Game #2 - vs. Skaven, 2400pts
The Skaven list perhaps wasn't optimised, as my opponent was limited in terms of figures available (as he didn't have access to his full collection).
Grey Seer on Screaming Bell
- Book of Ashur, Skalm
40 Clanrats, Full Command, S&S, Doom-flayer
30 Clanrats, Full Command, S&S, PW Mortar
30 Clanrats, Full Command, S&S, Warpfire Thrower
6 Rat Ogres
6 Rat Ogres
10 PW Globadiers, PW Mortar, Bombadier with Death Globe
Doomwheel
Hell Pit Abomination
I used High magic on my Weaver, to see how it would work. I ended up with Soul Quench, Apotheosis, Hand of Glory and Tempest. My Lv.2 ran the Lore of Shadow, and I got Miasma and The Withering. The Seer ended up with Warp-Lightning, Pestilent Breath, Scorch and Howling Warpgale.
Terrain was pretty busy, with nine pieces rolled before adding my free wood into the mix. The free Venom Thicket is the right-hand wood, which gave me two nice choke-points for the big Skaven units...
Deployment was relatively straightforward. The two EG units deployed opposite the bulk of the Skaven forces, flanked on either side by Treemen. The fast units (Eagles and Wild Riders) deployed on the left flank to make the most of the gap there, although the HPA was worrying. I wasn't sure how the Wild Riders would fare there...
WE Turn 1
I completely forgot about Vanguard, but I don't think I'd have used it anyway. I won the roll-off for first turn and took it. Both Eagles moved up to tempt the Frenzied Rat Ogres. The Eternal Guard edged forwards to take up position in the choke-point, while the Wild Riders moved enough to set up charges through the gap in between the two woods. Both Treeman moved up in support, one in to the central wood and the other between the Venom Thicket and the ruins. The Weaver joined the Treeman in the central wood, aiming for the +1 to cast. Magic was largely uneventful however, due to the fact that the forest I'd moved my Weaver into turned out to be a Blood Forest, and I didn't want it rampaging around the board and messing up my plans! That meant I was limited to attempting to cast The Withering on the Bell unit, which was easily dispelled. Shooting was fairly average, with the right-hand Scouts killing two Packmasters and taking a wound from a Rat Ogre in the right-hand unit, while the left-hand Scouts shot down one of the Globadiers.
Skaven Turn 1
Skaven turn, and we began with both Rat Ogre units failing their Ld tests and were forced to charge the two Eagles. The right-hand ROgres ended up blocking the Bell unit, which was good, but the left-hand Ogres didn't roll high enough to get in the way of the HPA, unfortunately. Worse still, both Eagles ended up right in front of one of the Wild Riders units - poor planning on my part. With the Rat Ogres in the way, the left-hand Clanrats had to take the long route around the left-hand wood. The HPA shambled forward, with the Globadiers taking up position next to it in order to lob nasty globes at the Treeman. The Doomwheel rolled to the side of the hill and zapped three of the Scouts (who passed their Panic check), while the two Mortars attempted to drop things on my elves but scattered harmlessly wide. The Seer attempted to cast every spell he'd got but nothing of consequence worked out.
WE Turn 2
On to Turn 2, and it began with a rather unwanted failed Ld test from the left-hand Wild Riders, who were subsequently forced to charge the HPA. That wasn't what I wanted, and I feared I'd soon have a HPA rambling through my lines and munching down on everything in it's path. The Treeman charged out of the Blood Forest into the Globadiers to avoid having stuff lobbed at him again. The Eternal Guard units moved up to force the issue on the right flank, while the Eagles both rallied and forced the Wild Riders to move around them to the edge of the left-hand wood. The Weaver moved out of the Blood Forest so she could cast spells safely! Magic didn't achieve much, with the very first spell (Hand of Glory on the Treeman, to increase I) IFed and subsequently wounding the both the Singer and Weaver, and losing me the rest of my power dice. Shooting was relatively uneventful as well, although the Scouts in the Venom Thicket managed to score two Poisoned wounds on the Doomwheel (although it didn't go out of control...)
Combat was a lot more impressive, as the Treeman easily cut down the Globadiers and pursued the remnants into the flank of the nearest Clanrat unit. The Wild Riders managed to score three wounds on the HPA, but suffered three in return. The HPA failed it's Stubborn Break test, however, but ran slightly too far for the Wild Riders to catch it.
Skaven Turn 2
The Skaven turn began with both Rat Ogres units making successful charges, one against the EG on the ruins and the other unexpectedly making the long charge needed to charge the intact Wild Rider unit on the edge of the left-hand wood, which turned out to be a Fungus Forest. The Doomwheel attempted to flank the EG as well, but couldn't roll high enough. It nearly worked out well in the end, as the Doomwheel went Out of Control after misfiring with it's lightning attack and ended up charging straight into the Treeman. Unfortunately, the combats didn't go as well as my opponent hoped, as the Rat Ogres against the Wild Riders ended up with the Ogres running and the Wild Riders pursuing into the flank of the nearby Clanrats. The Doomwheel managed to reduce the Treeman to a single wound before being reduced to tinder in return. The other Treeman made a dent in the Clanrats, but they held thanks to Steadfast.
