ME campaign 2 - Turn 2 - Dark elves vs Daemons

Deployment - Daemons 1994 pts

The Daemon player chooses the All or nothing event as usual, so he'd better win this battle. The Daemons' and Dark elves' empires now borders to each other, and because of that this will be a 2000 pts battle. From left to right:

• 17 Daemonettes. Led by a Herald with Siren song & Torment blade
• 10 Plaguebearers. Led by a Herald BSB on Palenquin with Standard of Chaos glory
• 17 Daemonettes. Led by a Herald with Siren song & Torment blade
• 6 Flamers
• 3 Bloodcrushers. Icon of Endless war
• Army general; Herald of Tzeentch mounted on a Disc. Master of Sorcery (Lore of Beasts), Spell breaker.
• 5 Seekers of Slaanesh

Deployment - Dark elves 1999 pts

The Dark elves focus on shooting this time, and also field a dragon. The Daemon player hates Black guard more than anything, so they wanted to come as well. The deployment is pretty much a refused flank, but the Daemon units on that side turn out to be fast enough to make that rather pointless. From left to right:

• 1 Reaper bolt thrower
• 14 Warriors. Led by a LVL 2 Sorceress (Chill wind & Black horror) with Sacrificial dagger and a Dispel scroll
• 20 Black guard. Banner of Hag Graf. Led by a Master with the Crimsom death
• 10 Repeater crossbowmen
• Army general; Dreadlord on a Black dragon. Lance, 2xHandbow, Armour of Darkness, Potion of Strength
• 1 Reaper bolt thrower
• 10 Repeater crossbowmen
• 1 Reaper bolt thrower
• 1 Reaper bolt thrower
• 1 Cold one chariot

Daemons turn 1

Everything advances, except for teh general on the Disc, who hides behind the woods from as many Bolt throwers as possible. He tries to cast Beast cowers on the Dwagon, but it gets dispelled.

Dark elves turn 1

The Daemon player forgets to use the Siren song on the Dragon, so it is free to burn some Daemonettes. Five die from its bad breath while Chillwind kills one more. Black horror gets dispelled. A Bolt thrower inflicts a wound on a Bloodcrusher. The Chariot shoots at the Seekers, killing one.

Daemons turn 2

The Bloodcrushers use their extra charge range and manage to reach the Dragon. The D2 Daemonettes also charge it. The Dreadlord issues a challenge to avoid most of the attacks. The Bloodcrusher champion accepts and cuts the elf's head off twice. The Dragon eats the champion shrtly thereafter, but is forced to flee. The Crushers catch it and hack it to pieces.

The Seekers charge the Chariot and inflict two wounds on it, but some of them die in return, and the rest go poof. The Flamers kill 7 Crossbowmen, and the survivors panic and flee.

Dark elves turn 2

The Black guard is affected by the Siren song, and have to charge the D1 Daemonette unit. The elves have the mandatory ASF banner, and since their Initiative is better than the Daemonettes they strike first, killing the Herald, the Champion and a couple more. The elf Master takes a wound in return. Only one Daemonette poofs thanks to the BSB nearby.

Black horror is dispelled once again. The Chariot moves up to threaten the Flamers, while the Bloodcrushers are shot to pieces by all the Bolt throwers. The fleeing Xbowmen fail to rally and runs off the table.

Daemons turn 3

The BSB leads his Plaguebearers into the flank of the Black guard. A couple of casualties on both sides, but no one flees (as is to be expected). Instead of shooting it, the Flamers charge the Chariot. They fail to do any damage and suffer a wound themselves.

Dark elves turn 3

The dreaded Black horror finaly goes off and kills six Daemonettes. The Bolt throwers and Crossbows annihilate the remainins of the unit. The Chariot keep munching through the Flamers.

The Nurgle BSB dies and the Daemonettes seem to have serious trouble wounding the Black guard. The Master goes down at least.

Daemons turn 4

The Black guard continue to do well, and this time all of the Daemonettes and most of the Plaguebearers disappear into the Warp (or wherever they came from. Seattle, maybe). One more Flamer takes a wound from the vicious Chariot. The Flamers have this far failed to hurt the darn thing at all. The Tzeentch general hasn't done much either.

Dark elves turn 4

The Sorceress miscasts while trying to throw a Chill wind on the daemon General. She takes a S10 hit, but no wound is lost. One flamer is killed. A Beast cowers would have been good on that Chariot...

Daemons turn 5

The Chariot finally goes down! But the two remaining Plaguebearers poof. Not much else going on. The Herald of Tzeentch gets dispelled over and over again.

Dark elves turn 5

The Flamers' celebration is cut short by a massive volley of bolts, and they all die.

So... yet another massacre win for the Dark elves. When the Dragon died, things looked pretty good for the Daemons. But the Black guard won the day again, and seem as invincible as ever. And remember, kids, never charge anything with Flamers when you can shoot it!

