2000 Points v. Dwarves
The Scenario: Fog of War. In this scenario a massive fog bank has settled across the entire battlefield. All ranged weapons (missiles and war machines) have are reduced to a mere 12" range. Maximum charge distances are similarly reduced. Any flyer can zoom up high, but to return to the field or strike glancing blows you need to roll a 1-3 on a d6. A 4+ means you're lost in the fog and can do nothing that turn. Magic spells are not reduced in range (including line-of-sight spells). Both standard setup and victory point rules are used.
The Armies: I had my usual army.
1 General w/ the Hail of Doom Arrow
2 Units of 9 Glade Riders with longbows.
4 Units of 8 Scouts (2 including musicians)
4 Units of 9 Archers
2 Units of 8 Archers
2 Pegasi
I don't have the dwarf general's actual army list, but I remember he had...
1 General with assorted magic items including the Golden Scepter of Norgrim.
1 Level 1 Runesmith with some sort of magic armor.
1 Hero with the Copper Sigil Sword (in the Rangers Unit)
Perhaps a few other minor characters who never did much (champions, etc).
1 Unit of 15 or so Slayers
1 Unit of 20 Miners
2 Units of 15 Crossbowmen w/ Double-handed Axes
1 Unit of 15 Crossbowmen w/ Double-handed Axes (henceforth called the Rangers).
1 Unit of 25 Spearmen with spears and shields.
(Notice that he has no war machines. Interesting!)
Terrain: Since this was fog of war, the dwarf player wasn't particularly concerned about sticking lots of intervening terrain in the middle of the board. If anything, he tried to keep it away from his army. (I learned why in the deployment phase, when he set it crossbowmen units widthwise). I also wasn't concerned with terrain very much, because the Fog of War gives my scouts much greater flexibility when they setup. (12" LOS, remember?)
So the terrain wound up having two hills on his side of the battlefield in each corner, and three forests on my side of the battlefield in the center as well as the left and right edges.
Deployment: From left to right, his deployment was pretty simple. He wanted the crossbowmen on the flanks, and the fighting units in the middle. Accordingly, he has a unit of crossbowmen on the very left (in widthwise formation - 1 dwarf deep, 15 dwarves wide), then the ranked units of miners. The slayers were in the middle (perhaps a tiny bit left), and then the spearmen were to the right. The next crossbowmen unit was widthwise, and the Ranger unit (a crossbowmen unit really, but I kept thinking of them as rangers because he had the hero in them and obviously intended them to get into combat more). The ranger unit was on top of the hill on the right.
My own deployment was a bit different than normal. Because I wasn't worried about his troops reaching my lines, I didn't deploy my archers in the back of my zone. As a matter of fact, I set them up at the maximum 12" forward. I figured I'd have to march forward and start firing into them. I set up both glade rider units on the left, along with my general in one of the left archer units. My pegasi also started on the left. Scoutwise, I set up three of my scout units to the left of his deployment zone, and one on the right.
Strategy: I'm not certain what his strategy was (probably slowly plod forward as dwarves tend to do), but mine was pretty clear. I was going to smash his left flank to pieces! To do that, I had 3 scout units, both untis of glade riders, 2 pegasi, and three units of archers on my left side. That's about 1500 points worth of stuff.
Within two turns (three at the most) I knew they'd be sweeping up into a unit of 15 dwarf crossbowmen, the miners, and the slayers. I would use the pegasi to keep the miners out of combat as long as possible, as well as the nearby spearmen if they attempted to intervene.
The goal of my 500 points on the right would be to avoid getting into combat (they'd pulverize us!), but to keep him busy as long as humanly (elvenly?) possible. The three archer units would move forward in an attempt to keep the spearmen unit from turning left and heading to the aid of their doomed flank. I wasn't worried about the crossbowmen or the ranger unit getting to their aid - I knew their slow movement would do the trick for me. Especially if they're being harassed by my archers and scouts.
When fighting a dwarf army (or any army for that matter) with an Archery Army, you should pick out the enemy points you plan on claiming for the win. In my case, I planned on getting terrain quarters on my side of the battlefield, as well as wiping out the Slayer and Crossbowmen regiments. Perhaps the miners too if things go well.
