And now for something completely different! OnG vs De 2000pts

So how about a change in armies? For this 3rd game I had already packed up the Empire and THEN got the green light from the boss that I could have a 3rd game. Sorted. Result-grab the orcs off the shelf and give them a go. I've always loved the orc army with its unpredictability and amazing hitting power, so looking forward to being in the driver's seat instead of the traffic officer's!

The list I took:
Warboss: AP sword, Armour of Destiny, Crown of Command
Orc lvl4
BSB, HA, Sh, 4+ ward
Gobbo lvl1
Gobbo lvl1: scroll
20 Orc boyz: FC
18 Savage Orc big uns: FC
2x5 wolfriders: spears
2x2 gobbo chariots
6 trolls
Pumpwagon
2 manglers
Doomdiver
Rocklobba

I was up against:
lvl4: +1 power dice, Dark lore
lvl2: scroll, fire
Cauldron bsb (played in the movie by a chariot base)
23 Spears: FC
5 harpies
5 Darkriders
2x10 xbows
2x5 shades
2x15 Black Guard: FC (one with flame and the other the infamous gobbo guard)
Hydra

So an interesting match up. We rolled the standard old pitched battle, so a good old punch up...just what the doctor ordered.
So we deployed:

As you can see the DElves went for a solid "line" while I went for a "run stuff at the line" approach. I really wanted to get out of my usual defensive orientated play style and see how much damage I could unleash. Basic plan was to see what of my fast stuff would reach his line before the boyz reach the line to clean up. Nice and simple.

Turn 1
So all the Orc enthusiasm for a bit of fisty cuffs paid off and they went first. However, the warboss's unit got a little TOO enthusiastic and beat each other up instead (rolled a 2). To be honest, I instantly regretted placing the manglers in front of the unit in case I rolled a 6 on the animosity table! The pump wagon got off the block with a 4 dice pump into the darkriders. The rest of the army stumbled forward annoyed there was nothing in charge range.

So I have to apologise for the slight dally into "normal" tactics with the trolls, however I have the excuse that the boyz didn't move. The winds of magic were not that kind giving 4v3 phase. I threw all the dice at vindictive glare, sneaking it through and killing 4 shades. In the shooting phase the doomdiver kills 2 of the flaming Black Guard. In combat, the Pumpwagon does a mighty 3 impact hits, killing 3. The horses do one wound back and the snotlings kill 1. The darkriders hold.

So the Dark Elves get off the block with the harpies flying into one of the mangler. The gobbo Guard get a 5+ ward from the cauldron.

The winds of magic blow kindly on the Darkelves, granting a 12 v 8 phase. The lvl2 starts on a bad note by failing to cast a 3d6 fireball. The lvl4, seizing the initiative, starts with a humble 2 dice Power of Darkness. This is however cast with IF (2nd time in 2 games...). Rolled a 10, lost 3 lvls, then generated 4 dice that killed the lvl4 as it could not cast with the generated dice. Ouch.
In the shooting phase, 40 xbow bolts = dead mangler. The shades shot at the wolfriders killing 1. I the combat, the Pump wagon killed the last Dark rider.

Turn 2
Testing the wind, the gobbo chariots line up the Gobbo Guard and charge, both making it into combat. The pumpwagon, getting caught up in the fun thunder into the Flaming Black guard.  The rest of the army moved in, feeling that they might miss out on all the fun.

The magic phase is a let down. 'eadbutt gets scrolled and the glare gets dispelled. The shooting phase is also a downer. The doomdiver misses by a million miles and the rocklobba kills 2 spears. Down to the real Orc phase, the Pumpwagon goes first, rolling over 8 Blacj guard before being finally cut down. The chariots, with 4d6+4 impact hits crushes the Gobbo guard under hoof (or is it paw???). The left unit overruns into the lvl2 (clipped it grrrr) and the other unit combo charges the xbow units.

 The spears then paniced and ran off the board thanks to the tactically placed wolfriders...