Dark elves: 2214 Victory points

Daemons: 951 Victory points

ME campaign - Turn 2 - Vampires vs Dwarfs

Deployment - Dwarfs 1735 pts

The stunties got the "Entrenched lines" Event for this campaign turn, which has absolutely no effect against the undead since they don't border to each other. The dwarfs managed to kick some serious orc butt the previous campaign turn, and thus get an extra 100 points for having the largest empire. In addition, they spend some gold to bring even more stuff to the table. Lots of shooting to soften up the undead before they arrive. From left to right:

• Bolt thrower. Engineer, rune of +1S and flaming
• 10 Quarellers hiding in a shrubbery
• 1 Gyrocopter
• 19 Iron breakers. Runic banner of Courage and Determination. Led by the Battle standard bearer with a 5+ ward save
• 10 Thunderers
• 19 Hammerers. Runic banner of Courage. Led by the general (immune to Killing blow), and a Runesmith with Rune of Stealing Power dice
• 10 Quarellers
• 1 Bolt thrower

Deployment - Vampire counts 1738 pts

The Vampires got the Allied reinforcements event and bring four daemonic Flamers of Tzeentch to the table. The undead army is focussing on speed to get into combat as quickly as possible, to avoid getting shot up for too long. From left to right:

• 6 Blood knights, led by a mounted Vampire.
• 7 Dire wolves
• 4 Flamers of Tzeentch
• 10 Skeleton warriors. Led by the army general
• 10 Skeleton warriors
• 7 Black knights. Led by a mounted Vampire
• 7 Dire wolves

Dwarfs turn 1

The Gyrocopter takes cover behind the hill and prepare to mess up the Vampires' plans. Bolt thrower 1 sends a flaming bolt straight into the flank of the Black knights on the other side of the table. A whooping five of them die. The other Bolt thrower fails to do the same to the Blood knights due to the distance.

Vampires turn 1

Everything moves forward. One Black knight is raised while the Dire wolves move up to screen them a bit. The flamers fail to do any damage to the Gyrocopter. The Blood knights are march blocked and don't get very far.

Dwarfs turn 2

The Gyrocopter and the Quarellers manage to kill all wolves in the DW1 unit, while six wolves on the other flank fall to crossbow fire. The mighty Bolt thrower BT1 hits the Black knights in the flank again, killing the rest of them. One Blood knight gets another bolt up his ass and dies.

Vampires turn 2

The lone remaining Dire wolf charges the Bolt thrower on the dwarven right flank, but gets shot in the face by the Engineer. The Blood knights charge the Gyrocopter, who flees. The Dire wolves on the right flank charge the other bolt thrower, chasing them off the table. The Vampire that led the Black knights move up and summon 6 Zombies behind the Quarellers. The Flamers don't seem to kill anything this turn either.

Dwarfs turn 3

The Gyrocopter fails to rally and takes off towards the nearest table edge. Two Blood knights fall to focussed shooting. The Hammerers turn to be able to support the Iron breakers should the Blood knights get the charge off.

Vampires turn 3

The Zombies charge the Quarellers, who decide to flee from the smelly bastards. The lone Vampire charge the rear of the Hammerers and kills two of them, but crumbles a little to the dwarfs' static CR. Two Iron breakers fall when the Flamers let rip. The Blood knights move up to charge the dwarven lines the next turn. One Blood knight gets raised by the Invocation of Nehek.

Dwarfs turn 4

The Gyrocopter and Quarellers rally. The other Quarellers in the bushes save the day by killing four(!!!) Blood knights, while the BT1 Bolt thrower finishes the character leading them. The suicide Vampire that charged the Hammerers crumbles to dust. Five Skeletons die and one Flamer die from shooting of different kinds. The Iron breakers feel confident they'll beat the 10 Skeletons now that the Blood knights have disappeared, and march forwards.

Vampires turn 4

The Vampire player forfeits, giving the Dwarfs another Massacre win. In battles of this size, a couple of lucky shots can really seal the deal. Both the Black and Blood knights were shot to bits and the Vampires didn't really have anything else to challenge the dwarven elite blocks.

ME campaign 2 - Turn 2 - Orcs vs Empire

Deployment - Empire 1608 pts

The Empire got the Elite army event, and brings a lot of special choices to this battle. They also emptied the imperial treasury to hopefully get a victory this turn. The empire army, from left to right:

• 7 Inner circle knights, War banner, led by a mounted Warrior priest
• 10 Crossbowmen
• 10 Flagellants
• 2 Great cannon
• 5 Outriders
• 10 Crossbowmen
• 2 units of 10 Greatswords with no command
• 7 Inner circle knights, Steel banner, led by the army general (a priest with Doomfire ring)
• 1 Great cannon

Deployment - Orcs 1500 pts

The local bigboss has gathered a lot of boyz today. He was also smart enough to fight in a location he knows rather well. The Orcs won the Tactics roll and got to "steal" a hill from the Empire player. From left to right:

• OB3: 25 Boyz. Spears, Shieds. Led by A mounted BSB with Banner of Butchery and another Boss with two choppas and Iron gnashas, granting him Killing blow
• 1 Spear chucka and 1 Rokk lobba
• 10 Squig hoppers
• OB1: 26 Boyz. Choppas. Led by the army general; a black orc on a boar
• SB: 25 Savage boyz. Choppas
• T: 4 Trolls
• 1 Spear chucka

Empire turn 1

The plan was to be aggressive and flank the orcs with knights while the Greatswords and Flagellants kept them busy for a turn or two. Facing this wall of choppas, however, made the general re-think the situation. The right flank holds, hoping to soften the orcs up with shooting before engaging. The left flank sticks to the plan and advances. The cannons try to snipe the orcs' war machines in order to keep the knights alive a bit longer. An orc or two die, but the chuckas survive. The Crossbows to the right kill four orcs. Not bad at all considering the range and their target's thick skin.

Orcs turn 1

The OB3 block walks slowly towards the advancing knights. The squig hoppers try to rush into the woods to ambush the outriders taking up position there, but they sadly only skip a few inches forward. Both the general's unit and the savage orcs hurry across the battlefield, while the trolls' attention seems to be elsewhere.

The Chucka on the hill manages to kill two knights, which is enough to make them panic and run off the board. That one certainly made its points back...

Empire turn 2

Things are looking pretty bad as both flanks seem threatened by overwhelming amounts of boyz. The whole army stays put while the shooters let rip. A cannon destroys the rokk lobba on the hill, but the other two miss and/or dud. The outriders and crossbows even the odds a bit by gunning down 12 of the OB1 boyz. The black orc general keeps them from panicking, though. The Doomfire ring is dispelled.

Orcs turn 2

Block OB3 dashes towards the remains of the empire's left flank while the squig hoppers fail to reach the outriders once again. The Black orc general decides that the smelly Savage boys are a better company than the thinned down OB1 unit, and joins them instead. OB1 moves up to threaten the outriders and the Savages do what they do best; close the distance. The trolls are smoking weed and don't want to be disturbed. All shooting fails.

Empire turn 3

The flagellants are just in range and throw themselves at the boyz' spears. They manage to kill five orcs, but after the banner of butchery goes off, only two flagellants remain. One cannon picks off the spear chukka on the hill while the other two fire into the Savage boyz block, killing 5. Meanwhile, the outriders and crossbows decide it's time to wipe OB1 out. Most orcs die and the rest run off.

The two small units of Greatswords step forward to taunt the Savages into charging them. Not the best idea if you want to live forever.

Orcs turn 3

OB3 stomps the remaining flagellants into the ground. The Squig hoppers squabble and yet again fail to reach the Outriders. The Savage boyz charge the Greatswords while the Trolls finally sober up and move to protect the Boyz' flank just in time. Full plate armour turns out to be a good investment, and only five Greatswords die.

Empire turn 4

The orcish Battle standard bearer gets blown off his pig by a cannonball, while another smashes the last Chucka. Three squighoppers fall to Xbow fire.

With the Savage boyz' flank covered by the trolls, the knights' only option is to charge them instead. Two knights die covered with vomit, but the trolls are run down. Meanwhile, all able units charge the Savage boyz to buy the knights some time to turn around.

Orcs turn 4

The OB3 block approaches the shallow parts of the river but are now within grapeshot distance. The Squig hoppers finally get to eat some Outriders (all of them, as a matter of fact). The Savage boyz have still not been able to wipe the Greatswords out, but at least one of the small units flee from the combat.

Empire turn 5

Only one of the cannons have time to fire the grapeshot (the other one misfired last turn). Only three orcs die from the combined shooting on this flank. The crossbowmen in the river kill a couple of Squigs.

The other Greatsword unit breaks and runs off, and the savage orcs pursuit into the last remaining unit (the one that fled last turn, but that managed to rally just in time). Threre are only three-ish men left in the unit, and if they don't hold next turn, the Knights probably won't be able to reach the Savages before the game ends.

Orcs turn 5

The Boyz charge the cannon and the Squigs bounces across the water to reach the Xbows. The Black orc hero and his Savage boyz keep clobbering the Greatswords, but one of them not only survives, but also kills the Savage orc unit champion.

Empire turn 6

Thanks to the lone Rambo holding the whole orc block, the knights can get the charge off and wipe them out. The Squig hoppers run down the crossbows. The cannon to the left have just unjammed, and attempts a grape shot against the last Boyz. Could have been a good idea, but sadly the cannon explodes and kills the crew.

Orcs turn 6

The Squigs bounces out of the way of the knights while the Boyz chase off the last crossbowmen.

So, not very much stuff left on the battlefield. It ends up a (very) minor victory for the Empire. The Empire's shooting was very effective and killed more than it should have. Meanwhile, the orcs didn't suffer much from Animosity. Stupid trolls and, most of all, slow squigs however, might have cost the orcs the game. If the Outriders had been wiped out in turn 2 (or even 1) instead of turn 4, there would have been a lot more Boyz alive.