The armies looked at each other across the field. Various hills obstructed the view, and each general sought to use the terrain to his advantage. The scouts reported back:
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The armies looked at each other across the field. Various hills obstructed the view, and each general sought to use the terrain to his advantage. The scouts reported back:
Spells were rolled for: Gorrom Deshek had prepared Invocation of Nehek and Curse of Years, Falon die Schwarz had prepared Invocation of Nehek and Gaze of Nagash. The Skink Priest had been granted Second Sign of Amul and the Storm of Cronos by the Old Ones.
Gorrom Deshek looked across the field. He had known of the landing of the Lizardmen but not of the number of troops. Had he any fear of death, perhaps he would be concerned, but that was not the case of those that follow Riawyr. The Blood Dragon was honourable and cared only for those that he wished to protect. Any who survived in his service soon learned the same.
He turned to one of his ghouls, "You need to inform the Captain of the attack. I know not what they seek on our shores, but the Lizardmen rarely atack without purpose. Should we fail here, he must know to prepare further defenses." Ghouls were able to move freely without his presence, and it was possible that speed would be needed.
The ghoul, though somewhat disappointed, knew better than to argue. His people were new to Riawyr's army and lived only through the Blood Dragon's sufferance. Perhaps, he thought cunningly, there would be another chance. The Border Kingdoms were often at each other's throats so much was left of carnage. He left five fellow ghouls and rushed to report to his captain.
Gorrom looked across the broken ground. The Lizardmen were already deploying. He began to line up his own forces, seeking an advantage.
In the initial stages of the battle the Cold Ones did not adjust well to unfamiliar terrain. The Scar Veteran was frustrated as he attempted to coerce his sluggish mount to move. Two hills were in front of him, one to each side, and his plann called for him controlling the ground between them.
He deployed the priest to the wooded hill on his right, and ordered the Saurus Spear forward through the hills. He judged his greatest threat the Grave Guard and sent the Warriors around the left hill to strike them. If he were lucky, he could perhaps he could flank them.
Gorrom ordered the Dire Wolves to the front, targeting the space between hills. He noted the saurus warriors armed with spears, and counted 15 of them. Spying the priest moving into the lightly forested hill, he ordered the ghouls to pursue. They were likely his best unit for that type of terrain.
The Black Knights under Walachen moved forward to engage the center, though he held them back a bit so they would be able to attack rather than respond to an attack.
He marched his unit forward up a hill so he would be able to see the battlefield more clearly. He realized he had deployed the Grave Guard a bit too far back and moved them forward. Next to him Falon tried to bolster their troops, and succeeded, though poorly, adding only two skeletons to the unit.
The lizardmen cavalry were able to move forward through the gap. The Saurus Spear moved right behind them. The larger unit of Saurus Warriors continued marching around the hill, and sited the Dire Wolves.
The skink priest, realizing the Ghouls were after him, attempted a Storm of Cronos, but it was dispelled by the combined might of the necromancers. He then successfully cast the Second Sign of Amul. The Scar Veteran knew that soon he would engage the enemy with his cavalry.
Gorrom moved his unit forward on the small hill. Noting the configuration of the lizardmen units, he knew the cold ones would soon charge, and only his dire wolves, a light cavalry, stood between him and them. He had to slow the cold ones down so he moved the dire wolves forward to prepare for a charge. The skink was still beyond the range of the ghouls, but they drew nearer in anticipation. The grave guard was still too far back, and moved forward again.
The Black Knights moved forward cautiously. They would not be able to charge, and Walachen did not want them to be vulnerable. He held Gorrom's Invocation of Nehek failed and though Falon's Gaze of Nagash was not dispelled, it failed to penetrate the heavy armour of the saurian cavalry. Gorrom knew that he had to take action. He instructed Falon to use the Book of Arkhan on the dire wolves.
The dire wolves, infused with inhuman speed, charged and were fortunate enough to eliminate three of the cold ones' cavalry, but were completely eliminated in return.
Walachen knew that to move too quickly would leave him and his unit vulnerable, and he was not yet comfortable in doing that. Much of a battle is determined not by individual prowess, but by appropriate usage of the assets one has available. Walachen was practicing that discipline.
Gorrom nodded at the wisdom of Walachen, though he knew Walachen could not see him. He realized that he, personally, had deployed his troops, especially the grave guard, poorly given the terrain.
In the distance, on the hills to the west, Gorrom grimly noted ranks of High Elven archers. He wondered if they were allied with the Lizardmen, or yet another army serving one of the many princelings among the so called lands of the Border Princes. In either case, his concern had to be on the current battle. He turned his attention back to the saurian forces.
The saurus cavalry and the saurus warriors declared a charge on the grave guard, but came up short. The Saurus Spear moved forward almost passing the gap between the hills. The Priest was able to cast Storm of Cronos, but it was dispelled.
The black knights moved directly behind the ghouls, maneuvering for a straight charge The ghouls charged into the lone skink priest, and the skink realizing it was completely outnumbered fled, quaking.
The grave guard maneuvered for an attack against the oncoming saurus cavalry. They had little chance of withstanding the charge and were unable to turn and face the 16 saurus warriors preparing to dive into their flank.
