WHFB Dark Elves vs Skaven 2500p

BETRAIL!!!

DEPLOYMENT

Once again the Dark Elves faces the Vermin menace! Having experienced several defeats and the unfortunate effects of how impassable terrain can slow down the advance, the Supreme Sorceress chose to do battle over an almost open field.

Dark Elves; From the north vest: Cold One Chariot, Witch Elves, War Hydra, Cold One Chariot, Corsairs, Crossbow Warriors, Cold One Knights and yet another unit of Crossbow Warriors. Behind the lines, in centre, Caldron of Blood and a Spear Warrior unit (with the Supreme Sorceress). Two unit of Harpy’s lurking behind the lines. To the north east a Bolt Thrower takes position on a hill.

Skaven; From south vest: Hellpit, Storm Vermin, Slaves, Plague Monks with the Plague Furnace and Plague Priest, Warp Lightning Cannon, Clanrats with BSB and the Grey Seer, Slaves, Hellpit and more Slaves with Engineer. Two units of Gutter Runners in reserve.

 THE BATTLE

Skaven got first turn, the whole army (except the Clanrats) moved at full speed forward towards the dark Elf battle line. Magic; The Engineer managed to kill 3 out of 5 Cold One Knights using Warp Lightning. Looking good! The Grey Seer manages to cast the “13´spell” with irresistible force, killing a huge amount of Corsairs. Looking very good! But, the magical backlash – kills him! Not good!!! The Cannon takes out several Spear Warriors (did not have line of sight to the War Hydra – idiots). The Doom Rocket – 4 dice – and yes – 3 “ones”. Damn thing. It never works. The Dark Elves manages all their tests.

The Dark Elves moves forward, establishing their battle line in centre using forests as cover. That Supreme Sorceress is a sneaky bitch;) Nothing to bad happening in the magic phase. As the rain pores down the shooting does not manage anything decisive, except the Hellpit to the north loosing two wounds. The Cold One Chariot to the south charges the Hellpit, inflicting two wounds, only suffering one in return!

Without the Ld “bobble” from the army general, the Skaven finds the battle line to spread out to secure a “steadfast” battle line. It was only one way to go – all in – and try to break the centre line of the dark Elf battle line, going for an overrun into the Supreme Sorceress and her Spear warriors! Ok – charge. The Plague Furnace has to move through the forest. Dangerous terrain – 1! D6 wounds – 6! Destroyed! I cant believe this! The Hellpit to the northeast does not manage to reach the Crossbow Warriors (damn random). The Slaves charges the Harpy’s in the forest, they flee to safety (sneaky), the Slaves redirect into the centre Crossbow Warrior unit. The rain continues to pore down, the cannon cannot see through it! One unit of Gutter Runners enters behind the Bolt thrower, killing it with poison slingshots. Magic, with the Grey Seer gone, well – nothing to damaging. Close combat then; The Hellpit to the south beats the Cold One Chariot, but does not manage to overrun it. Damn! In centre, not even the “Plague Banner” manages to secure a victory for the Plague Monks. They lose combat, are out of range from the BSB (idiots), flee, get overrun and are all slaughtered! Damn! Inside the wood to centre east the Slaves does not manage to win over the Crossbow Warriors! Despite being Steadfast, their pore Ld of 5 (2 + 3 Ranks), and being without the range of the BSB (and no generals around), proves fatal, and they “blow up”!

That was pretty much it. In the following Dark Elf turn it stopped raining. Hell Pits and Clanrats took heavy fire, and the Supreme Sorceress relatively unhindered caste Hex spells on all nearby Skaven units, reducing their Strength and Toughness. The Witches engaged the hell Pit, lost and where cut down. The War Hydra and Chariot finished a Slave unit.

In a last desperate attempt the Hellpit to the northeast charged into, and killed, the last two Cold One Knights. The Clanrats finally left the hill and moved towards centre, surviving the sheer slope of rocky terrain. The Hellpit to the South vest charged the War Hydra, and the Storm Vermin charged the Corsairs. Again the Skaven units did not mange to win any engagements, and again with using Hex spells and flank charges, the Dark Elf’s managed to kill of the Storm Vermin.

Having only a small Clanrat unit, some Slaves and two heavily damaged Hell Pits left, The Skaven warlord felt betrayed by his own keen. Betrayals cannot be accepted, and to set an example he decided to execute all his remaining units!

Victory went to the Dark Elves. Smart deployment, clever use of Magic and otherwise skilful use of the dark Elf units, would have secured a solid Victory (that would possibly turn into a massacre, so we can considered to be one). Killing the Grey Seer (army general and best magical defence) proved devastating to the Skaven army. Also loosing all wounds on the Plague Furnace from a terrain test was just…. However, this was a very fun (funny) game with lots of laughter, and it teaches my a lesson. Hellpits are good, but if you don’t get into contact (random is – random), and if you roll low on the attack ability chart (random is – again random), they are hardly worth their points. 2 of them are a real big point sink. Also, the Grey Seer should not be the General, and the Slaves need more backing up.