Battle: Provincial Loot!

May a thousand maladies befall the cowardly troops of this weak provincial garrison. At a mere whisper of elves being nearby, they fled with the utmost haste, managing to not only burn their outpost to the ground, but scatter all their provisions across the countryside as well.

Fortunately, some of the craven deserters happened upon a patrol nearby, who arrived just in time to see the elf host take the field. The pointy-eared thieves follow some ancient, archaic natural law of “finders keepers;” the only recourse for the Regnum Aeternum is to reclaim these provisions before the elves dance away with them…

My opponent and I rolled up the Pillage scenario, which was a new one for both of us. Neither of us placed the tokens with any real strategy, and most ended up nearish to the middle (he had unpacked all his models on one end of the table already… so it seemed like a jerk move to toss a bunch in my deployment zone). Just about every objective could be pretty easily reached.

Circled for your convenience. One is hiding behind a tree... my opponent is very cunning. I didn't actually know it was there until I tried to count the objectives halfway through the game.

We ended up needing all 7 of my new objective markers, and the field ended up looking like this. A few hills with tiered height levels; a few forests; a burnt out impassable building, and some fence obstacles that, being stone, survived the fleeing provincial rabble.

After deployment and my opponent's vanguard move. 

His deployment, left to right in the pic: Troop of Stormwind Cavalry, Regiment of Palace Guard, Troop of Palace Guard, Regiment of Archers on the hill, Wizard with Fireball and Bane Chant supporting them behind the hill, a Ballista, a Troop of Stormwind Cavalry, and a Troop of Hunters of the Wild (Vanguard, Pathfinder, not Elite).

My deployment, left to right: Troop of Pole Arms, Regiment of Eccentric Foot Guard with Shields, Regiment of Shield Wall, ASB, Troop of Foot Guard with greatswords, a ballista, a Regiment of Shield Wall, a Troop of Pole Arms, Ballista… and then on the opposite side of the building, a Troop of Bowmen in front of a Troop of Pole Arms in front of a Troop of Mounted Scouts with Carbines.

I had more drops than my opponent, but didn’t really have much to leverage with that advantage, so I just tried to set up favorable numbers on my flanks; most of my regiments on my left to hopefully overwhelm him with numbers, and Troops on my right to hopefully outmaneuver and win that flank. Beaming with (over) confidence, a Troop of Zeno’s Greatsword Foot Guard took center field, and aimed to march up repeatedly, and sock it to those archers…. My general plan was to advance, hopefully use my MSU list to win a few fights (eliminating a few units of his so he could contest fewer objectives), and then retreat in the final turns for the win. I don’t know what my opponent thought going in, but I’m sure it was sneaky and dastardly.

  

I managed to win the roll off for first turn, and took it.

Turn 1: Forward!

On my right, the parade marched up; the Bowmen scored a wound, along with two from the Carbine Scouts. The Regiment of Shield Wall and Troop of Pole Arms shuffled around.. trying to figure out where they would be needed in a few turns. The Ballista on the right fired, and wavered his Ballista; the one on the left couldn’t see much, and declined to fire. The Troop of Greatsword Foot Guard pompously marched up, and on my right, the Pole Arm Troop shuffled in the forest, and the Regiments of Foot Guard and Shield Wall shuffled a bit to threaten the hill.

Turn 2: The Elves retaliate, I mean, take the bait.

On Turn 2 (I still think in terms of top and bottom of a given turn… I need to break myself of that) his forces on the left of the field advanced to take the hill, menacingly. His Archers were boosted by a very successful Bane Chant, and proceeded to pin cushion my Greatsword Foot Guard and waver them. On the right of the field, his cavalry pivoted towards the middle of the field, and his Hunters of the Wild took the bait, eviscerating my Bowmen and easily Routing them.

Turn 3: Some traps are sprung... and more traps are set.

My left flank bravely... shuffled around Turn 3, offering up the Troop of Pole Arms while the Regiments of Foot Guard and Shield Wall remained out of charge range. Both Ballistae, with clear firing lanes to the Stormwind Cavalry on my right fired, and both missed. Boxed in, the Scouts twiddled their thumbs while my Pole Arms hacked away the Hunters of the Wild, and overran 5 inches, to get out of the charge arc of that lucky Stormwind Troop…

End of Turn 4... I find I've actually lost a fair amount of soldiers...