So starting the feel a little bit like the 1600point game in reverse, the Hydra goes for broke and charges into the Trolls. The Black Guard charge the flank of the chariots in combat with the xbows.  Cauldron gives the Black Guard +1 attack

I scroll the magic phase. In the shooting phase, the lvl1 with the glare takes a wound from the solo shade shooting it and the other shades fail to wound the lvl4. In combat, the lvl2 is run over. The other chariot unit does 6 wounds to the left xbow unit and4 to the right before being cut down my the Black Guard. This then panics the other chariots who flee 7 inches. In the troll combat, the Hydra is 1 wound short of breaking steadfast, so the trolls hold, failing to wound the hydra.

Turn 3
So, the warboss wanting to add a few Hydra heads to his collection charges into the flank of the hydra with his boyz, while the Savage big un's advance on what remains of the Dark Elf line.

The wolf riders decide to charge the xbows to try and break them while the other unit moved to do the same to the other unit.

A 10 v 6 dice magic phase starts with a shot at sneaky stabbing on the Boyz, which is wisely stopped. This gave me a 3d6 vindictive glare at the solo shade, smiting him many times over.
In the combat, the handlers target the BSB, doing nothing. The warboss swings his mighty axe at the hydra inflicting 2 wounds, the BSB follows suit doing 1 wound. The boyz, do 1 wound. The hydra, much wounded hits out at the warboss, failing to do any damage. The Trolls, then get the final killing blow in, slapping the hydra down with half eaten fish. What a nice team effort that was!

So we ended the game there, as the final result was a given. My artillery and magic would chase the last unit of shades, and my savage big uns would walk all over what remained of the Black Guard, while the wolfriders would either win or hold the combats with the much reduced xbows, allowing the savage big uns to mop up.

Post Battle
So a refreshing change of pace...thinking I should become an orc player by trade haha. Though I personally would swap out the trolls for squig handlers as they are not stupid, pack a hell of a punch, better steadfast, can take buildings, freeing up the big uns-who need a shrunken head- and are not i1...as much as I love the troll models. The chariots definetly demonstrated the fragile nature of the Dark Elves. Also the REAL BAD LUCK in losing the lvl4 turn 1 was painful, compounded by the trolls holding vs the hydra. Would the lvl4 made a difference? The only spell post lvl4 dying that made a difference was the 3d6 glare vs the remaining shade. I might have had to dodge a doom and darkness or a magic missile at the chariots, but I think my fast stuff still would have got through. If it had not, I had plenty of bodies in hot pursuit.

I really like the Orc list (except the trolls instead of handlers...) and my usual opponent will most likely retire the Dark elves at 2000 point level in favour of the orcs and the Warriors, which is a shame as the Dark elves can be very nasty-but are rather finicky to use. I do however want to run my High Elves vs them in a 2000 point game once they are up and running (I have leave coming up for just that purpose...). 

Remathc: Empire vs Dark Elves 2000 points Blood and Glory

No sooner had I got all my models back on their movement trays from the last game, we rolled another mission: blood and glory. My Empire army is rather good at this mission has I have a solid punch unit that has no banners that I can throw at stuff where needed. My Halberds are also used extremely defensively, so I rarely get out manouvered and get them stuck in unfavourable combats. Then again, my General has a massive 4+/6++ parry and t4 with 2 wounds to keep him going...

So my list:
lvl4: scroll, light
W.Priest: HA, SH, bad ass attitude (general)
W.Priest: Ha, 2hw, smug look on face and feels left out (queue Dark Angels style saga)
BSB: FPA, Charmed shield, Opal Amulet, immunity to hatred and other silly conditions
10 xbows: super sniper shooting ability, yet cant turn and shoot if asked
30 flagellants: crazed look and bounce lighting
46 Halberds: FC and Valten
5 Sisters of Sigmar detachment (free company)
46 Halberds: FC and some guy with shield that I havnt named yet
5 Sisters of Sigmar detachment (free company)
5 Pistoliers: M, suicidal tendencies
2 cannons: faulty barrels
1 Mortar: cork in the end

The army lined up on the other side was this:
lvl4: +1 powerdice Darkness
lvl2: scroll, fire
BSB with cauldron (in the movie depicted by chariot base)
23 Spears: FC
2x10 xbows
5 Dark riders
5 Harpies
2x5 Shades
2x15 Black Guard: FC (one unit is pressed ganged goblins who will be referred to as the "Gobbo Guard")
Hydra

From my count I have 6 and Delves have 6 as well...

