Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you: No adverts like this in the forums anymore. Times and dates in your local timezone. Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance. Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely. Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net. If you are already a member then feel free to login now.

This is a campaign that my friend Dave and I have started playing at our local club, based on the old "Dark Shadows" campaign (set in Albion) that GW released around 2001. My army is High Elf Seaguard, and Dave is the Dwarfs.


Saving Prince Ryleth

The Lord of House Ryleth, an ancient noble family of Eataine has passed away leaving four heirs to his title. Each of his sons have proven to be capable warriors and leaders, travelling the world to win glory in battle and defend the family’s interests and assets abroad.

News has reached Ulthuan that an invasion force of Dwarfs has claimed the mystic island of Albion, defeating the Imperial garrison and dismantling the magical wards around the island in order to exploit its deep coal resources to power their industry.

The Phoenix King has decreed that responsibility for defending the island thus falls to the Elves and has dispatched an army to reclaim the ancient land. The noble houses of Ulthuan have pledged support to the King’s call and rallied their bannermen to the cause, the Lothern navy transporting legions of warriors across the Great Ocean to the distant shores of Albion.

The fighting has been bloody, with the Dwarf warriors heavily entrenched along the coastline. Wave after wave of Seaguard troops have stormed the mist-shrouded coastline, the withering fire of Dwarf war machines inflicting brutal casualties on the elven forces. Despite the fierce resistance, the Elf troops have been able to seize a number of key beachheads and begun fortifying their positions for the advance further inland.

News has reached the war office of Lothern that the three elder brothers of house Ryleth have all been killed in battle during the initial assault against the island. Their mother, the Lady Ryleth, was to receive three ravens bearing news of the loss of her sons all on the same day. Lord Moriath, the Phoenix King’s Minister of War, has been informed that the fourth son of house Ryleth was part of the vanguard fighting to advance into Albion, and is currently missing in action. He has sent orders that Prince Ryleth be found, and returned to Ulthuan to take his place as the sole remaining heir of his household.


Scenario 1 - The Longest Day

The first Dark Shadows scenario is a beach landing, where an invading force in a fleet of landing boats has to capture a beachhead from an enemy force defending a battery of war machines.

The boats move 2d6" per turn, so it actually takes about 4-5 turns to get to the beach. Then the scenario plays out as a Warhammer skirmish, so every figure moves individually. We decided to leave dead soldiers where they fell to give an idea of the carnage.

Dave and I actually played this twice, the first time all of my boats ran ashore by turn 3, and only two elves made it to the beach! We decided to give it another go, and the second time came out as a much closer (and more interesting) game.


The Lothern Seaguard row to shore as dawn breaks. The coast is eerily quiet.


Captain Eragon, commander of the landing force, watches the coastline for sign that the Dwarfs have spotted their advancing fleet of landing boats.


The Dwarf defenders prep their guns, ready to stop the invaders at the beach.


The shooting starts! A lucky cannonball sinks Captain Eragon's boat. Fortunately, he and his men survive the barrage, but are left to swim for their lives in the rough surf. Another burst of warmachine fire claims several elf warriors on the right flank.



Under a hail of fire, the Seaguard slowly advance to the shore. One boat runs aground on a sand bank, forcing the pasengers to swim the rest of the distance to the beach. The coxwain is caught in a rip and unable to swim in his armour, disappears beneath the crashing waves. One of the dwarf cannons malfunctions and explodes, taking its crew to the big ale houes in the sky.


The boats reach the shore. Captain Eragon is cut down by a blast of organ gun fire. Advancing steadily, the Seaguard begin firing back at the Dwarfs, felling some of the handgunners defending the pallisade.


Cannon and handgun fire starts cutting down the elves, still trying to gain a foothold on the beach. In return, they rain arrows down on the defenders at the outer wall, cutting down most of the Dwarf thunderers. The only remaining officer, Seaguard champion Yrrieth leads his platoon of troops on the left flank. Good fortune has seen most of his elves arrive on the beach in fighting condition.


