Invasion of the Coasts: Part 4

Promise of magical treasures had made Geothe trudge his army through the dense forest, he had traveled further inland than he was used to but if the rumors were correct it would all be worth it. The Asur he had interrogated confessed about a treasure further into the lands of men, armies of all races would be fighting for the possession of these priceless artifacts. Geothe was rudely brought back to reality with the blare of horns and the wild braying of beasts. "The wild beasts of the forest crave blood do they? Lets give it to them... their own."

2250 game Dark Elves (me) vs my friends Beasts of Chaos list.

Heros:
Goethe (master) w/ halberd, blood armor and seal of ghrond
Sameth U'el (sorcerer) w/ lvl 2, tome of furion and darkstar cloak
Nimue (sorceress) w/ lvl 2 and dispel scroll x2
Jotan Woe Bringer (master)w/lance, heavy armor, sea dragon cloak, shield and dark pegasus

Core:
Corsairs x15 w/ full command
Corsairs x12 w/ musician and champ
Crossbowmen x10 w/ shields
Crossbowmen x10 w/ shields
Spearmen x16 w/ full command
Harpies x5
Harpies x5
Assassin w/ additional hand weapon and cloak of twilight


Special:
Cold One Chariot
Cold One Chariot
Executioners x12 w/ musician and champ
Shades x9

Rare:
Repeater Bolt Thrower
Repeater Bolt Thrower

The Beast List:

Lords/Heros:
Doombull
Wargor of khorne
Wargor of nurgle
Bray shaman, lv 2

Core:
Khorngors x15 standard and musician
Bestigors x15 vitriolic totem (poisoned attacks) and musician
Beastmen x26 standard and musician
Beastmen x26 standard and musician
Warhounds x 7
Warhounds x 7
Warhounds x 7


Special:
Minotaurs x3 champion, mark of nurgle and great weapons
Minotaurs x3 champion, mark of nurgle and great weapons

Rare:
Dragon ogres x3 extra hand weapon

deployment:
his army (from my point of view left to right)
Khorngors screened by hounds, beastherd, minotaurs with lord, beastheard, minotaurs screened by hounds and dragon ogres screened by hounds.

mine:
bolt thrower, crossbows screened by shades, chariot, spearmen with nimue, chariot, corsairs with goethe, bolt thrower, executioners, corsairs with sameth and crossbows. harpies were hiding behind units waiting to bait.

Magic:
Nimue: Doombolt and Bladewing, Sameth: Fireball, Conflagration and Burning Head. Bray Shaman: Bears Anger and Call of the Hunt?

Turns 1-2:

The mutated beasts emerged from the forests their eyes wild with battle lust they spied the dark elf army across the field and started to sprint across the open ground. The dark elves readied their crossbows and fired countless bolts on the approaching beastmen, they fell dead only to be trampled by their brethren rushing to get to grips with the enemy.



The first two turns consisted of the beastmen army moving cautiously towards the dark elf line, all the missile weapons I had fired knocking down a few models here and there mostly from the warhounds. All the panic checks were passed magic was largely ineffectual either I failed to cast or failed to cause any significant wounds.

Turns 3-4:


In their frenzy to tear their enemies apart the beastmen army left it's battle line fractured, sensing weakness Goethe called for the charge across the line. The chariots slashed through countless gors leaving spearmen and the corsairs to finish off any survivors. Despite this set back the stronger and more stalwart beastmen held the dark elves from rampaging further into their lines.

Oblivious to the danger they were in the Khorngors continued their march towards the bolt thrower getting peppered by the ruthlessly efficient fire of repeater crossbows. Nimue spied the minotaur lord stomping the ground and roaring a bestial challenge getting ready to charge the spearmen unit she was residing in. With a subtle word of power a tornado of blades spun around the minotaur lord leaving gushing wounds in it's torso much the Nimue's delight.


I used the harpies to draw in a couple of charges on the flanks of the beastmen army, giving them the least amount of movement (denying their extra move due to charges) as well as playing with the khorngors frenzy. The spearmen and chariot took care of a unit of gors/ungors and went slightly behind the beastmen battle line where they were confronted by the minotaur lord. While my corsairs (with Goethe) and the other chariot handled the bestigor unit, the corsairs slamming into a gor/ungor unit and the chariot hitting into the unit of minotaurs (formerly guarding the lord).

