HORDES OF CHAOS versus Dark Elves

The Defence of Tor Thana

Game: Warhammer Fantasy Battle 7th edition
Opponent: Gary

After some delay, here is my write-up of the third game in our Nemesis Crown campaign.

I had painted up the Marauders on foot to tabletop standard so I dropped a Sorcerer to fit them into the list. This meant I now only had one level one Sorcerer with just two dispel scrolls. I hoped Gary wouldn't have too much magic.

Gary picked a level four Sorceress with three level two underlings. Gulp! He had dropped most of his magic items and other extras to play with as many models on the board as possible.

This could be tough.

Armies 2000points
My Chaos Undivided mortals:

• Sigurt Volsung, Lord on Daemonic Mount, Armour of Damnation, Berzerker Sword, Gaze of the Gods, shield
  
• Thaer, Exalted with Book of Secrets, extra hand weapon, Enchanted Shield (Steed of Shadows spell)
• Angur Boda, Lvl 1 Sorcerer with 2 Dispel Scrolls (Dark Hand of Death spell)
• 12 Chosen Warriors full command
• 10 Warriors full command Banner of Wrath
• 16 Marauders, full command, light armour and shields
  
• 5 Chosen Knights full command, Warbanner
• 5 Marauder Horse, champion, musician, flails
• 5 War hounds
• 5 War hounds
• Chariot
• 8 Furies

The Dark Elves had:

• Level 4 sorceress
  
• Lvl 2 Sorceress
• Lvl 2 Sorceress
• Lvl 2 Sorceress
• 2 Repeater Bolt Throwers
  
• 10 Repeater Crossbows
• 16 Spearelves full command
• 5 Dark Riders
  
• 5 Dark Riders
  
• 19 Executioners full command Banner of Murder
• Hydra
• Chariot
• Chariot

Terrain and deployment
You can see the layout of the terrain on the photo below. Again, Gary hadn't touched the board since our last game so I scattered the pieces randomly. It left a very wide open battlefield which would be ideal for shooting and magic heavy armies. Uh-oh.


I continued with the patented Volsung deployment technique - putting down my throw-away units in the centre till I had an idea where the pesky pointy-ears were deploying and then set up the rest of my army hard on one flank. In this case I had a very strong left flank and refused the right, which had the two Dark Elf chariots on it. I hoped to sweep the Knights around the rock spires and hit the squishy Elf centre hard with my Lord and the Warriors. In particular I felt Gary had put his spell casters in a very vulnerable position with only his shooty units near them for defence. Just one or two units in amongst them could disrupt his entire army.

The game
I won first turn despite the Dark Elves having the +1 bonus. I marched the hounds and Marauder horse up the centre to threaten the Repeater Bolt Throwers and all those Sorceresses. The warriors marched too, angling slightly into the centre. My Knights marched up the extreme left flank. My Marauder infantry moved up more cautiously and the furies went wide right behind a hill.

Gary had a unit of dark riders on each flank and marched each up to give my infantry units something to worry about. One of his chariots went stupid and stumbled forward and the other kept pace with it. On the right he moved the Hydra back to plug the gap behind the rocks.

Most of his action took place in the magic and shooting phases. He concentrated on my fast moving units in the centre and killed one whole unit of war hounds, two out of the second unit and three of my marauder horse, as well as drawing out both of my dispel scrolls.

The game looked like this after our first turns.


In my second turn I declared charges all over the place. My furies charge the dark riders on the right - they fled into the middle which left my furies out in front of the Dark Elf infantry and chariots. I think Gary expected me to charge with the marauders but I feared the counter charge from the chariots so I held the unit back instead.

On the right flank my smaller warrior unit charged the other dark riders. They fled too, but this time they stopped in front of another charging unit; my Lord on his daemonic mount who was going to charge out of the warriors and into the repeater crossbows. He went after the dark riders instead who were destroyed, but it did leave my Lord out in front of the rest of my army and feeling a little vulnerable.

I didn't need to worry. My marauder horse charged into the three sorceress who were rather conveniently lined up in a row. Of course I only wounded one, but I took no casualties in return. All the sorceresses passed their break tests. Boo!

Now my three hounds charged the level four sorceress. The repeater bolt thrower crew helped her out but their intervention was in vain. I killed one of the crew and took no wounds so I had won the combat. The sorceress, who was also the army general, failed her break test. She ran off the board. Both repeater bolt thrower crew failed their panic tests and ran too. Now the spearelves failed their panic test and ran off the board. This panicked the executioners who turned tail and ran. A charioteer took this as a bad sign and ran off the board as well.

By the end of the combat phase the dark elves had lost around half of their army. They had no realistic chance of winning the game so we called it another Chaos massacre.

Result: Chaos massacre

So I had won the game and won the campaign. The forces of Sigurt Volsung were victorious and could now hunt for the Crown in peace while the Dark Elves slunk off to their Black Ark in shame. My warriors will be feasting on Cold One flesh tonight.

Honours

• Chaos - Those last three war hounds. 18 points of models caused well over 700 points of damage.
  
• Dark elves - Chariots for at least causing me to deploy in a certain way.

Thoughts

• Yet again, another perfect game for my Chaos army. Obviously it was helped by Gary rolling such appalling panic tests as the centre of his army crumbled, but I still think I had the superior deployment. I could bring my army to bear in strength on the left without much chance of anything getting in around my flanks. On the right Gary actually had the advantage, with two infantry blocks, two chariots and the dark riders facing off against my furies, the marauders on foot and my chaos chariot. He didn't press his advantage though, and all I needed to do was hold his army off the flanks of mine. Even had the battle continued I think I would have been in a better position come turn three or four. Gary's positioning of the sorceresses was baffling to me; they were such juicy targets I just had to go after them, and I knew I could threaten them with multiple units from turn two onwards. Gary's plan was to focus his magic and shooting in one tight area of the battlefield but it failed spectacularly.
• I would be surprised if I play against Gary's dark elf army again. Our campaign is now finished and we'll probably move on to other game systems for a while. I've never seen Gary so downbeat about an army before, or so angry during a game. It really makes it difficult for me to enjoy the game because if I am losing everything is okay with Gary (and I'm not happy) or I am winning and Gary is angry (and I'm not happy). It has been mounting up for weeks and weeks and came to a head during this battle. I think it is a combination of several things; it is a new set of rules for us and we are still getting things wrong, Gary is playing a finesse army when he normally plays more straightforward forces, we've been playing against just each other for almost a year. This last point is important. Gary and I are experienced players, having been involved in the Games Workshop 'hobby' for almost 20 years. We are both decent players and about the same skill level as each other. For a couple of years we played in out local gaming store against a variety of players, but over the past year (since Gary got a flat and his own table) we have just played against each other. Every game is a real test as we both know each other's games inside out and we know that any mistake we make will be ruthlessly seized upon. At the store it was different. We were strong players there, able to take on most armies and if not win, make a tough fight of it. For the first time in a long while, Gary is losing a lot of games and he doesn't like it. When I was losing against his dark elves in our early games I came up with a different game plan, I scoured the Internet for different ideas and I thought long and hard about the army I was facing. Gary isn't 'into' the games as much as me so he hasn't spent as much time addressing his problems as I did and it is showing. I think he'll get rid of the army rather than persevere with it. It's a shame because I think it is a real test of your gaming skill to succeed with different styles of army and he would become a more rounded gamer if he stuck with the pointy-ears. For myself, I think I could do with a break and/or play some games against different players.
  
• Phew! I was going to round up my thoughts on how the campaign ran here, but I've waffled on about so many other things I don't have space. I'll write them up in their own post in the future.

