WARRIORS OF CHAOS versus Dark Elves

Game: Warhammer Fantasy Battle 7th edition
Opponent: Gary
Scenario: Pitched Battle
1st turn: Warriors of Chaos
Points: 2000
Background: With the new Warriors of Chaos army book recently released I was trying my hand at lots of different lists. In my last game I went Nurgle and this time I felt the pull of Khorne. Out went my two Sorcerers and in came two fighty characters with Khornate wargear. How would I fare without any form of magical defence?

Probably not well since the Dark Elves brought a level four Sorceress and three level two Sorceresses! Gary had to drop his assassin to do this and he didn't have the rock hard fighty Lord either so I just had to make it across the table into combat to guarantee victory.

Warriors of Chaos

• Sigurt Volsung, Lord on Daemonic Mount, Mark of Khorne, Axe of Khorne, Collar of Khorne, Enchanted Shield, Diabolic Splendour
  
• Thaer, Exalted, Mark of Khorne, Additional Hand Weapon, Bloodskull Pendant, Blood Roar, Shield
• 12 Warriors, Shields, Mark of Khorne, Full command
  
• 12 Warriors, Shields, Mark of Khorne, Full command, Standard - Banner of Wrath
• 16 Marauders, Shields, Light Armour, Mark of Khorne, Full command
• 5 Knights, Mark of Khorne, Full command, Warbanner
• 5 Marauder Horse, Mark of Khorne, Musician, Flails
  
• 5 War hounds
• 5 War hounds
• Chariot, Mark of Khorne

Dark Elves

• Level 4 sorceress with sacrificial dagger
  
• 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

Gary had done us proud once again and set up the table before I arrived. There was a hill in the corner of one deployment zone and a wood in the corner of another. Some rocky columns broke up the centre of the battlefield.


The Dark Elves won the dice off and naturally chose the side with the hill. They bunkered around the hill and I heavily weighted this side of the table. My plan was to hit the hill with my Knights with the Warriors and Marauders following up on each side to prevent the Executioners and Spearelves getting a flank charge. The Marauder horse and Warhounds were on screening duty.

Despite starting to set up second the Warriors of Chaos finished their deployment first and got the +1. With a mighty roar the Khorne army marched to battle.

The game
The Warriors all marched forward at top speed. To my surprise the Dark Elf Dark Riders charged my Marauder block. When Gary tried to cast Word of Pain on them I understood; it would have taken my weapon skill down to one and he might have beaten me. In the event he didn't get the spell off and I slaughtered four of the cavalry. The survivor fled beyond the Spearelves.

Meanwhile the Hydra marched into the centre and flamed the Knights. Both Bolt Throwers unleashed a volley of shots at them too, but only one Knight fell. My Marauder horse weren't so lucky and four died.

Turn two and I was multiple charging already!

The Knights sped up the hill and despite having Word of Pain cast on them they butchered the Bolt Thrower crew (as you can see in the photo below we just left them at the bottom of the hill as we couldn't balance them where they should have been). My Marauder horse survivor charged the Sorceress in the Repeater Crossbows. He was peppered with shots and died before he got into combat. My Marauders on foot charged the Spearelves who fled past the lone Dark Rider.


Closer to the middle of the battlefield a unit of Warhounds charged the Executioners. I knew I'd lose but I was hoping to draw the Elves forward so my Warrior unit could get a charge - possibly even a flank charge. The Warhounds duly took four casualties and the survivor ran. The Executioners just failed to catch him.

My second Warhound unit scampered away from the Hydra in terror.

Things were very tense and tactical now so I forgot to take photo's for a couple of turns. Gary tried to destroy my left flank by charging a unit of Dark Riders into the flank of my Chariot and one of his own Chariots charged my Warriors. Neither combat worked well for the Dark Elves as the Dark Riders were all killed and the Chariot was wounded and fled. It wasn't all doom and gloom for the pointy-ears though, as the Chariot ended up zooming off into the woods. It fortunately didn't take any damage but it was so far from the action it played no further part in the game.

Two turns of concentrated shooting and magic killed my 10 man Warrior unit leaving my Lord out on his own. He charged the Hydra anyway, keen to attract the attention of the Gods if he killed the monster. Sigurt only hit twice then rolled a double one for damage. The Hydra caused a wound in return and Sigurt ran for the hills! The Hydra followed him up and charged him off the table.

