ME campaign 2 - Turn 3 - Dark elves vs Vampire counts

Note: This is the first campaign game we play under 8th edition rules. It will probably take a while to get rid of the 7th ed mentality, so some stuff we do may be stupid or just plain illegal. But fun, nonetheless...

Deployment - Dark elves 2040 pts

On the far left dark elven flank is a Reaper bolt thrower, and on the other side of the forest we have 5 Cold one knights led by a Master, next is a War hydra, 15 Black guard, a big unit of 30 crossbowmen (led by a master with some kind of magic crossbow), 18 Corsairs with handbows, a level 4 sorceress on a Dark pegasus (she chose the lore of fire) and a unit of Dark riders with crossbows.

Deployment - Vampire counts 2000 pts

From the left, the undead army consists of 18 Grave guard led by a vampire with Master of teh dork arts (she knows all Death lore spells), with a necromancer hiding behind the unit. A Black couch is next, then we have a huge block of 45 zombies, 30 skeletons led by the general; a Vampire lord with Crown of command and some other stuff. Another big block of grave guard stands yet further away, and there is also a Varguhulgff hiding behind the temple to the right.

Vampires turn 1

The Varghulfgdrt skips ahead and hides behind a low wall, while the rest of the army just marches forward.

We weren't really fond of the Purple sun of Xereus spell back in 4th edition, but it sure is nifty against Hydras. The template goes right through it and now threatens the Dark elves from behind. Many Grave guard are killed by the magic backlash, however.

Dark elves turn 1

The knights barely move at all, waiting for the undead to come closer before charging in. The black guard are not all too keen on getting stuck fighting zombies all day long, and wheel up to meet the skeletons (who get almost obliterated by a hail of about 75 crossbow bolts, by the way). The Corsairs sneak into the woods, which turns out to be just a normal wood). The Varghulfrd gets blown to pieces by a fireball.

Vampires turn 2

A bit gunshy after the massive elven shooting phase, the undead slow down a bit, which probably is a mistake. The zombies adapt Horde formation, hoping they might deal better with the Black guard. Some grave guard are raised, but not much else magic gets through. The little nasty statue by the tower suddenly starts shooting laserbeams at the zombies, while the woods they just entered turn out to be filled with evil, carnivorous squirrels. Quite a few of the rotten bastards die.

Dark elves turn 2

All the shooting is now directed at the Grave guard on the vampires' left flank. Only one rank is left standing. The Cold ones fail their Stupidity test and take a few steps forward. Not much else going on, I believe. The Black guard just hang around waiting for the zombies to come out of the woods.

Vampires turn 3

Thanks to the Cold ones' stupidity, both the Black cough and the Grave guard manage to charge them. Meanwhile, the zombies charge the Black guard (which is never a good idea, but as we all know, zombies prefer eating brains rather than using them). The grave guard on the left flank get raised up to decent numbers again, and charge the Corsairs in the forest. The Vampire general is left alone in the open. His unit probably was shot down last turn, or they possibly tried to charge, but failed and recieved a nasty Stand-and-shoot.

Most cold one knights are killed, and the rest flee. The Black couch can't pursuit because of a building in the way. The zombies cause two wounds on the Black guard, both of which are saved by their puny armour. In return, all but one(!) zombies get thrown into the dark elven wood chipper and turned into confetti. Luckily, that last zombie stops the Black guard from reforming and charging the Grave guard in the next turn.

The rest

No more pictures, it seems... Well, the Corsairs are broken in combat and the remaining Grave guard (up on the left flank) get a charge off on the crossbowmen from an angle where they can't stand and shoot. That doesn't help, though, as they fail to kill anything and instead crumble away. Before this happens, though, the Vampire lord is shot dead. Lore of Shadows is probably a good idea for Vampires and their oh-so-important generals; being able to switch places with other characters would save them from situations like this.

The hero zombie doesn't survive that long, and the Black guard turn their attention to what they do best; killing everything the enemy has left. So... another massacre win for los Elfos negros.