SO we deployed our armies and we looked like this:

The Darkelves more efficient set up meant they went first after our fast calv had been vanguarded. The turn started well with the Gobbo Guard passing animosity. The shades moved in from their isolated positions on the left of the board. One of shade units (no in pic above) basically had a 4/5 turn goal of taking out all the artillery and I had no way/intention of stopping them (at least they weren't doing annoying stuff + my artillery usually explodes before they get a chance to take them out). The spears are given a 5+ ward. Note the darkriders in a really scary position...

The Magic phase however was a huge game changer. The lvl4 started with an IF 2 dice power of darkness, promptly became a lvl2 and lost power of darkness  and the ws/bs hex. Thanks to the ward however, the lvl4 suffers no wounds from the generated dice it can no longer use. The lvl2, feeling left out by all the excitement then IF's a flame cage on the flagellants killing 2. The lvl2 however rolls it a little too close to the edge and gets sucked into the warp, killing 2 harpies. The remaining harpies then flee 6 inches towards the Empire line. The shooting phase results in the Sisters of Sigmar on the too big movement tray being wiped out and 1 xbow dying to the dark riders.

Ok: so a lot just happened! The Empire turn starts with the Halberds now detachment-less declaring a charge on the harpies who flee back to their original position. My Pistoliers move to shoot the Black Guard and redirect the spears. My lvl4's unit turn to face the Darkriders.

In a 5v4 magic phase 1 Dark rider dies to a magic missile and I get a 3dice net on the Black guard (horrible dispel roll). Shooting wise, my xbows, having an easy to hit target, fail to kill any black guard while the pistoliers manage to kill 1. On queue, the mortar misfires and 1 cannon misfires-not able to shoot next turn. The other cannon puts 3 wounds on the hydra.

Turn 2
Once again, no animosity on the Gobbo Guard. The harpies fail to rally and flee into this nice position:

On the other side of the battlefield, The shades move right up to the cannon, hoping to shoot it to bits and then charge the 2nd cannon next turn. The spears also rearrange themselves. One of the shade units is in the building.

A 9 vs 8 magic phase manages to get my scroll out of the way with a 5 Dice black horror, while soul stealer is dispelled. The shooting phase is interesting as the shades put 1 wound on the cannon (must have been the OTHER unit that has the awesome anti warmachine shooting abilities...). The shades in the building kill 2 pistoliers who flee across the Dark Elf line. The darkriders kill ANOTHER xbow (why they didn't just charge I do not know). 2 Halberds die and the flagellants dodge all arrows.

SO the Pistoliers rally. With the movement of the sisters, look where any overrun puts the spears...

So basically the overrun will pull the spears into the pistoliers allowing me to flank with Valten with an overrun into the Black Guard...who said tactics were dead in 8th?
Of course the point of this is to stop the charge from the spears and instead draw out the Black Guard who will fall into the same problem-either reform and get combo squished/awkward position to be in (pistols charge the cauldron or the xbows etc to allow the halberds to swing in) or over run and get combo squished. 

My magic phase was an exact copy of my last one, expect 3 Darkriders die and the spears (+lvl4/2) are netted instead to hopefully completely shut down the magic phase.
The mortar takes aim and kills 6 xbows while the working cannon bounced off the hydra.

Turn 3
So the shades charge the cannon. The harpies flee 6. The 5+ ward is given to the spears who are feeling the heat. The Hydra comes out to play hoping to burninate the villiagers.

(note the xbows turned to line up the darkriders...silly move).
The Magic phase COULD have been scary (11v7), however the net held tight to the unit, killing 1  spear with 1 armour save, and 3 wards saving the other 4 wounds. The hydra then gets burninating,  killing 7 flagellants with its s2 breath. Another 4 halberds die to shooting and the lone darkrider, being consistent, kills 1 xbow. In the combat, I was hoping for heroics, but the cannon died and the shades overran into the other cannon.

