Battle Report; 2000 pt High Elves vs. Dark Elves

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flatworldsedge
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Battle Report; 2000 pt High Elves vs. Dark Elves

Post by flatworldsedge »

Subtle tastes were often muted to the point of banality now, yet it retained its nuance somehow. Of course, Druchii society decried it as barabaric. Not having tasted it themselves. Veysha's body slaves lathered away the arcs and clots of blood from her shoulders, and she briefly considered their dead eyesockets and sheared off ears. Another Autarii practice against which her Highborn cousins would rail. Their deft hands worked across her skin, her muscles, her flesh; as tender, intimate and wretched as ghosts.

"...UNACCEPTABLE..." The sudden sound of the captives through the wood. "...there is A CODE for such things..." Rage at the interruption threw her into motion; wet and gleaming in the shadows of the wood, towards the hateful, piercing sound. Flashing like a spirit between the thick stands of birch, a petulant dialogue lanced in and out of her hearing. "A code, and a forced march... ARGGHHH! ...Talking to these beasts is impossible... is maddness."

The curse of genius, she noted, was that one abandoned choice to circumstance. She did not "learn" languages like her peers. She encountered languages, and then she knew them. Of all the tongues that had stained her mind with unsought fluency, the entitled whine of Ulthuan was the most ghastly.

They had stopped speaking, and she realised it was because she had emerged from the velvet darkness of the wood and now stood amongst them. Her High Elf prisoners hemmed in by naked Autarii knives and dark, glittering eyes. Seven. Pathetic given the slaughter. Bound together by the wrists and still slashed with gore, their haughty frowns so out of keeping with circumstance. Lost in a twisted forest maze, two day's ride from help of any kind, they were entirely in her power. What did their Prince know that let him look upon her with such conceited disgust?

"Your name?"
"You are naked!"
"Your name?"
"Prince Kalaiss of Caledor. My uncle Angondil leads the secondary force you fled. He shall be handling the negotiations for my ransom. When he is told of our treatement..."

"They are to be stripped and scrubbed."

The indignant whoop that exploded from him as her scouts sheered off his tabbard was so sudden and fierce, that even the vengeful Autarii fell back. "Unhand me! I won't be groped by the retainers of some naked whore. I have said who I am!"

She gestured again; "They are to be stripped and scrubbed."

A brief melee erupted as his clothes were cut away, shrieking and panting like a tiny hoglet mocked by hungry wolves. "Ha! Succubus! Your lascivious wiles are nought to me. I am of the Order of the Pearl Phoenix. You must quench your lust with the foul seed of your rutting forest hounds. My body is sacrosanct. Break my vows by force and my ransom is forfit!"

Her Shades fell back at a raised hand, and she slipped quietly close to the Prince, breathing words in a demure purr. "You think I have designs on your chastity?"

"If not, explain this outrage!" He stood alone and naked, and suddenly lost. His shoulder was black where her lance had ended his battle. A shame; the muscle's texture would be marred, and it was one of the choicer cuts.

"Outrage? Why, my prince... I am ashamed that my grasp of your language is so limited. I fear my intentions are consequently missexpressed." The dark taste of the words on her lips was exquisite. "You are not to be ravished." Saying them in High Elven was so deliciously, meltingly perverse. "You are to be eaten."



Deployment

ImageVE DE HE Deployment by FWE Veysha Everkiss, on Flickr

I wasn't quite sure how to approach his archer heavy force, with the Watchtower objective. I put my Shades together in the hope I could keep some alive to retake the tower if the Witch Elves were overwhelmed. The forest on the left seemed too much like a war of attrition against his archers, with less support.
So this is my second "proper" battle for my current army. The first was against Beastmen, also 2000 pts, and documented here: http://druchii.net/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=75997. That was against a somewhat thrown together Beastmen army, and we made a mistake (using lowest dice to determine dispel pool) which favoured me due to spell ranges/line of sights/etc., and the result was a one sided slaughter. This time around things felt much tougher. I'd never fought High Elves before, but always hated them - chiefly for the feeling of GW favoritism that I've always felt haunt them.

