Thraundils battle log, game 13: 2600 vs Bretonnia
Posted: Thu Mar 20, 2014 10:12 am
Greetings, one and all! I bring you here another battle report. Looking towards a tournament with 2MD ruleset in 10 days, I've played a few practise games this week. One game with the list I played vs daemons of chaos a few battles up. I lost it horribly; my big fast cav bus cant work together with the very static infantry. I then decided to try something else. High mobility! For those who dont know 2MD, it goes like this; pick a 2200 points army with lots of mean stuff, a 2400 points semi mean, or a 2600 point "friendly" army. The more friendly army in any matchup gets +1 to who goes first. For DE, only the 2600 point list really makes sense, though you are capped at 35 shooting models (RBT count as 6) and 2 RBTs. Also, you cannot take more than two out of cloak, supreme sorc, warlocks, or shadow magic. Also, no duplicate characters, and no more than 2 characters with movement beyond 6 via mounts (bretonnia excempt from this rule), and in the friendly list special nor rare units may not be duplicated, and core may only duplicate twice.
So, without further ado, here is my test list!
Dreadlord on Black Dragon, black amulet, charmed shield and the other tricksters shard
Master BSB on pegasus, cloak of twilight
Lvl 2 metal sorceress, ruby ring + dispel scroll
2x5 DR with shields and mus (capped at shooting models)
14 darkshards, flaming banner
21 WE, gleaming banner
10 Cold One Knights
2 RBT
5 shades
5 harpies
15 Doomfire Warlocks
You will notice I have only one viable option to hide the lvl 2; the darkshards. Nothing really good to protect that unit - but deployed far back, the opponent will have to either ignore it, or send some soldiers to get them that will then not hinder my other units. I opted for 5 harpies to have 3 mobile redirector units, since I really want to control the movement phase with this kind of list, in order to set up charges.
I played vs a Bretonnia "middle ways" 2400 point list. In this middle ground he may take 2 trebutches, but not a crown of command. The reason he didnt go full friendly is, that in that scenario he must choose between trebutchet #2 and virtue of heroism. Mind you - we played closed lists, so all magic items I had no idea about where they would be. His list looked like this;
Bret lord on royal pegasus, charmed shield, "max 1 wound in any one phase" item.
Prophetess on Warhorse, lvl 4 lore of life
Paladin BSB on warhorse, +d6 on first charge banner
Paladin on warhorse, virtue of heroism
Damsel on warhorse, lvl 1 lore of beasts
2x12 Knights of the Realm
2x10 peasant bowmen
10 skirmisher bowmen
10 Grail Knights
2 Trebutchets
4 Pegasus Knights
Deployment:
I rolled final transmutation and plague of rust on my lvl 2. His lvl 1 took the signature, and his lvl 4 had an awful roll! 1, 2, 4 and 6! Getting dwellers, but not getting neither throne of vines nor regrowth.
Deployment saw him putting a knight block on each flank and one in the centre, supported by peasants. All knight units where in lance formation. His pegasus knights went down fairly early on his left flank, this surprised me a little as it gave me freedom to place my flying characters to the right. Grail knights contained his BSB and lvl 4, and the central knights of the realm his paladin with heroic killing blow and his lvl 1. I was able to deploy and plan agressively, knowing I would get to go first. My shades blocked his pegasus vanguard, and my dark riders vanguarded in towards the centre.
And true enough, the entire Bretonnian army kneeled down and prayed to the Lady, which brought a smirk on my dreadlords face. Foolish human peasants, all of them! With grim determination he mounted his great black dragon and took to the skies........
Dark Elves turn 1:
No charges. Dark riders soar forward to block the movement of his central knights of the realm. Harpies flies to hinder movement of his grail knights, and the dragonlord and his son the battle standard bearer flies towards the bretonnian lines, making sure to stay out of the bretonnian lords charge arc, just in case he had some sort of crazy long turn 1 charge. Warlocks took the centre, confident in their ability to grind versus the bret lord should he charge them. Knights advanced carefully, staying well out of likely charge range of the lord, too. Witch elves runs through the wood, eager to close distance with the humans.
