This was a 3000 points per side battle between Matthew’s Empire and my Dark Elves.

Introduction

Matthew wanted a 3,000 point game to use a lot of new stuff he had bought, and I was delighted because it gave me a chance to get my Black Dragon onto the table for the first time.

Dark Elf Army List

Characters. 1,095 Points.

General: Highborn with Blood Armour, Crimson Death, Sea Dragon Cloak,

Heart Stone of Darkness, riding a Black Dragon. 554 Points

Sorceress, Level 2, Dispel Scroll, Darkstar Cloak. 175 Points

Sorcerer, Level 2, Dispel Scroll, 155 Points

Battle Standard Bearer. Noble with Heavy Armour, Sea Dragon Cloak, Hydra Banner, riding a Cold One. 211 Points

Core: 710 Points.

18 Corsairs with Full Command. 205 Points

18 Corsairs with Full Command. 205 Points

12 Warriors with Repeater Crossbow and Shields, musician. 149 Points

6 Dark Riders, Repeater Crossbows, musician. 151 Points

Special: 995 Points.

7 Harpies. 91 Points

12 Executioners, Full Command. 162 Points

25 Witch Elves, Full Command. 400 Points

6 Cold One Knights, Full Command, War Banner. 244 Points

7 Shades. 98 Points

Rare: 200 Points.

2 Reaper Bolt Throwers. 200 Points

Total – 3,000 Points.

Empire Army List (may be missing some things)

Characters: 796 Points.

General of the Empire, Full Plate Armour, Barded Warhorse, Pistol, Sword of Power. 162 Points.

Wizard Lord, Level 4. Warhorse. 225 Points.

Warrior Priest, Heavy Armour, Shield, Wyrmslayer Sword. 111 Points.

Warrior Priest, Heavy Armour, Second Warhammer. 98 Points.

Battle Wizard, Level 2. 100 Points.

Battle Wizard, Level 2. 100 Points.

Core: 1,338 Points.

20 Spearmen, Full Command. 120 Points.

19 Spearmen, Shields, Full Command. 134 Points.

20 Swordsmen, Full Command. viagra maximum safe dosage 145 Points.

20 Swordsmen, Full Command. 145 Points.

8 Knights, Full Command. 226 Points.

10 Handgunners. 80 Points.

10 Handgunners. 80 Points.

10 Crossbowmen. 80 Points.

16 Archers. 128 points.

10 Huntsmen. 100 Points.

10 Free Company. 50 Points.

10 Free Company. 50 Points.

Special: 645 Points.

20 Greatswords, Full Command. 230 Points.

5 Pistoliers, outrider, musician. 104 Points.

5 Outriders, champion, Hochland Long Rifle. 136 Points.

Great Cannon. 100 Points.

Mortar. 75 Points.

Rare: 110 Points

Helblaster Volley Gun. 110 Points

Total. 2,889 Points.

Matthew had repainted a lot of his army and it looked superb. (Random) terrain set up was very beneficial to me, as most of it scattered towards the middle, and I would be protected from the Empire gun-line by two woods and a hill. Luckily, Matthew put his Great Cannon behind a wood, so I put my dragon the other side of the wood!

Off screen to the left are outriders, more shooty stuff including the Helblaster

The Dark Riders are hidden behind the Dragon.

TURN 1

Matthew got first turn and didn’t move much. His Pistoliers and Knights advanced. His magic and shooting took a steady trickle of Elves.

On my first turn everything advanced, my dragon flying up to the pistoliers to breath black fumes all over them. The Dark Riders also shot them. The shades ran out and shot at the Helblaster, but sadly only killed one member of crew. The Corsairs on the end of the line retreated out fo range of the Helblaster and Hochland Long Rifle.

TURN 2

In Matthews turn two the Helblaster blew up (hurrah) and most of the rest of his shooting was directed against the Witchelves, who lost loads. My Highborn took a wound from shooting. The shades were also wiped out by shooting. There was a lot of shooting!

In my turn two my Highborn charged the Empire knights, and challenged the Empire General to personal combat. The Highborn and dragon between them managed 4 wounds, killing the Empire General. The harpies charged a Militia unit, and drew combat. In the Magic phase my Sorcerer rolled 3 dice and miscast! He survived. My Sorceress cast on 2 dice, and miscast! She died.

TURN 3

In Matthews Turn 3 he aligned most of his forces nearest the dragon to turn and face it. The rest of his forces stayed static and shot. More hurt for the Elves. The Harpies drew combat again.