HORDES OF CHAOS versus Dark Elves

Battle of Gnarled Oak Grove

Game: Warhammer Fantasy Battle 7th edition
Opponent: Gary

This was our second game of the campaign. The first was for the Solsister river and was won comprehensively by my horde of Chaos. That meant I captured location three and could now launch an attack on location two: Gnarled Oak Grove.

I had to tweak my list a little as some readers pointed out that I had illegal wargear on my Lord (he had two pieces of magical armour). So I dropped the enchanted shield for a mundane one and lost the sword of might. This left me enough points for a berzerker sword. I gave the enchanted shield to my exalted and dropped a level two sorcerer to a level one. With the spare points I bought throwing axes for the marauder horse. I now had a shooting phase. Who-hoo!

Gary had made rather more substantial changes following his mauling in our last game. He went out and bought two chariots. Eeek! He also dropped the highborn in favour of a level four sorceress. Oh-oh.

This would be a very different game.

Armies 2000points
My Chaos Undivided mortals:

• Sigurt Volsung, Lord on Daemonic Mount, Armour of Damnation, Berzerker Sword, Gaze of the Gods, shield
  
• Thaer, Exalted with Book of Secrets, extra hand weapon, Enchanted Shield (Steed of Shadows spell)
• Angur, Lvl 1 Sorcerer with 2 Dispel Scrolls (Dark Hand of Death spell)
• Boda, Lvl 1 Sorcerer with 2 Dispel Scrolls (Dark Hand of Death spell)
  
• 12 Chosen Warriors full command
• 10 Warriors full command Banner of Wrath
  
• 5 Chosen Knights full command, Warbanner
• 5 Marauder Horse, musician, flails, throwing axes
  
• 5 War hounds
• 5 War hounds
• Chariot
• 8 Furies

The Dark Elves had:

• Level 4 sorceress with extra power dice (Dark Hand of Death spell, Steal Soul, Doom and Darkness, Drain Life) in chariot
  
• Lvl 2 Sorceress, 2 dispel scrolls (Dark Hand of Death spell, Doom and Darkness)
• Lvl 2 Sorceress, 2 dispel scrolls (Wind of Death, Drain Life) in chariot
  
• 2 Repeater Bolt Throwers
  
• 10 Repeater Crossbows
• 16 Spearelves full command
• 5 Dark Riders
  
• 5 Dark Riders
  
• 19 Executioners full command Banner of Murder
• Hydra

Terrain and Deployment
Gary hadn't changed the terrain since our last game so we decided to roll a scatter die and move each piece 2d6 inches in each direction. I won the choice of deployment zone and picked the side with the rocky columns in it. This meant the wood (Gnarled Oak Grove?) was on the other side of the table but a bit further forward than the last game. I placed my units so that I could envelop the left flank and sweep my Knights around behind this wood to get at the pointy-ears rear.

Gary put his hardest hitting stuff near the middle, with a unit of Dark Riders on each flank. He now had more units so he could place his last chariot opposite my knights. Here is how it looked.

The game
I won first turn thanks to the +1 bonus for having the smaller army. I flew the Furies over to the extreme right, trying to tuck them in behind the hill. Everything in the centre marched forward. On my left I tried to be clever by putting the Warhounds in front of my knights to deflect the chariot away. The Dark Elves dispelled all but one of my magic spells without breaking sweat. A dark hand of death spell killed two spearelves.

I had miscalculated with the furies and the dark riders managed to charge them. Gary rolled appallingly and failed to kill a single daemon. I killed an elf in return and the rest of the unit held. The elf shooting wiped out both my first warhound unit and marauders entirely. Suddenly, my centre looked mighty vulnerable.

On my left, the chariot succumbed to stupidity and the sorceress hung on for dear life. The dark riders warily moved forward. The dark elf magic was shut down with the use of two of my dispel scrolls.

The table looked like this at the end of turn 1.


My furies pulled off an unlikely win against the dark riders on the right. The three survivors fled due to fear and the furies pursued but failed to catch them. I marched the rest of my warriors up the centre again. I was now close to charge range for the speedy elf units. Again, my magic was shut down with casual insouciance.

I charged the dark riders on the left with my warhounds. The riders held, confident in their prowess, but they obviously had the same rubber lances as their sister unit and only one casualty was caused on each side. Both units remained in place.

The dark elves began their turn positively by charging with the executioners against my regular warrior unit. I took the charge. The hydra marched up to flame the chosen warriors to no effect. On my right, the dark riders failed to rally and headed for the board edge. The repeater crossbows and a repeater bolt thrower killed four furies. The remaining bolt thrower missed my chariot.

On the left the sorceress in the chariot cast drain life. I let the spell through as I was desperate for the warhounds to be killed so that my knights could see some action. It was risky because I could potentially lose a knight or two. In the end it worked perfectly for me; all the hounds died while the knights all survived. I used my final dispel scrolls to hold the dark elf magic.

All eyes were now on the big scrap in the centre between the warriors and executioners. I issued a challenge with my exalted. The champion answered it and could possibly have killed my hero with a killing blow. He didn't, and my exalted caused two wounds. I saved the single wound the other executioners caused and caused two with my warriors. To add insult to injury, both of our magic users were facing each other. The sorceress rolled a 1 to hit while my sorcerer caused a wound on her. I had won the combat handily and the executioners broke. I rolled a 12 in my pursuit and ran the unit down. Ouch.

It was now my turn and I was in a very strong position to deliver the knockout blow. I charged the victorious warriors into the spearelves, the chosen warriors and chariot into the hydra, the furies into a bolt thrower and the knights into the dark riders. Everything worked in my favour.

The furies killed a crewman who broke. The repeater crossbows stayed, but the sorceress was panicked into fleeing off the board! Sigurt and the chosen took three wounds off the hydra and my chariot took off two wounds - the beast turned to run but was hacked to pieces by both units. My warriors barrelled into the spearelves and forced them off the battlefield. Finally, the dark riders fled but my knights just managed to catch them and run them down.

I caused so much carnage in just this one turn that the dark elf army was too shattered to carry on.

Result: Chaos massacre

Honours

• Chaos - Thaer the exalted and the warriors who met the charge of the executioners and then went on to defeat the spearelves.
• Dark elves - repeater crossbows who wiped out the marauders in one turn of shooting.

Thoughts

• Another bad defeat for the dark elves which left Gary distraught again. He had completely overhauled his list and added the chariots and so seemed optimistic. That feeling continued in the first two turns as the dark elf magic battered my chaos army and I had to use all four dispel scrolls. My attacks up each flank had faltered and my supporting units were killed in the centre. Obviously, the turning point was the defeat of the executioners. My exalted was the difference, with the elf lack of ranks hindering them too. The sorceress running off the board was the final kick in the teeth for Gary. He just doesn't know which way to go from here and was even talking about scrapping the entire army and getting something else.
• On my own side of the table, it was business as usual for my Chaos Horde. Again I deployed in an effort to envelop one flank while largely refusing the right. I thought Gary's army was more of a threat in this game and was closer to what I expected to play against. My success lies in the fact that I am bringing my warriors into combat by turn 2 or 3 and so far nothing has been able to stand before them. I am sure that if Gary perseveres he will learn how to counter in time.

HORDES OF CHAOS versus Dark Elves

The Clash at Solsister Valley

Game: Warhammer Fantasy Battle 7th edition
Opponent: Gary

The clash at Solsister valley was our first game of the Nemesis campaign. The outcome of this game would determine which player won location three, the Solsister river.

