Ponygeddon – High Elves (2200pts) vs Empire (2000pts)

As we grind ever onwards in our WFB campaign, furycat‘s Empire forces continue grinding the life out of my High Elves.  I’m at the point of throwing ridiculous gimmicks while I get war machined to death.

This time, as the title may have given away, the gimmick was Dragon Princes.  Lots of Dragon Princes.

The High Elf forces-
Teclis

15 Archers
+Champion, Standard Bearer

15 Archers
+Champion, Standard Bearer

15 Archers
+Champion, Standard Bearer

30 Dragon Princes of Caledor
+Champion, The Other Trickster’s Shard
+Standard Bearer, Banner of Ellyrion

Repeater Bolt Thrower

Repeater Bolt Thrower

Why yes, that is a single unit of 30 Dragon Princes that takes up half of my army.  The Banner of Ellyrion will avoid Aramoro‘s Bretonnian problem of catastrophic scenic death, Teclis might make up for my retarded gimmick, and the Archers should hopefully stop me losing too quickly if it turns out we’re playing Blood & Glory.  The Bolt Throwers make up my point limit, and might not be trash (they will be).  They should make sure any enemy wizards don’t wander around on their own, anyway- that should make the inevitable miscast more entertaining.

The Empire forces-
General of the Empire
+Pistol, Shield
+Sword of Might, Dawn Armour, Talisman of Preservation, Potion of Foolhardiness
+Griffon

Captain of the Empire
+Battle Standard Bearer
+Armour of Meteoric Iron, Dawnstone

Captain of the Empire
+Lance, Full Plate Armour, Shield
+Dragonhelm, Luckstone, Aldred’s Casket of Sorcery
+Pegasus

Battle Wizard
+Level 2 Upgrade, Lore of Life
+Shield of Thorns, The Dwellers Below
+Channelling Staff

Battle Wizard
+Lore of Shadow
+The Withering
+Dispel Scroll

40 Swordsmen
+Champion, Musician, Standard Bearer

50 Halberdiers
+Champion, Musician, Standard Bearer
+Banner of Eternal Flame

20 Crossbowmen
+Standard Bearer

6 Knights of the Inner Circle
++Champion, Musician, Standard Bearer

5 Pistoliers

5 Pistoliers

furycat has also brought a gimmick list, it seems.  The gimmick is ‘play like the other armies’.  Sadly, I have rejected that notion with my bullshit.  Welp, them’s the breaks.  I was bemused by his look of consternation as he stared at the Dragon Princes, until after the game when he revealed the Banner of Eternal Flame, clutched by possibly the most hated Halberdier in the entire Empire.

Anyway, ridden monsters might give my Bolt Throwers something to shoot, and if I’d brought any infantry they might actually be at full strength when they hit the Empire infantry.  Since I didn’t planning instead to engage in Operation Walk Backwards And Hope The Dragon Princes Do Their Thing, things could get a little weird.

The High Elves have elected to make a Dawn Attack, rushing everyone to the battlefield and preventing any kind of planning from anyone involved in the battle.  Teclis might be great at magic, but he’s a terrible strategist.  At the behest of Aramoro, he plumps for High Magic- it might actually prove useful, too.

Scenery is relatively mundane… for now.  2 Buildings, a Nehekharan Sphynx, a set of Blazing Barricades, and 3 Mysterious Forests.  As long as nobody touches any of it, things will be just peachy.

The Pistoliers both helpfully Vanguard themselves into charge range of the Dragon Princes, and it would be rude to deny that kind of opportunity.  Operation WBAHTDPDTT begins with a charge at the closet unit, who decide to Flee!  Showing impressive speed, they manage to reach other Empire units, prolonging their flight.  The Dragon Princes are a little too eager to perish that specific unit, and fail to redirect their charge.  Such is life.  Teclis and his Archer bodyguard make for the cover of one building, another Archer unit occupying the second.  The third unit advances cautiously, bringing their longbows into range.

Teclis casually throws out Shield of Saphrey, Courage of Aenarion, and Drain Magic, all unstoppably, because that’s how he rolls.

One of the Repeater Bolt Throwers wounds a stray wizard, while between them the Archers manage to pincushion a couple of Crossbowmen and Pistoliers.

