TMAT Archive: Wood Elves

Showing posts with label Wood Elves. Show all posts

Thursday, December 6, 2012

To the Death: Wood Elves vs. Isengard Raiders

Original Air Date: July 1, 2011

So, I'm playing regularly with Glenstorm now and we have yet another fight for you today. This time, Glenstorm is using his Isengard Raiders (Uruks Scouts, Orc Warriors, and Uruk heroes) against my Wood Elves (featured in several past posts, in case you had forgotten).

The Might of Mirkwood: 492 points

Legolas, Prince of Mirkwood - 90 points

Gandalf the Grey - 170 points

8 Wood Elf Warriors with Elven blades and throwing daggers - 80 points

8 Wood Elf Warriors with Wood Elf spears and throwing daggers - 80 points

8 Wood Elf Warriors with Elf bows - 72 points

26 units, 8 bows + Legolas, 2 heroes

Raiders of Isengard: 496 points

Ugluk - 60 points

Vrasku - 60 points

8 Uruk-Hai Scouts with shields - 72 points

8 Uruk-Hai Scouts with Orc bows - 72 points

8 Uruk-Hai Scouts - 64 points

8 Orc Warriors with shields - 48 points

8 Orc Warriors with spears - 48 points

4 Orc Warriors with Orc bows - 24 points

3 Orc Warriors with two-handed weapons - 18 points

1 Orc Warrior with banner - 30 points

50 units, 12 Orc bows + Vrasku, 2 heroes

The scenario we will be playing is a To The Death game on a board that is 48" long by 48" wide. As described in a past To The Death game, we will roll to see where half of our army is placed: on the roll of a 1-3, the selected half of the army is placed within 3" of your selected board edge. On the roll of a 4+, the half of your army is placed within 18" and 24" of your board edge. We rolled to see which board edge was claimed by who and Glenstorm chose the side that had the largest wooded portion (see map later).

Our forces were split as follows:

Elf division 1, "Broken Arrow": Legolas, 6 Wood Elf bowmen, 3 Wood Elf swordsmen, 3 Wood Elf spearmen

Elf division 2, "Furious Light": Gandalf, 2 Wood Elf bowmen, 5 Wood Elf swordsmen, 5 Wood Elf spearmen

Isengard division 1, "Rain of Arrows": Vrasku, 8 Uruk Scout archers, 4 Orc archers, 4 Uruk Scouts with shields, 2 Uruk Scouts with swords only, 3 Orc spearmen, 1 Orc axeman

Isengard division 2, "Brutal Fist": Ugluk, 4 Uruk Scouts with shields, 6 Uruk Scouts, 8 Orc swordsmen, 5 Orc spearmen, 2 Orc axemen, 1 Orc banner-bearer

I rolled to see where "Broken Arrow" is placed: on the roll of a 5, they will be at the front line of the battle. I spread out my archers as close to 18" as I could, with swordsmen and spearmen making a solid line in front of them. In the next picture, you'll see where Legolas and the rest of this detachment were placed...

Legolas remained on the wing with two archers, hoping to distract some of the enemy and break them to pieces.

Glenstorm rolled to see where "Rain of Arrows" would be, and he also rolled a 5. Both archer forces are now at the front of the conflict and are preparing for a bloody volley.

I then rolled for the "Furious Light" formation: I rolled a 2, and subsequently placed my melee-heavy force as close to 3" from my board as I could. Hopefully, they will get into the battle quickly.

Glenstorm then rolled for "Brutal Fist" and rolled a 6...all of the Uruks are breathing down the necks of half my army. This is not looking good at all...though Glenstorm seemed pretty happy about it. After we each roll for priority, I was happy to find that priority was mine, allowing me to get my Elves out of the pinch they were in.

Turn 1: The Narrow Escape (Priority - Elves)

As you can see, the Elves thankfully won priority and began a valiant retreat towards Gandalf and the rest of his gang. Gandalf successfully cast the spell "Cast Blinding Light," which will afford some archery protection for most of the Elves. The Uruk raiders advance further, threatening both the main corps and Legolas' small band at the top of the picture.