Lists were as follows;

Dark Elves

Dreadlord on Cold One, SDC, Hvy, Lance, Black Amulet, Charmed Shield, Sword of Striking (COK)
Master BSB on Cold One, SDC, Hvy, Shield, Lance
8x Cold One Knights

Supreme Sorceress Level 4, Life, Talisman of Preservation, Dark Steed, Dispel Scroll (L4)
- Earthblood, Flesh to Stone, Throne of Vines, Regrowth

Kharibdyss (KB))

24x Witch Elves (W)

5x Dark Riders, Musician, Shields, Crossbows (DR1)
5x Dark Riders, Musician, Shields, Crossbows (DR2)

5x Warlocks (W1)
5x Warlocks (W2)

5x Shades (S1)
5x Shades (S2)

High Elves

Prince, Armour Destiny, Lion Cloak, Shield, Lance (DP)
Sun Dragon

5 Silver Helm w/Shield (SH)

5 Ellyrian Reavers (ER)

10 Archers (A1)
10 Archers (A2)
10 Archers (A3)

Archmage, Level 4, Ward 4+, Dispel Scroll (SM4)
- Soul Quench, Apotheosis, Hand of Glory, Fiery Convocation
35 Sword Masters, Full Command, Banner of World Dragon

Eagle (E1)
Eagle (E2)


My list had a few tweaks, and thanks to Haagrum, T.D., Sangfroid and Cold73 who informed them. I'd been told I'd be facing a Dragon, and the Hydra ("Checkov's Mongrel") was switched out for the Kharibdyss as a better match for it. Likewise, my Pegwitch was brought in the CoK bus to offer better protection for her. I kept her as "Life", out of concern that the Banner of the World Dragon would be too much of a nuisance with a more aggressive lore.

We rolled "Watchtower" as a scenario, and with the Witch Elves my only core infantry, I put them in the tower. Little did I know what fun was in store...


High Elf Turn 1

ImageVE DE HE turn 1 HE by FWE Veysha Everkiss, on Flickr

I feel I got off extremely lightly this turn. Only two Witch Elves lost to missile fire, and no Shades. His movement felt much better planned than my last opponent. My having three channel dice to his one played well throughout the game, and in this turn we were 8 power dice vs 7 dispel dice, with me escaping a Soul Quench and a Fiery Convocation.


Dark Elf Turn 1

ImageVE DE HE turn 1 VE by FWE Veysha Everkiss, on Flickr

The turn began inauspiciously, with my garrisoned Witch Elves so infuriated by the arrival of his Eagle that they decamped the building to charge it - rolling an 11 on the LD. There was some debate here, but an online check seemed to confirm that frenzied troops in buildings must exit to charge on their next round if they fail an LD. Please do advise me if that's not the case! Needless to say it was a little frustrating, even if the image of the scene was not without comedy.

Magic was 10 v 6, with me casting Throne of Vines with IF as my first spell, for the second game in a row. This time I failed the 2+ ward from miscast, but all the result wounds from "feedback" were warded.

Shooting was a little tame, but the dice were kinder to me than they'd been on his round, so no complaints.


High Elf Turn 2

ImageVE DE HE turn 2 HE by FWE Veysha Everkiss, on Flickr

The Witch Elf debacle was compounded here with what felt like very elegant movement from my opponent; not least his Swordmaster/Archmage block sauntering in the back door of the watchtower, even as the Witch Elves raced out of the front. Unlike the Beastmen game, it felt like he was in control, with my units beginning to feel disorderly already.

Magic remained somewhat cat and mouse - he used Hand of Glory on his Swordmasters to take their WS to 9, but had his Soul Quench (on CoK) dispelled.

The Witch Elves, exposed outside the tower now, took 5 more casualties to his massed fire. At the time it felt pretty grim, but again could have been much worse. Seeing them running around pointlessly getting shot was distracting, however, and that's where the real damage was done.

