Battle report: Woodelves vs Skaven 1000 points<?
Armylists:
Woodelves 1000 (points):
Heroes:
Spellsinger (1) level 2 with Calingor?s Stave and Dispell Scroll
Alter Noble (2) with Light Armor, Great Weapon, Helm of the Hunt and Hail of Doom Arrow
Core:
5 Glade Riders with Musician (GR)
10 Glade Guard (GG)
8 Dryads (DR)
8 Dryads (DR)
Special:
3 Warhawk Riders (WH)
6 Wardancers (WD)
Skaven (1000 points):
Heroes:
Warlock Engineer (3) with Warppistol, Dispell Scroll +? (3 Dice Warp Lightning Spell)
Assassin (4) with Weeping Blade? (Strength 5 in CC) hidden in Gutter Runners
Core:
24 Clanrats (CR) with Standard, Musician and Rattling Gun(a)
20 Clanrat Slaves (RS) with Musician
20 Stormvermin (SV) with Shields, Standard, Musician, Champion and Warpfire Thrower (b)
3 Poison Wind Globadiers (GL)
Special:
5 Gutter Runners (GU) with Throwing Stars and ?
2 Ratogres (RO)
Comments:
The letters in brakets reflect the shortcut for that unit used for the battlefield map.
My first battle with Woodelves. This was a friendly game with a mate. Neither of us knew what the other was going to field. Since I only played Chaos against him before this explains some of his choices, like Globadiers. And it was quite interessting to see his face when I asked for an additional wood 
Battlefield:
Ca. 48x48 inch
Terrain: 3 Woods (W), 1 Hill (H) and 1 Building (B)
Setup:
! RO GL RS CRa 3 bSV !
! ( H ) !
! (W) !
! (GU4) ( B ) !
! ( W) ( W ) !
! !
! ( W ) !
! WD ( 1 2) DR GR !
! DR GG WH !
Comments:
The battle will be reported out of my point of view. So the right side is the side with the hill wether it is the turn of the WE or the skaven.
I deployed the Dryads on the left behind a screen of Wardancers to give them additional protection vs Magic. The Glade Guards were deployed about 33 inch across from the Clanrats to get the maximum amount of shooting.
Pre-Battle:
I rolled a 3 and 4 for spells and took ?Tree-Singing? and ?The Twilight Host?.
I won the roll for first turn and took the initiative.
WE Turn 1:
Movement (MOV):
The Wardancers advanced up to the wood in front of them making sure to stay out of reach of the Rattling Gun and screening the Dryads which followed the Wardancers. Glade Guards moved some inches towards the Clanrats to get them into range for their longbows. Heroes moved to the edge of the forest to get the Skaven into view. The Dryads on the right also occupied the wood with the heroes in it. The Warhawk Riders moved behind the Building in the middle of the table trying to keep out of sight of the ratmen. The Glade Riders moved only a few inches to get a better view on the Stormvermin.
Magic (MAG):
With the help of Calingor?s Stave the Spellsinger tried to cast Tree-Singing four times on the Gutter Runners in the woods, succeeding only one time which was easily dispelled.
Shooting (SHO):
The Glade Guards and Heroes shot at the Clanrats killing one or two. The Glade Riders shot at the Stormvermin with no effect.
Close Combat (CC):
No CC.
Comments: The plan was to inflict as many casualties as possible to the Clanrats to force panic tests in the next turns. Placing the heroes close to the edge of the forest was intentional to get them to shoot and in range for the ?boo?-Spell of the Spellsinger. I didn?t use the HoDA this turn to maximise his effect in the next turn when the shots would autohit (short range).
Skaven Turn 1:
MOV:
The Stormvermin declared a charge on the Warhawk Riders behind the building. I thought that the base of the terrain would count for LOS so I ended up just barely visible to the Stormvermin. Since it was first turn and I didn?t want to start to argue this early into the game ;-) I let him try to charge and declared stand and shoot as reaction because I thought them to be out of range anyway. As it turned out he just managed to get his Stormvermin into contact. Stand and shoot did nothing.
He moved his Ratogres to guard the left side of the wood in front of them. The Globadiers joined the Gutter Runners which stayed out of sight in the forrest. The Clanrat Slaves and Clanrats move forward to get a grip on the Glade Guards. The Rattling Gun and the Warpfire Thrower moved behind the building waiting for someone to appear in their view. The Warlock moved between the Clanrat Slaves and Clanrats to work his magick.
