Filth is cast on Thanquol. In their combat my general puts two wounds on Thanquol whilst saving two in return, a break test is made and passed and I can breathe again! In other news my BSB shoves the Darkweaver out of the way and twats the Abomb #1 on the head killing it. The skaven BSB is still cowering at the back and no one wounds my Darkweaver.

My final turn. The two Glade Riders, feeling brave and possibly egged on by Mizard charge into the Clanrat's flank. In the magic phase a boosted Word of Pain  goes off on Thanquol with -1 to his relevent stats. Wyssan's is again dispelled. Close combat and the Clanrats with the terrified BSB in it finally break and run (except for the BSB, who had been trying to give the standard to anyone else in the unit to save his own worthless hide). The final event was my general finally killing Thanquol in the last turn of the game! After some totting up, a victory for the elves is written in the great Blog of Ages, never to be forgotten.

*We forgot warpstone tokens can't increase max dice cast in a spell over 6.

The Evil of the Greedy Maw

A few months ago my Wood Elves played Stuart's Ogre Kingdom's army. I took loads of pictures but didn't write up a battle report. This is the story of the battle report that got away (then was gotten back).

The battle was a 2000 point game for the purpose of me getting used to fighting with my Nordicon (sigh) list to be used in November.

The Armies

The glorious elven host consisted of a large unit of trueflight glade guard, 8 Glade Riders (also trueflight), 9 Wild riders, 8 Sisters, 5 Wardancers, 10 scouts (hagbane), 8 waywatchers and an eagle. Characters comprised of a level 4 spellweaver (shadow), waystalker, and a mounted bsb.

Stu’s Ogres were 2 units of bulls, a gutstar(ish), Stonehorn, Gorger and a Thundertusk. A Slaughtermeister and a Bruiser BSB were his only characters.

My free wood was chosen as a venom thicket, I deployed my scouts in there with my Glade Guard, Wardancers and Sisters of the Thorn to their right. To their left was my Wild Riders, Waywatchers and Eagle. My BSB and Spellweaver were adjacent the the Wild Riders but without any intention of  joining whatever crazed charges they decided to enact. Basic plan was Wild Riders – SMASH! Whilst I focus fire on threats aided by Shadow magic (Melkioth’s, Enfeebling Foe, Withering & Pendulum).

Stu set up with the Gutstar central,flanked by bulls and the big critters.

Pre Turn One Assassination attempt: Unsurprisingly the T6 Ogre didn’t take a wound – and in all probability didn’t even know he got hit. Stu and I rolled off for first turn and his +1 may or may not have been pivotal. In any case Ogres got the first turn.

The evil before me

An Elf's Eye view

Turn One

Turn One started as they so often do against ogres with 12” forward marches coming at you. The Slaughterguy attempted to cast spells but to my knowledge was unsuccessful and the Thundertusk shot 4 Wild riders. Of course the next turn would involve the Ogres charging so I would have to make my first turn count…….

After measuring the distance both my Wild Rider unit and Great Eagle were in average charge range of the sinister Bulls (did you see what I did there?, sinister means left in Latin). I rolled for the Wild Riders first (a mistake) they failed to roll the required 6 to get into combat, whereas the Great Eagle did. I scooted both my BSB and Spellsinger out of the Stonehorn’s charge range, with the faint hope that he didn’t see the unit of Wild Riders in front of it. I advanced my Wardancers and Sisters up hoping to cause mischief over there.  Magic was possibly my best ever phase with the Slaughterogre failing his first dispel, allowing me to cast, Melkioth’s, Enfeebling Foe and Withering on the Gutstar (Happy Days). When you have a unit of Toughness & Strength 1 Ogres that now have a move of 5 it really does wonders for your own feelings of tactical brilliance.  A lot of shooting later, and I was whittling the Ironguts down nicely. The only issue I had with turn one was the death of Squawky my failful Great Eagle, had he been backed up by some crazed Wild Riders Stu would be down one unit of bulls. Instead a broken heap of bloody feathers was all that was left of him at the end of the turn.

Some advancing Ogres

Getting closer

The Wild Riders sit this one out

End of WE turn one or Squawky's lament.