Spells: Since neither of us have magic, there are no spells. (Makes the game go fasta'). : )
Wood Elf-1: We win the die roll and elect to go first. (Dunno if it mattered though, perhaps I should have let him go. Oh well, no biggie!). The first thing we do is immediately order all of the archers to advance forward as fast as possible. The pegasi take to the skies, with one landing on my left table edge, and the other landing in front of the slayers to prevent them from marching forward while the miners and spearmen are prevented from marching. The Glade riders all move forward in one giant mass on the left flank, while the scouts scuttle inward.
Since most of our troops either marched or are beyond 12", there is little firing. A few scouts are able to fire though and one of the crossbowmen falls dead.
Dwarf-1: The dwarves, seeing dozens of screaming elves approaching from the left, immediately change their formation. The dwarf crossbowmen reform to face the approaching scouts (most of which are 11-18" away). The slayers charge the pegasus, while the spearmen advance 3" towards my battleline of archers. The crossbowmen on the right advance forward while the Rangers reform into a single line formation to face the approaching scouts.
In combat, the slayers wound the pegasus twice. To my surprise they don't kill it. The pegasus flees 17", easily outdistancing the dwarves who move a mere 6".
Wood Elf-2: The biggest Wood Elf flanking effort I have ever seen continues on the left. The scouts pour into range to fire at the crossbowmen, although some are still unable to fire. The left flank draws their bowstrings and fires into the crossbowmen killing another 8. The dwarves pass their panic test, but the strength of the approaching hoard is clearly beyond anything they can stop.
On the right flank, the scouts double-move behind Bugman's unit, preventing it from being able to charge them. The archers continue to advance, although more cautiously now.
The non-fleeing pegasus also flies and lands in the center of the dwarven army, safely out of charge arcs, but where it can prevent several march moves. The other pegasus manages to rally.
Dwarf-2: Realizing his army is in MAJOR trouble, the dwarven general and runesmith leave the unit of spearmen and begins moving toward the miners. The spearmen continue to advance towards my archer line, along with the slayers and miners. The Hero leaves the ranger unit and begins walking towards the nearby crossbow unit as well, but turns around to face (and threaten) the scout unit. The ranger unit turns to face diaganoly (how do you spell that?) toward my size and the closest table edge.
Shootingwise, the general and runesmith fire their pistols at the nearby pegasus, managing to wound it twice! The crossbowmen fire into the scouts, killing one of them.
Wood Elf-3: The scouts, glade riders, and archers continue to close in on the flank. The scouts fire as they move, executing the remaining crossbowmen. On the right-flank, the scount unit attempts ot get out of trouble by moving to the far right. Too late after I place them I realize they are in the ranger's charge arc. Sadly, I realize I'll be receiving a charge next turn.
I realize I can possibly save them by flying a pegasus over and landing it in front of the Rangers, but I elect not too. I've got bigger prey ahead of me, and would prefer to save the pegasi to keep the dwarf general and/or miners away from me. Accordingly, one pegasus flies back out of reach of the dwarf army while the other lands in front of the slayer unit. I smily happily as I realize the slayers are exactly where I want them, and will be filled with zillion of shots next turn.
Dwarf-3: The rangers charge the scouts, while the hero marches forward to rejoin the ranger unit. (Question: Is this legal for someone to march and rejoin a unit, to try to enter combat on the same turn? I didn't make an issue of hit because he thought it was legal, and because he didn't attempt to put the hero into hand-to-hand combat).
The general marches towards the miners and joins them, using his scepter to give them +1 armor save. The Runesmith moves towards the miners, but does not reach them (was slowed from the pegasus). The miners reform and end their turn facing the horde on the left.
Combatwise, the slayers easily dispatch the wounded pegasus. The rangers pull out their two-handed axes, allowing the scouts to strike first. The scouts slay a dwarf, who slay one of the scouts in return. The dwarf standard means the rangers win, but the scouts refuse to break. (Interesting story - at this time the dwarf player starts to mention that he's going to lap around. I tell him he certainly can, but he doesn't have to because I am required to move my guys into the combat next turn. He shrugs his shoulders and doesn't lap around. This gets significant next turn).
