The Bolt throwers deployed on the hill in the center of the High Elf deployment zone. The Lothran Seaguard took position behind the wall in front of the hill. To the right of the hill the Swordsmen, Archers and Reavers deployed, from left to right. The Shadow Warriors deployed during infiltrators, but after the Wayatchers, so positioned themselves within the same woods as the Waywatchers, 1" back. (his thinking was to block line of sight to the Reavers by the Waywatcher Champions Hail of Doom arrow, and maybe get off some bow shots on the Waywatchers if he got first move)
General Moonwulf, Warhawk, Long Bow, Lance, Shield, Bow of Loren, Magic War Paint
Randthlfr, Mage, Warhawk, Long Bow, Black Gem of Gnar
Deirdre the Dire, Mage, Dispel Magic Scroll
8 Dryads, Standard bearer
5 Glade Guards, Lance, Long bow, Shield, Standard bearer, Musician, Dread banner
Theatyn, Wardancer Champion, 2nd hand weapon
5 Wardancers, 2nd hand weapon
19 Glade Guards, Standard Musician, Spear, Shield, Lt. Armor, War Banner
Glade Guard Champion, Spear, Shield, Lt. Armor
10 Archers, Long bow, Standard
11 Archers
4 Waywatchers, Long bow
Waywatcher Champion, Long bow, Hail of Doom Arrow
Looking from left to right, from the Woodelf's perspective, the Dryads set up 12" in from the side, preparatory to making a dash to the trees in the center of the board. The General and the Glade guards took cover behind the leftmost copse of trees in the center of the Woodelf deployment zone, while the unit of archers with standard and the foot mage took position within the same woods, more than 2" back from the edge (to avoid being targeted by the bolt throwers and HE Archers the first turn.) The other unit of archers took position deep within the rightmost copse of woods, also more than 2" back. The Wardancers set up in the open behind the rightmost copse of trees, as did the Warhawk mounted Mage. The Glade Riders set up in Skirmish formation on the far right side, ready for a quick dash forward to the tree line by the village. The Waywatchers infiltrated into the Copse of trees on the right side center, managing to get their traps set and hidden just before the Shadow Warrior slinked into the woods.
My strategy during terrain placement was to try to get enough terrain (preferably Woods, of course) to block the right and left edges of the board, leaving a "Killing zone" in the center within easy reach of the Archers. The Dryads would rush forward to position themselves in the copse of trees on the Left Center, and prepare to flank charge. The Glade Guard set up behind the trees, ready to move out should anything seriously threaten the Archers, as well as to form the Anvil for the Dryad's Hammer. The Glade Riders and Wardancers were to charge across the field and work together with one charging the front and the other to hit the flanks. The Waywatchers set up to get off the hail of Doom into a choice unit (in this case, the Reavers) and to deny easy passage on the High elves Left Flank. The General would fly high and then charge to take on the Bolt Throwers. One of the league rules is that warmachines and archers on hills can see over interveneing trees, but units within 2" of the back edge of the intervening treeline get soft cover, so I planned on hugging the tree lines as much as possible, if not actually entering the woods.
My opponents strategy seemed to be to try to bring the Reavers down his left flank, and maneuver the rest of his units so that they could target enemy units with bows and the bolt throwers. They also presented a solid front, with the 2-Hd Swordsmen in the middle to take on anyone so brash as to charge them. Then he was going to blast his opponent with magic, especially with a tasty hill so close to the center of the board being targeted for "Assault of Stone". (BTW, I think Assault of Stone sucks! More on that later)
Prior to the start of the Battle, the unit of Reavers gets to take an extra march move of up to 18". However, they didn't really have anyplace that they wanted to get to all that much, so they settled for moving over to their right a few inches.
The swordsmen wheeled and advanced up to take position next to the Seaguard, and the archers likewise moved up to take position next to the swordsmen, making a line between the wall and the steep hill, and bringing them into line-of-sight of my units.
The Shadow Warriors successfully managed to see the hidden Waywatchers, and shot at them, but with no effect. One bolt thrower targeted the Dryads, and managed to inflict two wounds, killing one dryad. The other bolt thrower targeted the Glade Riders, and managed to kill one. The archers all targeted the unit of Woodelf archers with the standard, and killed one.
One of the Mages attempted to cast Fiery Convocation on the WayWatchers, but failed the locate roll.