In reply, the Flagellants, annoyed at being burnt, charged the hydra.  The rest of my army shuffles about exploiting the traps set, waiting to pounce when best suits. In the magic phase, the net gets recast on the spears and Valten's halberds get pha's protection-just in case someone tries something risky. The xbows, with nothing to shoot at, kill a harpy...nothing like shooting a running victim JUST as it is about to get to safety. The mortar then targets the Gobbo Guard who are 1 turn away threatening the flagellants, killing 6. In the combat, The handlers manage to kill 1 flagellant who in return (with re-roll to hit and wound) slay the mighty hydra and hold its head(s) up high. They then soo caught up in their celebrating that they only overrun 2 inches. The other cannon dies and the shades over run 6.

Turn 4
The shades charge the cannon and the harpies run off the board. The lvl2 passes a strength test and hops out of the spears as their demise + the lvl2 would lose the game.

The Gobbo Guard swift reform into a single line and get +1 attack from the cauldron. In the magic phase, soul stealer is unsuccessfully cast on the halberds. Shooting results in the pistoliers being wiped out-Sisters hold the line, and 4 flagellants dying. In the combat, the mortar crew are not completely wiped out, but are run down anyway, the shades copying the flagellants and moving 2 inches.


The Flagellants, sensing a trap, declare a charge on the xbows who flee. THey then try to redirect into the Gobbo guard, but the distance is too great and they stumble forward in an intimidating way. The stalemate is then ended with the Sisters throwing themselves at the Blackguard, giving Valten room to launch on into the spears.

I then move the lvl4's unit so the light buffs affect everyone.

To make matters better, I then roll 12 Powerdice. I get a big pha's illusion off, big speed of light is stopped, so the 2hw W. Priest gives himself a 4+ ward seeing as he is on the edge with some very angry Black Guard just wanting to flank him if the spears hold. In the combat, the spears kill 5, and Valten's loyal bodyguards kill 13, breaking the steadfast and running the spears down and reforming to face the black guard, out of the Black Guard overrun path. The sister's died an honourable death for the greater good.

Turn 5
So the Black Guard charge the other horde of halberds with +1 attack. IF they can break that unit, then they win the game. The xbows rally. The Cauldron moves to block Valten's valiant men.

in an 11v8 magic phase, Soul stealer and Black Horror are stopped, letting bladewind through, which kills 5 halberds from 11 attacks (thank you pha's). In the combat, the Black Guard kill 14 halberds who kill 10 in return. They pass a nail biting steadfast test.

So what to do? Valten and his men + feeling left out W.Priest charge the Cauldron. The Flagellants also launch themselves at the Gobbo Guard.

With the power of pre measuring, the lvl4 can buff all combat units :D
I the magic phase I get a big speed of light off with pha's failing to cast. The xbows, now with a target to shoot, kill 2 shades who hold.
In the combats, the Flagellants blink and the Gobbo guard are gone! The Halberds wipe out the Black Guard, while Valten, the W. Priest and 4 trusted lieutenants kill the bodyguards of the cauldron. The Hag cuts down 3 halberds in return and holds her ground. As the dust settled, the Dark Elves realised they had no fortitude, stopped fighting, shook hands with the Empire troops and left the battlefield in an orderly manner.

Post Battle

So a convincing win for the Empire. I lost my chaff and artillery, which was to be expected, and held all my banners. There was no "turning point" per say, just 2 really unfortunate IF's in the first turn. If the lvl4 had stayed a lvl4 my magic defence would have stopped most of the magic as it usually does. However, the unknown that is the power of darkness would have been an interesting mix into the equation. Losing the lvl2 was the real blow as it meant no scroll. Though looking at the report, the only "scrollable" phase was the 12 dice phase which didnt really matter as I only got pha's off. Having Hatred really gets around the pha's issue, so not much gain if scrolled it. I guess one of the nets could have been scrolled.

As usual my defensive style of play paid off. Only my flagellants crossed the half way line intentionally. Instead of taking the initiative, I seek to control it through consequence of action instead application of action; gotta love chaff.

