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Welcome to the first MOHL Betrep of 2021!

Feel free to audit this Batrep for rules errors because we are always trying to learn and get better! Let me know what your thoughts are if you make it to the end of this report!

As always thanks for tuning in, without further ado let's get into it:

BATTLE REPORT: 2/13/2021
WOOD ELVES VS TOMB KINGS @ KHEMRI

DEPLOYMENT

We played a 1500 Point Pitched Battle, following the rules and using the Victory Points laid out on pages 198-199 of the Big Red Book.
Our army lists are attached below with points costs, equipment/item selections, and special rules.
The Wood Elves selected a Lvl 1 Spellsinger as their General. Both Spellsingers were Level 1. They rolled 3 and 4 for their spells, respectively. Both opted to take Tree Singing instead of what they rolled.
The Tomb Kings selected a Tomb Prince as their General and a Liche Priest as the Hierophant. They also brought one more Liche Priest who was accompanied by The Casket of Souls.
We generated terrain from The Deserts of Araby and Khemri found on page 227 of the Big Red Book.
We placed terrain using a variant of method 3 from page 219 of the Big Red Book, where players took turns generating/positioning terrain features until one player declined to continue generating, then we rolled for table edge.
Tomb Kings won the dice roll to decide who generates terrain first. He opted to generate first and got a group of buildings. He placed them on the westernmost edge of the table. Wood Elves generated a Pine Grove and placed it in the middle of the northern deployment zone. Corey deferred to generate any more terrain. So did the Wood Elves.
The Tomb Kings won the dice roll to choose Table Edge and chose the north side.
The Wood Elves place their Magic Fey Wood in the middle of their deployment zone in the south.

The Tomb Kings won the dice roll to choose who deploys first and decided to have the Wood Elves deploy first.
1) The Wood Elves deployed a unit of Glade Guard to the west, in the front of the deployment zone.
1) The Tomb Kings deployed their unit of Tomb Guard with full command all the way to the east of their deployment zone.
2) The Wood Elves decided to deploy their 2nd unit of Glade Guard on the eastern flank.
2) The Tomb Kings chose to deploy a line of Ushabti next, near the middle of the deployment zone, on the eastern side.
3) The Asrai deployed their unit of Dryads in the magic fey wood.
3) The Undead deployed Chariots with a full command group between the Ushabti and the Tomb Guard.
4) The Wood Elves deployed their final unit of Glade Guard between the Dryads and the eastern Glade Guard.
4) The Tomb Kings placed their Skeleton Warriors with a full command in the very back of their deployment zone, in the north east.
5) The Wood Elves recruited a Regiment of Renown next, placing Leopold’s Leopard Company just outside the magic fey wood to the west.
5) The Tomb Kings deployed their Skeleton Warriors with no command just to the west of their first Skeleton Warrior unit.
6) The Wood Elves deployed their Wild Riders of Kurnous next, between the western Glade Guard and the Tilean Pikemen.
6, 7, 8,9) The Tomb Kings placed Characters next. The Liche Priest accompanied by The Casket of Souls deployed in the northeastern corner of the map. The Liche Priest (Hierophant) embedded in the Tomb Guard unit. The Tomb Prince, riding a Chariot, embedded in the Chariot unit. The Tomb Kings finished Deployment first and were granted +1 to their roll-for-choosing-who-goes-first.
7, 8) The Wood Elves deployed their Spellsingers each in a Glade Guard unit on the eastern front.

Both players rolled-for-choosing-who-goes-first. Wood Elves rolled a 2, Tomb Kings rolled a 5 (+1) and chose to go first. DEPLOYMENT ENDS, THE BATTLE BEGINS!

TOP OF THE FIRST

START OF THE TURN:
NO TESTS REQUIRED

MOVEMENT:
NO CHARGES DECLARED
1, 2, 3, 8, 9) The Tomb Guard with embedded Hierophant, the Ushabti, and the Chariots with embedded Tomb Prince all move forward towards the Asrai line.
4,5) Both units of Skeleton Warriors used 25% of their movement to Turn to face the Waywatchers and the rest to move west.
6,7) The Casket may not move. The Priest stays with it.