Here is Vrasku (represented, as mentioned previously, by an Elrond figure). In the Shoot phase, Three Elven units (an archer, a swordsman, and a spearman) killed 3 Uruks (1 with shield, two with swords) and Legolas killed one Orc swordsman. Vrasku responded by killing 2 Elven archers (paying 1 Might to do so) and 2 Orc archers assited him by killing 2 more Elven archers. Ouch...

Kill count: Elves 4/50, Uruk Raiders 4/26

Turn 2: Turn and Fire! (P - Elves)

After winning priority again, my Elves are able to group together, with Gandalf on one flank, perfectly posed to cast a devastating display of magic. The Uruks contiune to press, however, and remain very close to Legolas' friends.

During the Shoot phase, 2 Elf archers and an Elf spearman killed 2 Uruks with shields and an Orc spearman. The Uruks responded by killing another Elven archer and wounding Legolas (no fate used). Vrasku then cranked up his crossbow and wounded Legolas, who saved the hit with his 1 Fate point. As you can see, Legolas has no friendly support and is greatly outnumbered.

Kill count: Elves 7/50, Uruk Raiders 5/26.

Turn 3: A Flurry of Arms (P - Uruk Raiders)

So here are the lines of battle: Ugluk and Gandalf calls a heroic movements, with Ugluk moving first and Gandalf moving second. Ugluk leads his men into the line of Elves. During the Fight phase, Ugluk and 2 other Uruks killed their swordsmen, making the ranks a bit less even here.

Gandalf responds in kind by knocking people over with "Sorcerous Blast:" with the 2 Will points and free point he spent to cast the spell, he killed the spearman he targeted and one other, but two others remained on the ground (bummer). The Elves responded by killing 2 Uruks and 1 Orc with spear during the Shoot phase and killed 1 Orc.

Gandalf was engaged by the other Uruks (able to move after the heroic movements), was trapped, and lost his fight, but fortunately his 3 Fate points saved him from taking any wounds. Legolas (not visible in any of these pictures) won his fight (spending 2 Might points) and killed an Uruk with sword.

Kill count: Elves 14/50, Uruk Raiders 8/26.

Turn 4: The Battle Ensues (P - Uruk Raiders)


With the armies now firmly engaged, the battle rages. BUT, Gandalf called an unopposed heroic move, cast another Sorcerous Blast (not blocked), allowing him to attack other units and prevent him from being trapped again. Ugluk was also taken out of commission. Two Elves with throwing daggers killed their targets during the Move phase and 2 others killed their targets in the Shoot phase. Vrasku succeeded in picking off an Elf spearman (2 Might points) who was supporting another unit, while an Orc archer sent a painful, barbed arrow into an Elven archer's chest. In te Fight phase, two Elves killed an Uruk with shield and an Orc swordsman, while the Uruks ganged up on an Elf separman and slew him. Legolas killed an Uruk with sword, again evading death and danger.

Kill count: Elves 21/50, Uruk Raiders 11/26. The Uruk Raiders are 4 units away from breaking, while the Elves are 2 units away from breaking.

Turn 5: Mettle is Tested (P - Elves)

The pictures for the next few rounds were sparse, and I completely forgot to take pictures of this round. So...here's what happened. Ugluk calls a heroic movement and leads his men into as many men into the Elves as possible, hoping to break them. The Elves respond by...fighting pretty much, because very few can move.

In the Shoot phase, an Elf spearman killed an Orc spearman, making one fight very unfair. Legolas won his fight but failed to wound anyone and used his last Might point to do it. Two Elves succeeded in killing their Uruk opponents (shield and bow), while the Uruks killed 3 Elves (sword, spear, and bow) and one Orc with two-handed weapon crushed an Elf with spear. Gnadalf used his last Might point to kill an Uruk archer he was fighting.

Kill count: Elves 25/50, Uruk Raiders 15/26. Both armies are broken...what a fight so far.

Turn 6: Hope is Kindled (P - Elves)

So there are very few times when you don't want to get priority in this game. With only 9 Elves and 2 heroes left, this would sort of be one of those times. But, since Glenstorm has Ugluk in the field, I'm glad I got it. Gandalf casts "Immobilize" on Vrasku, in an attempt to keep that nasty crossbow from shooting my men up...the spell was resisted. None of the Elves flee, but believe it or not, Vrasku (along with 3 Orcs) fled the field! Wow...how things change. In the Shoot phase, One Orc swordsman died, as did an Elven archer (I think the one that killed the Orc swordsman).