Still taking casualties, the elves begin charging into hand-to-hand combat against the last of the Dwarfs guarding the pallisade. A bitter brawl ensues, the Dwarfs' hatred for the elves driving them into a frenzy.


Yrrieth orders the charge and the elves begin storming the remaining cannon, the dwarf crew desperately drawing weapons to fight off the attackers. The organ gun continues to blast away at the advancing Seaguard.


Sheer numbers of elves begin to overwhelm the dwarfs as the elves pile in against the remaining gunners. The last of the cannon crew falls, and the elves begin to surround the organ gun.


Yrrieth and his soldiers close in around the commander of the organ gun. No quarter is given, and in a bloody struggle the last of the dwarfs is finally dispatched.


It has been a costly battle for the elves, with most of their number dead on the battlefield. But with all the dwarf defenders slain, this beach belongs to the forces of Ulthuan.

Very nice battle report, shame the dwarves lost to the pointy ears

This is a very nice battle report. I love how cinematic this is!

Amazing. The boats are nice and simple and add a lot.

On another note, it took me like, two hours to get the title.

Part 2 - The Ogham Stones

This is actually part 3, we played The Fens scenario, but the pictures weren't that good. It was a pretty close game. Anyway, this one was much more fun.

In this scenario the two forces are battling for control of one of the circles of magical standing stones on Albion. It's written for 6th ed rules, but we played 8th edition instead. In the scenario, any wizards within the 12" stone circle should generate double power dice. 8th edition magic is different, so we just said any wizards in the circle generate their level worth of power dice (eg, level 4 wizards gets 4 extra power dice if they're in the circle.)

The victory conditions are as follows: After turn 4, a player wins the game if they have a unit of troops within the stone circle and there are no enemy troops inside the circle. This means that you have to kick out any enemy units in your turn, and prevent them getting back in on their turn. We also fielded a Truthsayer and Dark Emissary, and 3 fenbeasts each. We didn't have any of the Citadel Albion models, so there are a few stand-ins, with Hero Quest fimirs as the fenbeasts and some other figs as the Truthsayer/Emissary. Here's the battle, between me as the High Elves and Dave as the Dwarfs.


First turn: The Dwarfs begin to advance toward the stone circle. The fenbeasts on the Dwarf's right flank race ahead of the slow moving dwarf infantry.


High Elf deployment. Prince Anderion gambled that the unbreakable fenbeasts on either flank would provide anchors and prevent his forces being out-manoevered as the rest of his troops advanced to claim the stone circle. With no cavalry in his army, he was relying on the eagles to hunt down enemy war machines, giving him the opportunity to dominate the field with his dragon.


The High Elves, arrayed for battle. The elf General didn't tell his personal stylist about the fenbeasts, who were kinda letting the team down.


The Dwarf fenbeasts advance, under a hail of arrow and bolt-thrower fire. One fenbeasts takes a load of arrow wounds, but lumbers on.


The thunderers moved to take up a position in the woods, while the Dark Emissary led a unit of stalwart dwarf soldiers to who knows what evil ends.



Turn two: The fenbeasts charge the Shadow Warriors, who turn tail and run (typical elves), the dwarf army hurling insults after them.



The dwarfs were gambling that slow and steady would win this race.


The High Elves advance at full speed, the fliers hiding menacingly behind the giant rocks.


The battle lines draw closer. The Dark Emissary casts "Fog of Death", felling a few of the elves, but the Truthsayer responds with "Gift of Life" which brings most of them back.


Prince Anderion flies his Dragon into an inconspicuous position. The dwarfs would never know he was there...


The Shadow Warriors fail to rally (typical elves), leaving the job of dealing with the advancing fenbeasts to... the other fenbeats!


It's a rumble in the jungle as the two fenbeasts face off in mortal combat within the dark and forbidding forest. "Two go in, one comes out!"



The elvish battle line is still looking strong.