Armies 2000points
My Chaos Undivided mortals:

• Sigurt Volsung, Lord on Daemonic Mount, Armour of Damnation, Sword of Might, Gaze of the Gods, Enchanted Shield
  
• Thaer, Exalted with Book of Secrets, extra hand weapon, shield (Steed of Shadows spell)
• Angur, Lvl 2 Sorcerer with 2 Dispel Scrolls (Unseen Lurker, Crown of Taidron spells)
• Boda, Lvl 1 Sorcerer with 2 Dispel Scrolls (Dark Hand of Death spell)
  
• 12 Chosen Warriors full command
• 10 Warriors full command Banner of Wrath
  
• 5 Chosen Knights full command, Warbanner
• 5 Marauder Horse, musician, flails
  
• 5 War hounds
• 5 War hounds
• Chariot
• 8 Furies

The Dark Elves had:

• Highborn on Cold One, Executioners axe, 1+ save
• Noble, Strength six sword
  
• Lvl 2 Sorceress, 2 dispel scrolls
  
• Lvl 2 Sorceress, 2 dispel scrolls
  
• 2 Repeater Bolt Throwers
  
• 10 Repeater Crossbows
• 16 Spearelves full command
• 5 Dark Riders Repeater Crossbows
• 5 Dark Riders Repeater Crossbows
• 19 Executioners full command Banner of Murder
• Hydra

Terrain and deployment
The Dark Elves won the choice of table edge and placed the first unit, the repeater bolt throwers, right in the middle of their deployment zone. I put down both warhound units, the chariot and marauder horse in my centre, largely ignoring the Dark Elf deployment. Only when I could see where his units of dark riders, the executioners and his hydra were did I decide whether to envelop the right or left flank.

I initially favoured my right, because the left had a wood in the Dark Elf deployment zone but Gary had deployed both units of dark riders on this flank. I wanted to restrict their mobility so I went for the left flank. I put both warrior units and the furies here. My last deployment was the knights. Normally I would put them on the flank of the warriors and completely refuse the opposite flank, but I was worried about how congested things would get on the left and that wood could hamper my attack. After some deliberation I put them on the extreme right. This meant they were unsupported but I felt confident they could handle the spearelves and repeater crossbows that faced them.

The dark elves had the highborn on my left flank, both sorceress' in the executioners unit and the noble in the spearelf unit. I had Sigurt, my lord, in the chosen warriors along with Angur, while the other sorcerer and Thaer were added to the regular warriors.

Here's how the board looked.

Turn 1
I won first turn. There wasn't much subtlety, as you would expect from a Chaos general, as I pushed my units down the dark elves throat. Only my furies hung back on my left to respond to sneaky dark elf manoeuvres. My magic did nothing.

The dark elf response was to charge with the executioners. My warhounds fled. Gary hoped to trigger a collapse of the centre of my army but I had ensured the lord was in a good position to contribute his 9 leadership. None of my units panicked. The executioners fell just short of the chosen warriors containing my lord (even though the banner of murder scored added six inches). The dark riders repositioned for later charges and baits. Both repeater bolt throwers shot at and missed the chariot. The spearelves shuffled back, and turned to face my chosen knights. The repeater crossbows killed four marauder horsemen. I used two dispel scrolls to shut down the elf magic phase.

Here's how the action looked at the end of the first turn.

Turn 2
My chosen warriors, containing Sigurt, and the chariot charged the executioners. They tried to flee but were easily caught. That meant I had also killed both elf magic users. My furies charged the dark riders in front of the wood who also fled. The daemons caught the cavalry and killed them. I flew Thaer out of the warrior unit and behind the highborn and last dark riders. On the right, my chosen knights slammed into the spearelves who lost the combat spectacularly and were overrun. This was a disastrous turn for the pointy-ears as they lost units all over the battlefield. The one ray of light for them was the repeater crossbows who saw off a whole warhound unit by standing and shooting then beat the last marauder in combat without taking a casualty.

The dark elves were down but not entirely out. Then Gary flunked the stupidity test for his highborn. Now he really was in all sorts of trouble. Instead of getting a flank charge into my warriors (with the sorcerer Boda in a vulnerable position) he just stumbled forward. The hydra charged my chosen warriors. It caused one kill while I cut down both handlers. The enraged beast became unbreakable as it stood over the broken bodies of it's masters. The last unit of dark riders pushed up my left flank, away from Thaer, and turned to shoot at the furies but they only killed one of the flyers. The repeater bolt throwers decided to hit something this turn and took three wounds from my chariot.

This is a snapshot from the end of the second turn.

Turn 3
I was now in a very comfortable position. The chosen knights moved up behind the repeater crossbows (I think we forgot to use their overrun in the previous turn). My furies charged the second unit of dark riders who fled off the board. Sigurt repositioned himself in the chosen warriors so he could lop some heads of the hydra. My regular warriors charged into the beast too. Thaer flew over the wood to threaten the repeater bolt throwers. The chariot moved up so it could charge next turn, if it survived.

The bolt throwers both missed the chariot, and the crossbows did nothing either. The dark elf general turned his cold one to face the rear of my warriors who were hacking into the hydra. In the ongoing combat the hydra finally went down under Sigurt's blows.

The battlefield looked like this at the end of turn 3.


Turn 4
My chariot charged one bolt thrower while my exalted charged the other. All the crew were butchered. My chosen charged the crossbows and trampled them into the dirt. Now came the coup de grace. My chosen warriors reformed to face the highborn. Angur cast unseen lurker on the unit and they charged into the dark elf general. The two generals faced off in single combat. Sigurt went first and hit with every attack. He then wounded with every blow. The highborn was smashed out of the saddle and killed.


Result: The game ended with a Chaos massacre.

Honours

• Chaos - chosen warriors (including Sigurt) for seeing off the executioners, the hydra and the highborn
• Dark elves - repeater crossbows for killing the warhounds and marauder horse

Thoughts

• From the Chaos side of the board this game was as close to perfect as I'll ever see. I lost about 200 points of my army for the total destruction of the dark elf army. From deployment to winning first turn to the dice rolls, everything went right for me. The dark elves were the complete opposite when their deployment didn't work and their dice rolls were poor.
• I had expected to face a magical barrage in this, my first 2000 point game, with the dark elves able to choose a level four sorceress, but Gary chose a fighty leader instead. His own magic was reduced to just two scroll caddies.
  
• I have never seen Gary so despondent after a game. He is really at a loss as to how to win a game against my Chaos army. I think his list has the edge in mobility, shooting, magic and ranked units if he picks the right list and uses it cleverly, but my list has more brute force. Gary is almost at the point of giving up on them altogether. If anyone has any ideas let me know and I will pass them on to him.

HORDES OF CHAOS versus Dark Elves

I just know he will die horribly...

Game: Warhammer Fantasy Battle 7th edition
Opponent: Gary

I was really up for this game.

We were bumping the battle up to 1500 points apiece and this meant our armies did look like armies rather than small skirmishing war bands. We're now getting closer to our final target of 2000 point forces.

The main reason I could include the extra 250 points was finishing my Exalted on Daemonic Mount. He weighed in at a hefty 190 points on his own. As well as a centrepiece model for my army he should be fairly powerful on the tabletop, but his true significance is that he represents Sigurt Volsung, the ruler of my whole horde of Chaos.

I just know he will die horribly...