Meanwhile on the far right the beginning of a long, stalemate between the Dark Riders and Silver Helms signalled the end of the turn. The Dark Riders were, I suppose lucky to kill a couple of Silver Helms here - otherwise the 2+ save and equal numbers would have been too much on that flank. As it was the Dark Riders lost combat, but held.


Dark Elf Turn 2

ImageVE DE HE turn 2 VE by FWE Veysha Everkiss, on Flickr

Veysha's turn 2 started with the rallying of the Warlocks who'd feigned flight from the High Elf Dragon Prince. Then followed another debate - the Eagle that had prompted the Witch Elves failed LD and attempt to charge was long gone... so what now? The point was somewhat mooted as they promptly failed another LD check (rolled to see if debate was necessary). Off they went, failing to catch the feigned flight of the Reavers.

My CoK move here is really weak in retrospect. I was trying to stay in range and line of sight of the Witches who I felt need buffing before they were further depleted by ranged fire, yet in doing so failed to address his Swordmasters or regain control. Throughout the game I game too much respect to his Swordmasters, feeling I'd need a big block of T7 Witch Elves to handle them. The Warlock move felt weak too; I was trying to get in range to Doombolt his stray Eagle.

In the magic phase I did get my Flesh to Stone off on the Witch Elves, and a decent Doombolt helped whittle his archers. Regrowth brought 4 Witch Elves back to life to finish a solid magic phase, before solid shooting from the Shades routed his third archer unit.


High Elf Turn 3

ImageVE DE HE turn 3 HE by FWE Veysha Everkiss, on Flickr

Again, his movement here seemed to highlight flaws in my own; no more so than with the flank charge of his Eagle on my Warlocks. I was definitely one step behind here. If my thinking was below par, the dice were on my side, dispelling a boosted Soul Quench by a whisker, before he dispelled my Flesh to Stone and Throne of Vines rather than attempt further aggression with a handful of remaining dice (8 vs. 5).

The recently raised Witch Elves, back down to basic toughness, were quickly eradicated by further missile fire. The Silver Helm vs. Dark Rider combat ground on without casualties, whilst his Eagle killed a Warlock without reply.

The main combat I'd been worried about was his combined Eagle, Dragon and Prince on the Kharibdyss. Having taken it for tactical reasons, I felt somewhat ashamed and concerned to see it so easily isolated and attacked in force. However, with the Prince missed with almost all attacks and the Kharibdyss proved hard to wound, escaping what looked like a near death round without a scratch. In return it did a wound to his Dragon, taking it down to 4.


Dark Elf Turn 3

ImageVE DE HE turn 3 VE by FWE Veysha Everkiss, on Flickr

With that buoying me up, turn 3 felt like a turning point. Two Doombolts were dispelled, yet I re-established my Throne of Vines in an unremarkable magic phase, but then between shooting and charges destroyed four of his units. I hadn't realised that he had lots of warm, cuddly fluff around his Eagles; seeing one poisoned by the Warlocks and the other butchered by a charging Veysha, actually seemed to upset him a little! Serves him right for using them as chaff, really.

The only debate was around follow up charges from my Knights and Warlocks - the straight line view led to no other units, and the rules do read "straight", so I was okay accepting it. I just remember overrun charges being more fluid and dynamic in the past, with some wheeling allowed.

Meanwhile, although the Prince did inflict one wound on the Kharibdyss, it put two more on his Dragon.


High Elf Turn 4

ImageVE DE HE turn 4 HE by FWE Veysha Everkiss, on Flickr

The main note of High Elf turn 4 was the further abuse of the Witch Elves, with an IF Fiery Convocation hitting them and taking the unit down to 6. The miscast sounded promising; a gruesome explosion, but all damage was avoided thanks to his banner. Nifty piece of kit that. He did have another Hand of Glory up as well. With lots of dice left over I dispelled his Fiery Convocation before it could cause further trouble.

That said, after his shooting only 4 Witch Elves were left standing to protect from the flames. It could easily have been worse. At this point I was still thinking I'd need to regrowth them to deal with the Swordmasters.