MAG:
Having placed his Warlock in a way that the only enemies in sight were my heroes and Dryads in the wood, he declared my Alter Noble as the target of his 2D6 Str5 Spell. I?m not a big fan of this ?sniping? by using units to limit LOS because I think it is not intended by the rules. But beeing the ?nice guy? I let him continue knowing that short of Total Power I would be able to dispell or scroll it. Well, he throws his three dice which turn into a 13, Total Power! Frying my poor Alter Noble!
SHO:
No shooting.
CC:
The Stormvermin inflicted one wound while the Warhawk Riders weren?t able to kill any of the rats. They lost combat and fled close to my Glade Riders while the Stormvermin pursued only a few inches.
WE Turn 2:
MOV:
The Warhawk Riders rallied between the Dryads in the wood and the Glade Riders. The Wardancers entered the wood on the left to attack the Gutter Runners in the next turn. The Dryads following them tryed to stay out of sight to the Ratogres. The Glade Guards moved some inches backwards to bring more space between them and the Clanrats. The Spellsinger in the wood stayed close to the Dryads to evade the fate of the Alter while the Dryads stayed in the forrest to wait for the right time to attack the Stormvermin. Therefore the Glade Riders moved through the wood on the right to threaten the flank of the Stormvermin.
MAG:
The Spellsinger again only succeeded once to cast Tree-Singing. Luckily the 6 was enough because the Warlock failed to dispell it. Since the Gutter Runners were surrounded by the Wardancers I directed the spell at the Globadiers. With two ones in a row (one for # of hits and one to wound) the Globadiers survived unscarred. Oh, well?
SHO:
The Glade Guards and the Mage managed to kill another couple of Clanrats and the Glade Riders killed one of the Stormvermin.
CC:
No CC.
Skaven Turn 2:
MOV:
The Gutter Runners charged the Wardancers and unveiled the Assassin. The Ratogres slowly moved around the wood to get in a better position to fight the Dryads.
The Globadiers left the forrest in fear of another magical attack and moved towards the Glade Guards. The Clanrat Slaves guarded the flank of the Clanrats while they continued to move towards the Glade Guards. The Weapon Teams positioned themselves between the building and the Clanrats to get the elves into view. The Warlock joined the Weapon Teams to work his corrupted magick once more. Not daring to charge the Dryads, the Stormvermin slightly moved back out of reach of the Dryads, ignoring the Glade Riders in their flank.
MAG:
Beeing the closest target the Warlock directs his spell against the Dryads in the wood with the Mage. Again the dice roll and? Total Power! Of the 9 hits 7 Dryads vanish leaving only one Dryad to seek revenge. Damn, why did I even take a Dispell Scroll?
SHO:
No Shooting.
CC:
The Assassin and the Gutter Runners killed 3 Wardancers (dancing the 4+ Wardsave polka) who managed to kill 3 Gutter Runners in return resulting in a draw.
WE Turn 3:
MOV:
The Glade Riders charged the Stormvermin in the flank. With no LOS to help the Wardancers the Dryads on the left moved into postion to flank the Clanrat Slaves.
The Glade Guards moved a bit back again. The lone Dryad moved towards the Building in the hope to cause Terror with a bit of luck in the magic phase. The Warhawk Riders moved close to the Ratling Gun to turn it into a pincushion.
MAG:
The Spellsinger tried to cast ?The Twilight Host? on the lone Dryad with 3 dice. The dice roll and? Misscast! Luckily only resulting in the end of the magic phase.
SHO:
The Glade Guards and the Mage killed some more Clanrats but not enough to cause a panik test. The Warhawk Riders succeed in killing the Rattling Gun with a well aimed shot.
CC:
Time for revenge, or so I thought? Killing only one ratman with a casualty in return the Glade Riders lost combat and fled towards the right table edge. The Stormvermin held their ground while the Warhawk Riders didn?t pass their panic test and withdraw. The Assassin killed two more Wardancers and with his Gutter Runners catches the last Wardancer as he turned to flee, leaving them in the open in front of the Glade Guards.
Skaven Turn 3:
MOV:
After their pursuit the Gutter Runners with the Assassin moved towards the Glade Guards. The Ratogres and Clanrat Slaves faced the Dryads in the wood in fear of a flank charge. The Globadiers continued to head for the Glade Guards as did the Clanrats with the Warpfire Thrower still keeping near the building. The Warlock moved back behind the building to get LOS to the Glade Riders while the Stormvermin turned towards the lone Dryad lurking by the building.
MAG:
Beeing exhausted from the previous magic phases, the Warlock failed his attempt to cast its spell a third time.
SHO:
No shooting.