Turn Two

Turn Two was when things got serious. The gorger made an appearance behind my shooty Glade Guard. The Stonehorn charged the Wild Riders, and the bulls on the left charged my Wardancers. After some deliberation Stu’s general (who I think I will name Slash due to his nicely sculpted top hat) charged out of his unit into the BSB. I elected to accept the charge, this was to prove a pivotal moment in the game. As he was leaving the unit with all those nasty spells cast on it the Ogre general did a kind of Popeyesque metamorphosis back into a rather tough spellcaster. The remaining units generally moved menacingly towards my weedy elves. Ogre magic was pretty uneventful I think, Stu couldn’t dispel any of the remains in play spells so the Ironguts remained rubbish. Shooting saw a few scouts shot up by the annoyingly accurate Thundertusk. Then came close combat. When a rather large Stonehorn runs full force into some rather flimsy elves the result is pretty predictable. Needless to say my (Raaargh!!!), Wild Riders were obliterated by the nasty monster. Likewise the Wardancers with their fancy 3+ ward save were routed and very nearly caught. The only combat that didn’t involve me getting spanked was the bsb Slaughtermaster duel. One wound each.

Sneaky gorger

Run Wardancer, Run!

Three arbitrarily placed dice that due to their proximity to models probably denote something.

My left flank is in trouble.

Dear Future me,

Please ,please, please, remember to roll for your ambushers at the start of your second turn, it could perhaps stop you losing important units due to ineptitude.

Kindest Regards

Past Me

As you have probably guessed I forgot to roll for my ambushy Glade Riders. Probably because I had been eying the pathetically weak Ironguts in front of the Scouts and charged them, partly because I thought it would be embarrassing for Stu but more to get them well and truly out of the Stonehorns charge range. I completely bottled it with my Waywatchers and tried moving them away from the bulls covered in Eagle feathers and bits of beak. I failed to get them out of harm’s way or cause any damage. I moved my Sisters round to make sure they were out of anyone’s charge arcs and this is something I really should have done with the Shadoweaver too. I spun my Glade Guard round to shoot at the Gorger. As my best spells were still hampering the Ironguts my own magic phase was pretty lacklustre. Shooting saw the Gorger pincushioned and killed. The scout/Ironguts fight went not-as-well-as-I’d-hoped but left me still in the fight. The BSB/Slaughtermaster fight ground on, with the Greedy Maw item breaking my BSB’s Sword of Anti Heroes! Then killing him! Not good. The Ogre general then reformed to be able to charge my Spellweaver in his turn. Oops.

An image scryed from Araloth's Hawkcam

Wood Elf scouts attempt to apply a shlacking to some weedy Ironguts

Turn Three

The big ugly immune to poison Slaughtermaster charged my Spellweaver, the virtually unscathed bulls on my right trundled towards the large unit of Glade guard whereas the other bull unit and thundertusk advanced perilously close to my Waywatchers. The magic phase didn't achieve much as I sure Stuart failed to dispell the Withering ending his magic phase. I don't think shooting acheived much for the Ogres either, which is pretty unimportant as combat is where they're at. Speaking of which, Slash got struck by my highweaver rocking a brand new pair of Gilette Fencers Blades, wounding him, that was until his Greedy Maw item passed his 6+ save destroying them! Slash then proceeded to larrup my wizard (think I'll call him Axl) making him flee the woods even though it was on an umodified 9! At least Slash failed to catch him.

 Ogre turn three :A Stonehorn goes crashing through the forest

Ogre turn three

If the Waywatchers can just reach the big bag of dice, they may be safe.

The Elven Cavalry are too late to save the day!

My turn three was about points preservation now, Sadly I had some doomed units. I rallied Axl (but it seems I ridiculously left him in the charge arc of Slash), ran the Waystalker (think we'll call him White Elephant) and scooted the Sisters of the Thorn out of everyone's charge arc. I span the Sureflight Glade Guard round to pepper the remaining weedguts with arrows hoping to kill the bsb. I managed to shoot off the final Weedgut and put a wound on the BSB (ending the spell and making him hard as fupp again). The newly arrived glade riders shot up Slash but failed to kill him. White Elephant also failed to wound him, leaving Axl full of trepidation for the next turn.

Just before the final unpleasant charge.

Turn Four

Turn four was mercifully short. Slash charged Axl, the sinister Bulls charged the Waywatchers and the Stonehorn and BSB charged the Sureflight Glade Guard. To cut a bloody, brutal story short Stuart's BSB died to angry elves whereas Axl, Waywatchers and the aforementioned Glade Guard went in the Ogres pot.

Ignominious defeat looms

I was then left with the choice of running my Sisters, Glade Riders and Waywatcher around in the vague hope I could whittle some Ogres down or just concede. I took the latter option.