Magic was boring; I get 4 dice to 3, and do a small doombolt on his lord. Turns out he has 2+ vs spells, but at least I knocked his charmed shield off.
Shooting saw a pegasus knight knocked from his saddle by RBT fire, and my shades wounded another.
Bretonnia turn 1:
The bretonnians finished their prayer, outraged that the dark elven forces had just begun their attack already. Central knights of the realm charge the dark riders. I doubleflee, and he fails his charge. A single rider failed dangerous terrain. Remaining units move agressively forward. His lord flies right in front of my lord, possibly to bait a charge. Turns out this was a mistake by him. Grail knights choose not to charge harpies, and instead moves up, using the harpies as flank cover from my witch elves.
His magic phase saw 2 dark riders die to a magic missile from the lvl 4, and shield of thorns go on the central knights of the realm.
A trebutchet stone then landed splat in the middle of the warlocks, crushing 5. Skirmishers fired on them too, failing to kill any. Bowmen on the hill shot my dark riders in front of the CoK, hoping to kill them, but failed to do so. Bowmen on the flank shot 1 shade. The central trebutchet misfired and lost a wound, and would be unable to fire next turn.
Dark Elves turn 2:
This would spell the beginning of disaster for the bretonnians, as the dragonlord and BSB both take off, soar right over the bretonnian lord and slam into the front of the grail knights. The witch elves, realising the path was now clear, then charge the lord. Warlocks charge the peasant bowmen, losing a few models to stand and shoot. Every charge succeeded.
Harpies moved to the rear of his hilltop bowmen (I could have charged them over the grail knights, shame on me for missing that!). Central dark riders rally and block his knights of the realm. Other dark riders move to support the crossbowmen from the advancing knights. My cold one knights fail stupidity, and decides to stay where they are.
Magic saw me cast plague of rust on the flank knights of the realm, which he dispelled. I then tossed 5 dice on final transmutation, but fail to even make the cast roll! Booh.
Shooting was entirely uneventful I believe. My crossbowmen put down one knight of the realm I think.
In close combat, my warlocks naturally wiped the peasants, and overran... 1, 1, 1 on the dice. Wow!
The grail knights called out a challenge which my BSB accepted. 3 killing blows and 3 succesful ward saves later, my pegasus had to step in, impaling the grail knight on its horn and slamming his corpse to the floor. My dragonlord and dragon combined managed to kill another 4 knights, while he did nothing in return. He was steadfast because he only needs 3 models to form a rank, however, he rolled 11 followed by 10 on the reroll. Disastrous for him, but the BSB heroically buys time for the rest of the knights to escape safely from the pursuing master. The dragonlord opted to restrain and reform to face the centre.
The witch elves put a horrific number of wounds on the lord - enough to kill him, in fact, where it not for him only ever being able to suffer a single wound in any one phase. Tut tut! He killed enough witches in return to draw combat, and I had no musician so we just stood there. I retained frenzy, though, and got a wound on him!
Bretonnia turn 2:
Knights of the realm charge crossbowmen who stand and shoot. I drop a knight, but the rest makes it in. Pegasus knights charge the leftmost RBT. Central knights of the realm reform 5 wide to face the threat of both my knights and my dragonlord, forming such that both charges, if declared, would be frontal. Both bowmen reform to shoot. Grail knights rally, but the prophetess is more than 12" away from her lord, preventing her from healing his wounds!
Magic sees a high roll. He magic missiles my BSB which I take to the face and make all saves with ease. He then puts +2T on his grail knights which I dispel with all the dice I have. He tosses a dwellers on the dragon and I scroll it, knowing the sorceress would likely die this round anyway.
Shooting sees the lone trebutchet able to fire scatter off the dragon, putting a S5 hit on both mount and rider. Rider makes his save, and the dragon is not bothered by a little dust. Bowmen kill one harpy, the other unit kills 2 shades who panic and flee!