The Uruk in this picture wounded Legolas, but this wound was saved by his 2nd Fate save (1 more left). At this point, Glenstorm was getting a little unhappy with his inability to wound the famed archer of Mirkwood. In the rest of the Fight phase, 2 Uruks killed 2 Elves, while an Elf killed one Uruk in return.

Kill count: Elves 27/46, Uruk Raiders 18/26.

Turn 7: Blow for Blow...Measure for Measure (P - Elves)

With the Elves trumping priority again, they pull back and engage as few units as possible. Ugluk keeps most of the units in line with his Stand Fast! (he didn't give a 12" radius because he didn't want to lose anyone), but 5 Orcs and 3 Uruks fled the field...bummer. Not much happened this round, but the Elves killed 2 Uruks and Legolas killed 1 Orc, while an Uruk took down yet another Elf.

Very few units remain on both sides, which bodes well for the Elves. There are, at the end of this round, 8 Uruks and 7 Elves. YAYE!

Kill count: Elves 30/38, Uruk Raiders 19/26.

Turn 8: Wrapping Up Details (P - Uruk Raiders)

So this round was interesting: no Uruks fled, but one Elf did (cone of shame for you, pal). Legolas was able to shoot in his first shoot phase in the last 5 turns this round, and scored only one kill (an Orc archer). Grrr...in other news, the only other things that happened this round (besides a lot of people looking really silly) were that an Elven swordsman killed yet another Uruk with a throwing dagger and an Orc swordsman wounded Gandalf. With no fate points left, that's 1 health down, 2 more to go.

Kill count: Elves 32/38, Uruk Raiders 19/25.

Turn 9: The Unhappy End... (P - Elves)

Here you can see the last of the forces. Legolas is shooting away now with impunity, free from those who were pursuing him. Gandalf failed to cast a Sorcerous Blast against Ugluk, but kept the rest of the Elves in line and ready for the fight. 2 of the Elves with swords (not the one facing Ugluk) killed their men.

Gandalf is supported here by an Elf, but they fail to wound their opponent, who jumps back and avoids the glowing sword, Glamdring. For a moment, I thought I was going to get some revenge on the Orc that actually wounded Gandalf...but alas, not today.

Gandalf's failure was joined by Ugluk, who also succeeded in winning his fight, but failed to roll a 3+ on either of his dice (rolled a 1 and 2) to wound his only opponent. Bummer for him...

Kill count: Elves 34/38, Uruk Raiders 19/25.

It was as this point in the game that the Uruks decided they were not going to win this, because not only did Legolas sit far from reach with a (mostly) full quiver ready to strike, but most of the Elves near Gandalf were free of their opponents. The battle was over.

Assessment:

There really is nothing else to say except that this was a close game. I really enjoyed going head-to-head with Glenstorm's Uruk-Hai and Orc army, which was both enjoyable and fun. Ultimately, the Elves carried the day, but had a few things changed, the Uruks definitely could have seized victory. I'm looking forward to playing Glenstorm again...but all in due time.

Stellar unit for Wood Elves: Wood Elf Warrior with Elven blades

I need to credit these guys with most of the victory. They killed (sometimes with the help of supporting spears) 10 guys and with the aid of spears managed to kill 1 other unit. The spears killed 9 on their own (mostly by throwing daggers), but given that one of their number fled the field, I can't in good conscience give them the "stellar unit award." I would like to add as an aside that in the open ground, the throwing daggers of the elves succeeded in killing 8 units in the first 4 rounds and 7 total during the game. The cost of the units the daggers killed was 107 points, which is more than three times the cost of the daggers themselves (32 points).

Stellar unit for Isengard Raiders: Uruk Scouts with Shields

These guys are dependable, powerful troops. Not only do they attack with Strength 4 weapons, but their shields allow them to take a beating from most troops. Today, however, they struck deadly blows against 6 Elves, which nearly pays for the cost of all 8 units fielded (and more than pays for the 6 who killed their foes). It should also be noted that the archers in the army killed 6 Elves (between all 12 archers), half of which were protected by Gandalf's Cast Blinding Light spell. For being Orc bows in the hands of marginally helpful archers, the work of these bowman must be applauded (especially since the "peerless" Elven archers only killed 5 units at a distance - not including Legolas).

