Greetings!
The eternal battle between good and evil continues as the armies High Elves and Warriors of Chaos clash again. This time, all-mounted force of Heralds of Darkness arrived to test the Outcasts.
Apart from the fact that my regular opponent had a different variation of the army, we decided to try Meeting Engagement scenario from the Rulebook. It was the first time I tried a scenario for Warhammer the Old World, so I was really curious how it would go.
As usual, we played the game on
Universal Battle 2. In addition, I also tried game tracking system provided by
Old World Ranking that proved very useful. It was also very helpful in army list building and I like their visual format that is very good for checking details during the game as well.
Let's begin with the respective army lists:
Heralds of Chaos
Characters:
Chaos Lord: General, Full plate armour, Shield, Mark of Nurgle, Daemonic Mount, Flail of Wrecks, 2× Favour of the Gods, Enhanced Reflexes - 307
Sorcerer Lord: Heavy armour, Daemonic Mount, Lore of Daemonology (The Summoning, Gathering Darkness, Daemonic Vessel, Daemoninc Vigour), Spell Familiar, Lore Familiar, Diabolic Splendour - 310
Exalted Sorcerer: Light armour, Daemonic Mount, Lore of Daemonology (The Summoning), Ruby Ring of Ruin - 160
Core:
6 Chaos Knights: Heavy armour, Barding, Shields, Lances, Champion - 180
8 Marauder Horsemen: Light armour, Shields, Flails, Horsemaster, Skirmishers, Unnatural Fortitude, Brazen Collar - 147
8 Marauder Horsemen: Light armour, Shields, Flails, Horsemaster, Unnatural Fortitude, Brazen Collar - 147
7 Marauder Horsemen: Light armour, Shields, Flails, Horsemaster, Unnatural Fortitude, Brazen Collar - 132
7 Marauder Horsemen: Light armour, Shields, Flails, Horsemaster, Skirmishers, Abmushers, Unnatural Fortitude, Ring of Doom - 151
5 Chaos Warhounds - 30
5 Chaos Warhounds - 30
Special:
7 Chosen Chaos Knights: Full plate armour, Barding, Shields, Lances, Mark of Nurgle, Champion, Standard Bearer, Drilled, Brazen Collar, Totem of Wrath - 399
Rare:
Warpfire Dragon: Level 1 Wizard, Lore of Daemonology (The Summoning) - 405
Total: 2398
Probably the fastest army, as a whole, that I have faced so far. 12 units and 10 drops meant it would be relatively compact too. Especially that one of the Marauder Horsemen units could be deployed as Ambushers.
The army, as expected, would hit hard in close combat. Flail equipped Marauder Horsemen could, potentially, go against many of my own units one-on-one a well and inflict significant damage. While hitting on 4+ is not a guarantee of a success, the threat is real. Especially that speed allows them to choose fights well.
Three wizards (including the dragon) and two Rings meant that I should expect up to 5 magic missiles a turn. 4 of which inflict 2d6 S4 hits, so even a single spell that goes through would be a problem. not to mention dragons own shooting attack. It was clear that my Archmage would be very busy during this battle.
There were some interesting upgrades that this army also had. To begin with, all marauder Horsemen units got Unnatural Fortitude, meaning all had T4. That would make a significant difference in limiting damage from Elven shooting. It would be more difficult to wound them in combat as well.
Brazen Collar is a good upgrade too, that gives the unit Magic Resistance (-2). That is a very good help against any magic missiles in particular.
As with all armies of Chaos, I expect them to advance fast. However, the additional unknown was how my opponent is going to divide his army, i.e., which units would form the main force, and which will be designated as a flanking force.
