Fantastic Battles Dwarfs versus High Elves August 1, 2022

 After many delays due to scheduling conflicts and weather we finally got another 28mm game of Fantastic Battle, this time with my newly based Dwarf Army fighting the High Elves.   While some of the Dwarfs need further painting I think they are battlefield ready.  This was my 8th game of Fantastic Battles that we played over two days, August 1st and 12th.  I still need to do AARs of some of the earlier games,  although they are outlined briefly in an earlier blog.

 

Turn 4 action

 The High Elves were a confident force having defeated the Undead in their last battle, but they were now facing an entirely different enemy, not the slow Undead with primitive weapons, but the Dwarfs and their technology.

The Forces and Terrain:

 

Each side had 1085 points (17 companies) and the game was played on  a 4' x 6' mat.  The terrain was a bit unusual as it was set up by a neutral party (non-wargamer) and featured a hill range running across the board diagonally.

As I mentioned in an earlier post I will eventually flock the movement trays but they are sufficient for now to get games played.. The figures are attached by magnets to the movement trays to allow me to use them for games requiring individually based figures like SAGA Age of Magic and Warhammer Fantasy 6th Ed.

The Dwarf Army:

 

The Dwarf Army had a Warlord, Magic User, Rogue and 4captains and the following units (17 companies):

Dwarf Spear armed warriors lead by a Rogue

Dwarf Catapults

Dwarf Thunderers armed with muskets

Dwarf Wizard

Dwarf King / Warlord

Elite Dwarf Hammerers

Dwarf Gyro-Copters

 

 

Dwarf Miners with the Emerge trait.

Bugman's Rangers & Captain Joseph Bugman

 

The Dwarf figures used in this game are a mix of mainly Citadel / Games Workshop Warhammer figures, Grenadier figures, with an occasional Hero Clix figure (Rogue). I also have some Black Tree / Harlequin Dwarf miners but they were not used this game

Here is a picture of the Dwarf cards I created and used:

Yellow sticky note for stimulants roll

 Crossbow warriors not in this game

Character cards

Relic & Strategy cards for both sides

 

 High Elves

 The High Elves had a Warlord, Magic User, Rogue and 4 Captains with the following units (17 companies).

High Elf Spearmen

High Elf Maiden Guard

High Elf Sea Gard

High Elf Dragon Prince Cavalry

High Elf Bolt Throwers

High Elf Archers

High Elf Shadow Warrior Scouts

Characters: Warlord, Ever Princess (sorceress) & Lord

 

The High Elf figures are all Citadel, Games Workshop Warhammer Fantasy Battle figure from various editions.

The High Elf player did not want to use cards so I did not print them, but they will be printed in the future.  Here is an example page (note not all the company types shown on this page were used in the game).

High Elf Sample cards

 

Pregame: 

Both sides had one Magic User each with a Mystical Tome of Revelation giving them 4 spells, and both opted for all prophecy spells so both the Elves and Dwarfs had 4 prophecy dice in play. The pregame mishaps resulted in a few units being pushed back on both sides (including Bugman's Rangers who stopped at the pub) and minor casualties. The fact that the Dwarfs had the Reliable trait helped them avoid any serous mishaps.

Turn 1

 

The two sides advance with the Elves sending their cavalry forward on the left flank and the Dwarfs advancing their Gyro-copters on the opposite flank. 

Overview

The High Elf Shadow Warrior Scouts took up position in the forest on their left flank to anchor it. Bugman's Rangers attempt to occupy the forest in the centre but their tardiness due to the late mishap prevents this on turn 1.

Overview

Turn 2

The two forces now come into contact, Bugman's Rangers occupy the central woods.

Overview turn 2

The Dwarf spearmen are charged by the High Elf Dragon Prince Cavalry but the Dwarf Rogue attached to the spearmen  springs a trap  and successfully orders a unit of 2 minors to emerge directly behind the enemy cavalry and attack them.  The Rogue rolled a 6to do this, the Elf mage used a prophecy dice to make this a 1 and put them off course, but the Dwarf wizard countered with a prophecy dice of 5 to keep them on course. The Elf cavalry is attacked from the front and rear taking  heavy casualties in this ambush.

Surprise! Dwarf Miners Emerge behind Elf cavalry

Turn 3

The Dwarf Gyro-copter advance towards the High Elf Shadow warriors in the woods but quickly realize this is a mistake when they can't move far enough to get into range and discover  they are out-ranged by the Elves and take hits. The Gyro-Copters  don't want to fight in the woods.

Gyro-copters advance

After suffering some bow fire from the High Elf Archers the Dwarf Hammerers charge them

Hammerers vs Elf Archers

Meanwhile the Dwarf Spearmen and Miners finish off the surrounded High Elf Dragon Prince Cavalry.

Surrounded Dragon Prince Cavalry

Dwarf Spears & Miners scatter Elf Cavalry

 

Meanwhile a Dwarf Captain with the Thunderers targets an enemy hero in an Elf unit using Phoenix bow and misses rolling a 4, but the Dwarf players uses prophecy dice to change it to a 6 (a hit) then Elf player uses a prophecy dice to change it to a 2 (a miss).

 

Turn 4

 

The Dwarf Thunders with their powerful missile weapons (muskets) dish out devastating fire into the High Elves as they crest the hills. In turn the Thunders suffer casualties from High Elf bow fire.