Knights of the realm crush the crossbowmen who break and are run down. Pegasus knights dispose of my bolt thrower and reforms to spot the other. Witch elves put another wound on the lord, lose 3 numbers in return. A draw again.
Dark Elves turn 3:
Knights and dragonlord charge the central knights. He had to wheel in to close the gap with my knights, just barely bringing them into contact, but at least I would break his steadfast. Lord easily makes it into the front. Warlocks charge the trebutchet, BSB charge his grail knights. Harpies charge bowmen, and shades fail to rally. Central dark riders move out to spot the flank of the lord next turn for some CR should I fail to kill him, and the other dark riders move down to make reforming annoying for his knights of the realm.
In magic, I roll 10 dice. I use them all to dispel shield of thorns from his knights of the realm.
Shooting puts down another pegasus knight, leaving 2.
Close combat sees my harpies butcher 5 peasants, losing 2 or 3 in return. He is steadfast though, and holds. Go peasants! They hold where knights run. BSB slaugthers 2 grail knights, they dont wound him in return. For the second time, he rolls 10 on the break test, and without the BSB to save him this time, he runs right off the board.
The central battle sees him fail his fear test on the knights of the realm! My lord directs all attacks on the paladin, and his lance strikes true. However, some strange magic diverts the lance in the last moment, and only the paladins shield arm is pierced. Cold One Knights drop 2 knights of the realm. His paladin then draws his sword, and as the dragon moves his maw right next to him to try and munch him up, decapitates the dragon with a single swing of the blade. Hot, black blood spewed everywhere and the dragon fell to the ground in a dying struggle, the proud dreadlord thrown into the blood-mud in a clash of armor and flapping, leathery wings beating for the last time. Drat! I thought his lord would have that virtue. The 6 wounds right there means I lose combat by 2 or 3, I forgot, but in any case I luckily hold with both the lord and the knights.
Warlocks dispatch the trebutchet no problem, and reforms to face his bowmen and other warmachine.
Bretonnia turn 3:
Pegasus knights charge the other trebutchet and makes it. Knights of the realm on the southern hill reform and moves slightly back towards the centre.
He chose not to risk a miscast on the only spell available to him. Shooting saw another 3 warlocks die to a trebutchet rock, and the peasant bowmen killed the last 2 shades from long range. Harpies kill another 2 peasants, losing a single harpy in return. He again holds. My remaining bolt thrower is destroyed.
The dreadlord now rose enraged, covered from head to toe in black dragons blood and grassy mud. He throws his shattered lance aside, draws his sword and cuts the paladins mount down from under him. As the noble knight scrambles to regain his posture, blood gushing from the wound in his arm, the furious dreadlord thrusts his blade right through the visor of the paladins helmet, leaving the dragonslayer stone dead on the ground. The rest of the unit actually manage to fail fear test again, and the cold one knights go to town on the unit, killing 3 knights in exchange for 1 dead cold one knight. No longer steadfast, his knights break and flee. I pursue, but fail to catch them.
Dark Elves turn 4:
Fleeing knights you say? Not for long! The dreadlord charge after them, catching them outside the board and murders the knights to the last man. The damsel he takes captive - to the victor goes the spoils of war!
Warlocks charge the bowmen, who attempts to flee, but they are run over and cut down. Witch elves charge the last 3 bowmen brawling it out with harpies on the kill, and my cold one knights reform to face the centre, towards which the BSB also flies. Central dark riders block in the knights of the realm, the others move to spot the rear of the pegasus knights.
Unsurprisingly, the witch elves butcher the remaining archers, and overruns 1" before the remaining harpy stops them.
Bretonnia turn 4:
Knights of the realm charge the 2 dark riders, wipe them, and choose not to overrun and expose their flanks. Pegasus knights move up to act as sacrificial lambs, scrambling to preserve just a specker of honour.
Trebutchet falls short of the warlocks.