Unlike the opposing army, my own force did not change much from the previous game. I made some minor changes here and there, adding a model here and there. Taking away upgrades elsewhere. The main change was adding Drilled to Swordmasters for greater mobility. And adding second unit of Sisters. Here are the details:
Outcasts
Characters:
Noble: General, Great Weapon, Shield, Full Plate Armour, Sun Dragon, Blood of Caledor, Talisman of Protection, Seed of Rebirth - 321
Archmage: Level 3 Wizard, Battle Magic (Fireball, Curse of Arrow Attraction, Oaken Shield), Lore Familiar, Pure of Heart - 185
Core:
6 Ellyrian Reavers: Harbinger, Musician, Cavalry spears, Shortbows, Skirmishers, Ring of Fury - 153
6 Ellyrian Reavers: Harbinger, Musician, Cavalry spears, Shortbows, Skirmishers, Ring of Fury - 153
10 Elven Archers: Musician - 95
15 Lothern Sea Guard: Full Command, Shields, Ring of Doom - 207
Special:
5 Dragon Princes: Drakemaster - 192
10 Swordmasters of Hoeth: Bladelord, Drilled - 156
10 Swordmasters of Hoeth: Bladelord, Drilled - 156
10 White Lions of Chrace: Guardian - 146
10 White Lions of Chrace: Guardian - 146
1 Tiranoc Chariot - 75
1 Tiranoc Chariot - 75
Rare:
1 Great Eagle - 60
7 Sisters of Avelorn: High Sister, Ruby Ring of Ruin - 147
7 Sisters of Avelorn: High Sister, Hunter's Scorn - 132
Total: 2399
To begin with I intended to focus fire on a single target, if possible, to either weaken the enemy or to eliminate the unit entirely. This helps in bringing down even more dangerous opponents. For example, Chaos Knights have "only" 3+ armour save and every casualty means there is one less powerful enemy to fight in combat.
Second, distracting and diverting was important. I had quite a number of units that could be a first line that would tempt with early charges, then flee behind the second line of Swordmasters and White Lions. If executed well, that would potentially allow Elven elites to charge first and benefit from higher initiative on the turn they attacked.
Terrain
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| Terrain Details |
Forest - Woods, Difficult Terrain, Dangerous Terrain (Cavalry and Fly)
Impassible - Impassible Terrain, block Line of Sight
Ruin - Cover, Difficult Terrain, Dangerous Terrain (non-infantry units)
Field - Cover
Deployment and Scenario
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| Deployment of the Armies |
As per the scenario rules, we had to divide our forces prior to the deployment. Which units went were was announced after we both assigned them to each force. And after we both made a decision on which side of the battle field our respective flanking forces would deploy.
Heralds of Darkness put Chaos Knights (CK1) and two units of Marauder Horsemen (M2 and M3) on the East. High Elves sent Dragon Princes (DP), Ellyrian Reavers (ER2) and Tiranoc Chariot (TC2) on the same flank.
It had an immediate and interesting consequences. First, High Elves had to fit their main force in a much narrower corridor than in the case of a regular battle. What is more, their larger number of units perhaps was as much disadvantage as advantage in this set up. It was easier to anticipate where would they go. And by necessity, they had to deploy in a several lines, rather than single, wide formation.
Lat but not least, since both flanking forces deployed on the same side, outflanking of the enemy would be only possible when one wing overwhelms their opponent. It looks like both armies intended to engage quickly, so timing of the charges would be crucial.
This time High Elves manage to arrive to the battle field first and deployed on the South. What is more, this allowed them to get ready before the Heralds of Darkness and their seized the initiative.
Outcasts - Turn 1
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| Sisters of Avelorn single out Chaos Knights. |
The Outcasts moved their fast elements to the positions that allowed them to threaten the advance of their enemies. Although it was a bit crowded on the centre-South, the mobile Sisters of Avelorn were able to spot Chaos Knights and unleashed volleys at them. Nearby Reavers, Charioteers added their effort too. As a result, four hulking Knights were unhorsed. A great success at the start of the battle for the High Elves!
Outcasts: 0
Heralds of Chaos: 0
Heralds of Chaos - Turn 1
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| Rapid advance by the Heralds of Chaos |
Chaos Lord mentally sent the command to his units and even no single word was spoken, the army obeyed instantly. The main force deployed in the centre of the battle field advanced at a double. While the flanking force moved a bit slower, most likely to tempt Elves to commit early.
