Battle for the Brew

Rumor has it a company of dwarves were forced to abandon a batch of a particularly potent brew. Securing (and then consuming) it would definitely boost the morale for the soldiers of the Regnum Aeternum, which has been sagging lately. Unfortunately those haughty elves also heard the rumors, and despite their late departure, their fleet feet have carried them to within striking distance of the kegs at the same time as the soldiers of the Regnum Aeternum. Beer is serious business. Let battle be joined.

My opponent arrived before me and graciously set up a table. On my left, two copses of trees sat in either deployment zone. A small column of ruined stone between them. Near the kegs was a small hill - perhaps the dwarves had planned on returning to the rolling landscape to reclaim their concoction? Lastly, on my right, a patch of terribly rocky ground sat in his zone, and a ruined impassable building sat near mine.

Deployment! But what's this? A vanguard move? Oh no!

My deployment left to right was a Troop of Pole Arms, Regiment of Shield Wall, Troop of Foot Guard with two-handed weapons, a Ballista, a Regiment of Shield Wall, Scouts with Carbines behind them, a Regiment of Pikes, an Army Standard Bearer, another Ballista, two more Troops of Pole-Arms, and a Troop of Bowmen wayyy off to the right.

My plan was to swing around with my left flank; my center (stuff between the Ballistas) would move up, and the remaining Troops of Pole Arms and Bowmen on my right would either delay his "heavy hitters" on my right (heavy cav is heavy cav, and the Hunters of the Wild have a crazy amount of attacks.. not something I wanted my De3+ Regiments facing) by taking the charges and dying, or flanking the baddies if they moved into the middle. I was hoping the ruins would mess up his movement a bit.

His deployment, left to right was Ballista, Troop of heavy cavalry (Stormwind Cavalry?), Troop of Palace Guard, Regiment of Palace Guard, a lurking wizard, a Regiment of Archers, and another Troop of heavy cavalry (I'll just call them both Stormwinds) hiding behind a unit of Hunters of the Wild, which apparently have vanguard. Whoops.

And then my opponent rolled and took the first turn. Fortunately, my Bowmen were a little back, so he was slowed down a little bit, and could just charge them.

Turn 1, in it's entirety. Ignore that tree in front of my left-most Pole Arm Troop; it should be by my Foot Guard Troop but I moved it for ease of moving my army.

The hunters of the wild ran up, joined by the Stormwind Cavalry. The center moved up, the Elvish Archers blocked from taking any potshots by the hill. The Elvish Ballista fired and missed! The other Troop of Stormwind Cavalry swung around the forest and hid behind the ruined stone column, apparently eager to engage my left flank.

First is the worst, second is the best! Woooo!! Get some! End of Turn 2.

Eager for a fight, my solders moved all over the place. On my left, a brave troop of Pole arms moved up to bait a charge, expecting to die. A Regiment of Shield Wall and my Troop of Foot Guard moved to double-team the elves once they broke through.

In the center, the Scouts advanced, supported by the Regiments of infantry behind them. I think they and my Ballistae hit the Palace Guard for a few dings of damage.

My right... I wasn't sure about. The Bowmen were soon to be dead, but there was a Pole Arm Troop ready to avenge them, and a second troop aiming to delay the nearby unit of Stormwind Cavalry if they swung to the center, or possibly charge the archers if they took the hill. I was putting a lot of faith in these 70 point troops...

Turn 3, the baits are taken!

On the left, the elvish cavalry charge in, attempting to crush the Troop of Pole Arms, flub a few attacks, and roll 3 for the Nerve check.. and the Pole Arms hold and are unwavered! The Archers gain Bane-Chant via the elf wizard, and land a few wounds on my right Ballista; and his ballista lands a single wound on my Shield Wall behind the Scouts. On the right, the Hunters of the Wild massacre the Bowmen (as expected), and reform to face the center.

Turn 4, some traps are sprung.. others..... not so much. And a mistake is made. Can you spot it?

First the good stuff! On the left, the Foot Guard wind up in the flank of the Knights. the unit leader was about a model's width out of the knight's forward arc. The knights are battered from the saddles and the unit routed! The victorious, plucky Troops reform to face the enemy Ballista.

Then, the bad. Neither of my Pole Arms Troops can charge on my right flank. The reform of the Hunters of the Wild took them about a half inch further than I could charge, and the second Troop of Stormwind Cavalry, having simply reformed, were never really in danger from my Troop. I decide to march both up at the double. Neither will probably survive, but only a D6 overrun will slow the pointy eared jerks down a little. Delay is the name of the game on my right flank.