Anyway, we played 3 games in the weekend, and the 3rd game I use a COMPLETELY different play style...stay tuned!

Meeting Engagement Empire vs Dark Elves 1600-tale of the lvl4 vs lvl2

So the comp rules have changed (read "thrown out the window"), however I opted to keep my list the same-out of principle and stubbornness. So I fielded:

lvl2: fire
W.Priest: HA, SH
BSB: FPA, charmed shield, opal amulet
30 Halberds: FC
29 Halberds: FC
30 Flagellants
10 xbows
5 Pistoliers: M
cannon
mortar
28 Great Swords: FC

The Dark elf list I was up against was a little changed
lvl4: scroll
Super unkillable BSB
24 Spears: FC
2x10 xbows
5 Darkriders
2x5 harpies
2x5 Shades
15 Black Guard: FC
Hydra

We Rolled Meeting Engagement my least favourite mission: the side that deploys 2nd has a MAJOR advantage (see 1600 pt emp vs WoC) and my anecdotal evidence suggests that the team that deploys first rarely wins. That wasn't going to stop me from trying however, As I got the fortune of deploying first.

So given the massive disadvantage I had by deploying first I opted for a very conservative deployment, basically castling on a hill. However, as you can see by this next pic, there was a flaw in my deployment.

The hydra is hidden nicely behind the ruins out of LoS of my cannon, so it can advance without having to worry about dying.


Turn 1

So I got first turn. My vanguarded pistoliers moved to engage the darkriders. My lvl2 moved to get a peak at the hydra. In a 7v5 dice magic phase I get the ball rolling by failing to cast a fireball with 3 dice. My shooting phase is a lot more successful. The xbows continue their sniper reputation by killing a shade in the venom thicket, the cannon kills 2 spearelves, the mortar kills 2 harpies and the pistoliers kill 2 darkriders who flee.


The darkelves are a lot more aggressive in their movement. The Darkriders however decide they have had enough and flee off the board.  The shades in the forest also turn around to let loose a few shots at the pistoliers.

The 6v4 dice magic phase continues the relentless Dark Elf aggression. All dispel dice are used to stop flame cage. Power of Darkness nets 3 dice, then a flame storm is cast (not too worried by it because it scatters...) on the lvl2's halberds, a "hit" is rolled and 16 halberds are BBQed. sigh. The shooting phase sees 4 dead Pistoliers who flee and 1 dead halberd.

Turn 2
So not a good start! The lvl2 decides to jump ship into the Great swords and my line moves forward. with a 10 v5 magic phase, a 6 dice big fireball at the lvl4 is scrolled, meaning the firestorm is easily dispelled. In the shooting phase my xbows continue to hit above their weight killing 1 harpie (-4 to hit). The mortar on queue misfires while the cannon kills 3 spearelves.

The Darkelves were having none of the fluffing around and the harpies declare a charge on the mortar. After unsuccessfully hoping that a new FAQ allows artillery to stand and shoot, the harpies fail the long range charge. I shade trips on their shoe lace and has a tragic shaving accident in the forest, and the rest of the army (including the hydra) come out to play.

11 v 7 magic phase starts with me dispelling a flame cage on the Great Swords. Firestorm is then cast IF. A 6 is rolled on the table, the lvl4 takes a wound and 5 spearelves a smited in the explosion. In the meantime the flame storm AGAIN hits-this time the other halberd unit-and kills 16. The unit holds. In the shooting phase, another 6 halberds die to shade shooting. The Hydra then gets its flame on and kills 14 Great swords from 14 wounds...not a single armour save. To make things worse the Greatswords + all my characters decide to flee 10 through my xbows and artillery. The other shades then kill 2 halberds and the 40 shots from the xbow units kill 1 halberd. Still, not looking good...

Turn 3
The flagellants, enraged that everyone is dying around them charge the harpies who are caught and pulled apart in a righteous frenzy. Valten and his retinue charge the other harpies who hold.

However, the Great Swords run off the board. My other unit of halberds turn to face the shades in the venom thicket. In the shooting phase, the hydra regens the cannon, but the xbows (as usual) get a wound through. In the combat, the harpies do nothing while Valten plucks one from the sky. The harpies hold.