Armies: 1500 points
My Chaos Undivided mortals:

• Sigurt Volsung, Exalted on Daemonic Mount, Gaze of the Gods, Enchanted Shield
  
• Thaer, Exalted with Book of Secrets, extra hand weapon, shield (Steed of Shadows spell)
• Angur Boda, Lvl 2 Sorcerer with 2 Dispel Scrolls (Dark hand of Death, Doom and Darkness)
• 12 Warriors full command
• 10 Warriors full command Banner of Wrath
  
• 5 Chosen Knights full command
• 6 War hounds
• Chariot
• 8 Furies

The Dark Elves had:

• Noble on Cold One, Sword of what save?, 1+ save
  
• Lvl 2 Sorceress
• Lvl 2 Sorceress
• 2 Repeater Bolt Throwers
  
• 10 Repeater Crossbows
• 16 Spearelves full command
• 5 Dark Riders Repeater Crossbows
• 5 Dark Riders Repeater Crossbows
• 19 Executioners full command Banner of Murder

Terrain and deployment
I had a wood on my extreme left just outside my deployment zone. There was a patch of rocky ground ahead of this on the fringe of the Dark Elf deployment zone. I had some ruined buildings in my centre right deployment zone and there was a hill in the middle of the board just ahead of them. The Dark Elves won the choice of table edge yet again (they have won this roll for virtually all of our games so far).

I refused the left flank, not wanting to get involved with the rocky ground which didn't affect line of sight much but counted as difficult terrain. Instead, my plan was to envelop the right flank by sweeping around the hill on the right with my Knights, supported by the Warriors.

I put the Furies out behind the wood on my right early on to keep my opponent guessing. From the centre I had War hounds, Chariot, 10 Warriors (with the Sorcerer and Exalted on foot), 12 Warriors (with Sigurt) then the Knights. The Dark Elves were more spread out with the Dark Riders, Repeater Bolt Thrower, Repeater Crossbows, Sorceress, Repeater Bolt Thrower, Sorceress, Executioners, Spearelves, Dark Riders and the Noble.



The game
The Dark Elves won first turn. The Dark Riders on the left manoeuvred to shoot at my Furies but did nothing. I reckoned they were out of charge range so I flew the Furies to my right and surrendered the whole left flank completely. The second Dark Rider unit moved up behind the hill on my right.

I raced the Knights up the right flank. Everything else marched forward too. My magic did nothing.

The first Dark Rider unit galloped down my empty left flank behind the wood. They stayed put for the whole game and claimed the table quarter. The second Dark Rider squad charged my War hounds who fled. They never rallied and eventually ran off the battlefield. This now left the Dark Riders exposed to a charge from the Chariot and 10 Warriors (we only just realised that if the opponent fled it counted as a failed charge for the chargers - Gary was expecting the Dark Riders to move the full 18"). Oops. Combined shooting and magic only killed 3 Furies.

The survivors charged a Sorceress and she ran off the table in fear. The Chariot and Warriors charged the Dark Riders in the centre. They chose to flee straight through 3 units who were all hugging the board edge. The second Sorceress, Executioners and Repeater Bolt Thrower crew all passed their panic tests. Boo!

My Knights pressed on up the extreme right flank and angled in to receive the Noble charge. I moved the 12 Warriors so that Sigurt could charge out of the unit and begin some general on general carnage if the Knights held.

The Noble hit the knights and challenged and killed the champion. I won the combat, though, but the the Noble passed his break check. Dark Elf magic and shooting took my Furies down to two models and removed three wounds from my Chariot. The Dark Riders rallied right on the edge of the battlefield. All in all a decent turn for the pointy ears.

Thaer got his Steed of Shadows off and chased the other Sorceress off the board. My other magic did nothing. The Furies charged and ran down the Repeater Bolt Thrower crew. This meant they crashed into the Executioners. Uh-huh. Sigurt slammed into the flank of the Noble. In the subsequent challenge both generals lost a wound.

The Dark Riders sallied out to try and angle the 10 Warriors away from the Executioners who were fending off the pursuing Furies. The Repeater Crossbows stripped the last wound from my Chariot. The Executioners...executed the Furies. Both generals swung at each other again...and killed each other. This left my Knights free, facing the Spearelves (they've faced off against this unit in virtually every game we have played).

One bone crunching charge later and the elves were reduced to a fleeing rabble. My 10 Warriors charged the Dark Riders who fled off the battlefield. This meant the Executioners got a juicy flank charge in. Eep! Gary rolled appallingly and killed nothing while I killed an Executioner. nice. My Warriors passed their break test.

This meant my 12 Warriors could now charge the flank of the Executioners. I hadn't seen such bad dice rolling since...the last combat phase. No-one died and everyone remained as they were. Thaer returned to the battlefield, wiping Sorceress blood from his axe. He was immediately speared by a bolt. 180!

My Knights came up and obviously focused the minds of my Warriors so much that they finally killed some Executioners. The survivors ran off the table. I repositioned my three units to capture two table quarters.

I was well ahead but decided to be greedy and cast that one last spell to wipe out the Repeater Crossbows. Angur Boda miscast and rolled a double one on the chart. He disappeared in a blinding flash of light and took three Warriors with him, reducing the unit below half strength in the process. Meh.

Result Marginal Victory
Chaos 1389 vps
DE 1097 vps

Thoughts

1. Magic. Never cast that one last spell - I lost over 250 vps in the subsequent explosion. The Dark Elf magic was poor once again. The range on their spells isn't great and they really depend upon two good phases early in the game. From turn three onward I am in amongst the Dark Elf army and putting pressure on the casters. Gary either needs to revise his magic strategy or invest in some better dice.
2. This was a tighter game than the previous two, largely due to losing the first turn, but also because of the Noble on a Cold One. My envelop the flank, refuse the other tactic is still working - I wonder how long it will be before Gary learns how to counter it? Maybe I should change to something else?
3. My mounted Exalted worked okay I guess. I hadn't considered giving him any offensive weaponry as I was hoping his raw stats would do the business. I hadn't considered the Noble who ended up with a 3+ save from my general. Perhaps the Biting Blade could be a good investment? Gary really didn't like me putting Sigurt in the foot unit. I was fairly certain that I could do this because the mount doesn't fly but I promised to check it out before our next game. What do you think?

HORDES OF CHAOS versus Dark Elves

Deploy for Victory

Game: Warhammer Fantasy Battle 7th edition
Opponent: Gary

I still hadn't completed my Daemonic Mount so we agreed to play at 1250 points again. While I had no changes to my last (winning) list, Gary had a surprise for me. Two in fact.

He dropped his Hydra in favour of two Repeater Bolt Throwers. I knew it would only be a matter of time. Gary hadn't wanted to buy these initially, instead relying on his magic and combat ability to battle my Horde but he was having trouble dealing with my Knights. To make things worse I'd upgraded them to Chosen in the last couple of games. Enter the Bolt throwers.

The Dark Elves also dropped their Noble in favour of an extra Sorceress and added Repeater Crossbows to the Dark Riders.

How would the changes affect the game?

Armies: 1250 points
My Chaos Undivided mortals:

• Aspiring Champion with Book of Secrets, extra hand weapon (Steed of Shadows spell)
• Lvl 1 Sorcerer with 2 Dispel Scrolls (Dark hand of Death)
• 12 Warriors full command
• 10 Warriors full command Banner of Wrath
  
• 5 Chosen Knights full command
• 6 War hounds
• Chariot
• 8 Furies

The Dark Elves had:

• Lvl 2 Sorceress
• Lvl 2 Sorceress
• 2 Repeater Bolt Throwers
  
• 10 Repeater Crossbows
• 16 Spearelves full command
• 5 Dark Riders Repeater Crossbows
• 5 Dark Riders Repeater Crossbows
• 19 Executioners full command Banner of Murder

Terrain and deployment
The Dark Elves won the choice of table edge and took the one with the hill. I had two woods clogging up my left middle and a hill on my right middle. I also had two ruined buildings in the centre of my deployment zone.

I deferred my choice of refused flank by putting my War hounds, Furies and Chariot smack bang in the middle of my table edge. By this stage, the Dark Elves had their Spear block on my right with a unit of Dark Riders nearby. I decided to deploy the rest of my army on the right and refuse the left.

