Here's the first of those battle reports I promised. A couple of weeks ago, myself and Paul got together to get in our first game of the year - a 2000pt End Times battle between my "Host of the Eternity King" (an all-elf combo list, although I only used Wood Elves...) and Paul's "Undead Legions" (combining Tomb Kings and Vampire Counts under the infernal leadership of Nagash...)
The Armies
My army list was essentially just a 2000pt Wood Elf list, simply enhanced with the End Times rules.
Spellweaver - Lv.4, Talisman of Preservation and Dispel Scroll, Lore of Light
Glade Captain BSB with Armour of Destiny
10 Glade Guard with Trueflight Arrows and Musician
10 Glade Guard with Trueflight Arrows and Musician
20 Glade Guard with Trueflight Arrows, Musician, Standard Bearer and Banner of Eternal Flame
29 Eternal Guard with shields and Full Command
7 Wild Riders with Standard Bearer
7 Wild Riders with Standard Bearer
Great Eagle
Great Eagle
Paul's army looked something like this:
Master Necromancer - Lv.4, Lore of the Vampires
Vampire - Lv.2, Lore of Undeath
Liche Priest - Lv.1, Lore of Nehekhara
Tomb Prince - Great Weapon
Tomb Herald - Battle Standard Bearer
28 Skeleton Warriors with Standard Bearer
24 Crypt Ghouls
22 Grave Guard with Standard Bearer
Necrolith Colossus
10 Skeleton Archers
10 Skeleton Archers
Corpse Cart
Casket of Souls
Deployment
Paul deployed in a block in the corner of the board, with his infantry closely packed around the Corpse Cart. I deployed more centrally, with Wild Riders on the flanks and the Eternal Guard in a position to take on any of Paul's infantry blocks. Paul won the first turn roll off and chose to go first.
Undead T1
Paul began by advancing with everything except the Casket, with the Colossus, Grave Guard and Skeletons marching towards my flank and the Ghouls wheeling slightly to move against my centre. The Skeleton Archers moved just far enough to get into range.
The magic phase gave the first sign of things to come, as Paul rolled a total of 19 Power Dice while I had 11 Dispel Dice with which to oppose him. In the end, the only noteworthy spell was Gaze of Nagash, which managed to kill four of the Wild Riders on my right flank. Shooting from the Archers killed one of the Wild Riders on my left, and Paul's turn was quickly over.
Wood Elves T1
My own turn began with plenty of movement. The Wild Riders on the right attempted a charge against the Colossus but failed by an inch. Meanwhile both Eagles swooped across the battlefield to make nuisances of themselves, while the left Wild Riders moved around the flank of the wood to threaten the Skeleton Archers.
Magic gave me a mighty ten Power Dice to play with, while allowing Paul eight Dispel Dice. Repeated castings of Shem's Burning Gaze killed nine of the right-hand Archer unit while Banishment killed seven of the Ghouls, before finally I cast the Net of Amyntok on the unit of Skeleton Warriors. My shooting killed off another five Ghouls and the last of the right-most Archer unit.
Undead T2
Paul's second turn began with two charges - the Colossus made a 15" charge against the three remaining Wild Riders on the right (rolling 11 on 2d6...), and the Grave Guard attempted a charge against the Eagle, who fled 8" and out of range. Paul then rolled for his Tomb Scorpion, which misfired and entered from the right-hand board edge (which was still mightily inconvenient). The Ghouls, who'd been shot to pieces, decided to back away 2" and the remaining Archers wheeled backwards to shoot at the Wild Riders.
The Magic phase yielded up 20 Power Dice for Paul, and 11 Dispel Dice for me. The Grave Calls raised a unit of 16 Archers, which Paul helpfully placed on the flank of my archers. The Breath of Darkness raised three Ghouls back to unlife, while Soul Stealer took a wound off the Eagle. The Dead Riders brought out my Dispel Scroll, and then a second attempt failed. Paul then attempted to cast spells with the Master Necromancer, who was sat in the Skeleton Warriors. The subsequent Strength tests resulted in four failed attempts, which killed a grand total of 13 Skeletons before Paul successfully passed a test and had chance to cast Invocation of Nehek, which to add to Paul's misery was quickly dispelled.
Moving swiftly on, Paul's shooting killed three of my right-hand Glade Guard (who passed their Panic test) before failing to do any damage to the left-hand Wild Riders. In combat, the three Wild Riders managed to take a wound off the Colossus before being wiped out in return.
Wood Elves T2
My turn began with the remaining Wild Riders charging into the Skeleton Archers and the fleeing Eagle rallying. Elsewhere, the right-most Glade Guard unit swift reformed to face the incoming Tomb Scorpion.
Magic gave me 11 Power Dice to work with against Paul's seven Dispel Dice. My first casting of Shem's Burning Gaze failed, which left Banishment to do the hard work of killing first five Ghouls and then another eight (leaving two alive), before failing on the third attempt. The Net of Amyntok failed, quickly followed by Pha's Protection also failing.
Shooting saw the right-most Glade Guard take a wound off the Scorpion while the big Glade Guard unit took a wound off the Corpse Cart. The left-hand Glade Guard unit attempted to finish off the Ghouls, but failed to cause any wounds. Meanwhile, the Wild Riders ploughed through the Skeleton Archers and overran to the edge of the board.