Turn 4 saw his Stormwind Troop and Palace Guard Regiment combo-charge my Pole Arm Troop, and Rout them easily. His Ballista fired at the foolhardy Troop of Footguard and Routed them. Bane Chant failed to land on the Archers, but they still slipped a few wounds onto my Shield Wall Regiment on my left.  His Stormwind Cavalry nearer to the center-right of the field charged (and Routed) my screening Pole Arm Troop, and overran towards the Shield Wall. Unfortunately, this move put them out of range/arc of my Scouts... (I was hoping to flank charge the Stormwind in my turn.. in conjunction with a front-charge from my Shield Wall, I liked my chances…)

My left isn’t doing as well as I hoped, though I don't think I should have been so aggressive. I was really hoping his Cavalry would arrive first, and I could deal with his stuff one-thing-at-a-time… but my opponent was crafty and I think I moved up too much. I weigh my options, and toy with the idea of individually charging his two Troops with my Regiments… but without Crushing Strength, I don’t particularly like my odds. I instead opt to combo charge his Regiment with mine, hoping the weight of my numbers will win the day, and let me try to weather the attacks of his Troops later. I am lucky, and manage to rout his Regiment, and swivel to accept front charges from his Troops.

On my right.. I get greedy, and move stuff up. I think I would have been better served by taking this turn to reposition, and aim to swing back towards the center and deal with the rest of his army?

In the center, my Shield Wall charges the Stormwind Cavalry, and slips a few wounds through, Disordering them and removing Thunderous Charge. Huzzah! My Ballistae both fire; one against his Ballista, and one against the Archers… and both miss. That is… unfortunate. Untouched, his shooting is free to injure those Troops on my right....

End of Turn 5. The ASB charged in too, though I forgot to roll his attack.

...And they do. Turn 6, the Pole Arms are blasted away. His disorder Stormwing Cavalry charge my Shield Wall, and only slip two wounds through. On the left of the field, his Troops Charge my Regiments. I am liking my odds… but the Elves do a fair amount of damage due to some clutch Elite re-rolls. The Shield Wall waver, and as one, the unit takes a collective step back, and looks over their shoulder at the Army Standard Bearer, who nods sternly. The Shield Wall re-evaluate their situation… and promptly flee the field. (The re-roll forced by Very Inspiring was higher! Argh.) (EDIT: It was pointed out that that's not how inspiring works; rerolls only happen for Rout results.)

End of Turn 6.... Shield Wall! Where are you going?? They were half your number!

Turn 7 my Foot Guard throw themselves at the Stormwind Cavalry, and deal a few wounds. The Army Standard Bearer scrambles to get out of the way. The Shield Wall charge the other unit of Stormwind, and rout them. I decide to gingerly move my Scouts over the obstacle, and into range of the elf Ballista.

The Ballista on the left becomes my favorite, hitting the Palace Guard, dealing a fair amount of wounds, and routing them. The Ballista on my right misses its shot on the enemy Ballista, but the Scouts are able to shoot and rout it.

Turn 7: The Revengening!

Turn 8, his Stormwind Cavalry charge my Eccentric Foot Guard, roll and despite another Very Inspired re-roll, rout them. The Archers shoot at my Scouts, and waver them. Ugh.

End of Turn 8: Well... shucks. 

Turn 9… my biggest conundrum T7, oddly enough, was what to do with the ASB. Should I charge the Stormwind? Pray I hit with my attack and then roll well for the Nerve Check? Do I try to roadblock with them him? They’d be tied up for a turn… or do I charge headlong at the Archers, in an effort to Disorder them? I probably should have done the second option, but I went with the third…

My left Ballista takes a shot at the impending doom that is that Stormwind Cavalry Troop… and missed. The one on the right moved towards the nearest objective. (I think I was hoping for a lucky Ballista shot to deal with the Cavalry; I should have pivoted the Ballista on the right more. I could still move up to claim the objective next turn.. but could have also threatened a final shot at the Cavalry. I should not have assumed Lefty was going to get in good shots back-to-back.)

The Shield Wall measure distances, find can’t claim both objectives, and take the one further away.

Go get 'em Mr. Army Standard Bearer. I won't tell you how dumb this idea is.

Turn 10, the Stormwind Cavalry destroy the Ballista, and the Scouts are put out of their weak-kneed misery.

Turn 11, my last Ballista moves in to redirect while my Shield Wall prepare for a final charge. My maniac of an ASB makes it to the Archers, but fails to hit with his one attack. In his defense, he's still lugging around a huge flag and looking cool.

Turn 11... and it's looking like another loss.

In Turn 12, the last Ballista falls. The Cavalry can claim that objective marker, and the Archers smartly move to claim another instead of messing around with my ASB. My only remaining unit claims a marker, lining me up for a 2-1 loss…

…but the game goes on! I like this "potential extra turn" mechanic... though my opponent definitely outplayed these last few turns.

My Shield Wall charge the Stormwind Cavalry and rout them. The ASB charges, swings mightily and actually hurts the Archers with his single attack. (They shrug it off.) On his last turn, my opponent retaliates with his Archers, wavering my ASB.

End of the bonus turn; end of the game. The cavalry on the hill aren't really there.

So... I luck out, and the game ends in a tie, with the Regiment of Archers claiming one objective for the elves, and the Regiment of Shield wall claiming one for the Kingdoms of Men… the only two things on the field that can still claim objectives...