Gary split the rest of his army evenly across his board edge.

The game
I won first turn. I marched the Knights up the extreme right toward the two Dark Rider units. Both Warrior units tramped up, one either side of the hill. I pushed my War Hounds into the centre of the battlefield and flew the Furies up behind them. I was hoping that if either was wiped out, the survivors would be able to threaten the Repeater Bolt Thrower on the hill.

The Executioners got six inches on their Banner of Murder and managed to charge the War Hounds. Obviously the lone survivor fled and the Furies panicked. The murderous Druchii ploughed on trying to run past the charge arc of my Chariot. I was in serious trouble on my left flank.

The Dark Riders did their thing. One unit got in the face of my Warriors with the Banner of Wrath, while the others ran up behind the hill. Combined pointy-eared shooting killed four Warriors from my larger unit. Their magic was less successful - a miscast ending the phase and wounding a Sorceress.

I charged the Knights at the Spearelves and failed due to range, but it did leave my unit nicely behind the Dark Riders who now had to receive the charge from my Warriors. My Chariot managed to hit the Executioners flank. I moved my Aspiring Champion out of the Warrior squad and up onto the hill. He swept down the hill and into the flank of the second Dark Rider unit with Steed of Shadows. He killed two but the survivors held. The other Riders were butchered by my Warriors. The Chariot killed four Executioners who held. Although I'd suffered some early casualties I was involved in several different combats by the second turn so I thought I was in control. Both of the Dark Rider units were neutralised too, my traditional bogey units.

I lost three more Warriors from the larger unit due to shooting but the Dark Elf magic was lousy and achieved nothing. My Chariot killed four more Executioners but the Elves held. My Knights now got to slam into the Spearelves and duly killed five. The survivors foolishly remained. My depleted Warriors charged the last of the Dark Riders still battling the Aspiring Champion - unsurprisingly they were destroyed. Both Repeater Bolt Throwers missed. My Knights killed seven more Spearelves and this time the rest ran away off the table. My Chariot broke and ran down the Executioners.

My Knights charged the Repeater Bolt Thrower. The crew fled and my horsemen broke up the war machine. My Sorcerer and the War Banner combined to panic the Repeater Crossbows. My Aspiring Champ got Steed of Shadows off again and forced the Sorceress to flee. My Chariot moved up to threaten the Bolt Thrower on the hill. It had one last sting in the tail though - it put a bolt through the chest of my Aspiring Champion. I ran it down with the Chariot for it's impudence. It was sometime around here that I used my first dispel scroll!

My Sorcerer shot down the last Sorceress with Dark Hand of Death, completely wiping out the Dark Elf army in the process.

Result: Massacre
Chaos 1850 vps
DE 545 vps

Honours

• Chaos - the chariot for defending and winning my exposed flank
• Dark Elves - the executioners for a surprising charge
  

Thoughts

• My deployment worked well for the second week running. Again I tried to envelop a single flank, refusing the other. This kept my army nice and compact, negating the Dark Elf speed advantage. Of course the Bolt Throwers meant the Dark Elves were actually more static! Gary's more conventional deployment meant that battle could actually be joined this time around.
• I totally cocked up the Furies. My original plan was to fly them left up behind a wood or right behind the hill depending on where I chose to attack. I don't know what I was thinking. Fortunately, the Chariot saved the day. I will have to watch out for that banner, though.
• Magic was fickle again. With two level two's Gary could have rightly expected to dominate my two level one's. However, I managed to get off at least four spells and only needed one dispel scroll. Who'd have thunk?
• Gary is unsure what to do next. He is especially worried about the Knights and the Bolt Throwers just didn't work in this game. Nor did the magic. I thought adding some depth to the ranked units might help, allowing a flanking unit to counter charge. Gary favoured a more direct approach by firing his Sorceresses and hiring some fighty Nobles. I think the only sure thing is that I won't fight the same army twice.

HORDES OF CHAOS versus Dark Elves

Who has the beatdown?

Game: Warhammer Fantasy Battle 7th edition
Opponent: Gary

After the drubbing I got in my last game I approached this one with some trepidation. The Dark Elves had the beating of me in the shooting phase, magic phase and movement phase and Gary's deployment foxed me. I didn't help my own cause when I changed my plan halfway through deployment and took the Druchii head on. The fickle nature of magic made itself known when my Sorcerer died while casting his first spell.

My first thoughts were to tweak the list. I decided to drop my Sorcerer back down to a level one. With two Dispel scrolls he was primarily there for magic defense, but he also had a magic missile spell to give me some shooting. A bound magic missile in the Banner of Wrath gave me more firepower. I dropped the Exalted down to an Aspiring Champion, as anything more was just overkill. With the spare points I made my Knights chosen.

My main change though, was one of attitude. I was determined to force the Dark Elves to react to my army, rather than my army react to theirs. To this end, before I had even seen the battlefield, I decided I'd refuse one flank and put my Knights on the end of the other. If I kept my army compact I hoped it would negate the Dark Elf speed advantage.

Much to my consternation Gary had painted up a second unit of Dark Riders. Uh-oh. The good news was that he only had one Sorceress.

Here are the full lists:

Armies: 1250 points
My Chaos Undivided mortals:

• Aspiring Champion with Book of Secrets, extra hand weapon (Steed of Shadows spell)
• Lvl 1 Sorcerer with 2 Dispel Scrolls (Dark hand of Death)
• 12 Warriors full command
• 10 Warriors full command Banner of Wrath
  
• 5 Chosen Knights full command
• 6 War hounds
• Chariot
• 8 Furies

The Dark Elves had:

• Noble on Cold One with Sword of strength six
  
• Lvl 2 Sorceress
• War Hydra
• 10 Repeater Crossbows
• 16 Spearelves full command
• 5 Dark Riders
• 5 Dark Riders
• 19 Executioners full command Banner of Murder

Terrain and deployment
Here is a picture of the deployment.


The Druchii started with most of their army inside the bend of the river, daring my army to come at them. Only the two Dark Rider units deployed opposite my army, on the far side of the large wood. I refused the right flank and set up everything on the left.

The game
I won first turn. I marched the Chosen Knights the full fourteen inches forward to threaten the Dark Riders. The War hounds were nearby, but further back. I angled the Chariot to hit anything that broke through my lines. I flew the Furies up on the other side of the wood in case the Dark Riders tried to run away. Thaer, my Aspiring Champion ran up next to them. He could use Steed of Shadows to keep up with the Daemons if necessary. I marched my Warriors up into the centre of the board.

One Dark Rider unit tried to charge the War hounds but was just out of range. The other unit pulled back. The other Dark Elf units formed up in a line along the river. The Repeater Crossbows were perched high up on a hill in the corner.

My Knights charged the first unit of Dark Riders who fled only to be caught. The Chaos cavalry couldn't quite reach the second unit. My War hounds padded up alongside. I brought the Furies up around the wood onto the flank of the Dark Riders. They were totally trapped in the corner now. My Warrior units angled toward the Elf battle line and tossed some speculative magic missiles at the Cold One Noble. I was just in range, while the Elf Sorceress and the Crossbows would be just out of range. Sweet.

Gary pulled the Dark Riders out of the charge arc of the Knights and parked them in front of the hounds. He also realigned his units along the river, pushing the Noble up toward the bridge. Still, his magic and shooting was too far away.

My Furies and Hounds charged the Dark Riders. They failed their Fear test and ran off the board. We weren't sure what would happen to the chargers and in the end moved them their full distance. That left the Furies right on the board edge and the War hounds off the table.

If I was going to charge the Dark Elves I'd have to make my move now.

