And here it is. My 2nd game with the shade star. First game was a rather poorly played draw vs orcs, which I was OK satisfied with considering I lost my lvl 4 in turn 2 to a miscast... This game is vs a high elf player and its his first game with the restrictions.
The shade star list:
Dreadlord, HA, SDC, shield, dragonhelm, dawnstone, ironcurse icon, giant blade, crossbow
Supreme sorceress, lvl 4, dispel scroll, ring of hotek, the other tricksters shard
Death hag, witchbrew, obsidian blade
Master, BSB, HA, SDC, enchanted shield, luckstone, ogre blade, handbow
Shadowblade
5 DR, shields
13 darkshards, mus, flaming banner
27 witch elves, FC, gleaming pennant
2 RBT
20 shades, FC, great weapons
5 warlocks
+1 for first turn.
So 6 drops in total, with the only real requirement is I must spread the two infantry units abit apart, and have the shades finish turn 1 within 10" of the characters. So theres a very nice chance ill finish deployment first, thus earning me a total +2 to start. The opponent knows this, and must deploy defensively, without ever knowing exactly where my powerunit goes.
The high elf list (dont know his precise items since lists are closed):
Alarielle the Radiant, Everqueen of Ulthuan <-- 2 CP
Lvl 1 light, scroll
BSB noble
Handmaiden with reaver bow
26 archers, FC (or just mus, not sure)
2x5 reavers
10 SH, FC
25 White Lions, FC, banner of avelorn
2 bolt throwers <-- 1 CP
2 eagles
Frostheart Phoenix <-- 2 CP
7 sisters
For spells he chose to roll all on lore of life with alarielle, getting awakening, flesh to stone, shield of thorns and regrowth. Yes, he rolled 1, 2, 4, 5. No dwellers, no throne. Harsh! His lvl 1 took signature. I rolled plague of rust, golden hounds, transmutation of lead and final transmutation. 2nd game in a row I dont get enchanted blades for my shades, drat. Anyway I swapped golden hounds for the signature, not having much use for either spell this game.
The table layout featured some buildings and a ruin in the middle of the board, with spread out forests and hills along the edges. I got to pick sides, and took the side with the fastest distance to the ruins, which gives hard cover at giant fanatic. Yum. Deployment saw him semi-bunker to the right of the middle (my perspective), with a building forming one defensive edge and the corner of the table the other. Archers next the building, all characters in them, and white lions next to the archers toward the flank. I deployed the witch elves across from the middle ruins, and spread everything else nicely out. Throwing a curveball for the test value, I tossed my shades on the far right flank to get some nasty shooting in early, momentarily forgetting that my lvl 4 would be in danger from the witches
Turn 1Dark Elves:Winning first turn, I moved my shades closer, marched the WE straight into the ruins, luckily passed the witch elf go crazy test on my lvl 4, everything else mostly stuck behind covers. Magic was uneventful as I was actually out of range for final transmutation...
He had vanguarded some reavers into the open on the far left flank where my darkshards where hanging, so I unleashed 26 black feathered bolts, destroying the unit outright. The shades did a similar thing to the right flank reavers next to his white lions, destroying them too. Very nice opening for me. A singleshot on the frostheart missed, and a volley into his archers dropped a few.
High Elves:On the left flank, 10 silverhelms ran in high speed toward my darkshards hiding in a forest there. His sisters took position in the centre building, whilst everything else shuffled a little. Magic saw a burning gaze toward the witches which I dispelled. He then got some buffs running I think, I wasnt too concerned there. Shooting saw my hard cover pay dividence, as I took very few casualties on the witch elves.
Turn 2Dark Elves:Witches marched forward just so much as to still claim hard cover. Shades relocated toward the witches, allowing just my lvl 4 to jump ship into them. Warlocks came forward ever so slightly, hiding behind the witches to also get hard cover. In the magic phase, 7 vs 3 (thank you channel!) I landed a final transmutation which was promptly scrolled. Soulblight was then dispelled. On the left flank, everything unloaded on the silver helms, dropping 4 of them. I was rather pleased with that. On the right, shades shot through a forest at the white lions on long range, dropping one or two.
High Elves:Silver helms charged my darkshards, with the stand and shoot reaction killing two more of them. The dangerous terrain saw another trip and fall, thus 4 made it in. On the right, white lions tried a 14" charge on the shades with lvl 4. Stand and shoot missed altogether, but he didnt make it in, needing a 9 on two dice (calculated risk by me). An eagle flew to block my witches, the rest shuffled. Magic again was contained nicely by me, him not having too many ranged threats helped. Shooting killed off some more witches, nothing crucial. In melee, I managed to kill two silver helms, and he did nothing in return, winning me combat by 1! He sticks, though. I had a lot of 50/50 dice rolls go my way on that left flank.
Turn 3Dark Elves:All characters relocate to the shades, with the witches doing a swift reform and running full speed at the archer bunker. Mission: distraction underway. I was less than 5" from the building with my corner, I made sure. Warlocks came forward to doombolt his rightwing bolt thrower. I IF'ed with them, with 3 6's. The lore attribute alone killed it. He passes all panic, and i lose 2 warlocks and pass panic. My lvl 4 then mimics them, IF'ing a final transmutation into the white lions, turning 8 guys into solid gold, and the miscast doing a wound on my dreadlord 'cos I misplaced him and failed look out, sir!. Stupid! The lvl 4 was wounded also. Shooting see me drop an eagle to the ground with bolters. Close combat draws with the darkshards and 2 remaining silver helms.
