Elf Civil War, KOW

AAR Report Elf Civil War: KoW 10 Jan. 2016

General note:

We were eager to get a game in as the miniatures had been languishing in storage due to having given up on WFB after one too many rule and army book changes. Some figures got put away before they fully painted when we abandoned WFB. Now that we have found a game system to use that is fast and enjoyable no doubt the motivation to finish painting these figures and paint some more figures. The green and red Dark Elf spearmen that I got on email in particular need a repaint to more appropriate Dark Elf colours, although if I ever run a Christmas game....

Forces: 

Each side had 2,700 points and the terms in brackets are either GW WHFB names or explanations. Magic items and spells are not listed but there were some included.

Elves (High Elves and Wood Elves):
1 Archer regiment
1 Palace Guard (Swordmasters) regiment
1 Kindered Glade Stalker (Waywatchers) troop (scouts with bows)
1 Sea Guard regiment (armed with spears and bows)
1 Kindered Tall Spears (ElvenSpears) horde
1 Hunters of the Wild (Dryads) regiment
1 Forest Shambler (3 Ents or small Treemen) regiment
2 Stormwind Cavalry regiments (Dragon Princes, Silver Helms)
1 Chariot Regiment (Tyronic Chariots, some with Lions)
1 Bolt Thrower
1 Mounted Army standard
1 Mage (Elven wizard)
1 Elven King (Hero, Champion, General)
1 Elven Dragon Lord riding a Dragon
1 Tree Herder (Monster – 1 Large Treeman)


Twilight Kin (Dark Elves)
2 Spear (Dark Elf spearmen) hordes
1 Crossbow (Dark Elf repeating crossbows) troop
1 Buccaneer (Corsairs) regiment
2 Reaper Guard (Black Guard, Executioners) regiments
1 Blade Dancers (Witch Elves) regiment
1 Shades (Dark Elf Shadows, Scouts with X-bows) Troop
1 Ba'su'su's Vile Spawn (Harpies) regiment
1 Dark Knights (Cold Ones) regiment
1 Twilight Dragon Breath (Flame thrower cannon represented by the Cauldron of  Blood)
1 Hydra (monster)
1 Dark Lord (Champion)
1 Dark Lord on Battle Dragon (General)
1 High Priestess of the Abyss (Sorceress)
1 Assassin


Here is a view of the set-up and terrain which included hills, roads, a house, and hedges.




Note about the Pictures

Unfortunately due to the corporate greed of Photobucket who did away with free image embedding on third-party websites, holding owners of the photos to ransom to access their own photos the original photos were lost.
  See the full story at:
https://www.csoonline.com/article/3205765/internet/photobucket-replaced-millions-of-images-with-ransom-demand.html
I have restored the photos I took that were saved on my own hard drive but those taken by other players during the game are now lost.  Also the photos may not be in  the correct order as the original photo numbers were lost in the process.

Deployment:

Elves: Four of the units deployed forward as vanguards. This includes the Glade Stalkers deployed in woods on right flank, Hunters of the Wild and Tree herders deployed in the left flank woods and in the centre the Forest Shamblers deployed behind a hedge surrounding a garden. For further details on the units not deployed in the vanguard see the picture.

Kin: Shades deployed in the woods on the left flank (their right). For further details on the units not deployed in the vanguard see the pictures.

Elf Turn 1:

All the Elves advance with the Bowmen and the Mage firing on the Kin War engine causing 6 wounds, routing it but the presence of an inspiring hero results in a re-roll. Thus it holds its position.

The Tree Herder (Tree man) and Hunters of the Wild (Dryads) charge and rout the enemy Shades.

Dark Elf Turn 1:

The Assassin hero and Hydra charge the Hunters and are repulsed but not before inflicting 7 wounds on the Elf Hunters (Dryads).

The deadly Kin Twilight Dragon Breath Flamethrower (negates enemy cover bonus) hits the Elf Scouts, causing 8 wounds and wavers them.

The Kin Archers and the Mage, with his lightning bolt spell, fire on the Elf Archers inflicting 4 wounds on them, but they hold fast.

The Harpies charge the Elf Cavalry with no real effect.

But it is the Kin Dragon Lord and Dark Knights on Cold Ones that do the most damage inflicting 18 wounds on the Elf Chariots causing them to rout.