Things were tense over by the hill. The Knights munched through the second Bolt Thrower and ended up on the far side of the hill. That last Dark Rider got in the face of my Marauders and due to the Mark of Khorne I had to charge. This left me awkwardly facing the right table edge.

My Knights doubled back to take on the Repeater Crossbows so they ended up charging my Marauders. In an unlikely combat the Dark Elves won comfortably and broke the Marauders. They pursued off the table leaving my Exalted with no-one to charge (he had left the Marauders to try and chase down a Sorceress). He eventually ended up attacking the Spearelves in a futile charge and got killed for his trouble. The Knights too were left hanging so they marched down to face off against the Hydra. Down to just two men by this stage they were easily defeated.

The game deciding action was now happening at the base of the hill. My Warriors got a flank charge into the Executioners and were also fighting the High Sorceress. Despite Word of Pain taking my weapon skill down to one I scored two wounds on her and killed some of her bodyguards. The Dark Elves didn't run.

My dice rolling in the next round of combat was appalling and I lost several men. By this time the Chariot had rallied and charged into my Warriors. The second chariot also thundered in (having fled a charge from my own Chariot in turn two it was only just seeing some action). My Warriors were cut down in short order and that meant I had lost the game.

Result: Loss

Learning points

• No magic defense versus a level four and three level twos is nasty! At times the Dark Elves were generating close to twenty power dice. The Collar of Khorne helped a little but I was easily overwhelmed. Word of Pain really sapped my close combat prowess and all those magic missiles took their toll. Even the luck was on Gary's side as he rolled several double sixes and only had one miscast (which allowed me to cast one of my own spells - and I had no Sorcerers). It's clear to me that to be competitive I will have to include some magic defense against the Dark Elves.
• I don't think I'll bother with the mark of Khorne in the future. It is really expensive and the downside is too great. Plus one attack is awesome, and in particular it made my Chariot formidable, but always having to charge allows the enemy too much control.
• We discovered a number of rules we'd been breaking before and during this game. The first was with Arcane items - you are only allowed to use one and Gary had used three on his High Sorceress in previous games. Gary had to have a re-jig of his gear just befoe the battle. We also found out that units under 25% couldn't rally. That's something I'll have to remember in regards to the Dark Riders in particular - how different would the game have been if my Marauders had got into combat with the Spearelves?

WARRIORS OF CHAOS versus Dark Elves

Game: Warhammer Fantasy Battle 7th edition
Opponent: Gary
Scenario: Pitched Battle
1st turn: Warriors of Chaos
Points: 2000
Background: I decided to completely shake up my army ahead of this game. I really didn't care about winning or losing so I felt freer about changing things that on paper shouldn't work. I had a dim idea of picking the mark of each power on all my units over the next four games. I started with the Mark of Nurgle.

I had also had a long term idea of combining my two Warrior units into one super-unit. It weighed in at over 400 points on it's own. I wasn't convinced it would work but it sure looked cool.

Gary had also shaken up his Dark Elves and had included a fighty Lord rather than a level 4 Sorceress. The pointy eared git had a 1+ save, 2+ equivalent ward save then a 4+ regenerate save. Ooof!

The photos aren't great in this report because I forgot my camera and had to use my mobile phone.

Warriors of Chaos

• Sigurt Volsung, Lord on Daemonic Mount, Mark of Nurgle, the Father of Blades, Armour of Damnation, Enchanted Shield
  
• Thaer, Exalted, Mark of Nurgle, Additional Hand Weapon, Bronze Armour of Zhrakk, Shield
• Angur, Lvl 2 Sorcerer, Mark of Nurgle, Level 2, Power Familiar, Dispel Scroll (Magnificent Buboes and Rot, Glorious Rot spells)
  
• Boda, Lvl 2 Sorcerer, Mark of Nurgle, Level 2, Infernal Puppet (Magnificent Buboes and Fleshy Abundance spells)
  
• 20 Warriors, Shields, Mark of Nurgle, Musician, Standard - Banner of Wrath
  
• 16 Marauders, Shields, Light Armour, Mark of Nurgle, Musician, Standard
  
• 5 Knights full command, Warbanner
• 5 Marauder Horse, musician, flails
  
• 5 War hounds
• 5 War hounds
• Chariot

Dark Elves

• Fighty Lord, 1+ save, 2+ equivalent ward save then a 4+ regenerate save, Strength 6 sword
  