General Moonwulf flew High, trusting that his army could manage to follow his orders without his direct supervision. The Dryads march moved towards the treeline in the center of the board, and got within 2" of the tree line ,and wheeled to face towards the center, ready to flank charge if the opportunity presented itself. Both units of archers moved forward to within 2" of the edge of their respective woods, and prepared to shoot. The Mage Deirdre moved up to join the Archer unit next to her. The Glade Riders rode up to within 2" of the trees on the right side of the board, facing down the gap between the woods and the steep hill. Randthlfr flew his warhawk to a spot to the left and slightly behind the Gladeriders. The Waywatcher Champion dropped out of his hidden position and ran to the left end of his units line, to get a line of sight on the Reavers around the unit of Shadow Warriors. The Wardancers jumped over the archers in front of them, and ran through the woods to get into the the open area between their woods and the steep hill.
During the shooting phase, All the archers in the woods, as well as the Glade riders shot at the Bolt throwers on the hill, but unfortunately the crews ducked behind their warmachines, and most of the shots hit the bolt throwers. The few shots which actually hit the crews failed to wound. The Waywatcher Champion targeted the Reavers with the Hail of Doom Arrow, and watched as the arrow split into 11 missiles. 3 wounds were caused, 2 of which were saved, so only one Reaver was felled. The rest of the Waywatchers targeted the Shadow Warriors lurking in their woods, killing 3 of them. The Shadow Warriors, unnerved by the attack, fled from the woods.
The mage Randthlfr attempted to cast Fear on the unit of Reavers, but the spell was dispelled with disdain by the High Elf Mages (he pumped up the dispel enough that he only failed with a "1" - he rolled a 6)
The Shadow Warriors rallied just short of the edge of the board. Having a choice between charging a fear-causing unit of Glade-riders or a single character mage, the Reavers declared a charge against the mage Ranthulfr, who decided that discretion was the better part of valor, and elected to "advance in the opposite direction" ("He ran like a scalded dog!" one eye witness was later heard to say). This failed charge placed the Reavers bunched up inside the gap between the woods and the steep hill, between the Waywatchers on one side, and the Glade-riders directly in front. The High Elf General was not pleased.
The Bolt Throwers both targeted the now exposed Wardancers, as did the Seaguard , and after the skys cleared, Theatyn the Wardancer Champion found himself standing alone amongst the bodies of his fallen bretheren, and feeling extremely exposed. The HE Archers targeted the archers with Deirdre, managing to kill another archer.
The winds of magic blew, and the High Elf mage cursed the stupidity of the Reavers for charging in next to the steep hill, but decided to take mercy on them and not to cast Assault of Stone, though he was strongly tempted to sacrifice them in order to possibly get the Glade riders and/ or the Waywatchers. The other Mage attempted to cast Fiery Convocation on the Waywatchers, but Deirdre used her Dispel magic Scroll to counter the spell.
The fleeing Mage Randthlfr rallied next to the woods in the WE deployment zone. The Glade Riders declared a charge against the Reavers, who elected to shoot and flee. They apparently were concentrating more on the "shooting" part, and not the "fleeing" part, as their shots all missed and they only fled 6", easily being caught by the Glade-riders and destroyed. Moonwulf plummeted from the sky with a fearsome cry, charging one of the Bolt-throwers, whose crews elected to run, stopping just short of the edge of the board. (1 more inch! Just one more inch! Arrgh! - ed). The Wardancer championed decided that he could better serve the purposes of Loren by guarding the archers back in the woods (especially since he discovered that his "Potion of Strength" was just a vial of salt water), and ran back into the protection of the trees (I was determined not to give my opponent the points for the wardancer unit!)
The Waywatchers shot at the Shadow Warriors, killing 2 more, and forcing another panic test. They failed and ran off the board.
Magic was uneventful, with nothing within range of either mages. Deirdre stored the "escape" card.
The Fleeing Bolt-thrower crew rallied (curses again!), and watched as the other bolt thrower pivoted around and targeted the Woodelf General. It was like shooting a sitting duck, so to speak. The two mages moved up to join the Generals unit of Swordsmen, as it seemed the HE's left flank had just folded. Things were looking desperate for the High Elves, as the Mages prepared a desperate counter attack.
All elves who could wield a bow shot at the unit of archers guarding Deirdre, killing 3 more and forcing a panic check. They passed the panic check, but were not real happy about it (needed 8 or less, rolled an 8).
The bolt thrower shot at the General, and 3 wounds were caused, but the Magic warpaint came through and only 1 wound was not saved.
Then the mages unleased the magic energy they had been collecting, and attempted to cast "Assault of Stone" on the steep hill in front of them. The Wood Elf Mages tried to dispel it, but were unable to counter the immense wave of magical energy, and watched in horror as the living earth heaved up and rolled over both the Glade Riders and the woods containing the Waywatchers! There were no survivors. (Like I said, "Assault of Stone" SUCKS!!). So much for rolling the flank….