Elf Turn 2:

The Elf Archers cause 2 wounds to the Kin Dragon Lord, but it is a mere pin prick to him.

The Dragon, guided by its Lord, uses its fiery breath to inflict 3 wounds on the Kin Black guards, who suffer a further 6 hits from the Elf Bolt Thrower causing the Kin troops to waver.

The Elf Silver Breeze Cavalry counter–charge and rout the Harpies. Meanwhile the Elf Dragon Prince Cavalry charges the Kin Spearman horde causing 7 wounds but this is too little to worry them.

Meanwhile the Elf Mage heals 4 wounds off the Scouts.

Kin Turn 2:

The Assassin and Hydra charge the Hunters of the Wild causing a total of 4 wounds and the Elves rout.

Meanwhile the Buccaneers charge the Treeman but inflict a mere 1 wound, and are repulsed.

The Blackguards charge the Elf Sword Masters inflicting 3 wounds but are repulsed.

The Kin Dragon is more successful, charging the Sword Masters in the flank and inflicting 17 wounds causing them to rout.

The Kin Crossbowmen fire and cause 2 wounds on the Elf Archers causing the fainthearted bowmen to rout. (poor die rolling).

The 40 man Kin Spearmen horde attacks the Elf Spear horde inflicting 9 wounds on them, but the Elves hold fast and the Kin are repulsed.

The Kin Mage fires lightning bolts and fire balls at the Elf General cause 5 wounds wavering the Elf Lord.

The second Kin Spear horde and Dark Lord charges the Elf Dragon Prince Cavalry inflicting a total of 13 wounds routing the horsemen.

Meanwhile the Kin Dark Cavalry on Cold Ones charges the Elf Silver Helm Cavalry in the flank and rout them.

Turn 3 Elf:

Things are looking bad for the Elves and the Elf Standard Bearer pulls back from the collapsing right flank.

The Sea Guard shoot at the Hydra but the monster shrugs off the arrows.

The Bolt Thrower is screened and can’t fire so must pivot and can’t provide support at this critical juncture. However the Elf Mage is able to fire a lightning bolt at the Kin Spear horde causing 2 wounds but it holds.

The Treemen charge the Buccaneers, inflicting 6 more wounds but they hold and the Treemen are repulsed.

The Elf Dragon Lord with his mighty mount charge and rout the Kin Black Guard. However this will leave the Dragon Lord dangerously exposed.

The Elf Spear horde charges the Kin Spear horde causing 10 wounds resulting in a rout but the nearby Kin Army standard allows a re-roll and the Kin horde holds.

Turn 3 Kin

The Crossbowmen inflict 1 wound on the Elf mage, and the Flamethrower causes another 4 wounds on him and he routes.

The Kin Mage uses his fireball spell to cause a wound on the Elf General on foot who is now wavered.

The Elf Spear horde now comes in for a crushing attack, with a frontal charge from the Kin Spear horde while the Reaper Guard hits the Elves in the flank inflicting 15 wounds and the Kin Cold Ones cavalry charges the Elves in the other flank causing 24 wounds. Not surprisingly the Elves rout.

The slaughter continues as the Kin Dragon Lord and Witch Elves charge the Elf Dragon Lord in a climactic Dragon battle. The Elves suffer 19 wounds and the Elf Dragon Lord leaves the field ending the battle.

See the proud look on the craven faces of the Dark Kin as the brave Elvish army falls back in shambles.

Analysis:

I was much less happy with this game than the last one.

1. The game was largely decided on who charged first since the defender does not hit back in melee, they can only do so by counter charging in their turn after having absorbed casualties. This puts a real premium on being the first to charge and micro managing your distances. No doubt being the first to charge is an important tactical factor but I feel the rules make it too decisive a factor. I would rather have both sides fight simultaneously in melee as in Black Powder and Hail Caesar (HC). This may result in us creating some house rules for the next game.

2. There is no command and control, so losing your general does not impact a player’s ability to move.

3. Terrain is very simplified and in some cases it plays too minor a roll, almost as a speed bump to hinder charges.  However the game was fast and furious, we got it done in one afternoon with time to spare, much to the chagrin of the Elf general!