In the center, I get greedy. I move up, eager to apply some pressure and box in those Palage Guard, but don't check my angles.

End of Turn 5. It was not a good turn for me. I even busted out the rulebook to make sure my Pikes got Ensnare correctly, which saved them from 5 hits!

Turn 5... everything started to fall apart for me. The Pole Arm Troops nobly fell, delaying the those enemy units slightly. the elf Archers, buffed again by Bane Chant, shot at my Scouts, and on the reroll, they actually ended up being just fine, which was unexpected. Unfortunately, I got my angles wrong, and the Regiment of Palace Guard were able to charge my Pikes, getting coverage of about a model wide, not corner to corner, but "clipping" the unit. Ensnare saved me a ton of wounds, but he rolled a 12, and re-rolled and 11, Routing the Pikes and breaking free by a single integer (they would have only been Wavered with 10, allowing my to flank with the Shield Wall on next turn). Ugh. an error, and it's compounded by very good rolling. This isn't good for me.

Turn 6, otherwise known as Damage Control Mode.

On the left, my troops go after that Ballista. They should take it out without any issue, as it only has one round of shooting to defend itself. My left Ballista reforms, as it can't shoot at anything due to issues with my line of sight. With the center in shambles, I decide not to charge with my Shield Wall, as without Crushing Strength, they are unlikely to do anything. Instead, I put my faith in 5+ shooting attacks (with Piercing). The Scouts nimbly pivot around, and shoot into the Regiment of Palace Guard, joined by the Ballista on my right. No damage is done; every single shot missed.

Middle of Movement, Turn 7

The tides have very much turned, turned, and the Elves start mopping me up Turn 7. I have a lot (400ish points) on my left flank, but with my center having caved... it's all way out of position at this point. The elven wizard swings around the hill and casts Heal on the Palace Guard. The Archers shoot and rout my scouts; my Ballista is overrun; and the ever-speedy Stormwind Cavalry with their addition height, are able to see and charge my Shield Wall in conjunction with the Regiment of Palace Guard. My center is now truly gone at this point.

End of Turn 7

The Pole Arm Troop makes it to his Ballista and Routes it.The Foot Guard pivot and start swinging towards the center of the field. My Ballista takes a shot at the Troop of Hunters of the Wild, and surprisingly hits! They take 3 points of damage, but sadly easily remain steady. Mt last Regiment only has one point of Damage, but I don't like their chances of holding against another Palace Guard/Stormwind combined charge. I figure my best chance of salvaging the situation is to charge the cavalry. It's the best of a bunch of bad options. I end up doing a single point of damage to them.. not really enough to do anything.

End of Turn 8. beginning of turn 9. My opponent is seeing how much he can move into the center. Turns out it's a lot.

As you would expect, Turn 9 does not go well for me. Having failed to break out, which, honestly was a long shot anyways, the Palace Guard and the Stormwind Cavalry jointly charge me anyways, with the Palace Guard in the flank now... so a worse situation than what I was originally trying to avoid. As you would also expect, my Shield Wall crumbles. Both elf units reform to face new targets...

End of Turn 9.

So at the end of Turn 9, I'm in a bad spot..I'm down to just 165 points of units to contest the objective. 

Turn 10

Turn 10, I can't make any charges with either of my Troops, so they shuffle around to face the coming carnage. Heal has brought the Palace Guard down to a single point of damage... so it's not even a really viable target. It's well and over at this point, but I try to play out the game. The Army Standard Bearer scrambles out and away out of charge arcs try and Inspire my remaining troops.

Turn 11. Because every BR needs at least one blurry photo.

Turn 11 ends up as you probably expect. The Stormwind Rout my last Ballista, and the Palace Guard chases off my Troop of Foot Guard. The elf wizard flees to safety behind the Hunters of the Wild, lest my Standard bearer get any funny ideas with his 1 attack (admittedly, he was getting funny ideas).

Turn 12 I charge with the Pole Arm Troop, and do not come close to routing the Palace Guard. I concede. 

Alas, the brews had slipped through the clutches of the Regnum Aeternum, and the expedition to retrieve it was in complete disarray. This would definitely not help morale. Worse than a loss though, was a loss to those arrogant, pointy-eared elves.

Still, this was just a skirmish in the borderlands: fortunately, neither side had committed much to the fight. The elves would take their victory, claim their prize and depart. Meanwhile, the Regnum Aeternum would regroup to fight again another day.