The ground shook as the minotaur lord stampeded into the spearmen, raising his weapon into the air he suddenly stopped and looked down at his slit a dagger made in his throat. The assassin smiled as the mighty minotaur lord fell to his knees and slumped to the ground quietly his life blood escaping him. The spearmen continued their bloody advance by charging into the towering minotaurs viciously jabbing them down with their spear points. Unfortunately it was too late for the chariot who was destroyed by the beast's death throes. What was left of the Khorngors managed to finally reach the bolt thrower crew that were more than dismayed to see their comrades in arms leave them to their bloody fate.

In the center of the field Geothe and his personal bodyguard of corsairs were busy hacking through the rough hides of the beastmen but their numbers seemed countless and they continued the fight heedless to their casualties. On the right flank things seemed more desperate for the dark elves as the corsairs quaked in fear of the blood thirsty minotaurs. Despite the best efforts of the crossbowmen they could not seem to stop the dragon ogres who shrugged off the salvo of missile fire.


In the third turn the minotaur lord charged my spearmen block where the sneaky assassin finished off the job that Nimue started using bladewind. They then charged into the minotaurs in the following turn killing one of them but could not save the chariot from being smashed to pieces by the surviving minotaur who subsequently fled from combat and was run down. When all was said and done they were left just behind the unit that my general was fighting.

The two remaining Khorngors reached the bolt thrower and predictably slaughtered the two crewmen running into the forests never to be seen again. Goethe and his corsair unit were holding up pretty good against the beastmen killing 5-6 a turn but their two characters kept cutting into my corsair unit ending it in my favor but only just.

On the right flank the minotaurs and dragon ogres were largely unopposed especially when the corsairs decided to fail a fear check right in front of the minotaurs... The crossbowmen despite countless shots into the dragon ogres could not hurt them for the life of them.

Turn 5-6

Sensing the battle was near it's end Goethe and his unit fought with renewed ferocity and the beasts finally retreated from the onslaught. Unfortunately for the beasts their escape route was blocked by the warriors who had impaled the running beastmen on the tips of their spears. Elsewhere the dragon ogres made a mess of the spearmen easily running down the handful of survivors and escaped the field. The minotaurs also bathed in the blood of the corsairs whose fear got the best of them, they were more akin to picking on terrified peasants rather than these bullheaded creatures.

As Geothe wiped his blade clean when he heard the horns again this time more faintly and what was left of the beast army disappeared into the forests to lick their wound and fight another day.

During the fifth turn Goethe finally broke the beastherd he was fighting which ran into the waiting arms of the spearmen unit directly behind them. The crossbowmen never had a chance only putting three wounds on the dragon ogre unit who predictably crushed them and pursued off the board. The minotaurs did the same to the corsairs who had failed the fear test to charge the turn before. They got what they deserved and minotaurs tore them apart and chased down the survivors.

We called the game on the bottom of the 6th (my turn) I knew I had handily won but it was close at moments. Mainly my opponent rolled really well on his break tests and could of flanked my units in combat easily defeating, but the timing and placement of units made this hard for him.

Overview:

Goethe admired the scene the slaughter of the beastmen army had been complete the few remaining beasts retreated into the forests never to be seen again. Those that had been left behind alive were already being rounded up and bound into cages. They would make Goethe a nice profit selling them as pit beasts to fight in the arenas when he sailed back home.

He knew that they were close to their prize a couple of weeks march at the most, Goethe could feel it in his being. It was as if the artifacts could talk to him, all elves were magical in nature and he could almost hear their sweet promises of power and eternal life... "Yes they shall be mine and I will give them to the Witch King and ascend to power in the courts..." he said to himself but first he had to find Sameth and question the demon sorceror why his magic had failed the harm the beastmen. Had his powers diminished in these lands? Or was he plotting to overthrow Geothe and steal the trinket which bound him to Goethe's service? He would soon find out...

I was sorely disappointed in Sameth U'el this game either he failed to cast or failed to wound all game, we joked that maybe if we played out my magic phase it would be nothing but irresistible force and amazing to wound rolls. My chariots as always lived up to their gruesome reputation doing plenty of damage and one of them even holding up against the minotaurs till help arrived.

My opponent is relatively new to warhammer fantasy usually he plays the game where boltguns and steroid junkies are involved but he is really starting to get a better grip of the game. So I know soon he will start to really master the game and make the results a bit closer.

What I had left was:
Goethe, Nimue, Sameth and the Assassin
Corsairs 7/15
Spearmen 16/16
Chariot
Executioners 12/12
Crossbowmen 10/10
Shades 9/9
Bolt Thrower

He had:
Minotaurs 3/3 one had 2 wounds on it
Dragon Ogres 3/3 one had 3 wounds on it
Khorngors 2/15