MAGIC:
8) The Tomb Prince uses My Will Be Done! and casts Urgency on himself and his unit of Chariots. He rolls a D6 for Power Level and rolls a 6. Wood Elves attempt to dispel with 2 Dispel Dice and roll a 5; it succeeds, allowing the Chariots to move again.
7) The Casket Priest casts Urgency on the Tomb Guard. Power Level 2D6, he rolled a 10. The Wood Elves do not challenge this.
9) The Hierophant targets the eastern Glade Guard and casts the Magic Missile incantation, Power Level 2D6, and rolled a 9. Wood Elves use their final 2 Dispel Dice and roll a 6; the missile casts. It causes 1 Wound.
6) The Casket of Souls is not in CC and opens with Power Level 2D6+2. It is dispelled by a Dispel Scroll used by the Spellsinger General.

SHOOTING:
3) The Chariots target the eastern Glade Guard and fire 2 bow shots. Arrows of the Asp has them hitting on 5+ and wounding on 4+. They cause 1 Wound.

CLOSE COMBAT:
NONE

BOTTOM OF THE FIRST

START OF THE TURN:
NO TESTS REQUIRED

MOVEMENT:
NO CHARGES DECLARED
1) The westernmost Glade Guard set out at a March towards the battle, northeast.
2,4,7,8) Both units of Glade Guard with embedded Spellsingers use a quarter movement to Turn 180 degrees, backup 2.5 inches, and the final quarter to Turn back towards the enemy.
3,5,6) The Dryads, Pikemen, and Wild Riders move up into a battle line shading northeast towards the enemy.
9) The Waywatchers creep east from their Pine Grove into close range against the Skeleton Warriors.

MAGIC:
WOOD ELVES DEFER. After considering how trying to “surf” the dryad unit forward would work, I decided it was quicker for them to march and that Spellsingers shouldn’t risk miscasts.

SHOOTING:
2,4,7,8) Both units of Glade Guard with embedded Spellsingers target the Chariots with longbow shots. The Glade Guard to the west find 2 Wounds (with 2 more saved) while the western Glade Guard sink 7 Wounds into the Chariots. Neither Spellsinger is credited with a Wound, with one finding her mark only to be turned away by the armour save.
9) The Waywatchers cause only 1 Wound against the Skeleton Warriors, with their shields turning away another.

CLOSE COMBAT:
NONE

TOP OF THE SECOND

START OF THE TURN:
NO TESTS REQUIRED

MOVEMENT:
CHARGES!
3,8) The Chariots with embedded Tomb Prince Declare a Charge against the easternmost Glade Guard with embedded Spellsinger. They choose a Stand & Shoot response. Being Charged by a Fear-causing enemy, a Fear Test is required, using the General’s LD since she is within 12”. They roll an 11 and fail! Since their Unit Strength is greater than the enemy’s, they do not flee but will require 6’s to hit in CC. Their S&S response causes 2 more wounds.
1,2,9) The Tomb Guard with embedded Hierophant use a turn of movement to Reform facing southwest. The Ushabti do the same.
4,5) Both units of Skeleton Warriors continue to slog towards the Waywatchers to their west.
6,7) The Casket may not move. The Priest stays with it.

MAGIC:
8) The Tomb Prince uses My Will Be Done! and casts Smiting on himself and his unit of Chariots. He rolls a D6 for Power Level and rolls a 5. Wood Elves attempt to dispel with 3 Dispel Dice and roll a 4 and 2 1’s; the Dispel attempt automatically fails! The spell succeeds. The Tomb Prince causes 2 Wounds to the Spellsinger, who dies. These Wounds cause 2 Wounds to repair on his Chariot Unit. The Chariot steeds manage 2 more Wounds against the Glade Guard during this phase.
7) The Casket Priest is not in range of anyone and defers.
9) The Hierophant uses Urgency on the unit of Tomb Guard he is with. They roll a 7, Wood Elves cannot Dispel with only 1D6. They move another few inches.
6) The Casket of Souls is not in CC and opens with Power Level 2D6+2. It is dispelled by the second Dispel Scroll used by the Spellsinger General.

SHOOTING:
NONE

CLOSE COMBAT:
3,8) The Tomb Prince deals 2 more Wounds with his magic spear, bringing another Chariot model back into the mix. The impact hits, the Chariot crews, and their steeds finish the Glade Guard unit (Unit Destroyed, 1 Wood Elf Power Dice lost, 1 Wood Elf Dispel Dice lost,
2 Wood Elf Dispel scrolls lost!) with 4 more Wounds, triggering a Panic test in the nearby Glade Guard with embedded Spellsinger General. The Chariots do not restrain the Overrun move and continue off the table, to return in their next Movement Phase. The nearby Glade Guard unit tests for Panic under the General’s Leadership and roll a 9, failing! They flee directly away from the spot of the combat, into the magic Fey Wood.