Instead I targeted the Noble again with magic, removing a wound. I figured I had 200 victory points for two table quarters and I could deny the others from the Druchii. I also had around 200 points for the Dark Riders. If the Elves wanted the win they could come after me.

Both infantry blocks shuffled into the river but it became obvious they would never reach my line. Only the Noble got anywhere near as he came over the bridge but he eventually took a magic missile in the face and died.

I won the game without taking a single casualty.

Result: Massacre
Chaos 631 vps
DE 0 vps

Honours

• Chaos - the Furies for hemming in the dark riders
• Dark Elves - the dark riders who at least saw some action
  

Thoughts

• My plan worked better than I could have thought possible. The Dark Elf deployment did affect things, and it would have made things much more interesting if the Elves had deployed more conventionally, but I stuck to my plan and followed it through. Once I realised I had the magic advantage, and I had neutralised the Dark Riders with their speed, I was in total control.
• We go up to 1500 points shortly and I'm still not sure what to add to the army. Unfortunately this game didn't really enlighten me any further. I'm painting a hero on a Daemonic Mount, so that's about 150 points allocated. I reckon four more War hounds would be sensible, giving me two five dog units. Marauder cavalry could be a good choice too. They'll give me even more mobility to keep up with the sprightly elves.

HORDES OF CHAOS versus Dark Elves

That's magic! You'll like it...not a lot.

Game: Warhammer Fantasy Battle 7th edition
Opponent: Gary
Armies: 1250 points

I brought my Chaos Undivided mortals:

• Exalted Champion with Book of Secrets, extra hand weapon and shield (Steed of Shadows spell)
• Lvl 2 Sorcerer with 2 Dispel Scroll (Dark hand of Death and Drain Life spells)
• 12 Warriors full command
• 10 Warriors full command Banner of Wrath
  
• 5 Knights full command
• 6 War hounds
• Chariot
• 8 Furies

Gary brought Dark Elves with:

• Lordling on Cold One with Sword of twatting you at strength six
  
• Lvl 2 Sorceress
• Lvl 2 Sorceress
• War Hydra
• 10 Repeater Crossbows
• 16 Spearelves full command
• 5 Dark Riders
• 19 Executioners full command Banner of Murder

Terrain and deployment
See the picture below for the table layout. It was taken on turn 2.

While the Dark Elves were deploying, I realised they were castling behind the large wood on my right, presumably to bottle me up as I attacked. My first thought was to refuse the bait, place my two hardest units on each flank, and slaughter whatever emerged, hoping that the Elves themselves would trip over each other as they repositioned. If they stayed put, they would simply lose by three table quarters to one.

However, I had waited a long time for a game, and I was Chaos after all, so I didn't want to win in a bloodless battle. I took the bait and charged in.

The Game
The Dark Elves won first turn. The Dark Riders ran 18" forward. His magic was out of range. My units moved toward the Druchii corner. The Banner of Wrath killed two Dark Riders, then the Exalted cast Steed of Shadows to charge and wipe out the rest. They had to hold because a Sorceress was just behind and possibly within range. Excellent. My bogey unit dead on turn 1.

Then things started to go downhill.

My Sorcerer tried to cast Dark hand of Death and miscast on a double one. He then rolled a double one on the miscast table and was annihilated, along with three Warriors. Okey dokey.

Dark Elf shooting and magic took a wound off the Exalted. The Cold One Lord and Hydra repositioned next to the wood to charge the Knights if they moved forward. The Sorceress in the rocks moved away from the Exalted and the Furies.

I moved in again, risking the charge with the Knights. I swept the Furies round the left flank to face the Sorceress and the flank of the Executioners. I moved the War hounds back out to the right flank. My Exalted then rolled a double one for Steed of Shadows and had to roll twice on the miscast table. Great. On the upside, he survived but a Knight was killed when the Dark Elves got a bonus spell.

The Cold One Lord went stupid and stumbled out in front of the Knights, blocking the Hydra. Superb timing! The Hydra came around behind the Lord to counter charge the Knights if they took on the Druchii general. The Sorceress pulled back again and killed three Furies with magic.

The Furies charged the Sorceress and forced her to flee. She outran them and survived. Rats. How do you form up the Furies against a lone model? We had them in a conga line of five single file models, which seemed correct according to the rules but looked ridiculous!

The Knights charged the Cold One Lord. She challenged and and killed the Champion. She also passed her break test to remain in combat. The Hydra charged into the Knights.

My Exalted stood in front of the Executioners, a calculated gamble to tempt them out and present a flank to my Warriors. The unit charged him, caused no wounds, he killed two in return but still broke and ran a full twelve inches up behind my Knights. The Executioners successfully held.

The Cold One Lord skewered another Knight and the Hydra bit the head off another. The two survivors fled. The Cold One Lord pursued but failed to catch the Knights. He did hit the Exalted who fled again, this time behind the Warriors and Chariot. Does the Exalted auto-flee again or is he destroyed automatically?

My Furies were reduced to a single model by magic and the Repeater Crossbows. The Hydra and Cold One Lord were now facing off against the Warriors and Chariot. And I had the charge. Bring it on!

The Chariot failed it's terror test and ran. Eeep! My Knights continued to flee. The Warriors were made of sterner stuff and crunched into the many-headed monster. My Exalted rallied and cast Steed of Shadows to charge the Cold One Lord. Can he use Steed of Shadows to charge on the turn he rallied?

My last Fury charged the Sorceress again. Everything went to plan. My Exalted chopped the Cold One Lord into itty bitty pieces, the Warriors broke the Hydra and the Fury ran the Sorceress down. Nice.

The Executioners charged into the Warriors front and my armoured behemoths held. My second unit of Warriors was hemmed in by the rocks so couldn't join in. Instead I shuffled them back into a different table quarter. The Hydra rallied. Can the Hydra use it's breath weapon on the turn it rallies?

The Repeater Crossbows pin-cushioned the Exalted.

My Chariot rallied after the Executioners wiped out the first Warrior unit. As they crashed into the second unit the Chariot hit their flank but it only killed two models. The Executioners held on their break test. Flippity-flip. I would have won the game if they'd broken.

Result: Marginal loss
Chaos 800.5 vps
DE 993.5 vps

Honours

• Chaos - my exalted champion who caused mayhem all over the battlefield
• Dark Elves - the executioners for driving off the exalted and killing the warriors
  

Thoughts

• I'm still struggling with the tactics of the movement phase. The problem is that I have a proactive army that needs to be used aggressively and forces my game plan on the enemy but I am usually a much more reactive player. I need to be less sporting and develop my killer instinct. The Chaos Gods demand it!
• At last I dealt with the Dark Riders easily. My bound spell, magic missile spell, Steed of Shadows and the Furies meant I had a range of answers to them. It helped that Gary moved them into the centre of the table, too.
• The army is starting to develop the way I had imagined. We're playing with enough points to have a Sorcerer and a general and a range of units. My next model will be an Exalted on a Daemonic Mount which should take me up to about 1500 points. I have no idea what to do to take the army up to 2000 points.

HORDES OF CHAOS versus Dark Elves

I can cope with the despair, it's the hope that gets me

Game: Warhammer Fantasy Battle 7th edition
Opponent: Gary
Armies: 1000 points

I brought my Chaos Undivided mortals:

• Aspiring Champion with Book of Secrets, extra hand weapon and shield (Steed of Shadows spell)
• Lvl 1 Sorcerer with Dispel Scroll (Steed of Shadows spell)
• 12 Warriors full command
• 10 Warriors full command
• 5 Knights full command
• 6 War hounds
• Chariot

Gary brought Dark Elves with:

• Lvl 2 Sorceress
• War Hydra
• 10 Repeater Crossbows
• 16 Spearelves full command
• 5 Dark Riders
• 19 Executioners full command

Terrain and deployment
This was the same set up as a previous game. On my half of the table I had a large wood on my left, a smaller wood on my centre right and a hill on my right. The Dark Elves had some rock columns and a hill to my far left and a lake in the centre. From left to right I had 12 Warriors with Sorcerer, 10 Warriors with Asp Champ, Chariot, War hounds and Knights. The Druchii had Spearelves, Crossbows, Sorceress, Executioners, Hydra then Dark Riders.