Dwarf Thunderers

The High Elf Archers in a bloody fight with the Hamerers

Meanwhile the victorious Dwarf Miners fresh off scattering the High Elf Cavalry find themselves with their backs to two companies of High Elf Sea Guard who send a hail of arrows into the Miners who take enough casualties to become impetuous.

Miners suffer bow hits.

 

After some initial hesitation the High Elf Maiden Guard and Spearmen crest the hill to engage the Dwarf Rangers and Thunderers.

High Elf Maiden Guard & Spearmen advance

 

The High Elf Maiden Guard, and Spearmen advance in ling hopping to give mutual support plus the Spearmen wish to support the Elf Archers.

Overview turn 4

High Elf Maiden Guard & Spearmen advance

Overview turn 4

Meanwhile the Dwarf Catapults start pounding the High Elves and the Gyro-copters attempt to move out of range of the High Elf Shadow Warrior Scouts.

Overview turn 4

Turn 5

During the shooting phase there is a dual between the Captain with the Dwarf Thunderers and the High Elf Sea Guard both firing Phoenix bows at each other resulting in the death of the High Elf Captain. The Gyro-copters take more hits from the High Elf shadow warriors bow fire.

During the action phase the Gyro-copters succeed in escaping out of range of the Elf Shadow warriors and advance deep into the enemy rear, hoping to scatter the High Elf bolt throwers. The Elf Shadow warriors elect to stay in the woods and not purse the Gyro-copters.

Gyro-copters recoil from Elf bow fire

The High Elf Maiden Guard  take heavy fire from the Thunderers and are scattered. The High Elf Spearmen seeing this and also take heavy bow fire from Bugman's Rangers and Dwarf Catapults decide to withdraw to cover behind the hill. 

 

Bugman's Rangers hold the woods

High Elf Spearmen pull back

Overview turn 5

Meanwhile the impetuous Dwarf Miners, one hit away from scatting, advance into the Dwarf right flank but nobody wants to engage them, the nearby High Elf Sea Guard take cover behind the hill.

 

 Turn 6

The bloody battle between the Hammers and High Elf Archers continues, with the final result that both sides ended up scattering,

Dwarf Hammers vs High Elf Archers

High Elf Archers & Hammerers  scattered

There was more action this turn, including the advance of the Gyro-Copters and the Dwarf Spearmen,  but unfortunately I was too preoccupied with the game to take more pictures.

Turn 7

 

The High Elf Army is near the breaking point, if they lose one more unit they break.

Overview turn 7

The Dwarf's take a gamble and send Bugman's rangers out of their comfortable defensive position behind the hill in the woods to attack the High Elf Spearmen who have suffered a lot of causalities. However as an irregular company Bugman's rangers are better at shooting than in close combat especially against elite Dwarf Spearmen, but they should be able to scatter the Elves and survive.

High Elf Spearmen versus Bugman's Rangers

 

It was a desperate battle with heavy casualties on both sides and the Elves had the better die rolls. In the end both forces were scattered.  However this was enough to push the Elf Army to the breaking point, ending the game in a Dwarf victory.

High Elf Spearmen scattered

The Final Casualties

The first army to lose 9 or more companies bases would break. The final casualties were:

High Elf loses: 3 companies of Dragon Prince Cavalry, 2 companies of Maiden Guard, 3 companies of Archers, and 3 companies of Spearmen.

Dwarf losses: 3 companies of Hammerers, 3 companies of Bugman's Rangers.

However the Dwarf Gyro-Copters (2 companies) and Miners (2 companies) were fragile  having very few resolve hits left.

There was a post battle Dwarf celebration.

 Bugman's Rangers & Joseph Bugman celebrating

Conclusions:

It was a close battle at times but the Elves never seemed to recover from the loss of their cavalry, and were very cautious from then on, failing to make use of their superior speed which made them better targets for Dwarf missile fire. The effect of the Dwarf Thunderers musket Fire and bow fire of Bugman's rangers caused the Elves to halt their attack in the centre, preventing them from engaging in melee where they would have had an advantage. Meanwhile the High Elf Archers, one of their best missile units, were tied up in melee combat with the Dwarf Hammerers, a battle in which they were at a disadvantage. The Elves came close to scatting the Dwarf Miners and Gyro-copters but failed to follow up on their opportunity to do this preferring the safety of staying in cover.

Both sides kept their artillery at the back edge of their respective sides which limited their effectiveness, more so for the Elves as their bolt throwers could not fire indirectly unlike the Dwarf catapults.

Based on discussions on the Fantastic Battles Facebook page I realized we had been playing the support rule wrong in the last few games, in that neighbouring units can not support each other, but we felt they should be able to this.  Therefore we created a house rule: neighbouring units can provide support, but it is treated like an action so no other action including moving can be performed during the same action phase as the unit provides support.  There was also some heated debate if rallying a unit should be treated as an action (so no other action can be performed that turn by a unit) or if it should be considered something outside the action phase (morale phase?) similar to the way shooting is treated. Changing rallying would have to be another house rule as the rules clearly  state rallying is an action and that is how it will remain for the present.

It was an enjoyable game and I look forward to the next one, not sure if I will use the Dwarf army again or the Tomb Kings I am nearing finish, always like the shiny new toy!