Chaos Sorceres and Warpfire Dragon unleashed the barrage of magic missiles and evil energy. Elven Archmage countered with swiftness and precision only Masters of the White Tower can weave winds of magic. And yet, some of the magic went through the defenses to claim lives of several Sea Guard marines.
Outcasts: 0
Heralds of Chaos: 0
Outcasts - Turn 2
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| First charges on the flanks |
Elves indeed decided to commit units to combat early. On the Western flank., Ellyrian Reavers hunted down warhounds, letting one escape.
More important fights took place on the East, however. Elven general, assisted by both Tiranoc Chariots, charged the Warpfire Dragon. However, the beast was intelligent and recognized the danger in time to withdraw. Charioteers smoothly steered into a new target and smashed into remaining Chaos Knights. The impact was so powerful that the Knights were crushed. Elves attempted to continue into Marauders Horsemen, but the momentum was not there anymore.
Early combats and fast movement of the multiple units resulted in limited targets opportunities for the Elves. Their shooters, thus, aimed at separate units. While the effort was not focused on a single enemy, every casualty counted.
Outcasts: 180
Heralds of Chaos: 0
Heralds of Chaos - Turn 2
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| Chaos army punches through the middle |
Elven shooting had an unwanted effect (for the Elves) that now smaller units of Chaos army were able to maneuver around Elven units, that initially blocked the path. Marauder Horsemen charged Ellyrian Reavres, who managed to hold for now.
Then Chaos Lord stormed out of his unit and attacked exposed Sisters of Avelorn. Their champion bravely challenged the enemy general, buying time for the rest of the unit to withdraw and regroup. That, however, allowed Chaos Lord to pursue into White Lions.
Chosen Chaos Knights, now led by Sorcerer Lord, moved at a double, barely noticing the presence of the Great Eagle. Chaos elite were eager to get into a fight with the Elven last line of defense, especially after another magic missile barrage destroyed entire unit of Elven Archers.
At the same time, the regiments on the East kept fighting as well. One group of Marauder Horsemen attacked Tiranoc Chariot while the other challenged proud Dragon Princes. Knights of Caledor counter-charged and won the fight, chasing their enemies away. Seeing this, the first unit of Marauder Horsemen were unnerved and were not able to inflict any damage on a single Tiranoc Chariot.
Outcasts: 180
Heralds of Chaos: 155
Outcasts - Turn 3
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| More and more units are committed to close combat |
The Outcasts fought hard not to lose the initiative and countered enemy attack. First, the General on Sun Dragon bravely charged the Warpfire Dragon to keep it occupied. At the same time, Tiranoc Chariots and Dragon Princes charged remaining Marauder Horsemen and drove them from the battle field. Hopefully, they would be back fast enough to assist their General.
In the centre, Swordmasters and White Lions attacked the most powerful enemy unit. Bladelord bravely accepted challenge from the Sorcerer Lord. His sacrifice helped the Elven units to struck hard. No less than five enemy knights fell down. However, they stubbornly kept on fighting.
Nearby, another Elven champion was killed by Chaos Lord, to help his companions to keep on fighting.
Outcasts: 489
Heralds of Chaos: 308
Heralds of Chaos - Turn 3
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| Ambushers finally arrive |
Marauder Horsemen on the West attempted to help their Sorcerer Lord and remaining Chaos Knights and charged Swordmasters. However, Warriors of Hoeth stroke down all of them and the fight continued.
Marauder Horsemen who lied in ambush finally arrived behind the Elven lines. But even with the element of surprise on their side, they failed to inflict much damage.
Finally, Chaos Lord unleashed his fury and even the usually stoic White Lions were overwhelmed and fled the battle.
Outcasts: 636
Heralds of Chaos: 454
Outcasts - Turn 4
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| Chosen Chaos Knights are destroyed! |
Adopting the new situation and the new enemy, Sisters of Avelorn and Ellyrian Reavers moved in a way that allowed all three units to shoot at Marauder Horsemen. Only a single rider remained after they finished shooting.
Swordmasters and White Lions overwhelmed remaining Chosen Chaos Knights and even inflicted some damage on the Sorcerer Lord himself. Who promptly decided to perform tactical withdraw and avoided pursuers.
