Okay, so this was our Thursday game, game 2 out of 4 it would turn out. With my wife and kids out of town I got some free time and we decided it was high time to go on a bender.
This battle was a 1,500 point match using the Flank Attack mission in the BRB. We established that the Beastmen were going to be the Defenders and the High Elves the attackers. Odd mix, but as we were using the historical refight as sort of inspiration, it made sense. We were pressed for time as a meal train was heading to my house, so we went for a smaller match. Thankfully my army was still legal as I still had enough Core without the Doombull who usually turns my Minotaurs to Core.
Enough ruminating, on to the army lists:
BEASTMEN
Hero: Wargor (Level 2) - Mark of Tzeentch, Chaos Armor, Shield, Crown of Horns - 172 points
Hero: Wargor (Level 2) - Mark of Tzeentch, Heavy Armor, Beast Banner - 219 points
Hero: Brayshaman (Level 2) - Staff of Darkoth, Dark Heart - 160 points
Core: Beast Herd (11 Gors, 7 Ungors) - Full Command, Two Hand Weapons - 140 points
Core: Bestigors (18) - Mark of Tzeentch, Champion, Musician - 254 points
Special: Minotaurs (12) - Mark of Tzeentch, Great Weapons - 552 points
Total: 1,499 points
HIGH ELVES
Hero: Commander - Barded Elven Steed, Heavy Armor, Enchanted Shield, Blade of Sea Gold - 141 points
Hero: Mage (Level 2) - Annulian Crystal, Silver Wand - 180 points
Core: Silver Helms (10) - Shields, Heavy Armor, Musician, Standard Bearer - 251 points
Core: Spearmen (20) - Musician, Standard Bearer - 238 points
Core: Spearmen (20) - Musician, Standard Bearer - 238 points
Special: Swordmasters (20) - Musician, Standard Bearer - 278 points
Special: Tiranoc Chariot (2) - 170 points
Total: 1,496 points
Rolling for Spells netted the following:
Wargor - Yellow Fire, Blue Fire
Battle Standard - Orange Fire, Blue Fire
Brayshaman - Lore of Shadows - Steed of Shadows, Creeping Death
Mage - Lore of Death - Dark Hand of Death, Wind of Death, Doom and Darkness
High Elves won the roll for choice of zone AND for choice of order of deployment, which meant the Beastmen deployed first.
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TURN 1 BEASTMEN
The Herd passes their Unruly test and the army makes its way directly towards the battle line, skirting the copse of trees between the Herd and the Minotaurs.
My Magic phase starts with me finding out how good an item the Annulian Crystal is. Take 1 Power Dice from me and add it to the High Elves Dispel pool. Nice. Well, I marshal the dice I have left and promptly fail to cast Yellow Fire. I succeed in getting Orange Fire, and Creeping Death is dispelled.
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The army cautiously edges forward, and I realize he's going to bait me into a charge. That's fine, that's where I want to be anyway. The Commander, however, rides at top speed up to the Bestigors' flank.
Wind of Death passes, doing 10 hits which winds up killing 5 Ungors. Dark Hand fails to cast. The Herd test for Panic and rolls a 7. JUST enough.
Whew...
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Unruly is passed, and the Defenders continue their attack.
The irony is not lost on me...
The Bestigors are march blocked by the Commander, so they walk up 5". The Brayshaman leaves the unit to better line up some LOS spells and the potential whammy of Wild Call, and the Herd he just left moves 10" towards the battle line. The Minotaurs move their 12, still moving around terrain to close with the enemy.
The Battle Standard Bearer fails to cast Blue Fire, but the Wargor succeeds, which accounts for 5 dead Spearmen from the Mage's unit. Creeping Death on the Commander is dispelled.
This was it, this was the ace up my sleeve. Now to announce the bound spell in the Staff of Darkoth, flinging one of my units forward. I flip the page to see which units can be flipped and I see, much to my chagrin, that it simply lets me KNOW the spell, not cast it for free. How many years have I been running this army? How many times does this item make it into my list? EVERY time? I was so mad, I wanted to scream profanity, but I was in a store. A family store. So I simply smile frustratedly, shake my head, and move on with the game. Nice knowing you, Brayshaman. Sorry I'm about to get you killed.
Oh, and the Spearmen pass their Panic check.
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Time to declare charges, can anyone guess where the Commander on Steed is charging? Yep, Brayshaman. Damn it.
The Swordmasters charge into the Beast Herd, while the Mage's Spearmen surprisingly rear step. Ashley must not be sure he can make that charge.
