Here goes! This is going to be fast, it's been a while since I posted a battle report, and I need to prove to myself that it can be done succinctly
My army:
Branchwraith, Annoyance of Nettlings
12 Dryads
12 Dryads
11 Dryads
6 Treekin
Eagle
Eagle
His army:
Priest on horseback
9 Knights
20 Swordsmen
20 Pikemen?
10 Handgunners
10 Handgunners
Great Cannon
Deployment: He placed the cannon on a hill in the far left corner, with both units of hand gunners in front. To the right of them were the pikemen, followed by the swordsmen. On the far right were his knights and priest.
I deployed in a line with 2 units of dryads facing the hill, followed by treekin and the unit of dryads with branchwraith. I placed my eagles behind the dryads on the left to threaten the cannon.
Mission: We only had an hour until the store closed, and knew we could only push an extra 30 minutes past that to finish, so 1.5 hours for this game! So we chose to play "pitched battle" a la 7th edition, instead of rolling for a battle. He went first!
Turn 1: He fired his cannon, killing 2 dryads and putting 2 wounds on an eagle. He gentlemanly chose not to attempt to fire his handgunner- they have a 24" range, and he said in his experience they're never actually in range on turn 1. He moved up his knights on the far right, and his pikemen and swordsmen slightly.
I attempt to charge his knights with the dryads- I need an 8!
But I fail
. I position the treekin behind this unit of dryads to receive the knights after they blow through them, unwittingly presenting my flank to the cannon! The other two units of dryads and eagles move up to go toe-to-toe with the rest of the empire force.
Turn 2: My opponent obliged by firing his cannon into the flank of the treekin. Luckily, it only bounces into two, killing one and putting two wounds on another. The rest of his shooting is ineffective, and he slides his pikemen and swordsmen back slightly, in line with the handgunners. The knights charge in, and obliterate the dryads (who run away with a few survivors) but lose 2 knights to rolls of a 1. He also only rolls a 4 for overrun, even with picking the two highest dice! They fall just short of the treekin, which means I'll get the charge and they'll be hitting me at strength 4 instead of strength 6- a lucky stroke!
I rally the broken dryads, and move up the other two units until they can see the whites of the Empire's eyes, with the eagles close behind. The treekin charge the knights, and kill... 1! With the 1+ save, he only needs 3s, and he makes them. With hatred and his hero's magical weapon he does several wounds to me. I lose combat resolution by 3, but I roll a 5 to stick around! Whew!
Turn 3: The cannon attempts to knock off the eagle with two wounds, but bounces 10 inches and overshoots! The pikemen charge a unit of dryads, but the swordsmen fail to reach, needing a 10. The dryads take advantage by routing the pikemen and running them down, hitting the swordsmen block!! The treekin, on the other hand, are depleted further by a bound spell from the priest, which does
D6 strength 5 wounds against
forest spirits (he had previously been casting a spell to become unbreakable). Durin's Bane!!!! Even though it doesn't do many wounds, it demoralizes the treekin, who fail to kill any knights, flee and are run down, with the knights hitting the rallied dryads.
It's go time! I charge a unit of hand gunners with the unengaged dryads, and risk charging the other with both eagles since I'd need a 9 or 10 to reach the cannon. He stands and shoots against the full-strength eagle, and it also takes 2 wounds, but they both make it! I break both of these units, and the dryads overrun
just short of the cannon, while the eagles run off the board, each rolling an 11! Unfortunately, the dryads that fared so well against the pikemen suffer against the swordsmen static combat res. They lose combat, break and are run down! The dryads with branchwraith are wiped out to a tree, and the knights re-form to face the battle on the hill from afar.
At this point, things look GRIM. I only have half a unit of dryads left, along with 2 eagles that have 2 wounds apiece.
Turn 4: The cannons shoots grapeshot at the dryads- and fails to kill any! The swordsmen reform and come back towards the hill, along with the knights.
My dryads charge the cannon, manage to kill a crewmen, and chase the cannon off the board. The eagles come back on from the edge and stare down the swordsmen. It's time for the end-game!
Turn 5: The swordmen valiantly attempt to charge the eagles, but fall short. The knights move in for the kill, ready to charge next turn.
The eagles elect not to charge the front of the swordsmen unit, having seen the fate of the dryads earlier. Instead, one marches to the far left, while the other fails his leadership test and does a normal move just to the right of the swordsmen block. The dryads come back on the hill, and brace for impact.
Turn 6: In a suprising move, the knights choose to charge the eagle on the right, instead of the dryads. The swordsmen charge into the dryads, leaving the eagle on the far left unengaged and staring at their exposed flank. The knights wipe out their wounded eagle, and reform to prepare to finish me off! Meanwhile, the dryads barely lose combat and pass their leadership check.
I charge the eagle into the flank of the swordsmen! They lose combat, but just barely, and pass their leadership check.
Turn 7: It appears we did a 7th turn!! We were playing quickly to finish, and didn't realize. So technically, the Empire were already victorious! But what if things had continued, as we did? The knights charge the dryads, getting 2 bases in contact. They also use the
D6 Strength 5 wounds spell, which eliminates one of the dryads in contact with their unit! So only the priest and a single supporting knight would attack. The dryads go first (all 4 of them), and direct all of their remaining attacks into the swordsmen. They kill 5! The eagle chips in with 1. The knights, barely touching, can only kill a single dryad. I win combat by 1, he runs with both units and is run down!!!
The wood elves stand alone atop the hill with a total of 3 dryads, and an eagle with 2 wounds! 61 points worth of models (counting the eagle at half-strength)
. This was by far the closest game I've ever played, although I look forward to having more of them in 8th. My opponent was quite bummed out to lose what seemed a certain victory, even a massacre, on the final turn! So I will inform him that it appears we played a 7th turn, and that he is in fact the victor
.
It was neat, however, to make a last stand on
his hill with my few remaining models! I also was shocked at how effective his knights were. 1+ armor saves are no joke! I think the only answer I have to this is a treeman, or preferably a treeman ancient who can challenge and face less attacks. The 6 treekin didn't even come close to matching the knights, and they're a 400 point unit! However, the cannon and the bound spell really depleted them, and my opponent made all of his 3+ saves versus their strength 5 attacks.
A good, close match! In the end, the trees held the Alamo, and not the Empire... but little did they know, it was too little, too late!!!
. Especially now that I've alerted you to the presence of the anti-forest-spirit bound spell for priests! That was suprising, and really hurt! In hindsight, I think Cluster of Radiants would have been more useful on my branchwraith, to have a better chance at dispelling that.