The Game
The Dark Elves won first turn again. The Dark Riders ran forward. I marched the Knights up and faced the Warhounds toward the Dark Riders in case they decided to charge the Knights. The rest of my army marched toward the pointy ears.

The Dark Riders charged the flank of the Knights, killed one, I failed my break check, the Riders caught and killed the Knights then my Warhounds panicked and ran. Righto.

The Hydra moved into the centre, next to the Executioners. I moved my units forward again. The Hounds rallied and turned to face the Dark Riders again. The Riders killed four on the charge and ran the survivors down.

Moving again, I managed to cast Steed of Shadows on my Sorcerer. In a desperate ploy I charged him into the Repeater Crossbows. He failed to do any damage, failed his break test and failed to outrun the Elves. Rats.

The Executioners and Hydra joint charged my Warriors. I lost several men but passed the break test on snake eyes! At last, a glimmer of hope. This allowed my chariot to charge into the flank of the Hydra. With my Aspiring Champion and a Warrior also hacking into the beast I was confident of a kill. Three 6+ saves and a 5+ save later I had caused two wounds. Meh.

Back on the left, my Warriors charged the Spearelves. They broke and I ran them down. My Warriors then contacted the Sorceress who fled off the board. Huzzah!

In the main battle, my Aspiring Champion was bitten in half by the Hydra. The rest of the Warriors were slaughtered and the chariot broke. The Hydra chased it off the table and the game ended.

Result: Loss
Chaos 718 vps
DE 1187 vps

Honours

• Chaos - the smaller Warrior unit which killed the Spearelves and sorceress
• Dark Elves - the dark riders for killing my knights and warhounds
  

Thoughts

• Hideous luck. Lost 1st turn, lost the Knights and hounds, failed to hurt the Hydra (again). Shocking.
• Dark Riders are awesome again. The big table and my small number of slower units makes them kings. I just can't get to grips with them.

HORDES OF CHAOS versus Dark Elves

The Fickle Winds of Magic

Game: Warhammer Fantasy Battle 7th edition
Opponent: Gary

Following my frantic painting efforts I managed to get my Warriors onto the tabletop. I hadn't played for three weeks so I was really up for a game, especially now that we had enough models for a 1000 point battle on a 6' by 4' table.

Armies: 1000 points
I brought my Chaos Undivided mortals:

• Aspiring Champion with Armour of Damnation and 6+ ward save
• Lvl 1 Sorcerer with Dispel Scroll (Steed of Shadows spell)
• 12 Warriors full command
• 10 Warriors full command
• 5 Knights full command
• 6 War hounds
• Chariot

Gary brought Dark Elves with:

• 3 lvl 2 Sorceresses
• War Hydra
• 10 Repeater Crossbows
• 16 Spearelves full command
• 5 Dark Riders

Terrain and deployment
On my half of the table I had a large wood on my left, a smaller wood on my centre right and a hill on my right. Gary had some rock columns and a hill to my far left and a lake in the centre. My plan was to use the large wood to protect my flanks so I put the Chariot and Knights on my far left and the two Warrior units in the centre on the other side of the wood. My Aspiring Champ and the Sorcerer started in the larger Warrior unit. I put the Hounds on my right. Gary deployed all his units bar the Dark Riders opposite my left flank.

Turn 1
Gary won first turn and pushed his riders right down my throat, near the Warriors but out of their line of sight. He shuffled the rest of his units about a bit and ran a sorceress into the rocks to threaten my Knights and Chariot. I used my Dispel Scroll.

I moved both the Chariot and Knights forward, ignoring the sorceress. Both Warrior units marched forward (they were just over 8" from the Dark Riders). My hounds got in the faces of the Riders.

Turn 2
Gary charged and killed the hounds with his Dark Riders. I was hoping for a long overrun but they only went 7". The Hydra moved back a bit. His sorceress in the rocks miscast, took a wound and ended the magic phase. Result!

I could only move my 10 man Warrior unit 4" due to the Dark Riders but my larger unit marched a full 8". I charged the Chariot and Knights at the Hydra but was just out with both.

Turn 3
The Hydra charged the Chariot, caused two wounds and broke it. The Dark Riders came up behind my Warriors to march block both units. The Dark Elves magic and shooting were better this turn and killed three of the 12 Warrior unit.

My knights slammed into the Hydra but caused no wounds. Drat! The combat continued. Fortunately the Chariot rallied. In the centre my units tramped another 4" to the opposite board edge.

Turn 4
Gary shuffled his Spearelves back 2.5" and brought his sorceress out of the rocks to see the Warriors who were now coming just beyond the large wood. Combined magic and shooting killed six more Warriors out of my now not so large unit. The Hydra took a wound from my Knights and a handler was killed.

I charged the Chariot into the Hydra but only inflicted a single wound. Shit. The Knights killed another handler and put a wound on the beast. Rolling on the reaction chart, the Hydra became unbreakable. Fan-bloody-tastic. Now I'd have to take every single wound off the animal one by one. At this rate it would take until turn 21! I turned to face the Dark Riders with my Warriors.

Turn 5
The Dark Riders moved out of line of sight but still managed to march block both units. The rest of his units moved back toward his own board edge. A sorceress cast a spell on the Warriors to prevent them from moving for a turn. It was now looking very unlikely that any of my Warriors would reach them. On my left it wasn't much better as my two hardest hitting units were trying to bring the Hydra to heel. Everything changed within a few dice rolls. A sorceress miscast allowing my own sorcerer to auto cast Steed of Shadows on my Aspiring Champion. Gary used five power dice to dispel the spell but he got a double 1 and the spell went off. My Champ zoomed into the nearest sorceress and chopped her to pieces. My Knights and Chariot took the last three wounds off the Hydra in sudden burst of energy.

My Aspiring Champion charged the Crossbow Elves who fled. The Champ caught them and hacked them to itty bitty pieces. The Chariot and Knights manoeuvred to face the hill around which the Dark Elves were trying to mount a defense.

Turn 6
After a sudden reversal of fortune the Dark Elves had to chase the game. A sorceress prevented my Champ from moving, effectively putting him out of the game. The Dark Riders stopped dancing around and charged into the rear of my three surviving Warriors. All the attacks bounced off and I killed two in return. The Elves held. The Spearelves moved away behind the hill out of sight of the Knights.

My Warriors killed two more Riders but the last Elf passed his break test. My Knights failed to contact the Spearelves. My Chariot charged a sorceress who also fled, this time straight off the board.

Result: I ended up with an unlikely solid victory (638.5 victory points to 256).

Honours

• Chaos - the Sorcerer as he allowed me to cast that free steed of shadows spell
• Dark Elves - the Dark Riders for holding up my main advance
  

Thoughts

• This game revolved around a single miscast and a fumbled dispel. Without that big slice of luck I would have undoubtedly lost. Serves those dishonourable spellcasting bitches right!
• Those Dark Riders were as annoying as feck! How the devil do I deal with them? A unit of Marauder cavalry? An Aspiring Champion hanging around the rear? More hounds?
• The other development I have noticed in my last few games is the 'Dark Elf shuffle.' I either need more speed to threaten the Elves back line or some shooting to force them to come to me. Perhaps the Beast book would help or maybe a Hellcannon could shift the balance?
  