CC:
No CC.
WE Turn 4:
MOV:
The lone Dryad charged the Warpfire Thrower which exploded as it attempted to stand and shoot.
While the Glade Riders rallied the Warhawk Riders fled the battlefield. The Glade Guards pivoted some inches to get the Gutter Runners into view. The Dryads on the left retreated into the woods out of view from the Clanrat Slaves and Ratogres. The Spellsinger moved next to the Clanrats to get the left Dryads into range of her Boo-Spell.
MAG:
The ?The Twilight Host?-Spell was scrolled, Tree-Singing dispelled.
SHO:
Glade Guards shot at the Gutter Runners with Assassin, killing the Gutter Runners and wounding the Assassin who held his ground. The Mage missed the Clanrats.
CC :
No CC.
Skaven Turn 4:
MOV:
Globadiers charged the Spellsinger and just barely made it into contact.
The Assassin joined the Clanrats who advanced towards the Glade Guards once more. The Warlock joined the Stormvermin which moved towards the Spellsinger. The Ratogres and Clanrat Slaves still turned to face the Dryads in the wood.
MAG:
No magic.
SHO:
No shooting.
CC:
The Globadiers killed the Spellsinger while suffering no casualty.
WE Turn 5:
Running out of units to effectively fight back I dicided it was time for the more desperate moves.
I charged the Stormvermin into the rear who had foulishly ignored the Glade Riders. The Dryads on the left charged the Clanrat Slaves head on while the lone Dryad charged the Globadiers.
The Glade Guards turned to face the Clanrats.
MAG:
No magic.
SHO:
Glade Guards shot at short distance, killing 4 out of 17 Clanrats, just failling to force a panic test.
CC:
Dryads on the left killed 5 Clanrat Slaves with no retaliation but the Clanrat Slaves held their ground. So the Dryads not involved in combat lapped around to contribute their attacks in the next turn. The lone Dryad killed one of the Globadiers who missed the Dryad resulting in a draw. The Glade Riders managed to kill 2 Stormvermin who in return couldn?t inflict any casualties. The Glade Riders won the combat by 2 so the Stormvermin needed a 3 or less to keep fighting. They rolled a 4 and were destroyed by the fast elven cavalry which just barely outruned them (we both rolled a 9 for the distance). The Globadiers witnessing the loss of their leader paniced and fled into the wood near my deployment zone with the lone Dryad breathing down their neck.
Skaven Turn 5:
MOV:
The Assassin tried to charge the Glade Guards out of the unit Clanrats since the Glade Guards seamed to be further than 10 inch away. With the last arrow the Glade Guards accomplished to inflict the last wound needed to kill the Assassin by their stand and shoot reaction.
The Globadiers rallied. The Ratogres which where out of sight of the Dryads were only able to move into a position to support the Clanrat Slaves in their next turn. The Clanrats (now without the Assassin) turned to face the Glade Riders, having learned the hard way to fear rear-charges of Glade Riders.
MAG:
No magic.
SHO:
No shooting.
CC:
The Dryads inflicted enough wounds to autobreak the Clanrat Slaves and destroyed them in the pursuit.
WE Turn 6:
MOV:
Dryads on the left charged the Ratogres. Glade Riders charged into the Clanrats while the Glade Guards charged into their rear. The lone Dryad charged the Globadiers in the wood.
MAG:
No magic.
SHO:
No shooting.
CC:
Dryads on the left killed one Ratogre and won the combat, driving the Ratogres from the field. The combined charge of the Glade Riders and Glade Guards resulted in a destroyed Clanrats regiment. The lone Dryad only killed one Globadier and was slain in return by the last Globadier. While the Globadier made his panic test the Glade Guards failed their panic test, mourning the loss of the Dryad.
Skaven Turn 6:
With only one Globadier left the Skaven player conceded.
Comments:
What a game! Having lost an important part of my army to two early Total Power spells and fumbling my own magic phase, I nearly lost all hope to even pull a tie. To add insult to injury I consequently failed Leadership test while the spineless Ratmen passed a lot. But thanks to some mistakes of my opponent (the rear charge of the Glade Riders springs to mind) and some good combat phases I managed to turn this disaster into a victory.
Lessons learned:
- Protect your Characters, they are VERY fragile.
- Don?t count on your magic defence to save you. Total Power happens when you least need it.
- Don?t be afraid to take risks. OK, that is easy said when all hope is lost 
- Never give up!
After reading 2-3 turns, I tought the victory was in the hands of Skaven, and still you won. Really good battle report! Fun to read