• Lvl 2 Sorceress
  
• Lvl 2 Sorceress
• Lvl 2 Sorceress
• Assassin
  
• 2 Repeater Bolt Throwers
  
• 16 Spearelves full command
• 5 Dark Riders
  
• 5 Dark Riders
  
• 19 Executioners full command Banner of Murder
• Hydra
• Chariot
• Chariot

Terrain and Deployment
Gary had sorted out the board again before I had arrived and this time it had three small hills in the middle section of the board and a few rocky columns. I abandoned my usual envelopment of one flank strategy and set up across my deployment zone. Still, I was stronger on my right where my Marauder Horse, Knights and big Warrior block (with my Lord and a Sorcerer) were facing off against the Dark Elf Bolt Throwers, a Dark Rider unit, a Sorceress, the Executioners and Lord. Gary's chariots were nearby too, while my Warhounds were in support. My Marauders lined up against the Spearelves. Both units included a Sorcerer and I also had my Exalted on this flank.

This looked like it would be a very different game to those we had played previously.

My plan was to overwhelm the right flank where I was projecting a lot of force over a very small area. I felt the Bolt Throwers were in a vulnerable position and could be swamped easily if I won first turn (I had the +1 bonus). I wanted to keep my Lord in the Warrior unit until turn three at least so that I could use my combat resolution to protect me from unfavourable challenges. In previous games I had charged him out too early and he was vulnerable. And finally, I wanted to snipe the Sorceresses and unit champions with Magnificent Buboes to reduce the Dark Elf magic.

The game
After a tense few roll-offs my Warriors would go first. Everything marched forward. I tried to angle my Marauder horse so that the Dark Riders would have to hit my Knights if they overran. I also angled my Warhounds in the centre to tempt the Hydra and Executioners into a charge. Their overruns, if they charged, would take them into my warrior block or into a position where I could get a flank charge.

In my magic phase Magnificent Buboes took a wound from the Sorceress in the Spearelves.

The Dark Elves moved forward in turn. One Dark Rider unit got in the face of my Knights while the other zoomed up the left flank to threaten my Marauders. Magic and shooting killed some Warhounds and a Knight.



The Hydra caused my central Warhound unit to run away. My Chariot and Warrior block shuffled up, turning slightly to face the Hydra. On the right my Marauder Horse charged the nearest Bolt Thrower. The crew fled and the machine was destroyed. In my following turns the Marauders went on to destroy the next Bolt Thrower and then hit the rallied crew from the first. After killing them they pursued off the table and only reappeared towards the end of the game.

Meanwhile my Knights charged the Dark Riders. They had to stay or they would have been destroyed by my Marauder Horse behind them. They lost four men and the survivor ran. He later returned to harass my Knights who were trying to reposition to help out my Warriors.

On the left my Exalted left the Marauders to protect their flank from the Dark Riders. The Warhounds to their right got in the face of one of the Dark Elf chariots. I hoped that although they would die they would keep the chariot away from the Marauders for a couple of turns.

My magic phase went from the sublime to the ridiculous. I killed the Sorceress in the Spearelves with another Magnificent Buboes but then miscast. The Dark Elves got to cast a spell of their own and blasted my Warrior block with the large template. In a blizzard of fives and sixes ten of my men died to failed toughness tests. Even my Sorcerer and Lord were wounded!

Close combat was joined across the battlefield. The Dark Riders moved in against my Exalted, the Spearelves charged my Marauders, one chariot charged my Warhounds and the other crashed into my Warriors. The Dark Elf Lord also charged out of the Executioners and into my Warriors.


The combats on the left went in my favour. The Exalted killed all of the Dark Elf light cavalry over two turns and then trudged off back toward the Marauders. The Marauders themselves survived the first wave onslaught of the Spearelves then won the second round. The Spearelves fled and were chased down by the Marauders.

Close by, the Chariot blitzed through my Warhounds, despite getting a one for impact hits, and turned to face down the Marauders in the final turns.

The Hydra was locked in a one on one struggle with my Chariot. It chased the Chariot right up to my table edge and then eventually destroyed it. It pursued off the table and then returned too late to contribute to the rest of the game.

My Warhounds rallied and then charged the lone Sorceress on the right. She had used her magic to buff herself up to four wounds. Although the doggies took two from her, she killed them all in an impressive combat display. She ran around the back of my engaged Warriors which allowed her to contribute some magic to the left flank in later turns.