Elven General continued his fight against Warpfire Dragon as Charioteers have only returned to the battlefield. While Dragon Princes were not able to convince their mounts to charge the beast.
Outcasts: 1085
Heralds of Chaos: 454
Heralds of Chaos - Turn 4
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| Elven General withdraws from combat |
With all units practically gone, it was up to Chaos Army General, Sorcerers and Dragon to continue the fight. The
Sorcerers unleashed another barrage but this time, the Archmage was able to dispel almost all the spells. Those, that went through, were not of the power expected by the Sorcerers.
Then, Chaos Lord spurred his Daemonic mount and charged Ellyrian Reavers. They fled, so Chaos General made an attempt to attack Sisters of Avelorn. This time, however, the distance was too long.
Finally, in the titanic duel, the Warpfire Dragon started gaining upper hand. Seeing this, High Elf General managed to withdraw on the last possible moment.
Outcasts: 1115
Heralds of Chaos: 454
Outcasts - Turn 5
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| Tiranoc Chariots try to save the day |
Tiranoc Chariots, seeing that the Warpfire Dragon may start its rampage any time, tried to distract it again. Unfortunately, nearby Dragon Princes still were not able to attack the beast, so the charioteers attacked alone. Their charge was powerful and well coordinated. However, the dragon has just been toughened by the evil magic and what would normally be enough to harm it, bounced harmlessly off its thickened hide.
This brave attack, however, allowed Ellyrian Reavers and Elven General to move away to relative safety.
Sisters of Battle managed to single out the lone figure hiding in among the trees and the last Marauder Horsemen lost his live, his black heart pierced by the Arrow of Isha.
Elven Archmage was busy defending his army whole battle until now. He spotted a weakness in his counterpart magical shield and pushed with his own energy into the opening. Powerful Fireball found its way and Sorcerer Lord was turn into ashes.
Outcasts: 1576
Heralds of Chaos: 454
Heralds of Chaos - Turn 5
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| Chaos Lord seeks revenge |
Infuriated by Elven arrogance, Chaos Lord charges Sisters of Avelorn again. This time, there is no champion to step in and save them. Predictably, they lose the fight, break and are run down by the merciless Chaos General.
The Warpfire Dragon reduces one of the Chariots to splinters and is temporarily free again.
Outcasts: 1576
Heralds of Chaos: 676
Outcasts - Turn 6
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| Desperate attempt by the Swordmasters |
Dragon Princes clearly didn't want to fight the Warpfire Dragon, so in the desperate attempt to stop the beast from casting spells and attacking more vulnerable targets, Swordmasters charged it instead. Once again, the blows were not strong enough to inflict a single wound.
Last attempts by the Archmage to repeat his success and destroy Exalted Sorcerer as well failed as well.
Outcasts: 1576
Heralds of Chaos: 676
Heralds of Chaos - Turn 6
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| Last charges |
Chaos Lord, still thirsty for Elven blood, attacked Dragon Princes, who had no choice but to receive the charge. As many times before, Elven champion stepped out and challenged the enemy General. And once again, noble sacrifice saved the unit.
Also Swordmasters managed to hold the ground. With the last attempt by Exalted Sorcerer dispelled by Elven Archmage, Chaos Lord finally recalled him and his pet dragon. It was clear he was to come back as soon as he rebuilds his army. But for now, Elves could celebrate the hard won victory.
Summary
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| Turn-by-turn animation |
The score, adding one fourth of points for Elven General, who remained on single wound, was:
Outcasts: 1576
Heralds of Chaos: 756
However, Square Based rules apply 0.83 modifier to both armies, so the final score was:
Outcasts: 1308
Heralds of Chaos: 627
This means that, in the end, High Elves claimed 12:8 victory over Heralds of Darkness.
After-battle Analysis
As always, many thanks to my opponent for a great game! My first impression was that although there were no outflanking maneuvers this time and instead, we had quite a few frontal assaults, the game was quite dynamic.