In a shocking turn of events, the Empire advance.  Quickly.  They actually want to get into combat.  I am baffled by this turn of events.  The fleeing Pistoliers rally and join the advance, and then the Empire casters pit their magic against Teclis and come off second-best in two six dice castings.  Puny humans, indeed.

The surviving Pistoliers ventilate three Dragon Princes, which is expensive, but there will be horse-powered reckoning.  Oh, yes.

The Dragon Princes pile into the Pistoliers, while Teclis ducks into a building for shelter and the exposed Archers skulk forward to take more pot-shots at the huge Halberdier block.

Teclis has a less impressive Magic phase now that it would actually achieve something useful.  Fury of Khaine does nothing to the Pegasus Captain, but a Curse of Arrow Attraction threatens to cut short his promising military career.

A single Repeater Bolt Thrower shot perishes both flying horsie and rider, and the elf Archers fire hopelessly at the other, distant targets.

Unsurprisingly, the Pistoliers are obliterated by the Dragon Princes, who reform to face the advancing Swordsmen.

The Empire Griffon charges into the unfortunate Repeater Bolt Thrower, while the Swordsmen bodge an attempted charge on the Dragon Princes, stumbling into the mysterious forest of mystery.  Mystery and, as it turns out, ‘shrooms.  The Halberdiers follow them in, hoping that the humans can resist the illicit charms of the Fungus Forest.

Teclis continues to crush the dreams of the human casters, shutting down a feeble attempt at casting The Dwellers Below on (unsurprisingly) the Dragon Princes.  The Crossbowmen and Pistoliers fire at the horse-elf block, killing only one of them.

This may not come as a shock, but the Hippogriff and Empire General kill the two elves crewing the Repeater Bolt Thrower.

The Dragon Princes charge through the Fungus Forest and crash into the Swordsmen, safe from the perils of trees thanks to their magic banner.  The other elves are quite happy where they are, staying put and taking aim with their bows.

Teclis pulls twelve Power Dice out of his ass, ignoring Empire protests about only having six Dispel Dice.  Flames of the Phoenix forces the use of the Empire’s Dispel Scroll to preserve the Halberdiers, but Fury of Khaine can’t be stopped and wipes out the Pistoliers.  The Empire are able to dispel a Shield of Saphrey and Drain Magic, however.

The elf Archers manage to shoot a pathetic four Halberdiers between them- maybe they expected some magical guidance from Teclis, but it turns out he’s a dick to everyone.

The Dragon Princes perish eight Swordsmen with no loss, but can’t quite break the Sword-bus… yet.

The Hippogriff charges at Teclis’ bunker, and the Halberdiers try to charge through the woods.  The Hippogriff makes it, but the Halberdiers stumble to a halt as the elves’ Stand and Shoot reaction pick a few of them off.  The Inner Circle Knights charge into first a Venom Thicket, and then the Dragon Princes.  Well, four of them do, anyway.  The other two have tree-related accidents.

Determined to cast something, the Shadow wizard throws six dice into The Withering.  The result is a good news/bad news/good news sandwich.
Good news- it’s unstoppable!  Eat it, Teclis!
Bad news- it results in a Calamitous Detonation.
Good news- it only kills him.
Win some, lose some.

The Archers prove tougher than expected, as two of them wound the Hippogriff.  Okay, five of them die in the melee, but they did their best to beat up a giant flying half-eagle-horse-thing.
The Dragon Princes only manage to kill five Swordsmen, losing two of their number.  Flanked, they manage to fail their break test by 1.  Oh, dear…  Luckily, they outrun their pursuers.

Thankfully, the Dragon Princes rally and reform, turning back round again.  Phew.  The Archers leave their building to bring more fire to bear on the Empire forces, while the unit by the Fungus forest back off, making space to use their bows.

Teclis blasts the Griffin out from beneath the Empire General with Fury of Khaine, and hits the Halberdiers with the Curse of Arrow Attraction.  Flames of the Phoenix is dispelled by the surviving Empire wizard, and an optimistic Vaul’s Unmaking fails.

The Halberdiers lose ten men thanks to their new found Arrow Attractiveness, but Teclis’ bodyguard can’t make a dent in the dismounted General.