Take and Hold: Dwarves vs. Wood Elves

Original Air Date: April 26, 2011

After a sound defeat while using my Elves against my Dwarves last time, Gaius and I are playing another game where I use my Wood Elves and he uses my Dwarves. The units in today's game are as follows:

The Might of Mirkwood: 500 points

Legolas, Prince of Mirkwood - 90 points

Gandalf the Grey - 170 points

8 Wood Elf Warriors with Elven blades - 80 points

8 Wood Elf Warriors with Wood Elf spears - 80 points

8 Wood Elf Warriors with Elf bows and Elven blades - 80 points

26 units, 8 bows + Legolas, 2 heroes

Army of Erebor: 498 points

Dain Ironfoot, King Under the Mountain - 125 points

Balin, son of Fundin with Durin's Axe - 95 points

Gimli, son of Gloin - 90 points

8 Dwarf Warriors with shields - 72 points

6 Dwarf Warriors with Dwarf bows - 54 points

3 Dwarf Warriors with two-handed weapons - 24 points

1 Dwarf Warrior with banner - 38 points

21 units, 6 bows + 2 throwing axes, 3 heroes

The scenario we will be playing is a Take and Hold game on a board that is 24" long by 24" wide. This battle is played until one side is broken and at the end of that turn (and all subsequent turns), we roll a dice: on the roll of a 1-2, the game ends. When the game ends, each model that has its whole base within 3" of the center objective marker (in this case the treasure chest on the rock) scores a point for his army. The player with the most points wins the game.

At the end of each Move phase, each player will roll a dice for the units that have not yet arrived: on a 1-2, the unit doesn't arrive. On a 3-4, the unit arrives on any board edge chosen by the opposing player, while on a 5-6, the unit arrives anywhere on the board edge of the controlling player. We will be playing that units who arrive cannot shoot, cast magic, or charge (naturally) on the first turn in play. Units may also not be placed within 6" of an enemy unit (so no Elves can be placed within 6" of a Dwarf unit). With this in mind, here is the map:

The map is largely open: a few trees litter the side of the board and there is a low hill in the center with a treasure chest on it. This will represent the place the armies are trying to "take and hold." At the start of the game no units are deployed, so we will simply see who chooses their side first and who has priority first.

After rolling a dice, the Elves elect to choose their placement first, while the Dwarves are forced to have priority during the first round. The Elves select the southern board edge, while the Dwarves are left with the northern board edge.

Turn 1: The Forces Arrive (Priority - Dwarves)

The Dwarves roll for their units and end their turn. The Dwarves place Dain, Balin, and 3 Dwarves on their board edge, while 7 Dwarves are placed on the board edge of the Elves' choosing. These 7 Dwarves are placed near a clump of trees. The final 9 don't show up at all (including Gimli).

The Elves roll and 10 of their units (including Gandalf) are placed within 3" of their board edge. 7 are placed by Gaius, leaving 9 Elves to deploy later (including Legolas).

Kill count: Elves 0/21, Dwarves 0/26

Turn 2: Missiles Fly (P - tied, Elves)

The Elves now move their units and run for the defensive walls guarding the target location. Four Elves arrive to help (not Legolas), three of which were placed by me. Gandalf successfully casts "Cast Blinding Light" to protect the Elves within 6" from most enemy archery.

The Dwarves respond in kind, trying to catch my Elves and whittle a few down with archery. Gimli and one Dwarf are placed by me, while 3 Dwarves are placed by Gaius. Four Dwarves failed to show. Nothing interesting happened in the Shoot phase.

Kill count: Elves 0/21, Dwarves 0/26.

Turn 3: More Missiles Fly (P - Elves)

The Elves continue to advance towards the center. Three Elves (including Legolas) are placed by me, while one is placed by Gaius. The final Elf archer has yet to arrive.

The Dwarves get to place three of their four remaining units, leaving one archer to come later in the game (what's up with the archers not coming with everyone else?). All of the Dwarves move their full movement, leaving only Gimli to shoot in the Shoot phase. Nothing happened in that phase.

Kill count: Elves 0/21, Dwarves 0/26.

