Dark Elves Versus Ozzz: The River Battle

 Today Mat and I played another game with my army being the Dark Elves. Mat is enjoying the game premise so after this game we are going to play one last one where we do this scenario again but change sides. I decided to place a large river in the center of the table. It ends in a waterfall; This is where the access gap is. (I call it an access gap because it enables us to reach across a wider table. I find that a wider table delays contact between forces and thus more flexibility in tactics).

The composition of troops was similar to previous battles except I have added generals; I did this because making sorcerers and witches the generals meant that the chances of the leaders' demise was greater as they frequently perished form misspells. We have a list of random scenarios for loss of general, which includes armies surrendering or retreating. In this game. towards the end, one of the Ozzz armies had to 'stay in place' for five turns which meant they could not advance but only shoot. The Ozzz forces also had an extra cannon and mermen, hidden in the river depths until they randomly appeared from reserve. The dark Elves had an extra unit of wyches. (I am using the Dark Eldar spelling of wyches to distinguish from spell casting Ozzz witches).

A pattern was set today when Mat, with the Ozzz forces won the roll off to make me set up first and to go second. However, my reserve army came on fairly early in the game. Mat and I both were cautious in our first moves but then my Dark Elf archers on my right advanced through and by the forest and began to target Quadling musket men. The longbows actually out distanced the flintlocks. Unlike the musket men the archers could also, with a penalty, move a half move and shoot. On the other hand the musket fire nullified much of the armor of the dark Elves and reduced Cold One saves from 2+ to 4+.

The Dark Elf forces managed to avoid the artillery fire for much of the game. They ignored the possibilities of advance in the open from my right flank and dared the Quadlings to advance instead but they refused the invitation. My Black Guard held this area but never saw combat. My ballista misfired and collapsed!

My archers, on this flank could not be ignored and Mat sent in his Winkie Guard and then a skeleton column. Combined fire from my sorceress and archers destroyed the Winkie guard column, all but one man who bravely charged - and was peppered with fatal arrows! The skeleton warriors were more successful and plowed into the archers and sorceress, pushing them back through the forest. But then a wych unit entered the fray and the skeleton warriors were destroyed.

Meanwhile a massive cavalry charge was launched from my right flank. The ranks were depleted by Munchkin artillery but not enough to halt the charge. The Munchkin cavalry bore the brunt but held out for a while. The munchkin militia, under Dorothy's leadership and a charge by allied wolves eventually defeated a unit of cavalry.

Other fighting occurred between the hydra and the Ozzz allied mermen in which the former triumphed. The Ozzz giant fought off harpies but then was charged by wyches. One wych was sent hurtling into the manticore. However the wyches poisoned attacks helped to kill the giant.

By move 12 the Dark Elf forces were well into the enemy deployment zone and the Cold Ones were a huge threat. Mathew conceded the battle rather than dicing to see if the game continued.

Below: Glenda's Quadling Guard exchange shots with Dark Elf long bows.

                                Glenda has appointed General Cordial to coordinate her army.

                            After a charge by Dark Elf cavalry the militia hold out, although much reduced in numbers. Dorothy has made them stand firm and the charge into the melee by the Ozzz wolves has helped the militia survive.

         The massive Dark Elf cavalry column advances on the enemy's right. The manticore is flying overhead.

     The giant Eagle attacks dark Elf archers but the latter defeat it with the help of the manticore.

 The manticore chomps its way through the scarecrows. The latter survive a number of rounds but soon the field is littered with straw.

                                            Winkie forces turn up to bolster the Quadling forces.

             The Ozzz giant battles a harpy attack until he finally swats them into retreat. Then the wyches attack. They rake him with poisoned attacks. The giant picks up one wych and hurls her at the manticore - to little affect, except on the wych who is knocked unconscious.

                       Munchkin militia and guard before they were attacked by Dark Elf cavalry.

                                                     The wyches triumph over the giant.

                       The mermen suddenly appear in the river and at the Dark Elf rear but the beast master sends in his hydra. he waits on the bank as his armor would have sunk him. The mermen manage to sever some of the hydra's heads but they keep growing back. in the end the mermen retreat back down the river.

                                                        Dark Elf sorceress and archers

                                          The Dark Elf riders on Cold Ones enter the field.

                                         The charge on the Quadling guard decimates them.

                                     The witch's power is insufficient to help the guard.

                            An earlier stage of the battle between Dark Elf cavalry and militia

                                              The Dark Elf commander urges his minions on.

REFLECTIONS ON THE GAME AND RULES

We used many of the Warhammer rules and stats for the game. I quite like the various rules and stats for monsters and non-human forces. On the other hand we did not use every rule; for example, we did not have a separate charge move or have penalties for units for changing direction except for simply measuring from the far corner of the unit when it did so. Also the rules we used for melee victory were simply that on winning a round of melee the defeated unit is pushed back 20 cm (or 10 cm if it has a friendly unit it is pushed into). Cavalry and artillery are not pushed back. On reaching under 50 % a unit throws a d12 for leadership/morale and if it fails it  retreats until it can rally. There is a penalty to leadership for being under half strength and under one quarter strength.

Because we are playing with 1/32 scale figures we roughly double the distances stated in Warhammer. There are no Munchkins and Gillikins in Warhammer so I just gave them my own stats with low  strength and toughness and shorter movement.

The Age of Sigmar rules are not ones we use as I am unfamiliar with them and quite like many of the old Warhammer rules.

As mention in an earlier post, the Ozzz wizards and witches use the Wars of Ozzz magic rules but the Dark Elf sorceresses use the Warhammer ones.

On reflection I would have made the Dark Elves weaker by giving them fewer number or fewer beasties or I would have given some stronger close combat creatures to the Ozzzralites. One giant and a great Eagle were not enough. Alternatively, a more open battlefield might have given the Ozzz forces more opportunities to use their cannon. However, next game will just be a replay of this last game. I am not confident that, as the Ozzz commander, I can defeat the Dark Elves. Dark Elves have won all three battles so far but I like a challenge.