What is more, both of us mentioned quite a few situations where things could have gone differently and where different decisions perhaps should have been made.
My opponent mentioned the following as his immediate reflections when we discussed the flow and outcome of the battle.
First, he most likely would have swapped the Knights and place the Chosen on the flank instead of the centre. That is one of the options worth considering, as their better armour save could have helped to avoid that much damage from the shooting.
Second, he thinks it was a mistake not to charge both Chariots with both units of Marauder Horsemen. He said he forgot Dragon Princes have counter charge special rule, that helped enormously in winning the combat.
He said he shouldn't have overrun with the Chosen Chaos Knights after getting rid of the Eagle. This exposed them to the combined charge of Swordmasters and White Lions. If he stayed, the distance didn't guarantee that both Elven units would make it into a combat together. If at all.
Finally, the charge of Marauder Horsemen into Swordmasters also backfired.
From my end, these situations alone show already how the battle could have gone differently. This is good because it means that the final outcome was never a guarantee. And that next time things can and will go differently.
Apart from that, I have some of my own observations.
It is clear to me that I need to give more thought on the deployment for scenarios. In this case, I didn't quite take into account that I would need to squeeze majority of my army in the middle. Perhaps I should have placed more units, such as Sisters, on the flank. However, I don't think it was obvious we would both choose the same side for flanking force. In this scenario these units can potentially be deployed on the opposite side, which would have created a different dynamics as well.
I gambled on having the first turn and this time it paid off. Against such a fast army, things would have gone differently if I didn't so I need to come up with a different idea for a more flexible deployment.
Shooting and magic were good, even if I was not able to show it with all the details during the report. Sisters of Avelorn were the best, obviously. With a very high ballistic skill and armour penetration from Bows of Avelorn and Arrows of Isha, they did more damage than I initially expected. I just need to learn to deploy and position them better, as they still got caught. In addition, I don't think I will be giving them Ring of Ruin. They need to be 24" away from the target to use it. While their bows have 30" range. That difference may matter when trying to avoid danger while at the same time, not using the Ring every turn feels like a waste.
Magic works well, I was able to cast almost all spells but they were quite often dispelled. I didn't show it in the report but I had Oaken Shield now and again, and Curse of Arrow Attraction went through as well.
At the same time, although I managed to dispel enemy spells often, "only" +2 to dispel is often too little to have an efficient magical defense.
Finally, I didn't quite use Rings that much. I either lost the champion/unit fast or didn't do much damage with it. I thus think I will be making some changes as to who carries which Ring to make them work more consistently.
The combats worked quite well in general. It was good to see Swordmasters and White Lions team up. The combination of Cleaving Blow with Furious Charge was powerful enough to overwhelm Chosen Knights. It was also helpful that I had Drilled on Swordmasters as I reformed them into a single line prior to combat, which added much needed attacks.
I was very happy with Chariots, that used their high speed and long charge range to great advantage. That helped to intercept enemy on the flank, especially when Dragon Princes failed to reach them, or when they kept failing terror tests.
One thing I also wanted to highlight is the usefulness of champions. On several occasions, not only their sacrifice reduced the number of wounds inflicted on the unit but also slowed the enemy down. However, with White Lions I noticed I tend to use their Stubborn on the turn they are charged and when the champion challenges the enemy character. That was probably a mistake as I needed this more the following turn, when they lost combat by a larger margin.
Another gamble, much more risky one, was charging the Warpfire Dragon with my General alone. I forgot that you cannot use Ward Saves when you are close to it. Which was quite problematic, as the Noble received more wounds. I also thought that the sheer number of attacks from various units I threw at it would help but I had no luck here. Perhaps if I was able to coordinate the attack from several directions at the same time but I kept failing those terror tests.
In the end, I managed to stop it for long enough and lost only a single chariot in the process. Although it was very close to killing my general which would have changed the things dramatically. Hence, I need to revise that as well and see if I can come up with the plan on how to contain that threat.
Hopefully, there will be one more opportunity for another episode in the series of battles between High Elves and Warriors of Chaos before the end of the year.
In the meantime, thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed the battle report!
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