Dark Elves turn 5:
Warlocks charge and wipe the trebutchet as the dreadlord returns to the battlefield dragging the captured damsel by the hair. BSB tries a long charge on the pegasus knights, but fails. The cold one knights slam into their front, though, and lances strike through armor, sinew and bone, leaving the remaining pegasi and riders alike dead on the ground. The remaining dark rider unit then moves up to make sure that the knights of the realm will not be able to charge the cold ones.
We called it quits here. His knights of the realm would likely reform and make it out of charge arc. To test this, he took a swift leadership test to see if he could really swift reform. Naturally, he failed, and we agreed that he would probably be tabled by my cold one knight and BSB combo charge as a result. Crushing victory to the dark elves!
As the surviving dark elves ran rampant through the surrounding villages and farms in the following days, plundering, raping and enslaving, the dreadlord held the captured damsel in his own tent. Her anguished screams made every enslaved bretonnian realise what fate awaited the lot of them.
Post-game analysis:
Okay. Heroic killing blow sucks! I nearly lost it there. Was really not expecting that
He was incredibly unlucky that the grail knights broke twice in a row, phew! I feel like I still would have killed them given the situation, since my dark riders did a fantastic job tying his central knights down, and his lord was busy with my witches, but it would have taken a lot longer time. And his lvl 4 would have been able to heal the lord at least a few rounds before I would take steadfast off of his grail knights, meaning that sooner or later he would probably have ground down the witches. However, I feel like my moves on that flank where just excellent, blocking his movement and setting up charges. The one big mistake he made was to advance so far with his lord; if he had been on the hill to threaten counter charges, I would probably not have dared charge the grail knights. Max 1 wound per phase combined with life magic is nasty, though! As long as he can win combats, he aint going nowhere.
All in all I think I played this game very well. Being assured first turn meant I could turn on the full agression, and just advance everything and almost full speed. My magic phase is not as strong as it could be, but having warlocks with 3 ranks means doombolting like a lvl 4, and the metal sorceress I feel will still bring some threats. Whatever I roll, I always have the option to take searing doom. Getting final transmutation this game was just lucky, but I dont need it so much. The main reason I take her is to carry a scroll, as having only lvl 2 wizards on the board means I will otherwise lack in magic defense.
One thing I ponder is if I should put the lord on a pegasus instead of a dragon. This would enable me to get a supreme sorceress OR a war hydra. Possibly the hydra; since I use cloak of twilight and warlocks, I cant also take a SS. Also, there is no really good unit for an expensive lvl 4 caster to hide in. Those who bother reading all my blocks of text - feel free to comment on this musing. Otherwise, I hope you enjoy the battle
So, without further ado, here is my test list!
Dreadlord on Black Dragon, black amulet, charmed shield and the other tricksters shard
Master BSB on pegasus, cloak of twilight
Lvl 2 metal sorceress, ruby ring + dispel scroll
2x5 DR with shields and mus (capped at shooting models)
14 darkshards, flaming banner
21 WE, gleaming banner
10 Cold One Knights
2 RBT
5 shades
5 harpies
15 Doomfire Warlocks
You will notice I have only one viable option to hide the lvl 2; the darkshards. Nothing really good to protect that unit - but deployed far back, the opponent will have to either ignore it, or send some soldiers to get them that will then not hinder my other units. I opted for 5 harpies to have 3 mobile redirector units, since I really want to control the movement phase with this kind of list, in order to set up charges.
I played vs a Bretonnia "middle ways" 2400 point list. In this middle ground he may take 2 trebutches, but not a crown of command. The reason he didnt go full friendly is, that in that scenario he must choose between trebutchet #2 and virtue of heroism. Mind you - we played closed lists, so all magic items I had no idea about where they would be. His list looked like this;
Bret lord on royal pegasus, charmed shield, "max 1 wound in any one phase" item.