BOTTOM OF THE SECOND

START OF THE TURN:
NO TESTS REQUIRED

MOVEMENT:
NO CHARGES DECLARED
1) The westernmost Glade Guard continue to March towards the battle, northeast.
3,5,6) The Dryads, Pikemen, and Wild Riders creep into charge range of the Ushabti, setting up for the inevitable conflict.
4,7) The Spellsinger General manages to Rally her Glade Guard and they Reform facing east.
9) The Waywatchers do not move.

MAGIC:
WOOD ELVES DEFER.

SHOOTING:
9) The Waywatchers unleash a volley of fire on the Skeleton Warriors, downing 4 of them a fifth Wound was generated but was Saved by thee Warrior's light armour.

CLOSE COMBAT:
NONE

TOP OF THE THIRD

START OF THE TURN:
NO TESTS REQUIRED

MOVEMENT:
CHARGES!
2) The Ushabti Declare a Charge against the Dryads, who elect to Hold.
1,9) The Tomb Guard with embedded Hierophant move southwest toward the magic Fey Wood.
3,8) The Chariots and their Tomb Prince come back onto the battlefield during Compulsory Moves and face the Dryads.
4,5) Both units of Skeleton Warriors continue to slog towards the Waywatchers to their west.
6,7) The Casket may not move. The Priest stays with it.

MAGIC:
8) The Tomb Prince uses My Will Be Done! and casts Urgency on himself and his unit of Chariots. He rolls a D6 for Power Level and rolls a 3. The Wood Elves do not challenge this so it succeeds.
CHARGES!
3,8) The Chariots and Tomb Prince Declare a Charge against the flank of the Dryads, who are already engaged in Close Combat. No Test Required, the Dryads are Immune to Psych. They Hold.
7) The Casket Priest is not in range of anyone and defers.
9) The Hierophant rolls 2D6 to cast Summoning on the Chariots, now within his range. 2 Wounds are healed on the Chariot unit.
6) The Casket of Souls is not in CC and opens with Power Level 2D6+2. They roll a 6(+2) for a value of 8. The Wood Elves use all 3 Dispel Dice for this and roll a 10; it is Dispelled.

SHOOTING:
NONE

CLOSE COMBAT:
3,8) The impact hits generated by the charging Chariots dealt 3 wounds to the Dryads right off the jump. The Prince found 2 more Wounds with his spear, bringing 2 Wounds back onto the Chariots. The Chariot crews and steeds drove another 2 Wounds home. The Ushabti sank yet 2 more Wounds into the hapless tree creatures. Despite their Ward Saves denying 2 Wounds, the onslaught was just too much to bear. The Dryads did manage 1 Wound on the Ushabti in return for pride’s sake before failing their Break Test and fleeing 7 inches to the west. Neither Undead unit restrained their pursuit, and the Chariots hunted the Dryads down first, pursuing right through their position and continuing another 8 inches. The Ushabti also happened to roll a 7 and moved up to the spot of the Dryad’s final destruction. A Panic Test is triggered in the nearby Glade Guard with embedded Spellsinger General. They roll a 4, passing their test.

BOTTOM OF THE THIRD

START OF THE TURN:
NO TESTS REQUIRED

MOVEMENT:
NO CHARGES DECLARED
1,4,5,6,7) Everyone except the Waywatchers Turn to face the Chariots. Everyone is also careful to make sure they are not drawing a Line of Sight on the Casket.
9) The Waywatchers do not move.

MAGIC:
WOOD ELVES DEFER.

SHOOTING:

1,4) Any Glade Guard model that could draw a Line of Sight onto the Chariot unit fired at them, coming away with 7 Wounds caused. (0 Armour Saves this time)
9) The Waywatchers continued to fire on the Skeleton Warriors, again downing 4 of them. (After 1 Save)

CLOSE COMBAT:
NONE

TOP OF THE FOURTH

START OF THE TURN:
NO TESTS REQUIRED

MOVEMENT:
CHARGES!
2) The Ushabti Declare a Charge against the Glade Guard with embedded Spellsinger. They decide to Flee in an attempt to use the terrain to their advantage. They roll 2D6 to flee and roll only a 3! They are Caught! Unit Destroyed.
3,8) The Tomb Prince and Chariot unit Declare a Charge against the westernmost Glade Guard, who opt to Stand & Shoot. They pass their Fear Test and unload 3 Wounds into the Chariot unit, finally finishing it off once and for all.
1,9) The Tomb Guard with embedded Hierophant use 1” to Turn 180 degrees, walk 2”, and use their final 1” to Turn back upfield.
4,5) Both units of Skeleton Warriors continue to lumber towards the Waywatchers to their west.
6,7) The Casket may not move. The Priest stays with it.