The crucial action was taking place on the right, though. The Dark Elf Lord challenged Sigurt and took off a wound, taking none in return. The Chariot rolled a one for impact hits and only killed a single Warrior. It suffered a wound and that meant the Elves had lost the combat by a significant amount. The Lord and Chariot both ran. My Warriors pursued into the Executioners.

The Dark Elf Sorceress miscast and now I got a chance to automatically cast a spell. Rot, Glorious Rot was in range of several units but I rolled appallingly. Both the Chariot and Hydra were unharmed as I rolled a one for my strength, the Lord and Sorceress shrugged off their wounds and only the last Dark Rider succumbed. Rats.


Now the Assassin revealed himself and took on the heavily wounded Sigurt. The Armour of Damnation and Father of Blades combined to ensure that the Assassin killed himself! Sigurt miraculously survived and then gained +1 Toughness on the Eye of the Gods table (my first roll in three games).

To make matters worse for the Dark Elves the Executioners were now charged by my two remaining Knights (Dark Elf magic had killed two more). Sigurt butchered the champion quite handily while the Knights did for the Sorceress. The Executioners lost the combat and were run down. That also meant my Knights played little part in the game as they trampled the Dark Elves into the dirt.

By now the Dark Elf Lord had rallied and he charged back into single combat with Sigurt. Over three turns he killed the Lord and Sorcerer Angur but he kept losing the overall combat due to my ranks, outnumbering and standard. He didn't run, though, and his armour meant I couldn't hurt him. By the end of the game he was starting to chew through the Warriors but the combat was still ongoing.

Things looked very tight now, and the left flank could well decide the outcome of the entire game.

One of the Dark Elf Chariots had fled from my Warriors which allowed it to be charged by my Flail carrying Marauder Horse. They destroyed the Chariot and then ran over onto the left flank. It was a bad move by me and I got my units in a tangle. The lone Sorceress killed them all in two turns of crackling magic phases. It also allowed the last Chariot to get a charge on my Marauders. Again Gary rolled a one on the impact hits and little damage was caused. Combat continued as my Exalted tried to charge in but he failed his fear test. It didn't matter though as my Marauders won the combat again and this time the chariot fled.

The game was over and we had to tot up victory points to determine the result. Gary had killed almost 1200 points of my army and had captured a table quarter with his Hydra. He had also killed my General.

I had captured one quarter with my Marauders and had crucially taken two standards. My army had killed over 1400 points of Dark Elves.

Result: Win. 1713 Victory Points to 1380. Marginal Victory.

Learning points

• That was a quite enjoyable game. There was lots of combat which could have gone either way and a lot of tense magic and manoeuvring. Even the luck was evenly distributed. I am pleased with how I set up the units on my right but by contrast I cocked up my movement on the left. I think Gary got as many things wrong as he got right too.
  
• I need to find a way to hurt that Dark Elf Lord if Gary continues to use him. Perhaps there is a combination of magic items my characters can use in their challenges?
• I wasn't blown away by the mark of Nurgle but it didn't seem a total points sink either. The magic was handy, especially Magnificent Buboes. Which mark to use next?

WARRIORS OF CHAOS versus Dark Elves

Game: Warhammer Fantasy Battle 7th edition
Opponent: Gary
Scenario: Pitched Battle
1st turn: Warriors of Chaos
Points: 2000
Background: This was only my second game using the new Warriors of Chaos army book. I hadn't had time to read through all the new magic weapons, armour and the rest of the paraphernalia to arm my characters and then I thumbed past Archaon. I use his model as my own Lord and I'm light on rank and file models so why not just bang him in for a game?

Warriors of Chaos

• Archaon (Flickering Fire and Pandemonium spells)
  
• Thaer, Exalted with additional hand weapon, Shield
  
• Angur, Lvl 2 Tzeentch Sorcerer (Flickering Fire and Pandemonium spells)
• 12 Warriors, standard, musician
  
• 10 Warriors, standard, musician, Banner of Wrath
• 16 Marauders, standard, musician, shield and light armour
  
• 5 Knights, standard, musician, Warbanner
• 5 Marauder Horse, musician, flails
  
• 5 War hounds
• 5 War hounds
• Chariot

Dark Elves

• Level 4 sorceress with sacrificial dagger
  
• Lvl 2 Sorceress
  
• Lvl 2 Sorceress
• Assassin
  
• 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
Gary had set up the table for my arrival. The main terrain feature was a shallow stream running up to a stony lake in the centre of the table. Ruined buildings and a wood made up the rest of the terrain. I immediately knew I'd be in for a tough game as my movement would be restricted, allowing the Dark Elf shooting and magic to increase their effectiveness. I'd have to be very careful with my deployment.