SO what for the darkelves to do? Well the Hydra charges the cannon (obviously scared of the xbows stand and shoot...), fails and moves forward 1 inch, while the shades flank Valten.

another 10 v 5 magic phase means the flagellantds look like this:

and the shooting phase means the flagellants look like this:

...or thereabouts.


IN the combat, the shades kill the musician while Valten kills the remaining harpies.

Turn 4
So with nothing left to do, the Halberds charge the shades in the forest, who flee. I halberd trips on a root and skewers himself on a twig.

The cannon and xbows are resisted by the hydra's regen, while the mortar blows up another 5 spears. Valten vs the shades is drawn.



So, the Black Guard are called into deal with Valten who stubbornly refuses to die.

The Hydra, finally remembers how to charge, and successfully gets into combat with the cannon, but loses a head in the process. The shades also rally.

The magic phase is a perfect example of how magic defence should be. I let the power of darkness be cast, then the firestorm missed, then I dispelled the fireball. Perfect haha. 40 xbow shots = 1 dead halberd. In the combat, Valten and his standard bearer are brutally cut down. The Hydra's fun is also ruined by the handlers who kill  the cannon crew.

So we end the game there with a convincing win to the Dark elves.


Post battle
So very much out gunned and blown apart by magic. I was not helped by the mission where I could be easily out deployed. 2 hits from the firestorm made my life difficult, but the Great Swords + characters fleeing was the icing on the cake. No real return from that position.

I think my list has to be seriously revised to take into account the destructive power that can be brought to smaller games (and therefore be disproportionately more destructive). That I shall ponder...

March of the forest part 2: The savage Dheneb Stone coloured horde

2000 points Woodies vs OnG Dawn attack

Game two for the Woodies, this time at 2000 points. I’ve had limited success vs OnG with the woodies in 8^th. Though my troops are superior, there are also a lot less of me, and the OnG artillery is very scary! Dawn attack compounds my problems as I can’t guarantee favourable match ups. I am, however, very very glad that the orc tactica is no longer “throw 6 dice at waaagh having just declared a waaagh.” On a side note, the camera batteries were running a bit low, so apologies for the lack of "in the moment, up close and personal" photos I'm sure you, my loving fans, have become accustomed to.

So my list:

Lvl4: scroll, beasts

BSB: asyendi’s bane, Hoda

Branchwraith: Cluster of Radiants

Branchwraith

2x9 Dryads

12 Glade Guard: M, SB-flame

2x10 Glade Guard: M, SB

6 Treekin

Treeman

2 Eagles

And I was up against:

Orc warboss: 2HW, crown of command, armour of Destiny

Orc BSB on boar with stuff (I assume a ward and weapons of the usual bashy sort Orcs carry around)

Orc lvl2 scroll

Savage Orc lvl2: shrunken head

Gobbo lvl1

47 Orc boyz: FC

28ish Big Un Savage Orc Boyz: FC

45 Night Goblin archers: FC-1 Fanatic

6 Trolls

Orc Chariot

2 Manglers

So a rather scary Orc army sans artillery...should be an interesting match up.

We roll off, my opponent gets to deploy first. I then roll for my deployment and we end up like this:

I guess the things of note: Orc boyz horde is on my left (Im the guy in green with the book atking notes) = divertable, the flaming archers + BSB are directly opposite the trolls, the rest of my archers + lvl4 are squaring off vs a mangler and the chariot. 

Game plan was to quickly eliminate the chariot with shooting, then swing the shooting around to focus on the Big 'un SOrcs. Eagles will trigger the fanatic and hopefully also get the manglers that the shooting cannot. Hopefully I can gang up on the savage orcs, swing into the N Goblins and avoid the horde of doom! The flame archers were to shoot the trolls down to a mangable level/wipe them out. Treeman is conveniently placed to either swing left or right depending on where he was needed.  