The General charges back into Teclis’ hideout, determined to avenge his flying-monstrosity-pet-thing, while the Inner Circle Knights and Halberdiers try to hit one of the Archer units.  The Halberdiers manage to fail their charge again, their numbers whittled further by a Stand and Shoot reaction.  The Swordsmen advance towards the Dragon Princes again, into the Fungus Forest and it’s delicious psychedelic charms, followed by the surviving wizard.

Having seen how to get spells past Teclis (unstoppably miscast), the wizard throws all of his Power dice into another attempt at The Dwellers Below.  Unfortunately he only succeeds, so Teclis stops him easily.  The Crossbowmen fire optimistically at the Dragon Princes, to no effect, then then it’s time for some fisticuffs.

The Inner Circle Knights manage to kill a couple of Archers, who hold their position, while the Empire General kills two more of Teclis’ bodyguard.  It’s enough to force the pencil-necked geek to have to fight if the building is charged again…

The Dragon Princes charge into the Swordsmen again, hopeful that they’ll break them this time.  Teclis and his Archers jump out of their building, and out of the Empire General’s charge arc, too.

Fury of Khaine strips two wounds off the General, and Vaul’s Unmaking turns the Dawn Armour into just armour.  A Curse of Arrow Attraction should help finish the wounded, de-armoured General, but the Empire dispel the contingency Shield of Saphrey.  Without enough Power dice for anything useful, Teclis throws what’s left into a hopeful Flames of the Phoenix and fails.

Despite Teclis’ magical bullshit, the Archers can’t do anything to the Empire General; still, some of them pick off more of the advancing Halberdiers.

The charging Dragon Princes beat down eleven of the Swordsmen, breaking them and perishing the Empire Battle Standard Bearer.  They hold position as the humans flee, turning to face the Halberdiers’ flank.  The Inner Circle Knights have a better time of it this round, killing five of the elf Archers- who not only hold, but manage to reform.

The Empire try to push their attack before the Dragon Princes can get into the Halberdiers’ flank, but it’s not to be.  The wizard decides to try some of the mushrooms in the Fungus Forest, because Goblins eat them and they totally cast better, right?  The Halberdiers follow his bad example, leaving all of them stumbling Stupidly around in a creepy wood.  Oops.  The General tries to get himself into a position to get to Teclis, while the weakened Swordsmen rally.

The Crossbowmen manage to kill a Dragon Prince between them, while the furious General shoots an Archer with his pistol- the Inner Circle Knights have one of their number killed by an elf Archer as their melee continues, for now…

The Archers charge into the front of the Halberdiers, while the Dragon Princes hit the tripping wizard from the side.  Teclis leads his Archers back into the building, and out of the General’s sight again.

The winds of magic are weak (1+1, +1 from Teclis), and Fury of Khaine proves ineffective against the infuriated General.  The elf shooting is equally useless, but they’re in a good position for fighting…

The Dragon Princes flatten the wizard and overrun, pounding into the flank of the Halberdiers.  The elves kill sixteen of the doped up Halberdiers while only losing six Archers, breaking them.  The Dragon Princes pursue, easily overrunning the infantry.  The other Archers manage to kill another Inner Circle Knight without loss, breaking the survivors.  The Knight’s standard bearer fights to his last breath, buying time for the sole surviving Knight to escape the elves’ pursuit.

The Swordsmen advance again, while the last of the Inner Circle Knights continues to run- into the last mysterious forest, which turns out to be a Wild Wood.  It doesn’t get a chance to try and kill him at the end of his Movement phase, because he kills himself with a dangerous terrain test and gives up his delicious victory points.  For anyone keeping count, terrain killed 3/6, elves killed 2/6, and the standard bearer killed himself.

It’s all over bar the shouting, or maybe the shooting- between them the Crossbowmen and General perish three more Archers, but it’s too little, too late…

So, an Empire game where we move units around.  It’s a fun change, even if it’s not using the really good options in their book.  Kind of unfortunate that furycat‘s no-warmachine list ran into my gimmick elves, though.

The massed Dragon Princes were, predictably, hard to deal with, but their combination of good/bad luck (failing their break test by 1 and fleeing, but escaping pursuit) made things more ridiculous than expected.

Still, that’s a double Teclis-ing for furycat (even if one of them was to try and make a retarded gimmick maybe work).  So no more for him, probably.  Unless he gets gimmicked again.