HORDES OF CHAOS versus Dark Elves

The Mastery of Beasts

Game: Warhammer Fantasy Battle 7th edition
Opponent: Gary
Armies: 750 points

Another chapter in the saga of my Chaos army. I had painted up a Sorcerer model, so I added him as a level 2, put a fifth model in the Knight unit and put the Armour of Damnation on my Aspiring Champion.

Gary spent his 250 points on a War Hydra, and upgraded his magic. Eeep!

Chaos

• Aspiring Champion with Armour of Damnation
  
• Level 2 Sorcerer
  
• 12 Warriors full command
• 5 Knights, champion full command
• 6 Warhounds

Dark Elves

• 10 Repeater crossbows
• 16 Spearelves full command
• 5 Dark Riders spears
• Level 2 Sorceress
• War Hydra

Terrain and deployment
There was a hill on my far left, near the centre of the table, and the Dark Elves had another hill further up on their side of the table. There was a large wood in the Dark Elf deployment zone, on my right flank. I put the Warriors, Warhounds, Sorcerer and Aspiring Champ in the centre facing off against the Dark Elf War Hydra and Spearelves. My Knights were on the far left, where the Dark Riders, Sorceress and Repeater Crossbows were.

The Game
I won first turn and moved forward with everything. The Dark Riders parked themselves in front of my Knights. I charged them and they fled. They contacted my Warriors and were destroyed. The Knights then took a couple of turns to manoeuvre back into the battle.

I used my Sorcerer to cast Unseen Lurker on the Warriors to give them an extra march. The War Hydra charged into them. My Warhounds fled due to terror. Over the course of two turns I broke the Hydra and pursued into the Spearelves. My Asp Champ butchered a load and they broke.

Back on the left, my Knights crashed into the Repeater Crossbows and rode down the Sorceress.

Result: Win - a comprehensive victory for my growing Chaos horde.

Honours

• Chaos - the aspiring champion for helping to kill the Hydra and the Spearelves
• Dark Elves - the dark riders for taking my knights out of half of the game
  

HORDES OF CHAOS versus Dark Elves

The battle of the Teld

Here is another battle report describing a game between my Hordes of Chaos and the dastardly Dark Elves.

Game: Warhammer Fantasy Battle 7th edition
Opponent: Gary
Armies: 500 points

Chaos

• Aspiring Champion with Shield
• 12 Warriors full command
• 4 Knights, champion and standard
• 6 Warhounds

Dark Elves

• 10 Repeater crossbows
• 16 Spearelves full command
• 5 Dark Riders spears
• Level 1 Sorceress on Cold One

Terrain and deployment
I had a river with a bridge on my left and a hill on my right. There was a hill on my opposite left and a small wood on my opposite right. I began with the Knights on the right, the Warriors next to them and the Aspiring Champ between them. I put the War Hounds out on the far left, behind the river. The Dark Elves had their Spearelves and Dark Riders against my main force on the right, with the Sorceress on the far left next to the Repeater Crossbows.

The Game
My Chaos army moved up the centre and right flank. The Dark Riders baited and fled the Knights but were caught and run down. The Knights slammed into the Spearelves and a protracted combat broke out.

Meanwhile, the Warhounds and Aspiring Champion were shredded by Dark Elf magic and shooting.

My Warriors milled about waiting for the outcome of the Spearelves versus Knight smackdown and played no part in the battle. Eventually, the Knights ground down the Elves then the game ended.

Result: Although the Dark Elves were ahead on kills I had more table quarters and standards, so the result was a draw.

Honours

• Chaos - Knights
• Dark Elves - Repeater crossbows

HORDES OF CHAOS versus Dark Elves

Game: Warhammer Fantasy Battle 7th edition
Opponent: Gary
Armies: 500 points
Chaos:

• Aspiring Champion with Shield
• 12 Warriors full command
• 4 Knights, champion and standard
• 6 Warhounds

Dark Elves:

• Noble
• 10 Repeater crossbows
• 16 Spearelves full command
• 8 Dark Riders spears

Terrain and deployment
This time the Elves began on my far right so I put the Knights over there along with the hounds.

The game
The Druchii won first turn. The Dark Riders galloped down the flank while my Warriors and Knights pushed up through the centre. The Dark Riders hit the flank of the Knights and killed one. The Knights held and the War hounds then hit the Riders in the flank. The DE cavalry broke and were pursued by the Knights who eventually caught and slaughtered them. The bloodthirsty Knights ran off the table.

Meanwhile my Warriors were being whittled down by the Crossbows. They made combat with the Spearelves. My depleted unit was beaten and run down. My hounds got shot to pieces by the Crossbows and my Knights didn't come back quickly enough to rejoin the fray.

Result: Loss

Honours

• Chaos - the Knights
• Dark Elves - the Spearelves

HORDES OF CHAOS versus Dark Elves

Game: Warhammer Fantasy Battle 7th edition
Opponent: Gary
Armies: 500 points
Chaos:

• Aspiring Champion with Shield
• 12 Warriors full command
• 4 Knights, champion and standard
• 6 Warhounds

Dark Elves:

• Noble
• 10 Repeater crossbows
• 16 Spearelves full command
• 8 Dark Riders spears

Terrain and deployment
I had my Warhounds on the left flank, the Knights on the right and the Warriors in the centre. The Dark Elves deployed squashed up on my right with the crossbows on the hill and the Spearelves at its foot.

The game
I won first turn and moved the whole army forward. The Dark Riders charged my Knights, were beaten and overrun. The Knights then charged the Crossbows, hit them and destroyed them all. The Warhounds and Warriors got into a brawl with the Spearelves. The Elf noble was killed in single combat by the Aspiring Champion. The rest of the unit routed and were wiped out.

Result: win - a convincing victory for Chaos!

Honours

• Chaos - the Knights
• Dark Elves - the Spearelves

SPACE MARINES - BLOOD ANGELS versus Lost and the Damned

Game: Warhammer 40,000 3rd edition, 40k in 40 minutes
Opponent: Wayne
Armies: 400 points
Blood Angels:

• HQ
• Commander, jump pack, plasma pistol, power weapon
• Elites
• Death Company marine, jump pack
  
• Troops
• 5 Tactical marines, heavy bolter
• 5 Tactical marines missile launcher
• Fast Attack
• 5 Assault marines 2 plasma pistols

Lost and the Damned:

• HQ
• Aspiring champion with power fist
• Troops
• 5 traitors with shotguns, flamer
• Mutant squad, leader with powerfist
• Heavy Support
• 5 spawn
• Basilisk

Terrain and Deployment
A fairly sparse board with a river dividing the board from deployment zone to deployment zone on my right. Wayne accidentally set up out of deployment order and positioned his basilisk opposite my assault squad on my right. His traitors set up near the tank. The mutants took the middle and the spawn took the left. I put the commander and the death company marine in the centre and I set the tactical squads up on the left.

The game
My assault squad survived two turns of fire on the way in and then they vaped the basilisk. The traitors tied them up for the rest of the game.

The tactical squads refused my left flank and laid down covering fire which was mostly ineffective. The main damage was done when my commander and the lone death company marine made it into combat with the mutant squad. The commander hit the aspiring champion and killed him before he could respond with his powerfist and the rest was a formality.

The only threat to the Blood Angels was the spawn squad that promptly failed two stupidity tests in a row and played no part in the game. A solid victory for the marines.

Result: win

Honours

• Blood Angels - The commander for killing the Aspiring champion and then butchering the mutant squad.
  
• Traitors - For at least putting up a fight with the assault squad.