Battle Report- Empire Vs Wood Elves II

(9/18 at Games Workshop, Oak Park) 1250 points
Army Lists

The Empire- (John)

1 Mounted Captain ( Army General)

1 Battle Standard Bearer (Captain)

1 Battle Wizard (Lv 2)

24 Swordsmen- Full Command

10 Free Company (detachment)

5 Archers ( detachment)

10 Handgunners- Marksman w/ HLR

5 Archers (detachment)

10 Crossbowmen, Full Comand

5 Knights - Musician, Preceptor

5 Pistoliers- w/ Outrider

Great Cannon w/ crew

The Wood Elves- (Felix)

Spellsinger (Army General, lv 2)

Spellsinger (Mounted Captain, Lv 2)

Wood Elf Noble

10 Glade Guard

5 Glade Riders

8 Dryads

10 Wardancers

5 Wild Riders

5 Waywatchers

Deployment- I deploy first, my BSB is attached to my block of swordsmen
my Wizard is attached to my Crossbowmen chooses the Lore of Life, His spells are "Mists of the Marsh" and "The Rain Lord" I have four power dice and 3 dispel dice. My wizard also has the wizards staff allowing my to use all 4 power dice for one spell.

Felix's attaches his General to the Gladeguard, who's spells are "Fury of the Forest" and :Ariel's blessing" his Noble to the Wardancers and his other Spellsinger is mounted and attached to the Glade Riders, His captains spells are "tree singing" and "twilight host"Felix's has 6 power dice, 4 Dispel Dice and each wizard has a power stone.

(deployment - John)

(deployment- Felix)

Turn 1- Empire

Movement -My deployment was somewhat botched with my units abit too close together. I should have deployed my crossbows and handgunners 10 wide instead of moving 2" and changing my frontage after I moved everyone forward. As it stood doing so led me to get my knights stuck behind my staggered shooting units. My Pistoliers double move 16 inches toward Felix's Wild Riders

Magic- My Wizard chooses the Lore of Life, my spells were Mists of the Marsh and The Rain Lord, I try to cast "the rain lord" and its is easily dispelled by felix


Shooting- My Cannon "misfires' but I roll a "6" so it "may not shoot". After repositioning my shooters the only unit that has LoS on a target and isnt "move or fire" is my Swordsman detachment of archers, the line up the dryads at longrange and all miss.

Close Combat- None

Turn 1- Wood Elves


Movement- Wild Riders charge my Pistoliers, I wanted to stand and shoot, but somehow I spaced out they cause fear when my made my initial move. I fail the leadrship and they break and I roll some shitty low number and they are easily overun and killed. The Glade Riders, Dryads and Wardancers all advance toward me.

Magic- the Mounted Spellsinger trys to cast Tree Singing and I Dispel it.

Shooting- Glade Guard Shoots at my Crossbowmen, killing 2, Waywatchers who Felix had deployed last and in a great position kill 3 more Crossbowmen.

Close Combat- none


(Turn 1, Felix- my Pistolier run from the Wild Riders, unfortunately they don't run fast enough)
Turn 2 - Empire

Movement- Still to far away for my foot troops to charge and my knights are blocked from doing much so I move everyone trying to get a better reposition on his advancing units, I get my units reposition properly for whats coming.

Magic- My Wizard again uses my dice to try to cast "the Rain Lord" on the Glade Guard..but with two wizards Felix's 4 Dispel dice say - NOPE

Shooting- Fortunately although my Pistoliers were overrun in turn1, those Wild Riders are close enough to my Cannon that I can break out the Grape Shot. Dropping down the template I see I have three directs and partial I roll a "10" on the Artillery die meaning S10 hits..3 Wild Riders die. My handgunners, archer detachment shoots at the Waywatchers and misses.

Close Combat- None

Turn 2 - Wood Elves

Movement- Dryads charge my Swordsman block, Wild Riders Charge my Cannon and Crew that just blasted them. They cause fear causing my crew to run away, they roll a 10" move and easily get away. Wardancers move to postion for next round. Shooters stay put.