Wood Elf-4: The time to slay the slayers has arrived. The final troops on the left flank tha are out of range move within 12". Unfortunately, this means we've got too many troops there and they're in each others' way! So a unit of scouts (with the musician) stand back a bit, with the intention of ending the game in the enemy's deployment zone and reforming into unit formation to get that +1 tourney point. The glade riders also get out of the way by marching forward onto each side of the dwarf miner's unit (but out of their charge arc). The glade riders all turn so that they can charge most anything in the dwarf army next turn if need be.
The remaining pegasus flies over and lands in front of the miner unit to prevent them from getting ahead and close to my archers.
The shooting begins, and the slayers begin falling in droves. The Hail of Doom Arrow fires in killing several as well. By the time the shooting stops, only three slayers stand remaining.
In hand-to-hand combat, the scouts enter the combat with several in front of the enemy unit, and several on the rear and back. We strike first again and kill two rangers. They swing back and only kill one in return. At this point the dwarf player mentions something about the hero attacking, but I point out the hero is unable to move into combat until his turn.
So we add up the CR. I killed 2...plus 3 for flanking and rear attacking (he hadn't been expecting that, and for a moment argued I couldn't do that. When I pointed out that I could, he conceeded the point). My combat result was therefore 5. He did 1 wound, had a standard, and held the high ground on the hill for a CR of 3. He therefore lost, took a break test, and... failed! The dwarves turn and fled, only succeeding in going 5". We easily overran them and destroyed them all.
I felt bad, actually. I had given that combat up for lost, and had he lapped around the previous turn, he'd have had at least two more dwarves that could have attacked. But the gods were not with him that day. The dwarves were destroyed, although in my guilt feelings I forgot to claim their standard bearer for the +100 points at the end.
He attempted to resign at this point, but I kept him playing with the possibility that I might not be able to kill all the slayers, or something else might suddenly happen. I also kibitzed that if he wanted to seperate his general from the miner unit, he could move him towards my scouts to possibly threaten them with a 5th turn charge.
Dwarf-4: Realizing the battle was almost cetainly lost, the runesmith enters the slayer unit in a desperate attempt to save them. (making the shots randomized, y'know). The spearmen advance forward, while the miners charge the pegasus. (He said he was afraid I'd shoot his general to death, or without the extra +1 armor save I might be able to shoot down his miners).
The miners easily slay the pegasus.
Wood Elf-5: The glade riders all circle in around the slayers, and our army opens fire. In a burst of bad luck, unit after unit fails to kill the slayers. But when the final glade rider fires, they are able to slay the final slayer (thus picking up the victory points).
Dwarf-5: The dwarf player adjusts sligthly for terrain reasons, with the spearmen finally crossing the field into my front-right quarter.
Final Score:
Us:
100-Terrain
124-Hero
180-Crossbowmen (crossbowdwarves?)
180-The Rangers
192-Slayers
For a total of 776 points.
Their points:
100 - Pegasi
Final Score: 776-100 Wood Elves Win (in the fog of war!).
Analysis: I was pretty confident this game would be a victory, or a draw at the absolute worst. He really didn't have anything in this army that could hurt me. I might take and fail a panic test or two because of the crossbowmen, but I was confident that I'd be able to take them first.
My only real mistake was what happened with the scouts on the right. I was lucky - had he been in rank formation instead of a wide line, he'd have easily been able to break our scouts thus turning the game into a draw. But I got lucky, which gave me the win.
In retrospect, I probably should have not thrown my pegasi away. It gave him another 100 points, and that would have been significant towards wining in such a low-point value game. I could have used my scouts and such to slow him down in other ways. Or simply dealt with him approaching my lines.
But hey, things worked out and the game was won. But next time I'd try to conserve my pegasi a bit more.
Highlight of Game: Looking at the huge horde of elves pouring towards his left flank. I had 18 glade riders, 24 scouts, 26 archers, 2 pegasi, and my general in that mass. It was... beautiful!
Next Game: King of the Hill... vs. Bretonnians!