Undead T3
Turn three saw the Tomb Scorpion charge just-rallied Eagle, while the other Undead units converged on the Eternal Guard (which I appear to have forgotten on the map above...). Magic gave Paul 23 Power Dice versus my 13 Dispel Dice. To begin things, the Casket of Souls killed two of the elves in the right-hand Glade Guard unit, while the Breath of Darkness raised three more Ghouls to boost the unit to five. The Grave Calls then failed, followed by the Dead Riders, the Harbinger and Gaze of Nagash failing. Paul finally managed to cast Curse of Years on the big Glade Guard unit, killing one. Invocation was dispelled, before a second attempt failed. In a final throw of the dice, the Incantation of Protection also failed. What could have been a devastating magic phase had failed miserably, much to my amusement!
Shooting saw five more Glade Guard fall, this time from the left-most unit. In combat the Scorpion easily killed the Eagle, and then reformed to face the Glade Guard.
Wood Elves T3
My turn saw the remaining Eagle charge the flank of the much-depleted Ghouls, while the Wild Riders raced around behind the Undead infantry units. The Eternal Guard meanwhile moved up to force the issue with the Undead infantry. Magic saw me gain 10 Power dice against seven Dispel dice. The Net of Amyntok was cast on the Grave Guard, before my attempt to dispel Curse of Years failed dismally. As a result, nine more of the big Glade Guard unit fell.
What little shooting I had left killed three Skeleton Warriors, while another wound was taken off the Tomb Scorpion. In combat, the Eagle killed one Ghoul, suffered nothing in return and three more Ghouls crumbled, leaving a single Ghoul left alive.
Undead T4
Time was not on Paul's side at this point, as his units were dying a lot quicker than mine, and also quicker than he could raise reinforcements. In an attempt to force the issue, the Tomb Scorpion charged the right-hand Glade Guard unit while the Grave Guard took the plunge and charged the Eternal Guard.
Magic saw Paul roll his lowest number of Power dice so far - 15 versus my 11 Dispel dice. The Casket was dispelled first, before the Incantation of Protection was also dispelled to attempt to prevent the Undead gaining the effects of Always Strikes First. Invocation then got through my defence and raised ten Skeletons and seven more Ghouls. The Casket used its Light of Death again, killing the Eagle at last. Curse of Years killed another seven of the big Glade Guard unit (now looking much smaller...), while Paul's shooting killed off the last of the left-hand Glade Guard unit.
Combat saw the Glade Guard kill the Scorpion before it could strike, while the Eternal Guard killed eight Grave Guard and suffered seven wounds in return, winning the combat by one.
Wood Elves T4
The Wild Riders charged the newly-boosted Ghouls, with not a lot of movement elsewhere. Magic saw 12 Power dice play nine Dispel dice. Two castings of Banishment saw the unit of Skeleton Archers destroyed, while everything else was dispelled.
Combat saw the Wild Riders destroy the Ghouls and overrun into the rear of the Skeletons. The Eternal Guard killed another eight Grave Guard, losing six in return and winning the combat by four.
Undead T5
Desperate times call for desperate measures, and Paul threw everything he could into combat. The Colossus charged the Wild Riders while the Corpse Cart charged the Eternal Guard. Magic saw Paul gain another 16 Power dice to work with, against just nine Dispel dice for me. The Casket was dispelled before Paul dubiously cast the Incantation of the Desert Wind in order to gain the benefits from the Corpse Cart. Invocation then raised seven Grave Guard, before the Banner of the Undying Legion raised another seven.
Combat saw the Wild Riders destroy the Colossus easily, as well as seven Skeletons (with another ten crumbling). The Eternal Guard kill four more Grave Guard and inflict a wound on the Corpse Cart. The Grave Guard kill nine Eternal Guard in return, although the Eternal Guard manage to hold.
Wood Elves T5
No movement this turn, so we jumped straight to magic. 17 Power dice against 11 Dispel dice, but the only spell I could cast was Speed of Light on the Eternal Guard and Wild Riders (which made very little difference). In the end I was left with nine Power dice unused!
Combat saw the Wild Riders easily wipe out the rest of the Skeletons, along with the Master Necromancer and Liche Priest, suffering a single loss in return. The Eternal Guard were suffering now, as they lost another six wounds in exchange for just a single Grave Guard and another wound on the Corpse Cart. They were left with a single Eternal Guard and the BSB alive.
Undead T6
With nothing to move, Paul went straight to magic and rolled up 22 Power dice, against which I had only ten Dispel dice to defend with. The Grave Calls raised another unit of 16 Skeleton Archers, before a second, third and fourth attempts were dispelled. Unfortunately, the fifth attempt got through and raised 16 more Archers. The Harbinger failed, followed by a sixth attempt at the Grave Calls, and the Abyssal Swarm. Despite raising a ridiculous 32 Archers, they only managed to kill a single Glade Guard.
Combat saw the inevitable deaths of the last Eternal Guard and the BSB, but I had the Wild Riders ready to move in and clean up...
Wood Elves T6
Naturally, the Wild Riders charged into the Grave Guard in an attempt to finish them once and for all. Magic gave me enough dice to Banish the Corpse Cart into oblivion. The Wild Riders easily ploughed through the remaining Grave Guard, and the accompanying Vampire, Tomb Herald and Tomb Prince, but suffered the punishment inflicted by the Tomb Prince's Curse, which wiped them out in return!
In the end, the Undead had only the Casket of Souls remaining of their original army, while I had my Spellweaver and two half-strength Glade Guard units left. Paul had scored 1640VPs against my 2115VPs, ultimately resulting in a very bloody Wood Elf victory!