Turn 4: First Blood! (P - Elves)

So, I'm really happy that priority is siding with me today. Unfortunately, I forgot to take pictures this round...sorry. Gandalf succeeds in casting "Terrifying Aura" and the rest of the Elves continue to advance and congregate around him. The Elves are allowed to place their final unit and they place him near Gimli's location to pepper him with arrows.

The Dwarves are tired of not having priority and continue to steam-roll towards the prize. The Elves, however, are allowed to place the final Dwarf unit and place this archer fittingly behind a rock. Gimli and 2 archers will be able to shoot this round.

During the Shoot phase, all of the Elven arrows only managed to kill one Dwarf with two-handed weapon. Pity that... The Dwarves responded by killing the lone Elf on the hill and killing an Elf archer (Gimli paid a Might point).

Kill count: Elves 1/21, Dwarves 2/26. The Elves need to kill 10 more units, while the Dwarves need to kill 12 more units.

Turn 5: Barrage of Steel (P - Elves)

Gandalf leads the charge, as the Elves prepare to take up defensive positions against the Dwarves. Gandalf successfully casts "Immobilize" on Dain, but Dain resists it with 2 of his 3 Will points. The Dwarves respond by getting as close to the Elves as they can.

During the Shoot phase, the Elves kill three Dwarves with shields (one from the west ridge, one from Gimli's surprise attack, and one in the front-and-center. The Elves also kill the banner-bearer. The Dwarves kill none.

Kill count: Elves 5/21, Dwarves 2/26. The Elves need to kill 6 more Dwarves, while the Dwarves need to kill 11 more Elves.

Turn 6: Tactical Maneuvers (P - Elves again)

The Elves now back away as Gandalf again attempts to "immobilize" Dain. He pays a Might point to cast the spell, but Dain resists it, spending his last Will point. The Dwarves reform to stay out of range of the hail-storm of thrown daggers from the Elves.Unfortunately, they misjudged some of the distances and Dain is in range of 8 throwing daggers!

During the Shoot phase, three Elf archers and Legolas shot at Gimli. Legolas managed to land a wound on Gimli, but he saved it with a Fate point. The three Elf archers in the tree with platforms managed to kill a Dwarf archer who was preparing to return fire. Despite attempts by 8 Elves with throwing daggers, none are able to wound their only available target: Dain. One Elf managed to get a 6 on his first wound dice, but failed to get a 5+ on his second. The Dwarves responded by killing two Elf spearmen.

Kill count: Elves 6/21, Dwarves 4/26. The Elves need to kill 5 more Dwarves (probably a hero), while the Dwarves need to kill 9 more Elves. Remember though that the goal isn't to break the foe necessarily, it is for one force to break and the game to end while your force has more units than the other player.

Turn 7: Into the Frey! (P - DWARVES!)

Finally, the Dwarves have priority again. Though they charged towards the Elves, Gandalf successfully cast "Command" (using his free Will point and one from his store) on Dain. Without any more Will points, the King Under the Mountain was forced to accept the spell.

In the Shoot phase, the Dwarves failed to hit anyone...bummer. Legolas and two Elf archers fired at Gimli and Legolas paid 1 Might point to wound Gimli once, but this was also saved by his last Fate point. An Elf archer on the platform trees killed the Dwarf archer who had shot at him a moment earlier. Two Elves with throwing daggers threw them at Dain and one managed to hit him. Dain then proceeded to fail both of his Fate saves, so he took his first of three wounds. Gaius' response: shrug with a side dish of disbelief.

In the Fight phase, Balin stands alone against 5 oppressors. He manages, however, to score a 6 on one of his dice, so he wins the fight and pays 2 Might points to kill 2 Elves he was fighting. Two Elves with blades kill a Dwarf with shield (after both used their blades as two-handed weapons) and two other Elves with blades nearby do the same against the Dwarf with two-handed axe. It is important to note that neither of these pairs actually needed their two-handed weapons to kill their targets. The final Dwarf with shield was beaten, but managed to not die (barely). In the northern fight, one Dwarf wins by shielding, while the other loses his fight but is not wounded.

Kill count: Elves 9/21, Dwarves 6/26. The Elves need to kill 2 more Dwarves, while the Dwarves need to kill 7 more Elves.