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Moving on to Close Combat the Brayshaman is easily cut down. The Swordmasters kill 3 Gors, while the Gors manage to kill 2 Swordmasters in return. The Herd breaks WITH a reroll, fleeing 8". The Swordmasters can only manage to pursue 6" The Bestigors Panic from the unit breaking AND from the Brayshaman being destroyed. We decide pretty much immediately and unanimously that the flee roll should be away from the higher Unit Strength Panic causer, therefore the Bestigors flee away from the Herd's combat. Minotaurs aren't close enough to be affected.
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Alright, time to get cereal...
Minotaurs declare a charge on the Swordmasters, who pass their Fear test and Hold.
Both the Bestigors and the Herd rally, with the Bestigors reforming to face the Commander.
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The Battle Standard, however, passes his Blue Fire and does 5 hits on the Commander, with 2 getting past his armor, killing him. Yellow Fire is then failed on a 5.
The Minotaurs flatten 8 Swordmasters. The Swordmasters fail their Insane Courage roll and flee 8". The Minotaurs utilize their Bloodgreed special rule to roll 3D6 to pursue, getting an 8. It's enough to catch the Swordmasters, who are left trampled underfoot.
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Flanking force now becomes available, all he needs to do is roll a 4+...
... and a 2 won't do it. They won't be in this turn.
Minor repositioning of the remaining units.
Wind of Death is cast with Irresistible Force, resulting in... 1 Bestigor dead. Dark Hand fails to cast.
TURN 4 BEASTMEN
Pass Unruly, no charges to declare.
The Beast Herd moves forward at top speed towards the battle line, The Bestigors wheel around to bring themselves towards the Spearmen, and the Minotaurs wheel around in anticipation of a flanking force.
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TURN 4 HIGH ELVES
The flanking force arrives!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The full Spearmen unit declares a charge on the Herd, who hold.
The Chariots both enter mid board edge in front of the Minotaurs, and the Silver Helms enter in the back corner of my deployment zone, moving upwards.
The Mage leaves the Spearmen for the safety of the woods, while the Spearmen regiment turns, moves 2 1/2", and turns back.
The Magic Phase starts with the Mage miscasting Wind of Death, and with a roll of 6 on the chart the Magic Phase ends.
The Chariots miss all their shots in the first utilized Shooting Phase of the game.
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The Minotaurs roar as they charge at the Chariots... who are just out of charge range. Forward 6", then.
The Herd rallies and the Bestigors move forward.
It takes both Blue Fires to do enough damage to kill the Mage, and my reward is failing Yellow Fire yet again.
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The Chariots and weakened Spearmen charge the Bestigors in the flank and front respectively, the full Spearmen charge the Herd again, and the Silver Helms pass their Fear and charge the Minotaurs in the rear. (Giggity)
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The Chariots, however, fail to wound with any of their normal attacks, instead killing 3 Bestigors with impact hits. The Spearmen manage 1 wound to the Battle Standard Bearer. Failing to inflict a single wound, the Bestigors redeem themselves by passing their Break test.
The full Spearmen unit kills 2 Gors, and the Herd kills 5 Spearmen in return. Surprisingly, it turned out a draw due to resolution.
TURN 6 BEASTMEN
With no Movement to be had, we move straight to Magic. Orange Fire passes, but Yellow Fire gets dispelled.
The Spearmen on the left flank kill another Gor, with 2 Spearmen falling in return. The Herd fails their Break test and flee 7", with the Spearmen pursuing 10", wiping them out.
All units combined manage to kill 2 Bestigors, with the Bestigors killing 6 Spearmen in a rage at the loss of so much of their forces. All of the High Elf units fail their Break tests and flee. The Spearmen flee 5", one Chariot flees 11", and the last Chariot flees 6". The Bestigors roll 11" for their pursuit.
Now, to be honest, this is the part that I had some issues with. I genuinely wasn't sure how the break from combat should happen. Ashley was of the mind that the Chariots flee in the exact same direction as the Spearmen, where I was under the impression that the Chariots fled back the way they came, which would have been to the Bestigors' 3 o'clock. I tried to look up any examples and looked up at the table to Ashley simply removing all units. I'm still not sure if that was the correct resolution to that situation, but with him scooping those units, it most definitely meant that as far as he was concerned all three were run down by the Bestigors.
TURN 6 HIGH ELVES
Ashley basically took no actions as the only things he could do were reforming/positioning.
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And that was game. After all was added up the Beastmen were 166 victory points ahead. A Minor Victory, but a victory nonetheless.
The next BatRep will be just as much fun to juggle. Life was much easier when I was assigned to the machine that basically ran itself.