MAGIC:
8) The Tomb Prince uses My Will Be Done! and casts Smiting on himself. He rolls a D6 for Power Level and rolls a 6. The Wood Elves use both remaining Dispel Dice and roll only a 5. The Tomb Prince causes 2 Wounds to the Glade Guard.
7) The Casket Priest is not in range of anyone and defers.
9) The Hierophant defers.
6) The Casket of Souls is not in CC and opens with Power Level 2D6+2. However, no Wood Elf units were looking at the Casket so it had no effect.

SHOOTING:
NONE

CLOSE COMBAT:
8) The Prince’s Chariot causes 1 Wound from impact hits and he deals 1 Wound personally. The Glade Guard are not able to cause any in return and lose the Close Combat by 1 (2 Wounds vs Outnumber). They roll a 7 on their Break Test to Hold!

BOTTOM OF THE FOURTH

START OF THE TURN:
NO TESTS REQUIRED

MOVEMENT:
CHARGES!
6) The Wild Riders of Kurnous Declare a Charge into the Tomb Prince’s flank. He Holds. (No Panic Test Needed, Immune to Psych)
5) Leopold’s Leopard Company Marches towards the magic Fey Wood to hunt down the encroaching Ushabti.
9) The Waywatchers do not move.

MAGIC:
NONE.

SHOOTING:
9) The Waywatchers fire past the lone Skeleton Warrior model, targeting the unit of 15 Skeleton Warriors. With a few headshots they manufacture 5 Wounds on the Skeletons, felling an entire rank. (0 Saves)

CLOSE COMBAT:
6) The Wild Riders strike first due to their Charge and deal 2 Wounds to the Prince. The Glade Guard finish him up with 1 Wound of their own and pass the ensuing Leadership Test generated by the Prince’s Curse.

TOP OF THE FIFTH

START OF THE TURN:
NO TESTS REQUIRED

MOVEMENT:
CHARGES!
4,5) The lone model Skeleton Warrior and the unit of 10 Skeleton Warriors both Declare a Charge against the Waywatchers. The Waywatchers select Stand & Shoot as their response but fail their Fear Test with an 11! Outnumbered, they are forced to turn and Flee 2d6, but they roll only a 3! They are Caught! Unit destroyed.
1,9) The Tomb Guard with embedded Hierophant again use 1” to Turn 180 degrees, walk 2”, and use their final 1” to Turn back upfield.
2) The Ushabti use ¼ of their movement to Turn, walk half of their movement (but also halved due to terrain so only 1.25 inches, and then their final ¼ to Turn again (finishing their move facing south.)
6,7) The Casket may not move. The Priest stays with it.

MAGIC:
7) The Casket Priest is not in range of anyone and defers.
9) The Hierophant defers.
6) The Casket of Souls is not in CC and opens with Power Level 2D6+2. However, no Wood Elf units were looking at the Casket so it had no effect.

SHOOTING:
NONE

CLOSE COMBAT:
NONE

BOTTOM OF THE FIFTH

START OF THE TURN:
NO TESTS REQUIRED

MOVEMENT:
1) The Glade Guard move 5” to the southeast toward the Ushabti.
5) Leopold’s Leopard Company Marches, continuing into the magic Fey Wood to hunt down the fugitive Ushabti.
6) The Wild Riders use their Free Reform ability to move south and face east.

MAGIC:
NONE.

SHOOTING:
1) The Glade Guard target the Ushabti from long range, through soft cover (hitting on 5+s). They inflict 1 Wound on the Undead Constructs, that goes unSaved.

CLOSE COMBAT:
NONE

TOP OF THE SIXTH

START OF THE TURN:
NO TESTS REQUIRED

MOVEMENT:
1,9) The Tomb Guard with embedded Hierophant decide to contest the southeast Quadrant and move their full 4” south.
2) The Ushabti again use ¼ of their movement to Turn, walk half of their movement (but also halved due to terrain so only 1.25 inches, and then their final ¼ to Turn again (finishing their move facing south.) His reasoning here was to get them out of charge sight from the Wild Riders but there was no good reason not to have them face the Pikemen to the north.
4,5) The Skeleton Warriors walk west to make a play for the northwest Quadrant.
6,7) The Casket may not move. The Priest stays with it.

