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.