Magic- Each of Felix's Wizards has a powerstone and uses it, putting all the dice he can into one spell each. The Mounted Spellsinger with the glade riders attempts to cast "The Twilight Host" on the Wardancers but I use my three dice and get lucky to dispel it. The Spellsinger General cast "Fury of the Forests" on my Knights who are set up to charge the Waywatchers next round. somehow I forget I my wizard has a dispel scroll and don't use it, don't ask how I forget this
I chalk it up to only having played a dozen games at this point. anyway I lose 2 knights.

Shooting- The Glade Riders pick off 2 of me from my 5 man Archer Detachment with my swordsmen. Waywatchers shoot and miss.

Close Combat- Dryads have charged my Swordsman, I have countercharged with my Free Company Detachment however they all miss, a Dryad in back rank attacks the FC and kills 1, the front rank Dryads kill 4 swordsman and in response my BSB kills 1 dryad. CR is kills 5 to 1 but I outnumber +1, have +3 on the extra ranks, two banners +2, for CR of 7-5, Felix takes a break test at +2 and makes it. The Dryads hold.

( Turn 2- The Swordsmen and Dryads in Close Combat)

Turn 3- Empire

Movement- My knights charge the waywatchers who decide to flee but Felix rolls very low on his fleeing dice and even over the difficult terrain my knights easily run them down. My General postions himself to be able to charge in the flank of close combat of swordmen/dryads on the next turn. My fleeing Cannon crew rallies and gets ready to return to the cannon.

Magic- Third try casting "the rain lord" on Felix's Glade Guard...while I successfully cast the spell, it is easily dispelled.

Shooting- My Handgunners, Crossbows and Archer detachment continue their shooting war with the Glade Guard i manage to kill 2 and put 1 wound on his Spellsinger General with my marksman with the Hochland Long Rifle. His General tried to escape the wound with the "look out sir" rule but failed the roll.

Close Combat- My Knights have killed all the fleeing waywatchers. The Dryads only manage to Kill 2 Swordsmen, while my BSB killed 2 Dryads and my Sgt. kills 1. CR is a base Kills WE 2 , Emp 3, while I have- extra rank +3 outnumber +1, Flank (FC) +1 and 2 Banners +2 for a 10-2 result. with +8 to the roll the Dryads easily break and run. I choose to pursue but do not catch them.


Turn 3- Wood Elves

Movement- Felix's Wardancers charge my Swordsmen pursuing the fleeing Dryads, His Glade Riders, charge my remaining unit in my Swordsmen's Archer Detachment, his Wild Riders charge my uncrewed cannon ( we made a rules error here as you will see shortly)

Magic- The Spellsinger General again cast "Fury of the forest" on my knights but this time I dispel it.

Shooting- His Glade Guard shoots at my Knights who are getting two close for comfort to his General he lands two hits ,but I save them.

Close Combat- Wild Riders charge the Cannon, in reality it should have just been destroyed, however we where confused by the cannon stats and while his riders automatically hit it with a WS 0, Their Str of 4 needs a "6" to wound Str 7, So the Wild riders couldn't damage the Cannon. I later award Felix the Cannon points when we discover the error, how that would have effected the final outcome we don't know.

The Glade Riders charge my archer detachment, who held hoping to block them for a turn, the archers lose two and the last one breaks and runs and I roll pretty high on the move the Riders choose to try to persue but don't catch him
and fortunately for them they come toward me enough that they line themselves up to be charged next round by my General who sitting there alone as the last Swordsmen CC had moved on.

The Wardancers charged my Swordsmen, my Free Company had countercharged gets lucky and kills a Wardancer, he kills 4 swordsmen, and the swordsmen kill 1 Wardancers the CR for the swordsmen, the CR is WE 4- Emp 2 base while I have extra rank +2, outnumber +1, Flank +1, 2 Banners +2 making it an 8-4 result in my favor, with +4 on the break test, the Wardancers run, I pursue again but they easily get away.