MAGIC:
7) The Casket Priest is not in range of anyone and defers.
9) The Hierophant uses Urgency on himself and the unit of Tomb Guard he is with. They roll 2D6 for an 8 and the Wood Elves roll a 7. The spell succeeds and they move 4".
6) The Casket of Souls is not in CC and opens with Power Level 2D6+2. The Wild Riders can draw a Line of Sight to the Casket due to their 360 degree LOS arc. The Casket Rolls a 4+2 for a score of 6. The Wood Elves also roll a 6 and it is Dispelled.

SHOOTING:
NONE

CLOSE COMBAT:
NONE

BOTTOM OF THE SIXTH

START OF THE TURN:
NO TESTS REQUIRED

MOVEMENT:
CHARGES!
5) Leopold’s Leopard Company is able to Declare a Charge on the Ushabti. They Hold.
6) The Wild Riders use their Free Reform ability to turn back to the north in an attempt to contest the northwest Quadrant.

MAGIC:
NONE.

SHOOTING:
NONE

CLOSE COMBAT:
5) Leopold’s Leopard Company keeps fighting until the final whistle, delivering 2 Wounds into the monsters, who in turn send 3 Wounds right back into the pikemen’s lines. With their Standard, Outnumber, 3 Ranks, and 2 additional Combat Resolution points for their Rear Charge, the Pikemen came away winning the Combat by 6, which after a -1 adjustment due to Undead Constructs translated to 5 more Wounds sinking into the Ushabti. This wiped them from the map.




GAME ENDS: MINOR VICTORY FOR THE TOMB KINGS

ATTACHED: The Box Score from Season Three, Match One.

THREE STARS OF THE GAME:

3rd Star: Liche Priests -- 100% Survival Rate, 5/5 in Spell Casting Attempts, 1 Wound Caused (+/-: +1), 2 Wounds Rezzed.
2nd Star: Glade Guard -- 3/3 in LD Tests, 23 Wounds Caused (+/-: +7), 542 VP Scored (+/-: +302), 2 Units Destroyed, 1 Quadrant Captured
1st Star: Tomb Prince -- 3/3 in Spell Casting Attempts, 13 Wounds Caused (+/-: +10), 6 Wounds Rezzed, 404 VP Scored (+/-: +120), 2 Flees Caused, 3 Units Destroyed.




Interesting tidbits:

The Tomb Prince and his Chariot unit traveled over SIX FEET in just 3 turns, and had they broken the Glade Guard in the Top of the 3rd, could have gone up to another foot and a half.

The Waywatchers caused 14 Wounds and suffered none but came up short when it came to VP, going -166 in VP on the day, and failing their only LD Test when it mattered most.

The Wood Elves went 5 for 9 in Leadership Tests, which is not great, but one of these was a Break Test for the Dryads which needed snake-eyes.

I did NOT get to capture the Chariot Standard for 100 VP since I eliminated the unit during the Stand & Shoot. I did not wipe the unit in CC, nor did they flee with me electing to pursue.

....Prettttttty frustrating to roll two 3's in a row when fleeing 2D6 through trees as Wood Elves. And I didn't even WANT to flee with the Waywatchers! I'm not trying to make excuses and blame dice rolls but I really really thought both of those units were getting away.


HOW DID I BLOW THIS?

These are the mistakes I have been able to identify which helped me lose this game.
1) Poor deployment. My Spellsingers had no business on the southeastern end of the table, They should have been safely positioned in the southwest and treated as scroll caddies, not archers.
2) Didn't move to capture the northwest Quadrant quick enough. Should have had my Wild Riders heading there sooner to eek out the draw.
3) Once I was in the situation I was in of the Spellsingers being poorly positioned, I should have used Dispel Scrolls more aggressively to shut down his extra-movement magic.


What are you guys' thoughts? Does this Batrep format make things understandable? Did we break/forget any rules? Have I properly identified my mental mistakes?






SEE NEXT: MOHL 2021 GAME TWO: WOOD ELVES @ HIGH ELVES
https://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/797574.page




.