Falon called forth his powers, and hit the saurus cavalry with a Gaze of Nagash but it was dispelled, he then called upon the Book of Arkhan to cast the Vanhel's Danse Macabre, but not only was it dispelled, the magic of the book was exhausted. The grave guard remained in an exceedingly vulnerable position. Gorrom focussed as much energy as he was able and cast a Curse of Ages on the Saurus Spear.
The scar veteran, not wishing to see his spearmen so afflicted, called upon the priest to use a Dispel Scroll, but the priest was running for his life. Two spearmen crumbled before the deadly power of the curse.
The skink priest continued to flee for his life, the saurus cavalry charged the front of the grave guard while the saurus warriors charged the wights' flank.
The lizardmen were not successful in dispelling the Curse of Ages.
The combined might of the two forces decimated the grave guard. The cavalry overran the crumbling wights to clear a path for the saurus warriors to strike at the skeletons. The saurus warriors overran the wights, and climbed up the hill to engage the armoured skeletons protecting the necromancers.
The Saurus Spear moved forward and turned to receive the expected charge of the black knights. Thirteen remained and they felt confident in their ability to meet such a foe.
The ghouls charged the flank of the Saurus Spear while the black knights, led by Walachen, charged its front. Gorrom decided to keep the Curse of Ages in effect and it claimed another four victims.
Falon summoned more skeletons, but apparently this patch of ground was unusually uncharitable as only three appeared, bringing the total force of skeletons to 15 strong. Gorrom did activate his staff, casting a Hellish Vigor on his skeletons, but was displeased when he felt the magic drain out of it.
Walachen attacked with his sword, slaying four Saurus, as he passed through the Saurus Warriors front line, His knights followed suit, slaying all but four warriors, as both they and their nightmares proved deadly.
The ghouls took out another warrior, leaving three to counterattack. The counterattack proved unsuccessful. Facing such odds, even the saurials' cold-blooded natures gave way to fear, and they turned to run. They were quickly caught and cut down by the charging black knights.
The skeletons responded to the flank attack by the charging saurus warriors, but failed to penetrate the tough hides of the lizardmen. The attack by the saurus warriors was successful, destroying four skeltons outright and losing another six to Gorrom's loss of concetration due to combat resolution.
The saurian scar veteran saw a cloud of dust as reinforcements began arriving to bolster the foul undead forces. He was able to see at least 15 black knights, lead by very prominent Blood Dragon, at least one banshee, and a fresh unit of grave guards carrying what could only be a magic standard. He knew that he would not be able to prevail and called back his unit of saurus warriors. Were he human, he would have spit on the ground. Lizardmen were not as populous as they once had been, and he had a responsibility to protect as many of his own soldiers as he could.
The Slann would understand, they had probably forseen this possibility and planned against just such a conclusion.
We had originally planned to play six turns, and had we continued it is quite likely that I would have lost at least one of my characters, as two were in the unit of Skeletons. I believe neither the Black Knights nor the saurus cavalry would be able to turn and join the battle between my unit of skeletons and the saurus warriors. If that had happened I believe my opponent would have easily won, though I honestly do not know.
After five turns, I had a strength of. ironically, 666 out of 997. My opponent had 495 out of 999. I had a 171 point victory by that standard, a minor victory.
Upon finishing the battle report, I went back to recompute the totals, per the rules on page 198 of the Warhammer Fantasy Battle rulebook. I earned 222 points for the destruction of the Saurus Spear, 150 points for the flight of the skink priest, 100 points for the enemy standard of the Saurus Spear, 113 points for reducing the Saurus Cold One Cavalry to less than half strength, and finally 100 points for uncontested control of one quarter of the board. This brings my victory points total to 685.
My opponent earned 60 points for the destruction of the dire wolves, 186 points for the the destruction of the Grave Guard, 100 points for the capture of the grave guard's standard, and I'll give him the destruction of half of the unit of skeltons for 68 points. That brings his total to 414. This also is a minor victory on behalf of the undead, albeit a slightly more convincing minor victory.
I would like to say I enjoyed the game as much as my opponent, but I am still in that phase of learning. There is a lot I don't know and a lot I've yet to learn so at this time, I still feel tense when I'm playing.
I made a number of deployment errors, and as a result I took much longer to get my troops in to combat than I would have liked. I was also suprised in preparation, I did not expect his units to be that much larger than mine, that and the better weapon skill and strength of saurus troops, compared to undead troops, had me feeling somewhat worried.
Magic turned the game for me, although I had really poor Invocation of Nehek results, only adding a total of five skeletons to the unit that was protecting my mages. Fortunately my other magic, and my opponent's lack thereof, worked in my favour. The Curse of Ages proved successful again.
Cavalry ruled, at least this time. The cavalry charges are what did the most damage, first with the dire wolves being sacrificed to take out thee of the saurus cavalry, then with the almost complete destruction of the grave guard by the charge of the remaining saurus cavalry, and finally with the utter destruction of the Saurus Spear by the charge of the black knights. In the latter two cases it should be noted that characters played a major part, each having 4 attacks at a significantly higher strength and weapon skill.
Overall it was a learning experience, and I hope to use it to improve my skill somewhat, as I continue to try and learn the game.