(Turn 3, post grape shot, with my Crew Fleeing, the remaining Wild Riders assault the cannon
note how we botched that)

Turn 4- Empire

Movement- My General charges the Glade Riders with the Spellsinger Captain., its 6 vs 1, but I am not too concerned with the Sword of Sigismund "always striking 1st" and a 1+ AS, he is quite durable. Both my Free Company and Swordsmen Charge The Wardancers who are fleeing and I hope to overrun them, which would hand me the game. but they get to move as well roll an "11" getting away easily. my Knight spend there whole move reforming in a diffrent direction so they charge the Glade Guard and Spellsinger General in turn 5. My rallied Cannon Crew marches back up the hill and is two inches short of recrewing the cannon.

Magic- My Wizard attempts to cast "the rain lord" for the 4th time and it is dispelled

Shooting- Crossbowmen and Archer detachment kill two more Glade Guard.

Close Combat- My General kills three of the five Glade Riders, leaving the Spellsinger capt and 2 riders.I will CR 3 -1 (for outnumber) but even with +2 Felixs men stay.

Turn 4- Wood Elves

Movement- Wardancers rally and reform getting ready to take my charges next round, The wild riders cant charge my cannon crew as the cannon is in the way, so they hold, The 2 remaining Dryads rally as well.

Magic- the Spellsinger General staring at my three knights who are going to charge him next round casts"fury of the forest", Felix's casting roll is "14" my dispel is "11" so he succeeds and kills 2 of my three knights. My lone Knight, the Preceptor makes his leadership test to remain alone. Note: I am again completely forgeting my wizard has a "dispel scroll", what a waste.

Shooting- The Glade Guard and General shoot down three more of my crossbowmen.

Close Combat- The Glade Riders attack my General and come up empty, my response is that I kill another Glade Rider. CR is 1 to 1 a draw.

( Turn 4, My General takes down some Glade Riders)

Turn 5- Empire

Movement - Here during "Declare Charges", I do something incredibly stupid that costs me the game and that I wont ever do againMy Swordsmen and Free Company detachment are staring down the rallied and reformed 8 Wardancers. Due to unit movements during my pursuit when the Wardancers previously broke, my Free Company is out ahead of my Swordsmen by about the depth of their move tray. Eyeballing the distance between my Swordsmen and the Wardancers, I realize that I need to be within 8 inches to charge. My Free Company are clearly in range, but my Swordsmen appear to be just short. Stupidly I declare a "Charge" with Free Company and "Hold" with Swordsmen, while a "Failed Charge" would have given me the same result, it turns out when we measure afterward they WERE IN RANGE. If had take a minute and done the math on the dice rolls, I should have realized this and just charged with both. The stupidity wasn't that I wasn't sure of the range and held, that's prudent, the stupidity was charging my Free Company period. IF I had just held both unit and taken the Wardancers charge next turn, I could have counter-charged and had flank and outnumber bonuses to my CR, and had the same chance of killing a Wardancer. As stood charging the unit alone was suicide and I got none of the bonuses.. I supposed I was thinking If the FC could survive the round, I could get my General (whose coming up from the rear) into fray at the same time as my Swordsman and finish them. Elsewhere my Preceptor charges the remaining few Glade Guard with the Spellsinger General and My Cannon Crew moves up and recrews the cannon.

Magic- My Wizard finally gets a sucessful "Rain Lord" off on Felix's Glade Guard who ironically after 4 tries are now going into close combat and won't be using bows.

Shooting- My Handgunners have been at an odd angle with left most direct field of view on the Wood Elf General, while right hand side has LoS to the two remaining Wild Riders...and I manage to kill one. Leaving my 3 man cannon crew to fight the lone wild rider.

Close Combat- my Free Company numbering 7 men charges the wardancers gets their 10 attacks, and doesn't score a wound. The Wood Elves response is expected. I take four dead and the remaining three rout, forcing my Swordsmen to take their own break test but they pass ( another unnecessary, result of my dumb move.) The Wardancers choose not to pursue as I know whats coming as when its Felix's turn I get payback I deserve for doing something so dumb. Elsewhere my General kills another glade rider I win combat and the Spellsinger captain breaks and runs, I pursue and catch and kill him. My Preceptor charges the General and his Glade Guard..I kill one more GG. CR is tie.