You've stumbled onto your positioning issues as well as maybe a deeper consideration of your army list and it's successes/failings, so I won't touch on that.

What I WILL touch on are the following questions:

Where is the terrain? This board seems designed to perfectly facilitate his Chariots and Casket.

Why didn't you cast any magic? You had nothing to lose and at the very least could have affected the movement. Lore of Life may have been a bit of a godsend here.

Wow. You REALLY had some bad luck with your dispelling, while he rolled pretty high on his prince's 1d6 spells. Terrible!

Not to mention the psychology tests.

Positioning issues: Those spellsingers were defeinitely on the wrong side of the track, sure as feth.

What irritated me a bit too was your usage of the waywatchers - Weren't they supposed to attack the hierophant? But all they did was shooting at cheap skeletons. Hmm. Your Wild Riders coul've done the job by round 4, too. They were in an excellent position by the end of the second turn.

And why, why did you let the Ushabti attack your Dryads? Did you expect them to hold and then eventually countercharge with Leopold's? The other way round, it would've made sense to me, block out the Ushabti so they are forced in the charge or get charged themselves the next turn by Leopold & the Dryads.
Or did you try to set up a trap and planned to flee with the Dryads, having forgotten they are immune to psych and can hold only?

But don't let that game put you down. Lessons learned, and better luck next time.

 Just Tony wrote:
You've stumbled onto your positioning issues as well as maybe a deeper consideration of your army list and it's successes/failings, so I won't touch on that.

What I WILL touch on are the following questions:

Where is the terrain? This board seems designed to perfectly facilitate his Chariots and Casket.

Why didn't you cast any magic? You had nothing to lose and at the very least could have affected the movement. Lore of Life may have been a bit of a godsend here.

Regarding terrain: We generate it by going back and forth until one person declines (min one each, if person 1 declines person 2 gets one more if he wants). He declined after placing just one so I had the option to place one more if I wanted to roll for it. I did not yet know he was going to overload into a bunker in the corner and I did not want to block shooting lanes for my Glade Guard. Clearly my judgment was lacking and I needed to be able to adapt to his Deployment better.

Regarding magic: According to page 53 of the Wood Elves Army Book, a Spellsinger must use the Lore of Athel Loren. It seems bonkers to me that they would not also have access to Life but I am almost positive there's no other way to interpret it.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

 Moscha wrote:


What irritated me a bit too was your usage of the waywatchers - Weren't they supposed to attack the hierophant? But all they did was shooting at cheap skeletons. Hmm. Your Wild Riders coul've done the job by round 4, too. They were in an excellent position by the end of the second turn.

And why, why did you let the Ushabti attack your Dryads? Did you expect them to hold and then eventually countercharge with Leopold's? The other way round, it would've made sense to me, block out the Ushabti so they are forced in the charge or get charged themselves the next turn by Leopold & the Dryads.
Or did you try to set up a trap and planned to flee with the Dryads, having forgotten they are immune to psych and can hold only?

But don't let that game put you down. Lessons learned, and better luck next time.

Regarding the Waywatchers: My plan was for them to attack the Hierophant but I was concerned that they were going to end up getting charged by both Skeleton Warrior units/seen by the Casket if they ventured into open ground. I wanted to thin the skellies for another turn or two and had thought any flees would go through a wood and allow me to escape. This failed spectacularly. The Chariots coming onto the board, rezzing a bunch of wounds, and flying another 2 feet into my Dryads' flanks really did not feel good.

Regarding the Dryads: I honestly, truly thought they were going to Hold against the Ushabti. Yes, I did think that Leopold was going to be able to come in on the flank. A theme running throughout my analysis of my loss is that I underestimated just how fast those Chariots were going to be. I thought I could wipe them before they made it across the board (and was 1 Wound shy of cutting them away from the Prince in the Top of the 2nd). This also failed spectacularly.


Thank you guys very much for reading through that and offering constructive feedback.


As for the Battle Report itself: any suggestions from a viewer on how to make it easier to comprehend?


Automatically Appended Next Post:
I just had something great pointed out to me over on the other site. Clearly I should have kept spell #4 "The Twilight Host" and used it on Glade Guard/Waywatchers as appropriate and on Wild Riders who wanted to charge the Casket to cut down on their Psych tests.

Also, I now know that the Wild Riders would have added their Magic Resistance dice into the defense against the Casket, which REALLY REALLY makes me want to kick myself for not knowing.