Prophetess on Warhorse, lvl 4 lore of life
Paladin BSB on warhorse, +d6 on first charge banner
Paladin on warhorse, virtue of heroism
Damsel on warhorse, lvl 1 lore of beasts
2x12 Knights of the Realm
2x10 peasant bowmen
10 skirmisher bowmen
10 Grail Knights
2 Trebutchets
4 Pegasus Knights
Deployment:
I rolled final transmutation and plague of rust on my lvl 2. His lvl 1 took the signature, and his lvl 4 had an awful roll! 1, 2, 4 and 6! Getting dwellers, but not getting neither throne of vines nor regrowth.
Deployment saw him putting a knight block on each flank and one in the centre, supported by peasants. All knight units where in lance formation. His pegasus knights went down fairly early on his left flank, this surprised me a little as it gave me freedom to place my flying characters to the right. Grail knights contained his BSB and lvl 4, and the central knights of the realm his paladin with heroic killing blow and his lvl 1. I was able to deploy and plan agressively, knowing I would get to go first. My shades blocked his pegasus vanguard, and my dark riders vanguarded in towards the centre.
And true enough, the entire Bretonnian army kneeled down and prayed to the Lady, which brought a smirk on my dreadlords face. Foolish human peasants, all of them! With grim determination he mounted his great black dragon and took to the skies........
Dark Elves turn 1:
No charges. Dark riders soar forward to block the movement of his central knights of the realm. Harpies flies to hinder movement of his grail knights, and the dragonlord and his son the battle standard bearer flies towards the bretonnian lines, making sure to stay out of the bretonnian lords charge arc, just in case he had some sort of crazy long turn 1 charge. Warlocks took the centre, confident in their ability to grind versus the bret lord should he charge them. Knights advanced carefully, staying well out of likely charge range of the lord, too. Witch elves runs through the wood, eager to close distance with the humans.
Magic was boring; I get 4 dice to 3, and do a small doombolt on his lord. Turns out he has 2+ vs spells, but at least I knocked his charmed shield off.
Shooting saw a pegasus knight knocked from his saddle by RBT fire, and my shades wounded another.
Bretonnia turn 1:
The bretonnians finished their prayer, outraged that the dark elven forces had just begun their attack already. Central knights of the realm charge the dark riders. I doubleflee, and he fails his charge. A single rider failed dangerous terrain. Remaining units move agressively forward. His lord flies right in front of my lord, possibly to bait a charge. Turns out this was a mistake by him. Grail knights choose not to charge harpies, and instead moves up, using the harpies as flank cover from my witch elves.
His magic phase saw 2 dark riders die to a magic missile from the lvl 4, and shield of thorns go on the central knights of the realm.
A trebutchet stone then landed splat in the middle of the warlocks, crushing 5. Skirmishers fired on them too, failing to kill any. Bowmen on the hill shot my dark riders in front of the CoK, hoping to kill them, but failed to do so. Bowmen on the flank shot 1 shade. The central trebutchet misfired and lost a wound, and would be unable to fire next turn.
Dark Elves turn 2:
This would spell the beginning of disaster for the bretonnians, as the dragonlord and BSB both take off, soar right over the bretonnian lord and slam into the front of the grail knights. The witch elves, realising the path was now clear, then charge the lord. Warlocks charge the peasant bowmen, losing a few models to stand and shoot. Every charge succeeded.
Harpies moved to the rear of his hilltop bowmen (I could have charged them over the grail knights, shame on me for missing that!). Central dark riders rally and block his knights of the realm. Other dark riders move to support the crossbowmen from the advancing knights. My cold one knights fail stupidity, and decides to stay where they are.
Magic saw me cast plague of rust on the flank knights of the realm, which he dispelled. I then tossed 5 dice on final transmutation, but fail to even make the cast roll! Booh.
Shooting was entirely uneventful I believe. My crossbowmen put down one knight of the realm I think.
In close combat, my warlocks naturally wiped the peasants, and overran... 1, 1, 1 on the dice. Wow!
The grail knights called out a challenge which my BSB accepted. 3 killing blows and 3 succesful ward saves later, my pegasus had to step in, impaling the grail knight on its horn and slamming his corpse to the floor. My dragonlord and dragon combined managed to kill another 4 knights, while he did nothing in return. He was steadfast because he only needs 3 models to form a rank, however, he rolled 11 followed by 10 on the reroll. Disastrous for him, but the BSB heroically buys time for the rest of the knights to escape safely from the pursuing master. The dragonlord opted to restrain and reform to face the centre.