High Elves:White lions failed their stupidity check and stumbles 2" forward! They are now 11" from my shades. As a result, he blocks the shades with an eagle. Magic missiles are dispelled, he regrows some white lions, using the magical staff to cast it twice for a total of 6 resurrected lions. Shooting sees witches die in droves, but he rolls slightly poorly to wound and I have 6 left standing. Which was their frontage, so still within 5" of the building! Score. Melee his silver helms finally wins combat by 1, and due to the forest im not steadfast, a small detail I forgot, so I break and is run down (of course he passes 3 break tests in a row at -1 only to have me fail my first one
)
Turn 4Dark Elves:Witches charge the building garrison. Shades declare a charge on the white lions, and to his dismay he had overlooked that shades must close ranks before measuring charge distance! So I close ranks, and can now squeeze past the eagle, and as a result I slam right into the white lions. I should stress my lvl 4 sits in the 2nd rank. On the left, my dark riders make a charge into his remaining bolt thrower after 3 turns of volley shooting had only killed 2 of them (like I said, had great 50/50 rolls on that flank). Magic sees him dispel transmutation of lead on the white lions (it would mean I would have hit him on 3s with the shade attacks). This means his archers must suffer the terrible effect of a final transmutation. He makes all 4 look outs, and 10 archers suffer a terrible fate. Shooting sees my 2 bolt throwers finish the 2 last silver helms, vengeance! In close combat, dark riders pop the bolt thrower and reform. Sisters kill 4 witches and the witches annihilate them and take over the building. On the right, I kill many white lions with just the characters (shadowblade doesnt come out yet), but his 12 remaining models that strike back inflict a wound on my dreadlord, and kill the death hag (to be expected - shes only there to give the frenzy). Shade attacks drop the unit to 2 man, but he is stubborn.
High Elves:Frostheart slams in to aid the white lions. Magic seems him try a burning gaze to finish the 2 witches in the building. I let it through, wanting more to stop the other spells. He rolls 1 hit
he then casts shield of thorns with 2 dice on the white lions. I think, hey, I can probably dispel that with 4 dice, then scroll the flesh to stone or regrowth. But doh! I fail the dispel! Meaning flesh to stone comes on the frostheart. He is not T8. Faaaaaack. His archers finish the lone witch elf. In melee, a shade, whos face is hidden by a hooded cloak, drops his axe and draws to hand weapons, each shining with an eerie green glow. He kicks back a substance from a flask, and leaps at the frostheart! Shamefully, he only manage to wound the bird once. (This is where the 50/50 went his way, where it mattered
) my BSB also managed a wound on him. My lord makes way only into contact with his white lions - striking on I, I still hit before them, and he drops the last 2 where they stand. His bird pops my BSB, and the stomp only managed a a single dead shade. He has the charge and 3 wounds inflicted, I have a banner and 4 wounds inflicted. He sticks, though.
Turn 5Dark Elves:Time to do or die! Warlocks move through the ruins to get out of sight. I then fail 2 dangerous terrains, fail both wards, the unit panics and runs off the bloody board! Dark riders take cover. I get a nice 4 vs 2 magic phase, resulting in yet another final transmutation landing on the archers. They die in droves to bolt thrower volleys, too. 3 archers left standing!
I cant allow life magic to restore that bird, so I make way! with everything into base contact with it. The dreadlord, the lvl 4 for OTS, the whole business. Dreadlord manages a wound, and then shadowblade comes up big, wounding on 5's thanks to manbane, he drops the beast.
High Elves:He shuffles a bit, and this time his last remaining eagle properly blocks the shades from charging the - much depleted - bunker. I finally scroll all his magic.
Turn 6Dark Elves:Final transmutation goes through yet again, in spite of him having 4 DD too. 1 archer and his BSB bites it. Shooting manages to finish off the archer unit, the lvl 1 mage and the handmaiden, while alarielle is left on 1 wound.
High elves:He does not want to risk a miscast, and does nothing. We shake hands.
In the end, he had alarielle and an eagle left, whilst I gave away my warlocks (stupid unlucky xD), my darkshards, all the witches, and my death hag and BSB. Bit unlucky with the BSB, the bird was S7 when it hit him I think, and inflicted 2 wounds. I had 5+ and was allowed to reroll one failed. Statistically, I should have lived. The death hag death is 100% expected. She is only there to give frenzy with several benefits: ItP, and extra attacks for all characters. The difference between 4 and 5 high S hits is massive. I was sweating abit when his white lions hit my lord, but thankfully he made most of his saves. The game was just shy of 1k difference, netting me a respectable 16-4 victory. The list is meant to always make a stable 13-14 VPs, but this matchup was pretty good for me.
Lessons: dont ever have other characters next to the lvl 4! Other than that, my gameplay was solid. I had more rolls go my way than he had, amongst others my dark riders should not have killed his bolt thrower. And maybe his silver helms should have broken my darkshards earlier (I had, once again, forgotten about the steadfast in forest rule, hue!).