Turn 1

Orcs got the first turn as I failed to seize the initiative. No animosity, so army moves up. 6v4 magic phase, which saw 2 channels from orcs gave the trolls a much needed night shroud to hopefully dampen my flaming arrows. However, this was cast with IF, killing 5 NGobbos from the explosion ("cleaning up the uneven ranks as I call it) and wounding the lvl1.

So the woodies get off the block with one of the eagles flying into the orc lines releasing the fanatic. The fanatic hit the eagle, but only caused 2 wounds. The eagle continued on its course landing in front of the savage orcs in such a way that the overrun would take them into the Treekin line of sight, with dryads lurking for a flank. My Dryads on the left moved to the right to get away from the horde of doom and the mangler. In an 8v7 magic phase I aimed the curse of Anraheir at the savage orcs, which was dispelled along with wildform on the eagle in harm’s way.  10 shots = 1 wound on the orc chariot, while the other unit killed a mangler. The flame Glade Guard fired at the trolls, including the HODA. Even though hitting on 4s, wounding on 4’s and the HODA hitting on 2’s, wounding on 4’s (13 shots), I manage ONE WOUND on the trolls...oh well at least a flaming HODA (woot for it NOT being a magic weapon) sounds good in theory.

Turn 2

So the Orcs turn starts with the Savage orcs rolling a 6 on the animosity table ensuring that they will charge the bait eagle-my “best case scenario” was the SOrc’s standing still for a turn while I get everything into position, though a charge was my “VERY best case scenario.” The Chariot also charged glade guard taking 1 wound from stand and shoot, and failing the charge. The trolls also fail a charge on the flame archers, taking 2 wounds from the stand and shoot. The rest of the army moves up. Magic was 4v4. The mangler was hand of gorked 20 INCHES to right where my Treekin want to be sigh. In the combat, the eagle does 1 wound to the shaman before being beaten into the ground. The Sorc’s, being frenzied, then overrun 11 inches into the mangler, resulting in 7 dead Sorcs. This was the key moment of the game as the overrun also meant that my Treekin were looking directly at the flank of the Sorcs.

So, the woodie turn starts with the Treekin charging the exposed Sorc flank. My dryads that had come across from the left flank moved to front charge the Sorcs given that they should hold 1, maybe 2 rounds of combat due to steadfast. The eagle, no longer having a Mangler to chase, move to redirect/road block the orc horde of doom! The Treeman moved to engage the trolls to stop them charging the glade guard. 

A small magic phase (4v3) sees wildform on the treekin scrolled. In the shooting phase, the chariot passes 2 6+ as to avoid taking any wounds and continue to hold up the bulk of my shooting. Flaming shooting and flaming strangleroot puts another 4 wounds on the trolls. In the combat, the treekin got 6 wounds past the wards and took 1 wound in return. The Sorcs passed their steadfast test.

Turn 3

The Orc horde of doom! is forced to charge the eagle from a failed animosity test. The remaining Trolls charge the Treeman. The Orc chariot then charges the Glade guard who are very, very lucky causing 2 unsaved wounds, killing the chariot with a stand and shoot. In another low dice magic phase (4v3) I manage to stop the hand or gork on the ngobbos that would have moved them into a very unfavourable position for me. In the combat with the eagle, Striking at the same time as the warboss, the eagle fails to wound warboss before being trampled into the dirt. The treeman does two wounds to the Trolls, who fail to do any in return to the Treeman. However, they do hold. The Treekin however, inflict a massive 9 wounds on the Sorcs, breaking their steadfast and running them down (they ran 3 inches).

The treekin, having just run down the Sorcs failed to keep their momentum going by failing a charge on the trolls in support of the treeman. The dryads form up in a 10 long line awaiting the charge of the ngobbos-or charging themselves. I made sure some of the unit was in the forest to get stubborn. The BSB leaves the flaming Glade Guard, who reform to heroically face off with the horde of doom! in such a way that the overrun would not get them anywhere useful. The glade guard begin their slow move back across the board to the action.

I roll a 12 Dice magic phase. A 6 dice curse on the horde of doom! is stopped with all dispel dice. I then 2 dice treesing the free forest forward a bit. Finally I get wildform on the Glade guard to give them a bit of punch before their doom. The doomed glade guard fire off a salvo killing 3 orcs...every little helps. In combat the Treeman inflicts 4 wounds on the trolls (4 1’s rolled for regen...). The trolls get a wound on the Treeman in return before the break and are run down.