Fortunately I won the choice of table edge. This meant I could attack from the side nearest the lake; once I got past that pinch point in turn two or three I'd have a free run to the Dark Elf units. My main attack would be in the centre and I had my large Warrior unit, Chariot, Marauders and a Warhound unit here. My right flank would be contested by the Marauder Horse, Warriors with the Banner of Wrath and more dogs. The Knights deployed on my extreme left flank. I deliberated over placing the characters for some time. Archaon could move through the woods and stream without penalty so I knew I'd place him on a flank; eventually I put him with the Knights (representing the Swords of Chaos). My Exalted went into the Marauders and the Sorcerer joined the central Warriors.

My plan was essentially a double envelopment. On the left my Knights would march around the woods to be in the Dark Elf deployment zone and threatening flank and rear charges from turn 4 onwards. I planned to split off Archaon and put him in the woods to get those flank charges a turn earlier.

On the right I hoped the Warriors would dominate and allow the Marauders to cross the bridge and attack the Dark Elf flank.

My middle would have to hold position for three turns at least. My worry was that the Dark Elves would spot my flanking forces and simply push forward, killing my central units and ending up far away from my flankers.


The Dark Elves faced down the Knights with a unit of Dark Riders. The other Dark Riders deployed on my right along with 10 Repeater crossbows and a Sorceress. The rest of the Dark Elves set up in the pocket in the centre.

The game
I won the turn to go first and everything marched forward. My Knights moved slowly out of the ruined building. My magic was spectacular with a single flickering fire spell destroying a chariot!

The Dark Elf magic phase was no less devastating with my own chariot being destroyed in turn!

The game quickly broke up into three main battle zones; the extreme left, centre and far right.

The Dark Riders on my left parked themselves awkwardly in front of my Knights. I charged Archaon out and they fled back into the woods. This allowed my Knights their full march move up the flank. The Dark Riders rallied and moved back toward the Swords of Chaos. Again I charged them with Archaon and again they fled. My Knights continued their march up the left. I think Gary was wrong footed by this as he thought I would swing them right into the centre. I don't think he could believe I had planned to run them right around the woods, effectively taking them out of the game for four turns. Gary is a much more direct player than me and in a similar situation he would have put Archaon in the Knight unit and simply rammed them up the centre. Which approach would turn out to be best?


On my right the other Dark Riders charged my Marauders and slaughtered them. In a worrying turn of events their pursue move took them past the Warriors. My Warhounds eventually failed a panic test and ran away.

Over the next few turns Gary shot at my Warriors with the Banner of Wrath with everything he had, including the Bolt Throwers, and decimated the unit. In return I whittled away at the Repeater Crossbows with my magic missiles.

Eventually only my Warrior with the Standard remained and the Dark Riders charged him. He ran 9" straight through the Crossbows (who were now below unit strength 5) and out the other side. The Dark Riders pulled up short, not wanting to run down the Crossbows and thus my plucky little Warrior survived a bit longer.

The battle was always going to be won and lost in the centre.

Magic played a massive part in the action. Over three turns the Dark Elves miscast four times; once due to Pandemonium and once due to the sacrificial dagger. Spells were forgotten, wounds were lost and the magic phase ended but the Sorceresses endured. I wished I had picked the Infernal Puppet for this game. Still, the Dark Elves caused casualties to my Warriors and Marauders. My own Sorcerer chipped away with flickering fire and tried to get Pandemonium off.

My Warhounds had fled but eventually rallied on the board edge. They moved back up to support my units but played no further part in the game.

The loss of my Chariot was a blow as it meant the Hydra could move up on the flank of my Warriors. It flamed them, killing a couple. I shuffled the unit back to face the front of the monster and the Sorcerer left the unit. Gary was surprised I had blocked his line of sight for flickering fire but I explained that he had cast Pandemonium so he couldn't cast another spell. Gary insisted that Pandemonium had come from Archaon. In the end I accepted his view to keep the game moving.

The Hydra charged into the Warriors but rolled poorly. The Warriors caused a wound or two and their standard and outnumbering helped to win them the fight. The Hydra stayed. It was crucial to my plan that the Warriors would hold my flank.