The dryads advanced out of the woods, and positioned themselves to miss the wall and flank charge the Sea-Guard next turn. General Moonwulf charged the Bolt-thrower crew at the edge of the table, killing one. The other elf paniced and Moonwulf pursued him off the table, killing him. (I wanted the points for the unit, which I would have gotten even if he had not pursued, but I didn't want to sit there for another attack from the bolt thrower! Pursuing off the table at least kept my General safe during the last enemy turn.)
All the remaining WE archers shot at the unit of HE archers, in an attempt to panic them. 5 of the 10 archers were killed, but as they were standing next to the Generals unit, they passed their panic test.
Nothing of import happened during the magic phase. Stored magic cards.
The Seaguard unit reformed, moved to the right (away from the Dryads) and reformed facing the wall. This moved them so that a charge from the Dryads would have to go over the wall, effectively preventing a charge.
All archers shot at the Unit of archers with Deirdre, killing all but one archer and killing Deirdre (Not sure if we played this right - one unit destroyed all but the standard bearer and the mage. The second unit randomized the shots between the standard bearer and the mage - they missed the standard bearer, and pinned the mage to a tree.) The Standard bearer is apparently made of pretty stern stuff, as he makes his panic test after seeing everyone around him drop. Deirdre had fortunately stored the "Escape" card during a prior turn, so reappeared 6" from the WE edge of the table, taking position behind the cover of the trees.
The HE Mage attempts to cast Fiery Convocation against the General, but not only is the spell dispelled, but the magical energy is "Rebounded" back in the form of "Fear", which in turn is dispelled.
Last turn, looking for points. The General reenters the board at the point he left, and can't charge anything. The Dryads are prevented from charging by the section of wall between them and the Seaguard (rats!), and nothing else is in a position to charge.
General Moonwulf Takes aim at the remaining Bolt Thrower with the Bow of Loren, and puts four S4 shots… right into the carriage of the bolt thrower! (We decided that this bolt thrower must look like a pin-cushion for all the shots which hit it instead of crew during the game). One of the hits actually managed to wound the bolt thrower, but obviously didn't destroy it. All the remaining archers target the remaining 5 HE archers, killing 4. Randthulfr let loose at the remaining archer, and hit but failed to wound (curses!). The remaining HE archer made his panic test (curses again! I wanted the points for that unit!)
Magic was uneventful, with nothing within range to cast at, and knowing that the HE still had a dispel scroll up their sleeve.
This was a very close battle, with final score being 829 pts for the High Elves vs 689 for the Wood Elves, a 140 pt difference. Things were looking very good for the Wood Elves up to the third turn, with every expectation of being able to hit the flanks and rear of the enemy main unit with Glade Riders, Waywatcher and Wardancers. Then came the "Assault of Stone", which changed everything and enabled me to snatch Defeat from the jaws of Victory. (Have I mentioned that "Assault of Stone" sucks?)
The HE player admitted that he had screwed up sending the Reavers down the gap by the Steep hill, and for charging the Mage instead of the Glade Riders - the fleeing mage set him up to be counter-charged, and the trees on one side and the hill on the other funneled him in to a vary narrow front. Personally I think he should have used his free march move to get him through the gap, but he was afraid that if he did, he'd be hit by both the Glade Riders and the Wardancers if he didn't get first move. Might have had a point
In retrospect, I should have sent the Warhawk mounted mage up High with the General, so that I could have charged both Bolt throwers at the same time on the second turn. This would have prevented the one Bolt thrower from targeting my General, which could have been MUCH nastier than it turned out to be. Might have gotten the points for destroying the 2nd Bolt thrower as well. At worst, If the mage failed to kill the crew, or they failed to flee from the charge, he could have used the Black Gem to remove the Bolt thrower from the table, which would have saved the Wardancers getting shot up quite so much, as well as the archers in the woods. I also should have realized that the HE archers didn't have any armor either, and shot them up long before I did, instead of concentrating on the Bolt Throwers.
Also, if he had advanced his units out to Hand-to-Hand, I think I would have had a difficult time dealing with his Generals Unit of Swordsmen. As it was, he pretty much dominated the magic phases, with me playing defensive and just barely managing to hold off the worst of his spells, with the one notable exception of the Assault of Stone which killed both the Glade Riders and Waywatchers.
All in all though, we both had a very enjoyable game, which swung back and forth between the two sides. Also, since we were both "shooty" armies, we had a great time lobbing missiles back and forth between the lines, with no complaints about neither side really coming into Hand-to-hand combat! Best of all, I finished high enough despite losing that I managed to improve my overall League Ranking! (Which should tell you how badly some of the other games have gone!)