BR: Beasts vs Wood Elves part 2

Ratspawn spat on the rocks near him. A little spittle running down his chin. Who are these stunt-things that get in my way?

Kill them. Kill them all...

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Turn 1a: The stunted wood elves waddle up but only slowly. Hoping to slow down my line of attackers with spells and arrows.

He casts wood singing. He wants to move the wood to close the gap between the woods on the left and my temple structure. What this would do is force my chariot to run all the way around the woods where I already have an overloaded flank.
He rolls really high, so I roll all my dispel dice to stop it.

He casts it again and gets a miscast. I'm allowed to cast. Since all my spells are out of range except the one movement spell, I go ahead and move the chariot up. He tries to stop it but fails.

In shooting he kills 2 hounds of the 6 in front of Ratspawn. They fail their Ld 9 panic and run through 2 Rat Ogre units including Ratspawns. We make all the rest of our panic tests.
He also kills off 2 of the hounds next to the temple structure, but they pass their panic test.

Here is the setup at the beginning of my turn:


** Click on the image to Enlarge **
In this pic the wardancers look closer to correct. So he probably fixed them after the first pic.
Turn 1b: Lets get it going.
Charge!! A turn 1 charge with the chariot into the scout archers. The pic already shows the charge arrows out. He flees and goes 10" and runs through the dryads. I'm about 2 or so inches short of the dryads.
The spawn lurch forward and the rest of my army moves to keep pace.
The hounds at the table edge do rally.

In magic I cast dark hand at the wardancers on the right. He scrolls it with the Lvl 2. Setrad then casts wolf hunt on the chariot again, hoping for a high roll and plow into the dryads.
I miscast. Lose a level, take a str 8 hit, lose a spell and magic phase ends. He rolls a '1' and fails to wound me. Whew!!

So here is the table at the beginning of turn 2.


Turn 2a: 2 charges. Dryads into the chariot and wardancers with lvl 2 into the spawn.
I considered fleeing with the chariot, but doing impact hits to my own guys was not a pleasant option. Also, while I figured 1 dryad was in range from the previous measurement I wasn't so sure about the rest of the squad.
I hold with both.
The dryads measure, sure enough 1 is in, but that is all. I check for fear and make the test. Chariot is faced off with the congo line of dryads. If my chariot can hold for 1 round I can bring the beastherd into the flank.
He measures for the wardancers and is out of range, so failed charge.

The fleeing scouts rally. everything else dances around a bit. While they may look like dwarfs they flit around like fairies.

In magic he casts tree sing and I dispel it. He then casts it again, I scroll it. He then casts the terror spell on the dryads, so I scroll that as well.

In shooting, he lays into my 3 hounds next to the chariot in combat. 3 wounds later and I'm making panic checks around. Everyone makes it except Setrad and company. And raising their skirts, they flee going through a Rat Ogre unit, who makes their panic.

In hand to hand the dryad gets 2 attacks, 1 hit, 1 wound, I fail my save. Ugghhh.
With my 4 attacks, I get only 1 wound and he fails his ward.
So 1 wound + US to my 1 wound. Then I remember my Temple Structure behind me. +1 to combat res. So its a draw. The chariot holds. If only the herd had not fled.

Here I am at the beginning of the Beasts turn 2:


Turn 2b: Magic flux
The only declared charge is my furies into his scouts. He stands and shoots but fails to wound none. I measure it out and I'm 20 and a half inches out. Ugghhh!! So no combat. there.
I can move the spawn into the dryads, but that lvl 2 wizard is looking tasty. I move the spawn at the wardancers and hit them.
Everything else mvoes up. Setrads herd rallies.

In magic I cast dark hand on the wardancers on the right again and another miscast. This one did a str 4 hit, which again fails to wound and ended the phase.

In combat the dryad again does 1 hit and 1 wound. I again do 2 hits, 1 wound, we both fail to save. Another draw.
The spawn rolls a 5 and I get 6 attacks. 4 on the Lvl 2, 1 on the champ, 1 on a normal guy. The lvl 2 dies as does the normal guy. With his 5 attacks back, needing 3's and 6's. He does 2 wounds. WHAT!! Ugghh, at least getting the lvl 2 was worth it.

Here we are at the beginning of his turn 3.


Turn 3a: More combat and magic craziness.
I had setup a nice trap for his wardancers on the far left, but he wouldn't take the bait and instead went after the chariot. But with the dryad in the front, he could only get 1 wardancer in the front. So he formed another congo line out the back. Oh, if the chariot can hold 1 more round, help is coming.

The rest of his units dance around a bit.
In magic he casts tree sing and I let it go. It moves up about 3". No biggie.
The he casts the terror spell on his dryads. I really didn't want Ratspawn to have to take a fear test to charge them, so I was going to dispel it.

He then promptly rolls a miscast. And then a 12!! So it goes off with IF and the wizard loses the spell. So his only spell left is tree sing. But the dryads now cause Terror.

In shooting, everthing goes at the furies. Pop go the furies and the hounds on that right side turn and run. Everyone else is ok.

In combat the wardancers on the spawn do the last wound with their 13 attacks but are stuck there.
The wardancer on the chariot hits and wounds. I fail my 4+ armor. Then am hit and wounded by the dryad but I make my armor save to stay alive.
But needing 1 wound on the wardancer. Same to hit, easier to wound, worse ward save, I whiff with all 4 attacks.
He wins by 1, and needing insane courge because of the dryads, I break and run but get away.

Now onto the huge next turn.


Turn 3b: Let me introduce you to Ratspawn and company
I charged Ratspawn into the Dryads. I could have done the wardancers. But even if I break them, I hit the eternal guard and am hit in the rear by the dryads. Not a pretty prospect. But I did do a tactical wheel, so I would hit the wardancers on the overrun.
I also see that my chariot has a sliver of daylight between Ratspawn and the hill and can see the dryads as well. So in goes the chariot as well.

My block of 2x2 Rat Ogres charge into the Dryads.
My spawn surges 16" and hits the wardancers on the right.
My chariot rallies, but the hounds run to the edge of the board.
Everything else moves up.

In the magic phase I cast drain life on the wardancer champion, he scrolls it. I cast bears anger on my wargor, but its dispelled.

Combat: I do the spawn first. I kill his champ and his guys do 1 wound back to me.
I then do the unit of 4 Rat Ogres and with 6 attacks I kill off only 2.
He then does 3 wounds. But with US it is a draw. Ugghhh!! Oh, but wait. The Temple structure and +1. So I win by one. But with the general within 12" he only needs a 9 and makes it.

Finally, the big combat. Facing 16 dryads, Ratspawn and company and the chariot plow in and kill off 8. This is after he made about 3-5 ward saves.
But with no attacks back, these terror causers need insane courage and cannot get it. They are quickly cut down and Ratspawn and company hit the wardancers.

Here is a pic at the end of turn 3.


Here you can get a good look at one of my herd stones that Ratspawns body guards carry around with them.

I'm feeling really good at this point in the game, but oh how things can change.

Part 3 coming soon.

Until next time...