The Dark Riders exited the table stage left pursued by Archaon. My Exalted charged out of the Marauders to hold up the chariot. To my surprise Gary chose to flee. Although it rallied, this meant that it was now a sitting target in front of my Knights which had finally rounded the woods. Archaon positioned himself to charge out of the woods.

In a crucial round of combats my Warriors excelled themselves and took the Hydra down to a single wound. The beast broke. The Executioners turned to face Archaon and the Assassin revealed himself in the unit.


Bolt thrower shooting took out two of my Knights but the survivors crashed into the chariot and destroyed it. Flickering fire from my Sorcerer took the last wound from the Hydra. Archaon charged out of the woods and took on the Assassin in the Executioners. The Everchosen survived the Assassin's attempted killing blows and unleashed the daemon from the Slayer of Kings. He annihilated the Assassin and the whole unit broke and were run down. Archaon overran into the Spearelves.

Archaon steamed straight on through the Spearelves and they broke and were run down too. The Sorceress was trampled into the dirt. One of the bolt Thrower teams ran off the table in terror. Archaon marched on over the bridge toward the Dark Elf survivors. He was just in time to see the Warrior with the Banner of Wrath get shot to pieces.

In the very last action of the game the Sorceress, Repeater Crossbow unit and the Dark Riders all ran off the table due to terror.

Result: Win

Learning points

• My plan worked perfectly. The game worked out (except on my right) exactly as I envisaged, which is the first time this has ever happened to me in a Warhammer game. I think I'm getting the hang of it a bit more. It was a gamble having almost half of my army (in points values) out on my left flank but I knew I would be in a strong position in the second half of the game. The question was would Gary realise my plan and be able to counter it? In the crucial centre he made a half-hearted attempt to attack with the Hydra with the Executioners, chariot and Spearelves jockeying for position. That meant I could shuffle around myself until, literally, the cavalry could arrive.
• I still need to work out how to use my Marauder horse and Warhounds more effectively. I lost them very cheaply in this game.
• Tzeentch Sorcerers and magic are very effective and their spells are great against the Dark Elves. I'll definitely return to this lore in the future.
• Using Archaon was fun but I'm not a massive fan of special characters - I much prefer to create my own personalities and develop them over the course of my games. I'll keep experimenting in the future so I don't think I'll be using him for a while.
  

WARRIORS OF CHAOS versus Dark Elves

Game: Warhammer Fantasy Battle 7th edition
Opponent: Gary
Scenario: Pitched Battle
1st turn: Dark Elves
Points: 2000
Background: I bought the new Warriors of Chaos book earlier the same day that we played this game. To keep things simple for me I chose the same list as I played in my last game using the Hordes of Chaos book. I figured that it was the best way to find out how much my force had changed, as well as that of the emo elves with their new army book.

The photos aren't great in this report because I forgot my camera and had to use my mobile phone.

Warriors of Chaos

• Sigurt Volsung, Lord on Daemonic Mount, Armour of Damnation, Golden Eye of Tzeentch, shield
  
• Thaer, Exalted with Book of Secrets, Sword of Battle, Shield (Steed of Shadows spell)
• Angur, Lvl 2 Sorcerer with Black Tongue (Dark Hand of Death and Doom and Darkness spells)
• Boda, Lvl 2 Sorcerer with Infernal Puppet and Talisman of Protection (Fireball and Burning Head spells)
  
• 12 Warriors full command, Blasted Standard
  
• 10 Warriors full command Banner of Wrath
• 16 Marauders, full command, shield and light armour
  
• 5 Knights full command, Warbanner
• 5 Marauder Horse, musician, flails
  
• 5 War hounds
• 5 War hounds
• Chariot

Dark Elves

• Level 4 sorceress with sacrificial dagger
  
• Lvl 2 Sorceress
  
• Lvl 2 Sorceress
• Assassin
  
• 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
Gary had already set the table up before my arrival. He asked if I wanted to change things up but I was happy enough with the table. I determined to choose the side with the single hill if I won the roll off which I duly did. I then knew Gary would bunker around the hill and therefore I could array my full force against it.


From left to right I had the Knights, 10 Warriors with Banner of Wrath, Exalted and Sorcerer Boda, Marauder Horse, 12 Warriors with Blasted Standard including Lord, Chariot, 5 Warhounds, 5 Warhounds and finally the Marauders with Sorcerer Angur.