The witch elves put a horrific number of wounds on the lord - enough to kill him, in fact, where it not for him only ever being able to suffer a single wound in any one phase. Tut tut! He killed enough witches in return to draw combat, and I had no musician so we just stood there. I retained frenzy, though, and got a wound on him!
Bretonnia turn 2:
Knights of the realm charge crossbowmen who stand and shoot. I drop a knight, but the rest makes it in. Pegasus knights charge the leftmost RBT. Central knights of the realm reform 5 wide to face the threat of both my knights and my dragonlord, forming such that both charges, if declared, would be frontal. Both bowmen reform to shoot. Grail knights rally, but the prophetess is more than 12" away from her lord, preventing her from healing his wounds!
Magic sees a high roll. He magic missiles my BSB which I take to the face and make all saves with ease. He then puts +2T on his grail knights which I dispel with all the dice I have. He tosses a dwellers on the dragon and I scroll it, knowing the sorceress would likely die this round anyway.
Shooting sees the lone trebutchet able to fire scatter off the dragon, putting a S5 hit on both mount and rider. Rider makes his save, and the dragon is not bothered by a little dust. Bowmen kill one harpy, the other unit kills 2 shades who panic and flee!
Knights of the realm crush the crossbowmen who break and are run down. Pegasus knights dispose of my bolt thrower and reforms to spot the other. Witch elves put another wound on the lord, lose 3 numbers in return. A draw again.
Dark Elves turn 3:
Knights and dragonlord charge the central knights. He had to wheel in to close the gap with my knights, just barely bringing them into contact, but at least I would break his steadfast. Lord easily makes it into the front. Warlocks charge the trebutchet, BSB charge his grail knights. Harpies charge bowmen, and shades fail to rally. Central dark riders move out to spot the flank of the lord next turn for some CR should I fail to kill him, and the other dark riders move down to make reforming annoying for his knights of the realm.
In magic, I roll 10 dice. I use them all to dispel shield of thorns from his knights of the realm.
Shooting puts down another pegasus knight, leaving 2.
Close combat sees my harpies butcher 5 peasants, losing 2 or 3 in return. He is steadfast though, and holds. Go peasants! They hold where knights run. BSB slaugthers 2 grail knights, they dont wound him in return. For the second time, he rolls 10 on the break test, and without the BSB to save him this time, he runs right off the board.
The central battle sees him fail his fear test on the knights of the realm! My lord directs all attacks on the paladin, and his lance strikes true. However, some strange magic diverts the lance in the last moment, and only the paladins shield arm is pierced. Cold One Knights drop 2 knights of the realm. His paladin then draws his sword, and as the dragon moves his maw right next to him to try and munch him up, decapitates the dragon with a single swing of the blade. Hot, black blood spewed everywhere and the dragon fell to the ground in a dying struggle, the proud dreadlord thrown into the blood-mud in a clash of armor and flapping, leathery wings beating for the last time. Drat! I thought his lord would have that virtue. The 6 wounds right there means I lose combat by 2 or 3, I forgot, but in any case I luckily hold with both the lord and the knights.
Warlocks dispatch the trebutchet no problem, and reforms to face his bowmen and other warmachine.
Bretonnia turn 3:
Pegasus knights charge the other trebutchet and makes it. Knights of the realm on the southern hill reform and moves slightly back towards the centre.
He chose not to risk a miscast on the only spell available to him. Shooting saw another 3 warlocks die to a trebutchet rock, and the peasant bowmen killed the last 2 shades from long range. Harpies kill another 2 peasants, losing a single harpy in return. He again holds. My remaining bolt thrower is destroyed.