Turn 5- Wood Elves

Movement- Wardancers Charge my Swordsmen, The lone Wild Rider charges my cannon crew
Seeing the end of game is near Felix wisely moves his two remaining dryads into the his right table quarter for points.

Magic- Spellsinger General casts "Aerials Blessing" as his General has a wound, I dispel it and am hoping my preceptor can finish her

Shooting- none

Close Combat- the Wardancers, including a unit champion and a Wood Elf Noble do the their dances and unloaded and insane amount of attacks somewhere in the neighborhood of 20 attacks, my saves are pretty lousy and I lose 10. yes I said TEN swordsmen, I get lucky on the response and my BSB kills 2 wardancers but the CR base WE 10, Emp 2. He outnumbers +1, I get + 1 Rank and +2 banners for an 11 to 5, at +6 I need to roll insane courage to make my 8 leadership, I roll a "3" close but not enough they break and run, Felix pursues and runs the last 4 guys down killng them ( I forgot my BSB reroll, but the odd throwing snake eyes where slim to none) The Lone Wild rider charges my cannon crew, they save the fear. and the Rider kills one crewman the other two crewman respond and kill the Rider, (yeah cannon crew). The Spellsinger and Glade Guard miss my preceptor. He kills another GG, making CR another tie.

(turn 5- Bad move, my Free Company goes it alone)


(Turn 5- Wardancers mow thru my Swordsmen, FC s routing, General is not yet in the combat he tried!)

Turn 6- Empire

Movement- my General who was heading for the Wardancers seeing the swordsmen go down, decides taking the remaining 6 wardancers down just isnt feasible so he heads over to Felix's left Table quarter to score.

Magic- my wizard cast s 2 mistress of the marsh trying to slow down both the Spellsinger General and the Wardancers, Felix dispels the one, but the other succeeds although we definitely forgot the Wardancers magic resistance, its doesnt really matter.

Shooting - Cannon shoots at Wardancers, my intial guess is good but again I roll a 10 on the arty die shooting wayover thier heads. My Handgunners shoot a full volley at the Wardancers all 10 shots miss the mark.
Crossbows and archers have no target.

Close Combat- My Preceptor misses all his targets (Felix saves) I lose combat and fail my break test and he runs. I roll a 8 on 3d6, Felix pursues and rolls double 6"s on 2d6- another full unit dead for me.

Turn 6- Wood Elves

Movement- Wardancers are slowed moving only 5 inches they cant reach either my handgunners or cannon crew but they challenge the quarter.

Magic- Spellsinger General casts another "Fury of the Forest" on my Wizard and crossbows, I dispel it.

Shooting- His General and last few GG shoot and kill my last couple crossbows, the Wizard alone breaks and runs felix is too far to bother to pursue, in retrospect he probably should have as he would have challenged the quarter as my archer detachment was the lone non-fleeing unit in the quarter.

Close Combat- none.


(Turn 6- His GG and General finish off my Crossbows and send my Wizard running in the bottom of turn 6)

SCORING

Empire

Enemy Units Destroyed - 525

Spellsinger Captain - 137
Glade Riders- 120
Wild Riders-148
Waywatchers- 120

Enemy Units at 1/2 str - 108

Dryads 2 of 8 - 48
Glade Guard- 60

Captured table quarters- 200

Empire Total 833


Wood Elves

Enemy Units Destroyed - 792

Battle Standard Bearer 120
Swordsmen 179
Archer Detachment 40
Crossbowman 100
Knightly Orders 139
Pistoliers 114
Great Cannon 100

Enemy Units a 1/2 str- 25

Free Company Militia 3 of 10

Captured table quarters- 100

Captured units standards- 100

Captured Battle Standard- 100

Wood Elves total -1117

Point difference- Wood Elves + 284

Result -Wood Elves -MARGINAL VICTORY

(next week- 1500 points!)