The Dark Elves (from my left to right) were Dark Riders, Executioners with Sorceress, Chariot, Bolt Thrower, Crossbows with Sorceress, Bolt Thrower, Spearelves with High Sorceress, Hydra, Chariot and Dark Elves.

The game
Despite my +1 for completing my deployment first the Dark Elves kicked off the game.

The two Dark Rider units pushed forward on either flank, the nearest to my Knights dangerously so, I thought. The Executioners followed up behind. In the middle of the battlefield the Hydra and Spearelves moved up. The Chariot went stupid and stumbled forward. His magic took out four or so Warriors from the Lord's unit.

My Knights charged the Dark Riders near the rocky column. Gary was convinced they were out of range so held but the Knights were a good inch close enough. The light cavalry were slaughtered in short order so the Knights overran into the Executioners.

I marched the Warhound units into the centre of the board trying to tempt a charge from the Chariot and Hydra. The Marauder Horse angled off against the chariot under the hill. My Marauders on foot faced off against the Dark Riders to their right. Thaer, my Exalted, used his steed of shadows spell to land behind the chariot under the hill, threatening the Bolt Thrower.


The Assassin revealed himself in the Executioner unit but all his attacks only killed my champion. In return the rest of the Dark Elf front rank died. The Elves held on with a five on their break test.

The chariot on my left charged my Marauder Horse who fled right through my Lord's unit and out the other side. The nearest Bolt Thrower on the hill turned and skewered my Exalted with a single shot. The Hydra's breath weapon killed three Warhounds from one unit while other shooting killed two from the other unit. Magic whittled down more of the Lord's Warriors but then a Sorceress failed to cast a spell. My Black Tongue turned this into a miscast but the Elves rolled a seven so the best I could do was change it to an eight and end the magic phase.

The chariot on the right moved toward my Marauders on foot and the Dark Riders set up a side charge.

My Marauder Horse rallied and angled themselves in front of the Chariot. The Marauder foot turned to face the Dark Riders. The Sorcerer moved out of the unit and tried to cast Doom and Darkness on the Chariot. I got the spell off but Gary dispelled it.

My Knights butchered more of the Executioners and this time their morale failed and they were run down, Assassin, Sorceress and all. The Knights ended up alongside the hill, flank on to the Bolt Throwers. Gulp!

My Lord charged out of the 12 Warriors at the Chariot along with my 10 Warriors. The Chariot fled behind the Spearelves, leaving the Lord in a vulnerable position.

The Dark Elves won the game in this turn. One Bolt Thrower shot killed three of my Knights with a single shot. The other killed my Lord in a single shot. Spectacular magic and crossbow shooting decimated my Warrior and Warhound units. My Warriors with the Banner of Wrath and containing Sorcerer Boda failed their panic test and ran. Even my Chariot took a flukey wound.

On the right the Chariot charged my Marauder Horse which fled. The Chariot carried on into my Marauders who were also front charged by the Dark Riders. The shattered unit outran their pursuers. Sorcerer Angur was understandably unsettled and panicked toward the table edge.

The game was all but over but I soldiered on until turn six. I lost the last Knight because I forgot to move him (he was in amongst Gary's deadpile - I have forgotten to move so many units and missed so many enemy units that I call this deadpile camouflage). I got a charge off against the Spearelves with my depleted Warrior unit but the craven Dark Elves fled. Unfortunately for me they rallied before they hit the table edge. They eventually ended up fighting the rallied chariot instead. No-one got anywhere near the hill. The repeater crossbows were reduced to just three models but they never failed a panic test in the whole game.


I lost my Chariot to another single Bolt Thrower shot. My Marauders did not rally and ran off the table. The Sorcerer was mashed by the Chariot.

Result: Loss

Learning points

• The Dark Elf army book is stronger while the Warriors of Chaos are weaker. I just never put any pressure on the Elf sorceress who ran amok for the whole game. The Sorceress never came close to failing to cast a spell, never mind miscasting. The DE chariots are better and I missed my Furies.
• We got lots of rules wrong in this game. Gary was holding his units back which I later discovered he can't do but he was also forgetting to re-roll his missed hits. I forgot most of the extras I had added to the list like the Blasted Standard and the Talisman of Protection. Additionally we are both shaky on the basic game rules and we had a stop start game while we scoured the rulebook. Practice makes perfect I guess.
• I now have a week or so to read the book before our next game so my list and tactics should be better. The only thing I can't do is change the models for the time being.

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.