The dreadlord now rose enraged, covered from head to toe in black dragons blood and grassy mud. He throws his shattered lance aside, draws his sword and cuts the paladins mount down from under him. As the noble knight scrambles to regain his posture, blood gushing from the wound in his arm, the furious dreadlord thrusts his blade right through the visor of the paladins helmet, leaving the dragonslayer stone dead on the ground. The rest of the unit actually manage to fail fear test again, and the cold one knights go to town on the unit, killing 3 knights in exchange for 1 dead cold one knight. No longer steadfast, his knights break and flee. I pursue, but fail to catch them.
Dark Elves turn 4:
Fleeing knights you say? Not for long! The dreadlord charge after them, catching them outside the board and murders the knights to the last man. The damsel he takes captive - to the victor goes the spoils of war!
Warlocks charge the bowmen, who attempts to flee, but they are run over and cut down. Witch elves charge the last 3 bowmen brawling it out with harpies on the kill, and my cold one knights reform to face the centre, towards which the BSB also flies. Central dark riders block in the knights of the realm, the others move to spot the rear of the pegasus knights.
Unsurprisingly, the witch elves butcher the remaining archers, and overruns 1" before the remaining harpy stops them.
Bretonnia turn 4:
Knights of the realm charge the 2 dark riders, wipe them, and choose not to overrun and expose their flanks. Pegasus knights move up to act as sacrificial lambs, scrambling to preserve just a specker of honour.
Trebutchet falls short of the warlocks.
Dark Elves turn 5:
Warlocks charge and wipe the trebutchet as the dreadlord returns to the battlefield dragging the captured damsel by the hair. BSB tries a long charge on the pegasus knights, but fails. The cold one knights slam into their front, though, and lances strike through armor, sinew and bone, leaving the remaining pegasi and riders alike dead on the ground. The remaining dark rider unit then moves up to make sure that the knights of the realm will not be able to charge the cold ones.
We called it quits here. His knights of the realm would likely reform and make it out of charge arc. To test this, he took a swift leadership test to see if he could really swift reform. Naturally, he failed, and we agreed that he would probably be tabled by my cold one knight and BSB combo charge as a result. Crushing victory to the dark elves!
As the surviving dark elves ran rampant through the surrounding villages and farms in the following days, plundering, raping and enslaving, the dreadlord held the captured damsel in his own tent. Her anguished screams made every enslaved bretonnian realise what fate awaited the lot of them.
Post-game analysis:
Okay. Heroic killing blow sucks! I nearly lost it there. Was really not expecting that
He was incredibly unlucky that the grail knights broke twice in a row, phew! I feel like I still would have killed them given the situation, since my dark riders did a fantastic job tying his central knights down, and his lord was busy with my witches, but it would have taken a lot longer time. And his lvl 4 would have been able to heal the lord at least a few rounds before I would take steadfast off of his grail knights, meaning that sooner or later he would probably have ground down the witches. However, I feel like my moves on that flank where just excellent, blocking his movement and setting up charges. The one big mistake he made was to advance so far with his lord; if he had been on the hill to threaten counter charges, I would probably not have dared charge the grail knights. Max 1 wound per phase combined with life magic is nasty, though! As long as he can win combats, he aint going nowhere.
All in all I think I played this game very well. Being assured first turn meant I could turn on the full agression, and just advance everything and almost full speed. My magic phase is not as strong as it could be, but having warlocks with 3 ranks means doombolting like a lvl 4, and the metal sorceress I feel will still bring some threats. Whatever I roll, I always have the option to take searing doom. Getting final transmutation this game was just lucky, but I dont need it so much. The main reason I take her is to carry a scroll, as having only lvl 2 wizards on the board means I will otherwise lack in magic defense.
One thing I ponder is if I should put the lord on a pegasus instead of a dragon. This would enable me to get a supreme sorceress OR a war hydra. Possibly the hydra; since I use cloak of twilight and warlocks, I cant also take a SS. Also, there is no really good unit for an expensive lvl 4 caster to hide in. Those who bother reading all my blocks of text - feel free to comment on this musing. Otherwise, I hope you enjoy the battle