Turn 3: The dwarfs reach the Ogham Stones. No turning back now!



If you go into the woods today, you're sure of a big surprise...


The Dark Emissary is still shaking his fist...


In what can only be described as "Underperforming Dice", the elf-fenbeast wipes out the dwarf-fenbeast, only taking a single wound in return. Took about three rounds of combat. The Thunderers led by the Runesmith were just as surprised as Dave and I were, failed their panic and took off.


The dwarf General declares a charge at marathon distance, and storms the hapless elf Seaguard, bringing his battle standard, a thane, and his personal runesmith with him. Deathstar much? The elves put up a fight (kind of) but ultimately get beaten and run away! The dwarfs opt to remain in place, holding the circle.



Double Jeopardy! The lonely cannon is in big trouble and has to make an impossible choice about which eagle to take out. In a final "F-you" to the elves, the crew instead opt to target one of the repeater bolt throwers, and blast it all the way back to Vaul's Anvil.



Prince Anderion charges the Dark Emissary's regiment, only to see them turn and run! (What kind of dwarfs are these anyway?) Instead he redirects into the thunderers, suffering a hail of bullet wounds but fails his charge and misses out on the chance to feed his dragon some dwarfs.


High Elves turn 4: Charge! The White Lions and the Seaguard, led by the Truthsayer, smash into the dwarfs and an epic combat ensued. The fenbeast on the elves' left flank charges the thunderers, who continue running away. Watching them hurry off, he turns his attention to the next unit of dwarfs, charging into the flank. Finally, the Shadow Warriors regain their composure and get back into the battle. The remaining fenbeast on the dwarf side has charged into the elven archers and is brutally felling pointy-eared bowmen.


The Archmage rallied his seaguard, just in time to cast Occam's Mindrazor on the White Lions. Take that, stunties.


The eagles swoop down on the cannon crew, unleashing violence untold. Needless to say, all the dwarfs got eaten.


The battle rages! Despite their best efforts, the big battle in the centre comes out as a loss for the elves, but everyone holds their ground and the slaughter continues.


Dwarfs turn 5: The Dwarfs lose their shieldwall after the first round of combat, and reckless slaughtering begins. The fenbeast attempts to even the odds by charging the flank of the White Lions. Meanwhile, the other unit of dwarf warriors is still held up fighting the fenbeast. Can they arrive in time to reinforce the General's regiment? Nearly all the dwarfs in the General's retinue are dead, leaving only a collection of heroes to hold the circle. Will it be enough?? Maybe not, as the elf Archmage casts Occam's Mindrazor again, this time on the Seaguard.



Prince Anderion charges the thunderers again, as the Dark Emissary rallies his dwarf retinue. The stalwart dwarfs level their handguns and blast the elf General from the saddle. Enraged, the Star Dragon tears into the dwarfs, rolling lots of twos but still killing a few with his fiery breath and thunderstomp. The dwarfs hold their ground!


Wholesale slaughter ensues as the the Seaguard make mincemeat of the mighty dwarf heroes. Only the General is left standing at the end of the the combat, and finding himself all alone on the field of battle orders his shield-bearers to make a fighting withdraw. But alas, he is overrun by the murderous frenzy of angry elves. The remaining dwarf warriors have finally despatched the fenbeast and in order to keep the game going they must gain a foothold within the stone circle in their turn! Desperately, they charge the Truthsayer's regiment...


The Dark Emissary makes a mad dash for the Ogham circle, leaving behind his slow-moving bodyguard of dwarf soldiers. The dragon, still upset about losing his rider, continues making a meal of the thunderers.


...and the dwarfs are cut to ribbons by the Seaguard and Truthsayer, still under the influence of the Mindrazor. The last of the dwarfs flee in the face of Strength 9 spears and are mercilessly run down by the Truthsayer's regiment, leaving the White Lions and the elves' battle standard firmly holding the Ogham stones. Game Over, and a hard-fought victory for the elves of Eataine.