WE Turn 3
Time for more charges! The Wild Riders re-charged the HPA, the unengaged EG flank-charged the remaining Rat Ogres, while the Eagles moved up to generally get in the way again. Magic ended abruptly again - Tempest managed to kill six Clanrats in the Bell unit, before an attempted Withering IFed (on three dice!) and killed my Singer, while the Weaver was saved by her newly acquired protection counter. There was very little to do with shooting, but I did pick off the one PWM I could see with the left-hand Scouts.
Combat was decisive, as the two Eternal Guard thrashed the Rat Ogres and ran them down (I think I've gone a bit wrong here, as the EG units appear to have reformed to face the Bell unit - obviously, they couldn't have done this after pursuing). The big Wild Rider unit easily defeated the Clanrats, who failed their Break test and were run down off table. The other Wild Riders managed another wound on the HPA, but lost two in return. This time the HPA passed it's Break test. The Treeman again clobbered the Clanrats, but they refused to run.
Skaven Turn 3
Lacking the opportunity to charge the EG, the Bell unit crashed into the Eagle (who had to hold, otherwise we'd have lots of dead EG...) The Doom-flayer also declared a charge against my Weaver, who I'd carelessly left exposed. Naturally, she fled out of reach. Magic was uneventful - despite the Seer having an almost unopposed casting phase, none of his spells managed any damage! Combat saw the HPA finally get the better of the Wild Riders, killing off the last two, while the Bell unit easily wiped out the Eagle and reformed to face the Eternal Guard.
WE Turn 4
I think I've got more details confused here - contrary to what the map shows, the EG didn't charge the Bell unit; they reformed to face them. The Treeman and Scouts moved up on the flanks, while the Wild Riders legged it back onto the battlefield. The last Eagle charged the last PWM, forcing it to flee, while the Weaver rallied right in the middle of the Blood Forest. The Scouts managed to make their points back in one fell swoop by taking the last two wounds off the HPA in a single round of shooting. It spawned a single Rat Swarm in response...
Skaven Turn 4
This must have been the turn where the Bell unit charged the bigger EG unit! The Rat Swarm charged into the flank of the Treeman, while the Doom-flayer again forced the Weaver to flee. The Grey Seer finally got his magic working, with Warp-Lightning taking the last wound off the Treeman, and Scorching another three Scouts. The other Treeman finally killed off the Clanrats, but had the Rat Swarm still to tackle. The Bell unit killed some Eternal Guard, and suffered casualties in return. Everything held.
WE Turn 5
The Wild Riders charged into the flank of the Bell unit, the other EG unit charged into the combat as well, and the Eagle charged the PWM which fled out of reach again. The Scouts quickly took it down though. The Treeman easily killed the Rat Swarm, while the Wild Riders put two wounds on the Bell and the Eternal Guard knocked the Clanrats down to just six models.
Skaven Turn 5
Not a lot left to do for the Skaven, except kill as much as possible before dying! Unfortunately for them, the EG managed to wipe out the Clanrats, leaving just the Bell. Bereft of their charging bonuses, the Wild Riders couldn't do much to hurt the Bell though.
WE Turn 6
The Eagle charged into the rear of the Bell, the Treeman moved up in support just for kicks. The Scouts killed the Doom-flayer, but the Bell survived another round of combat.
Skaven Turn 6
Nothing left to happen, except a few spell attempts and another round of combat. The Bell survives again, and the game ends.
Wood Elves 1717VPs vs. Skaven 1062VPs - Solid Victory!
~ ~ ~
So, not the best battle report as it turns out. Funny how my memory can go so fuzzy just two days after the event! I've got a few details mixed up, but the key facts are there I think
I was unsure how the Wild Riders would fare against the HPA, and in the end they didn't survive the encounter. It's reinforced the opinion that they hit hard, but are extremely vulnerable to return attacks. The HPA proved it was too tough, and carried enough punch to take the WR out with relative ease. That said, I was pretty impressed with how easily the other Wild Riders chomped through the lesser units of Clanrats and Rat Ogres. I'll definitely be trying to run two units again.
Eternal Guard are still solid and dependable; even without a BSB, they were never in a situation where they looked like running. Granted, they took a hefty number of casualties (one unit was reduced to 9, the other down to 13) but that's pretty much a feature of the Wood Elf army as a whole, and lesser units would have run long before.
I'm not convinced about running a Singer, at least not with Shadows. I like Shadows as a lore, but having just two spells to work with, with limited application, meant I didn't get much use out of the Singer.
The Weaver with High I'm willing to try again - High seems like a nice "jack-of-all-trades" lore. In all honesty, I didn't get a lot of use out of *any* magic in the game, due to fleeing for two turns, and IFing and ending the magic phase early twice. Truth be told, I'd prefer to run two Lv.4's rather than a Lv.4 and Lv.2, or even just a single Lv.4 as in the first game.