Now in it's third round of melee, the Kharibdyss again avoided all damage from Prince and mount, before lashing out to fell the Dragon. We were both surprised here, yet reflected on our similar Lord builds - no big magic weapons. We come from an era of Frostblades, etc. so the current generation of weapons feel (for the most part - given what you can buy *and* have a ward save) rather tame. Thinking about this combat, however, I'm carving out extra points to give Veysha a proper sword in all future battles.


Dark Elf Turn 4

ImageVE DE HE turn 4 VE by FWE Veysha Everkiss, on Flickr

A 9 vs. 4 (4+4+channel) magic phase went ok, with a flesh to stone making it through some still dispelling to boost the Cold One Knights, and thereby heal the Kharibdyss.

The various combats and engagements in the corners of the field were largely tidied up now, though the remaining Silver Helm (singular) did buck the trend to bring that combat to 1 vs. 1. With an eye on the Watchtower objective, too late I realise now, I brought my Shades out to get them in range to join the fight to take it back.

With the Dragon dead, I felt confident going into combat with his general on the charge. The one wound he caused was reflected back by the Black Amulet, before Veysha's mount (working name; Satyr) inflicted one and she hit twice to knock the Prince unconscious, and ready for dinner later.


High Elf Turn 5

ImageVE DE HE turn 5 HE by FWE Veysha Everkiss, on Flickr

With the High Elf Swordmaster block still nearly untouched in their tower, and the countdown begun on the objective, I suddenly realised how little the situation on the rest of the field mattered. The turn kicked off with an IF Fiery Convocation on my Knights, wounding my sorceress and killing two knights. In return, however, his Archmage lost 3 levels to miscast, keeping only Apotheosis, and allowing me to dispel the remains in play element with my left over dice.

Finally the Silver Helm vs. Dark Rider conflict ended in a tragic, Hollywood-esque mutual destruction it deserved.


Dark Elf Turn 5

ImageVE DE HE turn 5 VE by FWE Veysha Everkiss, on Flickr

Given only room for ten "units" of assault party, I decided to stagger charges with the Cold One Knights going first. Neither of us had used our dispel scrolls, but he used his now on my Flesh to Stone. I did get away with an Earthblood on the Knights to help turn the odds, and heal my sorceress. A regrowth on the Knights, however, was dispelled manually.

Swordmasters in a building, it now turned out, weren't as bigger deal as I'd feared. They did kill another couple of Knights, but with Veysha and my BSB both in the assault party they lost 10.

With his army slaughtered, his mage now at Lv.1 with a near useless spell for the situation, all looked lost... until we hit a 5 on the "Watchtower" dice. Making this a particularly annoying loss for the Dark Elves.


Fair play to him though; he played the objective and I feel he outmaneuvered for several key portions of the game. I took too long to respond and wasn't decisive enough in return. Of course, it's also worth nothing that with 35 Swordmasters tied up in the Watchtower he had something like 25% of his army off the field... so it's no wonder I won the combats there.

As ever, I'd love any notes, advice or observations people have! If you've got this far, thanks for bearing with me!
Last edited by flatworldsedge on Sat Nov 29, 2014 11:42 pm, edited 1 time in total.
ScottyDo
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Posts: 74
Joined: Fri Dec 27, 2013 1:07 am

Re: Battle Report; 2000 pt High Elves vs. Dark Elves

Post by ScottyDo »

Just a couple quick notes, flesh to stone isn't remains in play, so your opponent cannot dispel it in his turn. Should help if you decide to keep running life. Also, you list notes that your Dreadlord had the sword of striking and a lance, but she cannot ever choose to use the lance if she has a magic weapon.
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flatworldsedge
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Re: Battle Report; 2000 pt High Elves vs. Dark Elves

Post by flatworldsedge »

Thanks for the note - I didn't realise you couldn't choose. I had 15 pts left after my reshuffle and it was a poor expenditure in any case. Very good to know about Flesh to Stone - it could have helped significantly to stay in play on this one, and I do intend to use Life most games given that the offensive side is so well covered between the Warlocks and chance of Dwellers. Throne of Vines is such a boost for chucking dice at critical spells without fear.
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