Turn 8: Picking Off The Foes (P - tied, Elves)

Gaius: "Not again...hmmm."

I detect that there is a bit more to that thought right about now...BUT Dain and Gandalf both call heroic combats, in an attempt to avoid unnecessary wizardry. After three rolls to see who goes first, Gandalf wins it. He proceeds to attempt to immobilize Dain again, but must pay his final Might point to do so. During their charges, an Elf spearman succeeded in killing a Dwarf with shield, bringing the Elves one unit away from the game-winning blow. The Dwarves respond with moving their archers towards the enemy and spying out Legolas and his raiding archer band.

In the Shoot phase, Legolas pays his final 2 Might points to cut down Gimli, the great warrior of the Dwarves. The Dwarf archers are angered at the death of their lord and manage to land a wound on Legolas, but this is saved by one of Legolas' 3 Fate points.

In the Fight phase, Balin manages to win his fight, but fails to wound Gandalf. Dain loses his fight to win his fight, but his assailants fail to wound him. Two Elves near the bottom left kill their foe, while two Elves near the top kill a Dwarf with two-handed axe.

It was only after everything was done for this phase that we remembered that we had forgotten to test for the courage of the army at the beginning of the round. We will not forget this in the next few turns, though.

Kill Count: Elves 13/21, Dwarves 6/26. The Dwarf force is now broken, we will roll a dice to see if the game ends. The dice reads "5," so the game continues...

Turn 9: Fall Into Ruin (P - tied, Elves)

Before anyone can move, Balin spends his final Might point calling a heroic move. Without any Might points to counter this move, the Dwarves who are left (read 3) begin to charge their opponents. The Elves respond by trapping most of their foes.

In the Shoot phase, Legolas (behind the wall) managed to kill one Dwarf archer. The Dwarf archers replied by not hitting anything.

In the Fight phase, Dain called a Heroic Combat, trying to kill all 3 of his foes. Though he won the fight, he only managed to kill 2 of his foes (paying his last Might point to do so). Balin lost his fight, but was not wounded (barely). In all of the other fights, the Elves won and killed their opponents, which adds 3 Dwarves to the dead pile.

Kill Count: Elves 17/21, Dwarves 8/26. With Dain's 2 kills, he ended a 2 turn streak of not killing any foes. At the end of the turn, a "1" was rolled, so the game ends.

The final point score is Elves 3, Dwarves 1 (3 Elven units including Gandalf had their bases completely within 3" of the treasure chest, while only Dain was within 3"), giving the victory to the Wood Elves.

Conclusion:

Assessment by Gaius:

Ok, from the get-go, the Elves did well in their rolls. I was banking on having a few more Dwarves around when we finally charged, but not only did we not get priority more than twice in nine rounds, but Dain was crippled before he even fought. At the end of the day, I'm disappointed in how the heroes worked, but that's the nature of a game where you're not sure when or where your units will begin. Very fun though...at times.

Assessment by Tiberius:

The Wood Elves did well: their throwing weapons killed a few Dwarves, they consistently won their fights, and when they lost, they eluded the slaying axes of the Dwarves. I'm rather pleased with how they managed here, only suffering 8 wounds against an army that consistently beats them when crossing open ground. I'm happy that Gandalf did more this game and I feel like I gave Gaius a taste of what the last game was like. All in all, I'm pleased.

Stellar unit for Wood Elves: Wood Elf Warrior with Elven Blade and Throwing Daggers

These guys cut through Dwarf after Dwarf with effortless ease, especially when facing of against two-handed weapon Dwarves. Usually, these Elves die quickly, but today they killed 9 of the enemy Dwarves (which is about half of them). This pays for their costs (thank you banner-bearer) and only one unit (also the banner-bearer) was killed at a distance.

Stellar unit for Dwarves: Dwarf Warrior with Dwarf Bow

It always surprises me when the archers are the most effective units against my Elves. Though archers shouldn't have too difficult a time against a low defense civilization like the Wood Elves, Gandalf is supposed to stop the archery of the enemy from having much effect. In this game, though, the Dwarf archers succeeded in killing a handful of Elves and wounded Legolas. All told, that's not bad, considering how few Elves were killed by the Dwarves.