In my Turn 3 the dragon hopped over the units that faced him and charged a Handgunners unit (in the flank), beat them and pursued into a Spearmen unit, which he also charged in the flank, beating them and running them down. This caused general trauma in other Empire units. Terror was also spreading. The Empire Level 4 wizard fled from the combat, and ended up in no-mans land, right in front of my RXB Warriors and my 2 RBT.

TURN 4

In Matthews Turn 4 he aligned more forces to face the dragon. His Level 4 Wizard rallied and looked over at the massed Elven missile troops. Matthew charged my Corsairs with some spearmen, and my Witchelves with his Swordmasters unit. The Witchelves were beaten, but not before they had killed a level 2 Wizard. The Witch Elves also managed to get away, out-running the Swordsmasters. The Corsairs beat the spearmen (which also contained the other Level 2 Wizards), and ran them down. The Harpies won their combat against the militia, and the militia ran and were run down.

In my Turn 4 my Highborn charged the 16 Empire archers the flank, beat them and ran them down. The Cold One Knights charged the Outriders in the flank, whilst the harpies charged the other flank. The Outriders failed their fear test, fled and were run down by the harpies. The Corsairs charged the Mortar crew, who fled but were wiped out. The Witches rallied. My Sorcerer cast his only successful spell of the game and killed the Level 4 Empire Wizard Lord.

TURN 5

In Matthews Turn 5 his Swordmasters charged the Witches, beat them and broke them. The Witches only rolled 3 for flee distance, but as I went to take them off the table, Matthew rolled snake eyes! However, luck evens out because both my RXB Warriors and my Corsiars fled due to panicking from the broken Witch Elves. Either of these could have easily charged the Swordsmasters in the flank. One of his Swordsmen units charged the Elf Executioners, but the combat was drawn. His Knights charged my Corsairs, Matthew fluffed combat and the Corsairs won, breaking the Knights who outpaced the chasing elves. The rest of his units (that were left) moved towards the table centre. In a bizarre twist on the earlier game, the Empire troops moving back to battle had to run the gauntlet of the Elf gun-line of 12 RXB warriors, 2 RBT and the Dark Riders.

In my Turn 5 my Cold One knights charged the Empire Crossbowmen, survived the stand and shoot and caused 11 casualties in combat, wiping out the crossbowmen – the Hydra Banner is a good ‘un. The Dragon moved back to the middle of the table. The Witches rallied.

TURN 6

In Matthews last run his Swordmasters charged the Witches, beat them and broke them. The Witches out-ran the Swordmasters for the third time! The Executioners drew combat with the Swordsmen. The Empire Knights rallied.

In my final Turn my Highborn charged the swordsmen unit fighting the Executioners in the flank. The Corsairs chasing the Empire Knights charged them. The dragon and Highborn mashed up the Swordsmen, who also got beaten by the Executioners, and the few swordsmen left fled and were run down. The Corsairs beat the Empire Knights and the Knights fled. The Witches rallied!

Final Totals.

I lost the Shades (98 Points), the Sorceress (175 Points), half the Highborn (117 Points) and over half the Witchelves (200 Points). I also lost the Witch’s Standard (100 Points). Total 690 Points.

Matthew lost his General (162 Points), all his three Wizards (434 Points), all his Core missile troops apart from the 10 Huntsmen (386 Points), one swordsmen unit (145 Points), both spear units (254 Points), one Militia unit (50 Points), his Helblaster, Cannon and Mortar (285 Points), and his Knights (226 Points). I also killed his General (100 Points), captured two table quarters (200 Points) and three standards (300 Points). Total 2,442 Points.

2,442 Victory Points – 690 Victory Points = 1,852 = Massacre to the Dark Elves

Comment

I don’t think the result is a fair indication of how the game went. Sure, the Highborn and his pet Dragon carved a bloody swathe through anything they charged, sometimes fighting two combats a turn. However, the terrain sheltered me from most of the hurt that all the Empire shooting could have inflicted had I had to cross an empty field. The Cold One Knights and Executioners, for example, only got into combat very late in the game because they had spent too long hiding. Also, Matthew hadn’t got his Steam Tank finished in time for the game, which I would have struggled with. Finally, I was very lucky in the way the Witchelves kept outrunning the Swordmasters and then rallying. Matthew, by contrast, lost almost every single leadership test, even when he only lost by one, and I usually ran down the breaking troops.

I hardly mentioned magic because it did very little. I was heavily outclassed in magic, especially after my Sorceress died, and used both my scrolls, but the violent death of all three Empire magicians ended the threat. The Highborn lost two wounds, both to shooting despite his 1+ save and 4+ ward (I only failed two armour saves and failed the ward save both times!) The Cold One Knights passed every stupidity test!