Dwarves v Dark elves battle report

[Swiftblade]

So, as I said we would, we tried out a game of fantasy battle using my old minis (in various conditions).

My wife wanted to try it out and a friend I roleplay with did. I decided to let them fight it out and I'd teach them to rules. i like epic games, so we set aside a day and played 6000 points per side.

A few things to note, you need to start early if you want to play that big. We started later than I hoped and didn't quite get to finish. With experienced players we'd have been fine, but with 2 new players things went slower than I anticipated.

A 3 foot wide table is simply not wide enough, especially with bigger games. A 6" deployment zone squashes the troops too much. I'll buy a 6 x 4 board a lay it on top next game, should work much better. Also, they put way too much scenery on the table, a lesson I think they both learnt!

Also, I will be buying more movement trays, those things are invaluable. I also need to flock and glue minis onto their bases (probably after painting them), all to make movement much easier.

Another thing to note is the dragon, the proper model fell to pieces minutes before the game started (hence the substitution), which was a shame as the other model is much better and less ambiguousness as to where it is!

I'll link my photobucket page showing photographs of the battle. You need to view in reverse order to follow it. If you maximise the photos you'll see my comments on each picture.

Please bear in mind it was 2 new players, so many big mistakes were made. The Dark elf player did roll dreadfully badly, but he made some major mistakes. His first mistake was to allow his cold ones to turn their flanks to 2 cannons. That was 5 rows of troops the cannon balls could plough through. that really hurt! His second was to charge his general off, resulting in some failed panic checks.  My wife kept her general and battle standard together behind her line and out of LOS. Combined with a magic banner adding an extra +1 to combat resolution within 12" this really helped bolster that flank. They may have been better engaging in combat, but they did well enough as support.

As expected the Dark elf dominated the magic game, literally dominating many units stopping them moving or firing and doing some nasty damage, but the Dwarf's high toughness kept them from too much hurt. The anvil of doom never managed to get a successful spell off, but did manage some good dispelling.

The dark elf also dominated the ranged game, the repeating bolt throwers doing some great damage, positioning on top of a rock and behind walls kept them safe and kept the centre free of dwarves. The dwarves in the bunker kept the dark elf heads down too, but not as effectively.

Overall, was a good game, swinging both ways. I think next time we'll try something a little smaller, possibly 4 armies of 2000 points each on a 2 v 2 basis, on a 6 x 4 board and with less scenery and starting early.

Won't be for a while, but if folks are interested I'll post another report.

Here's the promised photos. http://s11.photobucket.com/albums/a185/feathersswiftblade/Dark%20Elf%20and%20Dwarf%20game/

An overall view for those who can't be bothered to look further is to the side!

[Swiftblade]

Was this of any interest to anyone by the way? If not, won't bother doing any more :)

[MortiS-the-Lost]

I've read it (and from the looks of it so did a few other people), but there's not much to comment on. Battle reports are a funny thing because unless something unexpected happens a game looses something in the re-telling.
Although I'm sure you had fun playing the game, a large pitched battle over a sparse table isn't the most interesting scenario to read about, sorry

Try telling the game as a story - Why are the Dark Elves fighting Dwarfs? Where dose the battle take place?
The battle of Flenmoore Vally in which Duke Borthum's army defends his lands against Waargh Fingduffa is instantly a lot more interesting than 5000 points of Empire Vs 5000 points of Orcs and Goblins

[Swiftblade]

Fair enough, like I say, just wasn't sure if it was of interest. Still new to this forum :)