Turn 4

The orcs take the bait and charge the glade guard. S&S kills 1 orc. The ngobbos also charge the dryads hoping for a lucky break and keeping steadfast for grind. In the magic phase a token hand of gork was cast and dispelled (was of no real use except to move the lvl2 completely away from the Treeman).

In combat, the glade guard completely fluff their attacks and fail to do anything despite being buffed to s4. In return the orcs had -1 to hit. This did not stop the warboss however who crushed 4 elves underfoot. The BSB killed 2 and the boyz completely fluffed and failed to kill anymore. However it did not matter as the glade guard needed snake eyes, broke and were run down. In the other combat, the dryads killed the lvl1 and 8 other gobbos. 1 Dryad was killed in return. The gobbos, even though steadfast broke and ran 12 inches. The dryads only managed to pursue 9 inches.

In my turn the dryads continued to chase the gobbos who flee another 9 inches. The treeman moves to strangleroot the lvl2. The dryads sans branchwraith move to divert the orcs once more, though I’m fast running out of diverters! In an 8 dice magic phase I get a 5 dice curse on the orcs, and wildform on the dryads fails to cast (rolling a 12 incl lvl4 grrr). In the shooting phase my Glade guard are too far away with too many modifiers to bother shooting. The treeman right on queue misfires with the strangleroot...I need new artillery dice!

Turn 5

So the horde of doom! hungry for more blood charges into the dryads. The curse kills 13 orcs. The ngobbos fail to rally and flee off the board. In combat the dryads kill 4.

They lose combat by lots and run 8. The horde of doom catches them, but due to their width contact the board edge before getting to where the dryads are = dryads are run down and the horde of doom is off the board = good thing as means it cannot charge in the final turn!

In my turn I fail to strangle root the lvl2 AGAIN and we end the game...I don’t bother for a turn 6 strangle root as it was too depressing haha. It didn’t matter though as the woodies were up by lots. 1228  vs 405.

Post battle

So a nice victory for the woodies. I was VERY VERY VERY lucky that the Sorcs had to charge the eagle and then over ran onto the mangler as it was out of eagle range = would have had to throw dryads at it. If the Sorcs had not had done that I believe I could have got the drop on them as I had 2 units of dryads and the treekin to trap them. Even if one unit had to wear a mangler to do so, ItP would have been key. The lack of artillery was also really lucky for me as it meant there was no pressure to push forward to take them out. 

There was also the last combat with the horde of Doom! where I used my dryads as the bait instead of the branchwraith who is worth less points. Although the tactic was sound (get the Horde running off the board for their last turn) it could have been done more cheaply. It's little things like this that need to become natural in game instead of during post battle analysis.

Use of Beasts instead of life

The list I took was designed around the use of the lore of beasts. 2 branchwraiths gave me fantastic targets for the character buffs. As it was I didn’t need to use them, but it was nice to know I could have made them death machines. I think I prefer beasts to life as a lore-but the 6^th spell is sooo stupid unless a High Elf mage with the Mc Hammer robes for much beardy use of "swap back to normal by ending the RiP" (in this game I swapped it for wildform). The only thing I really like about life is re-growth and dwellers-all the other spells I could do without. Having to cast throne to buff the casting is also a real crutch that is easily countered, and I'm not a 6 dice FTW kind of player-so the miscast protection is marginal. Of the 2 lores, the fact that beasts has 2 spells that can affect multiple targets-even though only characters-and also my favourite hex in the game means it will always be my preferred lore + it has the amber spear for the hard to kill things. However, in smaller games where characters are premium points, life will win out for me due to re-growth and dwellers and no spare points for branchwraiths. 

So another very enjoyable game that happened to swing my way a little too early in the game. The woodies definitely earned their repaint that I am currently doing-starting with the glade guard! I also have 2 Ents in the post that will become awesome treekin-giving me the option of fielding 2x6 treekin without having to proxy with ogres.