MattyFenby wrote:

 Just Tony wrote:
You've stumbled onto your positioning issues as well as maybe a deeper consideration of your army list and it's successes/failings, so I won't touch on that.

What I WILL touch on are the following questions:

Where is the terrain? This board seems designed to perfectly facilitate his Chariots and Casket.

Why didn't you cast any magic? You had nothing to lose and at the very least could have affected the movement. Lore of Life may have been a bit of a godsend here.

Regarding terrain: We generate it by going back and forth until one person declines (min one each, if person 1 declines person 2 gets one more if he wants). He declined after placing just one so I had the option to place one more if I wanted to roll for it. I did not yet know he was going to overload into a bunker in the corner and I did not want to block shooting lanes for my Glade Guard. Clearly my judgment was lacking and I needed to be able to adapt to his Deployment better.

If memory serves, tourney rules back then were either 4 or 6 terrain pieces per field. I think they give some outlines in the terrain generation portion of the BRB, but I'd say 6 is a nice guideline.

Deployment with what you got was a bit sticky, but could have been done a touch better. For instance, everything ranked formed up and pointed with their 90 degree arc slightly away from the Casket. THIS was his big hitter, that one batch of deployment renders it as a point sink. It also forces him to commit his forces out of his zone to deal with your stuff. Skirmishers would have been best in the trees but more than 2" away from the front edges. Once again, deny him the Casket's main use. Sure, you're out a round of shooting, maybe two, but you force him to come to you on YOUR terms and you make up for it in the end run. He comes out, you dispel his Urgency every chance you get, he gets his army dissected piecemeal with no ability to bring solid numbers to bear. Meanwhile, once he's frustrated and moved stuff away from the Casket, Waywatchers come out and do their thing. Not foolproof, but it winds up being more viable than what you went with after essentially screwed you over to benefit himself.

MattyFenby wrote:
Regarding magic: According to page 53 of the Wood Elves Army Book, a Spellsinger must use the Lore of Athel Loren. It seems bonkers to me that they would not also have access to Life but I am almost positive there's no other way to interpret it.

And THIS is what happens when know it all twits like me comment without double checking the book. I TOTALLY forgot that only the Lord level Mage got Life. To be fair, though, my brother and I had committed to the White Dwarf Wood Elf list and really don't ever mess with the main book.

Still, bad look on my part...

MattyFenby wrote:
Automatically Appended Next Post:

 Moscha wrote:


What irritated me a bit too was your usage of the waywatchers - Weren't they supposed to attack the hierophant? But all they did was shooting at cheap skeletons. Hmm. Your Wild Riders coul've done the job by round 4, too. They were in an excellent position by the end of the second turn.

And why, why did you let the Ushabti attack your Dryads? Did you expect them to hold and then eventually countercharge with Leopold's? The other way round, it would've made sense to me, block out the Ushabti so they are forced in the charge or get charged themselves the next turn by Leopold & the Dryads.
Or did you try to set up a trap and planned to flee with the Dryads, having forgotten they are immune to psych and can hold only?

But don't let that game put you down. Lessons learned, and better luck next time.

Regarding the Waywatchers: My plan was for them to attack the Hierophant but I was concerned that they were going to end up getting charged by both Skeleton Warrior units/seen by the Casket if they ventured into open ground. I wanted to thin the skellies for another turn or two and had thought any flees would go through a wood and allow me to escape. This failed spectacularly. The Chariots coming onto the board, rezzing a bunch of wounds, and flying another 2 feet into my Dryads' flanks really did not feel good.

I wound up addressing this above, but I'd like to point out that a viable option would have also been just sitting in far enough that the Skellies had to commit to the terrain, lock them in the copse of trees, freeing the Waywatchers to have a field day with the Casket.

MattyFenby wrote:
Regarding the Dryads: I honestly, truly thought they were going to Hold against the Ushabti. Yes, I did think that Leopold was going to be able to come in on the flank. A theme running throughout my analysis of my loss is that I underestimated just how fast those Chariots were going to be. I thought I could wipe them before they made it across the board (and was 1 Wound shy of cutting them away from the Prince in the Top of the 2nd). This also failed spectacularly.

This is where you learn how valuable scrolling speed spells is. Honestly, most of your dispel should have went there.

MattyFenby wrote:
Thank you guys very much for reading through that and offering constructive feedback.


As for the Battle Report itself: any suggestions from a viewer on how to make it easier to comprehend?

I think it's easy enough to follow along.